Dipper looked out the bus window as the trees passed him by. He felt his sister's head on his arm although he couldn't tell if she was still awake or not. It had been a long bus ride but he could tell it was almost over when he saw the sign in the distance. "Welcome to Gravity Falls."
"This sucks." He mumbled under his breath.
Mabel sat up and stretched her arms. "Awh come on don't be like that. This is a great opportunity for summer fun and adventure!"
Dipper rolled his eyes. "I'd rather be at home."
The bus came to a stop and they took their bags off. They followed the signs they were told to.
"What the hell is a Mystery Shack?" Dipper said out loud. The annoyance was thick in his voice.
"Umm a shack full of mystery. Duh." Mabel said in a mocking tone. "Besides I thought you liked mysteries and stuff like that?"
"I do." Dipper admitted. "I just...I don't know. This just sucks. Spending all summer at a place where we don't know anyone. Our birthdays going to suck. None of our friends here when we turn sixteen. " His voice went from angry to sad as they approached the shack.
Dipper knocked on the door and a tall old man in a suit answered. "Oh hey, you two are Dipper and Mabel right?" They nod their heads with uneasy looks on their face. "Sorry I just haven't seen you two since you were babies. I'm your Great Unc-err your Grunkle Stan. Get it? It's like Great Uncle." Stan stood their for a moment waiting for a reaction. He sighed and started walking back inside. "Your room is upstairs."
Dipper gave Mabel a look of confusion and they went inside. They entered their room and lay down their luggage. "There's a goat on my bed." Dipper said glaring at the goat chewing at the wallpaper above his bed. He smacked it on the back and it scampered out of the room.
"Dipper you should be nicer to the goat, it didn't do anything to you."
He was getting more annoyed by the second. "This is all so stupid."
She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up. We have each other which means no matter what we'll be fine."
He smiled slightly. "Thanks Mabel. I'm gonna go take a walk and blow off some steam."
"Don't get lost. I'll come find you after I'm done hanging up all my posters."
Dipper walked through the woods throwing rocks at trees. 'This summers gonna suck.' He kept thinking to himself. He beamed a rock at a tree and heard a loud cling ring out as if he had just struck metal.
'What the hell?' The mouthed as he walked closer to inspect the tree. He knocked on it and heard the same metal sound. He brushed away some of the dirt and noticed a panel on the tree. He peeled it back and found a strange machine inside. "Holy shit!" He said out loud. He started fiddling with the machine and flicking the switches. Then he heard another noise.
Dipper turned around and saw a opening in the ground. He approached it cautiously and saw a hidden compartment holding a large book. He picked it up and dusted it off. The cover had a six fingered hand and the number 3 on it.
Dipper read through it and became glued to the pages. The small town he thought would be the bane of his summer may actually be a hub for the weirdest happenings in the country. "I don't believe this." He said under his breath.
"Yeah me neither." A voice said from behind him.
He turned around in a panic. "Jesus Mabel don't sneak up on me like that!"
She chuckled. "Jeez calm down." Her eyes peered to his arms that appeared to be hiding something behind his back. "So whatcha got there?"
"Oh uh, it uhh, it's nothing!" Dipper said having trouble gathering his thoughts.
"Doh uhhhh its nothing!" She said in a mocking tone while wavering her arms in a ridiculous manner. "So are you really not gonna show me?"
Dipper glanced around to see if anyone else was there. "Lets go somewhere more private."
He and Mabel made their way back to the shack and Dipper explained how he found the journal and what was inside. Mabel gave him a look of confusion.
"That's so weird that it just stops. "
"I know. This could be exactly what I was looking for this summer!" Dipper was excitedly pacing back and forth.
"That's great!" Mabel said. "I know I already got what I was looking for this summer!"
Dipper looked over at his sister in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Mabel smiled wide. "Welp I guess it's time to spill the beans." Mabel looked over to a empty bean can she had placed on the table for this moment and pushed it over. "I've got a date!"
Her answer only made Dipper more confused. "I was only gone for half a hour. How did you manage to find a date?"
Mabel put her hand on her hip and struck a pose. "What can I say? I'm just that irresistible."
Dipper rolled his eyes and sat down intent of studying the journal from front to back. A hour went by before the doorbell rang and Mabel popped out if her seat. "He's here!"
Mabel ran to the door a flung it open. She stepped back as a pale man in a black hoodie stumbled into the living room with his arms outstretched in front of him. "Well this is him." Mabel gestured at him smiling.
