First of all, a thing to consider before reading this:
-This chapter is rated heavy T (Teen, 13+ Only). There is very mild swearing, fighting, and more themes for older readers.
Of course, it isn't that bad compared to M (Mature, 18+ Only), but this is my first attempt at writing man vs. man fight scenes, so it may not be that bad from some readers' perspectives. I'm just a bit paranoid, so if you realize that the story is heading somewhere a bit darker and not to your liking, I won't blame you if you want to skip.
This chapter features the Vintage AU, created by Tybay on deviantart! (Meaning I didn't create this AU)
I got a request to do a Vintage AU from amazing reader NickStriker! Thank you again so much for the suggestion, and I did take account of your research for the AU! It really helped me, so thank you once more! :'D (And apologies for this chapter being so late).
Review Time will be at the end again!
Again, if you didn't read the disclaimer at the top, you have been warned. Take caution and enjoy reading!
The midnight atmosphere had a crisp air all around, and the flickering streetlights only built more suspense in Pacifica's mind. The young woman walked around the streets of Gravity Falls, with nothing but a white silk dress and a feathery, purple boa around her neck. Her body smelled of alcohol and smoke, but she didn't mind the stench. She flinched for a second about something else running in her mind.
Pacifica was well aware that it was forbidden to be out at such a late hour; but she didn't intend to stay out so long in the town- she only meant it to be a small time at her favorite bar. She knew her father was going to scold her if she called one of her chauffeurs to pick her up, so the only way she would've gotten home safe and sound was to walk all the way and enter through the manor secretly. Besides, her mansion wasn't too far, and she wasn't exaggerating over the distance. The only thing she was worried about was getting through the town at night. She heard all the gangs were the most active at the darkest hours, and she felt like she could've been the next target of interest for them.
She should've bought her pistol or rapier along, but then again, wouldn't passerby get the wrong idea if she had those in her possession?
Pacifica's heels made a significant sound in the darkness and silence. The sound of her shoes were deafening to her, and she wished that she could just remove them and tip-toe silently on the sidewalks to make her way back home less risky. Pacifica grunted. She felt like she was a five course meal served out on a silver platter to all the gangsters that were lurking in the streets, watching her from the alleyways and corners. Pacifica could easily sense them coming in slowly, creeping up to her like spiders. She hated it.
The Northwest then picked up the sound of one member snicker silently in the corner of a store, and saw a gang member point a finger at her in approval. She cringed.
Dammit.
Pacifica's pace was starting to quicken. Her feet were slowly picking up, and her heel clacking was also speeding up. Her boa started to bounce around her shoulders and arms, a few feathers tearing away and landing softly onto the sidewalks. Pacifica felt her head throb with a small pain, and her skin started to go hot. She didn't want to fight now. She wanted to go home and be safe, from all of the nonsense.
Pacifica was starting to lose it. The voices she heard in the night were buzzing around her mind, and her jog slowly faded into a run. It didn't matter that she was on tight sticks attached to her shoes, she needed to flee. There was no possible way she could do a fist fight in the middle of the night. Pacifica kept running and running until she lost her sense of direction, where she easily saw herself bumping into another person. She turned a corner and her head smashed with something hard. Pacifica fell to the ground, tucking the skirt of her dress close to her thighs so no one could get a chance to peek at her.
"Watch it..." the person she bumped into moaned. It was a boy with a particular voice to himself, and his tone ran up Pacifica's skin. She fluttered her eyes opened, but quickly rolled them after. It was Dipper, the Pines commoner, the last person she would ever think about in her situation.
Dipper and Pacifica were well acquainted, they knew each other at most. Pacifica visited the bar Dipper's great-uncle runs, the Mystery Pub, but rarely at times. She ran into Dipper mostly in the daytime in the town, but when she asks about his business, he says 'errands'. Pacifica heard rumors that the boy is a talented monster hunter when not working at the bar and that he possesses a deathly secret of his own, but she doesn't care. Pacifica saw Dipper as the rest of the common folk- weak, poor, and absolutely disgusting. She had no further business with him.
Pacifica stood up slowly, wobbling a bit on her heels. "Excuse me, but you were the one who bumped into me," she hissed, and watched as the brunette cleaned himself off and got up. "What is a filth like you doing out here so late?"
Dipper stared at her, disgusted by her sass. "I could say the same." He kept a still face.
The Northwest's hands then curled into frustrated fists, and she growled. This was also another reason why she also didn't want to stay too long in the town- all the Gravity Falls folk were stupid, and deserved severe punishment if they ever mocked an aristocrat like her.
She raised a hand to smack the Pines properly, but her actions came into a halt as she heard rushed footsteps behind her. It was the gangsters that were spying on her the entire time in the alleyways. They probably took note that Pacifica was now distracted- a perfect time to ambush her, she assumed. Pacifica swore in her mind.
