Sorry for the long wait! I was struggling with debating on how to write the second scene, and due to that, this chapter came out slightly longer. Hopefully it came out alright. We get to meet the Mystery Shack gang this chapter, fun. Anyways, here's chapter 3.
Chapter 3
Currently, the Fenton family was outside the motel, trying to find the closest food establishment in Gravity Falls. At this point, they would settle for anything.
It didn't take long to get Danny and Jazz out of the motel room with the mention of getting food. It was nearly comical. Was the food Maddie made for the roadtrip not enough? Although, looking back on it, even she felt sick after eating one of the glowing green cookies. Maybe her kids were right to not lay a hand on the probably contaminated food.
Fortunately, the motel they were staying at provided a mini map of the town. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good map. Maddie tried to recall what she had seen when they first pulled into the town to the best of her ability, and one place conveniently came to mind.
"I think I saw a diner on that road around the corner," she said, as the family walked further out on the main street.
"Does it have fudge?" Jack asked, shifting his large frame towards his wife. "I'm low on supply, and I need some real soon." he added, and rubbed his arms. He had initially intended to skip the jumpsuit and opt for shorts and a vacation shirt, but Jack being Jack, he decided to fashion his vacation wear over his jumpsuit.
Jazz gave her dad an unimpressed look. "How would she know what's on the menu already?"
"Uh, is that it?" Danny interrupted, pointing in the direction of a building that resembled a mixture of a wooden log and a mobile trailer. The sign above the structure read 'GREASY'S DINER'. Danny frowned. Who would use the name Greasy for a restaurant? Then he made a similar connection to a certain place in Amity Park, and suddenly felt the nostalgia washing over.
"Well, Nasty Burger isn't actually nasty, so let's just hope this place has the same kinda thing going on. After all that open road, the last thing I need is to feel grossed out." he reasoned, and Jazz only shrugged.
"Can't hurt to go in," she said, and opened the restaurant door entrance. The smell of sweet pancakes and coffee filled the room, a warming and welcoming aroma that just screamed eat me.
"Well, this is nice," Maddie said cautiously.
As they sat down at the nearest open booth, an aging large woman with tall hair, blue eyelids and a lazy eye fetched them their menus. Strolling up to them with an unsettling grin, she handed them out and leaned in closely to the booth.
"Oh! I don't recognize you folks. You must be travellers! Are you here to see the attractions? See some sights?" She asked slowly, a southern drawl very present in her voice. Danny blinked.
"Sure, if we can get there." Jazz quipped, a subtle yet intended jab at Jack. Either he didn't notice, or was too happy to care.
"Now Jazz, your father made an honest mistake. Being as tired as he was, I don't blame him for not noticing the... Giant pine trees." She slowed down, questioning her own words. "He really was exhausted." She excused him more confidently.
Danny looked at the menu and strangely, felt sick to his stomach. Usually he could swallow down the entire Nasty Burger without a second bite, but his stomach was doing backflips from worrying about what could happen in this little town in the middle of nowhere. It had made him lose his appetite, but he had to eat something. He tried to tell himself that Jazz was right and it was just the paranoia, but it did little to help.
"The name's Lazy Susan! If you're tourists, go visit the Mystery Shack, best tourist trap– I mean, tourist attraction in town!" she corrected herself, and the Fentons stared at the strange lady. "And if you see an old fart named Stan, tell him to call me." She said loudly, and lifted up her lazy-eye eyelid. Jazz cringed.
"...You betcha." Danny replied, after a few seconds of silence.
"Anyway what'll ya'll have?" Lazy Susan drawled, flipping out a notebook and clicking a pen that Danny didn't notice before.
"Uh, water?" he guessed, struggling to make eye contact with the unsettling woman. Lazy Susan probably owned thirty cats, and could be the poster-woman for crazy cat lady.
"Sure, hun!"
"You, ordering water? That's a first," Jazz commented.
"I'm… not hungry," Danny responded with a shrug.
"Uh, hello? We kind of haven't eaten in what, like a day or more? Aren't you starving?" Jazz questioned, giving her little brother a look. Her questioning made Danny realize that although he had a bad feeling, he was in fact starving.
