"Alright Soos, this is it... Today is the day you finally fix that vending machine for Mr. Pines." Soos said to himself as he stepped outside his truck, carrying a toolbox.
Soos walked towards the Mystery Shack, determined to fix the one thing that Stan said he'd never be able to fix. He was focused, so focused that nothing could distract him... other than seeing Dipper hastily walking away. Soos happily waved to his friend. But unfortunately for him, Dipper was so distracted with trying to figure out what Pacifica has in store for him that he didn't even notice Soos.
"Huh, must be something important." Soos thought aloud.
After talking to himself, Soos entered the Mystery Shack. Walking past the Stan bobble-heads, as opposed to how he'd usually be completely distracted. He walked past the register, where an absent Wendy should've been behind at least ten minutes ago. Soos even made it past the talking summerween bowl that Stan "bought" from the store. Okay, he wasn't that focused as his imagination faded and realized he's been watching a Stan bobble-head bounce for the past three minutes.
"Soos!" Stan called from the doorway to the museum.
"Uh sorry Mister Pines..." Soos, now fully back in reality stammered.
Mabel lied with her back atop the couch, feeling sad and alone. Even after Waddles... waddled in. Once the pig was standing besides the couch, Mabel lifted the pig above her head. She looked deeply within his eyes, seeking comfort from her swine companion.
"Waddles where do you think Dipper went?" Mabel asked her porky friend.
"He's probably just walking around town." Mabel said in her Waddles voice as she moved his lips to form the words.
"Well why do you..." Mabel tried to continue before being interrupted by the sound of Soos accidentally knocking over a bobble-head.
Mabel accidentally dropped Waddles on her face, startled by the sudden sound of the cheaply made doll breaking.
"You're paying for that." Stan told Soos as Mabel walked in, her slightly red face sore and frowning.
"What's the matter Mabel?" Soos, concerned with Mabel's lack of a smile, asked.
"It's Dipper." Mabel groaned as she rubbed her face.
"Oh yeah, I just saw him a little while ago. He looked mad." Soos said as he began to sweep up the broken Stan.
"Kid's probably just hitting his jerky preteen phase." Stan guessed, paying little thought to the subject.
"Hey Soos, do you think you can help me find Dipper so I can cheer him up?" Mabel asked.
"Sure, we can go right now." Soos said.
"Later." Stan dismissed as he handed Soos his tools.
"Or maybe later." Soos said, causing Mabel to moan in protest.
Dipper could hear two things as he passed the forest, a police siren... and the sound of an ice cream truck. Dipper, confused by what he heard turned his head and saw an ice cream truck being chased by a police car with Deputy Durland cheerfully babbling with his head out the window as Sheriff Blubs quickly drove after it. Likely breaking a few speed limits. Dipper was confused and couldn't help but want to analyze just how dumb those cops were... but had more important things to do. So he pressed on forward, no longer close enough to notice the sudden screech into a crash or see the hubcap roll towards where he stood.
"Nice going Dipper." the boy said to himself as he walked past the diner. And a vandalized sign for the incarcerated Lil Gideon.
"Not only do you loose the journal, but you let Pacifica get it." Dipper murmured to himself as he followed the crosswalk.
"My sisters worst enemy of all people..." Dipper protested as he was within a block of the library, remembering the party, pioneer day, and the mini golf incident.
In just a few minutes, Dipper was impatiently waiting outside the library for the spoiled blonde to show up.
"And then he just walked out without even saying a word to me." Mabel, feeling guilty, told Wendy.
"That's rough Mabes. I can't believe someone has Dippers book." Wendy said as she stood behind the register, not actually doing any work.
"Who do you think it was?" Wendy inquired to Mabel.
"I think I've done it!" Soos exclaimed from across the room.
"What?" Wendy asked, not sure what Soos has done.
"It's taken over five years, but I think I finally fixed the vending machine." Soos, excitedly announced.
Everyone in the Mystery Shack fell silent, including Wendy. Anyone who visited the Shack regularly, for whatever reason, knew the vending machine never worked.
"What's the big deal?" Mabel whispered to Wendy.
"Seriously? " Wendy, surprised by Mabels' question asked.
"Ya know how that thing never works?" Wendy explained.
The crowd grew, causing Mabel even more confusion.
"Yet people still feed it money." Mabel answered.
"That's because the whole town wants to know if the chips inside are still good." Wendy, for whatever reason, excitedly said.
Mabel still didn't see the appeal but Soos couldn't help her until he finished work. So she decided to go along with it, having nothing else to do. As the crowd began to fill the shack, Grunkle Stan began writing on a chalkboard big enough to be read from across the room.
"Okay people, place your bets! Place your bets!" Stan shouted over the crowd.
As if they were all sheep, the entire crowd began pulling out their money and tossing it at Grunkle Stan. Everyone involved with the wagers kept shouting a different type of chip along with either "stale" or "good" as they emptied their pockets of the money that once occupied them. Things quickly began to look more like a riot, so Stan had to reestablish order.
