After dropping Peter off near Peck’s office and Blade resting at the firehouse, the others drove up back to the Sedgewick Hotel. As they dismounted from Ecto-1, the group noticed things were quiet at the hotel. The lights were off and there were no people.

“Pretty quiet here.” Donnie said as he turned on his cloak.

“Eyup.” Applejack nodded as she put on her pack.

“If this place were anymore dead, we’d need a coroner.” Winston whistled.

“Egon used to be a licensed coroner.” Ray mentioned.

“Really now?” Shini raised her brow.

“Just a hobby now.” Egon waved off.

They all walked up to the door to see a notice on it as Winston read it out loud.

“Closed until further notice by the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission.”

“PCOC!” Ray snarled.

Donnie read over Winston’s shoulder. “Entrance into this establishment is strictly forbidden and is punishable by fine and imprisonment.”

“What now?” Egon asked.

“We could ninja our way in.” Gamer suggested.

“This notice is for the general public. It doesn’t imply to us! We’re bonded contractors for the city!” protested Ray before Winston pointed to the last sentence on the notice.

“Especially the Ghostbusters.”

Suddenly, the paper got shredded up while the group saw Applejack with her claw out. “Anyone see a notice now?”

“Alright. We’ll melt our way in!” Ray pulled out his thrower.

“Uh Dr. Stantz?” Everyone saw Gamer opening the door revealing it was unlocked. Ray looked a little put off as the group entered the hotel. Egon looked at his PKE Meter and pondered.

“Hmm. This is disappointing.”

“No. disappointing is the Jets losing in the last two minutes.”

“Or in my brother’s case, the Huskers.” Gamer popped up before letting Winston continued.

“Not being covered in slime by phantom ghouls out to kill us… doesn’t exactly make me reach for a hanky. Why’d they shut down? You guys didn’t bang the place up that bad last time we were here.”

“I hope not.” Shini shrugged.

“If this place really is a mandala node, a few burnt walls and broken ceilings are the last thing anybody’s…”

Egon interrupted Ray. “And smashed furniture, broken chandeliers, destroyed paintings, shattered vases, probably some minor structural damage.”

“And a ruined bar mitzvah.” Gamer added as Shini chuckled.

“Thanks, Egon and Gamer. The point is there’s more to worry about here than some minor cosmetic issues.” Ray finished.

“Definitely a mandala node.” Donnie agreed.

“If we don’t shut down Shandor’s Mandala soon, most of Manhattan will be as vacant as this. Not to mention also becoming a bastion of absolute, mind-numbing horror for centuries to come!”

Winston frowned at Ray’s conclusion. “Hey! I definitely don’t lay out two grand a month for a 600 square foot walk-up to live in a bastion. Let’s get to work.”

They pulled out their throwers while Gamer pulled out a spare PKE meter along with Egon. As they entered the lobby, they saw shadowy figures roaming around.

“It’s an ambush! Get’em hot!”

Suddenly, Egon stopped Winston from firing. “Wait a minute! I don’t think they’re a threat. They may only be residual hauntings.”

“Come again?” Applejack raised a brow.

“They haven’t crossed entirely into this dimension. They’re just psychokinetic echoes. Ghosts of ghosts. Completely harmless.”

“Great. I was hoping to meet a friendly ghost some day, but I’ll settle for harmless now.” Winston figured.

“I’m getting a strong valence spike higher up in the building.” Gamer spoke up.

“Illyssa said she was called to the twelve floor.” Donnie recalled.

“Let’s start there!” Ray said.

They hurried to the elevators. Applejack pushed the button, but nothing happened. “Power must be out.”

“They’d have shut down the power when they closed.” Ray deadpanned.

“Can we take the stairs?” Winston suggested.

“Not after the last time we tried that.” Rowen shook his head recalling when the fisherman ghost damaged the stairs last time.

“Yeah I forgot you weren’t with us last time, Winston. So no stairs, no elevator…” Ray suddenly heard something. “You guys hear something?”

Everyone listened before hurrying to a pair of doors as Ray perked up. “I think we’re dealing with a level five anchored ambusher! Be careful.”

“It went into the stairwell. We got it cornered!” Applejack stated.

“Help!” they heard a woman’s voice cry.

