The door slammed behind Dipper as he exited his car hurriedly. His shoes scraping against the gravel covered ground, he hurried into the Mystery Manor, passing a few construction workers as they wrapped up their morning shift on the building. The young teen and twin held a collection of books under his arm, having, once again, rented from the library in Gravity Falls.
His feet echoed against the wooden floorboards, heralding his passing for Wendy and Soos, who both retained their position in Gift Shop. Dipper wanted to say hello, maybe ask how their days have been. He wanted to, maybe, direct some funny, witty comment to Wendy, but his mind was set. Soos was fussing with the radio anyway, so getting a word in was less attractive to the moment. Climbing the stairs, Dipper entered his room past the poster covered door.
Inside the room, he was met with a "Yo, bro!"
Mabel waved at him, in a well-executed hand stand on her bed frame, holding herself upright without a wobble in her stance. "You find those info-maniac books you needed?"
"References," Dipper corrected her as he tossed his shoes off and leapt to his bed.
"References to what? You're not going to start some stupid English assignment this early in the summer, are you?" Mabel demanded, completing the task of turning with her hands, twisting her arms to face her brother while still suspended upside down.
Dipper shook his head. "References to everything that's happened in the past ten years in Gravity Falls," Dipper told her in one breath, "see, towns keep track of pretty much everything- or at least they should. Power outages, accidents, deaths, births, population- everything should be tracked in these," Dipper patted the books.
"I didn't know you wanted to grow up to be an encyclopedia of boring," Mabel grinned at him.
"Hah-hah. With this information," Dipper said after a glare to his sister, "there's a chance we can correlate when someone had the chance to move in town and then create or introduce a sophisticated android robot thing that replaced Tambry."
"That's assuming I didn't turn her into one," Mabel admitted, allowing herself to fall to her bed with a gloomy 'oomf'.
Dipper eyed her current face-down position. "Mabel, we've seen magic before. Maybe a spell could have done that, sure," Dipper assured her with a strong look, "but this is some sort of technology. It's built with metal, works around electricity – if it's got magic enough to do something like that, then... well, I don't know what then."
Mabel groaned loudly. "I hate not knowing if I'm a monster of a human being," Mabel solemnly explained, and leaned on one hand to look at Dipper, "do you think if we catch her again, we'll have a chance to undo it?"
"No idea. That said, I'm already suspicious of Tambry anyway. She told us she was in her home last night, right?" Dipper told Mabel, "but she never goes anywhere without her phone. If she really had been at home, wouldn't she have gone back for the phone you saw her drop when you zapped her?"
Mabel gasped, a hand at her mouth. "You don't think she... lied?!" Mabel declared.
"It's a possibility. If the Tambry walking around town is a robot, maybe she was programmed to believe it, so technically it wouldn't have been a lie. Or maybe it is Tambry, and she just forgot her phone at the same place… oh come one," Dipper looked through the book, disappointed as he scowled at the numbers, "whole dang weeks just go unaccounted for. Way to be organized, Gravity Falls."
"Well this isn't Norway, where they have everything in line, duh!" Mabel told her brother. "It's 'Murica!"
Dipper sighed, and dropped away that one book about incidents involving insurance claim and attempted scams. He stowed away a chuckle, remembering how many times he saw his Grunkle on the list. He lifted a reference in power regulation for the town, and shuffled through the pages. Mabel wasn't wrong- these numbers were repetitive and boring, but necessary to Dipper. Then he noticed something. There were gaps in recorded days, but one week was the exact same as in the other book: missing in its entirety.
"Huh," Dipper noted aloud, and laid that one down, and lifted another book, this time on law-breaking with crime and punishment. "This one too?" Dipper asked. The same week did not appear in the book.
"Dip?" Mabel asked, hanging her head from the side of her bed. His eyes were widening, and he was scrambling through books, finding a single page, and then moving to another book.
"All these references... all of them," Dipper held up three books in his hands, "they all are missing an exact, single week from two and a half years ago."
"You mean, like, after we left that one summer?" Mabel asked, rolling herself upright to talk to him.
"Yeah. From December tenth to the seventeenth there is no data – of anything!" He laid out his books around him, shocked at this coincidence. "That's eight records of this town having the exact week missing. One solid week of missing data throughout the town? That can't be an accident," Dipper said with a shaking breath.
"So... what does it mean?" Mabel asked with uncertainty. The two stared at one another, reading into each others eyes, hoping for a common thought. No such idea passed by either of them.
Dipper groaned. "I don't know," he admitted, closing the books around him. Like the entire chase last night, it ended with more questions than answers. Sure, it was a strange coincidence, but it wasn't anything more than a coincidence until they could correlate data. Dipper's eyes turned towards his desk, where the three cylinders lay silent, gently humming their blue light. What he needed now was an experienced opinion on the matter.
"Soos!" a voice called from below, cranky and deeper in register. A huge fluorescent light bulb flashed in Dipper's head. He had someone like that at his disposal.
"Yes, mister pines?" Soos asked, turning from his radio.
Stan approached him from the entryway. "I've come to the decision – ugh, turn that down, would you," Stanford Pines ordered as music blared over the radio, "I don't need Valhalla shouting at me from my own gift shop."
Soos chuckled. "Oh, that's just Duskhope," Soos told him with a pleasant smile, "I can't believe you've never heard of them."
"They sound like a rock band invaded a movie orchestra and told them to work with them or die," Stan described as the music rocked on behind Soos. The music was strong and aggressive, gripping the air around the stereo with an iron, orchestrally accompanied fist.
"They're the greatest symphonic-rock-orchestral band that's ever come out! The band has been around for ages. Their leader, Zander Maximillion, is a prodigy of music," Soos informed Stan.
Wendy, from her usual post, piped up from behind her held out magazine, "Metal; they're a metal band."
"Oh, right, my bad," Soos apologize.
Stan turned to his red-headed employee. "You listen to this stuff too?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Eh. Robbie loved their music," Wendy sighed as she turned a page, "never shut up about how he would become their lead guitarist. As far as Soos's taste in music go, it's certainly at the top."
While Soos happily nodded, Stan picked his nose. "Moving on from the topic I literally can not care less about," Stan claimed as he turned back to Soos, scratching his back through his con-man's suit, "I've come to the decision that I'll need a night-watch when this whole construction project is done wrapping up."
"Oh wow! A new position!" Soos exclaimed excitedly, "who are you considering?"
"No one. You've got the job," Stan told him plainly. "Congratulations. You know how to stay up late, right?"
"Oh. I, uh, yeah?" Soos nodded quickly, shocked at this news. His reaction seemed to surprise Grunkle Stan, who leaned closer and eyed him. "You sure there isn't someone else better qualified?" Soos timidly asked.
Stan's stare could have melted permafrost. "What aren't you telling me, Soos?" Stan asked, his eyes boring into Soos's, "if I hadn't known better, I would have thought you were reluctant to take this job."
