A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to the next chapter! I would like to thank noir Ulrich, EmPro8, and Ryan Last King for their reviews. I would also like to thank everyone who is following and reading this fanfic. This next chapter does not follow any episode, but takes place during one. So Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Fair Game
Deep inside his mind, Zyon saw many doorways floating around him. His mind space was devoid of any color except for shadows of gray. He heard the cry and looked up to see his friends flying above. The two magnificent dragons were the only vibrant colors in this space.
"Hey Crimson," he greeted the red orb. "Hey Oceana," he said to the one in blue. They hovered around one door in particular, a door at the top of a carpeted staircase. The stairs themselves reminded him of his childhood, specially because they were the stairs from his old house where he grew up.
Once Zyon reached the top, he opened the door to see a memory of his completely in color. He was about twelve years old and he was trying to talk to a girl who lived next door to him. She had long red hair and freckles. Her pale skin and hair reminded him of Wendy. This girl barely looked at him as she walked away from him and towards her house. He called to her. Suddenly, someone knocked him down. He looked up to see a tall boy with black spikey hair.
"Stay away from her," he hissed at Zyon.
The boy walked with the redhead into the house.
Suddenly the door closed and Zyon fell backwards down the staircase. He almost landed on the ground, but the red dragon caught him and the blue dragon nuzzled against his face.
"I'm older now," Zyon spoke with confidence. "I have friends now. I'm not going to worry about what Wendy is doing." He walked to another door and opened it. He saw the memory from the night at the convenience store, (before they haunted stuff happened). Zyon watched himself hang out with Lee, Nate and Thompson. "Like those guys." He closed the door and looked at his dragons.
"Thanks," he said.
When he woke up, Zyon felt his previous worries had faded away. He grabbed his phone and typed out a message to Lee.
Hey man, wuz up? You up for hangin' at the skate park?
Just as he finished the message, her heard a familiar voice call him.
"Hey, Zyon, are you up yet?" his mom yelled from outside his door.
"Yeah," he called back.
"Come down stairs, I got something for you."
Zyon threw on some clothes and rushed out into the hallway. His mom jumped back as he ran out of his room.
"Oh, you're ready now." She flashed a smile, showing her row of perfect white teeth against her dark skin. Her short bob cut hair bounced as she hurried down the stairs. "Come on. Your father is at the table."
Zyon walked into the kitchen to see his dad holding a palm pilot in one hand and the wand in the other as he pointed at different icons.
"What's going on, dad?"
"Hold on, just setting up some appointments. I never thought people in such a backwater town would need a lawyer so bad, but apparently lawsuits happen a lot here."
"Like what?" Zyon asked further.
"Well, like, a lot of weird stuff happens here. Someone is suing someone else for assault and battery. Apparently, a car hit this person, but the driver swears they were distracted by a group of minotaur running to the woods. Also, the lady who is a waitress at the diner wants to sue her eye doctor because the contacts he gave her makes her see gnomes stealing pies off her window sill. God, these people are weird. I'm not sure they need a lawyer as much as they need a psychiatrist.
"Don't start talking to me about weird," Mrs. Anderson stated as she grabbed some eggs from the fridge. "I work with the Sherriff and Deputy of this town!"
"Do you see minotaur and gnomes?" Zyon asked her.
She shut the fridge and set the eggs on the countertop. "No, I watch those two wannabe police officers stop at a fire hydrant spouting out water and run around in that water without their shirts on! I'm still waiting for them to do some real police work. I guess the case of a wax figure getting its head chopped off could have been the closest thing they had to a case, but they refused to take it."
Mr. Anderson sighed. "At this rate, I'm thinking of moving back to our old house."
Zyon's heart fell. "No Dad, we can't move back! I—I actually have friends here! A—
And I have a job—a job that I really like!"
"Oh yeah, your job at that tourist trap, what is it called, The Mystery Hack?"
"Shack, Dad. Mystery Shack."
"Yeah, that old man that runs it. I'm surprised he isn't getting sued for doing something illegal."
"It's just a fun place to take the kids, Darrien," his wife said
"Trish, please. That place was made by a conman," he responded.
"Either way, Dad. I'm earning my own money," Zyon reminded him.