Danny's stomach growled, and he smiled innocently at Jazz.
"I was. Now I'm not. But if you insist, I'll take the pancakes, change the water to… orange juice, and bacon on the side. And eggs." Danny said, looking back at Jazz. "Actually, with extra bacon," he added as an afterthought.
Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Why, aren't you starving?" he retorted, mimicking her words from before. Jazz only rolled her eyes in response and begrudgingly ordered her own breakfast.
Not too long passed before their meals had arrived, and thankfully there was no grease to spare. After a short discussion, the family had in fact decided to take a journey to visit the apparently appraised Mystery Shack. After all, they were tourists. Accidental tourists.
Who would want to be a tourist in this town? Danny thought, looking at the people in the diner. His eyes drifted to two cops having a competition of who could chug the coffee out the pitcher the fastest. The dark, heavier cop looked as if he was winning, but then shortly after began to yell about the steaming coffee that just went down his throat. Suddenly the other cop did the same thing, and then it turned to a screaming match.
He didn't want to take a second glance at the red-haired giant lumberjack who rivaled even Jack in size by the end of the diner. He was punching the wall, yelling something about manliness. No doubt was he the biggest man he's ever seen. The guy was probably the size of Skulker, if not, bigger.
A small man with an ugly pug face who looked like some kind of journalist or reporter was interviewing a cardboard cutout of a woman, and weirdest of all looked actually convinced that the cutout was a real person. No one batted an eye. Was this considered normal? What was wrong with this town?
"And I thought ghosts were weird," he commented.
"You see the guy talking to himself over there too, right? Please tell me I'm not the only one who is seeing this," Jazz whispers, next to Danny.
Danny smirks. "Who's the paranoid one now?"
As the family finished their meals and payed the bill, they got up to leave but not before Lazy Susan stopped them again.
"Remember, visit the Mystery Shack and tell me if you meet a man named Stan Pines!" she called as they walked out the door, and didn't turn around. Danny paused, and frowned.
"Who the heck is Stan Pines?"
Wendy Corduroy's face ached on her left cheek from her hand holding up her head. Today was a slow day for the Mystery Shack. Usually Mabel and Dipper would pop in and brighten her day, and then Dipper would get jealous of any other person near her and jump in to try to get some attention, but today, the gift shop was completely void of life other than the bored cashier and the repairman in the far end of the shack. She had the whole day shift, and not one customer had stepped foot into the shack for hours. It was more excruciating than listening to Soos's favourite song, Straight Blanchin'. He actually was playing it before, until Wendy threw an eyeball from the jar sitting on the counter at his head.
She sighed and changed her position, grabbing the magazine she's read through once already, and kicked her boots up onto the counter, leaning back. Even the latest news of boyband Sev'ral Times didn't keep her entertained for long. Wendy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as to why Mabel's magazine was mixed in with her own stash.
"Hey Soos?" Wendy asked.
The man child of an employee looked down from his handyman job of trying to fix a broken lightbulb in the Shack. "Yeah dude? What's up?" he responded, jumping down from the mini stool he was standing on.
Wendy looked up to the ceiling and put her arms behind her head. "I'm like, totally dead and I don't want to get up. Could you grab me a Pitt Cola from the vending machine?"
Soos pointed a finger gun at Wendy and began to walk backwards in the direction of the vending machine. "No problem, dude, be right back!"
"Thanks man!" Wendy calls, as the light bulb sparks and breaks again. She closed her eyes, ready to take a nap, until she heard the dreaded noise that signified a customer, and groaned.
Her ears perked at the sound of the doorbell jingling, and she opened her eyes to see two teenagers walk into the gift shop, roughly about her own age, more or less. Her attention panned to the sight of the black haired, blue eyed teenage boy walking in, and then at the sight of another redheaded girl next to him.
They didn't look much alike, so Wendy didn't think that they were siblings, but she's never seen either of them in Gravity Falls before, so they could be just tourists stopping by.
Shortly after the two teens arrival, two adults followed them shortly after, the door ringing behind them. Wendy assumed it was their parents and then confirmed her suspicions that they were a family of tourists.
