*IF YOU ARE READING THIS IN THE FUTURE THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN POLISHED/UPDATED!!*
Welcome to the Inconveniencing, one of my all time favorite episodes of the first season in the series! As you all probably know, this is the episode where we start to see Dipper's feelings for Wendy, and his first attempt at trying to prove himself to her.
As for this chapter update, we aregoing to be introduced to a new character that wasn't in the original draft and I had them show up at a later time. The reason being will be explained at the end.
Also, we are getting a location change for the chapter, though nothing about the plot will be much different. As iconic as the Dusk 2 Dawn is, I wanted to switch things up for a change because I thought it would be interesting to experiment with these kinds of things, and I think the new location better fits the vibe of the town that I see it as in my head. (Remember, in this fic, the town has amuch more Twin Peaks, Dark, etc, style vibe than a cartoony and bright one.)
As you can probably tell from the title of the chapter, the new location is called the Blackwood Market. And the plot isn't going to change, it's just the location that's altered.
In addition, the backstory behind the new location is going to be darker.
Let's get on with the chapter now.
VUDHYKZ HVZOPTH!
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It was the start of a beautiful morning in the small Oregon town of Gravity Falls. The birds were out getting the early worm, the sun was rising over the sea of pine forests. And the sky was turning into a pretty mix of fiery oranges, bright yellows, and a soft, ethereal pinks and purples. It was already shaping up to be a wonderful day.
And yet Gompers the goat found himself somehow standing on the roof there of the Mystery Shack. He baaed once but no one came to his rescue, so his little animal brain would have to figure out how to get back on the ground by himself.
Inside the Mystery Shack, the employees of the establishment were doing anything but actually working in the gift shop. Wendy was leaning against the counter, reading one of her magazines and radiating off a coolness that was so unlike other girls her age. Mabel was concentrating very hard on stacking a house made of playing cards, Mason was sitting on top of a spinning globe with today's clothing choice being a light blue shirt with a musical note on it, with an assortment of colors behind it. Aside from that nothing else had changed. And lastly, Dipper once again had his nose stuck in Journal #3. He had spent most of his time reading that thing since finding it.
But they didn't blame themselves as It was a slow day at the shack. Tourists weren't around so the gang had nothing to do but sit around. The only one who seemed to be doing anything actually productive was Soos, which was no surprise there. The handyman was busy fixing a shelf that had come off the wall a few days prior.
Dipper then broke the silence by asking, "Do you guys believe in ghosts?"
"Nah." Wendy replied.
"Sure." Mabel said, both girls didn't look up from what they were doing.
"I believe that you're the biggest dork on the planet!" Mason said and began laughing to himself.
His brother was about to say something but Mabel stopped him. "Don't worry bro, I got this one." She told him before taking the pencil out of the boy's hand and using the end of it to stop the spinning globe abruptly. This caused Mason to fall off of it and into the floor with a yelp.
As much as Mason joked around, sometimes he needed a simple reminder that some people took those kinds of comments sensitively.
"What'd you say dude?" Soos asked, glancing over his shoulder to look at the boy while putting a pause on his handyman work.
"I asked if you guys believed in ghosts." Dipper repeated himself, showing his friend a page in the journal that was all about the specters.
Soos simply shrugged. "Sure dawg. But you know, ghosts aren't that dangerous. All you gotta do is eat them and then boom. All your spooky problems disappear." He said with a wave of his hand. His four coworkers gave him strange looks, wondering if he was being serious if he's played too much Pac-Man.
That was when the bell above the door jingled, signaling that someone had come in. When the five looked over to the entrance, they saw that it was Stan. "Soos! Wendy!" He called out to his employees urgently. The wind created from her uncle opening the door made Mabel's card house fall down and she frowned at him.
Soos dropped everything he was holding and hurried over to his boss while Wendy just regularly walked up to him. Soos panted for a moment before wiping his forehead and asking, "What's up Mr. Pines?"
"I'm heading out into town," Stan informed them. "You two are gonna wash the bathrooms for me, right?"
"Yes sir!" Soos said and gave a salute.
"Absolutely not!" Wendy said and saluted as well.
Stan chucked then narrowed his eyes at the forum while pointing his danger at them. "You stay out of trouble." He instructed them before glancing from side to side then left the shop, closing the door and going off to wherever his destination was.
As soon as the door closed a mischievous grin spread on Wendy's face. "Hey guys," she said, getting the others' attention as she walked over to a mysterious blue curtain at the end of the room. "What's this? A secret ladder leading to the roof?" She pulled the curtain back to reveal there was indeed a ladder behind it, and that it went up to a trapdoor in the roof.
"Uh, I don't think Mr. Pines would like that." Soos nervously said as he joined her by the ladder.
Seeing how apprehensive he was about them going to the ladder, Wendy decided to mess with him. She held out her hand and acted like she was going to touch it. "Uhhh."
"Uhhh?"
"Uhhhhh?"
"You're freaking me out dude!" Soos cried as he put his hands on his head.
The triplets however were much more interested in the ladder and going into the roof than Soos was, and the three siblings went over to it. "Secret roof party!" Mason cheered with a smile, throwing his hands up
"Whoa, can we actually go up there?" Dipper asked.
"Sure we can!" Wendy responded as she was already climbing up the ladder, turning back to the kids then chanting, "Roof time! Roof time!"
"Roof time! Roof time!" The kids joined her in chanting and followed her up the ladder while Soos stayed behind to man the shop solo in case anyone did come in while they were gone.
Still nervous about the whole idea, Soos then went over to the window at the door and looked out of it, trying to see if he could find them on the roof. Opening the trapdoor, Wendy climbed out onto the main roof of the building, the one that has the shack's signs on it. It was a bit of a workout for the kids, mostly since they've never really been up there a lot but they managed to keep up with her for most of the time.
At the tippy top of the roof, Wendy gestured to something that was on the other side of the roof. "Alright, check it out." She said as the kids came up to her. When the three looked to the direction she was pointing at. On that side of the roof there was a small platform meant to serve for relaxation There was a lounge chair, an umbrella, a cooler, and a metal bucket filled with pine cones.
"Did you put all this stuff up here?" Dipper asked as they made their way down the platform, being wary of not slipping and falling from this fatal height.
"I may or may not sneak up here during work, all the time, every day." Wendy replied with a smile. She then took a pine cone out of the bucket and threw it with all her might. It hit dead center on a target that was taped to the totem pole, an impressive shot really considering how far apart they were.
"Yes!" The redhead cheered and pumped her fist.
The triplets wanted to try so they grabbed their own pine cones and threw them. But all of their shots missed so far. That was until Dipper's fourth try, when he hit the target just like Wendy did. But the pinecone then bounced off and hit a car below, making the alarm go off.
Dipper blushed from embarrassment but Wendy cheered for him "Jackpot!' She said as she held up a hand for a high five.
The young boy stared at her lovingly, the way her red hair blew perfectly even in the slightest breeze, the sunlight catching the strands and those emerald eyes held him in a trance every time he looked at them. Yup. Dipper Pines had a crush on Wendy Corduroy. How was it possible for someone to be this beautiful?
"Don't leave me hanging," she said, still waiting for her high five. Dipper then quickly snapped back into reality and the two high-fived.
Just then a blue minivan pulled up onto the property and the passenger side window was rolled down. "Wendy!" Someone called from inside and gestured for her to come inside the car, though the kids couldn't see who it was.
"Oh hey, it's my friends." Wendy said happily. The girl wanted to go out with them, but knew her boss wouldn't be too happy if she left early. So she turned to the triplets and asked, "You guys aren't gonna tell Stan about this are you?"
