It was a particularly quiet Saturday evening at the Mystery Shack as the sun outside was starting to set. Dipper didn't mind, however, as he sat in the chair of the living room writing in his journal while leaving the television on for him to occasionally glance up at the 'Used to Be About History Channel', which was currently on commercial break.
He was growing satisfied with how his journal was turning out. He had put in an entry for every summer adventure thus far (what few of them there had been up to that point) and even made sure to catalog all the newest findings of the summer, including the fire-breathing dragon from the previous Sunday. While there hadn't been a crazy amount of new discoveries so far, he was happy with the current progress. The fact he had more to write about over his first week back in Gravity Falls than the past four years in Piedmont spoke enough volumes for how the summer was looking, and he couldn't wait to show Ford and see what he was to think of it.
Perhaps he could also help assist in finding out who was after the Shack concerning the recent incident regarding Mr. Nessman. That was something that still plagued the back of Dipper's mind since Gideon had informed them. As such, he had been doing his own research into the situation but was no closer to a conclusion than he was when he had started. Maybe Ford had connections of his own that might assist in his investigation.
"Hey, you!"
"What?" Dipper flinched at the sudden voice, glancing around the room. "Who said that?"
"Are you bored?"
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Um... not really?"
"Then you should come over to the grand opening of the Gravity Falls Pier!"
Dipper then glanced over at the television and realized that it was just a commercial.
"Oh," he said, sighing at the fact he was just talking to a TV.
"That's right! The Gravity Falls Pier is now officially open after years in the making! There are games, prizes, rides, and lots of PG fun for the whole family!" the television voiceover said over a flash of different clips of people enjoying the fair. "And if you're looking for thrills, look no further than our scariest rollercoaster- The Gravedigger!"
An image of Gravedigger then appeared on the screen. It was a large black and red rollercoaster with a noticeably high initial drop and a bunch of loops. A clip of people riding the Gravedigger started to play on the screen, showcasing their terrifying screams and reactions to the initial drop as they fell. The sounds of screaming repeated for a good while and the screams of the people on the ride slowly began overlapping one another, as the if the commercial was making great efforts to instill a feeling of horror in the viewer.
And it worked. Dipper stared at the screen with wide nervous eyes as the screaming increased his anxiety.
He was no fan of rollercoasters, not due to a fear of heights, but simply because the exhilaration and constant fear of imminent death always took over his senses and was too much for him. His stomach never acted too kindly either, whether he had eaten beforehand or not. Granted, it had been several years since his last real ride, but the unpleasant memories of his past experiences only furthered his lack of desire to ride or even see one again.
He quickly grabbed the remote and flipped the channel, flipping to the news. Successfully escaping the cursed commercial, he let out a sigh of relief. On the screen was now a clown juggling in front of a male news anchor, who looked incredibly uninterested.
"Alright, thank you, Happy the Clown," the anchor said, gesturing off-screen for the clown to walk off. Once he was out of the picture, the anchor looked forward again, face looking way more interested. "Anyway, today is a big day for Gravity Falls citizens! The Gravity Falls Pier is officially opening up tonight and we have Shandra Jimenez on the scene."
"What?" Dipper asked, eyes suddenly bulging with fear.
"Thanks, Jones," Shandra said, who was now on screen in front of a view of the pier. The Gravedigger rollercoaster was also clear in sight in the background. A man stood right beside her. "I'm currently standing with one of the engineers of the Gravedigger rollercoaster, which is the pier's biggest attraction," she said as she turned toward the man and pointed the microphone at him. "Tell me about the Gravedigger. Is it really as scary as it sounds?"
"Oh, most definitely," the engineer nodded. "When we were shooting footage for advertising, we brought in some real people to test out the rollercoaster, and it scared them pretty bad. We had one teenager who actually got scared so bad that he needed to start going to therapy. And we also had one of our own engineers get stuck at the top drop during one of our first test rides. We got him down and he was okay, but he was scared so bad he died a few days later."
Dipper's eye began twitching after hearing those last two sentences. He immediately grabbed the remote again and shut off the television entirely. The pier was obviously big news all over local television and rather than risking changing to another channel talking about it, he rathered avoiding it entirely. He slumped back in his seat, shut his eyes, and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and get the returning memories of rollercoasters out of his head.
