It's not the End
Chapter I: Prologue
Two years have passed since the incident with Bill, from that attempt of apocalypse where hideous monsters and horrifying creatures came from another dimension with the only intention of causing trouble and damage to the citizens of little town located in Oregon, United States. Only a the citizens were present that day, but none of them can forget about the small triangular demon that turned them to stone and that if it hadn't been for the courage and bravery of some people, he would have destroyed the whole world.
Since then, Gravity Falls did its best to pretend that none of that happened, the mayor created a law establishing that whenever someone asked about that incident the answer would be: "Never mind all that".
However, now that the inhabitants were aware of the existence of the creatures that lived with them, they were beginning to accept them instead of fearing them.
The tourism increased drastically, thanks to several people who couldn't kept their mouth shut, such as Toby, the gossip of the town. What's more, he exaggerated even more the events of those days and treated himself as the local hero who saved the day!
But, that wasn't bad for everyone. The local restaurants were crowded, local shops sold their products at higher prices thanks to the tourists buying anything; Gravity Falls was starting to appear on the map.
A shop in particular was famous for doing that, no other that the Mystery Shack. Stanley Pines left with his twin brother, Stanford Pines, on a journey around the world, so Soo's dream of becoming the new Mr. Mystery finally became true. He was a lot more accessible with the prices unlike his antecessor, but still he learned some few tricks from Stan, making the Shack a resounding success.
The only problem was with the monsters and their shyness; they didn't like tourists that much, so they had to hide in the forests and came out at night. It really didn't matter, since the tourists didn't come to the town with the idea of finding terrifying monsters, they were happy just by seeing the "mysterious creatures" in the Mystery Shack and by leaving with few souvenirs.
Others who suffered the consequences of this were the employees of the shops, who had more work than normal. Wendy was so sick of treating with tourists that every day she considered giving up her work at the Mystery Shack.
But, in the end, the inhabitants of the town continued with their normal lives, only with a little more excitement thanks to all the people who came to visit the town.
. . .
"I'm finally here… Gravity Falls…" There was a long sigh after those words. "It's been such a long time since I have been here. I hope this place hasn't changed a lot." A mysterious man stepped into the town, talking to himself. He stood out thanks to his appearance, while all the tourists dressed in a colorful and bright way, for example, shirts with floral pattern or bright colors, he dressed the opposite way, wearing a formal dark brown suit, including a sack, a pants and a small hat of the same tone. Many would consider him a decrepit man, with his long gray beard, an almost bald head, and his tired eyes with dark circles, hidden behind huge and rustic glasses. He was carrying a huge backpack on his back, which seemed very heavy for his weak body, for that reason he had to use a cane for support.
He walked aimlessly, admiring the surroundings of the town, its shops and the people who inhabited it, after finally entering Greasy's Diner and ordering a plate of pancakes.
The restaurant was full, so the waitress warned him that his food would take a little while to arrive. To kill time, he took out a pen from a pocket in his sack and began to play with it, shaking it between his fingers.
"You're not from around here, are you?" A squeaky voice asked from his side.
"Why do you ask?" The man replied dry and a little irritated after seeing who was talking. He knew this man thanks to the news and he didn't like the fame he had.
"It's really interesting that you ask. Let me explain to you why I'm doing this." Toby Determined walked to took a newspaper from a pile that was near the entrance of the restaurant and returned to sit down next to the mysterious man. He looked up for a specific section while he flipped through the newspaper and with a serious face he showed the sport section to the man. "Do you see this?"
The man looked at the newspaper but he couldn't see what was that irritated Toby so much. "I don't have time for this, I have to go." He stood up and sat on the other side of the restaurant trying to get away, but Toby was stubborn and chased after him.
"This newspaper has a sports graph! You see? This one with bright colors is for soccer! And they have another one for baseball, and one for each one of the sports. They also have interviews with players and tables with scores. No one wants to hear me talking about the sports anymore thanks to this newspaper." He whined and faked some tears, gaining some attention from all the other people eating there.
The man felt the attention and the gazes of the people, and hid his face with his hat because of that. "I don't see what this has to do something with me." He avoided any visual contact with the little man and instead he looked into the outside that could be seen through one of the windows.
"I am doing a report on tourists, so the people of Gravity Falls can hear their stories and what makes them come to our town, and, in my opinion, you are an interesting person who can give me a good story about what he does here in Gravity Falls. So, what is your name?"
The man didn't say anything for a while, having fixated his gaze on the forest surrounding the restaurant.
Toby looked impatient and poked the man.
"Hey, do you like ghosts?" The man asked looking straight at him with a grin on his face.
"G-Ghosts? Of course not, I don't fear them, but I don't like them…" Toby started to sweat and covered his face with the newspaper on his hands.