Dipper tried his best not to remark that Mabel's new boyfriend walks like Frankenstein. "So what's your name?"
The strange man looked nervous and he stuttered out a name. "Normal...MAN!"
"He means Norman." Mabel said patting his back."Isn't he perfect? We met in a grave yard." There was a long pause as Dipper took in the situation and wondered what to say. He cleared his throat.
"Mabel what the hell is this?"
She glaired at him. "I'm going to pretend you weren't just incredibly rude and leave. Come on Norman."
Mabel walked out of the shack and Norman followed after missing the doorway and walking into the wall a few times.
Dipper went upstairs and layed in bed. "She's so ridiculous." He said to himself. "I mean, she just met this guy. And he's such a weirdo. Meeting a stranger in a grave yard and then instantly going on a date with him?"
"Yeah sounds pretty weird to me to dude."
Dipper jumped, nearly falling out of bed. He looked over and saw Soos the handyman changing a lightbulb. 'How long has he been there?' Dipper thought to himself.
"I couldn't help but overhear you talking to yourself dude."
Dipper was hesitant to open up to Soos, but he figured he had nothing to lose. "Soo, you may think I'm crazy." Dipper said as he flipped to a specific page of the journal. "But I think Mabels new boyfriend is a zombie!"
"Makes perfect sense to me dude." Soos said without stopping to read the page Dipper showed him, or even asking where he got this book.
"It does?"
"Sure dude. This town is freaky." Soos leaned in and put his hand to the side of his mouth. "Between you and me I think the mailman is a werewolf."
"Well I certainly do feel less crazy." Dipper's voice had a air of relief in it.
"You should totally follow them dude. Make sure he doesn't eat her brains or something." Soos advised as he finished changing the lightbulb.
"Your right Soos! Thank you." Dipper grabbed the journal and a camera he had brought from home. "Your the best!" Dipper yelled as he ran downstairs. Soos tipped his hat as Dipper left.
Dipper followed Mabel and Norman around, videotaping anything noteworthy from their encounters. After Mabel came home Dipper decided he had seen enough to confront her. He walked into their room and saw her laying on her bed.
"Mabel we need to talk about Norman. I followed you guys around today and I think he's..." Dipper quickly flipped through the pages of the journal before flashing one in her face.
Mabel looked at it confused. "You think he's a gnome?" Dipper loomed at what page he had shown and cursed under his breath. He flipped back a few the the right page and showed her again. "I think he's a zombie!"
"I see what's going on here." Mabel smiled and chuckled a bit as she looked at Dipper's concerned face. "Your just sad that I'm not spending as much time with you so you followed me around all day and now your trying to keep me to yourself." She stood up and gave Dipper a hug.
"Well you don't have to worry. I'll always make time for my best bro." She fist bumped Dipper's arm and started to walk away.
"Mabel I'm serious! You met him in a graveyard, he can't walk right, he always has red stuff on his face!"
"He eats a lot of jam! And just because he's different it doesn't make him a zombie. I'm happy, why can't you just be happy for me."
Dipper tempered his tone realizing how upset she was getting. "I'm just worried about you. This guy is a creep and I don't want you hanging around him."
"Well that's not your decision to make." She turned her head away from him. "I'm done talking about this."
"Mabel please listen-"
"No you listen!" She jammed her finger into Dipper's chest. "I am going out today with Norman and I'm going to be adorable and I don't want you anywhere near us! Is that clear?"
Dipper took hold of Mabel's finger and slowly moved it off his chest and glared at her. She returned his glare for a moment before her eyes welled with tears.
"YOUR SUCH A ASSHOLE!"
She ran out of the their room and left the shack. Dipper wanted to go after but knew it wouldn't do any good. He let out a deep sigh and sat on his bed. He looked over at his camera. 'I never even watched it before trying to convince her.' Dipper took a moment to consider how dumb that was, but hoped he could find something that could at least get Stan on his side.
He watched for a few minutes with nothing eventful happening. 'Jesus how did I do this for a whole day? Maybe Mabel was right. I mean sure he's weird, but who isn't.' His thought process was interrupted when he saw Norman's hand fall off. His blood went cold as he went back and replayed the frames over and over. As clear as day he saw it, his hand fall off his arm and before Mabel notices he puts it back on.
