The Phantom Beast of the Forest

3

Summer. A word tied with thoughts of beaches, ice cream, fighting demons and preventing the apocalypse, etc. 

Well, scratch the last idea. That was just for a branch of the Pines family. To be more specific, twins Mabel and Dipper Pines, their best friends, and their Great Uncles. All of which had met and fought in a small Oregon town by the name of Gravity Falls in the year 2016. 

It was now 2017. Currently, Dipper and Mabel found themselves on the bus from Piedmont, California to their Great Uncle, or Grunkle for short, Stan's home. Dipper stared out the window of the bus, watching as a seemingly endless line of pines tree whizzed by him. Mabel had her eyes closed, listening to a song on her phone. Dipper grabbed his suitcase and walked out of the bus, following Mabel. 

"Thanks Greg. You planning on performing this year for the kids? They always love it." A raspy voice said. A man dressed in a suit wearing a red fez hat and eye-patch stood behind Dipper and Mabel. He hugged his great niece and nephew.

The bus driver smiled. It was a man with soft brown eyes, a kind smile, and extraordinarily neat hair. "Probably Stanley. I mean, last year was a weird case, you know what I mean?"

Stan chuckled. "Sure do. See you later Greg! Say hi to the kids for me!" He waved as the doors closed and Greg drove the bus away. Dipper and Mabel released themselves from their hug and smiled at their Grunkle. 

"Hey Grunkle Stan, where's Ford?" Dipper asked. It had been a year since he had last seen either of his Grunkles, and he knew that both of them had left to go on adventure around the world. It was obvious that they were back, but still a bit confusing as to why his other Grunkle wasn't there.  

"He's at the Mystery hack with Soos and Melody. We have a little something back there waiting for you two." He smiled and patted them on the backs. "Get in the car. We're going back to the shack."

-oOo-

When they got there, a surprise party was waiting for them. Wendy and Dipper exchanged back their iconic hats, Mabel was crushed by Candy and Grenda, and Waddles and Pacifica bonded over their love of pink. 

The party was a great success, reaching deep into the night all the way into the wee hours of the morning. Dipper and Mabel fell asleep in their beds upstairs, exhausted from the day of excitement that they had experienced.

Their dreams were not as pleasant as their welcoming committee in Gravity Falls.

-Dream-

"Woah! We're in a dream together! Yay!" Mabel laughed as she jumped into the air and floated around. Dipper tapped his foot, thinking. 

"Why are we both in a dream? Bill was defeated, right?"

"Stop worrying Dipdip! Just have fun!" Mabel grinned a metallic, slightly manic smile as she grabbed a nearby floating rock and chucked it at Dipper. It bounced harmlessly off of his translucent skin, but Dipper flinched and closed his eyes out of reflex nonetheless. When he recovered from the unwarranted attack, he saw a figure in the distance, somewhat humanoid and almost completely monochrome.

"Mabel, who's that?" He pointed to the figure, who seemed to be coming near.

Mabel swam through the air towards the creature. "It's okay, Dipper! It's just a weird looking boy!"

The "Weird looking boy" came into focus. He was indeed a boy, and also an odd one at that. He clothes was a black rubber jumpsuit with white trim, his hair and skin were as white as marble, and his eyes were glowstick green. He laughed good-heartedly. "I don't look that bad, do I?" He pretended to take out a mirror and check himself.