Disclaimer: The views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. The following is a fan-written fiction. Gravity Falls, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Kim Possible, and Big Bad Beetleborgs are property of their respective owners, creators, and publishers. Please support the official releases.

TW: This story will contain references to physical and psychological abuse, murder, and torture.

|As Cruel As School Children|

To say Trip Vanderhoff was in a foul mood was to say that the wind blew, the rain fell, and the strong preyed upon the weak. The Monday morning after their long weekend and he was still seething over everything that had gone wrong. Sitting across from him in their family's Rolls Royce Phantom, Van watched his brother. He too had a lot to process, but his priorities diverged.

"Stupid…" Trip seethed, Van perking up.

When Trip didn't follow up with anything, Van looked down at the floor of the car, then out the window.

Trip's eyebrows furrowed, and his lips curled back, before he slammed his fist against the inside of the Phantom's suicide door. "What am I going to do?"

Van jumped when Trip pounded the door. "I know, right? Saturday was…"

His brother struck the door again, then threw his head back against the leather headrest of the Saloon Car. "Horrible? Yes, moron, I was there!" Leaning on the door's armrest, he held three fingers near his temple and watched the neighborhood pass by his window. "I wish it hadn't happened…"

"You're preaching to the choir, bro." Van shuddered, the memory of those red eyes and tooth-filled maw fresh in his head like they'd just run out of Hillhurst. "I'm having nightmares about it."

Trip looked at his brother. "Nightmares? Ugh, wait until Dad finds out we wasted two million dollars on a stupid comic book, and gave it away for free."

Van did a double take. "Uh, Trip? What about the monster in the house? You know… the one that literally almost killed us?"

"Who cares about that? I lost my comic and Andrew and his dumb friends are probably sitting around laughing about how they got it from me."

Van shook his head. "Uh, I'm pretty sure they got eaten by the monster. Hopefully Pine Tree too."

Trip looked at his brother. "Wait… when was Pine Tree there?"

How could his brother not have seen them? "Uh… we ran right by him, and I guess his sister or something when we were running away from the monster?"

"Pine Tree. Was there?!" Trip snarled. "Why was he there?!"

"I don't know, I guess McCormick brought him for backup?!"

Trip slammed against the headrest again and screamed. In the front of the Phantom, Dudley was surprised his young master's shriek could get through the soundproofing like that.

"Just freaking perfect!" Trip yelled after his scream. "I bet Andrew rubbed enough brain cells together for once to expect I had a plan! I got played!"

Van was unsure. "Hey, that monster was right behind us, and we left them behind. They're probably all dead in that house."

Trip shook his head. "Hey idiot, I expected Nano to call and scream our heads off for beating up Andrew. How do you think she'd react if her grandson didn't come home that night?"

Van looked towards the other passenger door of the Phantom and imagined a furious Nano ripping it open and demanding what they did. "… Oh."

"Who knows, that 'monster' was probably a friend of theirs who was in on it." That made sense in Trip's head, better than the idea of an actual monster trying to kill them. "Actually, yeah, that's what it was."

"That looked way too real," Van argued.

"How does a monster 'look real', Van? They're not." Slouching in his seat, Trip let out a low, seething growl. "Let's forget about the stupid 'monster', okay? I want my revenge."

Seeing no reasoning with his brother, Van acquiesced. "Okay, fine. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I'm sure I'll think of something during class." He looked out the window, their school was coming up. "And when I do, we'll make sure Drew remembers his place–under my foot with the rest of these losers."

Echo Creek Academy, the neighborhood's public school, home of the Awesome Opossums, and a curious place to find such wealthy children as the Vanderhoffs. However, it suited both boys just fine: they were richer and better connected than almost every other student at the school and could do whatever they wanted with no fear of consequences.

It just made sense. After all, why go to a rich private school and be just another beautiful face in the beautiful crowd, when one can remind the normies every day how sad and pathetic their lives were?

In fact, nothing cheered Trip up more than that. Seeing the buses pass by, he smiled a little. "Look at them all, the unlucky plebs."

He gestured to the buses. "At the end of the day, we're better than all of these people."

He huffed. "At the start of it, and the middle too."

Van sighed, watching his brother's mood improve. "Day and night, bro. The Vanderhoffs are the top of the world."

"Our world," Trip could feel his frustrations fall behind as the Phantom pulled into the parking spot. This was good, plotting revenge in a bad mood would only cause more brooding. "Let's go remind everyone that they're just living in it."