“This is just how a level five Anchored Ambusher lures you in!” Ray warned.

“Then let’s ambush it.” Shini grinned.

The group prepared their weapons before Donnie pulled the door open and the group stood face to face with…

“The manager? What are you doing here?” Ray gasped.

Sure enough, it was the hotel manager from last time in the corner whimpering. “Ghosts. Monsters. Everywhere!”

“There was another voice. A woman screamed. Are you alone here?” Winston asked.

“Look, I just said ‘Ghosts and monsters everywhere’. Does that sound like I’m alone?” The manager huffed.

“He meant people, sir.” Applejack clarified.

“Then, yes. I think so.” Suddenly, the manager screamed sounding like a woman.

“Guess that explains that.” Gamer muttered.

“Sir, there’s no need to fear. These are just shadows, echoes of actual ghosts. They won’t hurt you.” Egon assured.

“Come with us, sir. We can lead you to safety.” Winston offered.

The group led the manger out back to the lobby when Rowen noticed something.

“Uh guys?” he pointed to the elevators. The group saw a middle-aged woman with black hair and wearing a red dress. She held a knife behind her back as she led a man to the elevator and the two fazed through into the elevator.

The manager looked freaked out. “Good lord!”

“Someone you know?” Applejack asked.

“I do not know. Most of the old staff knows about the story about the Spider Witch, a professional widow who did unimaginable things in a room on the 12th floor in the 1920s.”

Gamer began to shiver quietly as Egon asked the manager. “What’re you still doing here? Why didn’t you evacuate with everyone else?”

“I came back last night to retrieve some payroll records, but the hotel won’t let me out! The doors shut on me! And the phones are down too.”

“That means we’re trapped now too. And we have to hope that Peter finds out we’re missing? There goes our weekend.” Winston rolled his eyes.

“We could try to ninja our way out.” Applejack suggested.

“Don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Donnie pointed.

Egon nodded. “Donatello is correct. The 12th floor is apparently the core of the node. If we can get the power back on, we can use the elevators.”

“If the elevators don’t eat us.” Winston pointed.

“Right. If the elevators don’t eat us.” Egon agreed.

“Really?” Applejack deadpanned.

Donnie turned to the manager. “Where are the circuit breakers for this place? We don’t have a lot of time.”

The manager pondered. “Uh… breakers. They’re in my office. But the city came and turned off most of our power after the electrical fire on the third floor. There’s no way to turn it back on from here.”

“That’s inconvenient.” Egon sighed.

“We got to find someway to get the elevators moving.” Winston stated.

“There’s a backup generator in the utility room off the kitchen. It’s for emergency blackouts.”

“Worth a try. Let’s go!” Gamer said as they hurried to the kitchen.

Suddenly, some of the echoes began to attack the group.

“Watch out!” Ray cried as they all shock blasted them.

“I thought these guys couldn’t hurt us!” Rowen cried.

Egon pondered. “I guess some of them apparently fulminate to this plane. It doesn’t seem like they’re happy about it.”

“Betcha Shandor bent some laws of nature to mess with us.” Gamer panted.

“Right. Let’s find that generator!” Winston said as they hurried.

The manager screamed as he saw his shadow and fainted.

“Probably for the best.” Shini shrugged as they hurried into the kitchen.

“Alright. Spread out. The utility room should be around here somewhere.” Ray advised as they looked around.

“No doubt in a dark, scary corner.” Donnie added.

“I’ve said it before but be careful. I don’t think we’re alone.” Egon warned.

Applejack looked to see the kitchen was a mess. “Uh Shini, did you, Games, Rowen, and Venkman do all this when you went after that there Sloth Ghost?”

“It was more the ballroom. Slimer mostly pigged out in here.” Shini grinned.

“This is definitely the work of something big.” Ray gulped.

“Big? As in ‘Big-big’?” Winston wondered.

“Mm hm. At the very least. Maybe even bigger.”

Winston blinked at Ray’s statement. “That’s very big.”

“I think I found it!” Everyone saw Gamer opened a door.

“Look! Gamer found the emergency generator!” Ray said as they entered the room which was filled with water.

“Look for a switch or something to turn it on.” Winston spoke.

“I got it.” Rowen walked in and flipped the switch which caused the generator to hum.

