#Meanwhile we all know what Dipper was up to when they were apart

[tswwwit]

(NSFW)

What was it like the first time Bill got turned on in his human body?? I mean even though he’s had demon sex (?) in his geometric form, and witnessed human sex dreams, it must’ve been weird the first time it happened to his, like. Real real body.

It sure was!

While Bill's possessed human bodies before, it was generally for mischief and mayhem, with the mind of the mortal screaming in impotent terror and/or rage. Which is hilarious, but not horny.

Even besides that, wearing one to get down with the human-style flesh-slapping didn't particularly appeal either; it just looked so.... meaty. With fluids going in places, I mean, c'mon! From the outside the whole ordeal looks completely ridiculous! You'd probably be all sticky at the end and pushing lots of air in and out. What a bunch of weirdos meatsacks are.

Of course, as we all know, Bill ended up in a meatsack at the beginning of Faking It - which came with a myriad of annoyances, but some extra benefits!

For one, having his own custom model suited Bill much better! It was quite literally made for him, tailored to his very essence. All the nerves and wires plugged into the right metaphorical ports and full driver installation. He's much more in that body than the other ones he's driven around, it's rigged out with all the luxuries and hooked right up to his own mind.

So it was with mild surprise that Bill noticed when he was, ahem, interested, there was an involuntary reaction. All the tubes pushing liquids into places and a slight rise in temperature; and some other things. One of which was quite evident. Bill was well aware of this one in the past he'd made considerable fun of it - but being in this body so much, and having it tuned to respond to his mental state, lent the absurd situation a bit of, uh. Urgency? Importance? Anyway, it was... much more distracting than he thought it'd be.

But hey! Weirdness is like, Bill's whole jam, you can't deny he's curious enough to poke around in places a being probably shouldn't, and he was already stuck in the thing anyway. Why not give it a little test drive and see what that's all about?

Important note: It's canon in the Bill POV sex scene that human flesh has hundred of thousands more nerve endings than his standard form. Considerably more sensitive. Touch is the difference between an armored gauntlet and your bare hand; temperature and texture are all very, very enhanced -

The results: Positive. Excellent. A+++, Bill was Enlightened and Delighted.

A convert was made that day. Bill Cipher is big into hedonism, and now the doors to the pleasures of the literal flesh were open.

Bill had to hand it to humanity; okay, like, he gets it now. It's an acquired taste to be sure, but once you get it it's fan-friggin-tastic! He cast all those old aspersions aside and prepared set sail onto new seas of sensation.

[agirlwhoisaphantom]

Champagne & Sunshine - Bucky Barnes x Reader

18+

Summary: Since the day that you and Bucky confessed your feelings for one another. You both can’t keep your hands to yourselves.

Word Count: 3875

Warnings: Right off the bat smut, things occur in the hot hub, unprotected sex, [nicknames: good girl, bunny] cream pie, teasing, nipple play, uuhhh let me know if I'm missing anything.

Author’s Note: It's been a hot minute that I've written any sort of smut, but gosh it feels good to be back after a while.

reblogs/feedback/likes are greatly appreciated & highly encouraged! But please, DO NOT repost/steal ANY of my fics!

Bucky groaned quietly into your ear as he rocked his hips against yours in a slow head motion that made your entire body get filled with chills from head to toe. You hooked your legs over his hips, pulling him closer to your body every chance you could. With every thrust he would make, you would dig your nails dipper onto his back, leaving scratches on him.

His lips pressed against yours, tongue slipping past your lips, dominating each of your senses. You whine into his kiss, letting him that you are nearly close to your peak.

Both of you were now close. A small smirk formed on Bucky’s face as his lips were against yours. He found it fascinating the way you trembled underneath him. You both hit your peak at the same time. Shockwaves were going all over your bodies as you moaned each other’s names repeatedly.

He gets off of you and lays right next to you. You both were heavy breathing and trying to get your composer together.

“Wow,” you both said at the same time. Making you both chuckle as well.

Bucky grabs the duvet and pulls them up over your body. You turn to your side placing your head onto Bucky’s chest. “Round Two, Bunny?” Bucky said quietly as his hand traced the curves from your thigh to your stomach.

You rapidly get on top of him. You began to kiss his neck slowly, cooing against his skin.

As you were rocking your hips against his friction, The phone started to ring. You two completely ignored it the first time.

“Fuck” Bucky groaned. It rang a couple of more times. He got rapidly irritated with the number of times they called him. He was annoyed that people were interrupting him and you. But he knew if he ignored it, they would be rushing to his apartment.

Bucky places his hands on your hips, and as much as he wanted you to continue, he shifted your body off him. You laid right next to him. He gets up and hands you his shirt and your lacey panties so you can put them on. He sits down and grabs his phone. He grunts to see that he had seven missed calls from Steve and Tony.

Bucky answers Steve’s call, “what is i-?“ As his back faces towards you, you run your fingers on his back, tracing his skin and his spine.

“Do you know what time it is?” Steve interrupted him. Even though Steve wasn’t on speakerphone, he was loud enough for you to hear him.

“It’s 7 am. What’s wrong with that?” Bucky rolled his eyes and tried not to sound annoyed. He grabs your hand and places your palm facing upwards, and starts to trace the lines of your hands with his metal hand.

“It’s Peter’s Birthday Trip to the cabin today. We are supposed to leave right now.” Steve took a big breath, and he didn’t want to raise his voice anymore if Peter was around. He didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

Bucky’s eyes widen as he checks the date on his phone. He looks at you and notices that you have the same reaction he had. “We will be there in a couple of minutes. We are still packing.” Lucky enough, most of your stuff was at Bucky’s apartment so that packing wouldn’t be so difficult. Either way, we were only going to be staying for a couple of days.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Tell her I said hi.” Steve proceeds to hang up the call.

As Bucky was getting up, you notice the scratches that you left on his back. His backfilled with red marks and some of them were deep enough. A little bit of blood was coming out. “oops,” you whispered to yourself.

You were loud enough that Bucky could hear. “You should see your thighs, Doll,” he chuckled as he licks his lips, and his eyes were digesting how beautifully you looked without clothes.

Walking into the bathroom, you notice all the hickey’s that Bucky left on your inner thigh “Bucky! How am I going to swim with these?” you yelled at him as you smirked a little. You didn’t want him to know that. In reality, you didn’t care that you had them on you. It just showed who you belonged to, even though it had been clear to everyone.

“Damn, looks like you won’t be going swimming.” You could hear laughter come from the bedroom. “Either way, I don’t want anyone to look at what’s mine.” He said louder as he walked back and forth to the bedroom, grabbing things that he believed you both would need.

You walk out of the bathroom with a small bag full of items such as your and Bucky’s toothbrush, shampoo, anything from the bathroom you thought would be important.

Walking into the bedroom, Bucky already had your bags and his bags already prepared. He dressed up, and all you needed was to grab a pair of pants and shoes.

Walking towards Bucky’s direction, you intentionally bump into him. He grabs your wrist and rapidly turns you towards him. He places his hand on your chin tilting your head a bit upwards. “Bunny, Don’t forget who you belong to. You are mine, as I am yours.” He leaned in and whispered into your ear.

Moving your hair to the other side. Bucky kisses the back of your ear towards your neck. “Bucky, we have to go.” Trying not to lose focus. Every kiss that he gave you made you want to melt in his arms. He made you feel like no other. He gave you those stupid butterflies in your stomach that was in the children’s book.

----------------

For the first half of the drive, you were wide awake, observing how beautiful the view was outside of the car window. This wasn’t your first time going to Tony’s Cabin, but you had to go there every time. You didn’t have the chance to look around and view how amazedly it was.

Whenever you would go on road trips with Bucky, he would let you connect your phone to his stereo to blast your favorite songs. He didn’t care what music was planning in the background. No matter what, he was going to end up enjoying it.

You both were only a couple more miles to getting to the Cabin. Bucky wanted to make sure that other people were there, not only you and him being their firsts. He points to his backpack that was on the back of your seat. Bucky turns down the music “Doll, can you grab my phone? It’s my backpack in the front pocket.”

Unbuckling your seat belt, you get up and shift your body in between your seat and Bucky’s seat. You start to look into Bucky’s bag, and you can’t find it. It wasn’t in the front pocket nor the other ones. “I can’t find it.”

“check again it should be in there somewhere.”

“Bucky, I still can’t find it.” You wanted to dump his backpack on the backseats and pick up the mess later. You were getting frustrated that you couldn’t find his phone. While your legs were still on the console. The instant the light turned red, you could feel Bucky reach in between your legs and starts to shuffle around his backpack. Pulling his phone out, he also removes his hand from in between your legs.

What he just did left you startled. At the moment, you wanted to freeze, but you couldn’t. You went back to sitting down. He hands you his phone “call Steve and tell him we are on our way.”

The last couple of miles you had left to drive, you decided to nap, even if it was two more hours. You wanted to take advantage of it.

When you woke up from your nap and noticed that a lake and beautiful trees surrounded it, the grass was green. Everything was so bright and beautiful. If you could pick anywhere to live, it would be right here.

You were still trying to wake up when you notice that Bucky got out of the car and started to walk towards your side to open the door. He grabs your hand as you get out.

Walking towards the porch, you notice Sam and Steve talking. You were unsure what they were talking about, but you probably knew since Peter wasn’t on the lot just yet.

Sam and Steve get up and walk towards you and Bucky. Sam offers a bottle of water to Bucky; meanwhile, Steve hugs you.

“So Buck, can you keep it in your pants for a couple of days?” Steve raises his eyebrow and has a serious look on his face as he crosses his arms. Bucky chokes on the water that he was drinking. Bucky placed his hand over his mouth, trying to cover the smirk he had on his face. He knew damn well that he wasn’t going to and didn’t plan to.

Sam looks over at Steve with a mischievous smile “he does have a point. Peter doesn’t need a live demonstration of Sex Ed.”

That grin Bucky had disappeared instantly and just glared at Steve and Sam. Meanwhile, on the other hand, you could feel your cheeks turn into a rosy color, and you were pulling on the sleeves of your shirt. “weren’t you in Peter’s school teaching videos, 'so your body is changing, believe me, I know how that feels' ” Bucky said in his Steve impression voice.

“You are always going to hold that over my head, aren’t you, Bucky.” Steve rolled his eyes and started to walk into the Cabin. “Stop corrupting her. She was an innocent person before you came into her life.”

Bucky chuckled when he heard him say that you were innocent. Nothing about you was innocent, and that’s something that Bucky liked about you. To him, you were a book full of secrets, and he wanted to know everything about you, from your darkest secrets to your sweetest ones. “I mean, you could hear her when she-“ you hit his lower stomach, making him groan a little at how hard you hit him, “never mind.”

You started to move your bags onto the room that you and Bucky were staying in. But every time that you went for your suitcases, Bucky would grab them out of your hand. He insisted that he would take care of grabbing your things and taking them to the room. He didn’t want you to lift any of your fingers.

It didn’t take long for everyone else to come to the Cabin. Luckily, you and Natasha had an hour to decorate before Peter came. The guys oversaw taking care of the outside decorations. Meanwhile, the girls are in charge of the inside décor.

“How is it dating, Capsicle over there?” you were way too focused on writing a poster for Peter saying ‘happy birthday Pete’ when your focus is disturbed by Natasha going in front of you. She had a smirk on her face and motions her head towards the window, where Bucky and Sam were tackling each other, and Steve had his hand placed on his face and shaking his head.

Looking out of the window, you had a smile on your face. “It’s not so bad. I’m happy with him.” You turn your head facing Nat now. Ever since you got with Bucky, you seemed so much happier, and you glowed on your face.

“We always knew you two were going to end up together. I mean the way you both look at each other. There was always something.” Nat teased you as she grabbed the pen on the table to help you finish the poster.

What she said made you think of all the memories you had shared with Bucky. Looking back at the memories, there were hints that you both liked each other. From the way he would always go above and beyond to make sure you were okay to when he would make you laugh over something dumb. “Yeah. I guess there was.” You chuckled at the statement she said.

The moment that you finished the poster, you were starving. You went to the kitchen to grab yourself something to eat and drink. Going near the cabinet, you stood on your tiptoes, reaching over your head to grab a glass “of course, Stark would keep his cup this high.” You whispered to yourself. You couldn’t help but let out a little gasp as you felt someone place their hand on your waist.

“It’s me, don’t worry,” Bucky said in a deep raspy voice as he reaches over you to grab the cup for you. When he set down the cup, he kissed you on the top of your head. Bucky moved away from you as he walked towards the fridge to pull out the filtered water pitcher. Placing it next to the cup he just got out. “Did Nat give you any trouble?” he asked as he was pouring water into your cup.

You shook your head and rolled your eyes “no, she didn’t, Bucky. I promise you.” You chuckled as you took a sip from the glass of water.

He leans in forward to you. “I have something in surprise for you.” He whispered into your ear as he grabs your hair, putting it on to the side. Tilting your head to the side, you slowly closed your eyes, and a smirk formed on your face. “Before you ask, Doll.” With his metal hand, he places the back of his index finger against your skin, moving it from your shoulder to your neck to tracing your jaw until it got to the other side of your face. With his index finger, he tilts your face towards his direction, making eye contact with you. “I’m not telling you what it is.” He licks his lips as his eyes move up and down your face.

The moment that Peter got there, everyone celebrated his birthday. You and Bucky didn’t spend much time together. That didn’t matter. You knew once the sun was down, your hands were going to be all over him.

Later that day, you receive a text message from Bucky

5:38 pm Meet me by the Lake at 1 am, wear the suit that I packed for you, and don't be late.

When the night arrived, everyone was asleep. You found it odd because everyone would usually stay up late when it came to parties like this. But you knew that tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Looking inside of your bag, you find the swimsuit that Bucky got for you. It was a two-piece baby blue bikini. Putting it on you, you looked at yourself in the mirror, and you noticed how well it fitted you. You placed your hair in a messy bun and proceeded to grab Bucky's jacket and wrapped yourself in it. It was getting chilly and going outside in a bikini. You knew you were going to be cold.

As you started to walk to the Lake, you feel arms wrap around you. This made you instantly turn around and face Bucky. He leans in and gives you a brief kiss. "Let's go somewhere else." He grabs your hand and starts to pull you towards the cabin once again. But he went around it where there was a hot tub.

The many times you were in that cabin, you never knew that it had a hot tub. So, it took you by surprise when Bucky took you there. He first gets in the hot tub and helps you get in by handing you his hand so you had somewhere to lean on.

Getting into the water, it felt nice feeling the warm hot water against your skin. The first thing you did was splash water at him. Bucky raises his left eyebrow and has a sly smirk on his face as he splashed water towards you. This made you chuckle a little bit. "Doll, be quiet. You don't want us to get caught, do you?" Bucky told you as he moved across the water so he can get closer to you. He was resting his knees at the bottom of the hot tub so he would be at eye level with you.

You shooked your head as you matched the same look Bucky was giving you. "you are going to be the reason why we get caught," you mimicked his voice as you scrunched your nose.

Bucky said nothing. Instead, he grabbed your waist and brought you closer until he was sitting on the other side and you were on his lap. He started at you with a smile on his face as he looked into your eyes. The blue lights of the water made you even glow more than before. After being away from him for hours, craving him all day, now you were able to wrap yourself around him.

You couldn't help yourself but giggle. You felt safe now being in his arms. You wrap your arms around his neck, moving in closer to him, your forehead almost touching his. Bucky tilts his head upwards and moves in closer to you. His lips were pressed against yours, his hands moving from your waist to your ass. He pulls you in closer against him. His tongue was slipping into your mouth, more desperate than usual because it had been all day since he hasn't felt your touch.

You let out a small noise. Your eyebrows were knitted together as you feel him growing hard underneath you. "you know how badly I've been craving to do this to you." He says in a deep raspy voice. His metal hand travels through your body until he goes and finds the hook of your bikini, playfully tugging it. "All fucking day, Bunny." He muttered, his lips moving from towards your neck.

Bucky teased you, licking you from your collarbone to the back of your ear. You nodded at the statement he said. You were craving him as much as he was craving you. You let out a small little noise of pleasure at the way he was holding you, talking to you, and kissing you.

"Then shown me, Bunny. How badly have you been craving this? Cause. I. Don't. Believe. You," he whispered into your ear. Bucky moved the sides of your bikini top, his metal hand going inside the material, exposing your breasts. Your nipples hardened from being exposed to the cold hair. Bucky took this as an opportunity to places his lips around it, tongue running along your skin.

You placed one of your hands on the ledge of the hot tub. Bucky hummed against your skin, sucking your nipple before pulling away. Meanwhile, your other hand went to his neck, gently digging your fingers onto his skin. His hand cupped your breast, and his metal thumb replaced his mouth, running along with the sensitive nipple as his lips move towards your neck "can you be a good girl and stay quiet for me?" You nodded briefly as quietly moaned as he gently pinched your nipple.

Bucky's hand travels from your breast to the material of your bikini. Ripping them on one of the sides. Meanwhile, one of your hands was removing his swim shorts. You could feel his cock against your ass, teasing himself with the feeling. He wanted you to take control of what can happen next. He moves both of his hands onto your hips.

Your heart was pounding. Something about being secretive and not getting caught made you want to get caught. You cautiously raised yourself from his lap, wrapping yourself around Bucky. You moved a couple of times, making it easier to line up along the head of his cock.

Bucky watched you closely, staring at the way you were taking control over him, especially as you sat down on his lap. "fuuuuuc-" he whispered as he wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, placing his mouth against your shoulder to keep him from moaning out loud. Bucky's hand went up to your mouth, covering it in case if you were going to make any sounds. "You are so perfect for me, Bunny." He rambled in your ear, trying his best not to moan at the feelings the way that you were clenching around him.

He then began carefully guiding you up and down on top of him, so he could appreciate how incredible it felt. But he couldn't help himself as he felt your thighs quiver and heard a whine. Bucky began by grabbing your hips and pushing you so that you were bouncing on top of him, absorbing all of him as he stretched you out, hitting all the walls you needed him to strike, especially from his perspective.

Bucky brought his free hand down between your legs as he stated this, effortlessly finding your clit. He started rubbing in slow but rapid circles, his jaw clenching as he noticed how quickly you clenched around him.

His fingers on your clit sent shockwaves through your entire body. With the climax nearing, you let out a muffled whimper against his palm, your rhythm of riding him becoming sloppier.

He stared down at how beautiful you were, your ass bouncing against his legs, and he inadvertently squeezed the grasp on your face, making you gasp in delight. "I'd like for you to cum for me," Bucky asked, his fingers speeding up on your clit, in a trembling voice.

You didn't need to be reminded; you wouldn't have been able to hold it in for much longer regardless. You paid close attention to every aspect. The way he squeezed your face, the feel of his fingers on your clit.

Bucky's brows wrinkled, his lips pursed in concentration as he tried not to gasp out loud at the sensation. Your pulsating muscles were working his cock in the nicest way possible since you were so tight around him. He had no idea what was going on until it was too late. Bucky came inside of you, his free hand pushing your hips down on top of him, keeping you there as he stuffed you with himself. He bit down on your shoulder, muffling to himself.

"Fuck." He muttered, shifting his head away from your shoulder and tilting his head back. His moist chest heaved up and down frantically, attempting to catch his breath. When he took his hand away from your mouth, it instantly went to your waist, bringing you close to him.

You leaned against his chest, your hands on his wrapped-around-you arms. You wanted to stay like this forever.

It was already getting late, and you two needed to wake up early. Walking inside of the cabin, you and Bucky were carefully trying to make any noise. Luckily the room you both were staying in was on the first floor.

The instant that you and Bucky got into the room, you went straight to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day for the both of you.

[wendip-week]

Prompt: Time-Travel

Prompt – Time Travel

It was another fine day in Gravity Falls. Squirrels were chasing each other, baby birds were chirping for food, and the local citizens went about their business, blissfully unaware of the rumored-weirdness that surrounded the valley.

In the town’s tourist-trap, the Mystery Shack, two young workers were sitting behind the register, looking bored. One was a short, scrawny pre-teen with shaggy, brown hair covered by a cap featuring a pine-tree. The other was a tall, lanky redheaded girl in flannel and sporting a trapper-hat. They were the best of friends (or partners-in-crime, depending on who you ask); and at that moment, they’d rather have been anywhere else.

“Ugh! Dipper! Why’s your uncle making us sit here? This place is half-dead! We’ve had, what? Sixteen customers all day, and maybe three of them wanted to buy something?” the girl said, laying across the counter.

“Yeah. Well, it’s Stan, Wendy. ‘Any potential sucker is basically a customer, and customers have money, so don’t miss an opportunity to get some!’”

“Nice one. But seriously, dude, I wish we could go on some adventure. Heck, I’ll take anything: scary or cheesy,” the girl said confidently.

“Really?” Dipper replied, looking at her. “You’d stoop to something out of our B-movie collection?”

Wendy paused, clearly giving this some thought. “Well…”

“The Crawling Deer-Demon-Duck is hiding in that condemned-house, Cassandara!” Dipper said in a low-baritone, his face pouting with mock-bravery. “What kind of brave seventeen-year-old slight bad-boy would I be if I didn’t go in there alone to try and stop it?”

Accepting his challenge, Wendy stood up. “Oh, Drewson! You can’t! It’s too dangerous!” she replied, adopting a terrible accent of a Southern-belle. She put the back-end of her hand on her forehead dramatically, while using her other to grab his sleeve. “I won’t let you go into that condemned house where the Deer-Demon-Duck is hiding!”

Dipper gently moved her hand away and faced her more directly. “But you have to let me!”

“Oh, Drewson!!!” Wendy lamented, now looking Dipper in the eyes.

“Cassandara…” Dipper did the same…

The two’s faces came closer and closer…

  Meanwhile, from two different ends of the Shack, a couple of thirteen-year-olds watched with interest. One, a fit-looking, freckle-faced girl with brown hair, stared with wide-eyes; she had her hands over her mouth as she barely suppressed a squeal. It was just too cute and hilarious! The other was a bulky young-man with copper hair. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head, chuckling.

  Wendy and Dipper’s faces were now inches from one another; neither breaking the act. Just as it seemed they were about make contact…

*FLASH!*

“Bwaaaahhh!!!” cried out a voice of pure-chaos.

…A white flash of light and a subsequent familiar-sounding snap caught them off-guard (and momentarily blinded the duo).

“Hey!” Dipper shouted.

“What the heck?!” Wendy replied, blinking to get her sight back.

“You guys! That was adorable!” Mabel, Dipper’s twin who sported braces, a homemade sweater, and thick, long brown cried out.

“Mabel?” said Wendy. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to hear all that!” the energetic girl told her friend while holding a photo-camera.

“W-We were imitating a scene from one of our movies!” Dipper replied quickly, his face suddenly a deep-red.

“Tomato-Potato! A smooch-scene’s a smooch-scene! Look!” Mabel told them, holding up an instant-photo. Looking closer, it featured Dipper and Wendy, inches apart and puckered up. “And I thought your only chest-hair was scrapbook-material, Dip!”

“Mabel, you better throw that away!” Dipper told his sister, while Wendy just shook her head, a hand covering her eyes.

“Nope! Scrapbook-ortunity!” Mabel opened her scrapbook and, finding a spot that was (relatively) empty, put the photo in. “Boom! Now, I just need some glue! Be right back!”

Mabel ran into the house to look around, leaving her brother and friend alone and little embarrassed.

Dipper looked at his redheaded crush. “Sorry, Wendy. She didn’t need to do that.”

“It’s whatever, dork. I mean, we were kind of cutting it close. That’s what happens when you play chicken.”

“Yeah… I’m gonna destroy it before she gets back,” Dipper said, reaching out for the scrapbook.

“No, don’t!” Wendy replied, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Wendy, you know she’ll show people. What’ll our friends think? I don’t want you to get embarrassed,” the younger Mystery-Twin said to the redhead.

“Thanks, but if everyone starts laughing, we can just say we’re great actors. After all, I’d pick you over the lead in that cheesy-film any day,” Wendy reassured Dipper, a gentle smile on her face.

Not knowing what to say, the blushing twelve-year-old just awkwardly chuckled.

“Hey!” shouted a gravelly-voice from inside the house. “Can somebody help me with this pimple on my back! I don’t need it bothering me on my next tour!”

Wendy turned to look at her dork, looking a little nonplussed. “…We should probably run before Stan singles us out.”

“To the roof, you think?” Dipper asked.

“Nah, I’m starved. Let’s hit Greasy’s. There’s a great lunch-special if we hurry.”

The nigh-inseparable duo quietly rushed off, leaving the gift-shop completely unattended. With that, the two customers slowly approached the counter, awkwardly looking around.

“Well, that was adorable and weird,” the girl told the boy around her age.

The large boy shrugged. “Definitely right on the latter.” He turned to face the girl. “How has your day been progressing?”

“Uh, fine I guess?” she replied, not used to hearing a greeting in such context. “How about yours?”

“Can’t complain. So… the gift-shop’s abandoned, it looks like,” the boy said, looking around.

“I guess so. Someone could steal something from here and no one would notice.”

“True. Looks like the rumors of this place sparing every expense were true,” the boy said with a chuckle. “Are you planning on stealing something?”

“No! Of course not!” the girl replied with a huff. As the boy looked away, she discreetly took a glance at the scrapbook left behind.

“Well, that’s good. Lots of punk-teens wouldn’t think twice about robbing this place blind,” he told her.

“Fair point,” The girl replied. She reached a small hand out. “I’m May, by the way.”

The other teen answered by clasping it with a meaty-looking hand of his own. “Cool. That’s my sister’s name. I’m Danny.”

For a second, the girl called May’s eyes widened, before narrowing suspiciously. Danny suddenly realized she wasn’t letting go of his hand.

“No, it isn’t,” she replied curtly. “My brother’s Danny!”

As she said that, the other teen frowned before his eyes mirrored the girl. They stared momentarily before pouncing. May attempted to pull “Danny” toward her. Danny, however, was ready. He spun and pulled the hand still clasping his behind the girl’s back. With her momentarily caught off-guard, he pushed her into one of the aisles. He quickly snatched the scrapbook from the counter before racing out the door. May, after stopping herself from hitting a wall, turned to see no scrapbook near the register. She immediately rushed outside to find the boy.

Behind the Mystery Shack, Danny was going rummaging the somewhat sticky-pages of the book he snatched, careful not let anything besides some glitter fall out from between. Finally, his eyes settled on his objective. He was just about to take it when-

“Hey, you!” Danny turned towards an angry-looking May, her fist punching her other palm. “That’s stealing! I don’t know who you are, but I’m not letting you have that!” she shouted.

“Please!” he replied. “As if you weren’t planning on it. I’m smarter than I look, you know!” he accused the girl, who gritted her teeth at his comeback. “And for your information, I’m me! And you’re not you!”

With that, the two of them raced towards each other. This time, however, May slid between the large boy’s legs and got behind him. Before he could react, she grabbed him underneath his shoulders. With him successfully in a headlock, May reached for the book in the redheaded boy’s hand. Realizing what she was trying to do, Danny swung back-and-forth, trying to make May let go of him.

Caught off-guard, the strong girl actually lost her grip on one of his arms for a minute, though she quickly regained it by getting her arm around his neck. However, this wasn’t enough. He reached behind, and this time, he got ahold of May’s shirt, enabling him to throw her off, despite her attempts to hold onto his head. (She even grabbed and stretched his mouth in the process).

She landed with a thud but was quick to get back on her feet. And May was immediately shocked by the sight before her. Next to this guy’s feet was the scrapbook of Mabel, apparently dropped when she made him throw her off. But on the other side of “Danny” laid what looked like a rubber-mask of his face. The head on his body now sported something else: a head that she could only describe as resembling an oversized pistachio, but with red-eyes and sharp teeth.

