....FINALLY SOME VACATION

[basic_powers]

It's Friday morning, and right now...

The bags are packed, the extra money is in a special pocket, there's no one invading anytime soon, he has no real training, so it's a little unusual for Tyler to be in this house.

It's not the usual routine and it's great, and because in a few minutes the 'family' car pulls up into the garage and Ray will be coming to visit.

"...6:56..." The hard part was not bouncing off the walls while staring down the clock. Ray had to come exactly at 7 am.

.

.

.

.

"Ray! it's 7!!" Tyler called through the open doorway, which had formerly been the broom closet. "Come on!"

Comments

[basic_powers]

He should probably watch where he's going now... Or else he's going to stumble into that mirror with him in the robes an-

Nevermind.

[gone_byebye]

This is just not Ray's day. At all.

'Course, it hasn't been Ray's day for longer than he can remember. If he ever sees Belar again he's going to punch the God in the sternum. Hard. And then make him come up to the library's top floor and look out the window, because there's some things he needs to see that've been going on for, oh, lifetimes now....

[basic_powers]

Like oh how the world has become overrun with madmen and hybrids of man, fish and beast that should not be possible and put even the demon summoners of Garion's world and the things they summon to shame running rampant over the earth. And that thing in the distance that has been the source of more than one days of tears as Ray tried to keep records. Or the 4 jars on the mantel with brass nameplates under them.

Egon. Winston. Peter. Janine.

They're the only brains in jars that's he's even had that heart to explain the situation to. Everyone else who was still human and sane-ish got smuggled off to a moon around Jupiter. And that was about 1500 years ago.

It wouldn't be so bad these days, but he'd run out of ovaltine about 50 years back.

[gone_byebye]

He'd originally calculated that the stars would only be Right for about three hundred years or so. Humanity was supposed to be able to hold out that long, keep the worst of it at bay, something- three hundred years wasn't that bad as far as times of horrors went. But the problem with that theory was that it relied on the rules of time and space and planetary motion staying reliable after the City at the Magnetic Pole was taken. He'd been there with all of the Ministers Frasier when that happened, he'd seen the wave sweep over reality when the Render of Veils managed to establish itself as the City's master-

There's an audible POIT! as Ray falls flailing away from that mirror. He's going to sit on the floor and pant for a while, mm'kay?

[basic_powers]

Ray can take all the time he needs.

And in that time he's taking to get his bearings, he's probably going to notice how few of the reflections actually reflect what he's really wearing right now. The only one that looks somewhat close to what Ray's currently wearing just has about 3 more gadgets clipped to his belt loops.

[gone_byebye]

Yeah, that's reassuring. In the way that it's totally NOT.

Doesn't mean he's not eventually going to get up and have a good long squint at that one, though.

... dork.

[basic_powers]

And he's certainly pulling a few good faces at the mirror.

But he probably shouldn't do them so close to it, because of someone suddenly cleared their throat behind him he might just flail forward and...

Okay. You know. This wasn't so bad, he was just going over field paperwork and an upgrade for the proton packs. He could probably get them down to 30 lbs, and that'd give them a little more options for the new recruits. Winston and Egon were out checking in on the last estate that gave up their collection of antique books.

He just had to deal with a very bored Peter and Slimer. Namely a bored Venkman that was flinging out handfuls of Jelly Bellies and watching Slimer chase after them.

[gone_byebye]

"You're only encouraging him, you know, Peter," Ray said. "If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, the more you gratuitously feed him-"

"The more he's going to expect it at other times, I know, I know," Peter retorted. "Come on, Ray, what else am I supposed to do, huh?"

"I don't know, read?" Ray said. "Check on some of the experiments upstairs? Go over the next- what are you looking at me like that for?"

"Ray," said Peter slowly, "you have a passenger."

[basic_powers]

"I what?" There was that growing amount of alarm in his voice.

"There's someone piggybacking in your head, Ray." Peter said slowly, throwing the entire bag of jelly bellies to Slimer and pulling his chair forward to look at Ray more carefully.

"I've still got on that Sumerian device! And Last week you said if something got through the defenses, I'd know about it!"

"Ray? Can we focus on something so I can get a feel on what exactly is riding shotgun?"

[gone_byebye]

"Okay. Yes. Okay. I can- I can do that." Ray swallowed, doing his best to get a hold of himself. "Concentrating now. Go ahead, Pete."

[basic_powers]

"Right,I swear Ray, you attract more bugs than crunchberries under the fridge sometimes..." Peter settled in his chair closing his eyes to get a feel. "Definitely a guy in there and he's..."

Blink blink.

"Huh."

[gone_byebye]

"What?" Ray said tensely, holding onto the edge of his desk for all he was worth. "What is it?"

[basic_powers]

"...well. I think I know how and why he got in." Peter says, staring at Ray for a moment. "He's you. A different you, but well, I think I'd know that flailing like a muppet in a paintmixer sort of feeling."

"Something about a hall of mirrors."

[gone_byebye]

"He'd better have a really good reason to be there, then," Ray says. "Is he dead? He's not dead, is he?"

[basic_powers]

"Nope. Scared silly, screaming and expecting something large and full of teeth at any moment, but not dead."

[gone_byebye]

"Okay," says Ray. "In that case, can you get him out? Please? No offense to other me but there's only room for one of us in here."

[basic_powers]

"I think he can hear you, Ray."

And for reference YES HE WANTS OFF THIS DAMN RIDE.

"He's gonna be gone in just a sec..."

Sorry about this Ray. Just gonna nudge you lose and let you snap back.

Don't touch any weird mirrors in the future okay?

It's almost with a popping sensation that Ray ends up back IN HIS OWN BODY OH THANK THE AZTEC MONKEY GODS.

[gone_byebye]

Blink. Blink. Blinkityblinkityblink.

"If there is anyone here right now," he says eventually, staring at his hands and not moving so much as a millimeter otherwise, "I would greatly appreciate a paper bag. I think I need to breathe into it for a while."

[basic_powers]

"Sorry about that." It's human, male and honestly sounding very genial, that hands over a plain paper bag.

[gone_byebye]

"Thanks."

About thirty seconds into the rebreathing he thinks to look up at the person who gave him the bag, and makes the 'er, who are you again?' face.

[basic_powers]

That person just smiles back, he's dressed pretty comfortably, and almost resembles some old movie star...except you can't place just who he resembles.

The star blazoned on his shirt is probably meaning something but damn if Ray can remember what right now.

"You know, I didn't think you'd wander into here."

[gone_byebye]

Ray lowers the bag. "If by 'here' you mean this dimension, it wasn't so much a case of 'wandering' as being towed along in someone else's slipstream," he says. "If you meant the castle proper I was looking for the inhabitants to find out where I was. Where am I, please?"

[basic_powers]

"The Castle Beyond Time and Space. And I actually meant you wandering into the hall of mirrored universes." He's offering out a hand to help Ray onto his face, and looking very apologetic. "I don't live here, just help the owner with his business. I would have arrived sooner, but for some other pressing matter. I'll see about taking you back to where you came from."

[gone_byebye]

"Ah. I'd begun to wonder exactly what I was dealing with." Ray reaches up to take the hand and stumbles to his feet. "Thank you for the assistance, Mr....?"

[basic_powers]

"Time Paradox."

You know...He's the only one in this hallways whose reflection is the same in almost every mirror, should we be worried about that?

"You should just refer to me as Tyler's Paradox, it will be a little easier. This way. You're lucky that there's a portal already set to the proper time."