Soos gasped. "Oh! No! No, no, no! That's not it at all," Soos stumbled as he tried assuring his employer, "I, uh, just... you know, I thought I was the handyman."
"It's a promotion, Soos," Stan explained, "Now you tell people at night that we don't offer tours past the hours of seven in the afternoon and before ten in the morning, and that we put the fun in no refunds," Stan told him easily, trying to ease his long-term employee into the idea.
"I don't know... I'm not exactly good at handling people," Soos admitted, fiddling with the radio dial behind him absentmindedly.
"Aw, c'mon Soos," Wendy piped up, lifting her feet off from their position on the counter, "you're great with people- you're just not that same kind businessman that Stan is."
Stan nodded. "Exactly. Look, Soos, I don't need someone to sell them stuff, I just need someone up late enough to keep an eye out; make sure the restless kids don't pillage the shop."
"Ah... I'll, uh, think about it?" Soos said nervously. Stan sighed deeply as he rubbed his eyes, causing panic to rush through Soos' bloodstream like venom. "Aw, I'm sorry mister Pines! I'm just not sure right now."
"Well, you have until we open the rooms to make up your mind. I'd rather provide a raise than give some other rotten punk in town a job here," Stan told him, walking away from Soos, "so don't shelf it forever! Wendy!" Stan said as he leaned against the counter, "how about you? Interested in being paid to stay up late?"
"Eh. I'll consider it," Wendy shrugged as she continued to read.
Stan looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. "What?! What world am I living in where young people aren't tempted by the chance of greed!?" Stan barked to the two of them, "speaking of which, is the newest national tabloid in?" he asked. Wendy reached by the pile of magazines she brought in that day, and tossed one to him. He chuckled eagerly, "Ah good. Time to get some new ideas."
A pair of matching footfalls heralded the arrival of the twins. "Grunkle Stan," Dipper asked as he appeared with his sister in the gift shop. Soos had fiddled enough with the radio to have a solid established connection, and hummed gently to the music as the twins approached their reading grand uncle.
Stan was busy preparing more of his fake curiosities. "Now let's see," he hummed to himself, "teen who claims to speak to the dead from Massachusetts saves town from rampaging poltergeist. Teen's family claims he's bested zombies and cursed spirits prior to investigation. Hmm, maybe if I got some projectors and some nice, transparent paper and thin wiring-"
"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper restated loudly.
Stan leapt. "Gah! What?" Stan yelped at, what seemed to him was, the sudden appearance of Dipper. "Didn't you go to the library?"
"Back already," Dipper answered, "got the materials I needed."
"About time someone could go into town from this building and not disappear for hours," Grunkle Stan mentioned aloud, also giving Mabel a look. She, who was just behind Dipper, stuck her tongue out in reply.
Dipper headed straight to the point. "Grunkle Stan, I wanted to know: did anything strange happen two Decembers ago?"
"Like, for a week maybe?" Mabel added, her a false innocent honeying her words.
Stan cupped his chin as he reminisced. "Oddly specific," he said. "Hmm. Nothing strange off the top of my head. Why?"
"There was a week within the reference journals and books I rented that all had the exact same week missing," Dipper explained, "sort of weird for a simple editing error or laziness."
"Huh. Consistent missing data. I'd say that it's probably nothing, but Gravity Falls is known for being sporadically useless, not consistently useless," Stan said with a rough and thoughtful grunt, "maybe I can fish something up on the downstairs stuff."
The light inside Dipper grew. "Really? Awesome!" Dipper cheered, his eyes lightening up at the prospect of getting some real aid on this mystery, and not just a two-part cheap answer from his grand uncle. "Can you head down now?"
"What? You're kidding, right?" Stan barked at him, "look, I know you want some answers to this robot mystery thing, but I can't just head down there in the middle of the day. What if these construction workers wreck something and I'm not there to scam them to pay up quickly in cash?"
"Grunkle Stan," Mabel said, using her most patronizing tone.
Stan continued, "Or what if we get some lost tourists who need directions? I can't pass up an opportunity to grab some money off them, even if the shop is technically closed," Grunkle Stan added, as if this prospect truly frightened him.
From the counter, Wendy dropped her magazine, looking at the door which faced the drive through the woods. "Hey, speaking of tourists," Wendy piped in, peering out the screen door, "are we expecting some suits from the construction company?"
Stan, along with the other three, craned his back and neck to look. "Huh? No?" Stan said, walking past Wendy towards the door.
Sounds of a car coming up the long driveway struggled past the construction workers sounds, wrapping up their morning shift before they retreated for the lunch break. Finally, over the hill and past the trees, a van appeared. It was painted black and adorned with a rusted radio dish on its back. It was buzzing to some old rock n' roll tune, the volume clearly high enough to rumble the sides of the van.
"Oh no," Stan muttered, pushing his hands against the frame of the door while staring outside, "Oh no, don't be them again."
"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked as the four approached, nervous to what the eldest of the room feared.
The van came to a stop. The doors and sliding doors whipped open. As figures stepped out, the air blasted with the notes of a song-
"Roll along my headstrong duuude. Things will make sense once you're throouugh. Go lie down, and take a naaap. Please don't freak out more."
As the drums to the song pounded, Stan Pines sighed deeply. "Oh thank goodness," he told the others, "I thought it was someone to actually worry about."
The four watched as a collection of young men, easily in their mid twenties or early thirties stepped out. Each wore a jacket of sorts. The leader, who seemed the 'as-seen-on-TV' sort, had gelled hair and sharp jawline and pale. One directly followed behind him, short hair and cool, dark skin. Several had comic book t-shirts and all wore jeans. The leader stepped towards the shack, giving it a look over as he approached.
One of the five men, who wore glass, gasped. He ran back towards the van's doors, reached in, and turned off the classical rock. He then returned to his assigned position in the group, and they, like a rehearsed choreography, stepped towards the tourist trap.
The leader, chewing gum and looking thoroughly too cool for anyone on earth, asked aloud, "I take it this is the Mystery Shack?", looking to the screen door where Stans stood.
After a pause, the old man cleared his throat, and with a quick push of the door, leapt out dramatically. "Welcome to the Gravity Falls Mystery Shack!" Stanford Pines emulated the great Mister Mystery with his 'could sell you dirt' grin. "I hate to inform you, but the building is currently under renovation –"
Another of the men quickly stated with a cool, know it all tone, "Yeah, we kinda got that." He wore a button-up and a long trench-coat, and had braids in his blond hair.
The darker toned man snorted, pointing to the equipment left behind by the construction crews. "Not a mystery there, is it?" he said.
The leader turned to his buddy, nodding. "Nice one, dude," he said, and high-fived him. Like a howl amongst wolves, the five suddenly entered a frenzy of high-fiving one another.
Stan kept his grin high, but a vein twitched. "Ah, but of course! I'm sure what you've really come for is the world-famous merchandise!" Stan lunged aside, directing his open hands towards the door. The twins, Soos, and Wendy all eyed these newcomers. The five men, in return, stopped their strange ritual, and looked back.
