The Mystery Shack had always been a subject of curiosity, praise, and scorn to the town of Gravity Falls. For years, the sole proprietor, Stanley Pines, ran the building as a conman and shyster. He would falsely advertise and claim to provide services and merchandise at discounts, only to then sweep his victims from under his rug of promises and claim their entire wallet. Not that any of the tourists would know this – the man was a brilliant speaker and voraciously charismatic. Those meeting him for the first time were usually stunned or bedazzled by his antics, or his tours through the building. It was luck for the town that he continued his services after the incident three years ago. One way or another, it brought a decent amount of people through.
The Gravity Falls Mystery Manor, as it was soon to become, would be even more a benefit for the small, sleepy town. Stanford Pines was increasing his repertoire from a salesman to a twisted motel owner. His reputation remained the same, but his influence grew. Soon, incoming visitors from the roads around the town would make it undeniable to say he made the tourism industry for the backwater land. He was an asset the town cherished, or begrudgingly accepted.
"Don't cheap out on me!" Grunkle Stan shouted at the collection of construction workers who were guiding in a large truck of supplies alongside the building, "I want this looking good enough for any shmoe to wants to stay a night!" A small breeze jostled the Fez he wore atop his head, and with a small grunt he bopped it back to place.
The day had finally come. The company Weytani-Yuland had finally passed judgment on the building, and found it up to code to tack on approximately five motel rooms. Each would easily be fit for a family of five. Just the thought of the money Grunkle Stan could charge for a night made him wring his hands together with excitement. To top if off, the company would have it done in only a few days.
"Oh, this is finally happening," Grunkle Stan grinned as he turned to the overseer behind him, "So, how long s'this going to take?"
The man considered the question. "I'd wager five, six days or so? We'll be out of your hair before you know it," the overseer, a proper looking man in a simple dark suit with a clean shaven face said with ease. "We're proud that there's someone who trusts our company motto- building better bases."
Grunkle Stan shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, company pride and stuff, good for you. Now just do the work I'm paying you for- and don't leave a mess when you're done!" Grunkle Stan turned away, and started for the door to the gift shop. He stepped inside, quickly passing by the ever-vigilant Wendy Corduroy at her post, and Soos, peering out the window to watch the construction crew do their work.
Soos worried aloud, "I hope they do a good job," as he picked at the rim of his shirt.
Grunkle Stan eyed him. "Soos, these aren't the cheepos we're used to dealing with. They're a hard working contract company," Grunkle Stan told him with a roll of his eyes, "so quit staring or they'll think you're stalking them."
Wendy chuckled. "I think Soos may be even more protective of this shop than you are, Mister Pines," Wendy jested with a grin, barely poking her head from behind the days paper.
Soos spun from the window. "Oh! I could never care as much as Mister Pines!" Soos told Wendy with a gasp, "I'm sure his affection for this home of his goes much deeper than my superficial appreciation of this... home away from home..." Soos turned back to the window, glaring at the men, "they better not hurt her foundations."
"And that just got a little weird," Stan mentioned to Wendy, who shrugged. "You seen either of my grand-kids?" he asked aloud, "I don't need either of them trying to ask those workers around if they know what that blue glowy thing is."
"I think Dipper is still upstairs," Wendy answered as she turned a page, "Mabel was just here. I think she's spying on the guys like Soos, but for different reasons."
Stan asked, "Huh? Want to not make that cryptic?"
On cue, Mabel walked through the door behind Stan, a sullen face and crestfallen look in her eyes. "No luck," she sighed as she pulled over a small crate to Wendy's post to sit upon, "the cutest one of them was only a three at best."
Stan rounded on her. "Really? Construction workers?" he asked, eyeing her with disapproval, "at least the last summer you were here you kept it to your age group."
"One of them could have been eighteen!" Mabel declared, "and a hottie. With bubbly blue eyes and great skin and muscles and-"
"I don't need to hear any of this, none at all," Grunkle Stan turned, frowning hard. The grand-uncle had no inclination to know or understand the deeper romantic life of the young teenager.
Mabel playfully chuckled. "Sorry, you kind of let me in on the whole birds and the bees, so I guess I feel-" Mabel started.
Grunkle Stan's eyes shot wide as he whipped around and stared at her. "E-excuse me, that's news to me!" Grunkle Stan barked, holding a hand to his chest, "Am I going senile? When did that happen!? Why did that happen!?"
"Oh... uh..." Mabel looked past Grunkle Stan as she pondered the 'correct' answer. Truthfully, she had been in Dipper's body when Grunkle Stan had pulled what he thought was Dipper aside to tell him about the birds and the bees. Mabel had endured one of the most traumatizing moments of her life due to that body-switching day. She had forgotten she or Dipper never fully explained the event to him. She quickly decided to go with a quick and simple solution, lying. She said, "You hit your head and forgot! With a big 'ol whump!"
Stanley looked around bashfully. "Huh. That could have been awkward... man, what was I even thinking," Grunkle Stan rubbed the back of his head, the tiniest red flourish in his cheeks, "telling you anything from the man's side of the story."
"Eh, translation wasn't crazy hard in ninth grade," Mabel assured him easily, "better than my acne breakout in eighth. Ugh."
"Well, don't come crying to me with life-shattering revelations later," Stan waved a lazy hand above his shoulder as he calmed down, "speaking of revelations and crying, where is your brother?"
Mabel snickered, "Hah, crying," as she grinned at her Grunkle, "Upstairs. I think he's doing that moody 'research thing' again," she said wth air-quotes.
Wendy peered out past the newspaper. "With the blue thing?" Wendy asked. Mabel shrugged. Wendy added, "he must be going crazy at this point. I mean, he wanted to figure this out soon, didn't he?"
"You know my bro-bro," Mabel told them both, "won't stop, or shower, until he figures out what's up."
Stan started to walk out of the gift shop. "Hey, that reminds me- when are you two leaving again?" Stan said, turning for the kitchens, where a calendar hung on the wall in the hallway.
"Huh?" Mabel leant forward, looking at the older man. She hadn't quite understood his question. She frowned at him as he turned to her expectantly. "Oh, oh yeah. Uh, I don't know," she admitted.
"How long were you going to stay?" Grunkle Stan asked again.
