Summary:
In which Dipper and Mabel are rebellious, over-curious little shits and Stan is conspicuously shady
Present Day
The Mystery Shack was among the stranger of oddity-based tourist attractions in eastern Oregon. From the outside, it appeared to be nothing more than an over-advertised, ramshackle shack nestled amidst the densely forested boarder of Gravity Falls. The combination house-museum-gift shop had certainly seen better days across the decades; its sloping roof fostered more than enough patches of wild moss to count amidst the weather-worn shingles. Its log exterior, though giving off an appropriate rustic appearance, had clearly faded from the freshness it had once known. Even the large sign perched upon the roof showed its age, with its chipping discount yellow paint and the stubborn "s" in "Shack" that refused to ever remain hammered in place for very long.
Any savvy traveler would most likely wonder what the appeal of such a seemingly rundown place would be, but for the more nuanced tourist, the allure of the Mystery Shack came in its very simplicity and novelty. Somehow, the shack managed to not only make a profit, but a surprisingly large one at that, though that could easily be attributed to the high prices of museum tours and cheaply-made souvenirs. The attractions housed within the shack itself were certainly bizarre in concept, even if most of them were either staged or fake. But all the same, they did well to draw in and entertain the gullible masses that frequented the shack, and those same visitors usually never hesitated to buy into the unique local lore and legends glorified by the variety of exhibits, nor did they hesitate to buy into the knick-knacks and curios sold there.
Expectedly, the shack's proprietor, Stan Pines, had been happily raking in the generous profits of his roadside attraction for years now. Among the people of Gravity Falls, the self-proclaimed "Mr. Mystery" had a longstanding reputation for being a skilled con artist and an unrepentant fraud, but none of the impressionable incoming summer tourists needed to know that as far as he was concerned. As long as he was making money, Stan was content, even if most of his revenue was brought in from the often over-exaggerated myths and hoaxes that seemed to constantly be pouring out of Gravity Falls. The tourist trap business was a lucrative one, and it was a lifestyle that Stan had grown accustomed to, perhaps even comfortable with the predictability of it.
That is, until the summer his great niece and nephew came to stay.
Stan had never particularly been a "family man", having lived in the shack alone for the past thirty years. However, despite his own better judgement, he had agreed to take on the task of summer caretaker for the twelve year old twins, largely with the intent of having two more hands to help out at the Mystery Shack on top of Wendy and Soos.
Of course, neither Dipper nor Mabel had been that enthusiastic about being forced out of the house by their parents and onto a nine hour bus ride to spend their entire summer in the backwoods town of Gravity Falls, simply for the sake of, as their parents had put it, getting some "fresh air". Well, that was almost entirely true; while Mabel optimistically saw any excursion as a grand adventure, Dipper was a bit more begrudging over the fact that they had to work in their great uncle, or "grunkle's", tourist trap, filled with low-budget exhibits that he had seen right through the day they arrived.
And yet, what neither of the Pines twins had known prior to their arrival in Gravity Falls was that it was certainly a unique place, filled with wonders and mysteries far beyond the ones that Stan passed off for show at the Mystery Shack.
In fact, they had already encountered such strangeness as early as their second day there. The twins had barely even had time to orient themselves to their new surroundings, they had both been thrust into the rumored weirdness of Gravity Falls upon discovering the existence of gnomes living deep in the forest. However, they might not have ever made that discovery if the little men had not literally pulled together and conspicuously presented themselves as Mabel's new "boyfriend". And despite Mabel's initial enthrallment with her first summer romance, it quickly shattered upon the gnomes revealing themselves and their desire for a new queen. Of course, Dipper had not hesitated in rushing to his sister's rescue, and both of them held their own quite well in escaping and outsmarting the leviathan monster the gnomes had assembled into. But in the end, this strange conundrum had confirmed that there was suspicious, perhaps even supernatural activity in Gravity Falls, a fact that intrigued Dipper, who had always had an interested in mysteries and conspiracies, even more than Mabel, who much preferred to live in the moment and cheerfully enjoy every second.
And yet despite their adventurous second day, the twins found that their third day in Gravity Falls was already turning out to be significantly less harrowing and fantastic. It was already midmorning, and thus far, Dipper's expectations for a strange happening or bizarre adventure had not been met. And, at the slow pace the hours were going by as him and Mabel wasted them away merely working in the shack, it didn't look like any such excitement would happen soon at all.
Mabel grinned brightly to herself as she aimed her grappling hook to the far wall of the gift shop, shutting one eye so she could focus better on her target, a simple wooden sign posted to a support beam. The grappling hook itself was relatively new; it was something of a gift from Stan, who, in a rare act of affection, had allowed both of the twins to take one item from the shop free of charge the previous day. This act of good will had not been lost on either Mabel, who had gladly chosen the grappling hook out of the anticipation of the adventures she could have with it, or Dipper, who had simply picked out a new cap, a white and blue one with a printed pine tree on it, to replace the one he had lost in their earlier faceoff against the gnomes.
