Ford's eyes widened at what his nephew had told him, was it Bill? "Dipper, you caught a demon?" He asked, a slight tinge of worry in his voice.
"I was- trying out one of- the demon traps from the journal- It just flew into it." Dipper tried to explain between trying to gasp more air for his oxygen-depleted lungs.
"And you left it there!?" Ford darted back around the corner to grab a satchel and the first journal of the collection that was sitting on the desk. "We need to go get it. Where did you leave it Dipper?"
"In the forest, I think I remember where it was." He started running back to the stairs, his hands grasping the railing.
"Dipper just tell me where it was. I'm going alone, I don't want you going and getting hurt," Ford called out.
Dipper turned around with determination in his eyes his hands not leaving the railing. "It is in the trap, and I am going. This is my chance, Ford. I can do this."
"Dipper you are going to get hurt if you go. Demons are dangerous creatures."
"Well- Well... Then I won't tell you where it is, I will just have to show you. Ford please, I have read your journal a thousand times over, I can handle myself." Dipper tried to explain.
Ford sighed, he knew that they were losing precious time and Dipper wasn't going to tell him without going. "Fine. But stay behind me and do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" Dipper aggressively nodded before taking off up the stairs.
It took them less time than Dipper expected to get back to the spot where he recognized the area. Up ahead they both saw the lamp that Dipper had left there in his haste to find his Grunkle. Still in the same spot where he had left it, was the demon, crossing his legs and looking rather... bored?
X
Danny had waited in the trap for what felt like ages. He had tried getting out, but every time he would just run into the same transparent field. He had even tried an ectoblast against it but all it did was sputter out of existence after a couple seconds, never leaving the barrier. Danny had never been stuck in a trap like this so he had no idea what to do. He knew Clockwork wasn't going to come over and help him any time soon, so his only hope right now was for the kid to come back, even if he hated that idea. He sighed and banged his head up against the field.
Suddenly he heard footsteps coming up through the forest, one sounded smaller than the other so he assumed that the kid had come back with a friend or parent. Out from behind some trees walked the boy and a much older man who was wearing rounded glasses and a brown coat. The boy was now holding a flashlight, with a weird-looking blue and pink crystal tied to the front. "Glad to see you again." Danny rolled his head back. "I thought I was going to be trapped here for the rest of my afterlife." He commented.
The man seemed slightly surprised, almost like he had been expecting something, or someone else. They both stayed silent just staring at the halfa who was still floating cross-legged in the trap. Danny continued. "So are you going to let me out, or?"
The man seemed to have tensed at that. "We are not letting you out of there. If you are in there it is safe for us." He called back aggressively.
Danny tilted his head. "Safe for you?" He paused, thinking of a way he might be able to convince them that he wouldn't hurt them. "Hmm... Okay, how about if I promise to leave you alone the moment you get me out of this thing. Deal?"
What he said gave the absolute opposite effect of what he wanted. It seemed to frighten the people more than anything else he could have said to them. "We aren't going to make any deals with you!" The boy yelled angrily, throwing his hand out to the side. Flashlight still pointed at Danny. For some reason.
Danny put his hands up in defense. "Sorry, I didn't know that would offend you somehow."
"We won't fall for such tricks. We are smarter than you." The man called out.
Danny put his hand on his chin. "Well, I wouldn't go that far." He looked back and forth between the two. "Okay then, you have captured me. Now what?" Danny uncrossed his legs but still floated above the ground. "It's not like I'm a Genie or something. I don't grant wishes or talk to your dead relatives."
Danny could hear the man mumble to himself. "I have never experimented on one before. Maybe it will tell me more about... him." That made Danny pale and move back a bit, he didn't think the man knew he had super hearing. He doesn't want to be some lab experiment. He had to get out of here, but how? How does he always get himself into these situations?
X
Dipper was kind of worried about talking with the demon, he had only come across one before and that was Bill. He wasn't even rooted in this dimension and yet he caused so much chaos. He wanted to let his Grunkle do most of the talking, he figured that for the best.
The demon seemed to pale a bit at something his Grunkle had said, he didn't hear it because it was barely a whisper. This demon must have super hearing. Ford opened up his journal and started flipping through the pages, as if looking for something. He opened a certain page and put his hand on it moving it slowly down the page, his eyes flicking back and forth as he read.
Finally, he spoke up. "What is your name, demon?" He looked back up to the said demon who had a very confused look on his face, that for some reason quickly changed into a smile.
X
Danny eventually burst out laughing, his hand over his core as he put the other leaning up against the barrier. It really wasn't that funny, and Danny didn't know why he was laughing, but he was. The two people in front of him instantly shook from stern faces into confused ones. "You think-you think, I'm a demon!?" Danny continued to laugh.
The boy stepped forward. "Of course you are a demon, how else are you stuck in a demon trap!" He threw his hand to the side but kind of stayed slighly behind the older man.
Danny's laughing slowed a bit. "Okay kid, I am not a demon. I'm a ghost." He put his hand on his chin. "Though I do know a couple of demons. Some of them can be really annoying so I know why you are so apprehensive."