Something inside her mind gnashed angrily at the reminder to the topic of departure. "Two weeks," Mabel shrugged, trying to hide her angered inner-voice that protested the idea of leaving so soon.
"Then you have six more days up here," Grunkle Stan wrote on the calendar with a large pen, marking the days they had left.
"What?!" Mabel gasped and stood up, hurrying over to the calendar. Indeed, already eight days had passed since they'd been here. She had less than a week to enjoy a visit with her fine friends and her extended family in the Mystery Manor. Mabel found her throat tighten up. "No way. I hate it when time does that!" Mabel groaned angrily as she placed a hand on the wall as her mind processed the bad news.
From the stairs, Dipper called. "What's up?" her brother's voice fell as his footsteps heralded his descent to the first floor, "What's on the calendar?" he asked Mabel.
"Our time left, Dip!" Mabel turned to him, clutching his shoulders, and pulling him to face the calendar, "We've got less than a week left until we're gone!"
"Yeah, I know," Dipper shrugged under her hands. He turned away and walked into the gift shop. "It's why we need to focus on this stupid little thing and figure it out already!" he exclaimed as he retrived the blue-glowing battery. He continued, staring at with a furious studious-ness, "We're dealing with a mystery of... of..." Dipper angrily, "whatever this is, and I'm still not one clue closer to what it is!"
Wendy, behind her newspaper, suggested, "You try electrifying it?"
"Oh, that could be cool," Mabel hummed as she gave the idea thought, "We could throw it into a power transformer down in the town."
Dipper shook his head. "That sounds like a great way to lose it," Dipper stated as he took Mabels former seat next to Wendy, twirling the cylinder in his fingers.
"We've got two! We can afford to loose one," Mabel declared as she looked to Dipper, and then her eyes lit up, "Here, I'll go get the other one!"
"I've got them both!" Dipper called as Mabel started to run.
She had a screeching halt and tripped on the end of a rug, collapsing to the floor. Dipper and Wendy both leaned past the counter to see if she was fine, and were presented with a loud chuckle. "That was fun," Mabel giggled as she laid flat on her back.
From the side of the room, Soos quietly muttered, "Don't dig too far down, you guys,"
Dipper was taken off guard, and whipped to his friend. "Oh, hey, Soos," Dipper asked loudly, trying to pry the man-child's attention away from eyeing the working men outside, "you wouldn't happen to have a pair of rubber gloves and a spare car battery, would you? Maybe some electrical wires too?" Dipper asked. Soos didn't seem to register Dipper was even there, his eyes intently glaring at the workers. "Soos?" Dipper asked again.
Wendy sighed. "He's gone into 'watch dog' mode since they got here," Wendy explained with a small grin, "won't leave that window. I think he's afraid of their discover of your Grand-Uncle's little secret downstairs."
Dipper's eyes widened at the mentioning of the unmentionable secret – the portal. Three years had passed since the absolute mess of a secret had been revealed: of what was buried underneath the Mystery Shack. Dipper had made it a tightly locked secret between him and his sister that no one would speak about it. It was too ridiculous to believe anyway, so they really just saved themselves a lot of trouble sounding insane. The twins had told no-one of what had happened deep in the earth under the Mystery Shack.
Too many close calls had come from it's reveal, not to mention the fate of the universe itself had nearly come to a catastrophic end. Since then, the machine deep below the Shack hadn't been activated, as promised by Stanley Pines to the twins. True to his word, it remained derelict, unpowered, and left to the shadows. As far as everyone had seemed, it was a part of their pasts they had been happy to leave behind. Yet here was Wendy, grinning at Dipper's shocked face, as she spoke openly about it.
Dipper rubbed the back of his head. "Ha, ha, yeah, uh, maybe we shouldn't talk about, you know, that thing? You know, there are strangers outside?" he reminded Wendy with a quiet awkwardness.
"C'mon man, lighten up," Wendy told him with a nudge of her elbow, "they're busy working now. They only have, like, a week to finish it all, so they won't be messing around and listening into our 'secret conversations'," Wendy made particularly wide eyes and dropped her voice to mysterious dark tones as she spoke.
Dipper laughed, nodding his head in agreement. "Maybe I should ask them if they've heard about this?" Dipper held one of the cylinders up to the light, twisting his hand to examine it's entire body.
"Absolutely not!"
Grunkle Stan appeared behind Mabel, his hands at his hips as he stared at Dipper. Dipper almost dropped the unknown object- the tone his Grunkle had used was much, much more serious than he had anticipated. His hard eyes told Dipper he wouldn't have a second chance to debate with his elder relative.
"Last thing we need is anyone thinking we have anything else going on other than the work. That includes showing people strange glowing things," Grunkle Stan rounded on Mabel as well, who shrugged in response. "You got it?" Grunkle Stan asked Dipper.
Dipper quickly relented. "Fine, no one else will be involved," Dipper sighed in defeat, and Grunkle Stan turned back for the inside of the home. Dipper's instincts agreed with Stan on this one. As much as the chance that someone could hold the answer wetted his appitite for answers, it was a potential danger. Should someone really discover that they had something truly unknown, more questions could be asked about their daily doings. Dipper knew that could lead to attention to certain organizations; dangerous organizations. "Ugh! We're running out of time with this thing," he growled, massaging his forehead.
"Maybe it's just one of those things?" Wendy asked with an apologetic look to Dipper. He rounded on her, and she continued, "look man," she said, backing up from his scathing look, "some things are not solved when you want them to be, right?"
"Not if I have something to say about it," Dipper replied strongly. He stood up. He placed a hand to his chin as he began to pace. As he had done upstairs while looking through the journal, he began to list off what he knew, "it's of untellable origin, no markings, creates light, acts as an occasional two-way communicator, and we found it under Grunkle Stan's casket. Nothing about this seems to add up to anything specific!"
Mabel stepped over to Dipper's pacing. "Maybe that's because you need a break," Mabel suggested, slipping past him to sit next to Wendy, bouncing her feet from the side of the crate.
"We were just talking about how little time we have," Dipper sighed in frustration, "what, six days? If we're supposed to really solve this mystery, we need to focus our time to it! There has to be something we've missed."
