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Ghostbusters: Regenesis Chapter 10 (Shard of Darkness) [Part 2] Written by Leo_Todrius

The streets were full of the sounds of utter devastation; car alarms went off across the entire city, fires crackled here and there and downed power lines danced across the cement with a deadly embrace. It had all happened in an instant, but it was as if the world itself had come to an end. In the midst of it all, a young man navigated his way through the streets, trying to keep in the shadows of buildings. He was eighteen years old, a freshman in college. Rectangular black framed glasses hugged his face; his blond hair was smooth and straight. His clothes were unassuming, little more than a Portland University shirt and jeans. Ivan had been a good student his whole life, but nothing he had studied had prepared him for this.

Ivan suddenly lunged behind a dumpster as a large transparent yellow ghost floated along, one large eye surveying the scene around him. His distended belly seemed to be full of all sorts of garbage, slowly digesting it into more slime. Ivan started to crawl out of his hiding place before he realized the yellow ghost had stopped and was turning around. Ivan crouched down, putting his hands over his head, trying to make himself as small as possible. The yellow ghost moved back up the street, stopping right above a car whose alarm was wailing away.

The yellow ghost reached out one of its three fingered hands and touched the car. The metal groaned and warped, energy suffusing the vehicle. The headlights shimmered to life before they filled with ghostly pupils. The grill opened up before a tongue slurped out and spikes grew out of the tires. Every detail of the car grew more demonic, every line reshaping until it was the ghostly visage of a car. The alarm ceased and the car pulled away from the curb, rolling along on some new mission. The yellow ghost continued on his way, disappearing in the opposite direction.

Ivan's heart was thumping so hard in his chest it was practically a drum. Carefully the nerd peeked his head out from behind the dumpster, looking one way and then the other. With no sign of an immediate threat, he started heading north again. If he could make it to the interstate bridge he could walk over to Vancouver, get out of the city and the state all at the same time, hopefully find his parents... Ivan glanced up, looking at the strange clouds above the city. They swirled and billowed in ways unnatural, even the cloud formations were filled with ghosts on patrol.

In the distance there was a thunderous vibration. Something was coming. Ivan turned into an alleyway between two buildings to try and find another route or hiding place but he stopped dead in his tracks. Standing at the far end of the alley was what appeared to be the humanoid manifestation of a king cobra snake... It stood at almost ten feet off the ground, not even counting the massive length belonging to its tail. From the waist up he was fairly man like, though his skin was covered in wheat and black colored scales. His pectorals and abdominal muscles were exaggerated, thick and round and covered in the hard leather like flesh. His arms hung at his sides, thicker than any body builder... but what Ivan was drawn to were the eyes.

The creature's eyes were solid black, save for a ring of gold around the outer edge, but his face was far from human. His forehead sloped down seamlessly into his muzzle; his nostril slits widening and contracting gently. The cobra's hood extended outward from the back of his head, hugging his thick muscled neck. The markings were quite intriguing, as if two black trapezoids had been emblazoned on each size of the hood. From the waist down, however, the creature was all snake... from his massive tail to the two dripping barbed hemipenis extending from his groin. The naga's lips parted and a forked tongue emerged, tasting the air, revealing the thick, curved fangs dominating the snake's mouth.

As entranced as he was, Ivan spun around to try and get away, only to come face to chest with another naga. Ivan backed up quickly, his eyes panning up to take in the second aggressor. While the first had seemed to be a king cobra, this naga was clearly a ball python. The naga was lithe and supply, his body fluid and refined. The scales covered his body were almost hypnotic in their contrast. Long ovals and splotches of a mustard orange color were surrounded by black, the scales glinting like diamonds. Solid black eyes regarded Ivan as the second naga tasted the air too.

Ivan continued backing up, too afraid of the python to recall that the cobra had been right behind him. Ivan froze as his back pressed against muscle. The cobra came down sharply, its fangs piercing right into Ivan's neck. Ivan gasped sharply, his head tipping back. He could feel the hot venom pumping into his veins, feeling it course through his body, spreading out to his fingers and toes... The cobra pulled out of Ivan and Ivan stumbled forward, trying to get away from both snakes, but his head started to spin already. He stumbled and twisted around before his back fell against the wall, barely able to stay up.

The human blinked slowly, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The venom hadn't paralyzed him, it didn't burn like it was digesting him... though it did tingle, and there had certainly been enough of it to accomplish whatever it had been designed for. Ivan reached up to touch the wound on his neck. His fingers encountered moisture there but it was thick, like aloe. He scooped it up and brought it down to look at. There was no sign of blood, just the slimy venom... the glistening, vaguely golden liquid on his fingers. It looked almost like honey... and he was so hungry. Every rational part of Ivan's mind screamed out in protest as he brought the venom up to his lips, smearing it across them before he licked it up and then sucked his finger clean. Ivan fell back against the wall more, moaning in delight as his head filled with tingling.

Blood gushed to his shaft, his manhood hardening at once. Ivan knew it was absurd, especially as the nagas closed in, but he had never been able to come out of the closet. If he was going to die, he was going to do it openly with who he was. Ivan unzipped his pants and withdrew his shaft, his fingers closing around it as he began to stroke himself off. The two Nagas licked their lips, watching, reaching both hands down to stroke their dual shafts as they slowly slid closer to the human, watching his every move.

Ivan groaned in surprising delight. The tingling sensation filling his cock was like the best lube he'd ever used, but his shaft was dry... and he was harder than he ever had been. Was it because he was about to die? Was danger a turn on? Ivan mourned the fact that he had not learned this sooner, but he knew the nagas would soon eat him. He had little time. The nerd jacked off harder, his hands flying up and down his rod like he had nothing left to lose... The pleasure grew stronger and stronger, so much so that Ivan's eyes slipped shut in bliss. Slowly his cock began to dribble, but instead of the clear precum Ivan was used to, the liquid seemed to be faintly gold, much like the venom he had been filled with.

