Ghostbusters 3 by Brett Caron

GHOSTBUSTERS 3

Written by

Brett Caron

Based on works by

Dan Aykroyd

and

Harold Ramis

Last revised: September 17, 2013

[email protected] (647) 784 - 1144

Owner

Rectangle

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - ALLEYWAYS - DAY

On a sunny autumn day in New York City, a HOMELESS MAN pushes along a shopping cart as he checks the cans and dumpsters for recyclables. He’s unkempt, but has an honest look about him - just trying to survive. He walks by two CREEPY HOMELESS, who stare at him with hollow eyes. The homeless man waves hello, but it’s not returned. He quickens his pace. The first of the empty-eyed speaks to no one in particular. His voice is dead. Emotionless.

CREEPY HOMELESS 1It’s watching us.

The alley beyond splits into a T-junction, where there’s a dumpster, some cans, and garbage bags. The homeless man walks by graffiti that resembles a snake eating its own tail, but he doesn’t notice.

He hoists himself up into the dumpster to root through the trash. Behind him, the shopping cart wheels itself a few feet towards the junction, then stops. He looks back quizzically.

A radio nearby suddenly bursts into life, hissing static!

The homeless man half-falls out of the dumpster, yelping in surprise. He picks up the radio, fiddling with the knobs and switches, but the static abruptly shuts off after a moment.

He checks the cord, the batteries. Nothing. He shrugs, tossing the radio aside, and then some wine bottles from the dumpster into his cart.

Behind him, bits of trash and debris swirl silently. There’s no wind.

The creepy homeless aren’t there anymore, back the way he came. Nervous, he grabs the cart and begins to wheel it away.

Again moving on its own, the cart takes a sharp turn into a darker, narrower alley before skidding to a stop a dozen feet away.

HOMELESS MANUm...

As he walks hesitantly towards the cart, the dumpster screeches heavily along the asphalt and blocks the other end of the alley!

The radio begins to shriek again, but inside the static there are the faint suggestion of screaming, gibbering voices!

HOMELESS MAN (CONT’D)To hell with this!

He turns to run. A garbage can flies across the alley to smash him in the back - hard. He hits the pavement, groaning. A shadow falls over him.

He looks up to see one of the creepy homeless standing over him, one of four now. She has a crude tattoo etched into her face - a snake with a head of tentacles, eating its own tail. She speaks in the same dead voice.

CREEPY HOMELESS 2It wants us all.

The man gets up painfully, limping away from the slow-moving group. Wheezing in pain and terror, he then screams as translucent tendrils shoot out of the shadows and drag him kicking and screaming into the dark!

The radio’s shrieking subsides, becoming soft static again. Then, through the noise, we hear a familiar song playing.

TITLE: GHOSTBUSTERS 3

INT. OZ’S APARTMENT - DAY

A clock radio plays the tail end of the Ghostbusters theme. Two RADIO DJs banter over it.

RADIO DJ 1Wow, aren’t we sick of that song yet?

RADIO DJ 2Come on, it’s only been 20 years - it’s a classic!

RADIO DJ 1You could at least play a remix!

RADIO DJ 2I could, but I won’t. Besides, which one? There must be hundreds.

As they talk, OSCAR ‘OZ’ BARRETT sits at his computer. He can’t hear the radio through thick headphones. He’s handsome, well-dressed, but casual; sort of messy. A lot on his mind.

2.

RADIO DJ 1Whatever happened to them, anyway? I heard they all went crazy and quit after the Big One in ‘91.

RADIO DJ 2Nah, just ran out of work. I mean, come on! No one’s seen a ghost since what, ‘93?

RADIO DJ 1Oh yeah, what about that big court case? Didn’t they get busted for that?

A cheesy sound effect plays over the DJ’s laughter.

RADIO DJ 2Yeah, I just Googled it. Supreme Court case shut them down in ‘94. Made it illegal to do paranormal research in the USA. After that, no one in the first world would touch ‘em.

RADIO DJ 1Sounds good to me!

RADIO DJ 1 (CONT’D)USA! USA!

RADIO DJ 2 USA! USA!

Oblivious, Oz pores over screen after screen of data. He leans back, stretching, and rubs his eyes. Taking off the heaphones, he realizes the radio’s on and checks the time.

OZShit.

Oz grabs his laptop, shoving it into a bookbag while he wrestles with his coat and keys. He vanishes out the door, leaving the screen with a slowly filling progress bar above the words ‘Identifying PKE Wavelengths - Attempt 42.’

EXT. UNIVERSITY - DAY

Oz runs across campus, past a sign that reads ‘Experimental Physics.’ He takes the stairs two at a time and rushes inside.

3.

INT. UNIVERSITY OFFICE - DAY

The office is spare, not shady but obviously not well funded. Three desks sit opposite a fourth, much larger than the rest.

Oz bursts through the door, out of breath. He arrives to a round of applause from the people occupying two of the four desks: GINA CARRUTHERS and RICHARD BOURNE. Oz raises his hands in surrender, blushing furiously.

OZI know, I know. Has Dracula been in yet?

GINAWe told him that you were getting coffee, and you’d be right back.

Gina is cute and petite. Her desk is festooned with anime and comic book paraphenalia, but is still the tidiest by far. On her screen is data very similar to Oz’s computer at home.

She smiles when Oz gestures with hands devoid of coffee cups.

OZBut I don’t have any coffee, Gina.

Richard, a smirking hipster who’s clearly avoiding work in favour of internet videos, holds up a quartet of cups in a tray from under his desk.

RICHARDGot you covered, big guy. Lattesall around, non-fat for the lady.

GINAWho said I wanted non-fat?

RICHARDWell I just- OK, non-fat for Dracula, then. Like he’ll notice, anyway. The man has the palate of a sea sponge.

As if on cue, PROFESSOR BRANTOWICZ sweeps into the room. Tall, pale, dark clothing - combined with his Eastern European accent, it’s obviously why they call him Dracula.

BRANTOWICZOscar Barrette. Sorry to wake you. Where’s my coffee?

Richard hands Oz the non-fat, and he passes it over. Brantowicz takes a sip, curling his lip.

4.

BRANTOWICZ (CONT’D)Is this non-fat?

RICHARD(quickly)

No.

BRANTOWICZToday’s notes?

Gina tosses a bound folder to the prof, who flips through it disinterestedly. He makes a non-commital sound in his throat.

BRANTOWICZ (CONT’D)Have you finished sorting the data on the EM variations?

OZIt’ll be done this afternoon. It’d be done sooner-

Brantowicz snorts, already leaving without a second glance at his research assistants.

OZ (CONT’D)-if we didn’t have to do all your work for you.

Oz slumps into his chair. Boots up his computer. Pulls out his laptop, and opens it. All with frustrated deliberateness.

GINADon’t worry about it, Oz. Just a placeholder job anyway, right? Put some time in, Dracula gets his tenure, then we do what we actually want to do.

RICHARDOf course, that suggests we’re not already abusing the university’s time, money, and utilities to do exactly that. Oh, and while maintaining the pretence of being Dracula’s research monkeys.

Oh, Dracula. If you only knew how little it takes to do your job.

GINASays the guy who does maybe 10% of the actual work around here.

5.

RICHARDHey, don’t blame the history major. I do my part with skilfullyprepared writing and editing of lecture notes and documentation.

OZYou browse Reddit all day until it’s time to go home, then do it all last minute using our notes.

RICHARDThat’s another way to put it, yes. Are you done with 42 yet?

Oz checks his phone. He ignores a missed call. Synced to his home desktop, the progress bar is finished. Below it flashes the words ‘NO RESULTS.’ He tosses the phone onto his desk.

OZSwing and a miss. Goodbye six months.

Gina pulls up a map of New York City on her laptop. Blue lines criss cross the streets, overlapping in some places. The display is labeled ‘Ley Line Systems - NYC01.’ She gestures to areas where two or more lines intersect.

GINAThe data all points to a concentration of paranormal activity around the nexus points. Why can’t we find a way to measure the increased ambient energy? Where the hell is it?

She puts on a cartoon and sits back, drinking her coffee.

Oz checks the missed call on his phone. Next to a picture of DANA BARRETTE’s familiar face, it reads ‘Mom.’ Below that, a text message: ‘call me as soon as you can.’

RICHARDThose areas are naturally occurring locations where spiritual energy draws in a sort of whirlpool; the lines act like rivers with a PKEcurrent. Sometimes it’s high tide, sometimes it’s low. That could explain why there’s only been a handful of paranormal phenomenae in the last 20 years.

6.

OZIt’s there. We just have to keep looking. We have access to all the equipment we need.

GINANot to mention the absentee employer. That’s pretty good.

Richard gets up, putting a cigarette between his lips. He puts a hand on Oz’s shoulder on his way to the door.

RICHARDLook, man. On the plus side, you owe me 15 bucks for the coffee.

(beat)So it’s not all bad.

Oz’s phone rings. It’s Dana again.

OZHi, Mom. I’m at work, I was going to call you back in a-

(beat, listening)Is he OK?

At this, Gina turns off the cartoon. She and Richard share a look. Oz begins to pace back and forth.

OZ (CONT’D)Oh. Oh, Mom. I’m so sorry. I will. Yeah, I’ll be right there. I love you too. Bye.

Oz begins to pack up his things in a rush. He’s a little out of it, like he’s in shock.

GINAWhat happened?

OZUncle Pete. He died last night. Heart attack. Never saw it coming. Meeting my mom at the hospital.

RICHARDPeter Venkman is dead? Oh, man - I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.

GINAOh, man. Oz, are you OK?

7.

OZI don’t know. I gotta get over there. Tell Dracula for me?

GINASure, you go. Call us when you can.

OZYeah, I will.

Oz leaves, never even having taken off his coat. Richard tosses the cigarette on his desk and slumps into his chair.

RICHARDThat man always did have impeccable timing.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - CHURCH - DAY

A black limousine pulls up in front of a downtown church. The gothic architecture bristles with leering gargoyles.

Around the church are a small crowd of people cordoned off by some light metal fencing. They alternately cheer and jeer, some holding Stay-Puft dolls or wearing Ghostbusters outfits. Others carry signs with religious symbols or slogans like ‘VENKMAN’S GHOST 4 PREZ,’ ‘VENKMAN BURN IN HELL,’ ‘GHOSTS ARE PEOPLE TOO,’ or ‘LIFE DOESN’T END AT DEATH.’

A NEWS REPORTER is speaking into a camera as the limo stops.

NEWS REPORTERDr. Peter Venkman - television personality, author, and of course former Ghostbuster - passed away last week at the age of 63. Venkman had strayed from the limelight in recent years, after unsuccessfully lobbying to have the SPECTRE Act repealed, and end the ban on paranormal research.

We saw the other founding Ghostbusters - Drs. Egon Spengler, Ray Stanz and Winston Zeddemore - head inside earler. Now it appears that Ms. Dana Barrette, who was involved in the 1984 Gozer incident and 1989 Museum incident with the Ghostbusters, has arrived.

Oz helps Dana out of the limo. She doesn’t really need the help, but gives him a small, tired smile and holds his arm.

8.

She’s as elegant as always. They try to ignore the crowd as Richard and Gina follow them up the stairs.

INT. CHURCH - DAY

RAY STANZ and EGON SPENGLER stand together and stare at a large painting of Peter Venkman. He’s in his Ghostbustersuniform, striking a heroic pose with a smug, knowing half-smile on his face. The dais is bare aside from the painting, a flatscreen television, and a podium.

RAYWow. Do you think he commissioned that just for this?

EGONI wouldn’t be surprised. Venkman and I witnessed a clairvoyant event predicting our own deaths when we entered the New Jersey dimensional cross-rip in 1990. I’m sure he made plenty of arrangements.

RAYAre you serious? You guys never told me that.

EGONI don’t like to talk about it.

WINSTON ZEDDEMORE joins them at the painting.

WINSTONThe mayor’s here. Pete’s got a lot more friends now than he did a week ago.

RAYHey Zee - did you know that Venkman foresaw his own death?

WINSTONYeah.

Ray throws his hands up in frustration. He can’t believe it.

Gina and Richard sit behind Oz and Dana as the Ghostbusterstake their seats next to the widow and her son. There’s an empty seat next to Richard, and Gina leans forward to Oz.

GINAWhere is he?

9.

OZHe texted me, he’s on his way. I’ll call him.

Oz leaves. Gina leans over a bit to Richard.

GINAI can’t believe Victor’s late.

RICHARDReally? I’m handling it well.


The crowd is still out in full force, and VICTOR DRENDERshoulders his way through to the church. He’s finishing a cigarette, straightening his tie and hair. As he walks by a PROTESTOR, she waves her sign (which reads ‘SPECTRAL RIGHTS’) in his face.

PROTESTORYou shouldn’t honour the memory of a criminal! Ghostbusters stay dead!

Victor stops dead. He spins on the woman, who takes a step back in surprise. He points a finger in her face.

VICTORPeter Venkman was a genius and a good man. He knew more about the multiverse than you ever will.

Oz steps onto the church stairs, with his phone to his ear. Victor’s phone begins to ring, but Oz spots him face-to-face with the protestor. Oz hurries over to the arguing pair.

VICTOR (CONT’D)You know nothing-

OZVic, hey man. They’re about to start. Come on, didn’t you quit?

As quickly as it came, Victor’s anger disappears when Oz arrives, and he seems to forget the argument immediately. Oz and Victor shake hands and hug, then they head back inside.

INT. CHURCH - DAY

Richard and Gina are nowhere to be seen. Victor kisses Dana on the cheek and sits alone on the pew behind them as Dana continues speaking with Ray.

10.

DANAAnyway, apparently Peter planned all this himself. He booked the church months ago, and everyone’s invitations arrived in the mail the morning after he died. Peter wanted the whole city in an uproar, and he got it. There could be more coming too, knowing Peter.

RAYI can’t believe he didn’t tell me, this whole time.

DANAWell, Ray - don’t be mad, but he said he knew you’d go crazy about it if he didn’t tell you. He thought it would be funny.

Ray’s brow furrows as a LAWYER in a suit ascends the podium. The crowd quiets down, expectant. The lawyer is nervous, speaking only from a card and never making eye contact.

LAWYERGood morning. Dr. Venkman, despite choosing this location for ‘aesthetic purposes,’ declined a religious service. He has prepared a video, which will play now.

Ray and Egon share a meaningful look.

RAYUh-oh.

EGONUh-oh.

As the screen lights up, Oz twists in his seat to look around. So does Dana, seeing the empty seats behind them.

DANADon’t Gina and Richard want to see this? Where are they?

Oz shoots her a semi-embarrassed look.

EXT. CHURCH - COURTYARD - DAY

Gina lights a joint, handing it to Richard. They pass it back and forth sitting on a low stone wall near the church garden.

11.

GINANot that I’m complaining, but what’s with you and churches?

RICHARDTemples creep me out.

GINAYou study the occult and the paranormal - illegally - but churches you can’t handle.

RICHARDYup. Don’t like ‘em.

INT. CHURCH - DAY

PETER VENKMAN appears on the screen, in his sixties. He’s in a nice suit, sitting in front of a roaring fire in an easy chair. A dog sits at his feet, a glass of scotch at a side table. He speaks with irreverent formality.

VENKMANHello, everyone. I have some last things to say, and I’ve invited you to hear them first. Some are more personal than others.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, I’m not a ghost. At least, I don’t think I am. If I was, then I would’ve destroyed this video and you wouldn’t be watching it. That would just be embarrassing.

This is important because science is on the line. What we call ghosts aren’t human spirits, but something else. Something we don’t fully understand yet. Take it from me: if I was a ghost, you’d know about it.

We don’t know what happens after we die. I mean, I do, by now. But you don’t. I urge the Paranormal Regulatory Commission and the courts one last time to end the ban on the study of the supernatural. While they’re at it, firing their chairman wouldn’t be bad either.

12.


RICHARDIt’s confusing. The courts rule that ghosts, being dead people, should have civil rights. So you can’t confine or experiment on them, and they ban all paranormal research while they’re at it. I get that. It’s stupid, but I get it.

Here’s what I don’t get. All the Ghostbusters tech. When GBE got shut down, all the gear gets scrapped. Why didn’t the government confiscate it?

GINASpengler. He said the tech was way too dangerous to ever just hand it over, especially to the US government. The head of the PRC was pissed. He really wanted that hardware. I don’t blame him.

RICHARDI hear that. Sure help us, too.

INT. CHURCH - DAY

Dana and the Ghostbusters listen to Venkman’s tongue-in-cheek self-eulogy. Many eyes are rolling above sad smiles.

RICHARD (V.O.)I mean, after ‘91 - when everything started to calm down again, and the city didn’t renew their contract - that was the end, really. Then we stopped seeing ghosts just before the court ruling. Nobody’s asking.


As Richard smokes, Gina shoots him a questioning look.

GINAAsking what?

RICHARD(exhaling)

Who ya gonna call?

13.

GINADid you really just say that? I’m going inside.

INT. CHURCH - DAY

Onscreen, Venkman’s grin fades to a sort of wistful smile.

