HELLO I'M ALIVE YES ITS BEEN ANOTHER TWO MONTHS AND IM EMBARRASSED BUT I FINISHED AND HERE IT IS


Chapter 9

Danny couldn't help but feel odd after the whole 'clearing in the woods' ordeal. He had apparently tripped over a rock in surprise after seeing a deer, and hit his head on the way down, losing consciousness. Or at least, that's what Dipper had repeatedly insisted as they made their way back to the river.

He still felt that something was missing in Dipper's retelling of what happened, but it could easily have been his active paranoia striking again. Either Dipper was lying to him, or he really was just losing it. But after seeing some of the weird creatures in Gravity Falls already, why would Dipper lie to him about what happened? Well technically, I lied too about not being a creature, his conscience suggested. But that's not important, the rational part of his brain fought back.

He supposed that tripping over a rock would be sufficient enough for an explanation, yet for some reason, there remained a lingering thought of… a floating yellow triangle?

Danny blinked at the absurdity of his own thoughts, nearly stopping in his tracks. Doubt plagued his mind as he thought about it, and briefly considered asking Dipper if he knew anything about it, to get some kind of confirmation. After all, whatever was stuck on his mind, must be stuck there for a reason, right?

"Uh, hey Dipper?"

"Hm?"

The teen glanced at him, trying his best to choose his words carefully before he spoke. The last thing he wanted was for Dipper to think he was some kind of lunatic for asking what he was about to ask, but it wouldn't hurt to try getting some answer from him. "You wouldn't happen to… let's say, know anything about some kind of floating yellow triangle, right?"

"Nope," Dipper swallowed, turning to face Danny with a facial expression that screamed of panic, and quite possibly guilt, before forcibly giving a smile. "Why, uh, why would you think that?" he asked casually.

Danny raised a brow, but continued anyways. "Well, it's just all I can think of. Maybe it was just a part of my dream when I was unconscious, I don't know. It's just been stuck on my mind for some reason, y'know?" He flashed his teeth in a small half smile in an attempt not to sound accusatory.

"Oh," Dipper said simply, breathing a sigh of relief as he spoke. He bit his lip before speaking again. "Maybe you… maybe when you fell, there was a... nacho chip next to the rock, and it was the last thing you saw before you went unconscious…?" he tried with a nervous smile.

Danny squinted at him skeptically as they trailed the path along the woods. "Since when are there nacho chips in the forest?"

"Soos carries nacho chips with him all the time, and he's in the forest," he began, "maybe he... uh, maybe he dropped some there. Yup," he clarified, nodding warily as he spoke. His facial expression seemed to entirely disagree with whatever he was saying.

Danny frowned. Dipper's story was obviously far fetched, even for him, and Danny was beginning to see that he was clearly lying to him. "But Soos was never in that clearing. He's all the way by the river..." he trailed off.

"Uh… look over there!" Dipper suddenly shouted, pointing in a random direction. "A gnome!"

Danny looked around. "What? Where? I don't see a–"

"Oh, haha, nevermind, it was probably just a tree…" Dipper interrupted, brushing off his prior claim with ease.

"Right," Danny agreed uneasily. What exactly was going through that kid's head? He really seems like he's hiding something, he thought, and slowly came to the conclusion that Dipper definitely knew something that he wasn't telling. Unfortunately, before he could ask anything else, Danny realized that they had made it back to the river.

Dipper nudged his shoulder. "Hey, look, there's the others!" he exclaimed as he ran ahead, leaving Danny behind. He ran to catch up with him, only to be confused as to why Dipper had suddenly stopped, and soon laid eyes upon the same sight.

Wendy, Mabel and Soos looked like they had just gone through the entire apocalypse, complete with tattered clothes and makeshift weapons in their hands.

Were Dipper and I really gone long enough for all of this to happen? Exactly how long was I unconscious?! Was that a leaf blower in Mabel's hands? And what kind of liquid is Wendy's axe covered in? Danny thought, horrified. "So you guys went through a war, and I hit my head against a rock? What else did I miss? A monster or something?"

Dipper ran straight towards his sister, bracing himself for the worst possible scenario to come out of his sister's mouth. "Mabel! What happened?! You look– you look horrible, why are there holes in your clothes!? Why are you holding the leafblower like that?! Wait, are you still mad at me? Because I–"

"DIPPER!" She yelled, interrupting his blabbering to engulf Dipper in a bear hug. "You missed it! I totally fought off the Mothman," she claimed, stepping back to leave room for him to breathe. She then rustled the leaves out of her hair before combing her fingers through the tangled mess, using her free hand that wasn't equipped with the leaf blower.

Wendy raised a brow. "You sure?" she asked with a small laugh. "Cause last time I checked, I was doing most of the fighting."

