Day 1

[captainryan]

Ryan’s eyes open and he stumbles at the sudden change in scenery. Already reaching for his sidearm, it comes out on instinct, safety off and pointed up. He blinks again, nostrils flaring, to be sure he really isn’t hallucinating and, yes, he is in a wide open field. Except it’s oddly flat and smooth, and very, very colourful. He twists his neck, scanning his surroundings, absolutely dumbfounded by the two-dimensional cows.

“Moooooo!”

He growls and shoots the bovine a glare and it decides that that end of the pasture would be much healthier for it.

But how - the angel. Son of a bitch. It transported him here, wherever here is. He looks around again, seeing nothing but the field and the huddled cows at the far end. He’s still taken aback by the flatness of everything, more so than the bright colours (though those are close to giving him a headache). It’s like watching a picture move, or an animated show on the telly. At least everything smells normal, if unfamiliar, and there’s even the scent of humans and civilization emanating from…somewhere.

He has to get back to Milliways and Suzi and Deitmar. And once he’s made sure that they’re all right, and they know he’s all right, he’s going to take a sledgehammer to that fucking statue, rules be damned.

But one bridge at a time. He has to find a Door, first. He puts up his weapon and starts walking towards the scent of humans.

He’d run, but he’s not yet used to moving in a cartoon world.

Two fields over, Ryan finds a road and a signpost. "Nassburg," he reads aloud, frowning at his lack of recognition and the lack of a posted distance. Still, a town is a town and it doesn't smell all that far off.

Comments

[gone_byebye]

"... huh boy," says Ray, and then half-covers the mouthpiece of the phone. "Egon! EGON! Guess where we're going!" A moment later, at full volume: "We'll come get you. It, uh, it's probably going to be easier back in the city. I'd offer the use of our philotic portal but we sort of disassembled it for other research- anyway, we can sure try, if you don't mind waiting for us to come pick you up and get you back to the city. Okay?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Fine," Ryan bites on the word. It's not as though he has much choice in the matter. "It doesn't look like I'm going anywhere. I'll be waiting in Spengler's pub. And...thank you."

[gone_byebye]

"Oh, you're welcome," says Ray. "See you in about an hour."

About an hour later- there's not that much traffic this time of day- there's a sound of something fairly large pulling to a stop outside, and four men's voices. Also, a fifth voice, perhaps a small boy's, cheerfully babbling in something that doesn't sound like English.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan keeps an idly eye on the pool game for the hour, but politely shuts down any conversation sent his way. At the sound of the car, he stands and nods once to Joan and her patrons before heading outside.

"Afternoon, gentlemen," he greets, still plenty irked at the entire situation. He doesn't recognize any one of the men, but at least Stantz' scent is familiar. That and the sickeningly sweet scent emanating from a floating green blob.

[gone_byebye]

Yeah, he really wouldn't. The orange-haired fellow in the tan jumpsuit steps forward. "Captain Ryan?" says Ray with a smile. "I'm Dr. Stantz. This-" He gestures to the dark-haired man in the brown jumpsuit. "Is Dr. Venkman, this-" The blond, with the hair that defies most of the laws of nature, and the blue jumpsuit. "Is Dr. Spengler, and this-" The black man in the white jumpusuit. "Is Winston Zeddemore. And this little guy-" The green blob waves, does an Immelman loop, and babbles excitedly. "Is Slimer. Don't worry, he'll be riding on the roof on the way home. I hope we didn't k eep you waiting too long?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

He nods at each of the men in turn (Slimer is warily eyed), noticing that Venkman's scent is also familiar. He'd forgotten that he'd done a mission with the man's counterpart.

"No longer than I expected," Ryan answers, "but the sooner I can return to Milliways, the better." He shows a few teeth in something similar to a smile. "There's a statue I need to destroy."

[gone_byebye]

Ray nods. "Okay," he says readily.

"Statue?" says Dr. Spengler, stepping forward with a curious expression. "What sort of statue? I don't recall the Bar having any particular statuary the last time I was there. Then again, it has been some time."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Cartoons. It keeps occurring to him he's in a cartoon. This is possibly the strangest experience Ryan has yet had.

