Gravity Shock: Elysium
Summary: Welcome to the city of Elysium; the paradise for those chosen by the stars to survive the impending apocalypse. Built in 1984, the city has prospered thanks to our leader and great prophet, Granny Gleeful. Life here is comfortable and fair, children of all ages are given access to education, science is not held back by petty morals from parasites of the world outside, and*SMASH* "Yeesh, I can only stomach so much bullcrap for so long."
I own nothing
Prologue:
It had been a really nice day that day. Stan had taken the twins out to lunch at Greasy's Diner for no reason other than he wanted to spend some time with his family. It was the middle of July and Gravity Falls had been getting ready for the annual Lumberjack Festival, with Manly Dan overseeing the festivities, which seemed to bring out more of his temper. Generally a nice, normal day in Gravity Falls that even Dipper was actually more relaxed than he had ever been the entire summer.
"So I saw Gabe at the park the other day doing one of his shows. I'm going to have to repeat myself and say I dodged a bullet there, cause after the show he was under the tree making out with his puppets." Mabel cringed when she remembered the sight.
"I honestly don't know what you saw in that kid. He's not right." Grunkle Stan said as he bit into his burger.
"Music and a pretty face is like catnip for girls." Mabel explained.
"There's no doubt about that judging by your CD and DVD collection." Dipper joked.
"Yeah yeah." Mabel playfully punched Dipper in the shoulder. The two began a playful fight, Grunkle Stan laughed a long with them, a feeling of nostalgia washing over him as he recalled his childhood. Suddenly the doors to the diner thrust open, a blinding like assaulting the patrons of the diner.
"THE STARS SHINE DOWN UPON ME," A voice rang loud and clear. "AND THEY TELL ME, FORGIVENESS!" An old woman wearing a sky blue power suit, and a hat with a bow adorned with a rather gaudy looking gem, entered the diner, her hands raised high above her head. She looked oddly familiar. The crowd watched in stunned silence as two men wearing white suits and blue turtle necks, with none other than Lil Gideon trailing behind them.
"Gideon?" Mabel exclaimed.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Grunkle Stan snapped.
"When did he get out of jail?" Dipper asked.
"People of Gravity Falls, I am Gertrude Gleeful, head of the Gleeful Clan and I to you today with my grandson in hopes to gain your forgiveness for the Gleeful name and to my grandson, who has wronged so many of you," Gertrude announced. She then pushed Gideon front and center to meet everyone's glares.
"Uh hello," He said nervously. "My name is Lil Gideon and I am here to say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I spied on you and I'm sorry I scammed you and I'm especially sorry towards the Pines family," Gideon approached Stan and knelt down on one knee. "I'm sorry I had taken what wasn't mine, and sent a giant robot after you. I only ask for your forgiveness." It was silent for a minute before Stan finally spoke.
"Gideon, you harassed my family, stole from me, nearly killed my great niece and nephew, as far as I'm concerned I want you to stay away from my family and I. Kids, I think it's time we go." Stan said as he placed the tip on the table. Dipper and Mabel looked at each other.
"Surely you can offer him your forgiveness." Gertrude said. Stan turned to her.
"Forgiveness doesn't come easy when my family was put in danger. I'm sorry, but we need to go." Stan sounded dignified, receiving a minor cheer from Manly Dan and a few other patrons of the Diner as he left. Just as they were about to enter El Diablo, a strange gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew Dipper's hat off.
"My hat! I'll be right back Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called.
"Kid I've got a full stock of hats like that." Stan said.
"Yeah, but that one is special." Dipper said as he ran towards the direction to where his hat blew. It had the stains, burns, and tears from all of his and Mabel's adventures in Gravity Falls, it had too much character about it to just be replaced. In the mean time, Gertrude and Gideon walked out of the diner, Gertrude looking very angry while Gideon nervously wrung his hands. He looked up to his grandmother throughout his boyhood, and now here she was, disappointed and angry with him.
"Honestly Gideon, you should be happy I'm going this far for you. If the stars themselves didn't shine forgiveness on you, then you and your ma and pa would have been disowned from the Gleeful clan."
"But Grandma, I was only tryin' to get a hold of what should be ours and what will be best for Elysium." Gideon said, his eyes had tears in them.
