Falling up!

Disclaimer: Gravity Falls and Sky High are both properties of Disney Studios. All hail the Mouse!

"I am completely blaming you," Dipper told Mabel as they waited for the bus.

"I know," Mabel replied. "Personally I blame you," she said.

"What?!" Dipper exclaimed.

"You were wearing those shorts that are waayyy too tight and bent over right in front of me. I'm not made of steel, Dipper!" she exclaimed.

Dipper rubbed his temples.

"As I recall, Dad had to pry you off me because you got so caught up in your animal instincts you didn't even notice they were there," she teased, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a reply," Dipper said. "I'm just glad they didn't try to separate us."

"They weren't stupid enough to try that," Mabel snorted. "Give them some credit, we got our brains from somewhere."

"I know," Dipper admitted, "but you never know how someone is going to react until faced with it and even the most tolerant people can go completely nuts when it happens in their family."

"And then there are the ones where they send their kids to church camps to pray it away," Mabel said.

"Ok, our parents are pretty understanding about us," Dipper said as the bus pulled up to take them to their new school. "Even if they did send us away."

"Great aunt Grenda has a lot more experience with these things," Mabel said as they stepped on board the bus.

The bus driver, a friendly looking guy who looked a little like Soos, in body type anyway, checked his clipboard. "The... Pine twins," he said his smile fading into a nervous silence that spread through the bus.

"That's us," Dipper said with a sigh.

"Welcome aboard, please have a seat, if you have any problems let me know," the driver said nervously.

"Will do," Mabel said cheerfully, ignoring the tense atmosphere and looking for an open seat for the two. She frowned when she saw there weren't two open seats together and stopped in the middle of the aisle. She was about to ask a girl if she would change seats, when the girl grabbed her stuff and moved on her own. "Thanks," Mabel said sliding into the window seat.

"Maxville isn't bad," Dipper said sitting next to her. "But it's like distilled suburbs. I miss the Falls."

"As their duly appointed congresswoman I appreciate that sentiment," Mabel said ignoring the quiet mutterings of the students around them as the bus pulled away from the curb.

"I hope our new school isn't as bad as our old one," Dipper said.

"Everyone hold on tight," the bus driver called out, flipping a couple of switches on the dash. As the bus turned onto an unfinished overpass, the 'road closed' sign folding down automatically to let them pass.

Safety harnesses came out of the seats, snapping shut around everyone.

"Welcome to Sky High," the bus driver said with a grin, as the bus drove off the unfinished overpass and started falling only to transform into a flying vehicle and rocket into the sky amidst the frightened screams of most of the passengers.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

The bus landed smoothly and disgorged its load of excited superhuman teens.

"And to think none of this would have happened if I hadn't given you a telekinetic wedgie and you hadn't turned into a Manotaur," Mabel said cheerfully.

"One, ow! and two, it was instinctive," Dipper replied.

"And the attempt to crush me?" she teased.

"I prefer to think of it as a full body hug," Dipper replied with a grin. "Manotaur instincts involve a lot of affectionate grappling."

A whirlwind sprung up around the group of freshmen as something ran around them at great speeds. The blue and red striped sweater Mabel was wearing around her waist was pulled away by the wind, but as she reached for it something shoved her back towards the group.

As Mabel landed on her ass with the wind knocked out of her, Dipper saw red. His clothes exploded off him as he transformed into a seven and a half foot tall mountain of muscle known as a Manotaur. He roared angrily and the whirling blur resolved itself into a scared looking chubby teen who stumbled back from the group. Before he could regain his feet Dipper had lifted him up by the throat with one hand and was raising his fist.

"If you kill him we'll be kicked out!" Mabel yelled grabbing his arm and trying to hold it back.

Dipper didn't even notice Mabel's weight as he drew back his fist.

"You'll end up rooming with Gideon!" Mabel yelled wrapped completely around his arm.

Dipper snorted and dropped the chubby speedster, slowly changing back into a slender fourteen year old boy, wearing only a loin cloth and a hat, as Mabel slid off his arm. "If you ever hit my sister again we'll see how fast you are in a wheelchair."

"Dude, it was an accident," the teen said nervously.

Dipper frowned but nodded. "I'll accept that this time."

"Excellent self control," Mabel told Dipper, her left hand glowing blue as she telekinetically pulled her sweater towards her from high in the sky. "No broken bones or anything!"

"Its a lot easier to control with you to concentrate on," Dipper told her as they gathered his shredded clothes and stuffed them in his backpack.

"Hello everyone, I'm Gwen Tennyson," An older teen introduced herself. "I'm here to give you a tour of Sky High."

"I feel naked," Dipper complained to Mabel.

"You practically are naked," she pointed out.

"I mean I feel naked without my spear when dressed like this, well that and my tribal tats," he admitted.

Mabel giggled, recalling how silly those tattoos were. She'd actually thought they were cool until he translated them into English for her.

The tour of the flying campus set in the clouds lasted until it was nearly lunch time.

Entering the gym, everyone was ordered to sit in the bleachers where a loud gym teacher named Sonic Boom or Coach Boomer, called them up one by one to test their powers and decide whether they'd be heroes or sidekicks, standing there in his black and white track suit, casually dismissing some students and dropping cars on others.

