Gravity Rangers
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Naruto x ?
Dipper x Pacifica
Mabel x ?
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Story Start
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Soos led the kids out of the room and down the hall, broom in hand. "So I was cleaning up when I found this secret door hidden behind the wallpaper," He explained, walking up to the door. "It's crazy-bonkers-creepy." Soos pushed open the door, tearing some cobwebs and revealed the collection of wax figures.
Dipper stepped inside the dark room and pulled a flashlight out of literally nowhere. "Whoa!" He exclaimed. "It's a secret wax museum."
Arriving, Naruto spotted Stan across the room in the shadows and decided that it would be best if he made his presence known. "Goodmorning, Stan," he said, and Dipper shined the light on his grunkle, Soos and Mabel looked over as well.
"Hello!" Stan yelled making everyone but Naruto jump back.
"AHH! DUDE, IT'S ALIVE!" Soos screamed as he dropped his broomstick and ran out of the room with the twins in tow.
"NARUTO!" Mabel yelled as she ran out of the room. "SAVE YOURSELF!"
He just rolled his eyes. "He's not that terrifying," He said with a sigh looking back at Stan and then visually grimacing. "But the scares small children phrase can easily apply."
A few minutes later, he had recollected the twins and Soos and brought them back into the room. Soos was in the kitchen eating out of pure panic, Dipper was hiding behind the couch flipping frantically through the journal and Mabel was next to her brother ready to strike with her previously discarded sewing needles. The lights were turned on now making the room slightly less creepy.
"Behold the Gravity Falls Wax Museum," Stan stated proudly once everyone had calmed down. "It was one of our most popular attractions!" He then started to rub the back of his neck and added, "Before I forgot all about it. I got 'em all-Genghis Khan, Sherlock Holmes," He listed while walking down the long line of figures. He then paused before a representation of Larry King. "Some kind of, I don't know, Goblin Man."
"Is anyone else getting the creeps here?" Dipper asked on edge.
Stan must have not put in his hearing aid yet because he ignored his nephew as well. "And now for my personal favorite," Stan extravagantly held his arms out gesturing to a puddle of wax, "Wax John Wilkes Booth, right over-" He then noticed that the statue was melted. "Oh, No! Come on! Who left the blinds open?!" His gaze quickly flew over to another statue. "Wax Abraham Lincoln, I'm blaming you pal!" He then bent down to the wax puddle at his foot, "Actually I can't say I blame him though, 'Honest Abe' had to get his hands dirty for some old fashioned revenge. I can respect that." This is just great! Things are already going different, I thought with a roll of my eyes. Stan then stuck his hand in the wax. "How do you even fix a wax figure?"
Mabel spotted the distressed look on her grunkle's face. "Cheer up Grunkle Stan," She said while leaning on him. "Where's that smile?" Mabel then aggressively poked his face. "Beep bop boop."
"Ow."
"Don't worry, Grunkle Stan," Mabel said once he stood up. "I'll make you a new wax figure from all this old wax."
"You really think you could make one of these puppies?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Mabel definitely seems like the artsy type. Whatdya say Stan, fifty dollars says she can do it." Naruto suggested.
"Ha! I like those odds!" Stan exclaimed pointing at me.
"Don't doubt me Grunkle Stan, I'm an arts and crafts master," Mabel said confidently with her arms folded behind her back. "Why do you think I always have this glue gun stuck to my arm?" She asked as she presented her right arm, shaking it wildly.
"I like your gumption, kid," Stan stated while admiringly pointing at his niece.
"I don't know what that word means, but thank you."
Within the hour, they had moved all the wax to Stan. Mabel was wearing a smock over her sweater and a beret on her head while standing on a small stepping stool. They had just finished bringing all the tools she needed when Dipper walked in. He was taking a swig of Pit Cola from a can when Mabel suddenly jumped at him, startling the poor kid and making him cough up and drop his drink.
