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Ghostbusters: Regenesis Chapter 11 (Rerun) Written by Leo_Todrius Rerun Design by Lanhao

It had been a long month and a half for the citizens of Portland since the Ghostbusters had briefly lost containment of their ghosts. The damage had been extensive in some places; there had been countless injuries and even a few deaths, though most of the casualties had been due to fear itself or human error. An investigation had ruled that the accident was the result of forces beyond the Ghostbusters control, but the mere fact that they had managed to recapture almost every ghost that had escaped had done a great deal to put the citizens at ease, Portland wasn't going to become another San Diego. Record numbers of volunteers had joined in with the city employees to build and repair while the Ghostbusters had been hard at work to get things back under control, and as spring kicked into high gear, it seemed that they had.

While life had returned to normal for many, Jake Collins was in week six of house arrest. His parents had locked up the house tight during the crisis and they hadn't relaxed much since. As much as it had been heaven for Jake at first, it was slowly devolving into a hellish monotony of doing the same thing, day after day... The same chores, the same games. His parents hadn't even trusted him to play online because if any of his friends were compromised, somehow it might get back to them. Worst of all, his parents seemed content to watch the same television shows over and over again.

Jake let out a deep sigh, his fingers pressing the rounded buttons of the controller in his hands as if it was some autonomic response, his wrists slack, his eyes glazed over as he watched the screen, ignoring his reflection on the glass. His parents had refused to let him play in the dark because of eye strain, but with the lights on there was serious glare. He could see his red bedroom walls reflecting on the tv, his Final Fantasy wall scrolls, and the image of himself. He had medium length brown hair and two gold earrings, gray sweat pants and a slate gray wife beater. His clothes, like everything else, hadn't changed in far too many days.

The monotony had gotten so bad that Jake was starting to think he had fallen asleep with his eyes open, but that all came to a sudden end when the window next to his bed began rumbling open gently. Jake froze in place, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head before he saw the lower torso of another teenager slide through the open window. With the legs inside, hands gripped the window sill and the upper half entered. The teen's black clothes and neon blue spiked hair contrasted sharply with the rest of the bedroom and the thick white DJ headphones around his neck contrasted with his own outfit. The teen twisted around, standing on the bed for a moment before he put a knee on either side of Jake's waist, straddling him before he leaned in for a kiss.

As their lips met, Jake's mouth was filled with the flavor of cigarettes and cinnamon. His manhood immediately grew hard and he began to hump the youth that had entered his room. Their bodies came together, pressing tight, hands roaming bodies. The spike haired intruder humped back before breaking the kiss, moving to kiss and suck Jake's neck, drawing on the flesh until blood rushed to the surface and it began to redden. Jake blushed sharply, letting out a soft moan before he clapped a hand over his lips.

"Lee, you can't be here, I'll get in so much trouble..." Jake whispered.

"Are you telling me you didn't miss me?" Lee asked with a grin.

"Of course I did, but my parents will go thermonuclear. What if you're some sex demon come to rob me of my soul?" Jake whispered back. Lee grinned.

"You already know I'm that." He said before kissing Jake again. Jake let his controller clatter to the floor as he grabbed Lee's head and the two made out, rubbing their bodies tightly. Lee had been every kind of bad influence on Jake at school but the two had gotten along famously. They both happened to be completely human as well, though Lee's parents had been glad to send him back to school as soon as possible. Lee and Jake exchanged passions with great fervor before a scream broke out elsewhere in the house.

"A ghost! Phil, call the Ghostbusters!!!" Jake's mother screamed. Lee kept trying to kiss and neck with Jake but Jake sat upright slowly in shock.

"Oh my god, they were right... Did you lead something here?" Jake asked.

"Of course not! There aren't any ghosts outside..." Lee replied. Jake slowly climbed out from under Lee, moving to the door. Lee hopped down and followed after, eager to see a ghost. Jake could hear his father talking on the phone on the other side of the door, frantic and panicked. Jake reached for the door knob and slowly turned it, feeling Lee's hand come to rest on his hip. He opened the door slowly and moved to peer out, but as he did a bright flash of light enveloped the house. As the light faded, Lee was no where to be seen and Jake was back on his bed, sprawled out.

Jake gazed at the screen, feeling like he'd been in bed so long he was growing to be a part of it. His fingers depressed the controller buttons as they had a dozen times. Jake let out a deep grunt of dissatisfaction. It felt like he'd been playing that game for an eternity. Even the bad guys springing up on the screen weren't a surprise; the whole pattern seemed familiar like déjà vu. As the window suddenly rumbled open, Jake jumped in shock.

"Shit!" He exclaimed before he saw the very welcome sight of Lee sliding into his bedroom. Lee swung his legs in and around before he straddled Jake, pinning him to his own bed. Lee leaned down and gave Jake a deep kiss. Jake inhaled sharply, filling his lungs with the smell of Lee's smoke and cologne before he humped his forbidden lover. Lee returned the affections for a long moment before Jake broke the kiss.

"Lee, you can't be here, I'll get in so much trouble..." Jake whispered desperately.

"Are you telling me you didn't miss me?" Lee asked with a naughty grin.

"Of course I did, but my parents will go thermonuclear. What if you're some sex demon come to rob me of my soul?" Jake whispered back, though as the words left his mouth they seemed a bit too cliché, like he'd heard them somewhere else before. Lee grinned despite that.

"You already know I'm that." The punk replied before kissing Jake again feverishly. Jake's fingers relaxed and the controller clattered to the carpet, forgotten and neglected as the two made out, rubbing their bodies tightly together. Jake thought back to all the fun times he had with Lee at school as they were intimate, though it came to a sudden end as a scream echoed through the wall from the living room.

"A ghost! Phil, call the Ghostbusters!!!" Jake's mother screamed. Lee ignored the panic and kept trying to kiss and neck with Jake but Jake sat up.

"Oh my god, they were right... Did you lead something here?" Jake asked, feeling once again as if he had asked that before. Lee looked hurt at the accusation.

"Of course not! There aren't any ghosts outside..." Lee replied. Jake slowly extracted himself from under Lee before he crossed the room over to the door. Lee climbed off and followed after, wondering if they would get to see a ghost up close and personal. Jake could hear his father through the door, talking frantically but a bit muffled, as if he didn't want the ghost to hear him. Jake reached for the door knob and slowly turned it, feeling Lee's hand settle on his him comfortingly. Jake slowly turned the door knob and leaned toward to peek out of the crack, but as he did the entire house filled with a blinding white light.

****

The Ghostbusters' firehouse had been an unstoppable hub of activity since the moment the containment unit had been refilled. Contractors had repaired all the broken windows and doors, though the roof was still being reinforced. The Ecto-11 had, at last, been recomissioned, city coordinators checked in every twelve hours regarding the city repairs and current ghost hot spots, and Nico and Dakota had worked hard to build a supply of upgraded generation two packs. While it was unlikely they would come across any ghost that could mimic the anti-proton capabilities, Gray wanted to take precautions after he had managed to destroy three packs in his altered state.

It had taken some time to build the G2 packs and even longer to repair the packs taken out by the anti-proton traps, but after six weeks the work was behind them and the busters had a complete and varied arsenal. After a long discussion, the original Portland busters had unanimously decided to keep the generation three packs for themselves, not just because they were less wasteful, but also because they had classic style. Still, Dakota's insistence of using the G2 ensured they were covered in the event that their own packs broke down. It was a win win situation, and they had already learned years ago that both generations of ghost traps were invaluable.

