Chapter 1
Mabel sits in the passenger seat next to me, napping and leaving me alone to think. I drive down the rural roads of Oregon that span across the state, forests only parting when a city breaks its path. The road is made of broken pavement that feels more like gravel than solid pavement, making for a bumpy ride. Mabel really can sleep through anything.
Yesterday was our eighteenth birthday, we celebrated then loaded up our already packed belongings and took away to Gravity Falls. She and I were to take over for Ford when he and Stan went on more grand adventures. We were to protect Gravity Falls, our favorite little, sleepy town with the more-often-than-occasional monsters and threats to the town's safety. We were to stop the dangers here so it would not spread across the world.
I sighed, listening to the road trip playlist Mabel and I had put together. Stan and Ford will stay with us for a day to get us fully acquainted with all of the different spots across Gravity Falls that Ford set up as bases.
I drive into the town limits, seeing the large "Welcome To Gravity Falls" sign. The sign put a smile on my face, and I decide to temporarily blast the music to wake Mabel. She wakes up with a start, her just cut pixie hair sticking out in all different directions and her eyes wide.
"Dude, what the fuck?" She asks, rubbing her eyes. She then gets a clear view of the familiar setting, and then smiles.
"Glad I woke you up, sis?" I asked, letting out a short laugh.
"Yes, but the way it was done was completely uncalled for and you know that."
"Well, either way, we're in the falls so get your shoes on, we'll be there in about five minutes."
She put her shoes on and moved around her bags to get them into a position easy enough for her to grab all of them in one trip. I continued to look at the road, watching all of the people that I knew walk around. I saw a few families that I hadn't seen before hiking up the trails that go through the forest that surrounds all of Gravity Falls. I looked at the trees. Most of them pine. Pine Tree. I lost control and swerved off road, slamming on the brakes. I saw flashes of him. His eye splitting into two and his body becoming humanoid with each flash. I heard Pine Tree, Shooting Star, Question Mark, Ice Bag, running through my head on loop. All I saw before my vision went black was Mabel getting out of the passenger seat and to my side.
I awoke in a bed that felt comfortable. I looked around the room, realizing it was mine and Mabel's old room at the shack. Now it had been turned into a lounge area, as Mabel and I were supposed to stay in the lab that now had a second story just above ground that looked like a second, smaller house behind the shack.
"Mabel! Someone!" I yelled as soon as I felt my head begin to burn again. Suddenly, I was standing in front of a mirror across the room. I saw myself flashing between a strange person with a black and yellow suit and a black top hat and just me. Except my own reflection had blood coming from my eyes and my body began to turn a bright yellow. A huge flash of yellow light bit into my vision followed by complete blackness.
I awoke once more, this time Mabel was kneeling at my bed side, Wendy and Soos were sitting at the ledge of my bed, and our Stan and Ford were leaning against the wall on either side of the door on the other side of the room.
"Mabel?" I said, my voice sore from, I assume, my screaming.
"Yeah, Dip?" She replied in a soothing voice that came from her working in a mental hospital for her volunteer hours to get into the med school about fifteen minutes out of Gravity Falls.
"Can I get some water? I'm pretty sure maybe food, water, and a nap will help this shit," I requested. She nodded her head and then stood up, walking out of the room.
"Hey, kid. You alright?" Stan asked, Ford nodding his head, signifying he wanted to know the same thing.
"Mentally? Not amazing, but I've been through worse. Physically, though, I just need maybe like one day of rest and then I'll be back in business."
"Good," Ford replied this time, the two being almost interchangeable.
"Yeah. I just wanted to be here and ready immediately. I was just so fucking excited and now I'm in bed because my PTSD is acting up again. It hasn't been this bad since I started therapy five years ago."
"It's okay, kid. I'm sure it was just a random fit. I know that every few years I get a little worked up with mine. You'll be fine, boy," Stan related, assuring me with a look of sincerity that he only ever gets around his family. And even then, it only shows up once in a blue moon.
We sit in silence until Mabel came back with a huge mason jar of water and ice and big bowl of potato soup. My favorite.
"Thanks, sis. I needed this," I thanked her, "And as for the rest of you, please leave me while I eat and nap."
Everyone left and I took some time to eat and regenerate. I slowly ate the bowl of soup and took sips of water. I finished the last drops of soup and closed my eyes, laying back on the mattress. As I slept, I had a dreamless sleep, a welcome transition from PTSD night terrors. I awoke later and I looked at the time and saw that it was eleven a.m. the next day. I sat up and stretched out. I felt a thousand times better and decided to go downstairs.
I made my way down the stairs and went to the kitchen where I found everyone squeezed in. I walked backwards and looked into the living room and saw five sleeping bags. I walked back to the kitchen and saw them all looking directly at me.
