Alan Harnum wrote:
As the only point of this thread seems to be the question 'Is Ghostbusters
anime?' and the original author of the post said at the start he has no
intention of writing anything involving the series at this time, all
parties involved or interested in continuing it are asked to take it
someplace where it isn't off-topic spam. The thread is banned.
This list's stated purpose is the posting and discussion of fanfics related
to anime and manga, and topics related to them such as story ideas. "Is
<x> anime?" is a subject much more suited for one of the anime newsgroups
such as rec.arts.anime.creative, which have a broader focus.
To plagarize Jeopardy, "all answers must be in the form of a 'fic." Or
something like that. ^_-
---
"Yo, Egon, it's happening again!"
The bespectacled scientist, hair still in the same 'do from his long
since terminated days as a college professor, looked up at the only
non-Caucasian member of his mercenary squad. Over the years, the
Ghostbusters had investigated almost every known kind (and several
formerly unknown kinds) of spectre, phantasm, and other paranormal
beings. Though most of their business centered in New York City - that
being the most active place for paranormal activity on Earth, thanks to
the (now deceased) demigod whose coming caused the Ghostbusters to form
in the first place - they had fielded calls all over the Earth, in low
Earth orbit, in the past and the future, and even several dimensions
close to Earth's. (They tried to avoid extradimensional calls, though:
their equipment was expensive to maintain, leading to constant financial
headaches, and residents of other dimensions were almost universally
either unwilling to pay, or unable to pay in any currency that would be
accepted on Earth.)
Yet, even with all that, Egon had never seen anything quite like what
now possessed his colleage, Peter.
"This isn't good. I hate to admit it, but I don't even know what to
look for here. He shows up as perfectly normal on every scan I can
think of." Egon gestured to a rack of scientific equipment, a large
amount of it hand-crafted by necessity. "The electrodes *are* still
attached to him, right, Winston?"
His colleague, still in the doorway, looked out for a bit and winced as
a cry of "SLIMER NO BAKA!" echoed, then turned towards Egon again.
"Yeah, they're on him. And he just put Slimer through the roof again.
I don't know where that mallet goes, but it can sure dish out the
property damage. And this *is* our property, this time. Are you sure
we couldn't put him in the alley outside?"
Egon shook his head. "It might not be wise to allow Peter to leave the
building at this moment, just in case whatever he's under is
infectious."
"You think it might be a disease or something?"
"It could be *anything*, and I don't want to take chances."
A plump, redheaded head slid into view - almost seeming like a ghost in
its sudden appearance, though Egon knew it belonged to the fourth member
of the squad. "Actually, I have an idea. Got your packs ready?"
The question was superfluous for Winston, as his backpack nuclear
accelerator was clearly visible, but Egon had to dig around for a few
seconds before pulling his into view. "Right here. What's your plan,
Ray?"
"If I'm right, I know how to scare what's got Peter into showing itself.
But I don't know how long it'll last. We might have only a few
seconds." Ray hefted a makeshift metal box with black and yellow
safety stripes on one side, and a long, industrial thick cord on
another. "If I'm wrong, we lose nothing. Sound like a plan?"
Winston shrugged. "If you think you've got it, let's try it. Egon?"
Egon sighed. "I'm only doing this because I'm out of options. I'd like
to study it a bit more, but..."
"Come on, man. It's *Peter*. We can't just leave him hanging."
Egon nodded. "That's why I'm out of options. What should we look for,
Ray?"
Ray shrugged. "You'll know it when you see it, if I'm right. I'm just
going on a guess here, guys." He backed away from the door, letting
Winston and Egon leave the lab, then proceeded down the hall to where
the classic image of a con man - classic, except for his uniform: a set
of jacket, pants, and boots that looked like it could, with the right
gloves and a helmet, become a fully enclosed biohazard suit - sat,
surrounded by a flaming red aura. "Peter?"
"I can't be*LIEVE* the nerve of that slimeball. He ate my lunch right
out of my hands!"
"Peter, calm down. We need you to keep very still for a few moments, so
we don't accidentally hit you."
Peter looked up, but even before he saw his colleagues he recognized the
distinctive whine of Egon's and Winston's weapons powering up. A
tear-shaped drop of whitish liquid formed, and hovered in the air next
to his head.
Winston blinked. "That our target?"
Ray, still holding the box with one hand, pointed a boxy sensor at the
drop with his other. "No. It's supposed to be a sweatdrop."
Igon peered at the drop. "To produce that much sweat in that short a
time would dehydrate..."
"Don't worry. Just get ready. Peeeter?"
Peter looked up at Ray's smiling face. "Yes?"
"CARL MACEK!"
Almost instantly, an apparition jumped up out of Peter's body. It
looked just like Peter - or it would, if Peter's dimensions were
distorted to that of a four foot tall plushy charicature of some action
hero. "AAAH! WHERE, WHERE?!?!?"
Ray's sensor went wild, beeping, flashing lights, and displaying a sine
wave on its main display like there was no tomorrow. "Get him!"
The words had barely escaped Ray's mouth when Igon and Winston let loose
twin streams of energized particles, forming two loops of yellow energy
(with smaller, bluish-white streams circling around them) that encased
the ghost.
"Peter, CATCH!" Ray tossed the box to Peter, who caught it and held the
striped side towards the box as if they had practiced this drill (which
they had: on the rare occasion that they had time to train, Egon came up
with all manner of unusual situations that it might be good to practice,
given their work). As Peter caught it, Ray dropped a button attached to
the other side of the box's cord on the floor, and stepped on it with
his foot. More streams of energy shot from the striped zone towards
the ghost and pulled it inside, letting only a few wisps of steam escape
from the ghost's body to dissolve into the atmosphere.
Egon and Winston shut off their accelerators as the ghost went down,
then powered them down. Winston smiled at yet another victory as he did
so. "What tipped you off, Ray?"
"Remember that anime catalog I've been going through for research on
modern Japanese legends? I noticed one of their tapes in the VCR, but
it wasn't one I'd looked at yet. I'm pretty sure neither of you would
be interested in 'La Blue Girl', and the things Peter's been doing are
stereotypical in anime."