And look who's back with a new story! Me, that's who! :D

Eh, I couldn't resist. Gravity Falls is a fun series to write about, and I came up with some ideas in the last week, so now it's time to put them on the page. This time, we have a more Mabel-centric story!

An important note: my stories don't really deal with the overall series mythology involving the journals and Grunkle Stan, but rather are more like episodes like Legend of the Gobblewonker and Double Dipper. They are one time things that will almost always get fully resolved by the end. This is mostly because I don't like touching the main series story, because it really is just too good to tamper with.

For those who don't know, this story is a sort of direct sequel (a few days later) to my last story, Grow Up or Go Home. You don't necessarily have to read that to read this, as this is a sort of stand-alone Monster-of-the-Week type story, but it might help to get some of the references from the last story. (like Wendy's affection towards Dipper, his time as a teenager, Robbie's attitude)

Speaking of that, yes, that was X-Files jargon. For those familiar with that series, they'll be some references to that for sure, as Alex Hirsch stated multiple times it was a major inspiration for Gravity Falls. In fact, the title itself is a reference to the episode "The Unnatural" from season six, and it borrows elements of that plot.

But I'm not going to ruin it for y'all. You'll just have to read it for yourself. So I do hope you read, review and enjoy!


~Hejin57~

THE UNNORMAL


"You know what the great thing about memories is, kids?" Grunkle Stan began, leaning on his eight-ball cane as he illustriously looked on towards the horizon. The way he was standing and the tone of his voice might make one think he was almost talking to himself.

"What, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked, before pulling hard as a weed finally came up from the choked earth. She could feel sweat starting to come through her sweater, and more than anything, she longed for a nice, cold shower. Beside her, Waddles seemed to have the time of his life as he munched on every weed that Mabel had managed to pull out so far.

"The great thing about memories..." Grunkle Stan began, as he watched his niece, nephew, and two principal workers continue in their arduous task of pulling up weeds from the disused lawn that was only a small part of this large picnic-ground. "...is that no matter how much they suck, or how much they hurt, they're just like birthmarks. They're with you forever!"

"Grunkle Stan," Dipper said in a clearly frustrated tone, wiping the sweat away from his own forehead after pulling another weed. "What kind of advice is that? And why are we doing all this work anyway? You still haven't told us."

Instead of giving Dipper an immediate reply, Grunkle Stan said nothing for a good ten seconds, his eyes still looking out to the horizon as memories flooded back to him. Wendy even waved her hand in front of his face to see if he would respond, but to no avail.

"Holy Hendrix!" Grunkle Stan then proceeded to yell out, frightening just about everyone with his sudden outburst. Realizing where he was again, and seeing the looks on everyone's faces, Grunkle Stan simply laughed it off.

No one else seemed to think it was funny though. Clearing his throat, Stan looked on at the somewhat ramshackle stage ahead as he made his delayed response to his nephew's question.

"Well, Dipper, you're here because I'm feeling particularly lazy and nostalgic today. This is the site of Gravitystock! It was like Woodstock, but not as big, important or full as many contagious diseases! Back in the summer of '69, lots of great acts came here. You know, like The Rolling Stans, The Stan Pines Experience, Stan and the Family Pines, Stanford Airplane..."

One would have to be pretty oblivious to not realize what was happening here.

The more he talked about it, the more it was becoming increasingly clear to everyone that Stan was becoming a bit too nostalgic over this place. Nevertheless, the group listened, though they continued to pull up weeds as they did so.

"...it really was the time of my life. I mean, my life sucks now, but back then, if only you knew what it was like! The music, the people, the times. They were just something else..." Stan continued, clearly caught up into his own flashback, and eventually getting onto his knees and looking up at the sky in anguish.

"Oh, Why!? Why!? ! Why did you have to take it all away from me!? What did I ever swindle out of you, you precarious thing called life?" he screamed in supposed torment, causing everyone around him to stare, including a few people passing by on the sidewalk not too far away.

