FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ghostbusters: Regenesis Chapter 16 (Green with Envy) Written by Leo_Todrius

Far more white noise than usual filled the firehouse as box fans ran in conjunction with the air conditioning, but it still wasn't enough. The whole building was sweltering. Thankfully there had been fewer reports of ghosts coinciding with the heat wave so the busters hadn't had to combat the elements while wearing heavy equipment, something they were all grateful for. Despite the fact that heat rose, most of the cooling was focused on the second floor and as such the Ghostbusters had gathered there.

Eli sat in a chair by his easel next to the book cases rolling a frozen bottle of water up and down his bare chest, wearing only khaki shorts. The condensation ran in tiny rivulets down between his pecs, filling his belly button until it evaporated away. Nico was a short distance away, sprawled out on the wood floor because it was simply cooler. Gray and Dakota sat at the table, piecing together the artifacts they had gathered from the different dimensions, trying to figure out how close they were.

The artifacts were all different shapes and sizes, all made of the same glossy black stone like metal, and all... interconnected from the looks of it. They had one piece from the Peoplebusters, one piece from the Naga, and one piece from the Wild West. Two of them had been disk shapes and the third was more of a curve or branch. After some effort, Dakota and Gray had slipped them together into a sort of fishbone shape, or at least half a fish bone. They had the top and two ribs at least. Still, it was entirely unstable and the larger piece had two more notches, one at the front and one for what was likely a third disc... And they were running out of time.

Gray stood up and moved back over toward the laptop computer resting on the kitchen counter. Seth glanced up from where he was doing dishes, complete with bright yellow gloves. Rerun was draped along the countertop, stretched out to his full ten feet in length, drying the dishes Seth handed him before putting them in a drying rack. The small spade of his tail swayed back and forth, much less energetic than usual.

"Done with your puzzle?" Seth asked.

"As much as we can be. It feels like we're missing a corner piece." Gray said, moving to look at the computer, moving his hand over the touch pad. The screen flashed back to life, showing the locations where the busters had crossed dimensions; Lloyd Center Mall, the Ira Fountain, and in West Hills. It was geographically rather clustered, landing on all sides of the firehouse. Worst of all, it wasn't quite enough to make a pattern at all. They didn't even know how many pieces they were retrieving. Gray sighed gently and leaned back. Seth pulled off his gloves and moved over to massage Gray's shoulders. Gray murmured, melting into the hands.

"That feels very nice." Gray said.

"I'm glad. I think we've all been working pretty hard." Seth said.

"Other than the no ghosts thing." Nico commented from the floor.

"Well, maybe they're hot too..." Eli smiled, "Rerun, you hot?" he asked. Rerun looked up at Eli before he nodded and dipped his hand into the dishwater to cool his arm down, still slumped on the countertop.

"I know we've been working hard, but there's so much to do..." Gray said, "But I can at least compromise, go work somewhere cooler. I've been putting off the harmonics maintenance on the containment unit." Gray said.

"You want any help?" Seth offered. Gray shook his head.

"I already interrupted the dishes enough. Maybe you should finish that up and we can go play in the sprinkler or something." Gray chuckled, standing up and making his way toward the stairs. He walked down to the main floor and turned, walking past the Ecto-11 and the desk before trotting down the stairs to the basement. The cool white brick walls were dimly lit from a glow beneath the metal grated floor, the instruments running as they always did. The back wall was dominated by the massive device, save for a few feet on either side. Gray trailed his hand across the fire engine red metal before he moved over to the command interface.

He logged into the system, though he only had partial access. It was part of the safeguard after he had been possessed. Operationally critical systems required two Ghostbusters to modify to prevent any future breach. Thankfully he could fine tune the harmonics without having to bother anyone else. Gray adjusted the frequencies, watching the screen, but after a few minutes he started to wonder if he had been wrong about the temperature in the basement. With no windows to the outside world, being subterranean, it should have been cooler. Gray tried to put it out of his mind, but as the sweat started rolling down his face, he knew something was wrong.

"Guys?" Gray called up, though they were too far to hear him. Gray moved around the room. The heat was getting worse, but it was strongest over to one side of the basement. He isolated the heat to one wall, but that fact baffled him. There wasn't anything behind that wall; no tubes, no cables, nothing. Gray reached out to touch the brick. It felt very warm for a second... and then his hand started to pass through the stone. Gray's eyes shot wide, "SETH!" Gray shouted out at the top of his lungs. The wall throbbed, pulling Gray's arm deeper in,

Gray looked around desperately for anything he could see or grab. If this was another dimensional portal, he was likely going to be stranded for days... Gray's eyes settled onto the near by tool chest sitting on the grating with ecto goggles and a trap on top. He grabbed onto part of the wall that was still solid to slow himself down, but he was running out of time. He had sunk nearly to his shoulder and the passageway was burning hot. Gray cringed before he used his foot to kick over the small tool chest, sending the contents and the gear on top clattering to the floor.

Gray took a breath and let go of the wall, flipping around. He clutched at the trap cord and goggles strap, managing to catch a screw driver in the chaos before he was pulled through the wall. Gray hugged the gear to his chest as he seemed to fall through wreathes of fire before he tumbled out along the ground, landing in dirt. The crackle of flame was all around, the air thick with smoke and the only light came from the fire. Gray hooked the trap to his belt and looked around, seeing the fire light glinting off of craggy rocks. He was in a cave, and he wasn't alone. There was coughing at the back of the cave.

"Is there another way out of here?" Gray called out. There was no response, just heavier coughing and raspy breathing. Gray gritted his teeth before he pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose as a rudimentary filter and started kicking dirt toward the wall of fire. Thankfully the cave floor had a fair amount of it; Gray just hoped there wasn't any guano in it. The dirt showered the wall of flame, slowly suffocating some of it. Gray kept kicking, focusing on a central section. He used the side of his boot like a shovel, sending it flying, snuffing out a narrow pathway beyond which he could see light filtering through the smoke.

Grayson turned and moved back to the back of the cave, groping through the smoke. It was particularly thick and blinding. He could hear the coughing but it was hard to narrow in. Then Gray realized he had come prepared. He pulled his ecto-goggles on and turned them on, getting a mild PKE signal in no time. Gray dove through the smoke to the trapped individual, lifting his arm to put over his shoulder, hefting him to his feet. Gray grunted in surprise as how dense the man was for his size, but he had to get them both out of there before they asphyxiated.

The two shambled along, trying to duck down out of the way of the smoke. Gray realized that the path was a bit narrower than he would have liked, but his clothes were mildly retardant. He stepped to the side, taking the brunt of the flames as they passed through the middle. Gray trudged along toward the edge of the cave, emerging with the man he held, getting far enough out that the air was cleaner. Gray lowered the victim to the ground before he swatted at the flames that had caught on his sleeve and pant leg. In a few moments the flames were gone and Gray turned to check on the man he had saved, only to realize he wasn't quite a man. Lying on the mossy rocks, covered on soot, was a man with green skin, black hair and tusks rising out of his lower lip.

"An orc..." Gray whispered, familiar with the species from video games and movies. He had never expected there to be real orcs, but then again all legends did have a basis... and with luck their anatomy worked the same. Gray lifted his goggles as he moved over, checking the orc man's breathing. It was present. Weak, but present. Gray hefted the orc's arm over his shoulder again, lifting him up and moving him away from the cave. He followed the path of a creek for several feet, moving into the shade of a large willow tree before he lowered the orc man down again and then sat down himself.

Gray looked at the orc man and then back at the cave, thinking about the fire. The smoke was so dark and burning on dirt... It had to be caused by an accelerant of some kind, which meant it had been intentional. Someone had been trying to kill the young orc man and he'd been pulled through just in time to stop it. He'd been skeptical about Seth's belief in the fate of it all, but there really was no questioning it. Lucas had saved a species, Seth had saved a town and Gray had saved a single life, but even a single life was precious.

The orc man, despite being six foot two, seemed rather youthful. He had the cheekbones of a teenager. His black hair was shaggy with a few random braids in it and he had the start to fuzzy sideburns. His tusks were a rather clean white, contrasting with his forest green skin. He was lithe, but what muscle he did have was dense. Gray looked at his clothing carefully. Elk hide, a bit of copper, and a necklace with sunstone. The yellow feldspar gems were all Gray needed to confirm that he was still in Oregon. Then, slowly Gray started to chuckle, realizing that he was in another dimension and the first thing he was doing was comparative geology...

"I'm glad... my rescue... was amusing." The young orc said after a moment, coughing a bit more before lilac colored eyes opened. Gray grimaced.

"No, it isn't that, I just... didn't expect to be saving a life today." Gray said. The orc reached up to rub his eyes a bit before he gasped gently.