"Close," The leader stepped closer, and finally removed his sunglasses, displaying dark blue eyes, "we've heard this is world famous for it's mysteries."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Stan stood upright, scratching the back of his neck, "we got those too."
The leader nodded like some general, approving a mission starting. "Good," he declared, "We're the NPPP."
Mabel and Wendy both covered their faces, trying desperately to withhold a laugh.
"–or the North Pacific Paranormal People," the leader explained, indicating on his large leather duster a sewn on name tag, which crudely displayed 'NPPP'. He shoved a thumb at himself. "I'm Geoffrey," he told Stan. "This is Adam," he pointed at the dark-skinned man with shaven head, "Luke," he pointed to the blond know-it-all, "Ben," he pointed to the one who wore glasses and turned off the music, "and Marcus," he pointed to the one who was slightly more stomach than the others, with brown hair and scruff for facial hair. Geoffrey, the leader, continued, "It's our job, as of, uh, last week to discover and rate all things paranormal or unexplained in the northwestern pacific region on our highly regarded website for travelers."
Stan registered no names, only reasons. "Whoa, whoa, you rate places?" Stan demanded, his cheerful demeanor long gone.
Mabel snickered inside the building. "Hehehe, P-P," Mabel struggled to stifle her voice.
Stan crossed his arms tightly. "Sorry fellas, my establishment isn't interested in criticism or whatever you have to offer," Stan told them.
"Really?" Geoffrey asked, leaning in a bit more.
Coming to his bro's side, Luke, the know-it-all, added, "We scored an impressive six out of ten on the customer reliability online."
Adam, the one with a shaved head, came to flank the other side of Geoffrey. He said, "People respect our name and word," he added raising his sunglasses to give the teens and older man a twinkling smile.
Wendy snorted, unphased by their practiced antics. "Right, dressed like that I'm sure all the respectable types go running for advice," Wendy whispered to Dipper and Mabel.
Stan groaned, along the same path of annoyance as Wendy was. "Look, fellas, spare me the spiel; I'm the master of it. Just say it, and say it straight – what does any of that mean to me?"
Geoffrey scoffed, and walked up to Stan. He collected his sunglasses off his face coolly, and eyed the old man. "Anything that we say is paranormally charged," Geoffrey finalized, "people will flock to."
Stan eyed them. "People will flock to – wait... you'd rate my establishment for how authentically weird it is?" Grunkle Stan asked leaning towards the men before him.
Geoffrey shrugged. "It's part of our job."
Grunkle Stan hopped slightly with a tiny jolt, as if an electric current ran through his spine. He stared at the men before him and then looked back to the teens. The eyes of Stanford Pines told the story of a man going through many thoughts at the same time; many of those thoughts waltzed with dollar signs. With a slow craning turn back to the group of young men, he cleared his throat.
"One moment please," Grunkle Stan gave them a small nod and then dashed back inside. Closing the doors behind him, he pulled the four away from his gift-shop door. HE asked of them, "Okay, I want a solid, no bull opinion: the shack could survive these bozos giving it a rating, right?"
"What do you mean?" Soos asked in confusion, "they'll love it here! Everyone loves it here."
"I don't know," Dipper scratched as his sparse chin-hairs as he thought, "They look like they know what they're talking about. That one in the back, the glasses guy, looked like he was carrying an EMF-detector on their belt. They have some authentic stuff."
Grunkle Stan squinted at his grand-nephew. "A what?"
Mabel beat her brother to the punch. "Electro-magnetic-field detector!" Dipper stared at her, his mouth open. She slowly grinned back to him, and said, "I watched a lot of this show called 'Mission Fact'. They used stuff like that."
"You watched that too?" Dipper asked, a defining moment passing between the twins. "I always wondered if you'd like it."
Mabel swooned. "I love Jonathan Fences. He's dreamy."
As Dipper rolled his eyes from his sister's profession of adornment, Wendy chortled in with, "Personally, they look like a bunch of dorks in jackets they found in goodwill," she scorned with a critical eye.
"Ah," Dipper almost choked, as his eyes had followed Wendy's, staring at the men, who peered at the meeting inside, "Yeah... they look so, uh, stupid. Yeah!" Dipper lied to himself, entirely wishing he looked slightly as cool as the guys out there did.
"I mean, it's not even a sunny day, and they're wearing sunglasses?" Wendy smirked as she teased out of eavesdropping distance.
Stan mused aloud, "This could either put my shack- err, manor," Stan corrected himself, "on the map for every single naive tourist in the area to bleed their wallets into my buckets, or ruin it all and leave my business destroyed. Wait," he turned away from the group. Marching outside, he approached the leader. "How much does this cost?" he snapped.
Geoffrey chuckled. "It's free of charge?" the young man answered. "Our website gets paid for content, so we don't charge for review."
"Hot damn!" Stan leapt into the air, clacking the heels of his shoes together, "please, allow me to prepare a tour for you fine guests! A few minutes please!" Stan said with his largest smile he could muster as he slammed the wooden door behind the screen one. "Okay! You two," Stan pointed to Dipper and Mabel instantly, "dust the museum. Make it look like I don't ignore it all my life when people aren't handing me cash. You two," he pointed to Wendy and Soos, "pull out the big guns. Anything that isn't falling apart in the storage is out in the open. Got it?"
Dipper worriedly looked past him to the five. "Grunkle Stan, are you sure it's a good idea to have these guys go through the museum? What if they actually know a thing or two about this paranormal mysterious creatures and anomalies stuff?" Dipper asked with warning to his Grunkle, who approached a mirror and began to adjust his tie.
Stan huffed. "If I wanted a reasonable opinion, I would have married someone. Now get to it!" Stan yelled loudly, having the four scatter quickly to the house, grabbing what cleaning supplies they could.
The mad rush began. Dipper and Mabel did their best to sweep away the dust that had accumulated in the long months of neglect, but the continued addition of older and even dustier collections made their chore seem like an unending one. As soon as Dipper would sweep away one pile of dirt, Soos would wheel in another faux-tree monster, leaving a long trail grit and debris. The entire time Stan glared at them, barking orders for them to work faster and faster. The instant that he considered the path of the tour acceptable and full of things to ogle at, he led the four downstairs, into the kitchen, and kicked them all out by the side door.
"Don't come in until you see the five leaving, or have already gone," Stan told them dangerously, daring them to disobey in this tense moment in his building's career.
Wendy spun around and heatedly demanded from Stan, "What are we supposed to do while you're in showing them your collection of stuffed animals?" Wendy shook her hat free from collected cobwebs, and tossed her hair around her briefly. Dipper did not miss the chance to stare at her in quiet awe.
Stan rolled his eyes. "I dunno. Go play with the industrial equipment the workers left behind; you know, safe stuff," Grunkle Stan told them, and slammed the door in their faces. His muffled footsteps raced away as he charged to the other side of the building.
Soos looked to Wendy. "I always did want to know how to operate one of those crane-thingies," Soos admitted, scratching his head through his cap.
