"Cosmic Plans" Story Two
by Helen-Kylie


Danielle lit the one of the black candles on the small alter, then each girl took a candle and walked to the edge of the circle. One faced north, another south, another east and another west.

Terri held up her candle. "Here in the east, I bring in light and air. This is to illuminate my temple with the breath of life!" Terri then lit the candle.

Ashley went next. "Here in the south, I bring in light and fire to illuminate my temple and bring it warmth!" Ashley lit her candle.

Jenna held her candle. "Here in the west, I bring in light and water to illuminate my temple and wash it clean!" Jenna lit the candle in front of her.

Danielle was last "Here in the north I bring in light and earth to illuminate my temple and bring it strength!" Danielle set the last candle afire.

The girls walked back to the alter, Danielle took a wand and put it in a dish of salt. "As salt is life, let it purify me and cleanse my body, in this rite to the goddess." Danielle took three pinches of salt from the dish and gave them to Jenna, who put them in the dish of water. Jenna stirred it with a knife.

The girls each took a drop on their fingers and rubbed it on their foreheads. They then took the remaining salt and threw it around the circle. Kristen set fire to a metal bowl filled with a purple powder, and thick pink smoke formed around the circle.

They all joined hands and called at the same time, "We consecrate ourselves in the name of the goddess, bidding her welcome to our temple!"

Then Terri called, "Angel of Air!" Then Kristen. "Angel of Fire!" Then Jenna. "Angel of Water!" Then Danielle. "Angel of Earth!"

Then all the girls spoke at the same time, "We do summon thee to witness this rite and guard us on the journey between worlds!"

The purple powder let of a burst of pink smoke and the gentle candle fire flared up into powerful flames. "The circle is now cast and we are between worlds!"

The smoke turned blue and began to rush in hard gusts around the edge of the circle making a transparent but thick vail, pulling at the girls, threatening to blow them over in the whirling tornado.

"We are beyond the bounds of life, hail this spell has now begun, joy and sorrow meet as one!"

The powder exploded again and the smoke turned dark- violet and became even thicker.

Danielle yelled above the roar of the wind and fire. "We hail to the goddess of Egypt's land! Seckmet, lend a trusting hand!" The other girls repeated the cry. And then they spoke together. "Power of four! Forever more! Goddess, protector, we call to thee! Goddess of lions come to me!"

There was an explosion and the smoke was blasted through the room. When the smoke floated freely, the girls saw in the center of the circle a tall woman, whose silhouette was the only thing that could be made out in the dark... beside two glowing cat-like eyes and the glint of a gold collar about her neck.

"Who dares summon ME?!" The goddess demanded. "Who dares take the goddess, Seckmet from her land!" She looked at the girls "You're all foolish kids!" She laughed and walked tried to walk out of the circle, only to find she couldn't.

"WHAT IS THIS!" She demanded.

"A forcefield!" Jenna said "You're under our control, you have to do as we say!"

The goddess laughed. "You are a crazy child!"

A cold wind blew through the room, blowing out the candles.

The goddess stepped freely from the circle. "Pitiful white magic is no match for me!" the goddess laughed.

"Come back!" Terri cried. "Be bound by your own spell!"

The goddess laughed. Branch-like arms came out of the floor and grabbed the girls. The cruel goddess laughed as the screaming girls were pulled to the floor.

The goddess turned and walked out the door...

*****

[The Underground: Mole Peoples' world]

Seckmet looked over the ledge at the camp of the subway dwellers, so humble in its complete contrast to the world above. Seckmet stared at the fire glowing below and stepped closer to the edge, letting the light hit her face. She was an Egyptian beauty, with dark skin, black hair, and big eyes.

Her burgundy silk robe, clearly Egyptian was extremely flattering. A golden collar and headband trimmed off the ancient outfit. The goddess looked on the people below her.

"My first line of business," she chuckled "is to kill the rats!" She laughed evilly as she changed into a large, black panther. Around her neck still hung the heavy collar. She leaped from the ledge into the village below. People scattered for their houses as the goddess let out a bellowing roar and began to tear apart everything in sight.

Across the camp, Steffi watched the goddess... she gasped and ran as fast as she could to the nearest shelter. Fleetfooted, Steffi ran quickly, but the goddess was quicker. Seckmet blew the girl to the ground and was ready to kill her.

"What are you?!" Steffi screamed.

The goddess laughed. "I'm the destroyer of civilizations!"

Steffi gasped as the panther spoke to her. The goddess prepared for the kill, when an object flew through the air and hit the panther on the head. The goddess screamed in rage and abandoned Steffi to chase the attacker, who had fled.

Steffi managed to find her feet and ran to the only place she could think of to go...

*****

[The Firehouse]

Eduardo lay across the couch, Kylie was next to him, resting her head comfortably on his chest. Both slept soundly in the moonlight, undisturbed.

A shape crept silently into the room and over to the two. "Is Garrett here?"

Eduardo opened his eyes, looking into the painted face of a girl. He let out a yelp of surprise, which woke Kylie, who let out a little cry. The girl jumped back with a surprised yelp.

