The alarms sounded throughout the base. Gurast and Stregg entered the laboratory “What’s happening here?!” demanded Gurast. “It looks like the female and the Doctor’s companion escaped with the help of a green blob,” replied Strev. “Slimer?!” protested Peter. “That spud’s here?!” “An escape attempt?” muttered the Doctor. That was when William, Slimer, and Janine ran into the lab with angry Sontarans unleashing plasma bolts behind them! “FOOLS! NOT IN HERE!” shouted Strev. “CEASE FIRE, YOU FOOLS! THAT EQUIPMENT’S-!” Stregg’s order came too little, too late. Slimer flew through the temporal bombardment array, leaving slime behind. The Sontaran trooper then shot it, causing it to go haywire! “Oh no!” gasped the Doctor. “EVERYONE OUT!” The Doctor hustled everyone, even Slimer, out of the place. As they ran through the corridors, the Sontarans started dropping like flies! The energies being released went through their probic vents! …Or rather…their SOULS! “They’re dying?!” yelped Peter. “How?!” “Explanations later!” answered William. “Over there!” called the Doctor as she pointed out the door. Slimer got it open and everyone got out. By then, Gurast’s voice was laughing. Her face appeared on the surface of the Battle Sphere as it started rising in the air, crackling with energy. “I had not expected to get my army so quickly,” she said, “but a Sontaran Battle Sphere too! Oh, this is too much! I suppose I should thank your pet ghost!” “Okay, what’s going on?!” called Winston. “The temporal bombardment array,” began the Doctor, “was synced with ectoplasmic energy at the ratio I recommended thanks to Slimer sliming that thing! It gave Gurast the means to channel herself into the Battle Sphere’s computer systems and bring it into a spectral state!” “You mean it’s a ghost ship now?!” gulped William. “With a ghost crew!” replied the Doctor. “It’s worse than that!” interjected Egon. “The Sontarans took apart our proton packs!” “What?!” yelped the Doctor. “How are the Neutrino Wand cartridges configured?!” “In an Ionic transfer circuit for more power!” The Doctor rubbed her temples as a headache was coming on, thanks to the situation being worse than she thought. “Once the cartridges are depleted,” she said, “Gurast will start drawing on the ectoplasmically and temporally charged engine core of the Battle Sphere which will cause an implosion of the Battle Sphere, causing a singularity of disastrous, nay, BIBLICAL proportions!” “Hang on, Doctor,” said Winston. “Singularity? As in…Black Hole?!” “With Manhattan as the epicenter!” confirmed Ray. “But the Sontarans took all our gear!” protested Peter, once he got the translation. “…Even the ghost traps?” asked William. The Doctor and Egon then arrived at the same conclusion. “Yes, even the ghost traps!” confirmed Egon. “If we can remotely activate them simultaneously-!” “Then somehow draw the Battle Sphere into the containment unit-!” continued the Doctor. “The ectoplasmic energy within the containment unit will overpower the temporal energy and avert the implosion!” the Doctor and Egon said together. “We’ll have to draw them towards the firehouse!” said Ray. “Boys, girls, and ectoplasmic beings,” said the Doctor, “get into Ecto-1! Egon, the equipment on top of Ecto-1-?” “There’s a twin barreled Mega Proton Cannon on the roof!” replied Egon. “It works like our packs!” “That’s all I need to know!” Everyone then jumped into Ecto-1 with the Doctor riding on top behind the Proton Cannon. The Battle Sphere fired on innocent people until the Doctor fired on it with the Proton Cannon. “ARGH!” shouted Gurast as her face appeared. “WHO DARES-!” “COOEE!” called the Doctor. The Battle Sphere rotated so that Gurast could see the Doctor. “NICE TASTY TIME LORD HERE!” continued the Doctor. “I’ll finish what the Daleks started and slaughter you, Doctor!” promised Gurast as the Battle Sphere brought its guns to bear. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “NOW, WINSTON!” called the Doctor. Winston gunned the engine and Ecto-1 raced down the streets with the Battle Sphere giving chase. They arrived at the firehouse ahead of Gurast and the Doctor and Egon rushed downstairs. “We don’t have much time!” warned the Doctor. “We need to establish a remote link with the traps from here!” “I know the frequency of the traps’ laser containment grid,” said Egon, “but using a radio link-!” “Laser containment? That’s easier for me to work with! Give me that frequency!” “S-Sixteen by four by eight by two!” stammered Egon as he balked at the idea. “Doctor, we can’t use a light frequency!” “I will admit, it’s a bit advanced for this time,” replied the Doctor, “but you just wait until the advent of LIDAR!” “Of what?!” “Spoilers! Come on, Egon!” She started taking apart traps. Egon did the same, then helped her construct a machine, linking it to the containment unit with plenty of cable! Once they were done, they brought the new machine outside. “Doctor, Gurast and her Sontarans are almost right on top of us!” warned William. “Don’t worry, we just need to ensnare them all at once!” replied the Doctor. “Proton Cannon! NOW!” “Got it!” called Peter as he fired Ecto-1’s Proton Cannon at the Battle Sphere. Gurast’s face appeared again. “That tickles!” she cackled wickedly. “Look upon me, Time Lord, and know your doom!” “More like you should know your OWN doom!” replied the Doctor as she got under the Battle