Wendy grinned. "Aw, man, that'd be awesome! Maybe they left the keys in the exhaust!" Wendy excitedly told Soos as the two raced for the distant tractor.
Dipper, an eagerness growing within him, suggested, "Maybe we could find a jackhammer and dig around for relics and artifacts?"
Mabel, behind him, rocked back and forth on her heels. "Hmm, I think I'll just do some more super-training," Mabel told him, stretching her neck slowly around.
Dipper stalled, turning to his sister. "Right now?" he asked.
"Yeah! You up for a little Mabel-tastic fitness?" Mabel prodded her brother.
"Oh sure," Dipper rolled his eyes as he rolled his shoulders, "I'm up for it."
"Bet you can't do fifty laps around the house by the time the tour is done!" Mabel grinned as she started jogging.
Dipper grinned like a devil. "I bet you can't do fifty laps around the house while singing 'Chariots That Are On Fire' theme!" Dipper retorted with a wide smile. Mabel laughed as she took the lead, and took the bet instantly, loudly blurting out the notes to the epic and inspirational piece as best she could.
Within a few minutes, neither twin could accomplish the required task. Dipper was out of breath keeping up with Mabel, and Mabel had entirely forgotten the difference between singing and talking while running. The two panted to a slumbering stop back by the side door only twenty laps in. Dipper was impressed that he had managed to keep up with her, but more impressed that she had been able to continue singing even after the theme had ended, and added her own vocalizations.
Mabel was determined though – even out of breath, she exorcised. Dipper at first was reluctant, his fatigue begging him for a moments rest. Then he realized Wendy had looked his way. Within a single split moment, he went from lying on his back and panting to upright and following Mabel's actions as best he could. She was faster, but Dipper learned quick enough. He would at least look like he was doing well.
It wasn't until she was airborne in acrobatic dodges and attacks that Dipper called it quits, and just watched. Eventually, Wendy and Soos approached the scene as Mabel effortlessly landed three flips in the air, one directly after another.
"Mabel!" Wendy gasped after another row of mid-air, upside down kicks, somewhere between being upset and stupefied, "What the heck dude!?"
"What?" Mabel asked, catching herself upside down as she looked at the three of them.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" Wendy scoffed, indicating Mabel's obscene physical skill, "you're insane at this!"
Dipper smirked. "She's been learning from some sort of master of this stuff," Dipper told them as Mabel leveled herself to stand upright again, "so she's got some crazy moves."
Soos was in awe. "No kidding! Man, I thought what I saw from 'Tigerfist Two: Stripes and Palms' had some crazy stuff," Soos said with amazement, "but Mabel's really got it down."
"Aw stop it guys," Mabel said with a smiling, slightly flushed face, "I'm just a beginner!"
Dipper and the other two had every answer of doubt for her. "Yeah right!" "Get real dude." "C'mon bro."
"I wish I could show you guys my master," Mabel said wondrously, turning half way from them as she stared away, "she's like... just so awesome."
"Who?" Soos asked.
"In the martial art 'The Paths'," Dipper quickly said, "you're not allowed to use your teacher's name. Something about keeping their identity a secret."
Wendy asked, "Why's that?"
"My master explained it like this," Mabel looked to them, "the path's isn't about being the best at the entire range of skills. It's about learning to take what you do best and make it even better. A lot of people don't like that sort of thinking apparently," Mabel shrugged at the statement, "I don't know why they don't like it, but whatever. It also makes my teacher sound really cool and mysterious."
"Speaking of mysteries," Dipper interjected, "we were supposed to ask Grunkle Stan for that information, weren't we?"
Soos nodded. "He should be done soon," Soos stated easily, "Why, I bet they'll come out of that door looking like they've had just the time of their lives."
The doors did slam open, and out marched the five men, scowling and shaking their heads. Stan ran ahead of them, his arms outstretched to prevent their departure. "Look, it's off season right now!" he pleaded, "I needed replacements for the real deals!" Stan reasoned with those before him.
The leader of the NPPP glared at Stan like he had said something deeply offensive. "Nothing in the entire building, not a single object, indicated that there was anything of worth to our time. If it doesn't raise a question, act weird, or show potential for paranormal, it doesn't get a good score," Geoffrey told Stan with a tone of true disappointment, "Old man, you're just running a side-show of well made stuffed animals altered to look freaky."
As Soos' mouth dropped open by about a mile, Dipper gasped. "Whoa, that's a first," Dipper admitted. No one had, to Dipper's recollection, ever called out his well-spoken grand-uncle on the phoniness of his Mystery Shack. There was a rushing past him. Mabel was marching post-haste towards the group near the van.
Stan, on the retreat and damage control, looked to reason with them. "Look fellas, I admit it doesn't look great, but this area is full of weird stuff! I'm tellin' ya!" Stan tried further, a tone of desperation in his voice.
The know it all walked past him, saying, "We're not interested. Your building was a waste of our time, and we'll make sure no one else wastes their time coming here. One of ten easily."
"Hey!" Mabel suddenly called, catching the attention of the men of the NPPP. "He's not lying!" she proudly declared, "There is weird stuff around here!"
The largest of the three, Marcus, received gazes from the rest of his troop. He took a step towards Mabel. "Look," he said, his voice surprisingly tender, "maybe you've been raised around here, and so you've seen weird wildlife, sure. But those, uh... things in there? I mean, Unicorn-on-the-cob? Man, Unicorns don't even exist."
Mabel scowled. "I wasn't raised around here, and yes they do exist!" Mabel stated, walking closer to them, staring at them defiantly despite their impressive height. "Unicorns do exist!"
Geoffrey laughed. "You're living in a fantasy, kid."
"Geoff," Marcus whined as he turned to the leader, "I thought we decided I talk to the kids."
Geoffrey half-heartedly shrugged. "Sure, if you consider her a kid."
Watching Mabel be so callously dismissed, Dipper felt a Fire in his chest. He marched over as well. He called out, half way there, "Except she's not living in a fantasy world. Unicorns are real," he re-stated Mabel's declaration as she clenched her fists and dared the men to defy her. Dipper continued, "They act like total jerks though. We've seen them in these woods," Dipper pointed around them, "and a whole mess of other weird stuff!"
The five looked from Mabel to Dipper. Maybe it was the fact that two teenagers were faithfully claiming weirdness abound made the NPPP second-guess their judgement. Maybe it was their expectation that a girl would defend Unicorns, but never a boy. Maybe it was just because these men had nothing better to do with their lives. The know-it-all, Luke, lowered his sunglasses, checking in with Dipper and Mabel. When their gazes neither flinched nor shook, he looked to Soos and Wendy.
"How about you two?" he asked to them.
Soos chortled. "Oh dude," Soos shook his head as he gave a warning look to the men, "you wouldn't even believe what happened yesterday. Or the day before that. Or they day before that. Or the day-"
Cutting Soos off, Luke turned to Wendy. "And you? You live around here?" Wendy blankly stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. "Seen anything odd?"
