Portal to Beach City
By the time the Pine twins arrived at the clearing to meet the Crystal Gems, the Manotaurs had already returned to their caves to lick their wounds (literally).
"Hey, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl!" Steven called out. "I found some locals who may have seen the monster we're looking for."
"Wow," said Mabel. "It's awesome to meet real rock stars. I'm Mabel Pines and this is my brother, Dipper. You're too late for the Woodstick festival, but welcome to Gravity Falls anyway."
"Aw, too bad we missed the festival," said Amethyst.
"We prefer to be called Gems rather than Rocks," said Pearl. "We are the Crystal Gems."
"Tell us where to find the monster. We will defeat it and be on our way," said Garnet.
"If it's Bill Cipher you want, he's not that easy to find," said Dipper. "He's in the Dreamscape and he isn't solid, unless he's possessing someone."
"Like you," said Mabel.
Dipper shuddered. " Otherwise he just appears in dreams."
"Describe what you see in the dreams," said Pearl.
"He's a one-eyed yellow pyramid, with a bow tie and a black top hat," said Mabel. "A snappy-dressed Dorito."
Garnet frowned. "Sounds like a form Tourmaline would use."
"Bad news," said Amethyst.
"Who's Tourmaline?" asked Dipper.
"An insane Gem, a resistance leader," said Garnet.
"Tourmaline can do dream projections," Pearl said. "She has a physical gem to project from, but it could be hidden anywhere in this area. This could be a long and difficult investigation."
"They have another clue," said Steven. "Dipper, show them the laptop."
Dipper presented the broken laptop "Bill, er, Tourmaline smashed it up. I think the drive was in the process of being erased, but there's a chance the smashing stopped the erasing."
Pearl took it. "I can try to read it, but I'll need equipment I only have back home."
"When are you going back home?" Mabel asked. "And where do you live?"
"Right now," said Garnet.
"Beach City, Delaware. We should take you with us," said Steven.
"What?" said Dipper.
"Are you sure of that, Steven?" asked Amethyst.
"If you need to ask them questions, wouldn't it be safer?" asked Steven. "Tourmaline might come after them while we're gone."
"Wait a second," said Dipper. "You can't just take us out-of-state. That's kid-"
Amethyst had Mabel and Dipper, one under each arm, in an instant. Everyone went through the portal.
"...napping," said Dipper.
Amethyst released her hold. The twins looked around in astonishment.
"We've been abducted by aliens!" said Mabel. "Are you going to probe us? I hope so!"
"Don't worry," said Steven. "We're friendly, and I'm half human. We'll get you back home soon."
"Steven, why don't you show them around the island while I get to work on the laptop?" said Pearl.
"Sure," said Steven. "Come on, guys."
The twins stumbled after Steven. As they came out of the front door, Dipper turned around and looked up at the gigantic multi-armed statue that dominated the landscape.
"This is unbelievable," said Dipper. "Weird things are always happening to us, but this is the weirdest yet. It's like when we got pulled into the future."
"I sure know how to pick boyfriends, don't I?" said Mabel.
"Where would you like to go first?" asked Steven.
"Home," said Dipper.
"I'm kind of hungry after this big shock," said Mabel. "Could we get something to eat?"
Steven had grabbed his ukulele as they passed through the house, and now he began to sing:
"Mabel, this island has great food for you.
If you're hungry for pizza, try the Fish Stew.
As a special treat to stuff your face
Try the fry bits at Fryman's place.
But best of all from here to Mars
Is the Big Donut with Sadie and Lars."
"You made up that song just for me?" said Mabel. "I think I do like you, half-alien abductor. I would like donuts, please."
"F-fries for me, I guess," said Dipper.
They got to Beach Citywalk Fries first.
"There's a guy here you ought to meet, Dipper," said Steven. "Hey Ronaldo, are you back there?"
A young man with curly yellow hair came to the counter. "Yes, Steven?"
"This is Dipper, a visitor from Gravity Falls, Oregon" said Steven. "He's a man after your own heart, an investigator of the paranormal."
"Have you seen my blog, 'Keep Beach City Weird'?" Ronaldo asked.
"We can't get much web access in Gravity Falls," said Dipper. "But I bet we could match your town for weirdness."
"Yeah? Come back in here and I'll show you my work. Maybe you could add a Gravity Falls page."
"Will you be all right, Mabel?" Dipper asked.
"I'll be fine. Go ahead and blog," said Mabel.
As Mabel and Steven continued walking toward the Big Donut, Steven greeted a young woman wearing glasses (or at least glasses frames).
"Hi, Connie," he said.
"Hi, Steven," said Connie. "Who is this with you?"
"I'm Mabel. Steven abducted me and we're on a date to get donuts."
"It's not a date, exactly," said Steven.
"But you did abduct her?" said Connie. "I'll leave you two alone."
She walked rapidly away.
"So, a jealous rival?" asked Mabel.
"She's my best friend. I'll have to explain to her later," said Steven.
They arrived at the donut shop.
"Hi Sadie. Hi Lars," said Steven.
"Hi, Steven," said Sadie with a smile.
"Hi, squirt," said Lars.
"Cool skin earrings," said Mabel to Lars. "How did you do that?"
"None of your business," said Lars.
"He did it by piercing and stretching them," said Sadie.
Lars made an angry noise. There seemed to be tension between him and Sadie.
"I wish I could do that," said Mabel.
"It takes months," said Sadie. "Would your mom allow that?"
"No," said Mabel. "I have to go home after the summer and then she'd kill me."
They ordered a dozen assorted donuts to take home to the Gems, and collected Dipper on the way back. Pearl was waiting for them when they arrived at the house.
"The disk is nearly completely erased, but I managed to read a bit of it," Pearl said. "I wanted to ask you if any of these names sound familiar."
She read to them, "We're about to start a new investigation. Once we get permission from the local landowner, we're going to dig for the source of the strange energies my detector picked up below ground. I'm dedicating this new laptop for this research. It looks like it could be a real breakthrough. Unlike my co-investigators, Despard and Margaret, I choose to record notes in a modern laptop instead of in hand-written journals. The Conifers are brilliant but eccentric, especially the sister."
"The laptop seems to be owned by a Fiddleford Hadron McGucket," said Pearl. Do you know him, or the Conifers?"
"We know McGucket," said Dipper. "Despard and Margaret Conifer, I'm not so sure about."
"They sound like fake names to me," said Mabel.
"Like fake names we might come up with for ourselves," said Dipper. "Initials D and M, like us. And a pine is a kind of conifer."
"Could the authors be... us?" asked Mabel.