waywardpines | [MAY 2022 | GRAVITY FALLS, OR] and they're giving me hell back in hades

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[MAY 2022 | GRAVITY FALLS, OR] and they're giving me hell back in hades

Ten years ago, Bill Cipher attempted to turn the world into a heinous nightmare realm with the help of a broken and misguided Dipper Pines. The fight was brutal and lives were lost, but Mabel Pines, determined to get her brother back, managed to yank Dipper back from the edge of darkness and together, they supposedly banished Bill from this dimension permanently.

The cost, however, was unimaginably high.

Dipper grew estranged from his family and his sister and Mabel, unable to truly face what that horrific summer did to her, suffered from a serious case of arrested development. As the twins grew up and went their separate ways, Dipper went off to college, and Mabel returned to Gravity Falls, out of fear of being alone. And so it went- Dipper studied the occult and distanced himself from his family so they might never get caught up in his problems again, and Mabel tried to make a life for herself without ever truly growing up.

But this could not hold.

During the summer of 2022, exactly ten years to the day of their arrival in Gravity Falls, Stanley Pines has gone missing, leaving a series of cryptic codes in red paint. Determined to get her brother back to Gravity Falls to reunite the Mystery Twins and find their missing grandfather, she goes on a quest to find him, only to find him less enthused about recapturing the past. Things change, however, when Dipper deciphers one of the codes left behind and discovers it's a message from Bill- he's back and he's looking for Dipper.

With no choice left, the twins set off back to Gravity Falls, and Dipper is about to learn that the town has changed significantly in ten years.

+++

The forest hasn't really fully healed from the events of ten years ago. Passing the endless pine forests, there's still scorched gaps where the forest fires took out chunks of the vegetation and only the bare minimum seems to be returning its former glory. Up ahead, the water tower comes into view- repainted and no longer proudly displaying Robbie V's muffin-shaped mushroom cloud. The forest might be shabby, but the town itself seems to be flourishing far better than it was when the twins were here before- a sharp contrast to the fact that Mabel warned Dipper the town was weirder than usual.

"It's... a lot different than you remember, probably," Mabel says awkwardly, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

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Mabel's protest is all but cut off by someone rapping on the window with delicate knuckles and with the force of someone hoping to display her agitation with the force of how hard she can use a window crank, Mabel greets him with a sugary smile.

"Mabel. You little minx. You've been gone for days. I thought you'd done run off and left little old me again," Gideon preens. Pompadour or not, he's the same Gideon, right down to the powder-blue suit.

"I left the Shack, not you, Gideon," Mabel mutters. "I had to pick up my brother."

Gideon's charisma and playful demeanor drops off as efficiently as if someone had just doused him with water. He narrows his eyes and grips the edge of the car's window, a faux saccharine tone seeping into his voice.

"Dipper Pii-iiines," he trills, unable to resist an eyetwitch that punctuates the end of that. "Why I never thought I'd see you again." He adds, under his breath (and a listen check of over 6 will hear it)), "More like hoped..."

"Gideon." Dipper's listen check was a 12, but hell, that's enough. Not that it... makes him any more or less annoyed at Gideon's life. He was hoping he'd never see Gideon again too. Honestly, it's a relief if anything. At least that hasn't changed.

"Last I checked, Mabel left you when she was twelve. You remember, don't you? You tried to kill me, she showed up, got your little blue gem thing, we almost fell to our deaths... it was a whole thing."

He idly reaches down a hand to where his crossbow's stored (sleight of hand 23), though he doesn't bring it out. He's pretty sure shooting the mayor's son in broad daylight is not a good first impression to make on a town. He's also pretty sure that if Gideon touches his sister, he's gonna do it anyway.

He gives a grin, and I'm not even bothering to make a bluff check because he is not trying even a little bit to make it convincing. "So, what have you been up to? We haven't talked since, what, when they were dragging you off to prison? Ah, memories."

"Memories, indeed." Gideon leans against the car and Mabel subtlety leans her seat back so that the boys can talk and she doesn't have to deal with Gideon breathing in her ear the whole time.