The boy chuckled as he picked up one of the smaller 'mystery' trinkets. "Hey Jazz, check it out, a 'not-to-scale replica of the Bat-Rabbit'." He flipped it over and examined the poorly done taxidermy. "Actually… It's kinda cute… it looks kinda like an evil animal ghost."
"You're too weird. Please don't buy that thing. I might cry if I have to sleep with that next to me on the bedstand." The girl, Jazz, responded with a horrified look.
"All the more reason."
"You're the worst."
"I know you are, but what am I?"
"Why am I related to you again?" Jazz asked, and began to walk to the opposite direction of the giftshop away from her brother.
"I ask myself that question every day." he responded, toying with the bat-rabbit in his hands.
"I swear, if you buy that thing…" she trailed off with an empty threat.
"No promises!" He called.
As the teen's parents made their through some other demonstrative versions of exhibits seen on tour, they were apprehensive of the validity, but amused by the the displays nonetheless. They seemed especially intrigued by 'The Invisible Man' attraction over by the museum area of the shack, while the wife poked around at it as her husband yelled obscene things like GHOST. Wendy wasn't even fazed when the man pulled out a weapon to shoot the poorly made attraction. Wasn't her problem.
Wendy held up Mabel's magazine again, flipping through the pages, but was ultimately more interested in the strange family that had walked in, albeit kept the magazine in her hands. She looked at the girl Jazz from the corner of her eye, who was shaking a snow globe with a confused look on her face.
"200 dollars for this?" she mused, and slid it back onto the shelf.
Meanwhile the boy made his way to the counter, but not before looking at one of the pine tree hats and contemplating whether or not to buy it. Seemingly deciding against it, he put the bat rabbit on the counter and added a keychain with a question mark on it, adding to the pile of more junk he was buying.
"Uh, what is this?" He asked, holding up a Stan bobblehead to Wendy.
Wendy looked up from her magazine. "Hm?" she began, and her eyes wandered to the figurine in his hand and laughed. "Oh, that's just my boss Stan. He's a bit…" she trailed off, making eye contact with the blue eyed teen in front of her.
"...Out there." she finished, and a look of recognition crossed his face.
"Stan Pines?" he guessed slowly.
"Yeah, that's him! Wait, how did you know?" Wendy asked, setting the magazine aside.
"Some weird lady in a diner mentioned his name. 'Was wondering who he was." he said casually, leaning an elbow on the counter.
"Lazy Susan?" Wendy suggested with a hint of a smile.
"Lazy Susan," He clarified, his expression mirroring hers. They stood there for a few seconds in comfortable silence, before a look of embarrassment morphed onto his face. "Uh, hey, could you ring me up?"
Wendy blinked. "Oh, right! Sorry man, I'm a little out of it today," she reasoned, and began to scan the items he placed on the counter. The blue eyed teen laughed a bit.
"Oh it's no problem, I mean, my parents live for this kinda stuff, fake or not, I don't think they can even tell the difference, in fact, they're probably gonna buy about twenty more things even after I pay, so, I have time," he responded sheepishly, to the amusement of Wendy.
"I can tell," she said, glancing at his parents who were now examining the Thigh-clops attraction with their tools. The boy looked where she was looking and groaned at his parents' antics. "So, you guys from outta town then?" she asked.
The boy snickered. "Way out. Came from Illinois."
Wendy whistled as she scanned a tourist map, adding to the total cost. "Whoa. Long drive I'm guessing. Chicago?"
"Amity Park."
"Never heard of it. So what brought you guys to a place like Gravity Falls then?" Wendy asked, suddenly interested in the boy in front of her. He was probably the most interesting thing that's happened to her all day.
"My dad's bad driving paired with his bad sense of direction. We came here by accident, we were actually heading to California." he explained, glancing over at his dad again, who was now taking a photo of the Sascrotch.
"So you're one state away from your actual destination," Wendy stated, before snapping her fingers and pointing at the ceiling. "Oh hey, California is where the Pines twins are from!"
"The Pines twins?" he asked, confused. As if on cue, a large thud was heard from upstairs, paired with muffled arguing. A sly smile reached Wendy's face.