"Nope." Mason responded with a shrug.
Mabel shook her head.
Wendy then looked to Dipper, awaiting his answer. The boy smiled at her and did a 'zipped lips' motion with his fingers, and then threw away the key. Signaling to her that her secret was safe with hin
The redhead smiled and did the motion back, then waved goodbye to her younger friends. "Later dorks." She told them before doing a sock park out jump onto a nearby pine tree. The kids watched in amazement as she then used that same tree to carefully slide down its thick branches into another tree, and repeated this until she was safely on the ground and ran to get into the car.
Now that she was in the van, Someone said, "Lets get out of here!" and the vehicle began driving off down the dirt path.
"Later Wendy! Dipper called after her as the van drove away from the shack. "Good times, good times." He then said as he laughed forcefully. His siblings of course knew why he was acting this strangely.
The two glanced at each other with smirks. "Uh oh!" Mason then teased, his smirk turning into a big smile as he put his hands on his hips and admired his brother's face turning red.
"What?" Dipper asked.
"Looks like someone's in love with a certain someone." He said.
"No I'm not!" Dipper exclaimed, though his furious blushing gave him away..
"Come on Dipper, it's obvious to anyone you like Wendy." Mabel pointed out, smirking as she crossed arms. "You get all sweaty and nervous around, agree to everything she says, and you stare at her whenever you get the chance. And you're not exactly sneaky about it either.."
"I don't like her like that! I just think she's cool, it's not like I lay awake at night thinking about her!" Dipper protested desperately, even though he knew they knew he was totally in love with her, and that he wasn't going to stand a chance against their relentless teasing now.
-
Except that night, that's exactly what he was doing, laying in bed looking up at the ceiling and having daydreams about the redhead. Realizing his siblings were right. "Damn it."
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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 underthe 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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The next day came around and like before it was another slow day, with no customers to serve. Getting bored again, Mason decided to lighten up the mood with a surprise. He went up to the attic bedroom, disappearing for about ten minutes before he came back down with a boom box that he had discovered days ago and wanted to use.
He set the boom box on the counter and yelled out, "HEY GUYS, LET'S ALL DANCE FOR ABSOLUTE NO REASON AT ALL!" Then he pressed the play button on the machine and music began to play. The boy to dance on top of the counter next to the boom box
His sister and friend started dancing too, putting a pause on what they were doing to join the fun. "Go! Go! Go!" Wendy said as she and the two kids danced. Soos was even getting in on the good times as well, doing a wormy dance on the floor while the others cheered him on.
Everyone except for Dipper. The boy never really got involved in whatever they did to keep from dying of boredom, and usually just stood there watching. Now he was standing a few feet away from the dance party next to the souvenir section of the shop, a clipboard in hand. He was watching his friends and siblings, or Wendy more like it, while writing something down on the clipboard. He then looked down at what he wrote. I am pretending to write something down.
"Hey Dipper," Wendy called out to him, startling the boy and he nearly dropped the clipboard before getting ahold of himself and indignation behind his back. "Aren't you gonna get in on this?" She asked.
"I don't…I don't really dance." He responded with a nervous laugh as he walked up to the group.
Mason made a buzzer sound accompanied with a thumbs down. "Try again bro."
"Yeah. You used to dance all the time." Mabel agreed, making her brother squirm in his spot as he signed for them to shut up. Seeing an opportunity she couldn't pass up, she grinned mischievously and took out her scrapbook and flipped to one page while explaining. "Mom used to dress him up in a lamb costume and make him do…"
"The Lamby Dance!" Mason finished her sentence, now recognizing what she was talking about and the two burst out laughing. "Remember that Dippy?"
Their brother's face immediately reddened a deep crimson and hissed, "Shut up!" Now was NOT the time to bring that up, not right in front of his crush. It was a painful childhood memory, one he looked back on and cringed, trying to block that out of his mind as long as he could.
Unlucky for him, Wendy was very much interested in what they were saying. "Whoa, lamb costume?" She asked then turned to Dipper with a smirk, wanting to know more. "Were there like, little ears and a tail or…"
"Well, uh…" Dipper
Mabel found the page she was looking for with an exclamation of triumph. Mason then took and held out a picture of a very young Dipper, probably around three or four, sitting in a chair wearing a lamb costume. "Dipper would prance around and sing a song about grazing." He explained.
Feeling that his life was now over and he had no shot of getting with Wendy, Dipper groaned and planted his face on the counter.
Moments later, the clock inside the gift shop chimed, signaling the end of the work day had arrived. Wendy pointed at it and smiled. "Hey look at that, quittin' time." She said as she took off her name tag and put it in her flannel pocket. "The gang's waiting for me." The teen began to make her way to the exit, already having a wonderful plan of what they were going to do.
As she walked towards the door, Dipper got an idea and caught up to her. "Wait, maybe I or we could come with you?" He said, gesturing to him and his siblings.
Hearing this, Wendy turned around and tapped her chin. "I don't know, my friends are pretty intense." She told him before asking, "How old did guys say you were?"
"We're-" Mason started but was cut off by Dipper.
"Thirteen!" He said quickly. "So, technically teens?"
"Alright I like your moxie kid." Wendy said with a chill smile before turning back to the door. "Just let me get my stuff." And with that, she left the shop.
His siblings shared a glance. "We're both thinking the same thing right?" Mabel whispered and Mason nodded.
As it turns out, they were not. Because Mason then placed a hand on his chin and asked confusingly, "Since when are we thirteen? Is this a leap year nobody told me about?"
Mabel gave him a strange look before shaking her head with a sigh. "Yes technically, and the next leap year is in four years." She informed him before pointing to their brother. "But that's not what I was talking about. Dipper just lied to his crush."
"Come on guys, this is our chance to, you know, hang out with the cool kids!" Dipper said as walked back over to them "And Wendy and whatever." He said that last part quickly but his siblings heard anyway. They always did.
While Mason was celebrating that he was right, Mabel knew the reason why he wanted to tag along. To put it simply, Dipper was always wanting to be seen as mature by adults around him. Whether it was taking advanced classes in school, or abandoning anything he deemed as childish. He also craved admiration and praise. Mabel and Mason both knew that his quest for maturity itself was…well it was immature. So they considered themselves to be the one that brought him back to that 'kid' headspace where he belonged.
But still, that wasn't going to stop her from teasing just a little bit. "You love her!" She exclaimed as she hopped over the counter next to him. "Love! Love! Love!" She repeated while pointing at him.
"Oh hey what's that?" Dipper then said, pointing in a random direction in the gift shop as he knew she would fall for it. Falling there for the trap Mabel turned around to look. In retaliation for her reason, Dipper flipped the back of her hair over her head, causing her to try to spit the hair out of her mouth.
Dipper followed Wendy out of the shop, wondering what the rest of the day would have in story for them
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"Im telling you, there's no way in hell he makes this shot." A sixteen year old white male teenager with light brown hair said, as he held up his phone, documenting what he and his friends were up to probably for social media.
The teen was around average height for his age with a slim build. As mentioned before he had light brown hair in a cropped style, with blue eyes and pale skin, along with a small mole on his neck. The teen was wearing a gray graphic that had an image of the Pacific Northwest on it with the words Visit Oregon under the picture. The shirt was under a charcoal plaid flannel jacket, paired with dark blue jeans and white sneakers.
The ridiculous activity he was recorded involved one of his friends, a fat kid, being held upside down by two other boys while an emo-looking kid threw jelly beans across the yard. His goal was to land one right in the fat kid's belly button, while the brown-haired boy and a girl watched. It would be a feat worth talking about for ages to come. "Hurry up." The kid said, not wanting this to take all day.
