Ghostbusters: Regeneration

Chapter Nineteen

A blinding blood red light filled Peter's vision, seemingly surrounding his entire being. For a brief moment, he felt as if he was outside the realms of time and space, belonging in an inscrutable crimson void. Before he had time to wrap his mind around the nature of this existence, the all-encompassing red light quickly began to fade, melting away into a soft blue haze.

Peter found himself gently floating within some sort of cool expanse. Though there appeared to be little to see nor hear in this new realm, this place was much more pleasant and even soothing compared to that crimson void. He felt content to drift here for a moment, but after a few seconds he found himself unable to breathe. Realising he needed to find air fast, he instinctively began to kick his legs and move his arms.

He quickly surfaced and began to gratefully take in the oxygen he found above this watery body. Looking past the liquid streaming down his face, his eyes began to adjust to this new, more Peter-friendly environment.

As it turned out, he was not in some strange new realm; he was home. He was standing in the indoor pool at his Long Island mansion. While relieved to find himself somewhere recognisable and safe, he still felt a great sense of disorientation.

What happened? Why am I here?

Seconds ago, he had been miles away, with Ray and the rest of his fellow Ghostbusters. Though these memories were somehow already becoming hazy and distant, he was quickly able to recall an unusual white spiralling place, the Guggenheim, and being set upon by some ugly flying beast.

'Az'dor.' He muttered, realising what had happened.

Peter glanced around the cavernous room, trying to pinpoint anything and everything the team's demonic nemesis had altered. He quickly confirmed that he was alone and that his Ghostbusters uniform and equipment were nowhere in sight. Apparently, all Az'dor had done was transport him into his pool and changed him into his swim shorts.

'Great wish fulfilment pal, this is already my life.' Peter called out, despite being fairly sure Az'dor was not listening in.

Despite his mocking words, he was willing to bet that the reality-altering miscreant had made more changes than was initially obvious. Until he could get some kind of confirmation, he could not even be sure that the rest of the Ghostbusters were still battling Az'dor back at the museum.

Peter began to swim towards the set of stairs at the top end of the pool. On his way there, he spied a stack of items on a pool-side lounge chair. Whenever he went for a dip, he would always leave a dressing gown, a towel, and anything else he might need on top of this lounger. He would often keep his smartphone there too if he was expecting any important business calls. Despite having no memory of leaving these items here on this occasion, he was nonetheless thankful that he, or someone else, had done so.

He hauled himself out of the water and began to walk towards the chair. The gown and towel were there, but there was no sign of his phone. His immediate plan had been to try and contact Ray to see if he could shed light on what was going on, but that was on hold until he could locate his mobile. His last memory of the handset was placing it inside one of his jumpsuit pockets before the Guggenheim operation but now it could be anywhere given Az'dor's existence-warping powers.

Peter began looking around the immediate area. He crouched and lifted up the fluffy white towel, finding nothing beneath it. A glimmer then caught his eye, but he swiftly realised that this did not originate from a mobile phone screen. Something a lot smaller had been left on the lounger alongside the towel. He reached down with his other hand to pick up the object. Bringing it closer to his face, he could see it was a shiny gold ring, seemingly a wedding band.