Chapter Text
“Stanley? Stanley! Where are you, Stanley?! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything that I said! Just come back, Stanley, don’t leave me!”
Mabel groaned, blinking her eyes as she sat up. She placed a hand on her forehead, groaning as she looked around in a confused haze.
“Wha- Dipper?”
She frowned as she realized that she had no idea where she was. Scrunching her face, she peered over to spot her messenger bag, as pink and bezazzled as ever. Grabbing it, she made sure she had everything before pushing herself up off the ground.
“Stanley? Please, I don’t want to be alone! I’m scared! I’m sorry!”
“Um, hello?”
“Ah! Don’t hurt me!”
Mabel had peered over to the other side of the dumpster, eyes settling on the form of a boy her age. He was freaking out, nearly hyperventilating as he kept calling out, his voice growing weaker as he began to jumble his words. He jumped when Mabel spoke, turning to face her as he covered his face. Mabel’s eyes widened, a smile on her face as she walked up to him.
“Woah! Six fingers? That makes handshakes a full finger friendlier!”
He peeked through his arms, unsure as he stared at her.
“You…You don’t think I’m a freak?”
Mabel just laughed, waving her arm at him with a mixture of a scoff and a “pfft”.
“Whaaaaaat? So what? Being weird is awesome! You know, my brother has this weird birthmark, but I think it’s really cool. Oh! And one of my grunkles also has six fingers! He’s one of the coolest people I know!”
“Really?!”
The boy’s eyes shone as he stared at her. Mabel nodded, glad that she was able to calm him down. She couldn’t help but like the boy, he reminded her of her brother! Nervous traits and all! The boy looked around before holding his hand out, giving her a worried smile.
“Um…I’m Stanford. Stanford Pines. I’m, um, looking for my brother? He looks just like me, we’re twins. He and I had a…disagreement. After that, I ended up here. Please, please tell me you’ve seen him. His name is Stanley.”
Mabel stood there frozen, eyes wide as she stared at him. A moment passed before she spoke, a nervous smile on her face.
“Um…What year is it?”
“Huh? It’s 1966, of course.”
“Oh boy…So, um, don’t freak out? But I’m not from here?”
“Huh?”
“Oh, where are my manners? Blargh! My name is Mabel, Mabel Pines! I’m from the year 2012, and I also have a twin brother!”
Most of what she said went unnoticed, however, the moment that she mentioned the year she was from. In an instant, the little Ford’s eyes widened as he pointed at her, disbelief written all over his face.
“Wh- The future?! But that’s impossible!”
“Oh, it’s possible. Trust me, my brother and I have gone through this several times. Though, we’re usually the ones who mess around with all this stuff. Oh! And I’m your future great niece!”
Ford trembled, staring at Mabel as if she were speaking latin. Before she could utter another word, Ford’s little hands flew to his mouth before he turned away, retching noises following suit as he puked against the wall of the alley. Mabel just winced, worry written all over her face as she patted his back, going through the same motions she went through when helping Dipper when he was in the same state.
As luck would have it, they were not in the year 1966. No, they were in the year 1981, as made clear from the tv broadcast from the electronics store across the street. Not just anywhere in 1981, but in Texas! How they got there, she couldn’t guess. That’s when Mabel knew that she really had to take charge. She and Dipper had dealt with these things together, like a team, but now it was just her. This version of her Grunkle Ford knew nothing about the anomalies and strange things that went down in Gravity Falls, let alone time travel. So, thinking about what her brother would do in this situation, she grabbed her things as she and Ford made their way down the street.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re two kids in the middle of a dark alley, both in a year we’re not supposed to be, in a city we don’t know, and it’s almost night!”
“So…”
“We’re finding the safest place we can sit down at while we make a plan! It’s what my brother would have done in this situation, I’m sure of it. The only person who probably knows him better than me is himself.”
“Right, okay.”
Nodding, Ford allowed himself to be led down the sidewalk, Mabel happily finding refuge in a Waffle House. The two sat in a booth, only asking for water as they thought up a plan. Ford held his backpack close, doing his best not to freak out as Mabel wrote down a list in a journal. She lifted it slightly, blowing on the ink to dry faster. Ford was able to get a better look at it, smiling as he looked at it. It was pink leather, the corners gold and sparkly. In the center of the front cover was a holographic shooting star, sparkling with every movement.
“I like your journal.”
Mabel appeared shocked, but was quick to smile at Ford as she proudly showed her journal off.
“Thank you! Dipper and I made our own versions of the ones the older you made. Dipper’s is blue with an outline of the big dipper on the cover. We write all about our discoveries and adventures in them! Well, I’m practicing on writing more. I’m more of a scrapbooker, myself. It’s like journaling, but with pictures! I promised Dipper I’d practice more writing if he practiced more scrapbooking.”
The two spent the next thirty minutes or so making a plan. The waitress must have made assumptions about their situation, quick to give them “extra” waffles she made on “accident”. They happily thanked her, and she was quick to pack them some extra waffles to go to the house. With the outlines of a plan done, the two thanked the waitress as they stepped out of the diner. Worried for their things, they kept everything in Mabel’s messenger bag. She had proudly boasted about it to Ford, the boy staring in shock as she managed to shove his own backpack in the hers. She waved it off, smiling as she recalled how she and her brother discovered their own enchantments that even his older self didn’t discover. A real magic bag, just like Mary Poppins! How fascinating!
“Ready to go, Ford?”
“Uh huh! We just need to go find a map that shows us the bus routes. Then we-”
“Wait…”
Ford came to a halt, as Mabel held her arm out in front of him. He followed her wide eyed gaze to see a car stopped at a red light. The next thing he knew, Mabel was dragging him along as they crossed the street, making a beeline for the vehicle.
“Mabel, what are you-”
“Hey!”
Mabel waved, coming to a halt to the driver side window. She knocked on it, smiling as the window rolled down.
“Hey kid, what are you-”
“Stan!”
Ford’s eyes widened as Mabel spoke the familiar name.
“What? Do I know you, kid?”
“Nope! But you will! The name’s Mabel Pines!”
“...Pines?”
“Uh huh! I’m your future grandniece!”
Ford peeked out from behind Mabel, watching as a man in his 20s covered his face with a sigh.
“Future? Listen kid, you’ve been watching too many-”
“Stanley?”
The man was quick to look at Ford, eyes widening the moment he saw him. Before anything else could be said, the light turned green, and honking ensued behind the car. Grimacing, the man– Stanley – waved a fist to the driver behind him before nodding to the kids.
“Get off the road and let me park, okay?”