Week 1b

[captainryan]

It began with the earthquake. In the middle of the night when everyone but Egon had gone to sleep, the ground shook fiercely enough to knock them all out of their beds and shatter the glass in the windows.

Ryan hadn't thought New York was prone to earthquakes.

Regardless, he helped the Ghostbusters in cleaning the mess the quake had left behind, quietly listening to the bickering and laughing that went on around him.

"It was not a normal earthquake," Spenglar insisted before explaining what his machines had recorded. Something to do with a massive amount of psychic energy. When the police arrived to ask for help, Ryan slipped into another room to avoid being seen. The less attention he drew to himself, the better. A minute later, and the 'busters had a new case. Ryan just kept cleaning. It's not as if he had anything else to do, and it let him repay the men for taking him in during the past week.

The team's out for the rest of the day, searching for Marduk, apparently  the god responsible for the earthquake. They rush back in, siren blaring, in the early afternoon. Ryan heads to the garage to greet them and ask Stantz if he has time to look for the Door today. The moment he gets there, though, that doesn't look like a possibility. The men are rushing around, gathering equipment and supplies as they explain to Ryan what's happened and what they need to do next, Ryan included.

"You want me to do what?"

Comments

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Come with us on this one, Captain," says Winston firmly. "Marduk's here, all right, but he didn't come alone. He's got an old, old enemy on his tail. You ever hear about a guy named Tiamat?"

(In proper universes it'd be a girl named Tiamat, but what can one do in the face of canon...)

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

(Grin and bear it.)

"No." Ryan's still unnerved by the sudden request. He'd been considering asking if he could join the team while he was here, if only to have something to do. The offer isn't entirely unwelcome.

That the first mission would be against a god is.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Winston grunts. "It's a five-headed dragon. Marduk's mortal enemy. He said he thought he'd lost him in ancient China, but it turns out he was wrong."

"We all saw it," chimes in Ray. "Right out the window of Grand Central Station, headed uptown."

"If the two of them fight each other unrestricted, all of Manhattan will be destroyed," says Egon. "Peter and Winston managed to persuade Marduk to take a more strategic approach."

"Which is where we come in," Winston says. "And you."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan just gives him an incredulous look.

"I have no idea how to use any of this equipment. I'd be more of a hindrance than an asset," he argues. They don't really want to worry about a raw recruit protoning himself while they fight for the safety of the city, do they?

[gone_byebye]

"Oh, it's really simple," says Peter cheerfully. "We'll tape down all the controls except the on switch. Just keep hold of it with both hands, okay? Darn thing kicks like a firehose."

"Alternatively," Egon suggests, "you could pilot the Ecto-2 unit instead of Ray, but I seem to recall that helicopter training isn't exactly standard fare even among the Special Forces."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"It's not," Ryan says a shade weakly. Jumping from helicopters, yes, piloting them, no.

He's going to agree to this, isn't he? He doesn't see how he has much choice. He could say no, but that would make his remaining time here very stressful indeed. Besides that, he owes them.

"All right," he answers finally. "Where do you need me?"

He just has to keep reminding himself that he was going to volunteer anyway.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"You're coming with me," Winston says. "We already called the police on this one. They're gonna cordon off Central Park so that nobody tries getting in while the fight's going on. All we're gonna do is keep Tiamat too distracted to hurt anything that sets off Marduk's whole city-protector alarms."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan nods and follows Winston, quickly helping him get together everything else he needs, along with his own gear. The proton pack is lighter than he thought it would be, though not surprisingly so, and he's careful not to touch any of the switches, especially the one to turn it on.

"What else do we need?"

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Get some gloves on," says Winston. "That thrower overheats, you're gonna want to have a good thick layer of insulating rubber between it and you. I don't care how fast you heal, those things are nasty. You're probably gonna want a jumpsuit, too. I have an extra that ought to fit you."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Oh, charming. Ryan's used to healing burns on his hands, but still. He gets the white jumpsuit on (odd to be wearing something that smells so strongly of someone else) and the gloves are tucked into his belt since he doesn't know if he needs the dexterity of his hands to grab other things.

Once done, he looks again to Zeddmore.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"That should do it," says Winston. "Okay, get in the car. We're going to get out of the car at Mechanics' Gate and head into the park on foot. Egon's gonna take Peter from there."

Ray wanders by, whistling cheerfully to himself as he pulls on a radio headset and heads for the stairs.

"Ray's gonna fly the chopper."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan eyes Stantz as he passes by, but nods anyway. He climbs into the backseat of Ecto-1, Venkman already in the passenger's seat. Zeddmore gets in on the other side, and they're off, siren blaring.