"Human?" he murmured.

"Yes. Orc?" Gray asked back. The man smirked.

"I suppose we must be as rare to you as you are to us if we haven't heard of your kind in so very long." The orc said, reaching up to scratch at his stomach a bit.

"I am from a fair distance away, but right now I'm more concerned about you. Why were you in that cave? What started the fire?" Gray asked. The orc grimaced.

"It was an ambush. I came here to negotiate a truce with the Grahl Tribe, but they trapped me in the cave and left me to die." The man said.

"Will they come back to check on their handiwork?" Gray asked.

"I don't know." The orc replied.

"Well, we should get you to safer territory. Do you know the way to your... home?" Gray asked. The orc nodded.

"Yes, I do, but it isn't an easy journey." He said.

"I didn't think it would be." Gray said, moving to stand.

"And still you offer your services?" the orc asked.

"I do. You need help, and I've made it a custom to help those in need." Gray said, offering his hand. The orc took it and heaved himself up, standing taller than Grayson by four inches.

"A good oath to be sworn by. What are you called? What kind of human are you?" The orc asked.

"I am Grayson Kale, a Ghostbuster." Gray grinned.

"What a fascinating calling." The orc murmured before he stood taller, "I am Dura, son of Batul." The young orc said.

"Dura, that's a good strong name." Gray smiled.

"It means son of the north wi-" Dura's speech was cut off by a coughing fit. He doubled over and Gray moved to gently pat his back. Dura reached up to wipe his mouth.

"Let's get you some water from the creek, and then move out of here a bit." Gray said. Dura nodded, moving along with Gray, glad to leave the cave behind.

****

The basement had been filled with humming, chirping, buzzing and beeping. Seth and Nico stood around the room, using every device they had on hand to try and ascertain what had happened while Eli was busy interpreting Rerun's sign language. Rerun's four fingered hands worked quickly to try and convey what he'd experienced.

"Slow down... I know you're worried, but..." Eli paused, "Six times?"

"What's six times?" Nico asked.

"Rerun looped back six times. He saw Gray get pulled through the wall but he couldn't get close enough." Eli said.

"Well, it was fated." Seth said.

"That may be, but time itself can't stop a time wyrm." Eli replied. Rerun shook his head before he started using his hands to gesture a spherical shape before he dropped his arms, dangling them to his sides, opening his mouth wide to show his flat white teeth."

"A lantern keeper?" Eli asked in shock.

"Okay, that makes sense." Seth replied.

"So they aren't just at our destinations." Nico puzzled.

"No, they can actively interfere." Seth replied.

"But that isn't a bad thing, if they're helping us. They're giving us what we need." Nico said. Seth shrugged and nodded at that. Eli looked back at Rerun.

"Was he mean?" Eli asked. Rerun shook his head.

"Then we have to assume we're on the same side, or there's nothing we can do." Nico said.

"Well, there's still stuff we can do. We can outsource." Seth said.

"Outsource?" Nico asked in surprise.

"Gray has been sharing this information with other Ghostbuster franchises, but we can't afford to ignore that resource pool. Nico, you networked with Kevin Rogers in motor city. Have him go over the information we have on the artifacts, take new readings. Be his eyes and hands. I'm going to call the New York office, see what the big man has to say about transdimensional relocations and lantern keepers." Seth said.

"Doctor Spengler?" Eli asked in awe. Seth nodded.

"It's time for some face time." Seth said decisively. Eli and Nico grinned, glad to see Seth stepping into command as he was meant to.

****

Gray moved along with Dura, the two moving up a slight slope. It was harder on Dura as he recovered, but it was both the path back to civilization and a higher vantage point that Gray craved. Still, as they walked, Dura's breathing seemed to be improving and he was relying less and less on Gray for support. Dura kept looking at the human, sizing him up in a way. For a human, Gray was smaller than average. His Asian ancestry gave him thinner bones but he'd made the best of it. His hair was as raven black as any orc, though the faint bleach highlights of orange were particularly alluring, and peeking out from the burned holes in his sleeve was a tattoo. The two black bands around his left bicep with the intermittent line in the middle stood out starkly.

"What does your marking mean?" Dura asked to make small talk.

"My marking?" Gray asked, looking around before he spotted his tattoo being visible and grimaced.

"It's... sort of a reminder to be careful around cunning enemies. I failed to anticipate one of them and nearly lost everything dear to me. He left me that..." Gray said softly.

"Have you considered modifying it into another image, one symbolizing your defeat of that enemy?" Dura asked. Gray looked surprised.

"I hadn't thought about that. I was trying to work up the courage to remove it." Gray smirked.

"You would remove your own arm?" Dura asked in shock. Gray looked startled.

"No, we have a way back home to remove tattoos." Gray said.

"It seems like that defeats the purpose." Dura smiled, the youth in his face showing. Gray chuckled at that.

"Well, it's both painful and expensive, so people tend not to get tattoos lightly." Gray replied.

"Good, I'm glad. Tattoos are a covenant." Dura replied. Gray nodded at that, looking around as they raised up high enough to have more of a view. Gray moved to the side of the path and gazed out, seeing the land sloping gradually down to the Willamette River. He could make out where Sauvie Island was, where the bridges would have been. Everything was still consistent geologically... but the vast city of stone was far different than anything he was used to. The city was an impressive size, ringed with walls reminiscent of China. Buildings were sturdy, broad and thick with an apparent focus on efficiency over ornamentation. Dura sighed with relief.

"Home?" Grey asked. Dura nodded, resuming his walk along the path.

"Home." Dura replied.

"So tell me about this other tribe and how it relates to yours?" Gray asked.

"You are quite the thinker, aren't you?" Dura asked, "It is attractive to see a male follow pursuits other than brute force."

"T-thanks." Gray blushed, smiling.

"The Grahl are another tribe. Their village has historically been north of the great ice cutter valley." Dura said. Gray nodded, knowing he meant the Columbia Gorge. Dura continued, "In ancient times they would band together when we had to fight great demons or dragons, but with no recent threats to mutual survival, they set their sights on Polus Ans." Dura said.

"Your city?" Gray asked. Dura nodded.

"Yes... They want infrastructure without building it themselves, and they stop at nothing to get what they want, even consorting with spirits... They trapped my father and the council in their machinations, hoping to weaken us. When I stood up to them, they tried to have me killed." Dura said. Gray slowed to a stop, a smile crossing his face.

"So... Their strength comes from spirits?" Gray asked, grinning ever wider.

****

The laboratory room on the main floor of the firehouse looked much more like the site of a LAN party as Seth, Nico and Eli kept busy trying to advance the cause of science in Gray's stead. The computers had been networked and took up the center table while the lab tables at the end of the room were focused on the artifacts. Nico worked with Kevin on the screen, the Detroit Ghostbuster wearing his classic tan jumpsuit as always, though his auburn hair looked matted down with sweat.

"That's a good catch with the fishbone design, though it does seem to look like an antenna of some sort. You said each piece put out a resonance when they were brought through?" Kevin asked over the secured video call.

"Yes, though we weren't able to get specific measurements on the one Dakota brought back. The strongest readings are from Seth's piece." Nico said.

"Right... That was an ultra low frequency overlapped with a narrow band frequency, sort of like a shot gun and a sniper rifle." Kevin said.

"Is that what it's supposed to do, or a side effect of passing through dimensions?" Nico asked.

"I'm not sure, it could be either... The two frequencies could be leaving one dimension and entering another, or it could be a device meant to interact with dimensions since it was scattered across them." Kevin said apologetically. The two continued to talk while a short distance away Seth was on the line with Ghostbuster Headquarters, though it looked more like he was teleconferencing with a college lecture. A dry erase board had been filled with squiggles and numbers and Seth was rushing to keep up, though he wasn't the only one sitting in the lecture.

Sitting off to one side was a fifteen year old wearing a lime green t-shirt and an orange tactical vest emblazoned with the Ghostbusters emblem. His black hair was tied back into a shaggy pony tail and he had a long goatee that started at the edge of his lower lip and ran down all the way past the bottom of his chin in a perfect line. Seth had to admit, he was very impressed, but he'd heard good things about Diego Rivera. On the other side of the table, Eli sat, running an analysis of the portal points with the firehouse as a new vector. The computer was running through every shape, geometric and fractal, to try and figure out how the points connect to predict future positions. Part way through the scan, Eli groaned.

"What?" Seth and Nico asked in unison.

"I should enter the time the portals opened and closed as a variable for the comparison, but I have to start the search over." Eli said.

