~~~~~~~~~Dipper's POV~~~~~~~~~
It was movie day for (y/n) and I, at her house this time. At the moment, we were watching some zombie movie titled Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite, which was way too ridiculous and stupid of a movie.
The woman hugged the man's arm. "What do we do, Chadley?!? I thought they were dead!!!"
"Far worse, Trixandra!!! They're... Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite!!!"
She screamed, the two of us just staring. "Man, these movies are a lot less scary when you've actually fought real zombies."
"Yes, thank you for scarring us with that experience forever, Pinetree."
We both laughed a bit, (y/n) looking back at the tv. "They're slow, just power walk away from them!!!"
"How much you wanna bet that guy dies first?"
"Ah, my face is being eaten a lot!" The man yelled,
making us burst into laughter.
"Chadley ain't pretty no more!"
A thought soon popped into my mind, something I had been wanting to do for a long while now. "... S-So, (y/n), there's something I wanna ask.."
She raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to talk.
"I just wanted to ask if.. w-well if.." I let out a heavy sigh, looking down in shame. "If you and Leo were join me and Mabel on the mystery hunt tomorrow...?"
"Duh! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" She looked back at the tv. "Yo, Chadley, watch out!!!"
"Heh, yeah.." I lied back down on the bed with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling. "Just wanted to ask that.."
"Dude, you're laying on my bra."
"AHH!!!"
I had been trying my best to gather the courage and finally ask (y/n) out after so long, but if things went wrong, I might lose her friendship..!
I just needed to distract myself with this mystery hunt, this is what matters most.
Clanking the lantern I held, I looked at Mabel and Soos. "Thank you all for coming."
Mabel smiled at me. "Hey, when there's a mystery, you can count on your sister-y!"
"That's amazing rhyme!" Soos chuckled. "When you want to good, would- would you need a Soos you- oh, gosh, I don't know..."
"We're here to solve the number one mystery in Gravity Falls. Who wrote this journal? Thirty years ago, the author vanished without a trace." I shined the dark light at one of the pages. "But according to this new clue, we may have found his secret hiding place! We find that author, we learn the answers to everything! We just need to figure out a way to get down there."
"Can't we just chop it down?" We all looked over to see (y/n) and Leo walking over.
"Hey guys!! What took you so long?!" Mabel ran over.
(y/n) crossed her arms, glaring at Leo. "Someone couldn't choose between leaving or taking their jacket."
"I'm sensitive to the cold!"
"Don't worry, Leo!" Mabel pulled out another sweater from her back pack. "I always bring an extra sweater in hand."
"Oh, well, thanks!"
"Hey dudes? Is it just me or does that branch kinda look like a lever?" We all turned to Soos, looking up at what he meant.
I brought a hand up to my chin. "Huh, yeah. But how but how do we get up there..?"
"Hey look!! Peanut butter sap!!" (y/n) yelled, making me grow really confused.
Soos immediately looked over with a gasp. "Where?!"
As he looked away from the tree, Leo quickly flew up to the top, pulling down the lever before flying down. (y/n) then gave a shrug with a sheepish smile. "Nope, false alarm, just normal tree sap. Sorry."
"Aw.."
Just then, the tree began rumbling, slowly digging itself into the ground as a staircase formed around it, all of us peeking inside.
I turned to the others. "Alright, guys, this is it! Remember: whatever happens down there, we tell no one."
Mabel gave me a serious thumbs up, Leo was already cracking his knuckles, Soos flipped his cap around, and (y/n) zipped her lips.
"Now who wants to go first?"
We went into the tree, the stairs leading deep down. My eyes widened as we reached the end, entering what seemed to be a bunker..!
"Woah..!"
"Cool..!"
"Epic..!"
I looked around. "It's like a fallout shelter! Must've belonged to the author..!"
Mabel stuck her head in a barrel, taking it back out as many caterpillars crawled over her face. "My face feels fuzzy!"
"Might not wanna do that." Leo suggested.
We all sort of wondered around, (y/n) and I walking over to a shelf filled with cans of food and water. "It's like he was preparing for a disaster!"
(y/n) crossed her arms. "Yeah, but what kind of disaster would need supplies for over sixty years?"