VENKMANFinally, I have some things to say to those close to me. First, my Dana Barrette. I’ve never been great at finding the right words when we were together. Could never seem to say the words you really wanted to hear me say. But I have some for you now - a poem.

What days have gone, what lives-

As Dana tears up, Oz squeezes her hand and cranes back.

OZWhere have you been the past week?

VICTORSorry, I know. I’ll show you later.

OZShow me-?

VICTORLater, don’t worry.

Ray hisses in Egon’s ear, trying to be quiet.

RAYThis is my poem! I wrote it for my girlfriend in second year, when Venkman and I were roommates. I thought I lost it!

EGONIt’s very nice, Ray.

Ray fumes until he sees how much his poem is touching Dana.

VENKMAN-never to be heard again, but in your heart.

Dana holds a handkerchief to her eyes. Ray reluctantly smiles, shaking his head in surrender.

14.

VENKMAN (CONT’D)Oscar. You’re the closest thing I have to a son. I’m proud of who you are. I know you’ll do the right thing when you have to.

Dana squeezes Oz’s shoulder, but he looks confused.

VENKMAN (CONT’D)Dr. Ray Stanz. Dr. Winston Zeddemore. Egon. Being a Ghostbuster has been the best years of my life. I wish I had a poem for you too, but I know you understand.

Ray laughs, but sheepishly coughs when everyone looks at him.

VENKMAN (CONT’D)See you on the other side, guys.

(beat)Boo.


People trickle out of the church, the crowd outside doing the same. Oz hugs Dana, who’s leaving with the Ghostbusters.

OZDo you want to go home?

DANAThat’s OK, honey. Ray’s driving me back later, Peter reserved us all a table uptown with Janine and Louis. See your friends. I love you.

OZI love you, too. See you soon.

As Oz and his friends watch them leave, the lawyer approaches them.

LAWYEROscar Barrette? Mr. Venkman’s extensive will included this package be delivered to you after the service. Sign here, please?

Oz opens the sealed envelope, pulling out documents and 2 sets of keys. The lawyer leaves as his friend cluster around.

GINAWhat’s that?

15.

OZI don’t know. Paperwork, and- keys?

Victor types the address on the back of the keys into his phone.

VICTORGoogle Maps says it’s a warehouse in Brooklyn. Let’s check it out.

INT. TAXI - DAY

Richard sits up front, the rest are squeezed in the back. Oz is looking over the documents.

OZUncle Pete owned the property - I do, now. But there’s no info here.

RICHARDHey, Vic. Where the hell have you been, anyway?

OZYeah. I called a bunch of times, we all did. What’s up?

Victor fingers a dark metal ring on one of his fingers. He produces a nickel.

VICTORI’ll show you. This is a magnesium-tungsten alloy, with a core of pure selenium. The Gozer building was full of this stuff, because it was supposed to channel PKE. Wait- where are we?

OZNorth Moore, at Varick.

VICTORThat’ll do fine. Pull over quick?

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - DAY

The taxi slows to a stop at the curb, idling.

16.

INT. TAXI - DAY

VICTORThis is close enough. Watch.

Victor holds the coin in his palm, above the ring. He closes his eyes, opening them after a moment with intense concentration. As his face knots with stress, the coin floats a handsbreadth above his palm, rotating! They’re all stunned.

The disinterested cabbie plays on his phone. Victor exhales.

VICTOR (CONT’D)OK. We can go.

EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

The cab drives away, leaving them at a run-down warehouse. The neighbourhood doesn’t look great, too. The windows are dirty, opaque; revealing nothing of what’s inside.

Oz claps Victor on the back.

VICTORI think the metal is the key. I thought it’d be worth a try. So far, I can only do that - and even then, only on a nexus point.

OZAre you kidding?! This is amazing! Intuitive manipulation of PKE using nothing but the human mind! This changes everything, Vic. We can isolate the PKE wavelength, we can-

GINALet’s not get ahead of ourselves. We know nexus points are amplifiers for PKE, but we still need the data. Vic, how did you do this?

VICTORI’ve been thinking about it for a while. Not being lucky enough to be kidnapped by an evil sorcerer and exposed to PKE from birth-

Oz rolls his eyes at this. Richard is smoking and texting.

17.

VICTOR (CONT’D)-and I have no knowledge of physics beyond ‘what goes up must come down,’ I figure there’s only one word for it. But you won’t like it.

Richard puts an arm around Oz.

RICHARDMagic. Yeah, they do hate that one.

(beat)Also, this is a really impressive ‘decrepit warehouse,’ Oz.

INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

Dust is immediately kicked up around the warehouse as the door opens and they walk inside. Rows of tables hold lumpy shapes under tarps and cloth, other shapes covered elsewhere. Above the floor area, there’s stairs leading to a loft office, containing more covered furniture. They spread out.

Victor sees one large, thin rectangular shape leaning against a wall. He turns away. When he does, a faint whisper hits his ear. He looks again, keeping an eye on it as they explore.

OZDeed, trust account, this is crazy. Uncle Pete left me most of his estate, I think. But what is this stuff? Why leave it to me?

GINADon’t be a dumbass, Oz.

She whips one of the tarps away, revealing four proton packs! Gina squeals in delight, while Richard and Oz’s jaws drop.

OZYou’re kidding.

More covered tables hold slime blowers, PKE meters, traps, and other esoteric tech. Gina picks up a PKE meter, waving it around the room. It beeps and clicks, spiking as it passes by Victor - but no one seems to notice.

RICHARDHoly. Shit. This is everything. How is this possible?

OZUncle Pete must’ve squirrelled some of it away back in the 90’s.

18.

GINAIt still works! I can’t believe it!

She puts down the PKE meter, grabbing a wand from a proton pack. It activates with the familiar deep hum, but goes off in her hands!

A blast of charged particles burns a trench along the far wall! The men duck to avoid the capture stream raking overhead. Gina shuts it down, giggling insanely.

GINA (CONT’D)Oh. My fault.

(beat)That was awesome.

RICHARDYou are no longer allowed to touch.

GINABullshit. I’m the only one here who has a clue what all this even does.

RICHARDYes, that was made very obvious by the attempted murder just now. Anyway, isn’t this tech 30 years old by now? Hope it works right.

GINAShut your mouth. Do you have any idea how ridiculously advanced this tech is, even by today’s standards? Do you realize what you’re holding right now? That’s a PKE meter. A handheld device that can measure the wavelengths we’ve been trying to figure out for two years.

Also, I’ll remind you I’m holding a man-portable particle accelerator. The average size of one - today - is measured in kilometers. Egon Spengler built 4 portable ones. In 1984. Using mostly parts you could find in a Radio Shack. The guy makes Nikola Tesla look like a cross-eyed caveman with sunstroke.

RICHARD(texting)

Nikola who?

19.

GINAI’m going to punch you in the dick.

Oz uncovers a large terminal, activating it.

OZCheck it out, power’s still on.

They gather around the old computer screen. The simple display resembles their map of New York, but without the ley line grid. Instead, coloured blotches mark areas in the city.

OZ (CONT’D)Three guesses as to where these are.

RICHARDLey line nexus points.

OZDing.

Victor steps away from the map, moving back to the shape in the corner. He pulls the cover aside slightly, revealing an ornate picture frame and the suggestion of a painted leg.

Victor’s eyes widen, and he quickly covers it up again.

GINAOK, so it’s clear that we need to try this stuff out, right? Now?

OZIs it clear that you almost killed us right now? We need to test, re-test, then re-test some more. After that, more testing.

GINACome on. Look here.

Victor rejoins them as she points to the map.

GINA (CONT’D)That’s the biggest one. I bet this thing is like a wide-band PKEmeter, scanning the whole city. I say we grab some of this stuff, throw it in the van and check out that nexus point. See what happens.

RICHARDWell, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard today.

20.

GINAFalse.

OZNo, she’s right. Let’s do it. Richard, go get your van and meet us back here.

Gina, let’s get our laptops from the office. We might be able to isolate the energy signature with one of these PKE meters. Maybe 42 is our lucky number after all.

VICTORI’ll stay here, look for anything we missed. Maybe your Uncle Pete left something up in the office.

OZCool. I have another set of keys, we’ll be back in a couple of hours.

He tosses the keys to Victor. They slam firmly into his palm, and as they do the painting’s cover flutters slightly!

Oz and Richard half-drag Gina outside. She’s carried kicking and screaming by the time they get to the door.

GINANo! No! But I’m in love! Don’t take me away from this! You bastards!

When the door closes, Victor is left in silence. He rushes to the painting and pulls away the cover. It falls away to reveal VIGO THE CARPATHIAN in all his painted glory!

A faded sigh echoes through the room. Victor waits expectantly for a moment. Nothing happens. He dials a number.

VICTORHi. Do you have a truck for pickup?

(beat, listening)Uh, right now.


A grey panel van pulls into the warehouse. It looks plain until it turns into the parking spaces, revealing a massive mural painted on the passenger side!

21.

The bizarre freehand mural is like an Escher painting - non-Euclidean architecture, twisting perspectives and stairs leading nowhere. It’s hideous.

Oz, Richard, and Gina lug in a collection of equipment, computers, and snack food. Gina goes back for a case of beer.


RICHARDDo you really eat this stuff? I thought women weren’t supposed to stuff their faces with copious amounts of cheese-related snacks until their looks go - or kids.

GINAMaybe the forest nymphs you bang, Rich. I’m living here for the foreseeable future. That means beer, cheesy snacks, and if that bathroom doesn’t work, the schawarma place down the street will be in for a rude awakening.

RICHARDWill you marry me?

GINANo.

Oz looks for Victor. He notices that the upstairs office hasn’t even been touched. None of them notice that the painting is gone. Victor casually strolls in the front door, swinging a plastic bag.

GINA (CONT’D)Does the bathroom work here?

VICTORThink so. I went to get TP and soap. You’ll probably be camped here for a while, yeah?

GINAAt last, a man who understands me. Vic, will you marry me?

VICTORNo.

They put everything away as Gina checks their ley line map against the blotches on the older computer screen.

22.

GINAGentlemen, grab your dicks and twist. We have a match, load up!

INT. VAN - DAY

Richard drives, Oz navigates, while Victor and Gina sit in the back. All four are dressed in Ghostbusters uniforms. Gina types rapidly on her laptop. Victor tries to levitate a coin.

GINAThat was good, right? I’ve always wanted to say ‘let’s load up.’

RICHARDFrankly, I’m surprised you didn’t choke on the cliche. Remind me again why we’re wearing these? One would think that literally anything else we could have worn would draw less attention to the mountain of illegal technology in my van.

OZNo, it’s perfect. Think about it. Peter Venkman died two days ago. Half the people outside the church were in costumes like this. We’re just a handful of cosplay nerds.

RICHARDCosplay. I know that should make me feel better, but it’s actually just a little depressing.


The van backs into the alleyways from earlier. The four shrug into their gear around the back door of the van. Oz, Victor, and Gina pull on proton packs. Richard hefts a slime blower.

GINAOK. Heavier than I thought it would be. We look badass, though.

RICHARDI’m sure we do. Those homeless gentlemen seem to be enthralled.

He gestures down the alley to the handful of people squatting a short distance away. They stand in unision, still staring.

23.

RICHARD (CONT’D)That’s heartening.

Victor marches down the alley towards them.

OZWhere are you going?

VICTORAsk a few questions, distract them while you sweep for valences.

RICHARDWhat’s ‘sweep for valences’ mean?

VICTOR(shrugs)

Heard Spengler say it once.

GINAIt means-

OZOK, let’s do this quick so we don’t get arrested.

They begin scanning the area with PKE meters. The devices immediately begin to chime, click, beep, and whine.

The closer Oz gets to the narrower, darker area of alley, the stronger the reading.

Victor has reached the homeless group. They’re still staring.

VICTORHi there. We’re students, doing a project on... alleys. Have you folks seen anything weird in the last say, 20 years or so?

They stare at Victor, emotionless. Creeped out by the strange hunger in their eyes, he gestures to his uniform.

VICTOR (CONT’D)I know, weird outfit right? It’s for school, that’s all. So have you-

CREEPY HOMELESS 1It wants you.

VICTORWho’s that?

24.

CREEPY HOMELESS 1It wants us all.

VICTORGreat. That’s so great, you guys. Have a great day, yeah- that’s great.

Victor tries to look casual as he speed-walks back to the van. He frowns at the graffiti on the wall as he passes.

OZAssuming I’m reading this thing right, there’s something here.

Gina slides goggles over her eyes. Through the green luminescence, she can see wispy trails of drag marks along the walls and ground, and on the dumpster nearby.

GINAThere’s these weird smudges. Could be ectoplasm. Anything over there?

Victor runs his ring hand over the dumpster’s side. The ring slides over the metal, then adheres with an audible click.

VICTORNo, I don’t see anything, but-

The entire bin shudders, rising a foot into the air before clanging down back to earth!

The four are silent for a moment. Victor steps back.

RICHARDSo... that just happened.

All of their sensors begin to go off the scale, making all manner of noise. Another sound crescendoes, a thrumming bass note vibrating louder as trash and small objects spin in a phantom wind!

The PKE meters and the trash subside slowly, as does the noise. The second silence is broken by Gina’s pack activating.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Yes, good idea.

Victor and Oz power up their packs too. Richard works the lever on his, and a trickle of slime drips from the nozzle.

25.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Wait, mine doesn’t make a cool noise.

Oz is still sweeping the mouth of the narrow alley. Without warning, he turns face-to-face with the homeless man who’d been sucked into the shadows earlier!

The man now has the empty gaze of the rest, hollowed out.

HOMELESS MANIt’s watching us.

OZShit!

Oz shoves the man aside, who falls over. He rises unsteadily, like a drunk. The swirling trash and interference resume.

HOMELESS MANIt wants us all.

As the disturbance reaches a fever pitch, the dumpster nearby explodes violently, catapaulting two wormlike ghost-creatures into the air!

Coalescing out of the multicoloured light, the two beasts are bloated, serpentine forms with waving collections of fronds or tentacles capping both ends of their translucent bodies. They squirm through the air, wriggling like ocean eels. They emit a horrible, high-pitched keening above the deep rumble.

As they watch, the beasts twist and contort, morphing into the shapes of wailing corpses, trailing tattered clothing! Their eyes glow with terrifying, otherworldly light.

OZGhosts.

GINAHoly sh-

She lets loose with her proton pack! The bucking stream of energy tears across the alley walls randomly, searing through the insubstantial creatures with cries of pain and fear!

Victor’s stream throws one of them forcefully through the wall, where it disappears in an oozing smear of ectoplasm!

The other beast vanishes through another wall. Gina and Victor drop their streams, and the four look around, panting.

26.

OZThey phased through the walls, but they’re still here. Stay alert.

VICTORHow do you know that?

OZNot sure. I can feel it, maybe-

Oz is interrupted as the homeless man grabs him from behind! He struggles with the zombie before Richard hits him with a blast of slime, slamming him against the wall to slump to the ground with a moan - harmless for now.

RICHARDYou can ‘feel it.’ That’s great. Very scientific, Oz.

VICTORWe have to get the traps.

OZOK. Vic, get the traps. Rich, slime the rest of those crazies if they get close. G and I will handle-

The ghosts fly from the walls, screaming murder!

One trips Richard, sending him to the ground hard. He struggles to rise. His leg, covered in slime, slightly numb.

Gina and Oz try to corral the ghosts with their capture streams, but the twisting ropes of energy are hard to aim.

Richard turns his slime blower on the homeless! He hoses them liberally from left to right, puts them down one at a time.

As Victor returns with a trap and throws it to the ground, a ghost tackles through him! He’s lifted bodily into the air, landing in the shadowy area of the alley with a crash.

OZ (CONT’D)Vic!

Richard stomps on the trap’s pedal - the cascading spread of light shoots upward, barely catching the edge of one ghost and begins to slowly pull it inside!

The ghost fights, but Gina and Oz train their streams on it, struggling to keep the lassoed spirit in the trap’s glow!

27.

The trap sucks in the first ghost, but the second envelops Gina and covers her entirely in slime! She screams, falls into a pile of trash, and lays there dazed. The trap resets.

Victor rises, throwing out a capture stream. He and Oz manhandle the ghost over the trap, and Richard opens it.

The glow of the trap surrounds the ghost, but as it does, Victor’s stream shorts out when he’s suddenly grabbed around the waist by a shadow-tentacle from the alley behind him!

The tentacle is huge, wrapping around him easily. It passes through him, leaving an ectoplasm stain. A half second later, like when audio and video aren’t synced properly, he’s yanked backwards violently to follow the tentacle into the darkness!

Oz wrangles the ghost over the trap with supreme effort. Gina stands, still dazed. Richard stands on the trap control and sprays the ghost with slime. It only appears to piss it off.

INT. SHADOW ALLEYS - DAY

Victor lays on the ground, groaning. He can hear the battle just beyond the alley mouth, but it’s muffled and indistinct. Everything around him looks hazy, the proportions distorted. He tries to rise, but is instead picked up and slammed against the wall by more tentacles that appear from nowhere!

The tentacles hold him around the wrists, waist, and throat. As Victor struggles, he hears a VOICE in his head. Alien, it sounds like many voices speaking almost in unison, different words overlapping messily and others chorusing together.