"And you can forget the idea of ever seeing Elysium. The stars may forgive you, but I'm the prophet, I don't have to just as the Pines family don't have to." Gertrude snapped.
"What, but Grandma, I am the only heir to Elysium!" Gidean cried.
"Child, you were only heir because of blood, the stars never chose you and after losing my book and my other amulet, you have lost your right to your inheritance. Now because of you, instead of running my city where I should be, I am touring across all of the US to find my true heir, the one chosen by the stars. Now get in the car Gideon!" Just then a gust of wind blew a hat into Gertrude's face before it fell to the ground.
"Now where did this come from?" Gertrude demanded as she picked up the hat. It looked like the one Stan's nephew wore; speak of the devil, here he came running for his hat. He stopped in an instant when he saw who had his hat.
"Uh...hi...I um...I just came to get my hat." Dipper stammered. Gertrude didn't say a word as she handed Dipper his hat back. It was then something on Dipper's forehead caught her eye. One more gust of wind blue Dipper's bangs away from his face and revealed the big dipper birthmark. Gertrude gasped in shock.
"Oh my word, what a unique birthmark child. I don't think I've ever seen one like it." Dipper felt a hand brush away his hair to reveal the birthmark to her again. Dipper in turn jumped away from the unwarranted contact.
"I am...uh...I'm just going to go, Grunkle Stan is waiting for me. Thanks for uh...catching my hat miss." Dipper as he began to back away slowly.
"No problem child, and you may call me Granny if you like." Dipper just chuckled nervously before running back to Grunkle Stan's car. Granny Gertrude smirked, her eyes and the gem on her hat glowing simultaneously. There was no doubt about it, that was the heir she was looking for.
"Cranston!" She called as one of the men walked up to her.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Make the call. I've found my new heir and we're going to be home in a few days."
The next day was the Lumberjack Festival; lumberjacks from all around the US and parts of Canada all came to Gravity Falls. There were stands that sold barbecue, spirits, and pancakes as well as desserts centered around pancakes. The scent of maple syrup and pine needles flooded the park as Stan, Soos, Mabel, and Dipper entered the park to set up the Mini-Mystery Shack tent.
"Grunkle Stan are you sure this is wise?" Dipper asked.
"Oh sure, the Lumberjack Festival is one of my highest grossing days thanks to the fact that Lumberjacks are superstitious. Now, where was that plot again?" Stan asked himself as he tried to recall that lot number he was given.
"Why don't we split up, we'll be able to find it faster." Mabel suggested.
"Good idea, Soos you're with me, we'll go left, kids you go right, we'll meet up at the directory in twenty minutes. C'mon Soos. Our lot number is 205."
"Yes sir Mr. Pines." Soos saluted as he followed Stan.
"Race you to find the lot!" Mabel shouted!
"You're on!" Dipper and Mabel began running through the crowd, laughing and causing minor accidents as they raced each other. Mabel found the plot they were supposed to set up. Dipper caught up with her a minute later out of breath, then collapsed on the ground as Mabel jumped up and down in victory.
"Man Dipper, you'd think with all the running around we've been doing this summer, you'd be able to keep up with me." Mabel bragged.
"Bragging makes you less charming you know." Dipper said between pants.
"Hah! I have bragging point saved up and today I used one," Mabel helped Dipper up before she spotted a lemonade stand. "Want some lemonade? Winner's treat."
"Sure, sounds good to me." Mabel nodded before running towards the stand. Where Mabel got all that energy was a mystery to Dipper, then again she does eat an awful lot of sugar. Dipper sat back down on the ground, fishing for Book 3 only to realize it wasn't in his pockets. Oh great, he somehow managed to forget about Book 3. Grunkle Stan had woken them up earlier than usual to pack everything into the car for the stand. Dipper pouted at the thought of forgetting the book, but at least the book was under his pillow at home and not in the hands of someone else. A shadow suddenly loomed over Dipper who turned around to see Gertrude Gleeful and two of her men beside her.
"Uhh...hi..." Dipper said as he got up.
"Good morning child, how are you today?" Gertrude asked.
"Fine...I was just waiting for Mabel, but now that I think about it, she may need some help with that lemonade." Dipper said as he turned around only to find two more of Gertrude white suited men blocking him from meeting up with his sister. He was getting scared, these two men had scarves wrapped around their heads as if they were hiding something.