"In the belly! In the belly!" The two kids holding the fat kid chanted. So the emo teen narrowed his eyes, taking precise aim right at his friend's stomach. Then a jelly bean whizzed past him and right into its target.
Blinking, the emo as well as the rest of the group turned around to see Wendy standing a few feet away with three young kids they had never been before. She had made the impossible shot. "Wendy!" They all said, happy to see her. The two guys at the back then dropped the fat kid on the dirt.
"Hey guys." She greeted them cheerfully as she approached them with the triplets. Noticing her friend's confessed expressions, she introduced the kids one by one. "These are my pals from work. Dipper, Mabel, Mason." She told them as she gestured to each kid when she said their name.
"Ohh, jelly beans!" Mason said with a grin. He grabbed the bag off the ground, sticking a handful of the candy into his mouth and chewing happily on it. "Mm, this is really good."
Mabel then snatched the bag from him. "Mason, no! You'll ruin your braces and Mom and Dad aren't spending another hundreds of dollars on more." She scolded him like she was his mother.
"But they're good!" Mason whined, trying to wrestle the bag away from her. This resulted in the bag tearing apart and the colorful beans spilling all over the dirt floor. "Great, now we both can't have any." The boy huffed, crossing his arms with a pout.
Rolling his eyes, Dipper gestured to them and said, "Yeah, they're not much for first impressions, unlike this guy!" He pointed to himself, trying to seem cool in front of all these older kids. But they just stared at him blankly. Dipper began to sweat from all the looks. "This…this guy…." Dipper repeated himself, but much more awkwardly.
"Oh great, so we're babysitting some brats now?" The emo teen muttered sarcastically, leaning against the van and now was holding a guitar. This comment made the brown-haired boy elbow him in the ribs.
"Hey! I'm not a brat, I'm awesome!" Mason countered.
"That's very debatable." Mabel snickered. Mason side-eyed her with a dry stare.
Wendy began intriguing her friends to the Pines kids one by one. First she pointed to the two kids who'd been holding up the fat kid. "That's Lee and Nate." She said as the two boys hit each other in the stomachs but laughed about it. Lee was tall, with a long ovular head, and long blond hair. He wore a red T-shirt with an orange thumbs up symbol on it, black shorts, and black and white, tall converses. He has a somewhat large chin, and a long nose.
On the other hand, Naye had dark skin, brown hair, a stubble, and big eyebrows. He wore a black shirt with a melting skull on it, blue jeans, black shoes and a dark aqua green cap. He also had many tattoos on his arms, and wore black stub earrings with a tiny bit of white.
Wendy then pointed to the only other girl in the group, who was currently occupied with her phone like always. "That's Tambry," Tambry had the appearance of an emo/scene light brown-skinned girl, with short purple hair that has a pink highlight in front of her left ear. She wore a purple and white shirt with a purple skirt, light purple leggings, and decorated black boots with double the buckle and white soles, along with two black earrings.
Next up was the fat kid, who seemed to be the punching bag of the group. "That's Thompson," Thompson was the heaviest of Wendy's friends with light skin, slicked-up brown hair, mustache stubble and some chest hair. Like Dipper, he had sunken eyes. He wore a green shirt with a popped collar, and a small bunny icon over his left side. He also wore brown shorts, white socks, a brown and gold watch, and brown and gray shoes.
"He ate a run over waffle for fifty cents." Wendy's then informed them.
"Don't tell them that!" Thompson said as he looked away in embarrassment.
Then she pointed to the brown-haired teen. "And that's Noah, he's pretty chill, but whatever you do, don't piss him off or mess with his family, because he will hunt you down and suffocate you in your sleep."
While most of his friends either nodded or stared at the three kids, Noah approached them with a friendly smile to greet them properly, extending his hand for them to shake it. "Hey guys, don't worry about what Wendy's saying. She's just playing around…mostly." He told them, wanting them to feel comfortable in the group even if they were on the younger side then the rest.
And lastly, Wendy pointed to the emo teen "And that's Robbie, you could probably figure him out." Robbie was probably the one who stood out the most in the group. He had shaggy black hair in a typical eye-covering "emo style" hairdo, pale skin and several piercings in his ears. He was wearing tight skinny jeans with a keychain attached to the pocket, and a light black hoodie with a picture of a red bleeding heart with stitches on it. He also wore black flat shoes with white bottoms. He has sparse stubble, two strands of small hairs on his chin, and a few pimples scattered around his face.
"Yeah, I'm the guy who spray painted the water tower." Robbie said, for some reason trying to act cool in front of the three twelve year olds who couldn't care less.
"Oh, you mean the big muffin?" Dipper asked.
"Uh, it's a giant explosion." Robbie corrected him, already getting annoyed with the kids. The group all turned around to the water tower that was in the distance. On the side facing them was a drawing out of red spray paint that did indeed look like a muffin.
Lee pointed at the drawing and laughed. "Heh heh, it kinda does look like a muffin." He said, making Nate and Noah start snickering.
Not happy with being embarrassed in front of his friends, Robbie turned around and glared at Dipper.
Dipper smiled nervously. Something told him that he had just made an enemy of the teen.
Wendy seemingly didn't notice the toxicity between them and clapped her hands, getting their attention. "Come on guys, I have big plans for tonight." She said.
The group then piled onto the minivan, taking their respective seats in the vehicle. Dipper went over to the passenger side door handle and began to open it. But then the door was closed by Robbie who was sitting in the seat. "Sorry kid, I ride shotgun." He sneered, gesturing with his thumb for him to get into the back seat.
So with no other options left, as the rest of the seats were taken by the teens, Dipper climbed in the backseat with Mabel and Mason. There was barely any space with the three of them cramped together, and he could already tell this was going to be a strange car ride to wherever they were going.
Thompson put the keys in and started the car, then turned around to face the group. "Before we go, my mom said you guys aren't allowed to punch the roof anymore." He informed them, telling them this since the roof of the vehicle was beginning to dent.
The group of teens just stared at him for a second…before smiling and doing the exact opposite, punching the roof while they chanted, "Thompson!" Thompson!"
Not wanting to deal with it, Thompson just sighed and drove off, rock music playing out the speakers. Pretty soon, they were making their way towards their destination.
In the back, Dipper was chewing on a marker when Mason noticed something next to him. He took the marker out of Dipper's mouth and wrote, Mason was here on the side of the car.
"This is going to blow someone's mind." He said.
"My turn." Mabel said and Mason gave her the marker. She was about to write something on the roof when Dipper snatched the marker from her hand
"Gimmie that!" He whispered, studying Wendy's head in the seat in front of him while also trying to figure out how he could prove himself to these older kids. He already blew the introduction and he needed to make up for it.
"What?" Mabel teased with a smirk. "Are we embarrassing you in front of your new, GIRLFRIE-" Dipper put his hand over her mouth but then immediately retracted it when he felt something wet and warm on it.
"Ew, did you just lick my hand?"
________________________________________
They arrived at their destination by nightfall, parking the car in a wet parking lot as it began drizzling a bit. Dipper noticed that all of the teens looked excited as they unbuckled their seat belts and exited the vehicle. Curious as to where they were at, he and his siblings did the same, though it was a little difficult after being smashed together for so long.
Mason nearly fell on the pavement since his legs had fallen asleep, but Noah caught him before he could. Mason said a quick thanks to the boy before dusting himself off and looking up at the building.
