Pinesquest 2D, a Romance of the Second Dimension

Ch.2

Dipper looked at it before taking out his pen and the journal Mable had given him on his birthday. He flipped open the first page.

"Good news is that it is a simple Caesar cipher. Due to dealing with it so much, I already have the key to the '3 letters back' version written here, so let's try that first."

After a minute of work, he had translated the message to 'Who is the leader of the gnomes?'

Dipper rolled his eyes before writing "Jeff" and putting it back in the box.

The box then rumbled before the chains disappeared, and Mable threw open the lid with all her might.

Inside was a golden chain neckless.

"Oh, nice bling."

Mable then picked it up and got a puzzled look on her face.

"Um, Dipper? I think this is enchanted to protect the wearer."

Dipper raised his eyebrow at her before she handed it to him, and he noticed what she had done.

While holding it, he knew that it would help keep its wearer safe—not by much, but slightly.

"Ok then. Let's add that to the 'figure out later' pile and decide who should wear this. Mable?"

She shook her head. "No thanks, I can stay in the back and fire with my grappling hook. You have the melee weapon, so you should have the Golden Pendant."

Dipper couldn't flaunt her logic, so he clasped it around his neck.

Mable smiled when looking at Dipper. "Now you and Stan can both join the 'gold chains for old men' club."

Both twins chuckled at that before heading deeper into the forest, past where the spere was stabbed and Mable was attacked, and into the rest of the forest.

After passing through some trees, they saw a hill before them. To their left was a clearing hemmed in with trees and underbrush thick enough they couldn't pass, while to their right, the path continued as normal.

Mable pointed to the left. "What's over there?"

Dipper shrugged and started going down the path. "I have no idea, but Wendy always told me to follow paths unless I have guides, navigational equipment, or know the area extremely well. Given we have gnomes that might not be gnomes trying to kill us, let's stick with the trail for now."

Mable shrugged and followed Dipper to the right.

"Ok Dipping Sauce, if you think this is safer."

"I know it's safer. A marked trail is the-"

Suddenly, two gnomes jumped out from the middle of the road and charged at the two.

"AHH! Ambush!"

One charged at Dipper, prompting him to stab forward with his spear. It sunk into the side up to the hilt.

"HISS."

And the gnome didn't even notice.

"What the heck?!"

The other took his momentary distraction and tried jumping upward to bite Dipper's arm.

"Watch out!"

Mable raised her grappling hook and aimed at the gnome in midair before firing.

SWISH

Thump

She hit the gnome's arm, but it grazed him instead of the epic mid-air shooting Mable aimed for.

Despite being slightly knocked off target, the gnome could still grab Dipper's arm and gnaw on it. In response, the arm slightly glowed a golden color.

"Get off!"

Dipper pulled back his head and delivered a massive head but to the gnome on his arm, who looked up at just the wrong time.

CRACK

Dipper's forehead made full contact with the gnome's face, rendering it a bloody mess as it fell to the ground.

POOF

Seconds later, it turned into another pile of coins.

THUNK

While Dipper was distracted by that, Mable fired her grappling hook again, this time at the gnome, still impaled on the spear. She caught it right in the face, causing it to dissipate and leave coins behind.

"Ok, I think we learned several things from that Dipper."

Dipper nodded as he examined his arm.

"The amulet does work; the gnomes are tough enough that we should not hold back when fighting, and they are definitely not the gnomes we know. Maybe some kind of magical construct? Or perhaps some leftover weirdness from Weirdmagedon."

Mable shrugged. "Yeah, that's good too, but I was talking about how we followed the trail and were still attacked, so there is no reason not to check out the other way, at least now."

Mable then turned around and headed back the way they came, towards the clearing. Dipper sighed but followed behind.

When they reached the clearing, they found it only had logs, mushrooms, and stumps.

"Hun, I was expecting something more exciting."

Dipper chuckled. "Yeah, well, at least we aren't being attacked by gnomes."

Mable turned around in a panic and slammed her hand over Dipper's mouth.

"DIPPER! Why would you say that?! Never taunt Murphy!"

Mable then scrunched up her face in disgust as she realized he was licking her hand.

"Eww! Cuties!"

She then wiped her hand on his shirt to get it clean.

"Hay! Stop that!"

Once convinced that her hand was brother-spit free, she readied her grappling hook again and swept the clearing. After confirming there were no gnomes in it, she headed back to the trail with Dipper beside her.