"Maybe we need to put them in water," Mabel guessed, and then gasped, "I can totally call Mermando! Maybe he knows! I still remember how to do the underwater summon!" Mabel let out a raspy, gurgling cry that resembled a squirrel having a stroke.
Dipper scowled. "Mable, be serious here. Jumping to conclusions like that has gotten us off our course all week. We ran into the Warlock because we weren't studying fully, and we almost got you cursed because we thought we should just meditate instead of focus on this," Dipper said with a heated glance to his sister.
"What? What's all that supposed to mean?" Mabel stood up from the crate, poking her brother's shoulder with a quirky smirk, "Sounds like you got beef, pardner."
"Well, it's not like I've been really jumping off course here with the investigation, have I?" Dipper rounded on his sister, irritated with her poke.
Mabel rolled her eyes, easily noticing that he was not pleased with her nonchalant attitude. "Dude, relax," Mable patted his shoulder, "It was two delays. Two minor delays. That's all! Nothing really bad came of it, right?"
"We lost five days of time up here because of one of those minor delays," Dipper replied, a tiny hint of mocking in his voice.
"Okay, so a little bit off course, sure," Mable nodded, trying to appease to the disapproval bubbling inside Dipper. "That doesn't mean we still can't figure this out. Here!" Mabel got the brilliant idea the reach and snatch the cylinder from her brother's hand. He didn't get much of a chance to react to her first theft as she quickly swiped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the second. She then pulled them to her face, with a "Beep boop!"
"Hey – Mabel!" Dipper shouted as she turned away, observing them for herself, almost pushing them into her own eyes as she peered closely at them.
"Quiet Dipper- I'm science-ing," Mabel told her brother as she looked into the lights before her, and the smiled, "they're really pretty up close! I kinda wanna take a picture of them."
Dipper scorned his sister with a look. "That's great. Give them back Mabel," Dipper asked as he stepped around and made to snatch them back. Mabel spun away, still staring into them. "Mabel, come on, give them back." he tried again to snatch them away, and she followed suit with a spin. "Mabel, cut that out."
"I'm busing doing investigatory work!" Mabel defended herself with a giggle, now running away from her brother.
"Mabel! Come on!" Dipper shouted, chasing after his sister. She bobbed and weaved between each attempt he made to retrieve the two stolen artifacts. Dipper snarled, "Mabel, give them back now!"
"Nuh-uh! Gotta go through the prime guardian, Mabel the mysterious!" Mabel wove her arms like noose noodles out on either side of her body. Dipper dived for her and she side-stepped him quickly. Again and again Dipper made to snatch them away from his martially adept sister, but she made it a game for herself, a game she was clearly winning.
Though laughing, Wendy spotted a growing darkness in Dipper's burning scowl. She calmed herself and said aloud, "Oh c'mon Mabel. Cut your brother a break, give them back."
"Fiiiine," Mable tossed the two cylinders behind her lazily. Dipper gasped and barely caught them as Mabel turned, "All you had to do was ask, dude."
"I did ask!" Dipper roared, his face going a bright red. Mabel leaned back, all aspects of humor torn away by his outburst.
Soos was awoken from his torpor. "Whoa, is Dipper here?" Soos suddenly turned from the window, and saw the twins facing each other, Dipper breathing heavily. "Oh... uh, hi guys? Did I miss something-" Soos started.
Dipper launched into a verbal strike. "You see what I mean?" Dipper stepped close to his sister, "All I wanted was a chance to really sit down with you and get working on this, and the first thing you do is take them away and run around like an idiot with them! How exactly did that help with our progress!?"
"It was just a little fun, Dip," Mabel tried grinning feebly, only getting half her mouth to follow orders and the grin coming off awkwardly. The anger in his eyes was very real as she faced him.
Dipper jabbed at the Calendar. "Time? Remember? We don't have all that time to mess around!" Dipper barked at her, his temper leading his words.
She tightened mouth rigidly, refusing to frown. "Okay, fine, jeesh Dipper," Mabel said, letting out an exasperated moan. "We'll do the stupid research or whatever, okay?"
That hadn't been what Dipper wanted. His mouth twitched as he stared at her. "Stupid?" he asked her, the volume dropping, but the intense intent remaining, "So this is all stupid to you?"
"Dipper, that's not what I meant!" Mabel retorted with the slightest heat. She had a nice, long patience for her brother. Her limit was reaching the end, and soon her own desire for retaliation was upon her. He was letting every little thing tick him off, and she felt that same negative energy infect her. "Gosh, c'mon bro, take a chill pill."
"Mabel, this is the one thing, the one big thing we have to solve, and you act like there's nothing special about this. You're always treating it like a joke, or junmping at another, less important thing," Dipper shook his head as he called her out on what he thought was her fault, "if you really feel like that, why do you even want these at all?" he held up the two cylinders.
Wendy lifted her feet off the counter, and sat upright. "Hey, you two," Wendy tried interjecting as she and Soos watched the argument escalate from their spectator side. Sadly, the twins both ignored her.
Mabel huffed at her brother. "I don't feel that way! But there are more important things than stupid mysteries!" Mabel yelled back.
"So you do think it's stupid!" Dipper shouted.
"Well gosh, maybe!"
"Maybe I act like this because I'm drowning alone here, and my sister isn't contributing!"
"I – what's that supposed to mean?" Mabel took the tiniest shuffle back, deflating a little at her brother's last words.
"Well, it's not like you really solve any of these yourself, you know? When have you ever, in earnest, solved anything by actually trying?" Dipper admitted, his arms open to either side like he was revealing a surprise to Mabel behind some curtain.
The teenager stood there, staring into her brother's eyes. "Is that really what you think?" she asked him, the smallest sound of pain in her already scratchy voice.
The anger behind Dipper's eyes couldn't have evaporated quicker when he heard her tone and saw her own look. He could have held back on that last scathing criticism, he reasoned. It was too late though. He had cut her feelings deep; made her feel unwanted.
"I just-"
Mabel's eyes flashed, and she screwed her face tightly. "Fine," she growled. Stepping forward, she again snatched the two small cylinders from his hand. She pocketed them in her own sweater, and spun away from him, unafraid to whip him with her long brown hair.
