Welp, still a fairly lengthy break between chapter postings, but I've had a combination of work and Oktoberfest festivities distracting me. Fortunately I've managed to find little chunks of time throughout to work on writing. Thank you so much for your support for this story! If you haven't yet, feel free to favorite, follow, or review. Every notification I get for this story is like a little internet hug.
(Warning: Yes, I'm perfectly aware of the rules of how ghosts work in both the Gravity Falls and Danny Phantom universes, and while I'm using a hearty mixture of both in this fic, I'm going to be making a few tweaks. These tweaks are extremely minor and to my own taste, and everything has its purpose.)
It only took one look and a curt nod between Sam, Tucker, and Danny for the three of them to spring into action, each knowing the scenario well enough to know what to do almost like muscle memory. Danny ducked out of sight in first place he could find – in this case, around the corner where were tucked restrooms, drinking fountains, and a dusty row of payphones – in order to transform, while Sam pulled two small ecto-guns from her bag and passed one to Tucker. Once ready, the trio took off as fast as they could toward the food court.
Danny, having flown, was naturally the first of them to reach the food court, and he whipped his head about, looking for whichever ghost had caused the scream. Right now it was difficult to notice anything aside from the crowd of people tripping over each other to get out of there.
With two notable exceptions.
Dipper's hat and Mabel's bright sweater were unmistakable through the crowd, not only because of their distinctive colors, but because they were the only two moving in the opposite direction of the mob, away from the exits instead of toward. They stopped in front of the counter of one restaurant, ducking down as a veritable fridge-load of vegetables was hurled out toward them.
The Garden Table, the restaurant was named. Danny had heard about it from Sam. It was newly opened, some vegan restaurant that had taken over the premises of the recently-closed Steak Escape.
He groaned. He had a feeling he knew exactly which ghost he was dealing with here.
The question now was why Dipper and Mabel hadn't rushed out with the rest of the crowd.
In the periphery of his vision he saw Sam and Tucker entering the food court, so he was quick to shake his head and wave his hands back toward the exit, the international nonverbal sign for 'get out of here.' If the twins saw Sam and Tucker fighting the ghost, alongside Danny Phantom, with Danny Fenton nowhere in sight, it wouldn't take a detective to solve that mystery. The two of them got the message, since they responded by nodding and running back to the exit.
Good. That out of the way, he just had to deal with the Lunch Lady. It was going to be more difficult without Sam and Tucker, but it wasn't as if he'd never done it before. He just had to get the Pines twins out of the way. Another crash sounded from the kitchen of the Garden Table, but Dipper and Mabel seemed to simply ignoring, staying right there in front of the restaurant, currently hunched over something Danny couldn't see and making no move to leave.
"Hey!" he shouted as he swooped down toward them. "Get out of here, there's a gh- ow!"
He reeled back in the air, clutching his side, and brought his head back up to stare at the twins. He now saw what they had been hunched over – Dipper's backpack was on the floor, the largest pocket unzipped. Dipper himself was holding a thin metal pipe, no more than a foot or so in length, and had straightened up as Danny flew toward them. That must have been what had hit Danny in the side – but why did it hurt? Sure, a pipe to the ribs in his human form would no doubt be quite painful, but in his ghost form, it should have felt like twig.
Mabel was still rifling through the backpack when Dipper hit him, and only now seemed to have found what she was looking for, as she pulled what looked to be a pistol out of the backpack with a satisfied smile. Danny stared. It was only just now hitting him: these two had weapons. That's why they had stayed in the food court – they were planning to fight the ghost.
Also, apparently Dipper had been carrying weapons around at school with him, but that was a whole other kettle of fish that he'd worry about later.
Not that he would have had time to worry about it now. Just as he was opening his mouth to once again tell the twins to run, another blast came from the Garden Table, this time accompanied by a cash register and several chunks of countertop flying into the middle of the food court, and close behind them, the Lunch Lady emerged from the kitchen, lit up in green flame, eyes bulging in anger.
"Where – are – the – steaks?!" she bellowed, each word punctuated by another couple of tables flying back and herself expanding in size.
Danny sprang back, getting himself readied for a fight, ectoblasts forming in the palms of his hands. "So you're not just concerned with the cafeteria menu anymore? Well, it's nice to see you're expanding your palette."