"Relax, Dipper..." he told himself. "You're not there on a deadly rollercoaster. You're here at the Shack... relaxing safely in the comfort of Soos' crusty living room chair. Everything is fine, and nothing interesting is going to happen today."
"Dipper…"
Upon opening his eyes, he jumped in his seat yet again at the sight of a floating object right in front of him. He calmed down a little bit and looked at the object, realizing that it appeared to be a small drone. He glanced around the room in confusion, wondering where it had come from before looking straight at it again.
"Uh... hello?" he asked.
"Dipper..." an unidentifiable high-pitched voice said to him. "Dipper, it's me- your Great Uncle Ford. I need your help."
"Great Uncle Ford...? Seriously?" Dipper asked suspiciously, not entirely convinced. "What is this? Some sorta prank?"
"No, it's not a prank! I'm somewhere in the forest! And... I need your help!" the voice called out. "Bill's back!"
"Bill? Pfft, yeah. Sure," Dipper said with an eye roll. "Like I'm falling for this."
"What are you talking about? Falling for what?" the drone asked.
"Look, I know you're not Ford. You're probably Mabel or someone else trying to play some sick prank on me," Dipper said as he picked up his journal and opened it.
"Dipper, you listen to me right now!" the drone called out. "This is your great uncle, and I need your help! I'm in the forest with Stan! He's been possessed by Bill! Please help!"
"Yeah, yeah," Dipper brushed off dismissively, beginning to write in his journal again. "If you're really Great Uncle Ford, then you should do a better job proving it."
The drone hovered still for a moment before quietly flying in front of Dipper's face.
"My boy, I'm telling you... You need to run into the woods now and find me and Stan before it's too late. You're our only hope, Mason."
Dipper's eyes bulged as his journal and pen fell out of his hands. He glanced back up at the drone in utter shock, watching as it simply hovered in front of him.
SLAM!
The front door of the Mystery Shack burst open as Dipper began running as fast as he could toward the woods with a backpack equipped and his journal in hand.
"I'M COMING, GREAT UNCLE FORD!" he shouted out as he ran straight into the woods.
Watching from the roof of the Shack were Mabel and Ryland, who both suddenly burst out laughing at the sight of Dipper screaming and running into the woods. Mabel held a microphone in her hand while Ryland held a controller and began playing with the joystick, to which the same drone that Dipper had encountered soon returned to him. He grabbed it and placed it down beside him.
As the two calmed down from their laughter, Ryland began to look a tad guilty as he looked over at Mabel. "Ya know, I'm all for a good prank, but is this too much? Like... he's not gonna spend all day running through the forest, is he?"
"Nah, I put a few different signs around to let him know it was a prank. And besides, Dipper knows how to take a joke!"
She then looked away for a moment to think about that last statement before turning back toward him.
"Well, most of the time, at least," she clarified. "But, just in case, I'll take the blame for all of it."
"So, what was that last thing you said that made him run out?" Ryland asked. "You were whispering something."
"Oh, just a little secret of Dipper's," she told him. "Something I and few others know about. I figured to really convince him I was Ford, I had to bring out the big guns."
"Huh. Really?" Ryland asked, intrigued. "And what would that be?"
"Ehhhh... I'm not really allowed to tell you that," Mabel admitted. "Even though I love messing with Dipper, telling that secret is one line I've made a sisterly vow not to cross."
"Hey, fair enough," Ryland said with a shrug. "If it's that serious, then I won't pry. Gotta respect the loyalty."
Mabel gave a quick smile in response. She then glanced over at his drone equipment and grabbed his controller, beginning to play around with it. "So this stuff is all your dad's?"
"Yep," Ryland nodded proudly. "He works for some big drone company. This is one of the newest prototype models that they're working on. Careful with the controller, it's very-"
Mabel then accidentally pushed the main joystick all the way forward, which suddenly sent the drone flying forward at a fast speed. The drone flew forward too fast for her to control immediately and so it flew straight into the forest on a downward spiral.
"...touch-sensitive..." Ryland finished while blankly staring off into the direction of the drone.
CRASH!
"GAH!" Dipper's voice yelped from the forest before a series of rolling noises were heard along with various winces of pain.
Mabel cupped her hands around her mouth remorsefully while Ryland looked on in the direction she had sent the drone with his own look of horror. Glancing over at his reaction, she began to feel her own face redden from embarrassment.
