Dipper Pines, Paranormal Detective p12

The drive out had been peaceful enough, but Dipper knew he was getting close when it started to snow. He turned the heating for the RV up as he turned in to a mountain park, the further he went the heavier the snow became. He sighed tiredly, working with Jack Frost was never pleasant and now Pacifica was going to learn all about the guy. A part of him was afraid of how she might look at him after meeting his bad friend, it was said you could judge someone by the company they keep after all. As soon as they met there was no going back.

Turning a hard right, Dipper spotted a hole in the snow clouds at the top of the hill and headed towards it. Pacifica had told him she needed a hot shower to brace herself for whatever cold they were about to go up against so Dipper couldn't go over a game plan with her just yet. As soon as he got to the top of the hill he heard Pacifica give out a high pitched shriek.

"DIPPER!!! WE'RE OUT OF HOT WATER!!!"

"I guess we're here then."

"WHAT?"

"I SAID 'GET DRESSED'! WE'RE HERE!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pacifica dressed in winter wardrobe, complete with hooded jacket, winter boots, mittens, and padded jeans, joined Dipper outside. The snow came down in large amounts but it was no blizzard. Dipper popped open the trunk in the back of the RV, Pacifica noted that this space would probably be right underneath her bed.

Inside was a vast array of gadgets, she couldn't even hazard half a guess at what they were or what they did. They all looked so different and complicated she wonder how he kept them organized. He pulled out a couple of hanging goggles and gave Pacifica a pair. The straps on the back seemed to be made of rubber, the green glass lenses were surrounded by a brass frame, a little copper antenna sat itself in between the lenses, a dial was placed on the left side of the goggles while a simple flip switch resided on the right.

"Okay Pacifica, put these on and flip the switch. Our client is usually invisible save for shimmers in the air where temperatures spike, these goggles will help us see him without that."

Pacifica did as she was told, she felt a little silly because the goggles were so bulky with the frames. Everything in her vision was green now, red lines outlined the innards of the lenses like some sort of bullseye.

"So who made these? Your Great Uncle? Candy? Old Man McGucket?"

After receiving her umbrella from Mabel and her friends, Pacifica had come in to an appreciation of the super sciencey gadgets.

"No. These were made purely by me." Dipper answered flatly.

"You made these? Really?"

She tried to look him in the face for an honest answer but Dipper was bent over as he continued to search through the trunk for anything else that might be useful.

"I can have an interest outside of mysteries, ya know? Even I'm entitled to a hobby!"

Dipper was a little defensive about the subject since in past whenever he opened up to people about his 'hobby' he was told it seemed ill fit for him. He always took such accusations as a personal jab to himself but he was hoping he wouldn't have such a problem with Pacifica.

"I'm not scoffing at you, I'm impressed!"

A certain tightness in Dipper's chest loosened up as he continued his search. Out of curiosity, Pacifica adjusted the dial to see what would happen. Since she just so happened to behind Dipper when she did this, she discovered the dial was a zooming option for the goggles. And right now they were zooming in on Dipper's behind.

'Hey, he's actually got kind of a...NO!! Don't go thinking things like that!! A refined woman doesn't scope out a man! Bad Pacifica! Bad!! Never thinking those thoughts again!'

Pacifica immediately turned away and started to scan the area. No matter where she looked though, all she saw was snow. It was starting to get old, she did a full circle around her and still saw nothing but a white winter wonderland.

"Dipper, there's nothing but snow here. I don't see anybody."

"Oh but I see somebody." a voice suddenly whispered in her ear. "And she is a beauty to behold!"

Pacifica gave a small shriek alerting Dipper to her distress. As soon as he turned around he was greeted with the sight of Pacifica running to him. The confusion only grew as she quickly hid behind him.

"Pacifica, what happened?!"

"That man creeped on me!!"

Dipper instantly pulled out his gun and aimed it in the direction Pacifica was pointing dramatically in. However, the sight of the man dressed in all white made him slowly lower it. The man was tall and thin, his ghost white hair was spiked with blue frosted tips, and finally he was garbed in only a cream white t-shirt and cargo shorts. His face was slightly elongated and his nose could be considered long and pointy but not overly so, but what unnerved Pacifica was his skin, like the rest of him it was white, snow white.

