Gravitational Phantoms: After the Storm

Chapter Ten: Supernatural Protection (Part One)

Wendy was eating a large stack of pancakes when the thought occured to her.

At first she thought that it would never work. That all of the creatures in the woods of Gravity Falls are evil, and would much rather kill a human than fight for their safety.

Then she remembered what Dipper told her about the Multibear, and Mabel's stories about Mermando. She thought of Danny, who was scared of new people and still scarred by betrayal and death even as he healed and learned to trust people again.

Wendy smiled to herself. Maybe, just maybe, her idea could work.

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"So, it would be like a police force for monsters?" Danny tilted his head.

Wendy shrugged. "Kinda. But there would be people too, and they could learn how to fight beside and against monsters. And ghosts, too."

"Well, it sounds like it would be interesting to try," Danny said with a nod. "But are you sure that you could get enough volunteers?"

The older girl smiled. "Dunno. But I'm gonna call up the twins, see if they would be interested."

Dipper and Mabel were grounded after their little stunt with the car. They weren't allowed to have friends over, go out after school, or do anything really other than stay at home and read.

Mabel had a stolen a phone from her mother and called Wendy up five times just to complain about how boring it was. And that was nothing compared to the rant she gave to Candy and Grenda.

"They'll probably want to help," Danny agreed.

"Yep. Plus, they know most of the monsters in the forest. Hey, wanna help me make flyers?"

For the rest of the day, Danny and Wendy designed and drew up flyers and pamphlets that they (well, mostly Wendy) could pass out.

The posters were white, with a navy blue title that proudly read, "Supernatural Protection Agency." Beneath it, Danny neatly wrote that all were welcome and training wasn't mandatory, as Wendy would be offering fighting lessons to all of those who needed them.

The lumberjack grinned and waved it triumphantly. "Okay, now we just need to copy it. I'll go do that, you just wait right here until I come back."

Grabbing a piece of scratch paper and one of the pencils, Danny started to absentmindedly doodle on the edge of the page. He loosly sketched the Box Ghost, then Box Lunch. She really took after her father.

"What are you drawing?"

Danny yelped in surprise and jumped two feet in the air, floating off of the ground.

Ford was leaning against the doorway. "I was just wondering."

Danny dropped back down. "I drew the Box Ghost and his daughter."

Ford's eyes sparked with interest. "His daughter?"

"Yeah. I try not to think about it, honestly. Her name is Box Lunch, daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady."

"Ghosts can have kids?"

"Umm, yeah. I, uh, think that it happens, um, the same way that it does for humans, but..." Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not about to just go up and ask."

"Huh. Does the child have the same powers as their parents do?"

Danny shrugged. "Box Lunch did, but I don't know if it's the same for any of the others."

Wendy walked back in. "What are you two talking about?"

"Ghost kids," Ford answered, looking at her flyers. "What are those?"

"Posters for my Monster Police," she answered cheerfully.

"Monster Police?"

"I'm gonna ask around and see how many ghosts, monsters, and humans want to help me protect the town because the normal police are so useless."

"Do you think that it'll work?"

"Sure do. The real concern here is that we'll end up with a bunch of creatures who are just looking for some free snacks." Wendy tapped her ever-present ax. "That's why I've got this, and Danny for backup."

Ford looked at the ghost boy. "Backup?"

"Invisible backup. If Wendy needs help then I'll be right there, but if not than nobody will know that I exist."

Wendy handed Danny a stack of papers. "Here. You take one half, I'll get the other. You take north plus that side of the woods and I'll go south."

The Halfa nodded and let his legs join together to form the familiar spectral tail. Letting his body go intangible, Danny lifted up through the ceiling and soared out over the town and the forest beyond.

He had flyers to hang.

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Wendy walked toward the clearing that was to be their meeting place, Danny trailing her invisibly.

She glanced over to where she thought that he was. "Okay, cross your fingers and hope that people showed."

She stepped forward and up onto an enormous tree stump-and gasped in shocked disbelief.

There was a large crowd of creatures and humans alike, all of them looking at her with hopeful expressions.

Wendy spotted Candy and Grenda at the front of the group, next to a small red dragon. A trio of centaurs was conversing amongst themselves, while a small troup of pixies fluttered around their heads. Pacifica was standing at the back of the crowd, looking nervous and out of place beside something that could only have been the Multibear. A bipedal fox with wire-rimmed glasses squinted at her from his spot atop the back of a giant manticore. There were just... So many.

Wendy let out a small squeak, but luckily only Danny caught it. There was a faint chill on her arm, and she knew that he had rested an intangible hand there.

I can do this, she thought. I'm Wendy Corduroy. I've fought shapeshifters, ghosts, demons, and puberty. I can handle this.

"Attention!" She shouted.

They all stopped talking and looked up at her.

"I am Wendy Corduroy," she continued. "You all showed up here today because you wanted to be a part of something bigger than yourselves. Well, you're going to be." She paused, then sheepishly added, "Sorry, I'm no good at speeches."

There was a roar of collective laughter, and suddenly Wendy realized that they were laughing with her, not at her.

The redhead grinned. Now, this she could get used to.

"Okay, so if you have had any training at all, go over and stand on that side of the clearing..."