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Ghostbusters: Regenesis Chapter 23 (Lure) Written by Leo_Todrius

Red lights blinked in sequence, circling around the silver heat coil as the nuclear disk spun inside the metal housing. The power coursed through the channels and conduits, the ribs of white light spilling out of the upper left corner of the pack. The steady, constant hum was almost reassuring if one didn't stop to think how much destructive power the pack could unleash, but at the moment Grayson was focused on something far more concerning as he ran down Burnside street. The ground was trembling beneath his feet, enough for the windows of Powell's books to shake, shimmy and shatter, sending glass out across the street.

The earthquake was growing in intensity, enough for the cement to start and crack. The modern art sculpture across from the book store started to sway and swing, the pod pendulum moving back and forth as the upper rays swayed back and forth in the air. It wasn't long before the earthquake brought people outside form the buildings to the street, looking around in confusion. The presence of a Ghostbuster was enough to establish the cause of the unusual activity, though they still had no clue what was going on. A punk with a bright red mohawk grinned, bringing out his phone, taking pictures.

Gray had stopped in the intersection amid honking cars, merely trying to remain standing. He'd honed in on the dead center of the activity but he couldn't be any more precise. He had to wait for the truth to reveal itself, and as the earthquake intensified, it did just that. The crackling cement began to give way, sinking down as the dirt and gravel beneath collapsed into a deep sink hole. As the earth drained away, it unveiled a pinkish purple glistening ovoid slightly smaller than a car. The surface was pitted with hexagonal ribs with pools of slime in the divots. As the air hit the buried object, the outer shell started to dry out almost instantly. The slime dried out, crystallizing and withering, cracking and sloughing off into thin pieces. Seconds later the egg itself began to collapse as if the air was being let out.

Grayson exhaled slowly, bringing his blaster up, watching the entropy. He waited for the right moment, using his vast experience. The egg continued to collapse in and dry out at a break neck speed... and then it stopped in place. The crowds gathered on the street were hesitant, taking more photographs of the egg, wondering if anything else would happen. Gray didn't inhale. No more than one flake of desiccated egg had been disturbed before Grayson opened fire with his proton blaster, aiming at what was coming out. The red and orange beam shot out, whipping and zig zagging back and forth before it snared the first creature.

Stopped in mid-air, all the witnesses had a perfect view of the ghost. It was a translucent pink in coloring with six glowing white eyes. It snarled, its curved fangs exposed as four arms fought against the proton stream. A long curved tail whipped around, struggling and fighting. Gray tried to wrangle the ghost, but to his dismay the egg shuddered and erupted again as two more ghosts escaped. One made it only a few feet before another proton stream coiled around it, this one from Seth's position on the roof of Powell's books.

The other swerved and shifted through traffic, trying to get away from its apparent captors. Despite its attempt at anonymity, the screams of those caught in traffic revealed its advance. People were jumping out of their cars, trying to get away. In all the chaos, only one person was calm, one person was sedate. Dakota sat on the back of his motorcycle, lifting a cigar to his lips. He took a few puffs, the end glowing red as he held it before he exhaled slowly. The ghost continued to advance, but Dakota merely moved a finger and flipped a switch.

The panels on the front of the black Kawasaki motorcycle slid apart and unleashed a flood of pearly white light. The ghost tried to skid to a stop, but it was already in the ion field and went flying right into the built in trap. A line of light followed inbuilt circuitry along the chassis of the motorcycle before one of six red lights on the back of the seat lit up. Dakota grinned and took another puff from his cigar, letting the smoke spill out of his lips as he enjoyed his new toy immensely.

Seth and Gray worked hard to wrangle the ghosts tower a neutral point as Nico came running up Tenth avenue. He reached behind his back and pulled out the yellow disc trap and hurled it like a Frisbee. The disc arched through the air before it hit the ground and skidded into place. The sensors on the side blinked, detecting proton output. Without any foot pedal the trap knew to open, the panels flipping up. A column of swirling light erupted from within and Seth and Grayson began tugging their ghosts toward the trap.

Between them all in the sink hole the egg shuddered again before it let out a hiss. As it completely deflated, four more pink ghosts flew out, letting out a series of growls and snarls. Two headed off toward the river and away from the chaos. Dakota revved up his motorcycle before he swerved around traffic, going after them. Sensing their paths of escape were running out, the last two ghosts looked around before setting eyes on the witnesses.

Gray watched in horror as the pink ghosts swooped, flying right toward two of the bystanders. The punk tried to turn to escape, but the ghost flew into his body through his side as he turned. There were a few staggering steps before the punk turned, his eyes glowing an unnatural solid white. A strange grin crossed his lips as his mouth slowly opened, his teeth growing into fangs and his tongue swelling. His saliva thickened to the consistency of slime and his fingernails started growing out into claws even as his ears stretched into points.

A tearing sound came from his ragged red t-shirt, the black denim vest sleeves stretched out as wiggling, squirming appendages started to emerge. The growing flesh bent and then grew again, developing an elbow, then a forearm and palms. Two new arms flexed and bent as the ghost got more comfortable in its new shell. The former punk let out a riotous screech of delight, knowing the humans couldn't attack it.

Next to the punk, a young vegan man with thick brown dreadlocks shuddered, his eyes glowing white as a second set of arms pushed out from his body. The newly possessed human turned to break into a run but he made it only six feet before a wave of pink slime shot out of the book store door. As the positively charged slime coated the vegan, the multi limbed possessor tumbled out of his body just in time to be snared by Seth's proton stream. Eli emerged from the store, hosing the possession victim down with slime. The changes to his body softened and were washed away as he crumbled to the ground, coughing and shivering.

Eli turned his attention on the multi-limbed punk, but he did so a moment too late. Three fists hit him, two in the face and one in the stomach. He stumbled back, grunting hard as he fell over the window sill of the store and onto the hard floor. The punk turned to break into a sprint but Eli sat up, switched the controller on his nozzle and fired. A thick tether of slime erupted out, catching the punk's shoulder. As the tether stretched out, Eli shot the other end to the bike rack outside the store.

Similar to the slime coating the egg, the tether began to constrict and shrink as it dried out. The punk was pulled from his feet, landing on his back. He struggled with all four arms to lift himself up but Eli was faster. One more flick to his slime blower and another torrent of pink goo was erupting outwards. The punk was showered with it all, the slime soaking into his mohawk, running down his scalp and face and soon the rest of his body. His lower arms went numb and slack before they dissolved completely, the pink ghost rising up from the chest of the human it had been inside.

The ghost hissed in disgust before it tried to fly away, but once more it was caught between Gray and Seth's colliders. The two worked in perfect harmony, keeping the ghost perfectly level. Nico reached to his hip and pulled a box trap off before he kicked it out across the ground. It rolled to a perfect stop beneath the ghost and Nico's boot came down. The yellow and black striped doors flipped open and muon energy began sucking in the last ghost. It struggled and clawed for freedom before it disappeared inside. The trap doors snapped shut and the red light illuminated itself.

Silence pervaded the city block as the bystanders tried to ascertain if anything else was about to happen, but none were brave enough to approach the collapsed egg... at least at first. Seth pulled out his giga counter and moved toward the crater, crouching down near the edge to get some readings while the other busters dispersed.

"Are you alright sir?" Eli asked the formerly possessed punk. The young man slowly sat up, dripping with pink goo, a grin plastered on his face.

"Fuck yeah... Keep Portland Weird, am I right motherfuckers?!" The punk grinned. Eli hoped that was a good sign, and mood slime generally left their 'victims' in a fantastic mood, but he looked back toward the sink hole. Something was going on, something that was disturbing the equilibrium. Whatever it was, the effects were only getting stronger.

---

The Christmas snow storm had passed and the city was starting to thaw, though the air was still cold enough for Brian to bundle up in layers. He was five foot ten with a blue and white striped scarf wrapped around his neck and a thick knit cap. His glasses had thin black frames, complimenting his almond colored eyes. The young man walked down the streets, the setting sun turning the sky brilliant shades of violet and pink. Brian clung to his bag of groceries, stalks of celery sticking out of the top.

Even with the crisp, cool air it was hard not to appreciate Portland's splendor and take his time getting home. The entire day had a special, peculiar quality about it. Between the earthquake and aftershocks, everyone had been buzzing all day. The fact that a sink hole had opened up downtown had been playing on the news, though Powells was already capitalizing on it with a 'crater day sale' of local authors.

The entire day kept replaying over and over in his head, enough to distract Brian from sudden obstacles. Someone came charging out of the alleyway, bashing into him. The groceries went flying, scattering across the cement in a storm of celery and soup cans. Brian hit the cement, wincing as the pain ripped up from his hip and knee.

"What in the hell do... you..." Brian trailed off, looking up at a youthful, energetic face. The teenager had black hair with red streaks, the glint of a ring in his left nostril and oddly, almost mesmerizingly amber looking eyes. A thin strip of hair ran down the curve of his chin, revealing an oddly bare neck and muscled arms sticking out of a sleeveless black t-shirt printed with an interlocking scale like pattern. The young man looked at Brian before his grin grew.

