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Gravity Falls: Wish You Were Here part 2

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A few days later, a very official car was seen driving into Gravity Falls, and as it passed through town, many people noticed this, knowing that this car wasn't a type anyone who lived in town would drive. Conversations were exchanged on seeing this, as the last time something like this had happened was at the beginning of summer, when Dipper and Mabel's parents had taken them there, as they were very well-to-do and could drive cars such as this. But what confused so many people was that this car drove all the way to the Mystery Shack.
As it parked, Stan had changed the sign on the door, letting it be known that they were closed early for 'legal reasons'. Many believed that Stan was finally being sued or was selling the shack to a realtor, but no one knew. Those who knew exactly what was happening had kept it a secret. Wendy kept her lips sealed, aside from telling her dad, who promised to keep it a secret as well. Soos kept it a secret as well, and hadn't told a soul.

The lawyer stepped out from the car he had rented from the airport a few towns over and finally made it to his destination. He looked up and saw the sign to the Mystery Shack, seeing that the 'S' in Shack had fallen down. From what he had heard in casual conversations with his late client, Evan Pines, this word that shouldn't be, described Stan perfectly (at times), but when it came to family, he was one-hundred percent reliable.
"Let's hope you were right, Evan" the lawyer said and walked up to the front door, proceeding to knock on the screen door in front of it, as there wasn't a doorbell.
At the door, he saw both the children of his late client answer the door.
"Why, hello, kids" he said to them "I'm here to talk with your uncle, is he here?"
Dipper stepped back, making space for him to come in.
"Yeah, Grunkle Stan's here, he's been expecting you" he explained. "But what took you so long?" Mabel asked.
The man sighed.
"There isn't an airport for this town, so I had to make one for the closest town with one, but what with it being the end of summer and many people heading home on flights, I had to wait a few days to get mine approved." he explained and stepped inside.
Mabel had ran up-stairs and a few minutes later came down with Stan. He was faintly different than how his late client had described him, but basically the same; semi-elderly with a five o'clock shadow, a pair of glasses, dressed in a suit and wearing a fez hat.
"So I'm guessing you're the lawyer who gave me the news?" Stan asked him.
The man nodded.
"Yes, I am James Joseph, your late nephew's attorney, and caretaker of the children's affairs."
Stan guided him from the gift shop of the shack and into the kitchen area. As he looked around, James realized that the place was actually pretty clean and organized, while the outside looked a bit weather-beaten. But that's what he expected from a country-like town.
Mabel pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and James sat down, setting his suitcase on the table, which contained the documents for him and Stan to sign.
"So…" he began, opening the case, which blocked his view, as he heard a few more chairs scooting out and being sat in.
As he took out the documents and sat them at the side of the suitcase, which he set down afterwards, he saw that not only was Stan sitting across from the table, but both Dipper and Mabel were at each side of the table as well, making each person sit at the circular table with another person right across from them.
James slightly shook his head at seeing the twins.
"If its fine with you, I don't believe they should be involved within this, this issue involves only you and I." he told Stan.
Stan shook his head back.
"This issue doesn't involve just me and you; it involves the kids, too. In case you don't remember, it's THEIR parents that died, so they have a right to know what's going on." he said, with a bit of a glare.
James nodded his head a bit. This showed that he cared about the kids.
"Well, fine then."
He picked up a few sheets of paper, and slid them over to Stan.
"As you know, your nephew was a very well-to-do man, with business deals involving sports teams, many of them with the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics."
Stan nodded. His nephew had been very active in sports as a child, and both his favorite teams were in Oakland. But, doubting if he could ever make a professional sports team, he had instead taken a career in business and was actually able to secure sponsors for said sports teams, which is why he lived in Piedmont California, just outside of Oakland. Stan had explained this to Dipper and Mabel yesterday, as they were very interested in learning about their parents. Their Great Uncle told them of this, and said he'd have much more to tell them as time would go on.
"So, with his investments he made through his business deals, he has made a decent amount of money, which now is to be passed down to his children." James said.
Dipper and Mabel smiled a bit at this.
"But as they are still minors, I am instilling their inheritance within you as the trustee." James said, sliding a few bank documents and receipts over to Stan.
Stan looked them over and nodded as he read, occasionally readjusting his glasses.
"Seems legit" he said.
"Of course you know that this isn't your money to spend, right?" James asked.
Stan again nodded.
"Of course, it's for the kids" he replied.
"But, if they so choose, they are allowed to spend the money on what they want, but, with you being the trustee, I am hoping you will make wise decisions on whether or not they have the money."
Stan nodded again, and then turned to the twins.
"Now kids," he said to them "This is a large amount of money your parents are leaving you, and while I will take a portion of it out to help make your lives here a bit more well, livable, here, that doesn't mean you will be able to take this money out whenever you want. I want you to be smart with this."
Both Dipper and Mabel nodded.
"And, if I can figure out how, I will divide it up within four different accounts; two of which I shall give to you kids for a little spending money, but I trust you to be smart with." He told them in a serious tone.
Dipper and Mabel both nodded again.
"But the other two accounts will be for each of you when you turn eighteen and become legal adults." Stan explained "The accounts you will be able to access for now will have a smaller amount of money so you can learn to stretch your dollar, that way, when you inherit your larger amounts, you will be smarter at spending."
Both Dipper and Mabel said that they understood all of what Stan had explained. Stan looked back at the attorney.
"I am glad that you have told them this, and it seems that you've thought this through well enough, so I will set up the accounts for these children for you." James told Stan, and wrote a few notes in a digital planner.
Stan closed his eyes and nodded.
"Well, as well as money, many of the children's things will be transported here via moving vans, and all the funds have been paid for this, but…" he let it hang.
"Only if they so choose to stay here in Gravity Falls with you."
Without even waiting for James to question them, both Dipper and Mabel nodded frantically. Stan put a hand on each of their shoulders and told them to calm down.
James stood and looked at his surroundings.
"So, Mr. Pines, I've looked over a couple of your records, and while most of them are a bit questionable, when it comes to family, I see that you are fully determined to make sure things are always good."
Stan stood up as well.
"Of course." he said.
