Gravity Falls: Gideon's Persistance

by KyletheCartoonist

A retelling of Gravity Falls, where Dipper unleashes Ralph, Felix, Vanellope, and Calhoun, Stan reveals his bunker to the kids, and Gideon teams up with The Puppet; and that's just the first day! (Contains numerous crossovers, listed under Wreck-It Ralph as that is the main second category) (Check my profile for a poll regarding the future of this story)

3. Not My Business

Part 3: Not My Business

Vanellope awoke around 8:30 AM. As per her agreement with Stanford, she had to wake up an hour before the opening time to help set up merchandise, and in return Stan allowed her longer breaks than the rest of the Mystery Shack Staff. During these breaks, she basically did whatever she wanted. Sometimes she'd catch up on her sleep, and other times she'd chat with Dipper. Dipper... She thought. He's always so paranoid. Just all like, 'oh no, look out for the unnamed horrors of Gravity Falls! Guaaah!' She laughed at herself. Of course, she liked that about Dipper. Y'know, come to think about it, She thought to herself, There's not really a whole lot I don't like about Dipper. Before this thought could blossom, however, her train of thought was derailed by a sound she still hadn't gotten used to at this point;
Ralph's snoring. Vanellope usually lived on her own, with Game Central Station between Sugar Rush and Fix-It Felix, Jr. to drown out the sound of Ralph's snoring. However, since they were roommates now, Vanellope would have loved more than anything to walk over to his bed, poke him awake, and complain. Your snoring is so loud, I literally can't hear myself think, Stinkbrain! She'd say. Unfortunately, however, Ralph was still entitled to a full half hour of sleep. Lucky. Vanellope smiled. She didn't actually have a problem with it; hey, if she didn't like it, she never would have agreed to waking up so early. Vanellope got up and walked out the door. Her and the rest of the Litwak gang still hadn't gone shopping for clothes, so they had to do everything with what they wore on their backs. Why bother shopping for clothes, she thought, when we won't be here for much longer, anyways? She walked down the stairs into the Shack's lobby, where Stan was opening a box of the same pine tree hats that adorned Dipper's head.
"Rise and shine, Code-Breaker!" Stan greeted. Vanellope groaned, hoping she'd find his horrible puns bearable sooner or later. "Anyways, kid, I've got some things to do down in the bunker. Just making sure Foxy and the rest of the crew are alright. You mind finishing up with these last two boxes?" Stan pointed to the box in front of him, as well as one over to the left of the store.
"No problem, Stan." Vanellope said with a yawn.
"Kid, how many times do I gotta tell ya, call me 'Grunkle Stan!'" He responded. Ugh, this again? Stan seemed to have this weird idea that she was going to be staying with him at the Shack as some sort of adopted great niece. Yet, no matter how many times she told him that it was just temporary, he still insisted that she call him by what the twins call him.
"Stan-"
"Uhp!"
Vanellope sighed. "Grunkle Stan, I already told you that I'm not staying! Once we figure this wheel thing out, the gang and I are going back to the arcade!" Stan wasn't listening. He was already punching the code into his vending machine.
"I dunno, go ask Dipper." He said absentmindedly. A few seconds later, the door slammed shut and Vanellope was on her own again. She sighed and continued to unload the boxes. She looked over to the wall on her left and saw a mirror. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she walked up to it and put one of the pine tree hats on. She giggled at how she looked. Look at me, I'm Dipper von Pines! She laughed to herself.
"What's so funny?" A voice from her right asked. Vanellope jumped, and saw Dipper himself standing there, fully dressed, with a playfully-unamused smile on his face. "Does my hat really look that bad?" He joked.
"Yep," she played along, "And I'll bet it smells worse than Ralph's armpits!"
"I think so, too. Why don't you check for me?" Dipper took his hat off and shoved it in Vanellope's face.
"Ack!"
"Sniff it, sniff it!" The two kids were laughing and walking around, when Vanellope tripped over another box needing to be unloaded. She slipped and fell, with Dipper landing on top of her. The two kids just sat there, not sure what to make of it, when suddenly they heard a gasp and a voice.
"Look who finally got together!" It was Mabel. She was always teasing the two about their quote-unquote 'romantic tension,' but it was really annoying whenever she did. Annoyed by it, Dipper and Vanellope knew what to do. They got up and walked over to Mabel, who started to run. She knew exactly what was going to happen. She tripped with a thud, and the two kids pinned her down, tickle attacking her. "Guys, stoppit!" She said between laughs.
"Stop teasing us about each other!" Dipper said with a snicker.
"Ne-he-he-hever!" Mabel was in tears, now. Unlike her brother, Mabel was still in her thin-layered pajamas, leaving her sides little defense from the tickling onslaught.
"Then it looks like we're gonna have to keep going, Einstein!" Vanellope told the struggling twin.
"What are you kids doin'?!" Grunkle Stan's voice boomed over them. They must not have heard the vending machine over Mabel's giggling. "Vanellope, get back to unloading! Kids, why are you up so early!"
"I came down because I noticed Dipper was gone." Mabel said, eyeing her brother.
Note to self, Dipper thought, Come up with a better torture plan. Tickling has proven to be ineffective.
"Why were you up, then?" Stan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well... Uh..." Dipper stammered. I know the reason, but I'm too embarrassed to say...
"Actually, I don't care. Just stay outta the way while Sweet-Tooth over there unloads. I don't need any more of... Whatever THAT was." Stan walked outside, obviously going to sneak in a few Pitt Sodas in the sun before the Shack opened. Dipper and Mabel walked upstairs to get ready for the day.
"I care what you were doing up so early." Mabel nudged Dipper's shoulder.
"Do you need a repeat of what just happened? I'll get Ralph to hold you down." Dipper said, monotone.
"Nevermind." Mabel's arms darted back to her sides.