"I'm sssso sssssorry about that." He murmured softly, "Let me help you up." He said, offering his hand. Brian gazed into those oddly yellow eyes, taking the hand without any restraint. As the stranger's fingers pressed against Brian's wrist, there was a surprising sting. Brian looked down to see red claws piercing the skin just below his palm. In less than a second his arms were numb, and as sensation left his legs he started to topple. The teenager swept in, catching Brian, holding him in place.

Brian was motionless, his body no more useful than jelly. The punk teen looked at the human with an almost scientifically inquisitive gaze before he leaned, brushing his lips against Brian's. Brian could merely shudder. The stranger grinned wider and moved to brush his face against Brian's neck, his lips slowly parting, revealing sharp fangs.

"Who... are you?" Brian whispered.

"The perssssson who is going to change your life." The stranger hissed before his fangs pierced into Brian's neck. Brian's eyes went wide as he felt his veins coursing with thickening venom, a strange excitement filling his mind even as his body remained useless.

---

The third trap clicked into place in the containment unit, locked and loaded. Nico pulled the lever and the heavy resounding whoosh emptied the contents. In a mechanical motion Nico drew the lever back up, popped out the trap and turned.

"Alright bike boy, you're up!" Nico called up the stairs. It took Dakota a few moments before he appeared, moving down the steps, carrying a rather heavy looking device. It was a little bigger than a normal trap and had fewer external features, though the same yellow and black striping had been painted along the top.

"If we ever have to fill up that entire motorcycle, we're going to have to figure out a better way to get the trap cells down here." Dakota said. Nico smirked softly at that.

"Only had the bike one day and you're already complaining." Nico smirked.

"Oh trust me, that's about the only complaint I have for that thing. That machine is sweet..." Dakota murmured with a smirk, leaving Nico to handle the trap as he moved back up the stairs. He slowed a bit as he saw Gray and Seth at the desk. Seth was slowly taking off his electrical gloves, revealing his gray talon like claws. Seth looked quite depressed about the issue, though Gray had been trying like crazy to cheer him up and even Rerun had tried to roll Seth's changes back to a normal baseline, but the amalgamation kept creeping out again.

"I don't know if I can keep up like this, at least not in public." Seth murmured. Gray opened his mouth but it was Dakota who spoke first.

"Hey, man, you didn't just save this city, you saved this universe... Keep Portland Weird, that includes us. I mean, sure, we've been turned into some crazy things... But they're cool things, powerful things..." Dakota paused, looking at Gray, "Do you know why in the hell we've been turned into so many things?" he asked.

"Well actually, I have a few experiments pending on the subject... But my running hypothesis is that the dimensions Zytu connected to were wounded by the process. The fabric of our reality was damaged and punctured by Zytu, and it's possible that the living things of our reality were equally damaged when he connected to our dimension. It's... just a theory though." Gray said.

"So... If that's the case, if our missing puzzle pieces are getting filled by whatever comes along, does Seth just have to find something he likes more to fill in the blanks?" Dakota asked. Gray's eyes went wide at that. Seth turned and looked at Gray curiously.

"Nidhogg..." Seth whispered.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Nico called out as he moved up the steps, "The Viking snake god that wanted to bring around the end of the world?" Nico asked dubiously.

"Not the spirit itself, but like... the effect. A powerful Viking is about as close to normal as I could get." Seth said.

"I'll have to go back and look at what readings we took on that case, how close we can approximate with our technology. We might have to go back and visit Sigvardr. I think he's still playing music. He might have some residual." Grayson said. Seth gave a soft smile at that before he reached out and clapped Dakota on the shoulder, though his gargoyle claws nearly cut through the Ghostbuster's shirt.

"Thanks man." Seth said. Dakota smiled softly.

"No problem." Dakota replied. Across the garage the front door clicked as Eli entered, this time accompanied by someone else they had all become more accustomed to seeing. She had vaguely Germanic features, softened with at least one direct Asian ancestor. Her hazel hair complimented her hazel eyes, and the green frames of her narrow rectangular glasses matched the jade green blouse and skirt she wore.

"Grayson, we have a problem..." Emily said.

"I suppose we were lucky we had as many months to work on the task force as we did without major incident." Gray replied, gesturing to the door that lead to the workshop. Emily moved to let herself through to their customary meeting spot.

"The missing persons reports are spiking again, though the demographics are different from the Krampus incident." Emily said.

"Yeah, we still have a year to fix that one." Nico murmured, following after Gray. Dakota, though, had moved to stand between miss Sune and Seth. Seth had tried not to make any sudden movements with her unannounced entry, but the moment she was out of sight he hastily pulled his gloves back on. Despite their common interests, he wasn't certain what sort of fallout there could be if she knew he was irrevocably contaminated.

"So who has gone missing this time?" Gray asked. Emily, for once in her very ordered and regulated life, looked almost flustered.

"We... aren't... sure, exactly." Emily replied.

"How can you have missing people that aren't being missed?" Dakota asked.

"Well, it's that exactly." Emily replied, "We are having huge spikes in absenteeism's across the city, enough to impact performance on public and private works, but... we haven't really had any calls to local authorities."

"So it's a work stoppage? Maybe people got spooked by the Earthquakes." Dakota suggested. Nico, though, shook his head.

"You want to play hooky, you come up with a believable lie; my grandma died, I have to have my wisdom teeth pulled, my dog ate my quarterly evaluation. You don't just forget to show up." Nico said.

"The common factor here seems to be the Earthquake though, right? That's when this all started?" Gray asked. Emily nodded.

"As near as we can tell. My office is working hard to corroborate our findings." Emily said. Seth crossed his arms.

"And what about your team?" Seth asked, his deep voice nearly startling Emily.

"They won't be deployed until we have somewhere to deploy them to, a way to help." Emily replied.

"For now we have to operate under the assumption that this Earthquake is our lead. Our PKE web hasn't caught any signals other than the nest that was disturbed downtown. We're going to need to start checking with other tools, all our toys and gadgets." Gray said.

"I'll contact you the moment we learn anything ourselves." Emily said, turning to move for the door. She passed most of the busters easily enough, but she cast Seth a sideways glance as she left the workshop. Seth watched her go, his arms still crossed. He hated that they had to work with people from the outside, people that wouldn't understand... but if it saved any lives, it would be worth it.

---

There was a distinct smell to libraries, and yet each one had its own character. The culmination of so many books having lived such long lives - and Portland libraries had quite a bit of heritage to them. The central branch was a hundred and fifty years old, but in the stacks themselves it was easy to get lost, especially for Ezekiel. Zeke moved down the aisles, his blue eyes peering out from behind black frame glasses.

Zeke was almost certain he was the last student at school to use libraries instead of the internet. It was a proud and lonely feeling, but the results spoke for themselves. While everyone else churned through the same tired information because it was easy to get to and their bibliographies were full of hyperlinks, Zeke was bringing the past to the present and keeping it alive.

The young man had a fair stack of books in his arms already, but he couldn't resist the compulsion to get the last one or two he needed before heading to the tables. He moved down the aisle, finding the section thinning out a bit. With his head slightly tilted, he read the spines until he found one more that seemed perfect. His slender fingers grasped the book carefully and drew it out, but to his surprise there was someone on the other side.

Zeke's back went rigid when he saw that amber eye, so intense. He couldn't turn his head, but the head on the other side soon tilted so both amber eyes peered through the gap. Much like Zeke, the other young man had on glasses but the lenses were wide ovals framed with a royal blue that matched the rich color of the stranger's hair. Ezekiel continued to gaze into those eyes, feeling his heart pound faster in his head. It felt like the library was closing in around him until only those eyes were left.

"You have been waiting for me all thessssse yearsssss." The blue haired young man whispered. Ezekiel nodded slowly, transfixed by those eyes. A clawed hand reached up and pulled out another book, then another, setting them down until they could get a clear look at each other through the narrow book aisle.

The blue haired stranger reached out and caressed Ezekiel's cheeks, parting his lips. A forked tongue darted out into the air for a moment before it snapped back in. Some tiny pit of Zeke's stomach tried to be scared, but the rest of his body wouldn't respond. He continued to gaze unblinking into the blue haired boy's eyes. After all these years, he'd finally found him...

"Now we can be together asssssss loversssss." The blue haired boy hissed. Ezekiel moaned, his mouth already producing too much saliva. The stranger leaned through the gap and brought his lips to Zeke's, reaching up to pet his cheek, a claw teasing the downy soft peach fuzz on the blond boy's cheeks before that forked tongue plunged into his mouth. All of Ezekiel's youth spent in vein trying to woo women crumbled away. This was so much easier, so much more intimate, so much... more numb.

The numbness had started in Zeke's mouth, but soon it spread down to his shoulders and arms. The books toppled from his grip to the floor just before Zeke fell to his knees. Having lost his sightline to the stranger, Zeke's mind reasserted itself. He felt panicked, scared, vulnerable. He tried to move but his body felt like jelly. It had to be the claw, he had been stung in his cheek.

