Teenage Heroism for Dummies {Gravity Falls Fanfiction}

Chapter 6

(Edited 2-7-20)

Stan led Dipper out to the front yard of the Shack if you could even call it a front yard. To be honest, it was just a dirt parking lot. And what was up with Mr. Mystery? He wasn't as... what's the word... heroic as Dipper had previously seen on the news channels and in newspapers.

"Okay kid," Stan said, turning around to face Dipper. "your power's plant manipulation, right?"

Dipper nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"Make me a chair," Stan instructed.

Dipper sighed and moved his hand to the left. The nearest pine tree didn't feel too strong. Dipper noticed that as he took control of the being's energy. Plants, trees, flowers, all of them were alive with energy and Dipper could feel it as if it was his own. He didn't feel it constantly; he had learned to shut it out whenever he was trying to concentrate. 

Dipper's conscience moved from limb to limb, trying to find the strongest of all of them. After only a second or so of searching, he found a particularly strong one that would be able to hold the elderly man up. No offense to Stan, of course.

Dipper twisted his fingers and the branch moved with them, curling and twisting towards Stan, setting roots in the ground so that the branch wouldn't break from being so far from its origin. The branch proceeded to curl up underneath Stan, creating some sort of stool. Looking satisfied, or something along the lines of that, Stan stan down on the stool with a humph.

"Not bad, kid," he commented. "Not the most comfortable stool in the world, but it works."

"Thanks," Dipper said, putting his arm down. The branch solidified in its position, the energy of Dipper's concentration no longer moving through and commanding it.

Stan looked behind him and frowned. "Can you make a back to this thing?" he asked, jabbing his thumb backward. Dipper shrugged and flicked his pointer finger up, causing a root to shoot up from the ground and make a back to the stool. "Much better. Hey, think we can put some arms on this chair? Maybe a footrest?"

Dipper just stared.

"No footrest then. Just the arms?" 

Dipper sighed and added some arms to the chair. 

"That works," Stan said. "Anyway, give me a basic rundown of what you know you can't do with your ability."

Dipper went down the list in his head. "I'm not able to create plants unless there's a seed with roots firmly planted in the ground or area," he started. "I also can't make things die. That's basically it."

Stan tapped his chin. "Any drawbacks?"

"Yeah. I use energy to make the plants move, get bigger, and shrink. How much energy I use depends on the size of the plant. If I use too much, my energy goes down and I need more sleep. Energy drinks and caffeinated coffee work in the place of sleep, though," Dipper explained. 

Stan tapped his chin. "Makes sense. To start, do you have any basic attacks?"

Dipper shook his head. "Not really," he said.

"Well, there's your problem!" Stan exclaimed. "I can't train you till you have a basic understanding of how to use your ability in battle."

"But Grunkle Stan," Dipper began to protest. What did the guy mean when he said he couldn't train him? "Isn't that the reason you brought us here? To train us?"

"Yeah, but I can't train you unless you have a basic understanding of how combat works. Sorry, kid," he said, shrugging. Standing up and cracking his back, the old man then proceeded to go back inside the shack, leaving Dipper standing there, dumbfounded. This guy, this old, lazy man, was supposed to train them and be the number two hero.