The creature posing as a human, realizing he was exposed, quickly grabbed his mask and slipped it back on with a growl. Now indiscernible from a human, he wagged what May assumed was a false finger, clearly ticked by that. He charged at her, only for her to roll out of the way. She tried a roundhouse-kick, only for the disguised teen to catch her foot. When May tried to break out, she lost her balance, enabling Danny to catch her from behind the same way she had him.

However, May was ready this time. As this guy grabbed her underneath her shoulders, May somersaulted backwards and caught Danny’s neck with her shoes. With all of her might, she used her legs to throw Danny forward, headfirst! He landed with a loud thud, giving May time to grab the book and escape.

Danny, checking to make sure his mask was straight, raced to catch up to May. He went around the side and rushing in the general direction she ran, saw her carefully moving around a large hole not too far from the Mystery Shack. Taking off a hand-shaped glove, he launched a vine-like appendage and grabbed May’s leg, tripping her and pulling her back. At the same time, she dropped the book near the edge of the long drop. Danny rushed forward and picked it up.

Of course, by this time, May was back on her feet. She charged with all he had and slammed her shoulder into the creature’s costumed-midsection, making him drop the book again. “OW!” They both shouted after May made contact.

Danny rubbed the spot where he got rammed with one hand and pushed her back with his other. He then looked at the pained girl strangely. “That was… You tackle just like May does; only weaker. Who are-? Hey, you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” May was clutching her shoulder, and as the boy could see more plainly, it didn’t look quite right.

“You’re hurt.” Before Danny could say more, the edge of the hole he was standing by gave way. He fell and, because he was still holding onto May, ended up pulling her in, too.

They both fell, screaming all the way down, only realize that they didn’t seem to be getting there anytime soon.

“Wait… I know what this is! We’re in the Bottomless Pit!” May said in realization.

“Oh, yeah! Haven’t seen the inside of this I was five…” Danny thought out loud.

“So you say!” May snapped. “Stop pretending already and tell me what the heck you are! Running into you is like crashing into a tree-trunk! What the heck?!”

Danny paused. “Okay, seeing as you look like you’re hurting, and I’m not, I’m going to call a truce. I’m willing to talk if you are, but I’d rather check your arm first. Is that cool with you?”

“Fine,” May grumbled, seeing no options at the moment. She was at a disadvantage, and if this monster could reach her, she’d be in trouble.

“Alright. Now, stay calm and try not to freak out.” Danny took a hand-shaped glove off and from where it was, slowly extended a vine in May’s direction. It gently went around the teenager’s midriff and pulled her towards him. It was plain to see she was suspicious. “Let me see…” Using his other hand, he poked May’s shoulder.

“Augh!” she grunted.

“Yeah… Looks like you dislocated your shoulder,” Danny assessed with a shudder. “You meatbags and your weird bodies.”

“MEATBAGS?! Look who’s talking!”

“Hey, it is basically what you are. You’re like, mostly water, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah…” May admitted awkwardly. “But that’s still rude.”

“Right. Sorry,” he apologized sheepishly. “Look, we can’t do anything until we come back up, so we might well as chat and find what the heck is going on here; maybe why you want that scrapbook so much.”

“You took it first,” May replied. “What about you? Also, would you mind letting go of me?”

“Can do.” Danny retracted his vine, allowing May to freefall on her own, then slipped his glove back on over his branch-like hand.

“Okay, so… who the heck are you? I’ve lived in Gravity Falls all of my life; I know that names being alike isn’t some coincidence.” May said.

“Agreed. I’m Danny Pines,” said the strange-teen. “And I’m assuming you’re May Pines.”

“Yeah. May Pines: daughter of Mason and Wendy Pines,” May stated proudly.

“Those are my parents’ names,” Danny replied, an eyebrow raised.

“Weird. My brother’s human, and he doesn’t look much like whatever that costume is you’re wearing. Are you being honest that you’re who you say you are?”

“Yes, I am,” Danny replied, starting to sound annoyed. “Look, I’m a plant-person, okay? So is most of the family, along with the half-the-town where I’m from. We wear disguises to blend in with humans… And what’s wrong with the way I look?”

“Well, for starters, my Danny’s not built like you. He’s muscular, but like the lean-kind. And he’s tall. You kind of have a build like my uncles on Mom’s side of the family. Plus, your face kind of looks like Aunt Mabel’s. He’s got more of one that looks kind of like Grandpa Dan,” May said thoughtfully.

“Huh. Go figure. I never actually wondered if my disguise was accurate… As for my height, I can safely tell you I’m taller than I look. I basically slouch in this costume,” Danny told her. “And my May’s costume doesn’t have you so good, either.”

“Really? Why?” May asked.

“Well, her mask has red-hair and no freckles. And your nose definitely isn’t Mom’s.”

“Oh. I always wondered how I’d look with red hair…” May thought out loud. “Uh, so… why the heck were you trying to take that book?”

“Why do you need it?”

May sighed in resignation. “Look, I’m looking for an anniversary-present for Mom and Dad. I remember Aunt Mabel told me about some cute picture in her scrapbook that went missing. It was that little scene with Mom and Dad from a little earlier. Apparently, it disappeared. It’d be a good gift, and I thought maybe it was me taking it after Blendin Blandin loaned me his Time-Tape that caused it disappear. Now, I’m wondering if it vanishes because you steal it.”

“What a coincidence. I was planning on getting that as an anniversary present for them, too. Well, my version of Mom and Dad.”

“Yeah… How’s that work again? I’m already assuming this is probably one of those Other-Dimension/Universe deals. Or maybe even another timeline,” asked May

“Really? How would that last one work? New timelines always replace old ones, right?” Danny replied.

“I don’t know. I don’t do this for a liv-Oh! We’re coming back up!”

About a minute later, the two thirteen-year-olds found themselves back outside the Bottomless Pit, not a minute gone by since they fell in. Immediately, they stepped away, quick to attend to more important matters. Well, besides the picture in Mabel’s scrapbook, anyway. (Danny quickly picked that up).

“Alright,” Danny said after making sure no one was around. “I’m not an expert, but I’ve been taught the basics of human-skeletons. We’ve gotta fix that arm.”

“Right. Uh, one sec.” May used her good arm to pull a coin-purse out of her pocket. From there, she pulled out a piece of wood with some bite-marks and stuck it in her mouth. “Do your worst.”

Danny put one hand on her forearm; the other on her shoulder. “This is gonna hurt. I’m going to count to five. Got it?” May nodded, and Danny counted. “One… Two… Five.”

A shrill, girly scream echoed through the valley. A scream rivaled only by those who were unfortunate enough to stick an appendage into the infamous “Pain Hole”.

“You okay?” Danny asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” May grunted, rolling her shoulder a couple of times. “This actually happens more often than you think. I’ll be fine in a couple of days.

“Well, I guess that’s one thing you humans have over us,” the boy said, shaking his head. “Your broken limbs don’t have to stay broken. We need to regrow ours. It’s pretty rough.”

“I guess… So, is your time like that lizard-people timeline or something? Dad and Aunt Mabel said something like that happened or was talked about when they were hunting for treasure one time.”

“I don’t remember either of them talking about that,” Danny said, shrugging. “All I know is that my version of Mom and Dad were turned into plants outside of Gravity Falls, and that there was time-travel involved. Come to think of it, I wonder if maybe Time-Wishes have something to do with this.”

May raised an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

“They’re paradox-free, but what if they don’t line up with the future. And they can’t be part of a time-loop, either. That’s another paradox. But splitting timelines might make for a good technicality, especially if they lead to the same futures or something.”

“…You read a lot of science-fiction, don’t you?” May deadpanned.

Danny shrugged. “When I’m camping. Yeah.”

“So… you think maybe we come from different branches and that this is a shared-moment in the past?”

“In a nutshell. No pun intended.”

May shrugged. “Anything’s possible. So, how are things in your timeline? Is the Shack still standing?”

“Yeah. Uncle Soos is doing a great job with it.”

“Nice! Does Arctica exist in in that time? Do you like-like her?” May asked in a sly voice.

“N-No! I mean, uh, yes… and no!” Danny replied quickly.

“Oh my gosh! I knew it!” May said, almost squealing. “Everyone knows! Me, our parents, our friends! Aunt Pacifica sure approves! So does-!”

“Wait! Pacifica… She’s alive in your time?” Danny asked, looking a bit shocked.

“Yeah. Is she not…? Oh, man! What happened?” May replied, looking very concerned.

“She just got sick. Last year, I think. That kind of thing’s one drawback to being human, I guess. Still, everyone was there, so I think she was comfortable, at least,” Danny told his sister from what might be an alternate-timeline.

“Shoot…” May thought out loud.

“Sorry to bring the mood down. So, does Chaz still try to keep his distance from you and your cooties?”

“As if! He’s just intimidated by my tackle!”

“Sure… No doubt that’s why he and Drake Jr. tried to discover a vaccine for them,” Danny said with a chuckle. “Dad thinks they might be onto rediscovering the Philosopher’s Stone instead.”

“So, Aunt Mabel married Uncle Drake in your timeline, too?”

“Yep.”

“Great… Two versions of our uncle to pass on his terrible driving skills two different versions of our cousin,” May said in exasperation.

“Don’t forget our siblings…” Danny added.

“Siblings? What siblings?” May asked.

“…You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Seriously, we have them? What are they like?” May said with interest. “Younger? Older?”

“All of the above. Dang. I wish I had my special phone-glove so I could show you pics. Too bad I didn’t want to accidentally leave it.”

“Shoot! Lucky!”

Danny laughed. “Keep telling yourself that.”

May smiled, then looked at her aunt’s scrapbook. “That photo’s still in there.”

Danny rummaged through it and found the page with said photo. The siblings from different timelines both stared, admiring the young versions of their parents doing that corny, mock-romance scene.

“What do you wanna do?” Danny asked her.

“I don’t know… I want it, but you’ve got as much right to snatch it as I do,” May replied. “I wish we both could take it with us.”

“You know, maybe we can,” Danny said after a minute.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Doesn’t the Shack have a magic photocopy-machine in this time?”

“…And Mom and Dad are gone, so we might be able to pull this off!”

//

Meanwhile, Mabel was in her and Dipper’s room in the attic, which had basically been torn apart in a futile-search.

“Come on, Mabel!” The sweater-loving preteen said to herself. “Where’d you put that extra glue?”

//

The Mystery Twins of different timelines slipped through the currently-unguarded gift-shop of the Mystery Shack with ease, only to run into an elderly, bespectacled man in a fez, faded-white tee-shirt, and boxers in the living room, who was sitting on the couch, watching tv. The man turned to face them.

“Hey!” he said gruffly. “No exploring the house unless I’m leading a tour! Back to the gift-shop with you.”

Danny approached him, a hand behind his back. “No. Back to sleep with you.” Danny brought his concealed hand out from behind him, a large flower blooming from his wooden hand. He blew what looked like pollen into the old man’s face. The man was out in an instant, drooling all over himself.

May took the tv remote and flipped through a couple of channels. When she was satisfied, she abandoned the remote and joined Danny, though not before laying a soft kiss on the scary-looking man’s temple.

“Love you, Great-Grunkle Stan,” May whispered. She turned back to rubber-suited variation of her brother. “Let’s go.”

The two kids wandered down the hall towards the back, where they found a beaten, worn-out copy machine with words like “Danger” and other warnings on and around it.

“So… if I remember correctly, Dad said this’ll clone whatever you put into it,” May said. “It’s how Great Grunkle Stan made copies of the Journals that triangle-dude ruined.”

“Right,” Danny replied. “Seems straightforward. I think I’ll make two. This way, we don’t have to steal anything.”

“Sounds good. Let’s just remember not to get either wet.” May stepped out to check the living room.

//

Meanwhile, a heavy-set young man in a cap and a shirt with a big question-mark stepped into the living-room. “Hey, Mr. Pines. I just finished fixing-Oh, cool! You’ve got anime on!”

Soos Ramirez sat down on the couch, his gaze focused entirely on the tv-screen. He didn’t notice the teenage-girl peering around the corner, nor the bright and completely-noticeable flash from down the hall. He also didn’t notice two teens step back into the gift-shop, the boy holding three identical-copies of what looked like Mabel’s scrapbook.

//

In the Mystery Shack’s gift shop, May sat the scrapbook back down on the counter where she and Danny found it.

“Alright! Are we good to go?” May asked Danny.

“I think so. I made whole scrapbooks that we can maybe use for Aunt Mabel sometime. I bet she’d like to see her old pet-project again,” Danny replied.

“Great idea. You know, if it’s not us that steal the photo, I wonder what happens to this one.”

“Beats me. But no time to find out. Someone’s bound to come back any time now.” Danny said, handing one of the copies to May.

“You’re right… Hey, I’m sorry I kind of jumped you when we ran into each other. I thought maybe I violated some time-bureau thing and you were an agent or something,” May replied with sincerity as the two of them walked out of the entrance.

“That’s alright. No harm done. I’m sorry you hurt yourself trying to hurt me,” Danny replied to the girl.

“It’s fine,” May told her… sibling. “You know, it would be cool if we could hang, but with whatever this is, I don’t see how that’s possible any time soon.”

“You’re right,” Danny agreed, almost regretfully. “I don’t know how time-travel works, and I don’t Blendin’s inclined to tell someone who got the drop on him.”

“Huh?!”

“Nothing!”

The two stared at each other, not knowing what else to say. Finally, May broke the ice: “Awkward sibling-hug?”

The Mystery Twins embraced, awkwardly patting each other’s backs before separating.

“So, before we go our separate ways, can I ask you a weird question?” Danny asked sheepishly.

“Sure. What is it?” May responded.

“What’s like having a nose? A real one, I mean…”

//

Meanwhile, Mabel Pines had just come back downstairs. “I can’t believe I forgot I have one in my sweater’s inner pocket. What a silly-Mabel I am!” she said to herself, chuckling.

She stood by her scrapbook on the counter and tried to work the cap to the new glue-bottle off.

At the same time, a customer, who had come into the empty gift-shop just before the girl came down, went to approach Mabel and ask about getting rung up. Unfortunately, there was a snowglobe left on the floor by some child earlier that day. The man suddenly tripped on it and fell forward, only to stop himself by catching a fan. Said fan immediately started blowing on high, blasting Mabel’s hair all over her face and blowing a certain photograph into the yard, where an odd-looking goat caught in his mouth and ate it.

That was a dark day for Mabel Pines… who immediately planned to try to convince Dipper and Wendy to reenact that scene again.

//

The Pines twins from alternate futures faced each other, holding out their respective Time-Tapes (with the tape pulled out appropriately) and holding tightly onto their respective scrapbooks. The two got one last look at each other.

“Bye, Danny,” May said to her secret monster of a brother. “I love you, and I hope Mom and Dad like your gift.”

“Likewise, May,” Danny said, looking a bit sad. I wish you could see the others… I’d have liked to see their reactions meeting you.”

May gave him a soft smile. “Hey, I got to meet you, at least.” Danny smiled in response.

The Mystery Twins let the tape on their devices retract. There was a flash of light, and it was like they had never been there.

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 26

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

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Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

————————————————————————————

“So, how are we getting inside?” Tori asked, sitting next to Fox in speeder. “Like, what’s the plan?”

Fox turned to her in a blank eye, his brows furrowed. “Do you ever pay attention, Tor? Like, are you always daydreaming whenever you’re being brief about something important?”

“You never even told us,” she crossed her arms as she tapped Dipper’s sleeves, catching the ARC Trooper’s attention. “Dip, please tell me what Commander Fox said about this stealth mission?”

Dipper lifted his shoulders, holding a datapad in his hands. “He only told us that Riyo and I were the ones who will sneak into the Chancellor’s penthouse and grab the files from there. You two were supposed to watch the speeder in case things go wrong.”

Pouting her lips, she focused her gaze towards the view of the city, which was much livelier than last night. There were people pacing up and down the streets, going about with their daily life, while the lights from skyscrapers and houses were lit. Tori couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

There were schoolchildren clad in uniforms rushing towards their classrooms while office workers had their blazers and blouses on, carrying their datapads and briefcases. This was like how it was 6 months ago, before the war came to the capital of the Republic, which the Empire tried to crumble with their iron fists.

As long as they were people fighting for the Republic, then it still exists to Tori, Fox, Riyo, and Dipper. Riyo saw the smiles on the citizen’s faces, which made her lips curled downwards. She enjoys seeing others happy, but somehow, she doesn’t share their sentiments.

Are they really content with their life? The former senator pondered, glancing at the little Rodian boy, who was enjoying his ice-cream underneath the sunny day, which reminded her of home.

Riyo misses the paddy fields on Pantora. Her father used to harvest a massive field of rice, and brought a sack of harvest for the entire family. It wasn’t much, but she enjoyed the rice that was grown just kilometres away from her village home. If her father was lucky, he would also bring some eels, which tasted juicy.

“So once Dipper and I got the files, does that mean we’re leaving Coruscant?” she asked Fox.

“Yes, dear, we’re bringing Senator Amidala with us after this,” Fox affirmed. “We can’t stay here for too long. It’s not safe for all of us here.”

“So, what do we do with the files? Padmé did suggested us to show them to the Imperial Senate.”

“I know she did, but the general’s order was to get the senator out of the planet and head back to base. It’s too risky to head into the Senate building. We don’t even know what’s waiting for us down there.”

“Foxy has a point,” Tori agreed. “This planet is under heavy surveillance. If we are caught, then it could compromise not only the location of our base but also the number of our army as well. We’ve lost so many soldiers in battle, and we can’t afford to lose anymore.”

Riyo frowned from their answers, making Fox sighed. “Look, I understand you want to help your friend, and I’m all for it, but we also need to think about us as well. I know it seems selfish, but we can’t always have it all.”

“I understand, dear,” she gave a weak smile. “Let’s hope our plans go smoothly. We don’t want anyone interfering with it.”

Dipper chirped. “Don’t worry about it. By the time the Imps realized it, we would already be long gone by now. I have a good feeling that we will successfully escape from Coruscant with ease.”

“Fingers crossed on that. I really don’t want to be interrogated by the Imperial secret police. From what I heard, no one made it out alive.”

“Speak of the devil, and he will come to you,” Tori scolded Riyo. “We don’t want any sort of trouble during this mission.”

It better not, Fox hoped, as he drove in mid-air, searching for Palpatine’s penthouse through his scope. He had been there many times before, and memorised every single room in his building, including the bathroom. He was in charge of security along with Thorn, which was important for him to know the building schematic. He never said his last goodbyes to Thorn, or spent their last moment together before the latter was gone.

On the other hand, he wasn’t particularly sad that Palpatine died, but if those files mean turning the tide of the war, then he has no other choice. I hope his misdeeds were recorded, so that everyone knows what a terrible man he was.

As Fox noticed the penthouse’s balcony from afar, he slowed down the speeder, driving away from the highway. “We’ll be arriving in 5 minutes,” he informed them. “Get into position.”

“Yes, Commander,” Dipper saluted, as he gave a wink at Riyo, who was clutching her hands together. “Don’t worry. I’ve done this kind of mission before. You’ll befine, Riyo. We believe in you.”

“May the Force be with all of us,” she prayed, as they arrived in front of the lobby, which was on the ground floor. With silence surrounding them, the former senator noticed plenty of overgrown weed between the bricks on the grounds.

No one was inside the apartments, except for the complete void inside. There were people here when the Chancellor was still alive. Did the Empire forced them out as well?

Fox and Tori glanced at them, giving them a nod. “Good luck, and be careful,” Tori said. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

“We will, commander,” Dipper acknowledged, as he gestured to Riyo to follow him inside the abandoned apartment.

As they stepped inside the lobby, both of them noticed the red carpet was torn, covered in fungus. The paint on the walls was peeled off, and the fluorescent lights were hanging on the ceiling, waiting to crash on the floor.

“It looks scary in here,” Riyo commented, glancing at the vacant receptionist counter. “What do you think happened here?”

Dipper observed many blast marks in the room's corner, clicking his tongue. “Whatever it is, I doubt the tenants here left voluntarily,” he replied as he turned towards the lift and pressed the button, much to her bewilderment.

“Are you sure this lift is working?”

Before he could answer, the lift door opened, with the background music playing and the golden lights working. “Well, looks like your question is answered, Ri. After you.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” she smiled and walked inside, pressing the button that leads all the way upstairs. “I’m surprised there’s still something working here. I wonder who switched on the power?”

Dipper felt uneasy as they arrived at the penthouse, which was well kept, despite no one living there for months. He felt the cooling air coming from the air-conditioning and the scent of nutmeg lingering, prompting him to draw out his blaster.

“Riyo, I don’t think we’re alone,” he warned her. “Stay closer to me.”

“Alright then,” Riyo bobbed her head, holding a blaster as well. “The files could be in his studies, but we have to be careful not to trigger the sensors.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he took out his Onderonian army knife, as he tiptoed towards the study room, where everything on the bookshelves were arranged in order.

Riyo remembered how the place was. She attended a party in the Chancellor’s penthouse, where many of her colleagues were there, along with close associates. There was champagne and wine, and she only had a sip of the sweet alcohol. She also had some cream puffs at the party, and offered them to Fox, who was in charge of security. He enjoyed the pastry, and Riyo would love to make them for him, when there’s a place to bake, of course.

“The sensors are on the top shelf. Maybe that’s where the files are.”

“Good eye, senator,” Dipper praised. “I’ll disable it for you.”

“Alright,” she took a deep breath, as she wore her rubber gloves, which won’t leave any trace of fingerprints. Riyo never done a stealth mission before, and she will not fail their team.

Stretching his arms, the ARC Trooper flipped the switch behind the small, black sensors, deactivating it. Using his screwdriver on the pocket knife, he slowly removed them from his shelf, tossing them aside. Riyo searched through every file from the bookshelves, starting from the letter ‘A’.

Audits for Coruscant, Audits for Alderaan, Banking Clan accounts, well, that’s a lot of files that start with the letter ‘B’. Bursary Market, Core World populations…

Dipper tapped his foot as Riyo was still searching through the files. He never thought it wouldn’t take long, but he was mistaken. He always thought anything involving paperwork was easy, but it was otherwise. Counting files from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ was quite a challenge for the both of them, and time is not on their sides. Now I understand why Commander Fox hated paperwork so much.

“The Death of the Young twins, Grand Army of the Republic Protocols,” Riyo muttered underneath her breath, wiping her sweat on her forehead. “Project Cyborg, Project Starfleet, wait, I think I found it.”

“You did?” his face lit up. “Can I see?”

“Yeah sure, the file was named The Assassination of Chancellor Palpatine,” she showed him. “It was pretty easy to find it, if you ask me.”

“Yeah, sure,” he groaned, his clammy hands still gripped on his pistol. “I still think this was too easy. I have a funny feeling something bad is going to happen to us soon.”

“We should head to the lift,” Riyo reminded, hiding the files underneath her blazer. “We can’t keep Fox and Tori waiting.”

[orangeoctopi7]

For Want of a Switch

... A Nintendo Switch, amirite?

No, JK I’ve actually started a new fic because plot bunny/fandom pet peeves wouldn’t let me work.

An AU where things go a little more smoothly at the UFO crash site, Dipper doesn’t make any life-changing decisions without sleeping on it first, and Ford clarifies some earlier statements made while under emotional duress.

Many metaphors have been made about how changing course by just a couple of degrees can lead to a very different destination. How flipping a simple switch can make a difference between a train ending up in Paris or Munich. In this case, the metaphorical switch was as simple as Ford and Dipper not pressing a real switch inside a derelict spaceship. Because of this, no security droids showed up when Dipper found the adhesive, and they were free to continue their conversation about apprenticeship uninterrupted.

“I-I dunno.” Dipper stammered when Ford insisted that Mabel would be fine on her own in California. “We’ve never really been apart before.”

“And isn’t that suffocating?” Ford asked.

“...What do you mean?” Dipper asked for clarification. He was pretty sure he knew where his great uncle was coming from, but he had to be sure. Because if not… well, the boy wouldn’t let anyone talk about his sister like that and not stand up for her, not even The Author.

“I mean always living with the expectations that you have to go everywhere together, to do everything together! I mean when people act as though you’ve done something wrong if you ever try to follow your own path, even your own twin!”

Dipper nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. The teacher over our Quiz Bowl team is always asking me when Mabel’s gonna join, no matter how many times I tell him she’s not into that sort of thing. And every time Mabel gets a part in the school play, everyone else pesters me so much for not auditioning that I end up joining the stage crew, even though rehearsals are the same time as Game Club. Mabel always says I don’t have to, but… I just get so tired of all the other teachers and students getting on my case.”

There were even more instances like this that Dipper could list. Heck, just earlier this summer, Mabel had been upset because he wouldn’t go trick-or-treating with her. But no, Mabel was more upset that Dipper had tried to ditch her without explaining that he wanted to go to the dance with Wendy, and Robbie had made him feel embarrassed about being too old for it. She wouldn’t have been so mad if he’d just talked to her in the first place. Right?

When he stopped to think about it, Dipper realized it was probably even worse for Ford and Stan when they were growing up. They may have been fraternal twins, but they definitely looked identical. And while Dipper had never met his great-grandfather, the few stories he’d heard about the guy didn’t make him sound like a very supportive parent. 

“Dipper, can you honestly tell me you never felt like you were meant for something more?” Ford asked. “More than what people expect of you? More than just being half of an assumed pair?”

“I-I guess… maybe? I dunno. Staying here in Gravity Falls, working with you… it sounds like a dream come true, but I’m not sure I have what it takes. Bill tricked me, and I was wrong about Stan and the portal.…”

“Bill tricked me too, remember?” Ford assured him. “And you were right about Stan and the portal. It was too dangerous, and he shouldn’t have opened it.”

“But then you never would have--”

“I know. Believe me, I know. And I’m so glad I got to come back to Gravity Falls and meet you and Mabel, but… but it’s selfish of me to feel that way, because the event that brought me home put the rest of the universe in danger. Once we find the alien adhesive and seal the rift, maybe I can-- I can finally live without- well, with a little less guilt.” He sighed and muttered under his breath. “Sixty-three years old, and I’m still cleaning up after his messes.” Ford shifted through a few more containers, still looking for the adhesive. “What I’m trying to say is: I think you do have what it takes.”

“If you say so…” Dipper shrugged. “I mean, I can’t even work this magnet gun right!” He held it up to demonstrate and ended up zapping a hexagonal container right to him. It leaked a strange pink goop when he tried to pry it off. 

“That’s it!” Ford cried. “You did it, my boy, you found the adhesive!”

“I did?” 

“Yes! What did I tell you? You do have what it takes, kid, you’re brilliant!” Ford hugged him, and then carefully packed up the alien adhesive. “We can continue this discussion on the way back home. For now, we’ve got bigger things to worry about. I’ve been working on a specialized glue-gun back in the lab. We should be able to fill it with the alien adhesive and seal up the rift.”

Dipper got a few more tries with the magnet gun on their way back out of the crashed alien ship, and by the time he reached the ladder again, he’d actually gotten the hang of it.

“Great Uncle Ford?”

“Yes, my boy?” 

“If… if I do become your apprentice, could we come back here some time?”

Ford grinned warmly. “Absolutely.”

As they ascended the ladder, Dipper paused to take a few more selfies before they left the UFO, and he even got Ford to pose with him in one, but it was clear the old researcher wanted to get back to the lab and seal off the rift as soon as possible. Their climb up was otherwise uneventful. But while Dipper was exiting the ship, his foot caught on the lip of the opening, and tripped over the rock that had been covering the access hatch before. Luckily, his backpack took the brunt of the fall. Unluckily, they heard the loud crunch of something breaking.