"Whud... you wan?" Zeke murmured, his jaw and tongue having lost all sensation. Even in his slumped position he could see through the gaps in the lower books. The stranger on the other side took a few steps as a man, but the legs disappeared, replaced with a long royal blue tail with a silver underbelly. The naga slithered around the corner, coming up towards Zeke. While his pants had mysteriously disappeared, he was still wearing the robin's egg blue sweatshirt with hexagon screen printing across it as he approached Zeke.

"I want to sssssave my people, but with you perssssssonally? We ssssshare all of our prey." The stranger smiled, leaning down to scoop Ezekial up into his arms. In moments both were gone, leaving a pile of books strewn haphazardly. Even the motion sensors on the aisle decided enough time had passed and the aisle was plunged into darkness.

---

The computers in the workshop beeped and chirped, cross checking data from a variety of sources city wide. PKE signals were being cross checked with disappearance reports and then compared to seismographic information. Trend analysis were building in the databases and Gray felt oddly powerless to help move the case forward - but for once, he was glad. It proved to be a great excuse.

Puffs of smoke lifted up from the solder gun as Grayson and Nico worked in tandem, modifying one of the resonance bracelets they had used in their battle with Core's ghostly biker gang. Eli sat at the computer, digging through the terrabytes of information they had collected over the last few years, re-reading reports.

"Alright, on the Nidhogg case we have the PKE field from the cursed music around town and the concert, but that's about it." Eli said.

"Is that going to be enough? There were a lot of people at the concert." Nico said softly. Gray shook his head.

"Seth's changes are all about sympathetic forms. He went viking before, the signal should restore him to that again." Gray said softly.

"Still, saturating him in a non human PK field..." Nico trailed off. Gray nodded softly, setting his tool down.

"I know, it feels so strange, but I just have to think of it like a vaccine. We have to block the other signals from encroaching." Gray said. Nico nodded, setting his solder gun down. He moved the casing back in place and lowered it down while Gray moved in with the micro-driver to screw it into place. Once the screws were mounted and the casing was complete, three tiny yellow stripes illuminated on the band. Nico took the band carefully out of the stand and brought it over to the computer, plugging it in with the USB cable.

"Alright, let's upload the signal." Nico said.

"And then hopefully we can get some leads on our case before anything else happens." Gray said, looking back at the computers churning away.

---

The air was cool, faintly moist and it smelled of Earth and cement. It was the smell of the dark history of Portland, of the shanghai tunnels used to conscript able bodied men into unpaid work on the sea in the 19th century. The tunnels were extensive, connecting building to building and stretching out through a large part of the old town. Brick and mortar sections were bridged together by tunnels with wood reinforcements, forming rib like patterns to keep it structurally sound... but something was different now, something was alien.

A faint greenish glow emanated from crystals set along the wood reinforcements, lighting the tunnel that had remained dark for so long. Portions were still boarded up, considered too unsafe for the educational walking tours. For that reason alone it had proved to be a perfect burrow. The blue haired youth moved down the tunnel, carrying his most recent prey. Once more his legs dissolved as he walked, spilling out in a mound of flesh behind him, resolving into a long tail that slithered and whipped around behind him. As he moved deeper into the burrow, more and more of his human guise fell away.

With a sinewy grace, the blue haired youth's ears began to stretch out into points, the back taking on a rich perriwinkle tone. The coloring extended out around his yellow eyes like eye shadow, curving down the sides of his neck as well. It branched out across his shoulders and slipped down his ribs before joining with the tail. The stripes spiraling down his muscled arms spread out until everything bellow his elbows was perriwinkle, tipped with long, sharp, black claws.

While his pants had been an illusion, his long shirt and glasses remained on as the naga slithered toward the brightest room in the part of the catacombs they had claimed. The still tomb like quiet of the shanghai tunnels began to fill with strange noises until the naga passed the threshold into their deepest den.

The relatively large brick room had once been located beneath a prominent bar, giving ample opportunity for the kidnappings to take place, but after years of civic development it had been paved over with a road. The trap door was sealed, the room forgotten... until now. Green glowing crystals illuminated the room from various points, but the empty space had been filled with much more. Mechanical devices lined the walls, standing ten feet tall and five feet wide. Each glistened with surgical grade steel, and each held a rather unexpected sight - humans, or at least partial humans.

Men from all walks of life writhed and wriggled, suspended in the pods. There were young men, older men, men of all races. Some had torn business suits, others street clothes, but they all were in various stages of change. The blue haired naga brought Ezekiel over and lifted him up into one of the empty pods. The machine whirred as it grasped at the nerd's shoulders and lifted him up off his feet, sliding a loop around his waist to help keep him up. A collar slid into place next with several tiny pin pricks on the back of his neck.

The naga reached over and tapped on the small screen on the side of the pod, watching as several liquids were delivered into the human's blood stream. He glanced back, watching as Zeke's fingernails started to grow, stretching out and slowly honing into points. There was also a faint silver discoloration starting to form along the backs of his ears and spots on his neck.

"Why I had to go out into the field is beyond me." The snake murmured, turning before pausing. Across the room he saw another naga, this one with a burgundy red scales and an obsidian black underbelly. In his naga form, the red snake's hair had far more red streaks, though the roots were still black. While the blue naga had expected to see his brother, he hadn't expected to see him sucking and slurping on the neck of one of their prisoners.

As the venom coursed into Brian's body, his changes continued at a much accelerated place. His legs had already grown together, the flesh soft and gooey at first before hardening with ivory white scales on the underside. The human had been disrobed and his human cock was no longer soft, having grown erect and rising up... but as it rose it changed as well, inflating and swelling, growing more rubbery. Bumps and spines and hooks formed along the fleshy length before the tiny slit split into two. What started with the urethra spread downwards and before their eyes, Brian's transforming cock began to split.

The long, hard member made a soft, sticky sound as the one shaft became two, peeling apart and bloating outwards until his new hemipenis wobbled above his groin. His balls were slowly pulled up into his body and the flesh of his sack was busy being converted into a cloacae. In moments the flesh was moist and wet and welcoming, emitting an oddly sweet and salty aroma. The red naga withdrew his long, curved fangs from Brian's neck and licked them clean before moaning softly. His own fat black naga cocks pulsed before dribbling out thick, potent cum.

"Enjoying yourssssself Kaleo?" The blue naga questioned. His brother cracked a fang filled grin and reached down to slap his twin cocks a bit.

"Of courssssse I am, and I'm sssssure you did too. The hunt is in our blood, from both sides." Kaleo said, slithering across the room over to his brother, "Don't you feel it? The pride from catching our prey? From sssssssaving our people? It issssssn't jussssst our ssssssnake heritage Nedo, we have the memoriessss from both our fatherssss... Vampiresssss love to hunt too." Kaleo grinned. Nedo rolled his amber eyes.

"That would exxxxxplain your biting fetisssssh." Nedo said, turning to check on some of their other prisoners. Kaleo slithered after him, reaching around his brother's waist to rub at his slit.

"Take pride in what we're doing. You'll have a brood of your own sssssoon, with any of these malesssss you want." Kaleo said. Nedo blushed furiously and slapped his brother's hand away.

"I do take pride in what I'm doing, but I can't afford to get carelessssss, to give in to my basssssser insssstinctsssss. We have work to do and we're very clossssse to completion." Nedo said. Kaleo gave his grin again.

"Oh trussssst me, coming to completion is very much on my mind." Kaleo grinned before he turned and moved back to check on one of their other captives, reaching out to play with his newly pointed ears. Nedo watched his brother go, feeling a mix of envy and disdain. Still, he was a scientist like his father. He could put his emotions aside for the work at hand.

---

Seth stood in the garage of the firehouse, looking down at the band going around his arm. Gray was carefully fitting it on, though his brows were creased. Seth reached up and rubbed at Gray's chin with his thumb, making his boyfriend look up at him.

"It's going to be okay." Seth said. Gray nodded softly before he went back to work. With a few more adjustments he turned on the band and the lights turned from yellow to white. Seth slowly closed his eyes, feeling something pass over him like a cool breeze. Eli lifted his PKE meter up and watched. The signal from the Nidhogg incident was wrapped around Seth like a bubble, surrounding him and laying over his natural signal. Slowly the discrepancies between the two were fading away.

The grey streak in Seth's hair was the first to disappear, returning to his natural dark brown color... though the color was far from the only change. Seth's scalp tingled and tickled as it went into overdrive, pushing out of his scalp at an incredible rate. It dropped down over his ears, down the back of his neck, hitting his shoulders like a waterfall before the hair continued down. It was silky and thick as it reached down past his shoulder blades and the small of his back, showing no signs of slowing until it finally reached his ass... but it wasn't alone.

Seth moaned deeply as thicker hair burst from his upper lip, arching down to cover his mouth. The side connectors spiraled down to mingle with his already immense braided goatee, and the sides of his cheeks grew out as well. While his goatee didn't descend quite as far as his hair had, the masculine prowess was present as it grew out half way between his nipples and his navel.