“Ah! Sweet music.” Ray smiled.

Suddenly, a headlight fell into the water electrocuting it.

“I’d recommend not stepping in that water!” warned Egon.

“Let me try something.” Donnie activated his medallion to transform and used the lightning to remove the light and un electrocute the water long enough for Rowen to hurry back across.

“Thanks, Donnie.” He thanked.

“That’s pretty cool, Donnie!” Ray wowed. “And this is the power of that medallion you told us about?”

“Yep. From the apprentices of Clover the Clever from Equestria.” Donnie held up his medallion to show Ray and Egon.

“Fascinating.” Egon grinned as Donnie powered back down. “The elevators should be working. Unless… never mind. Let’s get back to the lobby.”

They all left the kitchen to find the manager was awake and waiting for them. “Thank heavens you’re here!”

Egon looked at his meter. “Okay, it looks like the psycho-mass has come to rest about 190 feet above our heads.”

“The 13th floor.” Ray recalled.

“This hotel has no thirteenth floor. None of the grand hotels do.” The manager protested.

“Yeah, what gives with that? You guys superstitious or something?” Gamer wondered.

“Never mind that. We’ll split the difference! Egon, take Rowen, Donnie, and Gamer go to the 12th floor. Winston and I will go with AJ and Shinigami and check out the 14th.” Ray instructed before turning to the manager. “Sir, if you’ll please come with us.”

“Alright but stay in contact. This place is extraordinary dangerous.” Warned Egon.

The groups splitted into their assigned groups and went into one of the elevators that were now working again. As Egon’s group rode the elevator, they Winston on the walkie.

“Egon, what were you saying earlier about the mandala node?”

“You mean why we keep seeing new ghosts?” Egon responded. “Okay, think of the mandala as a city bus line. At the bus station, ghosts, or waiting passengers, are drawn into the system here and trapped. This concentrates their PK energy which is then eventually forced through to the next node, or station, and so on, until it all ends at final terminus. At each successive bus station, the station manager absorbs some of that energy. This makes the station manager, or Node Guardian, stronger so that it can keep the ghosts in line and destroy anyone who comes to the station to interfere with the flow. These nodes or bus stations gather the power used to feed a central point thus creating a much bigger threat to our world. Does that make more sense now?”

“TTTC. Totally Trapped Transit Company.” Winston responded.

“Yeah you were going strong until the passengers got trapped inside the bus station.” Ray spoke.

“Made sense to me.” Applejack spoke next. “What? Sounds like something in a movie my sister told me about!”

“When is my performance review again? I deserve more stock options.” Winston muttered.

“Really? We’re trying to prevent the end of the world and you’re thinking about money?” Applejack began to argue.

“Knock it off.” Shini spoke next.

Suddenly, things went dark surprising Egon’s group as they saw the Spider Witch with the male ghost from earlier. They didn’t seem to notice the group as the male spoke to her. “I say, young lady, you’re full of surprises. Well, After you.”

As they left, the lights went back on as the group looked shock at what they saw.

“Well, that was terrifying.” Egon spoke.

“So glad I went back at the firehouse.” Gamer gulped.

“I nearly wet my shell.” Donnie muttered.

“Be extremely careful, all of you. This is likely to be a point of dangerous concentration.” Egon warned as the elevator doors opened to the 12th floor.

As they got out and looked around, Egon pulled out his PKE Meter. “Odd. It’s coming from everywhere and nowhere. Impossible to get a significant fix.”

“That can’t be good.” Rowen mumbled as Egon grabbed his radio.

“Ray, come in. are you there?”

“Egon! What happened? We lost you for a minute. Shini has been trying to get Applejack and Winston to stop arguing.” Ray responded.

“We had a close contact.” Egon responded as they continued to walk.

“Anyway, I’ve got some more information on the Spider Witch ghost. The manager says the authorities never found her, but…”

“The bodies were hung from the ceiling! They were drained of blood and dragged around!” The manager chimed in.

“He said the victims were found in a pretty bad state.” Ray briefed.

“We get it, Stantz!” Gamer griped trying to hide his sweat unaware Rowen noticed. But he kept trembling as the Manager went on.