Her glance then maintained on Dipper's. She knew that this beanpole didn't know how to fight. His structure was weak, and of course, Pacifica knew that he had no firearms or weapons hiding anywhere in his clothing. It was up to her to protect him, or, if possible, offer him to the gangs as a potential peace agreement. He could also attempt to flee by himself, but then the gangsters would also start creeping up on him, seeing that he was connected to their target of interest. Pacifica had to stay with Dipper in the meantime in the end. She sighed.
"Come! This way!" Pacifica whispered loudly, taking Dipper's arm and hurrying him down the alleyway they bumped into. The two ran at a fast pace, and Dipper protested her to let go, despite her tight grip.
The unknown footsteps then stopped. "They're getting away!" a rough male voice called from behind. "Don't let 'er escape! Get em'!"
Pacifica only ran faster, and her head started to throb from fatigue. Both of her arms were locked onto Dipper's, as she was practically dragging him down in the dark. Dipper was dumbfounded during the entire scene, and realized that he couldn't get out of the situation. His chocolate eyes only settled on her panicked state.
As the two got further away and eventually got at a division in the alleys, Dipper gasped. "Wait, are you getting chased, Pacifica?" Dipper asked out of the blue, as his head swirled over to where he heard one of the gangsters. "If you are, I can help yo-"
Pacifica yanked on his arm and headed forward, shutting him up. "Are you nuts? The last person I want help from right now is you, Pines!" Pacifica scolded. "You're nothing but skin and bones, a mouse to a lion; you just can't fight!"
Dipper looked at her, confused. "What? But, Pacifica-"
"Consider me saving your life!" Pacifica interrupted once more.
Pacifica knew she was right. This boy was weak, and not only that, but his self-awareness and pride was too high. A commoner boy like him protecting the heir of the highest business in Gravity Falls? She thought Dipper was down-right insane, and she thought she was as well for helping him out in their current situation.
The pair continued running at the most fastest pace they can muster; but Pacifica met her doom a few seconds later. She found herself and Dipper at a dead end, and she could sense the gang members were hot on their trail. Her mind started to haze, and her throat was coarse from panting, but it wasn't the best time to slack off. This was the moment. She had to fight, in order to protect herself and the commoner. If she got wounded, then she wouldn't hesitate to use Dipper as a distraction to get herself away from this mess.
She held onto Dipper tighter then before, as her azure eyes focused on the path before her. The gang members were going to come, with knives, shotguns, and who knows what else- and Pacifica had to avoid being in contact with it all.
Dipper looked down at the blonde in worry. "Pacifica..." Dipper started, but Pacifica's grip pinched his speech.
Several gang members, all clothed with white collared shirts stained with dry crimson, soon entered into the scene. Some had red bandannas tied around their mouths, and some had cigarettes hanging from their smirking lips. But all of them had firearms, all loaded and tucked to their sides. The leader of all of them had a blue bandanna tied around his forehead, and a scar was freshly imprinted on his left cheek.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Northwest 'eir 'erself," the man snickered. He was tapping his thumb on the handle of his shotgun. "Oh? And who is that sugar ass behind 'er? Doesn't matter, he'll just join."
Pacifica was about to say something, but Dipper took a step beside her. His face was suddenly sharp, and his eyes were piercing. Pacifica called his name in a harsh whisper, but Dipper ignored her.
"Hm. Are these the gangsters that are chasing you, Pacifica?" Dipper asked, his voice slightly cold.
The leader took one glimpse at the Pines and howled a laugh, scaring his gang members and Pacifica, but Dipper stood still. The man slowly aimed his shotgun to Dipper once he calmed down, his smirk growing more mischievous. "Don't tell me I actually have to fight this guy! Fine, I guess 'er boyfriend goes first." the leader said. "Your wasting my time kid, but I won't let you waste yours. I'll let you say your final remarks to your lady before you die."
Pacifica tugged on Dipper's blazer, telling him to back off. "Now's not the best time to play hero, Dipper." Pacifica warned. She actually addressed him by his name to get his attention, but to no result.
Before Dipper could say any response to the leader or Pacifica, the boy pulled out a pistol from his jacket and fired the first bullet with no hesitation, aiming straight to the leader.
Pacifica's breath hitched in surprise.
The leader didn't expect the shot to be fired so quickly, so he attempted to dodge last second, and the first bullet slashed his cheek. The leader got to the ground in safety, but fresh blood dripped down his face. The man screeched with pain, and the rest of the gangsters were left in shock.
"Boss!" all of the gangsters said in unison, hurrying over to crowd around him.
The leader moaned, and held a hand to his cheek to stop further bleeding. "What are you doing, you idiots?! Get the girl and that bastard!" the leader ordered, tilting his limp head to his men.