Gray was transfixed by the changes to Seth's face, but Nico and Dakota were busy watching the rest of his body. The gradual transition from his human hands to his gargoyle fingers was fading away, restoring his hands to a more familiar shape - even if hair was curling out of the knuckles. Eli watched as the difference between his human form and the Nidhogg signal shrank away and the two found a balance. The Ghostbusters were rather quiet at that, looking at Seth. Seth slowly smiled.

"Well, if I'm not entirely human anymore, this is about the best disguise I could have." Seth murmured, reaching up to stroke his beard before he glanced over his shoulder and then back at Gray. Seth smirked, "I'm going to need a lot of hair ties or something so it doesn't get caught on my pack."

"I'll get you whatever you need." Grayson nearly purred, pressing into Seth. The two leaned in for a kiss, but the moment was interrupted as the workshop door burst open and Rerun emerged.

'We found them! We found them!' he signed frantically. Nico and Eli turned and bolted through the door, moving back into the workshop. The report had popped up on the screen, showing intense but localized disturbances beneath old town Portland.

"Those are the shanghai tunnels, aren't they?" Nico asked.

"I went on a tour of those when I was a kid." Eli replied, "It's bound to have terrible PKE energy. I'm surprised we haven't had more cases down there."

"But there isn't really... a PKE disturbance here." Gray said, trying to read through the findings, squeezing in between the others. He paused, his head slowly tilting.

"If it isn't PKE, then how did it get flagged?" Dakota asked as he moved up.

"When Zytu was approaching and we kept falling into other dimensions, the exotic particles from those cross overs... It picked that up." Gray said.

"Someone's coming to visit..." Dakota murmured.

"Nico, Dakota, you should come with me to investigate this biggest spot here." Seth said, "Gray, Eli, you should hang back in case our direct approach doesn't work."

"I don't know if I like the idea of splitting up right now, but... I'll brief Sune. The task force should be ready just in case..." Gray said. Seth smiled and moved over, giving Gray a deep kiss. Gray couldn't resist and melted into it, his tongue tangling with Seth's inside his mouth. Eli and Dakota tried not to be rude and watch, though Nico was sizing up Seth's changes, wondering what it must be like before eventually the two lovers broke their embrace.

"Alright team, let's move out." Seth said, moving back for the door and the Ecto beyond. Dakota and Nico followed after, leaving the others behind. Gray rubbed at his arm a bit nervously before he moved to get the phone.

---

Dust, dirt, pebbles and small stones came raining down as the ancient trap door swung down. Light shone down into the hole before a thick black tether cord dropped down. Like CIA agents descending on wires, Ghostbusters began descending down into the tunnel below. Seth was the first to land, lowering his ecto-goggles into place before snapping them on. Dakota and Nico descended in short order, doing much the same.

As Nico's goggles snapped on he nearly gasped, watching faint traces of PKE energy flowing through the tunnels, zig zagging and spiraling. It pooled up in rooms before draining back out again. Nico backed up toward the walls, but the walls themselves were throbbing with energy. He nearly screamed as Dakota reached over and tapped the filter button on the side of his goggles. The PKE view flicked away, replaced with a more mundane night vision mode.

"Gray said what we're looking for doesn't show up on PKE." Dakota said softly. Nico nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah, yeah, that's probably for the best." Nico murmured. Seth had already started moving down the tunnels ahead of them, surveying the layout. Dakota followed after him, looking as much at Seth as he was the tunnels. He was still a bit wary of the resonance cuff Seth was using. Seth was being bolder and more daring than he had in months, but it was hard telling if that was because he didn't feel emasculated by his changes... or if his Viking spirit was making him take more risks.

It had taken some persuasion to gain access to the deadfall trap door they had used, likely because its existence was only inferred based on their readings of the city compared to the age of buildings in Chinatown, but it didn't take long for the busters to start finding clues. The ancient dust had been disturbed and there was a fresh groove through the debris down the center of the tunnel.

'Keep quiet, advance slow.' Seth signed to the others. Having lived with Rerun for so long, it had turned out to be a useful skill to know in many different situations. The three crept along in radio silence, nearly invisible other than the lights on Seth's proton packs. Nico and Dakota had opted for slime packs, knowing that their enemy was unlikely to be affected by conventional equipment. After some minutes of wandering, the trio started to notice feedback on their night vision up ahead. Seth reached up and slowly lifted his goggles. It took his eyes a moment to adjust but there was a faint green glow in one of the joining corridors.

'Let me take point.' Dakota signed. Seth looked ready to mount protest but Nico gave an affirmative nod. Seth hesitated before recanting, gesturing for Dakota to move on ahead.Dakota pulled his slime blower from its holster, setting it to tether mode. He moved up to the edge and peered around the corner. The main tunnel was well lit and well traveled... well enough to have a Nike sneaker laying off to one side. Dakota pulled back into the side tunnel, withdrawing his phone.

'Evidence of kidnappings found. Unknown crystals used for lighting.' Dakota texted Grayson to keep the others informed. He lifted the phone and took a picture without flash before he resumed. Coming around the corner, Dakota started moving along with a quicker pace. Exposed in light, he didn't want to be out there any longer than he had to be. With a thirty second lead, Seth followed after Dakota next before Nico came up the rear.

Even with the lights, it seemed this branch of the tunnels had been heavily traveled. It took almost five minutes before the evidence started to mount further. The grooves in the dirt were deeper, there were more crystals, and there was a faint sound growing ever louder. It was the sound of machinery, of industrialization.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Dakota wondered if everything they were facing might have had a less supernatural explanation. What if the shanghai tunnels had gone back into operation? What if people were using them for nefarious purposes? But that didn't explain those glowing crystals, nor why they felt so familiar to him. Nico and Seth were at the ready with their equipment drawn as they moved up toward a larger room and the heart of the noise.

Dakota took a few breaths before he came around the corner and bolted into the room. He didn't have time to be stunned at what he saw. His field of vision filled with two gleaming amber eyes settled in a pale peace face surrounded with blue hair and periwinkle scales. Nedo bore his fangs and let out a hiss at the intrusion, but to his surprise Dakota did not react in any way the naga would have expected.

In mere response to the naga's presence, Dakota's body had started to shudder and shift. His brown eyes shimmered to a brighter yellow than Nedo's. His open mouthed expression of shock revealed his teeth sharpening and stretching down into points even as his face distended to make room for the shifting anatomy. Dakota gazed into the eyes of the blue haired naga as his irises constricted into vertical slits.

In an odd, warm, numb sensation that was oddly familiar, Dakota felt his nose ebb and soften, disappearing into his swelling muzzle, leaving little more than nostril slits. In the pale green glow of the room, his skin seemed to take on a more woody coloring as his throat and chest grew paler, returning to a long forgotten sandy tan color. The skin all over his body was tightening and hardening, forming into segmented stripes down his throat and chest.

It had only taken seconds for the process to start before Dakota fell onto his knees. His pants rippled and grew tight, then wet. The fabric tore out and split as the flesh sought out its own, merging and knitting together, working down his ass and toward his knees. The blue naga was stunned. Never in his life had he converted someone just by looking at them, but he didn't want this oddly convenient miracle to stop. He stared Dakota down, watching as the changes took place.

The bones in Dakota's changing legs continued to shift. His feet pressed together before melting into a single point, new mass pouring out of his body. The numb warm feeling became stronger, aching along his skull as a bond like ridge pushed outwards from his head. It stretched out flesh on either side of his skull, flaring into a brown and tan striped serpent hood.

Having given Dakota a thirty second lead, he came around the corner in time to gasp, seeing not only a brown naga with a slime pack strapped to his massive brown shoulders, but a blue naga standing in front of almost thirty mechanical pods holding former humans that were very clearly kidnapped and experimented on. Seth wanted to let loose with his proton pack but he couldn't risk harming those he was there to save and instead turned to enlist Nico's help - though he was in no position to.

Nico had been pinned to the wall as the black and red naga pumped venom into his neck. Nico's eyes rolled into the back of his head as green stripes started to creep through his hair and a metal flake texture appeared on his neck in blotches first before spreading out into lines. Seth backed up from the two, trying to keep his cool... but it was hard, watching Nico change.

The red naga continued to spray its venom into Nico as the Ghostbuster's ears stretched out into points, his fangs formed and claws pushed out of his gloves. Before long his pants tore apart and a thick tail emerged from what had once been legs. The pale flesh was taking on more and more coloring, turning a vivid new growth green with an ivory underbelly.

Kaleo slowly pulled out his fangs from Nico's neck, licking at the puncture wounds before he turned and looked at Seth. A low, deep, purr like noise emitted from the red naga's lips as his forked tongue sampled the air. Kaleo groaned more at that.