VOICE (V.O.)Human/boy/child/man... Victordrender.

Victor sees images flash before his eyes. The ruins of a dead world under an alien sky. Swirling vortices of colour and light. A mass of tentacles, flesh, and eyes that gaze into his soul. A symbol - the tentacle-snake eating its tail. Blood drips from his nose, and Victor screams in pain.

VOICE (V.O.)I/we/it wants/needs/has you, Victordrender.

VICTORNo, no, no, no, no, no...

VOICE (V.O.)NO?!

28.

The pain increases. Victor is in agony. More visions assault him: New York, laced with lines of greenish light. A massive portal opens in a forest, the awful tentacles crawling from it. A stone temple floats and flexes like a living Escherpainting in a vast expanse of dark clouds and alien rainbows. The same snake symbol is apparent on its surface.


Oz can’t get the ghost to stay above the trap by himself, and it edges further from the glow. He’s about to lose it completely, until Gina throws her stream up too!

Together, they slam it into the trap!

INT. SHADOW ALLEYS - DAY

The visions stop abruptly, the tentacles dropping Victor immediately as the battle is over. The muffling nature of the shadows fades, and Victor kneels against the wall, coughing.

VOICE (V.O.)Soon.


The four assemble in the alley junction, breathing heavily. They stare at the trap, beeping to signal the captures.

GINASo, we’re Ghostbusters now, right?

In the distance, sirens can be heard approaching.

INT. VAN - DAY

The trap smokes in the rear of the van, filling it with fumes. Gina fiddles with her hair, tangled with slime.

RICHARDWish there were windows back there.

GINAThis is awful. It’s so sticky.

RICHARDThat’s actually a good look for you.

They’re all fatigued, but happy. Victor is quiet, twitchy.

29.

OZAre you OK?

VICTORYeah. Just hit my head when I fell.

Oz isn’t convinced. He lets it drop; they’re all riding high.

RICHARDLet’s get coffee on the way back.

OZWe’re dressed as Ghostbusters, we have 2 entities in the back of the van, and we’re mostly covered in ectoplasmic residue.

RICHARDSo that’s a no.

(beat)See, I knew this was going to become an inconvenience.


Stripping out of their uniforms, they leave the slime-covered heaps on one of the tables. Gina pulls a toque onto her head.

OZDon’t you want to wash that out of your hair?

GINAWhatever, I’ll do it later.

(points to traps)What do we do with those?

EGON (O.S.)Well, you don’t want to leave them in there.

Egon and Ray are standing at the upstairs office.

RAYWe really need to talk.

INT. WAREHOUSE - OFFICE - DAY

Ray finishes showing everyone how to unload the trap into a small containment unit. Gina stares fawningly at Egon, who’s uncomfortably aware of her gaze. Victor stands apart, withdrawn and distracted. Shellshocked.

30.

RAY-the light is green, the trap is clean.

GINASo this is a full-size containment unit? Like you had before?

EGONNo. This is a mobile unit we used for new franchises.

RAYGreat for road trips, too.

GINASo the matrices that hold the spiritual engrams in place decay faster, or does the entire grid just have a small allowance of PKEvectors?

EGONNeither. It’s actually just as efficient as the standard model. It’s actually more stable, and-

Egon still has Gina’s undivided attention, but he’s losing Richard. The history major slowly raises his phone to chest level and begins to text.

EGON (CONT’D)-well, it doesn’t need to be plugged in. We shipped them out to franchises instead of installing full-size grids across the country.

RICHARD(texting)

So why not just put them all in mobile grids like these, then drop the whole thing into a full-size containment unit?

EGONOne: the full-size grid had to be shut down. Two: a trap is basically a small, artificially created pocket dimension. Opening one inside another trap or any dimensional portal would create the equivalent of an ectoplasmic hydrogen bomb.

31.

GINAIt’s like opening a bag of holding inside a portable hole.

Blank stares all around. Richard doesn’t even look up.

GINA (CONT’D)Really? A room full of scientists, nerds, and occultists, but no one gets the D&D reference?

RICHARD(texting)

What’s D&D?

GINADungeons & Dragons- you’ve playedDungeons & Dragons before!

RICHARD(texting)

What’s a dragon?

Gina grits her teeth. She returns her attention to Egon, her hero-worshiping demeanor returning.

OZSo did you know about all this? Uncle Pete stashing this tech here?

RAYNo. I always thought all this stuff was destroyed with the rest. I guess I should’ve known better. Venkman probably figured it’d be worth a lot some day.

Victor shakes out of his malaise for a moment, confused.

VICTORWait a minute. How did you know about all this, if Venkman never told you? You found us here.

EGONI designed this technology, Victor. I have a wide-band receiver at my home that’s calibrated to pick up the quantum signature of the proton packs and traps. If any Ghostbusters tech is used in most of the Five Burroughs, I know where and when.

32.

Oz, Victor, and Richard turn to look at the burn mark along the far wall of the warehouse, then at Gina. She shrugs.

GINAIt was gonna happen anyway, guys.

OZSecurity measure?

RAYInsurance policy. When the government wanted to seize the tech, we knew it was too dangerous to let them have it.

EGONYes, but we also wanted to make sure we would be alerted if someone had managed to activate or reverse-engineer something we missed.

Oz glances at Victor, again miles away. He frowns.


They descend the stairs, walking Ray and Egon to the door.

OZUncle Ray? Uncle Egon? You guys don’t really need to tell my mom about this. I’ll do it later.

RAYLook, Oz. Venkman left all this stuff to you for a reason. He knew he was going to die, so-

OZYeah, my mom told me just before the funeral.

RAYAre you kidding?! That-

(beat)OK, well the point is: he trusted you. We trust you, too. But if Spengler and I are caught anywhere near this stuff, we go to jail for the rest of our lives.

RICHARD(texting)

Yeah, but you’re already old.

33.

(MORE)

So it wouldn’t really be that long, right?

Ray and Egon give him a cold look. Richard glances up, noticing this. He pats his pockets, suddenly interested in where his cigarettes are. He lights one up, heading outside.

EGONWhat we’re trying to tell you is this, Oscar. All this is yours, now. We can’t tell you what to do with it.

RAYJust don’t get caught. It’s a federal crime now. If you can’t prove your theory that ghosts aren’t people, then you’ll be facing more jail time than us.

They shake hands and leave. Ray comes back inside after a moment, carrying the large painting of Venkman from the funeral. He leans it against the wall.

OZWhat is that doing here?

RAYI had it in Egon’s station wagon. Venkman left it to me in his will, but I have no idea why. This seems like the best place for it.

OZI never asked you, Uncle Ray: do you believe Uncle Pete’s theory? That ghosts aren’t really people?

RAYI don’t know, kiddo. We never really got the chance to find out. Some of the things we faced were definitely not human, but others... well, Venkman didn’t think so.

He claps Oz on the back

RAY (CONT’D)If not, then you’ll find out. We didn’t get to run the experiments, but if you really do the science, maybe you can tell me some day.

34.

RICHARD (CONT'D)

He winks and leaves, ignoring the returning Richard’s proffered handshake. They stand together in the empty room.

GINAOK. So we’re definitelyGhostbusters.

She noisily cracks open a beer.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - NIGHT

Autumn leaves are beginning to fall in the wind. Some blow past the pitch-black alley entrance. A small, shadowy tentacle extends from the darkness slowly.

As the tentacle emerges, it becomes more substantial. The shadow solidifes into a fleshy tendril. At the end, a catlike eye opens, looking around. It spots a sewer grate.

INT. SEWERS - NIGHT

Dim shafts of orange streetlight from the grates are the only illumination. They leave only semi-lit patches of the scummy walls and dripping waste. One such patch disappears as something squeezes through, blocking the light.

In the deeper darkness, the bloated, almost gelatinous body of the mysterious voice pulls itself along with tentacle, hook and claw. Barely visible are the feelers, eyestalks, and hairs probing the filth. The monster navigates purposefully.


Dogs begin barking and pulling at their leashes. Children cry, frightened. Pigeons take flight, but can’t fly straight. They run into buildings and through windows. Even people hold their heads briefly before shaking off a weird feeling.

As the unseen monster beneath moves, the world above it suffers. It continues to move, heading along under the street, for the autumn forest in the distance - Central Park.

INT. VICTOR’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Victor snaps on a light as he trudges inside. His apartment is small, sparsely furnished, and cheap. He winces as he pulls off his coat, and lifts his shirt up in front of a mirror.

35.

Where the tentacles grabbed him, his skin is blotchy, discoloured. There are ugly blisters and welts, too. He lowers his shirt, staring at his reflection with loathing.

VICTORYou’re worthless. Nothing at all.

Looking in his own eyes, he suddenly sees a flash of his visions: the stone temple, the portal opening. He stumbles away from the mirror, spotting Vigo’s painting opposite it.

Victor stands before the painting expectantly, but again nothing happens. He shrugs, slumping into his couch and playing with a half-solved Rubik’s cube. He smokes while he idly floats the cube above his palm - not seeming to realize how easily he’s doing it.

Behind him, Vigo’s head pushes partway out of the canvas to watch him. Victor seems to sense something, glancing back, but Vigo has already receded.

Victor stands again, dropping the toy. He approaches the painting, moves to touch it. As he does, orange lightning arcs from Vigo’s eyes and strikes Victor full in the chest!

The energy crackles over him before seeming to ground itself in his ring. Victor looks down at the metal, realization dawning on his face as Vigo’s visage shimmers into the frame.

VIGOListen to me. I, Vigo, the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia, command you.

Victor grins. This is what he’s been waiting for.

VIGO (CONT’D)On a mountain of skulls, in a castle of pain, I sat-

VICTORQuiet.

Vigo, thrown off by this mortal’s confidence, begins again shakily.

VIGOI- I, Vigo, the Scourge-

VICTORI know who you are, Vigo von Homburg Deutschendorf, and I am not some peasant to be ‘commanded.’

36.

Victor reaches into his pocket, producing a lighter.

VICTOR (CONT’D)I don’t know if you’re familiar with one of these, Vig Diesel. But this is the 21st century. The age of technology. I’ll torch your little phylactery and leave you to die for the last time. Listen. Up.

Vigo frowns, but he’s listening.

VICTOR (CONT’D)I know what you need. A ‘child,’ or a body you can possess.

VIGONo. That time has passed. There is only one. The child that was is now a man. Our connection has been forged. I can inhabit no other form but his. Bring him to me.

VICTORYou do realize you’re a painting, right? You’re not really in any position to be making demands. I’ll make you a deal. Can you teach me to wield the same powers you did in life? Sorcery. Magic. I want it.

Vigo’s eyes glow as he appraises this upstart mortal. Eventually, he nods.

VIGOYou have the potential, young one. Bring me the child, and I will illuminate you.

VICTOROh yeah, sounds great. I’m sure you won’t betray me at the first possible opportunity. Here’s the deal, Vigo. You show me the power, and then I deliver your vessel.

Vigo considers this. Victor spins the lighter above his palm.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Tick tock, Carpathian.

VIGOSo be it. The bargain is struck.

37.

VICTORWhen do we begin?

More orange lightning discharges from the painting, soaking Victor in its energies. He raises his arms, watching it course through him. He smiles. His wide eyes glow orange.

VIGONow.


Gina wears welding goggles, hard at work upgrading and refining the old ghostbusting tech. A half-disassembled proton pack sits on her workbench alongside a new and improved version. Sleeker, more futuristic looking. A proton pack for the 21st century.

Oz and Richard assemble equipment. They raise up a series of posts bristling with electronics, forming a cube in the center of the room. Power cords, bundles of fiber-optic cables, and others run to and fro across the floor.

Gina turns on the completed pack, but ducks as it sparks and bursts in a flash of multicoloured light!

She peeks above the table, her face plastered in soot. Her hair is blown backwards, and is now mostly blue.

EXT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

The Ghostbusters stealthily load some (new and old) gear into the van. They wear simple coveralls instead of uniforms. Once the van is loaded, they get in and drive away slowly.

NEWS REPORTER (V.O.)In the days and weeks since the death of Dr. Peter Venkman, reported ghost sightings across the New York City area have drastically increased. Considering that there haven’t been more than a handful of sightings in the last 20 years, there is speculation that these are hoaxes perpetrated by pro-Ghostbusters activists. None of the other former Ghostbusters were available for comment.

In other news, three local artists found dead this week, all suicides-

38.

INT. UNIVERSITY OFFICE - DAY

Oz sleeps at his desk. Richard pores over ley line maps and historical records. Gina (whose hair now has a patch of bright red streaked through it) is fiddling with a disassembled smartphone.

RICHARDWhat’s that?

GINAI managed to miniaturize the PKEmeter, so I’m installing one on my phone. Oz wrote an app for the software-

OZ(half asleep)

Software!

GINAWe’re testing it tonight.

RICHARDSo you made a ghostbusting app?

GINANot really. I sort of had to rebuild my phone from scratch to do it. The stock model didn’t exactly come with a spectral analyzer.

RICHARDYou built a PKE meter iPhone.

GINANo, it’s not an iPhone. That would infringe patents and copyrights. Listen, OK to hunt down extradimensional creatures and play around with particle accelerators, but I’m not stupid. I know better than to tangle with Apple in a courtroom.

INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Victor is assembling a pair of gloves. Using more of the metal like his ring’s, he’s constructing a frame that he slips into. It resembles a leg brace that extends along his arms and shoulder blades.

39.

Finished, he puts part of it on. Focusing, he watches a PKEmeter (smartphone) next to him. As he holds up his arm and stares intensely, the air around his hand seems to stretch and flex. A nebulous, green-tinged glow surrounds his outstretched fingers. The PKE meter begins to spike rapidly.

Victor relaxes. The glow fades. He smiles tiredly, but another vision of the temple and the portal flashes into his mind. He rubs at sleep-deprived eyes.


As the sun is just coming up, the Ghostbusters return. Half-covered in slime, carrying steaming traps, they quickly go inside.


Oz and Gina stand before the now-finished laser cage. Diodes on the posts shine red, but when Gina hits a key on her laptop, they flash green and a grid of lasers appears. A glassy, distorted field springs into place between the six faces. Another click and it disappears, the lights again winking to red.

GINALooks like the Arkham cage is up.

OZGreat. Let’s get a camera with a spectral analyzer filter, and start experiment GB1A - “Establishing Parameters of Spectres as Non-Human Entities.”

Gina runs upstairs. Victor and Richard join Oz at the cage.

VICTORAnd how exactly do we test that?

RICHARDWell if the theory is correct, then ghosts aren’t really dead people at all, but more like semi-smart extradimensional animals. They’re drawn to areas with naturally high amounts of PKE.

VICTORSo, areas of high ambient PKEmeaning ley lines?

40.

RICHARDYeah. All along the lines where the PKE gathers and flows, and especially at nexus points; it’s a lot stronger and more chaotic. Here-

Richard takes Victor back to his computer, bringing up a map of New York.

RICHARD (CONT’D)We take all the reported ghost sightings in the last thirty years, and track it against the lines-

VICTORNo surprises there.

RICHARDSo what we’re doing today is finding out if the ghosts keep their form way off of a line, where we caught them.

OZWe think the shape ghosts appear in is dependent on where they appear. A lot of ghosts appear as monsters, or alien creatures. The ghosts that do appear as dead people tend to do that in an area where a murder, or some other strong psychic event, occurred.

VICTORI’ve heard this theory. Emotions ‘stain’ the environment, right? Ghosts get sort of sucked in, like a whirlpool.

Gina is coming back down the stairs with a spring in her step, holding two old-style traps and a six-pack of beer.

GINAThen we can stop hiding in warehouses with fridges that don’t even keep beer cold.

The four pull on new uniforms. Each is either the traditional grey or dark blue of the originals, but with more inbuiltpadding and protection. The Ghost gives a thumbs up from their shoulders from behind his ‘DO NOT’ prison. After they strap on their gear, they place the traps inside the cage.

41.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - DAY

The sun is beginning to set. The Gozer building can be seen above the trees of Central Park. Beneath those trees, autumn leaves blow around in an unnatural wind. The roots of one huge tree in particular are severely warped-looking.

INT. TUNNELS - DAY

Below the park, below the tree, the disgusting bulk of the monster has set up shop. Where the fleshy extremities meet metal, they blend from organic to inorganic. Similarly, where most of the creature’s mass has broken through concrete and pushed up into the soil, its tendrils and limbs are already fusing with the roots of the ancient tree above.


Oz and Victor examine his harness.

OZWhat is that?

VICTORIf my ring is a match, then this rig is something between a torch and a bonfire.

OZI thought you had to be on a nexus point to use it. We’re nowhere near a line.

VICTORWe’ll see.

Oz shrugs, standing near the laptop.

OZEverybody ready?

RICHARDNo.

GINANo.

VICTORNo.

OZOK.

42.

When Oz taps the key, the cage’s posts again fill the space between them with an oily shimmer as the laser grid ripples the air. Gina stomps on the trap controls, releasing the two ghosts. Bursting from their confinement, they appear again as the humanoid figures.

