The best way to enjoy this story is by not reading it at all. There's a bit of blood description at the end of the chapter, just a warning in advance for those who are squeamish.

Read, review, and enjoy!

B eginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls.

Losing your belt to neon-hating gnomes? Not radical.

The battery running out on your light-up high-tops? Not radical, and with the side-effect of not being able to see anything in the dark.

The death of your creator, resulting in freedom and genuine human emotions... Radical? Maybe?

Dippy Fresh wasn't at all certain what freedom and true existence meant. It must have been a good thing, if his sister could be persuaded to escape Mabel-Land. But so far, his experiences with reality had been, well, not that radical.

When he was first released he was mistaken for his square of a look-alike. Some of his creator's friends had tried to dismember him because of it. His shirt had been untucked and ripped in the struggle, which really clashed with the fresh image he was trying to give off. Dippy made it clear he was working for the same guy as them, and then went on his merry way. Yet, somewhere between the chaos, he was confused for a real boy, and dragged to "safety" by responsible adults. His search for his sister came to an abrupt halt.

He eventually escaped his uncool captors, and wandered into what passed for a forest. It was easy to navigate when the ground was dust and the trees were black. But then, everything suddenly grew back. He was lost in a sea of green. With no idea where to go, he wandered through the labyrinth-like lands for what seemed like an eternity. At some point in his journey, Dippy began to feel different. He couldn't quite put his finger on why that was until he started to talk with some of the peeps in the forest.

The first thing that he discovered was that his creator was gone, and everyone was very happy about it. Dippy didn't feel either way when he heard the news and saw the celebrations. He joined in with the partying and had a wicked time. It wasn't until he was kicked out of the celebrations that he began to feel, and notice this. It was confusion mostly. The bees did not smile at you and form helpful messages in a swarm. They stung you for talking to them and chased you until you threw yourself into a river. The mountain lions didn't give directions either. They ate your hat and chased you up a tree. Everything was different and Dippy wasn't so sure if he liked it.

Then, one day after he had recovered from eating poisonous berries, it happened. He found his way out of the forest. There was a lawn, just between the trees. He could see a wooden house, and a parking lot. But what he spotted next made his newly-beating heart speed up. It was his sister. She was there in the tall mixture of grass and wildflowers. His favourite, totally cute pig was next to her.

Mabel caught a neon-orange frisbee. Neon-orange was like, his favourite colour! (Along with the rest of the neon and sparkle rainbow.) She tossed the frisbee in his direction. Only, not at him. The square version of himself was standing there as well. But that could be fixed in a jiffy, now that he had found them! As the frisbee came towards lamer Dippy Fresh, (Dippy Stale maybe?) he sprang out of the trees and caught it. Dippy would have caught it with his mouth and done a kickflip, but he had quickly and painfully discovered that he was physically incapable of doing that in real life. Instead, he settled for striking a cool pose and saying, "never fear, after an indefinite time of wandering around in the woods, Dippy Fresh is here! Soos, catch!"

He threw the Frisbee at Soos, but his warning went unnoticed. Instead, it went sailing through the air, and straight into the window with a large crash. Dippy laughed and then said, "whoops! Do you mind if I blame that on you fake Dippy Fresh?"

They continued to stare at him with their mouths agape. Soos was first to recover from the shock of his dramatic debut in reality.

"Dippy Fresh! You're alive?!"

"Yup! That's right dawg! I've got questionable free will and everything! I'm a gen-u-ine human being now!"

"B-but how?" Mabel asked.

"Ha! Rhyme!" Soos said.

They both laughed and high-fived. It felt good to finally find someone who would not leave him hanging again. It also felt good to feel good. It was his first real experience with the positive emotion, and he liked it. He liked it a lot.

"What are you doing back here?"

"Well you see, the power of sibling love-" Dipper wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders, "has finally brought me and my sis back together! And we're never going down at the hands of the likes of you because I'm so much better!"

Dippy Fresh waited for the musical number to kick in, but nothing happened. There were no spontaneous music numbers in reality? That was terrible! An emotion he had become familiar with, annoyance, filled up inside of him. Dippy didn't let it show naturally. Not even when his sister ran to lame Dippy Fresh's side, nor when he sneered, "I seriously doubt that's the real reason."