The tingling suddenly turned into a searing sensation in Ivan's cock, but the pain and pleasure mixed together for a very potent reaction in his body. His urethra divided into two, spreading apart on the head of his shaft... but where the piss slit had been, there was still a gap... the gap spread like a seam, a zipper being undone. It crossed the head of his cock and moved down the shaft. As the seam advanced, his cock began splitting into two. The flesh on the inside of the dual cocks rounded out and swelled, appearing as if they had always naturally been doubled. The seam continued before it reached Ivan's groin and the two cocks were fully separated.

Ivan fell forward onto his knees in lust, feeling one cock in his hand and another slap against his thigh. Slowly Ivan reached out with his left hand to pick up the neglected cock and stroke it off as well, unable to resist. Soon both hands were flying up and down in unison, breaking in his new shafts. They stretched with each tug of his hand, and they grew thicker every time his hand returned to his groin. The rapid flight of his pistoning hands resulted in rapidly swelling cocks. They surged to eight inches, ten, twelve, then they grew even faster until they were at least sixteen inches each. The mushroom shaped heads pushed out into tapered points while small fleshy rubbery barbs pushed out around the cock, digging into his hands, making the pleasure even stronger.

The human moaned sharply, giving into the lust of his cocks, paying no mind to anything else, though even in the back of his mind he could feel his shirt growing tighter. It was as if with every breath his chest expanded, but when he expelled his breath, it remained the same size. His nipples grew as hard as diamonds, his pectorals swelled, his eternally soft abdomen began to grow hard with muscles like never before. Even his arms filled out, the sleeves of his medium sized t-shirt digging into the flesh of his arms... but the pressure died back as the sound of splitting seams filled the alley. The cloth tore apart down the back, revealing ripped shoulders, full of muscle. The sleeves burst as well, letting two massive arms out.

Ivan's lips parted to let out a moan of pleasure, but instead a forked tongue emerged, rippling in the air and producing a hiss. The cobra and python naga moved over and leaned down, nuzzling their muzzles against the nerd's neck before licking and sucking and biting his flesh more. Ivan groaned in bliss, his chest rising and falling with breath. Soon a strange sizzling sound came as his skin seemed to secrete a light liquid. His jeans all but boiled off of him, falling away in flakes to reveal that his legs were growing together, the skin connecting and pulling them tighter. The seams filled out with more flesh, evening it all out. His balls and cocks were lifted up as the space between his thighs disappeared. Even his shoes melted apart before his feet were pulled together and began to fuse.

The cobra moved, pressing his muzzle to Ivan's face. Ivan's mouth opened and soon was invaded by a snake tongue. The cobra ran his tongue over Ivan's growing fangs. Many of his teeth had started to shrink away and leave nothing, but those that remained were growing thin and sharp and very deadly. Ivan's face popped as his nose bloated out, widening dramatically. His upper lip pushed forward, then his lower jaw did as well. As his face pushed out, his nose all but disappeared, leaving his nostrils as just another part of the growing, forming muzzle. His glasses slipped away from his ears before clattering to the ground, displaced by the muzzle and losing the ears to hold onto.

Ivan's ears grew less and less substantial, the cartilage being reabsorbed before he had nothing more than ear slits hidden beneath blonde hair, though even that would not last long. As the tingle spread across his scalp, the blonde hair began to fall down like a golden rain, landing on the ground, leaving Ivan's skull glistening with brand new orange and black stripes, the scales hardening and spreading quickly. As the scales spread over his forehead and around his eyes, they turned glassy and black, losing their human quality and leaving only animal passion.

The scales advanced across Ivan's head, neck, shoulders and chest. His muscles arms would have made body builders proud, but soon they were covered with big orange splotches that contrasted with the stripes on his head. The scales covered his stomach and back and slunk down toward what had become his tail. The flesh at the base of his hemipenis rippled as leathery folds appeared around the base, providing shelter should the cocks ever need to retract... but slowly, ever so slowly, Ivan began to rise up.

The cobra and python nagas had been bending down the entire time to nuzzle and suck Ivan's neck, but finally the human was rising to their level. His spine stretched, his ribs expanded, but most of all his tail was growing. While parts of his body had grown inch by inch, feet of tail were spiraling out of his body at an accelerated rate, hardening with scales only once they had grown long enough. Even resting on what had once been his knees, Ivan's head stood at over nine feet from the ground. He sniffed the air with his tongue before he looked at his snake brothers, leaning in to get a kiss from the python. Their tongues tangled and they gave each other a slight squirt of venom before they broke the kiss.

The three nagas turned and began slithering down the street, their six cocks still dripping. They were stronger together, and they lived for the hunt. They would do everything they could to bring more people into their clan, and Portland had turned into one massive hunting ground. The alleyway fell silent, empty and cold. The tattered remains of a torn shirt scattered on the ground next to a broken pair of glasses, the only sign that a human had once been there, but was no longer.

****

The escape from the firehouse had seemed break neck at first, but the more that Lucas and Seth drove; the slower time seemed to be traveling. Portland was changing... fundamentally, completely. The Burnside Bridge was literally burning, made of fire rather than metal, only ghosts able to cross. The Koin tower had slime flowing down the sides like waterfalls and the entire horizon was red... not from fires, but because a barrier had circled the city. No one in, no one out... It was a bold strategy, but it stranded even other Ghostbusters departments outside. Gray was no fool. Seth looked down at the proton pack he had at his feet... One pack, no traps... no where to put the traps. It was a pretty bleak situation.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Lucas said.