"Do it... We're waiting for Gray anyhow." Seth replied. Eli nodded, aborting his search, looking up the times they'd logged for the portals, working as fast as he could. Rerun watched them work for several minutes before he turned, passing through the wall at the back of the laboratory. He emerged on the other side into a T shaped hallway. To his left were the bright red washers and dryers for their laundry; to his right was a door to the back yard.

The robin's egg blue time wyrm swam through the air before he opened the back door and moved out, swimming along the fence line aimlessly, turning to drift in mid air. He looked over at Eli's greenhouse and how sweltering it was inside, then he looked at the parking garage on the far side of the property. The time wyrm wrapped his arms around his chest, hugging himself, wondering why things felt so very strange.

****

Gray and Dura approached the gate to Polus and as it loomed ever larger, Gray felt ever smaller. The stones were the size of cars, it was a herculean feat to imagine... and as they approached, the wary eyes or archers kept a close eye on them. Gray could barely see them against the sun, but he could tell they were there, and that they were communicating with one another.

"Is there any difference I should be aware of about the Grahl?" Gray asked, "In case one of them shows up or something?"

"They're bigger... They like blue?" Dura said. Gray grimaced.

"That's not too helpful." Gray said. Dura slowed as he and Gray approached, giving those in the city time to open the gate... or rather the large door. It seemed built to be sturdy and was being slid sideways along a track from a nook where it rested with stone on both sides. It was a fantastic design and one that trumped medieval engineering by leaps and bounds, but Gray's fascinating with engineering fell away as he saw the city inside...

The streets were magnificently cobbled with hexagonal stones and the store fronts were full of rich colored fruits and vegetables. Fine copper armor hung in windows and orcs moved about everywhere, but Gray paused his advance. Every orc he saw was a minimum of seven feet tall. Every one was hundreds of pounds of muscle, fat, or both. They had body types of every size, hair colors ranging from blonde to brown to black, and almost every male had some type of beard.

"Grahl?" Gray whispered. Dura looked confused before chuckling.

"No, I said they were bigger, remember?" Dura asked. Gray's eyes widened.

"Oh, bigger." He chuckled earnestly. Dura slung an arm around Gray's back and led him along.

"Prince, welcome back." The blacksmith said, his voice gravely and deep.

"You found a human Dura? Your penchant for finding rare things never fails." A tailor smirked. Dura bowed his head to many as he advanced through the streets, heading toward the capital building. Gray looked around at everything, drinking it in, tho0ugh the comments of the other orcs had got him thinking.

"So you find rare things Dura?" Gray asked with a smile. Dura chuckled.

"I have a bit of luck at that. Relics, antiquities, stones, jewels... Though I've come to realize it is as much a burden as it is a gift." Dura said softly. Gray looked at Dura for a moment.

"What did you find that was bad?" Gray asked. Dura's gaze lowered as he walked, shame covering his eyes.

"One day I was exploring a small cave near the river... I found there a stone. It was made from the fires of the mountains like many stones around here, but there was something different about it. It had an energy, a power. The elders said that it came from a distant place, that it had traveled across the seas of the universe to get here. They were fascinated by it; they even adopted its powers into our holy temple to commune with the universe." Dura said, hesitating. Gray reached out, trying to reach Dura's shoulder to rub it gently.

"In my land, many humans have found items they wish they had never found. Cursed items, possessed items, things that unleash great evil. It isn't their fault. If they hadn't found it, someone else might have." Gray said. Dura nodded softly.

"That may be little comfort to them when they lose their family." Dura said, leading Gray around the corner, coming to a stop. It only took Gray a moment to realize why. They had entered a large city plaza with wide open streets, save for the building in the center. The building looked like a Greek temple made of white marble with columns and statues, though vast walls filled up the gaps between each column, covered with convex embossed runes... and energy. A faint blue hue shifted across the entire structure like some sort of force field, encasing the structure.

Gray quickly pulled out his ecto-goggles and slipped them on, flicking the switch. The lenses buzzed as they adjusted before giving Gray an augmented perspective. He could clearly see the field as a neon blue on his display, form fitting the building exactly. It was an ectoplasmic suppression field, a barrier capable of keeping anything from going in or out. The power was so tightly focused, Gray was incredibly impressed, but what surprised him the most was that there weren't two poles to the polarity... there were twelve. Positives and negatives all over the place, though the positive poles seemed to be near the ground while the negative energy swirled around near the ceiling.

"What is this place?" Gray whispered. Dura took a breath.

"That is our great temple... and now the prison of our tribe elders." Dura said sadly.

****

Chortling laughter echoed into the cavernous throne room of the Grahl capital as several orcs moved in with wide strides. The throne room was dark, filled with black columns and marble, the ornamentation made out of volcanic rock mined from the area. The only light colors came from the vines that grew up over the stone, criss-crossing and choking one another out, dull purple flower blossoms opening up every ten feet or so. The Grahl orcs had embraced the color scheme themselves, sticking to black leather armor with purple embellishments, though even the largest armor seemed tight on the brutes.

The orcs of Polus were quite large compared to humans, but the Grahl took it to the nth degree. Some verged on being giants in height at eleven feet. Others were as wide as they were tall, bulging with muscle. Their dark green skin stretched tight over thick, sinewy muscle. Their beards were long and thick, their ears grizzled, their tusks marred. Most wore scars like badges of honor. Others were forced to get tattoos to make up for their lack of valiant battles.

The throne room was full of the scent of musk and spice. True to form, heated grunts and moans echoed from the barracks off to either side of the throne room, but even as dozens of orcs came and went, none sat on the throne. The stone sat empty, resting just behind a broiling purple flame. The flame rested in a wide basin beneath the floor, though there seemed to be no fuel for the fire other than perhaps the small obsidian trinket resting at the bottom of the basin in the midst of the flames. The orcs returning from abroad started heading toward the barracks as they always did, but as they passed, the purple flames crackled and grew larger, shooting upwards.

All orcs in the throne room immediately dropped to their knees, lowering their heads. The purple flames shifted reformed before a leg of fire stepped out of the basin, then another. The flame wreathed around the legs, forming up into a torso, arms, then a head. Only a small flame guarded the obsidian trinket in the basin, but the rest was forming a figure. The fire seemed to cool, hardening and coalescing into purple flesh. Dark black claws tapped onto the marble as the feet formed, followed by the legs lined with black spikes on both sides.

Fire spilled out of the creature's groin, creating a thick, long shaft that hung before him without reservation, resting above ample balls. The flame continued to crackle and shift as a muscled torso appeared, devoid of a navel on the purple flesh. Spikes emerged from the being's elbows, shoulders, and even a ring of spikes pushed out of his wrists. Long black blades erupted from his fingertips before they flexed, getting used to a corporeal form again.

The flames built across the shoulders and neck before the head started to form; a pointed chin with a braided black goatee, pointed ears, fangs, solid black eyes and numerous black horns emerging from his bare skull. One last wave of fire swept over the demon, lining his skin with complex rings of black tattoos, intricate and precise. As a crown of black ink swept around his purple skull, the last flickers of fire disappeared, revealing him very solid and very real. The demon moved forward, step by step, before he stood before one of the orcs.

"Thool, tell me of your progress." The demon said with a deep voice.

"Our work is done. We lured the prince into the cave and set the fires, there would be no escape for him." The orc said proudly. The demon's eyes narrowed.

"You did not wait to see?" The demon asked. The orc cringed, realizing his mistake. He trembled gently.

"Lord Orobas, p-p-please, I... We can go back, find the body, we can get you proof that-" The orc was cut off.

"It is not I who needs proof; it is the tribe of Polus. My brothers and I came to you to elevate you to god hood, to give you everything that you desired... but at every turn those orcs have thwarted us. They use their temple walls to trap us in a stalemate. As long as they have a leader, they will continue to stand in our way. You were to eliminate the last heir so the temple's powers would be broken." Orobas growled, his mouth filling with flames as he spoke.

"Forgive me Lord Orobas." The orc trembled. The demon was silent for a moment, taking a few steps to one side before moving to the other, pacing back and forth.

"I wouldn't have it said that I am an unforgiving ruler." Orobas considered, coming back to stand before Thool, "Then... I will forgive you, but you will not forget your mistake. I will take back my gifts until you have again earned them." Orobas said.

"No, please, my lo-" Thool's voice stopped as the demon put his hand onto the orc's head. The orc trembled softly as his body began to emit purple light. At first very little happened, but as time went on it became more apparent. Thool's biceps and triceps shrunk, his arms decreasing in size until they were barely muscled at all. His shoulders shrunk next, followed by his pectorals and abdomen. His black armor slipped down over his shoulders and even his waist, dropping all the way to the floor. His abs lost so much definition that his stomach was as smooth as a teenager's. His legs contracted next, the orc loosing height. Even his tusks grew less wide, making him rather diminutive compared to most orcs, practically Gray's size.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you. Your strength comes as a privilege, not a right. If you do not want the gift revoked, you will do as I say!" Orobas declared.

