Chapter 3 - Clue

An end credits sequence will now be added to the end of chapters, though not all of them when I feel they need an emotional/impactful ending.

OL'Z ZAPSS PU AOL CLUAZ.

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One of the oddest things about Gravity Falls wasn't a giant gnome monstrosity or evil robot lake monsters, but what the television programs had to offer. Because truthfully, the triplets had never seen such bizarreness in their lives.

The three currently were plopped down in the living room on the Mystery Shack, watching television as they were bored and didn't know what else to do. Mabel was sitting in between her brothers and drawing in her notebook, while occasionally glancing up at the television. Mason was busy working on a new sweater and also watching the show. For today, he was wearing a turquoise shirt with a cat face on it and cargo shorts. Of course with his usual socks and shoes. And lastly, Dipper made a bowl of popcorn for himself and happily ate from it.

The show they were watching was called Ducktective, a silly name for a program about a duck that goes around solving crimes in the great country of the United Kingdom. It was about as goofy as it sounded but for some reason the triplets couldn't stop watching episode after episode. Each kid was drawn to it for their own reason. Dipper of course liked the mystery element of it and always tried to solve the case before the duck did, and usually he was right. Mason just liked that the duck talked and sometimes looked at the audience. And Mabel enjoyed that it would cause arguments involving her brothers when they were divided on who they thought did the crime.

"I'm afraid your services won't be required here, sir. My men have examined the evidence, and this is obviously an accident." Said a British police officer as he stood next to a telephone box, with human limbs sticking out the door and with at all angles.

A duck wearing a detective hat then walked in the shot and quacked. "Accident, or is it….MURDER?!" The caption said as the duck turned to the camera dramatically.

"What?!"

The show's logo then came up on the screen as the narrator said, "Ducktective will return after these messages."

When the commercials came on, Mason paused his knitting and turned to his brother to make a joke. "Wow Dipper, that duck is smarter than you." He teased.

Dipper scoffed at that statement, as he wasn't impressed. "Eh, it's easier to find clues when you're that close to the ground." He countered, leaning back against the chair and tossing another piece of popcorn into his mouth. "Besides, they could put anyone in a detective's hat and call them smart, doesn't mean they are."

"You're wearing a hat." Mabel pointed out, flicking the brim of his pine tree cap with a smirk.

"Yeah, and I bet I can solve a case better than you." Mason added.

"Guys I have very keen powers of observation," Dipper responded as he patted the side of his head, a confident grin spreading on his face. "In fact, just by smelling your breath, I can tell that you've been eating…" The boy leaned up and sniffed near Mabel, then recoiled. "An entire tube of toothpaste?" He said in disbelief.

"I couldn't help it! It was sparkly!" Mabel protested, wiping away evidence of the toothpaste off of her face. It was blue with sparkly bits, as she said.

Just then, Soos appeared in the doorway looking very excited and holding a broom. "Dudes, you'll never guess what I found!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face.

"Buried treasure!" The triplets shouted at the same time.

"Guess again, dudes." He said with a shake of his head. Soos then led them down a dark hallway of the shack. The floor was creaky and the wallpaper was all torn. As they went in the direction Soos was leading them, the kids all looked more nervous at their surroundings. "So I was cleaning up when I found this door hidden behind the wallpaper," He said as the kids followed to the mysterious door. "It's crazy bonkers creepy!" Soos opened the door and the four walked in.

Glancing around the new room, they were surprised to see that it was filled with wax sculptures of notable figures from different time periods. "Whoa, it's a secret wax museum." Dipper said, shining a flashlight around the room.

"These are so cool." Mason said as he looked at one that was based off of Lizzie Borden, the famous axe murderer. "Who do you think made all of them?"

Mabel approached one statue created after the most famous detective in all of fiction, Sherlock Holmes. As an artist herself, she admired the sculpture's talents. "And they're so lifelike too." She added, touching it with her finger.

"Except for that one." Dipper said as he pointed to one that looked an awful lot like his own Grunkle Stan.

Because it was his uncle Stan. "Hello!" He said. Soos and the kids screamed. "AHHH!" Stan laughed at their reactions.. "Haha, it's just me, your Grunkle Stan."

They screamed again and ran out of the room.

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PLAY MUSIC: GRAVITY FALLS THEME SONG

A time-lapse of the waterfall and a lumberjack statue.

The scene changes to the interior of a bus. The triplets are in one seat asleep as the bus drives on a long stretch of road leading into the town, running beside it are telephone poles and the sky is clouding and gray, adding a mystical feel. A bus carrying our main characters drives down the road and then out of frame. A second later, a Bigfoot looking creature runs across the road to the trees on the other side. The camera pans back just enough to show a yellow sign on one of the trees with an image of the same creature on it.

The scene changes again to the triplets standing outside of the Mystery Shack, looking at it in wonder and confusion. Then, there is a puff of smoke behind them and Stan appears.

Dipper

He is flipping through the journal in the woods, and studying a symbol in a tree, not noticing a singular and familiar eye staring at him through the dark trees.

Mabel

She is seen flirting with a boy. After a bit, the boy takes off his jacket, revealing him to be the gnomes again. Mabel pulls out her grappling hook and fights them off.

Mason

The boy is enthusiastically jumping up and down on his bed in the attic bedroom, with a pig in his arms and a big grin.

Stan

When a tourist is turned around looking at a shirt, Stan takes the opportunity to steal money out of the man's wallet.

Soos

He is eating a chocolate bar and trying to complete a task of fixing a pipe under the sink. The pipe suddenly bursts, spraying water everywhere and all over him.

Wendy

She is seen cutting down a tree with her family. They manage to succeed but the tree falls down, nearly missing their house. Wendy shakes her head.

Cut to the Mystery Shack crew camping out in the middle of the woods. Stan is telling them a story about a monster in the woods. The campfire gives off enough light for us to make out a creature behind them.

Then we cut to a small camp lake at sunset. There is only one wooden pier with several canoes tied to it. Towards the treeline shore of the lake, there are children playing in the water, splashing each other and jumping into the water off the pier. However further down, a hump appears out of the water, and the faint outline of flippers can be seen under the waves, then the hump disappears under the water leaving behind only ripples. It goes unnoticed by the children.

Another cut shows Mystery Shack property at night. Cicadas and crickets are singing, there is a nice cool breeze, and all is calm and peaceful. The top window at the front of the shack is lit up. Then a low growl echoes through the air. There is something in the woods. An owl hoots somewhere in the dark trees.

Then, the three Pines kids are in their attic bedroom laying around, when they and objects around them mysteriously begin to float in the air. Dipper is the only one to notice it.

The scene cuts to a bulletin board with pictures of Stan over the years. The board is labeled with "Can't be trusted" and "Who is he"

Cut to the title screen.

THEME SONG ENDS

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After Soos and the kids had calmed down, Stan brought them back inside the secret room. He flipped the switch near the door and turned on the lights, that way he could show them around the place. There were a lot more sculptures than they initially thought, all standing still in poses.

"Behold, the Gravity Falls Wax Museum!" Stan announced proudly with a smile before giving them some context as to why they were there. "It was one of my most popular attractions…before I forgot about it."

He introduced all of the ones in his collection, showing them off one by one. "I got them all! Sherlock Holmes, Genghis Khan." He stopped at Larry King and scratched his head in confusion. "I don't know some goblin man?" He guessed, seemingly not having a clue about who the man was

Dipper shivered. "Is anyone else getting the creeps in here?"

His uncle then gestured to a big pile of gooey melted wax on the floor right under an open window, though he didn't notice it at first. "And for my personal favorite, wax Abraham Lincoln- aw what! Who left the blinds open?!" He examined, finally realizing what had happened to his beloved creation before he turned and pointed somewhere in the room. "Wax John Wilkes Booth I'm looking at you!" He said accessingly at the lifeless man.

He sighed then kneeled down, sticking his finger in the melted wax that was once a great president of his country. "How do you fix a wax guy?" He said sadly, studying the gooey substance on his finger. The man would have tried to fix it himself, but he didn't know the first thing about making a wax figure this good.

His niece came over and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to make him feel better. "Cheer up Grunkle Stan, I can make you a new wax guy from all this old wax." The girl said cheerfully, with a million ideas already running through her head about what she could make. For her, the possibilities were endless.

"You really think you can make one of these puppies?" Stan asked surprisingly while he turned to her.

"Grunkle Stan, I'm an arts and crafts master." She stated before holding up one of her arms that had a glue gun stuck to it. Somewhat concerning. "Why do you think I always have this glue gun stuck to my arm?" Mabel then shook the gun off her arm, leaving a red spot on her skin and she said, "Mason can help me with it. With my artistic talent and his wonderful world of colors, we'll bring you the wax guy of the century!"

