Journey Back to Amphibia

Chapter 6: Mystery Shack

Mabel had left them in the front area while she went to the back to talk to her twin.  The girls browsed around to occupy themselves while they waited for a reply.

"Is anybody getting the sense of deja vu like we've been here before?" Anne asked suddenly.

"Mmmm, nope! Can't say I do," Marcy said as she picked up a plushie from one of the shelves.

"To be honest, I think I would remember a place like this if I have been here before, so I'm gonna say no," Sasha said.

"Yeah, guess you're right," Anne agreed.  "Probably just my imagination playing with me."

The bell rang, indicating that there was a new customer.  Anne looked up, only to gasp upon seeing who had arrived.  It was a man holding a pink can of some type of soda.  "Pons!" She pointed a finger at him.

"Huh?"

"Anne, what are you doing?" Sasha pushed her friend's arm down

"Omg, no way!" Anne cried. "He looks just like that frog dude in the Curiosity Hut back in Amphibia! Wait... Do we all have frog counter parts?" Anne looked at her hands, her eyes round.  "It all makes sense now!"

"Woah, ok, girl," Sasha said, patting her shoulder.  "Calm down."

"Uhh..." The old man looked to the side as if thinking.  "I feel like I'm missing someone... Meh."

"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel came back into the main area.  She grinned, waving.  "Oh, you came early.  Hey, guys, my brother will be right up in a minute.  He's currently working on something in the basement."

"Cool beans," Anne said with a thumbs up.

"Oh, my gosh, there are so many triangle things with eyeballs.  Are they something significant here?" Marcy asked.

"Uhhhh... Something you might also wanna ask Dipper-"

"Oh my gosh, is that a unicorn!" Marcy pointed at the plushie.

"Sometimes, I swear, she's five again," Sasha chuckled but pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, you sell Zelda merch here too?  This place is so cool! Uh-oh-" Marcy stepped back, tripping over merch that had fallen to the floor.

"Alright, Mabel.  Who did you want me to meet?" Dipper came into the gift shop as Marcy came crashing down with an entire shelf.

"Marcy!" Anne cried.

"Please tell me I didn't break something," Marcy pleaded.

"You literally just shattered all the globes." Sasha had a hand over mouth, not certain how to react.

"Nooooo..." Marcy covered her eyes with the palms of her hands as she laid there on the floor.  "I can pay for that."

"Are you ok?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah." Marcy carefully stood up with the help of Anne and Sasha pulling her up.  "So, sorry about that."

"Meh." Mable waved her hand.  "Dipper does that all the time actually."

Dipper cleared his throat.

"Oh, hey, Dipper." Mable grinned and waved at him.

"I'll come back later..." Grunkle Stan swung the door shut, leaving the scene.

"Don't mind the mess." Marcy gave a nervous chuckle slightly waving her hands over the broken shelf and snow globes.

"Dipper, this is Anne, Sasha and Marcy.  They're-"

"We're here to ask if you know how to make a portal to another dimension," Anne blurted out.  "Specifically one with talking frogs."

"Talking frogs? Huh, that's a new one.  I think... Honestly, at this point, it's not that weird," Dipper muttered to himself.  "Why that specifically though?"

"Ever heard of Frog-vasion?"

"Yes."

"Well, a year before that there was a magical music box that warped us to Amphibia and,  well, long story short, we're trying to find a way back.  Even for a short visit."

"So you want to make a portal?"

"Yeah, I mean, how hard can it be.  I have a friend who's done it before.  Except, this time I don't have blue anime powers to charge the portal.  But the previous owner successfully made a working portal without the Calamity Box," Anne said.  "Do you think he or someone could recreate it?"

"Of course someone could recreate it," Dipper said.

"Really?" Anne gasped.

"But I refuse to," he finished.

"What?" The three girls said in unison.  "Why?"

"Because, the creation of the portal almost caused the ending of all existence.  We literally had an apocalypse in this place and everything and everyone I loved almost died.  Even if Amphibia is full of wonderful memories, I cannot be the person to send you back," Dipper explained.

"But maybe you could tell us how?" Anne asked.

"I honestly don't know." Dipper shrugged.  "Here, why don't you guys just come with me."

The three girls looked at each other and shrugged in unison.  Then they followed him to the basement or lab.  They quickly found out that it was a lab.

"Woah..." Anne said as she looked around.

"This is where the portal was originally made," Dipper began.  "My Great Uncle Ford was the one who created it, but he had help from a friend, who quit when he saw what was on the other side of the portal.  Long story short, my Great Uncle got trapped in that dimension for years.  Flash forward to summer of 2012 when Mable and I came over the summer.  The world almost ended that summer because this portal was made.  I decided that I was not going to tamper with portals.  It tore my family apart and I did make a promise to Mable that I wouldn't.  She doesn't really like talking about the portals.  Says it takes the magic from the rainbows away, which I think I know what that's supposed to mean."

"That's understandable.  At first, when we warped to Amphibia, it tore us apart," Marcy said.  She looked absently at the strange creations laying about.

Sasha set a hand on Marcy's shoulder and looked at Dipper.  "Then do you think there could be another way."

He shrugged.  "I'm not sure.  But, I'm willing to help find another way.  After all, if you're going to find anything like that, Gravity Falls is probably the best place to start."

"We couldn't ask you to do that-" Marcy began.

"Nah, it's kinda my thing." He picked up a stack of two books that were light blue and white.  There was a silver tree in the center with either the number one or two on it.  "These are two journals I finished on what I know.  I'm currently working on the third.  That said, I don't want them out of the shack, so as long as you're in town, you can stop by and look at them."

Marcy's eyes went wide as she opened the first one. "Wait, really? Oh, my gosh!  Wait, gnomes are real?  I mean, wait, why does that surprise me? I spent a year of my life with scholar newts, talking frogs and warrior toads.  Nothing should phase me at this point, but oh my gosh!  Ahhh!  This is so exciting!"

Dipper blinked, slightly taken aback as Marcy only continued to ramble and gush over the journals and the research.  Anne laughed.  "This is kinda her thing.  She does this a lot."