The Cipher

N/A: This story was suggested by The core of Justice.

Fifteen-year-old Zyon Anderson just moved to Gravity Falls and he got a job at the Mystery Shack. It doesn't take long for him to crush on Wendy. Shortly after getting the job, the two befriended each other and he starts learning the secrets of the town. However, Zyon has secrets of his own, and the ones who become his closest friends will suffer the most.

Some chapters will follow ones on the show with a few changes, while others will be completely new.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Haunted Unwelcoming

Zyon Anderson stacked the snow globes on the shelf behind the register. His eyes wandered over to the redhead on the cash register. He noticed a snow globe was next to her. He could easily reach it, but took this as an opportunity to talk to her.

"Hey Wendy, can you hand me that globe," he asked. She looked up from her magazine. Her hand shot out and grabbed the snow. She handed it to him and went back to reading. Zyon watched as customers came up to the register and waited for Wendy to ring them up. When she didn't, they glared at her until she finally noticed them. Her eyes carelessly stared at the person in front of her as her mouth formed a straight line.

Time moved slowly as the clock inched its way to six-o-clock, the time the Mystery Shack would close for the day. When that time finally came, Wendy put away her magazine and rushed to the door. Zyon raced to the door. The teenage girl stood with wide eyes, surprised that he suddenly stood in front of her with the door opened.

"After you," he said. She smiled as she walked passed him.

"Later Z," she waved.

When Zyon got home, he was greeted by silence. He knew his parents were still at work. His mother was still on her shift, working with the Sherriff and Deputy. She was lucky to get the position of an officer shortly after the family moved to Gravity Falls. His father, who was once a big shot lawyer in New York decided he wanted something more quiet and away from the city. He also worked late nights just like his wife. Zyon sighed as he opened the fridge. As he got stuff out to make a sandwich, his phone beeped, which meant he had a text. He checked his phone and started reading, totally forgetting to close the refrigerator.

Hey man,

I wondered if you wanted to go out with me and my friends tonight? This night will be legendary. Let me know, Dude

Wendy.

For a moment, Zyon tried to form a thought. He read the text over and over again. Moving his thumbs to the keys, he began typing.

Yeah. Cool.

He couldn't think of anything else. Then, he pushed the send button. He bit his lip. He couldn't go wrong with, 'yeah, cool,' right?

His phone beeped.

All right man. Meet me at the Mystery Shack at nine.

'The Mystery Shack?' He thought to himself. 'The place where they worked? Well, whatever.'

Zyon arrived at the Shack ten minutes before nine. It may not be cool to show up early, but he didn't want to get left behind. However, nine-o-clock rolled around and he didn't see Wendy yet. He wondered if he should text her. Then he wondered if she would think he's a loser or something. Being on time was so uncool anyway. Five minutes went by, then ten... Zyon checked his phone again. Fifteen after nine. Now, maybe he should text her? In the distance, the door entering the gift shop opened and closed. Two figures ran out into the night. They ran to a van pulling up beside them. The van door slid open and the two hopped inside. Zyon ran towards the van as it took off. His heart sank. Maybe Wendy was just messing with him.

Suddenly the van stopped, before doing a big U-turn. Zyon watched wide-eyed as the van circled him then stopped. The same door slid open and Wendy poked her head out.

"There you are!" she said excitedly.

"Oh hey, what's up?" Zyon asked as he climbed inside the vehicle.

Zyon sat on the seat behind Wendy. Tambry was next to her, Nate and Lee were squished together on the floor and Robbie was up front with Thompson driving. Zyon recalled when he met the gang the other day they came to the Shack. They were all hanging out until Stan yelled at them all to leave. However, he wasn't familiar with the two young kids in the back. He turned to the kid with the pine tree on his hat.

"Who are you two exactly?"

The kid narrowed his eyes. "Uh, it's Dipper. Dipper Pines. We work together," he harshly reminded Zyon, who vaguely remember seeing him around cleaning various displays. The girl with the long brown hair next to Dipper grabbed and shook Zyon's hand. "I'm Mabel!" she practically screamed.

"Oh yeah, these two are our boss's grandniece and nephew," Wendy told him. "They're both thirteen so they're technically teenagers," she further explained. Zyon studied the twin boy and girl. Being fifteen himself, he had a hard time recognizing the two children who looked like they were only eight years old, as teenagers.

Thompson turned to all the passengers.

"Okay so before we go, my mom told me that you guys aren't allowed to punch the ceiling of the van anymore," he said in a low key voice.

