The Gravity Falls Mystery Manor side door opened briskly. Just prior to noon, two teenagers lead themselves out of the building, a determined look in their eyes. On tucked his hat around his head roughly, theories and formulas rushing through the brain of Dipper Pines as he walked to his car. The other was busy sticking a final sticker to her cheek to accompany the other; Mabel pines finally slipped on the two camouflage stripes on her cheeks, and huffed out aggressively, punching at her stomach, where a kitten with a combat helmet was displayed on her sweater. She was ready for war.
Since the previous day's happenings, where Grunkle Stan had to convince the work crew of Weytani-Yuland that their equipment caused the damages to his roof, and therefore would be paid by the company, the twins had been set back yet another day of research. Clues from the missing data, along with Grunkle Stan's suggestions, told them that there was a place to find the secrets- the Town Hall.
"This will suck if it was just one huge typo," Mabel stated as they passed the grumpy crew, no longer pleasant towards the twins or anyone else who resided at this building.
"Don't say that," Dipper begged, tightening his shoulders instantly, "that would mean we're down to nothing. Just an extra stick-battery thing and a million questions."
"Bro, don't worry," Mabel patted his shoulder, "with me at your side, in total surrrrious mode," Mabel glared ahead like a preying falcon, "we'll crack down on this case and before we know it- BAM! Solved!"
Dipper fought to restrain a smile for his sister, but lost the fight. Even if she constantly was distracted from the investigatory work, she tried her best. Her unending support was also a nice boost of confidence. The twins after all, only had three more days up here before they turned around and went home.
Just the thought of leaving something as possibly big a mystery as this one infuriated Dipper.
"Hop in," Dipper told her as he unlocked his car.
"Awww, just for once, can't we get on my bike?" Mabel flopped her arms limply by her side, "your car reeks of stale boredom."
"That's pine-fresh, actually," Dipper retorted, leaning on his door, "and every time I've gotten on your bike so far, you've tried your best to either throw us into a ditch or freak me out!"
"Hehehe, I usually get the second one."
"Mabel," Dipper barked at her as she laughed, "get in sis. We got work to do?"
"Aww, fine. But if we need to go into town again later, we take the bike?" she asked as she strode around to the other side.
"Fine, sure, okay," Dipper agreed half heartedly as he landed on the seat and closed the door. Mabel cheered and entered the passenger side, grinning with her excitement. Any chance to scare Dipper the know-it-all was more than worth it.
"Onward, my valet!" Mabel demanded, pointing forward to the dashboard.
"I'm not your- that joke doesn't even make se-"
"ONWARD!"
Dipper sighed and put the gear into place, having the car start slowly backwards as he turned around to leave the driveway. A steady turn and another gear shift had his black vehicle forward.
"You meant escort, by the way," Dipper told his sister as they left sight of the Mystery Manor.
"I meant what I said," Mabel stuck her tongue out at him.
"Valets don't-"
BOOM.
Dipper and Mabel both shouted. The young teen slammed the breaks hard as the car instantly halted.
"What the heck was that!?" Dipper demanded to his sister. "Was that a gunshot?"
BOOM.
The brother yelped, desperately looking around. The car itself had shaken with the blasting echoes. Mabel turned to her side window as Dipper jumped again, gasping and scanning for the source of the violent episode. Outside, in the woods, there was movement heading straight towards them.
"Dipper-"
Dipper had only a moment to turn and open his mouth, ready to ask 'what'. As he and Mabel stared towards the rushing shadows, they burst out. Two hooded figures, on about their height while the other was the other a good half foot shorter than the twins, ran out and nearly into the car. They gasped, showing their faces for a moment to the twins.
"Who the-" Dipper gasped, as they glanced back behind them, where more movement was heading their way. The two, the girl and the teenager, didn't stick around. As quickly as they came, they ran past the car and over the dirt path to the other side of the woods. The twins watched them run, shocked at how desperate they seemed. After looking to one another, they turned front and saw a large man with a large stomach holding a huge shotgun up.
BOOM.
"Gah!" Dipper shouted, leaning away from the man, who had just aimed his large weapon after the fleeing pair. The man in front of their car, who had just blown away a substantial chunk of the trees to the side of the road, seemed to be muttering to himself and aiming again. He wore a beaten and worn hunters camouflage jacket, along with several layers of gillie material, wrapped around his arms and legs. He had graying frizzy hair, and looked dirty as he was unshaven.
Just as the two watched, he indeed fired again, rocking the air with his huge double-barreled shotgun. As the two winced from the sonic blast that reverberated the windows of the car, the man swore loudly and charged ahead. He began to run into the woods, leaving the twins shocked and out of breath.
"... okay," Mabel put a hand on her brother's shoulder, "I know we wanted to figure our stuff out... but we can't let that just slip by."
Dipper groaned, but nodded, "Agreed! Lets go!"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Mabel stared to undo her seat belt, but Dipper was still moving his car, pulling it to the side of the road. Once he had parked, Mabel shoved the door open and leapt outside, Dipper following closely behind. The two gave each other one more look as they crossed the road, and then ran into the woods.
They were already darting past thick trunks and green bushes as they ran after the three strangers. Wind whipped by their ears, warning them of their speeds, sprinting as best they could. It wouldn't be a hard chase for the twins. All they had to do was follow the deadly sounds of an exploding boomstick.
"Plan?" Dipper asked Mabel as they hurtled over a falling Log, Mabel actually flipping over the tree, to which Dipper gasped, "show off."