Dipper quickly grabbed the journal and ran out of the door. "Shit shit shit." He knew she must have gone to see Norman, but he had no idea where she went. He looked around and noticed the cashier from the shack's gift shop parking a golf cart.
"Wendy! I need to borrow the cart!"
She starred at him for a moment before tossing him the keys. "Try not to crash it. I don't need Stan bitching me out."
Dipper caught them and started the cart. "Thanks Wendy, your the best!"
She smirked as he drove off. "I know." She said under he breath.
Dipper drove through the woods yelling out for Mabel until he finally heard her scream. "MABEL! HOLD ON, IM COMING!" He turned the cart in the direction of the screams and drove as fast as he could. He came to what seemed like a entrance into a enchanted forest. "What the hell." Dipper mumbled under his breath. He put the journal in his vest pocket and grabbed a shovel from the back of the cart.
"Mabel!?"
"DIPPER! IM IN HERE!"
Dipper ran through the entrance fully prepared to bash that zombies brains in, but he wasn't expecting to see her being tied down by little people.
He slowly walked forward. "Mabel what th..I mean wha...I'm not sure how to process this."
She started thrashing. "Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnomes in disguise and now they want to kidna- MMPHMM." She was cut off when a gnome gagged her.
A younger looking gnome stepped out in front of Dipper. "Hey there, this is all just a huge misunderstanding. Ya see, we're gnomes, and gnomes need a queen. So now we're kidnapping your sister to make her our new queen for all eternity. Nothing bad." He smiled wide at Dipper.
Dipper starred at him for a moment before bringing the shovel down on top of his head. The other gnomes scampered to their leader to help him giving Dipper time to rescue Mabel. He quickly untied her and grabbed her arm as they ran back to the cart.
"Dipper." She said between paints. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
"It's fine. I wasn't even right about him being a zombie."
They got in the cart and drove off. Mabel looked behind them as they drove. "Relax." Dipper reassured. "There's no way they could follow us, especially on those stubby little legs."
The ground shook as if something massive was approaching. Dipper turned around in preparation to eat his words, but he couldn't have imagined what he'd see. All the gnomes had joined together to form one super gnome, and it was ganing on them fast.
"SHIT!" Dipper yelled as he slammed harder on the gas pedal. He saw gnomes fly past him and realized they were being launched at the cart.
"Mabel I need you to take the wheel!" Dipper yelled as he started to climb out of the cart.
Mabel quickly grabbed hold of the wheel. "Dipper what are you doing!? Your gonna get killed!"
Dipper grabbed the shovel out of the back and lift himself onto the top of the cart. As gnomes shot out the giants hand he swatted them away.
"DIPPER! I SEE THE SHACK!"
Dipper turned and looked behind him. He knew it didn't solve their gnome problem, but maybe Stan could help them? As he tried to figure it out in his head a tree flew past him and landed a few feet in front of the shack.
Mabel quickly swerved throwing herself from the cart and Dipper from the top. Mabel slowly picked herself up and looked around. No Dipper. "Dipper! Dipper where are you!? The ground trembled as the colossal amalgamation of gnomes approached her.
It extended its massive hand to her and the young gnome walked down to face Mabel. "Alright the fun is over. But any longer without a queen and we run the risk of dying out! Gnomes are a all male species that rely on other species birthing more gnomes!"
Mabel scrunched her face in disgust. "Wouldn't that make gross half gnome half...whatevers?"
"Yeah it would, that's why we need a human. Half gnome half deer gnomes are a abomination, but half gnome half people gnomes are the closest to pure gnomes we could hope to achieve. Now come on, what'd ya say?"
He knelt down at pulled a ring from his pocket with a large shiny rock on it. Mabel stepped back. "It's not happening!" She crossed her arms and gave the gnome a death stare.
The gnome put the ring away. "If that's how it's gonna be." He snapped his fingers and a group of gnomes carried Dipper out of the woods.
"DIPPER!" She tried to run to him but the massive gnome put it's arm out in front if her, all the interlocked gnomes scowling at her.
"Not so fast!" The lead gnome yelled. "If you want your brother free then you have to marry us! Otherwise..." One of the gnomes by Dipper pulled a mini garden gnome out of his pocket and smashed it on the ground. He then took a jagged piece and held it to Dipper's throat. It briefly took off Dipper's gag. "Tell your sister this is the way it's gotta be and we'll let you go."
"DONT DO IT MABEL! THESE GUYS SMELL SO BAD IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD SMELL LIKE TO F-MPH." The gnome quickly regagged him and slashed him down the side of the face.