Stunned by everything, Dipper mouthed her name for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "Mabel, where are you going with those?" Dipper asked, a little behind on the flow of time stream.
She was rushing out the door to her bike. "I'm going to solve your stupid mystery by myself," she called behind her as she stomped to her pink motorcycle. "I'll see you later, Dipper," she ended with such a venomous tone that Dipper planted his last foot just on the porch, almost afraid to step near his twin. The wheels of her bike sprayed pebbles and dust back at him as she blasted away, vanishing down the street in a hurry.
Outside and alone, Dipper groaned loudly. Letting himself feel the pain in his throat as he pulled at his hair, he walked over to the nearby wall and swiftly kicked it. Fury drove him to recount what had just happened. He was so annoyed with his sister still, as she constantly minimized his passion project. Then, in retaliation, he had to just stomp onto her heart with full force. His knees bent involuntarily, and his weight landed roughly on the porch below him. He barely noticed the men beginning their work to his far left, some pointing to him and looking down the road where Mabel had just fled to.
"God, I'm an idiot," Dipper groaned, hands holding his face up under his chin. He hadn't been wrong, he supposed. Mabel had been inconsiderate of his wishes to take this mystery seriously, but she had at least apologized for it. Hadn't she? Dipper grumbled in his throat. Maybe she hadn't directly. All he could feel was his shame for not being in more control with his own ambition. He could be better, regardless how others treated him. That surely was the feeling burning in his throat.
A quiet voice gently called out, "Hey dude." Dipper turned and found Soos looking down through the screen door. The large man was carefully monitoring the teenager, his eyebrows bent in concern. He pushed the door open and held it there. "You wanna come in?"
Dipper felt a new twinge of regret as he realized that he and Mabel had bickered before their closest friends. He turned away, leaning into his knees. "Not really," Dipper said, leaning ahead as he gave a heavy sigh.
"Okay, I'll just take a step out too then," Soos decided and stepped outside, sitting next to Dipper. Dipper sulked. Soos scooched closer to him. He asked, "Dude, what was with that between you two? You used to only fight about... huh. What did you two ever fight about?"
Dipper needed to give the question zero thought. "With Mabel, boys. With me, space," Dipper told Soos easily.
"Wow. Not sure how'd you ever lose an argument about space. It's real, you know," Soos told Dipper, "So if she ever tells you otherwise, I got your back. People have even been there!"
"Soos, I meant personal space, not outer-space," Dipper turned to Soos with a disbelieving look.
Soos nodded. "Oh, that makes much more sense," Soos admitted, "well, that didn't sound like it was about boys or space."
"It wasn't," Dipper again sighed, pulling his hat further down.
"Oh. So, why did you two argue?" Soos asked, scratching his head through his own cap.
Dipper felt something deeper than the anger bubble into his mind. A long since pushed-aside realization haunted him about his sister. He started saying, "I don't know. I... I think we're just getting anxious that we've got to leave sorta soon. We just got back up here, and it's like nothing has changed in three years. Nothing, except us," Dipper grumbled.
"Hah, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Soos started listing off things, counting off fingers, "My truck broke down once, the Mystery Shack is turning into a manor, the Gleefuls moved out of town; there's a few things that are different," he assured Dipper.
Unaffected by Soos's mentions, Dipper continued. "I didn't think this stay up here would even take that long," Dipper stated, "I'm supposed to be working this summer to start saving for college and insurance for my car," Dipper nodded to the black car to the side of the building, "And now I'm trying to figure out whatever these-" Dipper instinctively reached for his pocket, and groaned, "whatever those two things Mabel has are supposed to be."
"You don't sound too thrilled to be up here then, dude," Soos told him, a sad frown on his face.
Dipper felt awful and whipped around to face him. "No! No, that's just it, Soos," Dipper explained, "I've had more fun up here in the past week than I have had in the past three or so years! I love being up here with everybody. It's like I'm with people who don't think I'm that freak who writes about monsters and mysteries and doesn't try dating just because I can –"
"Who thinks you're a freak?" a voice asked behind the two. Wendy also appeared behind the door, following her co-worker out the door and onto the porch.
Dipper sighed deeply. Now with the full attention of those who witnessed the argument, he relented his feelings. "When Mabel and I... well, my our parents were going through the divorce," Dipper started, a topic he wasn't entirely fond of to date, "I tried playing it cool. Mabel couldn't; she was always getting mad at them, and then sometimes me. I just wanted to be left out of it."
"What really gets me though," Dipper finally got to his heart-ache, "is that it wasn't the divorce that really got me. I couldn't talk to anyone about what had happened up here. I didn't try with just anyone- I only told my friends, and then they just sort of laughed it off like a joke. I tried writing about it, but they caught me enough times to start thinking I was going crazy or something. When my mom moved away from Piedmont, then I really couldn't talk about it with anyone."
"That's rough, dude," Soos told him.
"I know how you feel," Wendy said, catching the other two's attention. "What?" she snapped, "I'm – I've been down like that before."
Dipper eyed her. "You mean when you were twelve?" Dipper asked. Wendy, to his surprise shook her head with a sad grin. He tried again, "Wait, back when we first visited? What?" Dipper gasped, when Wendy shook her head again. "Now?"
"Dude," Wendy strode over and took to lean on one of the support columns, "We all have stuff we want to get off our chests, you know? Like, I once had this stupid crush on this boy. He wasn't even my type," Wendy shrugged like she couldn't comprehend how she ever had done this kind of act, "and the kid was waaay older than me. I just couldn't shake my feelings on it, you know?" she asked the other two, who watched her in anticipation, "He wasn't... wow, I think this may be the first time I've told someone about this," Wendy suddenly frowned in thought.
"No judgment here, dawg," Soos affirmed Wendy with a good natured smiled. Wendy turned to look at Dipper, who grinned. He swiped a hand across his mouth, his index finger and thumb pressed together, and then flicked the imaginary finger-zipper away. The redhead chuckled.
"I haven't seen that in a while," she told Dipper with a grin, "anyway, he was sort of the guy who showed me what's really going on around here."
"You mean the Mystery Shack?" Soos asked as Dipper gasped.
"Soos, I think she means that the guy showed her the monsters around town," the young teen gaped at Wendy who shrugged. "Did he?"
