Chapter Text
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"OH MY GOD! LOOK OUT FOR THAT TREE!"
"EVERYONE HOLD ON TIGHT!"
The vehicle suddenly swerves! We drive off a cliff! All of us scream in terror! My sister and I hold on to each other while Wendy holds on to the vehicle!
Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself. You're probably wondering what's going on. I'll explain.
I'm Dipper Pines. My twin sister, the one holding on and trying to keep her puke in, is Mabel. The girl holding on to the vehicle? That's our friend, Wendy Corduroy. We met her last summer. As for the others, we just met them earlier this week.
Believe me when I say that this isn't the first time we've been in this situation. I feel a nostalgic sense of Deja Vu, actually.
All of this started a week ago.
************
"I can't believe it! We're back!" Mabel yelled.
"I can't believe it either. It's been so long." I said, more calmly.
"Are you excited Waddles?!" She asked.
Waddles oinked in response. Mabel hugged him in excitement.
There we were, sitting on the bus. Getting closer and closer to Gravity Falls. It had been almost a whole year since we've been in Gravity Falls. So many memories made over one summer. It was the most interesting summer we've ever had. So many mysteries that were solved, and others that have yet to be solved.
I took out a small journal from my vest. Mabel looked and gave me a stern face.
"Dipper, I thought you weren't going to do that again." Mabel said.
"What? It's better to be prepared." I countered.
Waddles looked curiously at my journal.
"Who knows, maybe Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Stan have some stories to tell." I continued. "Maybe Ford found more supernatural creatures, or maybe some more anomalies. There are so many mysteries that have yet to be solved."
"Or we can have a fun summer without you going all conspiracy theorist." Mabel said.
Before I could retort, the bus came to a halt. Mabel and I looked out the window. We saw Grunkle Stan and Ford waiting for us! They were wearing the sweaters that Mabel made for them last year. After the...Weirdmageddon incident. They smiled when they saw us. We smiled back.
We grabbed our luggage and ran out of the bus. Waddles quickly followed.
"Kids!" Grunkle Stan yelled happily.
"Grunkle Stan!" We yelled back.
We dropped our luggage and immediately gave him a hug. Ford stood behind us happily.
"Ah, children. Welcome back." Ford said formally.
"Come on Grunkle Ford, get in here!" Mabel yelled.
He seemed hesitant.
"Come on, Sixer, we're not getting any younger here." Stan said, somewhat jokingly.
Ford shrugged.
"Ah, what the heck."
He joined in the group hug, somewhat awkwardly. The gesture was still appreciated. After a few seconds, we stopped hugging.
"You knuckleheads better prepare yourselves. Soos is probably going to be happy to see you two again." Stan warned.
"Yes, he was pretty elated when we came back." Ford cut in.
"Wait, you just came back?" I asked.
"We got back here last week." Stan explained.
"We spent most of our time searching for strange anomalies in other parts of the world." Ford said.
"I knew it!" I gasped.
"Whoa! What was it like?" Mabel excitedly asked.
"It was an incredible experience. I got to write down so many things that I saw." Ford said with pride, "So many things, from both land and sea!"
"I punched a giant kraken on one of those sea trips!" Stan cut in.
They continued to talk about their experiences while we walked to Mystery Shack.
We finally arrived and it was still the same shack. The "S" was still on the ground, just as we left it.
As soon as we arrived, Soos came out of the shack.
"Dudes!" He yelled.
"Soos! We missed you!" Mabel yelled back.
"Soos!" I yelled happily.
He ran and gave us a big bear hug. I could see Melody come out and she looked happy too.
"Hey guys. I haven't seen you in so long." Melody said while waving at us.
"Hey Melody." I greeted.
"Hi, Melody--"
Mabel suddenly gasped.
"Is that what I think it is?!" Mabel yelled, "Is that a ring?!"
Melody looked and chuckled.
"Yeah."
I turned to Soos.
"Whoa, you proposed?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah, dude." Soos answered, nonchalantly.
The both of us went over to see the ring. We saw that looked like a ring that you get out of a claw machine.
