Chapter Text
No One's P.O.V
Dipper felt the warm June sunlight hit his face as he got out of the bus. The first thing he laid eyes on was his favorite place, the Mystery Shack.
“Come on bro bro!” Mabel called as she ran up and hugged the Grunkles. Dipper trailed behind, taking in all the views. He saw a gnome run off into the woods and instantly felt back at home, surrounded by magical creatures.
When Dipper finally made it inside, his family had already settled down into chairs. Mabel was licking a popsicle, pink juice dribbling down her cheek; one for him was nowhere to be found. He shrugged off the bitterness as he plopped down into one of the comfy arm chairs. The air conditioned breeze felt nice compared to the hot and sweaty outside.
An uncomfortable silence took over the room, the only sounds coming from Mable’s obnoxious popsicle sucking, and Grunkle Stan’s ragged breathing. He was an avid smoker, and due to the many packs consumed over the years, his breathing was not that great (at best).
Uncle Ford was the first to break the silence. “Dipper, Mabel we need to talk; something bad has happened!” Dipper snapped back into focus as he stared at Ford’s anxious face. Something was definitely up.
“What's happened?” Dipper asked, concerned.
“Yesterday I was investigating the forest and went to check on Bill Cipher’s statue,” Dipper fiddled with his hands, one of his many nervous habits. Ever since middle school, he had dealt with anxiety after he had started to be bullied by Brad Lennings and his goons. Even though it had been four years since they defeated the maniacal triangle, he still had flashbacks frequently of the horror that had happened that summer, just thinking about it made him shiver with discomfort.
“And the statue was gone, Bill had escaped!” Who knew one small sentence could evoke so much fear?
Mabel finally broke the silence. “Wait, if he’s a stone, how did he get out?” She said, even though it really sounded like “wa ihe aston ow did e geb pout?” due to the god damn cherry popsicle still in her mouth.
“I still need to further investigate,” Ford said, “I haven’t had time to look into it much, I’ve been swamped with other projects! Dipper you are going to be working with me on them.”
“Definitely!” Dipper replied, thrilled to be Grunkle Ford’s apprentice once more. He couldn’t shake off the thought in the back of his mind, that Ford didn’t even let him choose if he wanted to help.
“I need you all to be out on the lookout for him, he might try to make a deal with anyone and we should be ready for whatever!” Dipper hated Bill with a passion ever since that demon had possessed him. His antipathy for the vile triangle grew even more when he found out what Bill had done to Grunkle Ford.
“Okay enough with the downer stuff, let's go get some food!” Stan declared, marching out the door and into the blistering heat.
Dipper took in the sweet, coffee scented air as he stepped into Greasy's Diner! Everyone crowded into a booth and passed around the menus.
“Don’t order too much, we've still got the party with everyone this evening!” Mabel commented and then proceeded to get a triple sundae pancake! What a hypocrite. Dipper decided to get the chocolate chip pancakes and a cup of coffee.
He still couldn’t believe Bill had escaped! Four summers in a row had been normal (at least for Gravity Falls) with no Bill appearances. The first summer after Bill had almost taken over the world, he had visited the statue every single day to make sure he hadn’t escaped. While his visits to Bill’s stone prison had been less frequent over the past couple years, he still went there multiple times a week. He would read, draw, and journal, soaking in the precious alone time. He had to figure out how Bill broke free!
Dipper was excited to see Wendy and Soos again. Wendy was already nineteen and would probably be spending time with her new boyfriend Robby. They had decided to try at a relationship again and Dipper absolutely despised that. Robby was a complete imbecile. Soos was getting married to Melody this summer so he sadly wouldn’t be around much. Mabel would probably be spending time with Candy, Grenada, and Pacifica.
Dipper was excited because at the end of the summer he and Mabel would be turning seventeen! Only one more year until he was an adult, then highschool would be over! Maybe in college people wouldn't bully “nerds”.
“Yay, the food’s here!” Mabel screeched with more vigor than the average human could posses. She was full of even more energy than normal due to the gallon of Mabel Juice she had gulped down this morning. Everyone knew Mabel Juice was a mix of coffee and death.
“I’m starving,” Grunkle Stan grumbled as he dug into a pancake. Dipper should have been more hungry because all he had to eat that day was an apple, but his stomach was full of butterflies. Not the good kind of butterflies, but more like lunatic butterflies. To put in short terms he was scared because of that stupid dream demon.
Dipper slowly munched on his pancakes and half listened to the argument between Mabel and Grunkle Stan about Ducktective. It was mildly interesting. Grunkle Ford's thoughts seemed to be in a different place too. He was sipping coffee and looking out the window, probably trying to think of another way to defeat Bill.
“dipper, Dipper, DIPPER!” Mabel yelled, as she waved her hand in front of his face! “Bro bro do you want to watch Ducktective 1 or 2, choose 2 it's so much better because it has romance!”
“Ugh, no 1 is much better, the plot is terrible in the second!” Grunkle Stan argued. Dipper didn’t get how they could be discussing something so unimportant when a literal demon, who almost destroyed the world, was out on the loose.
“Guys I think it’s time to head back to the shack, we need to get ready for the party,” Grunkle Ford stated, interrupting the quarrel.
“Yay Party!” Mabel hollered, as she ran out into the late afternoon light, hopping into the car. Grunkle Ford paid for the food then headed out to the car also. Grunkle Stan was in the bathroom so it left just Dipper alone, standing right outside the diner. He knew this summer would be the craziest yet! He just had a feeling.