PART ONE

By Fritz Baugh/Veedramon

Digimon is © Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai, and Toei. Ghostbusters is©1984 Columbia Pictures. Ghostbusters 2 is ©1989 Columbia Pictures The Real Ghostbusters is ©1986 Columbia Pictures Television and DiC Productions. No use of characters and images associated with the above is intended for profit, or to challenge the copyrights of the above holders. Characters not appearing in the above copyrighted works are to be considered © Fritz Baugh and/or their respective creators
Ghostbuster Continuity Note: This story is not intended to fit into any version of the Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline; it takes place in a "nebulous time" that is both sometime after Season Five and in early 2003.
Ghostbusters Central, New York City
"Gosh..." Zoe Orimoto was musing to herself..."which one to wear? There's so many great swimsuits here..." The white bikini? The sporty black one piece? "No, it just has to be this one!!!" she cried, picking up the pink one approvingly.

Zoe had almost completely stipped naked when she saw it...a beady eyeball looking through a hole in the wall! She screamed, and three red-plumed bird-like creatures ran for it...

"Those nutty Tucanmon..." Ray Stantz chuckled to himself, as the animated girl screamed her head off. "Though you begin to wonder. After the Kokatorimon peeping at Sora and Mimi in Season One you wonder if all Bird Digimon are perverts or something..." Stantz was a pudgy man with wide brown eyes and short auburn hair. He was wearing his Ghostbuster uniform: a tan jumpsuit with brown trim and the name "STANTZ' sewn in red letters in a black patch over his left front pocket.

"Okay, I heard the word 'pervert', what are you saying about me?" Peter Venkman asked as he entered the room, carrying a beer and some buffalo wings. Slimer was following him with pleading eyes. Venkman's uniform was brown, with blue trim. He also had a habit of not tucking his cuffs into his boots.

Slimer was a dripping, green, vaguely potato-shaped ghost; the first one the Ghostbusters had caught in fact, but was now their pet and unofficial mascot.

"I wasn't talking about you this time, Peter." Ray clarified. "See, those Tucanmon were spying on Zoe there as she changed into a swimsuit...I guess perverted birds are becoming a tradition..."

"Eh..." Venkman grunted as he sat down. "Give her a few years to fill out and get her to start eating and I'd understand, but right now she looks like Olive Oyl from the neck down. Maybe your little bird friends are peds, too..."

"Peter, it's just a cartoon..."

"So's Gowkaiser. When are you gonna watch that one again? Or La Blue Girl? Let me tell you, Ray, THOSE are some cartoons Uncle Petey can't get enough of. God bless the Japanese..."

"Well, at least you aren't running from the room screaming like when I used to watch Pokemon"

"Pokemon featured a squeaky yellow rat and other monsters so cutesy they gave me sugar shock. Plus the female lead was a shrill redhead--I get enough of that in real life..."

"But I thought you'd identify with Brock, Peter..."

"That squinty goon? Please. The difference between Brock and Peter Venkman is that Brock only thinks he's a supreme studmuffin. Doctor Venkman knows he is..."

"Oh, and he's modest too, right?" Ray rolled his eyes.

Slimer hesitantly reached out with one trembling hand, resting it pathetically on Venkman's knee.

"Would you just give it up?!" Venkman barked at him. "I saw you down that whole box of Sugar Bombs a half hour ago."

Slimer floated away, looking hurt. Oh well, he still had that box of pizza rolls...

The other two Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore, were downstairs. Egon was a tall, reed-thin man with a wierd-looking blond pompador and red eyeglasses. His uniform was light blue with pinkish trim. Winston was a muscular black man dressed in an aqua blue uniform with red trim. Currently, Egon was sitting in the Ghostbusters' trusty vehhicle, the ECTO-1, running some upgrades to the computer in the vehicle; Winston didn't understand computers too well yet, but anything involving the ECTO he felt obliged to at least watch.

Janine Melnitz, the Ghostbusters' "Client Administrator", was at the reception desk. A short woman with a mane of red hair, she was dressed in a blue tank top and mini-skirt. An approving smirk crossed her lips when Egon bent over to connect two cables, one leading to the ECTO-1's roof rack.

"...Downloaded the latest patches from MSN just this morning. I wish we could get away with using Macintosh, but most of the programs we use won't run with it." Egon had just finished explaining. Winston just nodded like he understood what Egon was talking about. He'd gotten used to doing so.

