Chapter 5: Stan's Status

The Fentons and Tucker Foley were going to Gravity Falls when Danny heard his cell phone ringing. "Wendy?" Danny asked.

"Danny, are you still in Amity Park?" Wendy asked, desperation evident in her voice.

"No, Wendy." Danny answered as he noticed a sign saying they're entering Gravity Falls. "In fact, we've just entered your town."

"Your family couldn't have picked up a worse time to come." Wendy commented. "The Mayor's dead!"

"The Mayor?" Danny asked in horror. "Dead?"

"V-Man!" Jack was shocked.

"No, Dad." Danny replied and pushed a button on his phone. "I'm sure Wendy means the Mayor of Gravity Falls."

"That's right, Danny." Wendy said.

"Oh, that makes sense." Jack said in relief. "The guy was so old he already had vultures circling around him the last time we saw him."

"I heard that." Wendy replied.

"Sorry!" Jack quickly replied.

"That's cool." Wendy said. "I understand you're glad for your friend. Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because the whole town has been called for an emergency meeting to pick a new Mayor."

"Uh, shouldn't the Deputy Mayor take over?" Danny asked.

"Because the Mayor died before half of his latest term, the town charter says a recall election must take place." Wendy said. "Dad says it's likely anyone willing to be a candidate will have to announce it during the meeting."

"So, do we meet you there?" Jack asked and Maddie, Jazz, Danny and Tucker stared at him. "What? I still want to meet the real Stanford Pines."

"Okay." Wendy replied.

Later on, the Fentons and Tucker arrived at the place where everyone was meeting. "Jack, am I seeing things or is Stanford Pines stuffing a box with ballots?" Maddie asked in confusion.

"Mom, I'm sure it's Stanley again." Jazz commented.

"And what's with all those hats?" Danny asked and Wendy decided to answer the question. "One of the requirements to become a candidate for Mayor of Gravity Falls is to throw a hat through that giant hoop."

"Really?" Danny was surprised.

"If you think that's odd, it's because you still don't know each candidate is also required to cast a shadow and count to 10." Mabel said as she revealed her presence.

"Come on, Mabel, we must help Grunkle Stan so Bud Gleeful will lose the election." Dipper told his sister.

"Who's Bud Gleeful and why do you want him to lose?" Danny asked Dipper.

"None of your business." Dipper bluntly replied.

"I tell on the way to the Mystery Shack, Danny." Wendy said as the Fentons gave her a ride to Stan's tourist trap.

"So, Bud's son Gideon was a phony psychic who used cameras disguised as brooches to make people think he could read their minds and commissioned an old guy to build an evil zord?" Danny asked, trying to digest the news.

"Technically, the zords aren't good or evil by themselves but, otherwise, you're right." Wendy answered.

"As much as I enjoy talking about giant robots or other pieces of technology, we have something more important to talk about." Tucker said. "Do you have any friends?"

"All of my girl friends already have boyfriends, Tucker." Wendy answered, making Tucker drop his smile.

"Look what I wrote!" Mabel said as she showed a small banner with "Yes we Stan!" written on it.

"Nothing like parodying a President's campaign to gain voter attention." Jazz commented. "I appreciate the psychological appeal."

Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie Fenton were talking to the real Stanford Pines, who was appalled at what he heard from them. "Are you saying you placed the portal's ON button inside the portal?" He asked. "What were you thinking? I hope you at least examined your son for lasting effects!"

"Well, he started dropping stuff to the point he's no longer allowed to carry breakable stuff in school but I didn't think the two things could be connected." Maddie commented.

"For all I know, the experience could have infused him with enough ectoplasm to turn Daniel Fenton into a mix of human and ghost but I'm more concerned with the fact you built your portal in the middle of a populated area instead of a more isolated place like where I built mine." Ford stated.

"No worries, Doc." Jack tried to reassure Ford. "For as long as the ecto-filtrator is changed once every six months, the portal won't explode."

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I strongly advise you to disassemble your portal." Ford said, afraid ghosts would take advantage of the portal to enter out world.

"Don't worry, Dr. Pines." Maddie replied. "We've planned to return to Amity Park on time to change the ecto-filtrator."

"Are you saying you left your portal active?" Ford was even more worried now. "Then what keeps ghosts from using it?"

"We've installed ghost-proof doors, Dr. Pines." Maddie answered.