Van nodded in agreement as Dudley opened the door. Trip slipped out onto the sidewalk and walked away with a toss of his curly blonde hair to hold his head high. All around him, his classmates turned and looked–struck by the suddenness of his emergence and the swagger he strode with.

"Good Morning, Echo Creek Academy!" Van joined his side as he greeted their classmates. "The Vanderhoff Boys are here! Compare your lives to ours and wolf down your antidepressants!"

Something was off. The other kids waiting outside for the bell to ring were all looking at them with shifty, mocking leers. Some were leaning close to their friends and murmuring over the laughter, some were pointing straight at them… but none of them were the slightest impressed or upset at his opening insult.

Trip and Van looked around, put off by the crowd's different energy. "What…? Huh…?"

"Órale!" A student further back among the crowd shouted. "It's MC Peepants and his boy, DJ Depends!"

Whoever that comedian was broke the dam, and the laughter burst out in an overwhelming deluge from just about every student. The good mood Trip had been fostering since their pull up washed away, leaving him with only anger to hold onto in the face of his mockery.

"EXCUSE YOU?!" He screamed at full force, while Van beside him went pale.

A student called out. "You should switch to dark-colors, man! It's easier to hide when you make a mess!"

"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Trip demanded over the laughter, his voice cracking higher. His mind was racing just like Van's. No, there's no way that they know…!

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Called the one person at school who was neither impressed nor intimidated by either of them–because she was there for the exact same reason.

He turned to his right, and there was Brittney Wong–head of the Echo Creek Academy Awesome Opossums Cheerleader Squad and undisputed ruler of all school functions. The overachiever, the diva, the daughter of old money that was fiercely established in this neck of LA.

Trip and Van regularly joined forces with her in putting down the huddled masses of Echo Creek Academy–but this time her venom-dripping sneer was aimed at them.

She reached into her purse and pulled out her smartphone. "You should have; it's all over the net."

Trip looked at her phone and began to hyperventilate.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.

Brittney turned the phone around and held it out for him. On the screen, Trip's worst fears were confirmed, as the video showed him inside of Zoom Comics posturing over Drew after just being rejected by Heather and fake-ripping the comic in half. The angle of the video allowed him to see what he didn't then: Dipper advancing on him from behind with murder in his brown eyes.

He could only watch as the out of towner whipped him around and punched the smug smile off his face.

Brittney turned her phone over to look at it, then back at Trip. Her nasty sneer grew worse when she saw the look on his face. "Usually when you get in a fight you hit them back, not whatever this is."

This being sobbing like a baby as Dipper hauled him to his feet and threw him and Van out of the store like he was their father.

No no no no no no no…!

Trip couldn't catch his breath. He staggered back towards his brother. Someone had filmed what happened, and everyone had seen it. "That's… it's not…! I'm not actually…!"

Brittney looked up from the phone again. "… a huge wimp who cries when he gets hit once, and pees his pants when he's scared?"

She brought the phone back up for them to see video of themselves running out of Hillhurst, screaming in terror with their pants soaked before Dudley scooped them up.

"Because this is real compelling evidence."

"NO!" Van bellowed. "That's not us! That's a total fake!"

"Take that video down, or I swear to God, I'll sue you, Wong!"

The plea fell on uncaring ears, as Brittney rolled her eyes. "Don't blame me for being the messenger. You're the ones who should be keeping a better eye on the net. And honestly? There isn't enough money in the world to fix this."

With a sharp whip of her hair, she gave them a final cruel smile and walked towards where some of her fellow cheerleaders waited near the doors. "Have fun being the laughingstock of the school, Vanderhoff!"

Trip's world began to spin.

The whole school is laughing at us–at me!

They all saw him getting punched in the face and crying, then running away screaming from a haunted mansion begging for help.

They humiliated me… they put it on the internet so the whole world would laugh at me!

He looked at his classmates, making jokes and doing impressions as–their attention falling away from him even as he remained the subject of the moment.

They're savoring this, circling like vultures, and watching me die!

"Stop laughing or we'll freaking sue all of you!" Van screamed, only to be pelted further with mockery.

Brittney looked back at the melting down brothers and noticed a car she hadn't seen before pulling up at the end of the bus line: an old white SUV. Her eyebrows rose when the doors opened and Misao–her hair dyed from its purple with white streaks to red that faded into orange at the ends–stepped from it onto the sidewalk. "Who is-?"

Her eyebrows shot almost halfway up her forehead when Mabel followed her onto the sidewalk, and Dipper stepped out of the front passenger side.