"Yes our lord." The orcs echoed in response, their heads low.

"Now... Find a way to eliminate the prince, or to upset the stalemate in the temple... I grow weary of being unable to move forward." Orobas said before he closed his eyes, his body erupting into a ball of fire that swept back into the hearth before the throne, crackling away in quiet stillness. The orcs soon rose to their feet, heading out of the throne room, leaving Thool to look at how tiny his hands had become in despair. He had to earn his muscles back, to be big again. Determination swept over his face before he sprung to his feet and moved back out.

****

Dura moved away from the marketplace, his arms loaded down with bread, meat steaks and a jar of spiced honey. He approached Gray where he had set up camp just outside of the temple, several parchments already full of calculations. He had barely removed his goggles since arriving on the scene, using them to figure out what he was supposed to do next. Dura slowly sat down next to Gray, setting out the food, using a pocket knife to cut the bread and then spread the honey onto it before applying liberal amounts of meat.

"So your device lets you see all this?" Dura asked, gesturing to the parchments. Gray turned to look at the orc before he reached up and pulled the goggles off, loosening the strap in the back to its maximum.

"Do you want to see?" Gray asked, offering the goggles to Dura. Dura looked at Gray in surprise before he set a sandwich in Gray's lap and pulled the goggles on, squeezing the straps around his head. He turned, looking over at the temple before gasping.

"This is amazing..." he whispered softly, "Your land must be one of impressive wonders." Dura added. Gray lifted the sandwich up and bit into it, murmuring as the taste of beef and barbecue sauce and honey flooded his mouth. He chewed carefully before swallowing.

"Yours is just as impressive, just very different." Gray said. He looked to Dura and was about to say something else before he noticed a single tear rolling down the orc's face. Gray's eyes widened, "Dura, what's wrong?"

"I can see them..." Dura whispered.

"See who?" Gray asked.

"The elders, the spirits... Six of each." Dura said. Gray's eyes widened.

"You mean that..." Gray paused, rolling his parchments out again, looking through the numbers again before looking up at the temple and then back to his notes, his jaw dropping, "The building is a psychokinetic transducer, it's turning their life essence into physical energy." Gray whispered.

"The temple was built to make us one with the universe." Dura said, lifting the goggles slowly.

"It has, it really has... but it's created a field an awful lot like my trap here." Gray said, patting the rectangular box on his hip, "The two sides have trapped each other, neither of them can leave until the field is broken." Gray said.

"Do you know how to break the field? We... we must get them out, we must save my father." Dura said intently.

"It's not going to be easy... The field has to be disrupted from inside, so we have to get someone in there." Gray said, looking over his notes.

"We tried to send more in, but since the magic formed around the temple, none can enter." Dura said.

"Then either the field is protecting the balance and will only allow one of each through, or it is blocking all energy on the same wavelengths." Gray hypothesized.

"Then we'd either need to send an orc and a spirit in, or we'd need someone with a different 'energy'?" Dura asked. Gray nodded.

"As Nico would say, only one way to find out." Gray said, making his way across the plaza. Other orcs turned to watch in wonder as Gray advanced, Dura moving to keep up with him. Gray moved up the few short stairs, slowing as he made it to the edge of the temple, looking at the faint visible energy. He took a soft breath before he reached out his hand. As the hand got closer, the energy fizzled and got brighter, turning into a solid barrier. Gray touched it for a long moment before pulling his hand back.

"I guess... we need to send an orc and a spirit in." Gray said softly.

"But the spirit wouldn't agree to that, it would be another stalemate." Dura replied.

"Unless they thought there could be an advantage to it, or had no other choice." Gray said softly, looking at his trap, "But I can't do much as I am with this. I need metal ore, wire, I need to upgrade my equipment. Can we talk to your blacksmith, try to get help?" Gray asked.

"There is not an orc in Polus that would refuse help to you if you are to free our elders." Dura said resolutely.

"Then we have work to do." Gray said, standing up before gathering his parchment. Dura moved to help out as best he could.

****

Soft thumps came as heavy feet landed on the ground just outside of the Polus walls. Several large Grahl moved over to where a fire pit had been made. A pouch was opened and several dried purple flower blossoms were tossed in. As they hit the stone, they ignited themselves and glowing black eyes opened in the midst of the flame.

"What do you have to report?" Orobas asked.

"The orc prince... has returned, but he has someone else with him - a pink skin, a dainty being. Not an elf." the orc replied. Orobas grimaced.

"A human? How is that possible, they all died of the plague centuries ago..." Orobas murmured.

"He spent several hours outside of the temple, decoding its secrets. He had strange thing he put over his eyes." The orc reported. The fire crackled brighter, turning an intense violet.

"A mage or a seer... If he finds a weakness in the field, the stalemate could be broken... and not in our favor." Orobas murmured, "Then it is time for us to launch the next phase of our plan." He said. The Grahl gathered close, ready to learn everything they could from their master.

****

Gray murmured softly, reaching up to rub his eyes as he worked. It seemed as though he'd been up forever. It had taken some doing to refine the metal the blacksmith had enough to use for precision equipment, but in the end Gray had spools of copper, silver, gold, and even palladium to work with. A power cell borrowed from the ecto-goggles had given him what he needed to build a soldering iron and the rest had been a matter of time. Dura and Gray had worked out a rudimentary plan and Gray had been left to work.

Both the trap and the goggles had been partially dismantled; some pieces removed while others were swapped between the two devices. With the absence of micro circuitry, the enhancements were far bulkier than Gray would have liked, giving the trap an almost sort of steam punk look with chambers and capsules on the side, though the neutron governors has been removed entirely, making the device function entirely differently. Gray made one last connection between two conduits on the trap before he turned his focus back to what the goggles were becoming. His fingers carefully unscrewed the eye pieces, pulling out the refractive lenses. He carefully checked the lenses before he screwed them into some glass tubes from the marketplace, coiling palladium wire around the outside of the tubes carefully.

The door to the room opened as Dura moved in, looking over to Gray in surprise. Dura had caught a nap himself earlier but Gray was still going at it, still as strong as ever. It was hard to believe. Perhaps humans had stronger constitutions, though as Gray yawned deeply, Dura realized that was hardly the case. Dura set a tray of food down, though in the corner there was a small translucent green stone. At first Gray turned, expecting more supplies for his work, but seeing the stone he put everything down.

"Is that it?" Gray asked, approaching, his hands half extended in reverence.

"This is it, the Soulspiece... An ancient and rare stone capable of harnessing the energy of a person, but I don't know if you should be handling it yet. You've been awake for an entire day. It takes a great deal of focus." Dura said. Gray paused, taking a breath before he nodded.

"You're right; it's just that when I see a problem, I know it needs fixing." Gray said. Dura smirked softly.

"My father always said that a problem rushed isn't worth half of a fix in its due time. Even in an emergency, fixing a damn quickly won't be as strong as fixing it right." Dura said.

"But there are times for both." Gray replied. Dura chuckled.

"Yes, yes there are." He said.

"But this is probably one of those times to fix it right." Gray said, yawning even more before he put his tools down and looked around the room he was in. Dura had brought Gray to his personal suite. The bed was draped with vast red blankets, the room was filled with a warm glow and they had a view of the river. There was little more anyone could have wanted. Gray moved over to the tray and lifted a glass of water and sipped at it before looking at Dura, "Tell me of the soulspiece." Gray said.

"It is one of our most ancient relics, an artifact of truce and peace. Two beings were able to share a soul, to know how the other lived and to have a vested interest in their mutual survival. Very few remain, even fewer still function, but this piece... will work." Dura explained. Gray listened carefully before speaking.

"But will this one work... I mean, on me, a human." Gray said.

"It should, but it will work better on someone with a proper night's rest. Now, to bed with you." Dura said, pointing. Gray smirked softly, nodding in agreement before he moved over to the bed. He pulled off his shirt and set it down on one of the chairs before he kicked off his shoes and slid into bed, sliding under the covers. Gray had barely gotten situated before the bed lurched, Dura laying on it. Gray tried to get used to having another man in bed, but he yelped as a hairy green muscled arm slipped over his stomach. Dura dragged Gray in like a teddy bear, snuggling him close. Gray blushed as he felt his back press against the hairy muscled chest of his host.

Dura leaned down, ruffling his face in Gray's hair before he smiled happily and started to doze off. Gray was left, trapped beneath the arm, reflecting on everything that had happened to him since he arrived in the very strange land.