Then the familiar screen began to jump, twist, and static over. "Hmmm...."

"Man, is it crashing again?" Winston knew enough that this was a safe question.

"If it is, Bill Gates has come up with a new way of generating a system crash"

Janine's game of Word Whomp! disappeared into a similar cloud of fog at just about the same moment. "F***ing Windows XP..." she spat. "EGON!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY COMPUTER?!"

"Your computer is malfunctioning also?" Egon asked. "Fascinating..."

"It is not fascinating!!! I had my best score yet!!!"

"Winston, go upstairs and get Ray to check our central processor..."

Winston wordlessly ran upstairs

Ray grumbled a bit at being taken away from Digimon, went to the main computer on the third floor.

"Whoa..." he told Egon over the walkie talkie. "I'd say we have a problem here."

"I wonder if it's a local problem or systemwide..." Egon mused. "Possibly the patches I downloaded this morning..."

"Oh, sure..." Venkman sneered. "This is just Bill Gates latest marketing strategy. 'I'm sorry, we made a teensy error in our latest software and it made your operating system disappear. I'm afraid you'll have to buy a new one.' "

"Not even Bill Gates is that evil, Peter..." Ray said disapprovingly.

Downstairs, Janine was clicking the mouse repeatedly like it'd do something. Egon pulled out his PKE meter and turned it on. "Hmm..."

"What?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"It would appear that there is some sort of electromagnetic effect building in the area...possibly related to the computer problems. It may even be causing it."

Upstairs, Winston had a sick thought. "The Containment Unit!!!"

But before he could move more than two steps, he found himself surrounded in a swirl of light...like bands of 1's and 0's twirling around him...

"What the hell?!" Venkman whined, also surrounded by the lines of numbers.

"Wow...it looks like fractal codes..." Ray gasped, excited. "but that's impossible..."

Downstairs, Egon and Janine were dealing with the same problem. She was holding onto him out of concern for the light effects. Plus, of course, she just liked holding onto Egon.

"Any idea what the hell this is?" she asked him.

"It looks like some sort of binary code string, but how would it be manifesting in realspace? I wonder if..."

Just then, a strange graphic appeared on the faces of the computers and even on the display of Egon's meter: a strange symbol resembling a starburst with eight rays of light coming from it. A deep, melodic female voice came from all the displays.

"...It is time..." she said simply.

And then the light swallowed all five Ghostbusters up.

Peter Venkman didn't know how much time elapsed...all he knew is that he found Egon's description of unprepared dimensional travel as feeling "Like riding the Tilt-A-Whirl until your whole body wants to projectile vomit" rolling through his head again and again.

His body slowly started to respond to him, but he realized he felt different. Lighter, for one...he pulled himself to a sitting position, and opened his eyes slowly. "Hah?" he asked rhetorically, seeing that instead of his white sweater and blue jeans he seemed to be wearing a red jacket, an orange shirt (albeit sporting the familiar Ghostbuster logo), green pants, high-top tennis shoes...and green gloves? And a ballcap and what, goggles on his head? Most importantly, he noticed he was...smaller...

"What the hell has happened to me?" he asked again, startled--it was his voice, but higher and younger, like when he was about eleven or twelve.

"Peter?!" a very high-pitched, little boy voice exclaimed from off to his left. He looked over to see a boy dressed in a white shirt and green pants, his head topped off with an enormous hat shaped like a mushroom. He couldn't have been any older than eight, but his fleshy face and giant brown eyes looked jarringly familiar.

"Please tell me that you're not Ray Stantz..." Venkman asked the boy.

"Wow!!!" Peter that is you!!! And you're dressed just like Takuya Kanbara, too!!! Well, except he has a funny symbol on his shirt instead of our logo--but this is getting really cool!!!"

"Takuwatsu?" Venkman sputtered. "Man, you don't have to tell me you're Ray, because if you're not you're an incredible simulation..."

Ray crinkled his eyes and laughed merrily. Venkman wondered if being regressed to age eight was making his old buddy act even more childish than usual.

"C'mon, Peter!!! We gotta go find the others!!!" Ray cried, and scampered off.

"Wait a damn minute!!! Raaay!!!' Venkman ran off after him.

It didn't take long to find Winston. Like the others he had become younger, about the same age as Venkman, and was dressed in dark colors with a bandanna covering his head.

"A do-rag? What kind of loser came up with this?" Winston was complaining.