GINABalls.

The human shapes fizzle like a bad TV signal, warping once again into the bloated tentacle-faced worms!

The Ghostbusters whoop and celebrate.

RICHARDAw yeah! That’s right, you ugly bastards! You look like a bag of dicks on a bad day, and I love you for it!

The two entities richochet around the cage, grazing against the lasers. They squeal, shrieking their high-pitched calls. Gina hands everyone a beer, cracking open hers.

OZIs this going to hold?

GINAIt should. I mean, this is what it’s for - holding a ghost for study. I think it’ll handle 2...


In dusk’s long shadows, the tree is changing. The monster underneath is twisting it, joining with it. As the abomination anchors itself through the forest, the grass underneath the tree withers and dies, becoming grey and lifeless. Even leaves that land on the ground bleach grey and crumble.

Across the trunk, the texture of the bark slowly begins to pulse as if with a heartbeat. Protrusions that emerge from the bark suggest screaming, tortured faces.


Oz and Gina are pacing around the cage, scanning the entities within. They hold PKE meters as well as larger scanners on simple armatures.

43.

Richard and Victor stand at the computer, watching the results onscreen - a tidal wave of numbers scrolling by.

RICHARDData. Yay. I hate math. So what’s this thing let you do? Can you direct PKE sorcerer-style? Magic?

VICTORA bit.

He reaches up to scratch his hair, leaving his beer can hanging in mid-air! Richard doesn’t really notice until Victor plucks the can back out of the air.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Have you had any luck with the symbols I showed you?

RICHARDOh, thank gods. A distraction.

He grabs a tablet from the table, opening an image of the snake-symbol carved into stone, alongside ancient cuneiform. He hands it to Victor, who flips through more images.

RICHARD (CONT’D)The symbol is an ouroboros. The snake eating its own tail represents a cycle of death and rebirth. It appears independently in cultures all over the world.

This particular version - with the Cthulhu face - is considerably less common. The records are few and far between, but it looks like the Sumerian word for it was ‘Shulgor.’

VICTORShulgor.

When Victor says the name, a small section of the laser grid flickers, the diodes going red for a moment. No one notices.

VICTOR (CONT’D)The Sumerians? Weren’t they Gozerworshippers?

RICHARDYeah, some of them were. Gozer was a deity that featured in some Sumerian myths, along with its minions Vinz Clortho and Zuul.

44.

VICTORThe Keymaster and the Gatekeeper, I remember.

RICHARDThe thing is, Shulgor’s icon predates Sumer. They found some of those carvings.

VICTORAre you telling me that the first civilisation in history actually isn’t the oldest?

RICHARDHey, man; who knows? But the past has a funny way of wiping things clean once in a while. If I’m reading my Sumerian right - and I always am - then they discovered Shulgor just like we did.

VICTORWell, not really. They didn’t see Shulgor’s symbol plastered all over an alley downtown.

The laser grid twitches again. This time the worm-beasts silence briefly when Victor says the name. Oz and Gina share a quizzical look.

RICHARDSafe bet. They wrote that the carvings were very old - and that was 6000 years ago. As for what the Sumerians thought of Shulgor, well...

(V.O.)They viewed Gozer and other beings like it as gods. Real ones.

VICTOR (V.O.)And Shulgor?

The post wobbles slightly. The beasts float deathly still.

Oz, nearest to Victor and Richard, notices the ghosts react.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - NIGHT

The sun sets over the now-distorted tree.

45.

RICHARD (V.O.)Not a god, not to them. More. The inevitable, first. An elder evil.

The tree’s corruption spreads. Its neighbours show signs of Shulgor’s influence, but its home is the massive, gnarled tree at the center of the clearing. Branches bend as if they had joints. Some do. They hang threatening over the glade. The tree has grown taller, darker. The trunk’s surface is pitted with strange protuberances, the largest at the base of the crown, where the branches converge into the trunk.

As the last orange rays leave, the bulge splits open with the ripping sound of wood, revealing a massive square-pupiledeye!

The octopoid gaze blinks once, slowly, as if inhaling. Then, with more splintering sounds, a multitiude of mouths - human, animal and others even stranger - open with a chilling cry!


Phantom shapes flock through the city in the pale blue of dusk, compelled to answer Shulgor’s call. They move as if by gravity, falling sideway to their destination: the park, and the corrupt tree.

Passing through onlookers and objects alike, they leave splatters of ectoplasm behind everywhere they go. Terrified screaming fills the streets as people are knocked down or pushed aside by the wave of ghosts.


The two worm-ghosts cease their stillness, agitated beyond belief. They are caught in the ‘gravitational pull,’ bashed - or bashing themselves - against one wall of the grid.

Richard and Gina scramble to attend the equipment. Oz drops his PKE meter to the floor with glazed eyes. He squints against a pain in his head, weaving on his feet.

Victor holds his hands against his head, gritting teeth against the shriek of Shulgor in his mind! Grimacing in agony, he falls to a knee, holding himself up on the table.

INT. CALL CENTRE - NIGHT

One ghost, appearing as a collection of rotating rings covered in eyes, soars into an office through the wall!

46.

The translucent entity thrums through desks, computers, paper, and people. Where it passes, objects and employees are scattered in an ectoplasmic tornado in its wake!

It disappears out the opposite wall, leaving shocked silence broken by the beginnings of panic.


People watch the tide of ghosts fly by overhead. Although many start to freak out, others hold up smartphones to snap photos or video. A sea of screens angle upwards to catch the action.

After the single surge of apparitions, and people have held their collective breath, traffic horns and shouts resume.


The faulty (or compromised) post gives way under the continued assault, and the grid shorts out!

The freed ghosts go straight through the window. The glass spiderwebs with the impact of the ectoplasm.

Oz and Victor feel the pressure on their minds cease, and they breathe out simultaneously in relief.

OZOh, that sucked! I mean, what- whatthe hell was that?

Victor seems much worse off. When he speaks, it’s almost as if he doesn’t even understand the words he’s saying.

VICTORIt wants me. It- it wants us all.

Gina is already at the PKE map of the city, poring over the data from the surge. She frowns, trying to understand what she’s seeing. Richard is halfway out the door.


Richard skids to a stop outside, searching for the escaped ghosts. In the direction they went, he can see several fender-benders and other disturbances, all in a line heading towards the centre of Manhattan.

47.


Richard bursts back inside.

RICHARDI think they’re headed downtown. Maybe even together.

GINAThey’re not the only ones. Look.

They assemble at her screen.

GINA (CONT’D)Central Park. Just a minute ago there was a huge spike of PKE here-

A large ley line nexus glows white hot before fading. Lesser spikes across the city glow in sympathy with the first, before converging on the park in a uniform ring before it fades to ‘normal’ levels. The map replays the animation over and over, like a radar map for precipitation.

GINA (V.O.)-resulting in a sort of attraction that pulled in all the strong PKEpresences in the area. Like a whirlpool, or gravity.

VICTOROr a call.

GINAOK, that was the last weird thing you get to say before you tell me what the hell is going on with you.

Victor only meets Oz’s eyes for a second before looking away.

OZIt was like a headache, just confusion and pain for a moment. I don’t know- a feeling.

RICHARDFantastic. My favorite word. Want to explain one of these feelings for once?

VICTORIt’s because Oz was exposed to high amounts of PKE when he was an infant. His mom was too, before he was even born.

48.

(MORE)

Could be like magnetism, or a radio tuned to the right frequency maybe.

RICHARDSo what about you, Victor the... Violet? Viridian? What’s your deal?

VICTORMaybe I’m learning to tune myself in to the right frequency, too.

OZWe don’t know what it was, Victor. I’ve had weird feelings before, sure. But that made my hunches look positively normal. Like, ‘9-to-5-wake-up-and-get-a-balanced-breakfast-this-morning’ normal.

Gina shrugs when Richard looks helplessly at her.

RICHARDSo you’re a weirdness magnet. Awesome.

(beat)Wait- is really normal to do that? I feel like less people than you think really eat breakfast, much less the whole ‘balanced breakfast.’ I don’t usually eat breakfast, but I do get coffee-

GINARight in the dick, Richard. We’re wasting time. We should follow ‘em.

VICTOR(quickly)

Yes.

OZWait.

(gestures to clothing)We could be exposing ourselves.

RICHARDI’m going to leave that one alone.

GINA(to RICHARD)

I think that’s wise.(to OZ)

Even still, we have to go!

49.

VICTOR (CONT'D)

OZWe should wait. This’ll make the news, the cops will be out. I don’t really feel like spending my best sex years in jail.

RICHARDExcept the cops don’t know about ley lines, or nexus points. Or how to find where the ghosts went.

Gina stands, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. She shadow-boxes before sticking out her hand.

GINAExactly. We know where to go, and the cops don’t know dick! So c’mon!

Richard shakes out a cigarette and lights it, placing his hand on top of Gina’s.

Victor doesn’t waste a second before his hand lays on top of theirs. They stare at Oz expectantly. He finally follows suit.

OZThis is just like that trip to Montreal last year.

RICHARDNo, no, no. There’s virtually no chance you’re getting laid tonight.

(beat)Also, ghosts.


The van discreetly pulls into an alley, avoiding the traffic and emergency vehicles on Central Park Ave.

INT. VAN - NIGHT

Victor stares out the window. His eyes are bloodshot, scared.

VICTOREverything’s changing.

OZWhat?

Victor doesn’t respond at first, giving a tired grin. He didn’t realize he was speaking.

50.

VICTORI mean, this event. They’ll have to believe us now. We have proof.

RICHARDOnce YouTube gets a hold of all the phone camera footage, this’ll be a whole new ball game.

GINA(typing)

He’s right. More videos are uploaded every minute. This is big.

RICHARDWe can take this to the PRC. Rescind the ban.

OZEasier said than done. Besides, this isn’t the evidence we need. Everyone saw ghosts back in the day, too. That’s not what we’re trying to prove.

GINAI don’t know if you get the point, Oz. That was pre-internet. All those cameras out there, all that data, I think it’s just a matter of time now!

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - ALLEY - NIGHT

The van noses down a back alley, avoiding the traffic and ruckus. The Ghostbusters pile out in plain coveralls, loading their gear into garbage bags and bins.


The four cross the street, trying their best to look casual with all of the activity around them. A police officer looks Gina up and down as they pass a car being towed. She rolls her eyes and gives him the finger!

They quicken their pace once they’re further into the darkness of the park and disappear from view.

51.


Richard and Oz suit up first, while Gina scans the area with a PKE meter. Victor holds a scanner, too; he’s not paying much attention to it, straining as if listening to something. He straps on a slime blower over his harness, the rest of them carrying proton packs.

Gina switches to a Google-glass PKE meter display, but Oz and Richard continue to sweep the area as they all hit their flashlights and move forward as a team.

VICTORSomething’s here.

Victor seems to know the way before the scanners do. He abruptly stops, looking to the left. The PKE meters chime and buzz a moment later, and the other three swing to the left too!

RICHARDWell, it might be someone, not something.

(beat)Either way, I’ll feel a lot better with a particle thrower.

He draws his wand. The rest follow suit. As they move through the woods, the trees get closer together, blocking out what little light there was. In the shadows, things move.

Movement flickers back and forth just beyond their range of vision, the PKE meters crackling briefly in sympathy as they do. The claustrophobic forest closes in, suffocating.

Oz looks back. The trail they came from has disappeared, and the foliage is undisturbed behind them!

OZGuys.

GINAWell, that’s not good.

Victor sees a narrower, darker path leading away. He can almost hear Shulgor’s whisper.

VICTORThis way.

GINAWhy that way? The energy levels are the same in every direction.

52.

VICTORThat’s because we’re surrounded. It’s this way.

He doesn’t wait for them. They rush to catch up. Oz puts a hand on Victor’s shoulder.

OZYou sure about this? You don’t look good.

VICTORAm I sure about which way to go? Yes. Do I have a goddamn clue about what happens when we get there? No.

INT. CENTRAL PARK - THE TREE - NIGHT

The tree hangs ominously over the Ghostbusters as they enter the glade. The path ends, leaving them standing on withered grass, colourless leaves, and dead ground.

RICHARDWell, I know my next desktop wallpaper.

He takes a photo on his smartphone while Oz and Gina scan the area. Victor stares unblinking at the tree.

GINAI don’t like these readings. At all.

VICTORIt’s Shulgor.

OZIt’s already here...

RICHARDWhat?!

At the monster’s name, the tree shudders and twitches. Its great eye, and all the lesser ones that cover it, open to glare at the Ghostbusters.

Its branches stretch across the clearing, forming a living wall between them and any escape! They hover threateningly overhead.

At the same time the eye stares right into Oz, he hears the same voice, the voice of SHULGOR, rumbling in his mind!

53.

SHULGOR (V.O)‘Human/boy/child/man/Oscar Barrett/Oz,’ you will be mine.

The voice penetrates his brain, hurting him. Victor’s teeth are gritted against the presence of Shulgor’s mind, and as it brushes up against his own a greenish aura haloes him, and his harness crackles with grounded energy.

The octopus eye swivels to Victor, most of the pressure on Oz relaxing. Oz staggers, holding his head. His nose bleeds.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Ahh... Victordrender.

Gina is reading her scanner

GINAOh, shit.

Ghosts burst from the foliage! Bizarre shapes and all sizes, most resemble the worm-things or slugs, just collections of tentacles ringing circular mouths of gnashing, awful teeth.

The Ghostbusters open up, pouring fire into the spooks! Where the arcing beams miss the ghosts, they sizzle across the branches walling off the outside - which scream in pain!

Richard lassos one of the spirits, tugging it back and forth through the air!

Gina tosses a trap - a new version, wireless and modernised. It’s smooth and oblong, rolling to a stop on the forest floor. She waves her wand towards the center of the clearing, and the trap rolls along on its own in sympathy!

Oz lets loose with his own capture stream, snatching another ghost!

Oz and Richard corral the spooks over the trap, their combined efforts holding the ghosts steady in the air. Gina thumbs a button on her wand’s touchscreen.

The top of the trap opens along a seam with a shining white flare! One slug-worm fights off the stream, stretching slimy feelers at Gina before it’s quickly re-grabbed by Richard. The ghosts are inexorably drawn in, clawing at the air!

Oz slams the other down into the trap; it closes, reboots. An LED goes red, yellow, green, and it springs open again to receive the second ghost!

Victor douses ghosts in slime, ropey discharges of the goo falling across their already-nauseating forms.

54.

He’s having difficulty drawing a bead on the speedy creatures. Disgusted, he clips the nozzle to his belt and raises his hands.

Emerald lightning snaps again along the harness as Victor exerts his will! He holds his hands up to the ghosts, gesturing as if he were holding it between his palms and not 20 feet away. The ghost flickers and warps, fighting against the grip. Victor shakes with effort as he slowly turns, dragging the ghost towards the trap!

Gina tracks the last two ghosts with her proton pack. She keeps them at bay with the orange-and-blue whip of energy, but they elude her by swan-diving into the ground!

Instead, she throws her stream over the spook Victor is mentally (magically?) manhandling into the beam of the trap!

Together, they smash it inside! Victor weaves on his feet, exhausted. He shakes his head and collects the slime blower from his belt. Gina puts her hand on his shoulder.

GINA (CONT’D)Ya alright there, Yoda?

OZTwo more! G, Rich, you’re on the right. Victor, you and me.

They converge on the tree, unsure as to what they should do. Before they reach it, the crack of breaking wood stops them in their tracks. They watch in horror at the loose branches, twigs, dirt, stones, and trash across the floor. It assembles itself into two humanoid constructs - the ethereal glow infusing these bodies coming from the ghosts inside!

They reach out for the humans with lobster-like pincers of outstretched detritus! Oz and Victor back away from theirs.

OZ (CONT’D)Keep him off me so I can scan.

Victor looks apprehensively at the ghost golem. He shrugs.

VICTORUh-huh.

The golem leans forward as if to roar, but what comes out is a nearly-silent blast of air pressure. Victor cocks his ear.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.

55.

Gina and Oz aren’t faring any better. They both blast the creature as it bears down on them, but the beams just punch fist-sized holes in it that quickly fill up with more trash!

GINAThis is useless! It’s just more trash! There’s nothing to capture!

RICHARDOn the plus side, it’s really pissing it off!

Victor sets his feet in front of Oz, splaying out his fingers in a grasping motion. He really leans into it!

As the golem’s advance slows, it too leans into the invisible struggle! Victor flashes a wolfish, clenched-tooth grin.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Golems have hearts, right? A core, look for a core!

Victor’s body shudders under the spiritual grapple; but the longer he holds it, the more confident he becomes! Wisps of green subtly illuminate the space between them, highlights here and there that appear and disappear for only seconds.

Victor actually seems to be enjoying himself, but the strain of maintaining this struggle is beginning to tell. He sweats.

Oz’s eyes widen as he reads the PKE meter.

OZ(to himself)

Quantum coherency spread over a larger area... weaker metaphysical bonds...

He stows his PKE meter, pulling the wand from his belt.

OZ (CONT’D)Switch to bosun pulse!