****

The door to the machine shop eased open as Nico moved in, rubbing at his eyes. He'd finally crashed around four in the morning for a few hours nap, though when he saw Seth was still up; Nico grimaced, moving over to him, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Seth, you can't kill yourself working on this..." Nico said softly.

"It's alright, I got some sleep already, and Diego's really on fire with the pattern recognition." Seth said, watching the data compiling on the screen.

"When did you sleep? You were awake when I headed up and you're still up now..." Nico said paternally.

"I had Rerun loop me back a few hours and slept in the laundry room." Seth admitted. Nico's eyes widened.

"So you slept at the same time you were working? He can do that?" Nico asked in shock, "Where was he when I was in school, I could have had gaming marathons."

"Well, I think it took more out of him to deal with two of me than to just... loop me back. He slept even longer than me." Seth said.

"But you got a bit of sleep?" Nico asked. Seth nodded.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me. Maybe you could check on Rerun though, make sure he's okay." Seth said. Nico nodded at that, moving toward the back door of the room, moving out into the hall to track down their house ghost.

****

Gray's eyes opened slowly as he smelled a dew soaked breeze coming in from the window. Silver clouds drifted on an early morning sky. Gray had gotten a few hours of work, but he knew he had a big day ahead of himself. He slowly rolled over, realizing he was no longer trapped by the sleeping orc in bed with him. Gray tilted his head to look back, only to see Dura at the table. Gray slipped out of bed and his socks touched down on the floor before he walked over to where the orc was.

Dura had apparently already eaten and changed, wearing a white vest and pants and nothing else. His green skin contrasted the white crisply and he looked like he was ready for a rite of some kind. Then Gray turned, looking at the jade green stone.

"It's your soul I'll be sharing, isn't it?" Gray whispered. Dura turned, surprised at how quiet the human was before he smiled.

"For a little while anyway." Dura replied, "And good morning to you."

"You look very nice." Gray said after a moment. Dura smiled gently.

"Well, I'm glad. I wasn't sure what to wear, no one has done this in some time... but I think I was nervous last night, I made too big of a deal about waiting." Dura said gently, "I'm sorry." He admitted. Gray shook his head.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. This is a hard time. You want to save your dad but you don't want to mess up. That's got to be tough." Gray said.

"How is it that you always seem to know what to say or do? Not once since you arrived have I seen you in conflict." Dura commented.

"Oh trust me, I have plenty of conflict." Gray chuckled softly, "I... just try to be decisive. I've been lucky enough to always have a team or friends, like you, and when people work together there isn't anything they can't do eventually." Gray smiled.

"Even rescuing a band of elders from the clutches of an ancient evil?" Dura grinned. Gray nodded.

"Even that... So we should get started." Gray said.

"Where did you want to start? Your trap device?" Dura asked.

"Actually, I finished the equipment last night. I think it's time to try the soulspiece. I have to get used to... being an Orc before I go in." Gray said.

"You want to do that now?" Dura asked in surprise.

"It's a long shot, I'm really thinking this all up on the fly, but this is the only way to do it and still have a safety net. If I succeed, then you win. If I fail, then... you still win." Gray said.

"You are very decisive..." Dura said, lifting the stone slowly, carrying it over to the windowsill, setting it down on the wide ledge. The morning light filled it, making it sparkle. Gray followed Dura over, looking at the stone and then him.

"What do I do?" Gray asked. Dura smiled.

"You rest your hand beneath the stone so my energies can pass to you." Dura said, lifting the stone up off the ledge. Gray rested the back of his left hand on the windowsill, looking over to Dura. Dura slowly lowered the stone until it rested between their hands. As the stone touched Gray's palm, he felt an instant charge shoot through his system. He started to breathe faster, his chest rising and falling more as he looked at Dura. Dura watched Gray, anticipating what would happen, what Gray would look like, though somewhere deep in himself he felt something happening as well. Dura shuddered gently as his mind started to fill with new information, new math and science, terminology for the cosmos and for the world around him. He gasped softly as the new awareness dawned on him just as Gray grunted.

Gray murmured softly as his feet began to stretch out on the stone floor. His toes elongated and thickened, his heels widened, his ankles bulged and more meat started to appear on his legs... and then came the stretching. At first it felt as if his pants were shrinking, but they were merely riding up. Gray looked down at his feet as he grew taller, his feet seeming further and further away. Gray looked back at Dura, the two coming closer to eye level. Gray had to admit, it would be nice not to be dwarfed by everyone else, though he soon gasped as his ribs began pushing apart.

Dura watched Gray avidly, watching his modest torso refine. His abs pushed out more, the creases between becoming more definite. His pectorals thickened and new muscles began spreading across his bare shoulders. Even Gray's arms thickened, bulging out, the tattoo spreading larger around his arm. Gray murmured more, realizing he was very, very muscle-bound for an Asian... and he loved it. His tightening pants began to fill with his hardening member. Dura's groins welled as well as he eyed Gray over, though his sexy thoughts kept getting interrupted with science terms like epididimus and copulation.

Gray grunted sharply as his vertebrae expanded larger, taking him up several more inches. Gray pushed past six feet tall, six and a half, then approached seven feet. His arms and legs seemed gangly; he realized what basketball players felt like.... But the changes were only starting. Grayson's mouth felt like a damn burst as saliva sloshed around his mouth. His jaw throbbed and ached, the bones elongating slowly, giving him an under bite. It looked odd for a moment, even to Dura, but when Gray's lower canine teeth started to stretch up, the tiny white nubs pushed out in front of his upper lips and Dura realized that Gray had suddenly got even more handsome.

The two continued to hold the stone, reveling in their changes. Gray's ears stretched up into points, his tusks rose up higher and his body continued to grow wider in several directions. His pants started to constrict into his flesh, the fabric reaching his limit, but still they changed. Dura wobbled gently on his feet, his mind flooding with more information than he had ever dreamed possible. The historian had said that their conscious efforts could guide what piece of themselves they shared, but Dura didn't know if Gray was sharing his mind or if that was what he wanted himself...

Gray moaned with great power suddenly as his pants tore, falling to the floor, his underwear snapping a moment later. Dura's jaw dropped as he watched Gray's manhood spill out longer, gaining almost an inch every second. It dropped down to ten inches, twelve, then fourteen. The skin pushed up over the head of his cock, hiding the mushroom shaped head in thick folds of foreskin, more than he'd ever had before. Gray tipped his head back, panting sharply, sweat beading across his brow.

Gray's medium length hair hung down from his head with it tipped back, but slowly the black locks started to grow longer on their own. The hair streamed down to his shoulders, then longer, but it wasn't the only new hair to grow. The faint hair on Gray's arms and legs got darker and thicker, curly strands pushed out of his chest and the hair under his arms got incredibly thick incredibly fast, but Dura's favorite part was just beginning.

A faint shadow crossed Gray's upper lip, then his jaw line. Soft black hairs pushed out from his lip to form a mustache, the hairs neat and well groomed. Curly, short black hair pushed out along his jaw as well, creating a chinstrap beard. The hairs got thicker, more grew in and the area they covered expanded a bit, but the beard remained well groomed for the moment, even but very thick. Gray let out a soft moan, the sound deeper than before. Even his lips thickened a bit, his tusks curving out and up until they were even with his nostrils.

Dura watched with glee as Grayson continued to change. He had to admit that he looked interesting with orc features but his own skin town, but that wasn't to last. The natural yellow tones in Gray's skin started to shift, the gold turning green as if it was tarnishing. For a split second he looked sickly, but the color soon passed into healthy green shades, darkening from a lime green to a pure, earthy jade color. Gray moaned gently as his hair continued to thicken a bit, some even sprouting across his back and ass, blending into the hair on his legs... and then as simply as it had started, the process ended.

Gray opened his eyes slowly, looking at Dura. Dura looked back, stunned by everything that had just filled his mind. The two gazed at each other for a long moment. Gray grinned in delight that it had been so successful, but Dura had something else on his mind. He grabbed Grayson's head with a large hand and pulled him into a kiss, their tusks rubbing and their lips meeting. Gray murmured in shock, especially as the tongue invaded his mouth. Dura kissed Gray intently but slowly Gray detached from it, pulling back, a string of saliva connecting their lips.

"We... should save your father." Gray whispered. Dura blushed gently, his cheeks turning a faint shade of brown. He nodded, looking Gray over.

"I should find us some new clothes before we go." He said bashfully, moving for the door. Gray turned, moving to grab his equipment, pausing when he realized how much smaller they were in his hand. Being so big was weird. Dura looked back at Gray, "Coming?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry." Gray said, catching up and moving out of the door with the prince.