“The walls were painted in blood! Furniture was half chewed and crushed and piled in a corner like a big nest!”

“She seemed to have vandalized the room badly, too!” Ray said.

“Hmm. I don’t want to be hung from the ceiling and drained of blood.” Egon pondered.

“Me neither.” Agreed Donnie.

“Who would?” teased Rowen.

“I’ll tell you this: I do NOT want to be found in a bad state… or vandalized.” Winston spoke in the walkie.

“I think that statement is unanimous.” Ray spoke.

“WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT UP!”

The three stopped to see Gamer trembling realizing his outburst, falling to his knees, and began to cry. “I should’ve stayed with Blade!”

“Whoa! Whoa! Easy there, little buddy.” Rowen patted his back.

“You okay, Gamer?” Donnie worried.

“Remember when we fought Spider Bytz in Anaheim? And when he bit Bro mutating him into that Shine Spider Mikey called him?” Donnie nodded as Gamer lifted his ski goggles to show his teary eyes. “Even though we cured him, I still have nightmares to that experience that I can’t even look at spiders the same! One night, I had a nightmare so bad I screamed in my sleep that Tony ran into my room and hugged me to wake me up. I…I should go back to Ecto-1.”

Egon responded by kneeling down and placed his hand on Gamer’s shoulder. “Gamer, I know how you feel.”

Gamer looked up as Egon continued. “When I was a child, I was being scared many times by one of our now greatest enemies. The Boogieman.”

“THE Boogieman?” Rowen wowed.

“Yes. After being scared multiple times, I began reading about the paranormal and supernatural. I wanted to find a way to stop him. You could say it was why I became a Ghostbuster. One day, we did face him. Of course, we couldn’t trap him because he’s not a ghost, so we used a prototype ghost bomb to seal his dimension away, so he won’t scare anyone again. Or so we thought. A year later, I fell off a skyscraper from the roof during a mission. Luckily, Winston saved me, but I acted unfazed when I was scared from the fall. The late-night movie didn’t help either. Somehow, my fear drew the Boogieman to us and free from his realm. He was bent on having revenge on us. I was able to adjust our particle throwers to zap the Boogieman long enough to trap him. We followed him to an amusement park only to get ensnared into his trap. Slimer got the Junior Ghostbusters to rescue us, but the Boogieman wasn’t scared. I had to break free and save the kids. That was enough for me to overcome my fear and trap the Boogieman. After that, I learned to admit my fear instead of suppressing it.”

“The point is, Gamer, that it’s okay to be afraid, but you can’t let it stop you from doing what’s right.” Egon concluded.

“And remember, we’re here for ya as well.” Donnie promised.

Gamer took a few deep breaths before standing up. “Let’s go squash some spiders.”

“That’s the spirit!” Donnie opened the door when they were startled to see a creature the size of a horse crawling away. “Okay that was creepy.”

Egon grabbed his walkie. “Ray, come in.”

“Egon, what’s up?” Ray answered.

“What was the Spider Witch’s room number?”

“1221. After her spree, it was locked up. Until five years ago when we remodeled.” The manager explained.

“Here that? Room 1221. I think that…Hey!” Ray cried realizing what the manager meant.

“You three ready?” Egon checked before they walked in and down the hallway. They turned the corner to see the hallway was webbed up. “Well, this looks inviting.”

Donnie turned to Gamer. “You’re sure you’re up for this?”

“I have to, D. It’s the only way to stop the Mandala.” Gamer shook off as much fear as he could before they continued.

“Oh, greet our visitors!” a woman’s voice echoed as the egg sacks hatched into these demonic crawlers which crawled towards the four.

“We’re not alone.” Egon deadpanned. “Full stream Now!”

The four blasted the spider crawlers which imploded on impact. As they marched forward, more egg sacks opened with more spider crawlers which they managed to repel as they heard the woman’s voice again.

“The Chairman sends the little spirits to me. They love me. They make me strong.”

“Creepy.” Donnie whispered.

“This floor is undergoing significant metamorphosis.” Egon observed.

“I’d say that is a fact.” Gamer agreed.

“Ghostworld is aggressively encroaching on ours.”

“It’s not even utilizing a portal! This is very bad!” Donnie added.

“Everyone stay together.” Egon warned as they pressed forward. Just then, they heard a male’s voice.