His father gave him a thoughtful look. "That's true. We'll try it here for a few more months. I'm not even sure about the high schools around here either."
"School, Darrien. There's only one elementary school, one middle school and one high school," Trish said.
"Right. If it doesn't work out, you can just go back to your old school, Zyon," his father said.
Zyon sat down and watched his mom scramble eggs and flip bacon. He hoped more than anything that his parents would start to like Gravity Falls. He had no interest in moving back to their old home.
Two hours later, Zyon stood with Lee, Nate and Thompson at the skate park. The three dared Thompson to skateboard down a ramp on one foot. Thompson already wobbled around on the board on both his feet.
"Come on Thompson! One foot!" Lee shouted.
"One foot! One foot!" Everyone chanted.
Thompson slowly lifted one foot off the board. A few tiny rolls back and forth and then he flew forward, crying out as the board slid the down the ramp. The others watched I awe as the large kid actually stayed on until he reached the bottom of the ramp.
"Hey! I did it!" Thompson yelled.
Then, he fell off the board, landing on his back. The others laughed hysterically.
"So Z," Lee began. "You said your mom's a cop? Does she see dead bodies all the time?"
Zyon turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You like dead stuff don't ya?" he concluded.
Lee shrugged. Then Nate chimed in.
"You know who once touched a dead body?"
Zyon shook his head. "Who, man?"
"Robbie."
It just took that one name to ruin Zyon's mood.
"Man, he was trippin' on me back at the store," Zyon replied. "He has issues. I'm not surprised if he touched a dead body. In fact, he's one of those people who believes he's some tortured soul and probably pretends he's already dead!"
The other two boys stared in response to his outburst.
"So, I'm gonna guess you have an issue with Robbie," Lee said.
"Don't you guys?" Zyon returned a rebuttal.
They turned to each other with clueless stares.
"Well?" he pushed.
Nate uttered a sound. "We—uh— Hey Thompson!" he yelled as the large kid walked over. Nate followed up by giving him a high fived. "Awesome boarding, dude!"
"Yeah, now let's get some food, cause I need to eat!" Lee said.
"Me too, but at least were not hungry and high," Nate replied.
"Not yet, anyway," Lee followed up. "But I don't got nothin'." The two turned back to Thompson.
"Hey Thompson, we have an errand for you to run," Nate said.
A big grin formed on the fat kid's mouth. "I'll do it guys! Whatever you want!" he cried out. Nate put an arm around Thompson's thick neck.
"Text Wendy, see if she got grass."
Thompson hastily typed on his phone. He waited a moment.
"I told her we're here at the skating park."
"And?" Nate pushed.
"I'm still waiting," he half whined.
"Uh, what do you mean by 'grass?' Zyon asked.
Nate and Lee did a quick glance at each other.
"Dude, don't ya know what grass is?" Lee asked.
At the risk of appearing out of touch with typical slang, Zyon shook his head.
"Man, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Nate burst. He bent down to whisper into Zyon's ear. "It means marijuana." The teen's eyes opened wide. His mom was a police officer and his dad was a lawyer. He had never gotten ten feet within the green substance.
"Hey, it's cool if you never smoked it before. There's a first time for everything," Lee said. "But, just so you know, we smoke it a lot!"
Suddenly, Thompson's phone beeped. After reading the text, his mouth curved upward.
"She says she's at a fair with Robbie."
Zyon felt his stomach drop.
"What's she doing with Robbie?"
The phone beeped again.
"Wuz up? Robbie and I are official now!" Thompson read.
Zyon suddenly lost feeling in his legs.
"Not surprised," Nate said.
One more beep on the phone.
"Got hit in the face with a baseball after it ricocheted off the bottles. Won't say who threw the ball, but his initials are D.P. Lol! I know he didn't mean it, but Robbie used his snow cone to make the swelling go down."
"Who is D.P?" Zyon asked.
The others shrugged their shoulders.
"Dude, find out where the fair is?" Lee told Thompson.
Thompson typed the question with his thumbs, but Zyon fell into his own head. Wendy was dating Robbie. Everything is different now. He thought to himself.
"The fair is by the Mystery Shack. Her boss is putting it on." He turned to Zyon. "He's your boss too, right?"
"Wait, you mean, Mr. Pines? He's running a fair?"
