First published 09/10/16

Last edited 05/05/20

someone asked when does this story take place in the gravity falls timeline, and so i'd like to clarify. this story takes place before the episode not what he seems from season 2, so basically, everything before ford. as for the danny phantom timeline, this happens after reality trip in season 2, during danny's summer vacation. thanks!


Chapter 2

"Remind me again, where are we even headed now?" Danny asked, looking out the window of the RV. It was now late morning, and the entire family was now fully awake and fully aware of Jack's unfortunate sense of direction. By now, they were somewhere in northwestern Oregon.

"Hm… Probably some place in the middle of absolutely nowhere that none of us have even heard of?" Jazz answered, resting her chin on her hand.

Danny passed her a sideways glance. "Wow, you're helpful."

"Glad to be of service." she replied with an eye-roll, glancing towards her window side.

Danny looked to his own window, and yelped in surprise when he saw a small gnome scatter out of the trees.

"What is it?" Jazz frowned.

Danny stared out the window, wide eyed. "…I'm not exactly sure."

Thinking it nothing but a figment of his imagination, he rubbed his eyes, but to add to his growing paranoia, it was still there. He could have sworn he heard it say something along the lines of 'shmebulock' before running back into the forest. Danny crinkled his nose in thought.

Gnome ghost?

"Hey kids, it looks like we're pulling up near a town!" Maddie beamed, gesturing at the passing road signs. "But… for some reason…" she trailed off, pausing to take a look at her map-filled booklet. It was turned to a page of the state of Oregon, and Maddie frowned at it in confusion. "There doesn't seem to be any towns in this whole area according to this map."

Danny looked up. "Wait, what?"

"Doesn't show on the GPS either!" Jack added, but despite the family's confusion, they were in fact nearing a town amidst the greenery of seemingly endless pine trees.

"So… where exactly are we?" Jazz asked, meeting eyes with Danny, who shared the same concerned expression. Danny's familiar feelings of paranoia were beginning to rest itself deep down in his stomach, causing it to do flips and turns.

The next passing road sign answered the family's questions as soon as it was seen. The tall, wooden elevated billboard loomed over the GAV with a simple, innocent phrase with thick block letters that spelled out: Welcome to Gravity Falls, Oregon!

The sign itself looked like it had been broken multiple times and repaired again, causing the wooden exterior to appear shabby and worn out to the brink of breaking again. In simpler terms, it looked like it had been broken through entirely with a small car. Or a golf cart.

"Gravity Falls? What kind of a name for a town is that?" Danny mumbled.

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought we were still lost in the woods. Well, I guess we can stay in this town for a few days, then!" she said cheerfully, turning around to face Danny and Jazz.

"Oh. Great." Danny said dryly, slouching in his seat.

"Gravity Falls… Why have I never heard of that place before?" Jazz thought aloud.

"So you're finally admitting that you don't know everything?" Danny jumped in, sitting upright out of his slouch with a smug expression. Jazz glowered at him in response.

"Must be a pretty small town, then, sweetie," Maddie supplied, ignoring Danny's comment.

"Or it could be some sort of ghostly scheme designed to trick us." Jack said darkly, narrowing his eyes at the road in front of him.

Or not." Jazz said, and raised an eyebrow.

"I hope not." Danny muttered.

"This can be fun! Family bonding, you guys!" Maddie tried, but neither Danny or Jazz smiled in return.

"...Yeah!" Jazz agreed, and when Danny didn't say anything, delivered a swift elbow to his gut. He made a small noise and then mumbled a 'yeah' quickly.

Minutes passed as the GAV drove further into Gravity Falls, both Jazz and Danny taking in the sights. They drove past a rusty water tower on fragile stilts and a beautifully serene lake leading to a sparkling waterfall deeper into the greenery. It seemed that the nature parts of this town were better appearing than the man made things.

A peaceful silence grew as the family observed the town from the windows, the only noise being the thick whir of the engine. It grew increasingly louder as Jack suddenly floored on the gas pedal with mad intent. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and everyone lurched backwards with the sudden speed of the vehicle.

"Is he driving faster and worse than usual or is it just me?" Jazz asked as she glanced at Danny, who gritted his teeth and nodded quickly.

"It's not just you," he responded.

"Uhm, dad—"

"GHOST!" Jack yelled, much to the shock of his children and excitement of his wife.

"Where?!" Maddie asked, dropping her map booklet, looking around in every possible direction through her peripheral view. Jazz opened her mouth in disbelief and stared bug-eyed at Danny. He mirrored her expression, and they both looked at the windshield to see what Jack had thought was a ghost.

From where he was sitting in the back of the RV, Danny couldn't see the windshield of the car, so he had to assume what was there, and what wasn't there. My ghost sense hasn't gone off, Danny thought, so he came to the conclusion that whatever Jack thought was a ghost was clearly not a ghost. Jazz beat him to it, and nearly jumped out of her seat to alert their dad. Danny finally moved out of his seat far enough so he could see what was in front of them. It wasn't a ghost.