After a noticeable silence, Grunkle Stan stood up, finally realizing that he might be attracting just a bit too much attention.

"Uh, sorry about that. Anyway, the Mystery Shack's going to be hosting a Gravitystock revival next week, so I want this whole place fixed up." he said, now sounding somewhat serious, before turning his gaze to the red-haired teen and his handyman.

"Wendy and Soos; you two go fix up the stage back there. If that falls apart, I don't want to be responsible. So instead, I'm making you two responsible!" he told his two workers, adding a haughty laugh at the end.

As expected Wendy just audibly sighed while Soos whipped a hammer out of his belt.

"You got it, Mr. Pines. We won't let you down." he told his boss, with clear dedication in his tone.

"Mabel, Dipper," Stan continued, much to Mabel's displeasure. "Since you're both already sweating up a storm, you two keep just keep pulling up those weeds. And when you're done with those, pick up any trash you see lying around."

He flashed a cocky, knowing smile. "Don't throw away cans though. I've got a guy who gets me fifty cents a pop for those!"

"Grunkle Stan, this is terrible! This is just like all the child labor you hear about from back in the '70's!" Mabel complained, only to receive comfort in a pat on the head from Stan.

"That's because it is child labor! And if you keep quiet about it, I'll buy you guys ice cream later. Now you kids be good and keep at it. I feel like if I stick around any longer, I'll end up breaking into song from all the nostalgia!" he exclaimed, a statement which seemed to worry Wendy almost immediately.

"Oh, we'll take care of it for sure then, Mr. Pines! Wouldn't want to hurt your great voice with any singing!" Wendy explained, pushing him away from behind as she reassured him with a nervous grin, clearly wanting to get rid of him.

Her tactic worked wonderfully however, and before anyone knew it, Stan had gone off in the other direction, still looking up at the horizon and off in his own world.

Wendy sighed before wiping her forehead in relief. Dipper simply gave her two thumbs up while Mabel sat up against a tree, clearly out of it. It was about this time that Mabel very much regretted not wearing something underneath this blue-black sweater on such a ridiculously hot day.

"Alright, dudes, it looks like it's up to us!" Soos declared, clearly not one to just throw up away his promise to Grunkle Stan. Wendy, of course, thought otherwise.

"Yeah, I don't know about that, Soos." Wendy began, before reaching for her forehead. "Ah, I feel heatstroke coming on. I don't know if I can go on any longer..."

Although she was indeed feigning being tired, Dipper reacted a little too well. Before Wendy could say anymore, he was off and running as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"Don't worry, Wendy!" he said in-between breaths. "I'll be back with ice before you know it!"

Wendy couldn't say much in response to that, instead taking an example from Mabel as she too sat down under the comfortable shade of a tree. Unable to understand why his friends were being so utterly lazy, Soos could only look back at them with unsympathetic eyes.

"I guess this bro is the only one that keeps his word. When you dudes are ready to work, I'll be fixing that stage!" he declared, pointing at the Gravitystock stage ahead dramatically before running off towards it.

When Soos was just out of earshot, Wendy laughed to herself.

"He'll probably be at that for a while. If we're lucky, we might be able to get through the rest of the day in the shade." she commented, as Mabel smiled through her braces and enjoyed the comfort of the tree's shadow.

"You're telling me. What does Grunkle Stan think we are, his personal chain-gang?" Mabel replied, slick sweat still apparent on her forehead and nose. Her cheeks were as red as firecrackers, and that was just with the shade over her.

"I know, right?" Wendy answered, taking off her hat and putting it beside her. "I've never had to do that much work since you were the boss of the shack. And trust me, I don't plan on doing it again."

As she looked on towards the stage, Mabel couldn't help but feel somewhat bad, as she could hear Soos clearly banging around as he got to work trying to fix up the stage. He probably was sweating up a monsoon by now.

"Is he really going to do that all by himself?" Mabel asked, now feeling somewhat sympathetic for the handyman hard at work.