"Guys, what's going on? Did you guys all sleep here?" I asked.
"Yeah, we all wanted to be here just in case you needed all five of us," Wendy replied, smiling. They all come up and group hug me. Except for Stan who gives me thumbs up and hugs me separately.
"In what situation could I possibly need all five of you?" I asked, rolling my eyes as they all just shrugged. I grab a bowl of cereal and sit down. I start to eat as the others make casual conversation. I add a few comments here and there but mostly keep quiet, thinking. Thinking about settling in, taking on mysteries, and hanging out with my sis until she has to start pre-med late July.
"I think we're gonna head out. See ya, Dip," Wendy said, motioning to Soos as well.
"Don't wanna help unpack, huh?" I reply, chuckling.
"Oh, dude, while you were sleeping we unpacked everything. We knew you'd wanna organise so we only did your furniture, but other than that, you're all set, man," Soos answered. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, smiling. Man, I missed these assholes.
"You guys are far too good to me," I tell them.
"Well, don't get used to it, we have all the time in the world to fuck with you now that you've moved here," Wendy remarked. I laugh and bid them my goodbyes.
I take my bowl to the sink and begin to clean the dishes when Mabel stops me and tells me that she's got it. I don't argue and do as she says when she tells me to unpack and organise my stuff. I walk through the back door and go to the house outside. When I enter, there is a living space with lots of windows and a kitchen. Through a door in the living room, there's Mabel's room and then through the door in the kitchen, is the steps that go to the lab and my room.
I take the steps down and am greeted by the main area that has a mini-fridge, two lounge seats, and walls lined with books. I go to the bookcase on the far side of the room. I take out a book, then press a button hidden in the lip of the shelf. A small keypad is revealed as a piece of the wood slides down. I put in the code and the whole bookshelf slides to the left, showing a new room that looks almost the same as the last. However, these books all have more mystical contents and there is a door encarved in the far bookshelf.
I go through and enter an enormous room filled with desks, lab tables, ingredients, strange contraptions, and scattered books from the previous room. I walked down one of the many connecting hallways and enter a door at the end. Inside there was a large bedroom with its own bookshelf, desk, and even connecting bathroom.
I dig into the boxes and start putting things away. I put novelties and books on the bookshelf, the journals in my passcode protected drawer on my desk, and shove the rest in random corners of the room. I unpack all of the contraptions of my own, along with my electronics. I finally set an empty journal on the desk. It looks like the other journals but with a gold four on the cover. My edition.
I hear a voice call my name and I walk out into the large room of the lab. I see Ford standing near one of the desks with vials and elixirs scattered across it. He organizes some papers, then turns to face me.
"Ah! Dipper. Stan and I are going to head out in about an hour. Here are all of my papers and maps of the town. As always the logs of all of my new inventions are on the desk near the out-of-use portal. Sorry we can't stay another day and acquaint you as originally planned, but duty calls, I'm afraid," Ford rambles in the way only a mad scientist like himself could. He talks as he juggles a pen in his hand, twisting it between his six fingers.
"No worries, Ford. Mabel and I are big kids now," I assure him before another voice cuts in.
"Yeah, we're big kids!" Mabel interjects. She wears her same type of sweater but with these new ones she usually has one sleeve off-the-shoulder and wears short skirts and knee-high socks, then she finishes off the outfit with muddy converse. We all laugh as she comes up to Ford and playfully puts her arm around him, "You ain't got nothin' to worry about, grunkle."
"I guess I have to believe you," He kisses her forehead and then comes to hug me and do the same to me, "Come upstairs with me and say goodbye to the other old man."
We walk out, bypassing the security and go upstairs, then out the door to the shack. We walk through the back door and see Stan in the living room, sitting on his old, sunken in recliner.
"We came to say goodbye," I told him and he smiled, standing up.
"And that means forcing a hug," Mabel added on, Stand trying to hide a smile. We all rush to him and begin a large group hug. Stan will pretend to hate it, but, inside, he loves it and us.
"Well, Ford, are you ready to head out?" Stan asked, and Ford showed him a duffle bag larger than me, "That's just the devices, Ford."
"I know. My fully packed case is upstairs," Ford replied, snarkily.
"Well? What are you waiting for? We ain't got all day," Stand said grumpily. Ford just walked past Stan and patted him on the back as he left to go upstairs, "I don't know why I fuckin' put up with that guy."
"Because he's your brother and you love him?" Mabel asked, raising one of her eyebrows, chuckling.
"Somethin' like that," Stan replied just as Ford came down with an even larger bag of stuff, presumable his clothes, "Ready to go?"
