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B eginings

I nterloping

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.

Fall came with a vengeance. Not a day after his sister had left, there were leaves changing colour and frost on the ground. It thawed with the rising sun, but the bitterly cold edge to the air did not. The prickling sensation dragged across his exposed skin that night, leaving an unpleasant burning in its wake. Dippy had been wandering through the forest, looking for something to eat when he first heard the pattering sounds. It came from the canopy above.

When he looked up, he saw a strange sight. The sky was clouded, and grey. Water splattered on his glasses (which he had temporarily fixed with his fourth bandage) and he looked down again. Darker spots appeared on his clothes, circles. He knew what this was, the word was on the tip of his tongue... Rain. There was rain. That never happened in Mabel Land. The skies were always clear, and forever cycling through rainbow colours.

A streak of lightning raced across the sky, and a roar followed after. Not just rain, thunder and lighting too. The show of electricity seemed like enough to make the drizzle of rain turn into a shower. All of a sudden, buckets of water were being dumped upon him, he was soaked to the bone within seconds. The pine trees offered more cover than any of the others did, with their many needles catching the water. He ran from tree to tree, in the direction of the house where his sister had stayed.

Crossing the lawn to reach the house was the worst of it. His sneakers slipped on the slick grass, kicking up mud and soaking with water. He was utterly drenched in the cold water, and thus even more relieved when he made it to the porch. The ground here was still dry, and so was the couch. He knocked at the door, hoping that they would be willing to let him in, but no one answered. He noticed the sign wedged between the screen and the door mid-ring.

Gone on a worldwide treasure hunt! Will hopefully be back never!

Great, just great! Everyone in the entire family was gone from Gravity Falls. His throat tightened at the thought, and he clenched his fists. He needed to find a way out of this town. It seemed like everything that he needed, and wanted, was in the outside world.

He took off his shoes and socks, leaving them to dry. Then he rolled up his jeans, so his legs could dry more as well. His vest was already in tatters, and now it was soaked. He took it off and tossed it to the side. He sat with his knees drawn up to his chin, but as soon as he had gotten comfortable, a fierce breeze stirred up. Sheets of rain were now blowing side-ways, leaving him completely exposed. Dippy resettled on the floor next to the couch, where it was shielded from the howling winds. He was then occupied with getting splinters out of his palms and the soles of his feet. That was what he got for going bare-foot. He sat criss-crossed, with his back against the side of the couch.

There was more lightening. It danced across the sky in jagged lines and twisted ribbons. Every time he blinked, he could see the outline of brilliant white light pressed against his eyelids. He could see the mountains, and even the outlines of distant clouds when it struck. The storm was intense, amazingly so. He had never seen a real lightning storm before, and so it was breathtaking to watch each spectacle. He could almost forget the chills that ran down his spine, and how unpleasant it was to sit on the splintery wooden floor.

But as the lighting dimmed, and the rain grew more intense, his mind was drawn back to the unpleasant. The not radical. The misfortune just refused to lay off. He kept thinking back to his sister, who had purposely left him behind, while taking his shady counterpart with her. She hadn't even told him. She hadn't given him some sort of warning, or anything. Even when he had left, she hadn't so much as waved at him. There was no real farewell.

He must have missed something that she said. This was probably all his fault. She had been telling him to secretly do something, so they could run away. Yes, it was his fault. She was waiting for him to notice the hints she had dropped, so they could escape. Perhaps he could fly over the barrier, or dig under it! That made sense! He would dig under the barrier, and escape this town! Mabel hadn't abandoned him, he just needed to catch up! They would be reunited as soon as he could dig a deep enough hole. After all, he was the perfect brother. Perfect meant that she would never chose her other brother, over him!

"Bu-ut she d-i-i-d," a sing-song voice inside of his head replied. "You weren't a good enough brother to her, she picked him over you."

That was a mistake! Momentary weakness, where he just should have been more supportive! Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't tried to get her to stay after she had made the decision. He had chased her all the way into reality without hesitation. He had fought long and hard to find her again! He was a great brother, he just needed to get back on the same wavelength as her!

"You're not even capable of doing the one thing you were made for. And you know what that makes you? Ab-so-loute-ly worthless."

That was a load of bunk! He was the most fly brother out there! Next time, he would just have to try even harder. He'd ignore things like sleeping and eating! They were a waste of time already in his opinion, but it helped lessen some of the pains that he went through.

"You're not even close to getting her back! Heck, you don't even have the hat! That's like, the bare minimum you should have if you're going to be her brother."

"L-lay off! I don't need clothes to do the part!"

"Yes you do. Your appearance is the only thing you and her real brother have in common."

"I'm way better than him!"

"And it obviously didn't work, because you're an incompetent, egotistical, moron who's too stupid to realize that-"

He viciously squashed the mental conversation. He didn't like it, the criticism was all wrong, completely wrong! He was perfectly capable of getting his sister back! He'd deal with the imposter and they would... They'd... It wasn't working. Getting rid of the harsh words wasn't doing anything because it was all flooding back to him now.

Mabel had left him behind on purpose. There was no point in denying it. The thought hit him hard, especially since he knew that it was true. She didn't want to see him ever again. She wanted to run away to California with the least fresh person on the entire planet, and had. She didn't even say goodbye. She just told him to leave, to run "free." It was hardly free when you couldn't escape Gravity Falls.

But, maybe she would change her mind. She had before, so why not again? Yeah, that made sense, and the idea helped him relax a little more. She would come back for him, once some time had passed. She would realize, and she would return, without that sorry excuse for a brother in tow. They were siblings, twins! They had done so much together! And if that didn't work, he'd find something, do something! He'd make sure that no look-alike of his could ever get in the way again.