"I'm a writer, that's why I ask. Well, I think I am, I'm really not famous, my books don't sell well and I don't know why… Maybe it is because my endings are always awful and full of tragedies, I just can't write a happy ending. Maybe that's because I can't believe on those endings, where everyone defeat the bad guy together and return home together. That's why I came here. I'm looking for ideas to finish one of my books, and maybe the hospitality in this place can help me."
"What kinds of books do you write?" Toby asked writing every word the man just said.
"Mystery novels, combined with fantasy. I thought that by combining two totally different genders I could create something great, but right now I'm not so sure about that. Speaking of it, I have a copy of one of them here." He searched in his backpack and showed the book to Toby.
The book was a cheap-looking one, the kind of book that goes unnoticed. It was a red-wine color, with a cover that didn't show the author's name anywhere. The only thing visible were the book's name engraved with golden letters, "Hunters of Clues", a name too cheap for any book, and the illustration to represent the book, which was just a normal pencil and a notebook shaped like a ghost.
"Please read it, it may help with your article about me." Toby wasn't very sure what to say about it, so he just accepted the book and nodded in gratitude. "Thanks, mysterious man, I will read it." And just like that, freaked out with the ghost's conversation, he turned around and rushed with another tourist.
"You told him a lieeeeeee." The man heard a playful voice in his head.
"It was not a lie, part of what I said is true. I came here looking for a good ending." He answered in a whisper, talking to himself.
"But you're not looking for an ending to one of your books, you're here to finish your own story, and that makes you a liaaaaaar~." The man started to hear cheerful giggles inside his head, but those words make him grimace a little. The man got lost in his thoughts remembering something and some tears formed at the corner of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I didn't want to make you feel bad…" The happy mood of the voice faded completely, replaced with a depressed tone.
"Don't worry, my old friend, it's not your fault what happened. Bill stole everything I had, and from you too, we have to find a way to stop him for once and for all."
"For some reason you gave that special book to the little man, didn't you? Aside that you're an evil man." The voice tried to cheer up the mood changing his tone for a more cheerful one.
"I want to know if this pen still works before sending one of my books to the Pine Tree, and, I hope that that little man learns to respect the privacy of the other people with a small lesson of my own". He crossed his arms almost making a pot.
"That's why I said you're an evil man. Oh! The pancakes are finally here! I'm hungry, hurry up and eat them!" The voice exclaimed enthusiastic.
"I don't understand why you are so excited if you don't actually eat them."
"No, but thanks to the connection with you I can at least feel the taste of them, so hurry up, please."
"I hope this plan works, because it really is a risky one… especially for this Pine Tree and this Shooting Star." He started to eat while the voice in his head enjoyed them a lot.
"They are so yummy, I really love pancakes! And don't worry so much about that, we are going to help them, I knoooow they can do it~."
"I hope you're right…"
"By the way, how are you going to pay this? You're broke. Literally, broke, without a cent."
The man stopped eating, the fork with pancakes millimeters away from his mouth. "That's an excellent question. Maybe I will have to use my old man tricks… Is the little man still around here?" He looked around searching for Toby.
"He's to your left, talking with a tourist."
"I hope he stays here a little longer." He devoured the rest of the pancakes in an incredible speed.
"I can't enjoy them if you eat like that!" The voice exclaimed furious causing the man a little headache. He ignored the pain and after finishing, he stood up and went straight to Lazy Susan. "Excuse me, madam. Do you see that little man? I think his name is Toby."
"Uh, yeah, I see him." Lady Susan answered not really interested.
"Well, you see, I'm a really old man and thanks to that I have problems remembering important things. The issue is that I forgot my wallet in my house and I don't have anything to pay right now. But that little man, he's an incredible person. He heard my story and he said that he's going to pay my debt with pleasure."
"Is that so? Well, then is okay." She started to rub a plate with a rag.
"Thanks you so much for understanding, I will come back soon." He turned around and approached Toby, who was irritating another tourist with his interview. "Little man! Everyone!" The other tourists fixated their gazes on him. "This man is great! All of you needs to know it." The man pointed Toby with his index finger as he exclaimed that. "You see, I'm a hopeless person, with my age you forgot things very easily. Right now I forgot my wallet," he showed his empty pockets as he said that, "but this incredible man, he accepted paying my plate of pancakes for me. I can't express my gratitude with him. Well, now, if you excuse me, I have to return home. Thanks for listening."
"What?" Toby couldn't say a word before the man left the place.
"You're such an eeeeeevil person." The voice in his head was laughing hysterically. "His face! He was red in embarrassment, I can't stop laughing! But that doesn't mean that I'm not still mad because you stole those pancakes away from me."
"You better hush now. We got more important things to do, so, let's keep moving, help my find my old house if you please."
"Okay…"