"And, as I've heard from your nephew, this place, your home, has been transformed into a tourist trap called the 'Mystery Shack', as I have seen the gift shop, and the broken sign."
Stan agreed to this "Yeah, but I wouldn't really call it a 'trap', merely a place for tourists to stop by."
"Have you put the children to work in your store?" James asked accusingly.
"Which I must tell you is violating child labor laws" he added.
Stan shook his head.
"Really, the only work the kids do around here are mere household chores; sweeping, dusting, the usual things." he described "I admit that they DO work in the gift shop from time to time, but only by doing house chores in the gift shop as well. I have two other employees who do the harder work, and they spend time with the kids as well. And if the kids so asked, I would pay them for working here, and have even let them have a few things from the gift shop as possessions of their own."
"I really only have these kids best interests at heart and since I am, I hope, to become their legal guardian, I want to be the best they can have." Stan finished "I'll change however I have to, to make sure they stay with me as their last remaining family member, as I have changed in the past few days and will change even more from what I was in the past."
James eyed Stan for a minute, at first being unsure, and even though a little part of him doubted it, he finally accepted it. He held out a hand and both he and Stan shook. Stan smiled gladly and shook fervently, knowing he would keep his promise.
"Well, from how I saw the children's reactions, it seems they do want to stay here in town with you. So I will have you sign a few of the documents I brought over, thus making you the children's legal guardian and for them to make this town their new residence of living, allowing you to look after all their affairs. I will mail them when I get back to town and sort them out, and within a few weeks, they will be officially living here."
The reality of this finally hit Dipper and Mabel. They had been around town, and knew, outside of the crazy things, it was semi-normal for a small town, only having one elementary, middle, and high school. So they would be attending the middle school within a few weeks or so and then the high school if they stayed here up until that time. But they understood and reassured the lawyer that they truly did want to stay in Gravity Falls.
"There is one more thing I want you to know though, Stan" James said.
He took one last package of paper from his suitcase.
"It seems that on both your nephew and his wife's wills, they have arranged that they be buried here in town, so their funeral will be held here. Their bodies will be flown in and the funeral will be held as soon as possible. As the last remaining family member, as you have said, you will be able to look after the affairs of this burial, but if you so choose, you can leave it up to the town."
Stan sighed at this, and looked over the other papers as well. He shook his head slightly but said "I want to look over this, but I don't know if I can handle it completely, this is well, kinda hard for me too, ya know?"
James totally understood.
"Well, basically, the funeral is to be held here, they will be buried by the shores of Gravity Falls Lake, and whatever you want to be held before, during, and after the funeral is up to both you as well as the kids. You do not have to decide on all the things now, but you will have to soon."
"Alright, I get it, let's look these over. I know my nephew and his wife more than anyone, so I'll make a few decisions on this." Stan said, and sat back down.
James sat with him and they went over the affairs of the funeral, occasionally getting advice, tips, and approval from the kids.

After a few hours of discussing the affairs, events, and documents, James Joseph finally left to return and have the documents sent in and approved. It seemed that in time, word had spread around town from the only other person who knew about what had happened to Dipper and Mabel; Robbie.
Robbie had let it be known that both Dipper and Mabel's parents were dead, and as he learned, and what was unbeknownst to the twins, their parents were very well known in this town. Robbie was disappointed in this, as he had hoped that letting out the secret would, somehow, make something bad happen to the twins, but it only made them the trending topic of the town, and it seemed all the residents were saying that they wanted to attend the funeral. But not everyone had known, and those who didn't, would soon learn.

The next day, Candy and Grenda showed up at the Mystery Shack, as they had heard what had happened the very previous day. They went there hoping to cheer up Mabel. She told them that she really didn't need it, but her friends assured her that a day out with them could help lift her spirits even more. Mabel finally agreed and left with them.
Since Dipper hadn't made friends like Mabel had, Wendy had invited him to hang out with her and her friends, but he politely declined, even though he was amazed that she offered, instead of him having to ask. But he said that he was going to take care of a few things, and would happily join them next time. Wendy was slightly relieved by his answer, as, since she had dumped Robbie, she was worried how this would affect her group of friends, but she would let the chips fall where they would. She had her reasons for dumping Robbie, and she would tell her side of the story when she'd have to.
So, while Mabel went out to hang out with her friends, after approval from her Grunkle Stan, Dipper headed out to see what he could do to help himself with this issue, hoping he could find some kind of way to have closure with his parents. He got approval from his Grunkle Stan to leave for the day as well, but he did not tell him the complete details.
Dipper set out with his '3' to spots of intrigue labeled in it, while Mabel, Grenda and Candy headed into town for some fun. Unfortunately, both of the Mystery Twins had someone on their tails, their enemies that lived in the town; Robbie and Pacifica.

Pacifica Northwest, while in one of her family's limos, was seeing Mabel leave the shack and enter into town. Pacifica made the chauffeur drop her off in the middle of town. She stayed hidden as best as she could, which was actually easier for her lately, even with how popular she was. So no one knew that it was apparent that she was following them.
She followed Mabel and her friends because, for some reason unknown to her, Mabel and her brother had become popular within the time limit of a few days. This infuriated her! Mabel didn't even seem to want to soak up the popularity; she actually looked sad.
"That unappreciative little brat!" she said, unaware, in her anger, that she was basically describing herself.
After Dipper had revealed her ancestor's secret to her, she felt so humiliated, even if no one else knew. She had shredded the evidence, but she didn't doubt Dipper; he was smarter than he looked and probably had his own copies, perhaps even the original ones. So she had stayed on the down-low whenever she saw them both together. Dipper probably carried the secret cover-up with him.
But, seeing that he wasn't with his sister, she felt that this was the perfect opportunity to torment Mabel even more!
"No one steals my spotlight from me!" she said, and let out a despicable laugh, un-noticed in the large crowd.

Dipper had made his way into the woods, hoping he could get help from one of his allies; the Multi-bear. He made sure though, that he avoided the territory where the Manotaurs dwelled. While they had allowed him to live, even after declaring not to slay the Multi-bear, it didn't mean that he wasn't one of their enemies.