"Dipper! What do you think of my wax figure idea?" She asked while pointing to a pad that she had been sketching on. "She's part fairy princess, and part horse fairy princess
"Maybe you should carve something from real life," Dipper suggested.
"Nah, Dipper's right, it's a little over the top," Mabel admitted. "What about this?" She asked, drawing another sketch on her pad on a different sheet of paper. "A waffle with big arms!" She exclaimed, showing us her drawing.
"Ya-okay, or, ya know, something else, like someone in your family," Dipper said, gesturing between the three of us.
"Kids!" Stan yelled as he entered the room, wearing his suit jacket and fez but no pants. "Have you seen my pants?" He asked, propping one foot up on a box and bringing one hand over his eyes to channel his sight.
Mabel's eyes dilated and bit her lip in excitement. "Oh muse, you work in mysterious ways," she said looking at the ceiling, making Dipper stare disappointingly at his sister.
"Why is your sister talking to the ceiling?" Stan asked his nephew.
Mabel wasted no time, she took a hammer and started chiseling away at the block of wax. It was evident that she really was an arts and crafts master. Mabel managed to sculpt the figure in four hours and it took her another hour to add a layer of paint.
Soos, Wendy and Dipper brought in a bucket of glitter while Mabel inspected her almost completed creation. "I think it needs more glitter," She speculated with squinted eyes.
"Agreed," Soos said, handing her the bucket. Mabel splashed the figure with the entirety of the bucket's glitter without any hesitation.
Stan now walked in looking down at his feet. "I found my pants, but now I'm missing my-" Stan let out a terrified yell and fell to the floor.
"What do you think?" Mabel asked her collapsed great uncle hopefully.
"I think… The wax museum's back in business!" Stan cheered, still on the floor. Naruto cleared his throat loudly and brought an open palm down towards Stan, making his face fall. With a sigh, he reluctantly pulled out some money.
"I'm not sure if this old girl is going to be able to work after this." He said while patting an old and dusty copier machine. "But we need to copy flyers for this reopening, it's a necessary comprimise." Stan pulled out a flyer that he must have made while he was searching for his pants, either that or he just had it lying around. He placed the paper on top of the machine.
Stan pushed a button and a green light swept slowly over the paper and a few seconds later, a perfect copy was printed out of the side of the machine and rested harmlessly on an extended trey protruding out of the machine. Then another, and another, and another until thick smoke sputtered out of the copier for a moment.
"Well this will have to do," Stan stated, taking the flyer copies out of their trey. "Wendy and Soos, you guys go into town and put these up." He handed Soos the pile of papers and Wendy grabbed a stapler that was resting on Stan's desk.
"You got it Mr. Pines!" Soos exclaimed while giving his boss a salute. He waved his hand in my direction. "Let's get going, dude!"
As they exited the room, they heard Stan call from behind them, "Make sure people will actually see them Soos!"
"Mr. Pines has such a good sense of humor," Soos laughed light heartedly.
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The town square of Gravity Falls was the usual mix of small-town charm and mild weirdness. Wooden benches, a few local shops, and an odd collection of Gravity Falls' residents, many of whom had their quirks: a man wearing an oversized raccoon hat and a woman dragging an empty wagon while talking to it like a pet, the colorful collection of people added to the spirit of the town.
Wendy Corduroy slouched comfortably against the back of a park bench, feet up, with a half-eaten sandwich in her hand. She was taking a break from putting up the fliers.
"Eh, not bad for a Thursday," Wendy muttered to herself. She wiped a crumb off her flannel shirt and looked across the street at the familiar scene.
"Never fail to take a moment to slack off huh!" Naruto never failed to suddenly pop up when she least expected.
Gravity Falls was small enough that no one paid much attention to teenagers hanging out in the middle of the day. Especially not teenagers like Wendy, who was a local legend when it came to skipping work without really getting in trouble for it.
Wendy smirked and gave a lazy shrug. "Stan's fake oddities are just so boring in comparison to the actual stuff."
