Journey Back to Amphibia

Chapter 5: Road Trip

"I gotta admit, Anne. Oregon is probably the most random place to take a road trip to," Sasha said.

"Yeah, I know. But Gravity Falls is a tourist attraction," she offered as she kept her eyes on the road. Sasha was in the passenger seat next to her and Marcy was riding in the back looking at something on her phone.

"Either way, glad I had some vacation days and they actually let me take them on such a short notice. Once in a lifetime deal there," Sasha chuckled.

"Magical?"

"Hmm?" Anne raised a brow when she heard Marcy in the back seat.

"Oh, sorry. I was looking up a review on Gravity Falls. It's rumored to be magical and have other worldly happenings to be a frequent regular," Marcy said.

"Oh, really?" Anne had a nervous grin pasted to her face, not realizing it was even there.

Sasha looked back at Marcy the back at Anne. "So how long are you going to pretend that this is a normal road trip?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Anne, really?" Sasha crossed her arms. "We've known you your whole life. You don't think we don't know when you're hiding something let alone lying about it?" She looked forward at the road. "For the record, we trust you and will be with you all the way, but does this have anything to do with Amphibia?"

"Wow. You guys are really good," Anne couldn't hide her surprise.

"And you weren't gonna tell us?" Marcy asked.

"I was. I just didn't want to get your hopes up. I'm running on very flimsy information and if I was wrong, well, then you two would have just had a fun vacation," Anne explained.

"That's really sweet, Anne," Sasha said. "But you can always tell us when you think you might have found something. False hope or not, we don't want you to be hurting if it doesn't work and we won't know why."

"Thanks guys. That... That means a lot to me. So, the Mystery Shack. It's located in Gravity Falls. In the summer of 2012, there was said that the owner had created a portal to another world. Of course the article believed it was all a sham."

"But after spending a year in Amphibia, it's more plausible that it actually happened," Sasha said.

"Right." Anne nodded.

"The Mystery Shack is currently run by a pair of twins," Marcy said. "They took over it a couple years back, so it's possible that we might need to go on a bit of a chase to find the previous owner who would be the one who made the portal."

"It shouldn't be too hard. The twins who took over are close relatives of the original owner, so they will either know where he is, or if the rumor is true or not," Anne explained.

"Oh, well, that does make things easier," Marcy admitted. "Now we just gotta wait until we get there."

"Yep."

By the time they reached the Mystery Shack, the girls had switched drivers multiple times. Marcy was the one to pull up at their destination with Sasha sleeping in the back and Anne snoring in the passenger seat.

"Whoo hoo! We're here!" Marcy threw her fists up in the air with excitement.

"Gah!" Anne jolted awake with a gasp, while Sasha jumped up. She automatically picked up one of Anne's heels that were randomly in the back seat and positioned it to attack against a potential threat.

"Whoops, sorry," Marcy blushed. Then she gestured out the windshield. "We have arrived!" She made a trumpet slash kazoo sound with her mouth.

Sasha let out a deep breath and slumped in the back seat. "Gosh darn it, Marcy..."

Anne swung open the passenger door. "Come on, guys! Time to get some answers."

"Yes!" Marcy basically jumped out of the car with excitement.

Sasha groggily got out, accidentally closing the door on her skirt. She let out a loud groan and freed herself from the door.

"Maybe we should have picked up coffee for Sasha on the way," Anne said.

"Yeah, probably would have been a good idea," Marcy agreed.

The three of them entered the Mystery Shack, a bell ringing upon their entrance.

"Oh, it's like a little gift shop!" Marcy set her hands on her knees and bent down to look at some of the merch. "Oh! These are cool!" She pointed to the golden triangle keychains with an eye in the center.

"Yeah... They're overpriced," Sasha retorted.

"It's real gold," Marcy said.

"Oh. Nevermind."

Anne walked to the counter. "Excuse me."

A woman's head popped up from behind the counter. "Oh! Hi!"

"Hi, I'm looking for the owners of the Mystery Shack."

"Oh, well, you're looking right at her," the woman beamed as she leaned her elbow against the counter. "Mabel Pines. Although, I kinda share this with my brother, I'm the one who technically runs this place. What can I help you with."

"There's something we need to know about," Anne began. The other two waved behind her to indicate they were a group. "You see, I found this old article about the Mystery Shack and that the previous owner made a portal to another world. Is that true?"

Mabel paused, the smile fading from her face. "Why. Why do you want to know?"

"So it's true?" Sasha said. "He made a working portal?"

"How did he have enough energy without Calamity Stones?" Marcy inquired.

"Calamity Stones?" Mabel raised a brow.

"Sorry, let me explain myself. I'm Anne Boonchuy. This is Marcy Wu and Sasha Waybright. When we were thirteen, we had been warped to another world called Amphibia through a music box holding three Calamity Stones. Ever heard of Frog-vasion? We were the three girls."

Mabel's eyes grew wide. "That was you three?"

"Yes, and we were hoping if we could somehow make a portal to at least visit Amphibia," Marcy explained.

"Uh... I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Why not?" Sasha asked.

"You know, why don't I just call Dipper to explain. He's better at giving the answers," Mabel said.