Who you gonna call?
Disclaimer: Nightwing belongs to DC (sob sob), the Ghostbusters belong to Marvel or somebody, and the song that I got the title from is by Ray parker Jr.
A white car crawled through the city, hampered by the slow traffic. Whereas a normal white car may have gone unnoticed in the 'haven's streets, this one wouldn't. The red tail fins, coupled with blue and red lights and a miscellany of equipment strapped to the top, made for an interesting spectacle on the streets of Bludhaven. One that Dick Grayson, currently on his way back to his apartment after a hard shift, was vaguely interested in.
He noted the number plate, ECTO-1, the make, an old Cadillac ambulance, and the logo, a stylised ghost trying to escape from a red circle with a line over it. Right now though, he decided to get home, have a shower and crash out for a bit. With the strange vehicle out of his mind for the time being, he turned the corner and entered his apartment building.
He was awoken an hour later by the urgent beeping of his computer. Groaning, he wriggled from his splayed position on the sofa and walked over to the computer, hissing slightly as the blood flowed back into his leg, giving him pins and needles. Opening a window on the screen, he grinned at the face that appeared.
"Hey Babs," he greeted her.
"Evening Dick," she replied, taking in the sight of him. His thick dark hair, unruly at the best of times, was completely tousled; hanging over his cornflower-blue eyes as he hunted for the half-eaten curry he had abandoned last night. Still, Barbara was enjoying the sight of her boy wonder, clad in nothing but a pair of Batman boxers.
"Got anything for me, Babs?" he asked, dipping his fingers in the spicy, orange-coloured concoction and bringing them up to his mouth. Mind brought, unwillingly, to the here and now, the Oracle replied.
"There's reports of, um, supernatural activity over on the East side."
"Supernatural?" Dick raised an eyebrow. "Like ghosts and stuff?"
"That's what the reports say," she confirmed.
"I'd better check it out then, I suppose," he sighed.
"Just avoid any dodgy old fairgrounds with strange caretakers," she cautioned with a grin.
He smirked back.
"There'd better not be any pesky meddling kids."
The orange glow from the streetlights momentarily picked out Nightwing's figure as he glided over the rooftops. He swung on his cables, body taut as he flew his way Eastward. He reached the area that Oracle had pinpointed. Scanning the street, he noticed the old Cadillac parked by an old warehouse. He landed and examined it. In the back he could see various pieces of paraphernalia and computer equipment. Staring at the logo, he pondered for a moment.
"Hmm.there's a ghost on their logo.and there's been reports of 'supernatural activity'.I wonder."
He decided to go into the warehouse to check them out. Throwing up a cable, he used it to walk silently up the wall. Sneaking in through a broken window, he peered through the gloom and listened hard to find the owners of the car. He brushed aside cobwebs as he slipped through the shadows. He heard voices from the far end, and crept towards them.
"Egon, have you got anything on the PKE?"
"There's a faint trace over there."
The voices moved, and Nightwing followed. He came across four men, who seemed to be dressed in boiler suits. The tall skinny one with blond hair was reading from a piece of equipment, probably some type of meter, that was in his hand. They all had large, technical-looking backpacks, attached to which were some kind of gun. Nightwing decided that these guys didn't look like good news.
A faint noise behind him made him turn, but he saw nothing. More noises came, this time from his left, but still he saw nothing. The noises increased slightly, seeming to come from all around, and sounding like people whispering. He tensed, expecting an opponent to appear any second, but was surprised when something invisible pushed him hard and sent him flying from his position on the catwalk. He twisted in mid-air, regaining his equilibrium, and somersaulted down to the floor, landing between the four men. They had previously been gesturing in his direction with their meter, and now they brought their weapons to bear on him.
"Okay, ghost, prepare to be busted!" the taller one with brown hair shouted.
"What?" Nightwing yelled back, "I'm not a ghost!"
"Yeah, yeah, try another one," the guy sneered. Pointing his weapon directly at Nightwing, he fired it.
A stream of energy, bright yellow in colour, shot from the barrel and hit the spot where Nightwing had been standing. He, however, was now some distance away. A well-aimed batarang knocked the weapon from the guy's hands to the floor. The guy looked confused.
"What kinda." he began, but was cut off by the blond one.
"Stop, Peter! He's not the ghost, the ghost's up there!"
He pointed with his meter to the catwalk. The other two, the slightly tubby guy and the black guy, aimed their guns up. A weird, greenish- coloured creature appeared, and was drawn downwards by the energy beams. It was larger than a man, with a huge, slavering mouth full of teeth, and long arms. Nightwing watched from the shadows as the team got the thing into a metal unit that was the size of a shoebox. This done, they all relaxed somewhat.
