The low, steady hum of the Ecto-Capsule was a sound of victory. Inside, the three captured Fodder Shades were more than trophies; they were proof. Proof that his training, his plans, and his technology worked. But for Kael Veyne, one victory only highlighted the next challenge. The path ahead was longer and far more dangerous.
Standing before the repaired Veyne family portal, Kael felt its power like a physical pressure against his C-Tier core. The swirling green energy within the arch was a siren's call to infinite knowledge and unimaginable power. It was also the biggest security risk imaginable.
Kael adjusted the sleek, black goggles resting on his forehead—the proudest achievement of his recent technological grind. What had started as a handheld scanner had been meticulously disassembled, its components miniaturized and integrated into a custom-built frame with a transparent OLED display. This was the culmination of Phase 2: a live-feed Heads-Up Display that could interface directly with his growing Spectral Database.
His modified Ecto-Scanner goggles whirred softly as he ran a final diagnostic. "Energy signature stable. Dimensional frequency locked. No foreign ecto-signatures detected on the perimeter," the HUD reported. The setup was basic: Specter Deflectors mounted to create a faint energy fence, a tripod-mounted Ecto-Dejector Blaster wired to motion sensors. It was a deterrent for nuisances, a speed bump for anything serious.
"It'll stop a stray Echo. It wouldn't even slow down a real threat," he muttered. The need for a proper lock—a system that would only open for his unique ecto-signature and ghosts that he allowed—burned in his mind. It was no longer a project; it was a critical priority.
But for now, he had a calculated risk to take.
He input the commands into the console, his fingers running over the keys. "Initialize exploratory protocol. Open portal for a sixty-second window. Establish a cyclical lock. Do not re-initiate the activation sequence without my return beacon or until the sixty-minute cooldown has passed. All other access requests: deny."
A single, sharp beep confirmed the order. The portal would open just long enough for him to get through, then vanish completely, leaving no trace for an hour. It was the safest way in.
Kael took a deep breath. This was it. He did a final check: Ecto-Capsule secure on his hip, Scanner Goggles on his forehead, the familiar electric-blue energy of his core ready and waiting under his skin.
"Computer, activate portal."
The room vibrated. Light flared, before collapsing into a swirling, violent vortex of ecto green. The wind tore at him, howling with the voices of a thousand ghosts.
He didn't give himself time to hesitate. Kael Veyne ran forward and jumped into the heart of the storm.
The world dissolved. It was a nauseating, terrifying sensation of being pulled apart and stretched thin across an infinite, screaming nothingness. Then, with a concussive BOOM that shook his very atoms, it was over. He was thrown forward, stumbling onto uneven ground as the portal sealed shut behind him, leaving an absolute silence in its wake.
Or not silence. A new kind of sound pressed in on him. A low, planetary hum. Distant, echoing wails. The creak and groan of reality itself.
He was there. The Ghost Zone.
His senses were overwhelmed. He triggered his scanner goggles. The HUD flickered wildly, overloading with a chaos of data.
<<< WARNING: AMBIENT ECTO-ENERGY AT CRITICAL LEVELS >>>
<<< MULTIPLE UNKNOWN SIGNATURES DETECTED >>>
<<< ATTEMPTING TO FILTER KNOWN ECHO PROFILE... FILTER APPLIED >>>
The display cleared from a screaming mess to a merely chaotic one. His work had paid off. The weeks spent analyzing the three captured ghosts had let him program their simple "Echo Profile" into the scanner. It could now filter out the Ghost Zone's equivalent of background static—the endless, mindless noise of low-level specters. It couldn't understand this place yet, but it could now ignore the whispers, allowing him to hopefully hear the shouts.
What was seen after was staggering. Floating islands of rock and ruin drifted past castles built from nightmare logic. A waterfall flowed upwards into a suspended lake. The very air vibrated with raw, untamed power that made the Elmerton cemetery rift feel like a dying ember next to a supernova.
This was the source.
Cautiously, he moved along a jagged, floating path, his every instinct screaming. Reconnaissance only. Observe. Learn.
His Temporal Perception flared—a sharp ping of warning at the base of his skull a half-second before the roar of thrusters ripped through the eerie calm.
Instinct took over. Kael dropped, his form flickering into invisibility as he pressed against a towering, crystalline rock.
A blur of white and fear shot past him—a small, rabbit-like ghost, its eyes wide with pure terror. It was followed by a shadow that blotted out the green-hued light.
The thing was massive. A giant of polished dark metal and weaponry, riding on jets of fire. A skull-like green visor glowed from its helmet. Shoulder-mounted cannons tracked the fleeing prey. Both arms equipped with heavy energy cannon.
Kael's scanner whirred frantically, trying to lock onto the new, violently powerful signature.
SCAN INITIATED
ENTITY: UNKNOWN
POWER OUTPUT: SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE C-TIER PARAMETERS
CLASSIFICATION: INSUFFICIENT DATA // ESTIMATE: HIGH-B-TIER THREAT
THREAT LEVEL: DANGEROUS (UNKNOWN)
NOTE: ADVANCED CYBERNETIC ENHANCEMENTS DETECTED. RECOMMEND EXTREME CAUTION.
Above C-Tier. The words were a cold splash of reality. This was no Echo. This was a predator. A professional.
The hunter—Skulker, Kael's mind supplied, recalling information from the original series. He was dealing someone of B-tier now unexpectedly.
Skulker raised his cannon arm. "End of the line, pest! You'll make a fine trophy!"
But then he stopped. The cannon lowered a fraction. His helmeted head tilted, the green visor scanning the area. He'd sensed it. Something new. An energy signature unlike any other. A cool, electric blue laced with chaotic silver.
He completely ignored his original prey, which vanished into the gloom. Now, his full, terrifying attention was fixed on Kael's hiding spot. A low, grating chuckle echoed from his vocal modulator.
"Well, well... what have we here?" Skulker mused. He landed with a heavy thud that shook the floating rock. The skull-like visor stared directly at the crystals shielding Kael.
"Don't be shy now. The great Skulker has a new prime target. Come out where I can get a proper scan. I do love adding a new species to my collection."
Kael didn't move, didn't breathe. His mind was a vortex of calculations and escape plans, all of them looking terrifyingly thin against a threat his systems could only label UNKNOWN.
The easy part was over. The real test had just found him.