Description:

The Mothman Chronicles follows a now 18-year-old Dipper and Mabel Pines as they return to Gravity Falls for their fourth summer. However, no summer really followed up on the adventure the first one was. None were really as dangerous, terrifying, or fun. They were all just boring, normal summers.

However, recent sightings of a strange flying humanoid have left the town not only restless but hungry for answers. They immediately turn to the Pine Tree detective from Piedmont, Gable Orion "Dipper" Pines, Junior. As the sightings of this "Mothman" increase, so do the disasters around town. Branching anywhere from small mishaps at the convenience store to the death of Gravity Falls Deputy Dirk Durland, these disasters blow Dipper away, each with a sighting of this dark nightwatcher. Eventually, the monster rears it's expressionless head at the Mystery Shack, and Dipper deems the deed to be the creature's last straw - before he and his family are potentially hurt in the process.

Also: this may be my last novel written for this site. I'm gonna put a lot of time into it, so be warned. Also, Wendip. Not, like, lovey-Dovey fluffy, but there's hints because they're both at that flirty age. There is some gore, but it's not huge. More like implied.

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Late in the night, the deputy's car sped down the Oregonian highway as an open moon stared down silently. It was another day of work for Gravity Falls Police Department Deputy Dirk Durland, and he intended to get home quickly. He was missing Hallmark time with Derrick Blubs.

The empty midnight road felt like an abyss underneath the trooper's car. The dark forest around him pushed him away with invisible arms, and he gladly accepted the repelling, knowing what crazy and unthinkable things hid out in that forest after the events of three years ago. His eyes drooped wearily and he snapped himself awake, careful not to crash into anything in doing so.

Whoosh.

His eyes caught a black figure out of his peripheral vision, forcing his foot down on the brake immediately. Highway speeds slowed into a grinding stop with the sound of tortured brakes as two thick, black streaks extended down the blacktop for at least fifty feet. Dazed, Durland climbed out of his seat, hand hovering over his pistol.

"Hello?" He asked, car still running in the middle of the highway. It didn't matter; nobody drove down this old highway anyway. It wouldn't be a problem.

He raised his communicator up to his mouth and clicked. "Blubs, I've seen somethin' sketchy. It done messed with the car. I'm gonna go scout it out."

Static replayed for a few seconds. After a while, the worried tone of the Gravity Falls sheriff, Derrick Blubs, relayed through. "Okay, Durland. Be safe. You remember the drill with weird things."

"Yeah, yeah, don't shoot unless provokoded." He twanged back, not audible on the communicator due to him not pressing it on.

He flicked on his flashlight from his back pocket, holding it carefully as he turned around. Slowly approaching the edge of the highway and the concrete barrier that prevented cars from destroying themselves and the protected Oregon forest, the officer stood and searched the perimeter. Nothing was to be found but a concerned raccoon in the branches of a tree off the side of the highway. Sighing, he flicked off the torch and made his way back to his car from the side of the road.

"Blubs," he radioed back into the station. "It was nothing. Nevermind."

Whoosh.

A large figure slammed against the roof of the vehicle with the force of a falling ton. Glass shattered in all directions as Durland was thrown to the ground, shielding his eyes. Cries of the destroyed vehicle lasted for only a few seconds, distorted and warped in a horrid fashion.

"Durland?"

Landing on his rear, he had clicked the communicator. It relayed ever sound back to the police center back in central Gravity Falls.

Durland opened his eyes carefully, scared. "W-who's that?"

The last thing he ever saw was a hulking figure on top of the shattered car, staring blankly.

And red.

"Durland? DUUUURLAAAAAAND!"

"Welcome back to Gravity Falls!"

Eighteen-year-old "Dipper" Pines had always thought the sign above Gravity Falls was weird. It was as if the simple town already knew that the people arriving had been there before. He'd have thought it more odd if he hadn't known the secrets that lie in wait inside the deep forests and trees surrounding the logging community.

As his silver sedan passed through unparalleled in the Oregon highway, he took time to admire the scenery. It had been two years since his last adventure in Gravity Falls, and six since his first. Every summer had been memorable, but none just as memorable as the first summer. It almost left him saddened. Defeating a sadistic, dapper, Masonic dream demon in his conquest of all things weird and unsettling would do that to you.

He had made the drive all in one day from his suburban town of Piedmont, California all the way out into the sticks. He had started out in the middle of the night, which, to a hardcore studying student like Dipper Pines, was no big deal at all. In fact, only his twin sister Mabel had decided to decline. Of course, she was busy with college at UCLA, while his online classes from West Coast Tech allowed him to take classes anywhere that had wi-fi.

Which made him equally glad he had set up a wi-fi connection to his great uncle's home two years ago.

