Ghostbusters: Regeneration

Chapter Twenty One

Melissa and Hiroko hurriedly emerged from the dark basement stairwell. Their advance to the command centre was momentarily slowed as they recoiled from the contrasting brightness of the museum's aboveground levels. As their eyes readjusted to the light, their ears were greeted by inputs that were almost as unpleasant. Perturbed by this unexpected cacophony of noises, they cautiously crept out into the rotunda and squinted upward through the open shaft.

From what Melissa could make out, Az'dor was floating several levels above them, wildly striking at the monolithic Hamano Device with his clawed hand. Either he had flown into a blind rage or he had deduced that some of this pulsating tech was creating the barrier which was keeping him trapped in the building. His agitated shrieks combined with his heavy strikes against the metal structure were spooking the museum's newfound wildlife, sending birds flapping and small mammals scattering.

'This mission just never ends.' Melissa uttered in exasperation.

She and Hiroko then quickly but cautiously made their way up the ramp, dodging overgrown greenery and scurrying critters. They kept glancing up at Az'dor as they went, just in case the frantic beast managed to knock chunks of metal in their direction or decided to go after Hiroko again.

The two women were about halfway to the mission's command centre when Ray's voice crackled from their walkie-talkies.

'Heads up everyone,' he said in a hurried manner, 'Egon and I going live with proton streams. We can't risk Az'dor causing damage to the barrier generator.'

Melissa and Hiroko stopped in their tracks and looked across to the gallery which housed the team's command centre. From their position on the ramp, the command centre's doorway was almost on the exact opposite side of the rotunda. A moment later, Ray and Egon hurriedly emerged, with proton packs strapped to their backs and particle throwers in-hand. They stopped at the edge of the ramp and immediately took up firing stances.

Melissa and Hiroko crouched down behind the barrier on their side of the ramp, just in case the imminent protonic energy ribbons decided to flit in their direction. Peaking over the top of this short white wall, both women watched Ray and Egon let rip, launching streams from their position on the first floor up to where Az'dor was hovering.

Their target was seemingly wise to the humans' plan and darted a few metres to one side long before the chaotic beams could collide with him. The ribbons briefly struck part of the Hamano Device instead, causing bright sparks to spill from the points of impact. Ray and Egon ceased-fire momentarily and adjusted their aims towards Az'dor's new position. The creature hung still in mid-air, looking down at his two adversaries. Melissa could not tell if he was too exhausted to perform evasive manoeuvres, or if he was arrogantly floating there to show he was undaunted by their attempts to snag him.

Ray and Egon fired again, and once more their quarry evaded their proton streams with ease. However, this time the two Ghostbusters kept their beams running, forcing the agile Az'dor to stay on the move. The creature flew at speed around the rotunda, staying comfortably ahead of the destructive energy ribbons. He would occasionally phase through sections of the ramp and walls, making himself an even harder target to hit.

It quickly became clear to Melissa that their nemesis was giving them the runaround, given the ease in which he was evading their streams. The situation was bordering on farcical, looking like something out of a Looney Tunes or Tom & Jerry episode. Was he merely toying with them or did he have some kind of plan?

She had to quickly hunker down as Az'dor and the chasing particle streams briefly passed in their direction. Both herself and Hiroko wordlessly decided it would be better to stay fully crouched behind the barrier until this chaotic chase was over.