USE KEY-13
Disclaimer:
GRAVITY FALLS BELONGS TO THE EVER BRILLIANT ALEX HIRSCH. ALL I HAVE IS DIPPER'S HAT
Special thanks to Aqua Burst 07 for beta reading.
PROLOUGE
"So do you want cheese on that, hon?" A tall middle aged man asked, flipping a newly roast patty in the grill.
"Sure, hank," his wife replied.
An pair of brown haired twins ran in circles, playing tag while a group of friends enjoying picnic together on a sunny hillside.
A moment later, a pair of screaming twins crashed through the WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS sign, riding a golf cart being chased by a huge menacing shadow leaving trails of destruction in its wake.
"It's getting closer!" A twelve-year-old boy, who has braces, mop brown hair with a maroon sweater and blue shorts, yelled to his sister, glancing at the incoming danger behind.
His twin, a female with a mop of brown hair and brown eyes, continued to drive. "I'm trying, Marble!"
In a matter of seconds, it is right above them, giant hands reaching out to grab only missing the cart by an inch. But their luck was short lived when the vehicle ran through a rock making a 360 jump. The boy gagged, all the motion being too much for his stomach, much to his sister's chagrin.
"Look out, Dipper!" Marble yelled.
Dipper swore she felt her heart skipped a beat when a huge tree was thrown right in front of them. Instinctively pressing her foot on the brake as hard as she could, panic overtaking her as she can't stop swerving the cart left and right driving right straight into to the tree-
-EARLIER THAT DAY-
Behind the counter of Mr. Mystery bobble heads, Marble peeked looking at his prey taking the bait. A tanned brown haired boy around his age picked a piece of suspiciously placed paper on the floor.
"Do you like me?" he read out loud.
But it's not exactly much to be called a question if the choices are only "Yes, Definitely, Absolutely." Pinetastic56 written at the bottom. Okay, that was awkward to say at least. The boy took a worried glance around the room, suddenly feeling paranoid.
"If only he know how gorgeous she is!" Marble whispered to himself, only to get elbowed by a very flushed Dipper.
"Cut it out Marble! Who told you to use my Hotmail?" Dipper asked.
Marble winced. "I told you, summer romances are the last thing that I would worry right now." She returned on cleaning a jar full of eyeballs. "Oh come on, sis! We're turning 13 in the end of summer; don't you think it's time for you to be more 'open' to boys?"
"I don't think hooking me with every guy you meet would be a good idea," Dipper replied. Marble doesn't seem to know the meaning of 'not interested' in her book.
"Not this time, sis, not with me around! You're gonna have an epic summer romance, even if it's the last thing your epic broseph will do!" Marble proudly proclaimed to his sister.
Dipper groaned; she had this feeling this is going to be one ridiculously long summer. Sure Marble has more friends that she has-no, she's not jealous or anything-but the feeling of being able to ride a cruise hunting a huge white whale, solving the mysterious murder of the Duchess of Walachia, all of these only possible in fiction is the reason she would always prefer indulging in her favorite books rather some petty romance. Leave it to Marble to go with some random crazy idea, and being on a one man crusade to find his sister a date is his worst yet.
"Don't ya worry, sis. I've got a good feeling this summer! I wouldn't be surprised if the man of your dreams walked through that door right now!" Marble continued, pointing at a nearby open door.
He was right- a man did walked out, but it was anything than he imagined. It's Stan, looking more disheveled and somehow fatter than usual, burped carelessly, carrying a bunch of signs. Definitely not what Marble had in mind.
"Aww! Why!" the boy whined, and his sister burst in a fit of giggles.
Okay, that was definitely priceless.
"All right, all right, look alive people!" Stan announced as he enters the room, gaining the occupants attention. "I need someone to go hammer up these signs at the forest.
"Not it!" the twins replied in unison.
"Uh, also not it." A plump tall man of Mexican descent answered, pausing in his work of drilling the wall. He wears Grey shorts, a black t-shirt with a strange question mark symbol in it and a black hat.
"Nobody asked you, Soos."
"I know, and I'm totally comfortable with that." The man, who was named Soos, replied before taking a huge bite of his chocolate bar.
"Wendy, I need you to put up with this sign!" the old man asked his other staff, who currently manning the cashier, lazily setting her foot on the table reading a magazine.
"I could, but I, ugh, can't, ugh, reach it, ugh…." Wendy, a lanky redheaded teenage girl with freckles wearing a green flannel shirt, blue pants and black boots, sporting a brown lumberjack hat, replied with blatant disinterest.
"I'd fire all of you if I could," the conman muttered. "All right, let's make it…. eenie, meenie, miney.. you." He pointed right at Dippers direction, much to her surprise.
"What? Grunkle Stan, whenever I'm in those woods, I feel like I'm being watched," she said, glancing back at left to right to emphasize her point.
"Ugh, this again." The old man groaned.
"I'm telling you, something weird is going on in this town. Just today my mosquito bites spelled out 'BEWARE.'" She raised her left arm to for the old man to see.