He lowered his window, taking a deep breath of the summer breeze rolling quickly past his car. The orange sun appeared beautiful underneath the sherbet skies and deep pine trees.

"Gravity Falls." He restated aloud.

He spied a wreck off to the side of the highway. Slowing down and squinting to get a better look in the face of the glaring sun, he noticed it looked like it had rolled multiple times. A streak of red lined itself from the wreck to the tree line.

"Ugh." He grunted, acknowledging what must have been a horrid sort of wreck before spying the turnoff that led to the famous Mystery Shack. It was hard to miss; the giant billboard that now graced the treeline invited every passerby to enjoy 'Wonders! Mystery! Won-tery!'

He couldn't help but laugh as he turned up into the dirt road. Soos really had left his mark on the old tourist trap.

The seemingly endless, uphill drive reminded him of his first drive on this road years ago. Of course, a hulking gnome-creature hellbent on marrying his twin sister was throwing trees at them from a few feet behind his wonderingly fast golf cart, but that made little difference to him. It was just that old Gravity Falls magic.

Over the hilltop, the pitched roof of the Mystery Shack became visible. A smile graced his face as he pulled in, parking not-so-subtly next to an old 50s sedan. The Stanleymobile still ran, surprisingly.

Exiting his more recent car, Dipper hardly had time to lock it before he was bear-hugged by the not-so-new owner of the tourist attraction.

"Dude!" The voice bellowed with laughter, "I didn't think you'd be here this summer!"

Dipper laughed heartily. "Soos! I thought I told you I was taking online classes?"

He was released and met with the portly man. Jesús Ramirez hadn't changed much since the last time Dipper had seen him, two years ago. In fact, he had changed little from the first time, back in 2012, that Dipper had seen the man. Now, in 2018, Soos' typical black two-piece suit and mackerel fez graced his appearance—as did a golden ring.

Dipper gave him a big smile. "So you really did propose, huh?"

Soos scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, dude. She was like—" he accentuated Melody Green-Ramirez' expression the day he proposed by clutching his cheeks and producing the most happy look the man-baby could provide.

Dipper grinned from ear to ear. "Good to see that. Why didn't you call me? You'd been dating for four and a half years, you think you'd tell me when something like this happened."

"Oh, just a few months ago, dude." Soos admitted, "It was really hard. I've never proposed to anyone before, so it was a new experience for me. I was really uncomfortable. We're getting the marriage done next this August. Hey, that reminds me. Are you staying this entire summer? I mean, you just kinda popped outta nowhere, Dipper-Dude."

Dipper raised a calming hand, asking for silence. "Yeah, I'll be here all summer. I could stay longer, but I'd rather go back to full school at WCTU before the semester ends."

Soos nodded knowingly. He'd never gone to college, but his profession didn't need a college diploma. Especially when Stanley Pines directly passed the torch to you.

The door of the Shack flew open again, this time producing two older men. One, Stanley Pines, was pushing roughly against the other twin, Stanford Pines. Scuffing and squabbling, they roughed against each other until they stood in front of Dipper, still fighting loudly.

"I was gonna see him first, Lee–"

"Oh yeah, so you could corrupt him with the science -"

"Corrupt? Stanley, you're the felon!"

"Dead men can't speak, Ford!"

Dipper coughed loudly, earning their attention. "Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford. It's nice to see you."

An awkward silence grew between the three as the two great uncles silently asked which one was going to greet their nephew first. Irritated, Stanley slapped his brother on the back, sending Ford stumbling a few feet forward. He greeted Dipper with an awkward smile and an outstretched six-fingered hand.

"Greetings, Dipper. It's nice to see you again."

Dipper took the hand, smiling. "Two years is too long, Grunkle Ford. When I didn't hear from you in a few months, I was sure you'd somehow killed yourself."

A hearty laugh emanated from the older man. "Ha! Takes a lot to kill the Pines. You of all people should know that by now, Dipper my boy!"

A wrinkled hand appeared on the scientist's shoulder, and he stepped back, letting Stanley approach the young man. He sized his great nephew up and down, raising a hand to his own head before leveling it off with Dipper's. The young man was now the same height as the older man.

"I think I shrunk." He bluntly gruffed, taking the boy in for a tight hug.

"I, uh, don't think that's it, Grunkle Stan," Dipper coughed, patting his beloved Grunkle's back before releasing himself.

"What college did you go to?" The ex-conman asked.

Dipper laughed, stealing a look towards Ford. "West Coast Tech, Grunkle Stan."

The man laughed heartily, clapping his hand on his shoulder. "Great choice, Dipper. Now you're officially better than Poindexter over there."

Instead of getting offended, Stanford kept his guise of stoical toughness and clapped his six fingered hands incessantly. "Good job, Dipper! What's your major?"