It's uncomfortably loud.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Central Park is a few miles up from where the Ghostbusters firehouse is located. They're on Varick and North Moore streets, a little ways below Canal. The Park's most southerly entrances are on Fifty-ninth. Fortunately, that overly loud siren commands a measure of respect on at least a few of the avenues, and once they get past the tunnel traffic on Canal and through the mess that always seems to prevail on Hudson Street, Winston swings the car onto Sixth Avenue. That's a good straight run up, and the blocks go flying by. Egon's handling the radio communications at the moment, including a steady stream of back-and-forth with the police and a somewhat more sporadic conversation with Ray.

The buildings have been growing taller for most of the ride, but up ahead is a big, open patch of green. "That's it," says Winston as they blast through another light. "That's the Park. Mechanics' Gate is on the south side. Egon, you take the wheel. Captain Ryan, you come with me."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Ryan is fine," the captain says as he follows Zeddmore out the door. Not that he minds the captain, but he'd rather none of them shouted it and told everyone a captain was here.

Odd thing to worry about at a time like this. He shoves it aside as he pulls on his gloves and heads into the park. He's been here before, if only late at night and early morning. He doesn't know the names of any particular place, but he's familiar enough with the layout.

"Where are we headed?" he asks briskly, nostrils flared.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Down this road into the park," says Winston, "and up past the skating rink and the stables. There's gonna be a point where it looks like there's two broken-down walls that aren't attached to anything. It's the best vantage point we're gonna get in this part of the park, and the only shelter that Tiamat can't burn."

He glances sidelong at Ryan as they break into a jog. "You holding up okay?" he asks. "I remember my first time doing this. I forgot to turn my pack on, I was so far in over my head."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan glances back. "I'll be all right." Even if it's a lie, that's the only way to answer that question. "I've done something like this before," he admits, "though not on the power level that Tiamat is." Really, between werewolves, Black Oil, and this, he doubts he'll ever be in over his head again.

"Live and learn," he half mutters to himself, settling his nerves.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Winston nods. "Whatever happens," he says, "as long as you're here, I got your back. I was Airborne once myself. I know how it goes."

With that, he jerks his chin towards a masonry formation up ahead at the top of a long slow treeless rise. "That's our cover. Come on. Ray's gonna lure Tiamat out over the Reservoir for starters."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Winston could not have said anything better to reassure Ryan. "Likewise," he nods to the man, a faint smile on his face.

He takes up a position on one side of the wall while Zeddmore grabs the other. "And now we wait." At least that's old hat for him.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Now we wait," Winston confirms.

Overhead there's the droning sound of an engine. Winston glances up; if Ryan does the same, he'll see that the helicopter in question is possibly the most ridiculously tiny thing since an autogyro. "That's Ray," he confirms as the little thing slips out of sight. "Another minute or two-"

The radio at his belt squawks with Egon's voice. "Come in, Peter. Are you in position?"

"That's a roger, Ecto-1. I read you, five by five, sir."

"Do you see Tiamat?"

There's an incoherent noise of disbelief to follow. Winston looks up, grabs Ryan's arm, and passes him a pair of binoculars.

"Good. Winston, Ryan?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Peter's voice gets a dry look. He remembers the other one acted in much the same manner. Then Zeddmore's passing him the binoculars and Ryan has other things to think about.

That dragon is huge. Abruptly, he's thinking of the alien worm from Zedd's world, and hoping he doesn't get eaten this time around.

"Target in sight," he tells the man next to him. "Something red coming in fast." He adjusts the focus. "Marduk?" he guesses.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Tiamat in sight," says Winston into the radio. "And here comes Marduk, right on schedule."

"I see him!" says Ray's voice excitedly, and the chopper descends towards the dragon. "I'm starting my run now!"

"Be careful!" says Egon as a streak of protonic fire lances through the air towards the dragon.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan watches the fight through the binoculars. The dragon recoils as it's hit, allowing Ray to blow past it and start to circle for a second attack. Tiamat recovers quickly, though, and a moment later shoots a blast of flame at the chopper.

"Ecto-2 has been hit," Ryan reports grimly. "It's going down. Marduk is engaging now."

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Winston mutters something under his breath as Marduk slams into the dragon. "They're gonna wind up tumbling out of the park if they keep that up," he says.

The great red-skinned god is ferociously pounding the dragon with both fists and doing one hell of a lot of damage, but the thing is that Tiamat has five enormously strong necks. As Marduk raises one massive fist to smash in a forehead, Tiamat bends the neck that the god is clutching nearly double- and with a roar and a flicking motion, sends the god flying across the park to smash into the trees.

"And Marduk is down-"

That's Peter's voice, but Winston isn't listening. "Ryan, we got a problem," he says. "Ray's out of the air and there's nothing to distract that dragon from going after the rest of the city. We gotta get it to come around to be in range of all the proton packs."