"Oh my gosh..." We turned over to see Soos had opened a cabinet filled with weapons, only to take a smez dispenser. "A smez dispenser!!! I remember these things!!! What's that?! Yes, I will have some of your old-timey face food!!!" He ate a piece of its candy, cringing. "Ew, dusty.." He still ate another.
"Hey guys..?" Leo picked up an empty opened can. "Something tells me we're not alone down here.."
"The author might still be alive!! Down here!!" Soos pointed out.
I then noticed (y/n)'s eyes squint a bit, walking over to a map of the town and ripping it out, revealing a passageway. "And I might know where he might be."
We all crawl through the passageway which led to a strange room with even stranger symbols, each one in their own little square.
Soos cringed a bit. "This room is way creepy!"
"Not as creepy as Dipper's internet history! Heyo!!" Mabel then pushed me forward, making me land in a symbol on the floor which soon lit up, followed by the other symbols in the room and closing the door where we had come through. Shortly after, blocks start to come out off the wall to try to squish us.
Mabel hugged Leo's arm. "Wall things!!! Crazy wall things happening right now!!!"
"No shit, Sherlock!!!" (y/n) yelled back.
We all tried to push them back, panicking as the kept closing in on us.
Leo looked at me. "Hey, if there's a good time to use that journal of yours, now is the time!!"
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...!!!" I muttered to myself, flipping the pages and looking at the dark light letters. "Find these five symbols!!! Quick, everybody step on one!!!"
Soos looked around, finding one beside him and pressing it. "One!!!"
Leo managed to run to one of the corners, pressing another. "Two!!!"
Mabel jumped over a few, pressing the third one. "Three!!!"
(y/n) slid down under another, pressing the forth one. "Four!!!"
I quickly looked around, seeing the last one on the ceiling as I quickly climbed, just barely able to press it. "Five!!!"
A door opened at the other end, all of us making a run for it. It the process, my vest got stuck on the gate, and in a panic I just took it off to escape.
Leo stood up, dusting himself off. "Everyone okay?"
"We're good!" Mabel answered.
(y/n) began to look around. "Dude, get a load of this crazy surveillance room!"
"Check it out, dudes!" Soos took two science vessels and places them together in front of his eyes, making them seem hilarious as he made funny noises.
"Soos, Soos, ... that is hilarious."
Mabel then tapped my shoulder, offering me my best back. "You left your vest back there."
"Oh, thanks."
"Look what else I got~!" My blood grew cold as she waved a small note in front of me.
I had written that for (y/n) to tell her how I really felt, I knew I should've thrown it away!
"Give me that!" I snatched it back, hiding it in my vest.
She let out a shrink of happiness. "You were gonna confess to her today?!?"
"No, I changed my mind. It's a bad idea. I'd just embarrass myself and lose her friendship forever!"
"Oh c'mon, just tell her already!!! One way or another, you're gonna feel better afterwards!!!"
"Look, Mabel, I can't tell her no matter how much I want to!!! Just drop it, okay..?!"
"PT, you got to check out this weird metal closet!" I looked over, seeing (y/n) inside a weird closet, speaking in a robotic tone. "I am a robot, I have a metal closet."
"Coming!" I shot Mabel one last glare. "This never happened."
I ran over to (y/n), and only a second later, I felt Mabel's hand on my shoulder. "Brother, whatever happens, I just want you to know: ... this is for your own good."
"What?"
Before I could argue back, she pushed me into the closet, shutting and locking the door. "What the-?!?"
"I didn't mean this, Pinetree." (y/n) raised an eyebrow.
I stuttered a bit, starting to bang on the door as I yelled. "Mabel, let us out!!!"
"Oh, I'll let you out~! As soon as you tell (y/n) that thing you've wanting to tell her! You'll thank me for this later!!"
(y/n) looked at me in confusion. "What is she talking about?"
"Uh, Mabel's been eating raw sugar packets again...!"
"That's besides the point!!!"
"Let me out right now!!!" I continued to hit the door, getting angry.
(y/n) let out a groan. "Ugh, where are the lights?"
She noticed a small string in the middle and pulled it, turning on some shower. After that, some steam dried us, and a door opened. Both confused, we looked around.
My eyes went wide at the sight. "Whoa... a hidden lab...!"
"Maybe the author did experiments down here or something.." It didn't take long before we noticed a lot of tunnels around the place. "What do you think dug all these tunnels...?"