"And you're Koji Minamoto!!!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"He did that to me too. I guess I'm Takawatsu or something..." Venkman responded, exasperation creeping into his voice.

Ray, meanwhile, pulled the large mushroom hat off his head and studied it for a few seconds. "This is Tommy's hat...do I look like, age eight or so, Peter?"

"Yeah, Ray. Your mind and body are finally synchronized."

"Hah!!! I'm Tommy Himi!!! C'mon, we gotta go find JP and Zoe!!!"

Venkman and Winston looked at each other, a silent I give up passing between them.

It didn't take long to find the two missing members of their team. The blood-curdling yell of "SOMEBODY IS GONNA GET HURT FOR THIS OUTFIT!!!" in a thick, female Brooklyn voice made it pretty simple, actually.

The tall, lanky boy was not hard to identify, as he appeared to be slightly older than Venkman and Winston's new ages, and the blond pompadour was a dead giveaway. He was even dressed the most like the Egon Spengler they knew, wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit, though his sneakers were very un-Egon. "Please, calm down..." they heard him saying as they approached. "It isn't that bad" the voice was higher than they were used to, but again as he appeared to be older it was closer to "normal" than any of the others as yet.

"Easy for you to say!!!" the girl next to him was complaining. "You're in a jumpsuit. Big change. Look at me!!! Knee socks!!! Lavender!!! And what is up with this goofy cat-ear hat?!" She was younger, about the same age as Venkman and Winston, and dressed in a lavender mini-skirt and vest over a midriff-baring tee shirt, but the scarlet hair peeking out from under the cat-ear hat and the voice left no doubt who it really was.

Venkman's face pinched. He'd seen somebody in that get up earlier today...on the television!!!

"Here...have a chocolate bar...I appear to have a sizable amount stashed in this outfit...." Egon told her.

"One more thing about you that's not changed..." she smirked affectionately, taking the offered candy.

"Egon!!! Janine!!! Wow!!! And you're Junpei Shibuyama and Izumi Orimoto!!! We got the whole line-up."

"Egon, is that..."

"I would surmise so. Ray, Peter, and Winston, I presume?"

"Egon, you got any idea what the bloody blazes is going on?" Venkman asked him.

"No." Egon answered simply. He started to look at some strange device he had in his right hand

"What is that?" Winston asked him.

"I could swear it was my PKE meter when we left.." he answered.

The device looked closest to some sort of stylized cel phone, blue with yellow trim. "Matches your outfit, too..." Venkman deadpanned.

"A Digivice!!!" Ray exclaimed. "Of course!!!" And with that he fiddled in his pockets and pulled out one of the strange gizmos of his own, identical save for being white in color with green trim. "A real D-Tector model Digivice!!!"

"Where did you get that weird thing?" Janine asked him.

"Check your pockets--you each should have one!!!"

Sure enough, they did. Venkman's was black with red trim, Winston's white with blue trim, and Janine's ..."Bleah..." she wrinkled her nose. "More lavender..."

"Raymond, I think it is safe at this point to say that you seem to have some insight into our current predicament. Perhaps you should share..."

Ray looked at Egon and smiled. "It's simple...we've all been dropped into Digimon Frontier!!!"

Venkman started to hit himself in his own head.

"What are you doing, Pete?"

"Trying to wake myself up, Zee..." he hit himself a few more times, and stopped to open his eyes. "Crap. I'm still here."

"No, no, listen to me!!!" the tiny Ray was saying. "I don't know how it happened either, but the more you know about it the better chance we have of figuring it out!!!"

"Logical" Egon mused.

"As close as it gets in this stupid mess." Janine sniffed.

"Okay..." Ray started. "It goes like this...we're in a sort of pocket dimension that is linked to Earth's plane by cyberspace, and it's known as The Digital World. The creatures that live here are actually bits of data and programs that have gained sentience and are known as Digital Monsters--"Digimon" for short. There's been like, three different histories of the Digital World so far, but they all agree on one thing: sometimes major threats have to be dealt with by human kids, ones who can use the powers of Digimon by either partnering with them or, in the latest version, actually transforming into Digimon! They're usually called 'The DigiDestined'"

Venkman, Winston, and Janine start to chuckle incredulously.

"Hey!!! I didn't make up the name!!!" Ray whined. "Are you listening to me?!"

Egon cleared his throat loudly. The other three shut up.