"DAMMIT, MABEL!" Dipper's voice suddenly echoed angrily from the forest.
"Well, guess I am taking all the blame for the prank after all, heheh..." she awkwardly joked. Her smile quickly faded as she looked on at Ryland's unchanged look of horror.
"Yeah, well, there's no way I'm not taking the blame for this," Ryland said, putting his hands on his face in utter shock as he mentally juggled how he was going to explain this to his dad.
Mabel looked at him guiltily. "Ryland, I'm soooo sorry. I-I didn't know it would-"
"Hey, it was an accident. Don't stress it," he told her with a slight forgiving smile. "I'm just glad I didn't bring one of the bigger models."
"I'll pay for it!" Mabel offered, grabbing her sparkled miniature purse on cue. "How much did it cost? Like a hundred?"
"Well, it was a prototype, so more like a hundred thousand."
Mabel stared at him blankly for a moment as she slowly put her purse away. "Whew, boy, I'm going to need to make a bunch of clothes..."
Ryland chuckled before putting his hand on her shoulder gratefully. "Seriously, Mabel, it's cool. I appreciate the gesture, but this is my mess. I'll just come clean to my dad when I get home later. He's probably gonna be pissed."
"Maybe you can call him and tell him now! That way he can get most of his anger out before you get home!" Mabel suggested. "That's usually what I do with my parents whenever report cards come out."
"Huh. That's actually not a bad idea," Ryland said as he took out his phone from his pocket. "I'm gonna do that. I mean, he's gonna found out regardless. Better not prolong the inevitable."
"You got this, RyRy!" she told him as he got up and stepped back inside the Shack to dial up his father. "Heh, RyRy... that's a cute nickname, right?"
She paused for a moment to think about it.
"Nope, it's terrible."
At that same moment, she looked back down below to see Dipper emerging from the woods. Looking at him, his clothes were roughed up and covered in dirt. He held his journal in one hand and a piece of paper in his other hand that read 'GOTCHA! -Mabel'. She could see him glaring right at her with a face of utter annoyance as he pointed to the paper.
"Oh, boy..." she said to herself, realizing she was about to be in her own trouble.
Knowing she was about to be confronted regarding the prank, she decided not to prolong the inevitable herself as well and hopped down from the roof by climbing down the edges of the pole beside the wall keeping the roof standing. She then kicked herself off the wall and landed on the ground before standing up straight. She walked over to the visibly angered Dipper as he limped toward the Shack.
"Geez, bro. You didn't break your leg, did you?" Mabel asked, watching his limp.
"Let's hope not," he said bitterly. "After your drone smashed into me, I tumbled down a small slope into a pond next to a few thorned roses bushes... where my leg landed," he explained, gesturing to his right leg. However, his jeans covered any wounds he may have received. "I haven't checked yet, but I'm pretty sure my leg is bleeding." He then crumbled up the 'Gotcha' paper and threw it on the ground aggravatedly. "Oh, and way to use our returning great-uncles in danger as a joke."
Mabel sighed and rubbed her shoulder, struck with guilt over the sight of how much pain she unintentionally put her brother in. "I'm sorry, bro-bro. I guess I did go a little far with this one."
"A little?" Dipper repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I mean, I was just hanging out with Ryland and... ya know…" Mabel said, continuing to rub her shoulder awkwardly.
"So this was his idea?"
"No, no! It was mine. It's just when he told me that he liked pranks, I kind of took that as an opportunity to show how good of a prankster I can be," she tried to justify.
Dipper narrowed his eyes at the response as he pulled a leaf from his hair. "You know, you've been spending a lot of time with Ryland since we got here..."
"Well, duuuh. That's how you make friends. By spending time trying to get to know them!"
"Yeah, but with Ryland, it seems like a little too much time, don't you think?" Dipper asked, crossing his arms suspiciously.
Mabel gave it some thought. "Nope! Not really!"
"Dad, PLEASE! You can't do this! No, no, NOO!" Ryland's voice angrily shouted from the Shack, suddenly grabbing the twins' attention.
The two glanced over at the Shack to see him furiously stomping outside and putting his phone away as he began making his way toward his bike. Mabel could obviously recognize that the call didn't go well and looked at him with concern as she started to walk over.