The gang was standing in front of what appeared to be a small supermarket. It was a single-story structure with a low, wide roof and a symmetrical front entrance framed by large, brightly lit windows. The interior yellow lighting was outward, creating a warm glow that contrasted with the dark and gray surroundings, and the side of the building was covered in overgrowth. The name of the store was Blackwood Market. (AN: I've based the market appearance off the Brightwood Store in Oregon, just look it up and you'll see what I'm talking about.)
"Whoa." Mason whispered to himself.
"Pretty neat right?" Wendy said as she shut the door to the minivan, walking up to the rest of the group as they stood in front of the long abandoned store. "There she is, the infamous Blackwood Market."
Everyone else said exclamations of wonder, but Dipper apparently was the only one who felt off about the place. He didn't like how the lights in the windows flickered a few times before turning off completely, like the building was inviting them in but not for any good reasons. "Why-why did they shut it down? Was it like a health code violation or…?" He stammered, his palms suddenly getting sweaty at the idea of them going in there.
"Try murder!" Lee said dramatically before a grin spread on his face. "They say the owner of the place went crazy and killed a bunch of teens, and now it's haunted!" Despite the severity and horror in his explanation, the dude continued smiling like they were about to walk into Disneyland.
"Oh, what fun. This town has such a colorful history." Mabel remarked sarcastically.
The group began to walk to the building, their shoes splashing in the puddles on the pavement as they talked about the building excitement of being in the store alone. But Dipper was the only one who stayed behind, as he was feeling uneasy about the whole thing "What are we actually going on? Are-are guys serious?" Dipper asked, fear evident in his voice. But this only drew groans from the older kids, especially Robbie.
Wendy turned around and began mocking his high-pitched voice. Yeah! We're all gonna die!" She said, waving her hands around before laughing. "Chill out man, it's not as bad as it looks." She then said in her normal voice, playfully punching him in his shoulder.
"Dude, even your brother isn't scared." The emo said, gesturing to Mason who blinked blankly.
So swallowing his nerves, Dipper reluctantly followed the rest towards the front doors of the market. When they got there, Wendy put her face up to the glass windows next to the door, trying to see inside the store.
Beside her, Robbie grabbed the handles on the door as pulled back to open it, but they didn't budge. "I think it's, I think it's stuck." He stated the obvious as he attempted more times to open the door, grunting with the effort.
"Ya think?" Mabel rolled her eyes
"Let me take a crack at it." Dipper suggested, joining the others by the door.
This made Robbie scoff and smirk, crossing his arms. 'Oh yeah, I can't get in but I'm sure junior here is gonna break it down like Hercules." He said sarcastically, not caring if he was going to hurt the boy's feelings with his comment.
"Dude, why are you so fucking negative all the time?" Noah snapped as he elbowed him in the ribs again, this time hard enough to make his clutch himself. By this point, he was getting frustrated with his friend's attitude and couldn't understand why he was being so aggressive to this kid they just met.
Wendy then came to Dipper's defense as well, but not like what Noah said. "Yeah, leave him alone. He's just a little kid." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Dipper looked hurt. Is that what she really thought of him? Just a kid? It hit him hard, but then his expression shifted to one of determination. He was going to prove himself otherwise and this was the perfect time to do it. Adjusting his cap, the boy went over to the side of the building and climbed on top of the old dumpster. He used it to hoist himself onto the edge of the roof, then pulled himself completely over it.
Now on the roof of the establishment, Dipper walked across it and found a ventilation shaft leading down into the interior of the building. At first he tried to pull the cover off, then he rammed it with his body a couple of times to loosen it up. After that, It only took one hard punch for the metal vent cover to fall in. Now he had a way inside the store and he did it in a pretty badass style as well.
"Go Dipper! Punch that metal thing!" Mason cheered.
"Be careful!" Mabel called out to him.
"Yeah, take it easy Dipper!" Wendy added.
Others weren't believing in him, such as Robbie. "Who wants to bet he doesn't make it?" He said with a confident smile.
However he was proven wrong when the door opened behind him. Dipper had made it. The boy smiled at the group before gesturing for them to come inside the store, feeling pretty good about himself.
The group quickly came over to him and walked into the building, while simultaneously giving Dipper their praises to make him feel honored.
"Good call inviting this little maniac!" Lee said, impressed by Dipper's intelligent use of surroundings.
"Your new name is Dr. Funtimes!" Nate told the boy, ruffling his hat as he walked in with Tambry and Thompson in tow.
"Cool!" Thompson added.
Dipper's siblings each gave him a high-five while they entered the store. "All right!" They said.
"Good job putting him in his place." Noah said to him, nodding his head towards Robbie who followed past both of them with a sour face and said nothing.
Wendy then playfully punched him in the shoulder as she came by. "Nice work." She said.
Hearing this, Dipper smiled to himself. Perhaps this wasn't going to be a bad night after all. He then hurried to catch up with everyone else, and the door closed behind them. He wasn't around to hear it lock from the outside.
The gang all looked around at their new surroundings. It was dark inside, but not too dark to where they couldn't see. "Do you guys really think it's haunted?" Thompson then asked.
"Nah." Noah replied and shook his head.
"Come on, are you kidding me?" Nate added
"No way! Lee said and he shoved Thompson in a playful manner.'
"Man shut up!"
They were all confident that night one else was in the street and that they had it to themselves.
However none of them noticed a shadow figure staring at them from the end of an aisle. It remained still for a moment before disappearing around the corner.
________________________________________
The inside of the store was about what you'd see in a typical supermarket. There were aisles upon asides filled with assortment of items. The store was split into different sections, with the main counter being at the front and the frozen foods sections at the back along with the produce. However everything was old and coated in cobwebs, like they had stepped into an apocalyptic mirror of the store.
Wanting to check out more of the place, the gang all split into small groups, which was ignoring all horror movie logic of NOT doing that in this kind of environment. Dipper, Wendy, and Robbie got into one team, while Mabel, Mason, and Noah formed their own. The rest stuck together.
As they headed down the aisles, Noah recorded with his phone while looking at everything with interest. "This place is stupid creepy." He whispered as he glanced down at the kids with a grin. The teen then picked up a can of fruit that had long been expired, and he blew the dust off of it. The dust formed a cloud that made him cough.
Mason put his finger on a dusty shelf and examined it, before placing it on his tongue for some reason. "Yep it's dust." He said.
His brother went over to a newspaper stand and grabbed one of them and wiped the dust off, revealing the old text. The date was May 2nd, 1995. The headline read Cheese Crust Pizza Declared Delicious.
Dipper came up before her and took a paper so he could read one. But his paper was not as cheery as his sister's. It was posted the same year as the other, but there was an image of a man, presumably the market owner and a very grim headline that read, Blackwood Market Owner Found Criminally Insane In Triple Homicide. Reading this, the boy shared an uneasy glance with his sister before setting the paper back in its place.
"Hey dude, where do you think they keep the dead bodies?" Lee asked.
"Shut up man!" Nate replied and pushed him playfully.
At the front of the store, near the entrance doors,Wendy saw a light switch and approached it. "Hey guys, do you think these still work?" She called out to her friends, gesturing to the switch before flicking them up. A second after doing this, the store sprang to life. The lights came back on as well as machinery and the store's camera system rebooted up.
Seeing the place was back in business after more than a decade of being closed, the triplets came up to Wendy, wondering what they were going to do now. "So now what?" Mason asked her, looking around the alive market.
Wendy, who was leaning against the front counter, smiled at him and simply replied, "Whatever we want."
The three kids looked at each other and grinned.
