Gravity Rises (S1)

MM: Part Four

Dipper tore down the stairs, pulling a t-shirt over his warmer, long-sleeved one. "Grunkle Ford! Grunkle Ford, have you seen Mabel?"

Ford stuck a finger in his ear, wincing at Dipper's loud voice. "No, I haven't seen her all morning. Which means I need you to—"

"Sorry, Grunkle Ford, but I gotta go find Mabel — see ya later, bye!" Dipper ran out the door and slammed it behind him before Ford could stop him. Thumping his way down the porch steps, he ran from the Mystery Museum into the town of Gravity Rises.

"Mabel's probably in the woods somewhere," he said to himself. "But it's easier to start around town, right? Gah, I shouldn't have let her just run off like that." She'd been gone for at least an hour.

Dipper shivered and quickened his pace. Why did it have to be so dang cold in this town? He liked playing in the snow, but in this weather it was no fun being a kid who always wore shorts. He ran down the mostly empty streets, scanning for Mabel.

A flash of movement caught the corner of his eye. Dipper skidded to a stop and backtracked a couple steps, turning to the source of the motion. Then he gasped loudly. A boy about Dipper's age was sitting in a tiny alley between two buildings — and there was a lizard on his shoulder.

A smaller girl sat next to the boy; the pair jumped at Dipper's loud gasp and turned to look at him. "Uh, hi," the boy said. His voice was surprisingly deep.

"Hi!" Dipper said. "Is that a pet lizard?"

The boy grinned. "Yep. His name's Fred." His face fell a bit. "I really should be getting him home, but. . ."

"But what?" Dipper asked.

"None of your business!" the girl exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Compared to Dipper she was small; compared to her friend she was tiny.

"Hey, Candy, chill," the boy told her. "He's just asking." He got to his feet as well, brushing dirt off his pants. "I'm Greyson," he said, extending a hand to shake Dipper's.

Dipper gave him a fist bump instead. "Dipper Pines! I get my name from my birthmark, look!" He lifted up his bangs to show the Big Dipper birthmark that sat proudly on his forehead.

"Woah, cool!" Greyson said. His deep voice resonated in a way that a tween boy's shouldn't be able to, but his larger girth seemed to be partly responsible. "I wish I had a cool name like that. Candy goes by Candy because—"

"He doesn't need to know that!" Candy yelped. Her eyebrows drew together. "Dipper isn't actually your name, is it?"

Dipper shrugged. "Well, no. It's a nickname. But it's a cool one, isn't it?" He grinned at Candy.

She didn't seem impressed.

"Sure," she said. "Well, I think — get down!"

Next thing he knew, Dipper was pulled into the alleyway by a tiny girl with deceptive strength. He tumbled past her, landed in the dust with a small moan. Candy leapt over him to get deeper into the alley while Greyson crouched next to him, shooting him a sympathetic look.

"What—?"

Greyson clapped a hand over Dipper's mouth, shaking his head. Dipper pushed the hand away and gave the boy a confused look.

"I thought I saw something, over here," a voice said from the street. Dipper could hear footsteps growing closer. He opened his mouth to whisper something, but he was once again cut off by Candy giving him a threatening glare.

"Where are you hiding, freaks?" a different voice said. Well, Dipper thought, that wasn't very nice. Was the voice talking to Candy and Greyson?