Week 2

[captainryan]

Another week’s gone by and Ryan’s still trapped in the animated Stantz’s world. It’s frustrating knowing he can’t open the Door to Milliways himself, that he has to rely on the other man to get back. Not that he’s unreliable, he just tends to get distracted. Ryan would ask him to try the doors more often, but he’s seen the man come home covered in slime. He deserves some downtime.

Which he had yesterday. When Winston was teaching him how to shoot, the other guys had the day to themselves. Stantz can open a few doors for him today and one of those will lead to Milliways. He hopes. Ryan steps into the main room just in time to here something about baseball. An American sport, he thinks, dismissing it and heading towards Ray.

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[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"He went without backup?" Ryan scowls, suppressing a growl. He'd thought the man smarter than that.

He's not as fast as the rest of the Ghostbusters, but he does get his borrowed suit and proton pack on quickly enough. "Let's go."

[gone_byebye]

"Even Winston has lapses of judgment once in a while," says Ray, sliding into the driver's seat.

It's not much of a drive to Jaguar Stadium, as Ryan no doubt remembers, but the stadium is no longer available for callers. The night watchman who meets the Ghostbusters points nervously to the great glowing half-dome of energy that covers the place. "He's back in there," says the watchman. "That's the bravest man I've ever seen."

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Ryan eyes the dome, eyes narrowed. It's glowing in the night, lighting up the surrounding area like a large bonfire of epic proportions.

"How do we get in?" he asks when he can see no obvious path.

[gone_byebye]

Egon's expression goes grim as he pulls out the PKE meter. "We're going to have to blast our way through this barrier. If we shoot four particle beams at the same spot at its base, we can form a tunnel through, but it won't last long."

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It doesn't have to last long. If they blast their way in, surely they can blast their way out again.

Right?

Ryan draws his particle thrower and steps forward with the other three men. "Let's blast!" Venkman shouts, and four proton beams strike the barrier, converging on one single spot. Slowly, a hole starts to open, the beams chasing the edges further apart.

"Now!" Egon yells and the four disappear within the dome as the energy snaps shut behind them.

[gone_byebye]

You'd think the ground would be level with the entrance; you'd be wrong. The four men find that it quite abruptly vanishes from beneath their feet, tumbling the four of them from a red and blue sky to a ground that has nothing at all to do with any baseball stadium they've ever been into before. Peter lands first, Ray thumps to a stop on top of him, Egon lands third, and Ryan hits the top of the pile.

"It worked!" says Ray, just as a vast, red-skinned, red-eyed being LOOMS over the four of them.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's usually pretty quick on his feet, but having the ground disappear from under you is a good way to lose your breath. What that means is that instead of immediately rolling off the pile and to his feet, he groans and then does so.

"You do not belong here," the thing says in a deep booming voice even as Ryan brings his thrower to bear. It's only that and the fact that it seems to be dressed like an umpire that keeps him from firing.

"Where's Winston?" he asks, growling.

[gone_byebye]

"Playing shortstop!" calls Winston's voice from some distance behind them.

... dear lord, the whole place's been turned into baseball night at the Steaming Tar Pits of Doom. At least, it looks that way; the ground is an oily black and steaming, and the diamond's lines are defined by risen stone paths, and yes, indeed, there's Winston waving at them from a position halfway out on the field. He grins and walks back to meet the four new arrivals.

"I'd ask for a good explanation of this, Winston," says Peter, "but I'm afraid you'd tell me."

"Remember those ancient Indian legends?" says Winston. "Good and evil slug it out right on this spot. They've always chosen the form of battle from their surroundings, but when they got here, they found a baseball stadium. So I suggested they play a game of baseball."

The players are all manner of peculiarly animalistic, exaggerated-looking beings. Ryan isn't likely to have seen too many of them anywhere except in the books he went through today.

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And Ryan's taking a good look at all of them, trying to note any weaknesses.

He isn't having much luck.

And never has he been faced with something that's so obviously divided into black and white. He doubts that anything can be so obvious, and is more on his guard than ever.

"Why are you playing?" he asks, eyeing Winston's uniform.

[gone_byebye]

"When good and evil choose sides for battle," intones the gigantic red umpire, "no one can be neutral."

"The umpire said I could play," Winston adds. "I always wanted to play in the majors."

"Winn-ston was here when the battle began," the umpire says, "but it's too late in the game to add new players. You four must go."

"Wait a minute!" says Peter. "D' you know what we had to go through to get in here?"