In addition to construction crews and the new equipment, the firehouse had undergone several other changes as well. A large hammock had been hung upstairs by the four beds so Dakota could spend the night in comfort, the whole place had been cleaned top to bottom and the machine shop had been expanded as well to hold bulk proton canisters. In the basement the containment unit had been given a security overhaul so it took two people to power down or open, a vast improvement.

One of the most defining changes, though, wasn't one that was overt. Lucas had been spending so much time at the firehouse after school it was almost as if he lived there too, but it wasn't to check up on Nico or to aspire to be a Ghostbuster himself... it had been to get Gray's advice on a very concerning issue. During the time that Lucas' higher mental abilities had been switched on by Avery, he had filled at least ten notebooks with stream of consciousness thought. Every page was full of predictions, prophecies, sketches, numbers, codes, words and unreadable script... and every so often, entire pages were filled with the dire warning of the name 'Zytu'.

It had been slow work going through the pages, but the two were making progress. In truth, Gray was relieved to be using his brain and problem solving. He still felt hesitant to go out into the city after he had caused so much damage. The investigation had cleared him of any wrong doing, but he still felt partially responsible for those that had died. He was eager to never let that happen again and to find any way to make up for it. While Gray and Lucas worked upstairs in the lounge at the far side of the building, the rest of the Ghostbusters had been getting ready to take another sweep of the city, but every time Seth went to get in the Ecto, the phone would ring again.

Getting tired of waiting, Dakota climbed out of the Ecto, his huge black boots setting down on the floor. He strode across the firehouse, his arms swinging from where he had cut the sleeves off of his uniform. Interestingly enough, he had sewn the Ghostbusters patch to an arm band and put that on, hugging his upper arm and balancing out the tattoo of the super Nintendo controller on his other arm. Dakota reached the desk, put both hands on it and leaned over the top to see where Seth was sitting on the floor, hooking equipment up to the phone line.

"Please tell me that's an answering machine." Dakota said.

"It's a phone trace system; we had to use it once to track down a ghost in the phone lines." Seth said, setting the machine in place before standing up.

"So we're getting hate calls and you want to track it down?" Dakota asked.

"Actually, it's a call for help... The same call, every few minutes. The guy says the same thing and then gets cut off, the phone line goes dead. It isn't a recording though because I can get him to give different responses." Seth said.

"So it just starts the same way?" Dakota asked. As if to punctuate his statement, the phone rang suddenly. Seth turned the tracker on and picked up the phone, though the tracker clicked as the speaker came on, recording the phone call too.

"Hello, Ghostbusters." Seth replied.

"I... I want to report a ghost; it just came in our kitchen, my wife Sarah's trying to keep it back right now... Please, you gotta help us!" The man said in a panic.

"Where are you?" Seth asked as quickly as he could.

"I'm at two eight three-" and with that the call clicked off. Seth grunted before looking at the machine. It had narrowed in a location.

"Is that as close as we're going to get?" Dakota asked. Seth shook his head.

"It's the same phone number, three or four more calls and we'll get an address. I guess I better ask what it's doing, we don't have plans to help people stuck on instant replay." Seth said.

"We'll be ready." Dakota said, moving back to the Ecto.

****

Gray and Lucas sat across from each other, the notebooks spread before them and two dry erase boards full of information. Lucas was starting to seem quite drained. With school in the middle of the night, noon might as well have been three in the morning for him. Even with spring break starting, he hadn't yet made the switch over yet. He numbly gripped a cup of coffee and lifted it to his lips, sipping away. Gray, however, seemed just as alert and focused as always. It was the perfect puzzle to keep him from spiraling on all the grief he had caused.

"In all the historical references, Zytu is mentioned by rumor... Babylonian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian. He's old, he's feared... If it is a he, the Mesopotamian script makes Zytu sound more like a storm than an entity." Gray mused.

"But you and I both know there isn't enough to go on in our history. I got a C on my report only because the teacher hadn't meant to put it on the sheet, there wasn't enough to go on." Lucas replied.

"Well, in your notebooks it's obviously very bad... End of the world imagery with the blazing heat and snow flakes, the blood rivers... But I can't help but feel that some of this is more connected." Gray said, flipping through the pages before he came to a stop.

"These numbers, they are the latitude and longitude of the firehouse, and these, I think it's an old lunar dating system... which would indicate that something is going to happen hear some two, three weeks from now. It's barely a foot note and it's not near any dire warnings." Gray said.

"But that probably means it isn't related. I have lottery numbers in here, I have nonsense..." Lucas said, closing his eyes. He reached up to rub his face before he looked at Gray again, "I was used by a vampire trying to save his own skin. He wanted to figure out how to stop something from happening. He might have known what it all meant, but I don't and I can't exactly ask him. We can sit here playing Davinchi code all day and night but I'm not going to be any help without some sleep." Lucas said. Gray blushed.

"You're right, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for keeping you up so late." Gray said, bowing his head. Lucas sighed.

"No, I'm sorry for getting so frustrated. I wanted so bad for this to make sense, to be able to help." Lucas said gently.

"It'll work out, we've got lots here. Go get some sleep." Gray smiled. Lucas nodded before he stood, pausing.

"What about you?" Lucas asked. Gray took a breath.

"I need to be here to answer phones and stuff, make sure the workers finish up and don't break anything. I'll be okay, you go to bed." Gray said. Lucas nodded before he moved off to the barracks room to go to sleep on Nico's bed. Gray watched the door shut before he picked up two of the notebooks, taking them with him as he left the lounge. He passed through the kitchen and then down the stairs, moving over to the desk near the back of the main floor. He could still hear the distant hammers and rivets of the roof crew. Gray spread the notebooks out before him and pulled out a piece of scrap paper before flipping through the pages. Gray opened both notebooks to pages with the coordinates sprawled on them, but before he could transfer them the phone rang again. He glanced to the note Seth left before lifting the phone and putting it to his ear.

"Hello, Ghostbusters." Gray answered

"I... I want to report a ghost; it just came in our kitchen, my wife Sarah's trying to keep it back right now... Please, you gotta help us!" The man said in a panic.

"Help is on the way. Stay calm; try not to agitate the ghost. If you can, get out of the house." Gray said.

"But what about my son and my wife, they-" and with that the phone line went dead. No click, no hang up, just... not connected. Gray closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, wondering if the ghost that had trapped that poor family in a loop was something he had summoned to the area with the beacons. Gray's hands contracted tightly as he thought back to how he had been used by Thana. It hadn't started out the same way as Nico's ordeal; he hadn't welcomed Thana in or broken any rules. All he had done was purchase a shirt... But the outcome had been so much worse. Millions in damages, and no matter how indirectly, injuries and deaths were on his head.

Gray wrapped his arms around his stomach almost protectively before he leaned forward, laying his head on the desk. He could still hear the voices of the Portland board of inquiry questioning every detail of the event. How did he approach the shirt, did he know right away, was he able to fight Thana, how much was he being used and how much was free will, was his life actually in danger near the end, was that the reason for his turn of heart. The inquiry had dragged on and on and through it all Seth had supported him, his whole team had, but in the end their testimony was viewed as the team protecting their own...

In the end he had been cleared by the council, but even he wasn't sure if he agreed. Gray had suggested having the busters place him on suspension, but Nico had been quick to point out that he hadn't accepted Thana willingly. None of it felt right to Gray, he had gotten off so easy, but he knew that would change when the findings of the inquiry were released. Not all of the citizens would be so forgiving, especially those that got hurt or lost someone they cared about. Gray closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, turning his head so his ear rested on the desk.