"You could say that," Wendy replied quietly.
Stan took a careful step closer to the group of men. "Look, I'll be honest," Stan solemnly said, removing his Fez to scratch his head, "you caught me off-guard. I'm in my off-season, you know? People don't really go driving around the countryside when they have their kids in school and are working full time still. But give me a second chance, why don't ya? Why don't you five guys head down in town: there's a great diner you can head to! When you come back," Stan stepped up, his hand open to the sky just before them, "I'll show you something really–" Stan flicked his hand slightly, producing an ace of spaces from seemingly nowhere, "–worth your time."
The five exchanged looks. Their convictions were withering by the moment. Mabel and Dipper had already done quite the work to bolster Stan's establishment, and then there was Soos and Wendy's additions too! The five seemed, perhaps, willing to reconsider their harsh sentencing. Luke and Geoffrey turned to Ben, the only man who hadn't spoken up so far.
The man in glasses held up a device from his pocket, and spoke in a higher register tone. "There were a few anomalous readings on our way here," Ben shrugged, pushing the bridge of his sunglasses up against his nose, "Maybe we can give them an hour to figure themselves out?"
Geoffrey hummed, a resilience fading in his mind. "EMF detectors can act stupid, you know that," Geoffrey told Ben, who nodded, "But... we did drive all the way out here... ugh, okay sir," Geoffrey rounded on Stan, "We'll head to this diner. When we get back, we want a real paranormal experience. No more cheap tricks, no more," he pulled the card out of Stan's hand and flicked it back into his face, "Slight of hands. Let's go guys."
The five entered their signature formation, all glaring at Stan. They were so focused, they entirely missed Wendy as she stuck her leg out. Ben tripped over it quickly, and Marcus and Geoffrey tripped over him. Wendy remained undetected as she slipped her foot back to a perfectly normal resting place. Feigning shock, she leant closer to them, cooing to them as they struggled to rise back up.
"Ouch!" Wendy said carefully hidden sarcasm, "Careful there, you guys. Long jackets like that totally can mess people up, you know," she told them with a glint in her eyes. Mabel snickered and high-fived Wendy quietly.
Geoffrey quickly sprung back up, his sunglasses askew. "Right," Geoffrey groaned, dusting himself off. As the others climbed back into their van, the three continued to dust themselves off while wincing. The gravel had not been kind to their inexperienced fall. Once in the car, the window rolled down, and Geoffrey pushed his head out. "Remember," Geoffrey warned them menacingly, "one hour. Then we pass our final judgment. No third changes."
Stan beamed. "Of course!" Stan assured them, waving wide his hand above him. The van's wheels rolled it away, disappearing down the road until it vanished, where then Stan clapped a hand to his head. "Damn college students!"
"That's who they were?" Dipper asked, turning to Stan.
"No. Grad-school students, which is even worse!" Grunkle Stan groaned, "I've never had to deal with a group like that before! They really did their research! They wanted details on everything; how I found things, what types of behaviors my exhibits had – Gah! Okay, okay… So," Stan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "the Mystery Manor is standing on the brink of total failure now," Grunkle Stan told them worriedly.
"Oh come on, Stan," Wendy groaned, "you can't really think these guys are actually trusted by anyone?"
"Well, I follow people online who dress and act crazier than those five," Mabel admitted, "but at least 'Crazy-Eating-Hour' admit to being nutso."
Stan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you two," Stan looked to the twins, "I can't believe I'm actually hopeful for this, but I need you two to find something crazy out there and bring it back to the shack."
Dipper's mouth fell open. "Wait, you actually want us to do this?" Dipper inquired in shock.
"It's like we're being hired to do what we do anyway!" Mabel told Dipper, pulling on his vest as she jumped excitedly in place.
Stan snorted. "Yeah, you know, just do your thing! Bring something back here that gives them a chance to not sink my life's investment!" Stan asked them strongly.
"Don't worry, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel saluted and then grasped her brother and held him close, "with our luck to run into life-threatening situations, we'll come back with something definitely weird!"
"Something dangerous, or exotic, or weird, if you can manage," Stan told them, adjusting his hat, "maybe a manticore, if they're out there still. Just don't get yourselves killed, you got it?"
Dipper gave his Grunkle a nod filled to the brim with determination. "We got it," Dipper proudly said. He gave the journal in his vest a solid pat. Looking to his sister, the two of them hurried off into the woods together.
"So, bro-dee-bro," Mabel started conversation a minute after entering the woods, much safer than the last time they had go running off looking for a Doppleganger, as she lightly boxed his shoulder with her fists, "what's the plan?"
"Well," Dipper pulled out the journal and started skimming through, "the thing is we have a whole mess of potential targets that we can bring back with us. For example, Gnomes – they're dangerous," Dipper suggested.
Mabel gagged. "Ugh. The last thing I want is a favor with Jeff," Mabel stuck out her tongue, "besides, they look too much like us. Oh!" she pointed to a picture of a large long tail-feathered bird, flames bursting from its eyes, "maybe that!"
"A phoenix?" Dipper read from her selection, "According to the journal, they're dangerous and almost impossible to find. Constantly burning to anyone the bird doesn't trust," Dipper paraphrased, and he looked further along the pages, "or... same deal, a sleeping dragon would probably just burn everything down."
"How about that one?" Mabel pointed again, passing a page full of crystals. "Those little crystals were harmless, weren't they?"
"Hmm... they can't exactly be dangerous, and the light refractions they cause induce cellular growth on a healthy level without killing anyone, but I don't know if that's enough to wow them," Dipper thought aloud. His sister opened her mouth in a groan, and he looked to her. "What? What did I say that was too much nerd?" he demanded.
"Everything?" she told him with a poke.
"Ow. Well, I'd have to find the crystal grove again anyway. I think that's the other direction too, so maybe we should rule that out for now," Dipper said as he turned the page.
Then there was a loud yelp, in the bushes ahead. Dipper and Mabel stalled their movement, both watching ahead of them. It hadn't been long since they entered the woods, but danger could come at any moment. After a moment, a well-dressed, two-foot-tall figure stepped out, walking to them with open arms and a wide smile under his long nose. "Ah! Dipper Pines!" Sibs the Goblin sentinel approached them, extending his arm towards Dipper.
"Sibs!" Dipper called back, eagerly shaking his hand.
Sibs shook the hand, and then turned to Mabel. "And the sister to Dipper, Mabel Pines!" Sibs smiled to Mabel, holding his hand to Mabel, "the vanquisher of the woodland shapeshifter."
Mabel's eyes shone with stars. "I have a title like that?" Mabel gasped as she took his hand and vigorously shook it, "Wow! Sweet!"
Sibs nodded, taking a step to take in the sight of the teens. "Indeed. You both are heroes to the goblin community. We've had our first taste of old, fear free life since before the release of the shapeshifter two years ago," Sibs told them with a warm smile, "well, at least until the peace between us and the Gnomes wore off."