"Come one, come all, to see the amazing Human Warthog!" Stanford announced, under his show-name of Mr. Mystery. He unveiled a curtain, where Ralph stood dressed entirely in brown clothing, fake nose and teeth included.
"I'm gonna wreck it!" The crowd gasped, falling for the otherwise-obviously-fake attraction.
"Get a picture with it for a measly $100!" Stan announced. As usual, the crowd all paid up-front and took pictures. Stan smiled.
"Disgusting." Dipper said, looking on with Vanellope. "How can you stand to let him treat your best friend like that?"
"Well, it's really not my call, I guess." She replied. "If Ralph had a problem with it, then he'd speak up. He doesn't mind being made fun of by Stan, because he knows it's for a good cause. He humiliates himself, and in return, we all get a step closer to solving this wheel. Pretty heroic, if you ask me!"
"I guess," Dipper rolled his eyes, "But I still don't like it."
"Didn't think so." Vanellope said with a laugh. Dipper looked over, pretending to be offended. "Say, I've been meaning to ask you something, Dipper."
"What's that?"
"Why were you up so early today?" Dipper froze. Did he dare tell her why? Or did he keep it a secret?
"I can't tell you that," Dipper said in a mocked authority voice, "But I can tell you any other one of my secrets."
"Okay, how about the secret of why you can't tell me that secret?"
"Clever girl!" Dipper joked. He and Vanellope laughed. He'd shown her that movie last night, when she was getting over the events of her torture at the hands of the Puppet.
"So..." Vanellope leaned closer. "You gonna tell me or-"
"DIPPER! BREAK'S OVER. BACK TO WORK!" Stan called from the other room.
"Well, looks like you'll have to tell me later." Vanellope winked before running off.
Saved by the bell. Or, in this case, by the bellows of a grunkle, he thought to himself.

"Another day, another profit!" Stan laughed, fanning the money in his hand.
"Hey, uh, Stan?" Ralph asked hesitantly. Stan turned around.
"What's up, my star money-maker?"
Ralph smiled for half a second at this comment, then returned to his original disposition. "Me, Vanellope and the gang were all wondering if we could borrow some money."
"Borrow money?" Stan asked, surprised. This was the first time any of the Litwak crew had even mentioned the green stuff. "What for?"
"Well," Ralph clasped his hands together. "We need some clothes. Like, pajamas."
"And a bathing suit?" Stan asked, eyes narrowed.
"A what?"
"Ohmigosh," Stan rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "Fine, fine, we'll head out into town and get you guys some new duds."
"Thanks, man! We appreciate it!"
"Yeah, yeah, just go round up your players and we'll head out." Stan told him, getting up. After gathering everyone, the entire team went out to the mall. "Alright, so, here's the deal; Dipper, you take Felix and Ralph to get some clothes at the Mark's Wearhouse. Mabel, you, Vanellope, and Calhoun can go to, I dunno, whatever girly shop is popular these days."
"Forever XXI?" Mabel asked.
"Sure, whatever. Me, I'm going to go look around a bit outside and see if I can find the missing animatronic." Stan went to leave, then quickly turned around. "What animal was it again? A woodpecker?" The gang sighed.