Every passenger began raising their fists, punching the top of the van, screaming, "Thompson! Thompson!" Thompson turned back around with a defeated expression as he drove off.

After the van reached its destination, the crew got out and walked up to the barbed wire fence that kept out trespassers. The teenagers gazed through the fence to see the abandoned convince store ahead.

"There it is, Dusk 2 Dawn," Nate said. "Some say the ghosts of the old people who owned it still haunt the building."

Zyon shrugged, but he noticed how nervous Dipper looked.

"What? Are you guys serious?" the boy stuttered.

Zyon shook his head. Why was this kid even here?

"Yeah, we're all gonna die!" Wendy said, faking a scared voice. "Chill out dude, it's not as bad as you think."

Zyon suddenly noticed the sign on the fence. Trespassers will be prosecuted. Or Dead as someone painted red letters, D-E-A-D on the sign.

"Alright, let's do this already!" Robbie said with exasperation. He jumped onto the fence, climbing up and easily dropped over onto the other side. Wendy followed suit, but made a more graceful landing. Tambry followed then, Nate and Lee went over. Even Thompson made it over, even though he landed hard on his huge stomach. The others laughed at his cries of pain. Zyon stepped up to the fence. He never really jumped a fence before, but it couldn't be too hard. With his hands on the metal grating and his foot in the loops, he started to climb. As he approached the top, his eyes wavered downwards. Closing them, he breathed in and continued pulling himself over the fence and jumping to the ground. Mabel came over next, practically flying over. Then...Dipper climbed the fence. He did pretty well until he got to the top. He had a leg on either side and just kind of sat there.

"Hey Dipper, come on already!" Wendy yelled up at him.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to get a foot-hold," he said attempting to get his foot in one of the loops on the side coming over the fence.

"Dude! Your sister did it!" Robbie shouted. Zyon looked over at Mabel who curiously was on the ground making high pitch noises and running herself around in a circle.

Once Dipper finally made it over the fence, the group walked up to the dilapidated building with cracked paint, broken windows and a caved in roof. The place didn't even look safe enough to stand under.

"How are we getting inside?" Nate asked.

"Uh, how about through the broken glass," Robbie said as he approached a window with a wide-open hole in the windowpane.

"I don't' think you want to go in that way," Zyon said suddenly. Robbie turned to him with a glare.

"Why not?" he asked sharply.

"Uh, how about because you're gonna cut yourself?"

"Whatever," Robbie said. He put his hand onto the broken glass shard. Immediately, he winced in pain. He looked at his hand to see a trinket of blood running down his hand.

"Let's just kick down the door." Nate said.

Robbie suddenly threw a kick into the door, creating a loud echo. He let out a yell as he jumped around.

"Man, how are we going to get inside," Wendy wondered. Her gaze fell on Zyon as if he had the answer. Unfortunately, he didn't.

"Let me try," Dipper said, walking up to the door.

"Oh, sure. I can't get in, but I'm sure junior here can break down the door no problem."

"Come on, he's just a little kid," Wendy said, trying to defend him. Zyon stifled a laugh.

Dipper suddenly jumped up to the dumpster and climbed up to the roof. The others shouted their concern as he rammed his shoulder into the closed vent, then punched it a few times.

"Go Dipper!" Mabel yelled. "Punch that metal thing!"

The vent broke open and he slipped through.

"What ya wanna bet he doesn't make it," Robbie jeered.

A moment later, Dipper opened the door into the store. The others cheered.

"Your new name is Dr. Fun Times," Lee said as he high fived Dipper. The others followed suit, but Zyon looked curiously at the boy as he walked by. Zyon really didn't expect that kind of act from the kid. Maybe this Dipper kid had some surprises. Then again, so did he.

Once inside, the teenagers ransacked the store, taking out ice pops from the freezer and candy and chips off the shelves. He noticed Robbie looking in the register for cash. It must have been empty, because he grunted angrily as he shut it. Zyon didn't see Wendy since they walked inside. Looking around for her, he stumbled upon the girl twin. She was snacking on a bunch of sugar from imported bags. He looked over the bright purple packet with a yellow dog. The black symbols looked Japanese or something. White tape was wrapped around the display of the sugary treat reading DO NOT SELL! He shrugged and walked down the next isle. He stopped suddenly seeing the fat guy, Thompson bent over and Lee and Nate pouring ice in his pants. Lee turned and yelled to the others.

"We need more ice!"