Sphere. “You cannot hide from me that way! I have control of this ship’s tractor beam!” “I was rather hoping you’d say that!” Gurast was confused…for all of two seconds once the Doctor fired up the machine! Gurast felt everyone being pulled into the machine! Herself, her crew, her ship, everything that made her up right now! “NO!” she wailed. “YOU…CANNOT…IMPRISON ME! …I…AM…GURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!” The machine pulled the Battle Sphere into itself and everyone saw a glowing object travel down the cables and into the containment unit! The Doctor and Egon followed the glow and yanked the cables from the containment unit once the glow went inside. They then shut the unit and kept their hands on the door…then the light flashed green. Egon sighed and relaxed. “Containment successful,” he said. “Gurast and the Sontarans are safely inside the unit.” The Doctor then relaxed as well. “…So that’s how Gurast faded from existence,” she said. The other Ghostbusters, Janine, and William then rushed downstairs. “EGON!” called Janine as she rushed to Egon and hugged him. “Doctor, are you-?!” asked William. “I’m all right,” replied the Doctor. Egon managed to wiggle out of Janine’s grip as his buddies joined him. “This is incredible!” called Ray as he looked through some sort of viewer connected to the containment unit. “Look!” Everyone each managed to get a turn of seeing the sight of Stregg and the Sontarans fighting Gurast. “The containment unit’s energy,” mused Egon, “must have shattered Gurast’s control over the Sontarans.” “And their natural chauvinism is chafed thanks to being forced to take orders from a woman,” remarked the Doctor. “…That…was intense!” breathed William. “Feels like I’m tying up a lot of loose ends left by the Time Lords,” muttered the Doctor. “Well, William, what say we find some time to relax?” “Which part of history or the future?” asked William. “You’re leaving?” asked Winston. “Mr. Zeddemore, I’m from Earth in the future,” replied William. “I stay here any longer, I might cause a paradox that would erase me from existence. Trust me, the Doctor’s right on this one.” “But if there’s something strange in our neighborhood, well, we know who to call,” said the Doctor as she and William headed back upstairs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Doctor and William were back in the TARDIS. The Doctor set the controls and the console’s time rotor moved up and down, indicating that they were now in flight! “There we are! Off we go to Tolkost VII! Lovely place! Beautiful art museums, best doctors in their galaxy, the lot! …So, as long as we have time…” The Doctor leaned on the console as she arched an eyebrow at William. “You were about to say a word that started with ‘Gr’ before using Mr. Zeddemore’s name. That ‘Gr’ wouldn’t have been the start of ‘Granddad’ now, would it?” “…Grandpa, actually, but yes,” replied William. “Winston Zeddemore is my maternal grandfather. Maybe I was being selfish in not telling him anything about the future, but I didn’t want to fade from existence like Marty from Back to the Future.” “That’s not selfish, that’s intelligent and safe-guarding the laws of time,” corrected the Doctor. “Now, if I were to bring us to Poland in 1939, or to any point along Africa’s western coasts before the official end of the slave trade, or to a year before the Black Plague…how tempted would you be to warn them?” “…Overly, but if a small bit of time is so fragile for myself, it would be fragile for all points in time.” “Exactly. Much as people like us want to change history for the better, we can’t or we’d doom all of time.” “…Doctor, there’s something else I need to know,” said William. “What Gurast said about you being the last…” The Doctor stopped, then held the console and sighed deeply. “…If that’s too personal, you don’t-.” “Yes, I do,” replied the Doctor. “…William, it started with a war. A time war. The Last Great Time War. …My people, my entire home planet of Gallifrey, went to war against a race known as the Daleks for the sake of creation and both sides lost. Accompanied by eleven points in my past and one point in my future, I sent Gallifrey into a pocket dimension while the Dalek fleet that surrounded the planet destroyed itself in its own crossfire. For a while, I thought I destroyed Gallifrey, then found that I didn’t. …The Daleks are now remnants trying to rebuild their empire of hate while the Time Lords were hidden away. …But then another Time Lord, one I used to call friend during my childhood, discovered the truth about Time Lord society and killed all the inhabitants of Gallifrey in his rage. …They’re all gone now. My family…my friends…even that sky. …I’m not just a Time Lord, I’m not even just a Gallifreyan. …I’m the last child of Gallifrey, the last of the Time Lords.” “…I’m sorry,” said William. “I shouldn’t have pried.” “No, no, you needed to know,” assured the Doctor. “…I hope you had other companions before me,” remarked William. “Oh, I’ve had companions long before the Time War,” replied the Doctor. “I initially left Gallifrey because, for all our brilliance, us Time Lords were too complacent and stuffy!” “So you ran away?” “Stole the TARDIS for good measure!” The Doctor’s face brightened, now focused on happier parts of her past. “And I’ve never regretted it to this day!” Her fingers were now a happy blur as she fiddled with the controls!