"Yeah, let's go already," Nate said, impatiently. "Wendy's got the green!"
When the four teens arrived at the fair, they saw all the games, possibly rigged games. Zyon didn't see Wendy or Robbie anywhere.
"Where are they?" Nate asked Thompson. The large kid keyed the message. "Behind the dunk tank."
"Dunk tank?" Zyon asked. Everyone's attention was drawn by a voice shouting through a megaphone.
"Hey! Come on Losers! I got a year's supply of brown meat to whoever can make me fall!" Zyon looked through the crowd to see his boss sitting on the chair inside the dunk tank. This was too perfect!
"So, uh, since we can't find Wendy, maybe we can play some games," Zyon suggested.
"All these games are lame, man," Lee responded.
"Which one were ya thinkin' about?" Nate asked.
Zyon pointed at the tank.
"Oh, yeah, make that old man fall into the water!" Lee exclaimed.
The person in line before the teens just threw the ball at the target, which bounced off the target, yet did not trip the lever that would cause the seat to drop.
The man, maybe in his twenties walked away with a scowl as Stan mocked him with laughter. Zyon paid Soos, who gave him a ball.
"One shot, Dude," he said.
He took the ball and threw it as hard as he could. The ball hit the center of the target and bounced off, not affecting the old man's state.
"Come on! This game is rigged, Mr. P!" Zyon yelled. "You're cheating!"
"Hey! Don't forget who signs your paychecks, Kid!" Stan yelled through the microphone.
Zyon raised an eyebrow. "Soos?"
"Get out of here!" the old man shouted, causing a loud ring burst through the fairgrounds.
Zyon turned away. He moved away from the tank. No one noticed him waving his hand or the blue tinted glow that formed around his body. However, everyone turned to Stan screaming as the seat under him collapsed and he fell into the water. Everyone around to witness the sight, cheered.
"Good job, Dude," Soos congratulated Zyon. "I guess I'm supposed to give you this." He handed the teen a coupon that read One Free Wax. Zyon looked at the date at the bottom, which expired in 1982. He narrowed his eyes at the so called prize.
"Wow! That's all I can say right now," he said with sarcasm.
"Hey! Wendy and Robbie are coming over!" Nate yelled.
Zyon turned to the couple.
"Hey guys!" she greeted.
"Wuz up?" Zyon replied, ignoring Robbie's glare.
"You got the stuff?" Lee asked.
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I have the perfect place for us to go."
Moments later the group of teenagers sat on the roof of the Mystery Shack. The tourist trap was closed for the day as everyone was at the fair. Wendy started the joint and passed it around. Robbie hit it like it was a normal ritual. Lee and Nate took a hit like it was an every day occurrence. Thompson was the only one who choked. The others laughed.
"Man, how is it that you still can't take it?" Lee commented.
Thompson hacked in response. Then he handed the rolled up paper to Zyon. He took it, his eyes studying the joint.
"Come on, Z, hit it!" Wendy urged.
"Yeah, before it goes out," Robbie followed cynically. Zyon slowly put it to his mouth and breathed in. He felt the stuff infect his lungs; they started to burn. He coughed out the smoke.
"You too? Haven't you ever smoked before?" Robbie mocked.
"No," Zyon answered before he thought it over.
Wendy and Robbie stared wide-eyed at him.
"Yeah, he's never smoked before, despite his mom being a cop," Lee said. "Doesn't she like have the stuff on her all the time?" Wendy asked.
"No, why would she—"
"Because the cops around here do," Nate said. "All they do is confiscate it from anyone who has the stuff."
Zyon shrugged. "I've never been offered before," he said.
Wendy smiled. "It's cool, Dude. So this is your first time. Do you think you'll do this again?"
Zyon replied with his own smile. "Yeah, sure."
His eyes gazed up. He smiled as he saw Crimson and Oceana flying above. Of course, he knew he was the only one who could see them...or so he thought.
"What's that?" Wendy asked as she stared upwards.
"T-those look like—large birds?" Nate replied.
Screeches echoed throughout the sky.
"Birds? Those look like dragons, man!" Lee said.
Robbie rolled his eyes. "Yeah okay. You're cut off."
"No. I think they are," Wendy said.