The wood suddenly vibrated as the phone rang again. Gray lifted the handset and brought it to the ear that was facing upright.

"Ghostbusters." Gray answered, trying to still sound business like.

"I... I want to report a ghost; it just came in our kitchen, my wife Sarah's trying to keep it back right now... Please, you gotta help us!" The man said in a panic, just as he had every other loop.

"Help is on the way. Get out of the house, don't wait." Gray said.

"But what about my son and my wife, they are just in the other rooms, Sally is-" and the phone line went dead again. Gray's eyes squeezed shut and he returned the phone to the cradle.

****

Seth and Eli moved through the chain link fence and across the well manicured front lawn, moving toward the door of the yellow and cream colored ranch style home. Everything had its place, every shrub was perfectly trimmed and the mailbox was white, emblazoned with "Collins" in big block red letters. Seth had wanted to pause at the threshold of the yard to contemplate what they were walking into, but if they had already stepped into the radius of the time loop, they were on borrowed time until everything reset. As Seth reached the door and knocked, Eli

"Where are we at?" Eli asked, turning to look up the street. The Ecto had been parked a block and a half away where Dakota and Nico had taken up position, hoping to come up with a plan B if Seth and Eli were caught in the loop.

"Second time around. Ignore the father; go to the kitchen. That's where the ghost is. You didn't get far enough to see the ghost last time." Nico said. Eli locked the radio into broadcast so Nico and Dakota could hear their progress. The door finally opened to reveal a man in his late forties wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. He was wearing socks but no shoes and looked generally perturbed.

"What is it? What do you... Ghostbusters? Is this some kind of checkup?" The man asked in surprise.

"We have reason to believe a ghost has invaded your home, possibly in your kitchen. May we enter?" Seth asked.

"I... don't know, we would know about a ghost. How do I know you aren't some kind of ghost posing as the Ghostbusters? Maybe you want me to give you permission to enter like those vampires, and once I give you permission you can turn us inside out and suck out our souls..." The man said suspiciously.

"Sir, I assure you we are the Ghostbusters, we just need to get into the house, try and help solve this problem..." Eli said, putting on his most diplomatic expression.

"I'm going to need to see some credentials." The man said. Eli's jaw dropped.

"We are Ghostbusters. We have proton packs and patches, what kind of credentials are you expecting?!" Eli asked in shock.

"A ghost! Phil, call the Ghostbusters!!!" came a terrified scream from inside.

"They're already here Sally!" the man said, blushing. He stepped out of the way to let Seth and Eli pass. The two moved into the house and navigated the narrow passages between the lime green furniture across the brown carpets, the sounds of "I Love Lucy" playing on the television. The house was quite clean but incredibly narrow quarters. The dining room table was covered with packages of bottled water.

"Dakota would love their stock pile." Seth muttered. As the two passed, one of the bedroom doors creaked open and a pair of piercing blue eyes gazed out, watching as they reached the kitchen door. Seth tried to open it but the door stopped a centimeter in.

"Ma'am, are you behind the door?" Seth asked.

"N-n-no! It's the oven door; I was cleaning it, I... The ghost is right here, please, I-" The woman's voice faded away as a light swept out from the kitchen, moving through the entire house. The light faded and a cool breeze blew through Seth's hair as he lifted the latch to the chain link fence and began walking across the soft green lawn. Eli looked at the mailbox curiously as he followed Seth before lifting his radio, clicking it on.

"Where are we at?" Eli asked.

"This is round three. You almost got there in time. Don't waste any time with the dad, he's too chatty. Just go right in, to the left. The kitchen door is blocked by an oven door, but the oven isn't on. It's being cleaned, so it shouldn't be hot. Break through." Nico reported back.

"I'm glad you got all that... Let's hope third time is the charm." Eli said, turning the radio onto steady broadcast before looking at Seth, "You heard the man. No pleasantries." Eli said. Seth nodded and turned the front door knob. The knob turned and the door eased open. Seth took a deep breath before he entered, coming across a man in his late forties springing to his feet in shock. Eli kept close to Seth, the two navigating through the tight quarters.

"What the HELL are you doing in my house?!" The man exclaimed, trying to find some sort of weapon.

"We detected a very dangerous ghost in your kitchen, you and your son should get as far from the house as possible, we're really very sorry for the intrusion!" Eli apologized as he moved toward the kitchen.

"Jake? Are you alright?!" The man called out. There was a loud thump in the bedroom adjoining the living room before the door opened a crack.

"What dad?" Jake asked, blushing beat red.

"Are you alright?" The father repeated.

"Ma'am, stand back, we're coming through the door." Seth called out.

"There's an oven door open, but... Oh my god... There's... There's a ghost in here!" Sally screamed out. Seth lifted his boot and kicked through the door, the wood splintering into the kitchen. He stepped in through the hole, onto the stove lid and into the kitchen proper. Eli squeezed in behind Seth, trying to get a good footing and a view of the situation. The woman that was no doubt Sally was backed up against the far corner of the kitchen trembling in fear, but the center of the kitchen was dominated by the looming figure of the ghost no doubt responsible for the time looping, gazing right back at Sally.

The ghost was incredibly impressive even at first glance. From the wait up the being seemed rather human. He had the typical torso, shoulders, arms and face of a teenage boy... but his skin was an intensely vivid robin's egg blue. His hair was a rich iris blue with a touch of violet, falling in feathered layers across his forehead, in front of his ears and down to the base of his skull in the back... but even on his human half there were differences. His ears were long and pointed, sticking out to the sides with a pale powder blue interior. Silver triangles swept in across his cheeks horizontally, seeming half way between some sort of tattoo and some kind of bone.

Below the waist, there wasn't even the pretense of humanity. The creature's smooth stomach transitioned into the segmented, ordered body of some sort of blue worm. Between every segment there was a band of silver material that seemed half bone and half metal. A silver arrow shape hugged either side, connected by the band with a hollow ring shape in the center where his spine would have been. The tail gradually shrunk towards the end where a demonic spade tip extended from the last segment. From head to tail, the ghost was at least ten feet long.

Seth's eyes moved from the small blue nipples on the ghost's chest to the fact that his hands only had four fingers instead of five, and then to the one feature of the ghost that seemed to call out its true purpose. Extended from the ghost's back were three long, sharp silver spikes. The tips were shaped like arrows and they were hollow in the center. They resembled the hands of a clock and the wings of a dragon fly all at the same time, though without a forth arm one branch of the x shape was missing. The ghost turned his head, looking at Seth with featureless white eyes that seemed to emit a faint glow of their own. Seeing Seth, a small smile crossed the ghost's face beneath his soft little nose.

"I've seen this ghost before... somewhere..." Seth whispered softly.

"Maybe in another loop, but we can't let him keep these people trapped. We have to bust him." Eli said, raising his proton blaster. The blue ghost tilted his head as if incredibly curious before he floated forward toward Seth, still looking into his eyes. Eli looked at Seth and then back at the ghost, "Come on, we have to bust him!"

"I... I don't think he meant to harm anyone." Seth said. The ghost smiled brightly, as if generally pleased with himself. He looked Seth over and then Eli, his tail swaying one way and then the other almost like an excited pet. Eli aimed his proton blaster and started to squeeze the trigger, though at the last moment he hesitated. The ghost suddenly lifted a hand and gave a four finger wave before he turned and his long body circled around. As he moved, he lowered his head parallel with the rest of his body before he seemed to tunnel through thin air, his body disappearing into an invisible hole in the middle of the kitchen. Eli and Seth were left staring for a long moment before Sally slowly rose back up to her feet.