"So... uh... guessing it didn't go so well with your pops, huh?" Mabel asked with a hint of playfulness to lighten the mood.
"That's one way to put it," he said with a sigh as he unchained his bike. "He's grounding me from going to BMX park with my friends tomorrow. I wouldn't mind any other day, but tomorrow I'm in Semifinals for a big BMX tournament. Now I'm being put in charge of my little brother while my parents go out of town for a work convention."
"Aww, babysitting your brother?" Mabel said, pressing her cheeks together. "That's adorable!"
"NO!" Ryland shouted, repulsed. "My brother? Adorable? Absolutely not. He's the most annoying little brother ever."
"C'mon, all siblings say that about their siblings," Mabel scoffed.
"Yeah, and some days we mean it more than others," Dipper intervened, paying Mabel yet another annoyed glare from the side.
"Trust me. When I say I mean it, I REALLY mean it" Ryland emphasized. "He's so stubborn and whiny. He spends all day with his eyes glued to his computer, volume cranked up, and everything! I can never chill at home or get any sleep without having to put up with hearing him blast that thing. And every time I complain about it to our parents, they always take his side for whatever reason."
"Yeesh... sounds rough," Mabel said, frowning sympathetically and with further guilt as she continued to realize this was all her fault.
"Yeah, well, rough is what my Sunday is about to be," Ryland sighed before beginning to slowly walk off with his bike. "Anyways, I'll see you guys later."
"Good luck, man," Dipper waved as he picked a stick out of his hair with his other hand.
"Ryland, wait!" Mabel suddenly called out to him, reaching her arm out. "What if we took care of your little brother for you?"
"Wait, we?" Dipper repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"If your parents are out of town tomorrow, then maybe we could just look after him at your house while you go to Semifinals at the park!" Mabel suggested enthusiastically, while simultaneously ignoring Dipper's questioning attitude. "Seeing as it's so important to you, it'd be a shame for you to have to miss a shot at getting to finals."
"Again, we?" Dipper repeated yet again.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" Ryland asked, cracking a smile as he walked back up to her.
"Of course!" Mabel assured. "I mean, it's the least I could do after getting you in trouble in the first place."
"Man... that's so awesome of you," Ryland said happily. "Thank you, guys. I'll make sure to pay you both by the end of the weekend."
Although Dipper was irritated by Mabel dragging him into this, the idea of payment somewhat made up for it. "Well, that's something at the very least."
"It's not about the money, Ryland," Mabel then told him, shaking her head. "It's about doing something for a friend out of the kindness of our hearts. You don't need to pay us."
"Wait, what?!" Dipper exclaimed.
"You'd actually help me for free?" Ryland asked, eyebrows raising in surprise.
"Absolutely," Mabel nodded, closing her eyes cheerfully. "You can count on us."
She was suddenly caught off guard as she felt herself being pulled into an embrace. Upon opening her eyes, she immediately realized Ryland had suddenly hugged her. The realization caused her face to warm up substantially, and she was too stunned to hug him back.
Ryland pulled back from the embrace and walked back toward his bike, which he had dropped on the ground beforehand. He hopped on and gripped the handlebars, preparing himself to pedal off. Before doing so, he looked back at her and smiled brightly.
"You're something else, Mabel," he said gratefully before turning ahead and riding off.
Mabel was still somewhat stunned by the hug, but she stared forward and watched him ride away until he was out of sight. She smiled blushingly and gave out another sigh.
"Ehem!"
Breaking out of her slight trance, she turned to her side and noticed Dipper staring at her irritatedly with his arms crossed.
"So you just sold our Sunday to someone we still hardly know so we could babysit his supposedly annoying little brother, and we're not even getting paid?" Dipper asked, dumbfounded by her decisions.
"Um, you barely know him," Mabel corrected. "Who's been spending most of her time getting to know him?" she asked as she began pointing fingers at herself in an intentionally exaggerated manner. "This girl!"
"Right... And it didn't occur to you once that you have never babysat anyone before in your life? Like... ever?"
"I've spent the last four years of my life taking care of a pig, Dipper," Mabel reminded him. "How much harder could a child be?"
Before Dipper could remind her how ridiculous that comparison was, she was suddenly tackled to the ground by Waddles, who had suddenly come out of nowhere and began repeatedly licking her face excitedly. Completely unbothered, she started giggling loudly and rolling around on the floor with him. She picked him up and held him above herself, shaking him around.