"I like your gumption kid!" Stan told her, willing to give them a chance.

Mabel put her hands together and beamed. "I have no idea what that word means but thank you." She said with a smile, but she took it as a compliment anyway.

"We can have it done by tomorrow!" Mason said as he and his sister went to work.

An hour later, while they were busy with their project, Dipper went to the kitchen to grab a drink. He opened the fridge and grabbed a can of orange soda, his second can of the day. Dipper then walked back to the parlor room where his siblings were to check up on their progress, wondering if they had started it or not.

Mabel and Mason had collected all of the melted wax and moved it into the parlor room, creating a big block of wax that would eventually be formed into whatever they made. With the template set up, they moved on to the next step of the process, planning what they could possibly craft with the wax. And they were still brainstorming when their brother walked in.

"Hey guys, how's it going so far?" He asked them before taking another sip of his soda.

Mabel shook her head in frustration. "We've been at it forever, since someone doesn't agree with any of my ideas." She replied, looking at Mason with an annoyed expression.

"What kind of ideas?"

His sister turned her notebook around, the one she was using to sketch out options. The idea she drew was what appeared to be princess and horse hybrid, looking straight out of a nightmare, though to her it would be a dream. "It's a half horse and half princess." She explained.

"Maybe you guys should carve something from real life?" Their brother suggested.

Mason took the notebook from his sister and began sketching put his own idea. "Like a waffle with big arms!" Said the boy, and when he was finished, he flipped the notebook and in it was said image, a waffle with big beefy arms.

"For the hundredth time, we're not doing a waffle!" Mabel said exasperatedly.

"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mom!" Mason shot back with a pout.

"Technically I'm older, so yes I can."

"By seven minutes!"

Dipper rolled his eyes. This was one of the problems them two worked together. They both had different visions of the outcome on the same thing. Sensing a deep argument was about to break out, he threw out another suggestion for them before it could escalate. "Both those ideas suck, how about you make someone in our family?"

Just then, Stan walked into the room wearing absolutely no pants at all. "Kids, have you seen my pants?" He asked as he put one foot on a briefcase. Light shined on him through the window, making him look like he was a gift from the heavens themselves.

Mason and Mabel smiled at each other. They had an idea.

And so began the very long process of turning their uncle into a wax sculpture. Mabel unveiled a roll of sculpting tools for them to use, while Mason brought out every paint color he could possibly find on his sister's many bags of art supplies.

It took the duo all day to get even a little bit of a shape to start forming. They took almost no breaks aside from using the restroom and when Dipper had to practically drag them away from their project to dinner. Then they woke up bright and early to immediately resume their progress. After a few hours, it was beginning to shape out how they wanted it, and after some more time it was recognizable to be modeled of a human.

Now it was time to apply color, the part that Mason was looking forward to the most. They divided all the paint colors into different sections on a plastic plate, then began mixing different ones when needed. It was a painstaking hots upon hours if with, but it was all going to be worth it in the end once their masterpiece was finished. When the paint dried, the last thing to do was to apply the finishing touches. So Mason swiftly whipped up a fez and glasses out of yarn.

With that completed, the two took a step back to admire their handiwork next to Dipper and Soos. It couldn't have turned out better. Standing right in front of them was a wax replica of their uncle that was perfectly identical. However Mabel squinted at it, there was something still needing to be done, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Mason then snapped his fingers. "Glitter!" He told her. "This statue needs some shine!"

His sister smiled with him, agreeing. She looked down at a bucket full of glitter beside her and nodded to Soos. The big man grabbed the bucket and chucked the whole thing onto the sculptures, making it all shiny and polished.

That was when Stan walked into the room, having found his pants but was missing his socks. Apparently he wasn't that good at keeping track of his clothes. "I found my pants but now I'm- He started but when he looked up and saw the wax version of himself he strangely cried pit in horror, falling on his ass and recoiled.

Mabel and Mason then looked down at him, with both of them having proud expressions on their faces. "So what do you think?" His niece asked him.

"I think…" Stan said and thought for a moment, before shooting his arms up and excitedly exclaiming, "The wax museum is back in business!"

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By afternoon, the whole parking lot was beginning to fill up with tons of cars. When Stan decided to reopen the wax machine, he made the kids go out onto town and hang up flyers that advertised the event. Many of the townsfolk saw these papers and decided to go out and give it a try, though not for the reason triplets were thinking of.

A banner had been hung up near the entrance of the shack that said, Wax Museum of Mystery Grand Reopening!. Under the sign, Soos guided cars, using corn dogs as sticks, acting like an aircraft marshaller. He took a bite out of one of the corn dogs before continuing his duty

The ticket stand was being manned by Wendy and Dipper, as they were the only one left available to do the job. Watching all the cars drive past, Dipper told his older friend, "Man, I can't believe this many people showed up. It wasn't like for the shack to get this busy, so the two were surprised at how much attention this whole thing was getting.

Wendy snorted at that. "I know, right. You're uncle probably bribed remember or something."

"He bribed me." Dipper replied as he lifted his hat, revealing a ten dollar bill sitting on his hair.

Husband crush did the same, showing that she too had been bribed by her boss to work the table and they shared a good laugh about it.

As for Mabel and Mason, they were helping their uncle getting everything set up on the front porch of the shack, that would act as the stage. They transported all the wax figures from that old creepy room onto the porch behind a podium. Then they made the final adjustments to Wax Stan, making sure he qas absolutely perfect and ready to be unveiled before throwing a sheet on to keep a secret and putting him with the others.

Mabel then looked at the growing crowd, sitting on chairs set up on the lawn then turned to her twin. "Ready to impress all these hooligans?" She asked him, getting more and more excited as the time grew closer.

"Im gonna knock their socks off!" Mason exclaimed enthusiastically.

When it was finally time for the event to begin, Stan stood up to the podium to open it off. He cleared his throat then tapped on the microphone, sending out a feedback that made the crowd wince and some covered their ears. After that, he finally began to talk. "You all know me, town darling 'Mr. Mystery'. Please ladies, control yourselves. He said that as if any woman would go crazy for him.

And they certainly did not. The women in the crowd stared at him with flies buzzing around them.

Stan winced but continued. "As you all know, I always bring the people of this fair town novelties and befuddlements, the likes of which the world has never known! But enough about me…" Stan then pulled the tarp off the figure, revealing it to the people to be himself made out of wax, holding up thumbs up. "Behold me!"

Soos played a sound effect on his electronic keyboard, making a fanfare for the reveal. "YEAH! Y-YEAH!" The sound said.

But the crowd was not impressed in the slightest. Only two people clapped and someone near the back coughed. They all looked bored to be there, questioning why they even came in the first place. It was very awkward.

As his uncle continued to talk about the attraction and why everyone should spend money on it, Mason awkwardly whispered to his sister, "Kinds thought we'd get a standing ovation. We didn't completely butcher it did we?"

Mabel crossed her awesome with a frown. "No. These people just don't know real art."

"And now a word from our artists!" Stan then announced before handing the microphone to his niece and nephew. It was time for them to make their speech.

Mason decided to go first and he stepped up to the edge of the porch with the microphone in hand. "Hello everyone!" He addressed the visitors. "My name's Mason, and me and my sister made this by ourselves! Pretty cool right? Oh, by the way, this guy right here," He patted Wax Stan's arm. "Was made out of the remains of a former president. Sorry Abe, you were a nice guy with a freakishly tall hat but you're being put to a better use now."

His sister then swiped the microphone for her turn. "Heyo, it's Mabel. Or Mabelangelo, your pick. Thank you all for participating in this whimsical once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Like my brother was saying, we made this sculpture with our own two hands! It's covered in our blood, sweat, tears, and maybe some other bodily functions."

The young girl's statement made everyone in the crowd recoil with disgust and exclamation. At the admissions table, Dipper dragged a hand down his face. "Yeesh." Wendy muttered and cringed.

"We put a lot of effort into this creation. Mabel said before finishing up her speech." Any questions?"

The first person she pointed to was near the back of the crowd and had a familiar hat, so that's why she chose him. The person stood up, and to her surprise it was Old Man McGucket, the man who'd nearly killed her with his crazy monster robot on the lake. "Old Man McGucket here, local kook!" He said, standing proudly on his chair before asking his question. "Are the wax figures alive, if so, how can I survive the wax man uprising?"

Mabel stared at him for a few moments before announcing with a sigh, "Next question." She was really wanting to know how this man ended up the way he was, and why he hadn't been admitted into a mental hospital yet to get a brain examination.