"Wouldn't it be more practical to just keep the portal deactivated whenever you're not using it?" Ford asked.

Jack and Maddie hesitated before answering. "Unfortunately, the OFF button is also inside the portal." Jack said.

The answer drove Ford so frustrated he pinched the bridge of his nose.

After the conversation ended, Jack and Maddie joined the others. "So, how was it like meeting your real idol?" Danny asked his parents.

"Not exactly what we expected, son." Jack answered, still recovering from the fact Stanford Pines disapproved some of his and Maddie's choices.

"Anyway, you and Mom came on time to watch Stanley Pines give his first interview as a mayoral candidate." Jazz commented. "Do you think he has a chance?"

"Jazz, Stanley Pines is a conman who spent several years running a tourist trap and pretending to be another person." Jack stated. "Of course he's crooked enough to have the election in the bag!"

One interview later, everyone around Grunkle Stan couldn't believe what they heard. "What's wrong with you?" Jack angrily asked Stan. "Did you take a bribe from that Gleeful fella or something like that?"

"Is he offering?" Stan asked with a smile that suggested he'd take it.

"Didn't all those years running a tourist trap teach you to only say what people want to hear?" Jack asked, still not believing what Stan said during his interview.

"I always say words that come out of my brain." Stan explained. "If my head says, that lady's got an ugly baby, my mouth says, "whoa, lady, you got one ugly baby."."

"Okay, what kind of person is Bud Gleeful?" Jack asked.

"Used car salesman." Wendy answered.

"We're doomed." Jack said as a matter of fact.

"You don't know the half of it, Mr. Fenton." Wendy replied as she explained how Bud dodged a question about his son.

"Wow, he's good." Maddie commented. "If I lived in Gravity Falls, I'd vote for that Gleeful guy."

"Hey!" Stan, Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Soos protested.

"He's the least likely to embezzle the town's money." Maddie defended her position.

"True." Stan conceded, earning stares from everyone in the room.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel said with a sad expression.

"What?" Stan asked. "I'll need a retirement fund for when Ford gets his name and house back."

"Speaking of your brother, you should let him take over the campaign since you're running under his name." Danny suggested. "Not only he'd do a better job than you gathering votes but he'd take the title once he regained his name anyway."

"Don't even joke about that, kid." Stan ordered.

"It does seem a good idea." Mabel commented. "Don't you think, Di…" She started asking before noticing her twin was no longer in the room. "Did anyone see my brother?"

"He ran away as soon as my brother mentioned Stanford Pines." Jazz answered. "Maybe he's asking Dr. Pines to take over."

"Over my dead body." Stan said with a frown.

Not wanting to be involved with that discussion, Danny and Wendy left the Mystery Shack and Wendy decided to take Danny for a sightseeing. Eventually, they reached a place Danny was curious about ever since the Northwest Fest: Dusk 2 Dawn. "Is this the place that taught you that ghosts are real, Wendy?" Danny asked his girlfriend.

"Yeah." Wendy answered. "Mr. and Mrs. Duskerton hated their time's teenagers and their rap music so much they banned teenagers from their shop and died from a heart attack when some teenagers rapped in front of their place in protest."

"And how was the experience?" Danny asked out of a mix of concern and worry.

"If not for Dipper, my friends and I would probably still be stuck in there." Wendy answered, shocking Danny.

"Really?" He asked. "How did he do that?"

"He hit them with a baseball bat." Wendy easily repeated the lie she told her friends to spare Dipper the humiliation he'd suffer if they found out what really happened.

"He humiliated himself in a way the Duskerton ghosts considered cute to appease them, right?" Danny asked.

"I'm neither confirming nor denying anything but I should know a son of ghost hunters, with or without your secret, wouldn't believe the baseball bat story." Wendy commented.

"I already got all the confirmation I needed." Danny replied. They then returned to watch Stan's first public speech. At first, Stan made Danny wonder if he's trying to become Mayor of a sexist town but he soon changed his speech into something that gained voter approval, making Danny suspect something. "What're you looking, Danny?" Wendy asked her boyfriend.

"I'm trying to count the fingers to confirm which Stan is giving the speech, Wendy." Danny answered.

"I know it's Stan 1 because Stan 2 sounds like J. Jonah Jameson from the Spider-Man movies." Wendy commented. "You're not thinking Stan's being possessed by a ghost, are you?"