"What?" Seth asked, brought out of his own head.

"You were worrying about what to do with no traps..." Lucas replied. Seth's brow furrowed.

"You can tell all that?" Seth asked in surprise.

"Like I said, Avery triggered something in me. My power is stronger than ever before... What I can see, what I can sense... I have to admit, it is coming in handy right about now."

"Is that how you knew how to get this car?" Seth asked.

"No, that was just left over. When you trapped Avery there was no one to-" Lucas paused, "He's out now, isn't he? I mean... Every ghost you trapped? Avery? The barber?" Lucas said.

"Yeah... They're all out. At least we were able to restore Kobe, but... if he's anything like Nico, some ghost could trigger him to revert if they were strong enough." Seth said softly, "That's why I'm a danger too... So far I've been strong enough to control my other form, but I could be made into a puppet just as easily. You aren't safe with me." Seth said gently. Lucas shook his head.

"Nonsense. I know this is going to work out okay as long as we work together." Lucas said with a smile.

"You and me?" Seth asked with a smile.

"Well, there's another... That's my whole big plan I was leading up to." Lucas smiled, pulling the car over in front of an old house. The white paint was chipped, the blinds were yellowed and the grass was long. It seemed almost like a derelict, but too clean still to be abandoned.

"Those ghosts out there really don't like busters so... I'm going to have to try and keep my uniform and equipment out of sight." Seth said.

"Well, I'll go open the door and you can follow when it's clear." Lucas said, climbing out of the car. He moved to jog up the four steps, open the wooden fence and disappear around back for a few moments. Seth looked out of the windows, seeing a few ghosts in the distance, following a vague zig zag above the houses. He turned his head back to see Lucas waving him on. Seth clambered out of the car and rushed along, following Lucas through the fence, sticking to the path between the house and the hedges. They came up to the back of the house and entered a small room that proved to be a pantry. While the left offered a way into the house, the right revealed a stairwell down into a deep basement. Lucas moved down the stairs ahead of Seth, leaving Seth to pull the door shut behind him.

Seth pulled his proton pack on over his shoulders so he wouldn't have to carry it anymore before he moved down the steps. The lack of light was disconcerting, especially as Seth came to an abrupt stop as he slammed into the back of Lucas. As his eyes adjusted he realized Lucas held his hands in the air, and then he saw why. Standing a few feet in front of Lucas was a twenty eight year old man holding some sort of weapon. Seth slowly held his hands up, looking the man over.

The man had skin the color of smooth milk chocolate, contrasting the short black mustache and goatee surrounding his lips like a broken circle. His black hair was buzzed short, though it was thickest in a strip down the middle, essentially forming a mohawk. He wore a silver vest and nothing underneath, revealing a tattoo of an SNES controller on his right shoulder. This complimented the 1-Up mushroom belt buckle hugging his waist. What he held in his hands, however, was far more dangerous.

The barrel of the gun seemed to be an interrupted conical shape, the mechanism going back along the lower portion of the device to where the man held it. Half way along the body of the gun, a central portion lifted up, in front of which was an electronics box and behind which was a bracket to which an orange cylinder had been inserted like some sort of weapon's clip. It only took Seth a moment to recognize it as a design that had been discontinued by the Ghostbusters almost fifteen years ago in favor of a return to the nuclear disc generators. Seth looked around, realizing that the shelves lining the left wall of the basement were full of proton canisters in a variety of colors; orange, yellow, blue, green and purple. This was in addition to what appeared to be years worth of food, lanterns, batteries, toilet paper and military ration packs.

"You do know it is illegal for civilians to own unlicensed nuclear accelerators..." Seth commented. The man holding the proton gun laughed.

"And if I didn't, where would we be now?" He asked.

"Seth Dillon, this is Dakota Shaw. Kota, this is Seth. Play nice." Lucas said.

"Your plan was a crazy survivalist?" Seth asked.

"I don't know, I think a ghost apocalypse is sort of up my alley." Dakota grinned. Lucas turned around to face Seth.

"Stop being a brat. He has ammo, he has tools, he has knowledge. He has everything we need." Lucas said. Seth took a breath and looked back at the man holding the proton gun.

"Sorry... It's been a long day." Seth apologized. Dakota shrugged, lowering the proton gun before smiling, his teeth brilliantly white.

"It happens." Dakota said, "Can I offer you guys anything? Hibiscus juice? Tea?"

"Hibiscus juice please!" Lucas said happily.

"I'm good." Seth said, watching as Dakota moved to fill two plastic cups from a large jug mounted to the wall. Seth looked at the pack strapped to Dakota's back. It was significantly different from his own. While the standard issue proton pack was a rectangle of components sitting above the large circle housing the nuclear disc generator, Kota's pack resembled a trapezoidal prism. A yellow cylinder was mounted at the top of the pack, below which the steel casing sloped out and down, had a heat grill, then sloped back. Left of the trapezoid portion there were two boxes, the upper with a power switch and the lower covered with yellow and black caution stripes.

"How did you two meet?" Seth asked after a moment, noting the nearly ten year age difference between the two.

"Well, before they opened Pioneer school I wasn't that good of a student. I either slept through all my classes or was too distracted to show up. When you roam the streets of Portland you meet all sorts of interesting people." Lucas said.

"Then for a while he needed to crash at my place and, let's face it, who can resist every game console ever made?" Dakota smirked.

"I never really paired survivalists and gamers in the same category." Seth admitted. Dakota handed Lucas his juice before sipping on his own.

