Chapter 2: Something strange in the neighborhood

Emergency workers, members of the press, and the ordinary citizens of Jump City gathered around as the Ghostbusters made their way through the front door of the night club. Cameras flashed as news reporters shouted their questions at the boys in grey (or beige for this night) tried to make their way to the Ecto-1. Well most of them did as Vankman always loved the limelight that this job usually brought. "Hey with the cameras, this is my good side. Fair people of Jump City, you can rest easy knowing that 24/7 the Ghostbusters are on call. Remember, no job is too big, no fee is too big, and we're ready to believe you!" he proclaimed loudly for the surrounding crowd.

The Titans made their way out following the Ghostbusters. it was strange to them that none of the reporters had any questions for them which was ok because they really didn't have any answers anyways. They had been completely trounced just a few moments ago, and had it taken any longer for the Ghostbusters to show up, they may not have been around. Still, it was a tough loss that everyone on the team was feeling. "Dudes did you see that box thingy, it was all glowy inside, and those laser things that caught the ghost. Man that was cool." Said Beast Boy as who was still in awe of the equipment he had seen. "Beast Boy you work with stuff that fires lasers all the time." Said Raven in her monotone. "Yeah but still lasers are cool." He replied as Raven simply shook her head at his simple mindedness.

As the Titans reached the T-car a voice called out to them. "Excuse me, can we have a moment of your time?" the voice asked with a just a hint of excitement about his voice. "I'm sorry but right now the Teen Titans have no comment." Said Robin as he turned to see Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore in place of where he thought he'd see reporters. "Sorry to bother you but we almost forgot one last issue of protocol." Said Ray as he undid the lid from a clear plastic container. "We'd like to collect the ectoplasmic residue that's left over on the items that made contact with the ghost back there." Ray said extending the container towards Robin. "Umm Mister Ghostbuster dude, what is Encino Palace residue?" asked Beastboy, the young changeling again overwhelmed by the technical vernacular that was used. "Simply put its slime." Answered Winston. Robin gave an agreeing nod before handing over his bow-staff. "Thanks a lot kids." Said ray as he opened another container "No problem." Said Robin as he lifted up his boot to have the slimy mucous scraped off.

"Ma'am I believe you also made contact with one of the ghost as well." Said Ray. Raven obliged by trying to wring out her cloak over the container Winston was holding. "Thanks again, and remember any leftover slime should wash out after the third or fourth go in the machine." Said Ray as he and Winston turned and waved goodbye. "So now that we had to our butts handed to us by a couple of poltergeist, what do we do now?" asked Cyborg as he sat down in the driver's seat. "We start trying to figure out how to defend ourselves from them, and how to send them back to wherever it is they came from." Answered Robin with an air of determination about his voice, even if it was a bit more for show to keep the team's spirits up.

"I hope so." Starfire whispered under her breath. She was silent throughout the ride home, her mind going over everything that had transpired. The Titans had face enemies who were strong but these ghosts as they were called, couldn't even be touched. Her powers, Robin's skill, Beast Boy's morphing ability, and maybe even Cyborgs Technology were useless. The only one of the Titans who could even stand a chance was Raven and even she had some sort of weakness against one of those things.

The doors of Titan's Tower wooshed open as the five teenage superheroes entered the living room. Cyborg headed to the fridge to see if there were enough cold cuts to make another sandwich. Beast Boy flipped on the TV skipping through the channels as fast as the images appeared. Raven headed to the roof to finish her meditation. Starfire quietly made her way back to her room hoping not to have to talk about the evening's events. Robin was about to head to the crime lab in Titan's Tower to log whatever evidence he had into the main computer when his communicator started to beep. A man in his early 50's with a short stubby nose, salt and pepper hair, squinty eyes, and a big round cheeks appeared on the palm size screen. "Mr. Mayor what's the emergency?" Asked Robin with steely determination in his voice, he'd be damned if he lost two fights in the same night. "Robin, I wanted you to know that the city has entered into a contract with the Ghostbusters for their services. As the contract stipulates the city will have to provide lodging with adequate power and work space, and seeing as that only five people live in a giant tower right off the shore I thought Titans Tower would be the best place for them."

"Mr. Mayor I'm not totally sure if that's a good idea. Titan's Tower is a secure fortress for us Titans, and bringing in four complete strangers might not be such a good idea, we've had issues like this before." Images of a blonde haired girl with blue eyes flashed through Robin's Head as he spoke. None of the Titans brought up the betrayal after Terra's sacrifice. "On top of that, all our space is being used; there are floors of equipment for working out, tending to injuries, developing weapons to help us in combat, as well as living quarters, and storage for evidence and vehicles." Robin felt he was winning the argument. "Come on now Robin. I am sure that you can make some room, especially after they save you from that beat down you got."

Robin thought it over for a few minutes, he didn't like the security issues his team might face. Nor that his arm was being twisted. On the other hand he probably owed his life, and Starfire's to these men, and having them around might help them figure out a way to fight back against any ghost that might pop up in the future. "Okay, they can stay. But I'm counting this as a favor." Robin knew saying that was meaningless, the current administration was in its final year and even if it wasn't what more could the local government do for him or the Titans. "Thank you Robin." Said the mayor as abruptly cut off the feed from his end.