The Lunch Lady rounded on him, and with a flick of her arm, sent a swarm of cutlery flying out of the restaurant and toward Danny. Danny countered them with a blast of ectoplasm. The shots collided, sending the silverware flying every which way like shrapnel, and one knife embedded itself no more than an inch above Dipper's head where he was ducking in front of the counter.
Danny grimaced. Those occasions when civilians ended up injured as collateral damage in a ghost fight were always a nightmare to him, and the last thing he wanted was for Dipper and Mabel to end up as casualties. "You see?" he shouted as his sent another blast toward the Lunch Lady, which she dodged. "This is why I told you to – "
He was interrupted by the other ghost letting out a roar of anger, and the Lunch Lady looked down at her arm, where a small hole went straight through one side of the arm to the other. He stared in confusion. He hadn't hit her with his ectoblast, so what had?
Another hole appeared, this one in her shoulder, and this time Danny heard the accompanying gunshot and turned to stare, incredulous, at Mabel, who was on her feet, both hands on the pistol she'd pulled out of Dipper's backpack. "Eat rock salt, ghost!" she shouted as she fired once more.
Oh. She was shooting salt. Well, it was a relief to know that there weren't actual bullets in that thing, even if she could still do some real damage with salt being launched at that speed. Especially, it seemed, toward the ghost.
"Good shot, Mabel!" he heard Dipper shout, his voice coming from behind Danny. The latter hadn't even seen Dipper get up and move, and had to whirl around to look for the kid darting among the overturned tables and chairs, his still-open backpack over his shoulder. "You keep her busy, I'll take care of this one!"
This one? Danny barely had time to comprehend what he'd said before Dipper was barreling toward him, catching him in the foot with the pipe this time. Danny hissed in pain and floated higher, out of the boy's reach. "Would you cut that out?!" he snapped. "I'm trying to – "
"I know what you're trying to do!" Dipper yelled, reaching back into the backpack and pulling out what looked to be a string beads, then holding them protectively out in front of him. "Stay back!"
Danny sighed and did just the opposite, flying toward Dipper. "Look, if you'd just listen…" He trailed off when he noticed he was starting to slow, and the air seemed to be growing remarkably thicker every inch he moved toward Dipper. What was that string of beads, some sort of amulet? Whatever it was, it distracted Danny just long enough for Dipper to dart under him, dip a hand into the bag, and scatter something on the floor in front of him. Danny yelped and flew back, an almost electric sensation surging through his body. He squinted to see what was on the floor. Blood blossoms. Of course.
He ducked as something flew by his head, grazing his ear, and turned to see that the Lunch Lady was assembling a new weapon. Hamburger patties from the Burger King, pepperoni from the Sbarro, any meat in the food court kitchens was flying toward her and assembling around her. At the moment, the other ghost still was fully occupied with Mabel, who up to this point had been successfully dodging whatever the Lunch Lady threw toward her. Now, though, it didn't seem like she could keep it up much longer, as she began moving her zig-zagging run toward Dipper, shouting, "Hey, Dip, I could use a bit of help!"
"One sec!" Dipper called, and once more reached into the backpack. "Say your prayers, ghost!"
Danny felt a splash of water hit his face and chest, and Dipper stood triumphantly, a round, now-empty bottle held out in his hands.
For a moment the two just stared at each other. Danny was the one to break the silence. "Okay. I'm wet. Good job?"
"Wa – wait a minute," Dipper stammered. "That was – that was supposed to – "
He was cut off when Mabel skidded to a stop next to him, nearly colliding with him head-on. "Dipper! I need the silver!"
"But that was holy water," Dipper said, seeming not to have heard her. "Why didn't it – ?"
The Lunch Lady seemed to have finished collecting all the meat she needed, because the hulking form of the meat monster was lurching toward them. Danny brought up an energy shield to block a barrage of raw patty meat hurtling toward them. God, he didn't have time for this.
"Wait a minute," Mabel said from behind him. "I know that ghost! Dipper, it's okay, that one's a good ghost!"
"A good ghost?!" Dipper spluttered.
"I'm flattered," Danny called over his shoulder as he began hurling balls of ectoplasm toward the meat monster. "If you two are done trying to exorcise me or whatever, could you please get out of here?!"