They each drag a fingertip over the touchscreen interface on their wands, changing a red line icon to a triangle. Brace themselves to fire from the hip.

OZ (CONT’D)Throw it!

He sets his feet and gives hell with the wand, which fires off like a shotgun! The violent blast tears away a shoulder; one of its arms falls away to fly apart - and loses its glow!

56.

Gina nearly knocks herself over when her bosun pulse kicks like a mule! She blows the head off, leaving a gaping crater between its shoulders! A translucent orb like an eyeball can be seen, rotating to face her.

The figure falls onto all fours, and its legs and arms restructure themselves - it now walks like a spider or crab, the glowing eye staring from center of mass.

GINAOh. Well.

Victor grins again as he makes a fist. Holding it horizontally, he mimes pulling something to the side.

In sympathy with his movements, the golem’s arm moves up and away from its body - Victor telekinetically rips off the construct’s limbs one by one while Oz blasts at it!

RICHARDStasis beam!

Gina changes her icon to a blue line, and the lights on her pack wink to blue. She fires off what looks like a photo-negative of the capture stream! It’s dark blue, almost black.

The golem’s pace is arrested immediately, dirt and refuse sloughing off it as the energy holding it together is siphoned away!

It manages to reach Richard, hoisting a claw over his head to crush him! As it does, it leans back and exposes the ghostly core head-on! Richard ‘cocks’ his wand.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Hello, beautiful.

The blast punches through the eye, tearing the misty orb to pieces and dropping the construct to the ground completely disassembled!

Victor tears off another arm, revealing the core of the second golem! The entity emits a panicked, trapped shriek!

The Ghostbusters waste no time, each lacing into the final golem with everything they’ve got!

They’re left panting in the shadow and silence of the tree, which seems to have reverted to normal again. The formerly-fleshy branches are no longer blocking the path, having receded during the fight. Richard pokes Victor’s harness and receives a green shock.

57.

RICHARD (CONT’D)‘A bit.’

The ground shakes slightly under their feet, but subsides. Gina starts to scan the tree, but almost as soon as she starts, approaching sirens can be heard. Eyes widen together.

VICTORWe should-

A root-tentacle from the tree grabs Victor around the waist and drags him to the base of the tree!

Victor is yanked viciously across the ground; the roots begin to entangle him and pull him down into the earth!

OZVic!

GINAVic!

Only once he’s waist-deep into the tree can Victor stop himself. He concentrates, eyes glowing pale green. He finally stops, bracing himself telekinetically. His arms are trapped, but Oz and Richard grab under his shoulders and heave!

Gina holds on to the other two, digging her heels in as she leans all the way back. It’s not enough. They can’t hold him!

As Victor’s strength wanes, even the other three can’t hold him. He falls further, up to his neck now. He looks up to Oz.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Go.

Victor’s head disappears. Oz digs at the ground, but the roots flex and writhe, leaving no gaps. He pulls his wand!

GINANo! We can’t, he’s gone!

RICHARDWe have to go!

OZNo, I can- OK, I know, I know!

He scrambles to his feet and they rush out into the park!


Oz runs, hollow-eyed. Richard and Gina are just in front, with her frantically manipulating a tablet as they go.

58.

GINAI have the GPS on his pack. It’s still active!

OZThat doesn’t tell us if he’s dead.

GINAIt’s the best I’ve got, Oz. I didn’t really have time to get heart monitors, you know?

OZOK, we go back, regroup. Then we can scan for-


The Ghostbusters are just coming up to the mouth of the pathway out of the park, when police cruisers slew to a halt in front!

RICHARDOh, good.

They swerve away from the streetlights into the darker area along the wall of the park, looking for a safer spot to exit from!

INT. TUNNELS - NIGHT

Victor is practically cocooned in the root-tentacles, coils wrapping him head to toe, holding him spread-eagle. Held immobile, he can only watch as the pulsating form of Shulgor emerges before him. Pseudopods reach from the hulk to caress his face and the metallic bands of his harness.

Victor’s eyes are screwed shut in pain. A moment later, he laughs hysterically. Then he begins to cry, deep shuddering sobs. His eyes snap open. His sanity is slipping.

VICTORPlease. Please. Please.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Victordrender.

Victor’s breath catches in his throat. His pupils dilate.

VICTOR (V.O.)Yes.

59.

The tentacles let go! Victor stumbles to his knees as they withdraw. There’s still no way out, and he’s trapped with Shulgor. He stares into the eye of a god.

It’s hard to tell where the tree ends and Shulgor begins. The largest eye set into the tumor at the base of the root system. Twitching, smaller roots encircle it and pluck insects which they feed to small mouths with wooden fangs.

Victor cowers before the monster. It growls, engine noise at a much lower pitch, seemingly at all times - and it’s hard to tell if the noise is in Victor’s head or not! The menagerie of mouths that cover it rasp quietly, others loud. Some spout gibberish, even what sounds like children’s laughs or cries!

The voice speaks to Victor again, but it has changed. Before, it sounded like an uneven choir singing out of sync. Now, the inhumanly deep speeches are in unison. Shulgor is learning.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Understanding. Human minds are small. So different. I know you, Victordrender. All of you. You fear. You should. You will witness the end and the beginning.

VICTORWait- what- what do you- what areyou?

SHULGOR (V.O.)You are not evolved to see. To understand. You cannot conceptualize what you call ‘god.’ I am Shulgor, the Changer, the Beginning and the End.

VICTORWhat- what do you want? How are you doing this?

SHULGOR (V.O.)You. I want you all. You do not possess the capacity to hear, but there are areas of your brain I can reach this way. It hurts. This is good, too.

Tears run down Victor’s face. His nose bleeds down his face.

VICTORPlease...

60.

SHULGOR (V.O.)You are right, Victordrender. You are nothing. I know you in a moment. I am more than you can imagine. You cannot resist. I will have you.

Victor doesn’t look like he could resist anyway. He can barely hold his head up, but somehow he stands to his feet!

VICTORYou... need... me.

The pressure on his mind eases slightly. Shulgor hesitates!

SHULGOR (V.O.)Explain.

VICTORI know you too, Shulgor. Ouroboros.

The tentacles surrounding him shudder in ecstasy at the name.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Yes. That name has power. The stars will soon be right for the ascension. The Ouroboros comes.

VICTORI get it. You destroy, then create. Tear down the old to build the new.

(beat)But there are those who would stop you. You need me.

SHULGOR (V.O.)You wish a pact. Your sorcerer and a painting. You wish for power. What are you to me, Victordrender?

VICTORThe ones above. They have tools. To stop you. I can stop them until you... ascend. Give me power. Knowledge. Life. End the world, Shulgor. I want to make a new one with what you leave behind.

The eye regards him. The pupil shifts shapes, one to another. Suddenly, a host of tentacles spread-eagle Victor before the monster again!

61.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Understanding. You will be of help, Victordrender. You will be mine.

Victor screams as the tentacles lance his flesh, energy coursing into him from the creature!

His back arches, eyes wide and limbs taut, like an epileptic in a fit.

VICTORThere’s so much.

His eyes morph, pupils becoming squarish. A look of insane happiness overcomes his face. His choked, brittle screaming becomes uncontrollable laughter - the ground begins to shake!


The earth is trembling in time with Victor’s pact, and the localised earthquake is tearing Central Park apart!

The Ghostbusters reach another exit, dashing across the street! They stumble across the ground as it gives away in places, and slip past a police car bucking on the shifting road. The cops get to their feet and give chase!

EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT

The three Ghostbusters hurriedly stuff their equipment into the van! As soon as everything is loaded, they sprint further down the alleys, just as the cops swing around the corner!

The officers run right past the van, ignoring it completely!

As the Ghostbusters try to leave the alley, they’re grabbed; intercepted by more police! They’re arrested and roughly cuffed as the cops read them their rights!

INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT

Richard and Oz sit quietly as the cruiser drives.

RICHARDAt least the evidence is unaccounted for.

Oz stares at him, trying to figure out if he’s being sarcastic or not. After a moment, he looks away and leans his head against the cool glass of the window. His breath fogs.

62.

OZI hope Gina’s OK. She’s never even come close to being arrested. She’s probably so scared.

INT. POLICE CAR - NIGHT

The cops look worried. Gina is a Tasmanian Devil in the backseat, cursing and squirming, kicking the glass inbetweenthem. She’s pissed off.

GINA(muffled)

You pieces of shit! Can’t you see we’re trying to save you?! We’re trying to save everyone! You useless assholes! Maybe go bust a meth dealer or stop a murder! I’m a private citizen, dickholes! What am I charged with, huh? You dicks!

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT

Oz and Richard sit handcuffed at a small table in a well-lit room. Gina fidgets in a straitjacket.

OZWill you stop that? You’re just going to get tased again.

GINAWhatever, pussy taser anyway-

(shouting)C’mon and tase me, bro!

RICHARDHey, psycho! Despite your weird fetish for it, I don’t really want to get tased! So why don’t you stop acting like a goddamn lunatic and get it together, OK?

OZSomeone’s coming.

RICHARDHow could you possibly know that?!

The door opens. A security officer in a PRC windbreaker opens it for a MAN in a suit, who strides in purposefully. His face is downward cast, looking at a binder full of files.

63.

MANSorry to keep you waiting, kids. Intake always drags along, things to do. You know how it is. So how is everybody doing this morning?

The man looks up. It’s WALTER PECK!

Oz, Richard and Gina groan in unison.

GINABalls.

RICHARDIt could have been literally anybody but him.

OZTypical.

Peck sits in the sole unoccupied chair. He lays the files on the table.

PECK‘Ghostbusters.’

He waits expectantly. After a long pause, Richard narrows his eyes. He nods, understanding.

RICHARDOh, I get it. You’ve read the books on negotiation that say to wait for the other party to speak. To give yourself the advantage, yeah?

Peck clears his throat.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Oh, awesome.

(to OZ and GINA)We’ll be fine. This guy’s an idiot.

(to PECK)It doesn’t work if you start to talk as soon as you enter, Pick.

PECKPeck.

RICHARDThat’s what I said. So, what can we do for the head of the Paranormal Regulatory Commission? Besides questioning his questionable questioning abilities?

64.

PECKEnough!

He pounds the desk. Oz and Gina straighten somewhat. Richard waits for a moment before slowly reaching up to scratch his hair. He grins at Peck.

PECK (CONT’D)Oscar Barrette, Gina Carruthers, and Richard Bourne. You are being detained to determine if your actions have violated the USA SPECTRE Act in connection with the paranormal disturbances affecting the city at this time.

Now even Richard sits up straight. They all share a look.

OZWhat sort of disturbances?

PECKDon’t try that with me, Barrette. You know full well. No one has been able to go in or out of Central Park for the last ten hours due to your group’s activities.

I’ve seen a lot of clowns come through here in the last 20 years who liked to call themselves Ghostbusters. But engaging in domestic terrorism - you’re really trying to outdo the original jackasses, aren’t you?

RICHARDWell, it’s not very classy to just come out and say it.

PECKBourne, do you even know how your government works these days? I can drop all three of you in Quantanamoand never even have to explain myself to your families. As a matter of fact, I’m tired. Maybe I’ll go sign those forms right now.

Peck rises, walks to the door. Gina stops thumping her head on the table and shoots up.

GINAWait!

65.

Peck stops. Turns. Supremely pleased with himself.

PECKYes? You’d like to say something, sweetheart? Ready to answer my questions instead of being a smartass?

GINAI have information that can help.

Peck leans in, expectant. Gina looks him in the eye, then spits a big, dirty hock of phlegm right in his face!

PECKUgh!

Oz and Richard look at each other in amazement. Gina sits.

GINAHow about you get me a lawyer, Prick?

Peck wipes spit from his face angrily. Gina smiles at him innocently. He storms out.

PECKIt’s Peck!

As the door swings shut, Richard shouts after him.

RICHARDThat’s what she said!

INT. VICTOR’S APARTMENT - DAY

Sunrise. Victor’s place is all orange and shadow. Vigo’s painting looks almost at home against one wall. A figure pushes open the door, leaving it ajar and entering casually.

VIGOI, Vigo-

VICTOR (V.O.)Yes, Vigo. I hear you.

Victor enters the light. He has changed, and not just his eyes. His skin is almost translucent, even rubbery - like an eel. He smiles, some of his teeth long, sharp, or irregularly shaped.

VIGOYou stink of the ether, mortal.

66.

VICTOR(chuckling)

Yeah, that’ll happen.

He strolls to the closet, rummaging inside. He pulls out a long grey overcoat and shrugs into it. He leaves his damaged and dirty ghostbusting outfit on underneath.

VIGOSomething is happening. The tides change. You must bring me the child, that I might live again. Time runs short.

VICTOROh, is that what’s happening? I guess I’d better get on that, right? Idiot.

Vigo’s portrait glows orange, visible even in the rising sun. An arc of magical energy arcs towards Victor, but he bats it aside with the flick of a wrist! Broken like a spear, the smoky residue floats back to be absorbed by his harness.

VIGOOur bargain - you dare betray me?!I, the immortal master of energies you cannot fathom?

VICTORI can fathom quite a bit, these days.

Victor produces his lighter. He flicks the wick to life, but negligently drops it and sets Vigo’s portrait ablaze with nothing but the wave of his hand!

The bottom edge of the canvas begins to smoke and char. Eldritch power surrounds Victor. Vigo roars in bestial agony... maybe even in fear!

VIGONo!

VICTORYou’re out of date, Carpathian. Did you really think I’d promise a painting I’d help it become a real boy again? That I’d betray my best friend for you?

Wow.

67.

(MORE)

You can take the tyrant out of the 15th century, but you can’t take the 15th century out of the tyrant.

You’re an amateur, Vigo. You only thought you were a pro because you never met one before. So hello and goodbye, asshole.

Victor leaves Vigo’s flaming portrait to burn as he marches back to the door. The sorcerer bangs his fists against the oil surface of his prison. The castle in the background begins to smolder - the fire is inside the painting, too!

Vigo’s face contorts into a more demonic countenance. His eyes glow red as he snarls like an animal. Victor turns back.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Also, your outfit looks stupid.

He holds out a hand.

EXT. VICTOR’S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY

With a crash of shattering glass, the burning portrait hurtles out the window and falls away in smoking pieces.

EXT. VICTOR’S APARTMENT BUILDING - ROOF - DAY

Victor stands at the edge of the roof, looking out over the city. In the brighter light, his inhuman features are even more obvious. The neck of his ghostbuster outfit blends right into his skin - it’s hard to tell if its still just fabric.

He holds his hands out towards Central Park, in the distance. He interlaces his fingers to form a complex pattern. The air around him hums and vibrates, energy building through his body.

Arms outstretched, Victor looks between his palms - even from this far away, Shulgor’s tree looms out from the forest.

EXT. ROOFTOP - DAY

Victor draws his hands closer to his face, still staring through the empty space between his hands. The image of the tree impossibly remains the same size!

He lowers his hands, and Victor now stands atop a completely different roof, much closer to the forest! He looks back.

68.

VICTOR (CONT'D)

VICTORGuess I’ll just cross ‘break physics’ off the old bucket list.

He trots to the stairwell of the second roof, energy still bleeding off him. He opens the door with a simple gesture.


The NYPD have set up a cordon around Central Park. Now, riot police hold back a growing crowd. Some shout or hold signs asking for the Ghostbusters, others are simply taking advantage of the chaos or just excited to be there.

A old, short, stocky cop leaves the picket line. Walking briskly towards the park grounds. He doesn’t make eye contact with the other officers, or even acknowledge anyone around him. His features look waxy, even fake. He hops over the short wall into the park.


The cop moves between the cloistered trees and branches. They look very different from the night before - darker, twisted. They snatch here and there at the animals that scurry between them or bolt for safety.

Despite the disturbing foliage, the cop doesn’t seem too concerned. As he passes deeper into the park, it’s obvious why. From one copse of monstrous trunks to another, the illusion falls away to reveal Victor shrouded in its diminishing energies. He trails fingertips along bark-covered tentacles, muscular branches and vines waving at his touch.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - THE TREE - DAY

Shulgor has merged even more into Central Park. It continues to bond with the entire forest, slowly becoming one. Branches part like bead curtains to admit Victor to the glade. He keeps a respectful, even apprehensive eye on the tree.

The largest eye, along with others, swivels to regard him. In his mind, Shulgor speaks with even more clarity than before. Victor isn’t the only one benefitting from this arrangement.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Child. Where are the others?

VICTORGone. Arrested, actually. What is your will, great one?

69.

SHULGOR (V.O.)The conjunction approaches. The stars will soon be right for the ascension. The end is near.

VICTORThat’s a little vague, great one. Care to try that again, without the crypticisms?

The great eye stares into Victor. He stares right back.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Soon, this planet will align with others across this galaxy, bringing energies beyond your human comprehension into harmony.

You will bring me nine souls. They must burn brightly. Passion. Vigor. I will take them into myself, to bridge the gap with life of this reality. Then I may enter, and I will have you all. I have done so before, on this small world and many others. I will do so again. Soon, this world ends.

VICTORAnd my world begins.

SHULGOR (V.O.)(beat)

Yes. Your world begins.