Mabel scowled. "Game of Pinecones?" Mabel asked with grim excitement, "Totally let us know when that's going down. The Gnomes are huge jerks."
"Mabel," Dipper scolded her, "Don't encourage political upheaval and war please," he told her and poked her shoulder.
"Sorry," Mabel smacked the side of her head, "what was I thinking?" Mabel leaned closer to Sibs, "But seriously, let us know."
Sibs chuckled as he looked between the two teens. "Well, what brings you to these woods?" Sibs asked the two of them, looking between them with a happy expectancy. "Anything I can help you with?"
"Actually," Mabel said, opportunity dawning in her mind, "Dipper and I are looking around for something, or someone, really cool! We're gonna bring them back to the Mystery Manor to show these official paranormal investigators! We'll prove that there's totally legit monst- er, people like you!" she quickly corrected herself, as Dipper had cleared his throat at her almost usage of the word 'monster'.
Sibs nodded as he digested the work ahead of them. "I say. How interesting that someone would need to investigate these woods at all. They merely need to ask for our maps and we can provide it to them, as long as they stay clear of our farms," Sibs added with warning.
"They're not that kind of investigators. They... Sibs," Dipper thought for a moment and tried again, "We need your help. These people don't believe that people like you exist. Maybe you could come back with us?"
"Ah, I'm afraid," Sibs bowed his head slightly, a disappointed look in his eyes, "I must reject your idea."
"What? How come?" Mabel demanded.
"As is stated by Goblin law, we are not permitted to interact with outsiders without direct cause to. Allowing you to introduce me to these 'investigators' would violate that law," Sibs told them.
Dipper debated, "But you met me?"
"Ah, but under the pretense that you were the shapeshifter. Had we not been under alert that he was in our area, I would have disregarded you as a passer by," Sibs explained, truly sounding upset he could not help them. "I'm sorry, but I cannot leave my post for this."
"Aw, duck-sauce!" Mabel exclaimed angrily.
Sibs turned around, as if about to leave. Then, as he paused, he looked back to them, eying them with a growing grin. "But... perhaps I can direct you to where you can find something of worth," Sibs said cleverly, a small smile finally returning to his face.
Dipper bubbled with excitement again. "Wait, really?" he asked.
"I can at least offer some help to the friends of Goblitropolis," Sips said as he turned in one direction, leading them towards a collection of tall mountains in the distance, "follow me friends. It's a short journey to the grove of earth."
The twins repeated, "The grove of what?"
Sibs lifted his hand before him, painting an unseen picture. He told a tale, "For as long as Goblins have roamed these woods, which is... oh, I don't know, a while I suppose," Sibs guessed earnestly, "we have remained aware of a strange, ancient region in the forest that is to be respected and treated with care. Over time we have called it the grove of earth."
As Dipper climbed under a log, following Sibs, he asked, "Why is it named the grove of earth?"
Sibs said over his shoulder to the twins, "We find many precious stones in the clearing of the grove. Some of the stones we used to seal the Shapeshifter in it's final form were from the grove of the earth. Many magical forces do drift through these woods, and the grove collects much of it."
Mabel eagerly looked to her brother. "Wow," she said as she hopped in place, "So we're going to somewhere really ancient and cool?" Mabel asked as pulled herself up onto a branch above them and started bounding from tree to tree.
"I suppose so," Sibs nodded in agreement.
Mabel positively vibrated with excitement. Unable to contain herself, she grasped branches above her and Dipper's head, and started to swing around, some uncontained monkey of hyperactivity. As Dipper chuckled at his sister's unbound energy, Mabel had to drop down finally; the dense forest started to close in around them. Mabel took to following her brother, holding a hand together. They followed Sibs closely through the thick shrubbery. Dipper and Mabel started to realize why they had not, themselves, come this way: this path was awful to climb through. The vegetation grew even more persistent and pervasive, to the point of being actual obstacles. The twins struggled to keep up with Sibs, still under all the vegetation.
"There, pass those leaves," Sibs pointed to a seeming wall of plant life ahead.
As Mabel spat out a bundle of green leaves, Dipper nodded. "Awesome. Thank you, Sibs," Dipper saluted the sentinel, "we owe you."
"Oh, bugger about debts," Sibs shook his head as he walked past the twins, retreating from the dense forest. He warned them, "However, don't tarry here. This place is both wondrous, and dangerous. Nature has a hold over this land. I bid you both a good day."
As Mabel waved goodbye to the departing Goblin, Dipper eyed the upcoming woodlands. To call the bundle of grown vines, bushes, and other plants a wall was accurate. It looked like it curved around gradually, acting like some sort of barrier. Very little light shone through it, keeping privacy to whatever might lie beyond. Dipper felt that tingle of excitement, as he was certain he and his sister were about to learn of something entirely new.
Mabel nudged her shoulder against his. When they made eye-contact, they both smiled. Without another word, they pushed on, and made it to the wall of plantlife. Dipper squeezed himself through as best as he could, feeling the tangles of greenery grab and squeeze his limbs like hands. Still, he pushed through, and then stumbled as he broke through; the other side of the wall began as a downward slope.
He stared at what lay before him. Mabel leapt out through the wall, and brushed herself clean. "Pah!" she exclaimed, spitting out leaves from her mouth, "how do I keep getting them in… my…"
The two stared around them. They were in a sort of clearing, almost like a meadow. It was all in a recess, maybe some three-hundred feet wide. It felt like a massive, overgrown bowl of sorts. Not a single tree grew in the meadow, only smaller grass-like plants. Scattered across the ground was, to their shock, thousands of small gems and crystals. In the fractured light of the canopy above, they glittered and glistened. Near the center of the clearing, there were four mounds of earth.
"Mabel," Dipper managed to say, "look at all of this."
His sister nodded. "It's so… pretty!" she shouted, and then ran ahead of him. She lifted a gemstone up. "Ohh! This one is red and orange! Oh!" she picked up another, "this one isn't red or orange! Wild!"
Dipper laughed, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Right. Focus. We're looking for something to save the shack with first. We can come back and get rich later."
She sighed, and dropped her first two collected rocks. "Fiiine," she whined. As she started to look around, Mabel rubbed her hands together. "Alright, something cool," Mabel glanced around quickly, her eyes darting between the flickering light below her, casting glinting rainbows in her face. "Oh! Look at this one!" She reached down and quickly lifted a gemstone, surprisingly shiny despite not being polished. "Or this one!" Mabel tossed the first one and found another. "Ooh! This one for sure!" she dived to another one after dropping the second.
Dipper laughed as Mabel dug around like an excited puppy, digging through the ground after the glinting stones. Dipper on the other hand, took his time, looking around carefully. Dipper wasn't sure that any one of these stones could really count as particularly effective for the 'weird' factor. He didn't doubt Sibs' authenticity; they probably did have some sort of magical properties, hence why they shined without polishing. It wouldn't be enough though. Bringing a few gems without an immediate reaction or effect would seal the Mystery Manor's fate. They needed something with more 'umph'.