But regardless, business at the shack was slow this morning, and so, since Stan didn't seem to particularly mind, Mabel had taken to practicing with her new toy after finishing up her chores. And so she stood in front of the counter, her tongue slightly peeking up out of her mouth as she narrowed her eyes at her target, taking into consideration that her brother was sweeping the floor rather close to him. Yet she was confident that she wouldn't hit him; after all, she had been using the grappling hook since yesterday. She already considered herself to be a "grappling professional" as she had put it.
And yet, what Mabel still wasn't used to was the amount of force that the hook always shot out of the barrel. The hook propelled forward with a soft bang, drawing Stan's attention away from the money he was counting up from behind the counter, even though Wendy, who was engrossed in the latest issue of Avoid Eye Contact Monthly, still kept her gaze fixated on her magazine. Due to her lax footing, Mabel was unable to keep herself from stumbling backwards after the hook was released, causing her to lose control of her aim, though she giggled in amused surprise nonetheless.
By this point, the trajectory of the hook had gone haywire, missing the target sign by a wide margin. Instead, it veered towards the right, or more specifically, towards Dipper. Luckily, however, the moment he saw the heavy metal projectile darting towards him, he had the wits about him to duck instead of panic, dropping his broom to the floor as the hook narrowly zipped over his head and crashed into the stained glass window behind him. Needless to say, the window shattered dramatically upon impact, resulting in an explosion of glass that landed both outside of the shack and inside.
His heart still pounding with adrenaline from being put in sudden danger once again, Dipper slowly rose to stand once more and turned to inspect the damage of the broken window. Indeed, the entire orange and yellow glass pane had been obliterated, with only a few spare shards still clinging onto the window frame even as Mabel began to retract the hook back towards her.
"Mabel!" Dipper chastised his sister's recklessness as he turned towards her with an exasperated frown.
"Heh," Mabel laughed in embarrassment, noticing the slightly aggravated look that Stan was giving her as well for breaking his window. "Sorry, bro-bro! I guess this thing packs more of a punch than I thought!"
"You're just luck I don't care enough about public safety to take it away from you," Stan said with little empathy, straightening the pile of dollar bills on the counter in front of him before addressing Dipper. "Make sure you pick up every last piece of that broken glass, kid! I don't want some tenderfoot coming in here and trying to sue me because they 'cut their foot' or something."
"Yeah, yeah," Dipper said as he rolled his eyes, unphased by his uncle's usually miserly ways. "I'm on… it?" He found himself trailing off, however, as he turned back towards the window, the sight outside of it catching his eye now that the colored glass that had once obscured it was gone.
A large, tall, easily-inclined hill stood beside the Mystery Shack on its left side, its base being only about a mile or so away. Like most of the natural settings of Gravity Falls, the hill was blanketed with a forest of pine trees, however, only on its back half. The other side was more like a cliff, its solid, stony surface standing straight and narrow, devoid of any signs of vegetation save for a view vines and patches of moss. What did take up most of the cliff face was a towering, imposing statue of what appeared to be an eight armed woman. The statue's form was mysterious, yet elegant, its hair an abundance of masterfully carved, twisting curls. It seemed to have two faces, one resting atop the other like a mask, though both were set in neutral expressions, its four unseeing empty eyes set upon the town in an almost watchful gaze.
Whatever its purpose was, it looked to be quite old, with a few cracks in its otherwise pristine form and moss clinging to its chest, torso, and many arms. In fact, it appeared to missing three of its hands, with only one of them spread out and open towards the sky and the other four converged near its navel around something that was still blocked behind one of the window frame's few remaining glass shards. But even so, the statue's unique appearance aroused immediate curiosity in Dipper. Of course, this wasn't the first time he had seen this statue since his and Mabel's arrival in Gravity Falls. After all, anyone with eyes could see the enormous woman from anywhere in town, really. But amidst being chased by and defeating a collaborative gnome monster, this was the first time he had really gotten a chance to look at it and already countless questions about the odd statue were filling his mind. Who was it a statue of? Who built it? How long had it been there for? And most importantly, why was it even there?
"Hey, Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked, only turning away from the window slightly. "What's the deal with that weird statue up on the hill?"
Before Stan even had a chance to react to this question, Mabel enthusiastically jumped in, looking towards the statue outside the window as well. "Oh! You mean the eight-armed GIANT woman?!" she asked, her eyes alight with excitement. "She's so gorgeous! I love what's she's done with her hair!"
"Huh?" Stan looked towards the statue as well, a look of uneasiness briefly crossing his features, though neither Dipper nor Mabel noticed it before he returned to his usual sarcastic scowl. "Oh, that huge broad? If by gorgeous, you mean she's a giant eyesore that distracts all of the photo-snapping tourists I could be getting rich off instead, then sure; she's absolutely beautiful."
"Yo, dude," Soos cut in as he came to stand near the window himself, having overheard the conversation while straightening the shelves. "They say that these three magical ladies live up there, protecting the town from monsters and stuff. No one really sees them that much, but they're sorta like guardian ninja babes, ya know?"
Though Dipper was a bit more skeptical in believing a fantastical rumor like this, Mabel was much more open to buying into it as she rushed towards the window herself. "Whoa!" she exclaimed brightly, pushing past her brother as she pressed against the window, tip-toing around the broken glass still lying on the ground. "They sound so cool! I wanna go up there and meet them!"