Wendy just put her arms behind her back and lounged against the tree, not a care in her voice. "Sure. As long as we let him."

"Wendy! I got the ice! Are you alright?" Dipper suddenly exclaimed, his breath heavy as he returned with a decently sized bag of ice. Wendy opened one eye , before sitting up in surprise as she realized that Dipper did indeed do what he said he would.

"Oh, thanks." she said, feeling somewhat bad, since she had been faking heatstroke, after all. However, Wendy was quick to reach in a moment later and pull out two handfuls of ice, rubbing them on her face and relishing in the cool sensation.

"Hey, give me some of that! It's like a volcano out here!" Mabel quickly said, snatching the ice bag away from Dipper and proceeding to put her entire head inside it. For a few seconds, Mabel seemed to enjoy the feeling of being encompassed in ice. Of course, when her cheeks started to go numb, she pulled out quickly, shivering as the cold quickly spread uncontrolled throughout her entire body.

"O-o-o-oh, that's pretty g-g-g-g-good." she told Dipper and Wendy, her teeth audibly chattering as the ice bag shook slightly in her hands.

Turning around with all the smoothness of a clockwork monkey, Mabel's conscience still reminded her of Soos, who everyone could hear was hard at work underneath the stage. Turning again with significant jarring in her movement, she slowly made a smile before heading off in Soos's direction.

"You g-g-g-g-guys st-t-t-tay here. I'll g-g-g-et this to S-s-s-s-s-soos! C-c-c-come on, W-w-w-w-waddles! " she exclaimed, her steps slow as the frigid icy sensation still permeated throughout her body. Dipper and Wendy just watched as Mabel left them, her pet pig trailing right behind her. Wendy proceeded to sigh in relaxation as the ice did its work in cooling her down.

Dipper, meanwhile, just sat down next to her, not immediately knowing what to do. Alone with her, he could only wonder if being buds with her, as she had said just a few days ago, entailed anything more than just being friendly.

"So you're feeling better now, Wendy?" he asked, somewhat nervous in doing so.

Wendy just looked to her side, euphoria very clear on her face. "You mean right now?"

Dipper could only nod, not exactly used to seeing Wendy like this.

In response, the red-headed teen leaned down, and gave Dipper a sweet kiss on the forehead. Dipper could only turn bright red before Wendy sighed happily in response to the relaxing ice.

"I'm feeling awesome, Dipper. Thanks, dude."

Dipper grinned like a madman. Clearly, things were not as bad as he might have thought, teenager or not.

"Uh, don't mention it. Glad to be of help, Wendy.


When the cold sensation finally left Mabel's body, she unfortunately was left with a new issue when she found herself unable to locate Soos. By the time she had reached the ominous, old stage, the noise of Soos's hard work had abruptly stopped.

Mabel held the bag of ice tightly in her hands, but as she stepped across the stage itself, she was quick to notice the water trail behind her, which Waddles lapped up as he followed her. Obviously, the ice was close to gone by now. Nevertheless, Mabel knew cold water would be just helpful to the hard-working Soos as well.

And so, seeing him nowhere above-ground, Mabel pushed away one of the old curtains and made her way backstage. What she was greeted by was nothing less than a noticeably creepy atmosphere.

It seemed like once inside this backstage area, all noise, save for the dripping of the water from the ice bag, had becoming foreboding silence. Mabel looked down at Waddles with an uneasy look on her face, but the pig seemed relatively calm and unafraid as he continued to lap up stray water.

"Um...Soos?" Mabel called out. She had been in the forest at night, sure, but there was something about this place that seemed all the more eerie. Before she knew it, she found herself calling out to him in a louder voice.

"Soos! Where are you? I've got lots of ice for you! We'll, it's not ice anymore, but it's some pretty cool water! Come out and get some!" she announced, hoping for a response of some kind. Instead, her voice just echoed out into the darkness. She gulped, and behind her, a gust of air signified something moving as an old broom fell over from its place on the wall.