"Hey, if that guy wasn't the ghost, who was he?" one of them asked.
Nightwing used the moment to step out into the light.
"More to the point," he said pleasantly, "who are you?"
"We're the Ghostbusters!" the short, tubby one burst out. At Nightwing's silence and raised eyebrow, he tried to explain. "We trap ghosts, y'know, to stop them, well, bothering people."
"I'm Egon Spengler," the tall blond spoke up. "And my associates are Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddmore," he continued, pointing out each in turn before asking, "who are you?"
"Call me Nightwing. So that was a ghost? Didn't look like any I've seen."
"Yeah!" Ray said excitedly, "that was the genuine ectoplasm. You shoulda seen the readings we got on the Psycho-Kinetic Energy meter!"
Ray sounded exactly like a child to Nightwing's ears, excited at a new toy.
"Uh huh?" Nightwing managed to speak, despite the laughter that threatened to explode. "But why are you here?"
"Well, we're based in New York," Winston explained, "but we got called in here to Bludhaven by several people complaining of hauntings. That was the last ghost."
"Yeah, we're going back home now," Peter put in, "maybe, uh, see you around some time."
Nightwing watched them go, carrying their equipment carefully. Using the shadows to hide in, he waited while they loaded their car, climbed in, and eventually drove off, after fierce arguments as to who was driving. He followed them on his de-cel cables, until he was completely sure that they were well on their way out of town.
Turning then for home, he thought about what they had said about ghosts. The only ghosts he had seen had been in his New York apartment, when he had been living and working with the Titans. It had been a little girl's ghost, and she had led them to find the bodies of her parents. The skeletons had been concealed in the wall of his apartment, a fact that Gar had found mildly amusing.
Shaking his head, Nightwing went to go and beat up some two-bit muggers, just for the sheer normality of it.
End.
A/n: 'Ghost Story' was in New Teen Titans (vol. 2) no. 12. Is definitely worth reading for the sight of Dick Grayson stepping out of the shower (drool) and getting locked out of his apartment in nothing but a towel. Let the good times roll! By the way, what is the difference between 'The Ghostbusters' and 'The Real Ghostbusters'? I don't know, but I do know that "bustin' makes me feel good!"
Disclaimer: Nightwing belongs to DC (sob sob), the Ghostbusters belong to Marvel or somebody, and the song that I got the title from is by Ray parker Jr.
A white car crawled through the city, hampered by the slow traffic. Whereas a normal white car may have gone unnoticed in the 'haven's streets, this one wouldn't. The red tail fins, coupled with blue and red lights and a miscellany of equipment strapped to the top, made for an interesting spectacle on the streets of Bludhaven. One that Dick Grayson, currently on his way back to his apartment after a hard shift, was vaguely interested in.
He noted the number plate, ECTO-1, the make, an old Cadillac ambulance, and the logo, a stylised ghost trying to escape from a red circle with a line over it. Right now though, he decided to get home, have a shower and crash out for a bit. With the strange vehicle out of his mind for the time being, he turned the corner and entered his apartment building.
He was awoken an hour later by the urgent beeping of his computer. Groaning, he wriggled from his splayed position on the sofa and walked over to the computer, hissing slightly as the blood flowed back into his leg, giving him pins and needles. Opening a window on the screen, he grinned at the face that appeared.
"Hey Babs," he greeted her.
"Evening Dick," she replied, taking in the sight of him. His thick dark hair, unruly at the best of times, was completely tousled; hanging over his cornflower-blue eyes as he hunted for the half-eaten curry he had abandoned last night. Still, Barbara was enjoying the sight of her boy wonder, clad in nothing but a pair of Batman boxers.
"Got anything for me, Babs?" he asked, dipping his fingers in the spicy, orange-coloured concoction and bringing them up to his mouth. Mind brought, unwillingly, to the here and now, the Oracle replied.
"There's reports of, um, supernatural activity over on the East side."
"Supernatural?" Dick raised an eyebrow. "Like ghosts and stuff?"
"That's what the reports say," she confirmed.
"I'd better check it out then, I suppose," he sighed.
"Just avoid any dodgy old fairgrounds with strange caretakers," she cautioned with a grin.
He smirked back.
"There'd better not be any pesky meddling kids."
The orange glow from the streetlights momentarily picked out Nightwing's figure as he glided over the rooftops. He swung on his cables, body taut as he flew his way Eastward. He reached the area that Oracle had pinpointed. Scanning the street, he noticed the old Cadillac parked by an old warehouse. He landed and examined it. In the back he could see various pieces of paraphernalia and computer equipment. Staring at the logo, he pondered for a moment.