A pseudopod gestures to Victor’s slime blower and trap, now discarded nearby.

SHULGOR (V.O.)The others. The ones with these. They could threaten the ascension.

VICTORThey don’t have the power I do. They’re not a threat. Not anymore.

SHULGOR (V.O.)You do not know this, Victordrender. If they attempt to interfere with the ascension, they will be destroyed. You will do this, Victordrender.

70.

Victor hesitates. The eyes swivels back to him. A branch-tentacle caresses his back, reaching up to his neck to release a gentle flow of energy into him.

Victor sighs hard, a heroin addict getting his fix.

SHULGOR (V.O.)Bring me to this reality. End all who try to stop it. Do this and the world is yours, child.

VICTORYesss...

EXT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - DAY

A black sedan screeches to a halt outside of the New York offices for the Paranormal Regulatory Commission. Out of the back driver’s side steps JANINE MELNITZ, as fashionable (and sultry) as ever. She’s flanked by a young male ASSISTANT, obviously trying just to keep up with her.

Janine looks up at the drab government building with a look of undisguised anticipation.

JANINEOoh, this is gonna be fun.

She fairly charges up the front steps. Her assistant almost stumbles as he follows, reading notes from a tablet.

ASSISTANTOK, the PRC offices are on the 14th floor. You’ll be speaking with one of their reps, a Ms. Kelly. She’s the regional-

JANINEDon’t worry about it. I know exactly who I’m talking to when we get in there.

ASSISTANTWho’s that, Mrs. Melnitz-Tully?

(beat)Ah, Mrs. Melnitz-Tully?

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

Janine waves a handful of documents in Peck’s face. She isn’t bothering to hide her smug satisfaction. He can’t hide how incredibly angry this is making him.

71.

JANINEYou heard me, Mr. Peck. By direction of Justice Louis Tully, I have an order for your to release these three under the USA PATRIOT Act 2001.

PECKYou can’t just waltz into my offices, ignore your scheduled appointment with one of my staff, demand to see me by name - ignoring the fact that I am performing an official questioning at this time, and expect to-

JANINEActually, Walter-

Her assistant hands her the tablet, a document cued up on it.

JANINE (CONT’D)I can.

Under the Spectre Act 1994, Section 3, paragraph 4 clearly states that any provisions of the Act can be rescinded in cases of ‘national security.’ Seeing as how Central Park is currently transforming into some kind of giant monster-thing in the middle of the most populated city in the country-

ASSISTANTNot to mention the undefined nature of the language in the Patriot Act surrounding ‘national security’-

JANINE-I’d say we have an issue of goddamn national security!

Peck is spluttering.

PECKYou- you-

RICHARDYou’re very eloquent, aren’t you?

Peck storms out, gesturing for one of his staff from the hallway.

72.

PECKGet them out of here!

Janine hands the tablet back to her assistant.

JANINEThank you, Adam.

He leaves, and Janine rushes to embrace Oz fiercely. All of a sudden, she’s less the professional dynamo and switches to slightly overprotective aunt.

OZHey, Aunt J. I’m glad you got my message. That was awesome, by the way.

JANINEOzzie, I’m just glad they let you have a phone call in the first place! Have you checked out what your rights are in a situation like this? Louis was not happy. Anyways, we should go; your mother’s waiting outside.

Richard is helping Gina out of her straitjacket.

RICHARDYou know that weird feeling where you can’t believe you’re thankful for the Patriot Act?

GINAI know, right?! It’s like ‘hey, ghosts are people too - but nobodyhas civil liberties anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’

PECK (V.O.)Get out!

EXT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - DAY

Oz walks down the steps slightly ahead of everyone else. He stops in front of Dana, who leans against a beautiful classic car idling behind Janine’s black sedan.

Dana hugs her son hard before pulling back, cupping his face in her hands. She looks him in the eye.

DANAYou OK?

73.

OZYeah. Just embarrassed and almost indefinitely detained without trial.

DANAI love you, you know that?

OZYeah. Me too, Mom.

DANASo, I hear you’re a Ghostbusternow.

OZYeah. Sort of.

Dana’s caught somewhere between maternal worry and fierce pride. She settles on a sigh and a helpless smile.

DANAIt figures.

Janine is staring admiringly at Gina’s hair.

JANINEWhat’d you use to dye your hair, sweetie? It looks great.

GINAMulti-paradoxical quantum particle emissions - and just a ton of radiation. I sort of blew myself up in the lab a couple of times. I was worried at first, but it’s neat - it keeps changing on its own. So far I’ve gotten blue, pink, blonde, black, and-

(checks her hair)Green again, I guess. I miss being blonde.

Janine pats her on the shoulder. She has no clue what Gina’s talking about.

JANINEWell, that’s nice. You be careful.

They join Oz and Dana at the car. Richard is texting.

OZSo, Aunt J. told you?

74.

DANAActually, no.

JANINEWell I’m sorry Ozzie, but she called me and she knew already, and I couldn’t lie to your mother.

OZWait, what? If Aunt J. didn’t tell you, then how did you find out?

Dana moves to the side, so that Oz can see inside the car. Ray and Egon sit in the front seat. They look like scolded children. Ray’s ears are bright red.

INT. CAR - DAY

Dana sits comfortably between Egon and Ray on the front bench seat of Ray’s big old car. Oz, Richard, and Gina sit in the back.

RAYHonestly, Oz, I didn’t mean to tell her- she pulled my ears!

OZI know, Uncle Ray. It’s cool.

EGONOscar, tell us more about what happened to Victor.

OZOk, so he’s been experimenting with manipulating PKE directly, using a magnesium-tungsten alloy to assist controlled psychokinesis. Maybe even more.

GINAWe think that’s why it wanted him. Shulgor grabbed him in Central Park, dragged him underground.

DANAOh, my God. Is he alive?

OZYes.

RICHARDWe don’t know.

GINAWe don’t know, Oz.

75.

OZI do. He’s alive.

DANAOK.

EGONHe’s been performing these experiements... successfully?

RICHARDYou could say that. If you consider mind-grappling trash golems and levitation ‘successful.’

RAYThat’s great!

(beat)Up until the disappearance, of course. Spengler, we have to look into this. We’ll swing by the warehouse and pick up some PKEmeters, then-

OZNo, you gotta drop us off on Fifth. We need to get the packs.

RAYOz-

OZNo, Uncle Ray. We’re going. Like it or not, we’re the new guys. We’re what you got. Or did you plan on crashing through a possessed forest on your bad hip?

RAYI don’t have a bad hip-

OZNot the point, man!

Egon looks pointedly down at his stomach.

EGONLogically he has a point, Ray.

Ray doesn’t say anything for a moment, driving faster.

76.

RAYOK. We drop you off, then head to the warehouse and do the whole ‘mission support’ thing.

GINAOoh, you’ll be like Otacon!

DANA, RAY, EGONWhat?!

GINANever mind, video game.

RICHARD(beat)

Ouch. That really drives the point home, doesn’t it?


Victor floats on a piece of bent, jagged metal. He stands easily atop it, his coat fluttering about him.

He gathers a large group of the swollen worm-ghosts around him. Exerting himself, he divides them into smaller groups of 5 or 6 - with a total of nine different groups.

After they are segregated, Victor’s posture slumps. He heaves an exhausted sigh, and the wing he rides briefly dips lower.

VICTORWhew. You must construct additional pylons.

He snatches one ghost with the immaterial grip of his mind, tugging it closer. Gesturing it towards himself, he squares his shoulders and mimes sucking in a deep breath that pulls in the ghost like a black hole!

The entity falls towards his face, stretching into a stream of energy that Victor ‘inhales’ like crack. Holding his face in his hands, he sobs painfully into his palms. Between the gasping tears and racking sobs, laughter emerges. Rises in pitch.

Victor looks up, smiles, even as tears drip from the corners of his ever-more-alien eyes.

VICTOR (CONT’D)That’ll put lead in your pencil.

77.

EXT. ALLEY - DAY

The Ghostbusters strap back into their packs, unloading the equipment from the back of the still-parked van.

GINAI still can’t believe they didn’t figure out the van was yours.

RICHARDNew York’s finest.

OZWell, it doesn’t really scream ‘criminal,’ you know.

GINAMaybe sex criminal.

RICHARDFeel free to walk.


At the mouth of the alley where the van is parked, the Ghostbusters watch the bumper-to-bumper traffic and packed crowd. Further down the street, past the police barricade, the forest is like a fortress of alien branches.

Gina and Oz pore over their PKE meters.

GINAThese readings... something big is going down. It’s like a vortex of PKE right on the biggest nexus point in the city.

(beat)The tree.

OZIt’s Shulgor. It’s trying to get through to our dimension.

GINAI don’t know... I mean, yes. But there’s something else. Another concentration of energy... and it’s coming closer.

The wall of living trees open like a set of horrid curtains. Screams erupt throughout the crowd as Victor soars out, surrounded by a legion of ghosts!

78.

The smaller units of ghosts peel off down the streets, swooping in and out of the crowd. Several people are picked up and dropped until the closest ghost squad finds a child they like and begins hoisting her back to the forest!

Victor and his retinue float dozens of feet over the Ghostbusters, who stare upwards in horror. The PKE meters are going off the scale!

OZVictor...

At his name, Victor’s head cocks to the side.

VICTOROz.

RICHARDTell me this doesn’t mean what I think it means.

Victor descends closer, leaning forwards on his platform as he senses his friend. He smiles with too many teeth. Phantom fingers of wind ruffle his hair and coat.

VICTORHello there.

OZVic, what’s happened? What are you doing?

VICTOROh, you know. A little of this, a little of that, earning my destiny. You can too, you know.

OZYour destiny? Vic, what have you done?

VICTORWhat I had to. What you have to. There’s no stopping it now. But if we join with Shulgor, Oz, man... we can be gods.

GINAWhat are you-

VICTORI wasn’t talking to you.

He points at Oz.

79.

VICTOR (CONT’D)You, Oz. You got the gift. You know what I’m talking about. I can see it all over you, now. Vigo unlocked it for you when you were a baby. All the weird stuff when we were kids? The feelings? I always knew that you had something I didn’t. This is real power, Oz. Godhood.

RICHARDHelp the tentacle-beast. Yeah, you don’t sound crazy at all, Vic.

Richard primes his proton pack. He and Gina pull their wands in unison. A moment later, Oz reluctantly follows suit.

OZI don’t know what it did to you, Victor. But look at yourself, man. I can’t let you do this.

VICTORCan’t let me? Actually, it’s more like can’t stop me. I understand your confusion, though.

Victor gestures, and the ghosts behind him swarm the Ghostbusters.

VICTOR (CONT’D)You’ve never had to deal with a god before.

The rushing entities meet streams of charged particles, bashing some off course and lassoing another!

Oz kicks out a trap, and Richard unceremoniously but violently whips his lasso around and slams the first ghost inside! As the trap resets, Richard throws out his own.

Another ghost tackles Richard, coating him in slime and sending him hard to the sidewalk. Victor laughs, raising his palm upwards.

The ectoplasm all over Richard glows in sympathy with Victor’s magic, and he’s jerked like a rag doll into the side of a car! The metal bends and buckles under the impact. Richard’s shocked, coughing and groaning as he tries to stand.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Nothing to say, Dick? First time for everything.

80.

Oz sprays bosun pulses to keep the other ghosts at bay, and Gina wrangles another into the trap!

Victor gestures, lifting the pack right off Oz’s back! Oz is carried a few feet into the air before he can slip out of the straps, landing badly on one ankle. Victor throws the pack aside with contempt.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Toys.

He disarms the rest of them with nothing but waves of his hand! Assembling all the tech into a clump, he levitates it next to him in midair. His ghosts bar the way between them.

OZVictor!!

Victor curls his fingers towards Oz, lifting him into the air before him. Oz can see how alien his eyes have become, but even scarier is their wildness. They dance with imagination, and the pale green light of his magic. The more excited he gets, the brighter the glow in his eyes! Oz struggles.

VICTORI can’t wait for you to see it, Oz. You’ll understand, once it’s begun. Everything we ever talked about, dreamed about. A world full of magic, monsters, angels, and demons. The kind of world we always wanted but were ashamed to ask for.

OZI know you’re still in there, Victor Drender. No one else is this melodramatic.

Victor’s face flashes though a toothy scowl, to a condescending smirk, settling on restrained amusement. There’s still a green twinkle in his eyes.

VICTORI am so much more than Victor Drender now, Oz.

(beat)Is it cliched to just start calling you guys ‘mortals?’ Too soon? Meh.

He tossses Oz next to his friends with a flick of his wrist! The remaining ghosts are ready to pounce on Oz, but Victor stays them. He lazily points around the panicking crowd.

81.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Get another one.

Victor floats higher, his manic agitation continuing to build. He becomes more enthusiastic, shaking with joy.

VICTOR (CONT’D)You’ll see. The ouroboros will swallow the world and leave a clean slate! Even if you live through its coming, your world ends tonight.

GINAPlease!! Help us stop it!! We need you, Victor! We can do it!

VICTORSorry, G. I made a deal. Knowledge, power, immortality, all for the low price of the end of the world.

(to Oz)You can, too. I have to reiterate, there’s no stopping Shulgor. It will cross the bridge when the stars are right.

I think you’ll reconsider when you see the scale of what you’re up against. If you want to join me, the forest won’t stop you.

Not waiting for an answer, Victor flies away on his wing, towing the lumpy asteroid of their gear behind him!

The ghosts, with a teenager held between them, form up around Victor. They plunge back into the park, the branches closing of their own accord behind them!


Other than the toppled laser cage lying on the warehouse floor, it’s relatively untouched by the seismic disturbances.

Ray and Egon immediately beeline for the computers when they burst through the door. Dana follows, looking around.

When she sees the portrait of Venkman, Dana stares at it uncomfortably. She grabs a nearby sheet to throw over it. It reveals the red, left rear tail fin of a car.

When Dana looks back at the rest of the large, covered object, she notices the tail fin. Curious, she whips away the rest of the cover and the ECTO-1B sits before her!

82.

DANAOh.

RAYStill a beauty, isn’t she? Best part is, with all the after-market work under the hood I’ll bet she still purrs, too.

EGONLook at this, Ray.

They pore over the maps together. There are several highlighted areas, all of them branching out from the hottest region inside Central Park - Shulgor’s tree.

EGON (CONT’D)There’s huge spikes of activity on the largest ley line nexus point. But there’s more than one disturbance here. These other locations saw brief but intense disturbances that moved away from this nexus and then back again.

RAYWhat does that look like to you? A hand, maybe? Fingers? Feelers?

EGONPerhaps.

RAYMaybe there’s a Tobin’s Spirit guide around here. We could use more info on this Shulgor being.

Ray rummages through the boxes of books and notebooks.

RAY (CONT’D)Was our office this cluttered all the time?

EGONYes.

RAYOh.

Dana stands by the coat rack. She touches the sleeve of Oz’s jacket.

DANAOz.

83.

Behind the clothes are spare suits. Dana traces her fingers along the nametag that reads ‘Barrette,’ rifling through the rest until she finds the one she wants - Venkman’s.

DANA (CONT’D)Thank you.

Near the ECTO-1B, the cover on Venkman’s painting flutters.

EGONRay, there’s something you need to see. This meter has been collecting data for 20 years, and a disturbing pattern has emerged.

RAYWhat kind of pattern?

EGONWe hypothesized in 1992 that extradimensional interference was tagged to buildups of psychokinetic energy. The first such buildup occurred after the Gozer temple on Central Park West accumulated enough power to let through VinzClortho and Zuul, who were able to open a dimensional portal to Gozer.

RAYAnd the second was when Vigo the Carpathian tried to resurrect himself. The third was when IvoShandor figured godhood was better than being a dead cultist and triggered the Gozer mandala in ‘91.

EGONActually Ray, after doing these calculations I’m not so sure. It appears that the last two events were only consequences of the initial crossrip. When Gozer the Gozerian entered our reality, immense amounts of extradimensionalenergy entered with it.

RAYAllowing the negatively-charged ectoplasm to build under the city, growing from the negative emotions.

(wistfully)The late eighties.

84.

EGONStrange times for all of us, I think. The energy also allowed Vigo’s bound soul to become active from inside his painting.

RAYAnd it activated the mandala, awakening Shandor. But the Architect started a whole other crossrip. What happened to that energy, then?

EGONPrecisely, Ray. We’ve never understood what was causing the ambient PKE levels to steadily decline since 1991. But they have.

In the last 10 months, there’s been an exponential growth in global PKElevels. Most of it is being funnelled right here, through geocentric conduits. The lines.

RAYBut we don’t see anything. You think this Shulgor came through back in ‘91, and it’s just been sucking down PKE like a banker in a bailout.

EGONMore specifically, saving it up to align with a major metaphysical conjunction that’s about to happen.

RAYWhat are those kids walking into?

The faint screech of brakes announces the arrival of the trudging, injured, beleagured Ghostbusters. They are all pained, but Oz in particular looks dumbfounded limping in.

Ray and Egon rushing to help. Dana embraces her son.

DANAOscar!

She looks him over, and does the same for Richard and Gina.

