Through windy backroads, crumbling main streets, and a dingy street-parking, Dipper and Mabel arrived by the Gravity Falls Confectionary. The twins had made their way to the candy shop within half an hour. Dipper, perhaps bugged with the frustrations of the mystery, went quick to the 'bad cop' routine. He rounded upon the candy shop owner, and demanded just about anything he could imagine. "Where do you keep your most scented wares?" "What were you doing in the past two hours?" "Do you have any connections to Canadian pug-smuggling rings?"
The owner, so stumped and overwhelmed, was about to order them to leave, but a massive order of candy by Mabel changed the man's mind. Afterwards, he adjusted better to Dippers questions. As the two spoke, Mabel had more and more candy, eventually having eaten five jumbo sized gummy koalas and a bag of sugar-sand. Needless to say, she stumbled out of the building, buzzed on processed sugar.
She looked slowly around, her eyes glazed over. "I think I see the particles of air now," was the first thing Mabel said. "They just keep bumping into each other and away, except they can't, because another little guy smashes into them too- it just keeps going and going and going..."
Dipper worriedly eyed her, and the shopping bag she tightly clutched. "Uh... you're not going to finish your bag, are you?" Dipper asked, dreadfully aware of the answer he was about to receive. Her reply was to reach inside and slap into her open mouth a handful of gummy-snakes, chewing them like some tyrannical titan. He sighed, and warned her, "If you get sick, its on you."
Slurping down the seven gummies, Mabel asked, "So what boring thing did you find out while... I think I can see into space," Mabel whispered as she suddenly stared up into the sky, and adopted a dopey smile.
Dipper watched her gasp and her eyes dilated as she then bent down at looked at the ground intently. More for himself, he explained, "It's sugar-floss. It's not really meant to be eaten, but it's great for long standing, subtle air-fresheners. You dye it with scents, and they are supposed to just stay fresh forever," Dipper explained, sniffing what remained of the sugar-floss. "No idea why this one smells like... I don't know. I don't know how, but I know this smell!"
"GIMME," Mabel rumbled and snatched the floss from her brother.
"Hey!" he shouted as she tossed her bag of candy into the open window of his car, and got onto her bike. He stepped up to her, "are you sure you should be on a bike at all?"
She reached out, and gently slid her palm onto his face. "There never could be a better time. Dipper," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "the time is nigh. Now we charge FORTH!" she shouted as she turned the bike on, and sped forward, nearly hitting her brother and spinning onto the sidewalk before riding back onto the street. Dipper yelped as he dodged her advance and ran to get into his car. She was already down the street when he was able to start after her.
What followed for a few minutes was among the stranger things Dipper and Mabel had done together. At the center of each cross or end of a street, Mabel would halt for a moment, hold the string to her face, sniff, and wave her head around. She combed the air like a bloodhound for the same scent that the two seemed to know, yet could not define.
It was the last street when Dipper was beginning to loose what little faith he had in his sister's nose. They had made through the entire town lead by a single string and the will of his twin sister. No sooner had Dipper been about to pull over and try waving his sister down to try looking elsewhere when she stopped. She turned left and right, sniffing the air, and finally spotted something. Dipper drove slowly up to her, side by side, and looked to her pointing finger. Before them was a moving truck.
"A truck?" Dipper asked," not exactly what I imagined for the scent-"
"Nooo," Mabel put a finger to his lips as she looked in the direction," smell harder... you see, it lives behind the truck," she said with deep voice, brimming with unfounded wisdom.
Luck, as it often did, listened and obeyed the bidding of the twins. A gust of wind came by and that same scent hit Dippers nostrils. He focused ahead and realized he was supposed to be looking past the truck to the building behind it. A library.
He gasped, and the scent "Books! Newly opened books! That's what the smell is!" Dipper grinned wildly as his sister nodded slowly with deep gratification. He told her, "Find a parking spot and then we should pop inside!"
"I think I can do that," Mabel nodded with an open slightly crooked mouth," but the flashes of light need to stop first."
Pausing from driving away, Dipper looked back to her. "Woah... uh, just take it slow-" Dipper started, but then Mabel sped ahead and slammed into a stop-sign, and flew off into a short, unsuspecting and very ugly man who shrieked as she flew at him. "Mabel!" Dipper got out and ran over to her as quickly as he could.
"I'm good!" Mabel stood up, and walked over a stunned and discombobulated man, with a squash-shaped face, bulging eyes, and scratching looking moustache that had cat-like-whiskers. Toby Determined groaned on the ground, his eyes unfocused and spinning.
"Here," Dipper said after looking around," and lowered a ten-dollar bill to Toby chest, "just get yourself some ice, or cold water, and maybe don't sue us."
After checking the status of her bike, which was miraculously fine despite hitting the stop sign, the two entered the library. Like many of the buildings in gravity falls, it was surprisingly large on the inside. Mabel took a deep whiff of the string and then of the air around her.
As she let go the air with a sign, she looked to her brother and nodded. "This all smells exactly the same," she told him.
"Great... but why would someone want to dye string to smell like a library?" Dipper asked as he peered around.
"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind them. The two turned and found a woman with glasses that truly threw her proportions horribly. Her eyes bugged out like crazy, giving her an insect like star. Otherwise, she was tall, thin, and gangly, with short-cropped silvering hair.
"Wow!" Mabel gasped and stared at her, "your glasses are amazing."
"Mabel," Dipper elbowed her gut.
"You think so?" the woman, somewhere passed middle aged asked, adjusting her thick glasses, "I just tend to think it makes me scary looking. Kids won't come in anymore unless I put these away," she took them off briefly, and what were once massive orbs for eyes became tiny dots upon a highly angled face.
Mabel grinned. "They make you magnanimous," Mabel told her, "Hey, what does this smell like to you?" Mabel asked her suddenly, and held the string to the woman. She looked to it while placing her glasses back, and gave it a quick sniff.
"Why, it is lovely," the librarian stated.
Dipper leaned closer, curious. "What does it make you think of?" Dipper asked quickly, not wanting to miss the chance at getting something close to a professional opinion.
The librarian buzzed with ideas. "Like a freshly opened novel, or perhaps a sixth edition textbook, or maybe a new magazine," the woman began to list, a happy smile as she dreamt about that smell.
"Well, thanks Miss Eye-sore," Mabel said with a thumbs up. Dipper quickly smacked the back of her head. Mabel winced, "Ow! Hey!"
"She didn't mean any disrespect miss..." Dipper than read the nametag on her librarian outfit - Isoar. He groaned in understanding, "Oh."
"I beg your pardon?" Miss Isoar asked. Dipper stumbled for words, shrugging while he shook his head. She turned away, deciding her time was best spent elsewere. Dipper looked over and found a cross Mabel staring at him.
"My bad- ouch!" Dipper barked as she gave him a hard flick upside his nose. Mabel turned from the desk and marched into the shop and Dipper followed, massaging his harmed nose. As they peered down the shelves of books, posters flickered past them, ranging from "Mystery Shack Re-Opening," to "The Life of a Treasure Hunter" and other odd advertisements.