"Anyway, we're all dressed like characters from the third version of the show, the fourth season (the first version ran two years) and it's called Digimon Frontier. The Digital World is ruled by these three Angel Digimon--Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon--before Cherubimon goes bad and overthrows the other two. So Ophanimon calls these five kids from Earth and gives them the powers of five of the ancient Legendary Warriors."

"My character is Tomoki Himi, called 'Tommy' in the States...I channel the power of the Spirit of Ice, and can use it to Spirit Evolve into these really cool Digimon called Kumamon and Korikakkumon."

"Try saying that ten times fast..." Venkman cracked.

"Peter, you're Takuya Kanbara, who was the leader, sorta, which is why you get to wear goggles--that's a Digimon tradition. You have the power of the Spirit of Fire, and can transform into Agnimon and BurningGreymon."

"Winston, you're Koji Minamoto. You have the powers of the Spirit of Light, and can turn into Lobomon and KendoGarurumon."

"Egon, you're Junpei Shibuyama, or JP in the States...you get the Spirit of Thunder, and can Spirit Evolve into Beetlemon and MetalKabuterimon..."

"And Janine is Izumi Orimoto, or 'Zoe'. You have the Spirit of Wind, and it can turn you into Kazemon or Zephyrmon."

"The little gizmos are called 'Digivices', and they provide communications and sensory abilities, but most importantly your Spirits are stored inside them in digital form. If you lose the Digivice, you lose your spirit, and...well...that might not be good."

"Define that, Ray." Winston prompted.

"There are lots of hostile Digimon around, Winston...why, in the very first episode of the first series the kids got attacked by a giant bug."

Egon was by now thoroughly absorbed in the Digivice. "Hm...yes...toggles for communication...this would appear to be some sort of energy monitor setting...now this is interesting...'Fractal codes'...'Identify'..."

Then there was a loud, angry roar.

"Wow!!! There must be a hostile Digimon nearby!!!" Ray cried.

Venkman was about ready to hit him. Ray had said '"Wow" about the situation a few times too many.

"Hey, Ray,,," Janine asked. "Did you say something about a giant bug?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"Anything like that one over there?!?!" she shouted, pointing.

All four turned to see a ten foot beetle eyeing them from a nearby tree. It was bright red and drool was coming out of it's mouth...

"Crap in a hat!!!" Ray exclaimed. "An honest to gosh Kuwagamon!!!"

Egon, being Egon, hit the 'Identify' button, and got a nice holographic display to appear, depicting the creature and a ream of information about it.

"Fascinating..." he remarked. "Now if I had any idea what any of that meant..."

"EGON, GET YOUR FOOL HEAD DOWN!!!" Janine screamed, tackling him out of the way of the giant creature that was dive-bombing him.

"Man, how the hell are we gonna take this guy out?!" Winston shouted angrily. "We don't even have our damn proton packs!!!"

The giant bug lunged at Venkman next, and started to chase him. "Not me!!! I hate bugs!!! This isn't f***ing fair!!! Raaaaaaaay!!! You're Pokemon Master--do something!!!"

Ray studied his Digivice resolutely. "Digimon, not Pokemon, Peter."

"I'LL BE JUST AS DEAD IF YOU CALL IT A SMURF!!!"

Egon and Janine were picking themselves off the ground. "My thanks, Janine."

She adjusted her goofy cat ear hat and winked at him. "You know I'd tackle you any time, Doctor Spengler..."

Egon turned red and tugged on his collar. "Um..."

"EGON!!! WINSTON!!! DO SOMETHING!!!"

"Man, I wish I had a giant flyswatter or a skateboard or somethin'..." Winston snarled.

Ray nodded to himself. "Nothing to do but try it..."

The mode selected on the Digivice, he rapidly passed it over his left palm. "EXECUTE--SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!" he shouted.

"Ray?!" Winston gasped, as the tiny Ray was surrounded in exactly the same sort of swirling binary light display that brought the five Ghostbusters to this place.

When it faded three seconds later, in place of the eight year old Ray was a tiny polar bear wearing a green hockey helmet and boots.

"...Kumamon!!!"

it cried in Ray Stantz's voice.

"Fascinating" Egon said, of course, studying his own Digivice.

"Is that Ray?" Janine asked.

"I believe so..." Egon answered.

"Whoa, this is so COOL!!!' Kumamon cried, looking over himself excitedly.

"Scissor Claw!!!" the Kuwagamon howled, decapitating a tree behind Venkman.