"LET HIM GO!" She yelled, still unable to get passed the gnomes and save her brother.
"Then you know what you have to do." The lead gnome said holding out the ring. Mabel's face of anger turned to one of defeat. "Fine. I'll marry you."
"Hot dog!" The gnome climbed down and kneeled in front of Mabel.
"But first." Mabel stopped him. "You let my brother go."
The gnome snapped his fingers and Dipper was quickly cut free. He kicked one of the gnomes away from him and started running towards Mabel but the giant gnome grabbed him.
"Mabel if you want your brother to live he's gonna have to play nice."
"Dipper please, I need you to trust me."
"But Mabel!" Dipper tried to protest but he could see the seriousness in her eyes. She didn't look scared. "Ok. I trust you."
The gnomes let him up and he stood and watched. "Anyway." The lead gnome said. "Back to what we were doing."
Mabel interrupted. "You know uhhhh."
"Jeff. My names Jeff." The gnome said with a irritated voice.
"Right. Sorry. Jeff I was thinking, if the gnomes are so in need of a queen it may be better to just...start the breeding process now.
His eyes lit up. "Yeah ok sure!"
Dipper felt his heart drop. 'No way. No damn way.' He started backing up and stepped on the shovel. He kept his foot on it, he felt like he would need it soon.
Mabel and Jeff started walking into the forest before Mabel stopped. "Jeff...I can't wait any longer." She knelt down with a pained expression. Jeff grinned widely. "Well if you insist."
He walked closer to Mabel before she pulled a leaf blower out of the bushes and turned it on, sucking Jeff in.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE THE GNOME QUEEN!?" He yelled as he became stuck halfway.
"You lied to me! Attacked me! And threatened to kill my brother! This is why you don't have a queen! YOUR CRAZY!" She turned the leaf blower towards the massive gnome army and laughed Jeff into the middle, causing them all to scatter.
Dipper quickly picked up the shovel and started hitting every gnome in his sight.
"RETREAT!" Jeff yelled running into the woods. And all the other gnomes followed. Dipper threw down the shovel and approached Mabel.
She looked down in shame. "Dipper I'm sorry that I-" He cut her off by pulling her into a hug.
"I'm just happy your ok. I was so scared." She hugged him back. After a few moments neither had broken from the hug.
"Dipper?"
"Yes Mabel?"
"This normal sibling hug just turned into a awkward one didn't it?"
"I think so."
"Wanna just pat and get it over with?"
"That sounds good."
And with three pats on the back the broke the hug and went inside. Stan was in the giftshop counting the money from the register and noticed the kids walk in.
"Jesus you two look like shit. Can I say shit around you? Your 15 right?" They nodded their heads. "Good, because you look like shit." He laughed to himself before getting a better look at their condition. Mabel's eyes red and puffy, Dipper with dried blood down his cheek. "Hey look, I wont ask what happened to you two but It looks like you've had a rough day. And as luck would have it I'm a bit over today so why don't you each pick something out of the gift shop. On me."
Dipper looked at him untrustingly. "Whats the catch?"
"The catch is do it before I change my mind."
Dipper looked around and noticed a patch with a pine tree on it. He held it up to his jacket to make sure it fit before putting it in his pocket. He looked over and saw Mabel rummaging through miscellaneous items.
"Find anything Mabel?" Dipper asked.
"Yup!" She said joyfully. She stood up straight and spun in a circle before lifting the object in the air. "A grappling hook!"
Stan looked at her in utter confusion. Not that he knows much about what kids her age like, but he didn't think it would be that. "Alright kids you look like you've had a rough day. There's band aids in the medicine cabinet upstairs. I'll be in my office." Stan put the register money in his pocket and left the room.
Dipper and Mabel went to their room. Mabel agreed to sew the patch onto Dipper's jacket as he wrote in the journal.
GNOMES
WEAKNESS: LEAF BLOWER, BLIND HORNINESS.
'This book says there's nobody in this town you can trust, but when you fight a army of gnomes with your sister you learn that isn't the case.'
"Aaaaand done!" Mabel held up the jacket with the patch sewn on.
"Thanks Mabel." Dipper said as he put it away. Dipper thought for a moment. He thought this summer would be boring and miserable, but It was becoming clear this town held far more secrets then he could imagine. And as long as Mabel was by his side, he had nothing to worry about.