So the next person went. This time it was that wannabe news reporter Toby Determined, sitting in his chair with one of his legs propped up. In the middle of his shoe was a hole. In his hand was a turkey baster that he pretended was an actual microphone. "Toby Determined, Gravity Falls Gossiper, do you really think this constitutes an eighth wonder of the world?"

Your microphone's a turkey baster Toby." Stan replied dryly.

"It certainly is!" The man said sadly.

Behind him, a woman stood up and based on her appearance she was an official reporter. She was a tall, tan woman with brown hair. The woman wore a light blue shirt with a slightly darker blue-gray vest and a black skirt that went down to her knees. She had high, distinct cheekbones, a "beauty mark" mole on her face, and wore dark pink lipstick.

"Shandra Jimenez, a real reporter," She introduced herself before holding up one of the flyers that the triplets had put up in town. On it was an image of a pizza saying the words, Free Pizza! "Your flyers promised free pizza to this with admission to this event, is this true?" She asked.

"Uh oh." Mason said, already knowing his uncle had put that on the advertisement just to get people to come to the event. There was no pizza and he just lied to everyone.

The crowd started to get restless, feeling like they had been tricked and wasted their money. Seeing this, Stan began to panic. "That was a typo." He informed them before waving his hand goodbye. "Goodnight everyone!' The elderly man then threw down a smoke bomb, disappearing in a puff of smoke like he was Houdini and left no trace of himself.

In reality he was running away. Dipper and Wendy looked at each other nervously as the guests were now really pissed off, looking ready to tear the place apart. Stan then hurried passed them, grabbing the box of money as he did and running off with it to who knows where.

A big guy wearing a free pizza shirt stood up and walked away sadly, betrayal evident in his expression. A woman was angrily throwing and breaking chairs around, taking out her frustration on the poor furniture. As the crowd dispersed to their vehicles, Wendy's father, Manly Dan, punched the wooden pole holding up the banner. The pole nearly snapped in half as he furiously shouted, "IN YOUR FACE!"

Now alone, Mabel and Mason went over to Dipper and Wendy and watched everyone leave. "That didn't go as I thought it would." The boy said.

"Thanks for that conclusion captain obvious." Mabel said and rolled her eyes.

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Later in the night, Stan was counting all the money he made off the stupid townsfolk. He may have had to bend the truth a little, and probably was on half the town's shit list now. But it was all worth it to see this amount of green he was holding.

"Hot pumpkin pie! Look at all this cash!" He said as he ran finger along all the bills and waved it around in the air. Another successful scam competed. Beside him, his niece and nephews were occupied with watching the late-night television channels, with Wax Stan leaning against the recliner. "And I swear it all to two people…"

Mabel and Mason looked at him with smiles, expecting his praise for their work. But instead he gestured to himself and his wax replica. "Me and this guy!"

Hey!" Mason protested with a frown and Mabel hit her uncle in his gut. "That statue would be nothing without us!" Mason added to his protest

Rubbing the spot she had bit him and chuckling a bit, Stan ruffled their hair playfully. "Yeah you too you little gremlins. Now you kids go wash up, we got a long day of fleecing rubes tomorrow. Go! Go!" Stan told them as he ushered the three kids upstairs, leaving him alone with his wax version. "Ah, kids." He sighed dramatically, talking to Wax Stan like he was a real person he could have a conversation with.

A few minutes later, Stan and his wax self were watching Ducktective. He might have been old, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy good television meant for younger audiences. And he wasn't afraid to admit he was genuinely instructed in the series just as much as the kids were.

"Well Ducktective, it seems you really quacked the case!" The British police officer on the television.

"Don't patronize me." Ducktective responded.

Stan laughed at the joke and stood up, stretching his arms and back out. "I'm gonna use the john, do you need anything?" He said, looking over to Wax Stan. He just sat there.

This made the old man laugh again. "I love this guy!" He exclaimed before walking away from the living room. "Don't you go anywhere!" He called back from the hallway. Again, Wax Stan just sat there.

As for the kids, the three of them in the upstairs bathroom doing their nightly routine and were currently brushing their teeth, already changed into their sleep clothing. Mabel sat on the bathtub, happily swinging her legs off the edge while her brothers stood in front of the mirror.

The youngest of the trio, Mason, then stopped brushing and turned to his siblings with a smile. "Hey guys,I bet I can finish brushing faster than you guys. Toothbrush race" He challenged them, and they voiced their agreement through muffled speech.

Suddenly they heard Stan yelling downstairs, and from the sound of it whatever happened was very serious. "NO! NOOO!"

Concerned about whatever made their uncle so distressed at this time, the three abandoned the toothbrush race and rushed out of the bathroom.

The kids trampled over each other trying to get downstairs, and when they made it to the living room where Stan was, they saw that he was shaking badly. It didn't take long for them to figure out why. "Wax Stan, he's been MURDERED!" Stan pointed to the Wax body on the door that was missing its head. The grandfather clock chimed eerily as the family stared at the gruesome sight in front of them

Mabel fainted in Mason's arms upon seeing the sight while Dipper hurried over to the phone on the nightstand so he could call the police.

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Thirty minutes later, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Dueland arrived on the scene. It was clear they'd rather be doing anything else but their actual jobs, evident by how they seemed to be listening with absolute disinterest as Stan told them how things had gone down. "I get up to use the john right, and when I come back, blammo! He's headless!"

Mason looked down sadly at the wax figure. "All our hard work." He whispered so low it was barely heard.

"Who would do this?" Dipper asked out loud though it was mainly to himself. It seemed so random. A wax figure of all things? How could an inanimate object provoke someone enough to commit this kind of violence? He didn't know anyone well enough in this town yet that would give him a secret murder vibe. Most townsfolk were oddball sire, but not criminal masterminds.

What's your opinion, Sherif Blubs?" Deputy Durland asked his partner.

"Look, we loved to help you folks. But let's face the facts, this case is unsolvable!" Blubs told them with a shrug, holding a cup of coffee in his hand and he took a sip from it, giving absolutely zero cares in the world about the situation.

"WHAT?!' The Pines yelled, startling the man that he spit out the coffee in his mouth.

"You take that back Sheriff Blubs!" Stan demanded.

"You're kidding right? There must be evidence, motives, I can help if you want!" Dipper offered. This could be his chance to step up and show everyone how intelligent he was, and he was more than sure his uncle would be happy to have his wax replica back to normal

Mabel immediately went to supporting her brother. "He's really good. He figured out who was eating all of our tin cans."

"All signs pointed to the goat." Dipper stated.

"Yeah yeah," Stan joined in, wanting his nephew to succeed in his mission. "You should let the boy help, he's got a brain up his noggin."

"He says he's smarter than Ducktective." Mason added matter-of-factly. "You should let him try to solve the case, see if he really is a smart person or if he just toots his own horn."

"Mason!" Mabel scolded in a whisper, elbowing Mason in the shoulder.

But Dipper didn't get the answer he was hoping for. Hearing of these claims, the officers' response was to start making fun of him. "Would you look at that, the city boy thinks he's gonna solve a mystery with his fancy computer phone!" Blubs mocked him with a smirk, making quotations with his hands.

"City boooooy! City boooooy!" Durland hollered. (Why did this become a meme all of a sudden?!)

"You are adorable." Blubs said, and he and his partner began to laugh.

"Adorable?" Dipper questioned himself.

"Look p.j.'s, how about you leave the investigating to the grown ups?" Blubs ordered, and this only made the young Pines boy more angry and he gritted his teeth.

The idiot cops high-fived each other and started laughing again, only to pause when a message came through on the sheriff's radio. "Attention all units, Steve is going to fit an entire cantaloupe in his mouth! I repeat, an entire cantaloupe!"

It's 2316!" Durland shouted enthusiastically.

"Let's move." Blubs replied. The two cops then walked ran out the building laughing, getting back into their patrol vehicle and driving away from the shack.

Having had enough of being ridiculed, Dipper turned to Mabel and Mason as his anger dissolved into determination. "That's it! Guys, you and me are gonna find the jerk that did this, get that head back, solve the case," He turned to the direction where the cops had exited and glared. "Then we'll see who's adorable."

A second later he sneezed very cutely. "You sneeze like a kitten!" Mason said. Dipper then glared at him.

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The investigation began immediately after breakfast the very next morning. To make it 'official', they decided to make the living room look like it was an actual crime scene. So toilet paper was substituted for police tape to block off anyone from entering the room. A bulletin board was brought in with multiple photos of local residents on it that would be their suspects, and now Mabel was taking pictures of the boy.

Dipper was taking the lead role in this investigation, and his siblings were going to be his assistants. Though they each claimed that it was the other way around. "Alright guys," He announced, receiving their attention and they looked toward him. "Wax Stan's been murdered and it's up to us to find out who did it."