"All you need is a good quality battery and a way to refill it. As long as the game has great replay value, it's a great way to pass the time." Dakota said.

"Speaking of refilling, you managed to fill quite a few proton canisters." Seth said, glancing back to the vast array. Dakota smirked.

"It's not my fault the only plans that ever got leaked were for your least efficient design, but I like it. What it lacks in efficiency it makes up for in punch... at least until you guys came up with the third generation packs there, but I've been able to make some innovations of my own." Dakota smirked. Seth's eyes widened. This man had not only built Ghostbusting equipment on his own, he'd refined the plans.

"Lucas, I'm starting to see what you mean." Seth said.

"See, I knew we could get along!" Lucas grinned.

"So goat man, what's the plan?" Dakota asked. Seth's eyebrow lifted.

"Goat man?" he asked. Dakota reached out and stroked Seth's long goatee. Seth blushed, a small shiver moving down his spine. No one had done that since he and Gray had last been close. Dakota pushed his embarrassment aside.

"Well, there was one doomsday scenario that Grayson planned for... but it's a long shot, especially since Gray has been compromised. He knows we'd likely try it, if we could even pull it off." Seth said.

"What is it?" Lucas asked.

"Well... While every ghost is a bit different depending on what it is and where it comes from, once they've been put into the containment unit, their ionization rate falls into alignment with the system. They all are operating on the same frequency now, all the ghosts that we've trapped anyway. If we could get enough power, we could reboot the containment unit with the hatch open, the formation of the simulated world would create an extreme vacuum that should draw any of them still in the city back in... But I'm talking serious power, more power than we've ever had funneled into the firehouse." Seth said. Dakota grinned wide.

"I like this plan. I've got keys and maps to the utility tunnels; I can get the power redirected." Dakota replied.

"There are still some problems... Not all the ghosts out there have been captured before. This plan won't do anything to them... and until the ghosts that have corrupted people are trapped, their victims will remain as they are." Seth exclaimed.

"Not to mention ghosts like the barber, his victims don't change back." Lucas said softly.

"Every plan has risks. We have to try. The big question is if you can get past this Grayson person to do everything you need to." Dakota said. Seth hesitated.

"I think I can, I think that... well, I have faith." Lucas said softly.

"Well, like you said... We have to try." Seth replied, "The longer we wait, the worse our chances get."

"Then we'll do this. You guys should give me an hour and a half head start... but we should get you suited up." Dakota said, moving over to the drawers by his work bench. Seth watched him with curiosity.

"Suited up?" Seth asked.

"Well you only need some traps I think, but Lucas here needs the whole kit." Dakota said, pulling out another of the old proton packs. Lucas grinned, his eyes practically sparkling.

"I get a proton pack?!" he exclaimed in glee, looking up at Seth. Seth took a breath before nodding. Lucas ran over and turned around. Dakota helped him get the pack on, tightening the straps to fit him. Dakota moved over to the shelf and pulled out what appeared to be an ammo belt covered in proton canisters. He clipped it to Lucas' right pack strap so he could grab them with his left hand. Dakota moved to another drawer and opened it up, pulling out three disc traps. While they looked exactly like the ones Nico favored in shape, they were orange instead of yellow.

"I haven't gotten a chance to try the traps, no where to put the ghosts really." Dakota admitted.

"You tried the packs?" Seth asked. Dakota gave a dangerous grin before he hung two traps from the lower bar on Lucas' pack before handing Seth his. Seth hung them from the clasps on his belt, still in place from the marathon day of busting.

"I should warn you both that we came across a trap earlier... I was confused at the time but I think that Gray must have made the trap... A ghost beacon to lure them in, and some sort of device that interfered with our equipment." Seth said softly.

"I've thought about the existence of that kind of thing... It could still affect you, but... that's another benefit of these old packs. The ammo is in the canisters; you can't destroy the energy that's already made." Dakota said. Seth smirked gently.

"Well, looks like I'm glad to have you as my wingman Lucas." Seth smiled.

"You can return the favor when I'm old enough to go to clubs." Lucas grinned in turn. Dakota moved over and suddenly hugged both men. Seth was surprised at first but relaxed into it.

"Let's go kick some ghost butt." Dakota said before he turned and moved up the stairs, heading out of the basement. Seth looked over at Lucas, thinking back to his first experience with a ghost. He'd been even younger than Lucas... But it was hard to ignore the fact that their luck had changed. There was hope now, hope to save the day.

****

The Mercedes came rolling to a stop two blocks away from the firehouse, though it had seen better days. The driver's side window was shot out, one of the tires was flat and caustic slime had eaten away all the paint on Lucas' side, leaving the base metal fully exposed. Still, it had done its duty and gotten them across town again. Seth and Lucas stepped out, both powering up their packs. Seth's roared to life once more, the three red circles above the disc generator pulsing with vitality. Lucas' hummed with just as much power, though it was a much steadier energy like the difference between alternating and direct current. The two turned to look at the firehouse, realizing just how much had changed. In the short time since Seth's escape, the firehouse had been changed as much as the former Ghostbusters that occupied it. The window frames that had been blown out were full of blood colored crystal and the empty doorway was now full of some sort of energy field of membrane, no doubt designed to keep them out. No doubt the hole in the roof had been filled in as well, though it would have been the most ideal... Descending right down to the containment unit would have saved them a lot of time. "So what should we do?" Lucas asked. "Gray is going to expect us... and he'll take counter measures. There isn't any way we can beat him by playing fair." Seth said. "So what does that mean?" Lucas asked. "We're going to have to get him right where he wants us." Seth smiled softly.