"He got it from a claw machine. He gave it to me and jokingly asked to marry him. I responded with a yes. Then we thought about it more and more, and it made it us so happy. So yeah, we're engaged now." Melody explained.
I figured I was right on the ring. But even I thought that was sweet. Mabel answered with an 'Awww' and started congratulating her.
We continued to catch up while putting everything inside. It was nice.
"Hey, the mystery twins are back."
We turned around to see Wendy coming in. I saw that she was still wearing my hat, just as I have been wearing hers. We happily greeted her, and then..
"MABEEEELL!"
"Mabel!"
I knew those voices far too well.
I saw Candy and Grenda run from behind Wendy. Mabel had a big smile come across her.
"MY BESTIES!" Mabel screamed excitedly.
She ran and tackled them. All 3 of them were laughing and saying how much they missed each other.
"You guys talk to each other over the phone every week." I stated.
"It's not the same, Dipper." Mabel said.
I rolled my eyes and let them catch up. I walked over to Soos to have a chat with him. I noticed that the window had a sign that read 'Now hiring." So I decided to ask him about it.
"Soos, you're hiring?" I asked.
"Yeah. Melody thought we should have some extra help around here." He answered.
"Oh, really? How many people have you thought about hiring?"
"Like, two more people, dude."
"I think two is enough."
We continued to make conversation until Wendy cut in. She explained that a group of tourists came through. Soos prepared and excused himself. He walked out and talked to the group. I heard him mentioning giving a tour. I was glad to see that he got the 'Mr. Mystery' role down. Especially in his own way.
I decided to walk around the shack to see if anything has changed. Besides a few extra things in the gift shop, there wasn't a difference. I assumed that our 2nd summer here would be tame. That was fine. As long as I could get to solve the remaining mysteries of this town.
"And here's the the gift shop, dudes. Now let me show you a statue of the founder."
I turned to see Soos with the group from outside. He showed them a slightly sloppy statue that he made of Grunkle Stan. A few claps were scattered throughout the group.
"Now please explore the wondrous gift shop." He said.
The group disbanded as they went to see all of the merchandise. I noticed Mabel and her friends coming back from the kitchen.
"Cool, a tourist group." Candy said.
Mabel did a small gasp. She pulls her friends closer to her.
"Girls, look. A cute guy." She said quietly.
Candy and Grenda turned and they 'eeeee'd quietly along side Mabel. I turned to see the guy in question. He was a teenager, an older one to be exact. He looked to be around Wendy's age.
He had curly dark brown hair, and dark Brown eyes. He wore a pink varsity jacket, a black shirt with a star on it, blue jeans, and pink sandals. He was looking at the shirts. He smiled and picked out 2.
All of a sudden, a phone ringed. He reached into his pocket and answered.
"I've never seen him around here before." Grenda stated.
"He's so dreamy." Candy said.
The guy chuckles while on the phone. He goes over to the cash register.
"Judging from his reaction, he's probably taken." I state.
"Just let me have this, Dipper. We won't get to see him again." Mabel said.
I rolled my eyes again.
"That'll be $12.50." Wendy said.
I saw him pull out a dollar bill. He gave it to Wendy, who looked thrown off.
"Whoa, did you just give me a twenty?"
"You can keep the change." The guy said politely.
"He's so nice." Mabel said.
I didn't buy it. There was no way that someone was that nice. The guy left with the shirts while my sister and her friends stared. I noticed that something fell out while he left. I seemed to be the only one who did. I went over to see that they were car keys. I picked them and put them next to the cash register.
"Looks like he left his keys." I said to Wendy.
Before she could say anything, the guy came back.
"Has anyone found--"
He stopped to see that his keys were on the counter.
"Oh thank goodness." The guy said in relief.
"Here you go dude." Wendy said.
She tossed the keys and he caught them.
"Nice catch."
"Oh, thank you." He said sheepishly.
"Actually, you should thank my friend Dipper here. He's the one who found the keys." Wendy said nonchalantly.