"I think I saw the one somewhere else in town," Dipper pointed to the treasure hunter advertisement.
"Dipper, come here," Mabel stated with a voice trailing off. Dipper turned from the small poster, and walked to his sister, who was standing in a clearing, with several worn couches and love seats. As he approached this reading nook, Mabel asked, "Do you feel something?"
As he stepped closer, he looked around carefully. There was something off about where they were. The already air-conditioned building seemed cooler here. Suddenly one of his hairs fell out from under his hat, and gently swayed back and forth before him. He pulled gently at it, and then stared at his sister. Her hair was also swaying gently back and forth.
"It's drafty," Dipper realized, "but the AC units aren't nearby. Why would it be drafty here?"
"Well, duh," Mabel poked a tongue at her brother, "there is a secret passage somewhere."
Dipper pondered. The flash of excitement grew a smile upon his face. Reality, however, reminded him to temper such expectations. "In a public library? I think it's more likely that the building just sucks at air flow design than... but..." Dipper found Mabel giving him a look – something between incredulous and a request for trust. "Who am I kidding, half the buildings in town had something secret buried away," he cut out his own second guessing, and decided to look around, saying, "lets try finding the source of the wind."
"Yeah!" Mabel exclaimed as the two took to different shelves, and began to feel around the books and the air between aisles. "Hey Dip?" Mabel asked as they moved down one together.
"Yeah?"
"So... when we figure out... whatever this turns out to be," Mabel started, "what do you think we should do?"
Dipper turned to face her from the other side of an aisle, looking at her with uncertainty. In his mind, he knew the answer he wanted to give. That said, he wasn't the greatest at turning the truth into something comforting. Yet he had no better answer than the truth.
Dipper took a deep breath, and told Mabel, "I guess we'll bury Grunkle Stan, and uh, go home," Dipper said simply as he turned away, looking as deliberately as he could towards other books around him.
Mabel stared at him as he did, and leaned back against another shelf, not interested in the search anymore. She had been anticipating that answer, and hearing didn't do any job of making her feel better. She missed her brother more than she had ever realized, and now, watching from across the bookshelf, she saw a part of herself that she had been missing for almost two years.
Her mind considered the idea of even throwing off the investigation. This was clearly something Dipper wanted to solve, so maybe a little bit of sabotage would help drag things out. If they were to keep looking for Stan, maybe she could get him to stay around a bit longer, and she could enjoy her own twin brothers company. Yet her guilt overrode this thought. She wanted this business with Grunkle Stan over; it wouldn't be fair to let his body just sit around if they had the chance to save it and give it a proper rest.
She finally swallowed her emotions down, and said, "Yeah, I guess so," as she turned from the shelf and continued looking. Minutes passed in silence; Dipper checked the rows of books while Mabel scanned the side shelves, staring at each cover with scrutiny. Suddenly Mabel got a tiny gust of wind in her eyeball and she gasped.
Dipper had heard the exclamation. "What is it?" he called from a distant row, craning his neck to better get a view of her.
"I think I was just blinded to the truth!" Mabel sneered as she realized that the particular set of shelves she was staring at was its own individual unit. Dipper trotted over quickly, and with one looked nodded his head. All the books were fresh and new, and in fact, the title of this arrangement was 'Fresh Arrivals'.
Dipper rubbed his chin, and nodded. "That could be it," he stated. Then, as he felt his hands around the sides of the unit, he found something. His fingers felt a detached fabric of some sort, and tugged at it. A long pale string came undone and soon fluttered in the newly strengthened breeze. It was the sugar floss! "It is definitely here," Dipper noted, pocketing more of the fragile material.
"Step back!" Mabel declared, pushing Dipper away with a bold hand. She placed herself directly before the shelf, and with a commanding boom roared," OPEN SESAME!"
From the front of the story, the Librarian called, "I do love that quote," followed by a strong and harsh 'shh'.
The bookshelf remained unmoving. Dipper and Mabel exchanged looks, and approached the wood. Little to no indication of change was present, and Mabel tried tugging it to her. "If this thing does move, it's locked down real tight," she told her brother, who nodded.
"Maybe its not a command, but a puzzle," he guessed, and looked around to the books. He spotted on particularly outstanding and grinned. "Ah, a big mistake to choose such a well known classic," he said as he reached for e dark black covered book, "Dracula." He retrieved the book, and pulled it from its resting spot. Nothing followed. Dipper's hand fell from its pose, and he angrily put it back. "Maybe... this one," he pulled out a book with a cover of men in futuristic suits of armor and weapons. Still nothing.
Dipper continued ripping books off the shelf and putting them back for minutes before he angrily paced back and forth, wondering if there was something he was missing. As he paced, mumbling to himself, Mabel leaned closer. Just behind the shelf she swore she heard something. A ticking sound, like Clockwork.
Her brother guessed aloud, "Maybe it's a multi-lock system."
Her heart raced at the idea of a bomb, but none of the books had any kind of triggering system she had seen. So, lessening the fear of a coming explosion, she wondered what the source of that ticking sound was.
Dipper growled and scraped his scalp in frustration as Mabel spotted a single book, so boring sounding and dull that it caused her to groan. Dipper continued, "But there would be more than one region of draft if there was... did we miss one?"
Mabel read the title aloud, "Standard Dusting Procedures? Euch!" she gagged as she read the spine cover. Without a hint of regard for the book, she clutched it and yanked it down, all to better toss it across the room. With a quick click, the ticking sound stopped. "Dipper," Mabel called to her brother.
"Huh?" he asked, broken out of his train of thought.
"I... just removed his book. Wanna bet something happens when I put it back?" Mabel grinned, wiggling the book in mid air. Dipper, already annoyed with his processing interrupted, took her jest the wrong way. Marching back over, he angrily snatched the book from her hand.
"I'm trying to work on it," he hissed at her and then he placed it back hurriedly. He turned to continue his pacing when a very loud scrap of metal called emanated from behind the wall. Dipper stalled in his steps, and the two of them watched as the bookshelf slid back into the wall, and descended into the ground. Before them was a rough and rugged tunnel of wooden boards and exposed earth around them that lead down, illuminated by construction lanterns.
Mabel turned to him, wiggling her eyebrows proudly. "Huh? What did I tell ya?"
Dipper rolled his eyes, fighting a proud smile. "Here," Dipper pointed to the floor, where a layer of white floss-like string lay, "maybe it was to mask the smell of... whatever this is," Dipper wondered as he examined the string below him.
"Wanna find out what 'it' is?" Mabel grinned at her brother, who returned a worried look. Mabel took the first step inside, and Dipper, after hearing the cranks and cogs that operated the door starting to turn to life once more, rushed inside with his sister. The shelf closed behind them with a snap, and they both spotted an obvious lever that would operate the mechanism.
"Wow," Mabel breathed as they started to descend, "this brings back some memories," Mabel excitedly said as she lead the way, peering ahead in the tunnels.
Dipper checked his phone and sighed. "No signal. We're totally cut off from the surface down here," he announced to Mabel, who just shrugged.
"We got out of worse stuff than this without a cell phone," she reminded him.
