A/N: My first story so constructive criticism is GREATLY appreciated (I know I have a LOT to work on), but please no flames. I don't own Gravity Falls or any of its characters. Have a fantastic day!
Hi. Dipper here, finder of Stanford Pine's journals. I was asked to write a journal about my adventures. You see, in my time in Gravity Falls, I learned that there is SO much out there! Not just in this world, or even in this dimension. There are totally different realities, just like ours, that have a small (or big) change. In the dimension I'm writing to, and I guess the dimension you readers are in, there is no cause or center of weirdness, therefore there is no Gravity Falls, and no Pines family. I guess it's called, like, dimension C137 or something? I don't know, I could be confusing that with something else. Anyway, I guess I should explain how I got here. It all started AFTER my summer in Gravity Falls, on one fateful winter day….
"Hey Dipper! Cathy and I made a Pitt Cola- feeder!" Mabel said as she started drinking through what looked like a giant hamster water-feeder. But as soon as she took her mouth off of the feeder, the thing started spraying Pitt Cola at her. Usually, I would have found this type of thing hilarious, but I was on the verge of a scientific breakthrough. I was trying to figure out why Blexpo markers erased better than Mrs. Scetchy.
"Maybe it's because Blexpo contains less ink, making the marker's trail of ink thinner!" I said, completely ignoring Mabel's struggle to close the Pitt Cola hamster-feeder.
"Maybe it's because you're a giant dork!" Mabel fired back, laughing at her own insult, "Why do you even care anyway?" I sighed.
"I guess you're right," I said, admitting defeat, "This is a waste of time, but there isn't much to study in California." Grunkle Ford's words echoed in my head from the last day of summer. 'My offer still stands' he said 'If you ever change your mind, let me know.' Maybe I should have stayed. But as much as I have missed Gravity Falls, I would miss Mabel even more.
"You're thinking about Gravity Falls again, aren't you?" Mabel said, in more of a statement than a question, "Yeah, I think about Candy and Grenda just about every day," Mabel said glumly. When Mabel said things this way, it kind of surprised me. Mabel seemed so cheerful all the time, so when she says something sadly, she's REALLY sad. Before this summer, I never would've seen how someone could miss a town so much, but Mabel and I did. That's not to say we didn't re-adjust. It was great to see our friends again, and we're doing pretty well in school. I'm the proud founder of the Adventurers Club at Piedmont Middle School, and Mabel is part of…well, she's part of pretty much everything. But the problem is…there's no gnomes in Piedmont (well, except for that one in the public library), or zombies, or strange little kids with telepathy powers who try to marry your sister. There's not even any UNICORNS for goodness sake! Everything here is great, but it's not Gravity Falls. But I'm being too selfish. I can't just leave my parents here, and I'm definitely not abandoning Mabel here. But still, I can't help thinking I belong to something bigger than this.
"Mabel, you ready?"
A skinny blonde boy walked in, carrying a dusty pair of ice skates, which looked as if they were just pulled out of a cluttered garage. The boy had unrealistically blue eyes, and wore a coonskin cap and an oversized black sweatshirt.
"EEEEEK! Steve!" Mabel squealed, with a big smile on her face, "Let's go!". Mabel grabbed a sweatshirt and walked out with Steve. On the way out the door, she yelled: "Bye Dipstick!"
Steve was Mabel's boyfriend and biggest crush. She talked about him CONSTANTLY. Apparently they were going ice skating. In California. In late October. When I asked Mabel why she wanted to go ice skating and if she could even find a place to skate, she told me she wanted to get into the Christmas spirit. In late October. And of course she found a place to skate because, well…she's Mabel. It reminds me of the time Mabel and I found that cryogenically frozen shapeshifter in Grunkle Ford's old hideout. I sighed. Everything I think about, every memory I have somehow relates back to Gravity Falls. That day in the hideout was one of the most terrifying, emotionally exhausting days of my life. So why do I keep thinking about it? Why would I suddenly rather get chased by a shapeshifting, spider-looking imitation of my sister and my likeness than stay here, free of any mystery or adventure? Am I crazy?
Interrupting my thoughts was a strangely familiar high-pitched laugh. As I struggle to identify where I'd heard that voice before, I see a two-foot tall, bearded man wearing a pointed red hat leaning against the windowsill.
"JEFF?!", I exclaim in confusion, my voice cracking. How did this gnome get all the way from Gravity Falls Oregon to Piedmont, California? And why would he come here anyway?
"Nope, just a holographic projection I've been working on," says a voice behind me. As I turn, I see Grunkle Ford, right before my eyes. Before I can say anything, he explains his new technology.
"I've been playing around with holograms lately. I figure they'd come in handy someday, especially in a pinch"
"Grunkle Ford! What are you doing here?" I exclaim, ignoring the state of the art gnome projection in front of me, which quite possibly could've been the coolest piece of tech I'd ever seen.
"What, a man can't just pop in to visit his favorite great nephew?" I give Ford a look. He rolls his eyes. "Fine. I've come to ask for your help. As soon as I got back from my trip with your Grunkle Stan, I noticed a disturbance in Gravity Falls. There seems to be some residual weirdness from the Oddpocalypse. And not the charming weird that the townsfolk are used to. There is some kind of evil in the air, and there is a strangely large amount of dark creature sightings in Gravity Falls. Vampires, ghosts, goblins, gremloblins, zombies, they all seem to be migrating to Gravity Falls - more that they usually do." Ford says, an urgency in his voice. But there's something more than that. I can almost hear something I never hear from Ford - fear.
"Wait," I said, "What does this all mean?" I feared I already knew the answer to the question I had asked.
"It means there may be a residual weirdness in Gravity Falls" Ford said, "Something - or someone - from Weirdmageddon has stayed in the town." From deep in my throat, I can hardly whisper: "Bill?" This catches Ford by surprise. "I don't think so. I've been scanning for traces of him all over this world and the mindscape. Even if he were alive, he'd definitely be in hiding."
"So what is it, then?" I ask. Frustrated, Ford says, "If I knew, I would've told you! Or, better yet, I would've stopped it!" Ford started to pace back and forth, mumbling, "I've tried everything, looked everywhere, I can't seem to figure out what it is!"
"So what do you need me for?" I asked, confused. How could I possibly help fix this problem?
"Oh! Yes, I almost forgot! Come with me!" Ford exclaimed, grabbing my arm. I saw a flash of light, and my surroundings changed. I was standing next to the bait shack owned by McGucket's son. The first thing I noticed were an army of the creepiest looking mer-people I'd ever seen. There were dozens of them crossing the lake and trying to reach me and the outskirts of the lake. They looked like zombies, and stopped at nothing to clamber onto the land.
"What are these things?" I ask in astonishment.
"Zombified mer-people," Ford replies like this was the most obvious thing in the world (Which, quite honestly, it probably was.)
"I infected them to distract them so I could steal their database of happenings on the lake. I thought I could hold them off on my own, but my serum was too powerful. Just keep them occupied so they don't infect the townsfolk. I wouldn't advise killing them either (I'm afraid that's considered an act of war in mer-culture)."
"Couldn't you have asked anyone else to do this?" I ask.
"Stanley was at a car show. Now, Dipper! Go! There isn't much time!" Ford dove headfirst into the water, and I was on my own. I ran off into the forest, looking for something to help me. I smiled. This is the adventure I had been missing.