"Admire yourself later, Ray!!! Pete's about to get even shorter than he is!!!" Winston admonished.

"Ooops..." Ray replied sheepishly. "I'm on my way, Peter!!!"

"How did he do that?" Janine asked Egon.

"I'm not sure, but he mentioned something about a 'Spirit', presumably the pseudoelemental associations he made earlier...hm...yes, there is a toggle to a 'Spirit' mode in the device." He executed the command and a light began to flicker at the top of the Digivice. "Hm..."

Winston followed suit. "And then he swiped it over his left palm..." which Winston did. And nothing happened.

"He shouted something as he did it." Janine noted.

"What has that got to do with it?" Egon asked.

"It's a Japanese cartoon, and they always scream out their attacks, even in the American versions. Victor was a big Power Ranger addict, so I know how that goes..."

"Hmmm...then perhaps we invoke the activation phrase...'Execute Spirit Evolution' I believe he said..."

"Man, this sounds so...so stupid..." Winston grumbled.

"It's worth a shot, Winston." Janine countered. "Even though it's Doctor Venkman..." she couldn't help but add.

"Hey, um...Bug Face!!!" Kumamon shouted at Kuwagamon. "Why don't you leave him alone and pick on someone your own,um...waitaminute...that one doesn't work..."

"Can't you see I'm busy getting ready to eat?" Kuwagamon sneered back.

"I can't let you do that!!! Peter's my friend, and you can't eat him!!! He'd probably give you indigestion, anyway..."

: Venkman, currently hugging a tree, muttered under his breath "Yeah, thanks, Ray..."

"Hmm...fine, then..." Kuwagamon turned, his toothy mouth contorted in a horrific smile. "Maybe I feel like frozen food, anyway!!!"

"Uh-oh..." Ray stepped back.

"Scissor Claw!!!" Kuwagamon shouted, lunging at Kumamon.

Kumamon managed to dodge, and pulled out a squarish bazooka. "Now if I can get this to work...I've never been a Digimon before...Crystal Freeze!!!"

A blue blast fired out of the gun, and hit Kuwagamon. He didn't seem to like it.

Venkman took the opportunity to jump off the tree and run for it.

"EXECUTE--SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!" three voices rang in unison.

The bands of binary light began to swirl around them.

"I'll be damned..." Winston muttered.

When the light was done with him, he stood transformed into a tall, muscular being who appeared to be human but wearing a white, armored body suit complete with a wolf-themed helmet. A purple scarf with black stripes wrapped around his neck and trailed off behind him. Not quite Tom Baker length, but close...

"...Lobomon!!!" he felt compelled to shout.

"...Beetlemon!!!" the Digimon formerly known as Egon Spengler identified itself. "Fascinating..." it rumbled. Beetlemon was even larger than Lobomon, and far more muscular, an interesting inversion of the unsual contrast between Winston and Egon. The giant creature looked like, well, a giant robot with insectiod features, including two massive wings, but was dressing in an incongrous pair of brown cargo pants.

"...Kazemon!!!" the third member of the group shouted out. Followed promptly by "Oh, for crying out loud!!! First the cat hat now this?!" Janine had been transformed into a purple haired elf dressing in a scanty purple bustier and thigh boots, with whispy fairy's wings.

"Peter!!! You gotta Spirit Evolve!!!" Kumamon was shouting.

A blast of electic energy hit Kuwagamon. "Do not move, you....Hooligan." Beetlemon commanded him.

Venkman looked up from his hiding spot. "That Beetleborg sounds like Egon..."

"Hey, lookit!!!" Lobomon bragged in Winston's voice, pulling a silver cylinder off his left arm guard. "I got a lightsaber!!! Anakin Skywalker eat your heart out!!!" with that, the handle ignited with the sound and effect that anyone who'd seen movies since 1977 would expect.

Venkman perked up when the third Digimon appeared, and his face contorted into the familiar Venkman grin. "Hello Nurse!!! Now that's more like it!!!" Then his face fell. "Wait, that's gotta be Janine. Yuck..." his ardor cooling.

Kazemon tore into him with a Hurricane Wave, muttering and snarling the whole time. Suffice it to say, the lady was very angry right now, and Kuwagamon was a convenient target...

Kumamon ran over to Peter. "You okay, Peter?"

Venkman started to chuckle. "You look like a Care Bear..."