"Well, Daddy's the mayor now. Been that way, goin' on four years now. 'Course this is an election year, but we Gleefuls don't have nothing to worry our little heads about. It's due to us that Gravity Falls is the way it is now, and thanks to that, people can forgive a few particulars."

Meaning, of course, he got away scot-free, essentially. His voice practically oozes poisoned honey. "And, of course, there's my work with the children of this town. You see my flock over there." He points to the children, all of them waiting for him to return with solemn eyes, and they immediately snap to attention at the sound of him addressing them. "Say howdy, y'all."

"Howdy," the children say in sync, eyes staring forward, never quite focusing. Gideon smiles and turns back to Dipper.

"So you see, I'm not the same little con artist you locked away, Dipper Pines." He places a hand over his heart. "I'm a changed man."

Mabel makes a face and blows a raspberry that Gideon conveniently pretends not to hear.

Edited 2015-06-27 20:01 (UTC)

"Yeah, I noticed your hair got smaller." And Dipper's not going to believe for a second that anything else about Gideon has changed. He's perfectly courteous and charming in all the exact same skindeep creepy ways he had been as a kid.

And then there's his flock. Dipper frowns and leans forward, bracing a hand on Mabel's knee as he tries to get a better look at the kids (spot.... 10). They're just creepy and it's weird. And perhaps with an arcane lore knowledge check of 40 he might have ideas of why.

Then again maybe it's just that they're willingly spending time with Gideon. That's weird enough.

Gideon reaches up to touch his close-cropped, but still silver-white locks, hmphing a little, and oblivious to Dipper scrutinizing the kids.

He can definitely pick up an almost cult-like behavior pattern, if not anything particularly supernatural. They keep their eyes on Gideon, watching his every move with a pained sort of reverence that borders on fear, when they're focusing on anything at all, as if they're all lost in thought or distracted somehow. He can definitely rule out mind control- whatever's going on here, those kids are doing it because they want to or because they're scared not to.

Mabel adjusts her seat, putting herself between the two boys. "Okay, I think that's enough bonding for the day. Gideon, it's great seeing you, except not really. No, I still won't date you, and you better not cause any problems with my brother, got it?" She glowers at him and Gideon digs his fingers into the fabric of his suit jacket, a gesture that's meant to show his innocence, but also shows he's visibly annoyed.

"Of course not, Mabel. Like I said, this is an election year. I don't plan on doing anything to jeopardize our- I mean Daddy's chances." He turns his nose up as he glowers at Dipper. "Or lettin' anything get in our way. Ta, y'all." He flicks a wrist in a wave, and storms back to the sidewalk where he left his "flock."

Mabel drives on, shuddering visibly. "Ugh. See what I mean? I think he's more insufferable now."

Edited 2015-06-27 21:23 (UTC)

"Did he pick up an adolescent cult?" Gideon being a creep is nothing new, but that is. Even when the town had worshipped him they hadn't been quite that level of devoted followers. "And was he threatening me?" Not that that would be new either. But it makes Dipper want to get in their way out of spite when previously he hadn't cared one way or another about the results of the Gravity Falls election. He doesn't know why anyone would vote for a used car salesman, but he also doesn't care much. Or wouldn't if Gideon weren't such a little shit.

"I dunno- they're just kids that like to follow him around. And probably." Mabel's shoulders reach her ears in a shrug. "The less I get involved with Gideon Gleeful, the happier I am. Stan and I have just pretty much been ignoring him. He only bugs me when I come into town."

She finds the road leading into the woods that will take them to the shack, and clears her throat, eager to put the whole thing out of Dipper's mind. "The whole thing happened right after I got back, so I'm still kinda... not-really-sure about it. Anyway, I'm sure Soos'll be excited to see you. He and Melody got married, you know."

It was one of those things she left out of the letters, even if it might have gotten him back to town. She and Soos had agreed that if he couldn't or wouldn't, it was best that he not have that kind of guilt on him. Disappointing Soos was just a thing you DID NOT do.