"Is it over?" She asked gently. Seth gave a gentle head nod. Sally looked relieved and looked around, realizing her portable television was still on, playing "I Love Lucy" just the same as the tv in the other room. She reached over and turned it off. Eli pulled his radio from his jacket, turning it back from broadcast to default.

"Hey you guys, did we loop?" Eli asked.

"No, you made it past the reset mark. I think you broke the chain." Nico said.

"Ma'am, I think it's over..." Seth said, offering her a smile.

"That being said, it might be best to visit family for a little while or go to a hotel. This ghost had a rather unusual power and until we're sure, it might be best for you to go somewhere away from here." Eli said.

"Well... There is cousin Barbara over in the west hills, but she's such a snob." Sally considered.

"We're sorry about your door..." Seth apologized, lifting the oven door before opening what was left of the kitchen door. Seth, Eli and Sally moved back out to the kitchen where Sally's husband was left looking stunned.

"Is it gone? Did you get it?" He asked.

"Was it a real ghost?!" Jake asked with excitement. Sally looked up, seeing not only her son standing in the doorway but someone behind him. She let out a shriek upon seeing a bright blue color before realizing it was the hair of a teenage boy and not the ghost having returned.

"Lee, is that you?! What are you doing here? Jake, we said no visitors of any kind! How dare you sneak someone in!" Sally screamed.

"We're... just going to go wait outside. If you need us, you seem pretty able to find our number." Seth said, moving for the door. Eli and Seth excused themselves, moving out of the house and across the lawn as the yelling continued behind them.

"Is it safe to come pick you guys up?" Nico asked over the radio.

"Should be." Eli replied, following Seth through the gate to the chain link fence. When they made it to the street, Eli turned to Seth.

"What did you mean back there, that you'd seen that ghost?" Eli asked. Seth shrugged gently.

"I don't know, he just seemed familiar somehow... but I can't place it. It's like some half remembered dream. Maybe I caught a glance of him in some loop, or maybe it's some side effect of his powers." Seth said.

"Or maybe you did see him sometime, who knows... But we didn't really bust him, he left peacefully... I don't know what that means for us." Eli said.

"It means he might show up again at some point. We'll have to figure out what to do when that happens, but he didn't seem to want to hurt anyone, he seemed more curious than anything else." Seth replied.

"It'd be a nice change of pace to run across a ghost that doesn't want to hurt anyone, though Nico made that mistake once already." Eli said, looking up as the Ecto rolled to a stop in front of them. Seth and Eli put their proton packs in the back before moving around to climb in the passenger doors.

****

Gray trailed his fingers across the hard bound books on the bookshelf before he pulled out the well worn brown spine of Tobin's spirit guide. He opened it up and started flipping through the pages as he turned to move back toward the table where the other four Ghostbusters were already sitting.

"It sounds like what you encountered is a Time Wyrm." Gray said, trying to find the right page. He flipped past dozens of entries before he nodded to himself and set the book down. On the page was a picture of a creature much like the one from the house, though he appeared older and more mature with more violet skin tone and a black goatee.

"Yeah, a time wyrm... Look Seth, the same clock hand things on the back, the same sharp tail." Eli said, looking at Seth.

"And the same eyes." Seth replied. Gray nodded, satisfied they had found the right ghost. He pulled the book back to read through the article.

"Time wyrms are class six, full body entities." Gray started.

"Pretty powerful." Nico said.

"They'd have to be to loop time itself." Dakota replied.

"The spirit guide has record of only two sightings of time wyrms in our existence. The first was 700 B.C. at the dial of Ahaz, it was a sundial and the first to be written down historically. The legend says that the first sundial had been a gift from the wyrm, but it wasn't until then that he came to check on how humanity had used the gift." Gray said with intrigue.

"No destruction? No doomsday?" Dakota asked. Gray shook his head and kept reading.

"The second sighting was in 1955 in the United Kingdom at the first successful operation of an accurate atomic clock. It appeared for a brief moment, observed the device and then left..." Gray said in wonder.

"So in both cases all it did was show up and look around?" Dakota asked in disbelief. Eli smiled.

"Don't forget, it is implied that one gave humanity our first sundial." Eli replied.

"Tobin's grandson theorized that Time Wyrms are natural observers, that they exist somewhere in the layers of time itself to witness the growth and evolution of the universe, burrowing from point to point just long enough to pop up and learn." Gray said.

"So how does a ghost made of time itself show up in a kitchen bothering some lady cleaning her oven?" Nico asked in confusion. Gray's eyes slowly lowered to the floor as he took a breath.

"I think I did it." Gray said gently.

"What?" Seth asked. Gray looked back up.

"The Beacons, the massive flood of PKE. Like you said, the time wyrm looked immature. What if he was drawn out of his layer of reality, attracted by all the activity going on here? He emerged into our reality and his natural curiosity is leading him around." Gray said.

"But then why did he stop the loops when we got there? Why did he leave? Did he just give up and go back to his home?" Eli asked.

"I don't know... Hopefully he has the strength to do that, if not we're going to have to figure out a way to help him. This is my fault..." Gray said softly.

"Well, the other time wyrms were attracted by innovations with time keeping pieces. Maybe we could rig up a clock of our own, see if that works?" Eli suggested.

"That could work. I'll get started in it. Unless he shows up again, all we can do is wait." Gray said.

"Have any more calls come in?" Seth asked. Gray shook his head.

"First quiet afternoon in weeks." He replied.

"Good... We're almost out of groceries, I need to go pick up some. You want anything special?" Seth asked.

"Swiss cheese." Eli said with a smile.

"Some oysters maybe." Nico joked. Eli jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow.

"I'm alright." Gray said. He hadn't really been feeling hungry recently.

"I'll come with you, maybe I'll see something there I like." Dakota said, standing up. Seth gave a nod and the two made their way to the stairs.

"I should go get started designing a clock." Gray added, putting the book on the shelf before he too went downstairs. Eli and Nico looked at each other, a smile spreading across their faces.

"I thought they'd never leave." Nico said before he leaned in to kiss Eli, their lips coming together. Nico reached over, rolling the palm of his hand over Eli's groin to quickly bring him to full erection.

****

The firehouse bedroom was quiet and still. The blinds had been drawn over the windows and the doors were shut. Lucas had passed out cold on Nico's bed and was making up for lost time. In his sleeping state, he was unaware that the air in the center of the room had started to ripple and then shimmer before the blue time wyrm came spilling out of his invisible hole like a serpent, lifting his torso upright as he came to a stop, his tail half coiling in the air behind him. He looked around before a large grin crossed his face. He was happy that he had found where the interesting things lived.

The things at the last place were a little interesting, seeing what they did over and over again and what would change, but the ones that came later... they buzzed with energy, they were so complex. The blue wyrm floated along before realizing there was someone in the room with him. He looked down at Lucas' sleeping form, his white eyes glowing in the darkness as he gazed at the young man. The wyrm could see Lucas' past, the experiences he had been through but most interestingly enough, the changes.

As the time wyrm gazed at Lucas, his white eyes began to shimmer as silver vertical slit irises appeared only for a moment, the small arrow on his back rotating around before falling back into position. The wyrm's appearance returned to normal, but Lucas was starting to change. Slowly the tips of the human's ears began to push up into subtle points and the color drained away from Lucas' skin, leaving him quite pale. His brown hair seemed to grow darker, almost black and his upper lips pushed out just a bit, displaced by thick, sharp fangs. Lucas' shirt grew tighter as his muscles firmed, his body refining into perfect shape. Lucas' hands tightened as his nails turned black and stretched into claws, his claws digging into the sheets.