Dipper and Ford shared a moment of wide-eyed terror as the boy hurriedly opened up his bag and pulled out the rift. They shared a sigh of relief when they found the crack in the containment unit hadn't expanded more than a millimeter, and was still stable. Dipper rummaged around in his bag and found the offending culprit.

“Phew, it was just my walkie-talkie.” The boy sighed with relief. The speaker had popped out and the Talk button was stuck down. “Oh well, we weren’t getting a signal anyway.”

“I can fix it for you, once the rift is taken care of.” Ford assured him, “But we need to seal it fast, before that crack finally breaks.”

Dipper nodded and gingerly held out the containment unit to his uncle. “I think you’d better carry it from here on out.”

Ford solemnly took the rift and placed it in one of his many coat pockets. “That was close. We can’t afford to have any accidents with this.”

“I’m sorry…” Dipper murmured.

“You don’t need to be sorry, my boy. Just more careful.”

“See, this is what I’m talking about when I say I don’t think I have what it takes! I just almost ended the universe!”

“Almost being the operative word. You almost destabilized the rift, but you didn’t.” Ford reassured him. “Meanwhile, look at all the things you have done! Defeated a swarm of gnomes, faced off against a character from a fighting game brought to life, outsmarted a shapeshifter! How many other twelve-year-olds could do that? This town is a magnet for things that are special. For people who are special, like you and me!” Ford hugged him. “So what do you say, will you be my apprentice?”

“Well… I… it’s a really big decision.” Dipper said slowly. “I’m gonna need time to think about it.”

“You’re right. It is a big decision.” Ford agreed. “And you’ve got the rest of the week to consider it. Of course, I hope you say yes.”

* * *

The sun was just starting to dip towards the horizon when they got back to the shack, the sunlight filtering in long slanting beams between the trees. The beautiful scenery added to Dipper's good mood as he ran up the stairs to the attic, eager to share the day's events with his sister.

"Mabel! I just had the greatest day of my life! Aliens are real, and I got to explore their ship with Grunkle Ford, and-" he halted in his rambling when he saw his sister curled up in a ball on her bed, her back to him. "Mabel, what's wrong?"

She slowly sat up and turned around, revealing her walkie-talkie, still receiving transmissions from Dipper's busted one.

"Tell me I heard wrong, Dipper!" She cried, "Tell me you're not going to stay here and be Ford's apprentice!"

"Well, I… I haven't really made a decision yet." Dipper replied. "I've still got all week to think about it."

"You just had the best day of your life? Well I just had the worst day of my life!" Mabel informed her brother with tears in her eyes. "I found out that everything I was looking forward to in the future, highschool, a birthday party with my friends, even saying goodbye to them at the bus stop before we leave, it's all going wrong! And now I find out you, the one constant in my life, might not be coming home with me!?"

"I-I don't know, I haven't decided yet…" Dipper stammered. "Just give me a couple of days to think about it, we'll figure this out!"

"Why can't you figure out right now that it's a terrible idea!?"

Dipper tried to remember how Ford had put it. He made it sound so clear and logical. "Come on, Mabel, we can't always do the same thing! We have to choose our own path!"

"What does that even mean!?" She threw her hands up. "I'm your sister and your friend, Dipper, whatever you do it's gonna affect me, especially if it's you leaving me!"

“Well, always staying with you is going to affect me and the opportunities I have!”

“I’m not saying you always have to stay with me!” Mabel retorted. “But moving away from home for good? Staying cooped up in a lab with Grunkle Ford all the time? Is that really what you want?”

“I don’t know what I really want!” Dipper steamed. “So far today nobody has given me time to stop and really think about this! You think I don’t have misgivings about moving away from Mom and Dad? But it’s not like I’d never come back, I’d come to visit for holidays and stuff. And I wouldn’t be cooped up in the lab with Grunkle Ford all the time. We’d go out exploring, and I’d hang out with Wendy when she’s done with school for the day, and Grunkle Stan would still be around to make me do chores… probably…”

Come to think of it, Dipper wasn’t quite sure what Stan was going to do once tourist season was over. It was clear Ford didn’t approve of the Mystery Shack, even less than Dipper had when the boy first arrived. Would Stan stay in Gravity Falls after the Shack was shut down? Did he have anywhere else to go?

“Fine!” Mabel huffed as she stormed out of the room. “Take you time thinking about how much fun you’re gonna have chasing fairies with Grunkle Ford, while I’m stuck in Piedmont doing math homework!”

Dipper waited quietly in their bedroom as he listened to Mabel thunder down the stairs. He figured it was probably best to give her some space to cool down for now. They’d talk more about it when she wasn’t so upset, when they could both think clearly. Once the front door slammed shut, he knew it was safe for him to go downstairs. He headed down to the basement to see if Ford needed any help sealing the rift.

* * *

It was early in the evening, but the gift shop was completely empty. Of course, the fact that it was the second-to-last Friday of August didn’t help. Tourist season was coming to a close. Normally the Mystery Shack would cut back to only being open on the weekends once September rolled around, going until Halloween, when Stan would throw together a haunted house and go out with a bang before closing down until the holiday season, when he’d open up for a couple of weeks before shutting down again until Spring Break of next year.

Not this year, though.

This year, Stan would be closing up the Mystery Shack for good.

“Alright, I ain’t payin’ ya to stand around when we’re not pulling in any cash.” Stan barked at Wendy. “Go home!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Wendy shrugged, pulling off her name tag and grabbing her jacket.

“You too, Soos!” Stan turned to the handyman, who was busy pulling boxes out of a closet.

“You sure, Mr. Pines?” Soos asked, “I thought you wanted me to clear out all our old inventory.”

“It can wait ‘til tomorrow. I get the feeling it’s gonna be another slow day.”

“Oh. Well, I could help you clean out the kitchen instead!”

“Soos.”

“You don’t gotta pay me. Oh, or I could vacuum the living room!”

“Go home, Soos! If you’re so set on doin’ chores, do ‘em for your Abuelita!”

“Oh. Ok…”

Stan hadn’t told Soos about Ford’s mandate to close down the Mystery Shack after the kids left, and he worried the handyman would figure it out if he stuck around. Stan also hadn’t told the guy he’d be kicked out after the kids left. Maybe Stan was just trying to spare the kid’s feelings. Or maybe he was hoping Soos’ inevitable water works when he found out would persuade Ford to change his mind. Not likely, but hey, it was worth a shot, right?

The old conman was tallying up the day’s profits in the cash register (there weren’t any) when his hearing aide picked up the bang of the attic bedroom door slamming open, followed by the tromp-thump-clomp-thunk of someone stomping down the stairs, punctuated by the creeeeeeak-slam of the front door being thrown open and then kicked shut. 

“Oh boy.” He sighed, locking the till. He’d had to cheer Mabel up just an hour ago, and he didn’t think it was a coincidence that someone had stormed out of the house just a few minutes after Dipper and Ford got back from their latest nerd escapade. What were those kids fighting about now?

Stan peeked out the window at the front porch, and sure enough, there was Mabel, sobbing on the couch, her head pulled into her sweater. Earlier she’d just been sad and unsure of the future, but now Stan could see her mood had shifted, and not for the better. These were tears of anger and frustration.

“Hey Pumpkin, you alright?” Stan asked as he peeked out the front door.

“No!” 

Right, stupid question. “Well, wassamatter? I gotta punch some jerk for you?”

“No…” Mabel said more quietly this time. Stan figured that was all the invitation he needed to sit down next to her.

“You feelin’ up to tellin’ me what happened, or am I gonna have to play Ducktective?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now…” Mabel mumbled, her voice a bit muffled by the sweater over her face. “Can you just… can you just sit here with me for a little while?”

“Eh, sure, I got nothin’ better to do.” Stan played it off like he was indifferent, but he wrapped a gentle arm around her back. He could tell she appreciated it by the way she leaned into his side.

They sat there like that for maybe five minutes before Mabel finally began to talk on her own.

“You remember earlier, when you said at least whatever happens, I’ll still have Dipper with me?”

Yep, they were definitely fighting again. “Yeah?”

“I’m starting to worry I won’t always have him with me.”

“Alright, what’d that bundle of sweat and nerves do now?”

“It’s not something he did… not exactly.” Mabel was quiet for a moment, as if she wasn’t sure she should share the next bit. “Grunkle Ford asked Dipper if he wanted to stay here in Gravity Falls and be his apprentice.” 

“...Did he now?” Stan asked icily. He didn’t want to make this about him and his brother’s issues. This was Mabel’s problem. But oh boy, he was going to have words with his brother as soon as he had the chance. “Sixty-three years old and I’m still cleanin’ up after his messes…” he muttered under his breath.

“I overheard them talking about it on the walkie-talkies.” Mabel nodded, apparently not hearing that last bit. “And when Dipper got back, he said he needed time to think about it! I guess I’m mad because if it were me, I wouldn’t have to think about it. If I had to choose between staying in Gravity Falls without Dipper, or going home with him, I’d choose to go home with him every time!”

Stan gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I know you would, sweetie. But you gotta remember, your brother’s one of those over-thinking types. He’s gotta over-think everything! That big head of his will figure out it’s a bad idea.”

“But what if he doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll have to talk some sense into him.”

Mabel shifted inside her sweater and gave a little moan. She still wasn’t reassured.

Stan heaved a deep sigh. “Look, I’m gonna tell you somethin’ I wish I’d known when I was a kid. I don’t think this’ll happen, but… if Dipper does decide he wants to stay with Ford, or if when you two get older, he decides to do something you really don’t think he should do, you should try and talk some sense into him. But if he still won’t listen, all you can do is support him. Cuz if he ever feels like you’re tryin’ to hold him back, that’ll only push him away faster.”

Mabel finally poked her head out of her sweater and looked up at Stan with wide eyes. “I’m not trying to hold Dipper back… I just don’t want to be alone!”

He hugged her. “I know, sweetie. Nobody does.”

“And you weren’t trying to hold Grunkle Ford back when you two were teenagers! The thing with his science fair project was just an accident!”

Oh great. Here he’d been trying to not make this about himself and his issues with his brother. “Believe me, I know. But it doesn’t matter what I know. He still thinks it was sabotage.” The old conman shook his head. “But look, kid, you don’t gotta worry about my issues, even if they do seem pretty similar. I know right now with summer ending and your last year of middle school starting, it seems you’re growin’ up too fast, but the truth is, you’re still young. You an’ your brother’ve still got years an’ years to mess up and make up.”

Mabel squirmed the rest of the way out of her sweater and wrapped her arms around Stan’s waist. “Thanks Grunkle Stan. I guess I feel a little better now. I’m still worried about what Dipper will do, though.”

“Well, if he does decide to stay here with Ford, maybe I’ll come home with you.”

Mabel giggled and looked up at him again, but her smile faltered when she saw he wasn’t joking. “W-what are you talking about? You can’t just leave the Mystery Shack, this is your home!”

Yikes. Stan probably shouldn’t have said that out loud. He was pretty sure the whole reason Ford was letting him stay until the kids left was because the old nerd didn’t want them to know about it and make a fuss. Stan had just wanted to make Mabel feel better, but she’d just be more upset if she found out he’d been kicked out.

Luckily, something else caught their attention before that conversation could start. They heard something rustling through the underbrush. It was hard to see in the dimming light as the sun continued to sink towards the horizon, but a humanoid figure seemed to be making its way towards the clearing that housed the Mystery Shack. Stan reached behind the couch for his anti-creep bat, which he used to chase off Manotaurs, IRS agents, or the stray beautiful men that had started hanging around a couple of months ago. But an uneasy feeling he couldn’t place made him reach further down until his hand closed around the handle of a pistol. His thumb rested carefully against the safety switch, unsure if he should flip if off yet.

Before the figure came into full view, they heard its voice, high pitched and annoying, but probably male. “M-M-M-Mabel? M-Mable? Ugh, where is she? She should’ve come this way by now!”

Stan switched the safety off. He was about to order Mabel back inside when the stranger finally stumbled into the clearing. He was a tall, pudgy man with a hairstyle that looked straight out of the 1920’s, wearing weird little goggles and a gray jumpsuit. Wait, not gray, forest camo. Wait, no, brick pattern. No, a seascape. No, definitely gray. Wow, were Stan’s eyes really that bad?

“Wait, Blendin!?” Mabel exclaimed. She hopped up from the couch, but Stan immediately grabbed her shoulder and sat her back down. Every instinct in his body was telling him this was wrong.

This Blendin guy looked up with surprise when he heard her voice. “M-Mabel! I’ve been looking all over for you! I-I-I need your help!”

That just set off more alarm bells. Why would this creep be looking for Mabel in the woods instead of the home she’d been living in for the past two-and-a-half months?

“Mabel, who the heck is this weirdo?” Stan asked uneasily.

“That’s Blendin Blandin. He’s a time travel guy. Me and Dipper accidentally lost him his job, and then he challenged us to a time travelers’ gladitoral death match called Globnar, which we won, so we got him his job back, and now we’re cool!” She assured her uncle. “What’s wrong, Blendin?”

“S-something terrible is about to happen, and I-I-I need your help to stop it!”

Mabel tried to stand up again, but Stan kept a hand tightly clamped down on her shoulder.

“Whatever it is, you can tell her from where you’re at.” Stan growled.

“I-I-It’s top secret!” Blendin whined. “I-I-I could lose my job again i-if this gets out!”

“It’s OK Blendin! Grunkle Stan just wants to make sure I’m safe!” Mabel assured him. “But he’s really good at keeping secrets, you can trust him! Why don’t you just come up here and tell us what’s wrong?”

Blendin took a few steps forward, but stopped just a foot short of the porch. “Uuuuh… h-h-how about we meet h-half-way?” 

That was it. Stan whipped out the pistol he’d been hiding behind the couch. “How’s about you start talkin’ now?”

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel gasped, scandalized.

“A-a-alright!” Blendin whimpered. “I-I-I need something from your brother’s lab! B-but you have to hurry!”

* * *

Ford noticed right away that Dipper’s mood had worsened in the ten minutes since they’d gotten home. His gaze was on the floor, and he shuffled his feet as he left the elevator.

“Let me guess, Mabel didn’t take it well?” 

Dipper just shook his head in reply. “I still need to talk to her about it when she’s not so upset, but… I’m starting to think I shouldn’t take your offer…”

The old researcher felt himself deflate at the boy’s words, but he hoped Dipper hadn’t noticed. Instead he changed the subject. “For now, we need to focus on sealing the rift. Everything else can wait.” He pulled the rift out of his pocket. The crack reached almost completely across the protective dome now. “Dipper, would you please get me the glue gun sitting on the console desk?”

The glue gun in question looked like a cross between one of Mabel’s crafting glue guns and a Nyarf Mega Soaker, complete with an empty tank built into the back end. It was big enough that Dipper needed both hands to lift it. The boy carried it over to Ford, who inserted the tip into the alien adhesive container and began to fill it like a syringe. 

“Alright, I need you to take that flathead screwdriver and very carefully unscrew the base of the containment unit.” Ford instructed.

Dipper did just that, holding his breath the whole time so his hands wouldn’t shake.

“OK, now turn it over, slow and steady, and detach one of the tubes from the dome.”

Dipper turned the dome in his hands, careful to keep the swirling blob of chaos energy inside from touching the glass, and then pulled one of the tiny tubes out. Ford knelt down beside him and inserted the tip of the glue gun into the little hole before the rift could leak out. He began to pump the alien adhesive into the rift, starting at the bottom and working his way up until what had once been a sparkling hole in space was now a glowing pink mass. He continued until the glue began to ooze out of the cracks in the dome.

“Alright, put it down. Careful not to get any of the adhesive on your hands. Step back.” Ford put himself between Dipper and the filled containment dome the moment the boy moved. The old researcher stared it down, as if daring it to do something, anything, to suggest it was destabilizing. He waited a minute. Two. Five. It just sat there, unmoving, unchanging.

Ford released a breath he hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding. Was that it? Was he… done?

The unmistakable sound of a gunshot went off from the vicinity of the porch above them.

Ford swore he jumped as high as the ceiling at the sound. Dipper screamed. The old researcher pressed himself and his nephew into the small space beneath the console desk, looking warilly up at the hole in the roof where Dipper had fallen through under the porch just a few weeks ago. If he concentrated, he could hear voices arguing up there. It sounded like Stan, and another voice he didn’t recognize, but it was hard to make out. He was going to have to go up there if he wanted to know what was happening.

“Stay down here where it’s safe. If Stan or your sister try to come in here without me, don’t trust them until you’ve checked their eyes. If anyone else tries to get in, barricade the door and hide.”

“W-what about the rift?”

Ford glanced down at the ball of glowing adhesive. It’d take at least another 24 hours for it to cure, but it seemed safe, for now. “Hide it, if you have to, but it should be fine.” With that, he darted to the elevator, checking his weapons as he waited for the lift to take him up.

He hoped everyone was ok. It would be the cruelest irony if after finally protecting the universe from the rift, he failed to protect his family.

* * *

“Grunkle Stan, don’t hurt him!” Mabel cried, trying to pull down his arm holding up the gun.

“Just a warning shot, sweetie.” Stan assured her through gritted teeth. “I don’t remember ever mentioning anything about havin’ a brother to you, much less anything about a lab.” He addressed the stranger standing in front of the porch.

“I-I-I’m from the future! I know these sorts of things!” Blendin insisted. Funny. He didn’t seem any more flustered than he had been before the gunshot.

“Sure.”

“Grunkle Stan, he’s telling the truth!”

“I don’t doubt that.” But Stan knew better than anyone that the best way to sell a big lie was with a bunch of technically true facts. And his instincts told him this joker was trying to pass a doozy of a lie. “Go wait inside, sweetie.” 

“No, you’ll shoot him!”

“Only if he gives me a good reason to.” 

“M-M-Mabel, wait!” Blendin implored pathetically.

“Go wait inside kid, or you’re grounded!”

“But Grunkle Stan--”

“Somethin’ about this is off, alright?” Stan muttered to her under his breath. “Pay attention to your instincts, you’ll feel it too. Just do me a favor and go inside where it’s safe, ok?”

After another moment of hesitation, Mabel finally listened to her Grunkle and went inside.

“So,” Stan turned his attention back to the stranger waiting just beyond the porch. “I got five more rounds. That gives you five more chances to tell me why you want something outta my brother’s lab.”

The guy’s posture shifted into something far more confident and inexplicably inhuman as he burst into a long, mocking fit of laughter. The creep’s voice had completely changed the next time he spoke. 

“OH, I SHOULDA KNOWN I COULDN’T PULL ONE OVER ON YOU, STANLEY PINES!” 

“What, am I supposed to be impressed you know my real name? We already established you’re from the future, and even if that wasn’t the case, I’m pretty sure Soos has spread that gossip through half the town by now.”

“WELL, WE BOTH KNOW YOU CAN’T KEEP ON GOING BY ‘STANFORD’ AFTER THE SUMMER ENDS. I’M JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU GET USED TO IT.”

“Yeah. Drop the small talk and cut to the chase, bucko. I really don’t wanna shoot you after my niece asked me not to.”

“OK, OK. IT’LL PROBABLY COME AS NO SURPRISE TO YOU THAT YOUR BROTHER’S IN OVER HIS HEAD WITH ONE OF HIS PROJECTS.” The creep pressed a button on his watch and a hologram of what Stan could only describe as massively over-designed snowglobe appeared. “IT’S A TEAR IN TIME AND SPACE. HE’S TRYING TO KEEP THE THING FROM GOING CRITICAL, BUT HE CAN’T DO IT ON HIS OWN. HE’S TRYING TO SEAL IT NOW, BUT IT’S GOING TO RUPTURE. HOWEVER, IF YOU CAN GET IT TO ME BEFORE HE SEALS IT…”

“Uh-huh. And what’re you gonna do with it?”

“TAKE IT TO THE FUTURE, WHERE WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO CONTAIN IT, OF COURSE!”

“So why don’t you just ask him for it yourself?”

“HAH! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW HOW STUBBORN AND PARANOID HE IS! HE’D NEVER LET ANOTHER PERSON TOUCH IT, HE HAS TO BE THE HERO ALL ON HIS OWN!”

“Yeah, you got a good point there. But I meant why don’t you ask him for it yourself when he bursts out this door in about ten seconds.” 

* * * 

The elevator ascent took entirely too long. It had to be at least two minutes since he heard the gunshot go off, which, depending on whether or not anyone sustained an injury, and what kind of injury it was, was time he didn’t have to waste. 

As Ford rushed through the house to the front porch door, he was relieved to note that Mabel was perfectly safe, just peeking anxiously out the front window. But the observation did nothing to slow him down. Through the window he could see Stan on the porch, holding what appeared to be the offending firearm. The gun was pointed at an unfamiliar figure. What was familiar was the figure’s voice. Ford pushed past Mabel and threw the door open, one hand already on his own blaster.

“Bill!!” He cried as he lept dramatically onto the porch, drawing his blaster with a flourish. Stan was looking at him with a smug grin, obviously he’d heard his brother running through the house. Bill, for once, looked surprised. But he quickly regained his composure.

“WELL, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL! I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I’M HERE FOR, SIXER!”

“You’re too late, Bill, I already sealed the rift!” 

Ford was satisfied to see that for the second time in under a minute, Bill looked shocked. “WHAT?!? WHAT--HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!? FIRST SHOOTING STAR DOESN’T SHOW IN THE WOODS WHEN SHE’S SUPPOSED TO, NOW THIS!? IS SOME LESSER TIME BEING MESSING WITH ME TODAY?” 

Bill removed his goggles, revealing the tell-tale glowing yellow eyes, which he rubbed with frustration before continuing, back in his usual mocking tone. “SO WHAT, DID YOU STEAL THE FATES’ SEWING KIT AND STITCH IT BACK TOGETHER YOURSELF? OR, OH DON’T TELL ME, YOU AND PINETREE WERE AT THE UFO EARLIER. YOU FILLED IT IN WITH SPACE GLUE, DIDN’T YOU? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT TAKES THAT STUFF TO SET? OF COURSE YOU DON’T, YOU NEVER TOOK THE TIME TO TEST IT! TYPICAL SIXER.”

Stanford blanched. No, he hadn’t tested it first. There hadn’t been time! “I-I know it will work! And it doesn’t matter how long it takes to set, you can’t reach it if it’s within the protection spell!”

“I SURE CAN’T!” Bill agreed with a smirk. “BUT I KNOW SOMEONE WHO HATES YOU AS MUCH AS I DO WHO CAN!” He turned to Stan “WHADDAYA SAY, MAC? CARE TO HELP ME STICK IT TO YOUR UNGRATEFUL BROTHER?”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Stan growled. “And only I get to call him Sixer!”

Bill’s confident grin set into a forced grimace. 

“HA.” 

“WELL.”

“YOU PROBABLY THINK YOU’VE WON, DON’T YOU? WELL, GUESS AGAIN, LOSER! THIS ISN’T OVER! EVEN IF I CAN’T CROSS THAT BARRIER, I’VE STILL GOT PLENTY OF PAWNS IN THIS HICK TOWN! AND EVEN IF YOU SOMEHOW MANAGE TO KEEP THE RIFT LONG ENOUGH FOR THAT GLUE TO SET? I’VE BEEN WAITING BILLIONS OF YEARS FOR THIS! YOU THINK I CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER DECADE FOR SOME OTHER SCHMUCK TO COME ALONG AND BUILD A PORTAL!? YOU CAN’T STOP ME! AND I’LL MAKE SURE THE ENTIRE PINES FAMILY REGRETS EVER CROSSING BILL CIPHER!”

Bill pulled out a time tape and disappeared in a flash.

The elder Pines twins stood there in silence for a moment, staring at the empty space Bill had just left as if they could still see the anger and hatred radiating from it. 

Stan, of course, was the first one to speak again. “We gotta talk.”

Ford just nodded solemnly, and followed him inside. 

* * *

After Stan finally convinced Mabel to go inside, she’d waited silently, peeking out the nearest window. Stan had probably wanted her to go someplace where she couldn’t hear or see what was happening, but she just had to know everyone was going to be ok. She didn’t want her Grunkle or Blendin to get hurt, even if the time traveler was acting weirder than usual. 

The air froze in her lungs when she heard Bill’s voice come out of Blendin’s mouth. She wanted to run back out there and warn Stan, but he’d asked her to go inside for her own safety, and Stan hadn’t trusted the time traveler from the beginning, so he would probably be fine… right?

Luckily she didn’t have to wait by the window worrying for long. Less than a minute later, Ford came crashing and banging down the hall. His serious glare lightened to relief for the split second he spared his niece a glance, but then snapped right back to blazing fury as he kicked the door open. Mabel heaved a sigh of relief. If anyone could handle Bill showing up at their front door, it was Grunkle Ford.

She peeked back out the window and watched as her Grunkles exchanged words with Bill. They both approached the problem very differently. Ford was yelling with a bravado that faltered the minute Bill pointed out a flaw in his plan. Stan was treating Bill much like he had Gideon. Outwardly, he seemed calm and unworried, but the fact that he’d sent Mabel inside and fired a gun showed he took the threat seriously. 

Bill’s last threat before he time traveled away sent a chill down Mabel’s spine. She remembered the last time she’d crossed paths with the demon. The note he’d left for her in Grunkle Stan’s car. She couldn’t let Dipper down like that again, couldn’t let him get hurt like that again. They needed each other now more than ever.

Of course, it was some reassurance to know that the barrier spell Grunkle Ford had created was obviously working. That was probably the only reason Bill hadn’t marched right up the porch steps and taken her himself. Mabel was doubly glad she’d been able to get that unicorn hair now.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Stan and Ford came back inside. Ford stopped like he’d just remembered something when he saw Mabel still sitting there. 

“I left Dipper hiding down in the lab! I need to go let him know what happened.”

Stan folded his arms impatiently. “Alright, but make it quick, and if you’re not back up here in ten minutes, I’m coming down after you. I’m serious about that talk.”

Mabel decided to follow Ford down to the secret lab. She was suddenly very concerned about Dipper and his whereabouts. Ford didn’t seem to mind; he just gave her a tired smile when they both stopped at the vending machine to input the code. As the two of them got into the elevator, Mabel wondered if this was a good time to confront her Grunkle about the apprenticeship he’d offered Dipper. But no, Mabel was pretty sure she’d just get mad again, and she didn’t want to feel mad right now. She just wanted to be sure her family was safe. So the elevator ride passed in an uncomfortable silence.

When they arrived in the lab, it appeared empty. Only after Ford stepped out of the elevator and past an oozing pink orb on the floor did Dipper emerge from his hiding spot. It was a pretty good hiding spot, behind what looked like a periscope designed to look like part of the totem pole outside. 

“Mabel!” The boy rushed to hug her immediately. “What happened? Wh-where’s Grunkle Stan, is he alright?”

“Stan is fine, he’s just waiting upstairs.” Ford assured him. “Bill came possessing a time travel agent.”

“He was pretending to be Blendin!” Mabel elaborated. “He wanted me and Grunkle Stan to get something out of the lab for him to stop something terrible from happening in the future!”

“Luckily, Stan recognized him as a threat.” Ford continued. “That was the gunshot we heard earlier.”

Dipper paled and pulled at his hair. “Ohmigosh, did Grunkle Stan kill Blendin!?”

Ford actually chuckled as he got down on one knee and placed a comforting hand on Dipper’s shoulder. “It was just a warning shot. Don’t worry, nobody got hurt. But Bill was furious when I told him I’d sealed the rift. I’m afraid we’re not done protecting it yet.”