Kylie and Eduardo looked at the girl. "Steffi?" Eduardo asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Why do you have to be so..." Kylie paused as she rubbed the side of her head "...so, creepy?!"

"Creepy?" Steffi looked confused.

"Why, do I look that bad?" she looked at her tattered, dirty clothing.

"No," Kylie said, "I meant, you like to scare us."

"I didn't mean to. And when did I ever scare you?"

Eduardo smirked, "First time we meet you, you crept into the firehouse and we found you crouched in a corner!"

"Sorry," Steffi shrugged.

"Why are you here?" Kylie asked.

"Ghost problems," Steffi answered. "Big ones."

*****

[The street]

Garrett made his way to the firehouse in the dark, he was bored and wanted to take the night shift for a change. Suddenly a little girl appeared in front of him. He had no idea where she came from, but she just walked in front of him and stopped. He stopped and the girl looked at him, her icy pale green eyes looking at him blankly. The child didn't move, she remained still, her face blank.

"Kid it's sort of late to be out," he scowled. "Where're your parents?"

The girl only stared blankly at him. "I have something to tell you, Garrett Miller." Her voice was young and didn't seem to "fit" her. The voice sounded free, but metallic, distinctly eerie, but childlike. Dark, but like bells: creepy.

Garrett stared at the girl.

"Beware the one specter of the past, she will spark a war. Choose wisely between a love that can never be, and one that does not yet exist." She turned and walked into the alley, fading in the dark.

Garrett quickly followed, but the girl had disappeared.

*****

[The Firehouse]

Garrett entered the firehouse slowly, pondering what the small child had said. The reverie was only broken when Eduardo spoke to him.

"The others are on their way, we have a little problem in the underground again."

The first thing to flash through Garrett's mind was Steffi. "Is Steffi okay?" He asked, a little panic in his voice.

Eduardo gave a half smile and pointed behind Garrett. "Ask 'er yourself!"

Garrett turned to see Kylie and Steffi enter. Garrett looked at the brown haired girl in admiration and she smiled at him.

"Hi, Steffi." He said quietly and smiled.

Steffi smiled and walked to him. She put her arms around him and smiled. "I missed you."

Garrett put his arms around her. "Missed you, too."

Kylie lowered her head to their level. "As much as I'd hate to break up this touching reunion," she said, looking from one to the other, "We have a little problem."

Steffi and Garrett reluctantly separated. All four heard the door slam and looked up.

"Hi, people," Cassy smiled. Steffi looked confused.

"That's Cassy," Garrett told her. "Eduardo's cousin. She's a Ghostbuster, too."

Steffi smiled at Cassy. Steffi walked over to her and held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Persephonetheus, but my friends call me Steffi."

Cassy took Steffi's hand. "I've heard about you. You're the girl who came from the underground to save your dad."

"That's me!"

The two girls giggled. It was only then Garrett noticed the two looked a little bit alike; the brown hair, aqua eyes, and about the same height. Roland walked in, followed by Janine and Egon. Eduardo looked at Janine, then Egon, and then Janine again.

"I'm not even going to ask," he said, as Kylie snickered.

The two were dressed in formal attire. The same thought was ringing in everyone heads: *It's about time!*

"We had to go to a scientist's convention and formal dinner," Janine said lazily, again a thought went through everyone's mind: *Damn!*

"Slimer!" Steffi called, happily, to the green glob as he flew downstairs. "Steeefffeeeee!!" Slimer flew toward Steffi and the girl laughed as a layer of slime was coated over her head and shoulders.

"Now," Egon stated, getting right down to business and going to a desk. "Steffi, this jaguar you saw. Besides talking, did it look strange in any way?"

Steffi nodded, hurriedly. "Oh yeah! Its eyes were glowing yellow and it had a golden collar around its neck." Kylie looked at her.

"What did the collar look like?" she asked.

Steffi thought a minute. "Like one of those Egyptian things you see in the carvings in Egyptian tombs."

Cassy looked at her. "Where did you see that?"

"TV."

"Oh."

Eduardo thought a minute. "Those things around their necks that came out to their shoulders?"

"Yeah like that!"

Egon looked thoughtful. "Anything else about the collar?"

Steffi thought a second. "It had all kinds of designs on it. Oh! hanging from the collar was a sort of pendant, it looked like a gold coin. The coin had a symbol on it."

"Do you know what the symbol looked like?"

"Sure." Steffi grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, she drew a strange mark, ], and handed it to Egon.

"That's it." Egon studied the symbol on the paper.

Kylie looked at it over his shoulder. "I know that from somewhere!" she said. Kylie walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a book of Egyptian myths. She thumbed through the pages ‘til she found the right page. "Here!" she said, putting the book on the table and pointing to a picture. "It's the mark of the goddess Seckmet!"

Eduardo looked at Kylie. "Seckmet?"

Kylie explained, "She is supposed to be the guardian of Ra."

"Ra?"

"The sun," Cassy explained.

"Okay, I got it."