****

Gray and Dura moved out of the palace with a stride in their steps. Both were dressed in royal armor, the rich copper color glinting in the sun. The only difference between the two was the helmet Dura wore and the two devices Gray carried. The two made it a few feet into the plaza but very soon could tell something wasn't right. There was a clamor in the air, the sound of distant voices. Gray looked around with great concern, sniffing the air.

"I smell fire." He said.

"It's from past the walls I think, over there." Dura said, pointing to where the sky had grown hazy.

"Prince! The Grahl, they are advancing!" A soldier shouted, running up the road toward the palace, looking a bit surprised to see two in royal armor, but he deferred to the orc with the helmet.

"Are the men deployed?" Dura asked quickly.

"Yes, but we had so little warning! The brush fire shielded their advance." The soldier said. Dura was about to give an order before a complicated bit of strategy popped into his head.

"The attack on our northern border is also a distraction. Another contingent will come in from the west..." Dura said, "Deploy the men accordingly!"

"Yes my prince!" The orc said, turning to move off.

"What should we do?" Gray asked uncertainly.

"What we came here to do. If we can get my father and the other elders out of the temple, then they will rally our troops like never before." Dura explained. Gray nodded, walking toward the temple.

"Then I'll have to hope my guesses are right. Now give me your helmet." Gray said. Dura pulled the helmet off and put it onto Gray's head, settling it into place.

"I really don't like the idea of hiding." Dura murmured.

"I know, but do it for your people." Gray said. Dura took a deep breath before he moved off to take shelter behind a raised cement platform. Once he was in place, Gray pulled out the palladium coils he had assembled. He quickly slid the power cell into the center and closed the clasp. The glass inside the coils started to pulse, the energy becoming brighter and brighter before orange light spilled out of the two ends. Gray winced, hearing a barely audible high pitch noise at the edge of his hearing. He had perfected his knowledge of ghost beacons when Thana had possessed him, but he never had expected to build one out of ecto goggles.

Moments passed and the sounds of battle continued. Gray could hear the clash of swords, the loosing of arrows, the grumbling of embroiled battalions. He was starting to worry that nothing was happening. He looked around slowly, hearing a slight change. The wind had picked up, the air was getting thicker. Gray put it all together before he turned toward the direction of the brush fire. Purple flames erupted over the city walls, spilling in like a flood, crashing down onto the stone plaza. Gray turned and ran toward the temple, clutching the ghost beacon in his hands, keeping his back to the fire.

"What did that human mage give you, prince?!" the voice rumbled from the flames. Gray said nothing, making it back up the steps to the temple before he turned around, looking at a sea of purple flames. The flames rippled and shuddered, creeping up the stairs, but as they rose it all started to pool together. Gray watched as a demon formed out of the fire, taking on a solid shape, walking up towards him, looking him over before his eyes focused on the ghost beacon. He lifted his hand and the device left Gray's grip, flying over to Orobas.

The demon examined the device that had called out to him, the device that radiated such potent energy, but Orobas could not determine what it was supposed to do. For all he knew, it was a key to unlock the temple. He slowly closed his hand, crushing the device. Shards of glass fell to the ground around his clawed feet as he looked back at Gray, taking a step closer before he paused, looking at the structure and then back at the armored orc before him with an eye of suspicion before his eyes widened.

"You aren't the prince, not entirely..." Orobas whispered. Gray knew he was out of time. He thrust his arm toward the temple door, the arm plunging through the blue barrier. Gray closed his fingers around the handle and began opening it. The energy field crackled and wind began to whip around them both, blowing loose leaves across the plaza. The demon roared, fire filling his lips, "You are the human mage!" the demon growled.

"Back off man, I'm a scientist." Gray said. Orobas turned to escape, but as he took a step, a bolt of blue energy struck him, passing through his chest, rendering it fire for a moment. Orobas grunted sharply, trying to flee again. Every step he made away from the temple stretched him out, a trail of purple fire behind him.

"What did you do?" Orobas shouted, looking back at Gray.

"We're polarized now, you and I... And we're being drawn into the field around this temple." Gray said as the door under his grasp shuddered. Orobas, rather than being angry, started to laugh.

"I see, so your plan was to lock me up? To imprison me as well? That only works so long as you are able to keep your resolve, to keep balanced. You just doomed everyone." Orobas growled before he stopped fighting and gave into the pull. His body burst into flames and the wall swept at Gray, knocking him off of his feet. Gray slammed through the door of the temple, sliding across the ground as the door slammed shut by his feet. The helmet went rolling across the floor and Gray slid to a stop, sliding into a thick, warm, musky leg.

Gray grunted sharply, hearing a sound like a crystal wind chime dancing around the vaulted ceiling. He opened his eyes and looked up. Sure enough, blue and purple fire swirled around in a nebula of chaos and hatred above, but what was below was far more shocking. Gray rolled onto his hands and knees, coming face to groin with the six elders, or what had become of them. The orcs were freakishly large, exaggerated in every way. The orc in front of Gray looked to be a thousand pounds of muscle, as wide as a car. His feet were bigger than Gray's torso, his tusks as long as the human's arm. His nipples were like sausages, his pecs the size of a head. His hair was long and black and greasy, his brows grown thick, his beard a forest of hair. His legs were so hairy that they looked like the furry legs of a satyr, and what had once been a loin cloth now hung like a napkin on the very top of a four foot drooling, veined orc shaft... and he was the smallest of the six.

While some of the orcs had been changed into beasts of pure muscle, others had been bloated with fat. One elder meditated, his eyes closed and serene, his man tits resting on a belly the size of a Volkswagen, his cock snaking down between his legs, almost as wide as his very torso. The proportions were freakish, the smell intense. Gray had been so busy looking he hadn't taken time to smell. The temple was full of the scent of sweat and musk and sex and rutting. Gray panted softly as his nipples tightened and his cock hardened from the smell alone.

The elders were situated on benches on either side of the long rectangular building, though one orc sat at the far end. He had a bit of a belly but was muscled as well, though his proportions had been shifted drastically as well. His dark brown hair was worked into dreadlocks that reached his massive ass cheeks. His beard was braided as well, sliding half way down his belly and his hands were over-sized, big enough to wrap around a tree single handed. Unlike the other elders, he wore a gold necklace that was a circle with two triangles at the base, a symbol of the orcs.

"Batul?" Gray asked gently. The elder opened his eyes slowly, looking out through the dim light.

"Du... No, who are you?" Batul asked gently.

"My name is Gray; I'm here to help you..." Gray explained. Batul looked up, seeing the purple flame swirling with the blue before he looked back.

"No one can help me, nor you now... but if you captured the last demon, then you have saved our people." Batul said.

"What happened to you?" Gray asked.

"They... happened." Another elder whispered, looking up as the fire swirled down. The blue fire spirits formed into their demonic bodies. Some had the horns of rams, others the horns of bulls or fauns. Orobas appeared in their midst, looking around at the ors with glee.

"I see you have been wearing them down my brothers." Orobas said.

"Six orcs, six demons... A tug of war over polarity. You've been trying to corrupt them, to break the field from within." Gray said.

"Give us more credit than that. While they tried to break it from within, I was trying to break it from without." Orobas chuckled. Gray looked around at the temple, at the marble and the stone... and at the faint light passing through the ceiling, the sunlight from the other side.

"Soulspiece, you made the temple out of it... To harness the energy of your people..." Gray whispered.

"Not the energy of the people, the energy for the people... Our energy." Batul explained, glaring at Orobas with a deep seated rage.

"The elders? No, wait..." Gray paused, "Your family, the royalty... you and Dura. Your power is nullified with a demon here, but Dura - he's keeping this whole thing running by being alive." Gray whispered.

"And it is how you managed to get in as well, by sharing a piece of his essence. Tricky human, very tricky, but your upbringing will be your downfall. Humans were always the weak ones. Weak to disease, to age, to cosmic events, to dark influences..." Orobas said, stepping forward. One of the other demons chuckled.

"If he's so eager to join the festivities here, let him join us." The demon said. Orobas grinned before he reached out, grabbing Gray's arm. The metal armor cracked and splintered before it fell apart, Orobas grabbing Gray around the tattoo. Gray yelped as searing heat ripped through his body, saturating him. He started to fall to his knees but Orobas held him up. Gray's eyes flickered gently as he moaned more, though something else was happening. The heat was filling him.

"You thought you had it all figured out, to take the stalemate to a new level... You even became an orc for it to work, but like all humans and all orcs, you are green with envy for all that you could not achieve on your own. Have a taste of what the servants of flame can enjoy." Orobas said, gripping Gray's arm tighter. The ink in the tattoo started to slowly warp, turning purple instead of black. Gray panted sharply, his jaw hanging open a bit, gazing into the distance. His armor groaned before it cracked and split out, revealing the cloth under layer.