Dipper checked his phone once more, and slid it away, hurrying after his sister. The cave was slowly more and more exposed rock and dirt than boards and panels. Eventually, they came to a new entrance. There, a set of metal tracks lead them one of two ways. "We're in the mines now," Dipper said quietly, uncertain of what could await as he looked both ways.
"Hmm… eenie minie - lets go to the right," Mabel declared.
"Wait," Dipper held her back for a moment, "maybe we should head back. Get Soos or Wendy to come down here. For all we know, this could be what we're looking for, and if we don't have backup, we could-"
"Dipper," Mabel turned to face him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "trust me. Or better yet," she gave him her warmest smile, "trust us, okay?"
Dipper gave her a look, and then looked past her to the long-winded path ahead. His heart shuddered at the idea of harm befalling himself, or worse, his sister. Yet her eyes shone with that same brilliant strength they had her entire life. Her words be damned, her presence alone was enough, and he sighed with the smallest of grins.
"Lead the way, lady adventurer," Dipper told her, and she stood straight, saluted, did a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn, and marched ahead.
The two walked for what could have been a long while, what felt like an hour. All the while, they watched the path of the tracks lead on through these chambers and tunnels and waves in the earth. Their footsteps echoed as they stared for any signs of life, sounds of movement, or strange smells. It wasn't until Mabel spotted an end to their present curving path that the two stopped.
Ahead was a massive chamber, easily hundreds of feet across that spiraled downwards. Two separate tracks, one that started from the opposite side of the chamber and the one they currently stood atop of, circled downwards to the center, much more tight and confined than the massive space at the top. Hanging from the ceiling were ropes and other sturdy chains that were still connected to vital areas of support, or hung loose and swayed slowly around.
Mabel suppressed a squeal. "This place is soo cool," Mabel said with a biting lip.
"Don't pop a blood vessel yet," Dipper said, peering around, "I... I think there's stuff at the bottom, look," he pointed below.
Their eyes quickly noticed the glow of artificial light. There was a small collection of what appeared to be tables, chairs, and some large cages. They began the careful walk down one of the two spiraling tracks into the pit. Their footsteps echoed louder and louder as they approached the bottom, and all the while they stared around.
"Look," Dipper pointed to where Mabel was about to step. A single page of the poster they had seen earlier about treasure hunters had made it down here, but then ahead of that was a spilled selection identical of pages.
"What are they?" Mabel asked as she approached.
"It's some sort of research," Dipper said aloud, as he lifted one page up to read with their light, "look here, - 'Gravity Falls, despite having little to no known historical significance, has had an impact on paranormal researchers in recent times', and this one says, 'the evidence of supernatural is only deterred slightly by the sleepy-town feel of delightful men and women, from running grocery stores to gift shops'."
"Who could care about Gravity Falls?" Mabel asked with a crooked eyebrow," do you think this has something to do with the government?"
Dipper furrowed his face, considering their old frenemies, the feds. He decided after a moment, "They wouldn't care to hide down here," Dipper thought aloud.
Then, from below them, a voice called to them from the pit. "Hey, hey! You up there! I know you can hear me!"
The grip on the papers Dipper had dissolved instantly, and the papers fell aside, some spilling down below. Dipper and Mabel didn't even need to look at each other; for they knew that voice perfectly well. Gruff, irritable - the voice of a human whose soul was akin to a very tired housecat with the throat of sandpaper.
The dropped pages landed before one of the cages. "Oh wow, look, posters," the voice again called up, "It's nice you think I'm capable enough to saw my way out of metal cages with pieces of paper, but you've got the wrong genius. Get down here and help an old man out!"
The two ran faster than they had in their lives down the tracks. Their footsteps thundered around the walls as they gasped for air. Their feet had minds of their own as desperation carryied to them levels of energy unprecedented in their lives. It was impossible, too wonderful to believe, that waiting for them down below, trapped in a large metal cage was him. As they rounded the last turn on the walk down, they saw him.
"Grunkle Stan!" The two screamed as they ran to him.
"What? K-Kids!?" Grunkle Stan's eyes bulged out of his head as he saw them just barely above. They raced down and, stopping just short of slamming into the metal bars, reached through the cage and embraced their uncle. "What in Moses' holy name are you two doing here?!"
"We... we-" Dipper couldn't get out, holding his Uncle tightly.
"You're safe!" Mabel declared as she looked at her uncle through the bars, tears welling in her eyes.
Grunkle Stan's, now very animated and seemingly alive, face drooped slightly. "Eh, safe isn't the word I'd use to describe our situation; but hey! Look at his nice suit I got for free!" he stepped back and spun, displaying the black suit for the funeral, "suckers gave me a suit for some reason! Ha!"
Dipper looked at his grand uncle. "Grunkle Stan, you died!" he said, confusion wrapping each word he said. "You... you're supposed to be dead!"
Mabel chuckled, and gave her brother a smile. "No he isn't! Unless we know other types of the kinds of dead people you can actually grab!"
Dipper felt the spine of the third journal, tucked under his vest. "I mean, I know I saw some other things than zombies and ghosts-" he shook his head, "but that's beside the point!" he turned back to Grunkle Stan, "What are you doing here?"
Grunkle Stan only then looked to the two and his eyes widened. "Look, you two need to go hide yourselves, okay? This isn't a safe place!" he ordered aloud as his eyes darted around in fear.
"Why?" Mabel asked.
Grunkle Stan dramatically rolled his eyes. "What, do you think I put myself in here? Maybe I LIKE being locked in a cage?" Grunkle Stan asked them with all the sarcasm an elderly ex-convict could.
"Wait," Dipper turned to the tables around them, noticing a plethora of maps and other calligraphic supplies, "if you didn't put yourself there, then who did?" Dipper asked aloud.
"I bet it was mole-men," Mabel said with a serious stare to her brother.
Echoing down upon them, a new voice called out. "Honestly, close enough."
The twins whipped around to the source of the rough but handsome voice. Standing above them on one of the higher ledges, with two Great Dane dogs on either side, was a strong and chiseled looking man. Dusty leather jacket and worn dress slacks were completed with his even dustier and worn-er leather hat. His squinted eyes narrowed down on the twins as they looked up, and realized he had a revolver pointed right for them.
"Ahhh... darn it," Grunkle Stan sighed, "so much for hiding you two."
The man motioned with his gun. "Neither of you two move. I could miss a shot, but these two," the man above stated, mentioning his dogs, "will keep chasing you."
Mabel took a bold step forward. "Who are you, you devilish rouge!?" Mabel called above as the man slowly descended down, his gun trained on the two of them, his hounds at his heel. "You don't appear to be a faerie!"
"Yeah, we were way off with that one," Dipper admitted.
"I'm surprised you haven't seen my face around here. I may be new around here, but I was certain a few people came to my talks in this town," the man admitted.
Dipper blinked, and looked around. "Of course!" he gasped, noticing the various posters for adventurers coming to town, "You... you must be Montana Jeffreys!" Dipper exclaimed as he watched the man descend towards them.
"Who?" Mabel and Grunkle Stan demanded.