"Let's hope we don't find out..."
Just then, a loud shriek game from the varios tunnels. It wasn't human like, and that made me feel more uneasy.. We looked towards a dark area that was close to us, the noises getting louder.
We screamed in a panic, running back to the door and punching it with all the strength we had. "Mabel, open up!!! For real!!! There's a monster in here!!!"
"Hah, nice try!!! The only monsters are your own inner demons, Dipper!!!"
"That is so wise!" Soos said after Mabel.
"Dipper, just say whatever they want you to say so they'll let us out of here!!!" (y/n) said, clearly afraid of whatever crawled in those tunnels.
Mabel continued to yell from behind the door. "C'mon, Dipper!!! Now's the time, bro!!!"
"(y/n), I-... I-..."
I can't.. I just can't!
"I'm gonna find another way out!!!" I grabbed her hand, starting to drag her away.
I didn't know what we'd find, I didn't know where to go. But I didn't want to lose my best friend!
We ran for a bit, eventually reaching a dead end. We heard the monster near us and turned around, both of us terrified. We saw the shadow of the monster running, but it was soon talked by something, or someone, else.
After a bit, we were greeted by an unfamiliar man walking out of the tunnel. "Well, I just ripped out a monster's tongue."
(y/n) gagged at the sight of the man throwing the creature's tongue on the ground, but I didn't care about that.
Had I finally found the man?!
"It's- it's you...!!!"
"Hurry now, I scared it off but it'll regenerate!" He began to run away, the two of us following.
Once far enough, he began to talk. "I wasn't expecting guests. I've been down here for a very long time. Years. Weeks maybe. I miss orange juice."
"You don't understand, you're the guy I've been looking for!!!"
"He's the guy?!?"
"(y/n), he's the guy!!!" We smiled brightly.
The man raised an eyebrow. "The guy?"
My smile only grew. "I got like a jillion questions!!! Why did you write the journals?!? Who was after you?!? Why did you build this bunker?!?"
He let out a chuckle. "My boy, I'd love to discuss this in time, but we have more pressing matters. It's one of my experiments: a shapeshifter. Able to take the form of anyone or anything it sees. It broke free from a cage of solid steel! I've gone half crazy trying to catch the creature alone, but now you're here! Will you help me catch it?"
This is amazing!!
~~~~~~~~~Leo's POV~~~~~~~~~
I leaned back against the wall, seeing Mabel and Soos mess around with whatever equipment they could find.
Not gonna lie though, I was starting to get worried about (y/n) and Dipper, they had been far too quiet in the room.
Soos picked up a briefcase after putting on a lab coat. "Hey, do I look smarter with this coat and brief case? I feel like I look smarter..."
"Razzle dazzle! Look at this tube-y thing!" Mabel began pressing a button on dashboard. "Frozen! Unfrozen! Frozen! Unfrozen!"
I rolled my eyes with a small smile, though they soon landed on a list, picking it up. "What's this?"
"Experiment number 210: the shape shifter." Mabel read over my shoulder.
My eyes suddenly widened at the realization. "Uh, didn't your brother say there was a monster in there with them?!"
She let out a gasp of terror. "I thought he was just joking!!!"
"You know Dipper's jokes are terrible!!!" Soos yelled, all of us running to the closet, praying we weren't too late..
~~~~~~~~~Dipper's POV~~~~~~~~~
"Come in, come in! I apologize for the state of things. I don't get many non-mold people visitors." The man explained. "Now the beast must have some weakness we can exploit. I used to have my research on him, but alas I lost my journals so many years ago..."
(y/n) turned to him. "Did you say journals?"
"Dude, I found one of them!!! It's how I tracked you down here!!!" I took out the journal, seeing the smile grow on his face.
"What...? Could it be...?!? Heh, my boy, I can't express my gratitude!" I took it, his back facing us. "Oh yes... after all these years... Yes... it's all here..."
I didn't bother to hide my own smile. "(y/n), isn't it amazing we're actually meeting the real author...?!?"
That's when her face suddenly grew pale, picking up a can of food and showing it to me. "Uh.. Pinetree..?"
On the can was a picture of the same man that claimed to be the author, and seeing her worried expression, I knew what she meant.