"There isn't time for this!!! We need all five of us--we're theoretically more powerful than him, but we don't know what we're doing yet!!! You need to Spirit Evolve!!!"

"Ray, fess up. This is one of Egon's experiments. He put one of his wacky fungus recipes in our breakfast and it's triggering an intense, hallucinogenic food poisoning episode."

"PETER!!!"

Venkman shrunk back. It wasn't often Ray Stantz (or someone who used to be Ray Stantz) took that tone, especially not with him. "Okay, okay!!! What do I gotta do!?!"

It didn't take long for Kumamon to explain it, even to the obtuse Venkman.

"EXECUTE--SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!"

Venkman was replaced by a Digimon of a build somewhere inbetween Lobomon and Beetlemon, dressed in a flambouyant red and black outfit with fire patterns and a mass of spiky blond hair

"...Agnimon!!!"

"Okay, I admit it..." Agnimon said in Venkman's voice. "This is pretty cool."

Kazemon continued to grumble. "They get to be cyberbugs and werewolves and Vedic gods, and I get to be f***ing Bondage Tinkerbell..."

"Think you're ready to join the fight, Peter?" Beetlemon asked Agnimon.

"Try and stop me, Spengs!!!" Agnimon grinned a very Venkman grin. "Let's see if this overgrown house pest feels once I stuff some Pyro Tornadoes up his ass!!!"

"Take notes, Ray..." Venkman continued. "Hey, Bug Face!!! Time for you to leave the poor defenseless humans alone, and only pick on people as ugly as you are. Which means you have to leave everybody alone!!!"

Beetlemon reared back. "Prepare to have approximately 1.21 gigawatts of electromagnetic discomfort inflicted upon you!!!" he called to Kuwagamon.

"Pyro Tornado!!!"

"Thunder Fist!!!"

Electric and plasmic forces slammed into the shouting insect Digimon.

Kumamon thought this was great. They're catching on to their powers, and all of our years of working together are kicking in...

Kazemon worked out some more of her anger issues by hitting Kuwagamon with a Hurricane Wave, sending the giant bug right to Kumamon. Ray froze it in place with his Crystal Freeze.

Then it was Lobomon's turn. "Prepare to become one with the Force, Bug Boy!!! Lobo Kendo!!!"

With a familiar sounding flourish of fast-paced humming, Lobomon's light saber slashed the stunned Kuwagamon again and again.

"Did that do it?" Lobomon asked, confused--instead of dropping to the ground in pieces, the giant bug seemed to turn into a photonegative, with the now familiar strands of binary light swirling around it.

"I...I admit I don't know..." Beetlemon said.

"You know I don't like to hear you say that, Egon!!!" Agnimon admonished.

Kumamon smirked. He knew what was happening. He pulled out his Digivice and selected a different mode. "Fractal Code Digitize!!!" he shouted, waving the Digivice. The swirling fractal codes flew into it, and every other sign of Kuwagamon disappeared.

"Hah!!! Cool!!!" Kumamon cried happily. "I obtained it's Fractal Code!!! It worked!!!"

" 'Obtained it's fractal code'?" Lobomon repeated.

"Sounds vaguely dirty to me..." Agnimon commented. " 'Yeah, so anyway, I met this hot chick in a bar and then I went back to her place and obtained her fractal code...' "

"That's because you have a dirty mind, Venkman." Lobomon retorted.

Ray had a grin more befitting Venkman when the swirl of lights transformed him back into the Ray Stantz/Tommy Himi hybrid. "We Spirit Evolved...that is so cool!!!"

The other four similarly de-rezzed back to their human forms. "I gotta admit, that was a rush and a half..." Winston admitted.

"Hey, Egon, maybe you aughta get Janine an outfit like that to wear on special occassions..."

Egon and Janine both gave Venkman an incredibly dirty look.

It's just about then that they heard a new set of noises. Winston and Venkman moved between the others and the direction of the noise out of instinct.

There was a crackling of branches and something fell out of the tree Kuwagamon had been sitting in.

Two small creatures lay on the ground, moaning whoozily. One was vaguely humanoid but indistinct, and appeared to be outfitted with Homer Simpson-esque stubble, a sumo wrestler belt, and a pair of taped-up eyeglasses. The other one looked like an orange rabbit in red pajama pants.

"More hostile Digimon?" Egon asked.

"Not if they're like the show..." Ray answered. "They were good guys. Bokomon and Neemon..."