Mabel smiled bashfully. "Okay, well Wendy helped," she gave in.

"Helped? Man, if it weren't for me we'd be moth food!" Wendy started, only to be hushed by Mabel. She snorted in response, and the girls playfully nudged each other.

"The Mothman?! You were attacked by him? I've been searching for his presence for the longest time and I– Wait, so you're not still mad about before?" Dipper babbled worriedly, stopping his own train of thought. The last time he had talked to Mabel before he went to go find Danny, was, uncoincidentally about Danny, and she had left him after being annoyed by his theories about the teen. Which, turned to be untrue after getting reassurance from Danny that he was in fact a human, but that was to be debated later.

"Well," Mabel drawled, "I was, but when you think you're about to get eaten alive by an army of moths, you learn to let things go," she laughed.

Dipper sagged his shoulders in relief with the confirmation that his twin was no longer mad at him, but still was uneasy towards her casualness towards her near death experience. "That's good to hear, but also pretty concerning… are you sure you guys are okay?"

"Never better!" Mabel insisted. Dipper gave her a cynical look in return.

"I am a changed man." Soos declared loudly, brandishing a long, pointed stick, before letting out a short chuckle. "Dudes, I stabbed so many bugs with this stick."

"I feel like that was enough adventure for the week. Or for the next month," Wendy added dully, shoving her handheld axe back into her belt.

Mabel grinned victoriously, lifting up her leaf blower in the air. "See, guys! Yet another anomolomaly–"

"–anomaly–" Dipper corrected.

"–Anomaly that the leafblower wins against!"

Dipper looked at their surroundings by the river, taking in the battlefield-like state of where they stood. He raised an eyebrow, and while feeling both proud and concerned for his sister and friends taking on a creature like that, he also had a pounding question. "Mabel, how did you even manage to beat the Mothman with a leaf blower?"

His sister grinned deviously in reply, before patting the leaf blower in her hands proudly without saying anything. Dipper raised an eyebrow, knowing Mabel well enough to know what on Earth she had meant by her questionable actions.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Danny asked confusedly.

Dipper narrowed his eyes in thought. "You sucked up all the moths, didn't you?"

"Correct!" Mabel clarified, pumping a fist into the air unceremoniously.

Dipper groaned. "I can't believe you guys found an anomaly from the journal and I wasn't even there to see it," he complained. "I've been searching for traces of the Mothman for days!"

"Hey dude, if it's any consolation, it was totally awesome."

"That's… that doesn't help, Soos."

"I know," the handyman shrugged. "Worth a try though."

Wendy snickered.

"So," Danny began awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Is anyone actually still game for looking for that plaidypus thing or not, because I think we can all agree we're tired, and we'll be walking home in the dark if we don't leave soon."

The others looked around at each other before tugging their lips into a half smile of agreeance, except for Soos, who looked slightly disappointed. "I was looking forward to seeing the little dude."

"Hey, we saw a freaky duck with its own organs coming out of its own mouth today. I call that a win. Even if we didn't find the plaidypus, there's always next time, right?" Wendy reasoned.

"Right!" Mabel agreed.

Danny looked between the group of four standing together in the clearing. They do seem to be capable after all, he thought, coming to the conclusion that they were a bit like him and his own friends back in Amity Park. Sam and Tucker were always ready to fight ghosts by his side, and likewise, these four here were always ready to solve whatever mysteries together that lurked in Gravity Falls.

I guess there really are towns that are as weird as Amity Park, if not weirder, Danny mused, as the group began to walk along the forest path. This town has definitely got something going on, more than it's letting on.

He immediately thought back to his earlier conversation with Jazz back at the motel before he left, and then the feeling of overarching guilt followed along with it. He really needed to apologize to her when he got back.

The last thing he wanted was to ruin their family vacation, but then again, how long were they even staying in Gravity Falls? Their parents seemed interested enough to stay, but weren't they dead set on going to California before they ended up here? He hadn't even wanted to come in the first place, yet here he was, in the forest of a weird town with some people he met yesterday.

He's done weirder things.

But now he was beginning to dread answering all of Jazz's questions when he arrived back. At least she'll be happy he made new friends, right? She usually bagged on him for only having Sam and Tuck as friends, so now she couldn't complain anymore. Wait, did these guys even count as friends?

He did only meet them yesterday, but Wendy seemed friendly enough for her to consider him as a friend. Soos, he hadn't interacted with much, but from what he got, he was a funny guy who just happened to be there, doing his own thing. Soos… was Soos.

The twins, on the other hand, were a different story. Mabel seemed open enough, if not a little too open, and was definitely on the touchy side. And Dipper… things were more complicated. After (correctly) accusing him of being supernatural, they worked it out, then Danny apparently hit his head against a rock and passed out, and now everything was fine?

