Gravity Falls REBORN

Return From The Upside Down (But Not Really)

Yes the title is a nod to Stranger Things XD 

No, I do not watch it but everyone else I know is crazy about it.

It's dark. The only source of light is the luminous glow of blue from the giant portal in the next room over. No one speaks a word, not even a sound erupts from anyone's mouth, as they slowly inspect little things strewn about the lab floor. I just now notice how shaky my body is. My hands shiver and my knees wobble. 'Why, though? I know what's gonna happen, so why do I feel so...anxious?'

Dipper looks around suspiciously and almost angrily. Mabel tries to calm him down with rationalizing. I look down and see a picture frame faced down onto the cement ground. I bend down, pick it up and turn it over. It's a photo of Mabel and Dipper, like the one in the show, but I'm in there as well. We're all smiling. 'I don't remember this being taken...' 

Mabel sees the picture and takes it, smiling sadly and waving it to Dipper."It's still Stan, and he loves us. And we love him. Right?" She looks to me for the answer.

"Guys, I shouldn't be the one to tell you about this, you need to figure it out yourself," I say. Dipper looks away while Mabel frowns and Soos looks confused. "Just," I sigh deeply, "just trust Stan, okay?"

"Y-yeah, we will. Thanks Macie." Dipper nods and walks over to the main desk. "Wh-what!?" he shouts, taken aback. "It can't be... it's impossible. The other two journals? All this time... all this time, Stan had them?! I can't believe it! Was anything he said to us real?!" he yells, kicking the desk. Then he turns to me and points at my face. I throw my hands up defensively. "Macie! You- you knew, you knew he had them! And- and copied mine! Why- why didn't you say something!"

I don't speak, only look around nervously. Everyone is staring at me, but thankfully Soos comes to my rescue. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chill little dude. How could Macie have known about this?" Soos blocks Dipper from jumping me.

"Soos..." Mabel speaks up, "We should talk... Later though..." she tells him quietly. He nods apprehensively. 

"Macie. Why?" Dipper sounds defeated.

"I-I-I-I-I'm sorry!" I cry, "I didn't want to ruin everything, this is how it's suppose to go! The show goes like this!" I shake.

"Yeah, but it's not just the show anymore, is it? You're here and things are different! You should have told us! I don't know if we can trust Stan, given what we've seen, what he's lied to us about. How do we know if we can even trust YOU?" Tears prick the corner of the boy's eyes.

"Dipper! Calm down you're upsetting her!" Mabel yells on top of his voice.

"Y-yeah, maybe he's the author?" the handyman tells us his theory. Dipper only gets angrier.

"Or maybe he stole them from the author! Maybe the reason he has all those fake IDs is because he is a master criminal, and this machine is his master plan! But we wouldn't know because someone didn't tell us this key detail!" He glares at me.

"Dipper- look, please just listen!" I stay in my place stiffly, "Stan isn't doing anything bad! You have to trust me on this one. I know this is hard, but all will be explained! This morning, he-Stan was going to explain, but chickened out. I ran up to him and tried to get him to explain sooner so this wouldn't happen! Okay? I tried, I tried my hardest but I just can't do anything right!" I don't notice my voice cracking. "I didn't want this to happen, I wanted to keep you and Mabel happy and safe, but I couldn't even do that!" My nails dig deep into my palms from clenching my fists too hard.

I start hyperventilating. Mabel grabs my shoulders and tries to get me to look into her face, but I refuse so she panics. "Dipper! She's having a panic attack!" To me, her voice sounds like I'm underwater and she's not. The only thing I can feel at the moment is the pain in my sides, the nausea in my stomach and my whole body shivering. I can hear shouting, but it sounds distant.