DANA (CONT’D)What happened out there?

85.

RICHARDAsk him. He’ll let you know if he feels something.

OZIt’s Victor. Shulgor’s possessed him, or something. He’s in trouble.

RICHARDThat’s not what happened, and you know it. Victor joined it. He made a pact, sold his soul, whatever you want to say. He’s gone to the dark side, now he’s trying to kill us.

GINAI’m not disagreeing that he was getting pretty Palpatine on that goblin glider of his, but I think if he was gonna kill us he would have. I don’t know what to think.

RICHARDMan, have you even seen Akira? Power corrupts?

OZ(quietly)

It doesn’t have to.

RICHARDHistory disagrees with you. Either way, Victor will probably murder us the next time he sees us.

GINAHe said the forest wouldn’t stop us, if we joined him.

EGON(to himself)

The forest...

Egon returns to the terminal, a man on a mission.

RICHARDYeah, but he didn’t say whether he’d stop us or not. Hence, murder.

OZSo what? You want to just wait here for the end of the world? Not go?

86.

RICHARDNo, I just think we should bring Mace, you know, or a gun; or something other than the power of friendship!

EGONLook at this!

They halt their arguing to gather around him. Egon shows them the entire area of Central Park lit up like a Christmas tree.

EGON (CONT’D)The forest. It’s completely hot, Ray. The entire thing already resembles a single giant organism, and it’s only getting more concentrated. There haven’t even been any more appendages.

RICHARDAh - appendages?

RAYIt was like a hand, reaching out of the park and retracting back inside. Not very long ago.

RICHARDYeah, not appendages. Victor and a small army of spooks came, saw, and grabbed a bunch of kids and hipsters to drag back to the tree.

OZSouls. Shulgor needs souls. Not ghosts, not weird alien ghosts. It needs natives. To anchor it here.

RICHARDGozer only needed the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster. Those squid squads brought back more than that.

EGONAssuming every group abducted only one person, then 12.

RICHARDOh, 12! I really don’t want to meet the eldritch abomination that runs on premium, OK?

87.

GINAIf we can sever Shulgor’s link to this reality, then it won’t have an anchor to reel itself in by. I say we grab some particle throwers and, well... sever.

RICHARDGreat idea, except all our particle-throwin’ gear is currently the world’s most awkward telekinetic stress ball in the hands of a lunatic wizard of some kind. Who also knows precisely where we are at this moment and is more than likely plotting our doom.

OZNot all the gear.


Wearing fresh suits, the Ghostbusters exit the warehouse just as the sun is beginning to set. Although still dressed in the new style, the gear they load into the van is all old-school.

Ray, Egon, and Dana walk them to the van. Dana hugs them all.

DANABe careful. I know you want to save Victor, we all do. But trust me, if this thing hurt him then he might not have control of himself.

OZHe’s still my friend. I’ll find a way to help him - I’ll be careful.

DANA(to Oz)

Hey. I’m pretty proud of you.

RAYI have the Shulgor files. We’ll monitor everything from here. As soon as we know something, you do.

They pile into the van and race off. Ray watches them go. Dana puts a hand on his shoulder.

DANAYou wish you were going with them.

88.

RAYIs it that obvious?

DANAWe can still help them, Ray.

Ray straightens, determined.

RAYSpengler, let’s keep looking for something we can use. They’re going to need it.

They go inside, but Ray lingers for a moment at the door. He watches a vortex of black clouds developing over the park.

RAY (CONT’D)Sooner would be better.


The van slows to a stop along Central Park West, a good 50 feet from the wall. The press of police and onlookers is too dense to move any further, and behind them is just as bad!

Richard bangs the wheel in frustration.

RICHARDI don’t know why we thought just driving there would ever work. There are zero ways through this mess. It’s not like we can just walk up and say we’re quantity surveying.

GINAYeah, we’re technically committing a crime right now. So we break in.

(beat)...to a park.

OZVictor said the forest would let us pass, not the cops or the crowd. How?


The fortress-like wall of branches blocking off Central Park begins to twitch in earnest - exactly where the Ghostbusters’van is sitting!

89.

Muscular, bark-armored tentacles shudder and scrape over the van, coiling around it. They lift it easily out of the street, pulling it into the forest!

INT. VAN - NIGHT

The Ghostbusters scream in terror as the inside of the van crumples in a few places. They’re thrown around inside the interior, banging against walls and off the ceiling. Even turned upside down as the vehicle rotates randomly!


The forest has come completely alive! The trees are connected by resinous ectoplasm, slime, and meat. It’s like a giant, cavernous sponge. The branch-tentacles pass the van from arm to arm down one of the disgusting tunnels - a tunnel glowing faint pale green light around the beast’s next bend.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - THE TREE

Victor stands before the tree, now a column of tentacles and flesh. The pillar connects to the canopy and the forest floor, now a carpet of skin and chitin as well as dirt! Around them both is a circle of hostages, held immobile by a collection of pseudopods, feelers, claws, and hands.

The hostages are all young, not a one above 25. Most of the children cry, some adults pray, some beg Victor for their lives. Others have just shut down, brains unable to comprehend the abomination who assaults their senses. A beautiful tattooed woman has snapped, shouting nonsense!

Victor doesn’t pay any attention to the hostages or the whirling groups of ghost that scream past and torment them. He’s entirely focused on the god before him.

Shulgor’s main trunk now sports a crack running from below the large eyeball. Tentacles stroke the outside of the crack gently, and the eye rolls to observe it as best it can.

As Victor watches, the crack splits open! A rainbow of colours spills from the wound, pulling open further and further. The buzzing undertone of Shulgor becomes a full-throated roar, a bizarre cacophony of sound - as if from far away down a very long tunnel - emerging from the widening portal!

SHULGOR (V.O.)I BEGIN...

90.

The hostages begin to truly panic, and Victor telekinetically helps to restrain some as they thrash. They scream in agony as their life’s energy is pulled from them into the portal!

In the otherworldly light, the souls appear as misty, cotton-like fibers. They unravel from their bodies, torn bit by bit towards the doorway. The hostages’ screaming is intensified as the souls go through, and some can’t make noise at all through the pain they feel.

When the souls go through the rift, they begin to lattice together, incrementally forming the first strands of a construction - a bridgework across the two realities!

Victor sees all of this, with tears in his eyes. It’s like awed bliss. Like he’s having a religious experience on acid.

VICTORMagnificent.

He abruptly jerks his head to one side, as if hearing something. He closes his eyes for a moment, then reaches to the side with one arm and splays his hand from a fist.

The forest obeys, and 50 feet away the branches part obediently to the motion of his hand. Victor sees the van.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Dah-dada-duh.


Ray zips up the front of his coveralls as he walks down the stairs from the office above the warehouse floor. Egon and Dana follow hurriedly, trying to keep up.

RAYThat’s it! Spengler, you see those readings. We can’t reach the kids by radio. I have to do something.

EGONRay, think about what you’re doing. You know radiation like what we’re seeing can interfere with radio signals.

DANARay, you’re needed here!

Ray turns, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He feels truly alive for the first time in years. He’s lost the dogged look he’s been carrying, replaced it with sheer exuberance.

91.

RAYYou know we’re not needed here! We’re here because we’re old.

DANAWill you stop feeling sorry for yourself? Raymond Stantz, you got old. So have I, so has Egon, and so did Peter. We all get old, Ray. There’s nothing you can do about that.

RAYBut we should be out there- I should be out there! Spengler, me, Venkman-

EGONI know, Ray. But unless we have a plan for what we do when we get there, then we’re just walking into a gigantic trap.

They share a look, both turning their heads to the ECTO-1B’s roof. At the Super-Slammer trap still sitting there. They look back at each other. Dana doesn’t like this one bit.

DANANo...

EGONI’ll get into my uniform.

DANAEgon! You can’t be serious?!

RAYNo offense, Spengie - but you might want one of mine.

EGONYes, I think so.

He takes his tablet and begins to pull on a uniform. Dama follows Ray as he preps the ECTO-1B. He’s grinning.

DANAWhat are you going to do? Ray, can you and Egon help Oscar?

RAYWe put a portable hole into a bag of holding.

92.

Dana stops in her tracks.

DANAWhat the hell does that mean, Ray?!

RAYSorry. Every trap is like a vacuum of psychic energy. So opening one inside a dimensional disturbance could break the link at both ends.

Ray pulls up the sliding metal door, letting the night air into the warehouse.

RAY (CONT’D)It means they’re trying to kick Shulgor in the balls, and we’re going to try and cut its head off.

EGONThat’s a drastically inaccurate representation of the scenario. Not only is the equivalency more like kicking it in the shin and the balls respectively, but the resulting Mohs scale push alone makes this a wildly dangerous plan. There are a number of reasons why it most likely won’t succeed.

DANAThen why are you letting this happen?

RAYBecause he’s a Ghostbuster.

Dana shakes with frustration, but finally she shakes her head, rolls her eyes, and gets in the back seat of the car.

RAY (CONT’D)Dana, you should really stay here.

DANAReally, Ray? After giving me a speech like that, you’re going to ask me to stay behind? Now?

RAYBut you don’t need to come, Spengler and I can operate the trap. It’s too dangerous!

93.

EGONMaternal instinct can be a powerful influence on decision-making, Ray. Just get in the car.

They get in. Ray reaches for the ignition.

RAYI’ve been wanting to do this for a while.

The car roars to life! The engine sounds way too loud to be coming from a vehicle this size. Ray lets it growl for a bit, then heaves a sigh of relief. He looks at Egon.

RAY (CONT’D)You have no idea how happy I am that worked!

DANAWhatever happened to ‘I bet she still purrs?’

RAYWell, I hoped she still did.

EGONLet’s go, Ray.


The ECTO-1B leaps out of the garage at a fantastic pace! It darts around a corner at breakneck speed, disappearing into the night. As the garage door closes behind it, the far-off clouds over Central Park reflect weird light. Greenish lightning that doesn’t leave the clouds accompanies the gradually increasing volume of Shulgor’s deep bass whisper.


The city is in an uproar! The strange lights from the portal can be seen through the forest, illuminating the flesh-trees and showing everyone the full extent of the forest’s transformation! Some take pictures, but most run. The police put their backs to the crowd, pulling weapons.

Shulgor’s form is taking shape. Appearing as a titanic wall of flesh, it is actually honeycombed with tunnels and pores. The portal’s radiance shine through them, and as it does the branch-tentacles stretch to their full reach!

94.

SHULGOR (V.O.)I BECOME...

The waving coils of muscle and wood, from 20 to 100 feet long, pulsate alongside many giant, staring eyes! The crowd begins to riot as they hear the voice, and the headache of Shulgor’s presence begins to affect people’s minds!

A father clutches at his daughter’s ears, even as many others do the same for themselves, but the sound is only in their mind and it does not let up. Many bleed from the nose or eye!

Some scream and thrash about, foaming at the mouth or seizing uncontrollably, or even catatonic. Others run away from the source at full speed, or in another direction, weeping, shrieking, or laughing as they do. A few, caught up in the same ectasy as Victor, plunge past the cops into the park!


The people run through the porous structure of Shulgor’s body, but one at a time they are pulled to the floor or into a wall by one of the tentacles. They disappear into the dark!

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - THE TREE - NIGHT

Victor watches Oz, Richard, and Gina drop awkwardly out of the van. They’ve managed to get their proton packs on, even in the crazily tilting vehicle, still dangling from the tentacles that hold it a few feet above the ground.

They tumble to the ground, wincing and groaning in pain. The tentacles drop the van dismissively, which rolls once before settling on the ground. The sliding door breaks partway off, jutting out at a wild angle.

The Escher painting catches the strange light flickering from the portal.

The Ghostbusters rise to their feet unsteadily under the weight of Shulgor’s presence, especially Oz. But these are the Ghostbusters, and so they rise anyway. They even grin a little as they square their shoulders, play through the pain.

RICHARDThis really didn’t go at all as we planned.

GINAWe didn’t have a plan.

95.

RICHARDOh, yeah. I feel better.

VICTORSee, this is why I invited you. I love banter, but the great one here isn’t much of a conversationalist. Also, I figured it’s not kosher to chat with your sacrifices. So I’m glad you’re here.

Oz steps forward, his wand still on his pack. He holds out his hands imploringly, concern all over his features.

OZVictor. Man, don’t do this. You don’t have to. We can stop this, all of us, together. I understand.

VICTOROz, my friend, you really don’t. If you truly understood, you’d do what I did. I accepted that right now, right here, this little corner of the multiverse is gonna change. A lot. All I had to decide was how I was going to change with it. To die, or to evolve. Free myself.

GINAFree yourself from what?

VICTORPhysical laws.

Mathematics. I never really learned a lot of math, but now I see it everywhere. Bend it to my will. Electromagnetism, gravity, probability, mortality-

RICHARDSanity.

VICTORHuman morality.

He laughs, and it echoes through Shulgor’s deep-throated whispering. He jerks his head to the side, sensing something again. Victor closes his eyes, reaching out with new senses.

VICTOR (CONT’D)I can’t believe it.

96.


The charge of the ECTO-1B is something to see! The sirens blare, the engine roars and the tires squeal. The crowd instinctively parts for the vehicle when it mounts the curb to get through the packed but mostly-abandoned cars. Its harsh klaxons and strobing lights push some aside, but the mob eventually pushes in around. The madness is strong here.

INT. ECTO-1B - NIGHT

Ray honks the horn, Egon scanning the surroundings with a PKEmeter hooked up to his tablet. Dana holds her head, the one most affected by the monster’s mental call.

DANAIt’s like Zuul... like Gozer. The sound-

EGONIt’s not a sound, Dana. It’s telepathic waves, not vibrations.

RAYAnd it’s making this crowd wild as a priest at a playground.

DANAWhat do we do?

Egon looks at Ray, who grins.

RAYHose ‘em?

EGONHose ‘em.


The double-barrelled device on the top of the ECTO-1B begins to stream high-pressured slime from the nozzles, knocking people over and coating them in the viscous fluid!

The crowd thins under the onslaught of goo, people drenched or even just splattered with the positively-charged slime begin to come to their senses, lifting out of the madness!

With tears on their faces, or just big smiles, they cheer on the Ghostbusters as they rev their engines and roll through!

97.


RAYThat got their attention, ehSpengie?

EGONIf that slime hadn’t been a positively charged culture, then they probably wouldn’t be so happy about this. I’ll have to recalibrate the pressure-to-regeneration ratio later.

RAY‘Later?’

DANALook out!


A dozen massive tentacles reach out and block the car’s path!

The slime blower has no effect, the positive energy of the slime absorbed by the creature. The slime turns grey and lifeless, sloughing off in gelatinous chunks!


Egon turns white as he examines the scanner.

EGONUh-oh.


The portal has almost eclipsed the tree entirely!

Shulgor’s titanic body now has a beating heart of chaos energy, and Victor bathes in its radiance. The sacrificial victims are still borderline comatose, their souls cording out into the yawning dimensional chasm. On the other side of the gate, the ‘bridge’ is longer than ever!

Victor smiles with his eyes closed, savouring the moment, holding Oz, Richard, and Gina at bay with an outstretched hand.

VICTORLet’s not keep them waiting.

98.

On their confused looks, he gestures in the direction of the ECTO-1B. The living forest of Shulgor opens a trench from where they stand to the edge of the park, thousands of branch-tentacles rippling aside with a wave of his hand!


The ECTO-1B is suffused with a sickly green glow, lifting several metres into the air! It hurtles towards the portal, illuminated by the poisonous colours at their destination.


Ray, Egon, and Dana are thrown around in their seats. But this car was made to handle a lot more than the van was, and Egon’s still able to read his scanner. His frown deepens.

DANAWhat’s happening? Did one of those things grab us?

RAYI don’t think so, Dana. This is psychokinesis of a magnitude I’ve never seen! Hold on!

EGONNo, it’s much worse than that. This is one of the reasons why this plan will probably fail. Ray, this is exceedingly bad.


The car soars through the air, but Victor’s will is giving out. The glow around it flickers somewhat, and it plows to earth in a groan of tortured metal just outside the glade!

Victor sinks to his knees, exhausted. He sucks in another ghost, siphoning off its energy. The entity shrieks and unravels, and Victor rises to his feet fizzling with energy and wobbling like a junkie who’s just taken the biggest hit of his life!

As he internalizes the energy, his eyes are glazed and unfocused. A stream of delirious gibberish leaves his mouth. He looks at his left hand. The fingers there are beginning to fuse together, two at a time!

Victor stares unbelievably at his mutation. Then he laughs, madness behind every chuckle.

99.

Ray and Egon stumble from the car, injured and groggy from the crash. Ray glances at the broken axle of the ECTO-1B - she’ll never drive again. They stare in horror at the portal.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Richard and Gina throw their stasis streams at the portal itself! The beams arrest the progress of the soul energies inside, the white threads halting in mid-air. The sacrifices’ breathing quickens!

Shulgor roars at the interference! Victor shoots upright like a puppet on strings. He reaches out to the three of them, but looks only Oz in the eye. He smiles way too wide.

VICTORWanna see something I learned from a Carpathian?