The gang snapped back from their daze and nodded their heads in approval, all answering with a unison 'yes, boss!'. All aimed their firearms to Dipper, who showed no fear or hesitation to fight. Dipper constantly fired, his bullets flying all over the air, and Pacifica took shelter in the corner as the action started to grow. From a safe distance, she watched as each member fell as each bullet fired. Dipper was able to shoot them down before they fired themselves, having ultra precision and accuracy. Dipper was quiet and only made hard grunts, staring at his falling opponents with high intimidation.
"You...stupid...idiots..." Dipper muttered as he continuously fired. "You made a huge mistake messing with ME!"
As one member attempted to shoot Dipper, the boy moved to the side and dodged perfectly, and shot down the member right after. Pacifica was entranced by Dipper's fighting skills, but was sort of... frightened.
For a split second, Pacifica swore that she saw what appeared to be a bright, yellow glow from Dipper's eyes, but as she blinked, the glow was gone. Dipper's uproar chilled down her spine, and the apparent mirage from his pupils only made goosebumps against her peach skin.
"B-boss! The kid brazed all of us!" one gang member screeched minutes later, as he dragged himself on the floor to get to the leader. "He wounded our arms and legs, and we can't move!"
The leader's cheek seemed to have stopped bleeding, and he stood up slowly. The hand he held with his face was all bloodied and wet, and Pacifica was disturbed by his wounds. "Ugh... you cowards! Makin' me do all the work! Just get back if you're too much of a pansy to fight! I'll handle him by myself."
The wounded gangsters followed their orders and retreated back into the darkness, some of them leaving drops of velvet blood onto the alleyway pavements. Dipper muttered a word that Pacifica couldn't understand from her current location.
Despite the leader's redeemed efforts, he got up and aimed his shotgun once again at Dipper and growled. "You'll pay for this, you sugar as-"
Dipper interrupted him by shooting straight at the leader's shoulder, which flung his weapon out of his grip. The leader shrieked, and he collapsed to the ground with more pain flooding into his body. The leader's coat was soaking in blood, and his damaged arm couldn't move. Dipper stepped forward and threw the gun away from his perimeters, and stared at him with disappointment.
"Well! Look who's the sugar ass now!" Dipper laughed, sounding like he had two voices inside of him. Pacifica remained frozen, then saw it again- a yellow emitted from Dipper's eyes, and it shook her; and she remained her eyes on his. The person she thought was Dipper wasn't him anymore, but rather an entirely new person she's never met before. This person seemed chaotic, diabolical... evil.
Dipper's crazed laugh died down and he stepped on the leader's weak head, squishing it under his foot. "Get lost and leave her alone. If I ever see scum like yours go after her again, I won't hesitate to do more than braze skin."
Pacifica realized that the evil tone in him was gone, and that Dipper was back to himself, but he still sounded intimidating.
The leader was quiet and quivering, but still fighting hard from his injuries. The man's eyes opened and a weak but deafening black stare laid upon Dipper. "I'll.. I'll get you someday, bastard." the man swore.
He quickly smacked Dipper's shin as a chance for him to escape, and Dipper fell with a hard fall and scream. While Pacifica came out of her corner to aid Dipper, the leader stood up and fled, holding onto his bleeding arm and grabbing his abandoned shotgun on the way. Pacifica watched as the leader ran away, hearing muttered curses under his breath and as it echoed against the alleyways. Once he was completely gone, she then returned her attention to Dipper, who seemed a bit knocked out for a few seconds.
"Dipper? Dipper!" Pacifica called, gripping onto his arm and shaking it as an attempt to wake him up. The boy remained quiet, but then he took a deep breath of air, like he was saved from drowning.
Dipper's eyes opened with life, and he woke up to a start. Pacifica noticed his pupils were back to it's chocolate and pure white colors, and she felt relieved. Dipper looked at her, surprised by her close contact, but gave her a sheepish grin.
"Geez, you sound so worried," Dipper chuckled, as he patted Pacifica's hand and sat up. "What brought this all of a sudden?"
Pacifica looked at him. His face was easily punchable to her right now, but instead she turned a slight red by his charming words. She removed her grip from his arm and held tightly onto her purple boa instead, fussing around with it and trying not to show any emotion towards the sly brunette. Dipper laughed.
Pacifica felt his voice crawl up on her body. Not of a nuisance sort of way, but a good warmth creeping up on her instead, and it felt relaxing. His smile and his laughter seemed to brighten up the darken atmosphere, and Pacifica felt at ease. She gave a slight chuckle with him, which only made Dipper laugh brighter and louder.
"Ah, the ice queen finally cracks a smile." Dipper teased. Pacifica only gave a bittersweet smirk.