"I don't know. He didn't seem all that crazy special," Wendy struggled to explain, "like, normal clothes, no fancy gadget or anything like that. But he was awesome. And he knew about things going to happen. Totally willing to give my dorky, twelve year old mind a chance to feel like there was someone out there who could listen to me."
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.
"Do you remember that picture of me I showed you?" Wendy asked Dipper, who blinked. He wouldn't want to admit it, but that could have meant anything to him. A moment later he recalled a small Polaroid of four siblings of bright red hair, all standing before a forest, and Wendy Corduroy, tallest of the four, with thick braces and ponytails.
"I remember," Dipper nodded with a grin.
"Well, imagine that girl trying to make friends when she looked like that," Wendy said sadly, her hands on her knees. "But he didn't care. Something about him understood what it was like being... being alone."
"But you're not," Dipper leaned out a bit more, trying to get a stronger look towards Wendy.
There was a shadow in her eyes. "It certainly can feel it sometimes though, right man?" she said back, catching Dipper off guard. Dipper grinned inwardly, amused with her talent of making a solid point without ever saying it.
"Right," he quietly agreed.
"So, when Mabel gets back, you're going to do what?" Wendy added, looking at Dipper.
"Apologize; I know," Dipper nodded.
Soos let out a heavy sigh. "Phew. 'Cus that was some serious stuff you two were throwing at one another," Soos commented, "freaked me out a little."
"Me too," Wendy admitted. Dipper's flushed a little. It was one thing to feel apologetic towards his sister, but he was only now wondering what those two had felt as they watched the twins go at each other, or at least Dipper verbally bite at Mabel.
"Damn. Sorry guys," Dipper apologized quietly, scratching his chin an few brown hairs growing on his face. "We'll, uh, keep them private. Upstairs, yeah."
"Nice dude," Soos said, putting a hand on Dipper's shoulder for a moment. "You know dude, if you want to we can go get your sister. I'll drive you to go get her and we can all go get pizza or something."
Wendy looked like she had heard Soos say he wanted to burn down the Mystery Shack. "Soos, are you actually suggesting leaving work early?" Wendy turned to get a better look at Soos, her eyes wide, "that's a first."
"I'm sure Mister Pines wouldn't mind if I help out Dipper and Mabel, right?" Soos asked Dipper.
He wanted to go seek his sister, alright. But he hated the idea of leaving to find her, and not being present when she came back, ready to talk. "Maybe we should wait for Mabel to come back," Dipper said sadly, "She's probably going to be angry at me for a bit. When she comes back I'll just talk to her. Thanks though, dude."
"Hey, no sweat," Soos stood as he spoke, "I'll be inside if you change your mind. I gotta keep an eye on those... guys," Soos gave a suspicious look towards the construction overseer, who had peered over quickly at the three on the porch. "Something about the name Weytani-Yuland makes me nervous."
Wendy laughed. "It's just in your head, man," Wendy chuckled at Soos as he walked inside. She looked back to Dipper, "You going to be good, bud?" she asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm just worried about Mabel now," he admitted.
"She'll be fine. If she's anything like you," Wendy told him, "she'll realize how much it means to be happy together while you're still up here and you two will move on. It'll be fine." She then stood up.
"Right," Dipper agreed, hearing Wendy step inside behind him. A thought crept into his mind, itching for an answer. "Hey, Wendy," Dipper stood and turned, catching her half way through the door, "you never said who the guy was."
She stared at him blankly. She seemed uncertain to how to reply as she looked around her, eyes avoiding the boy before her. Maybe she hadn't intended to reveal that part of the story, Dipper thought to himself. His mind twisted itself as he watched her for a few quiet moments. Finally, she seemed to come to an answer.
"I made the promise that I would never tell anyone, Dipper," Wendy said, a sad smile placed over her lips, "but... you know, he was a lot like you," she admitted with a shrug.
"What?" Dipper grinned, "you think I'm that cool?" Wendy blew a loud, exasperated gasp.
She gave him an incredulous look. "Of course, man! You and Mabel are seriously two of the coolest human beings I've ever met. You know, I told Stan that when you and Mabel were going to leave, I was going to be really bummed out. There aren't a lot of people I can talk to anymore like this," Wendy reached over and smacked the side of his shoulder, "so don't be all down and gloomy while you're up here dude. Especially since you're not here for much longer, got it?"
"Understood," Dipper laughed as Wendy turned and retreated inside. A new light flooded through Dipper, and he followed her. He would go upstairs and continue his research, he knew that. This energy, this light, reached the tips of his fingers and he felt lighter and more energized than adrenaline had made him in any of the chases, fights, or near-death situations he had been in since coming here.
"Hey, let me know if she comes back and I'm still upstairs, okay?" Dipper asked Soos and Wendy as he passed by them, towards the stairs.
"You got it, dude," Soos saluted and turned back towards the windows. "I'll be watching all right..."
"We got you covered, man," Wendy winked at Dipper as he smiled back, and leapt up the stairs, passing extra steps as he climbed upwards.
His door closed firmly shut behind him as he entered his room. Rushing to his bed, he began to organize the mess he had abandoned before going downstairs. While the notes hadn't changed and he hadn't gotten any other revelations about this puzzle of the two glowing cylinders, his mood was inflated.
The notes weren't giving him anything, so instead, he just piled them all together as best he could, placed them with his journal on his desk, and lay back onto his bed. He smiled, wide and proud.
"Wait," Dipper suddenly blinked, "why am I smiling?" he rubbed his face, aware that it wasn't just a smile- it was a HUGE smile. He was positively beaming like Mabel would have if a boy had just complimented her on her newest sweater. He stood up, thinking of what would make him smile, and the first thing coming to mind was the mystery.
"That can't be it," he mumbled, and then shifted his ideas towards clearing the bad vibes with Mabel, "I can't really call her, unless Wendy gave her a phone or... wait," Dipper slowly pushed himself upright.
His stomach had practically fluttered when he mentioned her. Wendy.
"Wait. Wait. No, no, no, no!" Dipper slapped a hand over his eyes, "think of mysteries! The world problems! Solving the greatest unknowns of time and history!" Dipper let the many theories and unsolved cases of the world float around his mind, and he sighed. He seemed at peace. No sooner had he sighed and calmed himself than her face popping back into his mind, smiling and telling him-
He was a lot like you.