-
Order quickly dissolved into chaos pretty quick. Leaving a group of teenagers and three twelve year olds alone in an abandoned supermarket without any supervision was definitely not the best recipe for peace. The store was like a playground for them and not in a good way.
They started off by taking as many snacks off the shelves as possible despite them being old. After that they feasted on the food like there was no tomorrow. At one point, a snack cake was thrown across the floor and hit Robbie in the chest. He retaliated by tossing a bottle of soda back at whoever he thought threw it. This quickly turned into a food war, with them splitting into two teams and throwing items from over the aisles making the floor a complete mess.
When that was all over, Lee and Nate wandered into the pet section for some reason. Lee then grabbed a bag of cat litter off the shelf and hit his friend right in the stomach with it, pointing and laughing at him when he clutched his stomach. This left him defenseless and Nate got back at him by doing the exact same thing.
Then Noah found a roll of mentos and got a brilliant idea. The gang all formed a circle on the floor while the boy placed a huge bottle of soda in the middle. He then dropped multiple mentos into the drink and quickly ran back. A few seconds later, the soda burst out the top like a volcano, raining down onto the group and they held their tongues out, catching drops of the beverage on it.
Soon after that, Mason was mindlessly walking around the store, wondering what else they could do when she stumbled upon a rack that made him gasp.
It was a candy known as Smile Dip, one of those kinds where you dip a stick into flavored powder and lick it off. Although the name sounded harmless enough, the candy was quickly banned in the whole United States as it was deemed unsafe for children. This took place after hundreds of reported incidents about said children having intense hallucinations and sometimes being unresponsive, and needless to say the parents were not too pleased. The company was swiftly shut down following the reports.
"Smile Dip!" He gasped, heading towards the rack to grab a packet but he was intercepted by Mabel who promptly pulled him away.
"Nope. Not again." She said firmly as she dragged her brother away from the dangerous candy, ignoring his protests. A while back, he had actually managed to get his hands on a few packets of the stuff, and it turns out that 'hallucinations' thing was true. He spent the whole day talking to the air, (or what he thought was a big talking yellow dog) until their parents took him to get checked out. Mabel was half sure there was drugs in the stuff and she would be damned if he overdosed.
Dipper was watching this happen when he was hit in the face with a water balloon. Looking up, the boy saw that it was thrown by his crush, Wendy, who was cotton on top of a shelf and then tossed an ice cream bar at his feet. "Hey Dip, come hang with me!" She called out to him.
So picking up the bar, he climbed up onto the shelf and sat on it next to her. Minutes later the two were happily eating their frozen treats together. "Hey come here man, we got it ready!" Someone called out.
Thompson ran past Dipper and Wendy towards the direction of the voice. "Whatever it is, I'll do it!" He said eagerly.
"Whoo! Thompson!" Wendy cheered him on, then turned to her younger friend and said, "Dipper, this night is like, legendary."
"Really?" Asked Dipper.
She nodded her head in response. "Just look around, the guys are bonding." She gestured to her male friends who were busy pouring a bag of ice into the back of Thompson's pants while Mason watched and laughed hysterically. "And I've never seen Tambry even look up from her phone this long." In a corner, her friend stopped texting and glanced up for a second to look around, then went right back to texting. "And your sister seems to be going nuts on the snacks." On the floor beside them, Mabel was laying with dozens of snacks and candy wrappers around her, clutching her stomach while she groaned.
A moment later, Wendy suddenly became serious, turning back to him with a smirk. "You know Dipper, I wasn't sure if you could hang with our crew at first, but you're surprisingly mature for your age." The redhead stated.
"Yes. Yes I am." Dipper said, while smashing his ice cream on the side of his face.
"We need more ice!" Lee then called. The bag he was using to dump in his friend's pants was now empty, and he shook rhr bag to show it.
"I'm on it!" Dipper said. He then jumped off the shelf and strolled over to the freezer.
Opening the freezer door, the boy grabbed a bag of ice and was ready to bring it to his new friends. However, just as he was about to close it, his brain told him to look inside the freezer again. So he did. Turning back, to his horror there was a human head of a teen that wasn't there before, an expression of horror and fear forever splattered on the face with splotches of red on the freezer that he hoped wasn't what he thought it was.
"Holy shit!" Dipper screamed and shut the door, the ice spilled on the floor as he dropped the bag. That couldn't have been real, there was no way someone would just leave a man's head in the freezer. He was sure it wasn't there before. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks? Maybe it was his paranoia peaking with everyone saying that the store was haunted? Yet it was so vivid that he couldn't accept that it was nothing but real.
He held his rapidly beating heart as his siblings, Wendy, and her friends walked up to him. They were attracted by his high-pitched scream and came to investigate. "What was that?" Lee then asked. "Thought I heard some lady screaming back here."
"You freaking out kid?" Nate mocked the boy.
"No no I'm cool! Everything's cool!" Dipper said a little bit too quickly and nervously.
Robbie pointed to the melted ice on the floor. "Then what's all this about?"
"Uh-uh.." Looking for any excuse to get all of the attention off of himself, Dipper then noticed a video game at the front of the store. It was one of those dancing games you followed the directions/arrows on screen and moved on a pad under your feet. "Hey look, Dancy Pants Revolution! The game that tricks people into exercising! He said, gesturing to it.
The teens all made exclamations of excitement and ran over to it. But Mabel and Mason stayed behind, worried about their brother. "Dipper, are you okay?" Mason asked.
"What-me no-I'm no I'm totally…totally fine…" Dipper protested while stammered, sounding none too convincing at all.
"Really? Because you look the exact opposite of fine." Mabel pointed out, studying how his knuckles were white by his sides, and how he was sweating really badly. "You look like you saw a ghost right now.
"I think I've had too much junk." Dipper assured them as he ran a hand thighs his hair. He then put his cap back on his head and began ushering. Mason and Mabel towards the rest of the group, laughing nervously. "Yeah let's all… let's all go play that game now." He said.
Then he turned around and looked back at the freezer he was just at a minute ago. Walking up to it with caution, he opened the door and this time there was nothing inside. No jumpscare, no head. Just a red splotch on a bag where the head rested on. Gulping, the boy closed the door and hurried along to his family and friends.
________________________________________
Minutes later, the boy stood with his siblings and crush as they watched Thompson play the dancing video game, in which he was doing very poorly. "Man, he really is terrible at this, right?" Wendy said as she nudged his shoulder with a chuckle.
"Hah, hey…yeah." Dipper replied nervously. However his mind was elsewhere, still kept coming back to the head in the freezer. The image was burned into his brain, how the teen's face was forever frozen in an expression of pure terror. Hoping that looking at the peaceful nature outside would help clear his mind, he walked over to the door and pulled the handle, only for the door to be locked. "Hey guys," he called out, turning back to the gang to tell them this. He swore he didn't lock it when they'd walked in earlier. "The door is-"
His eyes widened and his sentence stopped cold upon noticing that everyone one of his friends and family had turned into skeletons, still wearing all their clothes but no skin or flesh. But when he wiped his eyes, they all went back to normal. It did take another second for him to be convinced.
"I'll be right back." He quickly informed everyone, before grabbing his siblings' arms and pulling them away to a different part of the store despite their protests. Once they were far away enough from the main group that they couldn't hear, Dipper let their arms go and began dumping issues onto them while pacing around. "This is bad, this is really bad! Why did I even think tagging alone would be a good idea?!"
"Dipper, is everything okay?" Mabel asked.
"No of course not!" He said fretfully, turning to face them with a pale face. "We're locked inside a haunted supermarket, I can't get a hold of Grunkle Stan, and if I try to say anything, these guys will think I'm a scared little kid or something!"
