Much like Phineas and Ferb, the summer of the year before held high standards to the Pines family; especially the twins Dipper and Mabel. Only these two didn't want a repeat of last year's incident; they just wanted a normal summer. Their Grunkles, Stanley and Stanford Pines, returned to Piedmont, California to take Dipper and Mabel on a fun, casual vacation for the beginning of summer.
The family was at the airport, getting off their flight shortly outside of Beach City.
"So what exactly is Beach City? I couldn't use my phone to learn about it on the flight" Dipper asked.
"Beach City is a small town right by a beach. It has a reputation for being weird, like Gravity Falls, only it's much less weird." Stanford replied.
"If the rumors I've heard are true, it's gonna be a good vacation for me." Stanley said smugly.
"Guys! We're heeeeere!" Mabel exclaimed excitedly, already in her swimsuit, as she stepped out to view the city. Her arms and smile were spread wide, as if trying to hug the entire city.
It was raining.
"Well, that's. . . unfortunate." Stanford said, standing behind Mabel who was frozen. Her stance and smile were still there, but it was obvious she was disappointed. "We can at least get settled.
Stanley saw the rain, frowned, and grunted, following Stanford.
"Come on Mabel." Dipper said, grabbing Mabel's shoulder and dragging her along.
The Pines found their hotel and settled in. They were able to get some high quality deluxe suites, thanks to some actual treasure Stanford and Stanley were able to find on their ventures on the Stan O' War II.
"You know, with what we could afford, I don't understand why we couldn't stay in Empire City. It literally neighbors this place." Stanley said.
"I thought it'd be much more convenient to literally neighbor the beach." Stanford retorted.
"It's much nicer than staying in an attic." Dipper said.
"Huh?" Stanley exclaimed with a hint of a frown.
"Oh, no, I love the Shack; this is just a major upgrade." Dipper corrected himself.
Stanley squinted his eyes at Dipper and brushed it off.
"Wooooooah!" All heard Mabel yell. "There's a huge TV in here!"
They went into the room connected to theirs and saw Mabel gaping at the huge TV.
"Oh and look, there's a TV guide." She pointed at a pamphlet, opened it and started reading. Dipper and Stanley went over to read it too. "I've never heard some of these words before. I've never even heard of any of these movies. Why do they cost all that money though?"
". . . Mabel, I don't think this is a TV guide." Dipper said.
"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT!" Stanley recognized the contents and snatched the pamphlet away, stashing it in his suit and running off; but he opened it and browsed, himself, when no one else was looking.
"Okay, there are three beds." Stanford assessed. "We'll have to divvy them up."
. . .
"Okay fine, I'll sleep in the tub." Stanley conformed. "It's nothing I'm not used to."
"Thanks, Stanley. Well, that settles it." Stanford clapped his hands together. "So, we can't go to the beach right now, but we can explore the town. This map I picked up has some recommended locations. Fish Stew Pizza, Beach City walk Fries, Funland Arcade, The Big Donut, there's even an amusement park. There's so much to do."
"There's an entire restaurant dedicated to fries?" Dipper questioned.
"Oooooh! Fries!" Mabel exclaimed excitedly.
"Well then. Stanley, what do you think we should do first?" Stanford asked.
"Huh?" Stanley looked up from the pamphlet.
Stanford groaned. "Let's just go by this boardwalk here and see what we come across."
Everyone hummed in agreement, but the mood felt a little downcast to Stanford.
The gang went along the Beach City boardwalk in their umbrellas and raincoats. They came upon the neighboring pizza and fry restaurants.
"Think there's any chance a pizza place would also serve fries in those little baskets with the pizzas?" Stanley asked.
Stanford looked over at the fry place and noticed the menu. "I'll bet these are cheaper, though. Fries anyone?"
"Me!" Mabel jumped up to the counter. She looked at the small menu and gasped loudly. "They have fry bits! I WANT THE BITS! GIVE ME THE BITS!"
"Steven?!" A voice came from inside the restaurant. Mr. Fryman came into view to scope out the customers and chuckled a little bit. "Oh, sorry about that. You reminded me of a formerly frequent customer. What can I get for you?"
"THE BITS!" Mabel yelled.
"Mabel, you don't need to yell." Dipper told her.