"Jack, were you creeping on my friend?" Dipper asked in a serious tone.

"Hey, I only whispered in her ear! She's the one who overreacted! Nice to see you too by the way."

Dipper shook his head disappointingly and lowered his gun as 'Jack' floated through the air over to them.

"I was honestly hoping not to introduce you to my friend here for at least another few months."

"Oh come on, admit it! You missed me!" Jack hovered in the air as he playfully flicked Dipper's nose.

"You're right, Jack. I did miss you." Dipper pulled out his gun again and aimed it at Jack's face. "But my aim is getting better!!"

"Ha ha!! Comedic gold! Never fails!! So are you going to introduce me or what?" Jack floated a little farther away and laid down in midair with his head resting on his hand.

Dipper rolled his eyes and put his gun away. "Pacifica, I would like you to meet my bad friend Jack Frost. Jack, this is my good friend Pacifica and if I find out you ever do anything inappropriate with her I will ploot you mercilessly!"

Jack snapped his fingers and pointed them in a supportive way at Dipper. "I appreciate that icy tone, Dipper. And 'Pacifica' was it?" Jack floated over to Pacifica, meeting her face to face in midair. "You are not Mabel. Why are you not Mabel?"

Pacifica darted her eyes away from him nervously, she hadn't expected him to put her on the spotlight like this. She tried to think of a way to explain her situation but the only thing she could think to say was the truth.

"Mabel left because she decided she had enough of weird things in her life."

She had said this with finality but the information only made a mischievous grin spread across Jack's face.

"But YOU don't seem to have that problem."

Pacifica promptly responded to Jack's accusation by slapping him across the face. His head moved with the force of the blow but outside of that he didn't seem to react.

"Slap all you want, Ice Queen! My pain sensors are frozen numb, I can't feel any pain at all." Then he looked at her with a little lust in his eyes. "Not to be confused with my pleasure sensors."

"Oh yeah?!" Pacifica dramatically pointed her umbrella underneath Jack's chin. "Something tells me if I tasered you, you'd still go down whether you felt it or not!"

Jack laughed and floated away from her. "You can try, but I wouldn't count my eggs before they hatch if I were you. On another note, you should really watch that temper. Hostility isn't a good look for you. You need to learn to laugh a little more!"

Pacifica lowered her umbrella while sending Jack a death glare. "You're not funny."

Jack drifted away to the front of the RV. "Oh you're giving me chills, Blondie!"

"Ignore him, Pacifica! Getting people riled up is Jack's favorite past time!"

Pacifica watched Jack Frost drift through the air, floating up and above their RV. A look of disdain sketched itself on Pacifica's face as the thought settled in to her mind that THIS was the person they were supposed to help. She knew him for less than five minutes and she already wanted to arrest him, it did not give her good signs of things to come in this case. She needed something to take her mind off how angry this guy got her. Anything!

"What is he?" Pacifica almost snapped.

The two watched as Jack floated higher in to the air, like a plastic bag caught in the wind. He looked pretty relaxed floating aimlessly on his back. Dipper tipped his hat upwards as they watched, trying to think exactly how to explain Jack Frost.

"To put it simply: He's a sylph."

"Oh Dipper, don't beat around the bush." Jack landed on the hood of their RV and struck a dramatic pose with his hands on his hips. "I am the MOST POWERFUL SYLPH IN THE WORLD!!!"

"He's also a dick!" Dipper added.

Jack deflated at Dipper's bluntness. "Aw... why do you gotta bring me down like that?"

"Because it's the truth."

None of this was making sense to Pacifica, she felt completely lost.

"Dipper, I still don't understand! Exactly what is a 'sylph'?"

"I guess you could say they're kind of like nymphs, ya know like Brooke, but they're nowhere near as powerful. Most sylphs can't even hurt people but for whatever reason Jack Frost is the exception. He's a lion among the sheep! He's the anomaly, he's the oddity, he's the... the..."

"The weird one?" Pacifica finished.