"Sssssso ssssstrong, ssssssso sssssexxxxxxy." Kaleo hissed, slithering toward Seth, gazing into his eyes. Seth could see the naga's eyes start to shimmer, playing with the light in a strange and oscilating way, but with a quick move he drew his goggles down and switched them over to another filter. The naga's eyes appeared opaque black.

"You need to undo what you did to them, and all the prisoners, or I'll bring this place crashing down on top of us." Seth warned. His positron collider hummed with immense power as it was turned on.

"I know who you are, Sssssseth Dillon... We can make a deal. Let me turn you into a naga, and when we are done making babiesssss together, you can have your humanssssss back." Kaleo offered.

"You... You're from the world Lucas went to, the one that helped us with Zytu." Seth murmured, backing up more, "Why are you here? Why are you kidnapping people in secret?" Seth asked, though his retreat stopped suddenly as two huge brown arms wrapped around his shoulders. Seth struggled with Dakota, grunting and pushing but Dakota brought his huge snake head down and slammed the back of Seth's head. Seth grunted hard, losing hold of his blaster. It flopped down to his side, hanging from the pack as Dakota resumed his tight hold of Seth's torso.

"There wassssssn't enough variation. To sssssssurvive, we need more diverssssity." Nedo murmured as he emerged from the pod room, "Thirty different sssssamplesssss issssss a ssssssstart, crosssssssing the best diverssssssity humansssss have to offer.... But thirty one will have to do jusssssst as well." Nedo said, nodding to his brother.

With glee Kaleo dropped Nico to the ground and slithered forward, coming up to Seth. At his normal height Kaleo only rose to Seth's nipple, but the brilliance of being a snake made it easy to compensate. Kaleo rose up on his tail, coming eye to eye with Seth. His clawed fingers took the goggles from the bearded buster and tossed them aside. Kaleo's eyes began to shimmer and do their magic, but Seth merely sneered back. Kaleo tried harder and harder before hesitating.

"Jussssst hurry up and convert him..." Nedo complained. Kaleo, however, seemed to be making no progress. He eventually grunted and moved forward, bringing his lips to Seth's. Seth grunted back and tried to keep his lips tight, but the forked tongue snaked its way in, prying them - and his jaw - apart. Seth grunted harder as his mouth was opened more and more. Kaleo tipped his head just a bit, lining up his long curved fangs before he released.

A hot, thick, stinging green mist flooded into Seth's mouth, clinging to his cheeks and tongue and teeth. It built up faster than his saliva and got up in his nostrils. The venom even poured out from his lips and dribbled into his beard. The hair it dripped down onto darkened from brown to greenish black, twisting and thickening, becoming more wiry. What it did to hair, though, was nothing compared to what it did to flesh.

Seth's canine teeth began to swell quickly, the ivory thickening and lengthening, honing into sharp points the curved outward. His sinuses burned as new organs formed, making room for his own venom ducts. The remainder of his teeth sharpened into smaller fangs, taking up so much room his mouth could barely contain it. Seth's eyes were wide in the kiss as he tried to resist, but as his lungs ached he coughed and spat, sending venom spilling down from his mouth, invariably getting some down his throat.

In a brilliant compliment to the vague green light in the tunnels, a distinct metal flake copper pattern started to creep out of his skin, covering his stretching ears and creeping down his neck. Seth's nose became a bit flatter and a bit blunter but remained mostly human even as he thrashed, fighting against Dakota. Dakota grunted, coiling his tail around Seth's legs.

"He'sssss ssssstill ressssissssssting too much!" Kaleo protested, breaking the kiss. Seth snapped at Kaleo, bearing his fangs. Instinctively, Kaleo attacked, snapping down on Seth's neck. More venom pumped into him, this time coursing through his veins like hot pudding. Seth could feel each beat of his heart. The venom moved up his neck and into his brain, tingling and surging all over before it came back down. The venom moved down his neck, through his heart, out through his shoulders and down his arms, right underneath the resonance bracelet.

A flash of hot white light washed out from Seth's arm, forcing the naga to close their eyes instinctively. The bracelet hummed softly, the lights flickering from white to green. The brilliant and natural shade of copper on Seth's neck began to darken, turning a dark green instead... but the natural lines of the naga weren't remaining. The skin hardened and crackled into thick scales, scales that covered his throat and looped around his neck. Seth's eyes went wide, the black from the slits pooling outward, covering both until they were as black as night.

Tearing came from Seth's shirt as his shoulders suddenly widened. The proton pack straps groaned as the metal clips stretched. Dakota nearly dropped Seth as the pack popped off and his uniform tore down the middle of the spine, revealing hugely thick, meaty, green scaled shoulders. Dakota grabbed back onto Seth but he was heavier, much heavier. Seth's pant legs grew puffy, tight, larger and then split out. Strings of slime shot out from the inside of his legs, wrapping around the flesh, pulling them together. His skin knit together, turning dark green as scales formed around the new tail... a tail generating mass far faster than any naga should have been able to do.

Kaleo gasped and backed up as Seth's tail hit the ground and stretched out four feet longer, then six feet, then twelve, then twenty. The tail was unfurling at a supernatural rate... and it was not a normal naga tail. Seth's cock had retreated into a brand new cloacae, but every three feet down his tail there was another squishy turquoise cloacae dripping with dark green slime. Dakota groaned, trying to hold on to his prisoner, but Seth's torso was growing too massive.

Sickening pops and crunches came as Seth's skull flared out into a serpent's hood, his ears being reabsorbed. His face pushed out into a muzzle, but his fangs were too big to remain in his mouth and dropped down in front of his face like a saber tooth tiger. The long viking hair from his head shed away, but his beard remained in bristly greenish black glory, braided together into a wiry reminder of what he had once been. Nedo turned to retreat into the lab, but a clawed hand snapped out and grabbed him around the waist, lifting him up.

"Kaleo!" Nedo screamed out, his tail flicking and flapping around. The giant green snake beast hissed slowly before looking down at its own groin. Out of morbid curiosity, Nedo looked down as well. Seth's first cloacae gushed with dark green slime before a tapered head of a blue cock emerged, followed by another... then a third, and finally a fourth. The cocks were huge, spined and hooked, sloppy and wet. They slithered out of their hole and stretched to almost twenty inches in length.

A forked tongue emerged from Seth's lips and licked at Nedo's mouth before he brought the naga down. Nedo's back arched and he gasped out as his own cloacae was penetrated by far too many cocks. Seth started to gyrate his hips, pumping into the blue haired naga's hole. Despite his shock and fear, Nedo trembled as his own cocks got hard and slid into Seth's hole. All of his intellect, all of his control faded away as he started to breed... but Seth wasn't done. His huge muscled form moved with blinding speed, circling around Dakota, knocking him to the ground. The huge tail slithered over him before another set of quad cocks emerged and plunged into the serpent guard's slit, pumping him hard. Dakota struggled for a few moments before he felt the cocks penetrate deep into his belly.

Kaleo had stood in horror, watching as the gigantic green beast grew almost as large as the tunnel itself, surging forward like a tidal wave. Kaleo backed up slowly but was overrun, knocked down and dragged along the tunnel, sliding onto the metal floor of their main room. He tried to wriggle free from beneath the heavy mass, but soon he felt the rubbery tips probing at his stomach, his navel, his groin, and then finally the right spot. One plunged in, then two more, and finally the last.

The red naga went stiff. He had been the aggressor, the hunter, but now he had created something far more primal than he had ever dreamed... and it was fucking him. He felt the cocks slide up into his belly, stretching his organs, working him... and he felt something probing at his mouth as well. Kaleo slowly relented and opened his mouth, taking in a huge blue cock. He sucked on it like a pacifier as he was fucked.

All around the room, Seth was growing larger. His prehensile tail slithered around from pod to pod, penetrating each captured human with more than enough cocks to knock them up. Some were unconscious, some were more awake, but all were getting a ride. Moans and groans filled the room, though some were muffled, but Seth would mount them all.

---

The silence of the shanghai tunnels had ended abruptly. The hidden entrance had been opened wide. Grayson and Eli moved down the tunnels in the lead with the task force behind them. It felt odd, like leading an army into battle... an army that Gray was still wary of. Eli was breathing hard, carrying one of the resonance packs. They had tried to miniaturize the technology since using them against the bigfoots, but they were still far too bulky to be carried by most.

"Contact up ahead." One of the officers stated, bringing his weapon up, priming it. Gray moved ahead, hoping to stand between the task force and anyone they might shoot. As they came around the corner, though, what Gray saw was unlike anything he had been expecting. Sprawled out on the floor of the tunnel was a twenty foot long naga, laying on his back. His underbelly was a rich obsidian black framed by ruby red hexagonal scales, trailing up and graduating to a very fit and firm, mostly human torso... but Kaleo was not as he had been. The Naga's belly was hugely distended, almost as big as a beach ball. A few feet away was a green and white naga with another huge belly and a very familiar face.

"Nico!" Eli gasped, running forward despite the weight of his pack. He knelt down and reached over to caress Nico's cheek. Nico's amber eyes slowly slipped open before he groaned, clawed hands moving to his swollen belly.