"...They helped Takuya and the others on their journey. Though the Bokomon on TV didn't have glasses..."

"Wait a minute..." Janine's eyes narrowed. "They almost look like..."

Bokomon got up and rubbed his head. "Oh man, that's the last time I agree to do Doctor Venkman's taxes for him off the clock..." Bokomon whined in a very familiar droning voice.

"LOUIS?!" All five cried in unison.

Bokomon opened his eyes and looked up to see Venkman staring at him. "Hey, Doctor Venkman, I really have to say it's not fair for you to abuse my position as company accountant to do your taxes for you, though I have to admit that you look younger today, and I like the goggles even though that strikes me as more Doctor Stantz's type of fashion statement..."

There was no doubt left. If Bokomon wasn't Louis Tully, the Ghostbusters' ueber-nerd accountant, lawyer, and (in the most desperate of occassions) sixth gun, he was an incredible simulation.

"So where are we anyway and why do you guys look younger and why have we been turned into these creatures which I recognize as Digimon because my nephew Lawrence watches the cartoon and..." Louis's gaze wandered around and his eyes went wide when he saw Zoe Orimoto's stand-in. His face reddened up. Janine rolled her eyes in irritation and crossed her arms.

Egon, for more than one reason, went up to Bokomon and shook him. "Louis, stop whining and tell us how you got here."

"Well, I was taking a break from doing the taxes and Slimer was chowing down on a box of pizza rolls and then my computer crashed and I though maybe Bill Gates had rigged the software and then there was a bunch of funny lights and we were here and the giant bug was looking at us like WE were pizza rolls and..."

Egon rolled his eyes and groaned inpatiently. Venkman put a hand on his shoulder. There was a certain lingering, uncharacteristic (but in Venkman's mind more than understandable) impatience that Egon could have with Louis Tully...

Because in addition to everything else, Louis was the episode in Janine's romantic history she most wanted to forget about.

"What do you mean we?" Venkman deflected the issue.

Neemon woke up. He blinked a few times, babbled something joyous and indistinct, and body tackled Venkman.

The sound of the babbles, and the rain of kisses Neemon was planting on Venkman made it plain who Neemon was....

"No Slimer!!! Bad Slimer!!!" Ray scolded Neemon.

Neemon got off Venkman and looked guilty. Then he started to look around for food.

"Just when I thought this situation couldn't be any stupider..." Venkman grumbled.

A few hours had passed and the five Ghostbusters and two Digimon were no closer to understanding what happened than before. Fortunately, Ray had been able to identify several edible fruits, and there was a stream nearby for water, so there was no danger of starving.

"In the anime, Bokomon was a wise advisor with a book of Digital World lore..." Ray had commented to Louis.

"Oh..." Louis responded, pulling a book out of his sumo pants. "Um, maybe, but I kinda had a little bathroom problem when we got here and the bug attacked us...you want to see it, Doctor Stantz?"

"Hell no!!!" Ray responded forcefully. "Just, um, lay it out to dry....maybe we can use it later..."

Janine stomped back to the group, her angry mood having been intensified. "You're damn wrong about one thing, Ray, it ain't just the birds who are degenerates in this place. I went down to the river to freshen up and there were about five of these white, seal-lookin' twerps catcallin' and sayin' 'Take it off, Baby', and shit like that..."

Ray couldn't help but chuckle. "Sounds like you ran into some Gomamon...they're like that..."

Egon went over to Janine. "Um..perhaps I should accompany you? They might be more...behaved if you aren't alone."

Janine brightened up. "Well...I guess it's worth a try."

Venkman bit his tongue. Either they'll leave her alone or ask when the groping starts. That's what I'd do...

Bokomon just looked at the ground.

But before Egon and Janine could leave, all five of their Digivices began to buzz for attention.

"What the hell is going on now?" Winston asked. He was going to feel guilty later for using the word "hell" so much, but right now it was the only word he felt appropriate.

Egon noted the design that appeared on the Digivice. "It's the same glyph that appeared on our computer screens when we were shunted here."

Ray's eyes went wide. "Of course!!! It's the Sigil of Light!!! The one Kari and Gatomon used!!! But why would it be in Digimon Frontier?"

"Ghostbusters of Earth..." a stately female voice issued from the devices in unison. "I apologize for the abruptness of your entrance into the Digital World, but the time grows short and our options are limited."

"Who are you?" Egon asked.