Yep, definitely not telling Jazz about that last part.

As they all walked back, Danny felt satisfied with their 'adventure' despite the odd encounter towards the end. If such a strange creature actually existed in nature, was it possible that the mystery shack held further truths? Danny thought back to the exhibits. Not likely… but the mirror in the gift shop surprisingly did more than expected.

"Hey, so about the Mystery Shack… are some of those exhibits...real? Like the duck we saw?" Danny asked aloud, finally voicing his thoughts.

"Well, no, most of the things that Grunkle Stan sells are fake, but then again there's sometimes real artifacts in the Shack and even real weirder things in the town that do all sorts of crazy stuff… but no one in Gravity Falls really believes it." Dipper explained.

"Except us!" Mabel added.

Dipper gave a half smile. "Yeah, I mean, the people here are kind of oblivious," he continued, and then paused, "No offence, guys," he added quickly, looking at Wendy and Soos.

"None taken," Soos shrugged.

"Hey, it's true," Wendy answered. "But we've seen it with our own eyes. The real stuff, man."

"So like, are there real artifacts in the Shack?" Danny asked, his thoughts going back to the mirror that had revealed his form to Stan, even when he had gone invisible. "Like what?"

"More than you think, dude!" Soos exclaimed, resting a hand on Danny's shoulder.

Mabel turned and smiled mischievously. "I guess you'll have to go on the tour and find out!" she added with the most dramatic voice she could muster.

Dipper laughed along with her. "The exhibits in the shop are nothing but cheap hoaxes. In fact, my Great uncle Stan sometimes asks me to come up with new exhibits. We've tried going out on a limb and using real creatures, but…. the public can't exactly handle it," he added sheepishly.

"Can't handle it? Brobro, you totally almost killed those people!" Mabel snorted with laughter.

Dipper gave her a miffed look. "I had it under control! It was you who–"

Mabel plugged her fingers in her ears and circled around the group. "LALALALALALA! Take the fall Dipper!" she yelled loudly at her twin, the latter sighing exasperatedly.

"Mabel!"

Danny sighed in content at the now bickering twins. "Man. After everything today, I can confidently say this place is just as weird as Amity Park," he commented aloud. "If not, weirder..." he mumbled contentedly.

The group had managed to reach the clearing in front of the Mystery Shack in one piece after a little while longer, despite all the trouble they had endured on their conquest to find the plaidypus. Mabel, Soos and Wendy still weren't in prime condition after their run in with the Mothman, but they also insisted that they would 'fight another monster if they could'. Danny was starting to get the feeling that this in fact was their daily norm.

"So, you ready to go, dude?" Wendy asked, walking up next to Danny's side.

"Yeah, this has been an…eye-opening experience," he responded with a half-smile.

Wendy smiled back, before dropping her grin in realization of something. "Oh shoot, I never got the chance to tell you those ghost stories I promised!" she exclaimed, before sighing.

"Oh, that's right! I was actually looking forward to that," he lamented. "And after today, I'm twenty times more interested in the weird things in this town. Can I take a rain check?"

"Well, we're pretty much at our destination, and since I can't do it justice now, then yeah. Rain check, definitely. But you and your sis should totally come over for late breakfast some time, and we can talk more then. My family makes the best pancakes." she offered.

Danny grinned. "Sure! I think I'm staying in town all week anyway… seems like my parents are pretty preoccupied with this town. And for once, they're right about their suspicions."

"You know, I still can't get over the fact that your parents are ghost hunters, man," Wendy snorted. "Anyways, I can text you the details later," she suggested.

"Okay, that'd be great!" Danny grinned, handing her his cell phone and watching as she added herself in as a contact before sending herself a text with his phone.

"There. Added!" she declared, handing him back his phone. As he took it back, he noticed that he had two missed calls from Jazz, and multiple text messages. She had probably freaked because he hasn't answered his phone once.

Crud, he groaned internally.

"Thanks. Well, since we're back here already, I guess I should get going by now. Jazz is probably worried that I've been gone too long already, and if I don't get back now she's probably going to assume I've been kidnapped, or died or something." Danny explained.

"Yeah. Wouldn't want her to call out a search party for you," Wendy joked. "But tell her about my offer, yeah?"

"I will. And… I guess I should go say bye to the others before I go," he added, before beginning to make his way over to Soos and the twins.


Danny phased invisibly into his motel room, noting his sister's total distraction, and released his invisibility before reverting back to human form. Looking around the room, he grabbed some extra clothes from his suitcase and a towel before he quietly closed the door to the bathroom, and turned on the shower handle.