"Eli, I'm so sorry..." Nico whispered.

"You don't have to be sorry, this wasn't your fault..." Eli whispered.

"Seth, he... he knocked me up." Nico whispered. All color drained from Grayson's face. He looked at Kaleo and Nico, then further up the tunnel where a brown naga was strewn in a similar state. Gray looked like he was going to be sick.

"The resonance band..." Gray murmured.

"What about it?" Eli asked, looking to Gray for any kind of answer.

"Nidhogg was a serpent god. His effect on Seth was the Viking at first, but... sympathetic signals... If they tried to change him, the PKE field..."

"It turned him into Nidhogg?!" Eli exclaimed. Nico suddenly groaned, doubling over. He panted faster and faster before a strange look of euphoria washed over his eyes. He shuddered in Eli's grip before his cloacae distended and a pale lime green egg the size of a football squeezed out, sliding in a gush of fluid to the ground. He moaned again and another egg emerged, then another.

"This... this is fucking... amazing..." Nico whispered, tangling his claws in Eli's hair, pulling him in for a kiss. Gray reached out and put his hand between Nico's lips and Eli's, interrupting the moment.

"Nico, Eli's going to help you but we can't afford to make him a snake right now..." Gray said. Nico whimpered softly but nodded in understanding, groaning as he pushed out egg after egg. Ever so slowly his huge belly was retracting back. Similar moans were starting to come from Dakota at the end of the hall as he woke up in labor.

"Sirs!" Came a shout from one of the task force officers. Gray moved forward and rounded the corner, looking into the larger room at the end of the tunnel. The walls were lined with pods filled with very overly pregnant naga men, but beyond was something completely unholy. The wall shimmered and rippled with a thin membrane of energy, beyond which was a clear view of green skies and the mountains beyond Portland.

"What is this?" One of the officers asked, moving to touch the barrier. Her hand passed through the event horizon with very little resistance.

"He tunneled through to the other dimension, to where the other nagas are..." Grayson whispered.

"Is it a retrieval mission then?" She questioned. Grayson turned and looked back at the others.

"After the victims have given birth, we can use the resonance pack to turn them back to normal. The eggs can be taken through to the other dimension so they don't hatch here." Gray said slowly, "I'm going to go through and find Seth and disable the device that turned him into this before he can do any more damage. Once that's done we'll have words with their leadership and ensure there is never a cross over like this again, and that our citizens are never used as breeding stock without permission." Gray said. The task force seemed squeamish at the idea, but the fact that Grayson was laying out a plan was something they could respect.

"Yes sir, understood." One of the officers stated. Gray nodded at that.

"Secure the premises, make sure there are no nagas outside of this zone. Don't let any of them bite you, avoid direct eye contact. If I don't make contact by the time all of the eggs are delivered and these people are restored, I want you to collapse the tunnel and bury this portal." Gray explained.

"Sir, we don't leave anyone behind." One of them stated. Grayson smiled.

"I appreciate the sentiment, captain, but this is my turf. Sometimes we can save the day for everyone, sometimes we have to take the bad with the good. You have your orders." Grayson said, turning to face the portal. After a moment to compose himself he strode forward, passing through the portal and into the naga world.

---

The brilliant white fog of a deep and enduring sleep lifted from Lucas, draining away from his brain. The sensations of the waking world were flooding back in uneven and imbalanced measures. There was a throbbing sound, flashing lights, muffled by the plexiglass cover above him. Lucas opened his amber eyes and yawned, his forked tongue flicking into the air... air that didn't smell right.

Lucas slowly sat up, pushing the lid off of his pod. The red velvet material beneath him filled back out, erasing the naga shaped groove that had held him in place. Unlike any of the previous times he awoke, the facility was not in great shape. The main lights were off, an alarm had sounded. Lucas slithered out onto the floor and turned back, looking at the pod next to him.

Sepi was still coiled up and deep asleep, linked with their latest batch of children. After the brilliant passion of knocking each other up and laying so many eggs, Lucas had in just a year and a half experienced a miracle of technology. His children had been linked with his mind, he had linked with his mate, and their joint life experiences had been shared. Lucas had known the bliss of being a father to dozens and dozens of children and he knew them as well as they knew him. Some were smart, some were brave, some were playful and others timid. They represented almost every color of the rainbow in their scales and they had gone on to live interesting lives... but now something was happening, something very dark.

"Computer, have the ovipredator sensors been triggered?" Lucas asked, nervously playing with the metal spikes in his lower lip. The computer, though, did not respond. Lucas looked around warily before he approached Sepi's pod and started the reawakening process. The machine started cycling, moving through the steps gradually. Lucas' eyebrows slowly lowered as he realized something was off. Someone would have had to wake him up.

Lucas turned, looking back at his own pod. The console had been accessed, the reawakening process initiated... but the console had splatters of a dark green slime across the sides. Lucas turned further and gasped, backing up. In the corner of the room was a green scaled snake beast rising twenty five feet off the ground with at least six naga captives in view. The huge naga undulated, fucking each of them with his massive sets of cocks. The nagas were drunk in pleasure and lust and quivered as their bellies bloated with surges of potent cum.

Scientists, guards, it seemed the beast had claimed every naga he had come across. Lucas looked up at him in awe and horror, trying to figure out what could have made such a beast... but two solid eyes turned and looked back at Lucas before a forked tongue slowly started to lick the serpentine muzzle. Lucas backed up again, watching the snake monster advance towards him, dragging even more impaled and pregnant naga into view. Lucas gulped with a bit of nervousness, but a quick glance to Sepi's pod revealed the bitter truth. Lucas needed to lure this monster away from their nest to save his mate. With a quick snap of his tail, Lucas turned and darted off, heading for the front of the building. Seth let out a deep resounding growl and dropped several of his prey so he could chase after Lucas even faster. The freed naga toppled to the ground, many soon groaning and gushing as their eggs started to come already.

---

The terrain was arid, dry and desolate. For miles in every direction the Willamette valley was barren. Scrub brush was limited and water was even more precious. No snow on Mount Reiner, no snow on Mount Hood, no snow on any horizon. It was a world of depleted resources, of depleted life, and Grayson felt so very alone in the middle of it all.

Following Seth's path had been easy as far as tracks went, but Grayson had dropped his slime pack half way to the portal. He could feel his vitality slipping away as he trudged through the dirt beneath the green sky. Even in the turmoil, though, Grayson's scientific mind was spinning.

Ever since Dakota had returned from the naga world he'd been fascinated by the stories. Of all the other worlds they had visited trying to save all of existence from a dimension swallowing parasite, the naga world was the second most advanced they had found... and yet he'd seen none of it. As smart as Dakota was with engineering, there were so many questions he'd been unable to answer. Approaching the city, though, Grayson was starting to put everything together.

The architecture was fascinating, using clean sweeping lines and slopes. There were areas of intricate texture and other portions worn clean. Gray saw the large dome that had to be the nursery Lucas and Dakota stumbled across on their fist visit... but there was no one around anywhere.

Gray followed the tracks toward one of the buildings. Everything was so open for the most part. There were no doors, only archways. Gray moved up the ramp into the building, pausing at once.

Inside there were alarms flashing, casting blue light across the floor. Gray inhaled slowly, knowing the naga could smell a hundred times better than him, but even he could smell the musk, the spice. He advanced a few more steps, coming across a purple haired scientist slumped on the ground. His glasses were shattered, his belly bloated, a half dozen eggs already squeezed out around his tail.

Grayson took another deep breath, thinking to everything he had learned about Nidhogg, the Viking dragon or snake that was trapped in the roots of the tree of life. It gnawed at them, trying to get out, to be there at the end of the world. Grayson felt a chill run down his spine despite the heat of the naga world. Perhaps Ragnarok was not Earth's destiny. What future would the giant snake beast bring to a world of snakes?

Gray turned the corner and then stopped, seeing the green end of the mighty beast's tail. Gray knew he wouldn't have much of a chance. He reached down to his belt and pulled out his pke meter. The screen popped on and filled with an image of nearby signals, including the pulsing yellow signal from the resonance bracelet. It was still active, reinforcing everything Seth had become.

A soft, wet, squishing noise sounded from around the corner. Gray felt weaker around the knees, but he had to see how distracted Seth was. He advanced quietly and peeked around the corner, nearly gasping in shock. Seth occupied the central dome of the science directorate building, rising almost thirty feet off the ground with hundreds of feet of tail stretching out behind him. Both massive clawed hands clutched nagas, pushing them down on two clusters of blue cocks.

Gray watched the obscene display as the beast used the snakes to masturbate himself, fucking them relentlessly and mercilessly. He drooled and slathered, his black bristly goatee dripping with green slime as he went at it. A deeply satisfied snort escaped from his nostril slits as he began to cum, slowly stretching the nagas bellies full of sperm before he almost callously dropped them to the ground.