"I think we should have them stop shooting at each other first," Mabel tried, looking to Dipper quickly and then forward to avoid hitting any trees, "maybe it's all a big misunderstanding."
"Looked like a crazy redneck hunter," Dipper added, his stamina running low- all the running and fitness he had been doing with his sister had increased his tolerance to such activities, but certainly he was no where close to on par with her.
"So? We just have to have a crazy redneck reason for him to stop," Mabel suggested, "speak his language!"
"M-mabel," Dipper gasped, "I don't think thats-"
Dipper was slammed into the dirt by Mabel. Not a second too late, as a huge blast of sound and splintering wood exploded next to where they had just been.
"I don't know who you think you are," a voice called to them, "but you need to stay away! They're mine!" Mabel, who was quick to get back to her knees as Dipper struggled to roll back onto his elbows, was able to peek around the tree she dived behind. There he was: the hunter holding the smoking end of the gun and turning away and running into the brush.
"Almost shot us!" Dipper said, color in his face paler.
"He really knows how to be crazy," Mabel nodded, slowly standing up.
"A crazy jerk-wad," Dipper growled as he stood, wiping away the remains of dirt and leaves from his arm. "He said they're mine? Is he hunting them!?"
Mabel was already back on her feet. Dipper was right- this guy had acted like he wasn't just shooting at them because of a misunderstanding of some sort. He was chasing them to kill them.
"Let's hurry!" Mabel grabbed Dipper's arm and pulled him back up. Before he could get proper footing, she turned and starting running after the guy. Dipper stumbled, but following, his pace slower. The brunette girl was darting ahead, blazing a trail through the woods as quickly and quietly as she could. This guy was aggressive enough to shoot at them for following, she wasn't sure how he would react to them approaching a second time.
Breaking into a mild clearing, she found him pointing his gun above, angling towards higher branches, where the two hooded figures clawed their way higher and away, trying to mask themselves with the branches. The hunter fired again, chipping away more of the tree. A scream above told Mabel somewhere up there was a girl younger then even her.
So much for any diplomacy.
Mabel ran, her learned martial mind preparing for combat. The man was mid-heavy, his belly being larger than his shoulders. If she could make him bend over, he would be easy to topple. Her footsteps finally caught the man's attention. He gasped, spun around, and fired towards Mabel had just been. She dived aside.
Spotting a rock next to her hand, she grasped it and tossed it right for the man's fingers in the trigger. He yelped, the stone making full contact against his hands digits. He cradled the hand for a moment, long enough for Mabel to run at him again. Remove the gun, remove the threat.
She reached forward the business end of the gun and leapt up. Skill and training had her ready to push herself onto his shoulders, landing her feet next to his head and leap backwards, tossing her away and him onto his back. His grip on his gun was stronger than expected though: she had to quickly adjust and place her feet onto his chest, and yank as hard as she could. The man had an iron grip.
"I warned you!" the man cried, and spun around, throwing her off him with his spin. As she landed on her feet, he unloaded the empty shells, and almost instantly had two more inside the barrel. This was it- his gun was loaded.
Mabel heard him coming. Dipper was right behind the hunter, barreling with his greatest speed he could manage. The hunter heard as well, and started to spin. Call it magic of the connection twins had, but Mabel knew precisely what they were about to do before it manifested.
Dipper leapt, actually jumped in mid air, and planted both feet onto the chest of the hunter as hard as he could. The impact was not a soft one, and the hunter cried out and stumbled back and into Mabel. She grabbed the gun, tossed it away. In that same movement, she twisted herself backwards with the man in a neck-lock, and threw up backwards, slamming him head-first into the dirt. The man's body stiffed up, and then let loose, falling to the side.
"No one..." Dipper breathed heavily as he growled at the unconscious man, "points a gun at... my sister. Ever."
"Dipper!" Mabel cheered, and lunged at him, hugging him tightly, "that was an amazing kick!"
"Gah! Mabel!" Dipper cried, still trying to catch his breath.
"That was a freaking great leap! Wow! You have been learning! I... oh man, you almost leveled him with that!" Mabel giddily told him as she let go of her domineering hug.
"You... really think so?" Dipper smiled a little, and then nodded, "yeah, it was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
"Try way pretty cool!" Mabel punched her brother's shoulders, and he winced.
"Thanks, Mabel. Just... you know, had to-" Dipper gasped, and realized there was whispering above them in the trees. "Right... those two," Dipper nodded above him with a curt jolt of his head.
"I got this," Mabel told him with a nudge of her shoulder, and turned to the tree, "GREETINGS, EARTHLINGS! I AM MABEL THE MAGNIFICANT! APPROACH US WITH HONOR AND-" Dipper slapped the back of her head," Ow! Hey! I wasn't done!"
"What my sister would like to say," Dipper called up into the tree, "is that we're not going to hurt you. We want to make sure you're okay. Can you hear us?" Silence followed their words. Dipper almost thought that they had left the tree during the fight.
"It's okay if you really don't want to come down," Dipper continued, "I know I wouldn't if some crazy dude had been chasing me through the woods... shooting at me... and some kids show up out of the blue. I'd be paranoid too."
"Are you trying to give them reasons to think we're monsters?" Mabel told her brother, who shrugged.
"Being honest?" Dipper turned back to the tree, "Can you at least tell us if you need help? We won't climb up or anything. Just want to make sure you're okay."
Nothing. Not a shake of leaves, or a whisper. They must have left.
"Well... I guess that's that," Dipper shrugged and turned away.