"...Is that them?" he asked again, and she nodded curtly, smile not leaving her face.
A shout was heard from upstairs, followed by another crash. "Mabel, let go!"
Another shout and the sound of glass breaking was also heard. "Never!"
"Well, they sound great," the boy said with a laugh. They listened to the noises coming from upstairs, and judging by the yells and crashes, the twins were fighting over something.
"Oh, trust me, they are." she began, and her smile dropped. "Oh, I never got your name!" she said, lifting up the bat-rabbit and scanning it. Each overpriced item she rang up made the total cost unreasonably expensive, but the boy didn't seem to notice, or care.
"Oh! Right, right. It's Danny. Danny Fenton."
"Wendy Corduroy."
"Well hey, now we're not total strangers!" Danny said, and Wendy laughed.
"So, how are you liking Gravity Falls?" she asked, dangling the question mark keychain under the scanner.
"Well, it's–"
"Yo Wendy, dude! You gotta see this!" Soos called, coming down the stairs abruptly, causing Wendy to drop the key chain.
"See what, Soos? And where's the Pitt Cola I asked for?" Wendy asked, picking up the key chain off the floor and placing it back onto the counter.
Soos laughed nervously. "It's–oh. Heh, funny story. So, I was going to the vending machine, right, and then this–"
"Soos."
"Sorry dude, I drank it."
Wendy sighed. "So, what did you want to show me?"
"Show you what?" Soos asked, taking a bite out of a cookie that appeared from nowhere.
"The thing?" Wendy prompted, and Soos seemed to remember.
"Oh! The dudes found some sorta memory confusion-maker device thingy in this totally spooky room in the shack. Didn't even know the room existed. Or did I? I don't remember. Used the thing on myself. I don't remember why exactly, but I did."
"Memory what?" asked Wendy, and right then, Mabel and Dipper came running down the stairs, and into the gift shop, almost toppling each other over in the process.
"You can't stop me!" Mabel yelled. She entered the room first, holding some small silver device and Dipper came down second, chasing after her. The two came out panting, but Mabel was grinning ear to ear, happily revealing her braces. The twins didn't notice Danny standing there, watching the whole scene play out with a half smile, half cringing facial expression.
"Mabel, you can't just use that thing on people like a toy! It could be dangerous!" Dipper warned, but Mabel made a 'pfft' noise and laughed.
"Bro-bro, lighten up! It's cool! It didn't hurt Soos! See?" Mabel said, gesturing to Soos, who mindlessly ate a cookie, seemingly resembling the mindset of Mabel's pet pig, Waddles. Dipper reached for the device in Mabel's hands, but she raised it in the air, higher than he could reach despite her only being about an inch taller.
"WOMP!" she yelled, and pressed the red button on the silver device, aiming it at her twin brother.
"MABEL DON'T PRESS THAT– wait what was I saying?" Dipper asked, blinking after the small blast to the head. Mabel laughs with glee.
"Harmless!" she declared, waving the handheld device around in the air.
"Eh, I've seen freakier," Wendy remarked, tapping her nails on counter.
"Wait, this is normal for you?" Danny asked, looking between the four people around him. Jazz had probably wandered to the museum part of the shack with their parents by now, because no one else but the five were in the gift shop. The twins finally noticed Danny standing across the counter from Wendy, and glanced at each other in some unspoken conversation.
"Pff, yeah. Welcome to Gravity Falls, man." Wendy responded, throwing the key chain in the air casually. Danny looked at the twins, making awkward eye contact with Dipper, who subsequently narrowed his eyes at Danny.
"Who's that?"
Yeah, Dipper is already jealous of Danny, surprise surprise. The amnesia device in this chapter basically works as a temporary confusion device, where you totally forget what just happened. It was just something I made up, it's not the same as the memory wiper in Society of the Blind Eye episode. Thought I'd touch upon that.
Also, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites so far! I'm eternally grateful for all your input.
To reviewer ToothPasteCanyon: Thanks for the constructive criticism! I went back and fixed that line so it makes more sense ahaha. Thanks for reading!
Next chapter will hopefully be up by next week, or later. See you then! :)
-dannyghost