This time, Waddles looked up from his water and squealed. His noise, coupled with the sound of movement, alarmed Mabel enough that she dropped the watery ice bag all over the ground.

"Um, is that you, Soos?" Mabel asked, her voice quite unsure. She got no response, of course.

Having been in a number of situations like this by now, Mabel looked down at her pig with suddenly serious eyes. Picking Waddles up, she focused her eyes on a pile of cardboard boxes just ahead. Putting the pig over her head, she began running with an almost crazed expression on her face.

"Onward to glory!" she exclaimed loudly, with Waddles squealing as the two crashed into the boxes and practically disappeared under the dust and refuse.

A few seconds of silence passed, before what seemed like the back of Mabel's head poked up from the refuse. She did not turn though, and just behind her, another gust of wind went off.

The air began to chill as something moved forward from the darkness. There were no footsteps, just a low hum as the air shifted and the shape reached a small hand forward. Mabel seemed unaware, perpetually staring ahead as the thing moved closer.

Finally, the hand just about reached Mabel's hair. But moments before it would touch the felt that happened to look like hair, Waddles turned, and puffed his pig cheeks before making a loud, frightened squeal.

"I don't know who you think you are, but there's no way you're sneaking up this Mabel!"

Clearly, the double trap had worked, and when Mabel stepped out the darkness just to the left of where Waddles was, she was able to get a good look at the interloper.

Standing in front of Waddles was a young girl who looked about the same age as Mabel. She had a somewhat surprised look on her face, as if she had never been sneaked up on before. Her clothing was somewhat out of place: she wore long blue overalls that were printed with a myriad of flower designs in the colors yellow, green and pink. Her hair was quite wild, and held together in the back by one large, red-handled paintbrush.

But most strange of all, was the eerie sort of blue glow emanating from her, and the way she seemed to be shimmering off the floor. In fact, the girl almost looked like she had been put through a gray-scale filter, as even the usually bright colors on her overalls were quite washed out.

Normally, Mabel might have been put off by this. But after having been through Gravity Falls and all of its mysteries and wonder to fill two lifetimes, she wasn't going to let a little weirdness get to her.

"I'm sorry..." the girl said, suddenly a bit shocked. She seemed to fidget slightly, as if simply being in the light bothered her. "I thought I...I left something here."

Mabel pointed an accusing finger as Waddles came by her side like a loyal dog. "No games! Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

The girl was caught back in an instant. She stepped back, though her footsteps made no noise. She could only whimper out her response. "Wait. I...I just came here to paint. I wasn't...I didn't mean to..."

Mabel seemed to be ignoring her words, and stepped forward with what seemed like anger in her eyes. "You what? You think you can just waltz around like that and get away with it?"

Waddles followed her diligently. The girl just backed away even more, clearly getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing second.

"I'm sorry!" she finally said, clapping her hands together in the form of an apology and putting her head down. Curiously, her hands made no noise as they came together.

Mabel's face changed completely, and the anger in her eyes disappeared. She offered a hand to the girl, clearly done with her little game.

"Oh, it's all good. I'm just messing around. I always wanted to try playing the tough guy. I'm Mabel!"

The girl didn't seem to know what to say. She was curled up against herself, and though she slowly relaxed, she didn't make it a point to reach for Mabel's outstretched hand. Instead, she looked up with cold blue eyes, still quite unsure.

"I'm...I'm Audrey. I was just going to paint something around here."

Mabel's face seemed to perk up upon hearing the mention of art. "Painting? Oh my gosh, are you an artist too!? I love art! We should totally team up and make a painted sculpture together!"

Mabel didn't realize it, of course, but her loud voice really did echo quite a bit backstage. And of course, among other things, she had totally forgotten about Soos and her quest to bring him water.

"Um, I don't know if I really can..." Audrey began, cringing just a bit as Mabel approached her.

"Come on, have vision! I can see it now! A statue of a dolphin, complete with a royal robe and a magnificent silver chariot pulled by mechanical spiders! We could build it right in the middle of town for everyone to see!" Mabel began, clearly enamored in her own idea. As she spoke, her arm slowly made its way around Audrey's shoulders, but it seemed this friendly gesture would just go to waste.