"Oh, come on…" Wendy said, rolling her eyes as she finally glanced up from her magazine. "You guys don't actually believe that dumb rumor, right?"
"It's not a rumor," Soos protested as he shook his head. "I read about it on this blog online, and as we all know, everything on the internet is completely 100% true."
Wendy was silent for a moment or two as she gave Soos a concerned look, before laughing off in her nonchalant way. "Whatever you say, man…" she said, returning her full attention to her magazine once more.
"Well, if a group of 'magical' women doesn't live up there, then what does?" Dipper asked in confusion as he glanced over the statue once more.
"It doesn't matter," Stan said dismissively. "The only thing you kids need to know is that hill is off limits."
"What?" both Dipper and Mabel asked in unison as they exchanged a confused glance.
"But why?" Mabel continued on in clear disappointment, her hopes of meeting the three mystical female guardians diminished upon hearing this.
"Because," Stan said, his tone unyielding and succinct. "I said so." He paused for a moment to gauge the twins' expressions, only to see that neither of them were buying such a lame excuse. "And… uh… because it's… dangerous up there, or something. Yeah, that's right. So don't let me catch you two fooling around up there. After all, I promised your parents that you'd both get home at the end of the summer in one piece. You wouldn't want to make your Grunkle Stan a liar, would you?"
"You mean even more of a liar than you already are?" Dipper deadpanned as he crossed his arms, knowing well about Stan's tendency to frequently fabricate the truth.
Stan shot his nephew a rather harsh glare for that snide comment, but he didn't try to argue it. "Just stay away from that hill, ok?" he asked in aggravation, clearly not willing to hear any more protests on the matter. "Now, that's enough standing around and yapping! I'm not paying you all to stare out a broken window all day!"
"You're not paying me or Mabel at all," Dipper pointed out, much to Stan's continued annoyance.
"Not if you keep back sassing me like that, I'm not," Stan said in clear frustration as he headed out from behind the counter and towards the exit into the rest of the house. "I'm going to my office, and I expect all that glass to be off the floor by the time I get back." And with that, Stan took his leave, though his aggravated mutterings could still be clearly heard. "Take the kids for the summer, they said! They'll be no trouble at all, they said! Why I oughta-"
His voice eventually trailed off, leaving the four remaining employees of the Mystery Shack to their own devices. Wendy continued to pour over her magazine as Soos returned to straightening up, while both Dipper and Mabel lingered near the window a bit longer, both of them taking one last longing look towards the fascinating statue.
"I wish Grunkle Stan would let us get closer to it…" Mabel sighed wistfully. "I bet there's all sorts of neat stuff up there!"
"What's his deal with that place anyway?" Dipper asked suspiciously. "It almost sounded like he was afraid of it…"
"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Wendy interjected, giving the twins a reassuring grin as she relaxed even more now that Stan was gone by leaning back in her chair and putting her boots up on the counter. "He probably just doesn't want you guys to get hurt."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Wendy…" Mabel said with a frown, though Dipper could clearly tell that she was still disappointed, a sentiment he shared very much at the moment. After all, the statue was incredibly intriguing based on its aesthetic appearance alone, and he couldn't help but be curious about its nature and purpose. Something had to be up there, considering how avoidant Stan seemed to be about it, going as far as to even call it dangerous. And even if it was, Dipper was determined to get to the bottom of it. After all, he wasn't the kind to just step back and let a mystery like this go.
"Hey, Mabel," Dipper whispered to his sister as he pulled her aside, checking to make sure that Stan was completely out of earshot. "I feel like there's something about that statue Stan doesn't want us to know. Wanna go check it out?"
"Well, duh!" Mabel said with a wide grin that quickly turned into a sudden frown. "But… Stan told us to stay away from it…"
"Oh, come on, I'm sure he was just over-exaggerating," Dipper scoffed, knowing that Stan was hardly ever serious about anything. "It's just a statue; how bad could it be?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mabel said, her chipper manner returning as she glanced out the window with newfound excitement, not letting a mere warning impair a possibility at an adventure. "And don't worry, Dipper! If we run into any trouble, I got the grappling hook covered!" she exclaimed, holding said object out though thankfully not aiming it anything this time. But even so, Dipper took an in instinctual step back as he eyed the hook nervously, remembering what had happened the last time she had used it.
"Uh… yeah…" he said with an uneasy frown. "Why don't we just... leave that here this time?"
"What? No way!" Mabel said with a daring grin, not about to let her grappling skills go to waste. "Just you wait, bro; this grappling hook will save our lives someday!"
"Yeah, or put them in even more danger…" Dipper muttered to himself sarcastically.
"Now, c'mon! We have a giant woman to explore!" Mabel said, even more enthusiastic about the investigation they were about to begin now than her brother was, especially as she thought about the chance at getting a glimpse at the town's rumored, supposed, elusive guardians. Which was why, without any further deliberation, Mabel grabbed Dipper by the arm, startling him and practically dragged him out of the shack so they could embark one of their first of many mystery-solving, discovery-making adventures.