"Is this because of earlier?" Mason asked while shoving a chocolate bar into his mouth. "What even happened to make you scream like that?" He added while chewing a mouthful of the treat.
Mabel frowned, nodding her head in agreement as she also suspected something was up with him. "Yeah Dipper, tell us the truth and we want it now."
He hesitated for a full minute. Could he really tell them about what he saw? Who's to say they wouldn't just start making fun of him and call him paranoid? But he thought that it might be good to have them on his side, that way they could help him to maybe convince the others to leave before anything got worse. Yet on the other hand, he didn't want to scare them and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. But the two were persistent so he had no choice.
Sighing, he stepped closer to them and whispered, "I saw something in the freezer, a head. Like an actual human head. And I don't know if I'm going crazy or-or I'm just tired, but I keep seeing things and it's driving me crazy!"
Before either of his siblings had a chance to speak their thoughts, Robbie's voice cut through the store, calling everyone to another part of the store. "Hey guys, get your asses over here! Come check this out!"
The Pines kids shared a concerning glance before heading over to the direction his voice came from, as did the other teens.
Robbie was behind the front counter and when the gang crowded around him to see what the boy was so hyped about, their expressions changed to one of shock. Behind the counter a few feet from them, were red outlines of three bodies, the same number as the victims in the stories and the newspapers. This was where the act had been committed.
"Whoa! The rumors are true!" Noah said in both amazement and nervousness.
Dipper gulped as he took in the sight.
"Dude I dare you to lie down in it!" Robbie said.
"Good idea." Lee agreed, before shamelessly shoving Nate towards the drawings "Go lie down in it."
So Nate began to step towards it while openly mocking the seriousness of the situation. "Look, I'm a dead body!" He said while wearing a grin, acting like the whole thing was a big joke.
Watching him do this, Dipper only felt his nerves growing and knew this was going to go way wrong. After all the stuff that he's experienced, this was the last sign he needed for his instincts to scream at him to stop this. "Wait!" He suddenly shouted, making Nate stop in his tracks before he could set his foot down in the outline.
With everyone looking after him now, the boy stepped forward and elaborated his concerns with a nervous chuckle. "Maybe let's not do this? I mean, people haven't been here in decades, so maybe that's a bad sign? Right …right?"
Hearing the crack in his voice, Lee pointed at the young boy and laughed. "Haha, this guy's scared!"
"All I'm saying is, why tempt the fates?" Dipper countered with another nervous laugh. "What if this salad really…is…" He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, knowing he was going to lose all his 'cool points' with what he was about to say to them next. "...haunted?"
Everyone except his siblings and surprisingly Noah booed at him, just as he predicted, barrading him with empty soda cans and snake cake wrappers.
Only his siblings came to his defense. "What if he's right?" Mabel said with Mason nodding his head. They didn't care if they would be seen as scared by now
Robbie groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Great, now there's three of them." He muttered with annoyance.
This didn't go unheard by Noah, who shoved him sharply while glaring. "Dude, what the hell is your problem? They're kids, so what if they're a little bit afraid? This place is haunted! Who would be shitting their pants?" The brown-haired boy snapped, having reached his breaking point with his friend's attitude.
Robbie scoffed and shoved him back. "So what, now you're defending them? Go ahead, be 'Captain of the Crybabies'"
"I thought I was Dr. Funtimes?" Dipper protested, crushed at how fast they had changed their options on him.
"Well you're acting like Captain Buzzkill!" The emo teen shot back before looking back at his friends for backup. "Right?" Like sheep, they all agreed except for Noah, who continued staring at Robbie with a frown.
Even Wendy nodded her head, though she seemed to show a hint of guilt. "Yeah, a little bit." The redhead muttered while rubbing her arm.
This one line destroyed Dipper internally. The whole reason he had done any of this, broke into the story from the room, and asked her to tag along on her adventure, was to show her that he was the mature person that he said he was. But now she's gone against him. He sighed and looked down sadly.
"Status update: trapped in a store with insane nine year olds." Tambri commented as she typed what she said on her phone.
By now Dipper was tired of being treated like this. So in one last desperate attempt to save his dwindling reputation, he stomped over to the outline and laid flat on his back. "I'm not nine years old!" He exclaimed in frustration. "I'm thirteen! So technically a teen!"
However a few seconds after doing this, thunder crashed loudly from outside, and the light drizzle turned into a ferocious downpour that hammered on the building. The lights flickered violently before shutting off completely, plunging the store into near blackness. Freaked out, the gang all looked around the change in atmosphere
"Dipper, what did you do?" Mason said fearfully, crouching behind Noah's leg.
That was when they heard it. Footsteps coming from an aisle nearby. Slow dragging that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. The outline Dipper was still laying in began to glow brightly and the boy scrambled up, startled by everything that had just happened.
That was when shit really hit the fan. All of a sudden, a metal can was thrown at the group seemingly by itself, which nearly hit Mason had he not ducked his head in time. Neither was thrown, then another, until they were in the middle of a barrage of different items being tossed in their direction, and not lightly might I add. Whatever this thing, it was not interested in making friends, and this was made clear when an incredibly sharp knife was hurled at them and stuck into the wall. Malevolent energy
"How do we stop this?" Mabel cried, holding her hands above her head and kneeling to get out of trajectory range.
What had gone from a fun night of crazy shenanigans had quickly turned into a total nightmare.
And it was only going to get worse when they heard more footsteps approaching them. Then, the ghost made its appearance. A burst of fire appeared from the floor and out from the flames a hand extended out, reaching out towards the frightened kids and teens huddled in a group and still under the assault of shelved items. A shadow rose upon a quickly took the shape of a human body, and a rotting smell accompanied it. The ghost was an older man in his mid to late sixties with grey hair. It wore a red flannel jacket and had grey skin, with a beared and empty soulless eyes that snapped to the direction of our group.
Consumed by fear and not knowing what else to do, Wendy began to beg. "We're super sorry for hanging out in your store!" The redhead said frantically.
"Yeah, can we go now and we'll leave forever!" Dipper added pleadingly as he pointed to the locked front doors.
However this spirit was beyond pissed and left compassion far past its lifetime. Its face twisted into something ugly that looked like both a glare and pure rage "First you trespass on my property? And you want me to FREE YOU?!" The ghost bellowed with a growl as its eyes flickered with literal and figurative flames. "After it was YOUR kind that sent her to an early grave?!"
Mason swallowed hard and asked in a high pitched voice, "What do you mean your mind?" He had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer, should the ghost even answer him.
It did answer his question with another growl. "It was many years ago, when the love of my live was taken from, me by remorseless sons of-"
"Yeah we don't need your whole sob backstory." Noah interrupted, frowning and shook his head. "Just tell us how to get the hell out of this place already."
Wrong choice of words.
The spirit's fury grew and his eyes directed at Noah, making the boy sweat a bit and take a step back. Before the brown-haired boy could say or do anything else, the spirit lunged at him, more like flew, and disappeared into the teen's body. The rest of the gang viewed in horror as Noah''s whole body jerked violently, his limbs contorting at impossible angles and his eyes glowing deep blue. As if they needed any more craziness, now one of their own was possessed by this thing.
'Noah!" Wendy shouted, reaching out for him but by then it was too late.
The possessed teen ascended into the air as the spirit used his body to exclaim, "IT BEGINS!" Everything in the store, including the people, flated into the air and in a blink of an eye their world changed. Mabel, Dipper, and Mason, as well as the rest of the teens were now standing on what seemed like the roof of the store, like they were standing upside down. They gasped and doffed as shelves and other objects crashed next to them. A bag of chips hit Wendy's head and it was followed by another knife, which she quickly swerved out of the way.