It was a horror show... but one that Grayson couldn't completely dismiss as somewhat alluring. Despite his best judgment, Gray could feel his cock hardening at the display. He blushed in shame, but then he froze in place. The giant snake hesitated, a forked tongue darting out of its mouth. It tasted the air, collecting scents before it snapped its tongue back into its mouth. The forks drove into special organs, translating the scents into a sense that the beast's brain could process.

The huge snake began slithering along, tasting the air more and more, looking around with its huge glassy black eyes. It could smell Gray's arousal and it wanted to have more fun. Gray started backing up, but short of going outside he wasn't sure where he could retreat to, nor if his body could withstand a pounding from a giant serpent. Without a cloacae, would the serpent even keep him alive?

Gray turned to move around a column but let out a yelp as the far end of Seth's tail came sliding across the floor, nearly knocking him off his feet. He lunged over it and rolled, panting hard before spinning back. It was all Nidhogg needed to hone in on the sound. The beast surged forward, smashing through a column, moving for Gray. Gray broke into a sprint back toward the door, trying to close the gap.

There was a faint sound, a familiar sound. Something his Grayson's back, and then the sound came again. Gray looked up, watching a slime tether hit the ceiling. As the slime dried out, it shrank and constricted. Grayson was yanked up off the floor and went sailing upwards just as Seth dove to capture his prey. Gray dangled from the ceiling, spinning around, looking for his hero. It was not at all who he expected.

Standing in an archway was a lithe and fit naga, his brown hair cascading down over peach skin and royal blue scales with sky blue highlights. Green eyes nearly glittered in the dim light. Sepi's expression was most displeased. Gray, however, was impressed by the fact that the Naga was wearing a slime pack of their own devising. It was made of almost pearlescent metal, hugging and form fitting to his back.

Having yanked Grayson out of harm's way, Sepi started letting loose. The slime blaster let out countless 'thwicks' as the tethers hit Seth's arms and torso, even his head before attaching to countless points of the structure. The beast lashed out at that, slashing his arms, stretching the tethers. Some held, others gave way and a few held so tightly that the beast ripped out pieces of ceiling and hurtled them downward. Sepi dodged the falling debris but kept firing, slithering around the beast, using the columns to his advantage.

"The cuff on his arm! Get the cuff!" Gray screamed out. Sepi looked up at the human and then at Seth, trying to aim better. He fired tethers but the giant serpent broke an arm free and slashed at them, blocking the new shots before slashing at the old. Sepi recalculated his strategy before he changed the mode on his slime pack and opened up the hose. The sprayer choked and sputtered before a high pressure stream of yellow slime poured out, splashing and gushing across Seth's tail. The slime ran down and pooled around the base, running in every direction.

Nidhogg looked down at the slime and then at Sepi, licking its fangs before it started to move forward... but its advance was not as easy as it had anticipated. The tail slipped on the slick marble floor. Seth reached out for columns for support, but Sepi changed his aim and coated them. The clawed hands slipped with every grip and being top heavy, Nidhog was wriggling around like a big worm before he fell forward. The ground shuddered with the weight of the impact.

Grayson reached down into his boot and pulled out a utility knife. He said a quick prayer before he slashed at the tether holding him up. The slime snapped like a rubber band and Gray fell down towards Seth's massive body. He hit the back of Nidhogg's serpent hood and began to slide. Gray's clothes started to shred on the sharp edges of the scales, but Gray rolled with enough force to get toward his shoulder before he fell off the beast.

Fingers outstretched, the moment in time seemed to slow for Gray. He saw his fingertips inching closer, closer, closer. He grasped at the edges of the device with all the might he had. The cuff wobbled, the device holding steadfastly to the fabric - but the fabric could take no more. Having been stretched out on a growing arm, the cuff snapped and the device fell away with it.

Grayson toppled to the floor, landing in several inches of yellow slime. He skidded, his body aching from the fall. The cuff sputtered before its lights went out. Sepi looked at the human and then back up at the massive beast. At first there seemed to be no change, but Sepi soon realized it was more gradual than that. Like the rising sun, the green scales were slowly turning to copper. They dried out and crumbled off of his shoulders, leaving bare skin.

Seth fell forward into the slime, shuddering. Dozens of feet of his tail dried out and crumbled into ash, leaving a more natural naga length beneath. The hood cracked out and fell in pieces to the ground and his serpentine muzzle shattered away from his human face. Seth went limp in the slime, panting as his body contracted and pulled in. His solid black eyes even faded back to normal naga ones before he passed out cold, leaving Sepi standing there in a lake of slime.

---

The ambulance lights shone brightly even during the daylight hours, glinting off of windshields and shop windows. A single ambulance was spectacle enough, but a fleet had been called to China town to deal with those evacuated from the tunnels. Ezekiel sat at the back of one of them, feeling the cuff tighten around his arm and the finger clasp shining light through his finger, gazing into the crowds. Zeke watched Brian storm off after being released, thoroughly disgusted by the entire encounter. Zeke watched the man disappear back into the city, wondering how it was even remotely possible to do that after what they had been through.

"Coffee?" Eli's soft voice asked as he came around the corner of the ambulance. Zeke looked up a bit sheepishly, brushing some of his blond hair away from his glasses before he nodded softly.

"Thanks." Zeke said, taking a few eager sips from the cup before lowering it to his lap. He gazed off into space for a moment longer before he turned and looked at the one that had offered him the nice gesture. "You're one of the Ghostbusters, right?" Zeke asked. Eli nodded at that.

"One and the same." Eli replied with his customary tenderness.

"So what happened, what we... Was that ghosts?" Zeke asked. Eli shook his head.

"No, not this time... Actually, a lot of what we go up against aren't ghosts in the conventional sense. Things... leak through from other places. Usually they are more intangible than this though. This, I think, was just an accident of two cultures clashing. One of us met the Naga before. I'm very sorry for what they did to you though." Eli said. Zeke looked up at Eli slowly.

"What's going to happen to my babies?" He asked. Eli was caught off guard at that and looked almost sheepish.

"Your... babies?" Eli asked. Zeke lowered his free hand down to his navel.

"I know it felt like a dream, but they were mine... All of those babies, all of those sons to be born. How could they come from me and never know me? How can the others just walk this off, forget it happened?" Zeke whispered.

"I... I don't know. How people deal with life altering events can be so different from person to person." Eli said softly. Zeke took another sip of coffee before he looked down into his cup as if he could divine some answer from it. Eli was about to say more, but looked up as the cops started to flurry near the doorway to the shop with the trap door. There was movement before a tall, lithe young man burst through the doors panting. Between his long brown hair and the snake bite piercings beneath his lower lip, Eli didn't need a second to recognize who it was. The fact that he was naked and wrapped in a towel didn't dissuade him much as he moved out toward the Ghostbuster.

"Eli!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Lucas!" Eli said back, giving Zeke a quick nod before he closed the gap.

"You gotta stop them from closing the portal... Sepi and Grayson fixed the problem but they aren't all better yet. We can't let them get sealed away." Lucas said. Eli nodded before he moved back into the shop, heading to find the strike force down below. Zeke sat there for a moment, gazing at Lucas, his eyes widening slowly. He set his coffee down and hopped off the bumper of the ambulance, moving across the cement. Lucas had been taking in his surroundings, but he turned as Zeke approached. When Ezekiel knelt down onto the cement, though, Lucas was a bit stunned.

"My lord, please, may I beseech thee?" Zeke asked. Lucas' face screwed up into a bit of shock.

"Uh, rise... young... guy." Lucas muttered.

"But you are one of the snakes, are you not? Please, I must make a request..." Zeke whispered.

"Awwww, daddy, he'ssss adorable. Can we keep him? Pleasssse?" Kaleo begged from the street corner. Kaleo and Nedo stood next to each other in their human disguises once more, having been escorted out of the tunnels by the strike force. Lucas' eyes darkened and he lifted a finger up into the air, beckoning them over. Nedo and Kaleo winced as they approached.

"You two..." Lucas said slowly, "You used a tunneling device to come through to this world, you kidnapped innocent people, turned them into naga... and bred with them without their permission?" Lucas asked.

"Well, to be fair only Kaleo-" Nedo was interrupted as Lucas hissed.

"That isn't okay... I know our kind are facing dire times, but we can't alienate this world to us. We have to remain allies for the long haul." Lucas replied.

"But when you were younger, you usssed to think that it was eassssier to assssk forgivenesssss than permisssssion." Kaleo said softly. Lucas slowly sighed, reaching up to rest a hand on his son's cheek. To any outsider it seemed that the two were only a year or two apart at most, but they had shared so much more.

"The maturation pods gave you access to my entire life, not just my past. You know my weaknesses and my strengths, my failures and my successes... and if anything you should have gotten some of Sepi's common sense." Lucas chided.

"Sirs, my serpent lords..." Zeke murmured, still kneeling near them all. One of Lucas' eyes closed as he realized how much had been overheard.

"Yes, supplicant?" Lucas asked, turning slowly. Zeke looked up with big eyes, swallowing gently.