~~~
Robbie stayed a few yards behind Dipper, un-noticed by the pre-teen in his determination. It was a bit hard for him to keep up, because he was still in pain from how hard Wendy had kneed his sacred area. But he maintained a slow pace where he could keep up with Dipper and keep him in his sights. As well as this, he would find the chance when they were deep enough into the woods to finally ambush the small pre-teen and make him pay for what he had caused!
Robbie had planned to be the one to dump Wendy, not the other way around. He was going to do it after he was 'done' with her, and he hadn't even hit first-base with her yet.
So it was time for his revenge!
~~~
As Dipper made his way deeper and deeper into the woods, he finally came to a clearing and had the mountain in his sights. But before he could continue on, he could feel the ground begin to shake.
"Oh no!" he declared, and dove behind a rock.
~~~
Robbie laughed silently in pleasure.
"Just stay right there, squirt! You'll get your just deserts!" he said quietly, punching one fist into his open palm.
He slowly made his way over when he felt the shaking of the ground as well. He stopped for a moment, but then ignored it. He finally was getting close until he saw why the ground was shaking.
"What the-" he said, as he saw a giant creature pass him by, not noticing him. It was giant and hairy with horns, and looked almost like an ox, with hooves for feet. He stayed completely still as it passed him by.
But, while it hadn't noticed him, it did notice another…
~~~
The Manotaur took a whiff of the air around him and smelled something familiar.
"D-Destructor?" the Manotaur uttered curiously.
Dipper recognized this voice and silently groaned. This was the first Manotaur he met; Chutzpah.
He looked around at the ground for a bit, and with another whiff of the air, he pulled a bush completely out of the ground and saw Dipper behind a rock.
"AH!" Dipper said and got up to run, but Chutzpah grabbed Dipper by the collar of his shirt with just his thumb and fore-finger.
"CRUD!" Dipper said, and continued trying to run, even though his efforts were fruitless.
"Wait, Destructor" the large creature said calmly.
Dipper looked back and could see that Chutzpah didn't seem angry, he seemed, at the very worst, curious.
"Why're you here in the forest, Destructor?" Chutzpah asked.
Dipper thought up a lie, as he didn't want to reveal his true intentions.
"I was just walking, trying to find something that I lost" he answered, basically lying and telling the truth all at once.
Chutzpah eyed him, and could tell by the tone of his voice that he was at least half-way lying. With another whiff, he smelled once more that emotional issues were plaguing Dipper.
Chutzpah set Dipper down, and when he didn't make an attempt to run again, he sat down, making the ground shake only once.
"Again, I can smell emotional issues upon you. What are your true intentions here in the forest, Destructor?" he questioned Dipper.
Dipper was hasty to tell him. How did he know that Chutzpah wouldn't tell the other Manotaurs about what he was doing? He could outsmart them, but if they made an effort to hurt him, he would be killed.
As Chutzpah sensed the mixed feelings in Dipper, he spoke up again.
"While failing to destroy the Multi-bear for reasons we did not condone, you are not an enemy of us Manotaurs. You still remain neutral. And as you were the first and only person to take our advice and not back down, you are still okay in my book." he explained.
Dipper smiled a bit, and then frowned. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his book.
"I'm trying to see if there's something that I can find that could help me with a problem I have."
Chutzpah nodded, urging Dipper to go on. Dipper reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and opened a section of it that contained pictures. He pulled out one of the pictures. This picture was of him, his mom, his dad, and Mabel at an A's game, in the owner's box.
"My parents have been in an accident and now they're dead. I want to see if there's any way for me to bring them back. And, yes, if you are wondering, I am actually going to the Multi-Bear to see if he can help me. I don't care what you and the other Manotaurs think. I have my own issues to solve."
Chutzpah missed the last few things that Dipper had said. He saw the picture in Dipper's hands and as he looked at it, he could recognize the man in the picture. This man was a legend to the Manotaurs, an honorary Manotaur amongst them.
He snatched the picture from Dipper's hands. He held the tiny photo in one hand with his thumb and fore-finger, and continued to stare at it. He held it up to Dipper.
"This man, this man in this picture, is your father?!" he asked urgently.
Dipper nodded, a bit frightened by Chutzpah's sudden urgent tone and frantic nature. At Dipper's answer, Chutzpah stood.
"This man is a true hero to us Manotaurs!" he declared.
He stood away from Dipper, as horrible memories began to flood back into his mind.
"When a dark force had begun to take over these woods, the undead seeming to pop-up from the ground everywhere, and when all hope seemed lost, HE managed to stop them!" he regaled to the young preteen "your father is the only one who stood up to the dark leader of the undead, and survived. He was the one to slay him!"
"Unfortunately, the dark leader was not completely killed, he shall be reincarnated soon. But as this man, your father, was the only one to survive and to be the one to slay him, he has, and will always be a hero, and a legend among the Manotaurs."
Dipper was amazed.
Chutzpah turned and got down on one knee, bowing his head and closing his eyes. He set one arm upon his bent knee and his alternate hand on Dipper shoulder. Dipper's legs buckled but he still managed to stand up.
"For your father being the legend he is, we Manotaurs shall be forever in his debt." he said mournfully.
"But now that he is gone on, his spirit lives in you!" he told Dipper, opening his eyes to look at him, and pointed at Dipper's chest "For being the son of our hero, you are an honorary Manotaur, no matter what you have done."
"Tell me, Destructor; when is your Father's burial ceremony?"
Dipper shrugged.
"We're holding it by Gravity Falls Lake, but we're not sure which day. And it's not just his; it's my mom's, too, unfortunately."
Chutzpah saw the sad look on Dipper's face, and, even though a true man did not do so, he picked up Dipper and hugged him as lightly as possible, as to refrain from crushing him.
He set Dipper down and held out his hand.
"I must ask if I may have the picture of your father. I will tell the other Manotaurs of his death and of you being his son, but I need proof."
Dipper was unsure, but he knew he had more pictures of his parents. He slowly handed it to Chutzpah. Before setting it in his hand, he held it back.
"You'll return it, right?" he asked.
Chutzpah nodded.
"I will. A man never breaks a promise!"
And at that, Dipper handed the picture to him. In an instant, Chutzpah turned around and began to run in the alternate direction, beginning to charge, heading to do as he had said. Dipper smiled and knew that, now, he didn't need the Multi-bear's help. He was accepted by both him and the Manotaurs. He then set off for a new destination; The Dusk 2 Dawn.