****

Lewd, wet slurps and sloshes filled the firehouse as Nico occupied himself, filling himself with his own long tentacle cocks, his tendrils rubbing all over himself. He'd been nearly inseparable from Eli in their new form but Gray had sent Eli out on patrol, trading off with Nico every so often. As much as he was happy for them, there was still work to do. His work, however, was continuing without him. He could feel the ghosts continuing along, changing Portland. Once the city had been converted to a Mecca of ghosts, they would spread out. The barrier protecting their territory was a manifestation of the accumulated PKE of all the ghosts, and if the humans were corrupted there would be all the more. All the same, Gray needed a way to pass the time and his sight fell on Nico.

Gray reached up to tickle the tiny tentacle parasite floating by his chair before he reached over to Nico, his clawed fingers beckoning. Nico turned, looking at Gray. Gray used his powers to bring out the most animal, the most primal thoughts in Nico's mind. He shuddered before green drool leaked from his lips, the beast craving cock. He slathered across the firehouse over to his master. Gray reached down to his fly, withdrawing his thick, red canine shaft once more. Nico's chest tentacles reached out, wrapping around Nico's cock like a sleeve before it began working up and down.

A deep and animal growl of pleasure came from Gray's muscular chest as his green tentacle pet pleasured him. His furry foot paw kicked in the air as Nico's tentacles worked up around his paws, sliding through the fur and up the ankles, penetrating the pants and sliding past where the fur tapered off into flesh. As they moved, they caressed and groped Gray's legs. Gray panted, his pre starting to leak from his shaft as it was milked by the tentacles. The tip of one of Nico's cocks moved and pressed against Gray's, their cum exchanging right at the point their urethra's touched, splashing all around them in a mess. Gray's red pants withed and wriggled, filled to the brim with tentacles attached to his legs with pulsating suckers. It was quite the pleasurable exchange, though Gray had noticed that some part of Nico still existed inside of his pet. Nico still had only used his mouth tentacles on Eli. Gray found that little detail quite romantic really.

The revelry of the two came to an end as Eli's tentacled body began passing through the barrier. Nico disconnected from his master and scurried off to the side. Gray stood up and brushed himself off, realizing that Eli had captured prisoners. Seth and Lucas were both encased in cocoons of tentacles from their neck to their feet, one extra tentacle used to gag their mouths. Eli slithered in, glancing over to Nico longingly before bowing his head to his master. Gray grinned wide.

"I have to admit I'm impressed. I wondered who would have been able to get you out of here in such a hurry. Lucas, good to see you." Gray said, "Looks like I finally have the whole set." Gray said, gesturing to Eli to put them down. The tentacles unfurled slowly before Seth was set down, then Lucas. Seth rolled his shoulders, realizing his proton pack was still on. He pulled up his blaster and aimed at Gray.

"I'm so sorry..." Seth said before he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Gray looked into Seth's eyes from the dark void that covered his face. Seth tried again, but the lights on his pack turned orange and the pack chirped in protest before the lights went dark.

"I have to give you credit... to actually be able to pull the trigger. I know it isn't because you don't love me. It's the same reason why I could have let Eli turn you into another tentacle pet, but I'm going to make you special." Gray smiled.

"So that trap in the park where the other packs stopped working, that was you?" Seth asked gently.

"I needed to call more ghosts to me, but I knew it would be a tempting target... I couldn't let you hurt them." Gray said. Seth shook his head.

"I don't think that's it at all... I think it was a deliberate trap Thana made... He knew we would try to figure out where all the ghosts were coming from, we'd wade into that sea of ghosts and be defenseless. It was a cheap way to get rid of us, or at the least buy you time to turn the containment unit off." Seth replied. Gray growled.

"That isn't true..." Gray defended himself.

"What did you build first, the beacon or the anti-proton device?" Seth asked. Gray hesitated, thinking back to when he had been working in the dark. He had pulled everything out at the same time, it had been calculated... But was it him, or was it Thana? Gray shuddered.

"You used me!" Gray said, falling back to the bitterness that had poisoned him against the Ghostbusters.

"And Thana hasn't? How did he trick you into wearing that shirt? How much has he manipulated you?" Seth asked.

"I took care of him, I destroyed him..." Gray said, victory dripping from his voice. Seth shook his head.

"Not all of him... Not entirely. You still have that hood on. I see my wolf there, my amazing lover, my amazing pet... but I also see you Thana." Seth said.

"I AM NOT THANA!" Grayson exclaimed, his voice thundering with power. While Gray was distracted by his anger, Lucas depressed the trigger of his proton gun. Bright yellow and orange energy arced out and struck the pulsating device sitting behind the secretary's desk, the machine exploding in a rainbow of sparks. Seth used the destruction of the anti-proton device as a distraction and ran toward the stairs at full bore. Nico scrambled after him but Lucas unleashed another proton blast to cut him off, then he spun around and fired one at Eli's feet. The blue tentacle creature slid back to avoid getting hit. Lucas backed up, keeping his working proton gun trained on the three as Seth moved down the stairs.

"Don't even think about it..." Lucas said as Nico tried to advance again, letting out another proton warning shot. Gray moved to stand between his two pets, sizing Lucas up curiously.

"I am amazed, you are truly resourceful... A second generation pack. I never would have been able to predict that... and from somewhere inside the city no less." Grayson smiled.

"I'm full of surprises." Lucas replied.

"You're full of more than that, you're full of so much potential Lucas... and I know how much love you have, for your brother... for everyone. I can help you rise to a new level of awareness, of pleasure and lust. Just name your wildest fantasy, I can make it happen. Do you want to be a horny satyr? A tentacle beast? A hell hound? You'd be so handsome with a big cock like me..." Gray said, stroking his meaty shaft. Lucas shivered gently, his eyes moving to focus on the dripping pointed cock, his tongue licking his lips slowly before he looked away.