Jazz waved her arms around in the air. "Dad, wait, that's not—"

"Watch out for that totem pole!" Danny yelled, and Jack swerved off the road harshly, making the car spin out of control, heading towards the very same totem pole in the large clearing. Everyone screamed as the vehicle rammed straight for the pole, knocking it right over.

THUD.

"Hey look, a gift shop!"


The motel they had pulled up to was less than welcoming. Then again, neither were the faces of the townspeople after Jack had crashed them into the totem pole. A few blank and concerned stares later, they had settled into their new rooms. The 'kids' room wasn't very spacious, but they knew that in contrast to staying a few days in the GAV, the motel by far was pretty luxurious in comparison.

"Man, this room is small. This entire motel might as well be a log cabin," Danny commented as he set his suitcase on the floor. He looked around the room and deflated. So much for the nice hotel they were supposed to stay at in Santa Monica. Instead, they were stuck here. It wasn't ugly, just disappointing.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jazz agreed.

Danny pulled out his phone for the first time in a day and sighed in relief when he found that although there looked to be only one cell tower in the town, he had service.

"Well, at least one thing about this whole situation isn't entirely bad." Danny said aloud, and walked over to where Jazz was standing. "They have cell service here."

She dropped her bags on the ground, making a soft thud. "I know, I checked it when we first pulled up at this dingy motel. Unfortunately, they don't have internet here. Well, free internet, anyway."

His shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Darnit. I guess I won't be video chatting with Sam and Tucker anytime soon."

"Well, just be thankful for the cell service. Which bed do you want?" Jazz asked, eyeing her little brother as she set her books down on the desk.

Danny shoved his phone back in his pocket and frowned. He surveyed both the beds before making a running leap and proceeded to jump stomach-first on the bed by the window, making a small oompf noise as he landed. He didn't move from his landing position, instead choosing to be sprawled out on top of the bed. "I think I want this one," he mumbled lazily, voice muffled through the pillow.

"Fine with me," Jazz said, and opened her suitcase to begin unpacking. There became a heavy yet comfortable silence between the two as Danny lay on the bed thinking and Jazz going through her bags. The only sounds that were heard in the room were the occasional noise of Jazz's items shuffling in her bag as she moved them around.

Danny had wanted the bed closest to the window so he could see the stars at night. He was looking forward to being able to enjoy them without the 'big city' light pollution. Although that was the main reason, he tried his hardest to push the thought of having to use the window as an escape hatch during this trip if something involved with ghosts were to occur. Soon enough, it came to the point where he could no longer push away the thoughts of every possible thing that could go wrong.

"Jazz?" he asked, not bothering to move from his paralyzed position.

"Yes, little brother?"

Danny lifted his head from its position and turned around, lying on his back. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think something ghost-related is going to happen on this trip?" Jazz sighed, and stopped rifling through her things.

"Danny, nothing ghostly is going to happen. Ghosts are an Amity Park thing. If you haven't noticed, we're thousands of miles away from Illinois. I think you're just getting paranoid about ghosts here. Dad made a wrong turn and sure, we ended up in this weird town, and sure we crashed in a pole because dad thought it was a ghost, but that doesn't equal to a ghost problem! This isn't a working vacation, and as far as I'm concerned, there aren't any ghosts in Gravity Falls!" Jazz exclaimed, and sat down on the edge of her bed.

Danny sat upright immediately. "Okay, but I swear on the way here I saw a gnome just walk out of the forest and talk, Jazz. Walk. Gnomes aren't supposed to walk. Or talk. Or move! They should be inanimate, in a garden! Tell me it's not the work of some kind of weird forest gnome ghost!"

Jazz held a hand up to her own forehead. "I think your mind may be playing tricks on you at this point, Danny. It must be because you're so used to the presence of ghosts around, or rather, ghosts appearing, and something negative having to happen so often that you've become used to it, so now being in a different environment without that constant paranoia and danger, your mind is set to anxiously anticipating what may or may not happen next. It could be a fear. Fear of not be able to save someone, fear of oblivion, fear of suffering, or loved ones suffering, fear of death–"

"I'm already half-dead, Jazz."

"Or, maybe it could be an overactive thyroid or a sign of some other developing physiological illness? Or–"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Danny interrupted.

Jazz shrugged as she took a small breath of air. "I care about you, Danny, I'm only trying to let you know the psychological aspects behind all this excessive worrying of yours."

"Jazz, you don't need to psychotically analyze me, or whatever. Remember what happened last time you did?"

She huffed, ignoring that last comment. "Psychoanalysis, Danny. Sigmund Freud ring a bell?"

"Who?"

"Nevermind," she sighed. "Danny, I'm trying to say that I understand you're worried, but you really shouldn't be. If you continue to be on the lookout for trouble, you will find it soon. So just, ease up on the ghostly anticipation, for now, yeah?" Jazz suggested with a light smile.

"Yeah, okay." Danny agreed.

They had a new day ahead of them in Gravity Falls. Maybe this town is actually normal– and in that case, Danny didn't have anything to worry about.

After all, what town could be weirder than Amity Park?


thanks for reading!

-dannyghost :)