"Whaaat?" Mabel ran ahead, holding him back with a hand, "but we saved their lives or whatever. We should at least see if they're okay!"
"We didn't save their lives... well, okay," Dipper relented at the glare his sister gave him, "we really did help them, but they didn't ask for it. They ran by, when they could have asked for help. We should let them be if they don't want company."
"But... we're good people," Mabel pouted. Dipper chuckled and nodded.
"Let's go Mabel. We have our own-"
A soft thump sounded behind Dipper, and he turned and stepped side, letting Mabel see as well. One of the figures had landed there, possibly from high above, kneeling before them. Slowly it stood up, and the two saw the face of a younger girl. She had a bang of corn-silk blond hair protruding out from her hoodie, and was trying to put a smile on her face. The girl's eyes flickered between the two teens before her. Uncertainty, a little fear, and a tad bit of worry shimmered in her gaze.
Dipper opened his mouth to say hello, and then the second figure landed. Much quicker to rise than the girl, the person was a man, just slightly taller than Dipper. He had slight facial hair, and seemed to be sweating slightly. The two both had bright blue eyes and the brother had a beautiful face, sharp and wonderfully even. It was enough for Mabel to put her hands to her cheeks and stare.
"Hello," Dipper said calmly, "I'm Dipper. This is-"
Mabel shoved past him, knocking him aside to be in front of the beautiful figure, "MABEL! I'm Mabel! Nice to meet the two of you!" she grabbed the stunned man before her by the hand and shook vigorously. Quickly he winced and pulled his hand away.
"Ouch! Ah, Thanks," the man replied, a silky voice matching the face, causing even more wonder to flood Mabels eyes, "nice to meet you."
"You have the voice of angels," Mabel muttered as she listened to him. Despite being clearly in pain, the boy laughed. "Tell me you can sing."
"Thanks. I'm Jace," he motioned to himself with his injured hand, "and yes, I can sing. This is Jessandra, my younger sister."
"Hi!" Mabel waved to the girl behind him, who had taken a quick step next to her brother. Dipper walked back over, brushing off more leaves that had clung to him when his sister had shoved him over. He returned the favor by pushing her head aside, which she groaned a "whamp" as she was shoved.
"Hey Jessandra," Dipper waved a hand to her. The girl in the hoodie seemed stunned. Dipper waited for a reply from the small girl for a moment, but she just stared into his eyes. "Okay. So, Jace, your arm looks kind of messed up."
"Huh?" Jace blurted out, and looked to his hand, "yeah. It got caught between two branches when we were running. Twisted my elbow kinda badly."
"Oh! Sorry!" Mabel cried out, clenching her teeth in worry she had broken a chance of friendship with her aggressive hellos. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I am," Jace grinned and waved a hand at her, " Takes more than a little tree to stop Sir Jace the just. I've taken worse punishment than that before!"
"No you haven't," Jessandra finally piped up, looking at her brother disbelievingly.
"Yes I have," Jace nodded to Dipper and Mabel," of course I have" Jace turned to his sister, keeping the warm smile on his face, even though he looked to his sister with cold eyes.
"I had to jump into the tree to pry you off because you didn't know what to do, and you thought you broke it. Crying to be abandoned and have me run off-"
"Well, I don't usually hurt myself," Jace argued, looking back to Dipper and Mabel, "pretty good about avoiding injuries."
"That's because you're afraid to do anything but fl-" Jessandra stated, but her brother smacked the side of her head so quickly it was a blur, "OW! Jerk!"
Dipper was tempted to laugh. What were the odds; these two were actually like him and Mabel. An older brother who was aloof and easy going, and the younger sister who nitpicked and over-thought things. It was weird seeing it like this. He looked to Mabel, who seemed to have the similar thought to her, as they shared a happy grin.
"Uh," Dipper interrupted a quickly developed wrestling match, where Jessandra had somehow managed to get ontop of her brothers back, and was pulling on his head, "so if you need some help with that arm, we can take you back to our place."
"Oh?" Jace stated, lifting his sister onto the ground, who had frozen in place with him to listen to Dipper, "uh, thanks... I guess."
"You guess? Be our guest!" Mabel said the pun with gusto, and Jace snorted and laughed.
"Nice one!" The attractive man patted Mabel's shoulder with his other arm, and she returned the favor and hit his injured one, "Gah!"
"Sorry!"
"I, uh," Jessandra cleared her throat, "that's really nice. Thank you. But we have to get moving," she said, tugging on her brother's sleeve, "thanks so much again."
"Jess," Jace said quietly, and turned away from the twins, pulling his sister and a private meeting facing the tree. In quiet voices they spoke, discussing and debating quietly. Dipper instantly was suspicious. They had been attacked, and then saved by him and Mabel. Why would these two have reason at this point to distrust them? Unless, of course, they were hiding something. Their hoodies were particularly big.
"Mabel," Dipper leant over and quietly said to Mabel, "did anything they did remind you of when the gnomes were acting like 'Norman'?"
"What?" Mabel spluttered, but at Dipper's insistent stare, she thought. "Not really? I'd say they act too graceful to be gnomes."
"Graceful?" Dipper snorted.
"Just look at him," Mabel pointed to Jace, who was just standing up from his talk with his sister. It was like his entire body flowed together, each bone able to act in accordance to their neighboring body parts. Mabel cooed gently, waiting to see the teen's face again. Dipper personally thought he was sort of a 'pretty-boy', but couldn't deny the adjective. He looked back to his sister, and saw a hunger in her eyes.