“What’s this rift you keep talking about?” Mabel asked. “And what’s that sparkly pink ball of glitter-glue in the middle of the floor?”

“I’ll explain once we get back upstairs. Stan has made it quite clear he wants to talk about what’s going on.” Ford assured her.

* * *

They found Stan waiting in the gift shop, leaning against the checkout counter and tapping his foot in an agitated rhythm. 

“Finally. Now you two kids go to your room, the grown-ups have to have a talk.”

“Stanley, they deserve an explanation just as much as you do! Besides, Dipper already knows.”

“Of course he already knows, you asked the kid to stay here without ever botherin’ to talk to anybody else about it!”

“Who even told you… what does this have to do with the rift?”

“Rift? Wha-- I don’t care what you an’ pudgy out there were yellin’ about, I wanna know how come you’re askin’ your 12-year-old nephew to move in!”

Ford rolled his eyes and groaned with frustration. And here he thought they were finally on the same page for once. “That hardly matters right now! Stopping Bill and protecting the rift should be our top priority! Now, I’m sorry I kept this from the two of you up until now, but I honestly thought it would be safer if you knew as little as possible.Obviously, just the opposite was true.” He omitted the fact that he’d been reluctant to let Mabel know about the rift after seeing her break an entire shelf-full of snow globe souvenirs in the gift shop. 

“Don’t try an’ change the subject, Sixer!” Stan pointed an accusing finger at his brother.

“Grunkle Stan, this is more important!” Dipper interjected exasperatedly.

Mabel tugged at the old conman’s sleeve. “They’re right.” Mabel agreed gently. “Besides, I want to know what’s going on and why Bill was here.”

“Fine.” Stan hissed through gritted teeth. “But we’re havin’ this conversation later, no gettin’ out of it!”

They all had a seat around the card table in the den, and Ford began his explanation. “Bill Cipher is an extradimensional being trying to break his way into our world. Dipper and Mabel have already encountered him--”

“I read all your Journals, genius, I know who Bill Cipher is.” Stan snapped. “But I thought he was some annoying triangle guy who showed up in your dreams, not some pushy time traveler.”

“If you read my Journals thoroughly” Ford said testily, “You’d know he’s capable of tricking people into allowing him to possess them.”

Stan grimaced, probably remembering a few particular passages from Journal 3. “Oh.”

“Not long after I first came to Gravity Falls, I was stupid enough to let Bill trick me. He convinced me that building a portal to another dimension would give me the answers I sought, but what he really wanted was to bring his dimension, the Nightmare Realm, into ours.”

“Yeah, but… then Grunkle Stan got you out of there and the portal was super broken, so we don’t have to worry about him anymore, right?” Mabel asked uncertainly, holding vainly onto hope.

“No.” Ford replied with an icy glare at his brother. “Stanley’s reckless operation of the portal created a rift: an unstable hole in space and time that Bill could use to enter our dimension and plunge the world into a bizarre doomsday I call ‘Weirdmaggedon’.”

Stan snorted. “Still got a flair for names, huh?”

“Stanley, would you take this seriously!?”

“What? I heard you say earlier you sealed the rift, and then that jerk exploded. He wouldn’t’ve gotten mad like that unless what you did really screwed with his plans. From what he was sayin’ I’d guess we’ve got another decade at least until we have to deal with that guy.”

“If the rift is sealed properly, then yes, we’ll have bought some time while Bill searches for another pawn to manipulate, but after what he said earlier, I’m afraid the alien adhesive I used to seal it won’t set as quickly as I had hoped, leaving the rift vulnerable.”

“Eh, he was just sayin’ that to psych you out.” Stan waved his hand dismissively.

“Wait, alien adhesive? Is that what that glass ball of glitter-glue was?” Mabel asked.

“That was the containment unit I was using to keep the rift stable. Once it started cracking, I began searching for something to close it up for good. Just earlier today, Dipper and I were able to retrieve the adhesive without any trouble. I sealed up the rift with glue, then filled the containment dome, just to be safe.”

Mabel slapped her forehead. “Grunkle Ford, haven’t you ever heard of ‘A Little Dab’ll Do Ya’?” 

“What?” Ford asked in confusion. 

“When you’re using glue, you only use just enough to get things to stick together!” Mabel explained. “If you use too much, it’ll take forever to dry! If I filled whole ball with Schmelmer’s glue like that, I don’t think it’d ever dry!”

“Can’t you just spray it with a setting agent?” Stan asked. Everyone stared at him in surprise. “What? I use a lot of crafting glue makin’ exhibits for the Shack!”

“I couldn’t use a two-part epoxy because the energy of the chemical reaction would destabilize the rift.” Ford shook his head. “It needs to crystalize naturally, or it will leave seams in time-space that Bill could use.”

“Well, how long will it take to crystalize naturally?” Dipper asked.

Ford hesitated. “I had hoped it would take a little over 24 hours, but…”

“Not if it’s trapped inside a ball like that.” Mabel shook her head. “Can you get it out?”

Ford pinched the bridge of his nose frustratedly. “I’d have to chip away the dome. It’s not just glass, it’s a special substance as strong as steel. But, it has already started cracking, I suppose if I can expand those cracks enough…”

“So, are we still in danger of the rift destabilizing?” Dipper asked.

“Not spontaneously, no.” Ford assured him. “I wouldn’t recommend using it as a football or anything, but even when wet, the adhesive will act as a binding agent and keep the hole in time-space closed. It would take a large burst of energy, or deliberately trying to pierce through the rift in order to open it.”

“And that’s probably what Bill’s gonna try to do.” Dipper said gravely.

“Well we’re not gonna let him!” Mabel declared, slamming her fist down on the table. 

“That’s the spirit!” Ford allowed himself a small smile. He pulled out Journal 3 and turned to a blank page. “Bill said he still had pawns in Gravity Falls. We need to make a list of potential threats to be on the look-out for. Who would be most likely to work with Bill?”

“Gideon!” Mabel answered immediately. “Me and Soos saw him summon Bill earlier this summer!”

“Soos and I.” Ford corrected automatically. He’d only heard about this Gideon from a couple of entries Dipper had added to Journal 3. All he knew about the kid was that he’d apparently had romantic interests in Mabel, hired McGucket to build a giant mech-bot of himself, and was now in jail. It was also clear from the entries that Dipper did not have a high opinion of him. 

“That little troll’s in jail, what’s he gonna do? Use his one phone call to prank us?” Stan rolled his eyes.

“With Bill’s help, there’s no telling what he could do from behind bars.” Ford warned. “But, Stanley does have a point. Are there any other possible pawns who would have easier access to the outside world?”

They all sat there thinking for a moment before Dipper offered his own answer. “I remember seeing a tapestry with Bill on it in the Northwest’s mansion. I don’t know if they realized what it is though, I think they just buy up any local Native American artefacts on principle. It makes them look like they care about the people, when really they’re just trying to keep how horrible Nathaniel Northwest was from getting out and ruining their image.”

“The Northwests have a lot of power over this town. If Bill is working with one of them, protecting the rift will be all the more difficult..” Ford said somberly.

“Luckily, we have an insider with the Northwests!” Mabel grinned. “I’ll call Pacifica tomorrow and ask her to come over and hang out! We can ask her if she’s noticed anything weird about her family then!”

“Good.” Ford nodded. “Anyone else?”

“Eh… pretty sure Toby Determined would sell his soul for a date with Shandra Jimenez.” Stan grunted.

“Noted.” Ford jotted down all their suggestions before continuing. “These are all people we should keep an eye on, but they’re also the most obvious answers… aside from this Toby fellow. Bill will undoubtedly know we suspect them. He doesn’t just work with dangerously unhinged people. Think, is there anyone you wouldn’t normally suspect, who Bill could trick into helping him? Someone with access to this house?”

The three other Pines around the tabel all shared a glance and shrugged.

“Soos is pretty impressionable, but he was there with us when we drove Bill out of Stan’s mind. He knows that triangle guy is bad news.” Mabel answered. “What about Wendy?”

“No way!” Dipper replied vehemently. “Wendy’s way too smart to fall for Bill’s tricks!”

“Unfortunately, being smart has very little to do with it.” Ford reminded him.

“Y-yeah, but…” Dipper stammered. “She’s a different kind of smart! She’s really skeptical and good at reading people. She could tell I had a crush on her, even though I never said anything!” 

Mabel giggled. “That’s because you were really obvious, bro-bro.”

The boy blushed. “Well, what about your friends?”

“You mean Candy and Grenda?” Mabel asked. “I don’t think so. I told them about Bill when we went to get the unicorn hair.”

“Then you would have told Wendy about him too!”

“Oh yeah!” Mabel remembered. “I’m not sure she believed me though. She definitely didn’t believe in unicorns before we found one.”

“Well, that’s everyone who comes here on a regular basis.” Stan leaned back in his chair. “Besides, y’know, the dozens of tourists who come through the gift shop every day.”

Ford paled. “All he would have to do is convince one tourist… Stanley why on Earth did you think it was a good idea to build a gift shop in the same room as the lab entrance!?”

“The best hiding spots are always in plain sight, genius!” Stan retorted. “You don’t gotta worry, tourist season is wrappin’ up, traffic’s gone down a lot. Shouldn’t be too hard to keep an eye on things.”

“You’re out giving your so-called ‘tours’ half the time.”

“Then I’ll ask Soos to keep an eye on the entrance.”

“No, he’s far too easily distracted. I’ll stay in the gift shop and guard the entrance.” Ford insisted.

Stan rolled his eyes. “That’s just gonna draw attention to it, knucklehead! Look, I got security cameras. If you really gotta watch the vending machine every minute, you can watch the video feed from my office.”

“Fine.”

“Welp, would you look at that! We’ve discussed who the heck Bill Cipher is, what he wants, and what we’re gonna do about it!” Stan stood up from his chair abruptly. “Guess this conversation’s over. And would you look at the time! Time to get you kids up to bed!”

“But it’s still light out!” Dipper protested.

“The sun sets really late out here in the summer. You don’t know what time it is!” Stan began to push the kids out of the room.

“I have a watch! It’s only like 7:30!”

Stan quickly swiped the watch off his nephew’s wrist. “What watch? I dunno what you’re talkin’ about. It’s bedtime!”

The young twins, seeing that trying to reason with Stan at this point was an exercise in futility, reluctantly allowed themselves to be shepherded upstairs. 

In the short amount of time while they were gone, Stanford found his mind wandering back to one particular thing Bill had said.

“I KNOW SOMEONE WHO HATES YOU AS MUCH AS I DO WHO CAN! WHADDAYA SAY, MAC? CARE TO HELP ME STICK IT TO YOUR UNGRATEFUL BROTHER?”

Bill was a liar. Of course this was a lie too, right? Stan didn’t hate him, right? Stan had immediately turned Bill down, after all. That might just be because he knew Bill was dangerous though… because he just wanted to protect the kids….

“Alright, you’d better have one heck of an explanation.” Stan returned and Ford was reminded of just why he was so mad at his brother.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware I needed your permission to invite someone to move into my own house!”

“It’s not my permission you need! Have you even talked to their parents yet?”

“Well, no…” Ford admitted. “But it’d be a waste of time to ask them if it turns out Dipper isn’t interested. And besides, I’m sure they’d be thrilled at the opportunity to accelerate their son’s education.”

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You don’t know their mom, Poindexter. She expects a letter from her kids every week.”

“Well, I’m sure we could keep up that tradition.”

“And every time she calls lately, she’s been goin’ on and on about how excited she is to see her ‘little lamby’ again. She’s not gonna be thrilled her son isn’t coming home.”

Ford rolled his eyes. “You make it sound as if he’s going to die! We’ll make time to go visit the family between projects, and I know communications technology has made huge advancements in the last 30 years. I saw your handyman communicating via a two-way video stream just last night.”

“That’s not the same as him actually being there!” Stan shouted. “He’s still just a kid, Stanford! He still needs his parents!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll call their parents and talk to them about it!” Ford relented. “Is that all?”

“No that’s not all!” Stan fumed, “It’s bad enough you’re offering Dipper an apprenticeship without gettin’ an OK from their parents first, but where do you get off excluding Mabel?”

Ford was taken aback. “I’m not excluding her.”

“You gave Dipper an opportunity to stay here with you, but not her. That’s pretty much the definition of excluding! Earlier today she was almost in tears about having to leave Gravity Falls and bein’ scared of the future. I had to give her a big ol’ pep-talk about how growin’ old is mandatory, but growin’ up is optional, and that even if her future ain’t so bright, at least she’s got her brother. Then, not even an hour later, you two come back from your science shenanigans and she goes wailing out to the front porch! All ‘cuz you want Dipper but not her!”

“It’s not like that at all!” Ford bristled. “Mabel has vastly different interests than Dipper. I couldn’t provide her with the same kind of quality education I could give him! At best I could give her a few tips about detailed pen sketching and blueprint drafting. The most I know about knitting is that I feel comfortable in a soft sweater, and she’d have to be the one to teach me about social structure and modern culture.”

“Oh, so that makes it ok to take her brother away?”

“I’m not ‘taking him away’! Dipper would be free to visit his family in California whenever he’s not busy!” Ford flushed with anger.  “And since I’ll be his only teacher, he’ll be able to request time off and breaks very easily. His schedule will be much more flexible than at a traditional university or college.”

“He’s freakin’ twelve Stanford! He hasn’t even finished Junior High yet! Why are you so eager to start him on grown-up school already?”

“Why wait? Dipper is intelligent, resourceful, and a fast learner. He’d already started following in my footsteps before we even met, I’m just helping him continue on that path. And it’s not ‘grown-up school’. We’d be studying and researching the weirdness of Gravity Falls together.”

“He’s not an adult, Ford, he still needs time to be a kid! He can’t be your new research assistant! Now answer my question: why can’t you just wait until he’s older?”

“Because I don’t want to be alone anymore!” 

Ford’s last statement hung in the air, reverberating like a pin dropped in an empty theater. The old researcher couldn’t believe his emotions had gotten the better of him like that. Just like that, a statement he wasn’t even comfortable admitting to himself had slipped out. He couldn’t even begin to defend or explain what he’d just said. 

Stan’s eyes widened at the unexpected outburst, but his face quickly morphed back into the scowl Stanford was all too familiar with.

“Oh, you don’t wanna be alone, huh? Well, maybe you shoulda thought of that before you kicked me out of the house come the end of Summer!”

“Wait, what?” Ford asked, perplexed.

“Oh, don’t play dumb!” Stan accused. “That first night after I brought you home, you said I could stay here the rest of the summer to watch the kids, then I gotta hit the road.”

“That’s not what I said!”  Ford objected. “I said you could stay upstairs and take care of the kids and run your ‘Mystery Shack’ until the end of the summer, so you can continue bringing in enough money to take care of them. But once the summer is over, I want-- no, I need my home and my identity back. And I’m not going to allow you to continue running a glorified freak show that goes against everything I’ve worked for!”

“And why would I stay, if you’re gonna make me shut down my livelihood?” 

Ford’s breath hitched as the memory of Bill’s words echoed in his head once again. I KNOW SOMEONE WHO HATES YOU AS MUCH AS I DO.

“Well, for one, I’m going to need your help undoing your identity theft.” The old researcher continued after pushing the thought to the back of his head. “And… I know you haven’t got anywhere else to go. I’m not going to just throw you out. I’m not Dad, Stanley.”

Stan stared at his brother with a mixture of surprise and some more complex emotions Ford couldn’t name. 

“Y-yeah, well…” The old conman seemed, for once, to be at a loss for words.

Ford just wished he knew what his brother was thinking. The old researcher had never been good at reading people, but as a child, Stan, at least, was someone he always understood. But now, his brother was even more of an enigma than the average stranger. Ford found himself on the verge of asking… do you really hate me?

“Dang it, this isn’t about us!” Stan snapped, “Stop making this about us! It’s about the kids!”

“I’m making it about us? You’re the one who started complaining about something I didn’t even say!” Ford huffed a frustrated sigh. He was tired. Tired from a long day and tired of fighting. “Look, if this whole apprenticeship thing is bothering Mabel so much, I’ll talk to her about staying here too. I can’t give her the kind of education she needs, but perhaps I can find someone who can.”

Stan threw his hands up in disbelief. “Seriously!? Unbelievable! Have you even listened to a word I’ve said, this whole conversation!?”

“Obviously I have, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed with your demands to call the kids’ parents and include Mabel in the apprenticeship offer. Nor would I have caught your erroneous assumption that you have the leave at the end of the summer.”

“The whole point I’ve been tryin’ to make to you this whole time is that ya can’t just take these kids away from their home!”.

“I’m not taking them away from their home. You said the two of them have been here for over two months.”

“Yeah, and then they’re goin’ back home next weekend. To their parents. To their real lives.”

“Life is just as real here.” Ford said with finality. “I told you, I’ll talk to their parents tomorrow. That should settle it.”

Stan’s scowl deepened. “Yeah, yeah I guess it will.”

[minijenn]

Universe Falls, Chapter 80, Part 2

AHAHAHAH AND SO IT FUCKING CONTINUES. But yeah Memories is a roller coaster ride of feels and ya’ll get ready to board by bringing the tissues along cause oof. There’s a lot in here. Even so, I LOVE how it turned out so I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy! (but don’t actually read it on here, read it on Ao3 please!!!! (also review, reviews are nice ^_^) 

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/621740517506564096/universe-falls-chapter-80-part-1

***

Chapter 80, Part 2: Memories 

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“Who?”

The question hung on the air for what seemed like ages, echoing through it to the point that it seemed to obscure everything else, even the dull flow of the fountain behind him. Stepper’s already palpable confusion expanded upon seeing the dumbfounded stares Mabel, Garnet, and Pearl alike were all sending his way, almost as if his simple question was one that none of them had the faintest idea how to answer. 

Eventually though, Mabel was finally the first to break the silence, letting out a rather harsh, forced laugh as she kept her gaze on the fusion’s face rather than his still-damaged gemstone. “Ha! Good one, you guys!” she chuckled a bit too loudly, knowing that no one else was partaking in her levity. “You know, I usually love a good joke, but now’s not really the time to be kidding around, so…?”

“I’m… not kidding,” Stepper frowned, raising a curious eyebrow at her. “Are you sure you’re not the one who’s kidding, Mabel? I mean, come on, since when have I been a fusion?”

“S-since... always…” Pearl spoke up, her hands pressed close to her chest as she trembled slightly. “C-certainly, you must… h-how could you not-”

“Stepper,” Garnet interjected, her voice a bit firmer than the white Gem’s, though it was clear she was every bit as shaken. “You must be confused after what you went through. You are a fusion. Between Steven Universe and Dipper Pines. You know that.”

“I… really don’t, because I’m not,” Stepper shook his head incredulously. “I’m pretty sure I’d know if I was a fusion. And if I was, I’d at least know who I was a fusion of to begin with, right?”

“B-but that doesn’t make any sense!” Mabel exclaimed, distraught as she grabbed onto one of the fusion’s lower arms. “Of course you know Steven and Dipper! You have to know them! They are you!”

“Um, I think that’s sort of impossible,” Stepper crossed his upper arms. “I’m me. And besides, I’ve never even met or heard of any Steven or Dipper. Are they friends of yours, Mabel?”

“Yes!” Mabel huffed, frustrated. “More than just friends! Dipper, you’re my twin brother! Steven, you’re one of my best friends! And Stepper, you’re both of them! They’re you! You have to remember them! Y-you can’t just forget who you are! You’re-”

“Mabel,” Garnet suddenly quieted her, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder just as a heavy sob finally escaped her. Stepper was admittedly startled by it, a rush of guilt he couldn’t quite place filling him as he noticed the tears steadily streaming down her cheeks as she resigned herself to Garnet’s consoling embrace. 

“I-I… I’m sorry,” he said earnestly, despite his still very palpable confusion. “I-I didn’t mean to upset any of you, I just… really have no idea what you guys are talking about.”

None of the others had any idea how to respond to this as they all looked to the fusion, equally forlorn. Mabel’s tears were still plentiful and by now Pearl had taken on a few of her own as she quietly covered her mouth and glanced away. Garnet kept her sights set on Stepper meanwhile, essentially begging her future vision to give her some kind of insight as to what might have happened to him only to receive none at all. 

It wasn’t long before this bout of solemn silence was broken by the chime of the warp pad on the other side of the garden. With its bright light, Amethyst appeared, having followed Garnet’s command to retrieve Stan and Ford as both of them rushed after her to check on the fusion with a shared sense of intent concern. 

“There you boys are!” Ford let out an allayed sigh as he approached Stepper. “What a relief it is to see you’re both alright.”

“Ford-” Pearl attempted to interject, though Stan cut her off before she could say anything else. 

“You two kids had us worried sick!” he exclaimed adamantly, though it was clear his frustration came from a place of caring. “What the heck is wrong with you, running off like that on your own for three days?!”

“What?” Stepper asked, not able to recall anything of the sort. 

“Uh, well, actually, they kinda got sucked into some crazy dimensional portal, remember?” Amethyst pointed out.

“A portal that led to the Nightmare Realm, no less!” Ford shook his head incredulously. “You both are incredibly lucky to have somehow found a way back, much less survived in that despicable wasteland against, well... you know who.”

“Um, I don’t--Augh!” Stepper stopped himself short with a startled gasp as the author suddenly shined a bright flashlight directly into his eyes. The fusion was quick to cover them as the others were all quick to turn to Ford to demand an explanation for such a bizarre, untimely move. 

“Ford! What’s the matter with you? What are you tryin’ to do?! Blind the poor kids?!” Stan yelled, sending his brother a harsh glare as he placed a supportive hand against the fusion’s back.

“No, of course not,” Ford scoffed, putting his flashlight away. “I was just… checking something.” He paused for a moment, glancing to Garnet and Pearl as he spoke to them specifically. “Fortunately it seems as though Bill didn’t manage to hitch a ride back through him. But… his gem… Amethyst did mention it was cracked; have you placed him in the fountain yet?”

“Y-yes…” Pearl nodded. “B-but we have no idea why it’s still cracked. Though… perhaps it could explain the apparent issue with his memories…”

“His memories?” Stan spoke up. “What’s the matter with his memories?”

“Nothing, I-” Stepper began, though once again, before he could get much out he was cut off. 

“G-Grunkle Stan,” Mabel rushed over to the conman, hugging his leg tightly, tearfully as she refused to so much as look at Stepper this time. “H-he… he said he doesn’t know who Dipper and Steven are! He said… h-he doesn’t even think he’s a fusion… T-that he isn’t them…”

Stan and Ford were both stunned into silence upon hearing this, their wide-eyed sights settling on Stepper, who was unsure of how to meet them. Unsure of how to meet any of the several sets of eyes all watching him expectantly, searching him for answers he knew he didn’t have for them. 

All the same, he let out a startled gasp as Stan suddenly grabbed him by his vest, pulling him a bit down to his level as he hissed at him threateningly. “You said what?”

“Stan!” Garnet suddenly shouted, pulling the frightened fusion away from the conman as she placed herself before him protectively. “Leave him alone. What’s happened to him is not his fault.”

“Well, then who’s fault is it?” Stan asked, glaring at the Gem leader coldly. 

“Certainly, it must be Bill’s,” Ford said, his tone grave and scornful.

“...Who?” the conman raised an oblivious eyebrow. 

“Oh for crying out loud…” Ford sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You had my journals all these years, Stanley. How could you not know a single thing about Bill Cipher? Dream demon? Usurper of the Nightmare Realm? My primary nemesis, since-”

“Wait,” Stan interrupted as he narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Your nemesis? So you’re sayin’ this Cipher guy has a bone to pick with you… so he took it out on Dipper and Steven?!”

Ford flinched, caught off guard by the sudden fury peaking in the conman’s tone. “T-that… I… I don’t know, I-I wasn’t there to-”

The author was sharply cut off by a sudden blow directly to his jaw. He stumbled back from his brother’s heavy punch, collapsing against one of the fountain’s lower statues of Rose as the Gems, Mabel, and Stepper alike all gasped in apt surprise by this sudden act of violence. “What did I tell you, Ford?!” Stan shouted, absolutely furious as he gripped the stunned author by the collar of his sweater. “What did I say about getting the kids involved in your messes?!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Stanley!” Ford shoved the conman back hard. “Bill doesn’t just have it out for me, he has it out for the Gems, for the kids, for everyone on this planet! This isn’t about you or me!”

“That’s right,” Garnet stepped between the brothers, pushing them apart to create some distance amidst their rising tension. “It’s not. This is about Stepper.”

At this, everyone turned their attention to the fusion once more. All four of his hands were drawn close to him, his eyes wide and worried as he took a small step forward to address Stan and Ford in particular. “I-I… don’t know why you guys are fighting,” he began rather timidly. “But please, don’t. You all seem so sad and angry, and… I don’t really understand why, but I wish I did so I could help somehow.” 

“I-I think I know how you can help!” Mabel piped up urgently. “You can unfuse! I-if you’re just Steven and Dipper again, then there’s no way you won’t be able to remember them because you’ll be them again! It’s that easy!”

“Well, if you think that would help, I’d be happy to do that, it’s just…” Stepper sighed as he placed a hand against the back of his neck. “I… don’t think I can unfuse? Like I said before, I’m not a fusion, so… yeah.”

“For the love of Newton, this is far worse than I could have imagined…” Ford muttered, immensely concerned.

“You’re telling me,” Stan remarked, aptly baffled. “The kid’s completely lost it!”

“Well, he’s certainly lost something…” Pearl added, shaking her head remorsefully. 

“Let’s go back to the temple,” Garnet said, her tone unreadable as she led the way back to the warp pad. “We’ll be able to make more sense of all this there…. Hopefully.”

Though it only took the span of less than five minutes for the group to warp back to the temple, during the short trip, Mabel happened to notice three very specific things about Stepper that no one else really had pointed out yet against everything else. First was his clothes, once torn and tattered thanks to whatever Bill had done to him in the Nightmare Realm, now repaired to pristine condition thanks to Rose’s fountain. And yet, two prominent pieces were missing: the blue pine tree on his hat and the yellow star on his shirt, both markers, both symbols of who the fusion really was, gone just as much as his memory of the two boys that usually wore them seemed to be. Second were his eyes, a far cry from the usual shade of mostly-matched violet brown Stepper was known to have whenever he was around. Instead, they were pink, bright, bold, and undeniably pink, to the point that his irises were practically glowing with it as they sparkled in the light. But third was what was lying just behind those eyes, a sense of innocence, of oblivious unknowing, so unlike the sharp, eager awareness that had once been there instead. Just another worrying sign that something was off, something was so incredibly wrong that even Stepper himself didn’t understand what that something was. 

“Well, there’s gotta be some way to split them up, right?” Amethyst began as everyone congregated around the couch. “Oh! I got it! If he doesn’t know how to split up on his own, then maybe we can just do it for them!”

“D-do what?” Stepper flinched, especially as Amethyst pulled her whip out. 

“We’ll be doing no such thing!” Pearl scolded. “With his gem cracked like that, there’s no telling what Stepper being forcibly split up--or splitting up in general really--could do to Steven and Dipper! Nevermind the fact that he can’t even remember either of them to begin with…”

“S-so… Stepper is just… stuck like this?” Mabel asked fretfully from her spot on the couch right next to the confused fusion. 

“Stuck how?” he asked, though once again he received no direct answer. 

“Yes,” Garnet replied, her arms crossed and her tone rigid as she averted her gaze away from Stepper almost purposefully. “For now.”