The tip of the time wyrm's tail flopped around in excitement as he saw what fun he could have here. These things were much more interesting. He turned and moved over to the wall, swimming through the air before he passed through the wall itself. He emerged on the other side, his face scrunched up in discomfort. He shook his head to get rid of the feeling. He didn't like passing through solid objects. He looked around at the room he had come to. It was just like the room he had been in at the other place. It had a big humming cold white thing, a smaller box that could get very hot, the holes in the counter that could fill with water. Yes, it was just like that room he had met the interesting things in.

The wyrm moved around the room before he noticed a colorful blue package on the counter. He moved over and pulled the plastic back, looking at the clear tray resting inside. There were a few crumbs of brown resting inside. He had seen humans eat many times since he'd come to this place, but he'd never had a chance to try it himself. The wyrm closed his eyes and concentrated. This time two of the arms on his back began rotating before the crumbs disappeared and a single cookie appeared in the tray. The wyrm opened one eye hesitantly before seeing that he had succeeded.

With another flash of his grin, the wyrm grabbed the cookie and popped it into his mouth, munching away and savoring the taste before he let out a small, silent sigh of relief. The cookie had tasted great, though it seemed like alone it wasn't quite right. He turned his eyes on the humming white thing and moved to open the fridge, looking inside. There were many bottles and containers of things. His eyes settled on a glass bottle holding a thick liquid the same color as the cookies.

Figuring that good things must come in the same color, the time wyrm pulled out the bottle, opened the lid and tipped it back. The maple syrup flowed into his mouth and across his tongue, but the incredible sweetness and the odd stickiness was not at all what he had hoped. The wyrm shook his head and spit out the syrup, putting the uncapped bottle back in the fridge before reaching up to wipe his mouth off on his arm. He tried to think back to what he saw other humans drink before he realized the large jug full of white might be a better option.

The lid to the milk was removed and the wyrm lifted the jug up, putting his lips around the lip as he began to drink it back. The ghost's tail went slack and relaxed in satisfaction as he gulped it down, feeling the cool liquid stream into his stomach. Seconds trailed into moments, and in moments the jug was empty. The wyrm sighed again, realizing that was indeed the feeling he had been hoping for. He politely returned the empty plastic jug to its place in the fridge so it could hopefully refill before he moved along his way.

Coming to another wall, the wyrm grimaced realizing that he would have to pass through another solid object. He sighed before he began wriggling through the wall. As he emerged on the other side, he came out into a wide open room with book shelves and a table, a long hall and then a stairwell at the far end... and two more interesting things. They were close together, their faces pressing, their hands working over each other's bodies. The wyrm tilted his head, wondering what they were doing. Was it some kind of communication? Regardless of what they were doing, though, what they had done was far more interesting.

As the time wyrm gazed at Nico and Eli, he saw all the interesting things that had happened in their lives. He saw them at all their ages, he saw Nico as a satyr and two different versions of tentacle monster and he saw Eli as a bat, a plant, a ghost and a tentacle monster as well. It was all extraordinarily fascinating... and the wyrm couldn't help but experiment. His eyes began to emit more light as the arms on his back began to spin, triggering the changes to start in Nico and Eli.

While Elia nd Nico had been content to kiss and fondle, at least at first, Eli was starting to feel better and better by the moment. He could feel the warmth of the afternoon sun streaming through the window, soaking into his bare arms, heating the flesh. As much heaven as he felt with Nico, the sunlight was just as good, infusing him with energy. Eli reached up to start stripping his shirt from his body. Nico moved to help, thinking that it would get them that much closer to sex... and Nico was feeling very horny, hornier than he had in a long time.

The kiss they shared grew more passionate, more animal. Eli grabbed a hold of Nico's shirt and began to tear it, splitting the cloth and revealing his chest. Eli tugged the scraps off and tossed them aside, trailing his fingers across Nico's firm, muscled chest. His fingers grazed through soft dark hair that hadn't been there before. Their tongues tangled as if the fate of the world depended on it, but slowly the saliva they swapped was getting thicker, mostly from Eli's mouth. Nico drank the saliva down as it started tasting a bit sweeter, almost like nectar.

The time wyrm watched with great curiosity and fascination as Eli's hair began to grow out inches at a time, the light blond hair slowly darkening into a rich earthy brown. As his hair slipped over his shoulders, Eli's skin began to change as well, taking on a soft green color that grew more intense as the sun soaked his flesh. Nico too was experiencing quite a shift. His pale skin was taking on a fine tan and the hair on his arms was getting a bit thicker as his fingernails darkened, turning brownish black. Eli and Nico both seemed to have the same idea as they began pawing at their pants, having to get them off. The thought that they might get caught didn't even occur to them.

As their pants were unbuttoned, unzipped and kicked off of their bodies, their full, erect cocks emerged to the open air. Neither man had worn underwear in months. Nico's cock was throbbing in time with his heart beat, having already swollen past its normal size, reaching to eleven inches. Eli, too, was bigger than before but had some catching up to do at nine inches. The two were so wrapped up in their passion; they hadn't even noticed the changes happening to them.

Nico's ears throbbed as they stretched out into points, his black hair growing shaggier and more feathered. His upper lip and chin darkened as stubble pushed out. In moments Nico had grown a fine mustache and a medium length curved goatee. The hair on his legs was incredibly thick, but more than that it was becoming soft and smooth, dense and thick, so much so that his skin was disappearing beneath it. Eli wrapped his hands around Nico's cock and began to stroke it off, up and down, faster and harder. The shaft responded by growing in his hands, breaking the one foot mark, adding on inches, thickening at the same time.

Eli's change had progressed quickly as well. A pattern of green vines had spread out across his chest, half like a tattoo and half like actual plant matter. His bush was brown, his skin was green and his body was refining. His muscles changed, becoming lithe and sleek. His hips rounded a bit, his spine elongated. It was a fluid, steady motion. As Nico gripped Eli's cock with both hands and began to stroke, his shaft grew longer with every upward motion, but every downward motion seemed to make it thicker and broader. Nico suddenly pushed Eli from the chair, knocking him onto the floor, pinning him as they kissed and groped.

The time wyrm watched in surprise, starting to worry that he had made the beings angry and that they were fighting. He was about to loop time back and change his mistake before he heard Eli moan, then Nico. It didn't sound like an unhappy noise. The time wyrm lowered down to the floor, laying his long tail along the wood as he watched the beings embrace. Nico and Eli kissed deeply, shuddering as their hands were all over each other. They gave up giving each other hand jobs and ground their groins together, humping desperately before Nico grabbed Eli's hips and lifted them, tilting his waist back and getting him to expose his hole.

Eli gasped out in pleasure as he felt the very large head of Nico's shaft pushing against his entrance. Nico rubbed and ground before, with one fluid thrust, he was in. Nico slid in deeper and deeper, grinding against Eli before pulling back and thrusting again. Eli's head tipped back and he moaned in passion. Nico winced in a mixture of pleasure and pain as two bulges formed on his forehead. A moment later the skin was punctured and two thick horns pushed out from the skin, curving back along his skull above his black hair.