After the enlightenment, Dipper focused his sight to the darkness that was ahead of them, or the path that the gangsters took to escape. Dipper realized that they were far away, most likely planning their next scheme to get revenge on the damage Dipper had caused. The red that stained the pavements were nothing but a mere fragment of a struggle.
The brunette stood up and placed his pistol back into the pockets of his blazer, and helped Pacifica up. He offered his hand and held onto the blonde tightly. "Any idea why they tried to ambush you?" Dipper asked.
Pacifica shrugged slightly and stood, but followed Dipper's eyes. "I'm the most richest girl of Gravity Falls, why wouldn't any gang try to attack me for my wealth?" she assumed.
Dipper huffed a laugh. "Oh, I don't know. Despite your crazy wealth, there are some traits that, I dunno... maybe some guys like. I mean, you're sassy, confident, beautiful, charming, and..." Dipper began, but he quickly bit his tongue to shut up. He still noticed that he was holding onto Pacifica's hand, and he removed it, like it was a piece of paper on fire. Pacifica's blush only burned brighter from his compliments.
Pacifica had to admit- he was acting pretty funny compared to the other times they encountered each other. He might've been embarrassed by the way he fought in front of her, Pacifica assumed.
"E-excuse me for that," Dipper pardoned, holding a hand to cover his mouth. The boy then took a cautious step forward, but continued to walk afterwards. "I'd best be going now... you don't need to thank me, or anything, just... um... have a good evening, Miss Northwest."
Pacifica stood still from where she was standing. Her face was a bright red all over, and a small heat emitted from her skin. He doesn't want to be thanked? He just saved her life, and he expects nothing in return? Pacifica huffed, feeling sick from Dipper's words, but focused her azure eyes upon him. Humble, brave, adventurous, clever- it seemed he had it all.
She gripped onto her boa, but copied Dipper's steps behind him as he was heading towards the exit of the alleyways. She quickly hurried after him, and tugged onto his blue blazer once more as she managed to catch up. Dipper froze and looked behind him, seeing a flustered Pacifica, nervous and silent.
"Um... if you don't mind me requesting..." Pacifica began, as she held her boa and started stroking it, looking to the side and refraining from looking into Dipper's eyes. "Can you please accompany me back to my mansion? S-see, y'know, I'm un-armed with my normal weapons and I might be ambushed again, so..."
Dipper blinked, and took a few seconds to amend her request. He smiled. Getting a favor like this was something that was considered lucky among Dipper's people. "Okay, that seems logical and a wise choice. Seeing that there is a tough guy here to protect a beautiful aristocrat like you, maybe the gangs may lay off."
Pacifica laughed a bit, blushing, and the two exited out of the dark alleyways together. As Dipper and Pacifica passed by a streetlight with a functioning bulb, the Northwest felt more relaxed and safe, especially with company by her side.
"Sure, sure. Don't get ahead of yourself just because I asked protection from you, Dipper!"
Dipper nodded, and released another warming laugh.
As the two started to settle in the more calmer atmosphere, Pacifica took one more glance at Dipper's eyes. She still didn't think she was crazy when she saw a yellow glow from them. When Dipper had his crazed act towards the gang members, that's when his eyes transformed, Pacifica noted. Was it a curse, perhaps? Or maybe the deathly secret the rumors around town were chatting about? All that she knew was that she sensed an un-welcoming presence from those eyes, and that she didn't want to get entangled from the truth behind it. But, then again...
She was curious to find out what secrets he was hiding.
(this may or may not have a sequel, ohohoho)
Review Time!
Jellybomper
YES. I WILL DO THIS. Thanks for the suggestion!
Flopi216
Yes. Dipifica gives me life. Glad you're enjoying the story!
King of France (Guest)
True, true...
Aqua Burst 07
I am thinking the same thing when I am writing chapters after the finale; thinking that 'should I even have Pacifica live in a mansion anymore?', and et cetera. I would like to say that every chapter (starting from the very first) is rather a different route from the canon route (so it's basically an alternate universe, but it still uses a bit of the canon information?), I honestly don't know myself. To clear this out, Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future and the Weirdmaggadon arc NEVER HAPPENED. I think that clears up a few questions for this fic if anything...
And, oh wow, really? I'm not that big on multishipping, but I still support some other alternate ships! I'll be glad to join the club! *takes the plate of cookies*
Oh, I'll also take in your requests! (Excited on how it's also Reverse Falls again, huehuehuehue.) Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll be willingly able to open my mind up when writing AU requests. Thank you!
Guest
I re-read it- and I have to agree with you.
pinksakura271
If only Dipper knew... and if only Pacifica knew... (wow, I'm really a sucker for anime tropes)
Thanks for reading everyone!
Stay awesome as always!
-TSH