"It spells BEWARB" he corrected. Yeah, it actually does. "Look, kid. The whole 'Monsters in the Forest' thing is just local legend, drummed up by guys like me to sell merch to guys like him," he said, pointing at a random tourist enjoying the Stan-bobbleheads's head bobble, "so quite being so paranoid." He finished giving the twelve- year-old girl the signs.
"But what about Marble? I mean, he's the dude." The little girl tried to reason with his relative one last time.
"He'll litter the signs with glitter all over; tell me you don't find that terrifying."
Dipper groaned, walking out the shack, signs in tow.
_IN THE FOREST_
Summer, as Dipper concluded, sucked. Or as of the current situation she is right now, walking in the middle of the forest nailing signs to the trees. Her parents sent her and Marble here for the summer to get more fresh air. She knows there is something off about this place. She would always get this faint feeling of being followed, sudden goose bumps here and there. It didn't helped that a faintly thick fog loomed around, as if her predicament isn't creepy enough already. It's her job, of all people. Why not Marble? She swears her brother is a walking hyperactive machine. He would jump off a cliff if you told him that gummy bears will catch his fall, the fact that Stan choose her over him is beyond her.
She heard a shrill laugh through the tress. Whipping her head around to double check, she didn't see anything. Okay; there's nothing. She is just being paranoid. The sooner she gets this done the better. Keep. On. Walking. Take a deep breath, Dip.
"Ugh, Grunkle Stan, nobody ever believes anything I say." Dipper muttered, as she finished nailing a sign on a nearby tree.
She moved to another one, which looked like any other normal tree. But any other normal tree won't make a metallic 'clang' when pounded like this one. Her eyes widened, looking around to make sure no one was watching. She leaned, once again banging her hammer against the unusual tree, once again producing the odd noise. Ok, now she's curious.
Carelessly, her hands prods the bark of the metal tree. Finally, she felt some indention in the side of the tree, she pried if off the bark, only to open in a way like a hatch. Revealing what appears to be a radio transmitter with two red switches. She messes around with the controls, hoping It would trigger something
Much to her hidden delight, she heard a sound of working machinery behind her, followed by a familiar bleat. Turning around she saw the goat, who was dubbed Gompers, courtesy of her brother, running away. What is this doing here?
Approaching the hole with caution, she looks down. It was a book, thick and hardbound. It appeared to be really, really old, evidenced by the cobwebs and insects that sort of inhabit the cover, 'eww'. She picked it up and blew the dust off, revealing the cover; a gold six fingered hand symbol with a number '3' encased in the middle. She opens the book.
"Property of-" a note was attached at the very first page with its bottom ripped off. What a tease. Moving an eyeglass out of the way as she began reading. "It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon." The girl read out loud, as her voice gradually raised with her intrigue.
Flipping through page after page, gnomes, gargoyles, creatures of the night, sightings and evidences, each with having an extensive record deconstructing some fascinating myths she knew as a kid. What is all this?
Looking further, she stumbled across a passage that read:
Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm being watched. I must hide this book before he finds it. Remember: in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust."
That's enough for a moment. She closed the book to rest her head, overwhelmed by the huge revelation. "No one you can trust," Dipper repeated as she glanced at the book she was holding, too focused to notice a certain boy sneak up behind her.
"HELLO!" Marble yelled, and for the second time in her oh-so-lucky day, she screamed, causing her to nearly drop the book she was holding.
"Owie, Yeesh sis!" Marble muttered, nursing his ears. "You're lucky I'm not wearing any hearing aids. So wat'cha readin', some nerd thing?"
Suddenly aware that his attention was now on the book she was holding, she shields it away from her brother's view, hoping to divert his attention as much as she could.
"Uh, uh, it's nothing." Dipper said, turning around to face her brother, hiding the book behind her.
"Uh, uh, it's nothing." Marble mockingly imitated his twin. He laughed. "What? Are you actually not gonna show me? Oh hey Gompers!" And, then the goat was back, nibbling at the edges of the journal.
Dipper let a sigh escape her. Marble is her brother, her twin. She can tell him...right? Glancing around to make sure they were the only people in the forest, she turns to her brother.
"Let's go somewhere private." She told her twin.
_THE MYSTERY SHACK_
"It's amazing! Grunkle Stan said I was being paranoid, but according to this book, Gravity Falls has this secret dark side." Dipper said, walking around the room reading the newly discovered book.
"Whoah! Shut up!" Marble said, sitting on the side of Stan's lazy chair and watching his sister ramble around with a smile.
"And get this, after a certain point the pages just… stop, like the guy who was writing it mysteriously disappeared!" Dipper rambled on.
The door bell rang, snapping Dipper from her train of thought.
"Who is that?" she voiced her thoughts out loud.
"Oh yeah, would you know it Sis! I've got a new best summer buddy today!" Marble replied, jumping off the chair before making his way to the door. Dipper just stared at her brother in confusion, wondering who this person might be. She shrugs, sitting on the chair as she keeps on reading.
"What'cha reading there tyke?" Stan asked entering the room drinking his Pitt Cola startling the girl.