Nico snorted gently as his nose took on a slightly more animalistic shape, though barely. Eli, meanwhile, had been writhing in the sunlight as his ass was filled. A small orchid blossom appeared above his left ear before it opened up into a full flower. Eli's eyes snapped open, now lime green, his chest rising and falling in absolute lust. Nico was a power house, thrusting deep into Eli, slamming into his g-spot over and over again. Nico bleated out in pleasure as his balls tugged up and he unleashed a thick load of cum, but it didn't even slow him down. He kept thrusting, churning his seed with his cock deep inside Eli.

The time wyrm watched in amazement, wondering what it all meant. He studied Nico and Eli for a long moment before he looked down at his own hands. With his left he brought his thumb and index finger together to form a circle. He took his right index finger over and began sliding it back and forth through the circle. He looked back up at Eli and Nico, repeating the gesture, wondering what that meant, what it was for. Whatever it was, they seemed to like it a great deal.

Eli panted hard, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. His fingers clawed at the floor before he screamed out and his cock pulsed, showering his chest, neck and chin with thick white cream. The time wyrm grinned happily, wondering if that was the same substance from the humming cold white box that held all the food. Eli collapsed on the floor, panting, spent, but with the biggest grin on his face the time wyrm had ever seen. That moment had been incredibly special... so special that it deserved to happen again. The arrows growing from the time wyrm's back began to spin and move as the silver irises appeared in his eyes once more. White light spread out across the upper floor of the firehouse.

Once more Eli's pants and moans were becoming more and more frantic before he shuddered and came, his seed spraying out thickly all over his upper body before he collapsed on the floor again, Nico still going at it. The time wyrm grinned happily and looped it again, watching Eli's orgasm once more before he let time continue on. A moment later Nico screamed out in lust again before he came, pumping thick cum into Eli before he collapsed on his lover, panting. Nico breathed deeply, smelling an unusual sweet smell... like wild flowers. He opened his eyes slowly, realizing his head was resting on a green chest. He turned his head, looking at Eli's face.

"Eli, you... you... The plant, the alien plant thing." Nico whispered. Eli opened his eyes in confusion.

"What are-" Eli paused, looking at Nico before moaning, "You're a satyr again." Eli said before he grabbed Nico's head, his fingers tangling in the dark hair, kissing him frantically. Nico moaned, then gasped as Eli's ass started to milk his huge cock. Nico grunted before begrudgingly breaking the kiss.

"What happened? I don't feel possessed." Nico said.

"Neither do I, just very horny." Eli said. Nico turned before he spotted something that didn't belong, a large blue being with solid white eyes. Nico gently jabbed Eli before pointing. Eli turned, inhaling gently.

"That's him..." Eli said. Nico slowly began withdrawing from Eli's ass, pulling out two feet of satyr cock. The time wyrm slowly lifted back into the air, realizing the humans had noticed him. He didn't know if they were happy or angry, but he didn't want to be in trouble like he had been with the other ghosts when he first arrived. He turned and spiraled down, pushing through the floor. He emerged into a large dark room full of big humming machines and bins of thick metal. It wasn't at all interesting in there. He continued on through the wall and out into the main room of the firehouse.

To his left he saw Grayson asleep on his desk. The wyrm stayed close to the ceiling, high above everything as he debated his options for Gray. He had been turned into a wolf and a bat, though the bat seemed far more encompassing. He had passed on the bat form for Eli, now was his chance to experience it. The time wyrm moved along the ceiling to get a better look before his powers manifested once more, the arms on his back spinning and his eyes shimmering.

At first, in his sleeping state, nothing seemed to happen... but in Gray's mouth his teeth were changing, large fangs forming that soon were so large and curved that his mouth opened and a long tongue slipped out. Gray's body started to shift next, his muscles pushing out all over his body. His shirt went from appearing baggy to being stretched skin tight. Gray's eyes fluttered open as he felt it harder to breath, sitting up. He blinked in confusion before realizing something was very wrong with his face. He moved his tongue and realized it was way longer than it should be.

"Whub the hebb?" Gray muttered, the tongue interfering with his speech. He pulled out a mirror and looked at himself, gasping softly as he watched his ears stretch into points and creep up through his black hair, settling at the top of his head. Gray's face started to elongate, the bones popping and shifting. His nose crept upwards slowly into a horn shape as soft brown fur began pushing out all over his skin. Gray reached for the drawer of the desk, but doing so tore his shirt, apparently just in time for his wings to start growing in.

Gray fumbled the door open and pulled out a PKE meter, turning it on. The bars immediately shot straight out, the signals reading incredibly high. Gray started looking around, trying to pin out a source. As unsettling as turning into a bat was, he still felt like he was in his right mind... though he was feeling hornier than ever. Gray soon moaned, his pants tenting sharply as his cock changed, starting to drool precum steadily. A wet slick spot formed in his pants, widening as a potent bat musk filled the air. Gray lowered his head, shuddering as his torn shirt fell to the ground, leaving behind a furry torso and leathery wings, Gray's fingers stretching before his shoes slowly spread apart, stretched by bat feet.

Gray stumbled around his desk, wearing nothing but cum stained pants, looking for all intents and purposes like a bipedal furry brown bat with a bit of black fluff on his head. He resisted the urge to jack off and looked around before slowly lifting the PKE meter. Spotting the Time Wyrm near the ceiling, Gray tried not to move much, setting the meter to an intensive scan. It chirped and hummed as it did a more complete study of the ghost, trying to ascertain as much as possible.

When the front door clicked open and Seth entered carrying groceries, both Gray and the Time Wyrm turned to look at him. Gray tried to shout out a warning but only squeaks escaped his lips. The wyrm, however, was confronted with another variety of options. His eyes glimmered as he focused on Seth and Seth felt a surge of power ripping through his body. The bag of groceries fell to the ground as Seth's spine began to stretch, his ribs expanding larger. Just as with Gray, his shirt was soon far too tight, clinging to his growing body.

Seth's pants grew tight as well, a huge bulge forming in the groin, but Seth wasn't even hard yet. Gray could see the man's soft cock growing like a snake in his pants, looping and slipping around, three inches wide, then four without even being hard... but Seth was starting to get very hard, very fast. Seth's boots grew tight as well, his entire body growing larger in every way. He passed six foot five, then six foot seven. All the while his stomach hardened into washboard abs and his pecs thickened.

Light began to shimmer around his ears as thick steel seemed to materialize, slipping through the piercing holes he had been letting heal. The rings were thick and heavy, stretching Seth's ears a bit, making him look all the tougher. Seth moaned sharply, overwhelmed by the pleasure. His wavy brown hair began growing out, dropping along his neck, then brushing across his shoulders before dropping down to the small of his back. The skin of his arms shimmered as tattoos appeared, coiling copper colored snakes moving up his arms, sliding in and out of skulls with demonic horns emerging from them.

Seth's moans and groans of pleasure intensified as stubble pushed out across his cheeks and upper lip. His long goatee began stretching longer, reaching six inches, seven, then eight. A thick mustache pushed out, curving over his upper lip until it disappeared from sight. The facial hair on his cheeks grew out at an even more astonishing rate, growing out inch after inch until it was as long as his goatee, his full beard dominating his very tough face. Seth moaned again sharply, especially as a thick steel nose ring appeared through his nostrils. His body had stopped growing when he hit seven feet of height, though his shirt and boots looked ready to collapse at any second.