The guy smiled with visible stars in his eyes. What on earth?
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"No problem.." I said.
I was starting to get weirded out at this point.
"Is that Dondai yours?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Cool car, man."
They continued make conversation while I stood by listening in. Apparently he was traveling across the U.S. to experience life on his own.
"I plan on having a chill summer." Wendy said.
"That's great..oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to ask for your name." He said.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm Wendy."
"I'm Steven. It's nice to meet you." He said while smiling, "And the same to you, Dipper."
"Uh, likewise." I said.
He was way too nice. I suspected that there had to be something off about him. Why was he traveling the U.S.? Why is he traveling alone? I started thinking about all the possibilities as to why he was. He said it was find himself and to live his life how he wants to, but it had to be more than just that.
"I saw that you guys have a 'now hiring' sign." Steven noted.
"Yeah, Soos put it up. Apparently him and his fiancee thought I needed extra help." Wendy explained.
Before anything else could be said, Soos and Grunkle Stan came into the room. They seemed to be having an unrelated conversation.
"Hey Soos, I think you got a possible applicant here." Wendy said.
"Really?" Soos and Stan said in unison.
Steven waved and greeted them.
"Ah, you're one of the tourists! Uh, I'm Soos. Mr. Mystery!" Soos exclaimed nervously.
"And I'm Stan Pines. You got a name, kid?" Stan said.
"I'm Steven. Steven Universe."
We stood there, a bit confused. We were silent for a few seconds.
"Universe? That's such a cool last name!" Mabel exclaimed, breaking the silence.
"So cool!" Candy said.
"Kid, is that a stage name?" Stan asked.
"You know, a lot of people ask me that. That's actually my name. I don't get why people are so confused though." Steven said, bewildered.
Universe? Why was it space-related? There's no way that that's his name. And he's seems genuinely confused about why people react to his name this way.
"Well, since you're interested, how about an interview?" Soos asked.
"Sure." Steven replied.
"I'll join you on that, Soos." Stan said.
The three of them walked away to the office.
"He seems interesting." Grenda piped up.
"Aren't you still dating Marius?" Mabel asked.
"Of course I am. Besides I'm only looking." Grenda answered, "Marius is my number one."
"Aww."
"Well I think he's suspicious." I said.
"Why?" Candy asked.
"He seems way too nice. People like that are usually hiding something." I explained.
"I mean, that's fair. But he seems genuinely nice, dude. Plus, even if he is hiding something, it's none of our business. As long as it isn't something that could hurt anyone or himself, I say let him be." Wendy said.
I tried to refute that, but she had a point. It wasn't any of our business to know that. He'd only been here for at least half an hour, and I was already paranoid.
"You need to relax, bro." Mabel said.
I sighed.
"Alright, I'll relax." I said.
************
And so, that's how we met Steven Universe. He was hired the same day and he was shown the ropes. Stan apparently liked the fact that he wasn't under the government's radar or something. Soos liked him for his positivity and determination. Mabel liked him because..well because she's boy crazy. I'll admit that I like him too. He seemed surprisingly smart and attentive. Grunkle Ford thought the same thing. But just like me, he was a little suspicious of him.
He ended up renting out one of the rooms in the shack. Surprisingly, Grunkle Stan let him rent cheap. He probably had a soft spot for him. Either that or Ford chastised him. Either way, the next few days of him working were decent. People were attracted to his 'sweetness and charm', as Mabel put it.
We got to know him a little better through that time. He came from Beach City, Delmarva. I recognized the name from a blog called "Keep Beach City Weird". It seemed to be just a person posting nonsensical theories about random things. I only saw a few posts anyway.
It seemed like things were pretty normal.
At least it was until mid-way through the week. It was a small accident, but Steven's reaction was a bit unexpected.
A shipment of knickknacks were brought to the shack, and they were displayed in the gift shop. Soos and Steven were bringing them inside.
"Don't worry I got the last thing." Steven said.
He carried in what looked to be a Crystal ball. The last one, to be exact. As he brought it in, he tripped and the ball flew out of his hand. The crystal ball shattered against floor.