"I'm not sure why people are going to pay to see wax statues, but Stan seems to be convinced. I'm just here to fix up the fliers Soos is placing around town and figured I'll grab something to eat as well. Want to join me?"
"Yeah, sure," Wendy replied, trying to keep her voice cool. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, hoping she wasn't blushing.
The two of them walked inside the diner. It was a classic Gravity Falls spot, full of old-fashioned charm, with red vinyl booths and a jukebox that hadn't been updated since the early 90s, Naruto slid into a booth near the window, and Wendy followed, plopping down across from him with her signature slouch.
A waitress came by, offering a half-smile and setting down a basket of fries in front of Naruto, along with a milkshake that was dripping condensation down the glass.
"Thanks, Janet," Naruto muttered, looking down at his phone again lost in thought.
Wendy grabbed a fry, slouched even further in the seat, and stretched her legs out under the table. "So, about what I brought up, think you'll have time to go?"
"Aah yes, The band your friends are in. Providing we don't have any life threatening disasters I suppose I can go."
Wendy grinned. "You better dude. You'd miss a chance to see Gravity Falls' hottest garage band in action otherwise."
They fell into an easy silence, eating fries and watching the town go by outside the diner's big front window.
The waitress came by again, refilling their water glasses and sliding a check onto the table. Naruto grabbed it before Wendy could reach for it.
"I got it," he said, pulling out his wallet.
Wendy raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You don't have to always pay you know. I can pay for my on."
Naruto smirked. "With the splurge your money on horror merch could have fooled me. Look I got this one don't worry."
Wendy rolled her eyes but smiled. "Fine, but next time, I'm paying. Gotta keep it fair."
Naruto didn't respond, just handed the check to the waitress with a quiet "Thanks" before standing up. Wendy followed him out of the booth, slinging her backpack over her shoulder again as they headed for the door.
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The rest of the ride back to the Shack was relatively quiet with the occasional thought of how this reopening was going to go. There wasn't time for a full on conversation though as it was only a couple minute ride back to the Shack. Once
they arrived, they saw Manly Dan putting up a banner over the dirt path leading to the Mystery Shack. It displayed 'Wax Museum of Mystery Grand Re-opening!' in red letters with a yellow backdrop.
"These people are going to be so disappointed with how this turned out," he said once we parked. "Mabel's art skills are really good but I don't think that it warrants a reopening of an entire exhibit."
"You know Stan," Wendy replied. "He sees talent and he exploits it for as much money as he can." I snickered in response as we exited the truck. Stan was outside by the gift shop entrance which he had transformed into a podium for the ceremony. At the moment he was yelling at Dipper who was having trouble moving the wax figure of Larry King out onto the stage. he quickly ran over to the two of them. Dipper is probably getting traumatized by the task.
"Do you need any help with that, Dipper?" Naruto asked once he was up on the podium. He gave him a grateful look but before he could speak, Stan cut him off.
"You!" He yelled, pointing at him which made me raise an eyebrow. "Where have you been?"
"Out with Soos," he responded in a confused voice, "in case you forgot putting up those advertisements. I even got pizza that was mentioned on the flyer," He said gesturing to one that was hung up next to him. He tore it from its place and held it up to Stan's face so he could clearly see it and continued, "It doesn't even say what the event is. It just says 'Free Pizza with admission to the grand unveiling at the Mystery Shack.'" He shook his head and brought the paper down to my side. "If I didn't compensate for your schemes I'm sure the town's people would have burned you alive by now." Then he looked closer at it. "Wait a minute," he groaned as it clicked. "Are you just reusing the same fliers for past attraction."
"Of course, why would I spend money to make new fliers. Not my fault the suckers keep eating it up." He concluded and Naruto walked up to Dipper to help him, he didn't want to deal with the nonsense anymore.
I couldn't handle that conversation any longer. I was losing brain cells talking about this subject, the flyer didn't even have a time or a date for the so-called unveiling. That's crucial information!