A little later, they reached a portion of the hill that was climbable. Mable saw something shiny from the base on the back of the hill but couldn't identify it.

"Hay, what's that?"

Dipper squinted but couldn't identify it any more than Mable could.

"I don't know Mable. But if it's that shiny, it's probably man-made. Maybe we'll get lucky, and it's a cell phone a bird grabbed."

The two climbed up the hill and headed to the object.

"I think it's a-"

"SCHMEBULOCK!"

A gnome with a disheveled look jumped out of grass too short to hide it. His eyes were pointed in two different directions, and he held a bottle the twins couldn't identify.

"Schmebulock? What are you doing here?"

Schmebulock then threw the bottle at their feet, causing it to shatter and release a cloud of foul-smelling gas.

"Gas attack!"

The twins then became so nauseous that they were unable to focus as Schmebulock charged at Mable and chomped down on her leg.

"Ow!"

Dipper could hold it back just enough to identify where Mable ended, and Schemebulock began and then thrust his spear forward like a hoplite of Ancient Greece.

The blow struck true and impaled the gnome, but Schmebuclock wasn't fazed and simply shoved it off him before turning toward Dipper.

"Take this!"

Mable pointed her grappling hook point blank at the top of Shcmebulock's head and pulled the trigger.

"SHCMEBU-POOF."

The gnome disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving coins where he once stood.

"Ok, where did he come from?"

Dipper walked over to the ground where Schmebulok appeared and thoroughly examined it.

"There are no trap doors here. So where did he come from?"

Mable was rubbing her leg where Schmebulock delivered a nasty chomp.

"No idea, but he was a bit worse than Gompers did. Want some healing?"

Dipper shook his head. "Just a slightly sore arm; the amulet did its job. Though given that the pamphlet said you can only heal so much before you run out of mana, maybe we should conserve it for now?"

Mable stopped rubbing her leg and examined it for a bit before taking a few steps and doing jumping jacks.

"I don't think it will impact anything right now, so let's continue conserving healing. But I am going to use it after the next time we get injured, though."

Dipper nodded, and then Mable turned to look at what had caught her eye in the first place.

It was an ax lodged into a stump.

"Ooh, check out this axe! Let's take it with us! I bet it'll come in handy!"

Dipper looked at Mable with a raised eyebrow.

"For what?"

"I dunno, axe things?"

Mable then tried to pull the axe out of the stump. She pulled as hard as she could but eventually lost her grip and fell backward, making an "Oof" as she hit the ground.

"Aw poop-darn…"

Dipper then steps up with a hopeful expression.

"Maybe I could give it a try?"

Mable had a conflicted expression as she prepared to talk to Dipper.

"No offense, Dipper, but you're not exactly Mr. Maninglton either."

Dipper shrugged. "I pulled a spear out of arock five minutes ago, so how is this much different? With all the other weird things we can do now, is increased strength really that out there?"

He then grabbed the ax and tugged it with his full might, but with the same outcome as Mable.

"I guess not. Maybe we should come back here with someone stronger."

"And more axe-proficient, perhaps…"

The two twins shrugged and walked back down the hill to the path. The path continued until it split, one going north and the other going south into the trees. In front of them was something familiar to the twins.

"Is that the bottomless pit?"

Mable rushed forward until he found the sign in front of it.

'CAUTION! BOTTOMLESS PIT! Do not fall in or you may never come back out the top! (and if you do, it won't be for at least 22 minutes!)'

"Yeah, this is the same sigh we put up after we fell in. What's it doing so far into the woods away from the Shack?"

Dipper groaned. "Great, so another thing to add to the list of things we don't know are happening. Anything else to add to the list?"

Mable shrugged before noticing something.

"Hay Dipper, I think I see something on the other side of the pit. It looks like the sack of mystery Stan uses on the tourists."

Dipper turned around and saw that she was right. There was a bag on the other side of the pit.

"Hun, well, let's go see what it is."

The two then walked around the side of the pit.

"What do you think is in it?"

Dipper shrugged. "Probably taxes Stan was throwing in the pit, but hopefully there's a phone in it we can use to call for help."

Mable giggled when she suddenly stopped Dipper and pointed at a small empty patch of ground in front of them where a small amount of smoke was gathering. The two twins looked at each other, nodded, and readied their weapons.

"Baww!"

"Baww!"