"Oh no, it shattered." Mabel pointed out.
"Oh no. No no no..." Steven said quietly.
He looked distraught. That was the first time I'd ever seen him look like that. His cheeks started to turn pink out of distress. It was unusually bright pink. It threw me off guard. I quickly got out my small journal and started to write down my observations.
I had already previously wrote down a few. Simple things like 'Too nice', ''Likes pink', and 'Positive all the time?'. I know Mabel had told me to relax, but how could I relax with a stranger who only started working here? I just wanted to make sure that he wasn't dangerous.
"Dude, it's ok. We have more. Don't beat yourself up." Soos said, calmly reassuring him.
"I'm sorry, Soos. I'll make sure to fix it." Steven said, still a bit nervous.
"It's in a bunch of pieces. I don't think it can be fixed." Soos said, "Go ahead and put the other stuff into place. I'll clean this up."
Steven hesitated, but he complied. He put the rest of the stuff in a different room.
"He seemed really bothered by it." Mabel said, somewhat concerned.
"He did." I replied.
The both of us looked at each other in worry. Why was he so bothered by a crystal ball shattering?
After he finished putting stuff away, he came out and told Soos he was going to go out for a walk. Soos let him and Steven headed out towards the woods.
"That was...a reaction." I said.
"It sure was." Soos replied.
After he finished cleaning up, we continued about our normal day.
However, Steven didn't come back until the sun started setting. Mabel and I volunteered to go outside and wait for him.
When he finally arrived, he was still distressed. But it had been about something else.
"Guys! I need your help!" He yelled.
We noticed him carrying an unconscious person!
"What happened?!" Mabel asked.
"I was walking in the woods, trying to relax. Then I found this girl just unconscious on the ground. It looks like someone hurt her!" He explained.
"Omg, we need to call 911!" Mabel exclaimed.
"Wait, we should check on her first. Is she breathing?" I said.
Soos, Melody, Wendy, and Grunkle Stan come out of the shack.
"Steven? What happened?" Melody asked.
Steven explained the situation to everyone.
"Ok, set her down. We got to make sure she's breathing first." Melody said.
All of us head inside. Steven put her down and got close. We got a better look at the girl.
She had black hair put up in ponytail, accompanied with a red beanie. She had on a blue hoodie, red shorts, and blue and white sneakers. Her clothes were tattered, however. Which proved that something did happen.
"She's still breathing!" Steven exclaimed.
"Oh thank goodness." Melody said.
"Geez, what the heck happened to her?" Stan asked.
"I don't know, Mr. Pines. I wish I knew." Steven said sadly.
"We should take her to the hospital." Soos suggested.
"Is there even one nearby?" I asked.
"There's one outside of Gravity Falls. But it's too far." Stan said.
Before anything else could be said, the girl groaned. We all looked at her in shock. She started to groggily wake up.
"Wh-what? Where...am I?"
She opened her eyes to see that all of us were staring at her. Her blue eyes widened in shock. She freaked out and immediately assumed a fighting stance!
"Who are you people?! Where have you taken me?!" She yelled.
Everyone went back a few steps, except for Steven. Steven got a step closer.
"It's ok! We're here to help you. I promise we're not going to hurt you." Steven elaborated.
"You're probably lying." She retorted.
"I'm not. Look, I'll explain everything if you give me the chance.
She looked at him, and us, suspiciously.
"Alright, explain." She simply stated.
Steven quickly explained what happened. After he finished, the girl looked deep in thought. All of us were silent.
"Ok." She said, finally breaking the silence.
We were caught off guard by that answer.
"Two more questions. One, seriously, who are you guys? And two, you got any good food around here?"
"Oh, right." Steven said, face palming.
We quickly introduced ourselves to her and apologized for not doing so. She said it was fine. Soos immediately went to the kitchen and came back out with a plate of 2 slices of leftover pepperoni pizza. He immediately put it next to the girl. The girl's eyes lit up.
"So what's your name, stranger?" Mabel asked without hesitation.
