Vacationing (Gravity Falls and Invader Zim Fanfic)

Leaving Unannounced

Two days to go.

Until what? Dib didn't know. His father had been building it up for days now. "June 30th, son! That's when we go!" And that's it. No further exposition ever comes. But it never really had to--Dib had an extremely vague idea of what would happen on June 30th, the first Saturday after the last day of school.

But June 28th, the day they were on, wasn't exactly the happiest day ever for Dib.

For one, Zim was missing.

The alien was nowhere to be found. He wasn't in school, at his house, or even in his base. Dib checked. Multiple times. Although he seemed to really be the only one that noticed--everyone else was preoccupied with teasing him mercilessly. But, if it was even possible, that wasn't the worst part of June 28th.

"You all are getting pen pals today," Ms. Bitters hissed. "So you can share your miserable lives with others. Your miserable, miserable, miserable..."

"Pen pals?!" Dib objected. "Enough people make fun of me now, thanks."

"You'll write and you'll like it," She answered. "Everyone take a card. That will be who you write to."

Dib took a card and reluctantly passed the stack back. "Mason 'Dipper' Pines - 618 Gopher Road, Gravity Falls, Oregon". Gravity Falls? He thought, trying to figure out whether or not that was a real place. Punny, sure, but... Really?

He shook his head and took the paper accompanied with the card. He wrote:

Dipper,

My name is Dib Membrane.

And that was it. What else is there that won't get me teased? Dib thought, resting his cheek on his hand. Oh whatever. I don't even know the guy--maybe he likes this sort of stuff. He continued to write:

I like paranormal investigation. Not that you would care--the entire school views it as a joke. It's science! Even my dad doesn't think that it's "real science". My sister, Gaz, is my sidekick. There's this kid named Zim at my school

He stopped immediately, shaking his head and erasing the last sentence.

Write me back soon, I've got a lot to talk about if you're interested.

-Dib

He addressed the envelope and gave it back to Ms. Bitters as the bell rang.

~~~~~

The next day, on the last day of school, he got a letter back.

Dib,

Paranormal investigation? Why would you be made fun of for that? You should see some of the things I've seen in Gravity Falls. Gnomes, clones, wax figures that came alive... It's pretty insane. I have a feeling your dad and my great uncle aren't too different--he doesn't believe in anything. Hasn't your school let out yet? Ours let out a week ago. I'm actually at Gravity Falls for the summer. As long as you can write, I'd like to hear some of the stuff you've seen.

-Dipper

Dib read the paper over and over, hardly believing what he was seeing. He picked up the pen to write back, but the bell rang to leave.

On his way home, he checked Zim's base again. Still, no one was there. A spider had spun a web on his door. "Where could he be?" Dib muttered. He shook his head and carried on home, where his father was waiting with Gaz at the door.

"Son, get packed!" Professor Membrane grinned. "You and your sister are going away for the summer!"

"WHAT?!" Dib shrieked.

"I must go the entire summer to California to research more SCIENCE!" Professor Membrane lifted Dib and Gaz up onto his shoulders. "I don't want you two to be lonely while I'm away!"

"But Dad, you leave every other month. Why exactly is this month different?" Dib pleaded. "And I need to find Zim! Who knows where he is or what he's plotting in that evil alien mind of his!"

"Dib, just pack. The sooner you pack, the sooner we get on the bus so I can finally beat Dungeon Piggies XXX, the hardest Dungeon Piggies game yet! And you better not bug me on the way, Dib," Gaz growled, not even looking up from her game.

Dib sighed and nodded as his father put him back down on the ground. "Good! The bus gets here in ten minutes. Move quickly!"

Dib ran up to his room, in a horrible mood, and stuffed clothes into his backpack with his summer homework and laptop. As a side thought, he grabbed his camera and a case of pictures and ran out the door in time to greet the bus. Gaz was already on somehow and before Dib knew it, he was hugging his father and looking out the window as he was on his way.

Without any knowing of where he was going, he was on his way.

(This is a little shorter than I plan for the other chapters to be--I just wanted the opener to be a little more condensed.)

(Also... A sequel franchise to Vampire Piggy Hunter? O.O)