Van noticed the Pines get out of Shermie's SUV too and grabbed Trip's shoulder. "Trip…! TRIP, LOOK!"

Trip turned, and goggled at the sight of the Pines Twins, in disbelief. "What?! Why are they here?!"

Not noticing them, Dipper placed his hands on his hips and smiled as he looked at their new school. "Well, here we are, Echo Creek Academy."

Misao nodded. "It is very… suburban?"

Like the school buildings she'd see on American TV shows, even. She looked over at the sign of the school, and the statue next to it. "Is that a giant rat?"

"Oh my gosh, it's Otis the Opossum!" Mabel cried out before she ran over and hugged the statue.

Misao tilted her head to one side. "Why is there a statue of an opossum?"

Dipper looked down at her. "He's the school mascot."

There were worse animals to have as mascots, but this one was baffling to the German. "A strange choice."

She looked to her left and frowned. "Oh no."

Dipper looked. "What's–oh."

He spotted the Vanderhoffs. The curly-haired blonde was shaking where he stood, his face flushed as red as the fire in his eyes. Trip raised a finger and stabbed the air towards the object of his fury and humiliation.

Dipper scowled. "Wow, you actually go here?"

"You! What are you doing here?!" Trip demanded

"… Going to school?"

Mabel looked up from her embrace of Otis the Opossum. "Hugging an opossum statue?"

Trip began walking towards Dipper, shaking his head. Van followed close behind, cracking his knuckles. "Oh no, no, no… you are not going to my school!"

Dipper's gaze flicked between the brothers. "I don't care, and I don't have time for your crap. Leave me, my sister, and my friends alone."

Trip stepped up to him. "You don't have friends. You won't have friends! You won't have anything when I am through with you, Pine Tree! Not for what you did to me!"

Dipper's eyes narrowed, and his lips pulled into a scowl. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise!" Trip shouted back and pointed between him, Mabel, and Misao. "All of you are going down!"

Right on the tail end of his shout, Marco and Star walked over straight from their school bus. Marco's hands were buried in his hoodie pocket, and his expression was darkening as he reached Dipper's side.

"Hey guys, I bet you two have better places to be than here or on the ground," he suggested.

Star said nothing but stared right at both boys with a bright smile, and tossed her wand to herself–the hearts on her cheeks replaced with grey skulls.

Any fight Van had left him, and he grabbed Trip by the shoulder. "Uh, dude? No! We're out of here!"

Trip struggled against Van's grip. "No! I'm not walking away! I don't care who you think you are or what you think you can do, but-mmph!"

Van clamped his hand over Trip's mouth and hauled him back. The last thing he wanted was any of Star Butterfly's smoke. "Dudley, drive us around to the back!"

Furious, but helpless to stop his stronger brother from pulling him back to the family car, Trip freed his mouth and yelled. "I will wipe you out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, Pine Tree! Mark my flipping words!"

Van yanked Trip back and threw him into the back of their car and shouted to Dudley. "Drive, GO!"

"At once sir." Dudley closed the door behind his charges and went around to get in the car.

As the Vanderhoffs left, Dipper shook his head. "Somehow, still not worse than Gideon."

Cuddling Otis, Mabel laughed. "Oh ho ho, yeah."

Dipper looked at her. "Mabel, stop hugging the opossum."

"But I love him!"

Star looked at Misao's hair, and she let out a gasp. "Oh my gosh, what did you do to your hair?!"

She shot over to the smaller girl and took some in her hand gently. "I love the color!"

Misao reached up and patted the orange tips of her sidelocks from underneath. "Oh, Mabel dyed my hair yesterday."

She reached underneath the back of her head and fanned out her waist-length hair. Mabel had done meticulous work, taking such care with changing her hair color that it had a shine and lustre that made the unreal color almost look natural. "She did good work, ja?"

Mabel reluctantly let go of Otis and stood. "It took all day, but we got it done. I think it's my best work yet."

Star turned to Mabel and took her hands in hers. "Teach me your hair magic, oh hair wizard."

Mabel closed her eyes and chuckled. "All will be revealed, in my Mabel's Guide to Hair Care series…"

Marco watched the Phantom disappear around the corner. "Everyone was joking about Horse Boy and his brother on the bus. Kinda not surprised you're the ones they got beef with."

"Really?" Dipper asked.

Marco glanced aside to Star with a small smile. "New people in town tend to shake things up."