"Oh," Mabel had almost run straight into a boulder, "excuse me, mister rock," Mabel patted the boulder, and climbed it easily, digging her fingers where there was sufficient grip and lifting herself up. "Oh, Dipper! Get up here! This place looks so cool from up here!"
"One sec," Dipper strained, still unable to perform the same physical feats his sister could perform. After two unsuccessful tries, she reached down, and assisted him up, holding his arm tightly as he climbed up. "Wow, you aren't kidding," Dipper admitted when he turned and stared out.
From their height, they could easily spot the many, thousands, of crystals laid into the ground. They glistened and shone perfectly, as if a wave of energy passed through the area, creating a cascade of light that shone counter-clockwise, rippling around the inner circle of this nature's sanctuary. As Dipper and Mabel followed the path of the wave of light, they eventually faced the exact center of the area, and both gasped.
"That," they looked to each other before looking back to the center of the area, inside the circle of boulders.
A smooth stone laid in the exposed dirt, as the plants did not grow past the boulders. It was black, almost like it could not reflect color of any time. Yet as they watched it, it produced a shine of a rainbow- a sparkling ethereal flash of light that caused them to gasp. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it before.
"What is that?" Mabel whispered as she stared, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
Dipper didn't know, but he knew something. "That's our ticket to saving the Mystery Manor," Dipper told her and they again looked to one another, grinning. They didn't have much to work with, but something that emanated light like that while being pitch black certainly was worth investigation.
Dipper and Mabel slid down the boulder's side and towards the stone. Approaching it, they continued to exchange glances, as if to reconcile any worries or doubts they had, or just to share their excitement. It was like it had been three years ago, way back when two twelve-year-olds ran around the woods looking for werewolves and other monsters. Something like this could be more than just a way to save the Mystery Manor – it could be another big mystery to solve one day.
They arrived to the side of the strange black stone. They could seen a faint outline of themselves through the stones perfect polish. Dipper took a careful breath. "Here goes nothing," Dipper said. He reached forward with both hands. He touched the rock.
They gasped; as his fingertips slid against the almost glass-like texture, light poured out from under his hands. It was manyfold in color, almost like an aroura.
Dipper laughed besides himself. "Holy crud, that's... really pretty," Dipper gasped as he stared at his hands, a lightshow pouring out from under his hands. It felt warm to his skin, but cool texturally.
Mabel was jittery as she watched Dipper having all the fun. "Wait, does that mean-" Mabel decided to test her theory first, ask questions later. She prodded her finger out and tapped the side. The light poured and then was whisked away as her touch fell away. "Omigoshthatssocool!" she spun around and hopped at the same time, whirling around like a tornado.
"Let's see if it's heavy," Dipper tried feeling fingers around the imperfect contours of the smooth stone, and found its base. With a small grunt, he tried lifting upwards. The stone followed within his hands. The ground was flooded with the same kind of aurora of rainbows, as light poured out from his fingers. It wasn't heavy at all. Even for it's size, Dipper was stunned with how light it was. He told his sister, his eyes wide and filled with life, "We need to show this to them and then figure out what this is about."
The two sprinted out of the gulley as fast as their legs could permit, and as fast as Dipper could go considering Mabel's impressive training. Mabel couldn't resist grabbing each branch and tossing herself forward slightly, climbing trees and dancing above Dipper as he ran ahead, swinging off vines- there was something about this discovery that put them in a wonderful mood. To Dipper's credit, he would have joined her if he could have, but carrying the stone meant he was, like usual, on best behavior.
The way it shone under his hands was infectious. That light, the warmth it produced; it made Dipper feel light and fresh. Those many light nights he spent seemed less impactful on him. The aches of his feet, legs, arms; it was as if the issues of life evaporated before them. Dipper silently wondered if the rock induced a kind of euphoric effect. He wasn't sure, and he didn't really care. They were elated, the twins; laughing to one another as if they had just uncovered the greatest secret to life that there had ever been.
The Mystery Manor finally appeared in the distance, and the two broke for it. Not a muscle in their bodies complained as they rushed ahead, Dipper cradling the magnificent stone in his hands. Stan was leaning against the side of the wall, tapping his foot nervously as he watched the road.
Mabel yelled, "Grunkle Stan!" as they charged over.
The man spun to face them, and gasped. "Whoa! Call me a beggar and throw me some change, that's one heck of a... of a… what the heck is it?" Stan gasped as the object in Dipper's arms finally came into distance.
Mabel shook her grand-uncles arms. "A stone!" Mabel declared, "And just watch- guys!" Mabel screamed again to the shack, "Soos! Wendy!" Barely a moment passed before the sounds of running steps echoed against the wooden floors. Soos appeared first, dashing his best to arrive at Mabel's beckoning. Mabel couldn't wait longer. "Soos! Check it out!" Mabel stroked the side of the stone with her fingers, and the trail of light followed beautifully.
Soos' eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he approached hypnotically. "Oh wow. Do that again hambone," Soos asked. Mabel did so, both Soos and Stan watched the stone as it shimmered. Soos, entranced, said, "That's some freaking cool looking thing. What does it do?"
"We don't know!" Dipper admitted with laughter. From the shack, Wendy stepped out; looking around quickly, her eyes darting to Dipper and Mabel. Dipper felt his chest explore with joy as he saw her. "Wendy!" he called out, "Look! Mabel, do it again!" Mabel complied, shining more beautiful light as she traced fingers over the rock. Dipper laughed and turned his eyes to Wendy.
His own smile faded when he looked to her. Wendy's expression was polar opposite to what he had expected. He face was stunned, almost shocked as she looked to the stone. Those strong green eyes gazed into the stone, locked onto the shimmering trail of light before it faded, but continued to stare afterwards. It was like she saw something else inside the rock. He felt that magical warmth fade from him as he recognized the look in Wendy's eyes – worry.
After a moment of her silence, Dipper asked, "Wendy?"
She gasped and looked back to him. "Huh? Yeah!" she nodded, pocketing her hands as she stepped closer. "That's really something you two found. It kind of seems dangerous though, doesn't it?"
Stan barked out a laugh. "What?" he turned to the red-head, "Don't be ridiculous! It's a freaking touch-activated rock-bulb. How cool is that!?"
"I don't know," Wendy still stood her ground, taking a cautious step closer to the object, "Where did you guys find it?"
Mabel gladly explained, "In a forest clearing," her eyes smiling as much as her grinning lips, "in a circle surrounded by pretty rocks and boulders. Some awesome stuff, but this was the king of cool!"
The redhead nodded without glee. "I bet," Wendy said in her best neutral tone, stepping closer to the stone. Dipper watched her. She reached out with her hand to touch it as the others had. Before her skin could connect to the rock, she recoiled, holding her hand away from it. "Maybe we should put it back, you know dude?" she said.
Stan's mood clearly was lightening up with the presence of the stone. "Ha! Yeah right! As soon as those bozos are done apologizing to me," Stan told her as he wrapped an arm around Dipper and Mabel, "and me and the twins here go have a night out for saving the Mystery Manor, that's going on a pedestal for all the world to see and poke at – for twenty bucks, no, fifty bucks each!"