"On it!" Someone else yelled. Zyon watched Dipper as he jumped down from the top of one of the shelves. He looked up to see Wendy. So that's where she's been hiding. He looked straight ahead at the boy who rushed over to the freezer. Now was his chance. He began to climb the shelf. Half way up, he got that shaky feeling. He almost looked down, but then his eyes went up to Wendy. He kept his glance on her until he reached the top.

"Hey Wendy," Zyon said as he sat next to her. She turned with her mouth agape.

"Oh, hey!" she smiled.

"So, uh, this has been an interesting adventure," he said, feeling the butterflies rise in his stomach.

"Yeah, I was just telling Dipper that this night is going to be Legendary. I'm sort of surprised. He's handling all of this quite well."

Suddenly someone let out a loud shriek. All heads turned towards the freezer. Wendy hopped down with ease. Zyon looked down and suddenly felt like a cat stuck in a tree. Crap!

He looked around. Everyone was standing around Dipper who had dropped the ice bag with the ice scattered all over the floor. Zyon breathed in, a pale blue aura formed around him. He pushed himself off the shelf and lowered himself to the floor.

Zyon showed up just as the group ran to the Dancy Pants arcade game. He let out a long sigh. He felt like he was just playing catch up tonight. He turned back to the ice in the freezer. Apparently, Dipper couldn't handle getting a simple bag of ice. Well, he definitely could do that. Opening the freezer door, he reached in and grabbed a bag. As he took it out, he suddenly heard a baby crying. He looked down at what he thought was an ice bag. He let out his own horrified cry as he realized he was holding a frozen baby in a blanket! He tossed it back inside and shut the door. He put a hand over his mouth, hoping no one heard him scream like a little girl. Unfortunately, everyone came running.

"Whoa! Who just screamed like a little girl over here?" Robbie asked.

"Uh, I dunno," Zyon responded. "It definitely wasn't me." He finished with a huge smile. "I uh, was going to get Thompson some ice, since some people can't handle the simple task," he said glaring at Dipper.

"Oh don't worry about that Dude," Wendy replied. "Thompson's busy on the dance game." Everyone turned to see the huge teen trying his best to match the arrows on the screen. Zyon followed the rest of the group back past the entrance doors. As everyone stood around, his eyes went to the reflection off the doors. He grimaced as their reflections merged into a black ink blotch. The ink blotch formed a woman holding a baby. Hallow eyes stared back at him; blood dripped from the eyes, flowing down her cheeks, falling onto the baby. Zyon shook his head and rubbed his eyes. The woman was gone and the images returned to normal. His glance went over to the others who seemed unaware.

As the night went on, everyone enjoyed themselves in the unauthorized store. Zyon walked back towards the Smile Dip display. He saw Dipper vigorously shaking his sister.

"Mabel! How many of these did you eat?" he cried.

He looked at the huge grin on the girl's face along with dilated pupils.

"Eleventeen!" she responded.

Dipper began freaking out. Zyon calmly walked over.

"She's been eating this stuff all night," he told the frightened boy.

"How can you be so calm?" Dipper yelled at him.

"It's sugar, Dude," Zyon responded. "Not crack cocaine. She'll come off the high—eventually." Zyon saw a pack of Smile Dip that Mabel didn't eat. Opening, he took the dipping stick and started eating the sugar.

"You guys might wanna see this," Robbie yelled from behind the cash register. Everyone ran over to see the new discovery. A chalk drawing of a body lay out on the floor. Exclamations of the drawing rang from their mouths.

"The freakin' hell, man!" Nate exclaimed.

"Dare someone to lie down in it," Robbie taunted.

Nate jabbed Lee in the shoulder. "Go lie down in it."

Lee laughed as he walked over to the chalk drawing. "Hey Everyone, I'm a dead body!"

His foot hovered over the drawing as Dipper yelled to him.

"Wait! Let's not to that!"

"This guy's scared," Nate jested.

"I mean, why tempt the fates. This place—might—be—haunted—?" He winced at his own words.

Everyone booed him.

"Christ! Take it down a notch Captain Buzzkill!" Robbie mocked.

Dipper turned with hurt eyes. "But, I thought I was Dr. Fun Times."

"Well, you're acting like freakin' Captain Buzzkill,"

Everyone jested at him for being a baby. His eyes went to Wendy.

"Yeah, little bit," she agreed.

Tambry vigorously typed on her phone. "Status Update: Trapped in store with stupid eight year old boy scared to death of fake ghosts!"

"I'm thirteen!" Dipper yelled. He was about to lay down in it when Zyon pushed him out of the way.

