Every summer since they were twelve, Dipper and Mabel Pines had returned to Gravity Falls. They were sixteen now, and still had yet to even scratch the surface of the dark secrets that surround the town. The problem was, their parents were fed up with their misadventures, they had uncovered several mysteries around their own town.

The law enforcement and their parents were less than thrilled due to them interfering with the law and usually causing a bit of property damage in the process. So this summer, something changed. Instead of letting the kids pack up and Dipper drive himself and Mabel out to Gravity Falls like they had planned, they were sending Mabel to Florida with their grandma and Dipper to New York with his Grunkle Stan's brother.

That was how Dipper found himself walking down the New York Street with '3' hidden inside his jacket at five in the morning. He was too paranoid to stick it in his laptop case. His Uncle's wife said that there was a nice coffee shop somewhere around this intersection, she'd catered there for some event before. He was looking for a quiet place to read, that also had free Wi-Fi. That and, Mabel had hooked him on coffee years ago. He had long since gotten used to pulling all nighters. Spending the day goofing off with Mabel and the nights studying like mad.

A couple of minutes of searching later and he found it. A quaint little cafe that had very few customers at this hour. He picked a pleasant spot by the window, he was pretty sure that he would be able to see the sun rise over the densely packed buildings when the time came.

The teen propped open his favorite book and shrugged off his laptop bag. Turning away from the brightening skyline to observe the street itself. Down the street was a hotel, maybe two blocks from his uncles family's neighborhood. There was an arcade at the other end of the street, and a bookstore next to 's when he saw it, a sight he could never mistake or hallucinate.

The Tent of Telepathy was set up right across the street.

Dipper stared at it in disbelief. He had known that Gideon had gotten out of prison and was going on tour this summer, but it had completely slipped his mind that the revenge seeking psychic would be setting up shop in NYC. He'd been hoping that they wouldn't run into the creep for a good long while. Longer then just four years anyway. He snapped his book shut and tucked it away, standing abruptly and heading towards the counter quickly. He needed coffee, and he needed it now.

He checked the prices several feet from the counter before approaching the pretty girl at the register. She couldn't be more than two years older than him. "A large coffee, please. Black." He said, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. Gideon was right across the street and Mabel wasn't here to back him up. It was hard to repress the twang of worry that he felt. He took the money out of his wallet and handed it to the cashier. Another employee made his drink, a blond boy who was probably in his first year of college. He waited patiently, the strong scent of coffee doing a lot to settle his nerves.

The agitated teenager adjusted his hat, the same one he'd worn every year since that fateful summer in Gravity Falls. He leaned back against the counter casually, glad that the smell of coffee had the same effect as always. Over the years coffee had been the one thing that calmed him down before, after, and during test anxiety, or when Mabel went out on dates with shady or strangely supernatural-looking guys.

He accepted his coffee from the girl at the counter and returned to his seat. He made sure that 3 was stashed safely away and pulled out his laptop instead. Part of him hoped to find Mabel online when he opened Skype, only to sigh in disappointment. His sister wasn't an early riser, and he should have known better than to think she'd be awake this early in the summer.

Zombie_Sympathizer is online

Agxnt_M0thMn is online

Dipper smiled, even though Mabel was fast asleep, some of his friends weren't. He'd met Norman and Dib through the forum on a website he'd set up for his, Soos, and Mabel's web shows. Mabel's Guide to Life got a lot more traffic than Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained. But that was kind of to be expected with how wacky Mabel was. If anything the site was just an easy way to keep in contact with their Gravity Falls friends. Though he had Soos and Wendy on skype, and Mabel had Candy and Grenda's phone numbers.

But regardless, Dib had come to the site for his videos. The Detroit native had messaged him about the paranormal and told his story with an alien nemesis named Zim. Between both of their bizarre paranormal experiences, they were just relieved to have found someone who believed them. They skyped often and had plans to meet up after graduation.

Dib had introduced him to Norman, there had been some sort of zombie outbreak in Norman's hometown, which the other boy had somehow put an end too. Norman was a medium, unlike Dib and Dipper who were Paranormal Investigators. The other boy could see ghosts, understand zombies, and wasn't much interested in hunting down a mystery. Dib was 15 and Norman was 17, with Dipper landing at 16, the three of them were born the same year, but many months apart.

Zombie_Sympathizer is typing. . . .

