DISCLAIMER

This story was requested to be written by: retro mania

If anyone else wants story requests to be done, you can PM me, and we will go over the specifics.

Chapter 1: The Father Clock

"Thank goodness we got a break! If I had to write one more essay on aerodynamics…"

Dipper left the sentence hanging, leaving Mabel to wonder what Dipper was trying to infer. However, her constant-optimistic thinking didn't let her imagination go beyond 'taking a rest break'.

On June 4th, Stanford University had released all students to go spend their vacations as they pleased. Some had talked about vacationing to England or Japan, others wanted to work full-time for their own benefit. However, the Pine twins had decided it was about time to revisit some friends from long ago.

"I can't wait to see Grunkle Stan, Soos, and all those other guys this summer!" Mabel remarked.

Dipper nodded his head. It was indeed an aspiration he had since he had left, years ago. Though it was great being in college and earning his degree, he missed the mystery of Gravity Falls. He wanted, deeply, to revisit that type of wonder again.

It was funny, really. When he moved back to California, he had wandered the woods, explored haunted locations, and done a ton of other stuff just to find some of that mystery again.

Unfortunately, there was none to be found. At this thought, he wondered if there was some sort of...magic, around Oregon. For a long time, he had considered choosing a college in Oregon just so he could be around his friends and further explore the mysteries surrounding the state.

"So, are we driving there or taking a plane?" Mabel asked, looking at Dipper. He rubbed his chin as he considered it.

"I want to spend as much time there as possible. Let's take a plane there."

Bing-bong.

"Hello, passengers, this is your, uh, captain speaking. We're about an hour away from our destination of Portland, Oregon. Our lovely attendants will address whatever needs you have. Ooh, whatever needs indeed…"

Oh, my, Dipper thought. The pilot of this airplane seemed a little...sleazy.

He looked around. Kids were playing on devices, parents were either sleeping or watching movies. Mabel was sound asleep.

Thank goodness she doesn't snore anymore, Dipper thought. He had remembered countless nights where he had been kept up by her war-horn snoring.

He turned his head, staring out the window. Below, he could see trees and mountains pass by. They were flying through clouds, so the mist casted an almost heavenly fade on the landscape.

BOOF!

Suddenly, the plane shook violently. Mabel snapped out of her sleep, looking around in a panicked manner.

"What's happening?!" She asked in a frantic tone.

Then, as abruptly as the plane had shaken, it stopped.

Bing-bong.

"Uh, this is your captain speaking once again, it looks like we encountered some, uh, turbulence-"

On cue, as Dipper looked out of the window, he saw them pass through a storm, with heavy rain and lightning bolts characterizing the majority of his view.

"-So please, make sure your seat belts are buckled in, so we don't get sued- er, because your safety is our priority. Enjoy the ride."

As the overhead speaker went off, Mabel groaned.

"Well, I can't sleep now. What am I gonna do?"

"Uh...you could, you know, talk to your long-time sibling and bestie?"

"Oooh, yeah." Mabel remarked, flashing her shiny grin. Having had taken her braces off when they had entered high school, her now-straightened teeth made her smile dazzle.

"Sooo, how ya doin', buddy? Gettin' anywhere near your career as an aerospace engineer?"

He shrugged.

"We both just started college, so it's not like we're gonna be getting anywhere until we get our degrees. Besides, I have to decide whether I want to work for NASA or a private corporation like SpaceX. After all, they're making more progress after all."

Mabel tilted her head, her hair falling to the side.

"Why's that?"

"Well, because they have more funding than NASA. When you can allocate more funding to your organization, you can get more stuff done."

Mabel nodded, understanding the concept.

"So...you want a career in marine biology, right?"

Mabel's eyes lit up as they got onto the topic.

Oh, no, Dipper thought, realizing what he had done.

"Heck, yeah! I want to explore the deep parts of the sea. Did you know that we've only explored 5% of the entire ocean so far? Imagine, there's so much stuff unexplored! We could find sooo many cool things, like megalodons, underwater civilizations, and even *gasp* MERMAIDS! Oh my gosh, if we could see mermaids, I would be-"

Dipper sighed. This would be a long ride.

"Let's hope this weather clears up." He says dejectedly.

It didn't clear up.

Finally, after a shaky and violent airplane ride and a long bus ride, the two had finally arrived at the entrance to Gravity Falls.

They gazed upon the sight of the town once again. Where their eyes were once filled with skepticism, even fear, they now marveled at the towering pine trees, flowing waterfalls, and gigantic stone bowl that surrounded the small town.

As Dipper looked at the beautiful town, he felt his eyes become watery. He rubbed his hands against them, making sure that Mabel didn't see him reminiscing in such a manner.

Mabel was about to dash for the town when Dipper grabbed her by the arm.

"Hold on, Mabel. Before we go seeing everyone again, let's go take a visit to the Mystery Shack."

A flood of memories about the Mystery Shack came racing back into Mabel's head, and a smile lit up her face like a Christmas tree. She squealed in excitement.

"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, you're RIGHT! We have to go see Grunkle Stan and Ford and Soos again!"