"The hero support program has courses in grappling hook use!" Mabel said excitedly as she looked through her paperwork.

"So we're going with my idea of being sidekicks?" Dipper asked.

"Partners not sidekicks," Mabel said out of reflex.

"Close enough," Dipper said cheerfully. "I'll say I turn into a guinea pig, how about you?"

"Jedi mind trick," Mabel replied.

"This should be fun," Dipper said, knowing her sense of humor. Seeing Boomer was about to start on the 'P's, Dipper stepped forward. "Dipper Pine," he said firmly.

Coach boomer recoiled and double checked his clipboard, drawing a line through his first name and writing in Dipper. "What's your power?" he asked. "And why are you only wearing a loin cloth?"

"My clothes don't change with me," Dipper replied. "Half the time I can't even keep the loin cloth on. I can change into a guinea pig like the girl with the purple hair. That means hero support, right?"

"Erm, yeah," Boomer agreed, looking relieved as Dipper returned to the bleachers. He visibly winced as he read the next name. "Mabel Pines," he called out.

Mabel bounced into the circle with a big smile looking perfectly innocent and adorable.

Boomer actually shuddered and took a step back. "Power?" he asked, his voice cracking a window in the far corner of the gym.

"Jedi mind trick," Mabel said, her eyes glowing blue as she waved a hand in front of his face. "I did a card trick, that while mildly entertaining was in no way a superhero power. You've decided to put me in hero support. Oh, and you are convinced your fly is down and everyone is too embarrassed to tell you."

Mabel snapped her fingers and Boomer blinked and shook his head. "It's not a bad trick," he said cautiously.

"Hero support?" Mabel asked cheerfully.

"Agreed," he said, hiding behind his clipboard.

Mabel bounced back to sit beside Dipper.

Before calling up the next person Boomer turned his back to the bleachers and checked his zipper trying to disguise his movements as just adjusting his belt.

Mabel muffled her laughter against Dipper's shoulder while he bit his lip. The surrounding teens gave them strange looks, though several had to stifle their own laughter.

Boomer called up several more students and checked his zipper twice more before sending everyone to lunch.

"Why did you downplay your powers?" a red haired girl in a floral print blouse asked.

Mabel pulled Dipper's hat over his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Redhead," Mabel told him. "Keep your eyes covered."

"Sure," Dipper replied amused.

"Oh, the whole bull seeing red thing?" the girl guessed.

"Sure, let's go with that," Dipper said agreeably.

"So why hero support?" she asked.

"We aren't heroes," Dipper told her, thinking of their adventures each summer and how it involved a lot of screaming and an awful lot of running and a complete and total lack of spandex.

"Plus hero support has some seriously cool classes," Mabel said enthusiastically. "Grappling gun use!"

"Spotting the latest counterfeiting techniques," Dipper added.

"Detective work!" Mabel exclaimed.

"How to fade into the background," Dipper said.

"That makes sense," she said when a dark haired boy came over. "Layla, we better go or we'll be late for lunch."

"It was nice meeting you two," she said as she was drug off.

"Our family history really isn't helping us win friends here," Mabel said with a sigh.

"Who knew our parents generation was the normal one?" Dipper asked. "I always assumed behind their middle class exterior lurked something interesting, but apparently not. They became boring as a form of rebellion."

"Find any clues as to which side of the Pines family they came from?" Mabel asked.

"No," Dipper said. "And I'm beginning to wonder if that's because our family tree doesn't fork."

"You mean..." her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm thinking they're cousins," Dipper admitted. "They found someone who was going through what they were and understood them, when no one else did, and that proved to be a greater attraction than any societal disapproval."

"Is it wrong I prefer our great aunt and uncle to our parents?" Mabel asked, changing the subject.

"If it is I'm right there with you," Dipper told her. "Can I uncover my eyes now?"

"Yes, the redhead is gone," she replied cheerfully, uncovering his eyes.

"And why must I have a weakness for redheads?" Dipper asked.

"The whole Minotaur deal," Mabel explained. "You said having a fake weakness for people to strike at was something Grunkle Stan suggested, and then I recalled the crush you have on Wendy—"

"I had a crush on Wendy, past tense," Dipper interrupted. "And it's Manotaur not Minotaur."

"Misdirection, bro-bro," she said cheerfully. "Would you rather they throw redheads at you or grenades?"

"Good point," he agreed. "And yours?"

"I am a relatively weak psychic whose powers are always bright, flashy, and obvious," Mabel said with a grin. "At some point we need to get me an amulet like Gideon had so I can be 'dependent' on it for most of my strength."

"We still doing the 'touch hands to recharge our powers' bit?" Dipper asked.

"It's pretty standard," Mabel pointed out. "Plus it means we can treat all attempts to separate us as hostile."

"Hard to believe great aunt Grenda, along with Grunkle Stan and Grandpa were the feared Whispering Pines," Dipper said.

"Whatever," Mabel waved it off. "I need food, let's mosey!"

Typing by: Stephenopolos