It took Seth a moment to recover his senses. The pleasure of the change was intense, and as he looked at himself he realized what had happened. He had taken on his Viking demon form, or at least the one he would have had if the Nidhogg concert had finished. Seth panted softly before he turned, seeing Gray as a bat... a sexy, furry giant bat... dripping with pre and smelling of musk. Seth ran his tongue over his sharpened teeth before he started moving toward Gray, thinking of how metal rockers had supposedly bitten the heads off of bats... but he'd much rather do something else with Gray's head.

"Seth, are you okay?" Gray asked, his voice distorted and hard to understand, but audible enough. Seth hesitated.

"I... yeah. I guess. I feel like me, but so turned on... I need you." Seth said, his hands clenching.

"It's the time wyrm. He can turn on old forms!" Eli said, coming down the stairs, his bare green feed padding on the steps. There was the clomping of hooves behind him as Nico descended, neither of them having any clothes on.

"He's right up there." Gray said gently.

"But we aren't vulnerable to the psychology of those forms?" Seth asked.

"It's just physical. The ghosts that caused this aren't affecting us." Eli replied.

"So why is he doing it?" Seth asked.

"He's curious about time... about our pasts, apparently the changes we went through." Eli smiled.

"The hell is going on here?" Dakota's voice came from the doorway. The time wyrm turned to face Dakota and look over the human before he frowned. Dakota lacked any of the exotic forms of the others, though he had a variety of looks in his life. The time wyrm's eyes flashed as the arms on his back spun much faster than they had for the rest of the Ghostbusters. Dakota grunted softly as his muscles seemed to soften a bit, his spine contracting a little.

As the other busters watched, Dakota seemed to be moving back through time. While he had started twenty eight years old, they saw him pass through a variety of ages... and then suddenly his black kinky hair began bushing out, spreading in every direction until he had a thick fro. His mustache and goatee had ungrown but thick mutton chops had pushed out of his cheeks, thick and luxurious. He appeared to be no more than eighteen, a full decade younger.

"Holy shit..." Nico muttered in amazement at how different Dakota looked.

"Oh HELL no, that ghost didn't just... I'm going to bust the sucker..." Dakota growled, setting the groceries down and moving for his locker.

"Wait... He doesn't mean any harm, he isn't a malevolent ghost. If we can communicate with him, there might be a way to get him to control his curiosity a little better." Eli said.

"How do we communicate with it? The only ghosts we've met smart enough to talk to us usually try to conquer the world." Nico said.

"Gestures..." Seth said, gazing back up the time wyrm, trying to place it in his memory. If Gray was right, the time wyrm hadn't been in the human realm for more than a month and a half, but somehow it was familiar, somehow he knew it.

"Gestures?" Nico asked in surprise.

"Sign language, body language. We use that as a basis for communication until we learn more efficient ways." Gray said.

"Exactly." Eli said, "Now... Everyone, just trust me for a minute." Eli said, moving over to Nico first. Eli wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and gave him a warm hug. Nico was all too happy to return the favor, hugging Eli back before they pulled away. Eli moved to hug Gray next. The time wyrm tilted his head, watching curiously as the bat and the plant boy hugged and then parted. Eli moved over to hug Seth, though Eli's head barely made it up to the viking's nipple. Seth squeezed Eli with an incredible strength and Eli shuddered, trying not to be caught up in his musk before he pulled away and moved to Dakota. Dakota's brow lowered.

"I don't do hugs." Dakota replied.

"Oh quit pouting you big baby." Eli said before he wrapped his arms around Dakota. Dakota hesitated before he sighed and hugged Eli back, though he had to admit that Eli smelled fantastic. He inhaled gently, the scent of wild flowers potent. With the hug complete, Eli moved away from Dakota and out into the open before he looked up at the blue time wyrm floating above them all. Eli opened his arms wide toward it.

"I know you may think you're an observer, but you're taking part in our world... So why don't you come down here and give me a hug?" Eli asked. The time wyrm had no idea what the sounds the things making were, but he had seen the green one embrace all the others and now it was reaching out to him. It didn't seem right to refuse.

The creature's long body snaked its way down until the wyrm was floating at eye level across from Eli. Eli gazed into its solid white eyes, still holding his arms out. The wyrm advanced closer and closer until his blue chest brushed against Eli's green one. Eli wrapped his arms around the wyrm's lithe torso; letting them rest between the arrow shape spines on the creature's back. The wyrm slowly wrapped his blue arms around Eli's back, holding him by his shoulders before he realized how very warm the being was. He shivered in delight and squeezed Eli much tighter, laying his head on the young man's shoulder before his five feet of tail coiled around Eli's legs.

Eli gasped as he was encased in tail, but the time wyrm seemed to be friendly. It rubbed its soft cheek on Eli's shoulder, nuzzling his button nose into Eli's neck, his four fingered hands stroking Eli's back before he released. The time wyrm turned, looking at the other Ghostbusters before he repeated the same process Eli had. He gave Nico a hug, then Gray, then Seth. The time wyrm seemed to have more of a difficulty with Seth's immense size, unable to reach around him, his tail barely making two loops. With Seth's hug done, the wyrm moved over to Dakota.

Dakota resisted a bit but didn't move as the creature wrapped around him and cuddled against him. While Dakota had been hesitant to the idea, his posture slowly relaxed and he began to rub the wyrm's back as they hugged, remembering what it was like to have real physical contact. It had been a while and he hadn't expected his first encounter since then to be with a ghost. Finally the wyrm extracted himself from Dakota and moved back to the center of the busters, looking around to see what the next custom was going to be... at least until he spotted a jug of milk sticking out of one of the bags.

The blue wyrm shot forward with impeccable speed and extracted the jug, popping the top off before he tipped the jug back. The Ghostbusters watched as the stream of white cream poured into his mouth and disappeared into his body, a constant steady series of gulps until the jug was empty again... but seeing the jug was empty, his smile soon turned into a frown. He closed his eyes and the small clock hand on his back quivered. The milk jug disappeared from his hand, reappearing back in the bag. He pulled it out and repeated the process, draining the same jug of milk.

"Between all of those time loops and this, he really must not get tired of reruns." Seth muttered. Gray grinned wide.

"That's a great name..." Gray smiled.

"What is?" Seth asked in confusion.

"Rerun... All the time loops, the past forms. It just makes sense." Gray said. Eli smiled at that, moving closer to the ghost. The time wyrm turned to look at the plant boy.

"Well, Rerun, I'm Eli." Eli said. He pointed to himself and then made a sign language E over his heart, "Eli." He then pointed to the ghost and crossed his index and ring finger to make a sign language r, "Rerun." He said next. Eli moved around the room, giving each of the Ghotbusters a sign language letter and introducing their names.

The time wyrm watched, his brows furrowed in concentration. This custom was much more complex than the hugging one. Once Eli had gone around the entire circle, the time wyrm looked down at his own hands. He tried making the shapes. His thumb between his first two fingers for Seth, his thumb another finger down for Nico. He made the signs for D and G for Dakota and Gray and then he crossed his index and ring finger before looking up at Eli. He pointed at himself and then made the symbol again. Eli nodded.

"Yes, Rerun." Eli said, "At least until you can tell us your real name." Eli smiled. While the new hand symbols were quite complicated, there was one universal meaning for smiles and Rerun was quite happy to see Eli smile. He swam over and gave Eli another hug, wrapping him up tightly in his tail. Eli hugged Rerun back, laughing and giggling.

"I'm... going to put groceries away. Let me know when you can talk to him well enough to turn us back." Dakota said, moving to scoop up the groceries and take them upstairs. Nico moved to help, seeming much steadier on his goat legs than he had been before. Rerun slowly extracted himself from Eli before gazing at him, wondering what the next lesson would be. Eli smiled before he moved for the stairs, waving for Rerun to follow him. Rerun hesitated for a moment before he followed, his tail swaying as he moved through the air.