"Hey, check it out guys! I'm some dead bitch who probably lost her baby or some shit!" He lay down in the markings of the female.

The moment Zyon lay in the chalk outline, it glowed in a brilliant blue light. He hopped out of it immediately. Every light in the place went out at once.

"What the hell?" Nate cried out.

An eerie greenish glow appeared behind the teens. Everyone turned to see Mabel floating in the air. She lay limp, her eyes closed.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted to her. Mabel's mouth opened. The sound of a baby's cry came out.

"It's okay. Don't cry," came a woman's voice. A ghostly figure of a woman appeared behind Mabel, her arms wrapped around the girl, cradling her. She looked down at the teenagers. "You stay away from my precious little girl!" she screamed.

"W-We d-didn't d-do anything t-to your b-baby, Ma'am," Lee stammered.

"Liars! All of you kids are the same! You don't care about anyone but yourselves!" Her blue eyes went completely white. A greenish, blue glow surrounded various objects in the store. They lifted into the air.

"Let's get out of here!" Robbie shouted. He grabbed the cash register and threw it at the doors. The aura surrounding the building shielded the glass, causing the register bounce off the doors and land in a heap by the counter.

"It looks like I'll have to teach all of you a lesson!" She snapped her fingers. Tambry fazed into her phone and ended up in the video game Thompson was playing. He screamed and suddenly was pulled into the game with her. They cried out as arrows fell on them like spears, piecing them down.

Lee and Nate were tossed into the freezer where the door shut locking them inside.

"Please just stop!" Wendy cried out. "We're sorry and we'll leave the store!"

"It's too late!" the woman responded. Mabel let out another wail as the ones left were raised to the ceiling.

"You stupid bitch! Let us out of here!" Robbie yelled. More crying came from Mabel as Robbie became rigid and shrunk to the size of a dollar bill and shoved into the register.

Zyon, Dipper and Wendy were left. Suddenly the three fell to the floor. As Wendy tried to get up, an ice bag hit her in the head.

"What do we do?" she cried out.

Dipper took out a book with a maroon cover and a gold six fingered hand on it. Zyon squinted at the book as the other boy skimmed the pages.

"There's got to be something in here. I was just reading about ghosts."

"Quick, get under there!" Wendy yelled, pointing to where two shelves fell on each other, creating a small hideaway hole. The three huddled together as more objects in the store swirled above them. Zyon never dealt with ghosts before. He just wished he knew how to stop all of this. His eyes fell on Wendy who was equally as horrified as he was.

"I found something!" Dipper yelled. The other two looked over at him. "When a ghost is violent, they need to be appeased. Usually, if you know why the ghost is upset, you can find what will calm them down."

"She doesn't want anyone to hurt her baby," Zyon replied. "Maybe someone did something to her baby—" It hit him. The dead baby he found in the freezer. He covered his mouth. His stomach ached; he felt sick. "I think someone threw her baby in the freezer—to kill it!"

"Who would do something so horrible?" Wendy wondered.

"Wait, Tambry was texting, Thompson was playing a video game and Robbie was being a jerk," Dipper noted.

"Yeah, those are all normal teenage things," Wendy said.

"So, she just hates teenagers?" Zyon asked. "Dipper, how old are you again?" The boy met his gaze and suddenly understood. Dipper got out of the hiding spot with Wendy yelling for him to come back. With numerous heavy objects whirling around and a howling wind taking up the entire space of the store, the boy called out to the woman.

"Hey!" She looked down at him. "I'm not a teenager!" The wind died down.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

He breathed in and he glanced back at Wendy. "I'm only twelve, technically not a teen."

The woman laughed. "Well, what a coincidence! A twelve year old killed my baby!"

"What?" he cried out.

"What?" Both Wendy and Zyon cried at the same time.

Suddenly fire sprang up around Dipper.

"No! Wait! I would never—" Dipper coughed until he finally passed out from the fumes from the smoke.

Zyon suddenly ran out of the hiding spot. He walked through the heat of the fire, grabbed Dipper then put a hand out towards the flames. A blue aura grew around his hand; his hand absorbed the fire until it no longer was a threat. Wendy watched from the hiding spot. All she saw was Zyon disappear into the flames and then the flames disappeared. She wasn't sure how it all happened, but she now realized both boys were safe. The ghost floated down with Mabel, landing on the ground.

"How did you do that?" The woman studied Zyon for a moment. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, I know what you did," she giggled. "Hope you don't lose your mind like that other one did."