Her old crush, the one she had chosen to tell no one but Soos and Dipper, was like him. Like him. Not like Robbie, or whoever else Wendy had ever dated, but Dipper Pines. Dipper laid back down. There was a twinge of defeat in his mind along with a roar of triumph. He was powerless to do anything but admit it. With a few words from the beautiful red-head young adult, Dipper was smitten so deeply he could only stare at the angled ceiling above.
"Not again."
Mabel hadn't gone into town like she said she would have. On the way into town, she had spotted a small road that would lead to a steep hill overlooking Gravity Falls. Reckless ambitions obeyed, she had spun herself up that way. Her motorcycle now leaned against a tree and she sat on the dirt further away, overlooking the town. It was beautiful, something she would have much more enjoyed should she have had the mental space to deal just observe the scenery.
She had sat there for a few minutes, silent and stewing. There were only a few things in life that could really get under her skin and hit home like that. Dipper was both the furthest thing, and most likely thing, to be able to know how to get her feeling this hurt about anything. Did he really feel like she didn't do anything?
She scrunched her face tight. She felt betrayed. Those words were said easily; as if he were just waiting to blurt them out and let her know. Maybe it wasn't true, but to the hurt fifteen year old, it certainly felt like it. She just wanted to be alone. To let these feelings creep out of her until the only thing left was Mabel, not these horrible, angry, hateful thoughts.
She wanted to call him out on it. She wanted to remind him of the various times that, without her help, things would have gone sour. She had helped him solve the case for Quentin Trembley. She got their butts saved when the two of them and the giant Gideon Robot fell from the suspended train tracks high above the town. He had gotten himself into just as many problems, if not more, than she had, hadn't she?
The crushing sensation of doubt flooded through Mabel. There was a chance he may be right and she slouched herself forward. So sure, she wasn't as interested with these mysteries and crazy situations they both get into, but she always helped – when she knew about the problem. Dipper had given a brief explanation to what he and Multi-bear had gone through, and she couldn't have had any kind of hand in that. She did, however, save his life from Gideon. Her brother would have been beset by magically animated shears should she not have stepped in.
She then remembered that it had been her inability to tell Gideon herself that they couldn't date was what put Dipper into danger in the first place.
"I do help!" she shouted aloud, flopping backwards in a growl, "you're just being a stupid brother!"
He was kind of stupid, as she thought about it. In a way very similar to her own crazy, super hyper mind. The two of them were obsessive of their own interests. Dipper would practically drool at the idea of an impressive problem to solve and would chew pens and pencils to death, while Mabel would literally drool over the perfect boyfriend.
"Maybe I should try figure them out," she mumbled as she peered into the sky, "that'll prove I can at least... ugh!" she growled again. She didn't want to have to prove anything. She knew she didn't have to; just being his sister should have been enough for him to know she always had his back.
A competitive switch flicked in her head. This may be a chance, as she thought to herself, to firmly put on the record that she was just as competent as Dipper with these sort of things. He would never again get to call himself superior with solving cases if she solved the only one he couldn't.
She leapt off the ground in an impressive flip, and turned to her bike. She didn't know what she was going to do next, but she knew action was required. She liked this new idea of being justified. She would be able to have an exact reference from this point on, to tell anyone, why she and Dipper were on the same playing field.
Hopping onto her bike, she revved the engines again. Before long she was riding into town. Once parked nearby the town center, she scratched her hair, and closed her eyes, readying herself.
"Ahem," she said to herself as she lifted herself off her bike, pulling out the two cylinders from her pockets, "beginning test phase uno. Thank you, Mermando," she added in a quick side-tangent, "Professional super-scientist Mabel Pines conducting investigations on two cool glowy sticks."
Mabel walked forward, holding them both in her hands, trying to figure out what to do with them. A water fountain presented itself to Mabel as she passed by the biker bar.
"Test one: aqua!" Mabel declared. Stepping to the water fountain, she twisted her hands down and pushed the nozzles towards the water. Slowly, she inched them closer to the surface of the water. Mabel attempted to hold herself back, still holding onto the glowing cylinder, one eye closed while the other peeked out enough to watch it. Finally the surface was breached! And… nothing happened.
She hummed. "Water is inefficient at solving mystery of glowy stick," Mabel declared, giving the small object a look over, "And it didn't even change colors or anything cool. Water now declared boring."
Mabel turned and continued down the street. There were shops on either side of her that could end up becoming unwilling test subjects. None of them particularly caught her eye- but she did consider the possibility of tormenting Toby Determined for his blunder the day before, which nearly cost her and Dipper's life. That would have to wait for another day, though.
Without a clear target to focus her experimental thirst with, she clambered back onto her bike. Soon she was scouting around, slowly riding on the pink vehicle. The mall was the next logical step for investigating. Upon entering the large building, she only found herself presented with a new problem: people were everywhere. There wasn't a spot in the mall she could quickly notice that didn't have someone nearby.
She scanned around, reminding herself of testing requirements. "Quiet... alone... without people who will call the FBI," Mabel chanted to herself as she passed a pair of mothers with their infants, each giving Mabel a worried look.
She was passing the elevators when she spotted the best chance she had to mess with some tech: Donny's OK TVs. The collection of televisions piled high against the window, ranging from recently released but pre-owned to televisions made before the lunar landing. She grinned as she started walking past it, and held up her glowing stick.
Mabel gasped. Something was happening: approaching the store, the stick was glowing brighter and brighter. She turned around, just to make sure no one else was looking at what seemed to be Mabel fussing over a misbehaving flashlight. She had been hoping for a reaction from the objects, but this was a little more noticeable than maybe a little flash of light. As she struggled to contain the light, a television in front of her turned on.
It buzzed, static waves and an eerie tone floating through the glass window between Mabel and the TV. Then another TV turned on. And another. Soon the entire collection of televisions were activating and flashing their static haze. She could only panic, trying to shove the cylinder away. That was a little too close to actual danger she wanted to get. Making a quick ninety degree turn, she spun and walked post-haste to the exit.