'Just like him.' Fryman thought.
Mabel noticed something else and exaggeratedly gasped. "Oh my gosh I love your hair! It looks just like French fries!"
"Oh, uh, thanks?"
"Is it natural?" Mabel asked quietly, getting close and feeling his hair.
"Um-" Fryman was getting uncomfortable.
Stanford hoisted Mabel and lowered her back down. "Mabel! Give him space!" He said sternly. "I'm sorry, sir. She gets excited very easily, especially in new places."
Fryman chuckled. "Oh it's alright. That actually brought me back to my early restaurant days. I'll get those bits for you. Oh wait! Anyone else want anything?"
"I think we're all good." Stanford answered. "We're exploring the area while we wait for the rain to let up."
"Oh it'll let up soon. This was forecast to be a brief shower." Fryman said as he began stirring up the fries.
"That's a relief." Dipper whispered to himself.
"Yes, but the beach will still be wet." Stanford said, looking out in the general direction of the beach.
Fryman listened in on the conversation while cooking up the fry bits. He chuckled a little bit and thought he'd share some important information. "Funny story, no one actually used to visit the beach on account of it being a danger hazard. It all only recently cleared up, but people are still hesitant; all the action happens here in the town anyway. Here you go." He set the cup of fry bits in front of Mabel.
"Why? What happened on the beach?" Dipper asked.
"You must really be new." Fryman muttered. "The Crystal Gems. They're the planet's protectors. We used to get visitors from their formerly evil homeworld."
"YOU HAVE ALIENS LIVING HERE?!" Dipper freaked out.
"Dipper, we've dealt with aliens before." Stanford reminded Dipper incredulously.
"Only their robots!" He replied.
A voice emerged from somewhere in the fry restaurant. "Is that another weirdness enthusiast I hear?" Ronaldo Fryman burst through a door with a hysterical look on his face.
'Oh no!' Fryman thought. 'This is a disaster waiting to happen.'
"Yeah!" Dipper replied more calmly, the confusion of someone suddenly bursting in on the conversation overtaking the excitement of the breaking news he just heard. "I kept a log in a journal that was tragically burned by a demon."
"I have a blog." Ronaldo stated proudly. "You can't burn that." It took him a second to register what Dipper said. "Wait, demons are real?!"
Fryman let out a long, tired exhale through his nose.
"Dipper, what are you talking about?" Stanley asked, putting his hands on his hips. The rest of the Pines had strained expressions on their faces. They'd almost forgotten that Stanley had Bill entirely erased from existence/his mind.
"Eh, nothing. Forget about it." Dipper said shakily to Stanley. Mabel slapped the back of his head. "Ow! Oh, right!" Dipper fakely chuckled. He turned back and extended his hand. "I'm Mason Pines, but everyone calls me Dipper."
"Wait, your name is Mason?" Stanford asked in disbelief.
"Fryman." Ronaldo said. "Ronaldo Fryman." He added dramatically, shaking Dipper's hand. "Why do they call you Dipper?"
Dipper pulled his hair back and showed Ronaldo the birthmark on his forehead, to which Ronaldo gasped loudly. "Oh, the Big Dipper! Hold still!" Ronaldo scrambled to get his phone camera out. "Oh, would you mind if I put this on my blog? It won't show your face if you don't want it to."
Dipper never thought of himself as something strange; but with that in mind, he took it with pride. 'I do have a weirdly large head, too. I'm a little more weird than I thought.' He thought. "Sure! What's your blog called?"
Ronaldo answered after he took the picture. "It's called 'Keep Beach City Weird!' " He waved his hand through the air, emphasizing each word. "But since The Crystal Gems won the war with their home world, there hasn't really been anything weird going on." His mood dropped disappointingly.
. . .
The mood became immediately awkward.
"I finished my fries already!" Mabel announced loud and proud. "I wanna go have fun!"
"Yes, go have fun." Fryman said with a smile. He turned to Ronaldo with a slight glare. "We don't want to hold you up."
"The fries were delicious!" Mabel said as the Pines walked away.
"Thanks." Fryman said, waving.
"Come again!" Ronaldo said.
When they were out of earshot, Mabel chuckled and elbowed Dipper. "Wow! Do you think this city can survive two dorks?"