"Oh," Dipper gasped, pulling out his phone and checking. "Just some literary and English sciences. Nothing too big."

"The Little Dipper's gonna be an author?" Soos said, appearing behind Stanford.

Dipper nodded proudly. "The Pines are gonna have a novelist in the family."

"Mystery novels?" His scientific-minded great uncle inquired as he led him back to the Shack.

"Of course," Dipper answered, stepping inside at last, "What else would I do?"

The old receptor television had long ago been swapped out for a nicer television. The house still belonged to Stanley and Stanford, but Soos had recently moved in as well. A small shack housing four people wasn't the most convenient, but Soos had already expressed thoughts on Melody and himself moving to a nearby location that was for sale.

The beligerent old man had gratefully taken that with a "Yes, please."

The five sat around the television, multiple pieces of ordered pizza laying in the boxes uneaten. Soos and Melody were reclining on the couch, happily taking in their surrogate family simply talk.

Stanford and Dipper were having a spirited conversation about West Coast Technical College. Stanley sat the odd man out, occasionally saying something stupid to return the focus of why Dipper was here.

To have fun before college really started.

"Where's Wendy?" Dipper asked offhandedly, blushing hard after he realized that his thoughts were audible. He turned, horrified, only to find a calmed Stanley and a smiling Stanford.

"We called her a few minutes ago. She's racing back from Oregon State. She says you called her about coming, but she didn't think you'd be here until June 13th." Stanford relayed, looking towards a nodding Soos for confirmation.

"Yeah, dude. Don't be embarrassed. It's not weird anymore." Soos told him, clutching Melody tightly. "I mean, it was a weird crush, until we all figured out that it lasted these five years."

"Stop it." Dipper fought back, face crimson. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"That's what they all say..." Stanley said, voice hardly audible as he leaned back, feigning focus on the television. The room laughed, including Dipper. Of course, he didn't come to Gravity Falls because Wendy was there. She was studying law at Oregin State; something she'd set her eyes on since mid-high school. She was brilliant. Of course, he'd known that, but every teacher in the Gravity Falls didn't seem to care about the Lumberjack Princess of Gravity Falls whose trapper hat still graced Dipper's head.

"What about Mabel, dog?" Soos asked after the laughter had died down.

"Oh, she's coming later." Dipper answered. "She's still got some papers to do at UCLA, but she should come mid-summer."

"Ah, a night's dream." Melody cooed, longing for a chance to see her 'sister-in-awesome' as Soos called her. Of course, Soos wasn't related to the Pines Twins, but the two had always referred to him as a cousin. To the point where Mabel said she'd tell her kids to call him 'Uncle Soos'.

Soos liked that idea.

A news report suddenly blazed across the previously quiet television screen. A news reporter, dressed in her typical navy blue vest and white undershirt, stared deeply into the screen. The room quieted suddenly, as if hitting a brick wall. Shock graced all of their faces.

"Hi. I'm Shandra Jimenez of Gravity Falls News Station 4. I'm here with Sheriff Blubs to discuss the accident that happened earlier. Blubs?"

Dipper noticed that they were at the scene of the crash he saw when he drove in. His mouth opened in shock involuntarily. On screen stood a very stressed and very saddened Sheriff Derrick Blubs. His portly figure sagged with grief as he took off his sunglasses. Dipper had never seen his eyes before, but now they were reddened and full of...

...fear?

"What happened?" Shandra asked, pointing the microphone she held towards the sheriff, who was now taking off his hat. The cameras zoomed in on him.

"Gravity Falls," he sniffed, his deep voice grumbling. "Deputy Dirk Durland... has been killed."

There was a silence on-screen and in the room as the picture of the late Dirk Durland was shown hanging around town with Sheriff Blubs.

"I-I arrived on-scene," Blubs mumbled, grief striking him, "to find his mangled body dragged towards the trees. Us here in Gravity Falls know there's a lotta weird stuff out in those woods, but that doesn't look like anything I've ever seen. In the trees, I saw... this."

A depiction of a hulking, humanoid creature graced the screen. Dipper shuddered in fear as the black creature seemed to rest on top of trees as it's unrealistically large wings blocked the sky. It's wingspan was easily three or four times its' height, impressive for a five to six foot creature. It had no arms, but horribly clawed feet that gripped an elm branch so tight it splintered wood.

But what chilled Dipper the most was the eyes.

The creature had no face, but two beady red eyes that stared into oblivion with no emotion.

As Blubs broke down offscreen from fear, sadness, or both, Shandra looked gravely into the cameras once again. "We will now place the audio of Durland's last moments-"

The TV clicked off. Everyone in the room, shocked at the event, turned and looked slowly at Ford, who turned off the television. His eyes stared, horrified, into the black screen.

"It's a Mothman."