"Hmm.there's a ghost on their logo.and there's been reports of 'supernatural activity'.I wonder."
He decided to go into the warehouse to check them out. Throwing up a cable, he used it to walk silently up the wall. Sneaking in through a broken window, he peered through the gloom and listened hard to find the owners of the car. He brushed aside cobwebs as he slipped through the shadows. He heard voices from the far end, and crept towards them.
"Egon, have you got anything on the PKE?"
"There's a faint trace over there."
The voices moved, and Nightwing followed. He came across four men, who seemed to be dressed in boiler suits. The tall skinny one with blond hair was reading from a piece of equipment, probably some type of meter, that was in his hand. They all had large, technical-looking backpacks, attached to which were some kind of gun. Nightwing decided that these guys didn't look like good news.
A faint noise behind him made him turn, but he saw nothing. More noises came, this time from his left, but still he saw nothing. The noises increased slightly, seeming to come from all around, and sounding like people whispering. He tensed, expecting an opponent to appear any second, but was surprised when something invisible pushed him hard and sent him flying from his position on the catwalk. He twisted in mid-air, regaining his equilibrium, and somersaulted down to the floor, landing between the four men. They had previously been gesturing in his direction with their meter, and now they brought their weapons to bear on him.
"Okay, ghost, prepare to be busted!" the taller one with brown hair shouted.
"What?" Nightwing yelled back, "I'm not a ghost!"
"Yeah, yeah, try another one," the guy sneered. Pointing his weapon directly at Nightwing, he fired it.
A stream of energy, bright yellow in colour, shot from the barrel and hit the spot where Nightwing had been standing. He, however, was now some distance away. A well-aimed batarang knocked the weapon from the guy's hands to the floor. The guy looked confused.
"What kinda." he began, but was cut off by the blond one.
"Stop, Peter! He's not the ghost, the ghost's up there!"
He pointed with his meter to the catwalk. The other two, the slightly tubby guy and the black guy, aimed their guns up. A weird, greenish- coloured creature appeared, and was drawn downwards by the energy beams. It was larger than a man, with a huge, slavering mouth full of teeth, and long arms. Nightwing watched from the shadows as the team got the thing into a metal unit that was the size of a shoebox. This done, they all relaxed somewhat.
"Hey, if that guy wasn't the ghost, who was he?" one of them asked.
Nightwing used the moment to step out into the light.
"More to the point," he said pleasantly, "who are you?"
"We're the Ghostbusters!" the short, tubby one burst out. At Nightwing's silence and raised eyebrow, he tried to explain. "We trap ghosts, y'know, to stop them, well, bothering people."
"I'm Egon Spengler," the tall blond spoke up. "And my associates are Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddmore," he continued, pointing out each in turn before asking, "who are you?"
"Call me Nightwing. So that was a ghost? Didn't look like any I've seen."
"Yeah!" Ray said excitedly, "that was the genuine ectoplasm. You shoulda seen the readings we got on the Psycho-Kinetic Energy meter!"
Ray sounded exactly like a child to Nightwing's ears, excited at a new toy.
"Uh huh?" Nightwing managed to speak, despite the laughter that threatened to explode. "But why are you here?"
"Well, we're based in New York," Winston explained, "but we got called in here to Bludhaven by several people complaining of hauntings. That was the last ghost."
"Yeah, we're going back home now," Peter put in, "maybe, uh, see you around some time."
Nightwing watched them go, carrying their equipment carefully. Using the shadows to hide in, he waited while they loaded their car, climbed in, and eventually drove off, after fierce arguments as to who was driving. He followed them on his de-cel cables, until he was completely sure that they were well on their way out of town.
Turning then for home, he thought about what they had said about ghosts. The only ghosts he had seen had been in his New York apartment, when he had been living and working with the Titans. It had been a little girl's ghost, and she had led them to find the bodies of her parents. The skeletons had been concealed in the wall of his apartment, a fact that Gar had found mildly amusing.
Shaking his head, Nightwing went to go and beat up some two-bit muggers, just for the sheer normality of it.
End.
A/n: 'Ghost Story' was in New Teen Titans (vol. 2) no. 12. Is definitely worth reading for the sight of Dick Grayson stepping out of the shower (drool) and getting locked out of his apartment in nothing but a towel. Let the good times roll! By the way, what is the difference between 'The Ghostbusters' and 'The Real Ghostbusters'? I don't know, but I do know that "bustin' makes me feel good!"