"I'm Dani, with an I." The girl said while picking up the plate.
"With an I?" I asked.
"Sorry, force of habit." She explained with a mouthful of pizza.
"Hey, are you ok?" Steven asked, "Because it looks like you were attacked."
"I'm fine, it's just some scrapes and bruises."
"Are you sure? We could take you to the doctor." Melody asked.
"No! No doctors!" She yelled.
We stood there, shocked.
"I'm sorry, I don't...like doctors..or hospitals. They kind of scare me." Dani admitted somewhat quietly.
"Yeah, I can kind of understand that." Wendy interjected.
"We won't force you to go. Besides, you seem like a tough kid. If you don't include the cuts and bruises, you seem fine to me." Stan stated without hesitation.
Dani smiled nervously. She thanked Stan for understanding. I thought about how odd it was. There's got to be a story behind that. Just like Steven, I felt there was more to Dani than she was letting on. I noticed how odd her cuts looked. I could've sworn then that they looked kind of green at the time.
Then I noticed that she had a silvery bracelet with a blinking green light on it.
"Dani, are you alone?" Melody asked.
"Not really. I am right now, but I'm actually traveling with my family and friends. I just happened to get separated from them." She explained.
"Family and friends?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Oh thank goodness." Melody sighed, "I thought you were alone."
"Don't worry, I'm not alone." Dani reassured.
I continued to stare at her bracelet. It really caught me off guard.
"What's with the bracelet?" I asked.
"Bracelet?"
She looked at her hand.
"Oh right! It's something my parents made for me."
"It looks so cool. It's all techno and stuff." Mabel complimented.
"It looks like something Grunkle Ford would make." I pointed out.
And as if on cue, Grunkle Ford came into the living room.
"Greetings. Is something happening here?"
He then sees Dani sitting on the recliner.
"Hi." She said.
"Stanley, why is there an unfamiliar child in the living room?" Ford asked.
"Steven found her knocked out in the woods." Stan answered.
"Oh, well, are you ok, miss..?"
"I'm Dani. And I'm ok sir."
She looked at his hands.
"Whoa, cool. You have six fingers on each hand!" She exclaimed.
Ford looked at his hands and then back at her. He blushed and stuttered a thank you. He then saw her bracelet.
"Is that a gadget on your hand, Dani?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah." She replied.
"Huh, the design looks familiar." He pondered.
"Apparently her parents made it. It's supposed to be a bracelet." I explained.
"Most bracelets don't look like that." Ford stated.
Dani shrugged at his statement.
"Well, no matter. I'm more concerned about your injuries."
"Don't worry, Mr. Pines. I got it." Wendy interjected.
She got the first aid kit and took out some band-aids and such for Dani.
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can do it." Dani said, a little nervously.
Before Wendy could say anything else, Dani took the first aid kit and started to fix herself up. I wondered why she wouldn't let us do it.
Regardless, we discussed on where Dani would be sleeping for the night. Wendy made sure we reached a conclusion before she left. Dani ended up bunking with Steven, since she felt more safe with him.
Fast forward to next morning.
We were sitting in front of the Mystery Shack, eating breakfast. Steven, Dani, Mabel and I decided to because it felt nice outside. Even Waddles was outside with us.
"You make good pancakes, Steven." Dani said.
"I agree!" Mabel exclaimed.
Steven blushed a bit.
"Thanks guys." Steven said sheepishly.
Admittedly, they were really good.
Suddenly, Dani's bracelet started blinking more. We all took notice of it.
"Uhh is that normal?" I asked.
"Yeah." She replied.
"Does it mean anything?"
Before she could answer, a big sliver and green vehicle rode up! It looked very futuristic and it had a green 'F' plastered on it.
Steven immediately went in front the three of us, as if he were protecting us. We could see a guy getting out of the vehicle.
"Dani! Are you here?!" He yelled.
Dani moved next to Steven.
"I'm here!" She yelled back.
"Oh thank God." He sighed.
They ran to each and embraced in a hug.