Kylie smiled before continuing. "Seckmet is also a war goddess often called on for protection, but she can't be trusted. She is supposed to be very clever and cunning. She was the destroyer of civilizations!"

Steffi suddenly cried out, "That's what the jaguar said, and I quote ‘I'm the destroyer of civilizations'!"

Kylie spoke, "That's not all."

"Oh wonderful!" Eduardo mocked, sarcastically.

Kylie looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Seckmet was a cat goddess. Not as in house cat, but like big cats, leopards, lions, and jaguars."

"Well," Garrett spoke, "looks like we pinpointed who the jaguar is! Let's bust her before she kills every last one of the subway people!"

"Do you really think it's that simple?!" Cassy snapped. "She's not like Cernunnos or Morpheus, it didn't matter if they were captured! They weren't important deities! The world won't stop without them! But Seckmet is a head goddess, as in important! Who knows what would happen if she were killed or whatever!"

"Cassy's right." Kylie agreed. "We can't just bust her."

"Time out!" Eduardo called. "Now you're saying that Egyptian myths are REAL and that now we have to start paying homage to DIFFERENT gods?!"

"No," Egon stated, straightening his glasses. "As you know both Cernunnos and Morpheus were gods of different religions. Cernunnos is Celtic and Morpheus is Greek. Well some scholars hold that when a new deity is first worshiped, the deity becomes real, and takes his or her place as a god."

"So you're saying is," Roland pondered aloud, "if I made up a god right here, right know, and prayed to it, the god would be created."

"Yes."

Roland nodded at Egon, and everyone was silent in thought.

"So," Cassy concluded, "I could call on any god or goddess ever created? Even the evil ones? If I had a spell?"

"You can't call gods back by a spell!" Garrett scoffed. "How, in the name of God, do you think Cernunnos got here, Braintrust?!" Cassy yelled at him.

"Oh, yeah!"

Cassy let out a cry of frustration.

"They don't get along, do they?" Steffi whispered to Kylie.

Kylie smiled. "They get along great, they're the best of friends. But, they're both too headstrong to be put off by the other."

Steffi looked at Cassy and nodded.

"So, how do we get Catwoman back to her home?" Eduardo asked.

"We're going to have to find her, trap her, and send her through a time portal," Kylie said, as if they did this everyday.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Cassy smiled at Roland's question. "Witchcraft." Cassy held up a hand, made a fist, then quickly flicked up two fingers. Burning just above the tips of her fingers was a small, yellow flame. She flicked her hand again and the fire went out.

*****

[The underground]

Seckmet was having the time of her life killing and/or destroying everything in sight. The whole village had been destroyed and now the goddess was hunting down the people who had fled, one by one...

*****

[The street]

Kylie pointed her PKE meter at a house and the device sprung to life. "My guess is this is where Seckmet came from!"

The house was silent and dark. Garrett used his conventional method of breaking down doors.

"Great job, Jackie Chan," Cassy said sarcastically.

Steffi giggled.

The teens made their way up the stairs and into the attic. They gasped. On the floor was a circle of white ashes. In the circle were four girls, held to the floor by branch-like arms. The girls cried to them and the Ghostbusters walked toward them, but found a forcefield preventing them.

"It's the circle!" Cassy cried. Kylie nodded to Cassy, and she walked to the opposite side, parallel to Cassy. The two girls put their hands against the field. The two girls spoke together, "Love is thy law, and love is thy bond. This temple is cleared, this circle is open, this evil be broken."

There was a flash of light and everyone was silent. Kylie walked freely into the circle, the others followed.

"Where'd you learn that?!" Eduardo asked.

"Books!" Kylie answered smartly. Eduardo smiled and shook his head.

The girls began to cry for help again. Garrett raised his gun to shoot them out.

"Don't!" Roland told him. "What if you hit of them?"

"Good point," Garrett said, putting up his gun.

Eduardo walked to the first girl and put his hands on the floor beside her. "For be what this be spoken, evil done now be broken!" The arms retreated into the floor. The girls sat up.

"Where'd you learn that?!" Kylie asked, crossly.

"Books!" Eduardo gave the same smart answer.

Kylie laughed. The girls looked around then started screaming for joy. One girl finally said something specific. "We didn't mean to set her loose!" she cried. "We really didn't!"

"Of course you didn't," Kylie said, sympathetically. One girl broke down and cried.

"She was too strong! We couldn't keep her in the circle!"

"It's okay." Cassy reassured her, "We're gonna' bust her back to were she came from!"

Kylie picked up a broom from the corner and gave it to Roland.

"What's this for?"

"Sweep up the ashes and put them in a bag," Kylie said. "If we're going to get rid of Seckmet, we'll need them."

*****

[The sewer]

"Ewwww!!!" Eduardo groaned, spotting a dead rat. Cassy then kicked the rat into the sewage. Eduardo gave her a disgusted look.

Cassy waved her PKE around. "Down here!" Steffi called, leading them down a tunnel that brought them to an old subway. Following it, they found themselves in, or what was left of the mole people village. Steffi gasped and everyone gawked at the mess. The whole village was ruined, and in the center of the camp were a few dead bodies. Steffi began to cry and she fell to her knees, hiding her face in her hands.