Gray and Seth watched the other three busters move up the stairs before disappearing from sight. Seth turned and grabbed Gray's furry head, pressing his mouth to Gray's muzzle. Gray moaned and melted into the kiss, embracing his giant lover before he wrapped his huge leathery wings around his boyfriend just as Seth had when he was a gargoyle. It seemed that no matter what happened, they were a good match.

****

After six weeks of constant work, to the outside world it seemed as if the Ghostbusters had dialed back to a more reasonable workload. Inside the firehouse though it had been quite a different story. Eli and Lucas had taken to teaching Rerun American sign language with a slight twist. Rerun's lack of pinky fingers seemed quite cute, but it changed several symbols. Still, Rerun had taken the lessons in stride, learning at an impressive rate... though when his watch no longer matched the firehouse's clock, Eli realized that Rerun might have looped time in order to do some review.

Four days had passed and the busters were still in their modified forms. Dakota and Seth had taken to handling the routine calls during the day and Lucas had helped out at night. His vampire reflexes had come in handy, but for some of the busters it was wearing rather thin... but not all of them. Eli was still amused that Seth had asked to be left as he was for a while if Rerun had that power. It seemed being the epitome of masculinity was a major turn on.

Eli sat at the kitchen table with Lucas, the blinds drawn tightly shut to keep out the late afternoon sunset so Lucas wouldn't be harmed. After four days, Eli believed they had finally taught Rerun enough sign language to discuss subjects as complex as his abilities. Rerun lifted a glass of milk and took a swallow before offering Lucas some. Hoping to be nice, Lucas accepted the cup and sipped at it, though it tasted awful. Lucas had been relegated to eating raw meat in his vampire form to try and get enough blood to satiate himself.

"Rerun, do you understand your powers to make us things we used to be?" Eli asked out loud as he signed it out. Rerun nodded. Eli took a breath, "We really have fun being these fun things, you made us very happy." Eli explained. Rerun grinned wide, floating a little higher in the air. Eli gave a soft sheepish smile, "but we can't be them all the time. We have to be normal sometimes to go do our work, or we can't get any more milk or food or keep the lights on here." Eli explained. Rerun started signing quickly.

'Why have to be normal if you like this more?' he signed, concerned that he had missed something very important, especially since they had been in their new forms for several days now.

"If we do work for other people, they give us money. With money we get food and good things. They don't understand these good forms." Eli said. Rerun reached up and scratched his naked chest in contemplation for a moment.

'That why the things at the house were so boring?' Rerun asked. Eli laughed despite himself.

"What things?" Lucas asked, watching the conversation unfold.

"He means the people at the house we found him at. He sees us as people but..." Eli paused, realizing he hadn't answered Rerun. He turned back to sign and talk at the same time, "Most humans can't change into other things, they only grow over time like Dakota. They don't know it can be another way." Eli explained.

'But you like forms?' Rerun asked. Eli nodded.

"When we turned into these things the first time, it was strange and scary... But you let us have fun like this and be ourselves. We don't hurt anyone, it is fun. We can't have fun all the time though." Eli said. Rerun considered.

'Do you want normal?' Rerun signed back.

"For a while. We all do except Seth." Eli signed. Rerun laughed silently.

'Why not Seth?' Rerun asked.

"He likes being so big." Eli smirked. Rerun nodded happily before he closed his eyes. A soft, pale white light spread outward from his body, passing through the walls and floor of the firehouse. As the light dissipated, Lucas realized he had regained skin tone and his fangs were gone. Eli looked at his arms, they were normal again. Eli stood up and moved around the table to give Rerun a hug. Lucas stood up from his chair and hugged the time wyrm from the back. After a moment Eli moved to sit back down.

'All good?' Rerun signed. Eli nodded.

"All good, thank you. If you still want to see us in other forms, we can tell you when it's alright. We can all have fun times." Eli said. Rerun nodded.

'I have question.' He signed.

"What is it?" Eli replied.

'What is...' Rerun hesitated. He hadn't been taught the sign for what he wanted to ask, but he remembered it from his first day with the Ghostbusters. He made a circle with his left hand and slid his right index finger through it, sliding it in and out repeatedly. Eli blushed brightly at the question.

"Well, uh..." Eli muttered.

"Hey everyone, we're back." Seth's voice came up the stairs.

"I'm back to normal but goat man isn't." Dakota said, the two moving up the stairs. Rerun left his spot at the table, forgetting the question he had asked when he moved to hug Dakota and then Seth before backing up.

"I have a present for you." Seth said, reaching into a bag. Rerun turned back to Eli to be sure of what Seth had said. In addition to the signs, Rerun was starting to understand lip movements, but he wasn't nearly as sure.

'He has a gift to give you.' Eli signed. Rerun's solid white eyes shot wide in surprise before he spun around to face Seth in excitement. Seth withdrew a small t-shirt from the bag, something he had picked up from a department store. Most of the shirt was a pale sea foam green, though emblazoned on the chest was a vertical black oval on which an hour glass icon had been screen printed. The hour glass was solid white, though the sand in the image was a faint sandy yellow color, the same color as the collar of the shirt.

Rerun floated in mid air, his jaw hanging partially open. He had never gotten a present before, but he knew what the image on the shirt meant... It was a time piece, a way to tell time passing... and it could be turned over and time could run the other way. It was just like him, the gift was him. Rerun looked back up at Seth, his pale blue chest rising and falling in simulated breath before he all but threw himself at Seth, clinging to him. Seth caught Rerun in surprise, patting his back. The ghost nuzzled his chest before he pulled back.

'Thank you!' Rerun signed, accepting the shirt and holding it in his hands.

'You're welcome.' Seth replied back, one of the few signs he had been able to remember. Rerun turned the shirt over, looking at the back. A circle had been cut out of the back to make room for the boney metal clock hands extending from his spine like wings. Rerun started to pull the shirt on over his head and Dakota moved to help slip it over the hands. It took some doing, but soon his fluffy lilac blue hair emerged from the collar, then his head. The shirt settled down over his torso, covering his blue nipples, the hem resting just above where his torso transitioned into his long tail.

Rerun moved over to the nearest mirror and looked at himself. His body was blue, his hair was a dark blue, even his tongue was purple. After living life so much on one end of the color spectrum, having a green shirt really stood out and made Rerun happy. He turned around to look at Seth and Dakota sitting down with Lucas and Eli. Rerun thought about how alone he had been in the other place, then how crowded the new place had been with ghosts... but now there was just the right amount of people and they liked him.

As Rerun thought about his life, his lips parted and he let out a silent yawn, stretching his lithe blue arms out. He watched the other busters start to make dinner and get ready for their evening, but one was missing. Gray wasn't there. Rerun left the dining room and moved into the bedroom, swimming through the air to where Gray was. He was about to ask Gray to come join the others, but seeing the asian man so deeply asleep, Rerun couldn't help but envy him.

Slowly the time wyrm lowered down before he leaned forward, his torso shifting parallel with his tail. His body curled around and around itself into one big coil of wyrm that floated down every so gently to rest on Gray's lap and chest. Gray opened his eyes a bit in surprise before realizing that it was Rerun that had curled up on him like a cat. Gray smiled and reached out to pet Rerun's head before he drifted back to sleep. Before long Rerun was asleep as well, a very content smile on his face.