"Oh!" Dipper hastily hides the book beneath the cushion, snatching one of Stan's magazines. "I was just catching up on, uh….Gold Chains For Old Men?"
"It was a good issue." Stan replied with a shrug, sipping taking another sip on his cola. "Where's the other one?"
"Oh you know," Dipper replied, sounding as nonchalant as she could, "off to the door to greet his new best friend. It's only been half an hour and I doubt people don't get that close real quick."
"Don't think about it too much kiddo; it's just how your brother works. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was your age."
Dipper paused.
"Hey, family! Imma found myself a new summer buddy!" Marble announced, standing in the doorway. A teenager, who about a head taller than him, wearing dark pants and a hooded jacket, stood beside her brother. He turns around, he looks like any other Goth-wannabe-to-look-cool teens, except for the red stains (Blood!?) on his face.
"Sup," he said in a throaty 'deep' voice, maybe too throaty. Dipper swore she saw a hidden gleam in the stranger's eyes as it lands on her.
"How's it hangin'," Stan waved, not even the slightest bit bothered with the stranger's unusual aura.
"What's your name?" Dipper asked.
"Uh, Normal….MAN!" he fumbled for an answer.
"He means Norman. Norman, that's my sister Dipper," Marble interjected. Norman made a knowing grunt, looking at his sister.
"We met at the cemetery. He's pretty cool sis, broody, and mysterious," he said, with emphasis on the last part.
Dipper groaned and buried her head on her hands. Ugh, he's really not trying to pull this again? Marble introduces a new guy, and he's just as subtle as ever. Here they go again!
"Are you bleeding?" she asked, trying to sound like she was interested and ignoring the different way the teen would stare at her, or how she quickly caught on the obvious meaning in her brother's eyes.
"It's Jam," the guy replied.
Marble gasped. "Sis love's Jam too!" No she doesn't! "And she has a thing for dark broody loners." To be fair, she did have a crush on Bram Stoker's Dracula back in 3rd Grade, but Marble meant the gayer 'Sparkly' modern versions. "And he reads books Dipper! Someone you could relate too!" No, he looks anything but the reading type. Dipper even doubts he'd ever sit down and read a book in his life.
A few awkward moments have passed and neither any people of the room makes a comment, and N until 'Norman' broke the silence.
"So, ugh, you wanna go outside doing some guy stuff or… whatever?" he asked, shifting his gaze towards Marble.
"Sure, dude; I think I just saw some clearing near the Au river," Marble replied.
"Um, okay."
"Cool, I'll go get my ball." With that, the twin ran inside the house to find his favorite basketball.
"I'll uh, see you there I guess," the guy called out, yet his eyes are kept focusing on Dipper.
She noticed, and started to squirm in her seat. Thankfully, he finally walks out the house, though eyes still fixated on the girl. Well, that takes the cake for creepiness. There was something off about him.
'TRUST NO ONE'
Now she could finally feel the dreading tone behind those words.
Shaking off the creepy vibe, she picks up the journal and makes her way up to their room in the attic. Maybe this book has something to say.
_ATTIC_
Dipper entered the room carrying the journal before plopping herself on her bed. Seemingly can't take her thoughts away from how Marble's new 'summer buddy' acted earlier. Tall, pale, black get up, infinitely creepy, he would definitely pass off as another teenager. Hey may have fooled Marble (to be fair it's criminally easy), but as far as she's concerned he's hiding something. She couldn't describe this sinking feeling in her stomach, and she doesn't like it.
"Okay, Norman, what 'are' you exactly?" She muttered to herself.
Browsing through aged pages of the ancient book, she stopped on a certain page, eyes widening as she studies it:
Known for their pale skin and bad attitudes these creatures are often mistaken for… Teenagers!? Beware of Gravity Fall's nefarious creatures -zombies.
What made her heart sink is the illustration of the zombie looked like a dead ringer for Norman.
"Zombies!?" Dipper dropped the book, panic overtaking her as she paced around the room biting her chewing her finger. She heard Stan calling out something in the bathroom, but she was too focused on the terrifying revelation right now to care.
"Oh man! Oh man! Oh man!" she repeated like a chant around the room. Pacing back in forth, hyperventilating. What was she going to do?
Shifting her gaze towards the window, she spotted her brother and Norman outside through the window playing dodge ball.
"So, ugh, you wouldn't mind if I go and try right?" Norman asked her brother, unfazed when a ball smacks straight into his face.
"Dude, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're overqualified! I mean sure, she'd just met you few minutes ago but have you ever watched Fozen! She'll like you in no time!" Marble cheered.
Dipper fainted.
TO BE CONTINUED?
Aaand there goes chapter one. Chapter two may take a while depending on my schedule.
Rate and Review please!
It has some flaws, no scratch that, there's a ton of it.
Gender bender has always been a guilty pleasure to me. One of my favorite things in fanfiction.
As you've noticed, not much has been changed in canon other than the twin's genders. I'm experimenting to say at least, the Butterfly Effect will be applied. It derails from canon in later chapters.
Reviewers, be merciless, constructive criticism will be appreciated.
Flamers? Meh, *Shrug*.