Garrett rolled up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around and put her arms around his neck, crying.

"It's going to be okay," Garrett said putting his arms around her once again.

Cassy, despite her sadness for the slain people, couldn't help the feeling of jealousy rising in her throat.

Eduardo put a hand on her shoulder. "They're pretty tight," he whispered to her, noticing the red color of anger in her face.

"So I see," she growled, pulling away. Eduardo turned to Kylie as if to say; 'this is not good.'

"Hate to interrupt here," Cassy scowled walking to Steffi and Garrett, "but we have a war goddess on the loose and I suggest if we don't want anymore people hurt we bust her. STAT!"

Just as Garrett was about to tell Cassy off, a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the shadows. Out walked Seckmet in her human form. The gangs' PKE meters lit up and jumped off the scale.

"She's ecto!" Kylie smiled, pulling out her gun.

"Music to my ears!" Garrett smirked, pulling out his blaster. Roland looked at his PKE meter and gasped.

"What?!" Garrett demanded. "The reading's are off the scale, but she's not a class 4!"

"A ghost's a ghost," Eduardo shrugged "no matter how you cut it!"

Cassy aimed her blaster. "On three!"

"THREE" The Ghostbusters yelled and fired their multicolored beams at the goddess. Seckmet laughed heartily at the swirling color around her. She freely stepped from the streams, and the proton beams hit a small gas tank that had been behind her, sending it up in a large explosion.

The teens ducked the flying fragments and the goddess laughed at her trick. "She's too powerful!" Kylie cried, as Seckmet started firing streams of lightning at them.

The group dodged them as best they could. "We need stronger beams!" Cassy said, backflipping away from another bolt, firing a quick proton blast at the enraged goddess.

"Truck mounted blaster?" Garrett suggested, rolling back from a lightning strike.

"We're underground, we can't get it down here!" Roland cried, barely dodging a stream of electricity that Seckmet was still throwing around.

Suddenly Eduardo let out a cry, as a bolt of raw lightning struck his back and he fell to the ground.

"EDUARDO!!!" Kylie screamed running to his side, Cassy not far behind. The goddess laughed and ran down a dark tunnel. Kylie knelt down to Eduardo and rolled him over. She pulled him to a sitting position and leaned him against her shoulder.

She shook him gently. "Eduardo?" she called softly, watching his face. "Eduardo, wake up!" she begged, tears forming in her eyes. By now the group gathered around them. Kylie closed her eyes and sobbed quietly.

"Ky?" Eduardo mumbled, his eyes fluttered open. Kylie opened her eyes and wiped away her tears and smiled.

"Don't cry on me," he smiled weakly, then grimaced in pain.

"I'm gonna take care of you, don't worry," she smiled, cradling him against her.

"Who's worried?" He laughed, weakly.

Kylie smiled and hugged him. Then Kylie looked up and pointed down the tunnel, "Go after her! I'll stay here."

The others grabbed their blasters and ran after Seckmet, Eduardo kissed Kylie's cheek. "Hey I promised I wouldn't leave you, and I intend to keep it that way!" Kylie kissed his lips. Eduardo smiled as she pulled away. Kylie gasped as she noticed the blood stain on Eduardo's shirt growing bigger.

"It's okay," he said when he saw what she gasped at. He tried to get up, but the pain was too great. He quickly leaned back into Kylie's arms.

"We'd better get you out of here," Kylie told him.

"Yeah," he agreed and closed his eyes. Kylie stroked his hair softly until she heard footsteps and looked up. Cassy came up beside her, her face full of worry for her cousin. The others soon joined.

"She got away." Roland told Kylie.

"Well?" Kylie inquired, "Are you just going to stand there and watch Eduardo bleed to death or help me?!" The others shrugged and came forward.

Roland picked up the now unconscious Eduardo and Steffi helped Kylie to her feet.

"You hurt?" Steffi asked, concerned. Kylie looked confused, then looked down to find her chest pads, gloves and arm pads covered in blood. Kylie looked sad.

"It's not my blood, it's Eduardo's." Kylie felt like her stomach fell out. "We gotta get him out of here."

Steffi looked at Roland, who was holding Eduardo. "This way," she said, going down a passage. Steffi lead the way, then Roland with Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett and Cassy in the rear.

Garrett noticed Cassy had gone sheet white and kept her eyes fixed on Eduardo's lifeless body as she walked. Garrett hated to see her like this. "I'm sure he'll be okay," he insisted. "Eddie is a survivor."

"Yeah," Cassy smiled a bit. "Baby Eyes always was."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Angel Face." (Garrett had made a habit of calling Cassy Angel face.) "He can get through this. With a girl like Ky, he's sure to pull through" He paused. "That was the secret wasn't it?"

"Huh?" Cassy looked at him confused. "About two months ago, the day the computer exploded, I asked you and Kylie what your secret was, and you said it was none of my business. That was the secret, huh? Kylie likes him, too." He didn't look at her, but looked down as he spoke. "Yeah, it was."