Two gnomes throwing up rainbows appeared in front of them. the twins just stared at them in surprise.

"What the-"

One of the gnomes stopped throwing up long enough to bite Dipper's ankles while the other turned to them and spewed fire from his mouth at both twins.

"AUGH! Fire barf!"

Feeling scared and disgusted, Mable then patted at all the scorch marks on her sweater to ensure none set her on fire.

Dipper had grown numb to things biting his ankle and thrust his spear through the gnome, causing it to turn into smoke, coins, and a gnome cap.

After patting herself down, Mable drew her grappling hook and hit the gnome right between the eyes.

"Take that, you disgusting creep! Hasn't anyone ever told you never to throw up on people?"

The gnome just ignored the bump and slight deformity of its forehead and charged forward to claw at Mable.

Dipper then thrust forward with his spear, pinning the gnome's foot to the ground long enough for Mable to squeeze off another shot to finish it off.

"HA! Take that!"

Dipper was frozen in place as he looked down at his spear in wonder. Mable was about to ask what was wrong when she felt it too.

"Hay Dipper? Are you feeling stronger all of a sudden?"

Dipper nodded and held up his spear before looking at a nearby tree.

"One second."

He then stepped forward and thrust at the tree as if there was a foe in front of him.

WHOSH!

A strong gust of wind emanated from the tip of the spear and struck the tree, causing the bark and the surface portion of the trunk to splinter away.

Dipper looked down at his spear and began to grin.

"I just figured out the kind of magic I can do, and I LOVE it."

He twirled the spear and slammed it butt-first into the ground next to him while looking proud of himself.

"That was Great Dipper! Though does that mean you need to shave and tattoo your head with an arrow soon?"

Dipper was about to retort when he banged his nibbled ankle on a branch knocked down by his earlier stunt.

"Ouch!" he looked up at Mable. "Okay, let's try that healing out again."

Mable went over and laid her hands on his ankles, with the injuries all over him disappearing in seconds with her touch.

"Thanks, Mable." He then noticed the scrapes on his forearm were also gone. "Though I don't think you need to touch the injury to heal it, just the injured person."

Mable looked thoughtful as she stood up before clasping her hands together and using the spell on herself. As Dipper said, it healed her injuries without her touching them.

"Ok, good to know. Now let's see what's on the other side of the hole." She then looked down at the hat on the ground and picked it up. "After we figure outwhat to do with a hat left behind when they weren't before."

As she held it, she got a look on her face that Dipper recognized instantly.

"Let me guess, it does something if you wear it?"

Mable nodded. "Protection like the chain, not as much, but there."

Dipper then looked torn at the hat.

"Since I got the last one, you should get this one so we are both safe. On the other hand-"

"You take it, Dipper. I am not wearing anything from the gnomes!" She then paused and realized something.

"Also, I don't think it will work for me."

Dipper shrugged and took the hat from her.

"How about I take the hat, you take the neckless?"

"Deal."

With that, they exchanged articles of clothing, and Dipper placed his hat in the pouch. They then proceeded to the other side of the pit.

There was a bag, and inside was a battery labeled "magic battery" and another pamphlet. The pamphlet said that the battery could restore mana to allow for more spells to be cast. There was also a note about being sure to explore as much as possible to find all the hidden treasures like this one off the beaten path.

"Hun, looks like you were right, Mable; we should be exploring as much as possible."

Mable smiled brightly at that. "Of course I'm right! I'm always right." She then held up the battery with excitement. "And now we don't need to be as worried about me running out of healing magic. So let's go south and continue searching for Waddles."

With a final eye roll, Dipper followed his sister down through the woods in search of her missing pig.

Hello Gravity Falls and PinesQuest2D fans! Last year my new year's resolution was to upload a 2k word count or greater chapter of any fanfic a week. This year my goal is to upload a 2k word count or greater chapter of the SAME fanfic a week.

I really like Nova Starlyght's fan game PinesQuest 2D, and was disappointed when real life convinced them to abandoned the project. After finding all the notes they posted about where the game would have gone, I have decided to try and novelize it. I have no idea how good or bad this will be, but as of January 3rd, I have 29 chapters prewritten for the story.

If you want to suport Nova Starlyght, please check out their works on the Disclaimer page.

If you want to support me, please check out my work on the Disclaimer page.

Thank you for reading this and see you next week. I will be posting either very early Fridays or very late Saturdays, depending on my schedule for Friday.