Ghostly Mysteries (Danny Phantom/Gravity Falls crossover)

Chapter 3

Danny didn't know how much time had passed, but over the course of that time he had met Stan (there was no way he was going to call him Grunkle), gotten to know more about the town, and was given freedom to roam the Mystery Shack—given he had some makeshift crutches that Stan keeps in the attic for some reason.

He wondered why he had never heard of Gravity Falls, seeing as the town had almost as much unnatural activity as Amity Park has. Maybe that was why he'd never heard of it; it seems more like a tourist attraction than anything else. Then again, so does Amity Park, and people rarely have heard of that place either. However, Amity has a way of broadcasting the fact that it's the 'Most Haunted Place in the World' to get more attention, however unwanted it may be. In Gravity Falls, the only place that seems to be trying to draw attention to the amount of paranormal attacks is the Mystery Shack. But the whole Shack, as far as Danny could tell, was the perfect place for a cheapskate to earn an extra dime (Danny could see why Stan liked it so much).

The place was absolutely riddled with fake merchandise and attractions. Danny didn't have to look closely to see the drips of elmers glue coming from the "beavercorn" or the "roostdeer". But, it's enough to satisfy customers, he supposed, and continued looking around.

So far, Danny had found two things that had interested him. One being a light blue t-shirt that said "I Survived The Gravities Fall" in a curly white font. He needed a new shirt seeing as his last t-shirt had gotten stained by blood snd ectoplasm. Wendy had seen this, and he had gotten to keep the (insanely overpriced) shirt.

The other thing he had noticed was the partly broken vending machine in the gift shop area of the Mystery Shack. He didn't know quite what it was, but it made his skin crawl and filled him with something akin to dread. Naturally, he decided to avoid it for now.

His wound was healing quickly, as did all of the cuts and bruises he had gotten from his hero duties. He had gotten it just mere hours ago, yet he was already able to walk and move almost freely without searing pain stabbing through his whole body. He was using his crutches less and less as the day went on, and near the end he found himself switching to only using one.

The sun had set a while ago, and looking at the time on his phone he found it was 10:08pm. Everyone had gone to bed around eight o'clock and he was supposed to be asleep as well. But—like all of the other nights since he had lost half of his life—Danny knew it would be useless to try and sleep, despite how tired he was. He looked at the window, gazing at his reflection. 

The bags under his eyes had gotten larger, and he was a lot paler than he was before. His hair was a mess and he needed a shower.

The teen sighed and shook his head, turning away from the window and setting his crutch by the couch he was occupying for the time being. Without anyone watching him, he didn't really need to put up the "I-need-this-because-my-very-normal-wound-prevents-me-from-walking-normally" act, and he walked—very normally, mind you— to the front door.

Phasing through the door to not make a noise, Danny went outside. Glancing around at his surroundings, he found himself in the middle of a forest.

The light of a half-moon shone down on the world, blanketing the forest in a soft pale glow. Shadows of the plant life whisked out to him enchantingly. If Danny looked closer, he could see small creatures whom he did not know scurrying around the bases of trees and bushes, fading in and out of sight as they bobbed through the ground. Fireflies danced in his vision, fighting the soft glow of the moon with their own vibrant touch. The trees were taller than even the totem pole, which reached about the height of the Shack's triangular roof.

The sky was the most beautiful.

With the lack of lights in this small, strange town, the sky had exploded with action. Purples and blues and whites had swirled through the night, showing off the colors Danny had never seen back at home. Stars had dazzled his vision, constellation after constellation revealing itself to him. He gazed up in awe of the sheer beauty of it.