Dipper nodded. He couldn't help but smile as he thought about those two. The twins had sent tons of postcards to them since they had left the town, and had also received some themselves from the town. He couldn't wait to see Stan and Ford once again.

However, as Mabel went racing down the dirt trail to the shack, Dipper felt that something was….off.

Yes, this must be the feeling of mystery once again!, Dipper thought in excitement. With that thought presiding inside his head, he raced to the cabin, trying to catch up to his sister.

"Come on, Dipper! We're almost there!"

"Hold- *huff* Hold on a second!"

All those hours of studying and lack of exercise were really taking their toll on Dipper. That was actually the one thing that he had improved upon at Gravity Falls.

Not even taking a second, Mabel busted through the front door of the Mystery Shack.

"HEY GRUNKLE STAN, WE'RE BA- huh?"

She found the shack to be devoid of life. Dipper came staggering up behind her, panting heavily.

"Where...where are they?"

They both entered the shack, hesitantly walking in. The place was eerily empty. There were no signs of life anywhere. Even the cup of coffee that Stan always left sitting on the tableside was gone.

"Um...oh, maybe they're at the town." Dipper commented.

"Oh yeah, that would make sense. Well, let's get goin'!"

As they raced back, heading to the town, Dipper stayed back for a moment, surveying the place. Though he had remarked that they could have headed to town, he wasn't so sure of that himself. He remembered that Stan never liked to leave the Mystery Shack unattended, in case any robbers tried to come in and steal his wares (not that anybody would want that garb- *cough* those antiquities). So it was really odd for no one to be home.

As Dipper began running back towards his sister, that feeling of eeriness that Dipper had experienced earlier was starting to grow.

"Where...where is everyone?"

Dipper could hear the panic in Mabel's voice as she walked around the town, looking for any of the people she had countless memories with. Dipper had noticed that the town, just like the shack, was eerily empty.

"This is...unsettling."

Most people who were new to this town, upon seeing a lack of citizens, would immediately think that there was some sort of evacuation or something. Dipper however, knowing the town's history of mystery, felt dread begin to quickly replace that eerie feeling that had been encompassing his mind for the past few minutes. Something was definitely wrong.

Mabel, in a fit of desperation and panic, began to kick in doors, shouting into the buildings.

"Anyone! Anyone here?!"

"H-hey, Mabel! You can't just bust into people's homes like that!"

Mabel looked back and, upon seeing what she had done, felt ashamed of herself for acting so irrational.
"Sorry...but, where is everyone?"

"That's what i'm trying to figure out."

Dipper noticed gray clouds begin to mesh overhead. Wind blew softly through the town, shaking the pine trees and giving off an ominous vibe. Dipper began to feel fear.

That's when he noticed something at the town square, in front of the statue.

"Hey, what's that over there?"

He walked over to the town square, seeing a small, long metal-looking object sitting at the foot of the statue. He picked it up. It looked like a timer of some sorts, as there were four digit slots that spanned the length of the object.

|0000|

Dipper noticed that in each digit slot, there was a '0'. On the side of the object, he noticed a button with a glass rectangular cover over it. Dipper noticed a hinge that allowed the cover to flip open, and he did so. He put his finger on the button.

"Ow!"

As he pressed the button, he felt four sharp pricks to his finger from small needles that immediately retracted back into the device. Dipper saw his blood drops stain the button. He was befuddled when they soaked into the button, which glowed for a moment, then faded.

"Traveler #1 confirmed. Please confirm any more travelers before starting the trip."

A woman's robotic voice announced the instructions through the speaker below the bar of digits. Dipper was even more bewildered by this.

"Um…"

"What happened, Dipper?"

As Mabel came walking over, she noticed his finger bleeding.

"Oh gosh, your finger! What did you-"

As she continued talking, she set one hand on the device while she grabbed his hand, accidentally placing a finger on the button.

"Ow!"

The same pricks had gotten her, and the needles once again retracted into the device. Her blood drops also stained the button, before shortly getting absorbed into it. It glowed once again.

"Traveler #2 confirmed. Please confirm any more travelers before starting the trip."

"What was that?" Mabel asked in concern. Dipper took a look at her, then back at the device.

"I...don't know. But I think this thing might be the answer as to why the whole town is gone."

"Do you think...we should pull that handle?"

"What handle?"

Mabel pointed at the device, pulling Dipper's attention along with it. On top of the device, there was an elongated handle that had emerged out of the device, with a horizontal trigger inside of it.

"Oh…"

He considered this for a moment. Dipper wasn't an idiot, especially after that summer in Gravity Falls, when it came to pulling levers and handles. This could have grave consequences if they decided to pull it. However, there didn't seem to be anything else that hinted to the mysterious disappearance of the town.

"We...might as well."

He looked back at Mabel, who was looking at the device nervously.

"Are we sure about this?"

"No...but this looks like the only way to find out what happened to the town."

Mabel hesitated at first. Eventually, she nodded.

"You're right."

"Are you ready?"

"...Yeah."

Dipper took a breath.

Here we go.

He pulled on the trigger inside the handle.

The digits inside the device began to spin rapidly, before setting on a sequence of numbers.

1903

As the numbers set, they flashed. The device emitted a sound.

Ding.