"Welcome to your home of all eternity!" The possessed Noah yelled triumphantly.
The group began to really panic and they hid behind some shelves that landed on top of each other, making a small alcove that they dove behind to get out of the spirit's sight. "Holy Shiit! Holy Shit!" Robbie said repeatedly to himself.
"What the FUCK just happened?!" Lee added hysterically
"Everyone calm down," Dipper demanded them while he pulled the journal and flipped through the pages. "Whatever is doing this has to have some reason!" He stopped on one that dealt with different types of ghosts and potential motives for their hauntings. "If we can just figure out why they're doing this, then maybe they'll let us go?"
Robbie scoffed and said,"That makes a lot of sense."
"I don't know, maybe they have a point!" Wendy said, as she was willing to believe anything if it got them out of this situation
"Yeah right! I'm sure the ghost just wants to talk about his feelings!" Lee said sarcastically. A second later the cash register was tossed over the shelves, nearly striking him and money and coins spilt out when impacting the wall beside him.
Nate took off his hat and wiped sweat off his head. "Okay, okay I'm with you kids. One hundred percent, man!" Said the teen shakily.
"What do they want from us?" Mason asked. It still didn't make sense to him.
"Revenge, maybe?" Suggested Dipper
"But what did we do wrong?" Wendy said.
"Well, let's try to figure out the pattern." Dipper said. "Why did this ghost target us?" He started listing all the activities the friends group was doing earlier. "Tambri was texting, Thompson was playing a video game, Lee was being sarcastic, and Noah was being disrespectful."
"But how does all that warrant this much haunting?" Asked Thompson, peeking over their hidden spot to see the treats still possessing his friend with his back turned to him, with snacks and appliances circling him like a tornado.
"Yeah," Wendy said and nodded her head in agreement, the action they were doing tonight was the type stuff they usually did when hanging out, and even when they weren't with each other. "Those are all just regular teenage things."
When she said that, a thought came to Dipper's head. He remembered what the newspaper said about the history of the building, and suddenly it became clear to him why this was such a hostile attack. After it was YOUR kind that sent her to an early grave?! Not only did teenagers kill his wife which would explain why he was so antagonistic towards them, but they'd been acting like they had complete ownership of the place the entire night. Breaking and entering, stealing snacks, and turning the whole place into a mess, it was quite understandable why he was so rageful and vengeful.
The young Pines boy wore an expression of determination and ordered his friends and family, "Stay here." He then hopped over the shelves, ignoring their protests and began crawling on the floor to the possessed teenager hovering in the air. Despite his expression, he was very nervous inside to confront this thing face to face, especially with no backup as he told the others to stay put where they were. After seeing what this spirit could do, he didn't want them potentially getting hurt or worse.
When he was close enough to the proximity of the ghost, he stood up and shouted, "Hey ghost!" while pointing at it. This was either the bravest thing he's done or the stupidest.
Possessed Noah's head did a full 108 degrees to stare at the boy (very disturbing image) and a second later the rest of the body followed that way. The spirit growled at the boy, but held off another attack.
"I've got something to tell you." Dipper continued as the spirit made him float up to eye level. He then swallowed the lump in his throat, focusing on saying that he needed to. "I'm not a teenager!!" He shouted over the sound of the appliances and other noise.
For a moment, the ghost narrowed his eyes at him and Dipper was anxious that it'd pounce. But then a flash of confusion appeared on Noah's possessed face and Dipper was dropped to the ground and everything else did as well. The spirit floated down to Dipper and eyed him suspiciously. "Well then why didn't you just say that from the start?" it sneered. "How old are you really?"
"I'm…" Being forced to tell the truth, Dipper glanced back at Wendy over his shoulder and a pit formed in his stomach. What would she think of him when she learned that he lied to her just so he could hang out with her and her friends? Would she hate him? Would she feel betrayed? He didn't blame her if she did. He supposed he did get them into this situation, and now he was facing the repercussions of his actions. "I'm twelve, so technically not a teen." He sighed with his head down low in shame.
"When we were alive, teenagers were a scourge on our store!" The spirit said with an irritated expression and made dramatic hand gestures. "Always sassafrassin' customers with their boomie-boxes and disrespectful short pants! So we decided to up and ban them entirely. But they retaliated with their newfangled rap music and because of it…" The ghost then looked like it was about to cry. "My love was stricken down with a heart attack, and I lost what was so dear to me. And so..I took my revenge, but I fear I only made things worse. I am bound to the store, unable to move on and see my love."
After hearing the spirit's story, Dipper felt a massive wave of sympathy for this man and realized that he was just grieving. The boy looked back at Wendy and the others, who were peeking cautiously from behind their makeshift barricade, their eyes wide with fear. Slowly, he turned back to the ghost and swallowed hard.
"Sir, if you let us go, I think we might be able to help you."
________________________________________
A few minutes later, they were assembled around Dipper who was looking in his journal for a solution to the ghost's problem. He then found it and smiled. "Aha, here it is." He said and pointed to a note on a page, then began to translate it to the spirit, still possessing his older friend's body. "So apparently you're not able to move on because you have unfinished business, and this is preventing you from proceeding into the afterlife. Do you know what this might be?"
The spirit appeared to think for a moment before Noah's possessed face bore an expression of what almost looked like fear. "Them…" He suddenly admitted, the voice coming out not a harsh snap or an angry exclamation, but replaced with a whisper that accompanied eyes filled with regret.
"Who's them?" Mabel asked gently, realizing that the ghost's usual frightening demeanor had cracked, and spilling out of it was a man who was finally recognizing the sins of his past. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and the treats flicked violently, seeming scared of even the simple touch. So she retrieved her arm to let him have his own space.
After a moment, the spirit ran a hand down (Noah's) face and looked up at the kids and teens. "Those kids…I've been keeping them here. Not letting them move on, you know? I was so angry with them, for what happened to my wife that I felt like they deserved to suffer, even after death. For the past…I don't even know how long, they've been stuck here. Bound to this establishment because I was too blinded by my own rage to see it was all just a stupid accident."
The genuine regret in his voice made Wendy step forward, her usual bravado softened as she spoke to the spirit. "So...you've been trapping souls here because you thought they deserved it?" She rubbed her arm awkwardly, going to reach out to him but stopped after remembering his reaction when Mabel did the same thing.. "But they didn't mean to hurt your wife, right? It was just...kids being dumb kids?" She then gestured to each one of her friends. "That's all we were flung tonight, being stupid kids, but we didn't mean any disrespect."
"Except we kind of did." Mason interrupted her as he stood up and got a good look at the store, or what was the result of their actions that night. "We trashed the place, stole all the snacks from the shelves, and we totally went crazy. We acted like we owned it ourselves."A feeling of guilt washed over him as she turned back to the spirit holding onto his new friend. "It's no wonder he got so upset."
Dipper smiled kindly at the spirit, flipping to another page in the journal and showing it to him. On it was an illustration of a ritual circle. "We can help you fix this, but you have to do your part." The boy told it, before standing up and walking off to reach for some candles in the store. He came back a minute later with five standard decorative candles, then set them in a circle on the boy's in front of him like his book instructed.
Using a lighter, he lit each one of the candles and then set the lighter down. "Alright, here's how this is going to work. We'll start off by asking simple questions, then we'll ask whatever other souls that are here to knock for their answer." He informed everyone, before demonstrating by knocking on the floor with his knuckles. Once, then twice. "One knock will be for 'yes', and two will be for 'no'. That's how we'll be communicating. Let's start off simple. "
Clearing his throat, Dipper set the journal down and announced, "Are there any other sports here present in this building with us?"