"Maybe they can help me…" Dipper said quietly, remembering the ghosts that haunted the place.
"I still have them on my side, sorta…"
~~~
Once Robbie had seen that giant creature sit down and actually talk with Dipper, he had high-tailed it out of the woods, knowing that if Dipper had been friends with that creature at all, he wouldn't be able to get his revenge on Dipper. He had a bad enough experience with that Rumble guy from the fighting game in the arcade. He didn't want to experience déjà vu.
Once he had made it out of the woods, after stopping to catch his breath, he saw Dipper leave a little over an hour later and make his way to a new destination.
"Aw, great, now where's he goin'?" Robbie said in exasperation, but still followed him.
~~~~~~

Back in town, Pacifica had been following Grenda, Candy, and Mabel constantly throwing insults at them wherever they went.
When at the town candy shop, she made comments on Grenda's weight, Candy being a cannibal, and Mabel's braces.
"Watch out with that taffy, Mabel. It'll get caught in your braces and then you won't be able to open your mouth."
Pacifica let out a small laugh.
"Actually, that doesn't seem too bad" she said, and laughed cruelly as she snatched the taffy from Mabel's hand, unwrapped it, and ate it. She threw a quarter on the front counter and left.
When she 'ran into them' at the arcade, she made comments on how no boy in there would pay attention to them.
"Sinking so low as to try and hook up with nerds?" she asked "Even THEY'RE out of your leagues!"
She left the arcade laughing, not even realizing that those girls were there to play games, not flirt.
And, at the movie theater, she had knocked the bucket of popcorn out of Mabel's hands, and sat right behind them at the movie, throwing popcorn at each of them when they didn't expect it. And right when the movie was over, she threw her empty soda and popcorn bucket in their seats, as they had stayed to watch the credits.
"Oh, wait, that's not where the garbage cans are!" she said out loud to herself in fake realization as she looked at them.
"But you all do look pretty trashy, I guess it was an easy mistake." she said to them and laughed once again as she left.
Candy fought back her tears and Grenda stood to go and 'take care of' Pacifica. But Mabel got Grenda to calm down and handed Candy a tissue.
"She's not worth it, guys" she informed them and instead of going after Pacifica, they left to the bathroom to clean themselves up.
~~~~~~

Dipper finally made it to the abandoned and closed Dusk 2 Dawn. He was unsure of going here, as, while he had gotten along with those ghosts just because of his age and they had freed his friends, he wasn't so sure if it would be such a wise idea to go in again. But he shook off his nerves and went in.
~~~
Robbie followed Dipper until they both made it to the Dusk 2 Dawn. Robbie's eyes went wide in fear as he saw it. When he last went there with the group, after Dipper had laid in the dead body silhouette, and all those crazy things started happening, Robbie had managed to make it out. He didn't even recall how he did it, but he remembered that one moment he was in the store, and the next, outside and near Thompson's van.
But, unfortunately, Thompson still had the keys, and while Robbie knew that he could run back into town and to his house, he knew that he would have to explain to all his friends' parents, and his own, why they weren't with him. But, before he could shrug the subject off of him, he was back in the Dusk 2 Dawn all over again, but everything was back to normal. After Wendy told them what had happened, he was satisfied to hear Dipper stand up for them, but didn't really care. But what really confused him more than just appearing back in there, he wondered that, while everyone had no recollection of what had happened, he still remembered. But they wouldn't believe him when he told them. He wondered why this happened, but decided to shove the memories so far into his mind that he could ignore it.
But, being back there, he was scared once more. So he let Dipper go in. He would deal with the little runt when he came back out; he'd have to at one point or another!
~~~
Dipper had managed to climb right over the fence and right back down. Unlike the teenagers and Mabel, he didn't just climb up and jump right down, he was careful about going up and climbing down.
When he had both feet on the ground, he slowly walked over to the front door of the abandoned convenience store. Even though it was the middle of the day, and nothing was supposed to be scary, he still felt that aura of creepiness like someone would feel when walking into a grave-yard late at night. But, keeping his mission in mind, he shook off his nerves, took a deep breath and walked in.
He found the light switches and turned on the lights. Remembering exactly what took place the previous time he had been there, Dipper found the body outlines and immediately fell onto his back, laying on one of them. The outline illuminated and the lights went out.
Everything started floating around and went on the ceiling. He curled into a ball as he felt gravity reverse itself as he fell onto the ceiling. His back took the force of the impact, but he thankfully did not get injured.
He stood up and looked around and finally saw something. A glowing green essence in the air above him. He focused on it and the essence split in two. Slowly, but surely, the two glowing green blobs changed from green to blue, and then morphed into the same elderly ghosts he had seen last time.
The old man with the nametag that read 'Pa' looked down at him, frowning a bit, and old woman with the nametag that read 'Ma' shook her head.
"Why have you returned, boy?" Pa asked, annoyed.
"You said that we did not have to worry about you and your friends coming back" Ma reminded him, shaking her finger at him.
"We do not like liars, or those who break their promises." Pa informed him "Those are prime teenager traits."
"Do we need to remind you how much we HATE teenagers?" Pa asked, the glowing essence around him changing from blue to red, flames beginning to rise.
Dipper shook off his fear once more and stood tall, looking up at them. He maintained a determined gaze.
"I've come here to ask you both about something" he said clearly.
Pa depleted the flames over him and changed back from red to blue.
"Well, what is it?" Ma asked, hoping to get Dipper to his point.
Dipper took a deep breath.
"As ghosts, are you able to travel long distances, or do you have to stay wherever it is that you've died?" he asked.
Both of the ghosts looked at each other, and then back at him. They were a bit confused by that, but, since he had been the only one who had been polite to them when he was last here, they decided to answer.
"Well, as ghosts, the only reason we're here is because we were afraid of death." Pa answered.
"We could also appear in the grave-yard where we've been buried, but since that place was the main reason we were afraid of death, we decide to only appear here." Ma added.
"We can't really leave here; our souls are attached to this place upon the living realm. If we decided to leave, no one would be able to see us or communicate with us." Pa said "That wouldn't be so bad, but WE also wouldn't be able to see or talk to each other, either."