"Nothing, none of that!" Lucas shot back. Grayson chuckled softly, taking a step forward. Lucas opened fire, striking the cement by Gray's feet. The stone exploded, superheated fragments impacting Gray's legs.

"But you have it too, don't you? That burning need... the same that your brother has... That sexual drive, so much more than most humans..." Gray whispered, "The need to be filled, the need to be fucked... Can you imagine spending eternity getting your fill? Guzzling down thick cum and being nourished by it? I could make you a sexual being the likes of which have never been seen before, the ultimate in pleasurable experiences..." Gray said, taking another step, "You could be any age... as mature as you wanted to be, or as seemingly innocent..." Gray whispered, taking yet another step.

"Not without my brother..." Lucas said, aiming the proton gun right at Gray's chest. Gray looked back over to Nico before he lifted his hand. Nico shuddered softly, his head lowering for a moment before it lifted again.

"Lucas..." Nico said softly.

"I am fond of him as a pet, but I'd gladly give him to you so you can be happy too." Gray said, taking another step until he was right in front of Lucas. He reached up, put his hand on the proton gun and pushed it down slowly. Lucas looked into the void of Gray's face.

"And I bet you think you finally have me, don't you?" Lucas whispered before his eyes began to glow a bright violet color. Lucas focused all of his perception, his attention, his awareness and his abilities onto Gray, gazing into his hood and into his very soul. Gray gasped sharply as the purple light filled his awareness before the two were enveloped in it.

****

Over half of the floor panels had been opened up in the basement, Seth moving from component to component. He couldn't believe that Lucas had been able to buy him as much time as he was getting, but he knew at any second it could run out. He had to get everything ready. He pulled a lever and the face plate of the containment unit opened up wide again, revealing circuitry and emitters instead of a portal to the simulated realm. Seth moved back to the equipment under the floor, cross-wiring and switching systems. He overrode a hundred security protocols and bypassed a dozen flow regulators. He flipped a circuit and lifted his head, watching as the computer interface was restarted.

With the mechanics in place, Seth stood up and moved over to the containment unit itself. He input his code and got the computer up and running again. He sorted through all the files, finding the program Gray had programmed for just such an occasion. He tried to load the program but it had been locked out just as Gray had been, but Seth was thankful he was just a bit paranoid. He flipped through his own files on the system before he found what he was looking for... an executable file called update notes. Gray would never need to look at update notes and Nico and Eli would never bother. It was the perfect name for a backup copy of Gray's doomsday program.

The program was loaded and started to run. The safe, steady creation of the simulated world was replaced with an instantaneous generation. Not only was it unsafe, but it would require the insane levels of power that only Dakota could offer. Seth moved to lower the floor panels back down so they didn't get in the way before he glanced back up the stairs. No ghosts had yet made it down... Now it was all up to Dakota... but Seth readied himself to defend the containment unit and prevent anyone from tampering with it. He only prayed Lucas would be alright.

****

Gray stirred slowly, his body feeling sluggish. His claw tipped hands contracted, but instead of stone they found grass and dirt. Gray lifted his head slowly, feeling the strangest sensation of perfectly room temperature air blowing across his arms, rippling through the grass. He opened his brown eyes and gazed out at the strange, ephemeral world around him. The grassy plain stretched out to the horizons, above which the stars in the sky seemed to roll along as if years were passing by in a matter of seconds. After a few moments the moon set and a sun rose, crossing the sky before setting on the far side to be replaced with the moon once more.

"What is this..." Gray muttered, rising up onto his feet.

"This is consciousness... Human consciousness." Lucas said softly. Gray spun around to see Lucas standing ankle high in a shallow pool of water. Lucas was garbed in a version of his custom t-shirt with the disconnected sleeves, only the material seemed to be made of a silver cloth with just a hint of violet added to the mix. Gray looked at Lucas before her reached up, touching his own face. Gray was still wearing his red hoodie and pants, but the black face mask was gone. His own face was visible.

"How..." Gray whispered, looking to Lucas.

"Thana brought you a shard of darkness that tainted your soul and turned you into your own worst enemy... I am lucky that what Avery brought me was a shard of light. He had hoped it would light his way, but you need it far more than him." Lucas said softly, "I want you to think back Gray, remember the path that led you here." Lucas said. As the words left his mouth, light began to spill out of the pond around his feet and filled the plains. Gray's eyes shuddered as his memory began flying to the past.

He flashed to being six years old, a vast network of wooden brio trains covering his living room floor, between which Ghostbuster toys were sitting... and Gray saw the hollow blue plastic proton pack and the air pressure operated trap he'd played with growing up, they had always made him feel so safe... and the Ghostbusters made him feel safe. They weren't hunters, they weren't torturing the ghosts... They captured the ghosts and released them into a world simulating their own. It was no different than capturing dangerous animals and putting them into a zoo...

Gray's memory jumped to when he had gone on a trip to New York and had met the Ghostbusters... They had moved onto a second generation of busters, but it just conveyed to him the responsibility of new people to take on the mantle. He'd studied with Egon Spengler and Roland Jackson, he'd mastered proton mechanics... and he had opened up Portland's own branch. His very first mission he had helped a human ghost with unfinished business pass on rather than busting them... and it had made him feel so very good.

And then, in a moment of great clarity, Gray's mind moved onto the memories of Seth. He met Seth on that trip and was surprised that they came from the same city... He had never expected someone with such an unconventional appearance to be able to be so serious and strong. They had built the Portland Department together, side by side and then they had fallen in love, kissing at the concert... the happiest moment of his life.