“My ankles? Goodness, we hardly know each other. No, I… Who…what are you? No…! Help! No please! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!”

“Well, he’s dead.” Gamer mumbled.

Egon looked worried. “It’s the Ghostworld crossing through! Happening sooner than we expected! It looks like this is where the node is focused! We could use some help!” he quickly grabbed his radio. “Ray, are you there? Come in Ray!”

“Applejack! Shinigami!” Donnie spoke in his T-Phone.

Gamer looked at his gauntlet. “Signal lost.”

“Looks like it’s up to us! Let’s find 1221 and finish this!” Egon concluded.

“Sooner the better.” Rowen said as they went forward.

“Come. Play with my friends.” The woman spoke as more spider crawlers hatched. The four kept blasting them to keep going forward. “Oh, you’ve come to play games? Oh, I know lots of games.”

“Any of them Go Fish?” Everyone looked at Gamer. “What?”

After blasting the rest of the spider crawlers, Donnie looked at the room numbers. “1220. 1222. No 1221.”

“Really? Did they take it down?” Gamer deadpanned.

“It has to be here! Search for 1221.” Egon said.

“I got something!” Rowen held up his meter. “I’ve seen this happened at the museum! Watch this!”

He then slimed a wall which revealed a door between the rooms.

“That’s 1221! You found it!” Donnie cheered.

“Way to go, Rowen!” Gamer fist bumped Rowen.

“Good thinking! It was here all along.” Egon smiled. “You’re definitely thinking like a ghostbuster.”

They entered the room to see the room webbed like the hallway. Gamer looked into the next room. “Looks like we go this way.”

“I don’t like the looks of this, but we’ve run out of options. Let’s go.” Egon said as they entered a foggy room.

“Come to me, little man.” The woman’s voice echoed.

“I’m a minor, toots.” Gamer deadpanned before Donnie shushed him. They entered what appeared to be a webbed cavern. Egon and Donnie held their PKE Meters while Rowen and Gamer had their throwers out looking around knowing something was around.

“We aren’t alone.” Egon mumbled.

They heard the woman voice again. “Which ones are these? These aren’t mine. One isn’t even human. Everyone here is mine. The quiet man, the angry man, the hungry man, the scuttling ones… yes! Now you are here and that means you are mine! Even you, Turtle.”

The voice laughed maniacally as the four looked around before Egon looked up. “Above us!”

They all looked up to avoid a large shadow. Turned out to be the Spider Witch only she had sharp teeth and legs of a spider. She screamed as she tried to attack.

“Blast her!” Donnie cried as they fired their proton streams while Rowen fired Boson Darts and Gamer used the Shock Blasts. They managed to hit her a couple times before she poofed away in a cloud.

“Where’d she go?” Rowen looked around.

Egon saw her near a large egg sack. “She’s getting stronger! Don’t let her recharge!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Donnie fired at her as the Spider Witch fell to the floor and got up angrily. Gamer fired from her side before she shot him with web.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” She smirked before Rowen and Egon blasted at her. She then used her spider legs to whack Rowen and Donnie away and pinned Egon down. “You’re mine now!”

“EGON!” Rowen and Donnie cried.

Gamer gasped to see what happened and began flashing back to when Shine Boy was mutated into Shine Spider. The more he struggled, the more determined he got to save the guy to tried to help him. As he fought through the web, he began to glow.

“No. No! NOOOOOOOO!”

In a blinding flash, Gamer bursted through the web, drew his sword, and dashed to the Spider Witch, slashing off one of her spider legs freeing Egon as she screamed and recoiled.

“Are you okay?” Gamer asked as he helped Egon up.

“Yes. Thanks to you, I am.” The Ghostbuster smiled.

“You. Hurt me?” The Spider Witch hissed.

“You tried hurting my friends! Consider us even!” Gamer snapped as his sword glowed bright laced with Shine Power.

The Spider Witch attacked Gamer as the two clashed multiple times. Egon grabbed his thrower.

“ROWEN! DONATELLO! FULL STREAM NOW!”