"Good one, kid," the tall and handsome man nodded, his strong dark eyes on the two of them, "I'm a treasure hunter who deals with extraordinary artifacts and creatures alike. I'm surprised you knew about me at all. No one these days seems to know my name anymore," Montana Jefferys added with a bitter note.
"Your posters were in town everywhere," Dipper informed him.
The gun-toting man scoffed. "Forgot about them," Montana growled. He whistled to his dogs, and they approached the twins, forcing them to back away from the cage. He reached over to a table and from a drawer, pulled out a large metal key. He walked over to Grunkle Stans cage, and while his gun was pointed Stan, he opened it up. "You two, inside," he nodded for them to step inside. They obliged, but only after a quick look at the dogs, who stared at the two with sharp eyes. Montana closed the door with a bang and locked it up, and tossed they key on the table.
"Now, let's get to business," Montana said aloud, and turned to the dogs, "Diana, get the book bag."
"What do you want with us?" Dipper demanded, and the treasure hunter smiled cleverly.
"You'll know in a moment," he said as the dog named Diana trotted over with none other than Dipper's backpack.
"Hey!" Dipper exclaimed," That's mine!"
"You shouldn't leave your windows open in the middle of a forest," Montana said cockily, patting the head of the dog, "you never know who or what can climb in and steal something."
Mabel gasped, "It was the dog that we heard!" she realized, recalling back to the Funeral home.
"Give it back!" Dipper exclaimed angrily, pointing to his belongings.
"I don't care about the bag, kid," Montana admitted, as he reached inside once he had taken it from his dog, and pulled out a simple folder.
Dipper blinked. "Wait... the will?" Dipper asked.
"Bingo," The Treasure Hunter nodded and tossed the backpack to the cage, where Dipper clutched it and pulled it inside, "the will of the mystery shack. I want that land."
"Oh great, another Gideon," Grunkle Stan slapped a hand onto his grey hair, "well you're getting the same answer that he did: heck no! Go find yourself another cheap-o tourist attraction!"
"It's not under your legal ability to decide that, old man," Montana told Grunkle Stan with force behind his words, "it's theirs," he said, nodding to the twins.
"What!?" Stan shouted, clutching the bars, and then looking at his grand niece and nephew, "what happened while I was asleep?"
Montana Jeffreys snorted. "Wasn't just asleep," Montana explained, going to sit on a rickety old wooden chair, "I hit you with a strong tranquilizer. Strong enough, I think, to put you into a serious coma."
Grunkle Stan nodded. "Oh... that explains why my mouth was so dry... and why I woke up in the funeral home," he said. The twins both turned and stared at him with narrowed, judgmental eyes. Stan recoiled slightly. "What?" he demanded from his relatives," I just thought that was a vivid dream!"
Montana Jeffreys kicked his feet up onto another chair. He said, "But since the official records state that you died, your authority to decide the ownership of the mystery shack no longer belongs to you. But to these two have the ability," he pointed a finger at the twins, "and they're going to sign off their names, and I'll put my name at the end."
Dipper turned upon the aging explorer. "Dude, why do you care about the shack anyway?" Dipper demanded with confusion," it's just a tourist trap!" At these words, Montana gave the three a long, haunted look; his eyes distant and cold. He stood from his chair with a dramatic step away.
"Oh cool," Mabel said excitedly to the three, "he's going to monologue! I love it when people do that!"
"Ugh, great," Grunkle Stan groaned, "tell me anything important comes up, will ya? I'm just going to do more important things with my life," he said, and sat down, and began to pick his nose.
"I used to be a great adventurer," Montana began, "people looked up to me. I was the image of manly actions and journeys: scourging tombs yet uncovered, fighting cursed creatures, evening getting a dame here or there. But... people cared less and less for tomb raiding and catacomb exploring."
Quietly, Dipper said aside to his sister, "I feel like I've heard of Tomb Raiding before, somewhere".
"All these movies about mystery and horror," Montana continued, "about romance and love- people don't need someone like me anymore," Montana Jefferys said sadly, "I'm just a washed up old grave digger by society standards now," he said as both the dogs came walking up to him, nudging him with their noses, "all I really have left are my dogs."
The sadness in his eyes burned away with the fires of determination. "But this," Montana explained, waving a hand around the mines, "this town could be the big bounce back in my career," he then continued with fever," My research here has shown me that this entire town and woodland is crawling with strangeness! Missing persons, paranormal sightings, mysticism and all manner of cryptids roam the night. All I have to do is get a foothold in, one that no one would think twice about, like that shack, and I'll have a source to capture as much of these things and sell them. I'd finally live in retirement like I dreamed I could, happy and safe."
Dipper sighed. "Not to burst your bubble, but capturing these things isn't a walk in the park," Dipper told him," just try getting a Gremloblin into a cage. It's nasty business."
"I'll take my chances," the gruff man said to Dipper, standing up, and reaching for a pen and a will," so... let's make a deal. You sign your name off and hand over all the land to me, and I let you all walk home without a scratch. How's that sound?"
Dipper stared at the pen. The peace offer, if he could call it that, was contentious at best. He quickly looked to Stan. The Great-Uncle had some sort of confliction within his mind; most likely balancing the wants to keep his long-standing business operations with keeping him and his family safe. Dipper reached forward, finger tips wrapping around the black ink pen. It felt heavier than he expected. Before he did anything, he looked to his sister.
Her face went from the pen to Dipper. There was that uncertainty in her eyes, that same balancing act. Suddenly, her gaze hardened, and he felt what she was going to do before he saw it. She reached for the pen and tossed it perfectly into the man's eyes.
"Ow! Damn it!" The treasure hunter exclaimed.
Mabel huffed up, trying to bulk in size. "You want to try forcing us to give up our home, huh!?" Mabel shouted at the mildly harmed man, "well you can forget about any deal, regardless how handsome you are, or nicely toned out your muscles are! You're just being a big thief!"
The dogs looked up to their angered master. He breathed heavily and his eyes narrowed in anger as he glared at the three of them. His foot then came smashing down on the pen on the ground, and he tossed the papers at the table.
"Let's see who goes through this better," he said, grasping his own personal lantern. He sneered as he asked them, "You think you can stay in here for long without food or drink? I guess we'll have to find out," he warned them as he turned away. Without another word, he started up the spiral that faced them, and he vanished in no time. The dogs remained, watching him go with a sad look in their eyes.
Dipper sourly watched the man vanish. "Great... now what?" Dipper said as he turned to the other two, "anyone have an idea?"
Grunkle Stan was quick to have input. "I would have suggested that we drag him by the neck here and hold him hostage until the dogs released us, but I think we settled for throwing a pen in his face," Grunkle Stan said with a huff. Mabel looked to the dogs with a suspicious eye, and slowly pulled out remains of the sugar string.
"Mabel?" Dipper asked quietly as she tried pulling her arms around the bars and tried sticking the string into the lock.
Mabel shushed at her brother. She turned to the lock again, and squinted, saying, "Maybe it will-"
"Don't even try that," one of the dogs suddenly spoke aloud. It was the voice of a human woman, or at least they would have that had they not seen the dog's mouth open and close with each syllable. Mabel dropped her string in shock and the three instantly pushed themselves closer to the dog that spoke.