Because seconds away from when she would have put the arm on her shoulder, Audrey spotted the impending physical contact. Before Mabel knew what was going on, there was another short gust. Waddles squealed, and when Mabel looked next to her, Audrey was gone.

Mabel did a double take. Then she began turning over the nearby boxes and poked her head into any of the other hiding places around her.

"Audrey? Where did you run off to?" She asked, but only Waddles seemed to respond with a low whine. Mabel scratched the back of her head, and of course could only wonder how Audrey had disappeared so suddenly and so fast.

Unfortunately, she didn't have very much time to think on that. Because as she searched through one of the cardboard boxes nearby, something approaching from behind her caused Waddles to really let it all out. Her pig's next series of squeals, coupled with the fact that he was now running headlong past her, was more than enough to make Mabel turn around to see exactly what was causing his commotion.

And what she was greeted by, was the horrible, ghostly visage of what looked like a bad Elvis impersonator. As he opened his mouth, it was clear he was missing a good number of teeth, and his dark blueish skin looked as lifeless as black ice.

"You know, I'da say thank you very much, but you weren't treatin' our little darlin' too well back there, now were ya?" the entity said, before a horrible series of howls began to emanate from all around Mabel.

Covering her ears and trying to block out the sound, it seemed that the entire backstage was erupting with movement as ghostly beings of all shapes and sizes came out from the surrounding walls. Spindly men and women, older elders, gaunt teens, and a number of other ghostly things came down all around Mabel.

Eventually, their collective wailing stopped, and Mabel could only stand frozen in fear as the ghost of Elvis past leaned down and stared her right in the eyes. He himself was missing one of his eyes, and Mabel could see the other wall right through him.

"So I'll say again, little missy. What business do you think you got here messing with our little Audrey?" he asked her, his accent strong as his ghostly companions seemed to move in closer.

Mabel didn't even take the time to scream. Instead, she reached into her pocket, pulled out her trusty grappling hook, and shot it straight upwards. The ghosts did little more than watch as she proceeded with her escape, as if they didn't really care about chasing her in the first place.

As panic overtook her, the automated puller on her grappling hook quickly brought Mabel up and into supposed safety.

What she didn't think about though, was the flimsy nature of the stage roof. When she did reach the top, she found herself crashing right through rotted wood, before rolling down the site and stopping right before the edge.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Mabel wasn't going to wait for those ghosts to catch up to her anytime soon, especially with barely any light left in the day. Down below, she spotted Waddles, who had managed to escape and was currently be consoled by Dipper and Wendy down ahead by the main lawn. Soos was there as well, propped up against a tree. She could only wonder what he had ended up doing instead of fixing the stage when she'd been trying to find him.

The sound of distant wails, at least ones she thought she heard, made Mabel forget those thoughts and move in an instant. Pointing her grappling hook towards a large tree, she pushed the trigger, and before she knew it, she was catapulting through the air.

But her execution was a bit sloppy, and Mabel's grip slipped as she made her descent towards the grassy ground. She tumbled down when she was only three feet from the ground, her sweater getting rustled in the grass and dirt scuffing her face.

Dipper was the first to run by his sister's side, obviously concerned. "Mabel! Are you alright?"

Mabel shook her head in order to focus again. Her basketball monkey sweater had taken a bit of a beating in all that tumbling, but she was otherwise okay. In the next instant, she had her one hand around one of Dipper's as she pulled him towards a still lounging Wendy and a sleeping Soos.

"Guys, guys! We've got a serious situation here! And if we don't do something about it, it's only going to get worse!"

Soos's eyes began to move, if only a little. He yawned like a big beaver just waking up, before rubbing his eyes to jump start the process.

"Woah, dudes, what's the problemo?"

Even Wendy was convinced enough to sit up, especially considering the frantic look on Mabel's face. "Yeah, what's wrong? I thought you were all relaxed before. I mean, you know, before you got all frozen."