"But you are stuck in the trap, I don't understand."
"I don't understand either kid. Anyway, now we have that all cleared up, can you let me go now?" Danny cracked his fingers. But even if he was playing it off cool, he was panicking inside. The man had not said a word since Danny started laughing. Danny was worried he was going to do something to him. As far as he knew he couldn't get out of this trap and if this guy hated ghosts too that was bad news for him.
Danny waited for what felt like forever before the man spoke up, even if it was only 6 seconds. "Ghosts aren't good either. And how do we know you are not lying? You still haven't even told us your name."
Great, this guy didn't like ghosts. He was another hunter who probably wouldn't hear both sides of the story. Danny gulped a bit even if it was hard to notice. "Why are ghosts inherently bad? I mean, one goes off of an attack spree and then all of us get a bad name."
"In all of my research, I have never come across a 'good ghost'. You are just trying to talk us into letting you go so you can attack us. Which is not going to happen." The man crossed his arms and glared at the halfa. Great how is he supposed to get out of this one. "Once again, what is your name?"
Danny's face was starting to noticeably pail more, he was sure his captors saw it. Danny didn't say anything more he was trying to think his way out of this. It was apparent that these guys were not going to let him go willingly.
X
After Ford realized that the demon wasn't going to do any more talking he grabbed Dipper and pulled him away from the demon trap. They walked through the trees until Ford was sure that whatever they had caught in the trap couldn't hear them. "Dipper either way if this is a ghost, demon, or even something else entirely I need to grab a couple more things from my lab to take care of this thing. I need you to take this and make sure it doesn't escape, can you do that?" He handed Dipper some kind of vile full of red liquid, similar to the colour of blood. "If it does anything, throw this at it."
Dipper nodded, he wasn't sure what the stuff in the vile was, but he wasn't going to ask right now. Ford turned around and started to speed walk back to the mystery shack and Dipper turned around to keep an eye on their trapped mystery.
The moment he walked back through the trees he saw that the inside of the trap was empty! Dipper's eyes widened. It escaped. Where did it go? How did it get out? What if it was after Ford? Dipper gasped and turned around quickly bolting after his Grunkle, he was sure he could catch up to him and he hoped that the demon hadn't gotten to him first.
X
Danny could barely hear what they were saying, but he could still hear. The man underestimated his hearing ability, which was good for Danny. The man told the boy to guard him while the man got stuff from his lab. Danny was terrified by that fact, he had to act now. There was no way he would be able to trick the man with this. But maybe if he was lucky the boy would believe it.
Danny heard the man hastily walk away and the boy come rushing back. Danny sucked in a deep breath, even if he didn't need it, and turned invisible. He just hoped it would work within the trap. And it did.
The boy pushed past some bushes and froze in place with wide eyes staring directly at Danny, even if he couldn't see him. The boy seemed to panic before running off, assuming to the man who had just left.
That bought Danny a little more time. The moment the boy was far enough away he flickered back into the visible spectrum. Danny began to try and push the barrier to no avail. How was he going to get out of this? He had never been stuck in anything like this before. Danny started thinking hard.
This was a demon trap right? And he was stuck in it, so that means that it traps interdimensional beings. Or even just magical creatures. Suddenly it popped into his mind. If this thing traps ghosts and demons, maybe it won't trap humans!
Danny closed his eyes tight and let two white rings wash over him. Leaving behind a boy who looked mostly the same, only with black hair and blue eyes. A hazmat suit was now a t-shirt and genes. Danny's feet landed on the ground with a light thud. He tentatively stuck his hand out towards the barrier and breathed a sigh of relief when his hand fell through the air as if nothing was even there. At times like this, he was glad he was a halfa.
Danny took a full step outside of the trap, when he looked back the chalk on the ground seemed to become less bright and fade in colour. Like it wasn't powered anymore, if this thing was powered. Danny walked about 5 feet away from the trap and transformed again to his ghostly alter ego before taking off to the sky as fast as he could.
Danny darted through the sky, he headed away from the spot in the forest and the town. He didn't want to become those guys' next lab experiment. He quickly looked around and noticed that one of the birds next to him stopped moving mid-air. He grumbled looking down seeing a medallion newly placed around his neck. Great, here we go.
---
Notes
Hello all, I am so glad you are reading this, and I am so excited to be writing it. As of the time of posting this chapter I have already written up to chapter 4. I will be posting a new chapter about every 2 weeks. This is just in case I get writer's block and need a bit of time to think of more, so I will still have other chapters I can post for you all. Just to be clear, I am not making Dipper dumb or anything, he is the same Dipper you know and love from the show, trust me. Just in the first 2 chapters, he misses a couple of things.
For anyone who was asking, I will not be abanding this story or any of my other stories. I am one of those people that refuses to leave a story unfinished. It may take a while if I get writer's block on some chapters. But don't worry. Also, nearly every chapter I post is about 2,000 words long. With exceptions for first chapters. Sorry for the long note.
Anyway, I would love to hear what you think of this story and chapter. The comments give me the energy to continue for you amazing people. lol. Thank you all. <3