Dipper nodded.
"Thank you" he said, politely, which got both spirits to smile; now seeming calm.
"Why did you want to ask us that?" Ma asked.
Dipper sighed.
"My parents died recently, and, well, I was hoping that, if anything, they could return as ghosts themselves, but I understand that they wouldn't be afraid of death." he told them.
The ghosts both seized floating in the air and landed on the floor (which had been the ceiling) and stood there with him.
"Please, if you can tell us; what were your parents like?" Pa asked him.
Dipper looked up with a smile.
"Why?" he asked excitedly "Would you be able to bring them back with some sort of astral-recall ghost power?"
Seeing that smile on his face nearly broke both of the ghost's nonexistent, un-beating hearts. But they had to tell him the truth.
"I'm sorry child, but no" Ma told him "We're just really curious."
Dipper's shoulders slumped, so bummed that he didn't even care that he had been called a child. So, once again, he reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet once again, and, once again, pulled a picture out.
This was one of his parents on their anniversary; Mabel had taken the picture, but had held the camera upside down. So, the date was printed upside-down in the upper right corner instead of right-side up and on the lower left. Dipper held it up and the ghosts tried to retrieve it, but their hands kept phasing through it.
So Pa made a glowing essence around it and levitated the picture up to him and his wife. He readjusted his glasses and showed it to Ma. Her eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
Dipper was a bit on edge at their reactions.
"Um, uh, what's wrong?" he asked them, feeling un-easy.
Both ghosts snapped back to the situation going on.
"We know these two…" Pa said quietly to Dipper.
Dipper looked up.
"Huh?" he asked.
Pa waved his hand and the picture turned around so Dipper could see it.
"We know them!" said Pa in excitement.
"We recognize them!" Ma told Dipper "These two were the only teenagers we actually allowed in our store when we were alive!"
"This man," Pa said to Dipper, pointing above the picture at his and Mabel's dad "your father, was one of the most polite and respectful teenagers we had ever met." Pa told Dipper.
"He didn't approve of rap, just like us, and he always helped us with heavy loads that our old bones had trouble lifting, or would help us with other tasks we had trouble doing, and we would give him treats, such as free sodas, or chips, or ice-creams." Ma began to tell "He would always politely try to refuse, but after us insisting, he would accept."
Ma then pointed above the picture at Dipper and Mabel's mother.
"And this young woman may have been one of the prettiest young women we had ever seen. She would always come in to chat with us, not even caring about style or fashion like other teenagers. She loved hearing all my tales of being her age."
"But," Pa added "what we really loved about these two was that they were so honest. If they didn't have enough money to pay us for what they were in here to buy, they would always either work off the load or pay us back when they next came in, plus interest."
"True, at times, they would come in and buy stuff for their teenage punk friends waiting outside, but we were okay with it, because they were honest, even to those we didn't approve of." said Ma.
"These two actually met in this here store!" Pa remembered and told Dipper, spreading her arms out to indicate the store around them.
"Your father was helping us bring in some supplies and your mother just walked in." Ma regaled to Dipper "They both bumped into each other, and the second they looked at each other, we could tell that they just clicked."
"They began talking like they knew each other for years." Pa said, smiling at the memory "They talked for so long that we finally had to politely insist that they leave, because it was getting late and we didn't want them to be in here all night."
"They started dating right after that, and they seemed inseparable." Ma said "Why, we actually were invited to their wedding. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it because it was so far away, and we were afraid to fly."
Pa stuck out his arm and then an old picture frame came floating from the back and into Dipper hands.
Dipper wiped the dust off and saw an old, worn picture of his parents on their wedding day. His mother was in an elegant white dress, and his father, in a stylish black tuxedo. In the corner was written 'To Esther and Marty. We wish you could have been there. Thanks for everything.'
Dipper's eyes filled with tears. He held the picture back up and Pa floated it straight to the back of the store, where it hung back up where it had been.
"Th-thanks" said Dipper to the ghosts, and he wiped his tears away.
The ghosts both put him up on the floor (ceiling?) above them, and as the blood rushed to his head Pa said "Again, we are sorry son, but know this; your parents were the greatest teenagers to ever live, and they must have been even greater parents."
Finally, at that, they both faded away, the lights all came back on and everything fell back onto the floor as gravity finally changed back to normal, and the front doors opened.
Dipper's face flushed back to its normal color and he saw his picture of him, Mabel, and his parents by his foot. He picked it up and placed it back in his wallet. A small smile was on his face once again, knowing that, while he wasn't getting his parents back as ghosts, he was learning more and more about them, and to him, that was pretty close.
But it wasn't close enough!
He left the store and climbed back over the fence, a new destination in his mind; the arcade, and more specifically, the 'Fight Fighters' game!
~~~
Robbie saw Dipper leave the convenience store after about 15 minutes, and saw him climb over the fence. Of course, when Dipper made it to the top, instead of jumping off and dropping to the ground, he climbed down.
Robbie grumbled in anger at this, hoping that, if Dipper landed flat footed on the ground, the resulting impact would injure him enough for Robbie to finally get him.
But, Dipper hadn't done it, so Robbie had to stick to hiding and stalking. Sooner or later, he would finally get that little twerp, and then get his revenge!
~~~~~~

Back in town, Mabel, Candy, and Grenda were still being pursued by Pacifica. Finally, after hours of this, a confrontation was taking place.
"Why the heck are you bothering us Pacifica?" Mabel finally asked the Prima Donna.
Even though she had told her friends to ignore her, after being followed the whole day and being bothered when they were trying to have a good time, Mabel was fed up with it.
Pacifica casually leaned against the wall.
"Well, it could be the fact that, for being such a silly little loser, for some reason, both you and your brother's reputations have suddenly sky-rocketed" Pacifica informed Mabel "And, being that you both are now actually above me on the social rank, I must say, I don't approve of that, honey."
"And, if I cannot get my top-position back on the popularity scale, I'm showing the NEW popular girl how much it will suck for her if she doesn't call off whatever fake rumor has been spread to increase her popularity."
Mabel sighed and hung her head sadly.
"I wish it was fake, Pacifica" she told the rich girl sadly.