Edited 2015-06-27 22:47 (UTC)

"Soos... got married?" Dipper didn't read all the letters. He did read some, or at least opened some and stared at them, overcome by emotions that he wasn't sure how to handle until he finally stuffed them back in their envelopes and put them in the box he kept in the back of his closet. He never threw them away. He couldn't bring himself to do that, even if he also couldn't bring himself to actually read them.

Still, he's pretty sure he would have noticed a wedding invitation. He's... not sure how he would have responded to it, but at least he would have known.

"When?"

"Last year. She moved back to Gravity Falls, and they decided the time was right." Talking about Soos and Melody- her first real successful match- brightens her spirits again and she sighs wistfully. "I may have shoved him a little."

His grandmother wasn't getting any younger, after all. "He still works at the Shack- Stan couldn't make him leave- but he lives in town now, so, uh... That extra room's available. I sleep in the attic still."

And as much as she's trying to recapture the halcyon days of their youth, she's not gonna beg he stay in the attic with her.

"Guess it would be pretty weird to share a room now." He forces a grin, nudging her with her elbow. Better to tease his sister than to focus on why Soos wouldn't have invited him to his wedding. Sure, they haven't talked in ten years, but it still kind of hurts to think about. "Besides, if you still have half as many guys in your life as you used to it'd probably get awkward fast, right?"

Mabel might still be living in the room they shared while they were 12. She might make sweaters and insist that being the Mystery Twins again would be good for them. But there was one area where she'd been faster to grow up than Dipper had. Romance. He can't imagine that's changed either.

"No, definitely better we have our own space."

Mabel laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, all those guys..."

Her laughter peters off into a pained chuckle as they draw closer to the Mystery Shack- visible, because many of the trees closest to it have been cleared away to make room for a series of four pylons situated in four corners surrounding the Shack.

The Shack, itself, hasn't changed a bit- even the S has fallen down again, resting conspicuously on the porch awning. "The romance well's been kinda dry for awhile," Mabel admits as she pulls to a stop just before reaching the pylons to lean out the door and press a code into a box situated on a metal pole that's been bent at an odd angle, suggesting someone (Stan) must have hit it with a car at some point.

"This is... new..." Dipper gets out of the car as well, looking around. He shoulders his bag and picks up his crossbow, examining the pylons as he follows her towards the door. Then he focuses more on her words and nods. "I guess that's the problem with living in a small town."

With your crotchety old grandfather that likes yelling at people. While refusing to grow up. There are still so many reasons Dipper thinks Mabel made the wrong choice coming back here, but at least he doesn't vocalize them. This time. It's an old battle, and not the time for it.

"It's a sonar fence. It keeps the dinosaurs and tax collectors out." She brushes the statement off with a wave of her hand. "Stan likes it, because it makes the tourists feel unsafe and they really enjoy that feeling."

Because Stan has always been right about one thing- the average tourist is a gullible idiot with too much money, but you will never hear her say that.

The front steps are currently blocked by what appears to be a solid mound of pink coated in a light layer of mud. Mabel punches Dipper in the arm excitedly and rushes over to it, dropping to her knees, so that she gets equally mud-splattered. "How's my Waddles? Did you miss me? I bet you did."

The massive pig rolls over revealing the familiar darker pink splotch over his eye. Yep, it's Waddles all right, only a good two hundred pounds heavier. "Look who I brought with me." She moves over a bit so the pig can see Dipper, and with a flail of excitement that isn't becoming of an animal so large, the pig rights himself and trots over to Dipper to nudge him in the leg with his snout. "He remembers you!"

"Waddles?" Dipper looks down in surprise as the pig nudges his leg, then tentatively leans down to scratch the pig's head. "He's a lot bigger than I remember." But still just as cute. He's... glad that his sister got to be with her pig all this time. All the reasons she should never come back, well, he guesses Waddles is a good reason she did.

He looks up at her, frowning slightly. "Are there still dinosaurs out there?"

"There might be one or two..." She presses her index fingers together and shrugs, because clearly dinosaurs are a matter you just shrug over. Meanwhile, Waddles flops over on his back for tummy scritches. He has significantly more tummy now. Better get started.