A few minutes later, Mabel would ask, "What kind of goofy nonsense was that all about?" while on her bike. She held up one of the battery-like objects for inspection. She then realized it was no longer glowing as brightly as before- it was still quite brighter than it had been, but it no longer hummed the strong bright light that could have blinded someone up close. Then she reached inside for the other one, and was shocked. It was brighter too, but at a level comparable to the experimented battery. Had they somehow shared a type of energy with one another?
Mable felt goose-bumps run up her spine; this was a discovery! Something she could tell Dipper about. They could test this with other televisions. After all, Grunkle Stan had replaced his TV before- he wouldn't mind if something happened to his new one, would he? Probably not.
"Wait... I got this on my own," she stated, and slid them back into her pocket. She hopped back on her bike, and headed back for town center. Maybe a radio, or a speaker could have the same effect- something that was like a television. Mabel parked herself by the library, ignoring the building as it had no radios or televisions, and headed around. Her purpose was more refined. She could easily find TVs sitting in the shops by counters. Stepping into the candy-store, she purchase a bag of gummy koalas, and very casually pulled out the blue cylinder. The store clerk at the time noticed the TV acting weird. She quietly took her exit before he could put two and two together.
Mabel practically drowned herself in the bag of sweets in excitement. Two times had televisions acted strange around the glowing sticks. Then, as the sugar rushed into her brain, she thought of something she remembered distantly in her classes back home: the idea of osmosis, something Dipper had referenced before. It was about exchanging stuff, she recalled. So, she placed one battery into her pocket, and pulled out the other. "Light level, four outta ten," she noted.
She then spotted a television by a barber shop. Whistling in her best 'no-one-pay-attention-to-me' way, she stolled by with big, galloping steps. Luckily for her, no one cared as she waltzed by. Passing the television, she swiped the battery, inciting a similar response. Passed the windows, she stared at it. "Rating the glowy-doohicky a six outta ten! Wow!" she exclaimed. Then, she cleared her throat. "Proceeding to place thing into pocket, with it's best friend and twi-" she scowled, "not twin."
She put it into her sweater pocket. Then, she moved her hand over and withdrew the other battery. Her eyes widened – the other battery had grown brighter! "Ho my gosh, ho my gosh!" Mabel gasped and bounced in step as she paced in circles. "This is crazy! Bonkers nutso! Just what the heck-a-doodle are you thingies anyway?" she asked the two cylinders as she held them before herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mabel spotted someone watching her. She slowly craned her head to see a girl with tan skin and a dark violet dye in her hair looking at Mabel with a bored, uncaring stare. She had met her before, this girl. Three years ago, Mabel and Dipper went into the haunted convenience store with this girl.
"What?" Mabel asked the girl.
She shrugged and moved past her, typing madly on her smart phone. "Weirdo," the girl mumbled as she passed.
On any other day, Mabel wouldn't have thought twice about the comment. Not today. Mabel squinted at her, displeased with the accusation. Mabel clenched her teeth and considered for a second if the smart phone that girl was using could be a target. So far, none of the tests seemed to have been dangerous. Nothing crazy had happened yet. Maybe she could get back at the girl without needing to say a word. Karma would be Mabel's ally this day.
As she followed quietly behind the purple haired girl, she plotted her action. Running past her to her bike, she would wave the battery-like object past her phone, and then observe any change from a safe distance. She picked up speed, closing the distance to the target.
Mabel was unconsciously rubbing the two batteries in her hands together as she grinned, ready for action. Mabel noticed a crackling sound from her hands and she looked down.
As she looked into her hands, Mabel saw a huge atc of electricity blast out from between the two objects and strike the girl ahead of her right in the back.
Mabel froze. The girl, eighteen or so, crumbled to the ground, her phone sprawling away to the side from her hands. Aside from the loud crack of electricity, there hadn't been a single sound made. The girl never cried out, and Mabel was too horrified to even make a whimper.
It was like swallowing the pixie all over again.
She shoved the cylinders into her pockets. She made to turn and run. There was no way she was going to be caught for this- something she wans't even sure she did or not. How could she have known anything like that could happen? It wouldn't be fair to be presumed guilty like that!
The guilt and conscious of Mabel weighed her to stay still. There was a girl, however jerky of a jerk she may be, laying unconscious on the ground with no one in sight. Mabel knew, even if it hadn't been her fault, she had a responsibility to do what she would have wanted if the situation had been reversed. She needed to take her somewhere safe. Grinding her straight and clean teeth together, she mumbled to herself under her breath. Running over, she lifted the girl from the ground as best she could. Mabel was strong, but she wasn't Soos.
The last thing she saw before turning around was the remaining unfinished text the girl had been typing; Weird girl following me, playing with glowing blue things. Should be worried, right?
Dipper paced in the gift shop. It had been a while longer than he had expected for his sister to return. By a while, it was hours.
Soos watched him pace with a smile. "You know, I bet this is how your sister felt when you disappeared that day," Soos stated.
"Not helping, Soos," Dipper replied, and groaned, "Great. Now all I can think of is that creepy warlock dude came back and got her, or something."
"Nah, dude. Unlike yourself, your sister has martial training of a degree of expertise," Soos smiled and laid a hand on Dipper's shoulder, "she can handle herself like a pro."
"Doesn't mean I can stop worrying," Dipper sighed, looking out at the door. "What if she got in a crash? Oh god, what if the last thing I ever said to her was that I thought she didn't help with our stupid mysteries!?" Dipper slid against the counter, falling to his knees.
Back to her usual post, Wendy ruffled the newspaper. "Dude," Wendy said from behind the same counter, "chill." Dipper tried to take a nice long breath, and only groaned again, pulling his cap in front of his face. She eyed him with playful criticism. "Man, listen to Soos," she told him, "Mabel fought the freaking shapeshifter like it was nothing. She's going to be fine."
Dipper felt the anxiety poorly mix with his guilt. "What if she got into a car crash or something though? You can't fight your way out of a car crash!" Dipper stood up, pacing yet again.
Footsteps approached from deeper within the Mystery Shack. "I heard womanly panic," Grunkle Stan's voice called as he entered the shop, peering out the window for a moment, where the construction crew had left their tools, "oh, they finished for the day. Now, why is Dipper going crazy?"