"Chill," Dipper rolled his eyes, aware of her tendencies with boys, "we just met them."
"Never to early to start a little romance, am I right?" Mabel wiggled her eyebrows with excitement.
"Yeah right," Dipper huffed back, "there totally is such a thing as too early. Just ask twelve year old me."
Mabel stared at him, uncertain to his meaning. Her mind finally put two and two together, and she sighed. A more sad look overcame her expression, and she patted his shoulder.
"You didn't have much of a chance back then, did ya?" Mabel asked. Dipper's chest felt instantly heavier and he slowly looked away, trying to swallow the secret that trembled inside his throat. It was better for the both of them if Mabel wasn't aware of his feelings for Wendy. Damn resurfacing feelings.
"Sorry about that," Jace stated aloud as he finally turned to face the twins, "sibling conference."
"Entirely understandable," Mabel grinned, grabbing Dipper's shoulder with her own for a half hug, "being awesome twins ourselves."
"I thought there was some similarities!" Jace pointed at the two, excited at the information.
"Of course they're-" Jessandra put a hand to her face as Jace grew a smug grin. "You're an idiot, bro," Jessandra told her palm.
"Quiet, heretic," Jace offhandedly said to his sister, "so, we'd love for you to take us somewhere safe."
"Awesome!" Mabel hopped once, and with a quick wink to her brother, stepped to Jace, extended a crooked arm and asked him, "shall I escort you to my car sir, where my valet can drive us to safety?"
Jace spied the arm, and smiled back. "Of course, my lady!" Mabel suppressed a huge fit of giggles as he took her arm into his own, and they linked together, walking past Dipper, who wasn't entirely certain how to take in their forwardness. Jessandra stepped up to him as they watched the duo walk away.
"Ugh. I wouldn't want to do anything like that," Jessandra said with a disgusted tone at her brother. Dipper nodded and gave the younger girl, easily a head and a half shorter than him, a quick glance, "I mean, not unless you do. I mean, you know, not going to say no and be a jerk. Cus, no one likes... a jerk. Yeah."
"Don't worry, you're good," Dipper assured her with a quick pat to her shoulder, and began to walk ahead. A few paces ahead, he realized there was a patter of footsteps next to him. Taking a pause, he turned to see the girl, staring blankly ahead, her cheeks slightly red. "Uh, you okay?"
"Huh? Okay? Me?" Jessandra stumbled over her words, trying to push her hair out of her face, "why wouldn't I be? I'm not looking at you weird! Right? Of course! ...hahaaa..." She lifted her fingers and pointed to Dipper as if her words had been the part of a well thought out joke. Dipper was certain he small the faintest trace of a throaty gulp from underneath her sweater.
"So... you're okay?" Dipper asked again.
"Yeah," she quickly said as she nodded and followed up to him.
"So, what's the story of the hunter looking guy?" Dipper pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, indicating the unconscious hunter. She scoffed, looking ahead.
"He passed by his home, and he thought we were going to steal something of his. Went all crazy, and chased us all the way though this town," Jessandra told him, "like we grabbed money or something."
"Did you?" Dipper asked after a pause, catching up with the laughing pair ahead.
"No!" Jessandra defended herself as she adjusted her hoodie.
"Okay, I believe you," Dipper said, keeping a mental crossed fingers in his head. Certainly he had nothing to prove that they had been thieves, but she and her brother had seemed to try and hide secrets from him and Mabel. At least they didn't want something to be shared. "So, where do you live?"
"Huh?"
"Where in town do you live?" Dipper asked her calmly, "Mabel and I can take you back to your place after we get some ice on your brothers arm. Come to think of it, I don't we've seen you around here."
"I- uh- we... don't live around here," Jessandra said slowly, keeping her eyes on Dipper.
"Really? Oh. There's a town around Gravity Falls you came from? I kind of thought we had miles and miles of wilderness between us and other cities," Dipper thought aloud while looking back to the kid, who glanced away.
"Not... really?" Jessandra tried saying, coming out as a question. "Jace and I are sort of, uh, gypsies."
"...Gypsies," Dipper repeated, looking at her.
"Yeah. Gypsies," Jessandra repeated, her face in a force neutral hold, trying to feign any other emotion boiling under her surface.
Dipper found it odd, but truthfully, it wasn't the weirdest thing he had heard. Coming from this girl, being a gypsy was actually very normal. For a town filled to the brim with goblins and gnomes in the woods, where the dead haunt their business stores, and monsters roam under the surface of the local lake, to run into a pair of nomadic travelers seemed entirely tame. Then again, they were young. She clearly was younger than Dipper and Mabel, and her story was that the two were traveling together. Two pre-adults just walking around America without a backpack? Possibly by foot?
Not exactly a solid story. Dipper nodded as understandingly as he could though, willing to be patient to learn the truth on this one. Besides, he had another mission to get to.
"I guess you two got separated from your family," Dipper said aloud as he spotted the coming dirt road ahead, where his car rested.
"Ah- right, yup," she nodded, tucking her hands behind herself as she strode in pace, "so what about you guys? Just driving along a dirt road in the middle of the woods, or is that what's there to do in this town?"
"Ha," Dipper chuckled at first, "you'd think that at first glance. Gravity Falls is kind of a lame place to be," Dipper told her," but only on the surface. Once you get to know it better, there are a lot more things going on than you can imagine."