"Listen, can you please let me and my friends out of here? None of us hurt your baby. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but— Please?"

"You are not like the others," she said. Suddenly she embraced Uni. He shuddered as frigid cold air swallowed him.

He stood in the convince store thirty years ago. The woman, in her youth of a twenty something yeas old, stood behind the register. She waited on a man about her age with thick brown hair and glasses.

"Hey, where are Ma and Pa today?" he asked.

"Oh, they are on vacation this week. I'm Anna."

The man paid for his items and left the store. A baby's cry suddenly erupted next to her. She looked down at her six-month-old baby in her stroller. There weren't any costumers in the store so she took the time to heat up a bottle in the back. Ma and Pa were the only employers she's ever had who would allow her to bring her baby to work. She was a working, single mother who couldn't afford a baby sitter. She came back out and gave the bottle to her child. The door opened with the ring of the bell. Two young kids stepped inside, a boy and a girl; the girl had long brown hair and the boy had curly hair the same color.

"Okay, hurry up and get your stupid sugar sticks," he said. The girl ran off. The boy walked over to the comics rack by the register.

Behind the counter, the baby dropped her body and began to cry. Anna turned and looked for the bottle, but it rolled under the counter and hit the boy's foot. As she came around to the other side, the boy picked it up.

"Oh, thank you," she said.

She expected him to give the bottle to her, but he sneered at her.

"Why do you have your baby here? Isn't that against store rules or something?"

"Oh, I know the owners." She heard her baby crying. She once again tried to take the bottle from the boy.

"Come on lady! I'm only twelve and I know you don't bring a crying brat into a public store."

"Excuse me? Where are your parents?"

The boy shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." He walked behind the counter to see the baby girl fidgeting about, crying at the top of her lungs.

"What, you want your bottle?" The boy mocked.

Anna had her hands on her hips. "Young man, you and your friend need to leave the store now!"

"That's my stupid sister. And we're not leaving until she gets her candy."

"Out! You can come back later with your parents!"

The girl came up to the register with at least ten packs of Smile Dip.

"Tell her that," the boy said carelessly. Anna turned to the girl.

"Sorry dear, I'm afraid you need to have your parents here before I can sell you that."

The girl gave the woman a deadpan stare. Anna gasped as she backed up. "Y-young lady?"

The girl walked behind the counter and picked up the crying baby. She held the baby with one arm and pointed at the sugar treats with the other.

"She says, give her the sugar and she won't hurt the baby," the boy translated.

"What?" Anna gasped. "Both of you get out now or I'm calling the sheriff!"

The girl carried the baby towards the freezer. Anna ran to stand in the girl's path.

"Give me my baby!" The girl did and Anna sighed with relief. However, the woman didn't realize her surroundings as she stood next to the shelf containing bags of Smile Dip. The girl suddenly pushed over the display onto the woman. She cried out as the shelves landed on her, crushing her. As the woman gasped her air, the girl took the baby and tossed it into the freezer. She then came back, grabbed a bunch of bags of Smile Dip and walked towards the doors exiting the building. The boy shook his head. "You should have just sold us the candy, lady." He said before joining his sister.

The vision ended. Zyon now stared into the eyes of the woman.

"I'm sorry," he said again. Even though my friends can be jerks and they broke into your shop, none of them would ever hurt a baby. I don't even think Robbie would do that." That last part he said more to himself. The woman's sad gaze lingered on Zyon. He watched her walk over and point to the freezer.

"She's still in there," the woman spoke with a hoarse voice. He guessed it was due to crushed vocal chords. Zyon walked over and opened the freezer. Inside was the six-month-old baby. He handed it to the woman, to Anna. "Thank you." The woman walked out of the store and faded away.

The ghostly glow that surrounded the store vanished and everyone lay around in various parts of the store.

"What happened?" Nate asked.

"Man, where did the ghost go?" Then they saw Mabel walk by, holding her head and groaning. Both guys screamed.

"Chill out guys!" Wendy called to them. "It's over! And we have Zyon and Dipper to thank."

Zyon and Dipper? Zyon thought to himself. He saved Dipper. He saved everyone!

"Man, I don't give two shits right now!" Robbie yelled. "I'm getting the hell out of here!"

Everyone piled into the car. Mostly everyone fell asleep. Zyon sat next to Lee, peering out at Dipper talking to Wendy. She mentioned something about them hanging out at the Shack. Suddenly, he started to regret that he saved that little boy. The two finally got into the van and Thompson drove off, never to return again.