Arcade {Gravity Falls}

Arcade

"We're here!" Mabel exclaimed, practically pushing Dipper inside the door. Dipper looked up at his local arcade and gave a half smile. The arcade was one of his favorite places in Piedmont, but-

"I'm sorry Mabel, I just, don't feel like playing games today," Dipper sighed out. "I'm kind of tired. I want to go home," he explained. School had worn Dipper out, and he was anxious to go home for spring break.

Mabel pouted, "You're no fun!" She exclaimed, "I already signed you up for an escape room!" She explained.

Dipper was shocked, "Mabel, at least one person has to be eighteen to do an escape room! We're thirteen!"

But before he could protest more, Mabel was pushing him towards a bunker themed escape room.

The administrator looked up, "Ah. Is this Dipper Pines?"

"Yes he is!" Mabel answered for him.

"I'll take you inside!" She explained, leading him in.

The room looked very similar to a real bunker, but with extra locks and keys. A hooded figure who wore mittens stood in the corner. The administrator explained the rules, and where to start, along with some extra information before leaving the room.

Dipper looked at the other person. They didn't move. "I-uh... guess I'll look at the... the fridge where she said to start..." Dipper sighed, looking at the hint.

The figure nodded, before speaking, "That sounds like it would be the best course of action."

Dipper thought for a moment. That voice sounded so familiar. He shrugged this off a couple seconds later. His hood was probably muffling his voice. Still...

Dipper read the first hint and was quick to figure it out. It unlocked the clue to their next hint.

The two worked surprisingly well. Dipper wasn't even able to see this person's face, and the other person might've looked down on him because he was a child. However, this didn't interfere at all.

In fact, this made Dipper smile. He brought it up when they were about 75% done with the room, "Hey, thanks for listening to me, even though I'm just a kid. It means a lot. A lot of adults think I'm just a joke because I'm too young to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he replied. "Adults should give kids and teenagers more credit. They often know more about what's going on than we realize," he stated.

Dipper smiled, "Yeah. I wish more adults respected me. But, at least one person does," he smiled.

They were able to finish the escape room a few minutes later. As they exited the room, a question formed in Dipper's head.

"Hey, um, sir," Dipper went up to the mysterious man, "Um... why are you at the arcade exactly? I don't mean to be rude, but usually people do escape rooms with friends. I'm only here because my sister dragged me," he explained.

The hooded figure chuckled, "Surprise party for my great nephew," he explained.

Dipper nodded, "Ah! How old is he turning?"

"No, it's not his birthday," he explained, "His friends and family just wanted to do something special for him. Show him how much we appreciate him, y'know?"

Dipper nodded, "Wow. He's really lucky to have such caring friends and family."

"Well, we're all really lucky to have him as our family!" The man replied.

After that small interaction the two split up. Mystery man headed in the direction of the party while Dipper went to go find Mabel. All of a sudden, frantic shuffling was heard and mystery man had returned.