"Diana," the other dog said in a warning voice, a slightly higher pitched voice than her companion.
"You two... can understand us?" Grunkle Stan gasped.
"I think you mean you three can understand us," the dog named Diana commented.
Dipper laughed, "Hah, you know that's kinda true, you know? Dogs are usually the one who understand..." he explained, noticing the blank faces his sister and grunkle were giving him. "I'm the only one who think that's funny? Okay," he shrugged and turned back to the dogs.
"You two can speak english perfectly," Mabel stared at them with huge sparkling eyes, "tell me what is your secret, and I will begin teaching all dogs- a new order of canine and mankind can begin!" she attempted to bargain with enthusiasm.
"Trust me," the other dog stepped forward, her eyes narrow with mistrust, "Montey has tried teaching other dogs. We're just freaks, that's all."
Stan blurted out a harsh laugh. "You call him Montey?" Grunkle Stan chuckled at the dogs, who glared at him.
"Wait... so if you can speak, then you can help us?" Dipper tried reasoning with the two. The closest huffed in his face and turned around and walked away.
"Why should we? You'd only just go and report him to authorities. And then what? We go running for our lives forever?" The closest dog snapped at them.
"Nadia," the dog named Diana spoke quietly, catching the other by shock, "maybe we should help them."
"Are you crazy!?" the dog named Nadia barked.
Grunkle stan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Wait, you... want to help us?" Grunkle Stan asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"No," Diana said strongly, casting a scathing look at Stan, "I want to help our master," she said to her companion dog.
"How would letting us go help him?" Dipper asked.
"He wasn't always this desperate," Diana said sadly, "once he explored these crazy places because it was fun. On one of those explorations he discovered us. We became family so quickly, it feels like yesterday."
"It could be, for all we know," Grunkle Stan intervened, "you know, how dog years work."
"But all he wants is money now. Because he thinks it will make us all feel better. But It never will," Diana strongly proclaimed, "money is just a curse. We can be happy just being us, in a small home together, watching television or eating bad food or making fun of the other dogs who can't speak to us," the dog said, and seemed to smile wistfully. The caged trio looked amongst one another before Diana the dog continued, "I just miss my family, my sister and I," Diana looked to the other dog, who finally let her guard down and whined sadly.
Dipper had listened to the dogs carefully. In the moment they paused, Dipper felt is heart suddenly heavy. Empathy was often a curse, and he felt compelled to share a look with Mable. She had, already, turned to look at him. Something about these dogs and the breakdown of an old relationship – it was too close to home. Realizing his own faults in life, Dipper turned back to the dogs. "Hey," Dipper called to the two," I... I can't promise you that letting us go will help him see the error of his ways, but you have to make the choice to try changing all of this!"
"What?" The dogs cried in unison.
"Yeah," Mabel called from behind the bars, "you're part of this family, you two and Montey? If you never stand up for how you feel, he may never know he's hurting you!"
"Yeah, listen to these two, they're good at feelings and stuff," Grunkle Stan leaned into the bars as well, trying to milk the scene for its worth.
Mabel gave them a glowing warm smile. "You need to make a choice for yourself, not just let your future be determined by someone because you love them," Mabel told them kindly.
"Please, help us," Dipper asked them. The dogs stared at the three. The dog Nadia, with a clear and heavy sigh, walked over to the desk, bit the key and spat it down at their feet.
"You will have a few minutes to run. But once he spots you leaving, he'll sick us on you. We're giving you a head start, but once he says go," Diana told them as Nadina turned away from the three as Dipper reached and grabbed the key, "we're going to come for you."
"Thanks for the warning!" Mabel thanked them with a huge smile. Dipper reached around and slid the key inside, and unlocked the door.
"Before we go," Dipper said as he grasped his book bag and slammed the folder into the backpack, "he's not getting away with these."
"Good thinking," Grunkle Stan commended the two, "now lets run like we still have a life to live!" The three then took off, taking the opposite path, and began to climb the spiraling tracks upwards.
"Grunkle Stan, I just want to let you know," Dipper said between breaths, "how happy I am to see you still kicking!"
"Yeah! I knew you were still here!" Mabel added with a great wide smile.
"Great, glad you two miss me," Grunkle Stan told them and dared a smile, "but we need to put our effort to running here, not yapping away about feelings!"
A furious shout called from across the gaping hole. They, still running, spotted from afar a stunned Montana Jeffreys. The man had just whipped out his revolver. He tried aiming at them, but the amount of hanging wires and chains made it harder for him to get a clean shot, and after an exasperated groan, he roared.
"Sic 'em girls!" he shouted as he took a charge back into the tunnel, and ran out into the open, leaping off the side of the cliff, grabbing one of the ropes. One by one he swung closer and closer until he took his first shot – BANG!
"Sweet Moses!" Grunkle Stan shouted as the bullet missed them by mere feet. "Run for it!"
"We're almost at the top!" Mabel shouted to the other two. Down below, the dogs began to bark. Their charge against the earth grew louder and brought them closer. The Pines family members finally made it to the top, and launched themselves at the first tunnel they found.
"You have any idea where we're running to!?" Dipper asked Mabel, who was barely ahead of him.
"No idea!" she beamed as she continued ahead.
The sound of a heavy landing behind them caught their attention. A sharp whistled followed, and the pattering footsteps were catching up. The sounds of two dogs began to echo behind the three, harrying their footsteps.
"At this rate we're ending up as actual dog-meat!" Grunkle Stan worried between breaths.
Mabel shouted, "We need to do something then!" as they finally spotted, hundreds of yards behind them the two dogs and their furious master.
Dipper spied above them. Every so often, they passed under a support beam. It in turn was also supported by other beams. The wood in use was old and worn, some rotten, some breaking already. The idea popped into his head, a risky, life-threatening, crazy idea. Yet he smiled so wide you could have thought he was mad. He was more excited and exhilarated than he had been in years.
"Grab a tool or something!" Dipper shouted as he spotted several abandoned pickaxes and shovels.
"I am not bringing a shovel to a gunfight!" Grunkle Stan commented as Dipper grabbed a sturdy looking pickax and ran forward. Mabel followed suit, and Grunkle Stan did too, "I guess something is better than nothing!"
"Hit them!" Dipper shouted as he spun in his step, and smashed the pickax as hard as he could against a particularly worn support beam. It buckled and shook, splintering where he struck it.
"What? Are you crazy!?" Grunkle Stan shouted. After watching Mabel follow suit, he grinned wickedly, "but dang it, crazy enough that it's got to work!" He too smashed his chosen shovel into the column. His strength easily outweighed the other two, and the three began to break one support beam after another, each targeted by Dipper.
"One more aught to do it, then drop them and just run for it!" Dipper said as he picked the last column and hit it. No sooner had he smashed the column than the ceiling above began to tremble and quake. Mabel's strike caused further shaking, but Stans roaring smash delivered the killing blow.