Cassy turned her attention back to her cousin. "Sorta," she mumbled under her breath.

Garrett looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing."

Garrett nodded.

Cassy ran her fingers through her hair and walked slowly.

"Tired?" Garrett asked, noticing she lagged behind.

"Hmm? Who?" She looked up and spoke as if she was woken up from a long nap. "Oh, yeah. I get like this now and then."

"Need a lift?"

"What?" Cassy looked confused. Garrett stopped and so did Cassy.

"You can ride!"

"Ride? On your lap?"

"Why not? Steffi has, several times. And Kylie, on one occasion, when we had to outrun a giant maggot." Garrett smiled.

Cassy, following her better judgment, sat herself comfortably on Garrett's lap and he rolled them both down the tunnel. Steffi looked back and made a face of resentment. Now it was her turn to be jealous.

*****

[The Ecto 1]

Kylie cradled the unconscious Eduardo against her shoulder. She closed her eyes and let silent tears roll over her cheeks. She rested her cheek on Eduardo's head. Cassy sat one arm over Kylie's shoulders to comfort her friend, the other arm around her cousin, and her chin rested on his shoulder. The high pitched ringing of the Ecto 1's sirens were the only thing that penetrated the eerie silence.

*****

[The Firehouse]

Cassy sat quietly in a chair outside the lab. Kylie and Egon had kicked everyone out while they patched up Eduardo. "You gonna be okay?" Garrett asked her.

"Yeah, in a bit."

"You know," Garrett said thoughtfully, "you remind me of Eduardo, how he behaved when you were in a coma."

Cassy smiled. "We're close."

"I know." Garrett said, quietly.

Cassy looked out the window. "I don't know what I'd do with out him. He's all I have. He and Kylie, they're the only things that I have." Cassy wiped a tear.

Garrett noticed this and he went over to her. "You got me."

Cassy smiled. "Thanks."

"For what?" Garrett eyed her childishly.

"For just being there for me. All the time." Cassy looked in his blue eyes, they reminded her of Mark Hamill, the guy who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies.

"You're welcome," Garrett smiled.

Kylie walked out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. She leaned quietly against the door. Garrett and Cassy looked at her, expecting the worst. Kylie looked up. "He's just fine," she smiled.

Garrett let out a whoop. Cassy let out a cry of delight, jumped up and hugged Kylie. Cassy rushed to the stairs and called down, "EDUARDO'S OKAY!" The sound of Roland tipping over his chair as Cassy's voice surprised him, was the only answer.

*****

[The Upstairs lab]

Eduardo was sitting on the table, with Kylie beside him. Cassy sat on the chair for the computer, while Roland sat comfortably on a bench. Egon stood amidst the sea of mechanical objects and samples. Steffi stood beside Garrett. Janine had plopped herself in a swivel chair and was thumbing through the mail, sorting it out.

Egon broke the silence. "Exactly what are we going to do about Seckmet?"

Roland sighed. "We can't do much, not with our proton guns, they're far too weak. And the proton cannon is out of the question."

"We HAVE to do SOMETHING!" Steffi insisted. The remaining Mole People had been forced to hide, above ground in an abandoned house, as the goddess prowled the tunnels underground.

Cassy arched an eye brow. "What if we summoned a god to help US?" she said, the thought playing in her mind.

Kylie let the suggestion sink in. "She's right. We could find some god or goddess that could overpower Seckmet and bring her down for us."

"Yes," Garrett nodded, sarcastically, "And risk another walking disaster wandering New York?! As if!"

"Well," Eduardo said, thoughtfully, "What if we found one that was technically harmless?"

"Like Bast?" Janine suggested.

"Who?"

"Bast," Janine repeated. She then continued rather rapidly, "Short for Bastet. The counterpart of Seckmet. She's a guardian to Ra. A love goddess, but skilled in war, goddess of light and music, and known for being the goddess of cats."

Everyone stared at her.

"What?! Hanging out here all day, you eventually start to read a few of the old books lying around."

Kylie thought a minute. "Bast would be a good choice, goddess of housecats."

"And trustful," Eduardo added.

Egon nodded, "So how do we get Bast here?"

Cassy looked at him lazily. She raised her hand and flicked her wrist, and the swivel chair, Janine and all, rolled across the room.

Then Kylie raise her hand and drew a small, invisible circle in the air, thrust her hand forward, as if to push something, and suddenly there was a sound like a gunshot, and a sound: 'whap!', as a hole suddenly appeared on the wall across the room from Kylie, in the direction she had pointed. "Do we answer the question?" Kylie grinned.

*****

[The Firehouse basement]

What had once been a research center had been cleared to make way for a large triangle, drawn with white ash on the floor, along with dozens of lit candles that were outside the triangle.

Kylie, Cassy and Eduardo wandered about lighting the last few candles and putting a bit more ash here and there.

Kylie called to her cat, Pagan. She picked up her beloved pet and put him on the alter on the floor, in the center of the triangle. "A cat for a cat goddess."

