"Time Riders"
By Riana Miller

Part One

Intro: In this story, the Extreme Ghostbusters are older than we remember:

Eduardo is now 21, and Kylie, 20. They started dating in 1998, and have been in love ever since.
Roland is also 21. He quickly finished his studies and is now Dr. Roland Jackson, and his hair is longer.
Garrett is 20, he has a new wheelchair, his hair is longer, and he is stronger than ever before.
Egon, now 41, and Janine, now 38, finally got married.
Slimer still lives in the firehouse, and he can speak a little better now.

*****

Day: Monday, February 15, 2000.
Time: 18:35.
Location: The firehouse.

Eduardo, Kylie and Garrett were sitting in the recreation room of the firehouse, with Kylie and Eduardo sitting close together.

Garrett: Hmmm ... you two have been in love 2 years, now ... are you, maybe, planning something?

Eduardo: We don't know, really, but we might end up like Egon and Janine.

Kylie: Oh, wasn't their wedding beautiful?

Eduardo kissed and hugged Kylie, whispering in her ear that she, too, is beautiful. Garrett smiled and turned around to leave so they could be alone, but Egon stopped him. Eduardo and Kylie turned to hear what Egon had to say.

Egon: I have something very important to show you, down in the basement.

Eduardo, Kylie and Garrett followed Egon down to the basement, where Roland already waited.

Egon: Roland and I were fixing a seal on the containment unit, and some of the ghosts escaped.

Eduardo: Uh ... I donīt see any ghosts here.

Egon: I'm not finished yet ... the ghosts didn't stay here, they went into a gate ... a gate to another time.

Eduardo: So how do we get 'em back?

Egon: We can't ... but if we can follow them, we can recapture them in whatever time they've settled in. You see, not so long ago I was trying to build a time machine. It wasn't working too well, but I can try again.

Kylie: Isn't that dangerous? We could change the fabric of time if we did that.

Egon: No, if you follow the pre-set course straight to the ghost, capture it and return without incident, everything will remain as it was. In fact, the fabric of time could be damaged if the ghost doesn't come back with the time travelers.

Garrett: Ha ha! Like "Back To The Future."

Eduardo: Wait a minute... Time travelers, do you mean us?

Egon: Yes, I mean you. You're young and strong, with better reflexes, so you will withstand the time traveling experience better than I. I think you can more easily get in and out without causing a time rip.

The younger Ghostbusters looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say.

Egon: You can go home now, tomorrow will be a hard day.

*****

Day: Tuesday, February 16, 2000.
Time: 10:23.
Location: The firehouse.

Eduardo and Kylie stepped into the firehouse. Egon met them, looking really tired.

Eduardo: Egon, what's wrong?

Egon: I didn't sleep. I just had to build the time machine and some other things ... lucky that Janine was here ... I don't know how much coffee she made for me.

Garrett: Too much, there isn't any coffee left for the rest of us!

Eduardo: Hey, Garrett, I didn't know that you could wake up before noon.

Garrett: I didn't need to wake up, I didn't sleep.

Egon: I also built more than the time machine ... come with me. Garrett, call for Roland and get him down here.

When all the EGB's met up in the recreation room, Egon put a big box on the table.

Garrett: What is that?

Egon: That, lady and gentlemen, is your new weaponry. Each of you gets a weapon that is specially designed for the owner.

Egon took the first weapon out of the box.

Egon: This weapon is for Roland ... it has two power settings: normal and high power, which will deliver a single blast capable of destroying the Empire State Building, but draws more heavily on the power cells, so pick those shots carefully.

Roland carefully took the new proton gun out of Egon's hands.

Garrett: Wow! Cool toys!

Egon: This is for Kylie ... I call it a proton bazooka. It makes an enormous, concentrated proton beam. If Kylie hits a ghost it will be rendered immobile and fall to the ground, easy to trap.

Kylie took her weapon.

Egon: Eduardo, here is your weapon ... Its built-in PKE meter automatically adjusts the power setting to the specific classification of the ghost you target. It is stronger than a normal proton gun, and it's shape is designed for use as a blunt weapon when there isn't any more power left.

Eduardo hefted the weapon, testing grips and a battering-ram swing.

Garrett: What about me? What do I get?

Egon: This is your weapon, Garrett ... you can change it from a powerful proton gun to a flamethrower. Oh, I nearly forgot this little extra. I call it "soul touch."

Egon gave Garrett the proton gun and "soul touch" glove.

Garrett: Uh ... what is "soul touch?"

Egon: It's a sort of glove with claws made of proton energy that can damage or hold ghosts.

Garrett: Ohhh ye-es! This is what I call weaponry!

Roland: Why didn't you make these weapons before?

Egon: I didn't believe the technology was possible, so I had to suspend my belief to create the technology.

Garrett: I don't care if you believe or not, I want to play with my new toys!

Kylie: Calm down, Garrett, you aren't in the army.

Egon: By the way, there are some clothes for you out in the kitchen, each has a nametag on it. I'll go down to the cellar and fix the last few little things.

*****

The EGBs come down to the cellar ... Egon is standing beside a big machine.

Egon: What do you think about the clothes?

Garrett: Cool, fits perfect with my new wheelchair.

Kylie: I have two questions ... first, what do the ghosts want back in the past?

Egon: The ghosts want to kill our forefathers so we dissapear ... no Ghostbusters, no containment unit ... no captive ghosts.

The firehouse was suddenly as quiet as a graveyard.

Kylie: Okay, second question ... how do we know when we should travel to?

Egon: I've traced our ancestors' lives through history, searching pivotal points when new branches of the family trees began ... they may go back more than one generation in each case, but the PKE circuits in the time machine will ferret out their exact locale in time and space. The strongest signal is in London, somewhere in the World War 2 era, so one of our forefathers is in that time.

Garrett: But how do we know who it is ... and do we protect them, avoid them, what?

Egon: Chances are, when you find the ghost, you will find the person. Of course, you should protect them, if you want to exist, but try to interact with them as little as possible, or ideally, not at all. Are you ready to travel now?

Eduardo: As ready as we'll ever be, I guess.

Egon nodded and loaded the EGBs into the time machine, then went to the control panel and started the machine. A strange light flooded out of the lamps and became stronger and stronger until the reluctant time riders found it impossible to hold their eyes open. Kylie and Eduardo grasped each other's hands, and braced against the swirling winds of time.

Garrett: COOL, DISCO!

The 4 Ghostbusters disappeared, while Garrett's comments still hung in the air. For the moment, they no longer existed in the year 2000.

*****

To Be Continued...

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