Mabel ducked as a trash can flew over her head, then straightened back up and waved an arm at Danny, cheerfully replying, "That's okay, we're good here!"
Danny gritted his teeth, turning away from her and returning his attention to firing at the meat monster. It was still too strong and sturdy to be sucked into the Fenton Thermos, and he had no attention left to spare for the Pines twins. He was starting to feel that f they wanted to stick around and wind up covered in bruises shaped like chicken nuggets and hamburger patties, that was their prerogative.
He dodged another enormous glob of meat and circled back, another ectoblast at the ready, but it fizzled out when he felt a sharp heat strike through him. He ground his teeth harder and flew back. Damn it, those stupid blood blossoms were there. He made a mental note to fly higher, stay out of range, as he recharged his ectoblast, sending it the meat monster's way.
The monster snarled as the ectoblast grazed him, and it heaved toward Danny. Before it could launch any more of its meat at him, though, it let out a furious, pained roar, and Danny could see a reddish smoke spiraling up from the monster's base and hear a soft sizzling. Only then did he realize that the monster had just tumbled right into the blood blossoms.
Danny's eyes lit up. Well, as long as the Pines twins were insisting on sticking around…
"Hey!" he shouted, flying towards them. "You in the hat! Got any more of those petals?"
"Um…" Dipper stepped back, his gaze bouncing uncertainly between Danny and the meat monster. "I don't think – "
"Yes he does!" Mabel cried, snatching the backpack from Dipper's shoulder and ignoring his splutters of protest. Mabel pulled out the bag – Danny had to double back in the air to avoid the sensation – and rolled her eyes at Dipper. "It's Phantom, Dipper, he's fine. Everyone at school says so."
"Yeah, I've heard the name, but – " It was useless. Mabel had already sprinted away, leaving a trail of blood blossom petals in her wake.
Danny drifted higher still, grinning as the meat monster let out another furious roar. He chanced a glance back at Dipper, who was staring at him, studying him as intently as he did his human form, if not more. With a frown, he turned away. The less opportunity Dipper had to stare at his face, the better. "You can help too," he called, loudly enough to let the other boy hear his voice without him turning around. "I know you've got more stupid anti-ghost crap in that thing. Or don't help, whatever." And he dove back into the fray.
He was back into his rhythm right away, shooting his ectoblasts, dodging or blocking any attack the meat monster sent his way. It seemed to be focusing entirely on Danny, which gave Mabel plenty of opportunity to spread the flowers around. The monster let out its rumbling cries of pain every time it moved over a blossom, and it quickly switched to the strategy of just staying still.
This was good, this was better. The thing seemed nearly weakened enough to bring the thermos out. Just a little more…
The monster suddenly lurched again, moving right into the path of the blood blossoms. Danny blinked in surprise and peered down to see what had brought it on. It didn't take him long to find the reason. Dipper, it appeared, had rejoined the melee, shoving at the monster with his amulet from earlier held in front of him, steering it into the blossoms.
Danny smiled. That ought to do the trick.
With a final strangled roar, the monster's shape began to collapse, the meat seeming to cave in on itself. The Lunch Lady's green ethereal form emerged from the pile of meat, and Danny was at ready. He snatched the thermos from where it was slung across his, opened it, and pointed it toward the ghost. Her strangled shout of indignation was silenced as she was sucked into the Thermos and Danny slammed the cap on, shutting her tightly inside.
He took the moment to catch his breath (figuratively, of course). This was a part he liked, the sudden calm after the ghost fight that told Danny his job was done. Once he'd soaked in the silence for several seconds, he turned back to face the twins. Mabel had a bright, victorious smile stretched across her face, while Dipper's still seemed to be all business as he scanned the fallen meat.
"Er… thanks," he said, and with that, he went invisible and flew away and out the door.
He didn't turn visible again until he'd found Sam and Tucker in the milling crowd outside the mall and sidled up behind them and returned to his human form. He tapped Tucker on the shoulder, and he jumped, getting Sam's attention as well.
"How'd it go in there?" Sam asked.
"Not bad," Danny replied. "Very little structural damage, but a lot of wasted meat."
Luckily Tucker blocked Sam before she could make any of her usual remarks about meat. "What happened with Dipper and Mabel? We never saw them come out."