Cassy looked at Kylie, shocked. "Your going to GIVE Pagan to Bast?!"

"No," Kylie smiled, patting Pagan. "It's bait, in case she doesn't want to come."

"Oh," Eduardo said, surely, "I think she'll come!"

The three entered the triangle and took their places, one at each corner. Then each struck a match and Kylie spoke, "Oh, my goddess, hear our prayer! Let your hand enter our temple and give it life!" She lit the candle on the triangles tip.

"Oh, my goddess, hear our prayer!" Cassy called, lighting her candle. "Send your faith to our temple and make it pure!"

"Oh, my goddess, hear our prayer!" Eduardo spoke. "Send your love to our temple and give it warmth!" He lit the last candle.

The three walked to the alter in the center of the triangle and sat down. Kylie took a silver chalice, filled halfway with red wine, and held it over the alter. "Holy drink of blood, let this sweet liquid wash us clean of all faults and sin."

Eduardo took a bit of ground mint from the alter. "Sweet gift of the forest, give us power and pride." He didn't drop it in, just held it over the cup.

Cassy took a pinch of salt from the alter and held it over the chalice. "As salt is life, let it be eternity, in this rite to the goddess." Both Eduardo and Cassy dropped in the spice.

Kylie stirred the mixture with a silver knife, and starting with her, each took a drink from the cup. Kylie stood up and walked behind Cassy and took hold of a small handful of hair. Cassy closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Kylie held her breath as she cut a small lock of Cassy's hair with the knife.

Cassy breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was only a small piece of hair. Next, Kylie cut off a small piece of Eduardo's hair. Then she sat down and cut a piece of her own. She put the clips of hair in a shallow, silver bowl, filled with a reddish-pink powder. Finally she took Pagan in her arms, and ever so carefully, cut a small piece of fur from his back and placed it in the bowl.

Eduardo lit a match. "Three as one, this spell's begun!" He quickly tossed the match in the bowl and the powder went up in a huge cloud of thick, red smoke that filled the triangle.

The three joined hands and spoke at the same time, "We summon the goddess to witness this rite and guard us on the journey between worlds!"

*****

The pink powder let off a burst of red smoke that put a thick vail around the room and all the small candles flared up into powerful flames. "The circle is now cast and we are between worlds!"

The smoke turned purple and began to rush in hard gusts around the edge of the triangle, but remained thick, and the wind pulled at the three, tossing their hair about their shoulders and yanking at their clothes and arms.

"We are beyond the bounds of life, hail this spell has now begun, joy and sorrow meet as one!"

The powder exploded again and the smoke turned dark-blue and became even thicker. The three yelled above the roar of the sentinel wind, "We hail to the goddess of Egypt's land! Bastet lend a trusting hand! Goddess, protector, we call to thee! goddess of cats come to me!"

There was an explosion and the smoke was blasted through the room. The three let go of each others' hands and coughed hard. When the smoke settled, in the center of the circle, hovering about five feet up was a strange sight. The girl there appeared to be sitting in a recliner, but really sat on nothing but air. She was leaned back, legs crossed and feet propped up on some unseen stool.

She, like Seckmet was an Egyptian beauty, with long black hair, dark skin and big eyes. She had on a short burgundy skirt and a matching top that completely bared her midriff. Around her neck was a collar, exactly like Seckmet's, except her pendent's symbol looked like: \

In Bastet's lap was Pagan, purring his heart out and rubbing against the girl's stomach. The girl pet him and giggled, looking down.

"I guess you're Bast?" Cassy said looking up. The three teens rose to their feet.

"That's me!"

Bast, still hovering in the air, put down Pagan, stood up and lowered herself to the ground. "Now what do you need? Protection? Good luck?" She looked around.

"Actually we need you, yourself." Cassy answered.

The goddess looked surprised. "Why?"

"Your twin sister," Kylie explained, "Is trying to exterminate the tribe of people that live under the city."

Bast rolled her eyes. "Will everyone get it through their heads Seckmet can't be trusted!" The goddess groaned.

"The girls who released Seckmet, were just kids, they didn't know."

"Hey," Bast laughed, "I'm forgiving. You have such a cute cat!" she cried, leaning down and scratching Pagan's head. The goddess stood up straight, "Where can I find Seckmet now?"

*****

[The underground]

Seckmet walked down a tunnel, looking for any person stupid enough to have refused to leave. Suddenly she sensed something was wrong.

"Your numbers up, Seckmet!"

The goddess turned to see the EGBs behind her.

"Back again?" she smiled. "Don't you think you kids should go home? It's far past your bedtime."

Kylie scowled, "Yeah? Well it's lights out for you! On three!"

"THREE!"

The Ghostbusters shot their guns at the goddess, who laughed, rose into the air and flew down the tunnel.

"Going somewhere?"

Seckmet looked up and stopped abruptly, Bast hovered before her.

"Bastet?!" Seckmet yelled. "Why do you always have to ruin my fun?!"

Bast looked around and cringed. "You call a sewer FUN?!"

Seckmet rolled her eyes. "No! Wiping out the people who live in them is!"

