Chapter Text
Steven is really excited about traveling. Finally seeing the country and traveling somewhere. Well, somewhere on Earth. Him and his therapist have been talking frequently over the phone while he traveled. Steven has been recovering nicely and if he ever felt bad he always has the reassurance of having Lion to be able to come home whenever.
The trip had been going great so far, but it could get a bit boring after a while… He is all alone and didn’t really make a plan. One night, when he’s on the phone with Pearl, they start talking about gem locations they used to visit and Pearl excitedly starts to ramble about more they hadn’t seen.
“Oh Steven! There is this wonderful site out in this quaint little town. They had a big gem base under the town and where many Crystal Gem’s hid out. You should have seen it!”, Pearl says to Steven. She’s so animated and excited. They haven’t visited many locations since they’ve healed the corrupted gems. He also hasn’t been to any gem sites since everything that happened with Volleyball...
“Well, do you think maybe I could go there? It’s not dangerous or anything right?” Steven asks, rubbing his neck nervously. He does not need another grand, world-saving adventure. Just somewhere to visit. “I don’t have any plans right now and I’m kind of bored.”
Steven is in fact extremely bored as he has watched every Lonely Blade 3 times in the last week.
“Oh stars no, it’s totally safe! You can find the entrance and float down and see the base. But you’ll need to be safe. You’ll need a flashlight, your phone, and maybe you should bring Lion?”, Pearl started to list. “Is this a good idea?”, she mumbles. Pearl had always been motherly towards Steven but she had gotten better over the years. But, with Steven leaving home and traveling off she has gone back to her more motherly ways. Well, she’s been like that since his breakdown…
“Well, I guess I’ll put it on my phone’s map! Thanks for the advice Pearl! I’m gonna go now, love you, byeeeee," Steven quickly says before Pearl can change her mind. He needs to get out of the car and do something.
“Wait! Stev-”, Steven hangs up on Pearl and stuffs his phone in his jacket pocket.
Steven stares up at the roof of the Dondai. He’s stayed in some motels but much preferred the back of the Dondai. It reminds him of staying with his Dad in the van. Steven had put up glow stars on the ceiling in the back and has a makeshift bed. He gets under the covers and thinks about his mini-adventure to come.
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“Dipper, aren't you so so soooooo excited to be back to Gravity Falls?”, Mabel exclaims, shaking Dipper’s shoulder. Dipper turns his head from the bus window to his sister.
“Of course I’m excited Mabel! Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are coming back, Soos and Wendy are gonna be at the shack with us AND we get the entire summer to have fun and research the town!”, Dipper rambles, clutching his own journal to his chest. Since last summer he’s started his own journal. He hasn’t put anything on the cover yet and decided against putting his hand-print, deeming it too much of a copycat to Ford’s. Mabel had tried multiple times to bedazzle his journal though.
At the beginning of the journey from home to Gravity Falls Dipper had tried to start writing and add something new to the journal but the old Gravity Falls’ bus is too rickety and bumpy for him to write. The same thing had happened to Mabel when she tried to start scrap-booking before they got there. The glitter glue got more on her skirt than the page so she had also given up. The rest of the bus ride is spent with Mabel playing road games and dipper listing facts about the wildlife that they pass by.
“But make sure you don’t research too much! We only have 3 months to plan our 14th birthday!” Mabel exclaims, jumping up and down in her bus seat. As the bus approaches the Gravity Falls sign Mabel climbs over Dipper to look. “ Dipper we’re here!”
The bus is brought to an abrupt halt at the bus stop and the twins fly forwards in their seats. They were finally back to Gravity Falls.
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It hasn’t been long since they got there but Dipper is already itching to start adventuring. He hadn’t seen his Grunkle Ford much last summer and is excited for more research and long rambles about science and the weirdness of the town. Dipper rushes downstairs to greet Ford at work.
“Hey Great Uncle Ford!” Dipper says, arriving down in the hidden basement of the Mystery Shack. He is greeted by Ford, writing something down in his new journal. When he closes the book two hand-prints overlap on the cover, one five fingered hand and one six fingered hand. It had Stan and Ford’s signatures on the cover marking “Stan and Ford’s journal for adventure”.
“Dipper! How have your recent scientific studies been going?” Ford says placing the journal down and giving Dipper a hug.
“They’re alright but they’re not as fun when they aren’t in Gravity Falls.”
“Well, do you remember that UFO that we inspected last summer?” Ford questions. Dipper nods enthusiastically. “ I have reason to believe that there are more undiscovered portions of that ship that are unopened. We could discover something new about aliens!” Ford excitedly tells Dipper. “Would you like to accompany me on my venture down? And I promise there are no more security bots. I checked.”
“Of course Grunkle Ford! That sounds amazing!”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s adventure!” Ford exclaims, pumping his fist in the air.
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When Dipper and Ford venture out to the entrance to the UFO they see a white car parked nearby. It’s a mostly untouched part of the town where not many people would travel to.
“Who do you think owns that car, Great Uncle Ford? I’ve never seen this car in town before…”, Dipper says, inspecting the car.
“It seems that car is a Dondai Supremo. They had these back in my day… It must be an older fellow in town. Perhaps McGucket decided to purchase a new car. We shouldn’t let it interrupt our adventure though. No one in town even knows about the UFO and no one could get down there anyways," Ford states.
“I guess”, Dipper mumbles, he’s still nervous but he supposes that no one else in town could build a magnet gun to get down there. No latter was long enough for that.
Both Ford and Dipper failed to realize that the hatch door was already opened….
When Dipper and Ford finally get down there however they hear strange noises and saw a pink light from afar.
“I believe there is something, or someone, else down here, Dipper. We need to be careful. Keep your guard up…”, Ford keeps his arm out in front of Dipper defensively. They both knew how intense it could be down there and didn’t want to repeat what had happened last time.
“Of course…”
They both got closer to a soft pink light. It stayed vibrant and bright but didn’t seem to be coming from a large source. They carefully walk so as to not make too much noise. They couldn’t see much down there besides what they could shine with their flashlights plus whatever else is giving off light.
Dipper gets more and more nervous as they approach it. He had always had anxiety but after Bill last summer and not adventuring for a whole year he isn’t ready for something big and world-ending yet again. He hopes it’s just gnomes playing a prank, or maybe just a machine that had turned on by accident.
As they round the corner they flash their flashlights on the pink light’s source. What they see is a teenage boy sitting on his phone inside a large pink bubble
“Um… Hey.”