"Alright already. If you bet any of the chips are stale, go stand on the left." Stan shouted as he pointed to the left side of the, over stuffed, room.
"If you bet they're good, you're on the right." Stan said, just as loud as his previous order.
"And if you came in without money, get lost!" Stan said even louder then his previous remarks.
Once the visitors without money exited the shack, and secretly began watching from the windows, the inside slowly became organized. On one side were a few familiar people, including: Lazy Susan, Mr. Poolcheck, and Toby Determined wearing a t-shirt with "#fresh" printed on it, and on the other side were a few more known citizens of the town such as Bud Gleeful and both mister and misses Valentino.
After what felt like hours Dipper saw the unmistakable Northwest family limo, with the top of Pacifica's head partially exposed by her slightly ajar window. She wore sunglasses, sandals, what looked to be a junior lifeguard swimsuit, and a towel resting on top of her shoulders.
"Get in." Pacifica ordered Dipper, not wasting anytime.
Dipper was more than reluctant to do so, but knew defying her meant he'd never get his book back. So Dipper begrudgingly opened the car door.
"So what now?" Dipper demanded after he sat down, not willing to just wait for her orders like a trained dog.
Pacifica didn't say a word, she only glared at him. He, like his sister or great-uncle, was among the few people who refused to get inline and do as she... a Northwest said. The thought of anyone, let alone an entire family, living in Gravity Falls that could just ignore anything she ordered bothered her. She knew she could get to Mabel, so she wasn't much of a problem; Stan couldn't do anything to her so he isn't a threat; but Dipper had the courage to stand up to her and even strike back like when he showed her proof that her family weren't descendants of the town founder or, what she suspects was all his doing, when she played Mabel in mini golf and was attacked by weird golf balls. Dipper actually opposed her, he'd more than likely do so even if it didn't involve defending Mabel. Because of this Pacifica had every intention of making Dipper do as he was told. Like the rest of the town.
"Don't worry, you'll see." Pacifica said, having something more then prepared to put Dipper in his place, as she continued to look at the scowl on his face.
Pacifica wanted to see that go from defiance to misery. And without Dipper to help her, neither Mabel or anybody else in town would stand up to her or her family heritage. Having nothing nice to say to Pacifica, Dipper merely looked out his side window; he didn't know what Pacifica had planned and didn't care, the sooner he got it done the better. Before long the limo came to a halt. Dipper, having looked out the window for the entirety of the ride as well as judging by Pacifica's choice of wardrobe, already knew where they were heading to: the beach. The only thing he didn't know was why.
"What are we doing here?" Dipper, not sure why Pacifica took him here, asked.
"Here's the deal loser: if you want your dumb book back you can either help me humiliate your sister..." Pacifica, in her usual conceded voice, said with a smirk as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"Never gonna happen." Dipper bluntly stated as he undid his.
"Or you can do something else for me..." Pacifica said with a methodical grin as she stepped out of the limo, her sandals repeatedly making a swiping noise in the beach sand. She already known Dipper wouldn't agree to anything that involved hurting Mabel.
"So what are we doing here..." Dipper, just as impatient as before, asked as he followed her towards the ocean.
"The other day, while I was riding my jet ski across the ocean, I lost my bracelet." Pacifica said as she pointed towards the deeper end, where some big waves hit against a couple of larger rocks. There was also two sharks in the background that looked intimidating, until a large tentacle grabbed one of them and pulled it under.
"And you want me to find it." Dipper, already seeing where this is going, guessed.
"You have until the end of the day, or you're never getting your book back." Pacifica said as she sat in a beach chair that her driver had setup for her.
It took no time at all for Dipper to deduce that she had him do this without any swim trunks or anything, as well as arrive late, just so it'd be harder for him. Without any further delay; Dipper took off his socks and shoes as he began to swim towards the rocks. Completely determined to get his book back.
"But he just kept walking." Soos explained to Mabel as they stood behind the curtain Stan put in front of the vending machine, to keep everyone in suspense.
"There's gotta be something I can do." Mabel said to herself.
"Well, I did see him heading north west." Soos said as he continued to wait for Stan to remove the curtain for the big reveal.
It was after Soos told her what direction Dipper was heading that Mabel figured out who had Dipper's journal. She realized it had to be Pacifica: they were outside Northwest Manor earlier and when she saw them they ran away, so since she doesn't like them... it only made sense that she'd do something like this to Dipper.
"Don't worry Dipper, it's Mabel to the rescue!" Mabel shouted as she ran through the curtain, causing it to fall to the ground.
"'Cuse me... pardon me... sorry..." Mabel repeated as she slowly squeezed her way through the crowd.
Author's Notes
I had to rewrite this chapter, an un-approximate, eight times including once when I forgot to save... But I hope you enjoyed reading this, as it motivates me to continue writing it. But if this chapter seemed off or less like the show let me know, because I do want these to remain enjoyable as well as written like the show.