Pacifica snickered cruelly.
"Oh, so you've started to put out?" she asked.
"What SOME girls will do just to get a little popularity…"
That question and following comment hurt Mabel more than all the insults Pacifica had said to her since they met. Tears came to her eyes and she covered her eyes to hide them.
Before Pacifica could hurl another insult, Grenda and Candy stood in front of Mabel.
"Lay off her already!" Grenda nearly ordered the blonde.
Pacifica shot her an icy cold stare and Grenda felt like she had shrunken to the size of a pea. She stepped back, cowering behind Candy.
"It is not her fault that she is popular, and she has not had to 'put out' for it to happen." Candy informed Pacifica, speaking in her over-enunciating way.
Pacifica rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right!" she denied "in a small town like this, that's the only way ANY girl could become popular outside of family or money!"
Pacifica flowed her hand through her hair.
"And luckily, I have BOTH!"
Mabel uncovered her eyes and an angry frown came across her face.
"My parents DIED, okay?!" she nearly yelled at Pacifica in anger, tears still in her eyes.
Grenda, Candy, and Pacifica all jumped back in surprise at Mabel's outburst. Grenda and Candy both comforted Mabel, as she had managed to forget in all that they had done that day, but saying it made her feel miserable all over again.
But, while Mabel was comforted by her friends, her arch-enemy smiled evilly. No sooner did the insult come to her mind, did she want to say it. But she'd held it back, because she needed a little information first.
"Oh, is that it?" Pacifica asked, sounding a bit sad.
Mabel just nodded, whimpering a bit as she sniffled and wiped a tear away. She had no clue Pacifica was faking her concern.
"Well, how did it happen?" Pacifica asked.
Mabel just mumbled "Car crash. Eighteen wheeler."
"Oh, that's how…" Pacifica said, nodding.
Mabel nodded again, and wiped her sweater sleeve across her eyes.
"Well, are you so sure?" Pacifica asked her.
Mabel looked up.
"I was just told yesterday by my Grunkle Stan." she barked out "Of course I'm sure!"
Pacifica shook her head.
"Tsk, tsk, little Mabel, that's not what I meant…" she said to Mabel.
She turned around.
"What I meant was; are you so sure…" she started.
She let it hang and glanced back at Mabel, Pacifica and Grenda out of the corner of her eye.
"…that they didn't PLAN it?" Pacifica finished.
She turned around.
"After all, with a silly little embarrassment like you for a daughter, and your wannabe-detective brother who's pursuing a girl that's WAY out of his league, in more than just one way, for a son, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to escape from the both of you for good!"
Pacifica was on a roll, and she wasn't stopping. Mabel's heart was sinking as the [former] queen-bee went on.
"So they shipped the both of you off to this town, and no sooner than two months later, they finally took the plunge and escaped the embarrassment of you being their children forever!"
She laughed cruelly once more, and at that, Mabel broke down into a waterfall of tears, plowed past her friends, and ran off.
Pacifica laughed even more, and as she wiped a tear from her eye from laughing so much, she turned around and saw that Candy and Grenda were still there. And the anger in their eyes was so powerful Pacifica actually felt like she was standing near a fire.
"That was very cruel, Pacifica!" said Candy.
"And we're not letting this go!" Grenda said.
Grenda glanced at Candy, and Candy nodded. At that, Grenda leapt before Pacifica could react and put the blonde into a headlock.
"Ah, finally!" Grenda said in relief, smiling a bit evilly.
Pacifica was shaking in fear now.
"WH-what're you gonna do to me?"
"Like Grenda has said, we are not going to let this go." Candy stated, and glanced a few feet away at the town square. In the middle was the stage that had always been there, and it may be just the perfect place to announce what had just taken place.
"Grenda, bring Pacifica over to the stage inside the town square with me" Candy told her friend.
"With pleasure" Grenda replied as she followed Candy, still holding Pacifica in a headlock, forcing her to walk with them.
~~~~~~

Dipper made his way to the arcade and found the 'Fight Fighters' game to not being played. He casually walked over as to not arouse suspicion to himself that he would get if he walked to fast. He acted like he had dropped a coin and looked at the bottom right corner to see to check and saw that the spot where the original cheat code had been was still covered. He nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.
After what had happened with Rumble McSkirmish, he didn't want anyone to make the same mistake he did, and had spray-painted over the spot later on that day with a shade of paint that was the same color as the machine. He did this when no one was looking, so, luckily, he wasn't asked afterwards about what he had done and why he had done it.
But, in case anything would come up to where he would be desperate enough to use it again, he had copied the cheat code into a page of his '3' before spray-painting over it.
He flipped through a few pages and found it. He then took a quarter out of his pocket and put it in the machine and then entered the cheat code 'to unleash ultimate power!'
Just like last time, the game screen went black as if the power to the machine went out. But then it began to shake a bit and Dipper stepped back in precaution. Dipper shielded his eyes as the screen lit back up, and a bright white light shined out.
"SELECT YOUR CHARACTER!" the voice of the machine said.
Dipper thought over quickly all the characters in the game, knowing them all, even the ones that were still locked. But he knew there was only one he could still (probably) count on.
"Rumble McSkirmish" Dipper stated.
The screen lit up brighter and Dipper covered his eyes as to not be blinded. The light dimmed and out through the screen, once more, jumped Rumble McSkirmish.
Rumble stood in his fighting stance, and, even though he had no looking down animation, Dipper could tell that the fighter was looking down at him.
"Child boy!" Rumble said loudly, pointing in Dipper's direction "why do you summon me again?!"
"I have beaten you fairly in combat! Do you wish to challenge me again?!"
Even though Rumble was shouting, no one seemed to notice Dipper or the game character.
Except one person…
~~~
Robbie followed Dipper into town, able to walk through the streets more casually as both he and Dipper were in public. He sped up his pace more as he followed Dipper, but still didn't want the kid to notice him. He needed the element of surprise!
He followed Dipper to the arcade, but was unable to go in as the jingling bell of the arcade would make him noticed. So he stayed at the building next to the arcade, leaning against it and glancing into the window. He saw Dipper at the ''Fight Fighters'' game, pulling something out of his vest, and then insert a coin into the game, press a few buttons, and then the screen lit up brightly. And right from the machine leapt out the same character that nearly killed him!