Meanwhile as the two teams prepared themselves to share a living space, someone sat cloaked in darkness. Before him laid a map of the city which he gazed over intently. As he sat hunched over it, he reached out his right hand straight out to his side. His eyes never leaving the map as he found the object he sought with a blind instinct. "Thing's are getting interesting." He said with a cool, flat voice. "The Titans can't fight, but they can." He continued as he clutched the handle firmly, with a vice like grip that was somewhat cathartic in relieving the annoyed frustration that welled up inside him. "Things will have to progress more quickly, less they throw a wrench into all I have planed." He said just as cold, and calculated as stuck the pointed tip of the steel into the tip of his finger. "This city will bow before me as it's master, and nothing can prevent that." He said dabbing his bloody finger on the map.

About an hour after Robin made the announcement to the team the barge carrying the Ghostbusters and their equipment arrived on the island. The four New York natives rang the bell to be let in. "It looks bigger from the shore." said Vankman. The elevator door brought them up to the living room where the Titans stood waiting. After the two groups introduced themselves properly, Robin and Cyborg showed Egon and Ray the area where their Proton Packs, Traps, and other devices would go. "Is the portable containment unit ready to go?" Ray asked Egon as he moved a box of traps from the Ecto-1. "Almost, did you get the ectoplasm samples I asks for?" He replied never taking his eyes off the containment unit (He remembered well what happened the last time it failed and the damage the subsequent damage could cause.) upstairs Peter and Winston were trading some war stories with Cyborg "So the judge is sentencing us and he starts yelling and screaming, and all of a sudden the slime starts bubbling. Me, Ray, and Egon know something's about to happen so we get behind cover and the next thing we know, BOOM! I look over and I see the judge under the table with us and he starts saying do something, so we tell him to try telling them he doesn't believe in ghost."

"Not bad but this one time this guy named Psychoteck was smashing up the city, so me and gang all head out to try and stop him…" Cyborg was cut off mid-sentence by the trademark opening of a door in Titan's Tower. It was Raven, who made her way over to the kitchen cupboard to grab her tea kettle. "So Raven, how old are you?" asked Winston trying to be friendly. "Old enough to not have to answer that question." Raven deadpanned back. The smile that was on Winston's face disappeared, in its place was the look of a man who wondered if he said something wrong earlier. It wasn't what he said at all, it was something from earlier in the night. Something that happened as she began to regain her strength after that thing had nearly sucked the life out of her. Something about the way Egon had pointed to her after he pulled Peter aside at the nightclub didn't sit right with her, maybe it was because they didn't just come up and say what it was, maybe it was something else. Whatever it was it didn't help that they weren't saying anything about since the incident, even though they were now living in the tower.

Ray and Egon came up to the living room, Ray came in empty handed while Egon had his PKE meter in his hand. "Well, it's up and running. We are now open for business." Said Ray, the smirk of a job well done painted across his face. "Great, so how are you gonna stop the ghost from crossing over?" asked Cyborg. "Well, Tomorrow We'll see where the ghost have showing up at and see if there's any pattern." Said Egon "From there I can go down to the hall of records and see if there is any history if spiritual turbulence." Added Ray. "Maybe me and Peter here can check to see if we missed anything at the club last night." Said Winston. "Awe I was going shopping tomorrow." Peter whined in a sardonic tone, although if he really was given a choice between the two he would much rather go shopping.

"Titans, lights out in five minutes, we're gonna have a long day tomorrow, because we'll be helping the Ghostbusters figure out how to get rid of Jump City's ghost infestation." Ordered Robin.

"Goodnight y'all, Ghostbusters I'm about to put the tower on lockdown for the night so you might want to get to bed before you set off the alarm." Said Cyborg as he started to fiddle with the security panel on the wall.

"Sure thing, see you tomorrow." Said Ray as the teams headed to their respective rooms. Getting off the elevator Egon went to one of the shelves that held various ghost catching equipment, each step with strong sense of purpose, he didn't like the conclusion his train of thought was arriving at, and was hoping that he was gravely mistaken for once. "Ray?" Egon called "Yeah Egon?" he replied "Do you know where the Tobin's Sprit Guide is?" he asked as he scanned the shelves . "Third shelf on the right. Why do you ask?" said Ray curiously "I took some PKE readings upstairs, they were higher than usual."

Ray was a little confused by this "I thought they were just leftover readings from the slime." Said ray now beginning to wonder what Egon was exactly trying to look up in the book. "I thought that at first too. But when I used the PKE the readings were in normal range except in one area. That girl, the one with the pale skin, the readings I got from her were higher than before. Then there's the conduit." Egon stated. "What about the conduit?" Ray asked hoping that his partner in science had suddenly devolved a bad sense of humor (as oppose to not having a sense of humor as usual) "What do Conduits do?" Egon asked knowing that Ray knew the answer. "They store Psychokinetic energy by draining it from cursed artifacts." Ray said looking up at Egon. A moment of silence passed before Ray spoke "You think that young girl is a cursed artifact?" Ray asked wearily.

"Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?" Egon asked in return, again he knew that Ray knew the answer.

To be continued