"I am called Ophanimon..." she answered. "I am the Celestial of Light, and I have called you here to foil the schemes of the Evil One..."

"Cherubimon?" Ray asked.

"No. He who is called the Master of the Dark Network..."

"Okay, now I'm lost too, satisfied, Peter?" Ray sniffed.

"Yeah, actually..." Venkman lied. Ray's knowledge of the scenario had already saved their asses, and he found it frustrating that the whole stupid place was changing the rules on them.

"The Master of the Dark Network seeks to steal the power of my brother, the Celestial of Hope, and use it to unseal the Tomb of the Bringer of Sorrows. You, my chosen, must reawaken Seraphimon, stop the Master of the Dark Network, and prevent a catastrophe that will destroy both worlds..."

"Seraphimon?!" Ray's eyes went wide, clearly impressed.

"Hm...another Biblical reference..." Egon mused. "The Seraphim, Cherubim, and the Ophanim--or Thrones--were orders of the angelic host..."

"Okay, Lady Ophanimon, we believe you..." Ray said resolutely, gathering his wits. "We really don't have any choice, and stopping multiversal disasters is kinda a specialty of ours, after all...but how are we gonna find Seraphimon?"

"He is interred at the Shrine of Hope at the Wind Terminal, and I have sent a guide to take you there. He is a creature of much courage and passion, but pay his mouth no great mind..." With that, the glyph faded, and they were left with "May the codes be with you, my warriors..."

"Well, I'm suspicious..." Janine commented.

"As perhaps we should be." Egon agreed. "But until this 'guide' arrives, perhaps we should continue as planned. Janine?"

She grinned at him. "You sure you just don't wanna get me down by the river all alone, Professor?"

Egon turned bright red and coughed.

"Oh, yeah..." a new voice broke in. "Maybe some serious groping action. I hope one of the Gomamon down there brought a camera..."

It was reptilian, about three feet tall, and blue with a white muzzle and belly. A small horn stood in place of a nose and two longer, floppier horns came out of the back of it's head. It had large red eyes and a yellow, V-shaped mark on it's forhead.

Ray looked more confused than ever. "Veemon?! What's Veemon doing here?!"

"Um..tryin' to eat?" the little blue creature responded, helping himself to part of the pile of fruit. Neemon was starting to eye him with annoyance...

"Wh...what's Veemon doing here?" Ray stammered.

"You're asking me?!" Venkman retorted.

"I mean...Veemon was Season Two...is Davis nearby? And he doesn't even sound right...on TV he sounds like Joe Pesci but you sound more like Launchpad from Ducktales!!!"

Venkman turned to Egon. "Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon..."

"I don't suppose it would help if I mentioned Ophanimon sent me?" Veemon asked blithely, wolfing down another mango.

All of the assembled group froze and stared.

"Thought it might..." Veemon smirked. "Let me tell you right now, that Ophanimon is quite the babe, too...wouldn't mind uploading her, if you catch my drift...no offense to you, Red...you're pretty hot too..." Janine rolled her eyes and grumbled something unprintable.

"Ray, for a kid's show there seem to be a lot of dirty minded characters around here" Winston remarked.

"Are...are you the same Veemon?" Ray asked him. "Did Davis or any of the others come with you? This is making less sense as it goes along..."

"Nah, you're confusing me with another Veemon. I know that loser. He can't even Digivolve right...'ExVeemon'? What kinda Champion is that?"

"I wish I had some extra strength Excedrin..." Ray muttered, holding his head.

"I prefer generic acetyl salycilic acid myself, it's a lot cheaper and you get bigger bottles for..."

"Shut up, Louis." Janine snarled. It hadn't taken her long to get tired of Louis's run-on rambles...

"Headache, Ray? Then you're finally caught up with the rest of us..."

"I hate agreeing with Pete, but..." Winston offered.

"Look, I know this is all a lot to take in, but don't beat me up, I'm just the messenger!!!"

"Veemon's right, Ray." Egon said calmly. "We need his help to complete this...mission, and hopefully thus return to our normal lives..."

"Normal being a fairly relative term in your...OW!!!" Janine interrupted Venkman's interruption with a quick kick to the shin.

Egon went over to Ray. "And we need your help too, Ray. Of the seven of us, you're the only one who has any inkling and understanding of this scenario."

"You're right, Egon...I...I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now then, perhaps we should be moving?"

To Be Continued


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