Gravity Rises: a Gravity Falls AU (On Indefinite Hiatus)

Prologue: Welcome to Gravity Rises: pt 1

So many trees.

Mabel Pines was staring out of the window of the bus as it rumbled along the road, her breath steaming up the window. Sure, they had plenty of trees back home in Piedmont, but here it was snow-coated pines as far as the eye could see. That was the second thing that crossed her mind.

The snow. She rarely saw snow, except for when she visited her cousins for the family reunion every fall, but she had never seen this much snow, all at one time. She would have been excited, but her stomach was tied up in knots.

Why?

She wasn't staying here with some well-known relative of hers, but instead, her reclusive great-uncle Stanford. "What would he be like?" She wondered. She was quite sure her parents had told her something about him, but being the daydreamer she was, hadn't heard a thing.

"Hey Mabel, how much longer? I'm bored!" A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Her twin brother, Dipper, was hanging upside-down on the bus seat beside her, his blue t-shirt sliding down slightly, and his messy brown hair flopping everywhere, revealing the Big Dipper birthmark on his forehead. It was his pride and joy, until people at school had started mocking him because of it. Now he hid it behind his bangs, but he still showed it to practically everyone he met. That kind of defeated the purpose of hiding it, but who was she to judge?

"We'll be there when we get there and no sooner, bro. And be careful, we're in a moving vehicle! What happens if you-" Thump. Mabel's suspicions were confirmed as Dipper slid off of the seat from an unexpected bump, banging his head hard against the floor.

"Oww!" He sat back on the seat, the right way this time, and reached up gingerly to feel for a bump on his head. As soon as he touched his scalp, the bus bounced again, making him accidentally jab his probably bruised head and hiss in pain.

"This is why you sit down the right way! You've already done that multiple times, why can't you be more careful?" Mabel scolded, eyeing the lump that was now visible on his head. Though it was mostly hidden by his hair, Mabel had become adept at locating injuries, due to the number of times she had to patch up her careless twin. She was practically his personal doctor, now that she thought about it.

"Mabel, can you get me the ice pack from your bag? It stings!" He said, sucking in a sharp breath as he accidentally poked the swollen lump again.

"Sorry, Dip, but it's probably best if you just tough this one out. This road is really bumpy, and I don't want the ice smacking against it. And stop trying to poke it! You're going to make it worse!" She said, pulling his hand away as he reached up to touch the bump yet again. Does he ever learn?

~~~~~~~

"Finally! We're almost there! Aren't you excited, Mabes?! A whole winter break away from home! No parents telling us what to do, new friends, tons of snow..." Dipper rattled on and on about how amazing their winter break was going to be.

Half an hour after the head-bumping incident, they had finally passed a sign that read: "Welcome to Gravity Rises, Home of the Biggest Rockies in the State!" As Mabel had predicted, the bump was almost gone, with no need for ice. The only way you could tell he had even gotten hurt was by his subconscious attempts to touch the spot where the injury was, which were quickly stopped by small tugs on his wrist.

They had done a little bit of bus-seat treasure hunting, which Dipper won with his find of three pesos and an Indian rupee. How the heck that got under there was a mystery, but it definitely beat the chewed gum and paper clip that Mabel found.

Even though she was temporarily distracted from her anxiety about great uncle Stanford by the game, afterwards the gut-twisting nervousness had returned with a vengeance. She was actually keeled over, with her head resting against the back of the seat in front of her. Dipper finally noticed, after realizing that Mabel wasn't even trying to respond to his excitement. His face fell, and he lightly shook her by the arm.

"Mabes? You okay? Should I get the bag?" He asked, concerned. Mabel had a history of carsickness, and it was a miracle she hadn't thrown up already, even with her car-bands. She responded with a quick shake of her head, tensing as a wave of nausea washed over her.

Uh oh. Fast as lightning, Dipper unzipped Mabel's backpack, whipped out a brown paper bag, and passed it to her. He turned away, expecting the worst. Moments later, he could hear her retching, his own stomach clenching at the sound. He slid across the aisle to the other seat in order to give Mabel some space. After about a minute, he turned back to her, relieved to find her finished with her, um, business.

"Uh, Mabel, are you okay? You've never hurled with your car-bands on before, it couldn't just be the bumpy road." She looked at Dipper for a second, then shifted her gaze back to her feet.

"I-I'm fine. Just nervous, I guess..." She mumbled.

"Aww, cheer up! Great-uncle Stanford is gonna be cool, I can tell. Aren't you even a bit excited about seeing all of his research?" Dipper tried.

"Huh?"

"Weren't you listening when mom and dad were telling us about him? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you weren't. He-"

"Hey! I'm not that bad of a listener!" Mabel interrupted.

"Actually, Mabel, you kind of are. Anyways, apparently he's some kind of important scientist dude who studies paranormal junk. He's even got a whole museum for showing off the cool stuff he finds!" Dipper continued, excitement clearly evident in his voice.

Mabel's face lit up, all nervousness gone. "Really bro? Oh, my gosh, this is AMAZING!!" She squealed. Mabel absolutely adored all things weird, even going on monster hunts with Dipper back in Piedmont. They hadn't really found anything, but it sure was fun trying.

"Hey! Keep it down back there!" The bus driver hollered. Mabel turned bright red, remembering that she was in public. Dipper giggled a little, earning him a playful shove from Mabel.

"What was that for?" He whined, feigning hurt. This time, it was Mabel's turn to laugh. However, the laughs were cut off as the bus driver slammed on the brakes, sending both kids into the back of the seat in front of them.

"Only stop in Gravity Rises! Anyone getting off?" The driver called. The twins got up and quickly grabbed their bags, with Mabel stumbling a bit from sitting down for so long. As they went to get off, she grabbed a tissue from her pocket, only now remembering that she hadn't wiped off her face. They expected to see someone waiting for them, but the bus stop was empty. The bus zoomed off into the distance as the two very cold twins hunkered down and waited.

A/N: How was it? I haven't written a story in so long, so I might be a bit rusty. Don't expect me to update often, because I will write when I feel like writing and ONLY when I feel like writing, so please don't ask me to update. If you have some constructive criticism for me, I would love that, and please tell me what you thought! And make sure you check out the fanfic that inspired this fanfic: Gravity Rises by BrightnessWings19