Bast sighed. "Seckmet, we can do this the hard way or, well, actually there's just the hard way."

"That's fine with me," Seckmet purred.

"Are you sure?" Bast questioned. "I mean, this is not going to be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content..."

The phrase was cut short by Seckmet, who let out an ear-splitting roar as she lunged at Bast, her eyes glowing.

"Wanna play rough, do ya?" Bast growled. Suddenly, she began to flicker, like a candle going out, then there was a burst of light and Bast had completely changed! No longer so human, she looked half human and half cat. Her body was human, except it was cover in sleek, white fur and she now sported a long, somewhat fluffy tail. Her face was totally changed. She had cat ears, eyes, and nose, but her long black hair remainded. The dress was the same, minus the collar, and she had a sword.

Seckmet shrieked in rage, then changed too. In her warrior form she looked like Bast, only she had gray fur and instead of a house cat's features, lioness features were in place.

Bast tackled her, sending Seckmet to the ground. Bast pulled a sword, ready to sincerely hurt the loin goddess.

Seckmet pulled a dagger and jabbed it into Bast's stomach. But wound healed instantly. Bast looked at her severely torn top, then Seckmet.

"That's my good shirt!" she looked at the shirt again, and then looked back to Seckmet. "That's my only shirt!" Bast held the sword above her head and it suddenly changed into a trident. Bast jabbed at Seckmet, but she dodged it. Seckmet's knife grew into a long sword and she swung it at Bast.

The Ghostbusters ran down the tunnels toward a vast array of cat-like screams and high pitched lion roars. They stopped as they located the two goddess, battling it out.

"Now, that's a cat fight!" Garrett remarked, as Seckmet tried unsuccessfully to slice open Bast's stomach.

"Get ready!" Cassy instructed. The others nodded and drew their guns. Bast jabbed the trident at Seckmet, but it was blocked by Seckmet's sword. Seckmet drove Bast onto her knees, Bast was struggling to keep the sword from her head.

Bast put a hand behind her back and pulled a dagger from the hem of her skirt, but Seckmet didn't notice. In one quick move, Bast jabbed the knife into Seckmet's abdomen and jumped back.

"Now!" Bast yelled above Seckmet's pained screams.

The Ghostbusters shot their multicolored beams at Seckmet, who was trapped. The goddess screamed as she found she couldn't break free from the beams. Bast had weakened her just enough so the Ghostbusters could trap her. Kylie threw a trap under Seckmet. Kylie slammed her finger on the button and the trap came open.

Seckmet wailed as she was pulled down into the vortex of light. The trap snapped shut.

"YAHOO!" Cassy yelped, as she jumped into the air. "That's one point for the home team!" She and Kylie high-fived.

Garrett smiled, and Steffi hugged him. "Thanks again, I owe ya."

Garrett smiled and shook his head. "No, don't owe me nothing."

Cassy could feel the jealousy bubble up inside her, it took all her strength to keep from exploding. Bast looked at her, then the goddess "popped" back into her human form and put a hand on Cassy's shoulder. Cassy looked at the goddess.

"That specter of the past has sparked a war," Bast spoke slowly.

Cassy scowled, "You bet she has. I don't even have him and he's gone." Bast smiled, a strange smile, like to say, ‘I know something you don't.'

"He's been warned, it's his choice, but I know he will take the right one." Bast giggled, then walked to the others.

Cassy was silent for a minute, then shook her head and followed.

*****

[The Firehouse]
Cassy struggled with the lid of a glass jar. Normally, this would be an easy task, but she was too frustrated to concentrate.

"Damn jar!" She swore, slamming it on the table.

"Problem?" Garrett taunted rolling to the fridge.

"What does it look like, Rollerboy?!" she yelled at him.

Garrett was accustomed to Cassy's sudden outbursts by now. Garrett picked up the jar and easily pulled off the lid.

"You were turning it in the wrong direction."

Cassy glared at him, then grabbed the jar, turned around and walked out the door. Garrett smiled as he watched her leave. He was soon lost in an imaginary world where everything would never really happen.

"You like her, don't you?"

The voice broke him from his daydream. "Hmm? Wha'? Oh Steffi!"

"You like her," Steffi addressed again, leaning in the door.

"No! Of course not!" He lied convincingly, as he rolled up to her.

"Liar." She looked at him, her face blank.

"I'm not!"

Steffi smiled. "Then, you're lying to yourself."

Garrett raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"You like her but you won't admit it."

"Not true!"

"Liar."

Garrett looked at Steffi, a little blown back by her revelation.

"I have to go soon."

"Stay for a while." "No." Steffi demanded, harshly. "I'm going back to the underground. Tonight... when it's dark." She turned and walked away.

Garrett felt his heart drop. He rolled into the living room, where Cassy was listening to a Savage Garden song:


Is love really the tragedy the way you
might describe?
Or would a thousand lovers
still leave you cold inside?
Make you cry...
These tears of pearls

All these mixed emotions
we keep locked away like
stolen pearls
Stolen pearl devotions we
keep locked away from all the world.