"Winston's our friend," Egon says. "If he's in danger-"

"Yeah," chimes in Ray. "Like what happens to the losers?"

"Nothing," says the umpire.

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"Then why are you playing?" He doesn't believe for a moment it might be just for kicks.

[gone_byebye]

"The fate of one human soul," says Winston.

"You guys hijacked an entire stadium, not to mention our buddy Winston, and panicked the entire city for just one soul?" protests Peter indignantly.

The umpire seems to swell with a sort of indignation of his own. "Just one soul?" he thunders. "Is there anything on this puny earth as important? Isn't even one soul worth all this effort, and more?"

"Yeah, well, if you put it that way-"

Egon glances sidelong at Winston. Then he says, "You can't make us leave. We have a stake in this game, don't we."

The umpire straightens, folding his arms over his chest. "You may stay," he says. "Resume your position, Winn-ston."

"Don't worry, guys!" says Winston as he runs back onto the field.

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That's not a yes, but it's not a no either. Ryan finally hitches up his thrower.

One soul on the line. Is it Winston's? Probably. But Ryan can't help but think that he seems a little light-hearted to be playing for his own soul.

Unless he doesn't know it's his soul being played for.

[gone_byebye]

"What happens if good loses?" Ray inquires; he and Egon've come to the same conclusion.

"The soul spends five hundred years in torment, doing Evil's bidding," says the umpire.

Peter winces. "Ask a silly question," he murmurs.

"Play ball!"

One of Evil's batters scampers up to the plate as the Ghostbusters file off to one side. Peter doesn't seem to think much of Good's team members- they're a bit wispy for his liking- but it appears they've held their own for eight innings, with no score on either side.

The Good pitcher- a centaur-like spirit- winds up and flings the ball. He's got excellent form, but the Evil batter's eyes glow brilliant red for a moment, and the ball skids almost to a halt in midair. With a CRACK the bat connects and the ball arcs away, high and swift. Winston shouts, "I've got it! I've- uh oh-"

For a brief moment, the infield is showered with a rain of baseballs. Winston flinches, covers his eyes with one hand, and sticks out his gloved hand. As one of the many balls plunks into it, the umpire booms, "You're out!"

"Excuse me, umpire, just a sec-" says Peter.

"You disagree with my call?"

"Oh, no. 'You're out'. Very good. Concise. We just wanted to point out since you're new to the game and all that, well, Evil just cheated."

"Full tilt, flat out cheating," Ray chimes in, and Egon adds, "Doesn't that call for a forfeiture of the game?"

"You mean declare Evil the losers for cheating?"

"Yeah!"

"But Evil cheats," says the umpire. "That's its nature. It does whatever unscrupulous or immoral thing it has to to to win. That's why we call them 'evil'. Only Good isn't allowed to cheat. If Good adopts the ways of Evil, it becomes Evil. So if Good cheats, Evil automatically wins." He puts his hands on his hips. "Got it? PLAY BALL."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

It's so...black and white. Good and Evil, they can't be clearly defined, not the way this spirit seems to think they can. Sometimes Good has to be a little evil, if only for the greater good. Ryan knows that very well. It just isn't that simple.

"That's not the way the world works," he says aloud. "But if that's the way this game is played, then yes, got it."

[gone_byebye]

The umpire's eyes gleam in the darkness of his mask, but he says nothing further.

Perhaps it was something about the disruption that did it, but that marks the point where the tide turns in Evil's favor. The batter swallows the ball and spits it out with such force that it dissolves one of the fielders; once it's caught, two runners are tagged out despite Winston's urging. The third runner hops onto home plate and is declared "SAFE!", marking the first point scored in the game. Visibly irritated by this, the Good pitcher's arm quickens, and the next batter is struck out in a bare eyeblink.

As the teams change sides, Winston trots over to his comrades. "I only have a minute, guys, but I wanted to say I'm glad the ump let you say. You don't know how important this game is," he says.

"I... think we have an idea," says Egon slowly.

"Hey, you're only down by one point!" says Ray. "You still have three outs to go."

"Yeah, so go on, get out of here," says Peter. "We're not worried."

"Okay," Winston says with a grin. "Thanks!"

As he jogs to the dugout and Evil takes the field, Peter says, "I'm very, very worried about Winston..."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

So is Ryan, but Stantz is right. Good is only down by one point. They get two hits in a row, filling up two of the bases before the Evil's pitcher disappears in a puff of smoke. One of the other team members squeaks something into the umpire's ear.