"Well, you see Mister Pines," Soos quickly started, "Dipper and Mabel had a heated argument earlier, and now he's worried that she's in trouble because she's been out for a long while."
"Huh. How long is a long while?" Stan asked Dipper, who shrugged self-consciously.
"Like since two," Dipper mumbled.
"It's four. That's only two hours," Grunkle Stan informed his younger relative.
"I know! But there's crazy stuff out there! And she doesn't have a phone! We'd have to hear from someone else before we heard from her if something bad happened," Dipper explained.
Stan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oi. Look, Dipper; this is your sister you're talking about here. We usually know she's getting herself into something bad before she does," Grunkle Stan reminded Dipper, who blinked and gave a slow nod, "so if we last saw her and didn't warn her to do something, chances are she's just being her normal Mabel self. Besides, if she did need help, she'd let us know-"
There was a rumbling sound of a Motorcycle and an outcry of "Hey! I need some help here!"
Dipper turned and soared out of the door, and found Mabel parking her bike in front of the Mystery Manor. "Mabel, are you-"
"Help her!" Mabel grunted, trying to balance herself on the bike still. Dipper then noticed the other girl. She was tied to Mabel's midriff with Mabels sweater. The girl seemed to be entirely unconscious and was slipping off to one side. Dipper ran up and tried catching the girl. She was fortunately not very heavy, and lifted off the bike well enough once Mabel undid her sweater around herself.
"Coming through," Dipper shouted as Mabel slammed the door open to the shack while her carried the girl inside, "Grunkle Stan! Help!"
Grunkle Stan had just started to head back inside the living room when he spun around and found the two bringing the girl in. Soos also turned, and gasped.
Yet Wendy won the most dramatic reaction award. She shrieked and stepped back. "Tambry?!" Wendy asked from behind the counter, stepping away from her as supposed to closer. Soos and Stan approached Dipper to lift the girl into the living room, while Wendy stood to her tallest height, leaning away from the scene. "What is she doing here?" she demanded in a breathless voice.
"Long story!" Mabel told her, running after the others, "well, its a short story, but let's make sure she's okay first!"
Wendy froze. "Uh... yeah," Wendy stated as she followed the others.
"Okay!" Grunkle Stan grunted as he laid the girl on his lazy-chair, "start talking Mabel. Why are you bringing back unconscious girls to the Mystery Manor."
Mabel went through the quest route of explaining what had happened. That route being mostly made of silly sounds and lots of running around in circles. Dipper understood most of it, and translated for his freaking out sister. Before long the attention had focused on the local girl on the seat, eyes closed.
"Well, it's settled then," Grunkle Stan stated with nod, "we'll dump her on the edge of town and we won't bring this up again."
"What?!" Dipper and Mabel gasped.
Grunkle Stan rounded on them. "Well, unless we want someone to drag Mabel to jail for electrocuting her," Stan pointed out.
"She didn't mean to do anything," Dipper defended his sister, who gave him an appreciative look.
Wendy suggested, "Why don't we just drop her by the hospital?" She took another step away, now the furthest one from the unconscious girl. "We can at least make sure someone can see if she's okay."
Grunkle Stan shook his head. "They'd have question for us," Grunkle Stan argued, "and then they'd want us around until her folks show up."
Fidgeting with his hands, Soos worried aloud, "What's the plan then, dudes?"
All four of the others opened their mouths at once, but someone else beat them to the punch.
"Computing Memory Module out of synch. Ejecting system memory charge, please prepare a newer charge," Tambry said, her eyes still closed. The others froze and slowly turned to the girl. She was still crumpled in the chair, and now her mouth was open, speaking effortlessly.
The five were frozen now. From behind them all, Wendy dared ask, "What... did she just say?"
Tambry said in that same tone, "Initiating ejection."
The five stumbled backwards. The girl began to straighten out, legs dangling over the seat and arms at her side. Her eyes flickered open, and the same light Mabel had seen earlier that day shone out from the inside of Tambry's head. Her body began to levitate, a ripple of light underneath her back and legs and head that pushed her from her seat. Air was whipping around the five of them as Tamby completely straightened out, two feet in the air above the seat. There was a strange and sharp hissing sound, and then the girl's shirt lifted slightly up, exposing her stomach. A section of skin was separating, unsealing, revealing a bright light from within. A foot wide panel opened, revealing a flash of light. A small blue cylinder floated out from her mid-section, and remained hovering in place.
The five had all clustered together, watching this all happen with wide, horrified eyes. They had just witnessed a girl float in mid air, her stomach open up to reveal a series of sophisticated electrical wires that all shone with light, and a single, floating battery above the opening.
Finally breaking their silence, Soos mentioned, "Well that was the coolest and scariest thing I've seen all year. Also getting nightmares about this one."
That's right. We got some tam-tam in this sucka! Or... is it really Tambry? :o And Dipper and Wendy sitting in a tree, j-u-s-t f-r-i-e-n-d-s. Poor guy. I'll be cheering you on, my wayward son!
Now, LETS HEAR SOME PREDICTIONS! :D
This is the second really down-to-main-plot episode since Chapter one. Pretty crazy. BY the way, we're one chapter away from the half way point. Just so you all know how fast this story is moving along. But don't worry, like I've been saying, we've got a long time before the series comes to and end.
You all know the drill. Next weekend will be yet another update! So, leave a review you wonderful people and I'll seeya- (an explosion blasts apart the walls next to EZB, and the author turns slowly in his chair. It is revealed that EZB is in Jedi-garb, and eyes the hole in the wall uncertainty) Who is there?
(A Sith warrior in black robes lunges out, gleaming red light-saber at the ready. EZB reacts well enough, leaping backwards out of the chair with his own green lightsaber, and the two duel. Spins and force-pushes and lightning and all cool stuff amount in this battle. Then THE-EFFIN-OTHER wall is blasted down, and the two stop. A figure holding a crowbar high above his head stands.)
John Freeman: It's time for me to live up to my family name and face FULL-LIFE-CONSEQUENCES! (John Freeman, the brother of Gordon Freeman then whips out a rocket launcher and blows the room up. And then dey all did dieded. The end.)
[p.s. If you like stupid, god awful humor like I do at 1 am, look up full life consequences. It's a good chuckle if you're delirious.]