"Yeah, about that. Turns out – "
"Hey! Hey, Danny! Danny's friends!" The three of them turned to see Mabel and Dipper approaching them from the direction of one of the nearby entrances. Mabel was practically skipping by the time they reached the group. Only now when they were so close up did Danny notice their unkempt states, mostly due to the meat juices stained all over their clothes.
Sam wrinkled her nose, but elected not to comment on their appearance or smell, instead just saying, "So I guess you two got, um, involved? In the fight?"
"You bet!" Mabel answered. "Man, it's been a while since we fought a ghost. Felt good. Guess lugging all that anti-ghost stuff around with you actually did pay off, huh Dipper? Sorry I ever doubted you."
"You've fought ghosts before?" Tucker asked, his brows shooting halfway up his forehead.
"Some," Dipper said.
"Oh, we've faced all kinds of stuff," Mabel added with a little dismissive wave of her hand. "Ghosts are always a doozy, though. I mean, Dipper's got more experience with them than I do, he's the one who does most of it. Except this time that Phantom guy was there. Kinda stole Dipper's thunder." Dipper rolled his eyes. "You guys stayed out here the whole time?" Mabel continued. "You missed quite a show."
"We'll try and catch the next one," Sam said.
"So, uh, ghost-fighting, huh?" Danny said, perhaps just a little too loudly. "I guess that's what you've been keeping in that backpack of yours then? Ghost weapons of some sort?"
"Hm?" Dipper turned to Danny.
"I mean, I've noticed you've got it with you all the time…"
"Oh! Right! Yeah, that's – that's it. The ghost weapons." He shrugged and broke eye contact with Danny. "You know, didn't want someone, like, reporting them to the principal or something, that's all."
Danny kept a smile on his face as best he could. It seemed that he and Dipper had something else in common: they were both crappy liars.
"So!" Mabel piped up. "Are we still going to the Nasty Burger or what?"
"At the moment, you kinda smell like nasty burgers yourself," Tucker commented. Danny and Sam both shot him a look. Leave it to Tucker to throw tact out the window.
"He's right," Dipper said, taking Mabel by the elbow. "I think I'd rather just go home and take a shower right now. I can give Stan a call, have him come pick us up."
Mabel pouted, but her shoulders slumped in compliance. "Aw, fine. Tomorrow, then. Could you take us there tomorrow, Danny?"
"Right," Danny said. "Sure. Nasty Burger."
"Come on." Dipper gave Mabel a little tug. "We'll call Stan and go out to the front parking lot to wait. See you later, Danny. Sam. Tucker." He gave each of them a nod in turn, and Mabel waved goodbye as they departed.
It wasn't until the twins had gone around the corner of the building that the trio resumed their earlier conversation. "So," Tucker said. "They fight ghosts. Probably should have guessed, considering what their uncle does for a living."
"Apparently," Danny answered with a nod. "And honestly, they're not bad at it. They didn't run screaming from the ghost, in any case, and that's like half the skill you need anyhow."
"And they didn't see you transform or anything, right?" Sam asked. "Nothing that would tip them off?"
"Nope," Danny said. He thought back to the way Dipper had seemed to be studying his face during the brief lull in the fight, but elected not to bring it up. Maybe that was the way Dipper looked at everything. He did always seem to be on the alert.
Sam let out a breath. "Still, I guess this means we've got two more ghost hunters here in Amity Park."
"Wonderful, isn't it?" Danny said drily. "Ford is truly the gift that keeps on giving."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Tucker said, punching Danny lightly in the arm. "They don't seem to have a problem with Phantom, so you're in the clear there."
"Until their uncle convinces them otherwise, sure."
"Oh, who knows," Sam said. "Maybe it'll be the other way around, them convincing him to leave you alone."
"Because the best-case scenario is always the one the universe chooses to send us?" Tucked asked, raising a brow.
"Because Danny's due for a lucky break," Sam said, shrugging. "For now, let's not dwell on anything. Wanna just come over to my house, pop in a movie, work on our homework and order a pizza?"
"I would love to do three of those four things," Danny answered. Right now he was worn out from the fight and sick of thinking about that stupid scientist. Tonight, it could just be pizza-and-movie night. He could save any new concerns about the Pines family until tomorrow.