Taking a deep breath, I walk to the man. "Uh, you know what? We should probably get going.. Can I have my journal back..?"
"You're not going anywhere...!!!" His head turned a 180 as he looked at us, rapidly climbing up the wall as spider legs spread out of his back, roaring at the top of his lungs.
We screamed in fear as he transformed into a slimey monster, his voice demonic. "How do you like my true form?!? Go on, admit it, you like it!"
"You!!! What did you do to the real author?!?"
"You'll never find him, that six fingered nerd hasn't been himself in 30 years. But I do thank you for bringing his journal. He used to write it while I was in my cage! So many wonderful forms to take...!" He laughed as he morphed into different creatures.
"We've got to get that journal back!!"
"Hey, bodysnatcher!!!" (y/n) formed a large orb in her hands, throwing it over at the creature.
To our surprise, he morphed into a huge mutant frog, swallowing the orb and staying in place as it exploded inside him, then stretched his tongue over to attack us.
(y/n) had already said her shield spell, pulling me behind her as the creature collided with the (f/c) force field, and I was able to see him drop my journal.
"RUN RUN RUN!!!" I yelled as I grabbed the journal, the two of us making a run for it.
After a while, we hid in one of the tunnels, and I threw our flashlight into another to lead the mister away, continuing to run until the two of us bumped into something.
We backed away, seeing Soos, Mabel, and Leo standing there. Mabel gave a bright smile. "Dipper, (y/n)!!!"
"Guys!! Wait..." I placed an arm in front of (y/n), backing away as I squinted my eyes in suspense. "How we know you're not the shape shifter...?"
Soos gasped. "Maybe I am!!! Mabel, inspect my shape!!!"
"Poke!"
He laughed as Mabel poked his stomach. "Do that again!!!"
"Poke!"
"Even better the second time!!!"
She then turned to Leo. "You want some pokes too?!"
He didn't reply, just stared at her with a glare until she eventually looked away.
I lowered my hand. "It's definitely them." I Then let out a gasp as I saw blood on on (y/n)'s knees. "Oh my gosh, (y/n), you're bleeding!!!"
"Huh?" She looked down, noticing what I meant. "Oh, don't worry, it's just a scratch."
Mabel's face fell in worry. "What happened?!?"
"We got attacked by the shape-shifter! He broke out of his cage, pretended to be the author, and wants Dipper's journal!"
"Imagine if he escapes into town!!! He can transform into anything!!! We can never trust anyone ever again!!!" (y/n) and I explained.
"What do we do?!?" Mabel asked.
(y/n) had already ripped off the lower end of her glove, wrapping it around her knees. "Well, he took us into his home, tricked us, and tried to destroy us."
Leo crossed his arms, a small smirk on his face. "You wanna return the favor."
"Exactly."
We made a plan. After we got into our positions, the shape-shifter thing started calling me. Mabel and I were bate. Not the best plan, but we didn't have much to work with.
Mabel began. "Oh boy, Dipper, that book sure is filled with some great monsters!!!"
"There you are!!!" That was a lot faster than I expected. He looked at Mabel, smiling. "Ooh, and a new one!!! Should I be one? Or the other? How about both?" He turned to each of us, then turned into a weird hybrid of both of us and a spider, roaring as we ran away.
As we reached the others, I flailed my arms in a panic. "Guys, he's coming, he's coming!!! Now now now now!!!"
Soos and Leo we trying to turn the valve, soon turning to us as Soos's eyes widened. "It's not working, dude!!!"
I suddenly felt something pull me back, seeing the creature holding my journal with his tongue as I tried to pull it back. "Hey, let go!!!"
"You leave him alone!!!" (y/n) tried to help me pull the journal back, only for the monster to pull her over as I yelled her name.
I noticed her arm starting to glow as she raised it to attack. However, that's when Soos managed to spin the valve, letting a huge wave of water into the room. We tried to outrun it, but thankfully it wasn't that strong for us.
As the water cleared, I looked around, soon growing worried; there was no sign of (y/n). I desperately began to look around, imagining the worse as I called her name.
Eventually, my blood ran freezing cold at the sight of her lying on the ground motionless.
No...
"(y/n)!!! No no no no no!!!" I ran over as fast as I could, kneeling down beside her as I shook her. "Can you hear me?!? Oh, please be okay, please be okay!!!"