Gray fell forward onto his knees in the dream world, his head hanging forward, tears streaming down his face as he thought about Nico and Eli and what he had done to them. The wind blew over Gray again, but it seemed to ripple against the red hoodie as the fabric changed. The neat seams disappeared, the fabric seeming older, more weathered. The arm holes became tattered, the bottom seemed shredded as if it had been cut in half, but then again it had when Thana had been severed.

"What do I do?" Gray asked gently.

"You did what was necessary." Came a harsh voice from all around Gray.

"You tricked me..." Gray whispered.

"You trapped me, you nearly destroyed me by cutting me in half... You absorbed me into yourself, but even now you try to cast me away." Thana hissed.

"I don't want you, you are evil... Even for the ghosts, you use them like puppets!" Gray said. Lucas moved forward, intending to get the hoodie off, but as he approached, the red robes suddenly constricted. Gray tried to gasp but couldn't as the collar dug into his neck. The fabric around his arms dug in, making his arms feel numb before falling limply to his side. All over Gray's torso the red cloth was constricting, compressing, adding considerable pressure.

"You're never getting away from me. This time we'll die together." Thana growled. Gray fell onto his back, trying numbly to claw at the hood that had possessed him. Lucas dropped onto his knees, trying to help Gray. Color began draining from Grayson's skin. Time was running out.

****

Seth was growing anxious. They had come all that way for the plan, but if the power didn't come through there would be no hope, it would have been a wasted attempt and Lucas had been used as a pawn. Seth moved toward the steps to go and help, pausing when he heard the buzz of electricity. He turned around, watching as the yellow glow beneath the grated floor grew brighter and brighter. The containment unit whirred suddenly as the interior of the faceplate shimmered before filling with a massive world that seemed trillions of times bigger on the inside as it did on the outside. As that massive void opened, the entire building shuddered sharply.

Seth looked up, watching as the red crystal filling up the roof shattered and spiraled downwards before being sucked into the containment unit, leaving the roof of the firehouse open... and around it a vortex began to build. Seth could feel a slight draw toward the containment unit, but it was nothing compared to what was actually going on. The draw was more than just a vacuum, to ghosts that had been captured before it was almost like a black hole. Seth gazed up through the forming funnel as ghosts were pulled out of the clouds, spiraling downwards.

As the ensnared ghosts approached the containment unit, they accelerated before becoming streaks of pink energy just as they had when they had escaped. Even the ghostly manifestations of the clouds were being sucked down through the roof and into the containment unit like a pillar of smoke in reverse. Seth turned and moved up the stairs, though before he was able to reach the top floor he had to duck. The barrier that had made up the front doors had exploded into pieces that flew toward the containment unit like bullets. With the debris having passed, Seth finished moving up to the main floor.

Lucas and Gray had both collapsed into unconsciousness, though Gray's body was being pulled toward the containment unit like a magnet. Nico had wrapped dozens of tentacles around Gray's body to keep his master from being pulled in, but the pull had been so strong that even he had been dragged toward the containment unit until Eli had wrapped half his tentacles around Nico and the other half around the containment unit. Gray and Nico had never been captured by the unit and were not pulled themselves, but a mournful squeak came from the original tentacle parasite as he was pulled down the stairs and back into his prison.

Seth rushed over to where Gray was, trying to figure out what to do to help. More bright pink streaks of energy began passing through the firehouse through the front door, lesser ghosts affected far easier than the large ones. Seth looked at Gray and started to realize it wasn't his body that was being pulled to the containment unit, it was the hoodie he was wearing, a hoodie that had dug into him like an anchor. Seth plunged his hands into the black cloud of a face mask, feeling Gray's face hidden inside. He reached up and started trying to pry the hood off before he looked into Nico's black eyes.

"Help me!" Seth demanded. Nico reached out, sending dozens of green tendrils up under the hood and down into the collar, starting to pry them apart and away from the skin. The hoodie flickered before its guise fell away, revealing itself as the ratty, beat up robes that Thana had worn.

****

A great and powerful wind howled across the dreamscape, the grass snapping around under the great power of it all. The sky had grown black with clouds and directly above them a massive black funnel cloud had opened up, spiraling and pulling. Lucas grunted in frustration before he knelt down and grabbed part of the cloth with his teeth and both hands and tugged with all his might. The fabric shuddered before it started to tear. Lucas kept it going, pulling both directions with his arms, tearing it up the middle. The tear reached the collar and broke through it, falling away from Gray's neck.

In both the waking and dream world, Grayson suddenly gasped, able to breath again. In both worlds Seth, Lucas and Nico tore at the robes. The sleeves were split, the hood fell back to reveal Gray's face. Lucas rolled Gray over onto his stomach and grabbed the robe with both hands, tearing it off of him. Thick sticky tendrils of slime connected Gray to the robes before they snapped and Lucas hurled the robes upward toward the funnel cloud.

In the waking world the fabric suddenly went limp and Nico's tentacles shredded through the fabric in a hundred places. The shreds of red fabric were caught in the wind and accelerated so fast they turned into pink energy that disappeared down the stairwell. Gray suddenly fell towards the floor but landed in Seth's arms before he hit the cement. Nico and Eli suddenly slumped as well, but as the last essence of Thana disappeared into the containment unit, their bodies hit the ground as humans.