"I can imagine. I mean," Jessandra coughed, and her tone changed from understanding to uncertainty, "I don't know. Just a lot of woods. Nothing special about woods. Just... woods."
Suppressing an urge to show her his journal, Dipper stepped out of the woods with her into the dirt street, where Mabel and Jace were looking at the car.
"Man, what old fart left this out in the road?" Mabel asked aloud, looking to Dipper with a grin. "Someone has no sense of style."
"They didn't even get it with bumper stickers," Jace added, "this car needs bumper stickers."
"I love stickers," Mabel told Jace, "I even carry a roll of emergency stickers with me at all times, just in case a paper needs some color-love," she whipped out a small roll of colorful, mismatched stickers with too many themes to count," I think some of them were scratch and sniffs too."
"You're so well prepared," Jace complimented her, "you must be a fashion ranger or something."
"Oh, stop it you," Mabel slapped his chest and laughed with him.
"Well, if we're ready to get into my boring car," Dipper said with a sigh, displeased with Mabel getting vindication towards his apparent lack of taste, "we can get you some ice dude."
"You're car is nice," Jessandra protested, to which Dipper smiled and gave her a nod. As the four climbed in, Dipper was certain he saw a small smile and blush on the younger girls face.
The car was spun around, and it quickly made its way back to the Mystery Manor. The elder brother and younger sister gasped and pointed out things on the shop, as taken into the overwhelming appearance the wooden building had on visitors like every other tourist. It was amusing for Dipper and Mabel, as their minds were entirely immune to such devices, and Dipper parked the car aside the building.
"There you are!"
As the four were exiting, Grunkle Stan met them, walking out one of the side doors, grumpily approaching them with his hat removed and only in boxers and a wife-beater shirt. As he adjusted his hat, he then noticed the additional young folk, and halted.
"I never thought I'd have to tell you, but no strays allowed," Stan told Dipper and Mabel.
"They're not strays!" Mabel laughed, "they're wonderful people who we saved from a deranged hunter!"
"I was wondering what all those gunshots in the woods were about," Stan mumbled," fine, great, you two going out of your way again to get between some crazy farce. Neither of you got shot up, right? Good," he nodded to himself after glancing between the twins, "fine, who are they then?"
"This wonderful man is Jace," Mabel pointed to him with bother hands, like she were a game-show award hostess, "and this lovely lady is Jessandra!"
"Hi."
"Hello."
"How's it hanging?" Grunkle Stan asked the two of them, scratching his rear absentmindedly, "so what do they want? I'm not doing tours today. Hurt my back putting out the fire yesterday."
"Soos put out that fire," Dipper pointed out, "you just ran around and panicked while the roof kept blazing-"
"Whatever. My shouting promoted his efforts to get it done faster, and in that process my back started hurting. So stuff it," the old, messy looking man grumbled to Dipper, who rolled his eyes and said nothing, "if they're coming in, no freebies with the merchandise, got it?"
"Uh hu. We're just getting him some ice," Dipper said, "then they can leave if they want to."
"Oh, so soon?" Jace asked as they started to follow Grunkle Stan inside, who unceremoniously closed the door behind him as he walked back inside. "I think Jess and I would love a little look around. It's a really cool looking building."
"Yeah, sure" Jessandra said, "but what happened with that fire?"
"Ah, right," Dipper looked to the ceiling, wondering if there would be any ashes remaining from the burnt wood above, "there was... huh," he looked to his sister as he walked inside with the four, uncertain to his willingness to divulge the part about a Phoenix burning part of the building up, "equipment issues. You saw those guys working on the side of the building? Somehow their stuff burst into sparks and... well, old building made of wood and sparks make a mess when put together."
"It was yesterday?" Jessandra asked suddenly.
"Uh, yeah? Why you ask?" Dipper looked to her, and she shifted her gaze and shrugged while picking a spot on by her eyebrow.
"The kitchen's over here," Mabel pointed to a hallway as Stan headed for the living room, no doubt to continue watching Broker Nova. Dipper stepped aside in the doorway, letting the three file in, Mabel in the lead. "Here, roll up your sleeve so we can get some ice on your arm."
"Oh, no, that's fine, err, I can do it on my own," Jace looked between Dipper and Mabel, smiling brightly.
"Suit yourself, strong man," Mabel winked to the injured teen, and gently tossed him the ice-pack. Rather than rolling his sleeve up, Dipper watched Jace slowly shimmy the ice-pack into the sweater arm, and push it near the injured location.
"You can take your sweater off you know," Dipper stated.
"I'm fine," Jace assured him with a wave of his arm, "where me and sis come from, this is considered wintery weather."
"And where would that be?" Dipper tried. Jace looked to his sister, and Dipper's gazed flickered to follow. There it was again- suspicion growing as they had a silent communication together.
"California," Jace answered.
"Get out!" Mabel gasped, "us too!"
"Really?"
"We just came up here for the summer," Mabel told Jace, "you see, Grunkle Stan, that guy who let us in, we thought he died, but he didn't and now we have this crazy mystery we have to-"
"Mabel," Dipper coughed and interrupted, "can you help me with something in the gift shop?"
"Dude, what?" Mabel chortled, "we were just going to have a chill day-"
"Something important," Dipper looked to her, forcing intent to read across his eyes.
"I... oh. Oh yeah, that one thing! Duh! Pfft," Mabel smacked her head, and stepped past Jace, who leant on the kitchen fridge," just chill here for a sec," she told the teen holding the ice in his sleeve, who smiled back and clearly loved the lame pun, "we'll be back."