"I still can't believe we found a dressing room that's your size, Ralph!" Felix said with a laugh.
"Watch it, I could say the same about you." The larger man told his small counterpart. Dipper, normally incredibly amused by this sort of thing, was currently too deep in his thoughts to even hear them.
How am I gonna tell Vanellope without ruining everything? Felix noticed Dipper's lack of interest in their bickering, and went over to him.
"You alright, pal?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, things are fine!" Dipper reassured. "I'm just... Thinking..."
"Oh, what about?" Ralph intreguied.
"Nothing important. Just some stuff."
"I think I know what it is." Felix smiled. "Somebody's got a crush."
"Wha-ha-hat?" Dipper's awkward laughing gave him away to the two game characters. "I don't have a crush!"
"C'mon, Dipper! I'm a married man; I know this stuff perfectly well. You're showing signs of affection, right down to the honey-glow in your cheeks!" Dipper covered his cheeks with his hands, making Felix laugh. "You can share anything with us. We won't tell!"
"You're sure?"
"Of course! Who are we going to tell? Gideon and the puppet? You three are the only people here that we know!" Dipper thought about this for a while, then decided to spill.
"Alright... You promise you won't tell?"
"Or my name isn't Fix-It Felix, Jr.!"
"Okay..." Dipper took a deep breath. "I think I have feelings for Vanellope."
"That's so adorable!" Felix exclaimed. Ralph, on the other hand, didn't seem to think so.

"I gotta hand it to you, kiddo," Calhoun told Mabel, "This store does have a lot of clothing that I appreciate."
"I know, right? Everyone back in Piedmont shopped here all the time!" Mabel said with a smile. "What do you think, Vanellope?" No response. "Vanellope?"
The sugar-coated racer was staring at an advertisement of a boy and a girl holding hands, smiling as they embraced each other.
"Gets ya thinking, doesn't it?" Mabel nudged. "Those sorta things are a big reason I'm the amazing romantic I am today!" Vanellope looked over.
"What's that like, anyway?" Mabel's eyes shot open at this unexpected response.
"What do you mean?"
"What's it like to have a boyfriend? Someone who's always there? A lot of the people back in Sugar Rush were girls, and the few boys that were there were too... Feminine. Even then, a lot of them didn't like me because of the whole 'glitched racer' business. Even once my coding was fixed, they thought I was mad at them, and nobody ever asked me out." This broke Mabel to hear. How could such a cutie-patootie never have had a boyfriend?
"Well... Have you considered anyone here in Gravity Falls?"
"I dunno, Mabel," Vanellope's eyes lowered. "We're not staying here permanently, so any relationship I have would be destined to end, anyway."
"There's always Dipper..." Mabel said under her breath. Vanellope gave her an exhasperated sigh.
"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"
"Well, just think about it. You wouldn't have to get to know him, you already live with him, and I think he might have a little somethin'-somethin' for you." Vanellope looked up.
"You think so?"
"I know so." Mabel assured confidently. "I've shared every day of my life with Dipper. I know him inside and out, and he totally digs you." Vanellope thought about that for a moment. "The question is," Mabel continued, "Do you like him back?" Vanellope stood there, thinking long and hard, replaying all of her memories of Dipper in her head. Finally, she turned to Mabel with an answer.
"Yeah."