“But hopefully not for long,” Ford said, resolved. “Now, to properly solve this problem, the best thing to do is to get to the bottom of what’s actually wrong here.”

“Oh wow, great plan there, poindexter,” Stan deadpanned dryly. “Never could’ve come up with something like that on our own. What genius thinking.”

Ford largely ignored his brother’s sardonic remarks as he instead took a step forward, pulling a pad of paper out so he could jot down some notes. “Alright, Stepper, why don’t we start with you? Since you don’t seem to remember anything about Steven or Dipper or being a fusion, what are you able to remember off the top of your head?”

“Oh,” Stepper blinked, surprised that someone was actually giving him a chance to speak his own piece for a change. “Well… let’s see… I remember meeting all of you, and fighting Peridot’s robots in the woods-”

“Yeah?” Mabel asked, suddenly hopeful at the recollection of a memory from weeks ago now.

“Then there was the time you wanted to research my shield journal,” Stepper said, keeping his focus on Ford before turning it over to Mabel. “Oh! And then we fused!”

“Yeah! Into Dipevebel!” Mabel grinned, gripping the fusion’s arm excitedly. 

“Right,” Stepper nodded with a smile. “Then there was that street race we were part of and… um… I… think that’s it? I can’t really remember anything else until I woke up in that fountain a few minutes ago.”

“Nothing?” Amethyst asked, dumbfounded. “Not even anything about how your gem got all busted up like that?”

“No,” the fusion shook his head, frowning as he glanced down at his damaged gemstone. “Do any of you know how it happened?”

The others fell silent at this, dread filling their expressions as they realized just how blissfully unaware of the immense trauma he’d just been through he really was. They would have preferred to keep him unaware on that particular front too, if not for the fact that the rest of his memories had faded along with the knowledge of what had taken them away from him in the first place. “Stepper, you’ve… been trapped in the Nightmare Realm for the past three days,” Pearl began to explain as carefully as she could. “We can only assume that it was there that Bill got ahold of you and caused grave damage to your gem a-and your memories.”

For the longest time, Stepper said nothing in response to this, his expression still lacking any sort of real understanding, which became even more apparent when he voiced that lack aloud. “Bill? Who’s that?”

“Y-you… you’re kidding, right?” Amethyst asked, baffled. “You know, Bill Cipher? Crazy talking one-eyed triangle? Tried killing all of us, like a bunch of times? Hijacked Dipper’s body once and wants to steal Steven’s gem? None of that’s ringing a bell for you?”

“N-no…” Stepper admitted apprehensively. “But… whoever he is, he sounds like a really bad guy.”

“‘Bad’ is certainly an understatement when it comes to Bill... “ Ford muttered disdainfully. 

“So the kid doesn’t remember who he’s made of,” Stan spoke up impatiently. “He doesn’t remember how it all happened, he doesn’t seem to really remember much of anything! Are we sure this isn’t some weird sort of amnesia situation?”

“O-or maybe he’s just been fused for such a long time that he’s lost himself…?” Pearl proposed. “Oh, but that wouldn’t make any sense, he’s only been fused for three days at most, after all.”

“It’s not entirely impossible though,” Ford pointed out. “Time moves differently in the Nightmare Realm than it does here in our dimension. It’s unpredictable, non-linear. What’s a few mere hours there could be days here, and vice versa, so there’s really no telling how long Stepper’s stint there might have been for him. Especially now that he doesn’t seem to remember it in the slightest.”

“Ugh, who cares about any of that?” Amethyst huffed indignantly. “How are we gonna fix this mess?!”

“Until Stepper regains his memories, there isn’t much of a chance that we can,” Garnet said, adjusting her shades. “He’s the only one who can tell us what happened after all. Well, aside from Bill, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d rather not hear it from him.”

“But we don’t even know how he lost his memories in the first place!” Pearl bemoaned fretfully. “How can we go about restoring them if we don’t even know what happened to them?”

From there, a round of debate over this problem broke out, with everyone largely talking over each other as they tried to form a cohesive plan of action. Amidst all this, Stepper sat in silence, trying his best to listen and understand a conversation that kept on going in endless circles, one that concerned him, yet he didn’t entirely know how. He knew well by now that the others were all upset, worried, angry, and afraid, but the reason why was beyond him, a reason obscured by names and events he didn’t know, things he couldn’t comprehend, no matter how hard he tried. At the very least, he could tell there was one thing they all agreed on: they wanted to help him, even if he wasn’t sure he even needed such help at all. 

At the same time, Mabel lingered close by the fusion’s side, her focus dedicated to him rather than the ongoing argument between the Gems and her uncles. The heightened, perhaps even petty tensions between them didn’t matter to her in the slightest; nothing did really, not as long as something was wrong with Stepper, as long as something was wrong with Steven and Dipper. And while everyone else debated over whatever logical, scientific, or brute force plans they could think of, Mabel began to develop one of her own, one based not on the many things they didn’t know about this daunting situation. But instead, a plan based on what she did know about her brother and her best friend. 

“Everyone, hold on a sec!” she shouted as she suddenly jumped onto the coffee table to grab everyone’s attention. “I’ve got an idea, and it’s a good one too!”

While a handful of the others took pause, exchanging an uncertain glance at this, Garnet was the first to prompt her onward. “Go ahead.”

“Ok, so you guys said we won’t be able to fix Stepper’s gem until he splits up first, right?” Mabel began, her tone intent and determined. “And Stepper can’t split up until he remembers who Steven and Dipper are? So that’s where we should start!” She grinned as she spun back around to face the fusion behind her. “By reminding you of who you’re made of!”

“But Mabel,” Stepper said with a small, exasperated sigh. “I’ve already told you, I can’t split up because I’m not a fusion.”

“You are a fusion, and I can prove it!” Mabel retorted, hands on her hips. “First of all, if you’re not a fusion, then why do you have four arms?”

“Uh… well…” Stepper trailed off with a frown as he looked down at his substantial set of hands.

“And how do you explain how you only remember three totally different days before now?” 

“I-I… I just…”

“And out of those three days, how come you only remember a few things about them?”

Stepper interrupted her with another heavy sigh, a hand placed against his now aching head as it struggled to fill in the gaps she kept suggesting to him. “L-Look, I get that not a lot of things are adding up here, but… I still don’t think I’m a fusion. And like I said before, I don’t know who… what were their names again? Sipper and Deven?” 

“Dipper and Steven,” Mabel corrected urgently. 

“Dipper and Steven,” Stepper repeated, the names sounding completely forign to him even as he said them aloud. “I don’t know who either of them are. And if I don’t know them, then how can I possibly be them?” 

“But you are them!” Mabel protested, practically to the point of pleading. “Here, I’ll show you.” With this, she rushed up onto Steven’s bedroom loft, finding his phone lying by his bed quite easily before she rushed it back to the fusion downstairs. “Look! Look at them!” she pulled up one of the many selfies Steven had taken of himself and Dipper, one from not too terribly long ago. “This is Steven, and this is Dipper. Don’t you recognize them? Can’t you see how much they look like you?!”

Stepper looked between the two boys in the photo for quite a long time, not a single sign of recognition showing up in his face even now that he could see some sort of depiction of his two apparent halves for himself. “N-no,” he said with a sad, yet honest frown. “I… I don’t know them. Either of them.” He hesitated in saying anything else, especially as he noticed tears starting to well up in Mabel’s eyes again, her expression overwhelmed with returning grief that she was trying her hardest to force away for his sake. “Mabel, I-I… I’m sorry.”

In an instant, Mabel rushed to wipe her tears away, pulling her shoulder away from the comforting grip Garnet attempted to put on it. “I-it’s ok,” she said, forcing on a reassuring smile. “Because we’re gonna figure this out. Looking at a picture is one thing, but maybe jogging your memories of them might work even better!”

“Uh, how are you gonna do that?” Amethyst asked, mirroring everyone else’s confusion at this plan. 

“I think you mean how are we gonna do that,” Mabel grinned confidently. “Even though Stepper might not know who Steven and Dipper are, that doesn’t mean we don’t! Same goes for everyone else who knows them. Plus, I don’t wanna brag, but we just so happen to have a bona-fide expert when it comes to Dipper here, someone who happens to have known him our entire lives…” Her smile grew as she pointed to herself proudly. 

“Oh! And we’ve known Steven for his entire life!” Pearl added with a newfound grin. 

“Yeah, exactly!” Mabel nodded zealously. “So between all of us, we can fill in all the gaps and remind Stepper who he’s really supposed to be so he can finally unfuse again!”

“But, Mabel,” Stepper attempted to protest in the hopes of voicing his own thoughts about this plan. “I-”

“Shh, it’s ok,” Mabel quieted him, cutting him off in the process. “There’s nothing you need to worry about, Ste-bro. We’ve all got this. We’ve got you.”

Stepper simply let out a resigned sigh at this, realizing once again that the chance for him to even get a simple word of edgewise had been ripped away from him. So instead, he remained quietly sitting on the sidelines while everyone else continued to discuss what they believed was best for him, what they believed he should remember, even if those were memories he knew he didn’t even have to begin with. 

“It’s a… novel idea, Mabel, but… I fear it might be too simple,” Ford noted with a frown. “After all, we’re still not even sure what Bill did to his memories, much less how to get them back. The case could be made that this is all connected to the crack in his gem, but-”

“Will you shut up already, Ford?” Stan asked with a disgruntled scowl. “The kid’s come up with just about the only actual plan I’ve heard thrown around here could actually have a shot at working. I say we give it a try.”

“Same here,” Garnet agreed. “It’s far better than doing nothing.”

“Yeah, but could it actually work?” Amethyst asked with an uncertain frown. 

Garnet shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” she said, finally mustering a smile for Mabel to show her confidence in her plan. 

“Well, I suppose in the meantime we could always continue looking further into the situation to see if there’s anything else we can do,” Pearl suggested. “J-just in case, of course.”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Mabel surprisingly agreed. “You guys can keep looking at the sciency/Gem side of things, while I take over as the first official self-appointed Memory Captain?”

“Memory Captain?” Stepper spoke up, raising a confused eyebrow. 

“Yeah, ya know, cause I’m putting myself in charge of getting you your memories back, Ste-bro,” she grinned back at him. 

“Oh,” Stepper took a brief, tentative glance down. “Mabel, I-I don’t-”

“I know, I know, you don’t know what to say,” Mabel said with a knowing wave of her hand. “That’s fine, you can always thank me after you remember everything. Now come on,” she enthusiastically grabbed the fusion’s hand, pulling him off the couch as she headed for the door. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get you back to normal.”

“Yes…” Ford muttered, fretfully looking over his notes as the pair headed out on their endeavor. An endeavor that had really no guarantee of working when it came to setting things right. “It seems as though we all do…”

“Ok, so you remember the day you first fused, fighting Peri’s robots… the time we fused… and when we raced Kevin and his friends… but you don’t remember what happened to you in the Nightmare Realm... did I get that all right?” Mabel asked, trying to make mental notes as the pair made their way down the hill toward the shack.

“Yeah, but I don’t really see what the big deal is?” Stepper shrugged. “I mean, those are all the things that have ever happened to me, right?”

“Those are all the things that have happened to Stepper…” Mabel mused with a dawning realization. 

“Yeah, which… is me,” Stepper nodded, silently wishing that everyone would stop referring to him as if he wasn’t actually present at all. 

“So, you only remember what’s happened while you were you,” Mabel continued down her newfound train of thought. “While you were fused! So… does that mean… you don’t remember anything that happened before this summer?!”

“I… don’t know. What happened before this summer?”

“Everything!” Mabel cried, spinning around to face him with a desperate, shaken expression. “Our whole lives! Dipper and me growing up together in Piedmont, Steven living here with the Gems. You have two entire lives that you just… don’t even remember anymore…”

Stepper wasn’t sure what to say to this as he glanced down apprehensively. Even if he felt far out of the loop in regards to what Mabel was saying, if there was one thing he did understand, it was that he hated seeing her so dejected and despondent. “Hey,” his voice was gentle as he knelt down to her level. “I may not really get what’s going on here with all of this memory stuff, a-and I may not know who… y-your two friends are. But, at least I still know you. Isn’t that enough?”

Mabel stilled, her pressing tears frozen from falling as she looked to the fusion with another wave of painful realization. “S-Stepper… do you know who I am to you?” she asked, almost scared to hear the answer. 

“O-of course I do,” Stepper stood, though even as he did his expression betrayed his bewilderment. “Y-you’re… um… I… you… you’re… someone really important to me…”

“Yeah, but how?” Mabel pressed. “How do you know me?”

Stepper stammered, shaking his head as he pressed a hand to his head, searching for an answer he couldn’t quite find. “I-I don’t know…” he admitted, his voice almost a whisper as he spoke. “I just… do…”

Mabel forced back a mournful sob at this, yet even so she rushed in to tightly embrace the fusion, who readily returned it, a fact that only served to strike at her aching heart even more than his answer already had. “It’s ok, Ste-bro,” she assured so quietly her voice was barely even audible. “I’ll help you figure it out.”

Even though he wasn’t entirely sure why, Stepper’s first thought was to thank her for her dedication, though he didn’t get much of a chance to before their hug was interrupted as something soft suddenly bumped into him from behind. “Huh?” he relinquished his hold on Mabel, turning to find the large pink beast standing behind him. “Ah! W-what is that thing?!” he exclaimed fearfully, rushing to take cover behind Mabel. 

“Uh, that’s just Lion,” Mabel said, stepping over to scratch the pink beast behind the ear. 

“Y-yeah, I know it’s a lion,” Stepper said, all four of his arms held in front of him defensively as he looked to Lion incredulously. “But why is it here? And why is it pink?”

“Wait,” Mabel frowned, pausing briefly to quiet Lion’s sudden quiet growling before she turned back to the fusion. “You mean… you don’t remember Lion either?”

“Uh, I’ve never seen that thing before,” Stepper said anxiously. “I’m pretty sure I would remember a huge pink lion.”

“But… Lion’s your…” Mabel trailed off before letting out a soft, stunned gasp. “Stepper’s never met Lion before…” she whispered, largely to herself. She was quick to shake the pressing thought of what or who else he might not remember away, instead taking the fusion by the hand once more to expedite their trip down to the Mystery Shack. “Come on,” she said, her tone rather solemn as they continued onward. “It looks like you’ve got more remembering to do than I thought…”

It didn’t take very long for the pair to reach the shack, with Lion trailing not too far behind them as he kept a close, somewhat distrustful watch on Stepper all the while. The fusion returned that watch, unsure of what the pink beast might do, even though Mabel assured him several times over that he was completely tame. Still, Lion was content enough to wait outside as Stepper and Mabel ventured inside the shack through the gift shop, though in doing so, they happened to encounter their pair of employees waiting around inside. 

“Oh! Mabel, you’re finally back!” Soos greeted with a smile as he took a break from sweeping. “How’s it goin’, hambone? Did you guys finally find Dipper and Steven?”

“From the looks of it, I’d say they did,” Wendy said, allayed as Stepper entered right behind Mabel. 

“Ah ah ah, correction, Wendy; that’s Stepper,” Soos pointed out. 

“Finally, someone gets it,” Stepper sighed somewhat wearily before he offered the pair a casual wave. “Hey, Soos. Hey, Wendy. What’s up?”

“Whaaaa?!” Mabel gasped, looking at the fusion in awe at this. “You remember Soos and Wendy but you don’t remember Lion?!”

“Uh… yeah, I guess?” Stepper said, still not sure of what the significance of that fact was. 

Though Mabel was baffled into silence at this, Soos and Wendy had their fair share of questions from the very start. “Whoa, hold on,” Wendy started first. “What do you mean remember?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t Stepper remember us?” Soos inquired, just as curious. “I mean, I know he’s a totally awesome Gem fusion, but he’s still Steven and Dipper, right?”

“Ugh… and there it is again…” Stepper muttered, crossing his lower arms upon hearing this bizarre claim once more. 

“Yeah, but… he’s the only one who doesn’t really think so anymore…” Mabel sighed sadly. “He doesn’t remember either of them. Or that he’s even a fusion at all…”

“What?!” Soos and Wendy exclaimed in shared alarm, both of them looking to Stepper in apt worry as they unloaded their flood of questions at a hectic pace. 

“So he doesn’t remember who he is? Dude…”

“What happened to him?”

“But he remembered us, so… what’s that all about?”

“Oh my gosh! Look at his gem! Who did that?”

“Does that hurt? Is he gonna be ok?”

“H-hey, I am ok,” Stepper finally spoke up to stem the tide of questions he had no answers for. “We’re-”

“We’re gonna get to the bottom of this and fix it,” Mabel cut him off, grabbing his arm once more as she began leading him through the gift shop. 

“Well, if you need any help, just ask,” Wendy offered firmly. 

“Yeah, anything for Steven and Dipper, dude,” Soos solidly agreed. 

But nothing for me, I guess… Stepper thought, not even bothering to voice the notion aloud this time. 

“Thanks, you guys,” Mabel called back as she continued pulling Stepper along. “We’ll keep you posted on what happens.”

Soos and Wendy offered the pair their well wishes as they headed out, with Mabel wasting no time in rushing upstairs to the attic with Stepper following not too far behind her. “Hey, Mabel?” he began tentatively as they arrived in the bedroom. “Can we, uh… talk for a second?”

“We sure can,” Mabel replied as she began looking through her half of the room. “Just as soon as I find--aha! Here it is!” She plopped down onto the rug on the floor with her summer scrapbook, motioning for Stepper to join her so he could take a look. “My scrapbook here is bound to help you remember something. Like this!” she pointed to a picture of Steven helping Dipper look through the journal quite some time ago. “This is the first picture I took of Steven and Dipper this summer. Back when we were trying to stop that red eye thingy from crashing into Gravity Falls. You remember that?”

“No, I… don’t,” Stepper shook his head, though Mabel was quick to continue. 

“O-ok, well, you’ve gotta remember this,” she turned to a page depicting all three of them playing with what seemed to be some sort of antique mirror. “When we found that mirror Lapis was trapped in and saved her? Then we saved the lake from her? Steven healed her and she went back to space, to Homeworld! And Dipper found her when she came back and me and him saved Steven and the Gems from Jasper and Peridot! It was huge, high-stakes, really dangerous, you’ve gotta remember that!”

“Mabel, I really wish I knew what you were talking about, but I don’t,” Stepper sighed, not recognizing a single moment among the countless photos she kept showing him. 

“Malachite! There’s no way you can’t remember Malachite!” Mabel kept going almost manically. “Dipper made a deal with Bill to try to free Lapis from her fusion with Jasper but Bill possessed his body. We saved him, and then it wasn’t too long after that that the portal Grunkle Stan was hiding under the shack opened and we met Grunkle Ford for the first time. Then we caught Peridot after she fused with Bill to make Pyrite; Steven and Dipper were the ones who stopped them! Then Dipper and the Gems stopped Malachite, while Peri, Steven, and I stopped the Cluster. We all saved the day! Everything should be fine now! B-but… it’s not…” She could feel her eyes growing wet with oncoming tears once more as she forced herself to look away from the proof of their triumph. A triumph that felt all but hollow now in light of what had just been lost. 

Stepper was quick to reach out a hand to comfort her, though he stopped short upon noticing one of the several pictures decorating the page of the scrapbook they were on. The same photo Mabel had shown him earlier at the temple, one of whom she had said were Steven and Dipper themselves. 

Carefully, while Mabel was distracted, Stepper lifted the photo out of the book to get a better view of it. He studied it carefully, taking in the pair of boys depicted on it, their shared smiles warm and cheerful as they stood with their arms resting on each other's shoulders. There was no doubt that, whoever they were, they were close, best friends perhaps, though he wasn’t quite sure. And while they did bear something of a passing semblance to him in different ways, even as Stepper stared at the photo for what felt like ages, not a single thing about either of these boys so much as minutely registered in his memories. He didn’t know them. He couldn’t be them. He wasn’t them. He knew that. 

And yet… he couldn’t deny the small burst of longing emptiness that filled him when he looked at them all the same. 

“Y-you can keep that if you want to,” Mabel suddenly spoke up, noticing just how captivated the fusion was by the photo. “Maybe it might help you remember them…”

Stepper didn’t respond to this, instead keeping his sights set on her as he tucked the photo safely away inside his vest. At the same time, Mabel took in a deep, steadying breath as she closed her scrapbook, a newfound smile overtaking her expression as she stood with another new idea in mind. 

“Well, if I can’t get you to remember, then maybe we can find someone else who can,” she concluded, grinning at Stepper as he also stood up. “And I just so happen to know a handful of people who are super important to Steven and Dipper that just might be able to help.”

“But Mabel, I-”

“I know you’re worried, Ste-bro,” Mabel said, taking his lower hands in hers. “T-to be honest, I am too. But I promise you, I’m not gonna rest until you’re back to who you’re supposed to be. Now let’s get going! We’ve got places to be and people to see!”

With that, Mabel ran off, leading the way and leaving Stepper with no real choice but to follow. Still, before he did, he hesitated, taking a moment to pull the photo of Steven and Dipper out one more time as he felt another wave of what almost felt like loneliness washed over him. Loneliness and perhaps, even a bit of bitterness as well. “Who I’m supposed to be…” he repeated softly to the photo, shaking his head before he ultimately put it away.

“Kon'nichiwa! You’ve reached Connie Maheswaran. I’m currently on a week-long vacation in Japan and don’t have international coverage, which is why I’m unable to answer your call at this time. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve returned to the country. Thank you and Say��nara!”

“Ugh, of all the times for her to be on vacation…” Mabel muttered to herself as she listened to Connie’s voicemail before leaving her message. “Uh, h-hey, Connie. H-how’s Tokyo? Um, look, we’ve kind of got a bit of a… situation going on here, so if you do somehow manage to find somewhere where you have coverage before you get back, could maybe call me back, like… as soon as possible? Thanks, bye.”

Mabel let out a sigh as she hung up just as Stepper caught up with her along the trail that led toward town “Hey, who were you talking to?” he asked, curiously. 

“Connie,” she answered, letting out a sigh of disappointment. “Or at least I was trying to talk to her… It’s sort of hard to do since she’s on the other side of the ocean right now.”

“Connie…” Stepper repeated thoughtfully. “I know her.”

“You do?!” Mabel gasped with a bit of newfound hope. 

“Yeah,” the fusion nodded. “She was there during that race, just like you were, remember?”

“N-no, Stepper, she’s...” Mabel trailed off with a small sigh. “C-Connie’s one of our best friends. The four of us: me, Dipper, Steven, and Connie, we’re the Mystery Kids. You remember being one--or two I guess, of the Mystery Kids… right?”

“Mabel, I know you want me to say yes, but-”

“I-I know,” Mabel closed her eyes, largely in an attempt at blocking away tears. “You don’t. I-its ok. We’ll figure this out.”

“That’s what you keep saying…” Stepper muttered, rubbing one of his upper arms. 

“In fact, we might figure it out right now,” Mabel perked up as they finally arrived in town. Or rather, to the car wash sitting on the nearest edge of town. “Mr. Universe!?” she called as she ran up to the former rock star’s van and knocked on its back door. “Are you home?”

Fortunately, Greg was home as he burst out of the back of the van, disheveled and exhausted after days of a largely fruitless search for his missing son. “Oh! Mabel, it’s you,” he said, running a hand through his messy locks. “A-any word on the boys yet? Have the Gems found them?”

“Well, y-yeah, sort of…” Mabel replied rather anxiously as she glanced behind her to see Stepper joining them. “But…”

“Huh?” Greg looked to Stepper, initially confused before he quickly gathered who was standing before him. “Ohhh... I get it; they fused!”

“Heh, yeah…” Mabel let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Mr. Universe, t-this is Stepper.”

“Stepper, huh?” Greg said with a small sigh of relief as he stepped out of his van. “It’ve heard about you from Steven. Nice to finally meet you in person. And even better to see you’re both safe and sound.” 

At this, the fusion was caught off guard as the former rock star wrapped him into a tight, protective embrace. One that he didn’t really make any move to return. “Um… it’s nice to meet you too, sir,” he said stiffly, awkwardly even. 

“Sir?” Greg chuckled as he pulled away from the fusion, wiping away a few tears. “You don’t have to be so formal with me. I am your dad after all. I-in a way. Partially. I think? Hm…”

“Wait, you are?” Stepper asked, baffled by this information. 

“Yes…?” Greg’s smile was quick to disappear at this. “I mean, I’m definitely Steven’s dad, at least, so-”

“Uh, M-Mr. Universe?” Mabel interjected fretfully, hesitating to even deliver the horrific news to the former rock star at all. Even if she knew she had to. “Something happened and, um… well, Stepper doesn’t really… remember a whole lot right now. He doesn’t think he’s a fusion, a-and he doesn’t remember Steven or Dipper either…”

“W-what…?” Greg balked, aptly distraught as he looked Stepper over. “B-but he’s…” The former rock star let out a shaken gasp as he finally noticed the fusion’s fractured gemstone. “Y-your gem… what… what happened to it? Is this why y-you can’t…?”

Stepper had no answer for these almost tearful questions, though thankfully Mabel spoke to them instead. “It’s a… long story…” she sighed sadly. “Grunkle Ford and the Gems do think it is the reason why his memories are all wonky, b-but we’re trying to fix them, and I thought bringing him to you might help him at least remember Steven, but…”

“D-did it work?” Greg pressed, looking to Stepper with hope and desperation in his voice alike. “Do you remember me? D-do you remember Steven?”

Stepper could easily see the grief rising in the expression of the man standing before him, and though he couldn’t really claim to know this man, he still couldn’t help but feel guilty for that grief all the same. And yet, he didn’t dare lie to him, knowing that doing so, that giving him false hope for something that would ultimately be just an act, a falsehood, a meager attempt at replicating what he didn’t even truly believe he’d really lost. “N-no…” he admitted sympathetically, apologetically. “I don’t… I’m sorry.”

Try as he might, Greg was completely helpless against the heavy sob that escaped him as he collapsed to take a seat in the back of the van. His expression was rife with tearful grief as he averted his gaze away from the fusion that was partially composed of his son. His son, who didn’t remember his father, who didn’t even remember himself, it seemed. “W-why… how…” he choked out another sob, his face buried in his hands all the while. “H-how does he just… not remember who he is? T-that’s not how fusions work, r-right?”

“N-no, it’s not…” Mabel said quietly. “L-like I said, we don’t really know how this happened. B-but don’t worry; we’re all working on a way to figure this out and get his memories back. Aren’t we, Stepper?”

Stepper hesitated to give a proper answer to this, especially as he met Greg’s heartbroken gaze once more. While he had leaned into honesty earlier, the fusion couldn’t help but offer up something of a lie now, all in the hopes of easing that heartbreak at least a little. “R-right…” he said softly as he glanced away. 

“R-right,” Greg added with a small, resigned sigh. He offered the pair a grateful smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes, particularly as he regarded Stepper once more. “Uh… I-I...better go check in with the Gems about all this.” He stood to head to the front of the van, clearly struggling to be near his “son” in such a forgetful state. “I-I’ll see you kids around…” 

The former rock star didn’t see much else before getting into the van and driving off toward the temple, in the hopes of getting a more complete picture of what was happening from the Gems. As well as further reassurance that something was being done to fix it. At the same time, Mabel and Stepper set out from the car wash, their manner equally solemn as they began to wander out toward the lake with no real set purpose in mind.

“Mabel?” Stepper began as he stopped, his expression awash in fretful woe. 

“Yeah, Stepper?” 