The entire mine shaft began to cave in, piece by piece. Dipper ran ahead, spotting the light at the end of the tunnel, as he saw the wilderness ahead. He looked back, and was astounded to see the dogs and their master in hot pursuit despite the falling ceiling.
It was getting worse- large chucks of earth were falling around them and it became harder and harder to avoid the falling rocks and boulders that they needed to miss. They were close, so very close to fresh air. They were mere feet away-
"Gotcha!" Montana Jeffreys shouted as he dive-tackled the three, and the four came rolling out of the exit. Dipper fell quickly, landing on his face. Mabel fell against the side of a tree trunk, cracking her head hard enough for her to see triples of everything. Only Stan stood up quickly, but Montana stood faster, and a gun pointed right for Stan. Dust billowed out past them, giving Stan a choice to charge. Montana shot at the gruff elder's feet, keeping him still.
"No one... is going... anywhere," Montana told them dangerously between his hacking coughs, a mixture of the sprinting and the heavy dust in the air, "not until I-"
A pained whimper came from behind Montana, and he instantly spun around as the dust dissipated. Montana Jeffreys gasped, "No!" and his gun fell from his hand. One of the dogs had her leg partially trapped under a large rock. "Diana!" He yelled, as he abandoned the trio and went to save his dog.
"We have to get her out!" Nadia said to Montana in a desperate panic. Stan chuckled behind them, and he steadily walked over, and retrieved the revolver.
"Well, that solves a lot of problems in life now," Stan cockily noted, checking the gun. The old man stared at the gun, and then focused on the dog and adventurer. Montana had entirely devoted his efforts into lifting a clearly heavy boulder. Even with the weapon in Stan's hand, he was totally ignored.
Dipper groaned, pushing himself up as he scouted the scene. "Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked as he got up, brushing off dirt from his scraped chin.
Standing up herself with a small wibble, Mabel spied the scene of the trapped dog. "What should we do?" Mabel asked quietly, rubbing the back of her head with each stroke causing her to wince.
Grunkle Stan snorted. "What should we do? Well, I'll tell ya, karma says we should leave these suckers here to their own fate, because they would have been willing to do the same!" Grunkle Stan yelled loudly, hoping to catch the attention of the treasure hunter. Yet all that came to him in reply was the grunts of Montana desperately trying to lift the bolder and Nadia trying to push with her head as best she could. Dipper and Mabel both looked the Stan, who rolled his eyes. Grunkle Stan tossed the gun aside, and rolled up his sleeves, and walked forward.
"Skooch over, tough guy," Grunkle Stan ordered Montana, who nearly let go of the boulder in shock to see the old man still present. The old man, his big muscular arms found grips to the boulder and he too began to groan as the two tried lifting the rock. Mabel and Dipper also approached, and after a moment of struggle, the five lifted the rock off the leg of Diana, and they threw it aside.
"Diana!" Nadia rushed forward, desperately licking her face.
"Sis, stop it," Diana said in a strained voice, "you know that wont help-"
"I was so afraid," Nadia began to whine, nudging the head of her sister dog, "I didn't want to loose you."
The pines took their steps back, and sat down simultaneously and sighed simultaneously. Grunkle stan wiped his forehead. "Well, summer always starts off weird, but this sure took the cake," Grunkle Stan told the other two, who looked to him. After a moment, he finally smiled, and embraced them tightly, "and gosh-darn it, you make an old man happy, just being here! You two must have doubled in size since I last saw you!"
"Grunkle Stan, I need to know," Dipper looked to his Great Uncle, "how did you get out of the funeral home?"
"I walked out," Grunkle Stan told him easily.
"That's it?" Dipper replied, deflating in disappointment.
Grunkle stan shrugged. "As soon as I realized I got a free suit from anyone, I wasn't going to stick around to hear out the details. It was this chump and his dogs who were waiting for me," Grunkle Stan rolled his eyes, "otherwise I wouldn't have ruined this perfectly cheap-as dirt suit!"
The three laughed at continued to embrace. It was the loud steps of a boot-worn foot that caught their attention, and they broke apart. Montana had walked over to his gun, and lifted it up, checking up for dust.
"So, tough guy," Grunkle Stan said as he and the twins stood up," what's it going to be?"
Montana Jeffrey eyed the three from the side. He turned to his gun, and then to his two dogs, still lying down next to one another. He then chuckled, and with a turn of events that made Mabel smile as wide as she could, Montana opened the cylinder of his revolver and dropped out the remaining four loaded bullets. He then tossed the empty gun to their feet.
"I don't need it anymore," Montana Jeffreys told them with the smallest smile, the sun setting behind him as he stood before the steep incline of a mountain face, "I retire."
"A wise choice, sir," Dipper said, stepping forward to lift the gun up. It was snatched quickly by Grunkle Stan, and Dipper whined "Hey!"
"Not for you," Stan told his great nephew with a critical stare, pocketing the gun into his vest, while adding, "not at least for a week or two."
Montana turned to his dogs, and with a quick swoop, lifted Diana from the ground into the air. Mabel asked, "What will you do now, oh great devilish rogue?" as he and Nadia walked down the hill.
"I don't really know," Montana stopped as he pondered, "but I don't care anymore. Anything that keeps us out of danger for now sounds good. Maybe I'll start doing lectures," he mused aloud.
Grunkle Stan shrugged. "I could call the cops, if you really don't care that much."
Montana Jeffreys stared at him with a cocked eyebrow. "I've seen your record. You want to willingly bring them here?"
"Touché," Grunkle Stan pointed at him.
Dipper grinned while shaking his head. It was, as he could tell, the best outcome for this mystery. Only then he realized something odd. He patted his pocket and reached inside. There he found the blue glowing object, and stepped forward. "We, uh, have you ever seen something like this before?" Dipper asked, holding it ahead for the man to inspect. The grizzled adventurer's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
"Diana, I need to put you down for a second," Montana told his dog. Once she was safely on the ground, he reached inside a satchel he carried, and pulled out an identical one.
"There's more than one!?" Dipper gasped.
"More glowing..." Mabel awed as she watched them both.
"Found it a few months ago, back when I was scouting the town. Don't have even a clue on what it is or where it came from... but I see you two are kind of good at uncovering secrets," he flicked the small transparent blue battery at Dipper, "so keep it. Maybe you'll get to the bottom of things. Good luck."
With that, he lifted up his injured dog, and Montana Jeffreys, a last bastion of old time adventure glory, then continued down the mountain, vanishing into the thick vegetation. The three watched him vanished, a slight smile on their face and the light of the sun cascaded down their faces from the dying afternoon.
Grunle Stan cleared his throat, looking to the twins. "So... who was he exactly? Some sort of actor or something?" Grunkle Stan asked.
Mabel chimed in, "I thought he looked like a pilot! Or a president! A pilot president!"
The walk back to town wasn't horribly long, but it took even longer to get back to the mystery shack than anticipated. By the time they had returned to the library, Dipper's car had already begun to be towed- much in violation with the twenty minute parking limit the sign stated next to the now bent stop sign. Between Mabel's overly cheerful demeaner and Grunkle Stan's grand conning, they were somehow able to get the car freed from the truck without a fine, and Grunkle Stan somehow pocketed twenty-five bucks. "Heh heh, sucker," the old con man smirked.