"Ha! The only thing my sis and I are serious about is having fun! Right May-May?"

"You actually let him call you that?" Dipper asked, staring at her.

Mabel blushed slightly.

"Times were different," she said defensively, crossing her arms.

"I sort of like it," said Soos. "If I had called you May-May, all summer, I wouldn't have had to worry about your name being Mabel and not Maple!"

"Ugh, I can't believe we're seriously having this conversation."

"The only thing my sis and I are serious about is having f-"

"HEY! HEY! WHICH ONE OF YOU BROKE THAT WINDOW?!"

Stanford marched out on to the porch, holding up the frisbee. Dippy raised his hand, because he knew that his sister valued honesty.

"Oh, well good job. I was going to remove the likeness to Bill from it, but you've done it for me."

"No problem-o."

"Yes, pretty big problem-o," said Dipper, glaring at him. "Grunkle Ford this hip nineties version of myself just appeared from the woods and is trying to take over my life again!"

"Well, from what you told me, you handled those photocopied versions of yourself just fine. How is this any different?"

"It's different because-"

"I'm all that and a bag of chips!" Dippy posed again, crossing his arms and leaning forwards. "The total twin brother package! How could my sis not see me and realize that that other Dippy's a total fraud?"

Stanford didn't look so amused any more.

"I think you should all come inside."

He said it softly, but not enough to stop Dippy from hearing it. He went to follow them inside, but the door was slammed in his face. It nearly took his nose off, too. Broken noses were definitely not radical. Dippy went to one of the windows to look. The blinds were quickly drawn. He tried the door again, but it was locked up tight. Dippy looked up at the broken window, where the image of his creator had once stared down at him.

"Oh, I get it! You want me to prove my sweet skillz by doing some parkour!"

Dippy Fresh surveyed the house, wondering how he was going to get up to the window. There was a porch couch, but it didn't look too helpful with the shorter roof in the way. There was a rain-barrel to the side, but nothing for him to grip on to from there. Running his hands over the wooden log walls, he searched for a starting place. Dippy got splinters in return, teaching him not to use that method. He lost some time getting the splinters out of his hands, and he was further rewarded by blood spots. He was familiar with the reaction by now. He discovered the glitter bandages his sister had gifted him were more than just cool-looking stickers that made you feel better. They stopped small wounds from bleeding as well. He was down to his last five, and he had trouble picking between his favourites. Dippy settled for one with sunglasses printed on them, and put it over the worst parts on his hand.

Now he could get back to doing what his sister wanted. A window ledge proved to be sturdy enough. From there, Dippy clung to the eaves trough, and shimmed to the lower section of the roof, where the porch was. Once his feet were resting on something solid (he used that term loosely because the mossy shingles bent and slid under his feet) Dippy let go of the trough. He rubbed his hands together, working some feeling back into them. Now came the tricky part. Reaching a section of the roof and pulling himself up. By kicking with all his might, Dippy managed to precariously perch on the windowsill. Although, the climb had been exhausting, he did not stop to catch his breath again. Immediately, he stuck his head through the broken window, with little to no disregard for the broken glass.

"Hey Maaabel! I made it to the roof like you wanted!"

Shards of glass scraped against his back and sides as he tumbled through, but he didn't mind that much. He was bleeding a lot less than that time when a pterodactyl had tried to carry him off! Dippy stumbled around a bit before gaining his footing. He was in a bedroom. One of the beds obviously belonged to Mabel, he recognized all of her stuffed animals.

"Hey Mister Raccoon, do you know where my sis is?"

Mr. Raccoon didn't reply. He merely sat on the bed with unblinking eyes. Dippy Fresh picked up Mr. Raccoon, but he didn't react. So, stuffed animals weren't sentient in reality? His heart sunk at the realization. He had been looking forwards to reuniting all his animal friends again, especially since the forest's were not friendly.

A scream tore through the air. He abruptly dropped Mr. Raccoon in surprise as he was hit on the head with a broom.

"There you are! What did you think of my parkour skills? Wicked right?"

As he approached his sister, the broom was swung at him again. He dodged out of the way this time.

"I'll bet that other Dippy can't do parkour!"

The broom clattered to the floor as Mabel ran out of the room.