"Who's the best pig in the world?" she asked playfully, giggling as she then started rubbing her face against Waddles'.
Dipper looked down at her and just gave yet another annoyed sigh, now feeling completely done with her for the day. He began limping back to the Shack, leaving Mabel to roll in the dirt with Waddles. In the last ten minutes, he had been pranked, injured, and generally disregarded. He was tired and just wanted to wash off and go to bed, remaining unenthusiastic about the next day ahead.
Sunday morning arrived and Dipper was driving with Mabel in Soos' pickup truck on their way to Ryland's house. He looked particularly tired and tepid as he drove, whereas Mabel was happily humming as she did her daily makeup right beside him in the passenger seat. Upon finishing, she put away all of her things back into her purse and threw it back down beside her feet. She smiled as she looked out the window.
"Look at us, bro-bro," she said excitedly. "Us driving through Gravity Falls all on our own! I don't remember this happening four summers ago! Ahh, we've really grown, haven't we?."
Dipper didn't respond and just kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. She then glanced over at him and noticed how lukewarm he appeared.
"You okay, bro?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.
"Yeah, no, I agree, sis," he began. "Since I have my license, I can drive us wherever we need to go in town. Even if that means needlessly getting up at 7 AM on a Summer Sunday morning to get ready to babysit a kid."
"Are you still bitter about not getting paid for this?" she asked.
"No, I'm still bitter about you dragging me into this," Dipper corrected. "Not getting paid at the very least is just the icing on the cake."
"C'mon, Dipper. It'll be fun!" Mabel tried to coax him. "Just because neither of us has ever babysat before doesn't mean this is going to be horrible. We're dealing with Ryland's little brother, not ten-year-old Gideon."
"You're comparing someone we've never met to someone we used to have objectively terrible experiences with," Dipper responded. "And apparently the only info on this kid we were given was A - he loves his super loud computer. And B - he's annoying. That doesn't make me hopeful."
"Well, I still think that maybe Ryland's just exaggerating a little bit just because he's his brother," Mabel told him. "Maybe he's actually really nice and sweet. And as you mentioned, he likes computers, so maybe he's also nerdy just like you! Can you imagine?"
"I'm kind of sleep-deprived today, so no, not really," he told her candidly.
SCREECH!
Dipper was suddenly shaken awake as he noticed he had accidentally drifted into another lane due to his sleep deprivation. Upon the realization, he swerved back into the correct lane, shaking Mabel up with his suddenness.
"Geez. Maybe you shouldn't be driving," Mabel remarked as she gripped her seat nervously.
"I'm fine," Dipper quickly defended.
He soon took a turn and pulled the truck up into the driveway of a house in a normal suburban neighborhood. He parked in front of a garage and shut off the truck before exiting and closing the door behind him. Mabel leaned over into the backseat, grabbed a backpack, and put her arm through the strap before grabbing her purse and getting out of the car as well. Dipper then pressed a button on the keys and locked up the truck before walking beside Mabel up to the front door of the house.
Mabel knocked on the front door and stood back. The two stood there for a moment before they heard the door being promptly unlocked. It opened up and a shirtless Ryland stood right in front of him with a toothbrush in his mouth. Overwhelmed by his unexpected appearance, Mabel's face immediately flushed red.
"Oh, hey guys!" he greeted anxiously as he grabbed onto his toothbrush and continued brushing his teeth.
"H-hi!" Mabel stuttered, trying to keep focused eye contact with him, but kept glancing back and forth between him and his shirtless build.
"Uh, hey, man," Dipper casually waved, though he was somewhat put off by his appearance as well.
"Come in, come in!" he told them hurriedly as he ran into the kitchen, which was in open view from the front door.
The twins casually walked inside and looked around, with Dipper closing the door behind them. Back in the kitchen, Ryland grabbed a cup from a dish rack right beside him and filled it up with water from the tap. He took a sip of water and washed it around his mouth before gargling and spitting it out into the sink as well.
He looked back at the twins, who watched him from beside the front door. "Sorry. I know I look like a mess right now."
"It's okay!" Mabel assured. "I... I mean, we don't mind at all!"
Ryland then ran over to his fridge and began rummaging through it before grabbing a gallon of milk and chugging it. He then put the cap back on it and threw it back into the fridge before slamming it shut.