Tears form in my eyes when there was no response, not even a reaction..
"Oh no, oh no, this is all my fault!!! If I had told you when we were in the closet we wouldn't be in this mess!!! But I was too scared and now you could be hurt or worse and I never even got a chance to tell you I'm like- in love with you, (y/n)!!!"
I sobbed into my hands, only for my eyes to widen at a familiar voice.
"Uh... Pinetree...?"
Turning around, I saw (y/n) standing a few feet away from me, holding my journal, growing confused. "Wh-wha- wh- (y/n)?!? Wait, then who's-?!?"
The (y/n) that was on the floor woke up, growling at the other before tackling her, trying to get my journal. They started to fight over it, and eventually I lost track who was the real one and who was the fake.
But I had to do something! Anything!
I grabbed a nearby copper tube, biting my lip as I looked at the two of them fighting, both looking at me. "Dipper, hit her with the axe!!!"
"Don't listen to her, Dipper!!!"
"She's the Shape-Shifter!!!"
I rightly gripped the tube, my heart beating at a rapid pace. "Uh- I-I- I don't know who's who!!! Give me a sign!!!"
One of them gave me a wink, while the other zipped her mouth in secret.
I know who's who.
With a hard swing, I stabbed the tube into the Shape-Shifter, (y/n) and I backing away from him as it roared in pain. As he transforms back to his normal form, (y/n) and I quickly pushed the creature into the tube which closed at the right moment.
I was surprised at first, but then I realized it was Soos and Mabel. The creature stared to transform into different things trying escape, but gave up and was covered by the icy smoke.
Soos, Leo, and Mabel walked over to us, Soos letting out a sigh of relief. "Let's get out of here, dudes."
We all looked back at the creature as he laughed. "You think you're so clever, don't you, Dipper? But you have no idea what you're up against. You will never find the author! If you keep digging, you'll meet a faith worse than you can imagine. And this will be the last form you'll ever take!!!"
He morphed into a clone of me, screaming in agony as it froze solid, leaving me in a pit of fear.
I heard Soos chuckle. "Good luck sleeping tonight!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once outside, we all looked like a tired mess, in pain and and exhausted.
Leo let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know about any of you, but I think I'm kind of adventured out for a while."
"Me too, dude, my face hurts from doing this all day!" Soos pointed at his own face, making a scared expression.
Mabel let out a small laugh. "Yeah. But you gotta admit, we're all total heroes!"
"Hey, who wants to get some hero's breakfast?"
"Heck yeah!"
Mabel jumped onto Leo's back. "Let's go!!"
They all went back to the shack, leaving (y/n) and I in an awkward silence. She turned to me as I gripped my arm, and I looked down at the ground so my hat covered my face.
"... look, (y/n), about earlier... In the heat of the moment, I might've said some dumb things and can't we just pretend none of that ever happened...? Please...?"
"It's fine, PT, don't worry about.."
"No, it's not fine!" I looked up, gripping my hat. "I should've just told you from the very start so none of this would've happened!! You could've seriously gotten and-!!"
"Pinetree-"
"You could've broken an arm, or leg, or-!!"
"Dipper-!!"
"You could've gotten killed!!! Killed and it would've all been because of me!!! Because I was too stupid to just tell you the truth, so afraid to lose you as a friend that I didn't even think about you dying and losing you for-!!!"
"Dipper, I love you too!!!"
I paused for a few seconds, looking up at her. "W-Wait, what?"
She had a small smile on her face, her cheeks pink as she placed her hands on my shoulders. "I love you too, you doofus.. And I don't blame you for anything that happened, I get why you wouldn't tell me.."
"... okayIdefinitelywasn'treadyforthatanswer."
She snickered as I sat down on a log, soon sitting beside me and staying in silent for a little while.
"... so... you love me..." I began.
"Yeah.."
"And I love you..."
"Yeah..?"
"... what happens now...?"
She waited a few seconds before turning to mean. "Well.. how about we try being, you know.. more than friends..?"
I felt my face heat up at her words, looking over at her. A smile soon grew on my face. "Y-Yeah.. I'd like that.."
She smiled back, soon placing a kiss on my cheek, making me grow redder than I already was. She giggled, making me smile.
I should've just told her sooner, but.. I'm really glad she feels the same..
Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!
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