Gravity Rises (S2)

GL: Part Two

Mabel Pines crept down wooden stairs illuminated by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. She was overwhelmed with confusion and fear; she half expected some horror movie monster to jump out of nowhere and eat her. She clung to her twin brother's arm as the two descended.

"You said Ford came down here?" Mabel asked. Her brother Dipper nodded. He had woken her up in the middle of the night claiming he had seen their great uncle, Stanford Pines, come through this secret passageway. Sneaking down to the gift shop of Ford's business, the Mystery Museum, they had discovered the vending machine was a door hiding a mysterious staircase leading underground.

The staircase Mabel was now descending.

"Yeah," Dipper said. "He was moving weird, too. Like he was sleepwalking. Or zombified." He said this last part in an ominous voice.

Mabel nudged him in the side. "Quit it. This is too creepy for zombie jokes."

They reached the bottom of the stairs. Mabel's bare foot scuffed against the rough wood, driving a sliver into her heel. She hissed, bending down to pull it out. She should've at least thought to put on socks, like Dipper.

"Mabes, look," Dipper said.

They were in a small, bare room at the base of the stairs. Old wooden supports jutted out from bare rock on two sides, with rusty metal pipes lacing the top of the walls. In front of them, opposite the stairs, a brick wall displayed cobwebs, grime, and an elevator set into its mortar.

"Do — do you think Grunkle Ford went down there?" Mabel asked. Her voice echoed dully around the small room.

"Looks like it," Dipper replied, taking a step toward the elevator.

"W-wait!" Mabel grabbed his arm. "That thing looks really old. What if we can't even get inside?"

"We might as well try."

"What if it breaks down while we're in it and we're trapped in there forever like The Twilight Region? We can't go in there!"

"Mabes—"

"But then what if Ford is hurt down there? O-or what if he's doing something secret and would get angry at us for following him? I just barely got on his good side again, Dip, I can't make him mad again! B-but he could be hurt o-or need our help o-or—"

"Mabes!"

She stopped and looked at him.

"Mabel," Dipper said slowly, "we're going into that elevator."

"Of course we are," Mabel said, "but—"

"Then why are you freaking out about it?" Dipper demanded.

"Because I have to freak out about it!" She stomped across the room over to the elevator and reached for the doors. Then she shied back, staring up at the imposing metal doors.

She heard Dipper's muffled footsteps behind her after a few moments. "You done?"

Mabel took a deep breath, nodded, and braced her hands on the elevator doors.

It took the twins a minute or two to force the doors open. With one on each side, pulling apart from the tiny space in the middle, they managed to slide the doors open enough to slip through. As she turned to go sideways through the opening, Mabel noticed a keypad to the side of the elevator, and felt a sudden relief at not having to guess a code to open it.

Once both twins were in the elevator, it rumbled, and the doors closed again. Mabel instinctively linked her arm through Dipper's, watching anxiously as metal confines enclosed them in total darkness. She wasn't claustrophobic or anything; in fact, she liked small spaces. She didn't like old abandoned elevators that may or may not plunge her to her doom.