“I… I feel bad for that Mr. Universe guy…” the fusion glanced back at the direction Greg’s van had gone. “He was so… sad, just like you and the Gems were before. A-and I know you’re going to tell me it’s not, but… I know i-it’s all my fault…”

“Stepper, no,” Mabel was quick to reassure him as she grabbed his lower set of arms. “None of this is your fault; it’s Bill’s! You’re not-”

“I’m not who you want me to be,” Stepper said quickly, firmly as he pulled his hands away. “I’m just not. I’m sorry.”

“N-no, you… you are, you just don’t remember-”

“Mabel, please,” Stepper stopped her, letting out an irritated huff as he did. “Can we just sto-”

“Mabel?!”

The tension rising between the two fell apart as quickly as the conversation itself did as this call reached them from just a short way down the street. “Pacifica!” Mabel shouted back to the heiress as she ran up to her, phone in hand. 

“I-I just got your text,” Pacifica began breathlessly. “You said you found him? You found Dipper?!”

“W-well, yeah…” Mabel began tentatively. “But Pacifica, he’s not-”

“Where is he?!” the heiress pressed, immensely concerned for her boyfriend’s wellbeing. “Is he ok? Is he… he…” She trailed off, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped in awe as she happened to glance over at the fusion. Or, as far as she knew, the strangely four-armed, yet very handsome young man standing alongside Mabel. “H-hey…” she greeted him, her face suddenly feeling hot for reasons she couldn’t begin to explain. 

“Hi,” he offered her a small wave and a smile, one that practically made her melt when she thought about who it reminded her of. 

“Oh, uh… P-Pacfica, this is Stepper-” Mabel filled in, though she was quickly interrupted. 

“Stepper…” Pacifica repeated in the form of a small, almost wistful sigh. “You look familiar…”

“You… don’t,” Stepper replied, his smile faltering somewhat. 

“She should be familiar, Stepper,” Mabel sighed tiredly. “Pacifica is Dipper’s girlfriend. A-and, well, you see, Pacifica, Stepper here is a fusion.”

“Oh?” Pacifica was barely listening, her sights still set on Stepper as she broke out into a soft, fond smile. 

“Yeah, h-he’s actually… Steven and Dipper.”

“Oh,” the heiress blinked, this information finally breaking her out of whatever unintentional trance the fusion had somehow put her under. “Oh! Oh. Ohhhh my gosh, this is… embarrassing.” Her already palpable blush deepened exponentially as she finally tore her flustered gaze away from Stepper. “I… mean, if that’s true, then you are technically my boyfriend, but you’re also not, a-and, ugh, this whole fusion thing is so confusing, I don’t know how any of you manage to keep it all straight.”

“Well, most of the time, it’s pretty easy, but this is a little… different,” Mabel said, biting her lip. “For starters, Stepper… doesn’t really remember who Steven and Dipper are right now. A-and… I don’t think he would know who you are either, Pacifica, since Stepper has never met you for himself until now.”

“W-what…?” Pacifica asked in newfound fear, especially as she met Stepper’s rather oblivious expression once more. That fear only grew as she realized the only boy she’d ever truly liked, perhaps even more than liked, might very well be lost to her forever. “You… don’t know who I am?”

Stepper faltered, seeing that familiar kind of grief well up in the heiress’ eyes. Grief that he kept bringing to just about everyone he encountered, it seemed. “I… no, I don’t…” he answered simply, averting her pleading gaze. 

Those words might as well have been knives for how sharp and painful they were when they hit Pacifica’s heart. She usually wasn’t one to openly display her emotions in public, but right now, there was no stopping the steady tears that fell as she realized her fears were all-too true. “H-how… how did this happen?” she asked Mabel, trying to make sense of something so unimaginable. 

“Well, Steven and Dipper got sucked into a portal to the Nightmare Realm, where Bill-”

“Wait, what?” Pacifica interjected, confused. “Nightmare Realm? Bill? What are you talking about?”

“Ugh, seriously? Dipper’s never told you about Bill before?” Pacifica shook her head, eliciting another exasperated groan out of Mabel as she facepalmed. “How many times have I told him? The key to a healthy relationship is communication. Even if that communication is about a crazy, vengeance-driven dream demon who stole his body and tried killing all of us!” Her manner was still quite severe as she turned to Stepper, who was every bit as out of the loop as Pacifica currently was. “As soon as you remember yourself, you’re getting a stern talking-to about this, mister!”

“Um… what?” Stepper asked, absolutely lost.

“Anyway,” Mabel took in a deep breath as she turned back to Pacifica. “The whole thing’s kind of a mess, but-” She stopped short as she heard a sudden loud choke of a sob escape the heiress. “P-Pacifica?”

For her part, Pacifica had taken Stepper’s lower hands into hers, her expression awash in misery as she stared up into his sympathetic, but unknowing eyes. Eyes that were a far cry from those of the boy she had fallen for, and yet... “Y-you… look so much like him…” she whispered mournfully. “B-but you’re not him… are you?”

Stepper nearly answered this, but just before he could, Mabel was quick to step in with some much-needed reassurance. “He is Dipper. And Steven,” she said firmly, almost as if she was trying to convince herself of that fact too. “And I promise that I’m doing everything I can to help him remember that. To help him remember everything.”

This promise did serve to ease Pacifica’s frayed nerves a bit, though far from entirely when she thought about the possibility that there was still a chance, however unbearable, that Dipper might be gone for good. “I-is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’ll let you know if there is,” Mabel said, pulling the heiress into a comforting hug, one that she surprisingly accepted in her dejected state. 

“Thank you…” Pacifica whispered as she parted from Mabel, only to catch Stepper by surprise with a sudden embrace before she left. “Come back to me…” she whispered to him, or rather, to Dipper, someone who couldn’t even hear her to begin with. “Please…”

Stepper had no idea what to even say to this, even as Pacifica pulled away from him, tears still in her eyes as she silently began to walk away. He felt guilty as he watched her go, and though he would have even liked to have said that he felt longing, he didn’t. Because he didn’t know her. Because he didn’t know them. Because he didn’t know much at all, it seemed. 

Mabel said nothing to him as she turned to continue on her way. And once again, Stepper found that he had no choice but to follow. 

The next part of Mabel’s plan wasn’t exactly the most solid, but it was still a plan all the same, one that involved taking Stepper around Gravity Falls in the hopes that familiar places might somehow jog his missing memories. They started downtown, passing by spots Steven and Dipper had once frequented, from Funland Arcade to Greasy’s Diner to Gravity Fries to the museum. For his part, Stepper hardly noticed any of the peculiar glances that were sent his way over his extra set of arms. Instead, he went along for the ‘Grand Gravity Falls Tour’ as Mabel put it, quietly appreciating the sights she showed him and the stories behind each one. Stories that she claimed he had been a part of, or his supposed halves had, rather, even if he didn’t remember a single one. 

The lake and the forest were by far his favorite stops along the tour however. The lake’s peaceful waters were a much-needed comfort after the hectic day he’d been having. If it had been up to him, he would have spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the warm summer sun on their soft, sandy shores, staring out across the glistening water all the while. But then Mabel pulled him into the forest, filled with secrets and magic and surprises at every turn, or at least that’s what she told him. Stepper, however, felt a different kind of magic wafting through the trees, one that was perhaps a bit mythical, but every bit as special all the same. The easy summer breezes were gentle as they blew through the trees, lightly skimming his face every bit as much as the small specks of sunlight spilling in through the trees above did. And for what felt for the first time amidst the few memories he had to his name, he actually noticed that breeze, noticed the birds chirping on the branches above him, noticed the sweet scent of summer blossoms, notice the bright blue vibrancy of the handful of forget-me-nots he casually picked along the way. 

And as he noticed it all, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to be there amidst it all. To be himself, even with barely any memories to speak of, even with gaping, glaring holes in what few memories he did have. To be someone somewhere as beautiful as this. Each new moment he lived in, each new memory he created he couldn’t help but treasure between the far too few he’d had before. And the more memories he made, however minute and minuscule they might have been, he couldn’t help but want to make more. He couldn’t help but want to be more, to show everyone that he was more than just two faces he still couldn’t quite place. Two faces that everyone kept telling him he was when the only glimpse he’d ever had of them was by way of a simple faded photograph. 

Despite what everyone kept telling him, what everyone wanted out of him, Stepper couldn’t help but want to be nobody else other than himself. 

The sun was setting by the time the pair found themselves arriving back at the Mystery Shack, though they soon found that they weren’t the only ones doing so. For just as they were approaching the shack, a certain green Gem happened to suddenly faceplant right into the lawn before them. Peridot quickly recovered, however, pulling herself to her feet as she rushed over to Mabel first. 

“Maaaaaaabel! I received your textual communication via the ‘interweb’,” she frantically explained, pulling her tablet out. 

“Uh… you mean the email I sent you?” Mabel frowned, confused. 

“Yes!” Peridot nodded vigorously. “And it looks like it’s true. You really did find Steven and Dipper after all! Though do they really need to be fused into, ugh, the Stepper?”

“It’s good to see you too, Peridot,” Stepper regarded the green Gem almost dryly. 

“W-well, at least you remember Peri,” Mabel said to the fusion with something of a forced grin. 

“Remember me?” Peridot raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

Before Mabel could get a chance to explain, Lapis suddenly flew in, her manner tense and anxious as she let her aquatic wings disappear the moment she landed. “You said Dipper and Steven are back,” she grabbed Mabel by the shoulders, her eyes wide as they betrayed her clear worry just as much as her tone did. “We’ve been out looking for them all day and night. Are they ok? Where are they?!”

“Uh, well…” Mabel trailed off, unsure of how to explain the situation to Lapis, of all Gems, as she briefly glanced over at Stepper. 

“Wait, w-what?” the blue Gem’s gaze jumped to the fusion as well. “Who is this? What’s going on?”

“That’s the Stepper,” Peridot remarked, crossing her arms. 

“Stepper?” 

“H-he’s a fusion,” Mabel explained apprehensively. “O-Of… Dipper and Steven.”

Lapis gasped, taking a stumbling step back away from Stepper upon hearing this, even though her focus remained on him all the while. “W-what? D-Dipper and Steven can fuse? B-but how? Wait… w-why is their gem cracked?! Can’t they heal it like Steven did for mine?! Does it hurt? C-can you unfuse?! Can you-”

“Um… a-actually, Lapis,” Mabel winced, well aware of the panic welling up in the blue Gem’s eyes. “S-Stepper can’t unfuse right now. N-not with his gem like, well, t-that…”

Lapis shuddered, gripping the fusion’s upper arms tightly as she pleaded with him almost painfully. “C-can either of you hear me in there?!” she asked tightly, desperately as Stepper met her anxious gaze with startled surprise. “It’s ok! You can unfuse! You don’t have to be stuck together like I was stuck to-” She cut herself off, shaking her head against the remnant terror even just thinking of Malachite always managed to bring her. “P-please, just… unfuse, for me. I need to see you, both of you. Please.”

Stepper frowned at this, faced with another pang of guilt he had no idea how to ease as he pulled himself away from the frantic blue Gem. “I-I’m sorry but… do I know you?” 

“Oh no…” Mabel whispered worriedly as she watched Lapis freeze up in shock over such a piercing question. 

“W-what… what are you talking about?” the blue Gem asked, her entire body trembling with dread by this point. “O-of course you know me. Both of you do! It’s me: Lapis! R-remember?!”

“I-I don’t, but please, d-don’t feel bad about that,” Stepper tried to ease her obvious despair. “I’ve been meeting a lot of new people today, so-”

“I’m not a new person, NOT to either YOU!” Lapis shouted at him, suddenly furious as she turned to interrogate Mabel. “What’s the matter with them!? What happened?!”

“I-it was Bill,” Mabel answered, flinching over just how enraged Lapis was amidst her grief. At the same time, she heard Peridot let out a poignant squeak of fear the moment the dream demon’s name was so much as mentioned, understandable after what he’d put her through before. 

“T-that demon Dipper told me about the other day?” Lapis asked, her eyes narrowing. 

“Y-yeah,” Mabel nodded gravely. “Steven and Dipper got sucked into his dimension a-and they must have fused to try and fight him b-but… he cracked Stepper’s gem and we’re thinking that might have done something to his memories? But… we’re not sure. I’ve been working on helping him remember stuff all day, but-”

“H-he did this to them…” Lapis suddenly spoke, her voice but a low, intense whisper as her hands tightened into tense fists at her sides. “Wasn’t it enough for that… that monster to steal Dipper’s body?! He had to crack Steven’s gem too!? And now he’s got them both trapped... in a fusion of all things, without any of their memories?!” Lapis’ breathing was harsh and heavy as she paced around hotly, her hands pressed against her head as her anger only seemed to rise toward a rapid boiling point. 

“L-Lapis?” Peridot dared to speak up, reaching a trembling hand toward the blue Gem, though it never reached her. 

“We have to get their memories back,” Lapis said rigidly, still absolutely livid as she spun around to face the others. “And we have to make him pay for what he’s done to them. I wasn’t around to protect them from him before but I am not about to let him get away with hurting either of them any more!”

“L-Lapis…” Mabel attempted to interact before Peridot spoke up in her place. 

“A-are you crazy?!” she asked, terrified and incredulous. “You can’t just go up against someone like…” she hesitated, letting the dream demon’s name out in a feeble whisper, lest he was somehow listening in. “B-Bill Cipher. He’s a madman! A lunatic, who-”

“I don’t care!” Lapis snapped fiercely. “I told Dipper that I would never let that guy mess with him again, and I meant that. I don’t care if I have to go face him all by myself, I will, for them, to get back what they lost. Wouldn’t you?”

Peridot flinched at such a harshly asked question, one that she was hard pressed to answer given her prior daunting experience with the dream demon in question. “I-I…” she hesitated, and that was all the ammunition Lapis needed. 

“Don’t you care about them?!” she accused, overwhelmed by her fury more than anything else. Fury that she had to place somewhere, even if she couldn’t actually fire it at the one who really deserved it at the moment. “Don’t either of them matter to you?! Why wouldn’t you want to do anything in your power to help them!?”

“I-I do!” Peridot protested earnestly. “O-of course I do! I-I want to help them, just like you do, but I-I just… I… I can’t…”

“Why not?” Lapis hissed between gritted teeth. 

Peridot paused, her eyes wide with fear as she glanced over at Mabel. For her own part, Mabel was quite shaken by the intensity of the ongoing argument, as was Stepper, even if he was largely lost when it came to its subject. Still, Mabel offered Peridot a silent nod of solidarity, prompting her to finally have a discussion with Lapis that she’d been trying to avoid since they’d moved into the barn together. A discussion she’d been trying to avoid having with anyone, really. 

“S-Stepper, it’s… getting kinda late,” Mabel whispered to the fusion as she began to lead him back toward the shack. “W-we should head inside…”

Stepper didn’t argue, though as he left with Mabel, he did cast a silent, sympathetic glance over his shoulder at the pair of Gems that remained outside as Peridot began to weave a story of woe that she believed was best left forgotten. “I-I… suppose I just come right out and say it…” the green Gem glanced down guiltily. “I’ve… fused with… with Bill Cipher before…”

Needless to say that Lapis was stunned upon hearing this, her former fury stalled as an entirely new type of anger filled in its place. “You… what?” she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. 

“I-It was a mistake! A-a complete and total mistake that I’m incredibly ashamed of, you need to know that above all else!” Peridot implored her anxiously. “H-he promised me he’d get me back to Homeworld, h-he said he was working in league with the Diamonds (and he is by the way, that’s just about the only thing he wasn’t lying about). But he-””

“A-and you said yes?! You let him fuse with you?!” Lapis asked, baffled. 

“I-I understand how foolish it sounds in retrospect, b-but at the time, Pyrite seemed like the perfect proposition!” Peridot took a nervous step back. “I-it wasn’t of course, e-especially after he took control a-and forced me to the wayside. H-he essentially trapped me inside my own gem with him! T-that’s just what he does, from what I’ve heard. He traps you in situations you can’t get out of, n-not without having to ask him for his “help”. That’s what he did to me, a-and I’m willing to bet that’s what he did to Steven and Dipper too…”

Lapis’s anger finally cooled somewhat at this, her expression falling into sudden solace at this as she let out a long, remorseful sigh over her previous thoughtless behavior. “P-Peridot, I… I had no idea…” she said quietly. “I’m… I’m sorry…”

“You’re not the one who needs to be sorry,” Peridot’s manner turned resolved as she offered the blue Gem a supportive smile. “I-I may not be strong or brave enough to face Cipher again, but Lapis, you… I know you are, for both of us! If there’s anyone who can help Steven and Dipper now, it’s you. Well, and Mabel and Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl and Ford and--”

“Ok, ok, I get it,” Lapis said with a small chuckle. 

“B-but I also want you to know that I’m willing to do whatever I can to help on this end of things,” Peridot affirmed. “So, what do you say we figure out how to take a dastardly demon down a peg?”

“I’m in,” Lapis readily agreed, calling upon her wings before she took Peridot’s hands and hoisted her up into the air. And together, both Gems headed off toward the Crystal Temple, hoping that they weren’t too late to join the cause to stop Bill and save Steven and Dipper in the process. 

For the rest of the evening, neither Stan nor Ford were anywhere to be found; the same could be said of the Gems, and though Mabel half wanted to look for them, she knew she had nothing new to report to them anyway. Stepper’s lack of memories was still just as apparent as it had been from the time they’d found him earlier that day. A painful reminder that only got all the more agonizing whenever she happened to bring up something the fusion had no recollection of, only to receive yet another blank stare, another question of confusion, another piece of proof that he had lost touch with who he really was. 

So eventually, Mabel stopped trying, at least for tonight, as exhaustion finally began to catch up with her. After all, while Steven and Dipper had been missing, she hadn’t exactly been getting the best sleep, if any at all. And though she still felt incredibly restless and anxious, she knew weighing herself down by tiredness would do nothing to help Stepper, Steven, or Dipper alike. So she decided to turn in early for the night, encouraging Stepper to do the same as she led him back up to the attic. 

“S-so… it’s been a pretty long, less than successful day, b-but that alright,” Mabel let out a sharp breath as she jumped up onto her bed. “We can always keep trying tomorrow and who knows? Maybe a good night’s sleep will help you out in the memory department.”

“Uh… right…” Stepper said halfheartedly as he took to the empty bed across from her. He slipped off his vest and cap and made an attempt at laying out on the bed, only for his legs to end up dangling over the edge rather substantially. “Huh. Bed’s too short…”

“Ha! That’s exactly what we said!” Mabel chuckled as she began to tuck herself in. 

“What who said?”

Mabel’s fond smile was quick to fade at this, not even really needing to ask herself whether or not Stepper would even remember Maven in his current state. After all, the only thing he really seemed to remember in any sort of detail was himself. “N-no one…” she said with a small, sad sigh as she rolled onto her other side to face away from the fusion. “It’s... no one…”

“Mabel?” Stepper pressed, though he received no answer from her this time. So instead, he let out a soft sigh of his own as he turned the desk lamp off and laid down, his feet still hanging off the edge of the bed as all four of his hands rested against his chest. Briefly, he glanced down at the cracked gemstone on his stomach, its fractured, dull pink looking paler than ever against the moonlight shining in through the window above him. 

He wasn’t sure he entirely believed in his connections to the people who claimed to know him that he’d never even seen before and he sincerely doubted the idea of him being a fusion between two boys he didn’t know a thing about. But if there was one thing Stepper was certain of, it was the deep, unhealable crack in the stone on his gut. A crack that he hadn’t the faintest idea about where it came from. Everyone claimed that “Bill” person was responsible for it, but Stepper didn’t know him, didn’t know anything of him other than the claim that he was bad news and everyone who knew of him seemed to hate him relentlessly. And even if that was what everyone was claiming, Stepper still wanted to know for himself, still wanted to reclaim that apparently missing memory above all else. Because unlike his supposed identity as “Steven” and “Dipper” there was at the very least, actual proof that crack actually existed--he didn’t need to look any further than his stomach for that. Yet for as present as the crack itself was, it was still such a mystery to him, a mystery that he wanted to solve, that he felt like he needed to solve to fill that lingering, aching sense of emptiness within him. Far more than he needed to know the two boys everyone kept telling him he was. 

And then, suddenly, completely out of nowhere, a flash. A sharp and sudden gasp he took in as a burst of unknown, yet somehow familiar pain seized him. And with that pain, with that gasp, came that flash, like a dream, no a memory of something he didn’t recognize, something he didn’t know. Something sharp and dark, plummeting toward him, toward his gem as it touched it. As it slammed into it. 

As it cracked it.

And that was it. That was all he saw, all he was allowed to see. Because just like that it was over and he was back in the present, back in the bedroom, back in the mystery that left him perplexed and distressed and confused, feelings he’d been awash in all day. The only positive he could see was that the brief bout of pain he’d felt faded as though it had never fallen upon him whatsoever. But that hardly left him comforted when he considered where it had come from to begin with. He noticed that a few more cracks expanded over his skin surrounding his gem, thin pink lines tracing across his stomach as they further fractured a story that he only had the sparsest of pieces of. 

A story, a mystery he wondered if he’d ever truly be able to piece together to create the complete picture to.

Staying up all night was hardly anything new to either the Gems or Ford; it was something they had used to do together quite frequently back in their days of working on the portal together, however ill-fated that work ended up being. But their latest all-nighter had been spent on a much more important cause to all of them; namely, figuring out exactly what had happened to Stepper and how to fix it. 

“What do ya mean you don’t know?!” Amethyst huffed in extreme annoyance. The Gems stood anxiously by while Ford paced around his lab in the shack’s lowest level, his intensive search through all of his notes proving to be rather fruitless by most accounts. “Aren’t you supposed to know like, everything there is to know about Bill? You guys were good buddies back in the day after all, right?”

“I would hardly say that,” Ford scoffed bitterly. “And besides, Bill is an enigma, his true intentions in any given situation are anyone’s guess--well, aside from the fact that they’re always self-serving.”

“But what would Bill have to gain by doing this to Stepper?” Pearl asked, desperate for any sort of answers at this point. 

“His gem,” Garnet guessed. “Steven did say Bill tried taking it from him in his dream once before. Though we still don’t know why he’d want it in the first place.”

“But if Steven’s gem was what Bill was after, then certainly he would have taken it while he had the boys alone, without anyone to protect them,” Ford shook his head. “And I hate to even think about it, but it would have been easy for him to do so in the Nightmare Realm. He isn’t confined to the immaterial plane there like he would be here.”

“But he didn’t take the gem,” Pearl mused worriedly. “He cracked it… If he wants it so badly, why would he damage it on purpose? It doesn’t make any sense! Then again, considering this is Cipher we’re talking about, that’s hardly surprising…”

“Ok, so let’s just say Bill doesn’t want Steven’s gem after all,” Amethyst interjected, her arms crossed as she leaned up against a wall. “Why would he mess with Stepper’s memories and then just send him back here? I mean, the guy totally hates all of us, including Steven and Dipper. If he really wanted to mess with us in just about the worst way possible, he could have-”

“We know, Amethyst,” Ford interrupted, raising a hand to stop her before she could even voice such an awful thought aloud. “We know…”

“The crack in his gem must be connected to his lost memories and sense of identity,” Garnet theorized carefully. “But a fusion forgetting they are a fusion… it’s something I’ve even heard of before. The only explanation for that I can think of could be that Stepper’s mostly human. And that the crack is no longer damaging him physically only thanks to Rose’s fountain. But his mind… his memories… are still every bit as fractured as his gem itself is…”

“So… all we gotta do is figure out a way to heal his mind then?” Amethyst proposed, hopeful. “Easy.”

“So far that’s turning out to be easier said than done based on how Stepper was acting earlier…” Pearl noted fretfully. “As far as he was apparently concerned, Steven and Dipper might as well have not even ever existed!”

“He’s got to remember them eventually,” Garnet sighed, adjusting her shades. “That could be first and the only key to solving this.”

“A-and if it isn’t?” Amethyst dared to ask. It was a question none of the others even had an answer to however, for the possibility that Stepper simply remembering who he truly was not being enough to save him, to save them, was almost just as unimaginable as him not remembering them at all. 

“Regardless, I’m still troubled by Bill’s role in all this,” Ford continued with a sigh as he sank into his seat at the desk before where the portal had once sat. “He’s an absolute sadist, sure, but I don’t think he would have cracked Stepper’s gem without a reason, especially if he considers that gem to be a prize for him to obtain eventually. He had to have an ulterior motive, something else that he wants to…” The author trailed off, his eyes growing wide as he glanced up at the small desk cabinet just in front of him. A cabinet which was currently home to something else he knew without a doubt Bill wanted to get his hands on. 

“Stanford?” Pearl inquired, concerned. 

“I-I… I think I know why Bill did this…” Ford muttered, his tone shaken as grief started to slip into it. Grief over a secret he found he could keep no longer, at least not from the Gems. Not after what the burden of that secret had apparently done to two boys he cared so deeply about. “A-a few weeks ago I decided to entrust both Dipper and Steven with the knowledge of something I haven’t told anyone else about… until now…”

The Gems exchanged a confused glance as they watched Ford unlock his desk cabinet, only to pull out something that stunned all three of them alike. “Whoa…” Amethyst’s jaw dropped at the sight of the small, contained mass of moldable space. 

“F-Ford…” Pearl gasped, shocked by its sheer radiance. 

“That’s…” Garnet trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“I-its an interdimensional rift torn in space time,” Ford explained solemnly, his grip on the rift tight and secure. “I discovered it after dismantling the portal a-and of course I immediately did my best to contain it but… it still stands as a way, however small, for Bill to get into our dimension, just as much as the portal was before it. And, well… I don’t put torturing Steven and Dipper to get information as to its whereabouts out of them past Bill, quite frankly. So-”

“So you just knew about this incredibly dangerous rift all this time, and you didn’t even think to tell us about it?!” Pearl asked hotly, Garnet and Amethyst clearly sharing her frustration right off the bat. 

“Of course, I thought about it,” Ford countered as sternly as he could, though he knew defending his decision was going to be difficult. “I just… didn’t. Obviously.”

“But you told Steven and Dipper about it!” Amethyst pointed out harshly. “You know, two kids. What did think they were gonna do to protect this dumb thing if Bill ever came after it? Yeah, I know they can both fight and fuse, but come on, man, what were you thinking?!”

“I was thinking it was the right thing to do,” Ford said, desperately trying to believe that was still true, that it still was. But considering Stepper’s current condition… he didn’t entirely think that was a conviction he’d be able to hold onto for much longer. “I-I… I just thought that the fewer knew about it, the less danger it would pose.”

“You thought wrong,” Garnet finally spoke, her tone rigid, livid. She took a sudden step forward, catching the author off guard as she grabbed him by the collar of his sweater to hoist him up out of his seat. “Because look at where we are now, Stanford. Look at what’s happened to Stepper, to Steven and Dipper! He’s cracked, broken, stuck together; he doesn’t even remember who he’s made of! By burdening those boys--our boys--with this kind of dangerous information, you forfeited their safety. By not telling us about the rift in their stead, by not trusting us like you should have, you kept us from protecting them. And in doing so, you showed how little you really care about either of them. And how selfish you really are.”

With this, Garnet shoved Ford back into his seat, leaving him stunned and speechless as she began to make her way toward the elevator with Pearl and Amethyst following right behind her. None of the Gems had anything more to say to the author, yet he still wasn’t quite done as he carefully put the rift away and began to trail after them. “W-wait,” he implored, his voice weak and weary. The Gems did stop just as the elevator opened before them, each of them sending a cold glare back his way. Ford didn’t make much of an effort to apologize, knowing that such an effort would be meaningless against what they were facing. So instead, he made a request that he knew he had no business even asking of them, especially not now. Yet for the sake of the greater good, that’s exactly what he did anyway. “I… Please, d-don’t tell anyone else about the rift. Until we figure out a way to neutralize it for good, like I said before, it’s safer, less exposed, if fewer people know about its existence…”

For what seemed like ages, the Gems didn’t respond to this plea, but in the end, Garnet simply nodded her cold affirmation to it. “Whatever,” Amethyst also agreed with a quiet scoff. “Guess your stupid secret’s safe with us.”