"W-where did they come from?" Thompson freaked out. "A-are t-they g-going to e-eat us?"
"No!" Zyon yelled. They turned to him in surprise. "I mean, probably not?"
Suddenly, a voice from down below distracted everyone.
"I can't believe I got a pig!"
Zyon recognized Dipper and Mabel walking into the shack, followed by Soos and Stan.
"Yeah, just remember, you owe me now, Mabel!" Dipper replied.
"No problem, bro-bro."
Mabel began walking into the shack, holding her new pig.
"Hey! Hey!" Stan yelled. "You aint puttin' that piece of bacon in the house!"
"His name is Waddles!"
"I don't care!"
"Please, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel begged. "If I leave him outside, a predator will get him."
Stan let out a long sigh. "Fine, but keep it up in the attic. Who knows, I might get hungry later."
The teens quickly left and headed back to the fair ground. They noticed people just standing around pointing at the sky. Zyon looked up. His dragons were just flying about. How was this possible? No one should be able to see them.
As the small group of teens walked through the fairgrounds, the noticed the few who still were around looked up towards the sky. Zyon followed their glance upwards where Crimson and Oceana twirled each other, dancing in the sky as if they just learned how to fly.
"What type of birds are those?" An elderly man with a cane asked.
"Get your eyes checked old man!" the younger gentleman next to him yelled.
"Those are dragons!"
"Dragons? You need to stop playing those brain rotting video games."
"Oh my God! What are those things?" A woman nearby yelled as she pointed upwards.
"Cool! I wanna ride them!" her son next to her spoke with enthusiasm.
"Not a chance!" The woman yelled.
Everyone was freaking out. Zyon turned to his friends who just stared up at the magnificent beasts in awe. No one made the connection that the dragons belonged to Zyon. He sighed with relief as the two dragons flew up into the clouds and out of sight.
"Was that it?" Robbie stated scornfully.
"Was that it?" Zyon echoed, aghast. "You just saw two dragons!"
Robbie rolled his eyes. "We live in Gravity Falls. Just last week you visited a haunted convenience store."
"I don't know. I thought they were pretty cool," Wendy said.
Zyon's heart lifted. "Thanks," he said before he realized it.
The eyes of the other teenagers gazed upon him. "Thanks for what?" Lee asked.
Zyon's eyes wavered as he quickly thought up an excuse. "Uh, I mean, thanks for thinking they're cool because—" he felt his face getting hot. "—I think they're cool too."
Wendy flashed him a smile. "Yeah, Z, they are."
The sun had set by the time Zyon returned home. He was thankful for once to walk into a dark, quiet house. When he looked into the mirror inside the bathroom, he saw how bloodshot his eyes appeared, probably from the marijuana. He sort of smelled like it too. With his mom being a police officer, she would know right away! He quickly changed and threw his clothes in the laundry basket under other dirty clothing. Wendy gave him some eye drops to use. He held the tiny bottle above his eye and squeezed. The sudden shock made his eye close immediately. The liquid stung his eye for a few moments. He breathed deeply and did the same to the other eye.
Walking over to his computer, Zyon checked to see who was online. As he stared at the screen, two glowing orbs floated through his window. The teenager turned to see Crimson and Oceana as tiny versions of themselves, huddling in the corner of the room.
"There you two are!" Zyon exclaimed. "I saw you both flying up there! Do you know that everyone saw you?"
Crimson snorted and Oceana made a tiny squawk.
"You remember what he said. You need to stay hidden. There will be dire consequences if anyone finds out that you two are bonded to me."
"How would anyone know?" he heard Crimson's voice inside his head.
"I don't know! I just don't want something happening to you two!"
"You sound like your dad," Oceana teased.
"What?! No, no, I just—"
"We'll be careful from now on," Crimson replied. "We just wanted to see the town. This place has lots of secrets."
"I'm beginning to realize that," Zyon said as he lay on his bed.
Usually he did not get to bed until after midnight most nights, but this night, he fell asleep at approximately nine-thirty.
N/A: So, the dragons are an idea from Core of Justice. I gave them the names. The dragons are inspired by the ones from Game of Thrones. Anyway, hope you all liked it. Feel free to leave a review with what you liked or helpful criticism. Thank you!