Gray had become fit as an orc, but he was pushing past that now. His pectorals inflated, filling with muscle and meat. His abs lifted out like rising bread and his biceps and triceps bulged more. Gray leaned his head down as his back stretched more, the vertebrae expanding, his spinal cord elongating. His ribs parted and thickened again and his lungs grew in his chest. Gray filled out quickly, the shirt starting to tear and split. The collar tore down to the middle of his torso, revealing his wide, hairy pecs. With every breath Gray took, more hair pushed out, curling and tangling into a forest of black hair, shrouding his nipples in a manly forest.

"Help me." Orobas commanded his brothers, but they shook their heads.

"We cannot." One said.

"We tried. We each can only affect one." Another said.

"One is more than enough." Orobas said, looking back into Gray's eyes, looking at the embers that burned inside him, increasing them. Gray grunted and moaned as his hips began to bulge out, his ass filling. Gray reached to his hip and released the trap form its clasp just as the plate mail snapped and fell away, his legs tearing through the fabric beneath just as quickly. Even his shoes split, falling in pieces to the floor. His well shaped green feet oozed longer and thicker, his toes becoming pudgy and thick, hair curling out of the toe knuckles. Gray's leg hair darkened and thickened as well, getting denser. Gray flicked a switch on the trap and the indicator on the side started to build up a charge, feeding back the energy through the capacitors.

"You won't succeed." Another orc commented, having seen Gray's actions. Orobas shot the orc a look.

"Don't give him more credit than he deserves, you may have been able to deny the gifts we offer, but he's a mere human." Orobas said. With the demon distracted, Gray slowly lowered the trap to the ground, waiting for it to be ready. Orobas looked back to his prey before he reached up with his free hand. The demon slowly caressed Gray's cheeks, the claws trailing through his short trimmed beard. The hair grew out thick and lush around Orobas' fingers. The demon stroked and pulled on the hair, combing it with his claws. Gray moaned deeper as his beard pushed out, the chinstrap dropping down from his jaw line. New hair grew up across his cheeks all the way up to his cheek bones, filling in. His mustache grew down over his upper lip, his yellowed tusks contrasting the black hair. Gray's eyebrows thickened and his forehead pushed out more, a ridge forming above his eyes.

Each pant and grunt sounded deeper as Gray's vocal chords thickened. Orobas grinned like a cat with a pet canary, watching his prey change and shift. Gray looked far more primal with his longer hair and thick beard, but the most primal changes of all were yet to come. The cloth around his lap started to fray, having long since passed its maximum capacity. The fabric shuddered before it split, hanging down low. Gray's cock began to tingle as it was exposed to the open air, hardening. The foreskin pulled back and the dark green mushroom shaped head pushed out from the tip, but more than that, the entire shaft continued to stretch. Orobas leaned in, his lips parting, a tongue slathering up across Gray's pointed orc ear.

"Just imagine what it would feel like to give yourself to me, to a demon." Orobas whispered. Gray grunted, trying to stay focused, glancing back at the trap. He needed more time. Gray looked back up at Orobas.

"Just what do you offer your followers? What do you entice them with?" Gray asked. Orobas grinned slowly, exposing his fangs.

"All the pleasures you can dream of, to excess." Orobas whispered, Perhaps you tire of the stigma attached to weight, you want nothing but the pleasure of a full stomach, of being bigger than everyone else. I can give that to you." Orobas whispered, leaning down to kiss Gray. Gray gasped sharply as he felt a strange feeling wash over his body, like physical love... His muscled stomach remained firm, but the flesh softened as fat swept over it. His trim body began pushing out distending and rounding. His belly swelled and his pecs inflated. His ass jiggled and his legs thickened. Gray's continually growing beard grew wider like a lion's mane along with his cheeks fattening. Gray moaned sharply before his cock oozed forward, reaching twenty inches, then twenty two. Gray felt so much heavier, but strangely content, almost like a giant green Santa Claus.

"Not bad Orobas." One of the other demons chuckled. Orobas caressed Gray's massive belly, feeling its girth and heft.

"But maybe that isn't you; maybe you desire to be the biggest and baddest ever...." Orobas said, moving to bite Gray's neck. Gray shuddered as a new fire burned in him, the physical sensation of pride. The fat melted away from his body just as his muscles grew even more. Gray's shoulders bulked out, growing into a hunch. His arms elongated like those of a gorilla and his waist was much smaller than his collar bone, giving his torso a v shape. His legs expanded in size, but more than that, Gray's tusks grew longer, rising up past his nostrils.

A soft glitter of metal appeared as a thick metal ring appeared through Gray's septum, dangling from his nose. Two points of light appeared in his ears before expanding into wide plugs of gold. Two long spikes pushed out of his chin beneath his bottom lip, curving around the curve of his chin before dropping down to sharp points, the piercings taking on the shape of question marks. Gray moaned, then gasped as he heard his voice as deep as a rumbling mountain.

"I can give you anything, and I can take it away..." Orobas said. Gray grunted as his body quickly contracted, the piercings disappearing once more. Gray bit his lip, realizing how hard it was to have such pleasure taken away.

"Don't listen to him. What we are on the inside is what matters... Who are you? What are you fighting for?" One of the elders asked. Gray steadied himself, glancing at the trap and then back at Orobas.

"You think humans are weak, but they can be resourceful... and there's one thing you failed to consider." Gray whispered.

"And what is that?" Orobas asked snidely.

"You're not the first demon I've broken up with." Gray said before he used his foot to slam down on the foot pedal. The yellow and black trap doors snapped open, but instead of the white field that usually erupted from it, a tornado of red energy shot out, crackling and buzzing. Gray turned away and closed his eyes, as did the other orcs. Orobas grunted sharply as the light enveloped his head, pulling it in and down, his body dissolving into a spray of fire. The other demons took to the air to try and escape, swirling up toward the temple ceiling, but as they tried to flee, their blue fire trails were tugged down.

Gray felt a little bad at what he was doing. The trap was no longer a trap, it was a death sentence. It was neutronizing the ghosts that were pulled into it, breaking them apart at the molecular level. It was murder, even for ghosts... but he was saving lives. The red energy cortex crackled and shuddered, drawing down another blue demon, then another. Between the fire ghosts' attempts at escape and the neutronizing effect breaking them apart, the heat started to climb in the temple. Before long Gray was sweating profusely into his new thick body hair, droplets running down his face and chest, even his huge cock.

The energy vortex started to short out, the doors to the trap twitching as the power levels dropped. It was operating well beyond its design function and soon a bitter acrid smell began to escape from the capacitors. A fourth fire ghost was drawn in, then a fifth. The last seemed to be staying just out of range in the upper corner of the temple, hiding as much as it could. While most of the orcs had shielded their eyes, Batul had opened his. Seeing the demon trying to escape his fate, the king moved over to the trap, ducking down under the field, picking it up in his hand.

Hoisting the trap upwards and aiming right at the remaining demon, the blue fire was enveloped in red light and a soft shriek sounded as it was pulled down, swirling around before it moved into the trap doors and disappeared. With its absence, the entire temple shuddered before the darkness was replaced with growing light, the sun above coming in through the soulspiece ceiling, cascading off of the marble walls. The trap snapped shut before it sizzled and Batul lowered the device, looking at the technology in wonder before he looked over at Gray.

Gray slowly opened his eyes, looking around, gasping softly as he saw just hoe exquisite the temple around him was. Every surface but the floor and benches were intricately carved, showing a pictorial and written history of the orc tribes. The light flowed down the carvings like water and the building shimmered. It was beautiful, amazing, and truly a work of art. Gray slowly stood up, adjusting to his vastly larger feet. He turned to look at the king with a grin.

"It looks like they're taken care of!" Gray grinned. Batul grabbed Gray and pulled him in before leaning down, kissing him soundly. Gray moaned sharply as he felt orc cock against his, their beards meshing. Batul's tongue swam around Gray's mouth as the two rubbed. Gray blushed furiously, remembering when Dura had kissed him just a short while before. The orcs surely were an affectionate people in one sense of the word. Batul slowly broke the kiss and grinned before nodding to one of the other elders.

The muscle bound brunette orc moved over and tried the door. The stone shifted and tilted open easily, the light of day exposed. He murmured softly before stepping out, the fat black haired orc following.

"You have freed us, you have ended a threat to our people, how can I ever thank you?" Batul whispered.

"Worry about that later. The Grahl are attacking, your men need their king." Gray said. Batul gave a resolute nod.