“Yes,” Pearl said bitterly as all three of the Gems piled into the elevator to leave the author behind. “At least then, no one else can stand to get hurt simply from knowing about it like Steven and Dipper already have…”

And indeed, they already had been, something that Ford lamented as he was left alone in the empty darkness of his lab. The boys had been hurt, damaged, forgotten, possibly even beyond the point of remembrance by the very fusion they were both a part of. And for as much as Ford would have wanted to blame Bill for all of that, at the end of the day, he knew the Gems were right; he only really had himself to blame. 

“Okey-dokey, Ste-bro,” Mabel was bright and cheery as ever the next morning as she bounded downstairs, with Stepper following a decent pace behind her. “We’re officially back on what I like to call “Memory Patrol”. I’ve got a whole day planned out that’ll get you back to remembering everything in no time. And that day starts with a delicious morning meal with all of Steven and Dipper’s favorite breakfast treats! Grunkle Stan!” 

This call was easily enough to startle Stan awake from his spot in the recliner in the living room. The book he’d checked out of the library the previous day entitled “Memory Loss: Treatment and Talking About It With Loved Ones” fell off his face as he bolted upright in alarm. “Ugh, huh…? What is it? You need somethin’, pumpkin?” he asked Mabel as she poked her head into the den. 

“Yeah! I need you to help me put together the best breakfast ever,” she grinned as she ran over to pull him out of his seat. “One that’s gonna be the trick to getting Stepper to remember everything, I just know it!”

“Wait… you mean the poor kid still doesn’t remember who he is?” Stan asked incredulously, sparing a worried glance at the aforementioned fusion as Mabel dragged him toward the kitchen. “...What the heck am I gonna tell your parents?” 

“You won’t have to tell ‘em anything ‘cause we’re fixing all of this today,” Mabel proclaimed, confident yet largely more hopeful that they would. Because if they didn’t, if they couldn’t… she couldn’t even stand to think about what would happen. “Now c’mon. Let’s get cooking!”

For his part, Stepper didn’t join the pair in the kitchen as they began prepping breakfast. Instead, he took to casually wandering around the shack, not having any real destination in mind, even as he eventually made it to the gift shop. He couldn’t help but smile a bit as he looked over the various nick-nacks and chachkies stocked up on display, though he did stop upon finding one certain shelf containing several hats, caps to be precise, much like the very one he was wearing. One of those hats in particular happened to catch his eye, one that, instead of being noticeably blank like his was, bore the prominent image of a blue pine tree upon it. Stepper picked it up, examining that pine tree with a sense of what almost felt like nostalgia, that persistent feeling of emptiness starting to spark within him once more. 

And then, another flash, this time in sound that seemed to echo from nowhere and everywhere all at once as pain flushed out from his gemstone once more. 

“Pine Tree.” “Rose Bud.”

“Pine Bud.” “Rose Tree.”

He stumbled back, the hat falling out of his grip as he pressed a hand to his head. The sharp, vibrant pain was gone but he remembered it vividly, though what had come along with it was still nothing more than a mystery covered by a mist that was far too thick for him to even try to see through. Just as so many things seemed to be for him, really. 

Stepper was startled once more, this time by the vending machine on the other side of the gift shop opening up almost like a door. As confused by that alone as he was, Stepper watched as the Gems emerged from that doorway, their expressions mutually exhausted and frustrated, for reasons the fusion could only really begin to guess. “H-hey, you guys,” he greeted the trio with a small smile. “Is everything ok?”

The Gems let out a shared, tired sigh at this as they all looked to Stepper sadly. “Eh… gotta admit, it would be a little better if you could actually remember anything about Steven and Dipper,” Amethyst admitted, catching a glare from Pearl for being so overt and tactless. “Any luck with that, dude?”

Stepper frowned, taking in the Gems’ weary manner as he wished there was actually something he could do to ease it instead of add onto it for a change. “...Would you all feel better if I said yes?”

There was another sigh, namely from Pearl and Amethyst this time as Garnet shook her head, placing a consoling hand on the fusion’s shoulder. “You don’t need to lie to appease us, Stepper,” she said, offering him a small, encouraging smile. “If nothing else, we’re just happy to have you safely back from the Nightmare Realm.”

“The Nightmare Realm…” Stepper repeated, his eyes wide with newfound curiosity. “That’s where you guys said my gem was cracked right? Could you maybe tell me more about what happened there?”

“We really… can’t, Stepper, we weren’t there…” Pearl began, though her eyes grew wide as a sudden pertinent realization struck her. “But YOU were! And if you can remember everything that you’ve been through as a fusion, then certainly you must at least still have some memories of what happened to you there!”

“B-but… I already told you, I don’t-”

“Stepper,” Garnet interjected as she placed both of her hands firmly on his shoulders, following along with Pearl’s plan. After all, in light of everything else, it was really the only thing they could possibly attempt at this point. “Listen carefully. We need you to try to remember what happened to you in the Nightmare Realm.”

“W-what?” Stepper asked, daunted by such a task. “I… can’t, I don’t even know what that place is, much less what might have happened there.”

“You do,” Garnet insisted, her grip on his shoulders tightening out of the slightest bit of desperation. “Somewhere deep in your mind, the memory of it still has to exist. And that memory might be the only way we can figure out what happened to you, to your gem, and to your memories. So please, try to think about what happened… so we can help you.”

While Stepper largely believed what the Gems were asking of him to be impossible, he was hard pressed to say no to their pleading gazes. Almost as if all of their hopes for answers rested solely on his shoulders. And really, seeing as how he was looking for many of the same answers too, he knew he at least owed it to them and to himself to at the very least make the attempt, however difficult it might be. “O-ok… I’ll try…”

Unsure of how to proceed, Stepper opted to close his eyes and take in a deep breath, blocking everything else out as he only focused on thoughts of the Nightmare Realm, a place he didn’t know, didn’t remember. And for what seemed like ages, no memories were seeming to come to him until… 

Another flash, another burst of pain, far more intense than before as his broken gemstone seemed to pulse with agony both internally and externally. And with that flash and that pain came the memory he’d been searching for, for the first time clear as crystal as it played out in beats, like a song without a melody. Like a tune his heart had forced him to forget. 

“What I want is something only you can give me, Rose Tree…”

Shield-

“W-why would you want that?”

-Journal.

“I just wanna see you lose your prized, precious weapon for good."

Shield-

“Sounds like a small price to pay to see your friends and family again and NOT die a slow, painful death in a literal nightmare dimension, dontcha think?”

-Journal.

“I'd rather lose that book forever then lose you forever…"

Shield-

“That's it, right? Nothing more along with it? No strings attached?”

-Journal.

“None at all, Rose Tree! You’ll be home before you know it.”

Shield-

“But… if all I stand to lose is my shield journal for a chance to go home and get as far away from you as possible, then… I’ll take it…”

-Journal.

“I knew we'd be able to work something out, Pine Bud. Now… pay up."

And he did. He paid the price for his return. A price that cost him far more than he ever could have imagined…

“My shield journal!” Stepper gasped, practically falling onto the floor as he was forced out of that horrific memory. Garnet caught him just in time to keep him steady, but even so, the fusion was trembling, the cracks across his stomach expanding even more, just as they had last night, though he was really the only one to notice. “M-my journal…” he repeated, his eyes wide with panic as he continued reeling from what he’d just seen. “I-it’s gone…”

“What?!” Pearl and Amethyst exclaimed in baffled unison. 

“But… how? Can’t you just summon it like you always do?” Amethyst asked incredulously. 

“N-no, I… I don’t have it anymore,” Stepper explained hectically as Garnet helped him stand properly once more. “I gave it away to some… triangle guy. H-he only had one eye and he-”

“B-Bill…” Pearl interrupted, terror and disdain mingling in her tone. “You… you gave your weapon away to Bill?”

“That was Bill?” Stepper asked, still largely unfamiliar with the being his memories had shown him. “But… he said he’d help me get home if I gave him my journal, and… I am home, right? So… he did what he said.”

“No, he didn’t,” Ford suddenly broke into the conversation that he’d been listening in on from the other side of the vending machine door. As he emerged from it, the Gems all offered him brief, bitter glances, though he didn’t speak to any of them as he kept his focus on Stepper, hoping to at least try to set right all of the things he’d done wrong. “Bill lied to you, Stepper, just like he lies to everyone. He may have somehow gotten you back to this dimension, but by taking your shield journal away from you, I fear he might have stripped you of your very identity in the process.”

“My identity…?” Stepper asked, confused. “Uh… how? It’s just a book, right?”

“...Stepper, tell me, what do you remember when it comes to your shield journal?”

“Uh… well, I know how to make shields using it… and… um…”

“Do you happen to remember what’s actually on the pages of that journal?” Ford pressed, though unfortunately, Stepper had no answer other than a small shake of his head. “Just as I feared… Stepper, your shield journal is very unique when it comes to other fusion weapons. Based on what I was able to study of it before, it’s pages are composed entirely of information about you, or rather, about who you’re made of. Half of it is about Steven, while the other half is about Dipper. I have reason to believe it’s tied not just to your gem, but your mind, your very existence as a fusion.”

“But I’m not-”

“I don’t know how we didn’t think of this before…” Ford interrupted, still intent on his developing theory as he delivered his final, grim verdict. “Don’t you all see? That journal tells the complete story of who Steven and Dipper are on their own, and joining those stories together makes them Stepper. So when Bill took the journal away from him, he also took away all those stories, every ounce of knowledge Stepper once had of either of his component halves. He didn’t just take away Stepper’s memories of Steven and Dipper. He took away their very identities altogether.”

This information hit all three of the Gems hard, each of them stunned into silence as they tried to make sense of such a horrific thought. The thought that Steven and Dipper were far more lost than they ever could have realized. 

“His gem,” Garnet spoke first, her tone tight and barely restraining the tranquil fury she was feeling. “That’s why it’s still cracked. The fountain may have healed the worst of it, but it couldn’t restore what he’s lost. Without that journal, without Steven and Dipper… Stepper is incomplete.”

“I-Incomplete?” Stepper interjected, alarmed by the very implication. 

“That’s bound to be what’s keeping him from unfusing too…” Ford noted gravely. “There’s nothing left for him to unfuse into.”

“But I already told you all,” Stepper attempted to speak up. “I can’t-”

“But,” Ford cut him off as he began running with another, much more hopefully theory. “If we were to get his journal back to him, then there’s reason to believe that might be enough to restore his knowledge of his halves, fix his gem, and help him unfuse all in one fell swoop.”

“Whoa, hold on-” Stepper tried to break into the conversation once again, but by this point he’d all but been forced out of it entirely. 

“So what?” Amethyst asked. “Are we just supposed to take a trip into the Nightmare Realm and beat the bricks outta Bill until he hands the book back over to us?”

Ford sighed, far from keen on the idea of venturing back to a place he had such awful memories of, even if he knew such a trip was extremely necessary now. “At this point, I’m not sure what other options we have…”

“B-but… how would we even get to the Nightmare Realm?” Pearl asked, daunted by the very thought of facing off against Bill in his domain. “The portal’s gone, a-and that rift…”

“We can’t risk that,” Ford quickly shot the idea down. “But we could always use the rift’s energy signature to lock onto the Nightmare Realm’s location… All we’d really need to get there is a makeshift wormhole stabilizer to create a temporary portal that would be up just long enough to get us in and out of Nightmare Realm, a few hours in our time at the very most.”

“Well… that shouldn’t be completely out of the question…” Pearl mused. “After all, we did send Peridot and Lapis back to the barn to salvage whatever materials they could from the drill, right, Garnet?”

The Gem leader nodded, her future vision, even as spotty as it had been during this entire situation, thankfully proving serviceable and spot-on in this instance. “I knew doing that would come in handy.”

“W-wait, can we just… slow down for a minute?” Stepper asked, taking a step forward in the hope that he wouldn’t go unnoticed this time. “Didn’t you say this Bill guy is really dangerous? If that’s true, then why would you want to go and pick a fight with him?”

“Uh, weren’t you listening, dude?” Amethyst asked, hands on her hips. “We gotta get your journal back!”

“That’s right,” Ford nodded, resolved. “It might be the only way for us to help you, Stepper.”

“Help me?” Stepper asked with a small scoff. “How would any of you risking your lives help me?!”

“It could help you remember who you are,” Garnet explained evenly, even though she was the first to pick up on the fusion’s rising frustration. “Who you’re supposed to be.”

As the Gem leader reached out a hand to place on his shoulder, Stepper harshly pulled himself out of her reach. “I am who I’m supposed to be!” he protested hotly. “That’s what I keep trying to tell everyone, but none of you will listen to me!”

“S-Stepper, please, don’t get upset,” Pearl said cautiously. “We know you don’t remember who Steven and Dipper are right now, but if you did, then you’d understand that they’re what makes you you.”

“No, they’re not!” Stepper countered, all four of his hands in tight fists. “How many times do I have to tell you? I am not a fusion! I’m especially not a fusion of two people I don’t even know!”

“Uh, yeah, you are,” Amethyst argued with a scowl.

“I’m not!” Stepper retorted bitterly. “Do any of you realize just how unfair all this is to me?! You all are asking me to be someone I know I’m not! Someone I can’t be because the only thing I know how to be is myself!”

“Stepper, that’s enough,” Garnet said, her tone as cold as ice. “You’re being irrational. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I don’t think you know what you’re saying!” Stepper accused, absolutely livid by this point. He knew he was going too far, he knew the ground he was standing on was shaky at best, but he couldn’t help it, he wouldn’t stop. He was tired of being silenced and refused to let his own voice go unheard any longer. “Even if I ever was a fusion, which I’m not, I don’t know who Steven and Dipper are! And I won’t let you all sacrifice yourselves just so you can force me to become who you think I should be! Why won’t any of you just let me have a say in what happens to me?!”

“Because, Stepper, you just… don’t understand,” Ford shook his head dismissively. “You don’t have the complete picture, you don’t know-”

“I know plenty,” Stepper hissed intensely. “I know who I am. I know who I want to be. I may not have a lot of memories right now, but I want to make more! I want to see so many things, I want to do so much, I want to become someone on my own. I-I don’t want to be Dipper or Steven or whoever else you keep trying to tell me I am. I want to be Stepper. I want to be me.”

“Stepper, you can’t stay like this,” Garnet insisted, her tone severe and stern. “You’re cracked, damaged, in gem, body, and mind. You will never be whole as long as you exist as you are now.”

“You’re wrong!” Stepper shouted, furious as he felt like the others were all backing him into a corner. A corner he would not let them trap him into, not anymore. “I can be whole, I am whole! Why can’t any of you just see that?! Oh, I know, it’s because you’re all so obsessed with Dipper and Steven, whoever they are, to the point that I don’t even matter, right?!”

“Don’t be absurd,” Pearl chastised, though her voice was trembling even as she said it. “You do matter to all of us, Stepper, but-”

“But only because you think I’m them,” Stepper surmised crossly, glaring away from all of them. “Well, I’m only going to say this one more time: I am not them. And even if there’s a chance I ever was them, I’m not going back to being them, ever! I’m staying just like I am, and if that means Steven and Dipper are gone, then… then I guess they’re just gone! For good!”

Before any of the others could even try to argue with this, the sudden clamor of shattering glass abruptly cut through the tension of the room. Everyone was quick to turn to the gift shop entrance, only to find Mabel standing in the threshold, the spilled remains of the now broken breakfast plate she’d dropped on the floor lying at her feet. Yet even so, her sights were set on Stepper and Stepper alone, tears brimming in her eyes as even more continued to fall over everything she’d just heard. Her grief-stricken expression alone struck Stepper with more guilt and remorse than he could have ever thought possible, especially since he knew there was no way he could take back what Mabel had just overheard now. Even if he actually wanted to. 

Even so, Mabel didn’t say a single word, instead choking out a heavy, sorrowful sob as she turned and ran, rushing down the hall to get as far away from the fusion as possible. Stepper gasped, making an instinctual move to hurry after her, though he stopped short before he could even leave the gift shop upon noticing all of the other sets of eyes watching him all the while. By all accounts, Ford seemed completely shellshocked, Amethyst sharing the same speechless sentiment. Garnet’s mouth was pressed into a tight, thin, clearly angry line, while Pearl clung onto her arm, her own mouth covered to suppress a mournful sob to match the tears streaming down her cheeks. Stepper tensed, unsure of what to say to any of them at a moment like this. Because really, he’d already said more than enough by now. 

So instead, he did largely the same thing Mabel already had and retreated, pressing past the group as he ran out of the shack entirely. He had no idea if any of them tried to stop him, and he largely didn’t care. He just needed to go, to escape, to get away from all of the expectations, all of the pressure, all of the guilt he couldn’t bear to shoulder any longer. 

He found himself heading up the hill toward the temple, not on purpose, but out of a simple desire to be alone. He had thought to go after Mabel, though he had a high suspicion that she was just about the last person he’d probably want to see right now. So instead, he went off on his own, his thoughts constantly washing over each other like waves lapping onto a shore. As much as his guilt still overwhelmed him, so too did plenty of other emotions: confusion, sadness, concern, exhaustion, but above all else, there was conflict. A sense of uncertainty that plagued him almost constantly now as he continued to wonder what came next. Or rather, what might become of him. 

He wasn’t a fusion, he wasn’t Steven or Dipper. He knew that. He was certain of that. And yet… that certainty still left so many gaps in who he actually was compared to who he wasn’t. He knew he was Stepper… and that was about it. An undeformed identity that he wanted to claim as his own, even if he didn’t know how. A life that he wanted to lead, even if he couldn’t see where that life might be going. Someone who he wanted to be, even if no one else wanted him to be that. 

The mid-morning sun was crisp and warm as it shined upon his face, yet even in its radiance he felt strangely cold. Empty. Incomplete, just as they’d called him before. Something was wrong, something was missing, he knew that. He just didn’t know exactly what that something actually was. And amidst that conflict, amidst all of the countless thoughts washing up onto the shore of his unsettled mind, he strangely found himself compelled to voice those thoughts in a way that felt undoubtedly familiar, even if he had no memory of doing so before. Still, he sang anyway, his mind aching and his heart breaking with each and every word of his melancholy tune.

“I’m someone, I’m no one, I’m me,” he began, his voice smooth yet sad as he strolled up the hill ahead of him. “I don’t know who I’m supposed to be… They want me to give up myself, and then just become someone else…”

He let out a small, bitter sigh at this, the arguments Ford and the Gems had put forth stinging him even still. Even so, he couldn't help but feel some form of sympathy for their plight. Whoever Steven and Dipper actually were, Stepper could tell they were important to the others based on how adamant everyone was about getting them back. Certainly, if anyone he cared about that much had been ripped away from him, he would have likely felt the exact same way as they did. Though perhaps not to the extent of forcing someone else to become someone they weren’t. 

“I wish that I knew them, I do.” And it was true. He would have loved to know who those boys actually were, perhaps even befriended them based on how highly everyone seemed to think of them. Even if he felt like he barely knew a single thing about either of them. “They’re sorry they lost them, me too. But someone else is to blame, for memories that I still can’t claim.”

Memories of people, of places, of events he hadn’t been a part of, of things he had no context for. People like Greg and Pacifica and Lapis, all of whom seemed quite nice, but he didn’t know, or at least he hadn’t until now. Places like the Nightmare Realm, of what happened there, something that, even for as filled with as many holes as it was, what holes had been filled shook him to his very core with fear. Events that Mabel tried telling him about, weaving together into a grand, epic story he wasn’t a character in, but he wanted to be, he strived to be. And yet, no one else seemed to want that along with him. 

“I’m no one that they want around.” By now, all four of his arms were wrapped around him in a loose hug as he continued to approach the temple, knowing he’d find some much-needed solitude there. “They’re someone I still haven’t found. I’m me but I’m not what they need. ‘I’m them’ but I’m not sure I agree.”

He entered the house, his song still spilling out of him as he stepped into its quiet atmosphere, bereft of any of the Gems as they remained down at the house. Unsure of what else to do there, he climbed onto the loft, finding a small bedroom setup there, decorated with plenty of personality to spare. What caught his eye however, was the collection of photographs resting above the bed, each of them framed as they depicted several faces Stepper recognized, from the Gems, to Mabel, to Connie, and then of course, there was Steven and Dipper, just like they were in the photograph he pulled out of his vest to compare. Their smiles still bright, their eyes brimming with life, their identities a complete and utter mystery to him, just as they’d always been from the very start. 

“I want to be someone, but I can’t keep pretending to try,” He continued examining that photograph as he laid out on the bed before him, one that, just like the one he’d slept on last night, was far too small for him to fully fit on. “That their pieces fit into mine. Pieces I’m trying to find.”

He sighed in resignation, his sorrowful song starting to come to an end as he laid that photograph on his chest and closed his eyes in contemplative reflection. Reflection over an identity that still evaded him, a mystery he still hadn’t solved and likely never would. 

“I don’t know who I’m supposed to be-”

“So I’m someone, I’m no one…”

“I’m me…”

He opened his eyes, letting out another solemn sigh as he did. He held the photo up again, staring at the boys depicted in it almost as if they were his own reflection. And if what everyone else kept saying was actually true, then they might as well have been. “...What am I going to do…?” he whispered to the picture, even though he knew it couldn’t possibly give him the answers he was seeking. 

And yet, that didn’t mean something else couldn’t. Stepper gasped in alarm, bolting upright on the bed as his gem, even as fractured and dull as it currently was, suddenly began to gently glow. That same glow overtook the large, star-bearing door on the far side of the house, and in an instant, that door slid open to reveal whatever lay beyond it. Confused, Stepper climbed down the loft, taking in first glimpses he got of the strangely pink expanse on the other side of the door, one that he couldn't help but step through to get a better look. 

“H-hello? Is anyone in here?” he called as he emerged into what looked like an endless forest, though by far the strangest one he’d ever seen. The trees towered far beyond what he could see, creating a canopy of leaves that were all inexplicably pink, just as much as the trunks of those trees and the almost cloudlike ground at his feet were. The entire wood was dead silent, yet mystically calm and peaceful, coming across as some sort of safe haven he couldn’t help but step further into, not even noticing as the temple gate sealed itself shut before disappearing entirely behind him. 

For a while, he simply walked around aimlessly, weaving between the towering trees as he listened to that void of silence echo all around him. Yet even still, that silence gave him no reprieve from his endless torrent of raging thoughts, each of which consumed him, taunted him, tore away at him to the point that he could see no semblance of peace, not even here, away from it all. 

He shook his head, glancing down at the photograph in his hand once more. And as he did, he couldn’t help but wonder what those boys were really like. Who they really were to begin with. Because maybe if he knew them, then perhaps he’d finally understand exactly why everyone was striving and struggling to get them back in the first place. “...I just wish I could actually meet both of you…” he muttered despondent as he began to put the picture away. 

Yet as he did, the pastel pink clouds at his feet suddenly began to shift, several of them swirling in from between the trees to take some sort of shape before him. Or rather, two shapes, each becoming more and more distinct with each passing second until they took on the fully-formed, fully-colored appearance of two boys: one with dark curly hair and a pink shirt bearing a large star and the other clad in a pine tree cap and a dark blue vest. 

Stepper gasped, stunned as he took a small step back from the pair, even as they both opened their eyes and offered him mutually friendly smiles and a unified warm greeting. “Hi, Stepper!”

At first, Stepper had no idea what to say as he looked between the two boys standing before him, the photograph he had of them finally slipping out of his hand entirely as he somehow managed to speak to them. “S-Steven? D-Dipper?” 

“Yeah!” Steven chimed, his tone bright and warm. “Who else would we be?”

“Are you ok, Stepper?” Dipper asked, his smile less wide but still apparent as he raised a curious eyebrow. 

Stepper shook his head, running a hand through his hair as he leaned up against the nearest tree. “I… I can’t believe it…” he whispered. “You’re… both actually here…”

“Yeah, we are!” Steven chuckled, as if what Stepper had just said was the funniest thing in the entire world.

“Why wouldn’t we be here?” Dipper asked, his hands in the pockets of his vest. “You wanted to see us, after all.”

“R-right…” Stepper nodded weakly, though he was quickly reinvigorated by a newfound idea. “Wait… you’re here. You… you aren’t gone! I-I could take you both back and I could finally show everyone that I’m me and not you!” Without any warning, Stepper grabbed both boys by the arm and began to drag them along through the woods. “C’mon! They’ll all be so glad to see you again, especially Mabel. She-”

Stepper froze as the boys’ hands fell out of his grip simultaneously. And at the same time, another flash, pain sparking from his gem, all throughout him as his thoughts went wild, rampant with things he had once said, with senseless sentences he didn’t understand. 

“We could do this--we could win this!” “I’m sorry!” “Maybe you should just break things off with me…” “I don’t want to break away from you!” “You mean so much to me!” 

“You stayed with me… so I’m staying with you…”

Once again, it was over far too quickly. There were pink cracks spreading to his lower hands now, but he hardly noticed them as he turned to see the boys standing behind him, both of their bodies glitching out even as they retained their upbeat smiles. “W-what?” Stepper reached toward them both, only for his hands to pass right through them as immaterial as they both currently were. With a gasp, he pulled away, and sure enough, both boys finally stabilizing as if nothing had even happened, to give him another refrain of their first hello. “Hi, Stepper!”

“Y-you… you’re not… real… are you?” Stepper guessed, his heart sinking as he already figured out the answer. 

“Uh… of course, we’re real,” Dipper said, apparently confused. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Yeah, we’re you, remember?” Steven asked, still wearing that constant knowing smile. 

“N-no,” Stepper began, his voice shaking as he collapsed against the tree once more. His upper hands were pressed tightly into his hair, his mind and heart both raging against each other in a storm, a hurricane he had absolutely no control over. “No, I don’t remember. I don’t remember you, I don’t remember being you!” With a heavy, agonized sob, he fell to his knees, to the soft, cloudy “ground” below him, his lower hands covering his face as he wept miserably. “I… I’m not you… I’m NOT… I’m… I…” His tears fell onto all four of his hands as he held them out to look at them mournfully, scornfully really. “I don’t know who I am… I don’t even know what I am...”

For what seemed like ages, the only thing that could be heard echoing through the pink trees was the sound of Stepper’s continued sobs, each one wracked with despair over an identity he’d never get to have, over the life he knew he’d never lead. When those sobs were finally interrupted however, Steven was the first one to do it. “We know what you are…” he said, his voice soft as he took one of Stepper’s hands and held onto it gently. 

“You’re our fusion,” Dipper added as he grabbed another hand. 

“You are us…” Steven agreed just as affirmatively. 

“No…” Stepper whimpered as he averted the pair’s intent gaze. “I… I’m not, I… I can’t be, I don’t even know who either of you are, I’m not-”

“Stepper,” Dipper spoke up as his grip on Stepper’s hand tightened. “Look at us. You may not remember us, but… deep down, I think you do know the truth.”

“Don’t you see?” Steven whispered warmly as he lifted his shirt up a bit. And there, resting squarely on his stomach, was the exact same pink gemstone that was sitting on Stepper’s own. “We’re the same. We are you. And you’re us.”