The twins stepped into the Gift shop, where the two other occupants and workers of the Mystery Manor stood- Wendy behind the counter, reading quietly into her usual magazines, and Soos, who was busy sweeping to the rocking sensations that the twins could have sworn had a orchestra involved in it.
"So, I'm getting a withholding information vibe from these two," Dipper quietly announced to his Sister.
"Huh?" Wendy lowered a corner from her magazine, "what about us?"
"Not you twos," Mabel assured her, "we found some friends in the woods!"
"Oh. What are they today? Elves? Werewolves?" Wendy asked as she brought the face of the reading material back to her eyes.
Mabel gasped. "Maybe they could be elves!"
"Human; at least they haven't shown any signs of being anything else," Dipper told the redhead, and then turned back to his sister, "they're holding off telling us everything. Like their story about being gypsies? How does that work with two teenagers, let along a teenager and a younger sister?"
"Being a gypsy isn't a job, Dip," Mabel said," it's a lifestyle, duh."
"They didn't have any kind of backpack," Dipper listed off with his finger, "their clothes aren't dirty from traveling, and they act like they have no idea what town they're in. If you were wondering around, you'd probably find out by road signs or whatever as soon as you could."
"Well being chased through the woods would throw you off," Mabel shrugged.
"I'm telling you, they're hiding something," Dipper pushed with vigor, "they said the hunter was just chasing them from his home or whatever- but he said they were his to hunt. Hunt! That's not chase away and make sure they don't come back!"
"Crazy redneck saying crazy redneck things," Mabel laid a hand on his shoulder as Dipper tried to speak again, "look dude, maybe they just have some family stuff they don't want to talk about. Maybe that's okay, you know? We have our own secrets we're not telling them."
"...live and let live?" Dipper suggested. Mabel nodded and Dipper gave in.
"Oh! I know!" Mabel cried out suddenly, and poked her head through the doorway, "hey guys! Jace 'n Jess! Come in here! We want you to meet some cool peeps!"
"Whoa, yelling inside, what's-" Soos turned from his musically tuned sweeping, and saw the twins standing behind him, "oh, sup dudes."
"Hey Soos."
"Soos, Wendy," Mabel announced loudly as two figures walked inside the gift shop, and positively were awed with the amount of merchandise, "meet our new friends from the woods- Jace and Jessandra! We saved them from a crazed hunter guy!"
"Sup," Wendy waved from the counter lazily.
"Yo! Name's Soos," Soos approached them, a hand extended, which Jace took with his uninjured right for a quick shake before the large man did the same with Jessandra, "nice hoodies."
"Thanks," Jace nodded as he adjusted his slightly, "it's useful for long trips."
"I can't believe you guys can wear those outside in the summer," Soos nodded in amazement, "like it was hot yesterday, and it's supposed to get even hotter."
"Well, we're from southern California, so heat doesn't bother us," Jessandra answered quickly.
"Yeah, heat isn't a problem," Jace pursed his lips and glared at his sister suddenly, and then turned to Mabel, "so, how about that tour? We'd love to look around a place that's world famous!"
"Oh no, they saw the signs?" Wendy asked from the counter, "Stan got another two."
"Sure, you guys want to have it now? Or do you need to wash up or anything?" Mabel asked the two.
"Wash up?" Jace repeated, looking to his fingers, which Dipper noted, were very clean.
"Yeah, from the long hiking you two have done," Dipper said forcefully, and Jace blinked, a moment of stress passing his face. He placed a smile long his lips quick enough though, and nodded.
"Sure! A quick change sounds wonderful," Jace said.
"Here, I'll show you up. Dipper can wait down here like a lamer," Mabel poked her tongue at her brother, who glared back.
Mabel was quick to turn away and march towards the stairs. She had an ulterior motive to all of this. The twins room had an older style lock on their door, one that if you found the right angle, could see all the way through. Mabel was a little too excited about this handsome faced man to let pass a chance to allow a single peek through the door. It wasn't as if she was going to burst in and stare him down, just a quick look into what lied under those thick, baggy clothes.
"Up here," Mabel waved them ups the stairs, biting a lip in excitement.
"You okay?" Jess asked her.
"Yup!" Mabel waved their worry off, rubbing her red lip, "just stepped up and spoke at the same time! Pfft, clumsy me."
"I wouldn't say you're clumsy," Jace told her, "you have a strength to your step, like a dancers glide."
"Oh stop it! You sheer scallywag!" Mabel leap the last three steps in her bubbling excitement. She wondered if he noticed it from her training or she had always naturally been gifted at walking like a princess.
"So here's mine and Dipper's room," Mabel held open the door, "and across from it here is the bathroom. You know, you should use our room first, let your sister wash up if she needs to?" Mabel asked Jace, trying to hide her excitement.
"Sounds okay to me. Jess, you want the sink first?" Jace asked his younger sister, who shrugged. "Jeesh, don't be too excited about it. Thank you, my lady Mabel," Jace bowed as he stepped inside and slowly closed the door. Mabel fought the urge to swoon, but a groan and a door slamming behind her shook her from her pink gooey feelings.
Show time.
Mabel rubbed her hands together, and very quietly approached the door lock. A hungry grin grew across her face as she found the light, and started to look in. There he was, looking around the room with interest. His eyes seemed to naturally gravitate towards Mabel's side, looking at her belongings and few posters that remained from their first visit. As he started to lift the sweater gingerly, wincing from the arm, his eyes befell something out of sight on Dipper's side of the room.