Taking a closer at him, he looked just like Dani! Except he had shorter, slightly messy, hair and was a little taller than Steven. He had on a black jacket, a gray shirt, jeans, and some black and gray sneakers.
He noticed band-aids she had on. He looked really concerned.
"I'm fine. I got knocked out and they helped me." She explained.
He looked back at us. Then he walked over.
"Thank you for helping her. And I'm sorry for showing up out of the blue. I lost her while we were traveling. We were tracking her down when we realized she didn't come back." He explained.
That explained the blinking bracelet.
"Is everything ok?!"
We turned to see 3 more people near the vehicle.
"Everything's ok!" The guy yelled back.
He turned back to us. He put out his hand towards Steven.
"I'm Danny Fenton." He said.
Steven shook his hand.
"I'm Steven Universe. It's nice to meet you."
"Universe?"
"You both have the same name?" Mabel asked.
"Oh, yeah." Danny said.
"That explains why she said she was 'Dani with an I'." I pointed out.
"Does it get confusing?" Steven asked.
"It does." Dani replied.
"Surprisingly, nobody really questions it. They just accept that my sister and I have the same name." Danny explained.
I looked to Mabel to see that she was blushing. Oh boy.
"He's cute too." She whispered to me.
I facepalmed. Danny noticed.
"And you two are?" He asked.
"I'm Mabel Pines and this is my bro, Dipper." Mabel answered, somewhat eagerly.
"Nice to meet you."
"Hey, Danny!" A girl with black hair yelled.
Both of them turned around.
"Older Danny!" A guy with a beanie yelled.
"Yeah?!"
"Apparently we're in the right state!"
"We are?!" Danny asked in shock.
A girl with red hair and blue eyes walked over to us.
"Mom and Dad said that Oregon was the state to be in. They specifically said that Gravity Falls was the town to look into." The girl said.
The town to look into? So we weren't the only ones looking into Gravity Falls?
"So this it? There's bound to be a lot of interesting things here." The other girl said.
"It doesn't seem to be technologically advanced." The guy said.
I noticed that they were all older teenagers. How on earth were they able to travel so freely?
Eventually the others introduced themselves as Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. Soos came out and offered them a tour. They accepted the tour and they seemed mildly interested in it.
After the tour, they looked around the gift shop and got a souvenir from it. I noticed that at some point, both Danny and Dani made a soft gasp. For a moment, I could've sworn I saw their breaths.
"Hey Jazz, I'm going to check on the vehicle real quick..right now." He said, somewhat awkwardly.
He quickly walked away to check outside. He came back after five minutes. Why did it take him so long?
"So, Soos, you're hiring right?" He asked with a nervous smile.
************
And so, that's how we met Danny Fenton and his friends.
So how did we end up in our current situation you may ask? Well, Soos decided we had to set up some new signs. Mabel, Steven, Danny, Wendy and I headed into the forest to put them up. Other Dani, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker decided to join us since they were going to investigate the forest anyway.
As we put up the signs, we heard something in the bushes. We turned around to see that Jeff the Gnome running out of them.
"RUN! THERE'S A MONSTER CHASING US!" He screamed.
"Is that a Gnome?!" Tucker asked, clearly shocked.
Before we could answer, we felt the ground shaking! Suddenly a large, blue creature came out of the trees!
It was spiky, had no eyes, and it had a lot of fur!
All of us screamed in horror.
"GET IN THE VEHICLE!" Jazz yelled.
We all ran inside the vehicle! Before Jazz could come in, one of the spikes flat end hit her head and knocked her out!
"Jazz!" Danny yelled.
He quickly got her in.
"I'll drive!" Steven yelled.
He immediately got in the front seat and hit the gas! The creature started to follow us as we drove off! It chased us on all fours without hesitation!
I noticed that it has some sort of shiny spot around its chest area. It roared ferociously at us!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"OH MY GOD! LOOK OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Danny yelled.
"EVERYONE HOLD ON TIGHT!" Steven screamed.
And now we're here, screaming our heads off while falling off a cliff.
I didn't think we would start our summer off like this!