Following Egon’s lead, Rowen and Donnie fired their streams holding the Spider Witch down. This gave Gamer an opening as he stabbed her in the chest. The Spider Witch screamed in pain as Shine Power exploded from her back. When Gamer pulled his sword out, The Spider Witch tried to escape before falling from the wall and flat on her back. Her spider legs moved a bit before curling up. In a blinding light, the four found themselves in the ballroom.

“We’re back!” Donnie cheered as they put their throwers back.

Egon held his PKE Meter and looked around before spotting something. “Look! The mandala map!”

On the wall was the Mandala map just like in the library. The four saw as a symbol in one of the nodes vanished.

“Guess that means we’ve won.” Rowen smiled.

Gamer wiped the sweat off his brow and sheathed his sword before smiling while Egon talked to his walkie. “Ray. Winston. Come in. you there?”

“Egon! What happened? You alright?” Ray responded.

“The recruit found the 13th floor and we shut it down. PKE levels are back to acceptable parameters. This node of the Mandala is fully neutralized.”

“Good. For a moment we were getting worried.” Applejack spoke followed by Shinigami.

“We went back to the 12th floor and couldn’t find anything. Everything looks normal.”

“Where are you guys?” Ray asked.

“Looks like we’re back in the Ruby Ballroom. We’ll meet you at Ecto-1.” Egon responded.

Donnie patted Gamer on the shoulder. “You did good, little buddy. You did good.”

Gamer smiled as Rowen spoke up. “Cmon! Let’s get to the others.”

As they began to head out, Gamer hung back with Egon as he spoke. “Dr. Spengler, thanks.”

“Actually, I should be thanking you, Gamer. You saved my life back there.” Egon smiled. “I think your brother would’ve been very proud.”

Gamer responded by hugging Egon who politely hugged back. After they broke, Egon went out, Gamer hung by the wall quietly.

“I did it Bro. I did it.”

“I have to agree with Dr. Spengler.” Gamer heard a voice and turned to see Master Splinter smiling at him. “Tony would be very proud of you.”

“Master Splinter!” Gamer bowed in respect.

“I’ve been watching you, Gamer. And you’ve shown great courage today.”

“Thanks, Sensei, but I don’t think I’ll be watching any spider movies anytime soon. But I feel relieved about my brother’s mutation a while back.”

Splinter patted his shoulder. “As you should be. We cannot change what has happened in the past. The important thing is you cured your brother and prevented anyone from getting bit from Spider Bytez. Now you must go stop the rest of the Mandala.”

“Gamer?” Egon popped in to see Gamer all by himself. “You ready to go?”

“I’m coming.” Gamer walked out as Egon saw a reading on his meter before shrugging it and walked out.

To be Continued

Author's Note

Here's our next page from Tobin's:

Spider Witch

• Category: Class VI Elevated Remnant[2]
• Type: Deity (supreme being)

• Behaviors:

  • Attacks: Melee, Range
  • Weaknesses: Proton Stream

Notes:

This anonymous woman (the authorities never discovered her identity), spent several years in the '20s living in the Hotel Sedgewick. There, for purposes only known to herself and to her master, Ivo Shandor, she lured men into her rooms and then murdered them (though it's uncertain if they were killed before or after they were hung from the ceiling and drained of their blood).

As a reward for her efforts as a member of his inner circle, after her death, Shandor used his powers to "elevate" her, creating the Spider Witch. Now a terrifying spider-human fusion, she and her insect-like minions protect Shandor's interests in the strange, twisted plane that exists immediately between our world and the ghost world.

"Most of the old staff knows the stories about the Spider Witch. She was a professional widow who did unimaginable things in a room on the twelfth floor back in the 1920's. Her victims were hung from the ceiling, drained of blood then dragged around. The walls of her room were literally painted with blood. The furniture was hacked, chewed and crushed up in the corner like a giant nest. Her room was 1221. After her spree it was locked up, until about five years ago when the hotel was remodeled."
Notes:

• I edited out the Ghost Chefs because I felt they had no part of the plot.

• I felt that Gamer would have nightmares about Shine Boy's mutation into Shine Spider. (See Equestria Ninja Girls Ducks Rock for details) Plus, he never talked to Master Splinter.

-And Egon would explain about The Boogieman from the two episodes from The Real Ghostbusters to help Gamer.

and I think that's it.

Next time: Shandor Island!