Wendy seemed unconvinced. Soos chuckled. "C'mon Wendy," Soos patted his co-workers back, "when did a glowing dark rock thingy ever cause harm?"
Wendy frowned. Her gaze then locked onto Dipper. Other than his twin sister, Dipper couldn't remember the last time someone tried to communicate with him through nothing but a look. As those green orbs for eyes that haunted Dipper stared deep into his soul, he was reminded of many years ago, underground, trying to fend off the shapeshifter. She really was certain this orb, brilliant and joyous as it was, meant danger. Dipper felt Wendy's convictions.
His joy started to falter. "Maybe, uh," Dipper suddenly piped up, no longer confident about his choice of souvenir from the forest, "we can put it back and then lead them to the spot? We can say we just found and that it'll be an attraction to tourists soon enough?"
Stan turned to him. "Look Dipper, I know Wendy's all freaking out," Stan gave him a weary look, "but this rock thingy? C'mon, look at it! You just feel all... young and happy when you look at it. Eugh," he suddenly groaned. He added, "Remind me to only have you bunch mess around with it for now on," Stan told them as he turned away from it, heading for inside. "Now, go put it inside on a shelf or something for now. Actually, just go knock off the Jackalope stuff and put it on that pedestal."
Dipper gave Wendy one more look. She said nothing, but her gaze plead for action. Nothing short of taking it back into the forest would appease her. Then again, this would only be for a short while. The North Pacific Paranormal People would be returning from their gambit at Greasy's Diner, and would be directed quickly to the stone. Maybe all they had to do is keep the stone for an hour, maybe even only thirty minutes.
"Let's go put it inside, for now," Dipper said to them all, but keeping his stare with Wendy. She frowned and looked away. An invisible fist punched his gut, and Dipper felt an awful sensation of heaviness. Had he let her down?
Following Grunkle Stan's motions, Mabel poked her brother's shoulder. "Well, c'mon bro!" Mabel tugged and pulled Dipper inside, leading him inside, past the others, "let's do the honors of welcoming the newest member of the Mystery Twins discovered oddities!"
Dipper craned a look over his shoulder. Wendy had turned back, watching the twins storm away. Apprehension bled from her eyes as Dipper watched her. "Mabel," Dipper said as he and his sister walked inside, past the Gift shop and towards the museum they had worked on earlier, "I'm thinking Wendy is on to something."
Mabel chuckled. "She's just being cautious," Mabel waved a hand easily, "you know, since every other time we come out of the woods something is chasing slash stalking us."
"She seemed really worried about it," Dipper added, pouring some of his own guilt from not listening to her into that statement. Mabel's ears detected it, and she turned to him. He spotted her scanning gaze. Not wanting to let on his feelings, he added, "I mean, if you were that freaked out, or I was, wouldn't you be a little, you know, nervous?"
Perhaps it was the perspective that put a pause in Mabels abundant cheerfulness. She gave his point a thought. "Hmm... you raise a good point," Mabel nodded as they continued to walk towards the Jackalope stand, "and she's pretty good with that whole 'detecting' weird stuff thing. Like how she knew the shapeshifter wasn't you? Wonder how she does it..."
"I don't know, and really I don't care. If it helps with us, we can ask questions later," Dipper told her strongly, trying to return to convincing Mabel to return the stone. Mabel gasped, placing her hands at her cheeks as she stared at him. Dipper eyed her and asked, "What?"
She wove her hands before, reading an unseen news-headline, "Dipper Pines: mystery and puzzle addict, willing to put aside a chance to understand something just because it's someone we trust? Wow!" Mabel poked his nose, "dork."
"Ack," Dipper waved his face away from her prod, "I just trust Wendy. It's not like I stay up late thinking about Wendy's mysteries," Dipper lied.
"Uh huh," Mabel gave her brother a critical stare, analyzing his well constructed poker face. If she had sought a weakness in his facial defense, she wound up disappointed. Mabel took her frustrated look and directed the energy towards the pedestal, grabbing he fake Jackalope and putting it to the side. "Well, put it down," she told Dipper.
He gave the held stone on more look. It shone up at him, still trying to be beautiful and absolutely wondrous. With a sigh, he wiped off any remaining dirt from the bottom, and placed the mystical stone on the pedestal. He quietly added, "Let's hope nothing comes of this, aside from keeping the Mystery Manor in business," Dipper told his sister as he stared that the faintly shimmering black stone.
"Pfft. What could possibly go wrong?" Mabel gave his brother an elbow.
A moment passed where they stood across one another, staring to one another, awaiting fate's inevitable ironic twist to Mabel's words. Yet nothing came; no explosion, no cry for help, not even a tremor of the ground. No sigh of Murphy's law appearing in their day. Dipper nodded, satisfied with the result.
"That's a nice change of pace," he pleasantly told Mabel.
She nodded. "Yeah, I was kind of expecting a scary voice from the stone after I said that, or maybe a boom from the woods," she admitted. There was a rumble from the ground, a kind of distant tremor. The two groaned. Mabel cried out, "Oh, come on! Really? Can we, just for once, not have-" more shaking booms were following the original.
"That can't be good!" Dipper shouted as they both turned away and ran towards the door. Bursting out of the gift shop door, the twins found the three outside; staring at the distant canopy of the woods. The booms were even louder, and birds were darting out of the vast canopy. Then trees were collapsing in the wake of these booms. More and more earth trembling shakes heralded the astounding arrival of the coming danger.
Huge figures, vaguely humanoid shaped, stepped out of the woods, easily as tall as the Mystery Manor. One was a massive, mossy boulder. Another was a woven collection of tree trunks and branches. Another was a swaying, bundle of vines and ivy. The other was a walking, slumping pile of mud. These four beings strode out of the woods, the moss-covered boulder being the lead. It came to a stop at the edge of the woods, and turned to the humans before it.
It lowered itself to speak to the four watching it in fear. It spoke with a rumbling, deep, dangerous growl, saying, "I seek the thief."
Dipper gulped. Wendy prodded his shoulder with her elbow, and quietly said, "Told you guys."
The North Pacific Paranormal People, the greatest competition Ghost Chasers have had in their long running show. No, sorry, there won't be any direct crossovers with Supernatural, so don't cross your fingers... yet. ;)
Classic rock! Wow. Bet you were expecting something a bit more musically inclined. Well, there was Duskhope in there. And that rock thing seemed classy. So HA! But on a 'Author has stuff planned wink wink nudge nudge', you should start remembering the little things in this chapter and those to come.
Brownie or cookie points go to whoever gets what I'm almost directly referencing in the national tabloid Stan read.
Well, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'll see you guys-
(A large boulder comes crashing through the ceiling, crushing EZB and his entire room in it's weight. Riding the boulder is Metallica, performing a sick performance for the viewers because 'Hey? Why not?')