The next half hour passed by rather quickly. While Soos got to set up the chairs and Wendy had to get the admissions stand up and running, Dipper and Naruto had to move the rest of the wax figures outside and onto the stage. By the time we were done, Dipper was in a cold sweat either because he was exhausted or because he was terrified.
Naruto slowly sat up and noticed the pizza had been set up with one of the boxes open.
"Let's go get some pizza ," he said while nudging his arm. "I think we've earned it." He nodded in agreement and we both slowly stood up and walked over to the foldable table that the food was placed on.
Within the next hour people, surprisingly, started to show up for the wax museum re-opening. There really mustn't be that much to do in this town. They didn't even know what they were getting themselves into. Stan was center stage with a microphone and Mabel stood excitedly next to him while Soos was behind his keyboard. He was way too excited to be there. Dipper and Wendy were handling the ticket booth together and Naruto was off by the entrance collecting tomatoes and trash. After the multiple scams Stan had pulled off in the past it had now become a regular thing that Naruto had to collect the pelting items before people were allowed into any exhibitions like this.
Stan turned on the microphone that was on the stand that he had brought out. As he did so, a very loud feedback erupted through the speakers making the crowd flinch and cover their ears. Mr. Mystery himself now leaned against the stand and began speaking into the microphone. "You all know me, folks," He began, adjusting his suit collar, "Town doll and Mr. Mystery." Stan then held his hands out in front of him in a pushing motion. "Please, ladies! Control yourselves!" He exclaimed while wiggling his eyebrows.
"As you know, I always bring the people of this fair town novelties and befuddlements," He then leaned forward with a raised finger, "The likes of which the world has never known. But enough about me." He then stepped away from his stand and gripped a tarp that was covering something. "Behold… Me!" He exclaimed as he tore the tarp away revealing a glittering wax figure of Stan. Soos took his cue and played some 'Yeah!' notes on his keyboard. 'Ye-ah! Ye-Ye-Ye-Ye-Ye-ah!' The crowd remained unimpressed. Stan stepped back to the microphone and handed it to his niece.
"And now a word from our own Mabelangelo," He exclaimed proudly.
"It's Mabel," Mabel said politely as she took the microphone, making me have to stifle a laugh. "Thank you for coming," She said in a raised voice while walking towards the bored audience. "I made this sculpture with my own two hands!" Mabel cried as she raised both hands into the air extravagantly. "It's covered in my blood, sweat, tears, and other fluids," She listed with an innocent smile. The whole crowd, now very alive, gagged and cringed. "Hehe, yeah," Mabel said with a giggle. "I will now take questions," She called. "You there." while pointing to Toby Determined.
"Toby Determined, Gravity Falls Gossiper," He stated with fake confidence. "Do you really think this constitutes a wonder of the world?"
"Your Microphone's a turkey baster, Toby," Stan pointed out bluntly.
"It certainly is," Toby confirmed while examining it.
"Next question," Stan requested impatiently while pointing to Shandra Jimenez.
"Shandra Jimenez, a real reporter," She stated while eyeing Toby. "Your fliers promised free pizza with admission to this event. Is this true?" She then pulled out one of the fliers that Soos put up somewhere and this drove the crowd into many murmurs and side conversations about the subject.
Stan was hesitant to answer, so Naruto answered for him. "Yes, it is true," he said in a raised voice over the crowd. "It's right over there," he presented with an outstretched finger. Within seconds, everyone was out of their seats and rushing over to the foldable tables that supported the pizza. He stepped over to Stan and whispered into his ear, "Go get the money from Wendy and Dipper before these people realize there isn't nearly enough pizza for everyone." Stan nodded in agreement and made a beeline to the cash sitting at the admissions box. He knew this was going to happen if Stan made a promise that he wasn't going to keep so to keep the peace and to avoid he headache of yet another angry mob forming from Stan's antics he called in a favor.