"Here, Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie!" Stan cried out. "I have the rest of your friends with me! Commere, you big purple bunny!" He stood still, his hands on his hips. "Where could she be?" He thought aloud. A hand landed on his shoulder.
"Bonnie's a boy, actually." Stan turned around, and gasped at the owner of the voice.
"You again?! Why can't you just leave me alone, you oversized sockdoll!"
"On the contrary, Stanford." The marionette rose. "Gideon and I are no longer working together."
"Wait, what?!"
"Allow me to explain." It put it's hand on Stan's forehead, and a memory played in his mind.

"That was terrifying!" Gideon is shaking with fear. The puppet floats over to him and places its hand on his shoulder.
"I am ashamed of you, Gleeful."
"Well, Sorry, but next time you try to stay sane with a twelve-year-old grabbing you!" The puppet smiles at this comment.
"I used to live in a pizza place, you know. Children even younger than that have grabbed me, and I never caved. You are not the mastermind I had thought you were. I may just as well side with the Mystery Shack crew."
"Fine, then!" Gideon is screaming now. "Go ahead. Be a traitor! I don't need you, anyway!"
"I'm not a traitor," The puppet is flying away. "I'm just joining a side where I'm not carrying all the weight."

"Wow," Stan said when the memory ended, "So, you're one of us, now?"
The marionette shook its head. "Not yet. I just need to see how you all manage yourselves. You do, however, have bonus points from Ralph and Vanellope lasting the torture for that long."
"Uh, yeah..." Stan rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, are you able to help us find this rabbit thing?"
"Of course," The puppet said. "I used to control the creatures, don't forget." The marionette put its hands to its temples, as though it were summoning a creature. Before too long, however, a van pulled up by them. A door opened, and four people and a dog exited.
"This looks like the place!" One of the people said. He was a man, with a red neckerchief, a white long-sleeve shirt, and blue jeans.
"Like, how can you be so sure?!" Another man asked, this one wearing a green tee with brown khakis.
"Fred hasn't been wrong before, Shaggy!" The woman, wearing purple everything, with red hair held with a purple headband, scolded.
"Rait! Rook rover rere!" The dog said, pointing to Stan and the puppet.
"Jinkies!" The final person, a woman in a large orange sweater and think rounded glasses, exclaimed. "Scooby is right! There's the monster right there!"
MONSTER?! The puppet grew furious. It lungeed at the woman, pinning her to the ground.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A MONSTER IS!" The puppet exclaimed, preparing to attack. One of the other people from the van, Fred, knock the puppet off.
"Like, zoinks! You okay, Velma?" Shaggy helped her up.
"I'm fine, Shaggy," She told him, a bit shaken, "At least this'll be an easy case!"
"Funny," the woman in purple laughed, "Usually I'm the damsel in distress!" Velma shoots her a dirty look.
"Hilarious, Daphne." She said with a huff.
"Hold on a minute, you meddling kids!" Stan walked over. "Who do you think you are, coming over here and angering this thing for no reason?!"
"Perhaps, we got off on the wrong foot," Fred approached Stan and extended his hand, "My name-"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard all your names already!" Stan replied angrily. "I demand you release that apparition immediately!"
"Like, I'm afraid we can't!" Shaggy said, stepping in. "We've been hired to find out the culprit who destroyed the arcade!"
"Oh, come on! The marionette would never do something like that!"
The puppet couldn't believe this. Stanford Pines, the very man who just yesterday it had tried to destroy the family of, was defending it?! The puppet gathered everyone in a group, and placed an appendage on each of them.
"Thank you for this, Pines, but I am afraid I am guilty as charged." Its head dropped. Stan couldn't believe this. The puppet was feeling... Emotion?!
"Rust rike I said!" Scooby sneered. "I rever smell ranything wrong! I smelled rhe rarionette rat the rarcade!"
"Then that settles it!" Daphne grabbed the puppet by the wrist. "I'm afraid we're going to have to take you to the local police station."
"I understand," the puppet walked with shame. It stepped into the Mystery Machine without a fight and closed the door. The crew all returned to the van and drove away. Stan couldn't believe this, but he knew what he had to do. He ran into the mall to tell the team what had happened.