"A newer addition to the bar, though it's not truly a statue. For one, it's capable of movement, but only does so when no one looks at it. And its touch transports you to a world not your own," Ryan informs him grimly. "Hence my presence here. Which I would like to end as soon as possible." A not so subtle reminder that he'd like to get moving. Besides, they can always ask him more questions in the car.

[gone_byebye]

Egon nods. "Of course," he says. "Right this way, Captain."

They get into the car; Winston's driving, though Ray's in the front seat. Egon and Peter shuffle back and forth a moment before Peter wins, and Egon has to sit in the middle. The seat directly behind the driver is offered to Ryan, and once everyone is settled in and seatbelts are on, they're on their way.

"Captain," says Egon as the car starts and they head on their way (Slimer, true to form, is hanging onto the equiment on top of the car, "I think we need to hear some more about these statues, if you have any further information available. There've been a few cases of similar accidents occurring in the past with supposedly 'enchanted' statuary, but I've never heard of it happening at Milliways."

Ray twists around in his seat to get a better chance at listening. Peter? He's just trying to sleep.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan can totally climb in a car crowded with people he doesn't know!

He's cracking open the window, though.

"It's a female angel, usually seen with her eyes covered as though she were crying. The statue's large, taller than myself. As I said, they only move when they're not being looked at, but they move very quickly," he rumbles slightly. "It was across the room when I blinked and found my self in the middle of a field surrounded by cows."

[gone_byebye]

"Hm. That sounds familiar," says Egon thoughtfully.

"Yeah, Egon," Peter interjects. "That's what the ghosts in Super Mario Brothers do, remember?"

"You know I don't play video games other than Tetris, Peter."

"Too bad. You should try it sometime. Might loosen you up a bit."

"Was there any noise or feeling of disorientation involved?" Ray asks in the meantime. "Any sense at all of something unusual happening or about to happen?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Other than the realization that I was in a completely unknown world? No." He doesn't mention the cartoon bit. "It's instantaneous transport, as far as I can tell, between one blink and the next."

Stupid angels.

[gone_byebye]

"Fascinating," says Egon, simultaneously with Peter- who still has his eyes closed. Egon darts a glare across Ryan at Peter, who just smirks.

"You're predictable, Egon, what can I say?"

"I'm not talking to you, Peter."

"Aw."

"Captain?" says Ray. "Normally we don't see people teleported across entire worlds by the action of spirits and ghosts. If someone gets sent somewhere else, it's usually to another dimension, but it's one that's connected to their own world. Would you mind very much if I tried to get a preliminary PKE reading on you?" He holds up the PKE meter. "I promise it won't hurt. I won't even have to touch you."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan frowns. "You may, but I strongly doubt you'll have anything to compare it to." He didn't expect this to come up, but if it could help...

"I'm a deceased werewolf," he explains neutrally.

[gone_byebye]

Egon and Ray exchange glances. Peter opens one eye. "You look pretty good, for a zombie," he says. "Nice trick."

"He's not a zombie, Peter," says Egon with some asperity. "Milliways has a limited capacity for bestowing solid, working bodies on the dead. Captain, I don't mean to alarm you, but this changes matters somewhat."

Ray has the PKE meter out and the scan running already. "What was the limit last time you checked, Egon? Three days, right?"

"Approximately, yes."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan snaps to attention, spine ramrod straight. What had been reserved anger, irritation, and annoyance is now morphing into concern and wariness.

"Three days for what?" he asks, nostrils flaring on instinct.

[gone_byebye]

"The morphic field extended to the otherwise spiritual dead by the Bar is only persistent because of the constant influx of energy from the Bar's own standing mana field," says Egon as Ray examines the meter. "Those of the dead who leave the Bar's bounds begin losing physical coherency after thirty-six hours. There are ways of reinforcing the morphic field, but we haven't had the opportunity to test that on a Milliways subject yet."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Lose physical coherency? Meaning what?" snaps the stressed werewolf. He really doesn't like the sound of that.

[gone_byebye]

"Meaning you start fading out and 'going ghost', so to speak," says Ray. "Okay, I think I've got all the numbers I'm going to get."

"Don't worry, Captain. Between Dr. Stantz and myself, one or the other of us ought to be able to get you back to the Bar long before the Milliways limit comes into play."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The limit's never been an issue before. Ryan has, quite obviously, never even heard of it before.

The thought of fading away frightens him.

Except for a flicker, though, it doesn't show. "Thank you. I appreciate it."