He grinned, leaning back in his chair and taking a nice long gulp from his styrofoam cup of coffee, letting the taste and smell take over him for a moment as the warm liquid warmed him from the inside out. He felt his nerves drain from him as he did. Gideon couldn't know that he was here. Considering that they'd destroyed the younger boys psychic amulet long before he'd been sent to prison. Though considering Gideon's craftiness, he could have gotten '2' back from wherever it vanished too after things had calmed down that summer. Maybe he found another amulet somewhere?

Zombie_Synpathizer:

Hey Dipper! You catching the Vincent Van Ghoul marathon too?

The brunet rolled his eyes, of course that was why Norman was up so early. He must have not gone to sleep either. The guy couldn't resist a horror movie marathon. He must have asked because New York was in the same time zone as Massachusetts. Seemed kind of odd to him, that a guy who spoke to the dead in a regular basis wouldn't get sick of the horror genre.

But hey, he was the kid who loved a good a good sci-fi movie as much as the next, and he'd been twelve when he saw a bunch of aliens commit group suicide because he and his sister had discovered they were hiding out in Gravity Falls. So really, near-traumatic exposure to something wasn't really a reason not to love movies about it.

Sir_Dippingsauce:

Nah, went out for coffee. Actually remembered to leave a note this time.

That had been an adventure he wasn't about to repeat. He'd seen a flash of something red and scaly in the sky outside his bedroom, so he'd climbed down the fire escape and gone after it. Whatever it was, he'd lost it pretty quickly. Then he ended up going to McDonalds for breakfast and didn't get back until noon. His Uncle and Aunt had been furious that he'd left in the early hours of the morning without so much as a note. His cousins had been either impressed, or scandalized that he'd gotten away with it.

Now he could only hope that the note was good enough and they didn't freak out again. He didn't think he'd be able to get away with freaking them out that badly. Though really he'd explained his sleeping patterns and habits to them when he'd gotten there, and he'd only been reaffirming what his mom had told them before he even arrived. Guess they hadn't believed him.

Agxnt_M0thMn:

Nice, my sister kicked me out so I'm camping out on the roof.

Zombie_Sympathizer:

Your little sister kicked you out?

Dib had told them of his little sister and her terrifying ways, though Norman remained skeptical of just how bad the younger girl could really be. Dipper didn't doubt that Dib's sister was a force to be reckoned with, he'd known more unstable kids in his lifetime.

Dipper had done some looking into the Membrane family, it was a wonder how Gaz wasn't a bitter maniac considering the well documented 'Pig Girl' thing a couple of years back. He liked to keep tabs on when weird things happened around the country, just in case it was somehow connected to Gravity Falls. Considering he was really starting to believe that there were no such thing as coincidences. It was probably one of his better ideas.

Agxnt_M0thmn:

Gaz is scary, okay? There's no way I'm risking her temper after the Sundae Incident.

Sir_Dippingsauce:

Sundae Incident?

Oh, this sounded interesting. Dib was secretive when he didn't want to rave about Zim's latest scheme to take over the world or just plain ruin Dib's day. He distinctly remembered a time where Dib complained about Zim ruining his date with a nice Hawaiian exchange student. Dib said they still kept in contact but he'd never forgiven the alien for it.

Maybe they'd be able to weasel an explanation out of Dib. Though likely not considering the poor guy would have told them about it by now if he intended to at all. He vaguely registered the bell above the shop door ringing, but kept his gaze fixed to his computer screen.

Agxnt_M0thmn:

I don't want to talk about it.

He piqued an eyebrow in curiosity. Dipper raised his hands to his keyboard to pester the other Paranormal Investigator to divulge what had gone on in his town lately, when a voice cut through his actions and chilled him to the bone.

"Why, Dipper Pines, is that you? My, my, how long it's been." There was the sound of a chair scraping against the ground. The brunet tore his eyes away from the screen in time to see Gideon Gleeful, poofy hair and bedazzled leather jacket, sitting across from him. He couldn't help but notice that the jacket was new. Though he supposed that a thirteen year old couldn't really pull off the 'adorable child psychic' look anymore. Still, he was a little young to be trying for the Chris Angel look. Not that it didn't work for him, it did.