Dippy realized that his teeth were chattering, and she was shaking all over. His wet clothes stuck to him like a second skin, and there were instances where he could see his own breath. It was very cold, just so terribly cold. His fingers felt numb when he flexed them. The water was causing the bandages on them to peel off. He began to feel trapped on the porch. He couldn't go anywhere, there was always something in his way!

From inside the house, a light switched on. He flinched, thinking for a moment that lightning had struck behind him. It was a silly fear, he knew that, but he had it nevertheless. But with the light on, that meant someone was inside the house! He jumped to his feet and knocked at the door, hoping that he would get a response.

"Come on... Don't leave me hangin'," he quietly pleaded.

The door opened. It was Soos! His mood instantly lifted when he saw Soos. He wouldn't try to beat him up or tell him he couldn't come inside! Soos was just as surprised to see him standing at the back door. His eyebrows raised comically, and his mouth formed a tiny O shape. After a pause, he said, "oh, you're back."

"The only kind of rain I've ever been in is chocolate rain. And that comes from rainbows, not clouds."

"You should probably come in and dry off."

He nodded, and went to go pick up his things. They were no drier than when he had taken them off. He dripped water all the way through the strange-looking house. Splintery wood was everywhere, he really didn't like that. The taste in decorations was strange, too. There weren't nearly enough bright colours and balloons. He couldn't find the ball pit, either. There were just a bunch of pictures of old boring people. Why not have majestic landscapes, with inspiring words, in bold and all capitals written upon them? How could his sister stand to be in a place where not a single wall was coated in infinitely-popping bubble wrap? Soos took his shoes and socks from him, and hung them over a near-by air vent to dry out.

"What happened to your glasses?" Soos asked.

"I ran into a wall face-first."

"Yikes. That musta' hurt."

Soos went through the linen closet, and tossed a towel at him. It landed on his head, obscuring the world from view. He stood patiently as his hair was roughly towel-dried. His shoulders and front were patted as well, soaking up most of the water.

"I can duct tape them together, so they'll be more solid." Soos offered. "I've even got the fancy patterned kind! It'd look super rad!"

"That'd be great home skillet! Could you really hook me up with that?"

"Course dude!"

The warmth of Soos' voice helped him dethaw more than drying off ever could. He was experiencing that positive feeling again. It flickered inside of his chest like the strikes of lightening. They were white-hot bolts of electricity, and they only struck briefly before fading out of existence. The feeling was the same, it too easily departed before he could even take much of it in.

"Here, Mabel stole them for you. She said she figured you'd need them sooner or later."

The towel was pulled off his head, revealing three duplicate orange shirts, along with two pairs of grey shorts. They were folded in a neat pile, and sitting on the kitchen table, waiting for him. Lightning struck again. She had thought to get him something, he could practically pose as her brother now... A new wave of confidence washed over him. As disgusted as he was by the plain look, he would be able to imitate perfectly. When she came back for him, they could do the old switcheroo! A classic twin trick! His stupid square self would be left here, with everyone convinced that he was Dippy, while he would be free...

Something was dropped on top of his head once more. He took it off. A baseball cap. It was white, with a navy-blue back and pine-tree design on the front. It was different from his own, (it had a triangle instead) yet nevertheless eerily similar. That was because it was the same one his double wore.

"I noticed you lost yours. This one's straight from the gift shop! It's still got the stickers on it and everything!"

"It's perfect."

"You want some hot chocolate? Rainy days always make me crave it for some reason."

"That'd be wicked."

While Soos wandered around the kitchen, searching for everything he needed, he sat down at the table. His eyes were drawn to the rainy day outside. Trails of water traced down the glass. Raindrops joined together and separated, as they all competed to get to the windowsill first. He could hear the wind pressing against the window, and the splattering of water, but it could not get in. Steam curled against the surface as the kettle boiled. Eventually, a mug of hot chocolate was placed in front of him. Soos sat down across from him, with his own mug cradled in his hands.

"Are the Stans really gone?"

"Yup. I'm running the Mystery Shack for Stan in the meantime."

He took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was the best thing he had tasted in awhile. It had a lot less plastic dinosaurs than he was used to, and the glitter to sugar ratio was strange, (non-existent actually) but he couldn't complain. Something sweet was a step up from poisonous berries and tree bark. None of the food he had eaten lately fit into the four food groups: ice cream, cakes and cake-like products, chocolate, and candy.

"Nice. You'll be rolling in dead presidents in no time!"

"Er-"

"You know, beans, the green stuff."

"Ah. That makes more sense."

"When's Mabel coming back?"

"It's a bit early to be asking that. She and Dipper only left yesterday. Besides, you need to focus on other things! Mabel told me to tell you so!"

"She's-"

Beneath his glasses, his eye twitched slightly. He pressed his white knuckles against the mug. It was scalding hot, but he continued to do so anyway. It was the only thing keeping him from yelling out what he thought about everyone considering him the "fake" twin. He couldn't simply move on when his sister had been essentially stolen from him. They had memories too! He had spent an immeasurable amount of time with her! Even if he couldn't feel when it had all taken place, he could now.

"You ok there dude?"

Of course not. But would he admit it out loud? Mabel didn't like it lying... But then again, she had lied to him first. She said that siblings stuck together. A lie for a lie then. She couldn't hold it against him when she had told a big fat fib herself.

"Why wouldn't I be, Home Fries?"

An empty, charming smile was all it took to placate Soos, even with how forced his voice sounded.

"You did just sorta' come to life," he replied. "Not everyone always takes it that well."

"I go with the flow whenever and wherever I can. That's why I skateboard!"

"Heh heh. You really are the coolest Dippy Fresh."

"But not cool enough where it matters..."

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