Vacationing (Gravity Falls and Invader Zim Fanfic)

Gravity Falls

"This isn't fair, Gaz!"

Dib sat with his arms crossed, looking away from the window to talk to Gaz who had been playing Dungeon Piggies XXX for the entire time. "With Zim gone or planning something, the entire world could be in jeopardy! Like that time he disappeared for... I'm not even sure how long!"

"Dib, shut up," Gaz didn't even look up. "I warned you about bugging me. And if I don't beat Dungeon Piggies XXX on this trip, I will release an onslaught of piggy-related nightmares on the world!"

He stopped momentarily, glancing out the window at the trees along the road. "Well, I better find him before he... Mind-controls cows or something."

The bus came to a screeching halt. The fourth stop, where their father told them to get off. Dib grabbed their things and got off (while Gaz only brought a backpack full of stuff).

The bus stop seemed pretty lonely--they were the only ones to get off. They were still in heavily forested land, and the dirt road they were on seemed to keep going forever. A single sign next to the stop pointed to where they were supposed to go.

The two were led down the road to a tiny shack with a ton of people swarmed around it with cameras. In giant wooden letters above it were the words "MYSTERY HACK".

"That seems like a scam," Dib frowned, stopping momentarily. Gaz kept walking and Dib ran to keep up.

The town they came upon looked tiny--a road led down rows of buildings. There were no cars--only people, young and old. Dib looked around, trying to find a hotel. His father had given him money to stay at a room for a few months--and that's exactly what he intended to do. Spending it any other way would have been beyond stupid.

"Gaz, do you see a hotel or something around here?" Dib asked, not seeing anything.

"No, Dib, and I don't really care where we stay as long as we do something apart from each other on this stupid trip," Gaz looked up from her game momentarily as she spoke and her eyes locked on an arcade. "Don't bother me, Dib. I'm going to the arcade."

"But Gaz-"

"I said, DON'T BOTHER ME!"

Dib sighed. "Perfect," He stomped his foot and looked around again. "Where would all of these tourists be staying if there were no hotels?"

Someone who was clearly in a hurry bumped into him, sending Dib spinning to the ground. Ugh, this day is going great. He thought, staying down and rubbing the new bruise on his knee. A hand appeared in front of him.

A girl, about his age, in a pink sweatshirt stood in front of him. She wore a smile aligned with braces as she held out her hand to help Dib up. "Thanks," Dib said quietly, taking the girl's hand.

"No problem. By the way, who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Dib."

"Mabel! Nice to meet you, Dib!" She grinned. "Where are you from? You don't look familiar..."

"I'm from the city," Dib cracked a little grin. (By the way, no. There is no official name for the city in Invader Zim. I checked. Although it's most likely somewhere between Detroit and Ohio. Do I put too much thought into these sort of things? The answer is yes.)

"Cool! Where are you staying?"

"No clue."

"Well, you have to stay somewhere!"

"Er..." He shrugged. "I can probably find a place. You're from around here, though, right?"

"Nope! I'm staying here over the summer with my Grunkle Stan and my brother," Mabel explained.

"Wait... Your Grunkle Stan?"

"Yeah! That's what we call him. He's our uncle."

"Where am I, exactly?"

"Gravity Falls! What, you didn't know where you are? That's kinda weird."

"Well, my dad just kind of dropped me and my sister off here, and-" Dib stopped abruptly, connecting the dots. "Does your brother have a pen pal?"

"Yeah... That's spooky. How'd you know that?"

"I'm his pen pal. Dipper, right?"

"Yup! That's him! Well, that's a stroke of luck that you'd come here, huh Dib? Come on! Don't you want to meet him in person?" Mabel grabbed his wrist that wasn't holding a suitcase and ran away, towards the road where he came.

"Whoa! Slow down, I still have my stuff!" Dib was half-laughing, half-shouting as he ran with Mabel. They slowed down and eventually stopped at the "Mystery Hack" building, which Dib now realized was supposed to read "Mystery Shack".

"You guys are staying here?" Dib asked, following Mabel in.

"Yeah! Grunkle Stan owns this place."

The inside of the shack was small, filled with items up for sale. Mostly t-shirts with question marks on them, hats, and various items that looked useless. All overpriced. "Dipper doesn't believe any of the stuff in here. Grunkle Stan makes most of it up, but the visitors don't know that."

Dib frowned and nodded. "Where's Dipper?"

The door labeled "Employees Only" that stood in front of them opened. A boy, same age as Mabel, stepped into the shop, nose in an old, leather book. The cover of said book only consisted of a golden six-fingered hand with the number three on the palm.

The boy himself wore a white and blue hat with a pine tree on the front, a navy blue vest, and an orange shirt. "Hey Dipper! Guess who I found?"

"Who?" He looked up.

Dib gave a small, shy smile. "Hi."

"This is Dib!" Mabel gestured to him. "Y'know, your pen pal! Now you two can be best friends in real life, too!"

"Really? Dib?" Dipper looked him over carefully and gave a wide smile. "H-Hey! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"My sister and I are staying the summer. I would've told you but I just learned about it myself like an hour ago," Dib shrugged. "But hey! I get to meet you in person!"

"Yeah! Come on, you have to tell me about the stuff you've seen!"

"I'd love to, but I don't exactly have a place to stay. And I need to find my sister."

"Alright; look around and meet me back here!" Dipper ushered him out with his stuff. "Hurry! I really want to hear this!"

Mabel was grinning at him. "What?" Dipper looked back.

"You found a new best friend! Come on, you know it!" Mabel poked him.

"What? Mabel, I barely know the guy! I don't even know if he's telling the truth!"

"I have a good feeling about this! You are going to get along great with him!"

Dipper grinned and shrugged. "Let's just see if anything he says is true first."