"I accidentally had my alarm clock set an hour later than it was supposed to be and so I literally woke up a few minutes ago. Now I gotta be outta here in about five minutes!" Ryland explained as he ran out of the kitchen. "Anyways, let me just get a shirt on. Be right back!"
As he sprinted right up the stairs, Dipper glanced into the kitchen and at the fridge for a moment before turning back to Mabel. "Whether it's because he's in a rush or not, if he offers any sort of capped-up drink, I'm not accepting."
"Please," Mabel rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "I've been drinking straight from the carton since grade school and you've never complained once."
Dipper's eyes bulged. "Wait, YOU HAVE?!"
Mabel raised an eyebrow in surprise as she looked over at him. "You never knew?"
The two then redirected their attention toward Ryland as he quickly returned downstairs with a brown and yellow striped tank top. "Either of you guys hungry? Thirsty? I got a lot in the fridge if either of you-"
"Nope, we're good," Dipper cut off, prompting a glare from Mabel.
"Are you sure?" Ryland asked.
"Positive. Where's the kid?" Dipper asked, wanting to just get to the point of their arrival in the first place.
"Oh, right! God, how could I forget?" he said as he walked back over to the staircase. "YO, EVAN!"
A brief moment passed before any type of response was returned.
"WHAT?" a young voice called back from upstairs.
"Come downstairs!" Ryland called out.
"Why? What do you want?" the voice called back down.
"Just do it! Now!" Ryland demanded.
"Ugggggh!" the voice exclaimed exasperatedly.
Footsteps were then heard stomping down the hallway upstairs. Ryland turned back to the twins. "Like I said - stubborn."
Suddenly, a little boy appeared from upstairs and quickly came down the stairs up to Ryland. "What is it?" he asked impatiently. His eyes then glanced to his left and noticed Dipper and Mabel standing there. "Who are they?"
"These are friends from my job, Dipper and Mabel Pines," Ryland introduced. He then looked over at the twins. "And guys, this is my brother, Evan."
Evan was a young boy whose height reached about Ryland's elbow. Even though he was Ryland's brother, his appearance and general vibe contrasted so heavily to where you couldn't ever tell on your own if they were related. His hair was dark brown, short, and combed to the side. He dressed oddly formally for stay-at-home-wear, as he donned a white collar shirt with a black tie, as well as black dress pants and black dress shoes. To top off what almost looked like a stereotypical nerd look, he even wore large glasses.
"Evan..." Mabel repeated as she looked at him with a kind smile. "Hi! I'm Mabel! My brother Dipper and I are going to be looking after you today while your brother's out!"
"What?!" Evan questioned unenthusiastically. He turned toward Ryland. "But Dad said you couldn't go to the bike park with your friends today!"
"Pfft, what makes you think that I'm going to the bike park?" Ryland asked him. "I actually have, uh, a... study group to attend to today."
"A study group?" Evan asked, unconvinced. "For what? It's summer."
"Oh, right," Ryland said, realizing the flaw in his lie. "Well, that's why I need a study group. To get better at lying!"
"You realize how much you're giving yourself away, right?" Evan asked, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, I know," Ryland admitted as he turned over to Dipper and Mabel. "So make sure he never gets his hands on a phone." He turned back toward Evan. "Anyways, these guys are gonna look after you while I'm gone."
"Why? I'm twelve," Evan reminded. "I don't need babysitters."
"That's what you think," Ryland told him. "But we need someone watching to make sure you don't burn the house down with your computer."
"This is stupid. I'm going back to my room," Evan said, turning back toward the stairs.
"Oh, no!" Ryland denied, grabbing Evan's arm and holding him back from going up the steps. "As I said, we're trying to prevent fires. You're going to stay down here with the Pines until I get back tonight."
"Are you kidding?" Evan asked, growing aggravated. "I'm not gonna burn down the house with my computer, you idiot!"
"Oh, yeah, surrre. I believe you," Ryland said sarcastically, pulling Evan back from the steps. Evan clenched his fists angrily as Ryland began walking up the stairs. He looked back at him. "Stay down there. I'm gonna lock up your room so that's not an issue for them."
"What?! No!" Evan exclaimed, attempting to run after him before having his shirt grabbed and held back by Mabel.