"Time out for a relief pitcher," the umpire spirit declares as red storm clouds gather over the pitcher's mound and a screeching elephant's trumpet sounds, making Ryan wince. There's a sharp ozone spike as a bolt from the cloud strikes the mound, sending up a cloud of red smoke. When it clears, there's the largest spirit yet, a pink monstrosity with a trunk for a nose.

"PLAY BALL!"

[gone_byebye]

The pitcher inhales ferociously and snorts the ball out at speeds that distort it beyond belief.

"Steerike one!"
"Steerike two!"
"Steerike three! You're out!"

"Down to the last out already?" says Ray in some disbelief. "They'd better have their best hitter coming up."

Peter, suddenly pale, points. "It's Winston!" he says, and sure enough the dark-skinned Ghostbuster is stepping up to the plate with an air of grim determination.

"Can Winston take this guy?" Ray wonders.

The umpire notes, "That's Evil's best pitcher. Your friend may not have a chance."

"It's just not right, letting a game decide Winston's fate," says Peter. "There's gotta be something we can do."

Egon looks thoughtfully towards the plate. "If they won't let us in the game, what can we do?"

"Maybe Winn-ston would have an easier time against another pitcher."

"Hey, we're not playing in the game!" Peter realizes. "No one said we couldn't cheat..."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan doesn't think in black and white. That's not the way the world works, even if that's the way of this game.

"You have a point," Ryan admits thoughtfully.

"PLAY BALL!" The pitcher shoots the first ball, and the force of it slamming into the catcher's glove is enough to send Winston stumbling back from the plate.

"Strike one!"

[gone_byebye]

"Egon. Get ready with the trap. As soon as we fire our proton beams at him, get the trap out there."

Egon looks a little reluctant; he's muttering "If no one is neutral..." even as "STRIKE TWO!" sends Winston sprawling.

"Ready?" says Peter, unshouldering his particle thrower. Ray follows suit.

"... then if we cheat..."

Peter kicks the trap into position. "Aim..."

"Oh, no!" says Egon, and suddenly bolts to stand between the pitcher and the other three men. "No, stop! We can't do it- if we cheat, good loses!"

Peter stares. Ray stares.

"Nuts!" Ray finally says, lowering his thrower as the pitcher draws himself up for one more blast.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

This is such bullshit, but Ryan complies, lowering his thrower with a growl. He scowls at the pitcher as he fires the last ball at home plate. Encased in a red glow, the white sphere streaks towards Winston who actually manages to swing at it this time...and connect.

The red missile flies back the way it came, catching the pitcher in the gut and carrying him through the air to smash into the scoreboard and send the structure tumbling into the ground. The entire field is silent for one long moment before Team Good erupts into cheers.

[gone_byebye]

Winston trots the bases bringing in the last of three runs as Team Evil dissolves. Team Good assembles at the plate to shake his hand individually before vanishing, leaving the Ghostbusters and the werewolf alone with the umpire. "It was a test, wasn't it?" says Egon, and there's an edge in his voice.

"I told you no one can be neutral," says the umpire. "You had to choose. Would you cheat for your friend, or would you trust in fair play and let Good win on its own terms?" He cants his head in Peter and Ryan's direction. "Perhaps we'll meet again someday."

The umpire dissolves in a spray of orange light, and the field returns to its old self in the clear light of morning. Egon grumps about not having been able to study the umpire properly, but Peter leans forward and says, "At least we saved our buddy here, right?"

"What?" says Winston.

"We knew all along it was your soul, Winston," says Ray.

Winston throws up both hands. "Oh, no, you got it all wrong," he says. "That would've been a conflict of interest. It was your soul, Ryan. That's why they let me play."

Peter blinks a few times and then says, "Oooohkay. Sorry about the whole putting you at risk of five hundred years of evil torment thing, Cap'n. No harm, no foul, right?"

"That's basketball, Peter."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's too shocked to say anything at first. His soul? They were playing for his soul?

"Right," he manages weakly as he realizes just how very close he came. "It could have just as easily been your's, after all.

"Why my soul?"

[gone_byebye]

"They drew lots," says Winston. "Out of everybody in a hundred miles. And your name was the one that came up."

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Ryan just nods silently, still stunned. He can't... The odds... He's not even from this world! How can...

It'll be some time after they return to the firehouse that Ryan manages to order his thoughts enough to pull Winston aside.

"You had my back," Ryan says simply, studying the man. "Thank you."