Ford nodded and we all spoke our last Goodbye's and See ya's. They hopped in a broken-down van that was next to mine and Mabel's clean, blue convertible. We waved as they left, then I turned to Mabel.
"Guess who's already got a mystery?" I asked enthusiastically, jumping up and down with my journal, feeling like a kid again.
"Shit, no way. What is it?" Mabel replied just as excitedly.
"There have been strong readings of otherworldly interruptions via cracks in some trans-dimensional rifts," I continue to say.
"So, what the hell does that mean and where is it?" Mabel asked, laughing.
"Basically, our world and another world are seeping into each other, meaning that something has slipped into our world. I was taking a look and the rift has closed and so what I'm picking up is the shockwave of it. That all means that someone or something has made its way here. So, I'm gonna have my first journal entry as a full resident of Gravity Falls!"
"Holy shit, bro. Let's get some equipment and head the fuck out!"
We walk side-by-side to the lab and go through the security measures. Once we enter the lab, we grab readers, books, plasma weapons, and full outfits of protective clothing. We look at each other and we both agree that we look super badass.
"So, the lab and our convertible need badass names to go with our badass look," Mabel said. I laugh but realize she is 100% serious.
"So, we got Mystery-Twins for us. For the convertible how about Badass-Mobile? And then I have no clue for the lab." I reply.
"Umm… how about Pines HQ or P-HQ for short?" She suggests.
"Oooh, I like that. And the Badass Mobile can be like BA-Mobile," I add. We both look at each other and nod our heads. We hop into the car, this time with Mabel driving. I look at our completely intact car, "So, how is the car still perfectly how I left it before my fit?"
"Oh, Soos was a doll and fixed it up super quickly. If you look closely, the car's a slightly different blue. He did a full paint job. I don't know how but he took it away for ten hours and came back with it brand new. That man is a genius. Well… in some instances," Mabel replied as we felt the wind blow through our hair, the warm summer heat unable to touch us just yet as long as we are in the moving car.
"He definitely has his moments," I say as the conversation kind of drops. Not by lack of something to say, but by choice. We like to take a few moments before each mission to slow down our thoughts, unclench our burrowed eyebrows, and let plans of action almost coarse through us. I relax and let the waves of high-speed wind ripple through my body as I think of all the possibilities behind this first case. A rift in dimension… very exciting for my first journal entry.
The car stops near a curve in the road and we take out the map Ford gave us. We follow the map to the sight of one of his labs. This lab is where the shockwaves are ringing out from. We step quietly through the forest, with our aging bringing more coordination and the ability to actually stay silent for a few moments just to get to where we need to be. We near the main destination and let up a bit on our formal, almost battle-like stance.
"So, on top of that tree, there is a bird's nest. We need to grab an egg that has a hidden button on it. The tree branches will become somewhat of a spiral staircase, allowing the one up in the tree to come down and continue with the stairs underground together," I tell her, reading from a place in the journal I was told to look at by a mark near the lab we were standing above on the map.
"Well, Dipper, you know that climbing trees is my thing, so I'll head up," Mabel said. I nodded and watched as she swiftfully stepped from one branch to another until she made it to where the nest was. She shuffled around in the nest then pressed something, making the tree branches spiral. I enter the staircase from ground level and she steps down from the tree from the top of the tree.
We both travel down and are greeted by another large lab with tens of halls stemming from the walls of the cave-like room. I lean to the right side of the stairs and pull a lever, retracting the staircase and putting everything back to a normal state. I set down my bag and take out a large reader with wires and buttons sticking out from all ends, looking like something out of a shitty 90s ghost hunting tv show. I begin to track down which hallway is picking up the most concentration of energy.
"Okay so it looks like the hall we're looking for is over here. Come and get your plasma out. I'll get mine," I declare, giving her a second to pull her weapon out while I grab mine and put the duffel strap over my shoulder. We walk down the hall in a stance ready for a full-out gun fight. I follow my reader's directions down the hall, around a few turns, then finally to a large vault door.
"Are you ready, Dipper?" Mabel asked. I nodded, opening the door more easily than I thought I'd be able to. The vault door almost seemed to open as if the lock was broken and the hinges were loosened.
We walked inside a dark room that looked like a solid wall of black. I felt the side of the wall near the door, looking for a switch. I turned on the light and a single fluorescent bulb turned on above a body lying on the ground. The body was male, he had yellow and black hair, he had a torn suit on. I run up and kneel next to him. I flip him over on his side. His face was scratched and he had dried blood all around his face but from my angle I could see him looking up and smiling. He chuckled and through a hoarse voice I almost recognized the laugh. Almost. Until he looks up and begins to say something.
"Did ya miss me, Pine Tree?"
