Phantom Falls

Chapter 5

"And over there's where the gnomes live, you want to stay away from those guys." Dipper continued.

"There are gnomes?" Danny asked. "What's so bad about them?"

"Trust me, you don't want to get in their way." Dipper said. He continued down the forest path. Danny was looking around interestedly.

"What's up with that tree?" Danny asked, pointing to a tall pine that was slightly given away by the rivets sticking out of it.

"Oh, that's a secret bunker!" Mabel said enthusiastically. "But we're not going down there again, that shapeshifter was creepy."

"A shapeshifter?" Danny sounded excited.

"Yeah, no way are we letting him out again. I'm worried as it is that he might escape from his cryogenic chamber." Dipper flipped the pages of his journal and kept walking past the tree.

"Wow, you kids are good with this stuff. And I thought I knew things!" Danny sounded amazed. "What's that over there?"

"That river?" Dipper asked, flipping through his treasured book to try and find some mention of the river, which he did. "I don't really know. The journal says to stay away from it at all costs. I think it's cursed or something." He brushed off this information casually. It hadn't affected them yet, so he wasn't much interested. One supernatural disaster at a time, thank you very much. Maybe later he'd check that out.

They continued to walk through the woods, Dipper pointing out places of past adventure. Danny half wished he had been here all summer. This sounded much more interesting than chasing Plasmius down every other day!

They were approaching a clearing in the forest near the Tent of Telepathy. There was an unusually perfect circle in the dirt and small burn marks around the edges.

"Hmm, what happened here?" Dipper asked.

Danny noticed a small wisp of breath escape his mouth. This was about to escalate quickly.

"I think this is where Gideon summoned Bill." Mabel said.

"Bill? Who's Bill?" Danny asked.

"Ugh, he's a really annoying mind demon who--"

"Now that just hurts my feelings, Pine Tree." A huge ripple in space washed over them all as the whole world went black and white. A yellow triangle with one eye and a bow tie had materialized above them.

"What are you?" Danny asked in astonishment.

"You don't recognize me, Deadman?"

"What?" Danny asked, more confused than ever.

"You know this guy?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah, I know who this kid is! We're practically cousins!" Bill laughed insanely.

"Wait, what?" Dipper and Danny said in unison.

"What do you mean we're cousins?" Danny asked angrily.

Bill laughed again. "I'm a demon, kid. Put it together." Danny's eyes went wide.

"What does that have to do with it?" Dipper asked, bewildered.

Bill fixed his single, hypnotic eye on Dipper. "Yeesh, Pine Tree. You call yourself intelligent?" He chuckled. "Anyway, I was just dropping in to see how Deadman Living here was doing. First day on the job, eh kid?"

"Why are you calling me that?" Danny asked, but his voice was more cautionary than confused.

"Haha! Surprisingly accurate description, huh?" Bill blinked his eye, which might have been his attempt at a wink.

"What are you talking about?" Mabel was looking at each of them alternately. She shared a confused look with Dipper.

Bill ignored her. "You ever faced a real demon before, Deadman?" He looked back at Danny, who was glaring back at him.

"Hm. Didn't think so. I'm looking forward to that." Bill examined his nonexistent fingernails. "Maybe I'll just leave you three to it, then. This should be fun!"

"Wait! How much do you-- Wha-- How did you--?" Danny was stuttering.

Bill laughed again. "Word gets around in this cute little world you've got. Well, have fun kid! You've got a lot to explore here in Gravity Falls... But hey, don't get in my way. I'll be watching you!" Bill disappeared in a flash of swirling light.

All three of them sat up in the middle of the forest clearing. Color had returned to the world, the forest came back to life, and Danny was breathing heavily.

"What was that all about?" Mabel asked, frowning.

"Not sure..." Danny said, almost to himself. "But I'm going to find out."

"Why was Bill calling you Deadman?" Dipper said curiously.

"Um, no idea. What did he call you?" Danny said quickly.

"Pine Tree. He likes being enigmatic." Dipper stood up and dusted himself off. "Let's get back to the shack."

"Yeah. I don't want to run into anything else that doesn't like me." Mabel started marching back the way they had come.