While her grunkle ran away, Mabel walked up to him. "I think that went well," She exclaimed happily, not even realizing that literally everyone was here for the pizza and not her masterpiece. Unlike Stan who deserved to be bluntly called out the blonde didn't have it in his heart to point out the truth to the little girl.
"You did great Mabes." Glancing over to the table and noticing the food supply was running low the blond decided it was time to make his exit. Good relationship with most of the town or not, he knew just how rabid they could be even over the tiniest of slights and did not want to risk being on the end of their vengeance.
Once the coast was clear of any potential angry tourists, the group began to pack everything up. Soos volunteered to bring the wax figures back into the Shack.
Night had fallen by the time that they had all finished converting the Shack's exterior back to normal.
Stan, the twins and Naruto were now all standing in the den "Hot pumpkin pie!" He exclaimed, knowing that he wasn't allowed to curse while the twins were around. "Look at all this cash!" Stan then ran his thumb against the crisp paper. "And I owe it all to one person," He continued, making Mabel's spirit rise hopefully. "This guy!" Stan exclaimed while gesturing to the wax figure of himself, making Mabel playfully punch her grunkle in the gut. "Ooh!" He cried and then ruffled his niece's hair. "Yeah, you too, ya little gremlin."
Naruto smiled at Stan's affection… until his hand moved onto Mabel's face and he lightly pushed her away. "Now, you kids wash up," He stated. "We got another long day of fleecing rubes tomorrow." Dipper was behind his sister as they made their way over the stairs.
As Naruto was gathering his things and preparing to turn in for the night a cry from downstairs swept through the Shack.
"No… NO… NOOOOO!" Stan yelled.
Arriving on the scene Naruto laid his eyes upon the decapitated figure of Wax Stan.
"Wax Stan! He's been… M-Murdered!" He shrieked, throwing both arms in the figure's direction. This revelation made Mabel faint dramatically, but luckily her brother was there to catch her.
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Stan, visibly flustered, fumbled with his phone as Naruto took charge. "Stan, you call the cops," he instructed firmly. "Dipper and I will take care of Mabel."
Stan nodded and rushed off to make the call. Naruto hurried into the kitchen, his sharp mind already working through the situation. Pulling a bottle of water from the fridge, he rummaged through several drawers until he found what he needed—a sugar packet.
Returning to the living room, Naruto knelt beside Mabel, who was slumped against the couch. Dipper hovered worriedly over his sister.
Naruto held the sugar packet under Mabel's nose. "Clear!" he announced as he tore it open. The scent hit Mabel like a lightning bolt. Her eyes snapped open, fiery with determination.
"Who did this?" she bellowed, grabbing Dipper's shoulders with surprising strength. "I want names, Dipper! NAMES!" Her furious gaze shifted to Naruto. "And you! You're going to hunt them down for me! I want blood!"
Before Naruto could respond, Dipper quickly grabbed the water bottle and dumped its contents on Mabel's head, dousing her temper and her fiery rant.
"Sorry," Mabel muttered sheepishly as she wrung out her soaked sweater. Stan reappeared, his expression anxious.
"The cops are on their way," Stan stammered, wringing his hands. Naruto placed a reassuring hand on the older man's shoulder.
"We'll figure this out, Stan," Naruto said firmly. Dipper left to grab a towel for Mabel, who now sat beside the decapitated wax figure, tracing its headless neck with a mournful expression.
Minutes later, the back door swung open, revealing Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland. The officers, armed with coffee and notepads, listened as Stan recounted the incident.
"I get up to use the john, right? And when I come back—blamo! He's headless!" Stan gestured dramatically at the fallen figure.
"My expert handcrafting, besmirched," Mabel whimpered, tears streaming down her face. "Besmirched!"
Dipper placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Who would do something like this?" he asked aloud.
Blubs sipped his coffee, his casual demeanor clashing with the gravity of the situation. "We'd love to help, but let's face facts—this case is unsolvable," he said nonchalantly.
"What?!" Stan, Mabel, and Dipper exclaimed simultaneously.