Kylie and Bast entered. Kylie looked at Garrett and gave him funny look.

"What?" he asked.

Cassy looked cooly at him, then did a double take. She snickered. "If you were any more pale, you'd be a ghost!"

"Cassandra Rivera," the goddess scowled, "You know better!"

"Yeah," Kylie agreed, smiling.

"Oh. I know! But it's true!"

Kylie nodded. "You look sick."

"I feel sick," He responded.

Cassy's look went from mischievous to concerned. "Maybe you should go upstairs and rest."

Garrett ignored the remark and rolled to the elevator, going downstairs.

"Oh by the way," Kylie grinned, "We have two goddess that need to get home!"

Bast smiled and so did Cassy.

"Yeah. Let's send 'em back!"

"Good!" Bast chirped. "I want to go home."

*****

[The Basement]

Eduardo carefully lit the last corner candle on the triangle, then sat in the center of it with Kylie and Cassy. Bast stood in the center of the human circle, holding the ghost trap that contained Seckmet. Eduardo struck a match.

"Three as one, this spell's begun!" He quickly tossed the match in the silver bowl filled with a deep green powder, and it went up in a huge cloud of blue smoke, that filled the room. Then, the three joined hands and spoke together, "We summon the goddess to witness this rite and guard us on the journey between worlds!"

The smoke seemed to squish together into a tight ball, then explode, revealing a small dot of white light.

"Portal to the Egypt land, open for your sever's hand!"

The point of light grew into a swirling portal. Bast stepped into it. "Okay," she said. "I pull this latch to let Seckmet out?"

"Yeah," Kylie assured.

"Okay then!" Bast laughed. "Bye, Cassy! And remember what I told you!"

"I will," Cassy smiled.

"Oh Bast," Kylie spoke. "Before you go, can you do something for me?"

"Sure."

Kylie motioned for the goddess to lean down, which she did. Kylie whispered something to her, and Bast smiled and nodded.

"Of course!" Bast stood up again and snapped her fingers. There was a small flash. "Okay."

Kylie smiled and nodded. The three teens again joined hands and spoke. "Love is thy law, and love is thy bond. Merry did we meet, merry do we part, merry may we meet again!"

The portal began to close. "This temple is now cleared, the circle is open, but never shall be broken! Power of four be no more! Let the power of three set us free!"

Bast waved then she and the portal, disappeared. Then, the white triangle on the floor disappeared, along with the matches, candles, and bowl of powder.

There was a long silence that was broken by Cassy.

"I guess, it's over?"

"Yeah!"

Everyone was quiet again.

"Hey, I'm starved!"

"Me, too!"

"I could go for some cheesecake."

"Here, here to that!"

"Some in the fridge upstairs."

"Well? What are we sitting here for?!"

The three took off, full speed, up the stairs.

*****

[Grand Central Station]

The Ghostbusters stood in the subway and watched Steffi as she disappeared down one of the tunnels. Garrett sighed and turned to go.

Cassy noticed his sad look. "Up for pizza?" she grinned. "New restaurant opened on 33rd. Word has it they have some good Italian pizza. None of that instant junk."

Garrett looked at her. "Just me and you," Cassy stated.

"You're asking me out?" he questioned.

Cassy looked both playful and thoughtful at the same time. "I guess so. You could call it that."

"Fine." Garrett grinned.

"If I threw in a movie, would it be a date then?" Cassy laughed.

"Yup!"

The two left together, laughing, leaving Eduardo, Kylie and Roland alone. Kylie folded her arms behind her head and watched the spot were they had been.

Roland broke the silence. "He practically needs to be put in a hospital for depression when Steffi goes, and all it takes is less then 40 words from Cassy and he's back to his perky self."

"He's messed up upstairs, man," Eduardo agreed.

"Your cousin likes 'im." Kylie commented with a smile, remembering Cassy's secrets they told each other at their girlish sleepover parties.

"Anyone else want pizza?" Roland asked, "On me?"

Kylie nodded. "Sounds good."

"Yea, why not," Eduardo agreed.

The three walked out of the subway to the Ecto-1.

[Garrett's house]

Garrett entered his house whistling a tune. He shut the door behind him then let out a startled yelp as he saw a child standing in front of him. It was the same girl he met the night before. The girl looked at him blankly with her icy, pale green eyes.

"Who are you?!" Garrett demanded.

The girl only watched him carefully.

"You chose wisely."

"What?"

"You chose Cassy over Steffi." The girls eerie voice sent shivers down his spine.

The girl smiled and changed forms from a small child to a redheaded girl dressed in ancient, white Greek attire.

"Patience!" He scowled.

Patience laughed. "Sorry. But I had to help you!"

Garrett smiled. "Thanks. But I think you gave me more anxiety then help."

Patience shrugged. "Oh well. See ya 'round!" She waved to him.

"Say Hi to mom, um... Deb's for me. And Helen, too."

"Will do! See ya!" Patience disappeared.

Garrett laughed and rolled into the kitchen.

*****

The End. (Watch for Story Three, coming soon!)


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