"Hey, hey! Don't worry!" Mabel coaxed. "You won't need that ol' computer with us!"
"Let go of me!" Evan demanded dismissively while trying to yank himself away from her grasp.
At that moment, the sound of a click then echoed from upstairs. Ryland then made his way back down the stairs whistling as he spun a key ring that had only one key around his finger. He then tossed the key over to Mabel, who caught it.
"That's the key to Evan's room," Ryland told her. "Just hold onto that and make sure he doesn't get his hands on it."
"No problemo," Mabel nodded, stuffing the key into her purse, much to Evan's dismay.
"Alright. Now that all of that is out of the way, let me get out of here," Ryland said, clapping his hands together. He grabbed a bike helmet from the kitchen counter and opened the door. He walked out a few steps and walked out to his bike, leaning over against the wall of the house. "Before I go, I just wanted to say again that I really appreciate you both doing this for me."
"Awww, pshhh! It's nothing," Mabel assured.
"Yeah, except maybe we could reignite the topic of payment?" Dipper suggested, to which Mabel promptly covered his mouth with her hand, much to his annoyance.
"He's joking!" Mabel told Ryland with a smile. "Now go on! Good luck at Semifinals!"
Ryland put on his bike helmet, smiling back at her once again before riding off on his bike out of the driveway and onto the streets. As he rode out of view, Mabel closed the door and locked it.
"Alright, Evan! What do you want to do first?" she asked as she and Dipper turned back around. However, they quickly noticed that he wasn't anywhere in the room. "Evan?"
The two suddenly heard some sort of banging as well as grunting coming from upstairs. The twins glanced at one another before quickly running up to investigate.
Not too far down the hallway, they spotted Evan repeatedly trying to turn a locked doorknob, presumably to his bedroom. After a moment, he spotted the two standing right next to him, watching him.
He then looked over at Mabel. "Can you unlock my room, please?"
"Now, you know I can't do that," Mabel said, placing her hands on her waist.
"Yes, you can! Ryland gave you the key!" Evan reminded her.
"Look, I know your brother having us look after you might be a bit scary," Mabel began. "But there's nothing to worry about!"
"Except I'm not worrying," Evan told her directly. "There's literally no reason for you two to have to be here right now. I'm twelve. I can handle being on my own. If you would just unlock my room, you could literally just go home and things would be alright here."
"Well, your brother doesn't want me to do that, so I'm afraid that's not happening," Mabel said.
"UGH!" Evan shouted angrily as he began twisting the locked doorknob again.
"Hey now!" Mabel said, pulling Evan away from the door. "Come on! It won't be that bad! Look what I brought!"
She then pulled her backpack from over her shoulder and set it on the ground. Upon opening it, she then pulled out a stack of boxes for different board games.
"Ta-daa!"
"Board games? Seriously?" Evan asked, completely unexcited.
"C'mon! I brought all my favorite ones from when I was your age!" Mabel told him. "Look! Battlechutes & Ladderships! Necronomiconopoly! Connect Forty-Four! C'mon, you gotta love at least one of these!"
Evan sighed irritatedly. "I guess we can do Necronomiconopoly..."
In the middle of the living room floor, the Necronomiconopoly board and cards were laid out, and the three sat around it. There were a few metal player pieces on the board.
"Alright, before we start, we need to pick our player piece," Mabel told the two. She grabbed a piece that resembled the head of Cthulhu. "I call dibs on Cat-haloo because he looks like an octopus and octopuses are adorable!"
"It's Cthulhu, Mabel," Dipper corrected, who was far more well-versed and respectful of Lovecraftian lore.
"Gazuntite," Mabel responded.
Dipper rolled his eyes at her before turning back toward the board. He thought for a moment as he looked at the various Lovecraftian pieces. "This isn't an easy choice, but today, I have a good feeling that Dagon will bring me to victory."
Evan looked at the pieces and picked an ordinary sword-looking piece.
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to be?"
"I don't know. A normal sword, I guess?" Evan shrugged, examining the piece. "Do I have to pick one of these other pieces?"
"Well, I mean, it would be preferred-" Dipper began.
"Dipper, please!" Mabel whispered to him. "Don't be such a nerd. Just let him use the sword."
Dipper sighed. "I really need to find people who actually appreciate the source of this craft to play this with."
