A/N: First posted fanfic. I really don't know what I'm doing but I hope you guys like it. Any type of criticism is appreciated. Tell me whether or not I should continue. Enjoy!
Massive edit: So, when I looked back on this and I didn't like it too much. I'm planning on combining this with another idea I have so the idea of this story as a whole will change. This is basically an entirely different story, just with the dame name. Slight AU. Not everything is canon but most things are. The parents have a bigger role. The twins are aged up to around 16, and this is the twins' first time at GF, too. Everyone else ages up respectably. Explores some darker themes. (Oh, and Mrs. Pines is Caskey and Mr. Pines is Robert.)
~0-o-0~
The summer was over. Yet she was still here. Stuck here. Bill was still wreaking havoc around the town, and the only citizens left were the ones who were part of the Take Back the Falls resistance at the Mystery Shack. Monsters and demons still ran amok, but could never get past the Shack's borders. Everyone there was safe, but stuck.
Mabel was in the stickiest situation of them all. While everyone was either frozen to stone or hiding in the Shack, she was still imprisoned in her Time Bubble.
She'd been trapped for weeks. Stan and Dipper had lost their minds looking for a solution. Ford had been turned to gold by Bill, but there was no way of rescuing him anytime soon. Soos and Wendy held the TBTF resistance together while everyone was busy trying to help Mabel.
But the journals had been burned. Ford and his knowledge was gone. The only person who was safe was Mabel. Little did she know she was in need of rescuing.
Unfortunately, in their effort to keep the crumbling pieces of Gravity Falls together, things were falling apart as well back in Piedmont. That distress came in the form of two very panicked parents, hoping their kids were safe.
~0-o-0~
Mr. and Mrs. Pines grew worried when their kids didn't come home for school. First, they called their kids, but neither of them answered. Next, they tried the Shack, but that was dead too. Even the employee's personal lines Stan had given them for absolute emergencies weren't working. Something was wrong. Caskey and Robert Pines immediately packed their bags and drove to up to Gravity Falls, Oregon.
The drive there was way past the speed limit and extremely anxiety inducing. But they came to a halt at the border of the town. There was what looked like a wavering darkish rainbow shield, and what lied beyond that was horrifying.
They stopped their blue Prius at the edge of the border, peering out the window on the car, not believing their eyes at the impossible sight before them.
Everywhere you looked there was some type of creature wandering around, occasionally kidnapping a screaming person, terrified for their life. They stared for what seemed like hours but was probably only five minutes. Caskey and Robert shared a petrified look and slowly backed away from the town, keeping the ominous shield in sight.
"This is not the town I expected my children to be staying in," commented Cas, obviously in shock judging by her blank stare and still body. Her eyes were wide, almost unseeing, staring at the supernatural shield in front of her.
Robert, however, was in full panic mode.
He exploded, whipping around to face Cas, his face turning tomato red with spit was flying out of his mouth as he screamed at his wife. "Not what you expected?! Cas, our children are in there! There are fucking monsters in that town and our kids don't have anyone except for Stan. We can't not go in and look for them when they could be in danger!"
Her husband's spiel had done the trick and snapped Cas out of her shock. She looked a bit startled by being yelled at, but relatively ok. Well, as ok as you can be knowing your kids are in a town overrun by monsters. Oh, god, she hoped they were alright.
Being the level headed one in their relationship, she calculated her situation. There were monsters, and they seemed to be attracted to noise, based on the screaming humans they saw earlier. She knew they would have to proceed carefully.
"We'll leave the car here. It'll make too much noise if we bring in into the town. We know how to get to the Mystery Shack, so all we need to do is make our way across town without being captured or eaten by any of those monsters. Then we'll get the kids and get out of this creepy place."
Robert nodded at his wife's logic, having calmed down from his burst of anger. His eyes were forward, determined on the task set in front of them. They were going to get their kids back, no matter the cost.
~o-0-0~
Dipper was not having the best day. Ever since his sister had been captured and Ford had been turned into Bill's personal back scratcher, Stan, Wendy and Soos were all he had. Granted, they were great people for trying to help find Mabel, but they weren't having any luck. Dipper had been seriously out of it ever since the slight telepathic connection he had with his sister had been cut off. Occasionally having her thoughts intrude his own was calming in a way. It reminded him that she would always be there. But not anymore.
Dipper shook his head slightly, focusing on the task at hand. He and Grunkle Stan were out gathering some new materials they would need to help anyone back at the Shack.
Right now, they were collecting spare clothing at the mall. Wendy, Soos, and some of the older kids and adults in the Shack were out looking for more citizens in the outskirts of town. They left an hour ago so they should be back before him and Stan returened. The children stayed safe in the Shack at all times. You never know what Bill would do to you if he caught you.
Dipper always knew what Bill would do to him. After the Sock Opera incident, Dipper had gained some of Bill's magic. Not necessarily his powers; the energy that coursed through Dipper was his own. He had slight telepathy and fire powers, as well as being gifted in casting spells. But without Mabel's encouragement, he never would've gotten the hang of it. He owed her so much.
Strolling through the aisles, Dipper stopped at a rather colorful sweater and was just reminded of Mabel again. He was such a fool for fighting with her. None of this would have happened if he had just listened to his sister for once in his miserable life. Dipper shoved the sweater into his duffle bag of clothing. Roughly wiping the tears from his eyes, Dipper continued looking.
About 30 minutes passed and Stan and Dipper met up at the mall entrance, both with duffle bags full of clothes. They started their way back to the Mystery Shack. Most of the walk was silence, but finally Stan broke it.
"You know kid, I can tell when you've been crying. Your nose gets all red even though your eyes are dry. But you can't fool me." Stan said this all jokingly, but in a caring, almost fatherly tone.
Dipper sighed. "I know. I'm just an idiot. I promised I would look after Mabel, and the minute I fight with her she gets captured by the worst demon in the universe. I'm a horrible brother."
Stan threw his head back in quiet laughter and stopped walking. He put his hand on Dipper's shoulder reassuringly. "Listen, kid, if there's one thing I know, it's that you care about your sister more than yourself. So don't go around saying you weren't there when you always have been."
After a few minutes of walking in silence and hiding from a demon behind a dumpster, they finally reached the Shack. At this point they had been gone for a grand total of about an hour. That meant Wendy and Soos had returned with some new recruits for the TBTF resistance. Dipper doubted they had found anyone new, but you never know with this town. Weird things happen all the time.
Dipper and Stan made their way up the stairs and opened the door to be greeted with a peculiar sight.
"Hey everybody we got new clothes and-" Dipper stopped himself by the sight in front of him. His jaw fell to the floor along with his duffle, making a dull thump. His eyes widened as he processed who was here. Everyone in the Shack was circling around the newcomers. And when they turned around, Dipper felt his heart drop in fear.
"Mom?! Dad?!"