Robbie's blood ran cold in fear and he began to run. His cover must have been blown, and Dipper was now going to sic the character on him again. Unfortunately, he was wrong…
~~~
"Rumble, I haven't summoned you to fight, I've summoned you to ask you something." Dipper told him.
Rumble turned around, facing away from him.
"I do not associate with bad guys like you!" Rumble told him.
"Rumble, please!" Dipper begged "Yes I know, I've lied to you, but you have already beaten me in combat. That makes us even!"
Rumble did not reply. So Dipper knew he'd have to appeal to a side of Rumble that would make the Fight Fighter help anyone.
"Fine…" Dipper said in a fake sad tone "I guess you don't care that my father is dead…"
Rumble ignored this, thinking that Dipper was lying again, just like last time.
"My mother's dead, too…" Dipper added, hoping that would get Rumble to notice.
Rumble's eyes went wide. To him, no one would, or even should, ever lie about the death of BOTH of their parents! So he quickly turned around and crouched down so he could look Dipper in the eye.
"What?! Who has killed them both?!" he asked urgently.
"I will accept the challenge to avenge you, if that is what you wish!" Rumble told Dipper, and then threw out some combinations.
"PAUNCH! KICK! PAUNCH!"
Dipper avoided the blows as Rumble named the moves in his combination. Dipper recomposed himself and stepped back so he could look Rumble in the eye once more, as the game character was now standing.
"Truthfully Rumble, no one has killed them-" he started.
Rumble glared and turned around again.
"-at least," Dipper went on "not on purpose."
Rumble turned back around again, this time slowly, and he did not crouch down.
"What I want to ask you is if there's any Fight Fighter that have any resurrection powers." Dipper finished.
Unable to shake his head, Rumble instead told Dipper the answer.
"I am sorry, child-boy, but there are no fighters with such powers!" Rumble answered.
"If there were, I would not need to fight Dr. Karate for killing MY father!"
Dipper groaned, but accepted the answer. He then realized how he had not thought something over; how was he going to get Rumble back in the game?
"Well, uh, thanks Rumble…" Dipper started.
"You are welcome, and I am sorry!" Rumble said loudly, still in his fighting stance, his tone not changing to sound sympathetic.
"But, how do I get you back where you came from without you having to fight?" Dipper asked him.
Rumble stayed silent for a moment. But then he answered.
"If a challenge is not present when I have been summoned, you may instead press cancel!" Rumble told him, and right in front of Dipper, just like last time, appeared a rectangular, pixilated button, but this one read 'Cancel'. He reached out and touched it, and as his hand came in contact, it made a slight 'ding' noise and the light from the machine lit back up, and Rumble turned around to face it.
"Farewell, child-boy!" Rumble said to Dipper, and with a forward jump-kick, he was sucked back into the game. The screen then changed back to normal and Dipper's quarter came out from the return slot.
He picked it up and put it back in his pocket and sighed once more.
Everything he had done today had been a failure; his allies were only able to tell him about his parents, but not bring them back or help him contact them in.
It finally hit him that he wouldn't get his parents back in any way, shape or form. He sank to the arcade floor on his knees and began to cry, still un-noticed.
In a brief moment of insanity, he actually thought of asking Gideon, but his instincts took over and advised him to not do such a thing at all.
He got up as well as he could, his knees shaking and his legs feeling weak. He left the arcade and something distracted him from his sadness and despair; there was a huge crowd gathered in the town square, and on stage in the middle of the square were Mabel's friends; Candy and Grenda. But what was more surprising was that Grenda had Pacifica Northwest, the most popular girl in town, in a headlock! He remembered Mabel telling him how Grenda had said she wanted to do that to Pacifica, but hadn't done it yet. Grenda actually held back her violent tendencies, so whatever Pacifica must have done, she probably deserved it!
Dipper ran into the crowd so he could see what was going on, because Candy seemed to be announcing something to the crowd…
~~~~~~

Grenda had followed Candy onto the stage, forcing Pacifica along with them. The microphone and sound system was still set up from the Pioneer Day festival. Candy tapped the microphone and she could hear the feedback. Those that were passing by heard this and stopped where they were to see what was going on. Some were confused on why the great-great-grand-daughter of the town founder was in a headlock, but all that did was raise their suspicion and make them stick around.
Not one to talk in a big crowd, Candy was nervous on talking; even though she was angry about what had jut happened.
"Um… uh… attention people of Gravity Falls," she started "there has been an issue. One I believe that you all should know has happened…"
She looked out at the crowd and froze up, making her anger fade away and her fear take over. So Grenda calmly had her friend step aside and took over, taking Pacifica out of the headlock and holding her up by the scruff of her expensive jacket.
"It seems that some people think they can say whatever they want and not worry about the consequences, people!" Grenda shouted, her deep voice echoing through the speakers.
"This here girl, if she can be called that…" Grenda continued, glaring at Pacifica "has just insulted the parents of two very close friends of ours!"
"Parents who, just very recently, have passed on!"
The whole crowd gasped at that.
"Yes, it seems that Pacifica Northwest believes that Dipper and Mabel Pine's parents actually planned their own death BECAUSE of Dipper and Mabel."
All eyes in the crowd changed their view. Everyone went from being confused at what was going on, to glaring up at Pacifica for saying such a despicable thing.
"Is THIS the girl we should all look up to, just because her great-great-grandfather supposedly founded this town?!"
The whole crowd shook their heads.
Pacifica's eyes went wide in fear; did Grenda and Candy know the cover-up scandal, too? They didn't, of course, but she didn't know that!
"NO!" Grenda shouted "To sink so low as to say such a thing, Pacifica Northwest is an evil, dirty, despicable girl who does not even deserve to be popular at all!"
"Her popularity and power over all of us less popular is GONE!" Grenda declared, and the whole crowd cheered in agreement.
She dropped Pacifica next to her on the stage.
"I'd run if I were you" she said quietly, but near the microphone, so everyone heard.
The whole crowd booed and began to throw trash, pocket change, and whatever they could part with at the stage as Pacifica ran across it, beginning to cry. The crowd actually almost formed an angry mob to follow her, but decided not to.