Seth held Gray's unconscious body in his arms, watching the energy pass as Nico climbed over to Eli and clung to him, both boys wrapping their arms around each other tightly. Nico and Eli exchanged a glance, as if they both knew what the other was thinking. Even in their monstrous forms they had clung to each other and carved out something of their very own love. Slowly, with Gray still in his lap, Seth crawled over to where Lucas was, checking his neck. Lucas still had a pulse, but he seemed as drained as Gray did, if not more... The influx of ghosts was only accelerating, filling the firehouse with an aurora of pink energy funneling into the basement from every direction... While the entire effect was operating on a plain outside of human existence, the mass movement of the ghosts was starting to have an effect on the real world.

Papers began to blow around and a wind was building, the hair of the Ghostbusters whipping about. Seth crawled over toward the lockers, trying to get as clear of the suction of the ghosts as possible. Nico and Eli held onto a water pipe for dear life before suddenly the last of the pink energy flooded in through the front door, spiraling down the stairs and into the containment unit, joining the last of the energy coming in from the skylight. The two streams disappeared into the containment unit like slurped up spaghetti before the computer registered that the pressure had equalized. The barrier field appeared over the portal, the face plate slid shut and locked, the laser containment grid activated and the light on the containment unit flashed green before going blank.

"We did it... we actually did it..." Seth whispered softly, his sentence punctuated by the firehouse suddenly going dark. With the sun having set most of the way, it was fairly dark. Seth gently set Gray down next to Lucas before he sprung to his feet and moved to the stairs, moving down half way. Even the yellow lights beneath the metal grated floor had gone dark, but the containment unit itself was still on. Seth checked the interface. All systems were stable and it was still receiving a flow of power from the electrical grid.

"Uh, Seth?" Eli called out from upstairs.

"What is it?" Seth called back.

"All of Portland is out of power..." Eli commented.

"Not all of Portland... That crazy bastard sure knows extremes." Seth muttered to himself before he leaned his back against the wall and broke out laughing.

****

Gray's fingers twitched gently as he lifted out of an unconscious state for the first time in two days. His eyes fluttered open slowly, taking a moment to adjust to the sunlight streaming through the newly repaired windows in the barracks room. Gray's head lolled to one side where he saw fresh red roses sitting in a vase and Seth dozing off in the chair. Gray smiled softly at the sight. Seth stirred as if he knew that Gray had moved before his eyes opened and Seth grinned wide.

"You're up..." Seth smiled.

"I am..." Gray said, though his smile slowly faded away as sorrow filled his eyes, "I... am so sorry, so very sorry, please forgive me..." Gray said, starting to tremble. Seth leaned over and pressed his lips to Grayson's, giving him a complete and true kiss. Gray relaxed against Seth's lips, his eyes slipping shut. The kiss lingered for several long moments before Seth broke it and hugged Gray gently, nuzzling Gray's ear with his lips.

"There's nothing to forgive... Thana was a big ghost, an arch demon... It's all behind us." Seth said softly.

"What about the city? Lucas? Eli? Nico?" Gray asked softly.

"Eli and Nico were fine as soon as Thana was dealt with. Lucas has been in and out of unconsciousness since the incident, but it seems like whatever abilities he had tapped into were drained by the experience. He's right over there." Seth said. Gray turned his head, seeing Lucas passed out cold in the bed next to him. Gray blushed, looking back at Seth.

"And the city?" Gray asked, feeling the weight of guilt saddling down on him.

"There's a fair amount of damage... Some fires and a lot of messed up cars, but it looks like all of the ghosts that got out are back in. There... are more ghosts than usual though, drawn to the area because of your beacons... but Seattle Busters arrived and I hired some extra help to help us get things back to normal." Seth said.

"Extra help?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, he's... well, we wouldn't be here today without him." Seth admitted, turning back to the stairwell.

"Dakota!" Seth called out. After a moment Dakota jogged up stairs before he spotted Gray and grinned.

"Oh hey boss man, you're up." Dakota grinned. Gray's eyes widened, first from the attitude and then the equipment he had on.

"That isn't regulation..." Gray muttered.

"I know, isn't it awesome?!" Dakota grinned. Gray gave out a weak laugh before nodding.

"Yes, yes it is." Gray replied before he smiled.

"Oh, hey Goat man, the temporary car is here." Dakota added.

"Thanks." Seth said. Dakota gave a salute before heading downstairs.

"Temporary car?" Gray asked.

"Well, the mayor is loaning us a car so we can clean up our mess... He's not going to file charges for what happened, after all we wound up way luckier than San Diego did in our situation... but yeah, interesting times ahead." Seth said. Gray nodded, stretching a bit before he moved to sit up. Seth's eyes widened, "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to be strapping on a pack or anything... I'm going to watch over Lucas, make sure he's okay. I owe him... everything. He brought me back from the brink, kept me from stopping you. What did the doctors say about us?" Gray asked. Seth shrugged.

"The same as always, they couldn't find anything physically wrong with either of you, other than some deep tissue bruising in your case from the tug of war with Thana." Seth said. Gray nodded gently.

"Okay. Well, I'll take it easy, keep an eye on Lucas. I'm sorry I can't do more right now to clean up after my own mess." Gray apologized.

"We're a team, it's all good." Seth said, giving Gray another deep kiss. Gray embraced the kiss before finally it ended and he smiled.

"Go save the day." Gray said. Seth nodded, standing up. He gave Grayson one last smile before he jogged down the stairs, moving over to his locker to pull out a working proton pack and a pair of traps, setting them in the trunk of the Kia the city had loaned them. Eli and Nico sat in the back seat, their hands reaching to tickle and grope each other. After spending time as tentacle lovers, it seemed they were still all hands in a way. Dakota, meanwhile, had settled into the passenger seat though he'd been watching the other two in the rear view mirror, getting a good show for his entertainment. Seth climbed into the Kia and pulled out of the firehouse, driving past the workers putting the doors back onto the firehouse and into the city that was being rebuilt.