"What a fun day!" Mabel skipped. Calhoun walked behind Mabel, ahead of Vanellope. The young president was still deep in thought. How am I gonna tell Dipper? When am I gonna tell Dipper? These thoughts were interrupted by something that was music to her ears.
It was the sound of Dipper's voice. He and the rest of the group had met up already. He walked over. "Hey, Vanellope, I gotta talk to you."
"Uh, no he doesn't!" Ralph laughed awkwardly. "Nothing going on here." Everyone stared at him, then Dipper continued.
"Do you want to go somewhere else?" He asked, going to grab her hand.
"No, she doesn't!" Ralph stepped between them, grabbing Dipper's hand to shake it.
"Stinkbrain, what's going on with you?" Vanellope asked, hands on her hips.
"I agree, Wreck-It, this is odd, even by your standards." Calhoun looked at the nine-foot man with a quizzical look. Ralph was about to tell everyone to mind their own business when Stan ran up to them.
"Kids! Something important just happened!"
Thank goodness, Ralph thought, a distraction.
"What's going on, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked. Stan filled them in on what happened, and all of their jaws dropped.
"So, the puppet isn't a bad guy?" Felix couldn't believe this.
"I don't know what's going on with him... Her... It... But I say we go and get it!"
"It's our best chance of finding Bonnie," Dipper stepped forward, puffing out his chest, "So I say we do it."
"I'm gonna wreck it!" Ralph said, putting his fists up in the pose he'd had to take numerous times in the thirty years he'd been in existence.
"That's good enough for me." Stan turned. "They said they're going to the local jail, which isn't far away. Everybody get in the car!"
"Stan, we didn't bring the car." Mabel informed her uncle.
"What? We didn't?"
"Wreck-It and I don't fit." Calhoun reminded him.
"Oh, right. Okay, uh, you two look around the woods for Bonnie. Everyone else, come with me!" Everyone ran to their positions.

Ralph and Calhoun had been searching for a while, and no luck so far.
"Wreck-It, can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure, Calhoun, what's going on?"
"What was with your attitude earlier today? Trying to block Dipper and Vanellope like that?"
Ralph sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
"Alright," Ralph took a deep breath, "Dipper was talking with Felix and I earlier, and he confessed his feelings for Vanellope. He was so proud of the little guy for confessing something like that, but I absolutely hated it. I know that she's had a harsh past as-is, and I'm worried that Dipper's just gonna break her heart. I know I'm not her programmer or anything, and with our homes destroyed... Well... I'm pretty much the only family she has, now." He sighed again. "Is it wrong? To try to control someone's life like that, even if you have the greatest of intentions?"
Calhoun looked Ralph in the eyes. "Soldier, you're a good guy. Really, you are. You care about her so much, I'm starting to think you're getting too careless. If there's one thing that Brad taught me, it's that life is going to happen whether or not you're prepared. If Vanellope is ready for something as trusting as romance, well, I say have at her. Let her do her thing. And, if things go wrong, she'll be able to learn from it. She's a smart kid, you know. As for controlling someone's life, well, you just can't let that happen. In the end, it isn't your call. And, if she has to choose someone, well, I'd say Dipper is one of the best choices."
"Yeah," Ralph admitted, "I guess you're right."
"Now, come on." She elbowed him as she stood up. "This AWOL robot isn't going to find itself."

The puppet was sitting in the back of the Mystery Machine, thinking about what had happened. I've always been dedicated to tracking down the killer... But am I a bad person, now? Is it wrong to give life to those who don't want it? Just then, a wheezing sound was heard from some nearby boxes. Bonnie? The marionette began digging through the boxes until it eventually came across a disfigured rabbit, missing a face and an arm.
Bonnie! Is that you?! The puppet asked. It didn't need to make physical contact with other machines, as it just sent messages out in a somewhat-telepathic manner.
Puppet... It's been so long...
Bonnie! It's a good thing you're alright! Everyone's been gathered. We've been searching for you for days!
I can't move...
Why not?
They took away my face... They took away my arm... It just wasn't fair... The puppet thought for a moment at this. Was there anything it could do? It's not like machinery for an outdated robotic bunny animatronic were easy to come by.
Okay, don't worry. They've got to be in these boxes somewhere. The puppet began digging through the boxes even more dedicated than before. If I can just find Bonnie's missing parts... Then we could escape! A bit of digging later, a face was found, but the arm was still missing.
Here, the puppet reapplied Bonnie's face. How is that? Can you see better, now?
Yeah, I'm getting there. Bonnie's strength was coming back. What would they have used my arm, for?
I have an idea. Hold on a minute. The puppet tried sending out another telepathic notice to Bonnie's missing arm. I can't find it! It used a nearby chair to stand itself up. I'm sorry.
Marionette! That's it!
What?
Look at the chair! The puppet turned around. Bonnie's missing arm was being used as a refurbishment on the chair! Using its tapered fingers, the marionette slid its thumb under the arm and pulled it out. It brought it over and applied it to Bonnie's shoulder.
Is that better?
Yeah, I'm ready to go! Bonnie stood. What are we gonna do to get out?
The puppet turned around to stare at the passengers, the entire Mystery Team was too much to overpower, and even if it attacked, it would be easily done-in by the dog.
The dog... It thought. It turned to face Bonnie. I got it! The puppet began to do something it had done numerous times before.
It began to possess its victim.

