Apprentice {Gravity Falls}

Freaks

Tw: Bullying

To Dipper, weekends weren't all too different from the normal week. Being Ford's apprentice meant his days were filled with anamolies, adventures, and mysteries. Unlike kids who were in normal school, Dipper had to be ready for a quest at any time - should something come up.

However, this week had been particularly slow in adventures. With nothing else to occupy his time, he was placed on register in the Mystery Shack for the weekend. Nothing too bad. He could handle it!

So when the next tour bus pulled up he didn't think anything of it. Just another group of people he had to con. No problem!

Dipper raised the prices and got ready to convince people these "monsters" were real monsters. Though Stan's displays didn't began to compare to the types of cryptics Ford and himself faced, Dipper had a knack for these types of scams. Most likely inherited from Stan himself.

"Ugh, I can't believe our parents actually signed us up for a tour," a feminine voice whined. Dipper's heart almost stopped. That voice sounded so familiar.

"Pfft- I know right," a masculine voice agreed. Thoughts raced in Dipper's mind. It couldn't be who he thought it was. "Of course, we had to stop at the weirdo shop."

Dipper watched in distress as the two figures came into view. It was them. It really was them. It was Nathan and Natalie.

Dipper could hear Natalie laughing, "Say that again!"

"Stop at the weirdo shop," The two laughed. Thankfully for Dipper, the two hadn't noticed him yet.

Nathan and Natalie were twins who held this odd grudge against Dipper. He didn't remember how or why it started, but the two would target him constantly. They would use anything and everything to get under his skin. Though that wasn't the worst part. The duo would strike when no one was looking and many people didn't believe him when he said they were bullying him. Natalie even went as far as to become friends with Mabel, so even she was none the wiser.

This would be a good time for those bullies to strike too. Wendy was skipping work, Soos was with Stanley on an "important scam artist misson," and Ford was working in the basement. Dipper took a deep breath as the two entered the main part of the shop. He just had to survive past this.

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack!" Dipper greeted with fake enthusiasm, "Anything I can get you? Snowglobes? Key-chains? Rare photos of American presidents?"

The two starred at him, then burst out laughing. "This is where dipshit ended up?" Natalie giggled.

"I told you it was a weirdo shop Nat, even weirdos work here!" Nathan exclaimed. "I guess the rumors were true!"

Dipper paused, "Wh-what rumors?"

"The rumors you abandoned your family for some "magical forest,'" Nathan started.

"That you were too violent and had to be sent away from society. What is this, a punishment camp?" Natalie sneered.

Nathan giggled, "No, no- he's on display with all the other freaks. Isn't that right-" a hand swatted away Dipper's hat so his birthmark was on display, "-starboy."

Dipper tried to grab his hat back, but Nathan's arm held it right above his reach, "Dipstick is too short for this. But it's cute to see him try,"

"Hey everyone!" Natalie called out, "Check out the freak! Born with a horrific birthmark on display for the world to see!"

Nathan smirked, "Maybe I can fix his little problem." Dipper did not like the sound of his tone. He backed away from Nathan only to be held in place by Natalie. Dipper was forced to look Nathan straight in the eyes when the bully struck a punch. This caused tears to well up in Dipper's eyes. The twins' reaction to this was laughter.

"Awww, look at him. Is the little Dipper gonna cry?" Nathan cooed in a mocking tone. Before Dipper could regain his composure, Nathan and Natalie took turns hitting and punching him. This caused his nose to bleed.

By this point, Dipper had surrendered to sitting on the floor. Tears made their way down his cheeks, no matter how much he tried to stop them.

Nathan started a mock speech as he did his best to humiliate Dipper even futher. "Come one, come all. Come see the freak starboy-"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" A voice boomed. It seemed like everything froze except Dipper's small blubbering.

"Well, sir, we can explain-" Natalie started, but was cut off rather quickly.

"The Mystery Shack is now closed!" Ford yelled. Nathan and Natalie started to make their way to the exit before Ford stopped them.

"You two!"

The twins froze.

"If I ever see you hurt anyone like that again you'll be sorry. I'm an interdimensional criminal and I know how to cover my tracks. Understood?"

Both twins nodded before running out of the Mystery Shack. Ford sighed. He would never understand how anyone could be so mean.

Ford made his way back to his brilliant nephew. The poor boy beaten up and cap missing. Dipper hadn't moved from his spot since Ford stopped the scene.

"Dipper?" Ford questioned. Dipper looked up at him. His nose was still bleeding and Ford noticed his eye was starting to swell up. 

"Come on, my boy. Let's get you cleaned up, hm?" Dipper nodded at Ford's rhetorical question as the man helped him up onto his feet.

Ford led Dipper to the kitchen where he grabbed the boy ice for his soon to be swollen eye. The man frowned when he realized tears were still forming in Dipper's eyes.

"Dipper?"

"'M sorry-" the boy mumbled out.

"You don't have anything to apologize for." Ford grabbed the boy a Pitt Cola and slid it over to him. "Bullies from California?" He wondered. Dipper sighed and nodded.

"Have you told your parents about them?"

"No... they only strike when no one is looking, so no one believes me when I tell them." He took a sip of his soda. "With everyone but me gone..." Dipper trailed off. "I'm so pathetic... I should've stood up for myself or fought back or... something. Maybe I really am a freak-"

"Hey," Ford tipped Dipper's chin up as Dipper averted his eyes away. "Dip, look at me." The boy hesitantly made eye contact. Ford smiled sadly.

"It's not like you're the only one who has to deal with tormenting like that. I'm not exactly normal either-" Ford smiled and showed off his six-fingered hands.

"So... how do I get them to stop? I'm tired of always being the one picked on!"

Ford sighed, "I know Stanley would tell you to fight back. I'm going to tell you this: if you're being bullied let me know. I'll handle it!"

"Are you sure?" Dipper questioned.

"I'm very passionate about this topic, my boy. Especially when they're targeting birth oddities, such as your birthmark. Trust me," Ford's tone moved from comforting to suspenseful, "I'll take care of it!"

Dipper knew this meant Ford would probably threaten bullies with some of his sci-fi tech, but he didn't say anything against it. Instead, Dipper continued to sip on his soda as he listened to Ford.