Victor telekinetically tosses Gina and Richard aside like playthings, straight into the broken door of the van!

However, when they reach it, they don’t smash into the metal. Instead, they disappear right into the painting on its side, the surface rippling like oil and closing behind them!

Oz bounces off the windshield, thrown into the air to land badly on his shoulder. He flickers with leftover energy.

Victor wavers on his feet, a halo of weird light about him.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Two outta three ain’t bad.

He turns back to the rift; he can’t take his eyes off it.

INT. PAINTING - NIGHT

Gina and Richard careen through into the distorted, perspective-twisting world of the painting. Falling out of a roiling ash-grey sky, they each fall down a seperate flight of stone stairs.

Richard looks a bit worse for wear, getting painfully to his feet. But as he pants and sweats, he still gets his wand off the rough stone and hums it to life. He cracks his neck.

RICHARDOuch.

Gina rolls down the stairs, clattering to a halt at the bottom. She groans to get her legs under her and freezes.

100.

GINARichard? Oz?

(beat)Victor?

RICHARD (O.S.)Hey, G!

Gina looks up from the small hallway she stands in and sees Richard above her - standing sideways at a balcony on a wall!

They both stand at completely different perspectives! The paradoxical structure of Cyclopean stone hurts the eye to look at, but Gina twists her neck to look sideways at Richard. As she does, she begins to fall towards the wall; they now share the same perspective!

Gina falls down another set of stairs. Richard winces.

RICHARD (CONT’D)Yeah, you just kind of decide which way is down.

He helps her up. They both look out over the vast architectural nightmare of a landscape under the cloudy, featureless sky.

GINASo, we’re trapped here forever?

RICHARDProbably.

GINAAny hope of escape?

RICHARDNot to my knowledge.

GINAThis makes you literally the last man on earth, you know.

RICHARDI’m aware of that, yes.

At the same time, they rush into each other’s arms to start fiercely and passionately kissing!

101.


Ray and Egon run to the van as Dana climbs out of the ECTO-1B. Ray taps Egon on the shoulder, and he goes to scan the painting as Ray helps Oz, who is dazed and in shock.

OZLearned it from a Carpathian...

Ray gets an arm under Oz’s shoulder, and they join Egon. He shines a light into Oz’s eyes.

OZ (CONT’D)Heeeyyyy...

EGONHe’s in shock.

RAYLike a goldfish in a wall socket.

They scan the painting again with the PKE meter and the Geigermeter. Richard and Gina’s painted forms flicker from place to place within the bizarre architecture, but their motions are too fast to follow. Eventually, they are just smudges. The paint still eddys and ripples, like the tides.

EGONThis reads almost identically to the painting Vigo the Carpathian was contained in.

OZWhy is everyone talking about Carpathians?

RAYExcept we didn’t want to take Viggyout. Wait - we know what put him back in!

EGONPositively charged slime. Ray, on the slim chance this works the way we hope it will, it could still neutralize every electron in our bodies or trap us inside with them.

RAYYeah, I know. But what a way to go.

EGONThere is a certain attraction in going out with a bang.

102.

(MORE)

But we need to hurry. It’s an unstable pocket dimension, but the surface is settling quickly. We might not be able to get through; and these readings indicate the time flow inside is dilating at a rate roughly 600 times normal.


Richard and Gina are getting dressed. Her makeup is worn, almost gone; Richard is sporting a rougher beard than usual.

RICHARDWell that was weird.

GINAI’m sorry, I don’t know what happened near the end there.

RICHARDNo, it’s cool. We really don’t need to talk about that.

GINAWhy not?

RICHARDShe’s going to make me say it.

(quickly)You’re terrible at sex.

Gina splutters in feigned astonishment, but not feigned very well. This is clearly not the first time she’s heard this.


Oz is coming to, eyes clear. Ray claps him on the shoulder.

RAYWelcome back, rookie. Go get him.

Oz flashes his uncles a tired grin, but then his brow furrows. He marches to Victor, hands balled into fists.

OZ(to himself)

OK, bud. Now this is happening.

He stops, planting his feet. He pulls his wand, humming it to life. Victor opens his eyes, turning to face Oz and coming down off his high for a moment.

103.

EGON (CONT'D)

Bathed in the strange light, Oz can see several small eyeballs dimpling parts of Victor’s scalp and neck! They all stare at Oz, blinking in unison.

OZ (CONT’D)Look at yourself, man! Look at what you’re becoming. You still think you got a good deal, here?

VICTORYou don’t understand. You can’t even perceive a fraction of what I can, now. You’re nothing compared to what I’m becoming.

OZI am nothing. And so are you! A little power doesn’t change that. You know as well as I do how big the multiverse is. You know better! And you think your tiny little existence matters now? You’re still nothing, Vic. You’re not a big fish in a small pond; you’re a parasite on a parasite on a parasite.

Victor looks with too many eyes at his mutated hand, then glances fearfully back at the portal. Tears are in his eyes.

Oz switches his pack from ‘stream’ to ‘pulse.’ The tech twitches and clicks into gear on his back. He braces himself.

OZ (CONT’D)That said: I really hope this doesn’t kill you, Vic.

He fires! Mostly dissipated by the aura surrounding Victor, the blast still packs more than enough punch to knock him on his ass.

Victor floats upright, rainbow energy streaming from him. His form convulses with the stuff, appearing slightly out-of-sync with reality. His proportions flex with his erratic breathing, a juddery rasp. His outline crackles and judderslike a bad TV signal. He seethes with 7 different kinds of rage, a voice like shouting through a spinning metal fan.

VICTORNOTHING?! NOTHING?!

Before Oz can get in another shot, his pack venting steam, Victor surges with the channeled energy swirling around his twisted form and leaps the distance between them with his fingers outstretched like claws!

104.

They tumble to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Slowly, Victor’s unnatural strength begins to tell. He reaches down with both hands - one mutated, the other normal - and begins to throttle Oz to death. At that point, Victor is back in control; animal snarls disappear as he smirks into Oz’s face.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Did you know the other reason I invited you? See, the ritual only needs 9. I figured 12 might speed things up, or at least we’d have spares. I guess 13 is even better.

He leans in closer.

VICTOR (CONT’D)(whispering)

And I’m really glad it’s you.

His glare darkens abruptly. Gone again is the cool, smirking villain. Back is the frothing psychopath, wild-eyed and loud.

VICTOR (CONT’D)You know nothing, you speck. I’m going to enjoy watching your consciousness stretched across a universe. Then you-

A massive jet of slime knocks him off Oz, spinning him like a top across the dirt and flesh-grass twenty feet away! Victor groans, but it’s hard to tell if it’s in pain or pleasure.

Standing on the roof of the ECTO-1B, behind the dripping nozzles of the slime blower, is Dana Barrette - and she means business!

DANAGet away from him.

VICTOROh, you bitch!

He splutters in the muck, his head rolling and a happy smile on his face as the positively charged slime acts on him.

Oz, splattered but not covered in the ooze, coughs from his bruised throat. Ray and Egon wave at Dana.

RAYDana! The painting!

EGONDana! The painting!

Dana swivels the turret and coats the surface of the painting in slime!

105.

The goo hits the panel door like oil and water, running around each other. Ray and Egon look again at the balcony, each reaching a hand towards one of the smudges.

RAYSpengler, was this it? What you saw that time with Venkman?

EGONI didn’t see my death, Ray. It was Venkman’s, I just didn’t tell him.

RAYSo we might survive this?

EGONThat outcome is unlikely at best. I enjoyed knowing you, Ray.

RAYIt’s been fun, Spengler.

Reaching their arms through the oily plane, they sink up to the shoulder with a confused look on their faces. Then they’re violently sucked inside in a quick blur of motion and cut-off yells!


Richard and Gina are arguing in each other’s faces, flush with anger. He has even more beard, and their hair is matted.

RICHARDBecause I don’t want to right now!

GINAWell when will you want to? How am I ever going to get better if you won’t let me practice?!

RICHARDThis is my existence now. Stuck in my own painting with the horniest girl on the planet who’s also the worst at sex I’ve ever met in my life, and nowhere to hide. Why haven’t we died of thirst yet?

GINAWait. Your painting? After we roundly mocked it, you said some hippie did it for some mushrooms.

106.

RICHARDThink carefully about what you just said, then explain why it’s surprising I never told you I painted it myself.

He smokes as Gina gets closer, places a finger on his chest.

GINAYou know, it looks way better close up. Much more impressive, bigger.

It seems like they’ll enter another passionate embrace; instead they’re each grabbed around their arms and pulled-


- stumbling back into the real world!

RICHARDOh, thank you!

They look around in amazement, whipping around to see Egon and Ray in their place within the painting! The two images move at increasing speeds, becoming blurs of motion.

GINAThey switched with us!

Richard checks the time, cigarette hanging from his lip.

RICHARDHuh. Eventful for a 5 minute smoke break. It seemed like at least-

He cuts off as he sees Oz, still coughing and trying to rise.

GINAOz!

RICHARDOz!

They run to help, but Shulgor’s tentacles fling towards them, trying to intercept them in a wave of corrupted meat-wood!

Opening up with their bosun pulses, they frantically cut through the sinuous limbs to stand over their friend!

Richard blasts away more tentacles to cover Gina, who opens up with another stasis stream to disrupt the portal!

The howl of the god on the other side echoes through the night, and the colours flare even brighter! Ephemeral pseudopods reach out from the still slowly-widening rift to pull at Victor’s prone body.

107.

Before they can reach it, Oz tears them apart with more pulses from his proton pack! He runs to Victor’s side, kneels. Props him up by the shoulders. Looks him in the eye. Victor looks dreamily back and smiles like it’s old times.

VICTORHey, man. What’s up?

OZDude.

Victor seems disassociated from the harsh reality around him. Oz glances at the sacrifices. Still breathing, but barely.

VICTORI think I pooched this one, bud. I’m done.

OZNo, man. We can get these people out of here together. It doesn’t have to be like that.

VICTORYeah, it kinda does. It’s going to be OK, Oz. I know why they brought the car with them. Once I’m through, cross the streams, OK?

OZI can’t let you do that, Vic.

VICTORI told you, man. You can’t stop me.

He pushes himself up out of the goo. Despite the slime coating his mutated form, Victor looks somehow more human than before. He hobbles quickly but painfully to the ECTO-1B, until he has enough strength to levitate himself on top.

Victor gestures politely with his human hand for Dana to get off and floats her gently to the ground.

VICTOR (CONT’D)Goodbye, Ms. Barrette. You’re still a total MILF, by the way.

Shaking with effort, it takes everything Victor’s got to raise the broken car underneath him; but riding it like a slow-moving chariot, he glides it towards the portal!

Shulgor’s shout in his ears and mind is deafening. His face warps with pain or weird energies as he fights its influence.

108.

Ahead of Victor, his soul winds out across the gulf between realities as he gets closer and closer to the rift.

SHULGOR (V.O.)You cannot!

Victor heaves the car through the air, battling the invisible forces that fight to keep him back. The nose of the ECTO-1B edges through to the soul-bridge. He smirks, painfully.

VICTORCan’t I? Piece of advice: humans don’t like being told what to do, you interdimensional asshole.

Oz gets back to his friends, switching to a capture stream. Victor is almost all the way through, but is screaming in terrible pain! Oz shouts at his fellow Ghostbusters.

OZSwitch ‘em up! Cross the streams!

He throws it! The other two take a second to switch up, dropping their own streams.

GINAHe did say cross the streams, right?

RICHARDYup.

He throws his, bringing his stream over to mingle with Oz’s!

GINA(shrugs)

Awesome!

She laughs like a lunatic, crossing her stream with theirs!

As they struggle against the bucking equipment, a flash of intense white light - the light from a trap - ignites within the portal, which slams closed with a riotous blast of colours and sound!

The kick from the explosions knocks everyone flat, and as the shockwave spreads, the Shulgor-forest crumbles to ash!


Many people are knocked down by the pressure wave, which also sets off what sounds like every car alarm in the city!

109.

The expanding ash clouds fills the city blocks closest to Central Park.

Wandering aimlessly down a street snowing ash, covered in the stuff, is Walter Peck. He’s clearly in shock.


The team groans on the ground. The hostages are still out.

RICHARDSeriously, how many times have we been knocked down in the last day?

Through the pain, they begin to chuckle. They survived!

GINAI can’t believe that worked.

RICHARDYou’re telling me. If I’d known that our solution to every dangerous problem was to create another dangerous problem, I would’ve stayed home.

Oz laughs too, but stops as he props himself up on an elbow and looks to where the tree was, now an empty crater. There’s nothing left of Shulgor - or Victor’s sacrifice.

DANA (O.S.)Oscar?

She appears from behind the van, off balance but OK. She sees the panel door of the van as she leans against the vehicle.

DANA (CONT’D)Oh.

OZWe’re fine!

He stands, battered. Richard and Gina do the same.

RICHARDSo Victor went all Darth Vader last minute and saved us all, huh?

OZPretty much.

110.

RICHARDI guess you were right, but how’dyou know? That he was still there?

OZI just-

RICHARDOh, yeah - ‘had a feeling.’ Never mind.

They join Dana at the van. Oz follows a moment later, leaving the crater behind.

NEWS REPORTER (V.O.)In the aftermath of what people are already calling the Central Park Incident, drastic moves have been taken to quarantine the park, with FEMA personnel assisting police in keeping the area secure.


The dust cloud catches the earliest morning light, still wreathing part of the city. The park is levelled, a dreary grey and brown expanse between the canyons of the skyline. Not a single tree grows where the forest once stood.

NEWS REPORTER (V.O.)Efforts to ensure public safety have been stymied by the lack of direction coming from the Paranormal Regulatory Commission.

NEWS REPORTER 2 (V.O.)Until government officials are satisfied that the site has been decontaminated, Central Park remains a barren wasteland in the center of a city unsure of what to do next.


Crowds gather to watch the relief efforts, and despite the near-total devastation beyond the barricade and rescue workers, spirits are high. The wrecked van is towed out - sans panel door - as the Ghostbusters exit the park to the chanted cheering of the New Yorkers. Thunderous applause escorts them to emergency vehicles, where they’re looked over by EMTs.

111.

Dana and Gina hold each other, but whereas Dana and her son look uncomfortable with all the attention, Richard and Gina seem to relish it. Richard does his best to look cameraworthy, and Gina breaks away from Dana to pump her fist with the crowd and chant ‘Ghostbusters’ along with them!

GINAYeah! Who ya gonna call, bitches?!

On an impulse, Gina grabs Richard’s collar and pulls him down for a deep kiss. After a moment, they mutually break it off with looks of distaste - there’s no chemistry here at all. They try to hug, but instead just shake hands awkwardly.

The convoy drives off, their police escort leading the way after the Ghostbusters get into SUVs marked ‘PRC.’

NEWS REPORTER 3 (V.O.)YouTube videos of the mysterious group of ‘Ghostbusters’ involved in the incident - along with reports and more footage of the incredible events surrounding the paranormal disaster yesterday - have the Internet in an uproar.

The crowd continues to wave off the convoy ecstatically!

NEWS REPORTER 4 (V.O.)Of the original Ghostbusters, Drs. Raymond Stantz and Egon Spenglerhave been unavailable for comment in the days and weeks since the disaster. However, Dr. Winston Zeddemore has issued a statement in the wake of the Central Park Incident.


Snow, real this time instead of ash, is on the ground. It gusts past a brand-new sign on the facade of the warehouse. It reads ‘GHOSTBUSTERS,’ and features Twitter, Facebook and other social networking icons below it.

WINSTON (V.O.)Listen, I don’t know what happened that night. At the time, it was still a federal offense to work as a Ghostbuster. But those men and women who saved us all - they acted true to the legacy of the Ghostbusters.

112.

(MORE)

I hope that these events can help show a simple fact that people tend to forget from time to time. We need these people to stand between humanity and, well... everything else.

I had a friend, a long time ago, who I think said it best.


Oz is in uniform, putting the final adjustments to a huge wall-mounted display that shows a larger version of the ‘spook map,’ complete with ley lines and PKE hotspots.

WINSTON (V.O.)There are some things in this world that go way beyond human understanding. Things that cannot be explained. That is where we come in.

Richard sits at a terminal nearby. He’s reading a book titled ‘Dimensional Overlap & Reincarnation.’

Gina fiddles with a piece of electronics that blinks multi-coloured diodes.

The spook map on the wall flashes, a hotspot lighting up! The 3 Ghostbusters look up suddenly, immediately going for their equipment. They get into a brand-new car that bristles with exotic technology. The license plate reads ‘ECTO-2.’

The car peels out of the warehouse!

WINSTON (V.O.)To put it another way...

As the ECTO-2 screams away, it reveals the panel door of the van - now secured to the wall next to Venkman’s portrait.

Except now, the portrait is empty!

Instead, the mural on the van door now shows the original 3 Ghostbusters in their uniforms and equipment, striking heroic poses.

WINSTON (V.O.)Sometimes, shit happens; and who ya gonna call?

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WINSTON (V.O.) (CONT'D)

So subtly that it’s hard to notice, the image of Venkman winks once!

THE END

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Ghostbusters 3 by Brett Caron