Finally, as the day crested to night, they arrived at the clearing in the woods where the Mystery Shack awaited.
From the front steps, a loud outcry announced the three's return. "Mister Pines!" Soos shouted as he spotted his employer stepping out from Dipper's car, "You're alive!"
"Don't try fooling me with that old 'I'm so happy my boss is alive' thing Soos," Grunkle Stan told the running handy man, "because it won't have any- Oh god!" Soos had grabbed the elderly man and lifted him high into a bear-like, bone crushing hug. "A raise! You get a raise! Put me down, Soos!"
"Don't let him escape Soos!" Mabel called as she stepped down from her bike.
Tearfully, Soos placed him down and said, "I am soo happy you're still alive! Does that mean I still have a job!?"
"Yes, Soos, you do," Grunkle Stan nodded and sighed, stretching his back and rubbing it to attempt easing the pain, "that set me back several chiropractic sessions," he mumbled grumpily.
Stepping out from the building, the second and only other employee of the Mystery Manor called out, "Welcome back, boss-o," Wendy waved from the door, grinning wildly, "glad to see I didn't have to go looking for another summer gig."
"Ha, like anyone else would hire your lazy butt," Stan mocked her, yet put a welcoming arm on her shoulder as he stepped inside. "Oh man, did I miss the smell of naivety and a good business opportunity."
"You never change," Mabel gave her Grunkle a quick punch on the arm, and he chuckled with her.
"You know," Grunkle Stan said with scheming intent, turning to the twins, "now that everyone thinks I'm a ghost running around town, this place is probably going to become even more busy with people coming to check on my after-life status. I probably could use an extra hand, or maybe two. How about it you two?" Grunkle Stan pulled the two together, looking between them, "want to stick around your boring old Grunkle Stan one more summer? For family, and old time's sake?"
Mabel's face exploded with light. Her eyes grew huge and her grin couldn't possibly grow wider. She looked to her brother, who also was totally into the idea. However as soon as the light had hit the two of their faces, Dippers began to fade, staring at his sister. He looked down, and stepped away from the hug.
"Sorry, Grunkle Stan," Dipper said, rubbing the back of his neck, "you know, I just... wanted to come up here and make sure that everything up here was... okay, I guess. You're alive, and that's great! But I have a summer job lined up that I shouldn't skip out on, you know?"
"Aw shucks," Grunkle Stan groaned, "so much for letting you guys into my new business plan then. Well, if you two need to be getting back, you should be leaving soon. Otherwise you'll get home past midnight. I don't think they allow teens on the street past twelve... or was it one in the morning? I don't know."
"Thanks Grunkle Stan," Dipper said with a sad smile, and he turned for the stairs.
Mabel stayed stalled as the others approached the building, her big eyes darting between the others. "Uh..." she managed to gargle out, uncertain on who to approach with her feelings. They all had already gone. She turned back towards the stairs and went back up them, each step groaning and creaking loudly. Once she found the attic room door, she pushed it slightly further open, spotting her brother. Dipper was quickly packed already, and was moving for the door.
He stopped fully once they faced, and he stared at her. "Hey," he managed with false glee. When she only stared back, he rubbed his shoulder, and then managed to say, "We should be going soon, like Grunkle Stan said," Dipper told her. He squeezed past her, avoiding eye contact, and she was left atop the stairs, staring at her own things, and the now blank side of the room that she had for a day shared with her brother. The mere thought of the twenty-four hours that had just passed were unbelievable.
A minute later, she exited the door with her own packed things, hastily crammed into her backpack. Dipper had only just finished stuffing his suitcases inside the car trunk. He gave her a quick look. Sadness crept into her gaze, which he then turned away from. She approached her bike. No longer did the pink and chrome impress her. It was all a reminder of her going home… alone.
Dipper, across the other side of his car, stepped from the driver seat and leaned on the hood. "You know," he said, daring to break the silence between them, "we could hang out this summer now. Especially since we have these," he said, timidly patting the metal before him.
Mabel half-turned to him, "Yeah," she said with a lone nod.
His attempted grin faded. "I... yeah," Dipper started a thought, but was unable to complete it, looking at his sister. Those defeated eyes mirrored his own. He needed to repair this pain he felt, to make her feel better. "You were right all along," Dipper told her finally, "and I can't even begin to think how stupid I really feel for not believing you."
"Oh, well, you know how those crazy feelings are," Mabel told her twin, mustering her best, though still frail, smile, "and those woman's intuitions, you know."
"Yeah, proved me wrong," Dipper admitted with a chuckle, "serves me right for doubting you-"
"Well you two," Grunkle Stan approached them as they stared at one another, "you knuckleheads better be ready for that long drive. Also, since I'm not technically dead, you're going to have to wait longer than two years to get my home from you, you two hear?!" he said strongly, and the two rolled their eyes and walked to their vehicles.
"See you guys," Dipper waved to Soos and Wendy who were waving back, disappointed at their departure. Dipper's car first made its exit, followed by Mabel. She gave them all one last look before turning and leaving.
As the bike blazed down the path, Soos let out a long, heavy sigh. "Man, was I looking forward to them hanging around," Soos admitted as he looked down, and sat on the porch.
"Yeah, dude," Wendy agreed, leaning against the side of the door, "this summer could have been awesome if they decided to stay here."
Facing the forested path towards the main road, Stan scoffed. "They're older now," he told them, then turning to approach his employees, "old enough to make choices on their own and live up to those choices. Sometimes, they may make a choice they wont end up liking in the long run."
Soos took off his hat and nervously played with the edges. Wendy looked uncomfortable, glancing into the woods for a moment. Then, she looked back to Stan, a sad smile on her face. "You're going to miss them aren't you?" Wendy asked him.
He stared back at the drive way. "I wouldn't be so sure on missing them yet," he said.
Dipper drove his car down the empty highway past Gravity Falls. It would be another seven hours and twenty some minutes before he got home, and he desperately searched for a way to get comfortable.
A horrible tugging feeling pulled as his mind. Like a part of his brain was elastic, he felt like he was constantly looking back in the mirror. It didn't help that Mabel was still behind him, looking sullen and unhappy.
"I can't just shrug off this job," Dipper told himself, alone in his car. "College isn't cheap. I know mom and dad don't have that kind of money any more, so I need to save up!" he said as he felt frustration and anger at himself build up. That logical justification did little to abate the terrible bleeding feeling inside his chest. With anger mixing within his already fragile feelings, Dipper lashed out - striking the wheel as he drove. Taking a long, deep breath, he then sighed and stared ahead.
"Just... keep driving, and you'll get home," he told himself, as he turned on the radio. The first station that popped on was country, and the sad song immediately started singing about separation. Dipper groaned loudly and nearly head butted the wheel.
A knock on his driver seat window startled him. He turned and found Mabel reaching over from her bike, waving at him with a grin. She reached back to her face, and struggled to pull off her sunglasses and look him in the eyes.