Right where the desk was. Mabel gasped as quietly as she could. She and Dipper had completely forgotten to put away the blue batteries. They were out and open to view. What could she do? Those weren't for people to see. Should she run in forgetting something and just take those out of sight?
Then the door opened behind her suddenly. "Where do you keep the so- what are you doing?" Jessandra asked when Mabel was clearly looking into the lock.
Electricity jolted through Mabel and she leapt up from the accusatory tone. She grasped the handle of her door mid-jump, pushing it open and forward to stumble inside and land on her face. Jace yelped and jumped away. Mabel was able to look up from the floor, and then she swore she had hurt herself more than she anticipated.
He was much more colorful than she remembered. Along his arms were streaks of bright neon green, gold, oranges and dark blues in an intricate layered pattern. Mabel tried blinking- maybe the light behind the window was causing a weird effect on his arms. Post blink, it was still there. In fact, it looked clearer.
They were feathers. Feathers all along his arms. Even by his ears and the back of his neck- there were beautiful, shiny feathers all along his body.
"What are you doing!?" Jace demanded, his face flustering as he reached for his dropped hoodie with one arm, and desperately held it on his arms. "Can't I get some pri-"
"Oh... my... god," Mabel slowly stood, "you're-"
"It's just a costume!" Jessandra ran between her brother and Mabel, arms outstretched, "we just wear it because it's part of a family tradition! They aren't actually part of our body!"
"Our body!?" Mabel gasped, looking to Jessandra, who's eyes widened horribly at the realization that she had said that.
"Good going, sis," Jace grumbled.
"You're eagle-people!? That's soo freaking cool!" Mabel ran to close the door behind her, and then turned back after they area was secure. The siblings before her appeared deeply shocked and confused at Mabel's reaction.
"Wait... that's it?" Jace asked, "that's all the reaction you have?"
"Well, no, I'm still way, waaaay excited," Mabel admitted, shaking her hands in the air, "but that makes sense- you're not walking around, you're flying around, aren't you! And when you hurt your arm, you could just fly away from that jerk could you?"
"But... but you're just a normal human," Jessandra stepped up to Mabel, "you should be freaking out that anyone has feathers coming out of their arms."
"Well, dating a merman kind of changes your perspective of 'normal'," Mabel told them slyly, and they both had their mouth fall open.
"You know of people like us?" Jessandra asked.
"You're dating?" Jace asked, seemingly crestfallen.
"Of course! And no, Mermando and I broke up a long time ago. Being a prince of his kingdom kind of put him into an arranged marriage. But yeah! Dipper and I have met tons of people like you before! So," Mabel stepped up to the two of them, "what do you call yourselves?"
"We're harpies," Jace told her slowly, "bird people."
"You have literally the prettiest arrangement of feathers I have seen on anything," Mabel told Jace as she walked over to his uninjured arm, and stroked his feathers. Jace gasped and stepped aside.
"Y-y-you don't have to do that," Jace said with a blush.
"Did I hurt you?" Mabel asked, worried she may have pulled one out, "gosh dang it-"
"No, that just, uh," Jace looked away, very red in the face, "it felt nice."
"Oh! I, uh," Mabel put a hand to her mouth, "sorry! I think? Yeah, sorry-"
"What are those?" Jessandra's voice barely registered for Mabel, but it was enough to glance towards the girl. She was pointing towards the desk.
"Shoot!" Mabel growled and stomped over to the desk, picking up the three sticks, and shoving them into a drawer quickly, ignoring the desire to run around making 'vroomy' sounds. As their faint light vanished, she spun around and grinned, "just a little project me and Dipper were working on. Nothing weird or unusual, I promise you that!"
"Uh huh," Jessandra nodded, entirely unconvinced with Mabel's assurance.
"Oh man, you guys," Mabel stepped forward, "Dipper and the others will freak OUT when they hear you're actually harp-"
"No!" the two shouted.
"But Dipper and I are all about this sort of thing," Mabel told them, "he's usually the one who starts looking for people like you- just to meet with them and see what they're like."
"We can't have people know there are harpies in this town," Jace said, adopting a new tone; one of formality and authority, "if they did, more hunters would arrive to find us."
"So he wasn't just chasing you two away," Mabel nodded slowly, stroking her chin in thought. Dipper had been right after all.
"He- uh- wanted our feathers," Jessandra quickly piped up, "we're not exactly your normal bird species, so a collector would pay a high price for these," she raised her sleeves, and bright brown and golden feathers extended from her arms.
"Wow," Mabel gasped as she saw Jessandra's arms as well, "but really guys, Dipper would love to know-"
"Tell us what those three glowing things were," Jessandra offered suddenly, "and we'll let you tell him our secret."
Tempting offer, Mabel thought. After all, a little information exchange couldn't hurt? Show me yours and I'll show you mine? Then again, Dipper may be excited to find out about harpies, but he would be upset about having his secrets with Mabel betrayed without his consent. That, and if Grunkle Stan found out they included anyone else after he told them not to, especially after that fiasco with Tambry and McGucket, he'd be furious with the twins.
"Fine," Mabel sighed, "your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you, Mabel," Jace stepped forward, sincerity in his eye," I'm glad we can trust you." Mabel grinned and felt her stomach roil with excitement.
"Trust, right," Jessandra prodded her brother's back, "because she totally wasn't peeking into the lock earlier."