Dipper laughed at Pacifica's little joke. Calling Jack Frost 'the weird one' reminded him of Weirdmageddon and all the strange things he saw in it. He couldn't help but wonder how Jack would have measured up during it.

"Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it." Dipper smiled.

The light moment they were sharing didn't last as Pacifica was brought to mind of another Jack Frost quirk which plagued her.

"Wait, if his pain sensors are frozen numb then why did he back down when you pointed your gun at him?"

"I don't need to hurt him to stop him. Last time we met I ended up putting him in a big goop ball, the guy couldn't even move, so now he knows enough to back down when I say he's about to cross a line."

"Okay, so the gun works on him. I can buy that. It's from nature, he's from nature. Why does he have to be such an ass though?!"

"Pacifica, this is man who is famous for nipping people on the nose in a song. Are you really that surprised?"

She sighed in defeat. "More than I want to admit."

Dipper patted her on the back comfortingly.

"Despite his faults though, he's not evil. He proved this when I first met him."

"And how early in to your career were you when this happened?"

"Actually I met Jack before I started my career." Dipper added with a pleasant tone.

"Wow, really?"

The idea of Dipper having adventures before his career but after he left Gravity Falls intrigued. Her mind was abuzz with curiosity.

"Yep. Me and Mabel were freshmen in high school and instead of sending us to Gravity Falls for summer vacation like we wanted, our parents sent us to a summer camp in Yellowstone. That was when Jack Frost decided to give the park a personal surprise inspection. The short version is Old Faithful was getting overheated with lava, he showed up, we met and saved the day. I should mention though, after this adventure Mabel started to get over her boy crazy phase."

Pacifica rolled her eyes. "Gee, I wonder why."

Jack landed on top of the RV, inspecting it before lightly kicking the roof; snow seemed to spray out from his point of impact. "I can't believe you're still driving this old rust bucket. Two years since we last met and you still haven't traded up!"

"It's not just a vehicle Jack, it's a home. Now do you think we can just hurry up and get down to business?"

Jack crouched on the RV roof like a gargoyle, looking down at the two with a playful smile. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two didn't enjoy spending time with me."

Dipper sighed heavily again but this time Pacifica joined him in it.

"Jack," Dipper pleaded tiredly. "Please get off my roof."

"Oh 'please'?" Jack hopped off the roof and landed neatly in front of them. "All you had to do was say the magic word."

"...Dipper, stand back. I'm going to taser him."

Pacifica aimed her umbrella at him but Dipper made her put it away by placing his hand on it and slowly lowering it.

"Put the umbrella down, Pacifica. He's not worth it. And Jack, do us a favor and just tell us what the problem is."

"Very well, someone is stealing my powers and I have no idea who, how, or why."

Pacifica watched as Dipper's eyes grew to the size of saucers. He mentally searched for some sort of rational explanation but found nothing. Seeing Dipper dumbfounded was a rare sight, Pacifica wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"That's quite a unique and unusual problem you're claiming. So how can you tell that's what's happening, Jack?" Dipper questioned.

"I'll show you!" he declared.

As Jack moved to the front of RV again, Dipper's face became flushed as he watched him walk. He instantly knew what Jack was planning.

"Oh no. Please don't." begged Dipper.

Pacifica watched in confusion as Jack climbed up the hood of their RV. She couldn't see what happened next because Dipper had turned off her goggles without warning; he wasn't even wearing his anymore.

"Hey, Dipper! What's the big id..."

*ZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!*

The sudden noise had cut Pacifica off, she didn't know what Jack was doing but she was certain it was offensive. The following noises only confirmed it.

*SQUEAK!**SQUEAK!**SQUEAK!*

'Something' was pressing up against the glass of their front window and was moving back and forth on it.

"Dipper, is he...?"

Pacifica already knew the answer, she just didn't want to believe it. The rude gesture alone was enough to make her eye twitch.

"Rubbing his bare ass on our window shield? Yes, yes he is." Dipper answered flatly.

"Well can't you stop him?! He's vandalizing what basically is our home!" Pacifica snapped.

"Give him a moment and he'll realize we aren't giving him any attention, then he won't have a reason to keep it up."

"Now then," Jack chimed. "Do you see what I'm doing here?"