At the sudden sound of the running shower water Jazz slammed down her book and looked wide-eyed towards the the bathroom. She exhaled and groaned at the realization that it was just her brother, coming late from wherever he'd been. He hadn't even told her where he had been all afternoon. Typical Danny.

Tossing her book to the side, Jazz walked towards the locked bathroom door and decided whether to say something now or hold her tongue. Deciding it would be better to wait and see whether how he was feeling before possibly yelling at him, she laid down on the bed and tried to surf through the limited channels on the TV. "What even are these commercials? Owl Trowel? What?" she muttered as she clicked passively on the remote until she could find something worth watching. So far, nothing yet.

Minutes later, Danny finally exited the bathroom, with his hair slightly damp. He was rubbing the back of his head, an unreadable expression on his face. Jazz carefully tried to decipher what could possibly be running through his mind, before realizing that she was staring at her brother.

"What?" Danny frowned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No! Nothing!" she smiled nervously, sitting upright from her position on her bed. "Just worried. You've been on edge lately and I wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I know, but you really don't need to worry. Even if I'm 'on edge'," Danny began, making quotations in the air, "I'm just a moody teenager. It's not a sign of impending inhuman rage or a ghostly lash-out. I'm normal." With his final words he looked off to the side, seemingly doubting them.

Jazz sighed. "Danny, I know. I'm just trying to look out for you. I've just been so worried because you've been so distant recently and I just want to know that you're safe. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong, or..."

"Look, I've been meaning to apologize about that. I just–" Danny paused and pulled the damp towel off of his shoulders and flung it onto the floor. "I'm sorry. I know our last conversation didn't exactly end well, and I don't want you to stay mad at me over it. The last thing I want is for our family vacation to go wonk because of me acting like a jerk."

"Danny, I'm not mad at you. In fact, I even covered for you when mom and dad kept asking where you were. So, you're welcome by the way for that, but that's not my point. I care about you, you know? It's my duty as an older sister to take care of my little brother."

"Thanks, Jazz. But I was safe, I swear. And, I made a few friends today too… I guess."

"It's good you're able to make friends, Danny. I'm not going to hold you back from that. All I wanted was to know where you were so I could know you were safe." Jazz reasoned.

"Okay, noted. But still, you really don't need to act like a helicopter parent all the time. I can take of myself, too, y'know," Danny responded, taking a seat at the edge of his bed.

Jazz smirked. "Oh, I know. But don't forget I also enjoy bothering you."

"How could I ever forget that? That fact alone might as well be embedded into my mind," Danny joked.

"Oh stop," Jazz said bashfully, throwing a pillow at Danny from her bed. He turned intangible to avoid it, letting the pillow sail harmlessly through him. He gave her a smug grin.

"Cheater," Jazz mumbled.

Danny laughed. "Oh! By the way, I mentioned you to the girl from the gift shop, Wendy, and she offered to have us come over for breakfast sometime in the next couple of days. She's really cool, too. Apparently her family makes really good pancakes. And anything is better than mom's pancakes, so I say we take it."

Jazz looked up at him. "Really?" She smiled. "I'd like that a lot."


AHHHHHHHH

I can't even remember the last time I updated this fic tbh and I'm so sorry for making y'all wait another couple months. I took so much time to write this chapter but on the plus side, chapter 10 is halfway finished. I wanted to post this chapter as soon as I finished it (its unholy hours i should be asleep rn) so there may be some errors somewhere because i had only skimmed through it when i proofread it. im probably gonna cringe when i read this authors note in the morning but yolo

also I sincerely wanna thank everyone who left reviews on the last chapter so much, honestly reviews are the best thing a writer can get and its actually motivation for me to write no joke, I get an email notification for each review and it reminds me that I HAVE A FANFIC TO WRITE AND ITS MY DUTY and normally i would write out all the names of the people who left reviews but its 1:46am right now and my eyeballs sting too much for that but like if you commented something long ily so much you're highlight of my day:)

AND there were some questions so ill answer them the best a sleep deprived person can answer (oh god im too tired for this) SORRY IF THEYRE SLOPPY I FEEL LIKE DEATH RN

Darke13: Yes :)

EmPro8: Yes, he's referring to Danny. 'Not from this dimension' as in, from the Ghost Dimension. (i mean i know hes half human but his powers are from the gz)

Guest: yeah it's a fanon thing I guess lol

Bug Queen: no, it was more like for the readers, that part is insignificant for now, because if Dipper did notice he would have questioned it. (bc dip questions everything lmao)

AND YEAH THOSE ARE ALL THE QUESTIONS I THINK I CAN ANSWER

To Flesh Ghost: I loved your review and it made me really happy and it gave me motivation to continue writing this story so thank you so much

SO until next update (which dear god i hope will be soon)

-dannyghost :)