"Oh look at the time," Mabel spun around really quickly, "I need to be downstairs, waiting for you two to finish up! Hahaa!" she opened the door, and turned back in, "remember, secret safe!" she winked over-dramatically and closed the door behind her. Rumbling down the stairs in a rush, she let all the tension flow out of her with a large breath. It was going to be hard keeping this secret. But a promise was a promise.
She turned for the gift shop, where Dipper was talking to Wendy.
"And it was pretty awesome, I don't even know really how I did it- just jumped up and 'boom'," Dipper mimed the action of his kick with his fingers as a pretend him," two feet into his chest."
"And this guy had a gun on you?" Wendy asked him as she turned a page, looking between him and 'Disregarding Work Weekly'.
"Mostly. He was turning away from Mabel when I got the jump on him. He was going to shoot at her, what else was I going to do?" Dipper told her, a expectant smile on his face.
"Sounds pretty cool dude," Wendy gave the teen a congratulatory punch on the shoulder. Dipper's eyes gleamed and he stared back.
"Bragging about how you can't keep up with me in a race?" Mabel interrupted the talk, having Dipper whip around to her, pink in the cheeks.
"You took a while up there," he told her, "spying on them or something?"
"Nah, just helping Jess find some hand sanitizer," Mabel shrugged. Dipper turned away, clearly not giving it another thought. Definitely one of her better lies to her bro.
"So what's the plan then?" Wendy asked the two of them, putting down the magazine, "you going to include them in the search for answers for those blue things?"
"We need to keep them out of it," Dipper quickly answered.
"Yeah," Mabel sighed disappointedly, "Grunkle Stan was probably right. This is our nutty adventure to solve, and getting others involved isn't going to help them."
"Mabel?" a voice called from the stairs. The twins turned to find the siblings approaching the bottom of the stairs. Back to fully clothed, they eyed Mabel and Dipper carefully as they approached. "So, how about that tour, huh?"
"Heck yes!" Mabel cheered, and turned to Dipper, "how about you, Dippy-dotty?"
"No thanks," Dipper growled at his sister as Jess giggled at his nick-name.
"Uh, I'll I think I'll pass too," Jessandra also said, "not feeling like looking at a bunch of stuffed animals."
"They're not stuffed animals," Jace told her strongly," they're mysteries of the world and beyond our own understanding!"
"The only mystery this building has is how you can fall for any of it," Jess told her brother, who growled back, but turned to Mabel.
"I like her," Wendy snickered to Dipper quietly, "got spunk."
"Looks like it's just you and me, my lady," Jace nodded in a bow to Mabel, who grinned to Dipper at his action, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"To the mysteries!" The two walked in unison away, deeper into the building.
"Well, they're hitting it off easily," Wendy joked, "Wonder how long it'll be until the engagement cards are sent out."
"What?" Dipper and Jess turned to her, to which the redhead burst out laughing.
"Relax, I'm joking," Wendy told them.
"Ha, good one," Dipper tried to grin, but was still uncomfortable with the idea of his sister really going for a guy so soon. He looked to Jess, who had a furrowed brow. Dipper easily assumed she had the same thought. After a long sigh, Jess turned to Dipper.
"So, uh... do you want to, maybe, go outside and look for stuff? You know, mysteries and things?" Jess tried asking with a cool attitude.
"I'm okay, thanks Jessandra," Dipper smiled to her. Her face reddened, and she nodded stiffly.
"O-okay. I'll just be outside and stuff. You know. In case you want to come outside too. Just letting you know," she said all while walking backwards towards the screen door that lead outside, "and want to hang out or... whatever."
"Okay, cool," Dipper told her with a raise of his eyebrows. Jess then stepped outside and out of sight. "Huh. That was a little weird."
"Really?" Wendy asked him, eyeing with disbelief, "you of all people think that was weird?"
"What? Why?"
"Dipper, come on, you're kidding me, right?" Wendy asked him. Dipper became flustered. Had he somehow offended Wendy with something he had done? She seemed amused by it, maybe it wasn't too bad.
"Sorry, what are you talking about?" Dipper tried, "I didn't say anything bad, did I?"
"Dipper, there are a ton of signs," Wendy snorted, "she blushed when you talked to her, she wants to hang with you, and didn't stop facing you until it became weird. Does any of that sound familiar?"
Dipper stared at the redhead. Something about the way she was saying it all did seem to hit home. Like a memory he had of something special. Or someone. Someone he was speaking to right now. Three years ago. In this very building. Dipper gasped and his eyes widened. She was right- they were tell-tale signs of the same feelings Dipper had for Wendy.
"She likes you, man," Wendy told Dipper with a small grin, "young crush, incoming."
You said it Wendy. Man, Dipper just can't take a hint. Not that he ever could. Then again, he always over-thought things, at least in his attempts to get a certain someone to notice him and like him.
So, Jace and Jessandra. Ten points to whoever can guess what really brought them into Gravity Falls. HINT- it's bird related. ;)
A bit less of an 'exciting episode', but it was crazy at the beginning, and now we have some fun young characters for Dipper and Mabel to chill with... for the next episode. Then we move one. Because life is too fast and no one seems to stick around this town. Except for one guy, and we won't officially meet him until episode ten.
Welp, hope you enjoyed this first half of chapter seven. We're getting close to the end here folks. So enjoy it! :D
(angelic music plays, and EZB is lifted out of his chair by a golden light, out of the window and into the great silver clouds)
Okay, I didn't mean THAT kind of ending! C'mon! Put me down! GAH!
(EZB fades into the light and won't be seen unless you review him.)