"No!" Dipper shot.

"No? Well why not?!"

"Because we turned the goggles off!" explained Dipper.

"Well turn them back on!" snapped Jack.

"Puts your pants back on!" Dipper snapped back.

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!!"

*CLICK!*

*ZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!*

"Okay, you made me." With the goggles off she couldn't see Jack but she heard a breeze through the air and the snow in front of them quickly got a set of footprints indented in to them. "You saw my point though, right?"

"Yeah Jack," Dipper turned his goggles back on. "I saw it."

Pacifica turned her goggles back on too but she gave them both a confused look. "Saw what? You turned the goggles off, we couldn't see anything!"

"Your welcome! What Jack is talking about though, is the fact that he didn't leave any frost on our window."

"So?"

"So that's kind my deal, Snowflake. I'm Jack FROST, I frost windows just by touching them. The only thing I left behind on your window is some butt smears. No snow, no ice, that's a big problem for someone like me! I should have left at least something behind. I touch something and I almost always leave behind some kind of product of cold!"

"Then you're kind of like Snow Miser, huh?"

"Oh please, Blondie! He wishes he had my powers... then again, so do I since I'm being robbed of them."

"Alright Jack," Dipper folded his arms impatiently. "and what makes you think they're being stolen? How do you know you're not just losing them?"

"Because something's also keeping me here! I can't leave the mountain, and let me tell you there are still parts of the world that need a frozen touch up from good ol' Jack Frost! Like my home improvement project on the North Pole."

"Well I suppose it is true that you aren't really well known for staying in one spot. We'll take the case! Alright Jack, think for a moment. Who would want to take your powers?" questioned Dipper.

"Yeah, who would have it out for you?" continued Pacifica.

Jack rubbed his chin in mock thought. "Nobody really comes to mind..."

"Yeah right!" Dipper scoffed. "Pacifica, a shorter list would be people who don't want to punch Jack in the face."

"And who's on that list?" Pacifica asked with a sly smile.

"Jack." Dipper answered with a similar smile. "Okay, questioning isn't going to get us anywhere so it's time for Plan B."

Dipper trudged through the snow back to the trunk and pulled out what looked like a compass with diodes on it.

"That another one of yours?"

"You got it, Sweetheart. It's kind of like a tracker, I try not to use it because questioning usually produces better results but we don't have any suspects this time sooo..."

"So how's it work?" Pacifica stared down at the compass as she stood next to Dipper. It seemed like an ordinary compass save for the needle, instead of a regular metal needle there was two arrows adjacent from each other, a big one and a little one.

"First we need a sample of the magical energy signature we're looking for." Dipper reached over and plucked out a bit of Jack's hair, much to his annoyance, and adjusted one of the diodes on the compass and a compartment opened up underneath. He placed the hair inside, careful that none of it would end up sticking out of it, readjusted the diode causing the compartment to snap shut. "Now the big needle points to the strongest source, right now that would be Jack."

The bigger arrow did point to Jack almost immediately but the smaller arrow was pointing in a completely different direction. "So does that mean little arrow points to the weaker signal? I bet when there's only one signal both arrows point in the same direction! Am I right Dipper?"

"Yes Pacifica!" Dipper cheered. He playfully jabbed Jack in the ribs. "See how she got that in one? Mabel would've needed like three or four guesses."

Pacifica did not blush at this praise, no, instead she held her chin up high and soaked in the compliment.

Dipper had never seen Jack Frost roll his eyes, especially at him but it was sure to be something he wouldn't forget anytime soon. "Oh get a room you two! Oh wait! You did better than a room, you two got an entire RV! So when the RV is 'A Rockin' does it ever put a strain on the suspension..."

*SPLAT!*

Jack wiped the freshly applied snow off his face and laughed.

"Nice shot sunshine, but it's going to take more than a snowball to teach me some manners because," Jack then struck a somewhat familiar Disney pose. "the cold never bothered me anyways!"

*SPLAT!*

This time it was Dipper who threw the snowball.

"Did THAT bother you?"

"Well yes, because you got me in the eye!!"