"Then they will wait no longer. We go to battle!" Batul said, moving out along with the other orcs, heading across the plaza to the armory. Gray looked around in armor before he picked up the sizzling trap from the floor of the temple, looking around a bit before he paused, noticing something off to one corner. Gray approached slowly and crouched down, looking at the carving. There was a picture of an orc, his arm raised in triumph, but in his hand was what appeared to be a toaster with an L-shaped handle. Gray looked back at the trap in his hand and then to the carving in wonder, amazed by the coincidence.

****

For the warriors of the Grahl tribe, the battle had quickly shifted. The brush fire that had guarded their advance had died, the elders had shown up and the morale of the Polunders had climbed to impossible levels. The advance had been halted and the Grahl had moved into retreat. As the sun set in the west, the Grahl had been pushed all the way back to their own village where the battle went on in the streets. Sword clashed against axe, blood dripped to the streets, and in the midst of it all, Dura and Gray advanced toward the enemy's palace.

Gray had managed to find some sparse clothes to cover his massive body, though Dura was often distracted, looking at how shapely, huge and hairy Gray had become. The prince's erection was most troublesome, but Gray and Dura knew precisely what they were doing. With the Grahl distracted, they moved up the steps of the palace. An orc roared in anger and charged out of the columns but as he swung his axe towards Dura, Gray managed to grab his arm and squeeze at the wrist. The axe was dropped to the ground and Gray head slammed the attacker. The orc staggered back, his eyes rolling up into his head before he collapsed. Gray panted sharply, his mouth hanging open, his tusks exaggerating his exertion.

"Are you alright?!" Dura asked in surprise.

"I always wanted to do that..." Gray said before grinning mischievously. Dura chuckled and the two moved through the stone columns and into the palace building. The barracks were empty, the throne room empty. The sounds of battle echoed in the distance. Gray looked around, amazed by the surroundings. Dura, however, knew right where he was going. He moved over to the abandoned fire pit and crouched down, reaching in. His fingers wrapped around the obsidian piece and lifted it up. It was a black curved shape with several notches.

"So you said this is important to your people?" Dura asked softly. Gray moved up closer, looking at the artifact.

"It is part of an object that will hopefully save us all from a great evil. We've been collecting them from the most unimaginable places." Gray said.

"Then perhaps it isn't entirely unfortunate that I dug it up in the first place." Dura said gently.

"No, not at all... It brought us together after all." Gray said.

"Just in time too... I don't think I'll ever feel the same way about fire again." Dura said. Gray chuckled.

"I know what you mean, I still feel warm." Gray said, moving to wipe some of the sweat off of his forehead and then his arm. Beads of salty water collected on his fingertips, but as he swept his fingers over his tattoo, the purple drained out of the marking and into the water before dripping down into the basin, running down to the bottom where it coalesced into a single bead. Dura and Gray turned back toward the palace steps, moving slowly.

"So what is next for you?" Dura asked.

"Well, first I think is to reverse the effects of the soulspiece, but after that I... am not much one for war, I should get back to my own people with this piece, as long as you'll let me have it." Gray said.

"For all of your efforts, you've more than earned it, but my father will miss you when you go." Dura said.

"I... know he will." Gray said, thinking about the kiss again before he blushed, "It can't be helped though. I've been gone so long already." Gray replied. Dura nodded.

"I will escort you to our borders. Which direction is your home?" Dura asked.

"Well, the way there takes us by the cave where we met, believe it or not." Gray chuckled. Dura nodded.

"Then first the soulspiece, and then the way home." Dura replied.

****

Gentle, silent breaths moved in and out of Rerun's mouth as he lay sprawled out on the basement floor, his blue flesh imprinted with the metal grating. The heat was oddly exhausting to him and the heat wave still hadn't broken. With the Ghostbusters working so hard on their mystery, Rerun hadn't even had time for his usual play so he rested and slept and tried to think of ways to help, but nothing came to mind. His pointed robin's egg blue ears twitched gently in his sleep, his tail flopping around a bit, but slowly his white eyes opened. He looked up at the basement wall, realizing that it was starting to warp and shift. Rerun pushed off the floor and started floating, getting ready for anything. The wall almost seemed to shimmer with light before Gray stumbled through it, the artifact in hand. Rerun caught Gray in a hug and Gray grinned wide.

"Rerun! How are you doing?" Gray asked. Rerun placed wet sloppy kisses all over Gray's forehead and cheeks before wrapping his tail around the buster, squeezing him tight. Gray chuckled happily, hugging the time wyrm as best he could. Rerun let Gray go after a moment but took his hand, all but dragging him up the stairs. Gray struggled to keep up, especially as Rerun passed through the workshop door. Gray opened it quickly before he was slammed into it.

The sudden movement caught everyone's eyes. Seth looked up, then Eli and Nico and finally Dakota.

"Grayson!" Seth said, moving over quickly. Rerun grinned, floating out of the way as Seth grabbed Gray and lifted him up before kissing him deeply. For the first time in several days, Gray met the kiss eagerly and without hesitation. Their lips rubbed and Seth's goatee brushed Gray's chin. Gray murmured before he pulled back.

"I missed you so much." Gray said.

"I missed you too." Seth replied.

"You have no idea how much." Nico said jokingly.

"Is that the artifact?" Eli asked.

"More importantly, what did you see? Aliens? Rabbits? A civilization of narwhals?" Dakota asked.

"Orcs actually." Gray replied.

"Orcs? Like... Warcraft?" Dakota asked in surprise.

"Aww, you didn't bring home anything? No tusks?" Nico asked with a smirk.

"Trust me; I have a feeling Rerun is going to bring out about four different kinds of orc from me later if he tries." Gray said, "I just wanted to be home and... and... Oh my god, is it really hotter than when I left?" Gray asked, starting to sweat again.

"It hit one fifteen." Seth said gently. Gray shook his head.

"It doesn't get that hot in Oregon." He replied.

"It isn't just Oregon. New York is at one twenty five, Detroit's at one ten." Eli said somberly. Gray looked around slowly.

"He's almost here... Zytu is almost here." Gray whispered softly, looking at the artifact in his hand before he moved over to the workstation with the other pieces. He slid the curved piece in to complete the fishbone shape, securing the other pieces where they were, but one notch was left empty, one slot at the very back was missing its piece. Gray looked at the other Ghostbusters.

"At least we've got some help on the line." Nico said. "Kevin and I figured out the frequencies that the artifact operates on."

"And Diego Rivera in New York's about to plot the last portal position." Seth said. Gray smiled at that.

"You guys have been busy." Gray said happily.

"It was the only thing we could do to keep Seth from going nuts." Eli said.

"And here I thought you two were the romantics." Gray said, pausing, "So, how were calls while I was gone?" he asked. Seth blinked, looking over at the phone. The message light was still off.

"Did you guys take any messages while I was working?" Seth asked. Nico looked to Eli. Eli shook his head.

"The phone hasn't rung at all..." Eli said.

"I know it's working though, I called for some pizza this morning." Dakota said.

"Actually, Kevin... mentioned that they hadn't been getting any calls either, a slump." Nico said. Gray turned, looking over at Rerun. Despite being happy at Gray's return, the time wyrm had collapsed onto one of the counters again. He looked around at all the Ghostbusters, wondering why they were all looking at him. He looked down at his shirt to see if it was dirty before he looked up again at them. Gray looked at the artifact again, praying they would have enough time to finish it... before things got any worse.

****

Peace had fallen over the lands of Polus and Grahl once more. The battle had been hard fought and hard won, but the return of the elders had signaled the start of a new age. The Grahl would become part of the Polus tribe, as equals so long as they obeyed the laws. Even from the Grahl palace, Batul's echoing voice could be heard, bellowing out the terms of their truce. The words bounced around the black marble room, barely muffled by the dying vines that were turning brown. From the ceiling, one wilted purple flower blossom fell down, fluttering and carrying on slight breezes before it fell into the basin in front of the throne. The flower pedal slid down until it brushed the purple bead of water, but rather than absorbing it, the flower blossom ignited into a pale, purple flame. The flame grew slowly, barely more than an ember. Two tiny black eyes blinked inside of the fire before a hissing escaped the flames, a rage filled growl following soon after.

"Human... Demon killer... Enemy..." Orobas' voice hissed, the flames growing larger from his hatred and his dedication. Slowly around the entire throne room, the plants smoldered before igniting into fire as well, crackling away as the vines fell away from the walls, landing across the floor. Orobas' flame crept out of the basin and along the vines, moving toward the steps. The Grahl would no longer support him. There was nothing left for him there. Revenge was his only thirst. Orobas wouldn't rest until he exacted his revenge, one way or another. With that thought in mind, the glowing ball of fire disappeared out into the light, leaving the dark temple behind forever.