"Maybe we should ask everyone in town questions and make them take a lie detector test." Mason suggested.

"That would take literally all day." Mabel pointed out, shutting down that idea real quick and added, "Besides, those things aren't even accurate so there's no way to tell who's actually telling the truth." She then turned back to Dipper. "Alright Dip, where are we supposed to start on this?"

Dipper looked back at the board of suspects and narrowed his eyes at the photos, tapping his chin. "There were a lot of unhappy customers at the unveiling. The murder could have been anyone." He explained, unsure of where to start.

Mason then raised his hand like he was in class. "Ooh! What if a supernatural scary thing broke in and took Wax Stan's head? Maybe it thought it was the real Grunkle Stan?"

His sister sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going to be harder than she thought. They needed leads, not suggestions. "Mason, I hardly believe that a gnome or whatever else shit this town has would want anything to do with our uncle! And besides, Stan doesn't even believe in any of that stuff."

"Well I'm just… I'm trying to help." Mason stammered, thinking she was getting frustrated with him. That was one of his biggest problems, was that he always seemed to shut down when someone snapped at him.

Noticing it happening again, Mabel softened. "I know, but we can't start throwing things out, okay?" We need to start being logical about this." He didn't verbally respond but he nodded his head understandably.

"It seemed unlikely, but anything's possible in this town." Dipper said, getting them back to the topic at hand as he pulled out Journal #3. He then started flipping through the pages. "Gnomes, ghosts, zombies. It could be months before we find even our first clue."

"Look!' A clue!" Mason pointed to something in the carpet near his shoe.

Dipper and Mabel come over to it. Upon further inspection, they saw that what he was seeing were actually footprints, and they were surrounding the body of Wax Stan. However what was strange about them was that some of the prints had a hole in them. Dipper crouched to get a better look. "Hmm, footprints in the shaggy carpet."

"That's weird, they got a hole in them." Mabel added suspiciously as her eyes followed the trail of prints leaning to behind the recliner. Dipper stood back up as Mason went behind the chair. "And they lead to…"

"Guys!" Mason's enthusiastic voice brought them over to him and were shocked at what they saw. Laying on the carpet somehow missed by not only the incompetent police force, but also them, was a real axe. The weapon used in the murder.

Since they didn't know anything about axes, they decided to find someone who maybe did. Their uncle nor Wenfy wasn't around so the other person they could think of helping them with the case was Soos.

So they went into the gift shop where the big man was, giving him the ax and explaining the situation. "So what do you think?" Dipper asked him.

His friend studied the weapon for a few moments, thinking to himself and nodded his head. "In my opinion, this is an axe." He said as he handed it back to Mabel.

"Thanks for sharing. Didn't know that." The girl said sarcastically.

"Wait a minute," Mason gasped as thought came to his silly little head. "The super mad lumberjack had an axe yesterday!"

"Of course!" Mabel said, snapping her fingers with a wide grin on her face. She then ruffled Mason's hair. "Mason, I take back everything I said, you're a genius."

"Well, he did seem pretty furious when he didn't get that free pizza." Dipper pointed out, remembering how the man had punched a wooden pole in half with just his bare fist. Combined with the information his brother gave, he was starting to look like a prime suspect in the case.

"But was it furious enough for murder?"

Dipper slid the axe into a backpack. With a suspect now in mind, all that was left was to find him and ask the man a few questions. "Let's go find out. Soos, do you know where he might be at?"

The handyman nodded his head and replied, "Oh yeah, the dude hangs out at this crazy intense biker joint downtown."

"Then that's where we're going." Mason said.

As the three kids prepared to leave the shack and go into town to question their suspect, Soos said with a grin, "This is awesome, you dudes are like the Mystery Gang from that one show with the talking dog."

Dipper frowned and said, "Don't call us that."

The kids walked outside the gift shop and past Stan, who was pulling a coffin out the trunk of his car with not much success. When he saw them, the man paused his struggle. "Hey give me a hand will ya? I'm doing a memorial service for Wax Stan, something small, but classy." He said.

"Sorry Grunkle Stan but we have a big break." Dipper replied as he turned to him. They didn't have any time to help move boxes.

Mason took out the axe and showed it to his uncle. "Behold, the murder weapon! We're gonna go down to a probably very violent bar and talk to the murder!"

"Huh, seems like the kind of thing a responsible patent wouldn't want you doing." He told them, tapping his chin. The kids thought this meant he wouldn't allow their investigation to continue, but then he smiled. "Good thing I'm an uncle! Avenge me kids! AVENGE ME!" He called out, placing one foot on the coffin and shook his fist in the air.

The kids carried on their way. However as they were leaving the shack's property, Mason suddenly hurried up in front of them and stood still, as there was something on his mind that he needed to get off before they left.

"Okay guys, So like, I know that Dipper's the whole 'leader' of this whole thing or whatever. But like, so what if…uh..you know just throwing this out there…uh, " He stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. He was having trouble verbally speaking his thoughts out to them, but the words eventually came out. "What if I took control of the investigation? Just-Just an idea you know." He then chuckled nervously.

His brother and sister blinked in surprise. It wasn't like Mason to go out and ask to do something like this. Normally he would try to do the least work possible for pretty much everything. "I don't think that's a good idea." Mabel responded, shaking her head.

"What? Why not?" Mason protested.

"Because this is a very serious case and we can't afford to get anything wrong." His sister said. It wasn't that she didn't think he couldn't be a good leader, the reason was because Mason didn't apply actual thinking most of the time. He went off of whatever his brain said to him and he took it as the truth because it was him who said it. This often resulted in playful games turning into arguments because he refused to accept that he was wrong and messed everything up.

"Okay that's fair, but at least give me a chance." The boy said, now pleading with them with a desperate expression. He really did want to help. "Look guys, I know I'm not as smart as either of you and-and I can make…a lot of mistakes. But please, as your brother, trust me. I really think I can do it this time."

Mabel looked over to Dipper who shrugged. So hoping she wasn't making the wrong decision, the girl handed the backpack over to Mason along with all of their notes.

________________________________________

The three then walked into town, and half an hour after they arrived at their intended destination. Currently they were hiding in an alleyway, between two buildings, one of which was the Skull Fracture, the place that Soos was talking about. Their suspect was in there somewhere.

Dipper peeked his head around the corner and saw the entrance to the building was being guarded by a man known as Tats, because of all the tattoos on his body. He was a large, muscular thug with dark skin and wore a white singlet tucked into a pair of blue jeans with a black and gold belt, and pair of black boots. There was a chain coming out of his jeans pocket. He also had nose piercings and a unibrow. And he looked like the kind of man that wouldn't hesitate to punch your skull open when messed with.

"How are we going to get in?" Mason asked, also looking around the corner. The man then looked over in their direction and the boys quickly ducked behind the rock wall to stay hidden. "That man is like, a one man army!" He whispered.

Mabel then hopped down from a dumpster next to him. "Fear not brother for I have an idea.' She said with a grin.

"Why were you sitting on the trash?" Mason asked disgustingly, completely ignoring what she had to say.

"Because I was being stealthy." Mabel replied matter-of-factly, before reaching into her jacket pocket. "And much more importantly, these are our tickets in." She pulled out three authentic looking ID cards from her pocket, one for each of them. She had used her arms and crafts skills to make them.

"You think I can get a drink using this?" Mason said as he looked at his card before starting to laugh. Mabel rolled her eyes and dragged him along towards the entrance to the place.

The Pines kids approached the man as he was looking at someone else's ID card. "Sorry, but we don't serve miners." Tats told the person who owned the card and gave it back to them.

And the owner turned out to be not a minor, as in children like them, but a real miner. A person that went into caves and who was hoping for a cold drink after a long shift down in the deep dark and claustrophobic tunnels. "Daaaang nab' it!" The miner said before spitting on the ground and walking away.

He stomped past the kids who approached Tats with confidence. "Detective Mason Pines here," Mason introduced himself to the man in a very professional way that even surprised his brother and sister. "These are my assistants. We're here to interrogate Manly Dan the lumberjack for the murder of Wax Stan." Then they held out their IDs for him to observe and hoped he couldn't tell they were fake.

The bouncer studied the cards for a moment. Surprisingly this worked. "Works for me." Tats said and held the entrance door open for them. The kids glanced at each other before they walked in.

None of them could have prepared themselves for the chaos that was taking place before them. Everyone in the bar was large, tough men and bikers like their friend said. The people were either fighting or drinking, or doing both at once. Heavy metal music was being blasted over speakers and it looked like they strode into an apocalyptic bar. The kids walked past the man laying still on the floor and stared at him for a moment. "He's resting?" Mason said hopefully.