'Bye. I love you,' she mouthed to him.
His heart sank deeper than it had anytime in his first year of highschool. She placed her sunglasses back on, and sped ahead, swerving slightly as she adjusted herself to be in the fast lane. Dipper watched her go, his chest tightening and yet entirely hollow at the same time.
Something inside his mind snapped. "Damn!" he screamed and he slammed his foot onto the break. His car screeched to a halt and slid slightly. He came to a halt so fast that his backpack came flying from his backseat and nearly hit him, instead catching his cap from his head and throwing it to the floor.
He looked ahead after taking a few slow inhales and exhales. Mabel had also stopped, turned to watch her brother. They were a good two hundred feet apart, but Dipper could tell exactly what she was thinking. She was worried. She stared and made sure her brother was okay.
He noticed a humming from his backpack, and reached inside. The glowing cylinder resonated that same faint white light. He played with it for a moment, and the thought came to mind. It made him wonder what it really was. That wonder… it was wonder that he had been missing for three years. All the growing up, the uncomfortable reality of life outside gravity falls, the normalcy and mundanity awaited him. But here… he could wonder! Here he could be with Mabel a bit longer.
He laughed, and wiped at the side of his eye, where a small tear tickled his cheek. "What the heck are you doing?" Dipper asked himself. He looked from the unknown object to his distant sister.
The radio sang solemnly, "When I come home, you've all gone, and there ain't no bed I can find-"
"Ugh, hate it," Dipper said firmly, and spun the knob. Fortune favored the bold, and Dipper found an upbeat remix song about, to his surprise, revealing secrets. He cried out, "Much better!" With a strong grip, he put his car in reverse, and he turned it around, ready to face the place he was just leaving. He rolled down the windows, and called out, "Hey, you feel like solving a mystery or two?"
Mabel's entire being lifted up like gravity had ceased. "Yes!" Mabel slammed the ignition of her bike, and raced to catch up with her brother. Before he knew it, she flew past him, all the while shouting at the top of her lungs," Last one there has to kiss the gnomes!"
Dipper grinned and his competitive nature slid into place. "Not on my watch, sis!" He shifted the gears, and slammed the pedal down, roaring ahead. The two raced each other through the entire town, laughing as they soared over pavement, concrete and finally gravel. There, still standing outside by the door in the late orange glow of the sun, was Stan.
"I was wondering how long you two were going to take to realize," Stan called as they jumped out and off their vehicles, "that you wanted to be here. Could see it etched into your faces." Dipper and Mabel ran to one another first for their first real hug in a very long time. After a moment, they turned to Stan, who was grinning at the two of them.
"So, I guess we're staying," Dipper said, trying to contain his smile, "do you still need any help with the place?"
"Oh, your summer work not good enough huh?" Grunkle Stan joked with a nudge on Dippers shoulder, "don't worry you two. I have a huge plan to turn this building into something else. A renovation a year in the making!"
Following behind, Mabel stated, "I noticed you had new rooms and stuff. What gives, Grunklereeno?" Mabel asked.
He turned to them, wringing his hands together eagerly. "I'm going to turn this run-down old shack into something real classy! A place that tourists can no longer even THINK to call a trap. It'd be a real destination!" Stan proclaimed as the S letter from 'Shack' fell off and crashed into the ground behind them. "Ignore that bit," he reminded the two of them.
"Classy isn't the first word that comes to mind, you know," Dipper admitted as they looked at the worn wooden building," Especially when I think of the word 'shack'."
"Ha! My thoughts exactly!" Stan pointed at the two of them, and reached down for a sign that had been face down the entire time. "Well, say farewell to this shack, and hello to," he held it up, and slammed it down into the earth, where it stuck, and read-
The Mystery Manor
Coming Soon!
Bring your whole family!
"Heh, I like that last bit. If they bring their kids," Stan grinned as he chuckled, "the little grubs will bleed them dry of cash for all the merchandise I can provide! Or wreck my gift shop. And shatter windows. And break plumbing… Huh… I may need to think this one through."
Somewhere, not too far from Gravity Falls, a darkly lit room hummed with electrical paneling and video screens. This room was without its main lights activated, but a single silhouetted figure stat, staring at a collection of electronic views, one of which replayed a certain event - Montana Jeffreys passing off the blue object to Dipper Pines. The figure, sitting in front of many other replaying camera angles, leant forward to a microphone like object and spoke.
"Sir?" the voice called from the darkness was young sounding, fresh and alive.
"Yes?" a deeper voice, gruff and commanding, replied.
"I've been monitoring the children who have located the charge. They now have uncovered two," the subordinate explained.
"Do they show any signs of discovering our location?" the deeper voice replied.
"No sir. They were preparing to leave the town, but have only just turned around, according to our trackers," the younger sounding figure stated as he activated a new screen, which showed a black and blue screen of a map of Gravity Falls, where two blue beeping spheres resonated by a single building in the woods.
"Then we continue operations according to schedule," the authority declared.
The monitor exclaimed, "But we were nearly caught earlier today! If we were spotted, that could compromise our entire mission! We need to consider the models all running low on energy for now on. And the charges in close proximity could bond in uniform-band width, which is extremely dangerous to-"
"Uki-Dohth!" the voice called back, having the person flinch.
The monitor collected themselves. "Yes, sir?"
"We are working on borrowed time as it is. At this point, we need to consider breaking our greatest laws if our procedures are to work. You of all people know the importance of success here, don't you?" the voice called back.
The smaller, younger sounding figure nodded. "...Yes, sir, I do," he said, looking at the many views of Gravity Falls.
"Good. Continue with monitoring them all, and announce the next time an energy capsule is about to expire- we may not have such a speedy reaction time," the authoritative voice commanded, and then ended with a click. The room fell back into the buzz of energy, near silent save for the figure in the dark. The monitor stood, and slowly reached forward and touched his hand against the map.
"I'm so sorry, all of you."
And there you have it! Part two of 'episode one', done and done! Ugh... it's late. Editing and me aren't buddies. But enough whining!
So folks, what didja think? You all like it? Want to see more? Hate it beyond words and seek to see me boil in my own blood in a terrible death that would last hours and hours of anguish? Well, I'd love to hear from you! Well, maybe not the evil thoughts, unless they are constructive. :)
But in all seriousness here guys, please review! I love, love, LOVE hearing from you all. If you have a concern or thought, tell me! Want to check in to see what I have planned? Ask away! I won't give you spoilers, but I can probably let you know if this kind of story is the sort you will want to keep looking into.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next Episode- two chapters, keep with me here, folks is going to be called "Familiarity". Take that for what you will, but it's a wild ride. May or may not see some of that martial arts Mabel was talking about in the prologue. :D
Now, for my dramatic exit! OH-HO! (reaches inside desk drawer, and retrieves a grappling hook gun) EZB, AWAY! (EZB shoots at the ceiling directly above him, and the entire roof collapses in, crushing him and his computer)
...Ouch. See you guys next week... send help... owww...
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20-8-5 19-11-25'19 5-25-5-19 20-21-18-14 20-15-23-1-18-4-19 16-9-14-5-19.