It took a moment, but there was a very subtle yet at the same time clear KNOCK from somewhere in the store that echoed just loud enough for the group to pick up on. "No way." Lee commented in awe as the teens and kids looked around.
"So that means there's another ghost?" Mason asked his brother while studying the flickering candle in front of him. This certainly wasn't what he expected the night was going to lead into, a whole investigation with the same spirit that had tried slaughtering them moments before.
He nodded and decided to ask another question, wondering who this new soul was that they were speaking to. So the next question would hopefully help them uncover its identity. "Are you someone that died here in this store?" Dipper asked aloud. He intended the question to be specific to the location, that way their investigation wouldn't get mixed up with other potential spirits that could be haunting the town.
KNOCK.
Another yes.
"So that's two 'yes' so far," Dipper observed. "We know that it's someone from here. Now all we need to do is figure out who they are."
"Can I ask a question?" Mason asked while raising his hand.
Dipper shrugged so Mason went for it. "Are you one of the kids that this man killed?" The boy asked, gesturing with his hands to his possessed friend who was across the floor from him.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
"Hmm, that was two knocks." Dipper stated the obvious and tapped his chin and began to think. "This person isn't one of those teenagers but they're still present with us." Then his fingers snapped as an idea appeared on his head. "Didntoy pass away in this facility?" The boy then said audibly.
Like before, the unseen presence knocked. KNOCK.
At first this left the gang puzzled until Wendy suggested something that they hadn't thought of before. "What if this is the guy's wife? I mean, maybe she's still here waiting for him to move on so they could go into the afterlife together?"
This proposal left the store's owner spirit quite depressed as Noah's shoulders slumped and a frown spread on his face, the sport looked up at the air with hollow eyes like he was trying to sense whatever was there. "Honey, is that you?" He called out, his voice cracked with emotion and Noah's hand extended upward to touch the air and was only met with the cold atmosphere of his own ghostly energy. His hardened heart felt like it was going to crack open as he was overcome with grief.
But then from the flooring a bright blue-ish and white-ish light appeared and it got brighter and brighter until the kids and teens had to physically cover their eyes to avoid being blinded by the sudden illumination. When the light faded, an elderly woman ascended from the light into the air. She had white hair tied into a bun, wore an old-fashioned dress, and had an apron tied around her waist. She also had a few wrinkles and glasses that hung on the bridge of her nose.
The spirit finally let Noah go, the teenager collapsing onto the floor as the ghost took his original form again. It levitated up to his wife who was staring at him with eyes that only came with someone who's finally seeing the love of their life after an eternity of separation. "It's time to let them go." She said, tracing her husband's jaw and nuzzled her forehead against his. "Come with me, let us live in peace.
"I don't deserve that." The man acknowledged solemnly with a shake of his head. "Look around us, I've killed, I've frightened the children, I've trapped poor souls here over petty anger and grief. Over an accident. Wherever we go after this…I'm not going to be able to go with you."
"Let us at least try." His wife encouraged softly. "I'm not saying you have to forgive them, just don't let the past get in the way of what can happen in the future. Let those kids be free, they don't belong to you, or anyone else. It's what they deserve. Even if you tell yourself they don't."
The man swallowed hard, but called out in the most firm tone he could command even if it shook a little, "To the rest of you I've condemned to this establishment, I grant you your freedom. I release you!" His voice echoed in the empty aisles, but it didn't waver more. "Go on, leave! I believe there is peace and perhaps, more, waiting for you on the other side."
Maybe they couldn't see, but they sure did feel it. The tense and dark mood inside the store suddenly felt like it faded away, like a curse had been lifted. The building's lights flickered back on as power was restored to the place. The candles all blew out in a series of huffs, leaving behind a curling cross of grey smoke in their places. The sound of the doors unlocking caused the teens to sense do and such nine the exit. Noah groaned and stood on weak legs, seemingly unable to remember a single thing that took place. Wendy helped him up and led him over to the front door where their friends had gathered, relief flooding their system that he was okay and that they were allowed to leave without further harm.
"Well, I don't think you have to worry about us coming here ever again." Dipper stated as he closed the journal, but when he looked up, the couple had already vanished into thin air.
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Back outside in the parking lot, after aiding the spirit to figure out the source of his problems and helping it to overcome its inner demons, the teens and kids regrouped at Thompson's van to head home. It'd been a long night for the gang and it was finally time to catch up on some much needed rest. That was what the majority of them were doing, snoozing away as soon as they entered their seats in the vehicle.
However Dipper and Wendy were the only two who weren't asleep, and the duo were having a private moment to themselves outside of the car to chat and listen to the soft patter of drizzle on the pavement. "Well, I'm probably scared for life." The redhead told with a smile as she leaned against the passenger side door. "I think I'm gonna go home now to start at a time for a while and rethink everything."
Dipper chuckled and nodded in agreement, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh as he too was exhausted due to the night's events. "Yeah, that was pretty crazy." He responded before the two of them parted ways to enter the van, the teen going to the driver's side and Dipper heading to the back.
As he was about to open the door, he heard Wendy call his name from the other side and paused, looking up to see her from over the hood with a smile. "Hey, the next time we hang out, let's make it simple and stay at the Mystery Shack, okay?"
The boy blinked then a smirk tugged at his lips. She really wanted to keep hanging out with him after today? However he wasn't about to let that opportunity slip and he quickly agreed to that. "Y-yeah, sure! Next time!" He replied with his vocal cords cracking in the middle of his sentence. His crush nodded her head and got into the seat behind the wheel.
Dipper on the other hand stood at the door for a moment grinning like an idiot to himself. "Next time." He whispered under his breath and entered the van, closing the door just as the rain began to come down a little bit harder. He climbed over depleted teens to the back where his brother and sister were peacefully snoozing and wiggled into the middle seat.
Wendy then started up the car and drove away from the property. As the friends headed home, Dipper looked out the back window of the car and witnessed the lights going out in the store, leaving the building in a comfortable darkness.
The spirits were finally at peace.
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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 andscraped up both my knees
In the forest, Mason climbs a tall tree to impress Lily. 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. Lily, while concerned for him, chuckles.
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 a spatula.
Got splinters in seven of ten
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. Mabel pulls them out with tweezers while Dipper takes notes. "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.
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And that's gonna do it for the updated chapter five.
Like I said, it's definitely a much darker version than the original episode when it comes to the location's backstory. I felt like the couple's reasons to make the gang's lives hell because they broke in and that teens were responsible for their deaths, was basically enough but I wanted to add more. So I came up with the storyline where the owner wants revenge on teenagers after what happened to his wife, and I think it works well for a slightly better reason.
Moving on from that, In this chapter we are introduced to the second new original character in this story, Noah. Now if you were one of those that read the original version of this chapter before it was updated, then you would know that he wasn't in it, and that he actually made his first appearance in DoubleDipper.
The reason I changed it to this chapter was because I thought it would be fun to add him to this little group of friends, and we can see how he interacts with this group and the triplets. And if you didn't catch it/realize, he's the same boy from the second chapter who made the joke about McGucket to that girl. I wonder who that is…
(It's pretty obvious tbh.)
Also, I wanted this to be his first encounter with the town's supernatural experiences. This means that I will need to go into my original chapter, Where The Woods Whisper, and change it up as that was originally his first time, though that chapter was going to be one of the ones updated anyway. Feel free to check that chapter out once it's been repolished and everything.
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.