"Alright guys, let's just try to blend in." Dipper told them as he scanned the place for their suspect. "Come on." The three kids walked around the very scary environment as they searched around for Manly Dan. The other restaurant patrons paid no attention to them and it was as if they were invisible, which was probably a good thing in this situation.

They did find Manly Dan though. He was at the back of the building playing an arm wrestling video game. And from the looks of it he was trying very hard to win with how the veins were popping out of his neck and he was yelling loudly "AAAUUUGGGHHHH!"

The triplets glared at each other again, feeling slightly nervous to go up to him with the way he was acting. But they still needed to interrogate him. "Manly Dan, just the guy we were hoping to talk to." Dipper said when he, Mabel, and Mason walked up to him.

"We need to ask you a couple questions about an incident you may or may not be familiar with that happened at the Mystery Shack last night." Mason said before asking the huge man his first question, a simple one. "Where were you last night?"

"I WAS PUNCHING THE CLOCK!"

"You were at work?" Mabel asked for clarification

"NO I WAS PUNCHING THAT CLOCK!" He pointed to a window. From the other side of the glass, they could see a clock that was bent. Literally he did what he said.

Mason looked back at his siblings and said, "Ten o' clock, that was when he heard Grunkle Syn shouting. He then slipped off the backpack and held the axe up. "So this wouldn't be yours would it?"

"LISTEN LITTLE GIRLS,"

"Actually I'm a bo-"

"I wouldn't pick my teeth with that ax!" Manly Dan didn't let him finish and pointed at the axe on the boy's hands. "It's left-handed! I only use my right hand!" Manly Dan then ripped the arm off the machine and used it to hit the game repeatedly "My manly hand!"

Tyler Cutebiker then came up to them, cheering the lumberjack on with his usual enthusiasm. "Get em'! Get em'!"

While that was happening, the kids took the opportunity to quickly slip away and leave the building. Walking down the sidewalk, they began going over all of what they had about the case so far. There were some new facts now, thanks to the intel received from Manly Dan.

"So the murderer is left handed." Dipper stated as he developed a list of all the citizens they knew for sure had attended the event yesterday. "Manly Dan is left- handed. That means,"

"All we have to do is find our left handed suspect and we have our killer!" Mabel finished his sentence. They could actually do this. Here they were, just three kids doing what the police couldn't do themselves. Not only that, but they were going to prove everyone wrong who didn't believe in them.

Mason was getting more and more excited as well. "See? I told you guys that I could do this!" He said with a wide goofy grin before holding up his fist. "What do you say guys, shall we catch ourselves a killer?"

Dipper and Mabel smiled back at him and the Mystery Gang did a fist bump.

The first person on their list was none other than Old Man McGucket. Why would he want to kill a wax version of their uncle? They didn't know, but considering he nearly killed them once before, it wouldn't hurt to go pay him a visit. They found him where he always was, in the junkyard, and tinkering with another of his inventions. Mason waved at him, and noticing the boy, McGucket waved back with his right arm that had an alligator on it. So Dipper crossed his name off the list.

The second suspect they went to was the home of the free pizza guy. Dipper dressed as a delivery man, sporting a fake mustang with glasses, with a package with him and a clipboard. After ringing the doorbell, the man came outside, signed the paper with his right hand. Seeing he wasn't the murderer either, Dipper took the package away and crossed his name off the list while the man sighed sadly and turned to walk back into his house.

Minutes later they were on the street. They saw the women who'd destroyed the chairs during her tantrum at the unveiling. Mabel whistled, grabbing the lady's attention and threw a baseball at her. The lady caught it with her right hand and deflated it with a scowl. Dipper crossed her off the list while his sister smiled nervously and waved, not wanting to bother any more of her time than needed to.

They spent the rest of the day going around town looking for the people on their list. When they knocked on one of their doors, a man came out with both of his arms wrapped in bandages. Therefore it was totally unlikely that he would be the killer, as he could not hold anything. So they did what they'd been doing for a while: crossing the name off.

After a while, they decided to take a break. Dipper went through all the names checked off so far while Mabel and Mason stood around talking. The three were ecstatic, since the list was getting shorter and they only had a couple of names left. They were getting close.

"This is so amazing, I feel like an actual police officer!" Mason said in wonder.

"I know right? I hold all the power." Mabel agreed with a mischievous grin, before ruffling Mason's hair again. "You know what Masey, you've actually doing pretty good leading us in this case."

The boy's ears turned red from the praise. "Thanks Mabel." He replied, genuinely appreciating the compliment.

"Anytime bro." Mabel replied, letting his shoulder before turning to her other brother, still occupied with the list. "How's it looking over there Dip?"

"Almost finished here." He replied. "There's only a couple names left here, and one of them is the killer."

Mason then sighed sadly and looked at the ground. "It's a shame this happened in the first place," He said, meaning Wax Stan's murder. "I wish he could have gotten more time. It was a really cool statue."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mabel said, sharing in his sympathy. "He was only around for the unveiling and that's it. It would've been cool to keep him around longer. This should've been at the top of the news headlines."

A moment after she said this, Mason's eyes lit up. "Wait, news!" He suddenly said then snatched the list from his brother. The boy began flipping through the pages rapidly before falling on the last page, and pointed to the very last name at the bottom as his grin widened.

"That's it! It was right in front of us the whole time! The left hand, the hole in the shoe, I know who did it!"

________________________________________

At around ten o'clock that night, the Pines kids met up with Blubs and Durland outside of the headquarters of the Gravity Falls Gossiper. A few minutes of waiting and their patrol car drove up to them, the red and blue lights flashing brightly on their bodies. Upon discovering who the murder was, they left a call and instructed to meet them at this particular building so they could surprise the killer and catch them red handed.

The cops exited the car and the five of them crowded around the front door, with the cops holding their batons and flashlights, getting ready to bust down the door. Before they did, Blubs turned to the kids and said, "You kids better be right about this. Ir you'll never gonna hear the end of it." He was not going to be happy if he came all the way over here for nothing.

But the triplets were more than confident that they had the correct culprit, and they were mentally slapping themselves in the face for not figuring it out earlier. "Believe us, the evidence is irrefutable." Dipper said.

"It is so irrefutable." Mabel backed her brother up.

"This is it!" Mason whispered, pumping everyone up for what was going to happen." Are you guys ready?"

Durland nodded his head. "I'm gonna get to use my nightstick!" He said, waving it around in the air.

"You ready? You ready little fella?" Blubs hyped him up even more. The two cops then began laughing and poking the other with their batons, unable to continue their excitement anymore. The reason they were so exhilarated was because they haven't had a moment like this in their careers, as the town had a little to no crime record.

"On three," Dipper said, giving them a countdown to enter the building. "One, two-"

But they didn't wait for him to get down to three. The policemen burst through the door like they were initiating. SWAT raid, pointing their flashlights around the room and holding up their batons to strike. The triplets entered after they did. "Nobody move! This is a raid!" Blubs ordered at whoever the criminal was.

The room they had entered was a small office belonging to the last person you'd expect, Toby Determined. The man had been working at his desk when the police barred in, startling him enough that he fell on his ass on the floor. What is this? Some kind of raid?" The man asked despite what Blubs had just said seconds ago.

Instead of interrogating him themselves, the police decided that the best thing to do at that time was to trash the place. Durland knocked a lamp off a shelf and it shattered upon impact on the floor. "Derp!" He said without a single regret.

"Tony Determined, you're under arrest for the murder of Was Stan!" Dipper informed him as he and the rest approached him while he was still in shock.

"You have the right to remain impressed with our awesome detective work." Mabel added.

"Mystery Gang!" Mason cheered for themselves.

"Gobbling goose feathers! I don't understand!" Toby said, while standing up and covering in on himself.

Mason said and stepped forward with a smug grin."You see, you were hoping that the wax museum reopening would be a hit story that saved your awful paper. But when it all came crumbling down, you got bitter, vengeful. So you decided to go out and make your own headline. But you didn't cover up your tracks pretty well. I remembered that you held your fake microphone with your left hand, which was the type in the murder weapon. And your shoes were shabby, matching the prints in our living room carpet."

"You were the killer!" Mabel yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Mason crumbled up a newspaper and tossed in on the floor beside his shoe. "Case closed.

However instead of admitting to the crime, Toby smiled for some reason. "Boy your little knees must be sore…from jumping to conclusions!" He exclaimed before he started dancing "Ha cha cha! I had nothing to do with that murder!"

"I knew it!" The kids said before realizing and turning to each other, voicing their confusion and their words mixing together. "What what?" He had to be lying. They put all of the puzzle pieces together and it all fit perfectly.