"Not long enough, Gideon." Dipper ground out in a semi civil tone of voice, typing out his goodbye in his laptop without looking away from his childhood enemy. Mabel wasn't here, he didn't have the backup he had when they'd faced one another in Gravity Falls. But he'd taken several self defense classes since then, and Stan had given him a Swiss army knife on his last birthday. He might not have been prepared, but he wasn't a pushover by any means. Not that he'd pull a knife in a thirteen year old, even a psychotic one.

Sir_Dippingsauce:

gtg something just came up

He snapped his laptop screen shut, resting his arm on it and assessing Gideon with a frown. He didn't notice anything that could be a magical weapon outright. But Gideon was a crafty little punk and he couldn't rule out that he had something up his sleeve, literally. Some might say he was being paranoid, but being paranoid paid off in his line of work. One too many encounters with Bill had taught him that. Though he hated being grateful to the demonic dorito for any reason, he had to at least admit that much.

Gideon was giving him a once over as well. "You've changed, Dipper." It wasn't a threat, a compliment, or an insult. Simply an honest observation, not that Dipper could blame him. Between the hunting jacket, and having grown out his hair a bit. Though his hair had been at Mabel's insistence that he at least let it grow enough for her to braid a part of it. So hanging from just behind his left ear was a short braid, barely past his jaw, but long enough to bring a smile to his sisters face every time she braided it for him. "It's a good look for you."

He narrowed his eyes at the far too pleasant attitude Gideon was sporting. "What do you want, Gideon?" This couldn't be part of some big plan, he knew that much. Gideon hadn't been out of prison long enough to know that they weren't going back to Gravity Falls this summer. "If you're looking for Mabel, she isn't here with me. She's with our grandmother. In Florida." Which he already knew was not a destination on Gideon's tour. He'd checked the Tent of Telepathy website before his flight. Compulsively keeping tabs at their now at large enemy was probably his best idea since not leaving evidence to how the science lab burnt down when he exorcised that ghost last year.

The younger boy frowned, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, tapping his fingers together with a thoughtful expression. "That's a shame, I would have liked to see her again after so long. But I must admit, I'm more interested in you, my dear Dipper." Oh. He recognized that tone of voice, it was the same tone of voice he used when speaking to Mabel.

He tensed, eying Gideon wearily. He wasn't surprised that Gideon was into guys, he'd always gotten a bi curious vibe from the boy now that he thought about it. But he was surprised that Gideon seemed to be implying he was into him. "Is that so?" He was hoping he'd misheard, if anything Gideon should blame him for what had happened that first summer. It might have been Stan who discovered his trick with the buttons, but it was Dipper who'd trashed his giant robot and beaten him to a pulp. The only Pines who hadn't wronged Gideon that day was Mabel.

Gideon's smile was too gleeful, as if excited by Dipper's inability to comprehend how his mind worked. "Oh yes. You see Dipper, I had a lot of time to think while I was away." That was just a public friendly way of saying he'd been in prison. "As you can imagine I spent quite a lot of time thinking of you and your lovely sister."

He grimaced, taking a long swig from his coffee, before pushing the empty cup away from him. The coffee left a bitter-more bitter than usual-taste in his mouth. He was sure this taste had nothing to do with the lukewarm coffee, and more with the boy across from him. "I'd rather not, thanks. So what, you figured out you had a hard on for guys who don't let you walk all over them?" He wasn't fond of this train of thought, but it was the only one that made sense.

Gideon surprised him by laughing. "Now that is a funny idea. But I'm afraid it simply isn't that simple. You see, I realized why I liked my darling mashmalla so much. Her fightin' spirit, something you an' her share. Mabel is truly enchanting, the shining gem of your family. But you. Now you I just can't figure out. I want to know what makes you so different from everyone else I've met." The boy smiled, a smile that sent shivers down Dipper's spine. He leaned across the table, smile widening into a mad grin. "I want to break you open and see what makes you tick, boy. I'll make you, and your sister mine. The whole Pines Twin package."

He leaned back in his chair his mouth going dry as he tried not to show how unsettled he was by Gideon's soft spoken declaration. No one had heard it, no one had noticed. It wouldn't do him any good to cause a scene here. He pushed himself away from the table, shoving his laptop into his bag hurriedly. "You can't have either of us Gideon, I thought I made that clear when Mabel broke up with you. She has a boyfriend now anyway."