The door to the shack slams open, causing Waddles to oink in surprise, flop back onto his feet, and stagger back towards Mabel in alarm, trying to hide behind her, regardless of the fact that he's twice as wide as she is. The man standing on the porch now is unmistakable, having not changed a bit in ten years, aside from the unfortunate beginnings of a mustache above his lip.

"Dude. I totally heard oinks of recognition. Is he here?" Soos directs that question at Mabel, who takes a moment from comforting her pig to point at Dipper. A light brightens the older man's eyes as he steps off the porch as if in a trance.

"Dipper, look at you... Aw man. I feel a hug comin' on. If you're gonna stop me, you better yay or nay me fast. Nope. Too late. I'm goin' for it." And Dipper gets gathered up in a crushing hug that lifts him up off the ground a bit. He's excited. "It's so good to see you, little dude. Heh. Guess you're not so little anymore, huh?"

He puts him down with slightly more care than he picked him up, placing his hands on Dipper's shoulders, and nodding firmly. "You've become a man. I am so proud."

"Soos!" Dipper laughs, just a little embarrassed at the hug, but he doesn't fight it. Soos is one of the few parts of Gravity Falls that gives him no mixed feelings at all. Soos was always great. The cool older brother he'd never known he wanted.

He grins, shrugging a shoulder as Soos sets him down. "Yeah, time does that." He glances up at Soos and shoves him affectionately. "And hey. You're one to talk! Mabel tells me there's a Mrs. Soos now!"

Mabel looks up from cuddling Waddles to give Soos an encouraging smile as he inevitably starts to sweat it out. "Hah... Y-yeah, Melody and me. We, uh..." There are few things in the world that Soos is extremely good at and dealing with what might be a potentially awkward situation is not one of them. He removes his hat and twists it around in his hands. "Uh, look, dude, sorry about not sending you an invite, but since you weren't respondin' to Mabel's letters, we... we figured we didn't wanna put any pressure on you to come out here and dredge all that stuff up again. Yanno?"

Mabel stands up, brushing mud off her jeans, and goes to pat him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Soos. He gets it. And he's here now." She shoots Dipper a look over his shoulder, hoping he can comprehend I will explain later, please don't hurt his man-feelings in a look.

Soos, thanks to that brief interruption from Mabel, manages to regain his cool and return his hat to his head. "Right. And, anyway, I will hereby invite you to all future birthdays of the Little Sooses and Melodies that will arrive one day. May they be as awesome as their Uncle Dipper and Aunt Mabel."

There are some things that time cannot possibly erase, and knowing what Mabel means when she gives him a look like that is one of them. He gives her a look that says You'd better and smiles at Soos. "It's okay, man. Just sorry I never got you a wedding present." He pats Soos on the shoulder. "And you'd better. Someone's gotta tell them embarrassing stories about their dad turning into a pig."

"Dude. Dude. Not cool. I switched bodies with a pig. It's a totally different thing." Soos turns to Mabel and gives her a faux salute. "And as requested, nothing has been touched, Boss Mabel."

Mabel salutes back. "Excellent work, Soos. Give yourself a raise."

"I absolutely will do no such thing, out of respect for Mr. Pines."

Mabel laughs and throws an arm around Dipper, guiding him towards the Shack. "That's what I like to hear, Soos." She leans up to whisper a quiet thank you in Dipper's ear, before gripping his shoulders tightly as she steers him into the place that was their home for a summer.

The pictures didn't quite do it justice. The counter is still painted in the same binary and a variety of other codes have been written on walls and on the floor and sectioned off with police tape to prevent anyone from walking on them. At the counter, carefully avoiding the dried splatters of paint, a teenage girl with bubblegum pink hair eyes them from over her magazine.

"Oh, he's here finally," she drawls in a bored tone. "Great. Now I can finally clean this creepy stuff off the walls. Whoo-hoo."

"Holiday!" Mabel responds, releasing her hold on her brother so she can shoot the girl her most chastising expression. "Where's your customer service smile?"

"He's not a customer. He's your-"

Mabel shoots the girl a narrowed eye look and the girl responds with a smile that looks more like a pained grimace. Satisfied, Mabel turns back to Dipper. "That's Holiday. She's a... work-in-progress."