"Then where were you on the night of the break in?" Blubs asked him.

Toby pulled nervously on his shirt collar. "Uhhh…"

The man had no choice but to show them the truth if he wanted to prove his innocence. So he turned on the CCTV and inserted a tape. The footage began at the same time as the murder the night before. Looking around for no witnesses Toby walked over to a closet and pulled out a cardboard cutout of his dream woman, Shandra Jimenez. "Finally we can be alone, cardboard cutout of news anchor Shandra Jimenez. Toby said on the footage. What came next on the tape made everyone want to bleach their eyes out. Toby began to make out with the fake woman.

Understandably the cops and kids were disgusted. "Ew!" Mason cried, recoiling from the sight.

"Girl, get yourself a restraining order." Mabel said.

"The time stand confirms it." Blubs said. "Toby, you're off the hook!" Freak of nature."

Toby cheered now that he was found innocent. "Hooray!"

"B-but it has to be him! Check the ax for finger prints!" Dipper said desperately, unwilling to believe that they'd accused the wrong culprit.

The cops dusted the ax while using a blacklight, and found nothing on the handle or the blade. "No prints." Blubs stated.

"No prints?" Dipper said to himself. "How is that possible?"

Durland smiled smugly and elbowed his partner. "Hey I got a headline for ya: city kids waste everyone's time! He said. This made the three adults crack up while the triplets looked at each other in absolute embarrassment. Mason looked the most embarrassed, since he was the one who accused Toby earlier. Now it was all backfiring on him.

"Boy I'd be really embarrassed if I was you kids!" Toby said, pointing at them. Behind him, the CCTV was still showing him kissing the cardboard.

________________________________________

PLAY SONG: LET DOWN BY RADIOHEAD

Not wanting to endure the humiliation any longer, the kids walked out of the building with their heads hanging low in defeat. The walk back to the shack was held in complete silence, with the only sound being the gravel crunching under their shoes. Until Mason spoke. "Okay, I-I know we got this wrong but next time I'll-"

"No!" Mabel suddenly shouted and whirled around to glare at the boy. Her brother flinched, clearly not expecting her to outburst like that. "There is no 'next time' Mason! This is insane! You wanted us to trust you and look where that got us! We spent all day following your leads, your clues, all for it to be a bunch of BULLSHIT!" She threw her arms up at the peak of her frustration. "Ugh! I can't believe that I let you take control of this!'

"Mabel…" Dipper interjected but she didn't let him speak.

"My instincts told me this was gonna turn out horrible. I should've trusted my instincts!"

The corners of Mason's eyes glinted under the moonlight, and Mabel caught it. For a second, a hint of guilt broke through her hardened expression, and Mason thought she was going to apologize. But she turned her back to him, crossing her arms. He quickly wiped his eyes as his hurt turned to defense. "Well you thought it too! Why is this all on me?" He shot back

"Because it was you that insisted on doing everything! I should've known Toby wasn't behind this. The guy makes out with cardboard for fucks sake!"

"Guys just let it go." Dipper tried defusing the situation but it had already escalated enough.

But Mason wasn't listening. "Well you don't have anyone telling you that you're never gonna amount to anything every single day! You don't have anyone telling you that you're just living in your brother's and sister's shadows and that you can't do anything yourself!"

Mabel looked over her shoulder at him but kept her arms crossed. "Well welcome to the real world. It sucks doesn't it? You're not the only one with problems. Deal with them the rest of us instead of going into Sweatertown."

"Yeah well, you sound just like them! You know that?" Mason replied, sounding like a wounded animal.

His sister didn't respond, but she continued away walking towards the direction of their summer home. "Where are you going?" Mason asked.

She turned around, and her face no longer was one of anger or frustration. "Home." She simply said, he orn suggested that all the fight she had was drained out of her. "I'm walking home."

Mason watched her for a few moments before shouting back bitterly but brokenly, "Well pardon me 'Ms. Perfect', I guess I forgot that you never ever make a mistake!"

________________________________________

An hour later, the three kids were sitting in chairs in the parlor of the shack, attending Wax Stan's funeral. Also in attendance was Soos and the rest of the wax figures. On the side of the room, there was a table with food and candle sticks on it. Atan dropped more of a budget on this funeral than any other attraction he had ever made in the past.

When the service began, Stan took the podium next to the coffin from earlier, now it was open and containing the body of his wax replica. "Kids, Soos, lifeless wax figures," He opened, gesturing to each of them. "Thank you all for coming." He sounded like he was trying not to break down, and Soos was already starting to fail himself, blowing his nose in a tissue.

"Some might say that it's wrong for a man to love a replica of himself." Stan said, glancing behind him at a photo of him and Wax Stan on the wall, his arm slung around the statue.

"They're wrong!" Soos exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat, overwhelmed with his emotions.

His boss held up a hand to calm him. "Easy Soos." He instructed then looked down at the coffin, his vision getting blurry as water filled his eyes. "Wax Stan, I hope you're picking pockets in wax heaven!" Stan then wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry I got glitter in my eye!" He said and ran out the room crying into his hands.

Soos ran out of the parlor as well to go and comfort the old man. "Oh dude!"

When the adults left, Dipper slumped in his seat and sighed deeply. "Maybe those cops were right about me. I am just adorable. A kid who has no idea what he's doing." This was just as big of his failure as it was Mason's.

"Dipper, we've come so far, you can't give up now." Mabel assured him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "We'll find that murder, even if it takes all summer."

"But I've considered everything! The weapon, the motive, the clues."

They then watched as Mason got out of his seat and trudged over to the coffin, appearing to be deeply in thought. Even though she was still upset with him for what happened, he was still her brother, so Mabel stood up to apologize for her harsh words and lift his spirits. She came up next to him as he rested his chin on the wooden side. "Are you okay?"

Her brother was silent for a second before lifting his head to look at her, saying lowly and hollow, "You were right Mabel. I couldn't do this. I was way in over my head." He sighed again before wiping his eyes and looking down. "I just wanted to show all those jerks that I had something to show for myself."

His sister blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You're both so smart, so creative. And me? I'm just…the stupid one." He wiped his eyes again and sniffed. "I thought I wanted to be right, but, I think I just don't want to admit that I'm wrong because if I do…"

"…then you're what everybody says you are." Mabel finished, finally realizing what he was so adamant on solving the case. And pained her to think he's beneath keeping that to himself for the longest time.

Mabel knew that her words had hit deeper than she thought and needed to make this right. "I'm sorry Mason. I didn't mean anything I said, I was just frustrated that we didn't find the killer." She said and looked away guiltily. "I didn't know all that was affecting you. But you know what? Don't let whoever those assholes are tell you those things.

Mason listens to every word with appreciation. "You are smart. You showed that today, and even if you did get it wrong in the end, it was you that showed a level of intelligence beyond anyone else to put those clues together. You tried your best and that's what matters.

By the end, Mason had cracked a small but thankful smile, feeling a bit better now. "Thanks Mabel." He whispered before hugging her tightly.

She hugged him back as Dipper noticed something with their uncle's wax replica and pointed it out. "Wax Stan's shoe had a hole in it?"

"All the wax guys have that," Mason explained when he and his sister pulled away from their embrace. "It's where their pole attaches to the stand." Being the creators of their own stature, he and Mabel both knew this.

Mabel stared at the hole before realizing another thing. "What has holes in its shoes and no fingerprints?"

Thinking about what she said, Mason's eyes widened and he stiffened in horror. "Uh guys, remembering when I said a supernatural scary thing could've done this?"

"He was right." Said a voice behind them.

Their bodies turned cold. It was Stan's Stan's voice or Soos's, and the only ones left in the room were…

The three slowly turned around and were shocked and terrified to see the wax figures coming alive. They rose out of their chairs, making groaning sounds and blocking their only exit. Not only was Mason spot-on, but also Dipper too. This was Gravity Falls, anything could happen. It was the only place on the planet where they should have seen this coming, yet they were stunned into silence.

Wax Sherlock Holmes stalked towards them along with the other wax figures, surrounding them around the coffin and podium. Mabel and Mason stepped behind their brother as the statues inched closer, with Wax Lizzie Borden reclaiming her famous weapon from Mabel. "Congratulations my amateur sleuths, you've unburied our secret. Now we're going to bury you!" Wax Sherlock Holmes said in a threatening manner and pointing his magnifying glass at them.