"It occurred to me but my ghost sense normally tells me when a ghost is nearby." Danny answered.

Manly Dan then approached his daughter and her boyfriend. "Stan Pines has improved." The burly lumberjack commented. "Perhaps I'll vote for him instead of Tyler Cutebiker."

"Who?" Danny asked.

"The candidate whose speech preceded Stan's." Wendy answered.

"The only candidate other than Stanford Pines and Bud Gleeful." Manly Dan added.

"The only?" Danny asked in confusion. "By the number of thrown hats I saw at City Hall, I thought there were many more candidates."

"Throwing a hat through a hoop is a basic requirement but every candidate must fill the proper paperwork to be acknowledged as such, kid." Manly Dan told his namesake. "Only three candidates cared enough about the election to do that. For now."

"For now?" Danny asked.

"Danny, until the last debate, it's not too late for anyone to declare themselves a candidate." Wendy explained. "You, for example, could get yourself a hat, go to city hall, and register yourself as a candidate."

"It'd be practically impossible to convince enough voters to elect an outsider who isn't old enough to vote but we have no laws saying you can't try." Manly Dan added.

"Okay." Danny replied.

Tucker and the Fentons eventually returned to Amity Park but, days later, Danny was back in Gravity Falls to watch the debate with Wendy. "Widdle twick? Sweevie-weeves?" Danny asked. "Is Bud Gleeful being possessed by a little kid's ghost?" It actually saddened Danny to remember someone could die that young.

"The only kid I can think of is Bud's son Gideon but he's alive." Wendy commented.

"Ghost or not, somebody's controlling his mind." Danny said and then noticed Soos' tie. "Is he wearing the tie Stan Pines wore during his good speech?"

As Danny pondered over it, Manly Dan asked about the candidates' positions on taxes. "Waging wars on neighboring cities?" Danny reacted in disgust to Stan's answer. "That guy's even a bigger fruitloop than Vlad."

Soos was then given his chance to answer the question. "I don't know much about taxes, but I can promise you a kitten in every pot!" Soos said and then pointed to his right. "That doesn't make sense, Mabel." He then pointed to his left. "You don't make sense, Dipper."

"So Dipper and Mabel used that tie to control their Grunkle and now Soos." Danny muttered.

Bud accused his opponents of dancing around the issues and announced he'd sing around them. "Ooooookay." Wendy was freaked out. "That's definitely Gideon controlling his father's mind somehow. If at least Danny Phantom suspected one of our mayoral candidates was possessed by a ghost and came here to investigate."

Glad to have an excuse to show up without making people suspicious of his secret, Danny walked away while the voters threw bird seed at Bud's box ("I still can't believe that's how they choose their Mayor." Danny said. "No wonder that childish song worked."). After finding a spot where he could turn into Danny Phantom, Danny turned himself invisible and flew after Bud, only to notice Stan climbing a mountain to save Dipper and Mabel. Since the bird seed being thrown at Stan, Danny decided to save the kids himself and, to his surprise, saw Bud carrying a screen with a kid in an adult prison. "Leave those kids alone." Danny demanded.

"It's Danny Phantom!" Dipper squealed in joy. "Amity Park's ghost hero!"

"What're you doing in Gravity Falls?" Gideon asked from his screen.

"I've heard of a mayoral candidate being mind-controlled and suspected it was a ghost's work." Danny explained.

"Well, it's not so none of your business." Gideon replied.

"Kids in danger are some of my business." Danny replied.

"Thank you for your help." Stan said as he finished climbing the mountain.

'Bud' tried to blow but the mountain but Danny knocked him down. Stanford received enough bird seed to win the election but was disqualified for his several crimes. Tyler Cutebiker became the new Mayor.

"Honestly, it'd have been better having Ford Pines doing the campaign." Danny told Dipper and Mabel. "It was his name on the ballot anyway."

"I have more important things to do than politics but I understand your point, Danny." Ford replied.

End chapter.

Author's Note: Some lines came from Gravity Falls "The Stanchurian Candidate".

Author's Note 2: Some election rules mentioned in this chapter are theories of mine to either justify some points of the actual episode or for comedy. That part of Danny being a potential candidate isn't the weirdest thing in Gravity Falls.

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Eu não necessariamente faço a Sam fazer isso em toda história que escrevo.

Answer to djinn (Guest): Thanks.