Pacifica laughed lightly, to her Jack sounded like a four year old after injuring himself on a jungle gym. She pulled out a pink book from her purse, there was what looked like a golden llama on the cover. "Go for the eyes! I'm writing that down!"

Dipper watched her with a rare mix of bemused disbelief and impressed amazement. "Pacifica, are you writing your own journal?"

"No. This is not a journal." Pacifica stated with clarity. "This is diary. It's completely different. There's no weird secrets or spells in here."

"Well, we better get started anyways. If there's any other warm articles of clothing you want from the RV, get them now. We got possibly a long hike ahead of us."

She quickly put her diary back in her purse and gave Dipper a surprised look.

"Wait, you mean we aren't taking the RV?"

"Pacifica, it would just get stuck in the snow! Besides I got plenty of heat packets to keep us warm just in case being covered head to toe in winter wear isn't enough."

"Can't we at least get some snow shoes?"

"I don't own snow shoes."

"We could make some from tennis rackets!"

"One; I don't own tennis rackets either! Two; that idea doesn't work. Trust me, I tried that idea when I was eleven."

Dipper began to trudge through the snow following his compass. "Now let's get going before the weather gets worse!"

Pacifica grimaced. She hated to trudge through anything. It felt gross to her.

"First mud now snow. Oh well, at least it's a step up." She turned back to Jack Frost who actually seemed to be heading towards their RV. "Are you coming or what?"

Jack looked at her over his shoulder nonchalantly. "Nah. I don't want to get too close to whatever is taking my powers. It's probably for the best if I hang back here."

Pacifica looked back at Dipper, then back to Jack. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of Jack Frost being in their RV.

"Don't worry," Jack reassured her. "I promise to go through everything. Nothing will be untouched."

Pacifica was on the brink of losing her temper with him when a sudden mental image flashed in her head from her memory. She ran ahead of him and stood in his path, she knew just the payback that Jack Frost deserved.

Jack actually took a step back as Pacifica offered him an almost evil smile.

"Well if you know what's good for you then whatever you do, don't go through the spice rack. Specifically the one labeled 'Do Not Touch'."

Having said her piece, Pacifica turned around and began her trek to catch up with Dipper. The sound of the RV door opening and closing only made her smile grow bigger. She thought she heard the feint words of 'She can't tell me what to do' or something along those lines. It was time to see if anything Dipper had taught her had rubbed off on her.

"Let's see, he's inside the RV, he's looking for the spice rack," *KERFLUMPAPLOP* "he trips over Dipper's fold out bed, he finds the spice rack, and now he's thinking of what he can do with it."

Pacifica didn't know exactly what Jack Frost would do with the 'spices' but if she read him as well as she thought then it wouldn't take him long to find his mischief.

"4, 3, 2..."

A giant syrup tentacle shot of the RV's door holding Jack Frost high in the air as he screamed for his life.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!! WHY DID A SYRUP MONSTER COME OUT OF THE BOTTLE?!"

Pacifica gave a sigh of content as she left Jack to fight for his life.

"I guess some syrup got in to one of the bottles. Man, my deductive reasoning is improving! I'm starting to get good at this job!"

Omake

Jack Frost brushed off the broken pieces of the now frozen syrup monster from his clothes.

"Good thing syrup freezes. That woman has a lot of nerve setting me up... by warning me! I'll show her! I'll do something that'll really get her blood boiling!! I'll uh... steal her panties!! Yeah, that's something women don't like! Right? That's what those sorority chicks with the torn down dorm wall in December were complaining about... Who am I talking to?"

Jack stood in the center of the RV quietly and his hung his head sadly. "Dear God, I'm lonely!"

He was quick to shake those depressing thoughts away and started to search the RV. Eventually he hit 'gold'; he held up a pair of frilly red panties to his face.

"...I don't get it." He gave the pair a test stretch and then frowned. "Now that I got'em what am I supposed to do with'em? Exactly what is supposed to be the appeal here? Humans are dumb!"

Jack shrugged and waved his hand over the pair of panties and a snowball filled up the insides. He sighed and tossed it over his shoulders.

"This stuff isn't as much fun alone. There's no one to get mad at me! I think I'm just going to freeze their toilet water and watch tv."