"Right! We never did get to finish playing hide-and-seek tag! I guess I'm it!"

Dippy Fresh turned around and counted to ten slowly. He made sure not to peek, Mabel said he should never cheat in any of the games that they played.

"Ready or not, here I come!"

When he tried to open the door, something was blocking the way. But with enough pushing, anything was possible! Dippy dislodged the chair that was holding the door knob in place. He left the bedroom, and came to a set of stairs. Dippy Fresh checked the room first, there was nowhere to really hide. So, he slid down the banister.

He caught sight of her going out the front door. Dippy followed. The second he stepped outside, someone grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall. His glasses went askew, and the world became blurred. A throbbing pain started in his head. Dippy wanted to frown, but it was always important to keep on smiling. It would prove just how much better he was than that frowning imposter Dippy.

"Can't you take a hint?!"

"Can't you take a chill pill?"

For his answer, he was shaken more violently. His grin became lopsided, but he didn't let it fade for a second.

"Hey, FYI, violence is never the answer."

"Name a word that rhymes with silence."

"Wilence."

"Wilence is not a word Dippy Fresh!"

"Of course it is! if you can use it in a sentence, then it's a word!"

"Alright, use it in at least three different sentences."

"Wilence is not a word. Use wilence in a sentence. How do you spell, wilence?"

"AAARAAAHH!"

"Dipper, stop!"

His sister intervened before anything worse could happen to him.

"His smiles just so- rrr! Stop smiling already! Leave us alone!"

"Let me try talking to him, alone."

"Just thirty seconds ago you were running away from him!"

"Re-lax Dip-Dops! We'll be fine! I'm not going to replace you!"

"Alright, but for the record, I don't like this."

The front door was slammed shut, and they were left alone. Dippy Fresh rolled his shoulders, wondering if they were going to be bruised. The lamer Dippy was pretty strong. But not as strong as he was! He had climbed up a building! There was no way his loser counterpart could do something so tubular!

"Smart job lying sis!" He congratulated. "Now all we need to do is run off to the place where we were born and raised: West Philadelphia!"

"What? No, Dippy..." She was frowning. They weren't ever supposed to frown. "Dippy, you tried to replace my brother and trap us in Evil Triangle Land, and so that sort of makes you a terrible person. And you sooort a' also do Bill's bidding I guess? Good brothers don't really try to do any of those things."

"But I have debatable free will instead of none at all! I can say that my creator has totally not radical choice in clothing and deserves to be mini-putted by you back to his dimension without facing instant painful death!"

It was the truth, but she didn't look very convinced on the matter.

"T-that's, that's good! You just need to start using your free will to not do the biddings of a dead guy!"

"I'm not! I'm doing what you want!"

"I don't want to run off to Philadelphia-"

"West Philadelphia," he corrected.

"I don't want that. I like Dipper the way he is."

"But I'm the perfect sibling!" Dippy pointed to himself. "I'm everything you could hope and want for in a brother!"

Mabel patted him on the shoulder, he took it as a good sign, but what she did next did nothing to lift his spirits.

"Not even someone as cool as you could replace Dipper. And if you really are the perfect brother, you'll understand why I'm going to tell you to forget about me. Get out there and go enjoy the dubious free will! Go to school, time-travel back to the nineties and find your people, be free!"

She quickly hugged him, but he was shoved away even faster. He stumbled back, they didn't even get to the "pat, pat" part of their awkward sibling hug. It was completely messed up without it.

"But-"

"Be free!" Mable repeated. "Go, run! Never look back as you make your bodacious impact upon the world!"

That was an order. He was supposed to do what Mabel said, but it still conflicted with the old commands he had been following. He uncertainly stepped off the porch, and looked at her. She nodded, and made a shooing gesture at him. He stepped back, and fell into the dirt. Rocks dug into his skin, but he got up and continued to back away from the house. Mabel did not stop telling him to leave until he was in the forest, looking at the house. He kept walking, but made sure to stay along the edge of the forest. He wouldn't get lost that way.