"Heard that."

Mabel keeps smiling.. "And our replacement Wendy."

"Love being called that," Holiday flips a page in her magazine pointedly, but tries to subtlety meet Dipper's eyes all the same.

Dipper pauses as he walks in, taking a moment to take it all in. Despite the red paint, it still feels so familiar, though everything also seems smaller than he remembers it. He really did grow up, he supposes.

He pulls a hat from the display next to the door and puts it on, looking at himself in the mirror. It's... odd. This isn't the same hat, though it has the blue pine tree on it. This one's bigger. For an adult, not a child. But it fits him, and it suits him as well as it always did.

He takes it off hurriedly, turning back to look at the room in front of him. He pushes aside some bobblehead Stans and sets his laptop down, looking back over at Mabel as it starts up.

"What's up with original Wendy?" Dipper rubs the back of his head, trying to look as casual as he can and completely failing (bluff 6). "Not that it matters or anything. Just curious." It's not like there's even a hint of a spark left in that torch he's carrying. Of course.

He looks over at the new girl, meeting her eyes with a slight frown. Work-in-Progress Holiday. Where did she come from?

Holiday turns a color that's almost as pink as her hair and buries her face in her magazine. Mabel glances between them with a knowing look and then leans on the doorframe, while Soos hovers nearby.

"She'll be around." Oh she caught both of those things- Holiday's teenage awkward and Dipper's old torch. "I told her to bring us some stuff to clean this up once you got it all decoded. She's really excited to see you again, Dipper."

Dipper glances over at Mabel suspiciously for that last statement. After all, he and Wendy ended things solidly in the just friends area, and that was just great. Sure, it might have occurred to him that dating a 25 year old when you're 22 is way less weird than dating a 15 year old when you're 12, but it sure isn't something he's expecting. He doesn't even know if she's single.

He takes out a notebook and starts scribbling down the code. Once he's got it into something he hopes is a cohesive whole, he goes back to the laptop to type it into his program, sitting back to see what it comes up with (decipher scripts 39).

The codes are all relatively simple- the sort of thing that suggests whoever was writing them needed to be quick and efficient, while still making certain they appealed to their audience's intelligence, hence why it's a series of different ones, rather than just the same.

Binary on the counter, but nothing more than the welcome he's already translated.

Splayed across the floor is Atbash, translating to: YOUR CALCULATIONS WERE A LITTLE OFF. A+ FOR EFFORT. D- FOR EXECUTION. GUESS YOU MISSED SOMETHING.

The one on the walls are basic number substitution, bearing one fairly cryptic, but simple, message: THE SEQUEL ALWAYS HAS WAY MORE EXPLOSIONS THAN THE ORIGINAL.

Taunts. Every one of them. No real clues to speak of, but one simple, singular message that rings true in all of them that no code needs to hide- I'm back.

Now that she's back among the scrawling letters and all is quiet again, Mabel shudders. "It's true, isn't it? It's not some sick joke. He's actually back."

Honestly, he probably didn't even need to go through that much effort for Atbash and number substitution but he's a little rusty. Enough that he double checks his work with the computer. Just in case he's wrong. Hoping he's somehow wrong.

"Yeah, he's back." He tears the page out of his notebook and crumples it up, throwing it as hard as he can. "And he's taunting me. These aren't clues, they're bait. He knew it would get me to come here. We're playing right into his hands."

The trouble is, he isn't sure what else they can do. Of course he was going to come. He can't risk what'll happen if he doesn't. Next time it might really be blood.

Holiday, being the only one who doesn't know what anyone's talking about, peeks over her magazine and glances around at the adults, wondering if anyone's gonna say anything. Mabel chews on a nail and nods slowly, the reality sinking in, and Soos squeezes her shoulder reassuringly, and that reminds her she has nerve.

"We beat him once, Dip. We can do it again."

The bell suddenly jingles, causing Holiday to jump nearly out of her skin. She blushes harder and exits the room hastily through the employee's only door, while Soos and Mabel turn to see who just walked in.

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