"Bravo Mason Pines," Wax Sherlock said in sarcastic praise as he loomed over the kids. He then revealed the head of wax Stan from his jacket, holding it up like a trophy. "You've uncovered our little secret. Applaud everyone! Applaud sarcastically!" The other wax figures started clapping, following their master's instructions. "Uh no, that sounds too sincere." Wax Sherlock Holmes then said. As per his orders, the wax figures clapped slowly until he was satisfied. "There we go, nice and condescending."

"How is this possible?! You're made of wax!" Dipper exclaimed while freaking out.

Mabel had her own guess as to how this was happening and asked the wax figures, "Are you magic?"

Her question caused Wax Sherlock Holmes to start laughing almost hysterically. "Magic? She wants to know if we're magic!" He laughed as he turned sound to face his brothers and sisters, who laughed with him. However a second later he turned back to the kids and violently slammed his fist down on the coffin beside them, startling them. "WE'RE CURSED!" He yelled as he looked at the moon in the sky out of the window. "Cursed to come to life, when the moon is waxing."

"I think it's backstory time." Mason observed.

It was. "Your uncle bought us many years ago at a garage sale." Wax Sherlock Holmes started the tale.

"A haunted garage sale son!" Wax Coolio added.

At that time, the Mystery Shack hadn't been doing too well in terms of popularity and profits. Attractions and souvenirs weren't selling out like they used to. So Stan decided to go out in search of anything that would keep his business afloat.

He came across a man who lived in a spooky mansion hosting a garage sale on his property. The man showed him a collection of wax figures and Stan was interested in purchasing them for the shack. "Im afraid these statues come at a terrible price." The man told him.

Stan took a glance at the tag on one of them and was outraged at the price. "Twenty dollars?' He exclaimed ludicrously before shrugging. "Eh, I'll just take em' when you're not looking."

"What?" The man asked, hoping that he heard wrong.

"I said I was going to rob you." Stan repeated.

Wax Sherlock Holmes continues telling his tale of woe. "And so the Mystery Shack wax collection was born!" Wax Sherlock said. "By day we were the playthings of man, but when your uncle was asleep, we would rule the night! It was a charmed life!". But at some point, the people got bored of the wax collection and it wasn't making any money anymore. "Until your uncle closed up shop." Stan had no choice but to put the wax figures into the room that Soos would find years later. "We've been waiting ten years to get our revenge on Stan for locking us away, but we got the wrong guy."

"So you were trying to murder Grunkle Stan for real?" Dipper gasped as the horrifying fact settled in.

"You were right all along Dipper, wax people are creepy!" Mason said.

"Enough!" Wax Sherlock Holmes said, turning back to them with a look that told the kids whatever was going to happen next would not be any good. With the truth out there, he had no intention of leaving witnesses alive. "Now that you know our secret, you must DIE!" His and the other wax figures' eyes then rolled to the back of their heads.

The triplets walked back in fear as they had no idea how to take these things down. There was no escape, and the wax figures were getting closer and closer. Their backs hit the table with the food, unintentionally backing themselves into a corner and were beginning to think they were arriving at death's doorstep.

The kids grabbed the utensils on the table behind them at the figures but it was no use. Then Mason remembered something that saves their asses at the last second. "And for my personal favorite, wax Abraham Lincoln- aw what! Who left the blinds open?!" The sun melted that figure, so maybe they could use that knowledge to their advantage.

Looking back onto the table, Mason saw a coffee pitcher and grabbed it without hesitation. He splashed it onto the nearest wax figure to him, which was Wax Genghis Khan. It screamed in pain and the other wax figures were momentarily shocked as the warrior's face melted, and its screams quickly turned into gurgles.

A wave of relief washed over the kids when they saw this. "We can melt them! That's how we win this." Mabel said determinedly. The Pines kids quickly grabbed the electric candles on the table and held them out like swords in front of them protectively. "Take one more step and we'll melt you like ice cream!" Mason warned the monsters.

"You really think you can defeat us?" Wax Sherlock said, appalled at the idea of being beaten by three children

"Yup!"

"It's worth a shot I guess."

"I'm not really sure.

Wax Sherlock glared at them. "So be it, attack!" He commanded and pointed at his targets. The other wax figures obeyed, charging at the preteens with murderous growls.

All the time playing childhood games involving toy swords had prepared the kids for this type of situation. Exchanging an understanding nod, they split up to conquer as many of their enemies as possible. Wax Robin Hood approached Mabel and was about to stroke her down with his own blade, but he didn't notice that Wax Lizzie Borden was behind him and she missed her axe swing, cutting off his head instead of Mabel's. The girl ran through the figure's legs and attacked Wax Shaking, slicing arms clean off and he ran away.

One of the arms jumped up and wrapped itself around her neck, choking her so she dropped her only protection to try and pull the arm off her. Thankfully Mason came bounding to her rescue and stabbed the arm with his candle, causing it to release her and drop to the floor. Mabel took a huge inhale before taking her weapon back and the two went off to resume the fight.

Dipper was fighting in his own battle. He was currently face to face with Wax Larry King. "Interview this Larry King!" Dipper remarked then swung his candle at neck. The flame cut right the wax like a knife in butter, separating the head from its body.

"My neck! My beautiful neck!" Wax Larry King examples as his arms failed around, looking for its missing top.

Wax Marx Groucho tried to sneak up behind him but ended up grabbing the candle by the flame and it melted his hand. "Ahhh." He screamed in pain.

Dipper took the opportunity to strike, running the candle tight through the center of his body. Jokes on you Groucho!"

"I've heard about a cutting remark but this is ridiculous!" Groucho said before noticing the usual cigar in his hand was missing. "Hey, why is there nothing in my hand?" He asked as the top half of his body began sliding off and splattered on the floor under his bottom half.

Wax Genghis Khan roared and ran at Dipper but the boy ducked out of the way and the figure went into the fire, splashing wax everywhere onto the floor and walls "Ha Genghis Khan! You fell harder than the uh… Jin Dynasty?" Dipper tried to make another one-liner but this one didn't work as well as the others.

"Dipper, watch out!" Mabel called from across the room as she finished beating up a group of the figures with Wax Coolio's head. The boy was busy kicking away another figure, but turned around to see Wax Sherlock Holmes coming towards him looking very pissed off.

The wax man pulled out Wax Stan's head and stuck it onto a horn of a rhino taxidermy. "Alright, let's get this over with." He said in the same tone a human would use when dealing with a pest. He then took a sword that was on the wall and before Dipper could react, hit the candle out of Dipper's hands, it hit the floor and broke. Rendering him defenseless as his enemy raised the sword to strike.

Mason was occupied with Wax Queen Elizabeth near the fireplace, but noticed that his brother was in danger. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a hot iron today resting on the mantle and tossed it over to his brother. "Dipper, catch!"

Dipper caught it just as Wax Sherlock Holmes brought down the sword and he intercepted it, blocking the attack. They began an exchange of swings like they were in a lightsaber duel in Star Wars, both trying their best to not lose. It led them out of the parlor and up the stairs into the attic, the room with the triangular window.

At first, Dipper was successfully defending himself against the wax man, but because he was bigger, Wax Sherlock Holmes soon overwhelmed him and Dipper was backed into a corner again. "Once your family is out of the way, we'll rule the night once again!" Wax Sherlock Holmes told him and raised the sword, believing he had the young boy at the end of his rope.

Searching for any way out of the situation, Dipper's eyes fell upon the window a few feet away, the one that would take him outside onto the roof. "Don't count on it!" He rolled between the wax figures legs, just as Wax Sherlock brought down his sword and it got caught in the wooded flooring.

This gave him enough time to run across the room and exit the shack through the window. Behind him, Wax Sherlock Holmes freed his sword and tried to swing at him as the boy began climbing up the roof, but missed. "Come back here you brat!" He said angrily.

Dipper didn't stop climbing though. He needed to keep Sherlock busy and himself alive long enough for this plan to work. He climbed up into the Mystery Shack's sign, almost losing his footing on the narrow platform but managed to keep himself grounded and carefully moved across the sign towards the end. Wax Sherlock Holmes pursued him and they entered another clash, this one much more dangerous as they were hundreds of feet off the ground.

During the ensuing battle, Dipper jumped out of the way of Wax Sherlock's blade and it hit the "S" on the sign, causing the letter to fall off the roof and down onto the ground below. But Dipper didn't have time to worry about property damage right now, his life was on the line "You really think you can outwit me boy? I'm Sherlock bleeding Holmes!" The wax man proclaimed, holding up his magnifying glass. "Have you seen my magnifying glass?! It's enormous!"

Ignoring his words, Dipper jumped onto the top part of the sign, pulling himself up and over it onto the other side. He then slipped on the roof tiles and fell off the fatal height, but managed to scramble onto the chimney area of the roof and hid behind it. He took a moment to catch his breath panting and he couldn't hear his opponent yelling anymore. Maybe now he had lost him and was safe. Even though he was nervous to do it, Dipper poked his head around the bricks and glanced around the roof, but didn't see him anywhere.