The smaller boy waved off his words. "Every couple has their breaks. What with me being in prison and all, I can hardly blame her for moving on. My darling is far too free spirited to sit around and wait for me. I'm sure I can convince her to come back to me eventually." He stood as well, his grin having dialed down to a self satisfied smile. As if glad to have gotten Dipper so unsettled, to have gotten under the older boys skin. He stood and followed Dipper to the door. Taking too much pleasure in the way this only prompted the brunet to move faster.

He couldn't handle this turn of events right now. Much less try to comprehend what Gideon might have meant by 'break him open and see what makes him tick'. He could only assume Gideon wanted to make him subservient to him? The hints of attraction could easily be chalked up to the fact that puberty had a been kind to him and his sister. Something Pacifica had noticed about him last summer, and had to reluctantly admit about Mabel as well. Or maybe it was the attraction to power he knew Gideon had always had. It'd be just up his alley to get a hard on for having power over Dipper, especially considering how thoroughly he'd beaten the kid last time.

Gideon was still following him by the time he exited the coffee shop. He shuddered, spinning on his heel to glower at the boy. Growing darkly he took a deep breath of thick summer air, trying to reign in his temper before speaking. But Gideon's Cheshire smile only set off his anger anew. The younger was getting too much satisfaction from this, far too much. He opened his mouth to tell the boy as much, and some less than polite phrases as well. Only to be cut off by a voice he really wasn't in the mood to hear, though was pretty confused to hear as well.

"Yo, Dipper, whaddya doin' out so early?" Dipper spun around again, no longer focused on Gideon behind him. Approaching fast was his cousin, a fit nineteen year old in his first year of college. There was something oddly serpentine about his older cousin, from the slight point of his ears, almost fang like canine teeth, and unnaturally calculative eyes. Don't let the goofy smile and bright red jacket fool you, Jake Long was not someone to be messed with, even he could see that, and he'd only known him for a week or so.

The taller, though not by more than a few inches, teenager quickly approached them. The spiky haired college student raised an eyebrow at his younger cousin and the even younger boy accompanying him.

Dipper shifted nervously from foot to foot, there was just something unsettling about Jake that he couldn't quite place. With the other looming over him that unknown intimidation had never been more obvious. Gideon raised a curious eyebrow, frowning with narrowed eyes at the unknown newcomer. Seeming to feel the same sense of authority from Jake that Dipper did. Eyes darting between his longtime nemesis and the mysterious stranger.

"Well, this has been fun, this has been fun. But I think it's best I go start preparing for my morning show." The younger turned to leave, before pausing do and side eying Dipper. He pulled two slips of paper from inside his jacket and tossed them at Dipper's feet. "I was hoping your sister would be here. But please do feel free to come to my show anytime. Bring your . . . Friend as well." With that the child psychic turned in his heel and walked away.

The brunet huffed in annoyance, bending down to scoop up the tickets just in case he needed to confront Gideon about something later. Being able to get into the Tent of Telepathy was not something he was going to take for granted. "Sorry, just went out for some coffee." He answered Jake's question in a clipped tone. Though he wasn't looking at his cousin, as he righted himself he glared after Gideon, his burning gaze focused on the Tent of Telepathy.

"And ran into an old friend?" Jake guessed, raising an eyebrow. He crossed his arms in thought. Dipper wished he was a psychic in that moment, he would have done anything short of make a deal with Bill to know what was running through his mysterious cousins mind. "Mind if I keep you company? Short stack over there gives me the creeps." Jake jerked his chin in the direction of the Tent of Telepathy. Dipper figured that this meant that he wasn't going to get that alone time he'd so wished for earlier. But he could tell Jake was just worried about him.

He nodded his head, scoffing at the idea of Gideon being his friend. "Sure, whatever. But Gideon isn't my friend. He's a jerk."

Jake snorted in amusement, snapping his fingers in front of his younger cousins eyes to break his 'if looks could kill' glare. The brunet blinked in surprise, focusing his gaze in the older as Jake spoke. "Somehow, I feel like that's an understatement. Where ya headed?"

"I dunno, don't feel like doing anything anymore, wanna catch the Vincent Van Ghoul marathon at home?" Dipper suggested idly, tucking away the tickets in his jacket pocket. "I've got a friend in Massachusetts who says good things about his movies."

The spiky haired teen shrugged agreeably. "Sure dawg, I'm always down for a good flick." He'd probably seen one or two of the movies before. He wondered just how little he really knew about his cousins as they headed back to Jake's house.