"Pacifica Northwest is now the town outcast!" Grenda shouted into the mic, and the whole crowd cheered in agreement.
Pacifica heard this as she ran, and began to cry even harder.
~~~~~~
After hearing this, Dipper was so angry at Pacifica saying such a thing about his parents that he decided that it was high-time that her family's secret was to be exposed.
Pacifica was right to her assumptions; upon arriving back into town after the issue on the train with Blubs and Durland, Dipper had went into the copier store to duplicate the documents while Trembley and Mabel tried to see if it was possible to sneeze, cough, burp and yawn at the same time. Dipper had given Pacifica the duplicate documents, and kept the originals.
Dipper headed home at non-stop speed, not even noticing the customers at the shack, Wendy saying 'hi' to him, Soos holding a hand out for a high-five from Dipper, Dipper leaving him hanging as he headed straight up to his and Mabel's room. He found Mabel curled up in her sweater, being in 'Sweater-Town' again, crying.
"Hey, Mabel" he said quickly.
Mabel just whined and rocked back and forth.
"Do you remember what I did with those cover-up documents on the Northwest family?" he asked her.
Mabel whined again, shaking her head as well as she could so her head wouldn't poke out. Hearing Pacifica's last name made her cry even harder.
Dipper shook his head, bringing a hand to his chin, but then he snapped his finger's as he remembered it. He took the '3' out of his vest and opened up to a folder that he had inserted into it, which contained the original documents. He laughed in an almost evil way.
"After what she said about mom and dad, she's going to regret it for the rest of her life after I tarnish her reputation even more than Grenda just did!"
Mabel stood up, poking her head back out and sticking her arms through their sleeves. She went up to Dipper's side and had him put the paper's down.
"What does that matter Dipper?" she asked.
Dipper looked up at his sister in complete confusion.
"Hey, she can't say those things about our parents just because she's popular, and even if she isn't anymore, she never had the right to say that. NO ONE does!" he explained "And what better to get revenge then to let the whole town know her family's most embarrassing secret!"
Mabel groaned in aggravation.
"This is why I didn't even tell her last time Dipper; revenge is pointless" she told Dipper.
Dipper raised an eye-brow in shock.
"So you're just gonna let this pass by? She's already been knocked down; we might as well kick her!" he told her angrily.
Mabel shook her head and had him set the paper's down again.
"That won't bring mom and dad back Dipper…" Mabel explained, and that hit Dipper hard.
He set the paper's down and tears came to his eyes once more. He wanted to tell Mabel what he had learned, but it hurt him more to say it than it would probably hurt Mabel to find out.
"Mabel, I…" he started, but couldn't finish.
The tears were hot in his eye-lids and he let them slip down his face. He finally decided to just come clean.
"I did everything I could today, I asked everyone I trusted, but I couldn't find anything" he told his twin.
Mabel was confused, but guessed he would explain himself.
"I tried to find anything to bring mom and dad back or at least for us to be able to contact them, but I couldn't find anything, I'm sorry…"
Mabel pulled him closer and hugged him. Dipper shoved her off of him.
"I'm sorry that I'm such a failure!" he nearly shouted.
He grabbed the papers and threw them on the floor. He grabbed his book and slammed it on top of them. He jumped on top of it and began to stomp on it, but the book didn't even bend, the hardcover protecting its body and contents. He kicked it, but that didn't do anything either. He was going to run at it and rip its pages out, but Mabel stopped him.
"Dipper STOP!" she nearly ordered.
Hearing her tone got Dipper to freeze in mid-charge.
"This isn't helping anything!" Mabel told her brother "You've gone through one phase and you're going into the second."
Dipper never gave Mabel enough credit on her intelligence. He realized that she was talking about the five stage of death. He had gone from the first stage; denial coupled with isolation and into the second stage; anger. In this time and place, he and Mabel had switched places; he was being hopeful and was let down, while she was being realistic and facing the facts.
Mabel grabbed Dipper by his shoulders, looking directly at him.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, you don't have to do anything and you can't do anything" she told him "they're gone and that's that!"
The tears came back and Dipper slipped down onto his knees when Mabel let him go.
"Bu-but Mabel, th-this shouldn't have happened…" he told her.
Mabel got on her knees to be at the same level as him. He looked up at her.
"M-maybe we could find a way to create some time anomaly and get that Blendin guy to come back with his time machine and use it to-" he started.
Mabel shoved him a little, causing him to fall back.
"And now you're going into the third stage Dipper; bargaining." she told him "we can't reverse the process, and nothing we ever do could get it to not happen."
Mabel didn't have to say what was happening now. Dipper was slipping into the fourth stage; depression. It could be seen on his face and the tears fell like a waterfall. Mabel put her arms around him and let him cry. As the tears and sobs escaped him, Dipper remembered that, while he hadn't gotten information on how to bring their parents back, he had gotten information about them, some that even their Grunkle Stan probably didn't know!
"Uh, Mabel…" Dipper got her attention, pulling back as she took her arms off of him.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Even though I didn't find anything really helpful, I've actually learned some things about mom and dad that is really very surprising." Dipper told her.
A small smile came across Mabel's face.
"Well, don't hold back, tell me!" she said, starting to get back into her happily silly mindset.
Dipper sat back, leaning against the side of his bed, and Mabel sat next to him.
"Well, the first thing I learned is from the Manotaurs; dad stopped some crazy evil undead lord that was infesting the forest." Dipper started "I also learned that mom and dad actually met at the old convenience store back when the owners were alive."
Mabel smiled giddily in surprised. She egged her brother to go on, which Dipper obliged. The fourth stage of death, depression, may have been sinking in, but talking to his sister about all he had learned, making himself remember, helped numb the pain a bit as he began to smile.
as a way to show that having a job isn't completely distracting me, I've uploaded another installment to my first Gravity Falls fanfic.

I've also determined that I want to end off each installment the same way; with Dipper and Mabel alone together in a sort of 'sibling bonding' moment.

tell me what you all think please!

next part: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 fanfics4ever
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Fyrekobra's avatar

You write WAY better than Hirsch ever could, in my opinion. If there's a remake of the show, THIS should be in it!