"I guess I'll go first!" Mabel announced. She grabbed the two black dice pieces and rolled them, landing on a two. "Aw, only two?"
She grabbed her Cthulhu piece, jumped two places from the start, and landed on Immunity Chest. She promptly grabbed a card from the stack and read it.
"'Move all the way to GO. Collect 200 Necronomicoins!' Huh, that was easy."
She then moved her piece back two places to the start and took some Necronomicoins from the box.
"That was just luck," Dipper told her, grabbing the two black dice. "Watch a Lovecraftian expert show you how it's done."
He rolled the dice, landing a solid seven. He moved his piece all the way to Chance.
"Alright, Chance!" He grabbed a card from the stack and excitedly prepared to read it. "'You died. You lose.' Wait, what?"
Mabel burst out laughing. "Wow! Way to show us how it's done, expert!"
"I don't get it," Dipper said, examining the card. "I don't remember this being a card in this game. What's the lore behind this card? It can't seriously be as simple as 'You Lose'! That makes no sense!"
"Guess Dagon ain't so lucky after all," Mabel jabbed. She looked over at Evan. "Alright, Evan. Your turn!"
"Actually, I gotta use the bathroom real quick," Evan told the two, getting up from the floor.
"Oh, uh, that's fine! Do what you gotta do!" Mabel approved.
Evan nodded back before running upstairs, but Dipper watched him suspiciously. He then turned back to Mabel, who was counting her Necronomicoins.
"Mabel, don't you think we should watch him?" Dipper asked.
"Watch him use the bathroom?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What? No!" Dipper denied. "I mean, go make sure he doesn't do anything, ya know, suspicious?"
"Dipper, his room is locked, and I have the key," Mabel reminded him, patting her purse right beside her. "What could he do up there that's suspicious?" She then looked back down at the board and noticed Evan's sword piece was missing. "Hey, what happened to his player piece?"
At that moment, the two heard clicking noises coming from upstairs. The clicking noises were soon followed by a couple of grunts.
Upstairs, Evan was on his knees attempting to pick the lock to his room with the sword player piece. He continuously moved the piece within the lock, trying his hardest to twist it through properly and get the knob to turn.
"Come on…" he said quietly to himself.
"Ehem!"
He turned behind to the side and spotted Mabel standing by with her arms crossed disappointedly at him, along with Dipper standing casually behind her.
"Can you please just open the door so I can use my computer?!" Evan pleaded.
"I already told you," Mabel began. "Your brother said-"
"I don't care what my brother said!" Evan shouted as he got up from his knees. "He's a selfish idiot who has no idea about the things I do!"
"Don't talk about him like that!" Mabel defended. "Firstly, he's not selfish. He took responsibility for me accidentally crashing your dad's drone and fessed up to him instead of trying to hide it."
"And he's an idiot for not waiting until after today to tell him instead of getting himself into trouble before the day of his Semifinals!" Evan disputed. "If he hadn't done that, then neither of you would have to be here in the first place!"
"We already don't have to be here!" Mabel told him, getting somewhat aggravated herself. "I offered to help look after you so he could still go!"
"Well, then maybe you're just as dimwitted as he is!"
Mabel gasped. "That's it! I've had enough of this attitude of yours! You're getting a timeout!"
"Mabel, he's twelve!" Dipper reminded her.
"Well, what do you suggest then?" Mabel asked, turning toward him.
"I don't know, but definitely not this!" Dipper told her, using his arms to gesture toward the ongoing dispute between her and Evan.
Mabel sighed as she shut her eyes and rubbed the sides of her head, trying to calm herself down and think. "Alright! I have an idea!"
"Is it finally opening up the door to my room?" Evan asked hopefully.
"No, it's actually getting as far away from your room as possible!" Mabel told him.
Evan's moment of hope immediately died upon hearing this. "Lovely."
"You bet!" Mabel nodded excitedly, not catching his sarcasm. "Grab your keys, Dipper! Instead of spending all day cooped up in this house, let's go out and have some real fun!"
She then grabbed Dipper by the arm and ran downstairs, pulling him along with her and leaving Evan behind upstairs. He looked back at the door to his room and sighed disappointedly before unwillingly walking down the hall, slowly following behind the two.
Here we have the last major new character (for a good while). Let's hope this goes well.
-Absolute Rift
(Chapter updated as of February 18, 2024)