Didn't she get it? That they were supposed to stick together, even in reality? No, of course she knew! They were twins! They knew what the other was thinking, and Mabel was thinking that Lame Dippy Fresh would chase after them! Well he wouldn't let him! They'd get him out of the picture, together. Because that was how twins did things, together. The thoughts kept repeating in his mind as he tripped his way through ferns and twisted tree roots. It was getting dark out though, it made navigating the forest infinitely more difficult. He needed a place to rest, and he would have to figure out what to do about his problems in the morning. But first, he should probably wash off all the blood on himself.

The nearest body of water that he came to were the falls the town was named for. They were loud, and didn't seem like the safest way to wash off, but a river stirred at the bottom. He could see this as he peered over the road-bridge. After nearly being hit by a car, twice, he decided to take the long way down. That involved picking his way through even more forest, and nearly slipping on algae-covered rocks, but he still made it to the rapids. Dippy was rather proud of the fact that he nearly almost drowned only one time. And there wasn't even a bear that tried to chase him out of its territory! Things were starting to look up, and he felt a lot better without all the blood on his clothes and hands.

He needed a place to chill for the night, and a tall white birch caught his attention. There were plenty of branches to hold onto, and they looked like they wouldn't snap under his weight like the last five trees' had. Being the fly parkour master that he was, Dippy had no trouble finding a branch solid enough to sit on. He rested his back against the trunk of the tree, and made sure that at least one hand was holding something solid, for stability.

With his free hand, he took off his shoes, and tied the laces together. He wrapped them around on a near-by branch to dry. Dippy pushed up his glasses to rub his eyes. He wasn't too crazy about the whole, sleep thing. He wanted to be awake and having fun all the time. Reality said otherwise, and so he had to stop and slow down.

Sleeping in a tree wasn't comfortable, but it had to be done. He had nearly fallen out a few times, but managed to keep it together by sleeping on his stomach while holding the branch, sloth-style. In the morning he was awoken by traffic. Cars and busses were all leaving Gravity Falls, taking boats and trailers with them. He tiredly watched the cars passing by his face, wishing (despite his dislike of it) that he could go back to sleep. But the wind they stirred up in their wake, and the sound, naturally stopped anything of the sort from happening.

He would go back to find his sister today, and watch the imposter. He would become the imposter of the imposter, through toning down his coolness. Then, they would leave together. They'd start school together, and he'd be the apple of everyone's eye again, as he won the hearts of everyone in high school! He was starting to miss being the town darling of Mabel Land. He was terribly homesick, but there wasn't any Mabel Land without a Mabel in it!

Dippy Fresh eventually accepted that the longer he stayed in the tree, the more uncomfortable he was going to become. He may as well get a head start on restoring his rightful place as everyone's favourite person. He put his shoes back on (they were still a little damp), and shimmied down. A car whizzed by his face, and he cringed, tightening his grip on the tree. More cars did the same, and he hesitated to move every time, fearing that he might get hit by one. He didn't, but what he saw next may as well have.

For a brief moment, his sister's face was in front of his, staring right at him. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but she sped past, like the rest of the cars had. He was so shocked he fell the rest of the way down. He saw the back of the bus, and the shrinking words upon the back of it: California. The bus was going to California.

That was even more painfully far from Philadelphia than Oregon was!

He ran along the gravel side of the road, trying to catch up to the bus. She was leaving without him! She hadn't even said they'd be going to next day! His lungs burned, and his eyes stung. It felt like his entire body was being melted in the most hurtful way possible, from the inside out, by the summer heat. But he needed to catch up to them, he had to stop the bus! Even as he ran, it drew further and further from his sight. It was going too fast, he wasn't strong enough to run this much.

Then, with a sickening crack, he ran into something solid. His glasses snapped him two, and he was flung backwards. Biting pain spread throughout his body, and something warm trickled from his nose. Blood. More blood. It was getting in his mouth and dripping down his throat. He couldn't breathe, it was choking him! He gagged at the awful taste that filled his mouth, and he turned on his side.

He forgot that his nose was bleeding when he saw the retreating form of the bus. He started to get up, coughing and wheezing as blood dripped everywhere. He tried to race forwards for a second time, but there was an invisible wall. He placed his hands against the surface. It was solid, he couldn't get past it, he couldn't find any openings.

"Why is this happening?" He slammed his fists against the surface, wishing he was strong enough to break it. His bloody handprints stuck to the barrier. "Don't leave without-"

He could only stand there and watch as the bus vanished completely.

"...me."