Tiamat inhales deeply, then screams a bolt of fire into the trees. As the flames and smoke rise, a proton stream sparks back at the beast.

"Peter's not gonna be able to outrun that thing and we don't have a car. How are you with horses?" Winston jerks a thumb towards the stables they passed on the way up. "That's our only moving option."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"Werewolf," Ryan answers. "They don't like the way I smell, but I'm fairly fast on my own two feet." Not as fast as the horse, but still surprisingly quick.

"I can try to keep it busy until you get into position," he offers, glancing back at the dragon.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Winston nods. "Fine. You do that. When Tiamat turns my way, you make for Egon and the car, all right?"

He gives the Englishman one swift thump on the shoulder before bolting for the stable.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

That...was unexpected, but Ryan has a job to do and can't dwell on it now. He darts out from behind the wall until he has a clear shot at the dragon and flips the switch on the proton pack to 'on'.

At first, the beam goes wide (Venkman wasn't kidding when he said it kicked like a firehose), but Ryan quickly corrects and drags the proton fire to the creature, making it shriek.

Huh. So this is what it's like to have a nuclear reactor on your back.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

There's also a positron collider involved. Positrons are antimatter. This seldom makes anybody happy to find out and so no one really talks about it very much.

Tiamat's green wings flare upwards as the heads flail madly, but it recovers quickly and snakes one head around in Ryan's direction. As it roars again, the other four heads draw in breath. Ryan can probably smell the internal furnace stoking in preparation for another jet of flame.

Fortunately, Winston seems to be familiar enough with mounted operations to let off a stream from his own pack; the fires go wide as one of the other heads is hit.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Perfect timing, though it doesn't stop Ryan from ducking and rolling.

Being burned head to toe sucks, and once was more than enough.

The dragon's turning towards Zeddmore now, and Ryan wastes no time in running to where the car is waiting. The other three Ghostbusters are already there, and Stantz gets a particular look over to be sure that the man who can get him home is alright.

"Get ready," he warns as he slows to a stop.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

Ray, for his part, looks remarkably good for a man who fell out of the sky. Egon is perched atop the car, at the controls of a large blue device that resembles nothing so much as a foreshortened tank barrel; he nods. "Where's Winston?" he asks.

"Right here!" calls the other Ghostbuster as his horse charges through the brush between two trees and lands squarely on the asphalt in front of the car. "And Tiamat's right behind me."

"I see him," Egon says, taking aim. "We've got him right-"

"Where he wants us," says Winston- but he's out of the saddle now, and he's got his thrower trained on the dragon too. So do Peter and Ray. "Ready, Ryan?"

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan hopes so. "Yes," is what he says, the word short and terse. A moment later, five proton streams hit Tiamat, who screams in anger, necks writhing. The beams wrap around the creature, making it glow brighter and brighter, until it seems to shimmer. Ryan soon realizes it is shimmering, and the five men turn off their proton packs as it breaks apart and swirls into nothingness.

Ryan looks at the empty sky where the dragon was a moment before, frowning thoughtfully.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"And that's all she wrote for Tiamat," says Peter.

Winston shakes his head a little. "And Marduk," he reminds his compatriot.

"What happened?" says Ray, shouldering his proton thrower.

"I suppose," says Egon, "that they couldn't exist without each other. Ecto-symbiosis."

"Too bad," says Peter, as Winston turns away to check on the horse (yes, it's still there). "I kinda liked the guy."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

The horse gets a curious look from Ryan, who's wondering if it might be in shock. None of the animals he's familiar with would stick around after something like that. But Spengler, Stantz, and Venkman are loading the equipment back into the car and animals have never been that important to Ryan, so he leaves the horse to Zeddmore.

Perhaps it would be different if he upwind of the thing.

"What about the helicopter?" he asks, carefully settling his pack into the back of the hearse.

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"It crashed into the shallow end of the Reservoir," says Ray. "The police are going to retrieve it for us. They usually do, when something big like this is going on."

The horse whinnies briefly; Winston is returning to the car and the others. "Nice work, guys," he says. "You did real good, Ryan. Thank you."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's pack is the last and he slams the door shut. "You're welcome," he replies simply to Zeddmore, nodding once. Ryan's missed action like that, and if he's going to be here, it's the least he could do to offer his services.

Besides, he'd rather not be bored.

"I believe I could use a little more practice with the proton pack," he admits. "It has a surprisingly strong recoil."

[sane-gb.livejournal.com]

"Next time we get a chance, I'll take you out to Floyd Bennett Field," Winston says. "The city doesn't like us using these things much outside of actual jobs, but they don't complain if we go there. Used to be an airstrip out in Brooklyn. The city hasn't used it in years."

The conversation will go on from here, of course, but for now it fades into inconsequentials as they drive homeward.