"Oh please don't be scared of them child, they don't bite...much," The last part Gertrude whispered under her breath. "Anyway, I'd like to apologize again for what my grandson forced your family to endure a few weeks ago, it must not be easy to sleep at night after the nightmare he caused." Gertrude's eyes flashed for the briefest of seconds.
"I uh..."Something was wrong, he was beginning to feel really, really sleepy. So sleepy that he was unable to complete a coherent thought"I c...can...slee..." Dipper fell backwards with one of the men catching him. He felt himself being picked up and slung over one of their shoulders; a sudden familiar yell ran through the air as Mabel came running back with lemonade in her hands.
"Dipper! Let my brother go!" Mabel tossed one of the cups of lemonade at one of the men. It stopped in mid air and was tossed back at her, causing her to gasp. She then felt herself being picked up and tossed into a nearby bush.
"Get him to the transport, we need to go now!" Gertrude commanded. The two men nodded as they quickly carried Dipper away. Mabel quickly dug herself out of the bush, spitting out leaves and small twigs.
"Dipper! HELP! KIDNAP!" Mabel screeched as she chased after Gertrude and her men. Two sleek black cars appeared out of nowhere, two of the men climbed into one car while Gertrude climbed into the other.
"HELP! DIPPER!" Mabel screeched as loud as she could. Dipper, who had not yet lost consciousness, looked up to see his sister call out for him. He reached out before he finally gave in to the sleeping spell that had come over him, he was tossed into the back of the car before the last man got in and slammed the door shut.
"HEY!" Came a gruff shout. "LET GO OF MY NEPHEW! POLICE!" Grunkle Stan said as he, and Soos came running towards the car. Sheriff Bulbs, Officer Durland, and several Lumberjacks weren't far behind.
"STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" Sheriff Bulbs commanded. Gertrude merely smirked before the gem on her hat began to glow an unearthly glow, then her eyes. A bright light emitted from the cars, blinding everyone as the cars sped off. When the light vanished, Sheriff Bulbs called the station to send out other squads to stop the kidnappers and as well as an amber alert across Oregon.
"Mabel! Are you ok?" Soos asked as he knelt down to Mabel who rubbed her eyes.
"We have to go after them!" She cried.
"I'll get the car!" Stan said as he ran to the direction of his car, only to be stopped by Sheriff Bulbs.
"I'm sorry Stan, but we can't have you interfere!" Stan's face went red with anger.
"THIS IS MY GREAT NEPHEW WE'RE TALKIN ABOUT!" Stan snapped! He felt his eyes beginning to water.
"I know, but the roads out of town are steep and we can't have you putting yourself in danger, it wouldn't help anything! Besides, we need to get a witness testimony from your niece." Sheriff Bulbs said sympathetically as Mabel cried in Soos' arms.
Weeks had passed since Dipper's kidnapping. In that time, Stan had called William, his nephew, and his wife, Sarah about what happened. They arrived in Gravity Falls a day later. William and Stan had gotten into a fist fight, Will blaming Stan for what happened to his son. Stan couldn't blame the guy, Stan blamed himself for what happened. Sarah had broken up the fight, reasoning that it was not Stan's fault before she broke down crying into her husband's arms. Mabel came out of her room only when necessary, but other than that, hardly anyone saw her. Stan had kept the Mystery Shack closed, but as the weeks went on, he was forced to open the Shack again, though it was hard to even lead the tours, but he needed to pay for the necessities.
By the time fall came, Dipper's disappearance had been broadcast all over the country and the police had still been looking. By now, Will and Sarah had decided to move to Gravity Falls; feeling as though they needed to be close as a family now more than ever. Mabel never said a word about their plan, in fact, she hardly said a word for a long time. She didn't joke anymore, faun over boys anymore, or any of the things she used to do, just curly up in her empty room, hugging Dipper's journal like her life depended on it.
Winter came and like the season itself, the trail grew cold, the leads dried up and the FBI were forced to announce that Dipper's case had become a cold case file. The Pines family mourned and held a small private memorial, though they kept hope that one day, Dipper Pines would be found.
And he would be, but not for two years and under the strangest of circumstances.
"For every choice, there is an echo." -Sofia Lamb
End Prologue.