The team was panting, but finally they made it to the police station.
"Okay, everyone keep a look out for the Mystery Machine!" Felix started to search, and everyone followed suit. After a while, they were having trouble finding anything.
"Curse these majestic spacious parking lots!" Stan yelled, shaking his fist.
"Keep it down, Stan! There's the van right there!" Dipper pointed, and sure enough, the Mystery Machine was... Pulling over?
"I don't get it," Mabel tilted her head to the side. "The station is right here! Why are they stopping here?" They looked on for a while, unable to hear what was going on.
The crew all got out, all of them apparently yelling at Scooby-Doo. Eventually, while the Mystery team was occupied, the onlookers saw the puppet floating towards them with a large animatronic bunny.
"Hey, is that Bonnie?" Vanellope asked. "Way to go, puppet!"
The two attractions arrived, but didn't stop to chat.
"Run. Now!" Bonnie instructed. The Mystery Shack crew didn't hesitate to follow his orders."

Eventually, they were all back at the Shack, after informing Ralph and Calhoun of their victory.
"So, that's why I destroyed the arcade. To keep you from returning to your home-worlds." Bonnie said, acting as a medium for the puppet so it wouldn't have to touch everyone there. "I hope you can all forgive me."
"Puppet..." Calhoun said, "You destroyed our homes, tortured our friends, and tried to take over the world for your own selfish purposes. That being said, you put all of that aside and tried to right your wrongs, and for that I give you credit. Plus, possessing a dog to make it urinate on someone is rather amusing." She winked. "Good job, soldier."
Everyone agreed with her comment. The puppet let go of Bonnie, everything needed to be said having been said.
"Alright, you two," Stan stood up, "Time to go down to the bunker and join the rest of your team. Everyone else, you should probably all get ready for bed." Everyone, tired from the days events, were more than happy to oblige. Later that night, Dipper was sitting in the living room, studying the wheel and the journal, trying to find some sort of connection.
"How is it going?" Vanellope asked, catching Dipper off-guard. "Oh, hey Vanellope. Things are looking up, but I have noticed something odd."
"Oh, yeah? And what would that be?"
"None of the animatronics, puppet included, seem to be on here. The carrot might be Bonnie, but I don't see how-" Dipper's thoughts were interrupted by Vanellope grabbing his hand. They each looked at one another, realizing they felt the same way about the other. "How long?" They asked, giggling at how synced it was.
"For a while, I believe." Ralph was leaning against the doorway, watching what was happening.
"Oh, uh, hey, Ralph. How long have you been there?" Dipper asked.
"I could give the same answer as before." Ralph entered the room and sat down, offering the kids to sit in his giant lap, to which they did.
"Dipper... Kid... I want to apologize about how I'd was behaving at the mall earlier. That was uncool. I guess I'm just a bit overprotective of Vanellope, but the truth is, that's not my business. If she wants to start dating someone, then, I'm glad it's you, Dipper." They all smiled at each other. "Now, I'm off to bed. Don't stay up too late, okay? I'm pretty sure Stan has our adventure for tomorrow planned already." He winked and left, leaving the kids alone. They looked at each other, thinking, lost in their eyes...