"You take that back, Sheriff Blubs!" Stan barked, pointing a finger at the officer. Dipper frowned in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right? There's got to be evidence—motives. I can help if you want," Dipper offered. Mabel nodded enthusiastically.
"He's really good," she said brightly. "He figured out who was eating our tin cans."
"All signs pointed to the goat," Dipper stated seriously. Stan backed him up.
"Yeah, yeah, let the boy help. He's got a little brain up in his head."
Blubs snickered and elbowed Durland. "Well, well! Would you look at this! City boy thinks he's gonna solve a mystery with his fancy computer phone!"
"City boy! City boy!" Durland echoed, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Naruto frowned at their dismissive tone and stepped forward. "Sheriff Blubs," he said evenly.
Blubs glanced at him, still chuckling. "Yes?"
Naruto crossed his arms. "Let's see if we can test some logic here. Dipper," he said, turning to the boy, "if you were trying to break into this room and didn't want anyone to know, where's the first place you'd look to hide any evidence?"
Dipper's brow furrowed as he considered the question. "Probably near the entrances—like under a rug by the door or the windowsill. If they didn't want to leave a trail, they'd likely clean up close to where they got in."
Naruto nodded approvingly. "Exactly. Smart thinking. Now, next question." He gestured toward the fallen wax figure. "Let's say you're investigating a missing object, like Wax Stan's head. What's one thing you'd look for to understand why it was taken?"
Dipper's eyes lit up with thought. "I'd look for patterns. Like, if there are other wax figures that were tampered with or anything that connects this figure to the person who took it. Sometimes the object might have symbolic value to the thief."
Naruto gave a small smile, impressed by Dipper's reasoning. "Good points. And if it's symbolic, that might mean it's a message rather than just a theft."
Blubs, who had been sipping his coffee, scoffed. "This is all just a bunch of city boy guesses. No proof behind it."
Naruto turned to him, his expression sharpening. "No proof because no one has looked for any yet. So, Sheriff, if you'd rather stand there sipping coffee, we'll handle this."
Blubs blinked, caught off guard, but said nothing. Durland fidgeted awkwardly beside him.
Naruto looked back at Dipper. "Alright, Dipper, let's get started. You've got the right mindset for this."
Mabel perked up from her spot beside the wax figure, her fiery determination reigniting. "You're going to hunt them down, right? Whoever did this? They're not getting away with it!"
Naruto crouched down beside her, his tone calm but resolute. "We'll figure this out, Mabel. But I need you to think—has anyone been acting strange around the Shack lately? Anyone who might've seemed extra interested in Wax Stan?"
Mabel tilted her head, considering. "Well… maybe Stan's poker buddies? They're always snooping around."
Naruto nodded, standing up. "Good start. Keep thinking about it and let me know if anything else comes to mind."
He turned to Dipper, motioning toward the wax figure. "Let's check for clues. We'll focus on potential tools or evidence of tampering."
The two of them began combing the room, working methodically. Naruto examined the windows and locks while Dipper scanned the floor near the figure, his sharp eyes scanning for anything out of the ordinary.
"Got something," Dipper said after a few moments, pointing to a faint wax trail leading toward the back door. "Looks like someone tracked wax as they left."
Naruto followed the trail with his eyes. "Good catch. Let's see where it leads."
Together, they followed the faint trail out the back door, stepping into the cool evening air. The trail grew fainter but was still visible, leading them toward the edge of the woods.
Dipper paused, glancing at Naruto. "If this leads into the forest, we should grab some gear."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "Good thinking. Let's regroup and come back prepared."
Back inside the Shack, they shared their findings with Stan and Mabel, who both listened intently. Naruto grabbed a flashlight and other supplies, preparing for their next step.
"We've got a trail," Naruto said to Dipper, handing him a flashlight. "Let's see where it goes."
Mabel, still fired up, grabbed a notebook. "You're not leaving me out of this! I'm writing down every clue."
With that the trio set out once again. As the beam of their flashlights cut through the encroaching darkness.