"I-I-I... I don't want to be without my babies. I want to raise my sons, like you did... Please, let me come with you." Ezekiel murmured. Lucas looked at the human for a moment, a soft smile blooming across his lips before he looked back at his sons.

"See, the humans can work with us to achieve this goal if we don't scare them away. We're going to head home. I don't know how your father will react, but you will respect his decisions. Am I understood?" Lucas asked.

"Yessss Daddy." Kaleo said softly.

"Yesss Daddy." Nedo added, lowering his head.

"Now, head back to the portal. You're going to have to help at the nursury with all the eggs." Lucas said. Kaleo and Nedo only exchanged a quick look before they moved back to the store front. Lucas took a few steps before he stopped and turned, looking back at Ezekiel.

"We'll keep the door open, but you should really let your friends and loved ones know you're going on a trip. You might be there a while." Lucas said. Ezekiel's eyes lit up at that before he sprung up to his feet in excitement.

---

Pain... A dull ache, at least. That was the first sensation to fill Seth's mind. It was followed by a discomfort in his lower, lower back and a rumbling in his stomach. Seth felt like he was in a hammock, but his eyes opened beneath a harsh grid of lights. Seth winced, bringing a clawed hand up to block his eyes. Seeing those claws, though, he abruptly sat up. Panting. Seth was in the middle of an infirmary of some sort, but familiar faces surrounded him. Grayson was there on another bed, as was Lucas.

"What... what happened?" Seth murmured.

"We're still trying to piece together everything that occurred, but it seems that there has been a rather severe crossover event." Sepi said, moving up to Seth. He raised a flashlight and shone it in Seth's eyes. Seth hissed, baring his fangs before he brought his hand over his mouth in embarrassment.

"How is he?" Gray asked. Gray's arm had been bandaged up from shoulder to elbow, but bruises were visible much further out than just that.

"Pupil responses are normal, defense mechanisms normal... at least from a naga perspective." Sepi said, "But medicine isn't my strong suit. I focused more on physics and engineering." Sepi smirked.

"Like that slime pack?" Gray asked. Sepi nodded almost with pride.

"I learned about it when I connected with Lucas and our sons. His experience with you Ghostbusters, with the supernatural... It was fascinating and amazing. I tried to replicate your success where I could." Sepi replied.

"Wait, did I really... attack... all those people?" Seth murmured. Sepi slithered up closer to Seth and looked deep into his eyes. Seth's nervousness began to soften. His shoulders relaxed and his arms lowered again.

"Everything will be alright. Our people have woken up, your people have been restored, and the eggs are filling our nursery." Sepi said. This time, though, it was Gray's chance to panic.

"The portal..." Gray whispered.

"It remains open, do not worry." Sepi replied. Grayson shifted a bit.

"I... have many reasons to worry. I may have inflicted something very dangerous on you." Grayson revealed. Sepi tilted his head.

"The beast?" Sepi asked. Gray looked over at Seth and blushed a bit before looking back.

"There are legends in our realm... about the end of the world. The tree of life trapped a great beast, its roots forming the prison. The creature was called Nidhogg, and was represented as a dragon or a snake. Some viewed his escape as the end of the world." Gray said, "That spirit, or one similar to him, almost escaped once. We were able to stop it, but we were foolish and... used his imprint to try and help Seth. It must have reacted poorly to the naga conversion... but I don't know what this event will mean for your world." Gray whispered. Sepi looked contemplative at that.

"It is true that this did not unfold as any of us would have expected. Almost twenty percent of our city carried the fruit of his efforts." Sepi murmured, "It is very likely that a new subspecies will be born out of this, but while this Nidhogg was a piece of the puzzle, you forget the other pieces. Somewhere in there was your mate, and the many fathers each have contributions to make. Our maturation chambers can link our minds and share our lifetime of experiences to raise them. This may still be a blessing, even if it is an unexpected one." Sepi smiled. Gray looked slightly reassured at that.

"We'll help in whatever way we can." Gray said. Sepi smiled.

"For now, you can help by recovering. Lucas worries so when things are out of place." Sepi smirked. Gray nodded, laying back on the bed for just a while longer.

---

The walk back to the portal had almost been as bad as the walk to the city for Gray. As advanced at the Naga were, other than their monorail through the city they didn't have many means of transportation. Next time he'd have to sneak over an ATV. He was relieved at least that the temperature had started to drop. Gray looked over at Seth and Dakota, each having been relieved of their naga forms, though Seth's gargoyle claws were for the moment replaced with Naga claws, and his ears were almost elfishly pointed. Gray turned and looked to his other side.

Lucas and Sepi slithered along hand in hand, content to walk their guests back to the border. As strange as it had been to see open terrain in a Portland basement, the portal looked even more absurd on the Naga side. A lone boulder washed down into the valley by an ancient flood appeared to have a hole in it, revealing a subterranean brick room that was clearly bigger than the boulder the portal was set inside of. Standing just on the other side, Nico and Eli smiled with relief as they saw the others approaching. Nico hopped through and moved toward the group.

"Lucas... Sepi, you're welcome to come back with us for a visit... Dinner, a movie." Nico offered. Lucas smiled a bit at that, bowing his head.

"I miss you too brother... But things in the city, we're not sure how they are going to turn out just yet." Lucas said. Sepi cleared his throat.

"Once that is done, though, when we know it is safe, Lucas and I need to spend a vacation here. He has come to my home for so long, I should experience his." Sepi said. Lucas smiled a bit brighter at that.

"I'm going to hold you to that." Nico said, reaching up to rub at his arms a bit at the cool breeze. Sepi froze, his ears picking up an odd sound. He turned and looked at the dirt, identifying the source as a dark spot. He slowly lowered to the ground and reached out to touch it with his claw. The dirt, oddly, was moist. There was another tap and another spot, then another. Sepi's green eyes widened in shock before he looked up at the green sky... a sky that was blotched with grayish black clouds. What had started with a few drops was growing into sprinkles. Water came down across the dirt in a light mist, soaking down into it.

"It's raining..." Lucas whispered in shock.

"It hasn't rained here in... lifetimes." Sepi murmured. Grayson's stomach sank a bit. Seth looked at Gray, his brows furrowing.

"What is it?" Seth asked.

"Ragnarok..." Gray murmured.

"The end of the world?" Seth whispered back.

"Well, maybe. It was foretold as a bunch of natural disasters, ending in a flood. Some of the gods and a few Vikings would survive to repopulate after the flood in a new and fertile world." Gray said.

"I may still be optimistic... Our world has been dying for decades. If this could make it more fertile..." Sepi trailed off.

"There are going to be flash floods, the city isn't set up for this." Lucas said.

"If you need to evacuate, we can keep the portal open." Gray said. Sepi smiled gently and nodded.

"We will keep that in mind, but we are good engineers. The river bed is deep from before it ran dry. We can create aqueducts to protect the city... but I promise if things get bad, we'll come through as an evacuation." Sepi said.

"I think I finally get it." Dakota said from where he had been standing. The others turned to look at him. Dakota shifted a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

"I mean Lucas and I fell through here, and it was like destiny... The lantern ghosts keeping the relic safe so we could kill Zytu, but it wasn't just for us. Maybe it was just a start to this." Dakota said.

"You think Ragnarok was a premonition of this world?" Gray asked.

"I think we'll find out, but we can't do anything out here." Lucas said, "I promise I'll stay in touch, but you should get back home and we need to get working." Nico sighed at that and moved over, hugging Lucas. Lucas wrapped his arms around Nico and rested his head on his brother's shoulder. Dakota bowed his head to Sepi before he stepped through the portal to the other side, standing with Eli. Seth reached out and took Grayson's hands before they crossed over, turning back to look at the naga world through the wall. The rain continued to fall, soaking Nico and Lucas' hair, beading up on Nico's skin and rolling down Lucas' scales. The brothers looked eye to eye for a long moment.

"It hasn't been easy loaning you to this place... You better promise me you'll come back, or I'll come and get you." Nico said. Lucas nodded gently, taking a long sniff.

"I promise... I do miss home, I just... really have a purpose here, and it feels so neat to be a dad. I really wish you had time to meet all of my kids." Lucas said.

"Bring some of them with you on vacation, just make sure they're on better behavior." Nico said. Lucas chuckled at that and gave Nico another tight hug. The brothers wanted to say more, but given the circumstances neither trusted themselves to. Nico baked away from the two nagas and felt the waxy feeling as he stepped back into the subterranean room. The sounds of the naga world were cut off. The wind, the rain. It was like a moving picture from the one side. Grayson, Nico, Seth and Eli watched on in silence as the events unfolded on the other side. It was Dakota who opted to speak first.

"So... Who's gonna explain all this to Sune?" he asked. The others turned their heads and looked at Dakota with a bit of incredulousness before they realized it would be a rather big feat, especially with the portal remaining open..

"Eli, I think it's your turn. You're charming and diplomatic." Gray said, turning to head back through the tunnels.

"But what... what if she says no?" Eli asked.

"We'll think of something. We always do." Nico replied, putting his hand on Eli's back, following him out.