"Waddles looked like he saw a ghost or something." Dipper commented, motioning to the pig still shivering just a bit by Soos. That line was all Mabel needed to get going.

"That's because he did see a ghost! The whole backstage is infested with ghosts! It's a ghost epidemic! We need to call somebody or they're going to get loose all over town!" she exclaimed wildly, clearly quite worried about this predicament.

Much to Mabel's surprise, Wendy actually stood up, and put on a serious expression, at least for her. "Ghosts? Oh, this can't be good. Now we really gotta do something before this gets out of hand."

Dipper's heart melted at the sight of Wendy suddenly taking charge. Nevertheless, he still opened up the journal, and began flipping through the pages as he looked for a solution. "Give me a second. I bet there's something in here that can help us for sure."

Mabel's expression suddenly calmed down. Then, it became somewhat bewildered. "Wait? You guys believe me? Just like that?"

Wendy smiled almost knowingly. "Well, duh. Dipper and I saw two ghosts with our own eyes. I'm not just gonna forget about that."

Dipper nodded in agreement. "You probably don't remember too much about that, Mabel...but we don't really have to go into it. What's important is that we find a way to solve this problem at its source, or Grunkle Stan's going to be in for a big surprise on Gravitystock. One that he probably won't like very much..."

"We need to call somebody!" Mabel announced, with Waddles squealing in what sounded like agreement.

Soos put a finger up to his double chin as he thought about that notion. "That's an idea, dudes, but just who are we gonna call?"

A confident smile appeared on Dipper's face as he finally found the page he was looking for. "No worries, guys. I've got everything covered."


*CUE A CERTAIN THEME*


Without another word, Dipper flipped the journal over, and all eyes were on it. Everyone seemed to have a different reaction to the sketched-out picture in front of them.

Wendy raised a curious eyebrow as a small smile grew on her face.

"Okay, that's pretty wicked."

Mabel's teeth were practically shining with glee.

"Oh my gosh, this is going to be so epic!"

And Soos seemed to be the most excited of all. He looked at this picture in the journal with so much wonder on his face it was like he was staring at the fabled golden city of El Dorado.

"I knew it all along. This is it, dudes. I have finally found my true purpose in life."

Dipper's finger pointed down at a sketch of what looked a strange backpack-like device, complete with hose-like firing mechanism. Below it were notes on how to construct a more makeshift version of the original, which was rumored to use particle-accelerating technology in its design.

From what Dipper had read, the writer of the journal, building upon a supposed Dr. Spengler's notes, had managed to come up with a more mundane version of this ghost-busting device: one that could use household appliances and the like in its construction.

"I don't think we need to call anyone, guys." Dipper said in a suave tone of voice. It was pretty obvious that Dipper was enjoying this situation quite a bit.

And Mabel could tell, of course. And though she didn't want to admit it, she didn't like this whole showing up thing. Dipper had the journal, after all. Besides her grappling hook, what else did she really have?

Dipper seemed even more confident as he continued to address everyone. He seemed completely unafraid and sure of himself as he shut the book closed.

"Trust me on this one when I say we won't need to call anyone."

"But dude! We totally need to call the Gho-" Soos began frantically, only for Mabel to interrupt him completely.

"No. We don't, Soos." she interjected, having been fed up with Dipper stealing the show. Taking the journal from him, she opened it up to the page he had been at before before mirroring his previously dramatic tone of voice.

"Because once we have four of these babies on our backs, it won't be a question of who are we gonna call..." Mabel began, trying to sound as cool as possible. Soos was drifting into his own world as he listened to Mabel's words, practically hearing the iconic theme song in the air.

"...it'll be a question of, who are they gonna call? Us! Mabel and the Mystery Busters, that's who!"


Ah, so many references, so little time. I wonder what other famous mystery finders have had their notes and findings chronicles in the journal. I guess only time will tell, and we'll have to wait and see.

Stay tuned for the next part!