Misao huffed. "Those rotzlöffel are the whole reason we went to Hillhurst."

Both Marco and Star remembered their own run in with Trip and Van that day.

"Wait," Marco said, "Really?"

Mabel nodded. "Yep, they tried to lure Drew, Jo, and Roland into shenanigans. One thing led into another…"

"… And we're in this mess," Dipper finished.

Marco tried not to purse his lips too hard as he glanced out the corner of his eye at Star, her face was the straightest he'd ever seen it. He looked at Dipper. "You need help dealing with those two, let us know."

Dipper waved his hand back and forth. "It's fine. They do not scare me."

"We've dealt with richer and crazier," Mabel reassured them both.

"Crazier than the Vanderhoffs?" Marco drew his hands out of his hoodie and shook his head. "Why is it that the richer you are, the more terrible you are to everyone around you?"

Mabel picked up and cuddled Misao. "Hey, it's not everyone!"

Misao giggled. "Ah, Mabel!"

Star turned to Marco. "Yeah, I'm a princess and I'm not terrible!"

"Yeah, Star's great! Get in on this hug, girl!"

Star hugged Misao and Mabel, trapping the shorter girl between them. "Friendship group hug~!"

Marco shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, but two out of six isn't good."

Dipper groaned. Bad enough we have to deal with monsters. "There's more of them?"

"Sure, besides those two clowns there's Brittney Wong and Jeremy Birnbaum," Marco's tone shifting to a gravel-filled snarl made Dipper's heartbeat pick up. "Both are objectively terrible."

"Uhh… what's with Jeremy?" Dipper asked.

"He's an eight-year-old who keeps beating Marco in Karate," Star said.

Mabel gave Marco a flat look. "Wow, really?"

"Hey, he's not terrible because of that!"

Dipper snapped out of his haze and pointed. "Hey, is that Brittney?"

Brittney was still standing where she'd stopped, staring at the lot of them like she was watching reality unravel before her eyes.

Misao looked at Star and Mabel, then at Marco and Dipper. "Ah… is she okay?"

Mabel followed Brittney's line of gaze to Dipper and gestured to him. "She's probably stunned by how hot this giant nerd is."

Dipper's face broke into a pale blush. "Mabel!"

Marco was unused to her expression being something other than contempt for all of creation. "Uh, Brittney? Are you doing okay?"

His voice broke the spell cast on her, and she went from slack-jawed to glaring in the blink of an eye.

"None of your business, Barfo! Hmph!" Whipping her hair hard, she turned her back to the whole group and marched off.

Marco snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Yeah, see that? She's been that way since Freshman year. I don't even know what I did to her."

Star looked at Marco. "Oh, I bet she's still mad because you almost puked on her party bus all those times, remember? Huh? Remember the party bus, and how all the rolling and turning, and rocking made you really motion sick?"

He turned green. "Y-yeah."

"Whoa, you too?" Dipper asked. "If you like I can give you some tips on how to deal with it."

Marco's nausea fell away. "What do you do for it?"

Dipper smiled as he shared. "You know, simple stuff, just focus on something that isn't moving or count backwards from a high number. If you're just riding in a car, close your eyes and just relax."

Marco nodded. "I know about that."

A flinch rocked Dipper. "Oh, uh… have you tried ginger?"

No Marco had not. "What does that do?"

Just as quickly he brightened again. "Well, it's really simple biology, you see-"

The bell ringing, however, cut him short. Everyone looked towards the doors as they opened, and students began filing in.

"Hold that thought 'til later," Marco said, and he turned to Star. "Let's get to class!"

"Coming~!" Star called, cartwheeling after him.

Dipper watched the two leave. "Yeah, talk later."

Mabel, her hand to her lips, giggled. "We gotta get our classes and get Misao registered, Dipper. Wipe your mouth and come on!"

As she and Misao went ahead, Dipper flushed and stomped after her. "Mabel, what the heck?!"

Brittney watched the group leave. Her scowl was gone, reduced to a frown and an uncharacteristically furrowed brow. Like everyone else who saw it, an especially timid-looking girl with short hair pulled into a ponytail was concerned. It wasn't like Brittney Wong to be so… worried about something.

"Uh, Brittney? Are you okay?"

Brittney whirled around on the girl. "Uh, hello, Sabrina? Did you not see?"

She looked back again at the school's doors. "That was…"

A/N: Being a bully has some pretty nasty consequences. Let's hope Trip and Van have learned their lesson and won't escalate their conflict with... oh who am I kidding?