Suddenly he was kicked from behind. Looking up, Wax Sherlock Holmes towered over the boy and raised the sword above his head, finally about to get his long awaited revenge. "Any last words?"

Dipper chuckled nervously before looking off into the distance, his laugh becoming a confident smile. "As a matter of fact, I do: you got some sunscreen?"

"Got any…" Wax Sherlock Holmes paused his sentence when he felt something drip on his clothes. He was shocked to see that his hands were melting, but how? What also caught his attention was that light was now shining on them and the air felt warmer. He turned around and gasped. The sun was rising above the tree line. "No." He simply said dryly. It was the fact that he said it in such a low yet disbelieving tone, and that he seemed to be contemplating every decision that led him to this, showed he had very much underestimated Dipper

Dipper stood up and dusted himself off. "Yup, letting me lead you outside? Probably not your wisest choice."

"Outsmart by a child in short pants?!" Wax Sherlock cried as his body began melting into a gooey slop on the roof. "Nooo! Fiddlesticks! Humbugs! It's a total kerfuffle!" Wax Sherlock showed curses when he melted until it was just his head. Still even then it slid down the slope to the edge of the roof.

Dipper wiped his hands together, patting himself on the back for coming up with this one. "Case closed." He complimented himself. Dust came up from his hands and he sneezed again.

Wax Sherlock laughed at the sound. "You sneeze like a kitten! Those policemen were right, you're adorable. Adorable!" The head slid fully over the edge and free fell all the way down, splattering when it hit the ground. Wax Sherlock Holmes was no more.

"Ew." Dipper said as he stared at the mess.

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When he walked back into the parlor, his brother and sister were tossing the remnants of the wax figures into the fireplace, getting rid of them and the evidence of their fight at once. "Though our group will be left in twain, the man of wax shall rise again!" The head of Wax Shakespeare sang out loud.

Mabel picked up the head so she could put it in the fire, but stopped herself and asked the head, "Do you know any good limericks?"

"Eh..there once was a dude from Kentucky.." He started.

"Boo!" Mason jeered and Mabel tossed the head in the fire without a second thought. That was when they saw their brother walking in, relieved to see that he was unharmed. "Hey Dipper, you're okay!"

The boy took a chair and used it to reach Wax Stan's head, still in the rhino horn. "Well Mason, it looks like we solved the mystery after all." He told them with a smile. Once the head was unstuck, he hopped off the chair and went over to them.

"HOT BELGIUM WAFFLES!" The kids were drawn to the doorway by their uncle's exclamation. He stood there with his mouth agape and his eyes bulging out of his skull, staring at the completely trashed parlor room before him. "What happened to my parlor?" He demanded from them.

The triplets stared at him blankly. "Your wax figures turned out to be evil so we fought them.to the death." Mason then stated.

"I decapitated Larry King." Diper said.

"I burned alive Shakespeare." Mabel added.

As usual, Stan didn't take them seriously. "Haha, you kids and your crazy imagination." He laughed, despite there being wax all over the walls to suggest otherwise.

"On the bright side, look at what we found." Dipper gave him the good news and tossed over Wax Stan's head to his uncle.

"My head!" Stan exclaimed happily, never being more happy to stare at his own face "I missed this guy! Ya done good kids! Now line up for some affectionate noogying!" Stan said. The triplets protested but Stan did it anyway, rubbing his knuckles on the boy's heads while they laughed. He was about to noogie Mabel when the Blubs and Durland pulled up outside the window in their patrol car, having stopped by to make a quick chat with the family.

The sheriff then rolled down his window so he could make eye contact with them. "Solve the case yet boy?" Blubs asked. "I'm so confident you're gonna say no, I'm gonna take a long slow sip from my cup of coffee." He started drinking while deliberately maintaining eye contact.

"Actually, yes!" Dipper replied and showed them the head.

Clearly not expecting this outcome, Blubs spit the coffee in his partner's face and he did the same back. This happened repeatedly before they began furiously wiping their eyes"Ahhh!" "It burns!" "It's hot!" They drove off in a frenzy and a few seconds later a crashing sound could be heard.

Revenge sure did feel good and the Pines family had a good laugh. Dipper turned to his siblings and asked, "Did you guys get rid of all the wax figures?"

"We are ninety-nine percent sure!" Mason replied.

"Good enough for me!"

They didn't know that below in the vent, they were being watched by the wax head of Larry King. "Hahaha!" He laughed evilly to no one in particular, before he heard squeaking and a rat appeared next to him. "So, you're a rat, tell me about that." The rat tore off his ear and ran off into the vent tunnels. "Hey get back here!" The wax head started hopping after it.

"I'm hopping! I'm hopping after a rat that stole my ear!"

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END CREDITS (SCORED TO "DO IT ALL AGAIN" FROM BIG CITY GREENS

I got sweat in my eyes

Mason is lying down in the yard of the Mystery Shack on a hot day, not wearing one of his usual sweaters. As the boy is suffering from the heat, he is holding an electric fan up to his head to cool down

Lost a bet and got bit by a hundred flies

Soos holds up a jar of honey. Mabel grins victoriously, holding a game of tic tac toe titled, LOSER WEARS HONEY. Mason stands with his arms out as Soos begins to slather his arms in honey. A buzzing swarm of flies circles him seconds later. He shouts and runs while chased by the insects into the woods.

I fell out a big ol' tree, hit every branch and scraped up both my knees

In the forest, Mason climbs a tall tree to impress his siblings. He strikes a triumphant pose, then slips. As he falls, he seems to hit every branch on the way down. He lands in a pile of leaves with a goofy thumbs up. Mabel, while concerned for him, chuckles while Dipper just shakes his head.

I got chased by dog, licked by a frog

Mason sprints across the Shack's front lawn, being chased by a group of street dogs. He leaps over the bushes to escape, only to have a giant frog hop onto his face and lick him. Mabel snaps a photo and laughs hysterically.

Got a rash on my legs

Mason sits scratching his legs after jumping in poison ivy bushes by accident. Dipper shakes his head and puts some lotion on his leg, causing Mason to scream from the burn.

Dropped a dozen eggs

In the Shack kitchen, Mason tries to help Stan with breakfast. He trips on Waddles and flings an entire carton of eggs into the air. The eggs splatter everywhere, including on Stan, who glares while Mason gives a fearful smile, holding up a spatula.

Got splinters in seven of ten

In the woods, the triplets are attempting to build a fort with Soos. Mason lifts a wooden plank and instantly gets splinters. He holds up his finger in agony as Mabel pulls them out with tweezers while Dipper takes notes on a piece of paper. "Construction injuries: 1"

And tomorrow, I'll do it all again

The last shot is the triplets sitting together on Wendy's roof spot at sunset, legs dangling over the edge. Waddles is sleeping. Mabel is blowing a bubble with gum, Dipper is writing something in the journal, and Mason is lying on his back with hands behind his head, smiling peacefully at the sky. Just another day in Gravity Falls.

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And that will end the updated chapter three.

This was one was a bit difficult to figure out, not because of the plot or anything but the conflict between Mabel and Mason was very hard to play out and how Mason would fit into the story. Going into this chapter, I wanted Mason to play a bigger role than my original draft. Which means that I wanted him to be genuinely interested in trying to solve the case while still being goofy and having fun with it as well.

And because of this I thought that it was a good opportunity for that mindset to open up some conflict with Mabel, since as we see in the beginning they don't always agree on things and it can make things difficult between them. So naturally they were goingto be divided in how to deal with the case. Mabel is clearly very serious in this chapter, while Mason cracks jokes during the investigation to try and keep things lighthearted and as it clashes a lot throughout the chapter.

The decision to have Mason step in and fill the role of the main one leading the investigation, was something I came up with during writing the first couple minutes of the episode. The main reason is because, to put it simply, I want Mason to…do things. I don't know if that makes much sense but basically what I'm saying is that I'm not trying to make him just be "Dipper and Mabel's" brother that tags along for the ride. This also allowed me to alter a bit of the plot and make the conflicts stronger. Because essentially being the leader now, Mason will be the one that takes the blame if something is missed or assumptions are completely wrong, and this being a murder investigation he feels a constant pressure on him. And when hegets it wrong it makes him question himself if he's not good enough. But in the end, he did turn out to be right, even if the foreshadowing was just a silly line

Thank you very much for reading. If you enjoyed, please feel free to Follow or Favorite, or leave a review to let me know how I'm doing. Feedback is much appreciated.