“I-I… I’m your fusion…” Stepper repeated with a dawning sense of realization as he looked at Steven’s gemstone. As he looked at Dipper’s clothes. As he looked at both of their faces and finally took note at just how similar both of them looked to his own. As he finally figured out that he wasn’t his own person at all. He never had been, not even for a single second. “A-and that’s all I am…” his sobs were softer now, still sad, but largely resigned to this fact. To the loss of any hope he might have once had that he could have been something more. “That’s all I’ve ever been… Only a fusion… all this time…”

“Only a fusion?” Dipper asked, incredulous. “You’re way more than just a fusion!”

“That’s right!” Steven readily agreed. “Whether we’re fused or not, you’re a part of us, Stepper. A very special part of us!”

“Yeah, you’re like… the living embodiment of our friendship,” Dipper explained as both him and Steven took a step closer to their fusion. 

“You represent the bond between us,” Steven added kindly. “And that’s not nothing. It’s something so important to both of us! It’s what makes you who you are!”

“B-But… I don’t even remember that bond…” Stepper muttered, tears still in his eyes as he shook his head remorsefully. “I don’t remember your friendship, I… I don’t remember either of you… I-I… I feel like I barely even remember me…”

“You will,” Dipper assured with a confident smile. “And don’t worry about what happens after you do. Because as long as we exist, then so will you.”

Stepper sighed, his tears finally stilling themselves as he suddenly pulled both Dipper and Steven close in a much-needed hug, one that they gently returned. Because even if neither of them were actually real, this had been all of the proof he needed to know that they once had been. That they could be real again. “And as long as I exist,” he promised, knowing that wherever the real Dipper and Steven were, whether locked tight away inside his mind or somewhere else entirely, they’d hear his newfound vow somehow. “Then you will too.” 

And then they were gone, dissipated into the very clouds they had both been composed of, nothing more than an empty memory he didn’t have. A memory that he at last knew was actually his, a memory he knew he had to reclaim. A memory he was going to reclaim.

Even if he had to rip his shield journal out of Bill Cipher’s hands himself. 

He found Mabel in the woods, not too far away from the Mystery Shack. She sat against a wide tree, her legs and her face both buried into her sweater as she wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Stepper knew she’d been out there for a few hours, at least, and even still, she was inconsolable, understandably so after the horrible things he’d said earlier. Still, he was resolved to set this wrong right first, in the hopes that it would be the start of fixing many more on the difficult road ahead. 

“M-Mabel?” he began, carefully taking a seat on the ground next to her. She didn’t even bother to look up at him as she instead pulled her sweater tighter around herself, hoping to block him out even more than she already had. Yet even so, he was determined to reach her all the same. “I… I’m sorry…” he said with a remorseful sigh. “What I said before, I… I wasn’t thinking, I-” He cut himself off, realizing just how insufficient his apology was really proving to be as Mabel showed no signs of responding to it. So instead, he opted to go in an entirely different direction instead. “Mabel, can… can you tell me more about them?” 

Caught off guard by this question, Mabel finally glanced up, tears streaking down her cheeks as she looked to him curiously. “A-about who?” she asked softly, sadly. 

“Dipper and Steven,” he answered, managing a small smile as he said their names. “You’ve already told me so much about who they know and what they’ve done, but… I still don’t feel like I really know much about who they are. So…?”

“Y-you want to hear about them?” Mabel sniffled, wiping away a few of her tears on the sleeve of her sweater. “Really?” Stepper nodded, his smile widening just a bit as he urged her onward. And so she gave him what he asked for in the best way she knew how. “W-well… Steven is… h-he’s just about the nicest person you could ever meet. He’s friendly and helpful and so much fun. He likes Crying Breakfast Friends and Ducktective and donuts and Lion and… he always helps people whenever they need it, no matter who they are.”

“He sounds like a pretty great person to know,” Stepper mused fondly. 

“Yeah…” Mabel glanced away, her cheeks warm with an affectionate blush as she thought of the young Gem. “He is… He’s… one of my best friends… I kind of wish he was maybe a bit more than that, but… that’s fine… we’re fine...” 

“What do you mean?” Stepper asked, confused. 

“N-nothing, it’s nothing,” Mabel shook her head with a small, wistful sigh. A sigh over what she knew could never be ever if they did manage to get Steven back. “Still, Steven is… well, he’s a real gem. Get it?”

“Yeah,” Stepper chuckled. “I think I do. So what about Dipper then?”

Mabel’s smile faded into returning grief at this. “Dipper…” she whispered, her tears coming back in full force as she suppressed a mournful sob over the brother she’d lost. 

“You said he’s your brother… right?” Stepper asked, hesitantly. 

Mabel nodded, holding back her tears to at the very least honor him by telling his story. “H-he’s my twin,” she corrected quietly. “My one and only bro-bro, the best one I could ever ask for… He’s a total nerd, but he’s brave, great with a sword, and he’s stubborn, oh gosh, is he stubborn! He’s probably the smartest person I know, or at least I think he is, and that’s saying something since I know people like Grunkle Ford and Pearl and Peri. But most of all… I know that no matter what… Dipper’s always there for me. He’s always got my back. Dipper and Steven both do… I-I… I miss them…”

Mabel finally broke down into another heartbroken sob, pulling her knees close to her chest in a renewed hug as she fruitlessly tried to chase that heartbreak away. And while Stepper wanted to comfort her with a secure embrace of his own, he decided to offer her another form of comfort instead. “I… I want to remember them…” he admitted, his voice soft, barely even a whisper as he said it. 

“W-what…?” Mabel asked, not sure if she’d heard him right. 

“I want to remember them,” Stepper said again, his tone firmer this time. “I want to be them again. For you, for them, a-and for me.”

“But, S-Stepper, I… I thought you wanted to be… you know… just you,” Mabel pointed out, briefly glancing away from the fusion. 

“I do,” Stepper confirmed with a warm, confident smile. “And Steven and Dipper, well… they’re who I am. So as long as they’re together, then… I’ll always be me. Right?”

Mabel nodded, choking on a small, yet happy whimper this time as she leapt at the fusion, pulling him into a tight, grateful hug. “Thank you, Ste-bro,” she whispered, practically dreaming of the moment she’d get to see Dipper and Steven as they truly were once more. 

Stepper smiled, easily returning her embrace as he solidified his resolve. He would do whatever he had to to keep that genuine smile on Mabel’s face. He would do whatever he had to go back to being who he had always been meant to be. “You’re wel-!” Stepper cut himself off with a gasp that bordered more on a scream, a sharp wave of sudden agony overtook his entire form. And this time, it was no mere flash, it was a torrent, a flood that overwhelmed his ever sense as pain flushed out from his gem to every single fiber of his being it seemed. 

“Stepper!” Mabel cried, terrified as the fusion suddenly collapsed out of her arms onto the forest floor. His body seized up with yet another burst of unbearable anguish, the cracks that had once only surrounded his stomach expanding their reach to the rest of his body as his vibrant pink eyes flashed brightly, erratically. His gemstone also flashed, dangerously so as even more color seemed to drain from it, as his face grew pale and beleaguered by the intense, yet strangely familiar anguish he had found himself engulfed in completely out of nowhere. “Stepper, w-what’s going on?! What’s wrong?!” Mabel asked, gripping one of his arms tightly as he wrapped them around himself. 

“I-I… I don’t know…” Stepper breathed tensely, another paid groan escaping him as his gem shot another burst of agony through him. “I-it… it won’t stop…”

Needless to say Mabel was panicking every bit as much as Stepper himself was, but even so she knew there wasn’t any time to waste. “C-come on,” she urged, slowly and carefully helping him properly sit up. “We gotta get you back to the shack.” Stepper didn’t argue, largely because he couldn’t as burdened by his lingering pain as he was. It was an immense struggle for him to even stand, but with a bit of doing he managed it, largely leaning against Mabel for support as they both began to inch their way back toward the shack, both of them awash in fear and dread for whatever could possibly befall the already tormented fusion next. 

“Is it finished yet?” Lapis asked impatiently as she continued pacing around the author’s room. Garnet, Amethyst, and Stan also stood by, anxiously watching as Ford, Pearl, and Peridot continued tinkering away at their latest invention. An invention that could, if all went right, get them to the Nightmare Realm and back with an all-too-important journal in hand. 

“It’s almost there…” Peridot noted as she checked over the readings on her tablet once more. “It seems as though we’ve locked onto the exact location of Cipher’s dimension after all. Where exactly did you get these coordinates from, Stanford?”

Ford flinched at this, looking to Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, who only glared away from him bitterly in response. “Uh… l-lucky guess,” he answered quickly, falsely. “Now, let’s review the plan. Peridot’s going to stay behind to monitor the machine in case anything goes awry. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and I will venture through our temporary displacement portal into the Nightmare Realm and-”

“Not without me, you’re not,” Lapis interrupted rigidly. “I’m not about to stay behind and let that Cipher guy get away with what he did to Dipper and Steven. He’s going to pay, I’ll make sure of that.”

The others all looked to Lapis in sligh concern at such a vicious threat, though it wasn’t really one any of them could argue with. After all Bill had done, there was no denying they all wanted to see him finally be brought to justice too. “V-very well then,” Ford nodded. “Then myself, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Lapis will-”

“I’m coming too,” Stan suddenly spoke up, his expression solid and resolved as he stepped forward. 

“Stanley, no, you can’t-”

“Can it, Ford,” Stan cut his brother off with a scowl. “Dipper’s my nephew too, you know. And neither him or Steven deserved what that creep did to ‘em. So I’m with frills here,” he nodded over to Lapis. “Let’s make this guy wish he’d never messed with our boys.”

“Yeah! Let’s get him!” Amethyst cheered in uproarious support. 

Garnet and Pearl also nodded their consent, leaving Ford with no choice but to agree. “Fine,” he said, stepping away from the now-finished machine. “I think it’s ready. But we still need to-”

“Help!” Mabel’s urgent cry rang through the shack, catching everyone’s attention instantly. “Please! I-it’s Stepper! Something’s wrong with-” Before she could even finish, the Gems were all already at the door she’d barely managed to pull Stepper in through before the fusion completely collapsed in pain, far too weak and worn to keep himself upright anymore. 

“W-what’s wrong with them?!” Lapis asked in apt alarm as Garnet rushed in to lift the languishing fusion into her arms. “What happened?!”

“I-I don’t know!” Mabel shook her head fearfully. “He was fine one second and then-”

“T-the cracks on his skin are back…” Pearl noted anxiously. “Could that mean his gem’s condition is getting… worse somehow?”

“Uh, his gem still looks like it did before,” Amethyst noted worriedly. “Ya know, aside from the whole flashing thing. T-that’s pretty new.”

“A-and concerning…” Peridot agreed with a fretful frown. 

“It’s not his gem,” Garnet theorized as she properly picked Stepper, who was largely out of it by this point, up. “It must be his memories.”

“His shield journal!” Ford interjected as him and Stan joined the group that was already making their way back to the author’s room. “I’ll bet anything that Bill’s probably doing something to it even as we speak. I hate to even think about it, but for all we know he could be… damaging it, and who knows what that might be doing to Stepper in turn.”

“Then that means there’s no time to waste,” Garnet said as she began to set Stepper’s listless form on the nearby couch. “We’ve got to go get that journal back now, before it’s too late. Peridot, open the portal up.”

“B-but we haven’t even had time to test it yet!” Peridot protested apprehensively as she lingered near the machine’s controls. 

“Who cares?!” Lapis shot back. “Dipper and Steven’s lives could be at stake! We’ve just gotta risk it!”

“Y-yeah!” Mabel agreed as she stayed close to Stepper’s side. “W-we’ve gotta go get his journal! We have to help him remember! He wants to remember now, r-right, Stepper?”

At this, Stepper opened his eyes, still dully glowing pink as he forced himself to sit up, even though his body protested with pain that still refused to go away. “Y-yes…” he said, his voice rough and tired, yet somehow firm and determined all the same. “I-I… need to remember them… I need my journal back…” He was shaking as he stood, though as he nearly fell one more, Garnet barely managed to catch him and hold him upright just in time. “W-we have to go… I… I have to go…”

“No, absolutely not,” Ford resiliently rejected the fusion’s resolve. “That’s completely out of the question, Stepper. You can’t possibly go back to the Nightmare Realm after what Bill-”

“I-it’s my journal,” Stepper protested, refusing to wait on the sidelines any longer. “Those are my memories… D-Dipper and Steven are me… a-and I’m going to get all of them back… n-no matter what happens…”

“That’s right,” Mabel solidly agreed, grabbing one of Stepper’s lower hands in complete support for this mission. “And this time, I’ve got your back, Ste-bro.”

Stepper offered her a thankful smile at this, though even so, the pair was still met with resistance from the others. “Kids, we appreciate your bravery, but this is far too dangerous for you,” Pearl shook her head. “You both need to stay here with Peridot where it’s safe. We’ll be back with the journal before you know it.”

“But-”

“No,” Garnet cut both of them off as she went to join the others near the machine. “You’re both staying here. That’s final.”

Neither Stepper nor Mabel had time to argue as Peridot flipped the switch on the machine, a bright light sparking around its central hub. From that light, a portal was quick to open up, bright and vibrant even as it connected to the dreadful place they all knew that had to go: the Nightmare Realm. “Is everyone ready?” Ford asked the others, all of whom had either taken up or summoned their weapons for whatever fray laid before them. “Good. Then let’s go.”

Knowing the portal would only remain open for a short window of time, the group marched onward into it, all six of them unflinchingly ready to face the dream demon and retake what he had stolen. However, as the last of them passed through the portal, Stepper and Mabel exchanged a brief nod, both of them prepared to act on the exact same idea as they ran forward toward the portal as it began to close. 

“W-wait!” Peridot shouted the moment she realized what the pair was doing, but by then it was too late. 

Because just before the portal could disappear out of existence entirely, Stepper and Mabel both leapt through it together, disregarding any sort of orders the adults had given them. They were going to face the Nightmare Realm, to face Bill Cipher himself, no matter how daunting or dangerous such a struggle might become. 

And as far as Stepper was concerned, he wasn’t about to come back until he had finally remembered exactly who he was supposed to be. 

To be continued...

Next: 

[bluebird167]

The Sinners and Their Saints Chapter 19: Nightmares and Guilt Part 2

"Steven are you okay?" Connie asked knocking on his door. He got up and opened it. "Sorry for bothering you but I heard you grunting. Were you having a bad dream?"

"Yeah you could say that."

"What was it about?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well that's okay. You know when I had bad dreams my father would talk to me to calm me down. Do you want me to talk to you?"

"Sure. So what's up?"

"Nothing much. I went shopping with Frida last week, she's still a little freaked out that she was another woman a hundred years ago, she's even more freaked out that she almost married Manny a hundred years ago."

"Well you can't really blame her. If I found out a hundred years ago I was about to marry Manny I'd be freaked out too."

Connie laughed at his joke.

"But seriously you gotta admit it's kind of romantic. It's like when two people love each other nothing can keep them apart forever. That love conquers all."

"Yeah except neither one of them plan on having romantic relationship any time soon."

"Well I still say there's some magic there." She said. "Steven did you have someone special?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well were you ever in love?"

"I was once but it was unrequited."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I should've known better. After all she was a married woman, I couldn't expect her to leave her husband for me."

"Did you two have an affair?"

"Oh no! No! No! She remained true."

"Who was she?"

"I really don't want to talk about her because she's dead now."

"Oh! Sorry."

"Again it's okay."

"Well hey you'll find love again."

"I doubt it, not many women want their mates be half vampire."

"You're right about that but just because you're half vampire doesn't mean you're a bad person. You're one of the kindest and most gentle people I know. You'd never hurt anybody."

He bristled at her words, if only she knew. He wanted to tell her but he was afraid of the horror the might spark in her eyes if she knew the truth.

"Hey what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about old memories."

"You know it's really sad hearing about all the hard things you've had gone through life. I mean losing your mother, war, losing your father, getting your heartbroken, and being turned to stone. I'm really sorry that you've been through all that."

"We've all had bad things happen to us. You can't even imagine what Dipper went through."

"Would you mind telling me?"

"I wouldn't but he'd kill me if I told you."

"Really?"

"Yeah we made a blood pact not to reveal any of our secrets, we tried to get Manny to do it but he didn't trust us with his secrets and he can't be trusted to keep secrets either."

"Well he is half devil."

"I know and sometimes that scares me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well devils are generally more evil than vampires not that I think Manny would ever do anything evil except maybe turn me inside out for peeping through his stuff."

"I understand but hey I don't know that much about you in the past maybe you did some bad stuff." She laughed as if it was joke but he didn't take it that way.

"Yeah right." He said nervously. "I totally didn't do anything bad. Ha! Ha!"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Hey listen thanks for talking with me but I think I'm ready to go back to sleep okay?"

"Okay, good night."

"Good night."

She left his room. He closed the door and waited for when she was gone before going back to bed. The guilt of his mistakes were eating him alive. He didn't like keeping secrets and lying to people, especially to Connie. A voice in his head told him that he should confess and talk to his friends about it but he couldn't bear it if they were afraid of him. If Connie was afraid of him. 

"She can't know." He told himself. "None of them can know."

He then fell asleep and for once the nightmares didn't bother him. Meanwhile the vampires had retreated to the secret lair of their queen. The merciless and ruthless Jasper. Se had ordered them that night to find Steven and kill him so you can imagine she wasn't to pleased when her minions came back to tell her that Steven was still alive.

"Well." She snarled. "Did you kill him?"

"There was a bit of a complication." One of her minions said.

"How dare you return without his head!" She screeched.

"It wasn't our fault!"

"I'm not interested in your excuses! I want him dead! As long as that mistake of nature lives my plan to exterminate humans from this world can never be! How hard is it to kill a half human vampire?!"

"Pretty hard if half of his blood came from Dracula."

"Silence! I don't care what blood he has! I want him exterminated!"

"With all due respect." The larger vampire said. "He had some unlikely allies who posed as a threat."

"What? You mean those brainless slayers?"

"We're not dealing with just them anymore. You see I heard through the grape vine that the Helsing Organization have allied themselves with the Holy Order and they have a devil working for them."

The crowd of vampires gasped in shock.

"A devil?"

"Yes and he happens to be the son of Rodolfo Rivera, the demon who took out that swine Dagon." 

"A devil working with the church to exterminate vampires and other devils? My God what is the world coming to?!"

"There's more, his allies also include a werewolf and a holy woman."

"You must be joking."

"Wish I was. Needless to say the few you sent to take him out couldn't defeat a vampire who descended from Dracula, a devil, a holy woman, and a werewolf. It would seem my queen that we need to enhance our reinforcements."

"Well this is just great! Just when I think things can't get more difficult they do. Damn! I get why a nun would want to help him and maybe a werewolf by why the hell would a devil be an exorcist?"

"If I may Madame, perhaps we're going about this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's obvious if we want to kill him we have to break him first but maybe we're not supposed to break him physically but mentally."

"Explain."

"Let's not forget this pathetic gentle giant was for a moment just like us and it's been tearing him apart on the inside ever since. So let's push that, push it to breaking it's breaking point.

"And when he can't take it anymore we kill him." Jasper said. "I love it. But if we're going to break him we need to know more about him. I want one of you to spy on him, watch his every move, learn everything you can about him. His strengths and weaknesses and once our spy has all the information I want he is to report back here and he is to tell me everything."

"I know just the vampire to send. His very observant and stealthy. If there was any vampire more perfect to be a spy it's him."

"Can he be trusted? Because the last thing we need is a traitor."

"Trust me my queen he wouldn't be alive if he couldn't be trusted."

"Then give him a call, tell him his mission, and don't fail me or you'll find yourself without a head!"

[andrewmoocow]

Fooly Falls 2 Ride on Shooting Star chapter 3: Beach Episodes for the Win! (originally posted on March 28, 2019)

AN: Now this is where things will get pretty deep. We already got hints of Haruko's past last chapter, plus the confirmation that she ran into Rick Sanchez at some point in that past. But that leaves the question: will there be an adaptation of FLCL Alternative set in the Rick and Morty multiverse? Who knows? ZKDW ZDV VXSSRVHG WR EH D VXQQB EHDFK GDB VRRQ EHJDQ WR ORVH LWV ZDB. RQ DQ LVODQG LW OLHV KLGGHQ VHFUHWV WKDW ZHUH PHDQW WR EH IRUELGGHQ.

Gwen's next nightmare began when she found herself walking in a single file line with tons of other unfamiliar people in an even more unfamiliar place. "M-Mama, Daddy, Tyrone?!" she asked while quietly panicking over her current situation before her location changed from the crowd to a cruddy apartment. That was when she began to hear voices. "Do you realize what you have done Haruha?!" "Who said that?" Gwen wondered in response to the invisible male's stern voice. "Look at your father when he's talking to you Haruha!" A smacking sound soon followed. "Your slacking off and playing that infernal music nearly got us all in trouble! Either behave like every other girl on this godforsaken planet or never show your face around me again!" The moment Gwen closed her eyes in fear, she next found herself on a stage with various pitch black people clearly resembling shadows with an orange head glaring at her before it began to bellow "PLANET WASPRUS, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" Gwen winced for a moment while the audience watched patiently, begging her to get on with it as if they were fearing for their lives before she noticed her shadow in the spotlight. It was still the shape of a girl, yet her facial structure and hairstyle gave away who's eyes Gwen was viewing from. "Haruko?!" She then began to hear more voices, the three present sounding even more unfamiliar. "Aw shitballs you guys, we gotta run!" the first voice belched loudly as color-coded silhouettes of a human man, a birdlike creature and a bipedal feline became more opaque. "Running from what? The Galactic Space Patrol Brotherhood, the Cromulons or Medical Mechanica?!" a second more high-pitched voice responded that sounded like a character from one of the old cartoons Soos loved. "All of the above!" "And it's not just them. Look." the final voice stoically added pointing to the sky. A gigantic red phoenix with a wingspan that encompassed the entire planet of Wasprus suddenly appeared, startling the large head. "IT SEEMS WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST DISQUALIFIER THIS EPISODE!" it boomed. "LEGENDARY PIRATE KING ATOMSK, SHOW US WHAT YOU GOT!" The Pirate King flapped its wings, slowly tearing the planet apart as Gwen continued staring at it. There was something majestic about the bird's appearance that made her slowly step forward. Her hair began turning pink and she started reaching out to the bird while the belching man's voice sounded once more. "Don't do it babe, that's Atomsk! His power will seriously screw with your head!" Suddenly, a chibi version of Jinyu landed right in front of her. "I tried to warn you!" she scolded in a squeaky voice. As more chibi Jinyus fell from the sky, Gwen came closer to Atomsk as it looked down on her and screeched loudly. That was what caused the girl to finally awaken with a jerk. Gwen panted quietly clinging onto her bedsheets as she looked around her and Tyrone's room. "What's with these dreams lately?" she pondered before another voice was heard, this one she could recognize from miles away. "BEACH DAY, BEACH DAY, BEACH DAY, BEACH DAY!" Tyrone excitedly burst into their room and ran around for a bit before pouncing his older sister while she continued to lay in bed. "Come on Gwen, beach day!" "Oh right." his older sister muttered. "Beach day."

"So Ezra, what do you think of my new bikini?" Leia asked Ezra showing off her school swimsuit themed two-piece. "Please just stop with this." Ezra responded turning away in embarrassment. "I have far more important things to do, like stare out into the distance." "I think that blue is really your color!" Tyrone complimented the older girl. "Though I don't see the point of the big nametag on the top." The Pines and Ramirez familes have decided on a day at Lake Gravity Falls's beach with Haruko, Jinyu and the Chius along for the ride. However Ford was not present on account on having someone over while they were having some fun in the sun. "Okay Arnold, today marks your first day of manhood!" Juan announced rubbing Arnold's shoulders while Jorge stood by with a bottle of sunscreen in hand. "One of the most important aspects of being a man is being brave around total jalapenas like Haruko over there!" As he set the stage for the lesson, Haruko laid down in a beach chair with a cold drink in hand catching some rays in a rather skimpy bikini. "Or maybe baes like Jinyu!" Jorge added pointing to the other guitar player building sandcastles with Melody, Imelda and Abby. Arnold just blinked for a bit before asking "Okay, what did you just say?" "We're workshopping new slang that I'm sure will become the talk of the town within a few days." Juan answered taking the sunscreen away from his brother to hand to the Northwest boy. "Anyway, the best way to get a girl on the beach to have the hots for you is to give them a very good applying of the good ol' sunscreen. But it's your choice bro." "You could either go for them or maybe a certain other duo." Jorge added. "Grin grin, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!" "I know you two have a crush on both my moms! Can you two not creep me out like that?!" Arnold yelped fumbling with the sunblock. "Hey, who's at fault for making Pacifica so extra thicc?" Juan argued before Haruko called the three boys over. "Yoo-hoo, young male friends! Does one of you want to help this jalapena put on sunscreen?" "This is your chance young grasshopper. Go to her." Jorge beckoned their student in manliness. As the two boys proudly watched him awkwardly step forward, Stan on the other hand was stewing in his wheelchair. "Don't get a nosebleed Stanley, don't be like those old anime men who lust after any female that moves!" he commanded himself. "Don't do it, don't do it! Aw, here it comes." Thankfully for Stan, blood didn't fly out his nose. But instead, his own heart started acting up and made him fall out of the chair onto the sand. "Still better than a nosebleed." "Oh my God, Stan!" Dipper cried as he and Mabel raced to their great-uncle's side. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm fine Dipper, simply failed to resist looking like a horny senior." Stan answered while his speech was muffled by the sand. "Think I might need to get outta the sun for a while." "Here Grunkle Stan, just sit down with Gwen and you'll be just fine." Mabel stated guiding the con-man to a table where Gwen was sitting in the shade. "Women. Am I right Gwen?" Stan snarked to his great-great niece. "By the way, where's Ford at?" "Stanford said he'll catch up with us later." Jinyu answered appearing from behind. "He just has some business to attend to."

"So Mr. Kanda, what is your history with Raharu?" Ford asked his new friend Tsukata Kanda in his laboratory. "I remember her quite well from when I was a boy." Kanda stated. "She quite literally crashed into my life and pulled a variety of things outta me, but the only one I kept was this." The agent reached into his jacket and out of it came a small squirt gun. "A water gun? How quaint." Ford commented examining the toy. "My great-nephew and great-great niece had giant robots and guitars come out of their noggins." "Then they must be lucky. Their heads must be ripe with N.O energy for her to use." Tsukata explained. "Use to become strong enough to find the Pirate King and take him back from Medical Mechanica." "That's what I've always wondered about her ever since she first met my family." Ford added. "What's her deal with Atomsk and where did she come from? Is she even from this dimension?" "Dimension?" Kanda wondered before Ford pulled out that old photo of him with Rick. "As it turns out, she may have encountered one Rick Sanchez at some point in her life which would explain her sociopathic behavior; as Rick here is a wanted criminal across multiple universes." "So you're implying she might not be of this world?" the Department of Interstellar Immigration agent continued. "I have no idea either." Ford answered with his shoulders slumping in confusion. "But from what I've gathered, she's become more villainous since we last met. We need to keep the kids on high alert should she ever try anything funny."

"Wow, Arnie sure is taking his sweet time." Jorge commented gazing at his watch as Arnold pretty much started slowly crawling on the sand before he realized what time it was. "Hey Juan, don't you have a girlfriend coming to see us?" "Wait, when did Juan get a girlfriend?" Tyrone asked catching the twins' attention as Juan began panicking. "Beneath all that silliness, you're a sweet guy but when did that ever become a thing?" "I am terribly sorry my brotherhood of man!" Juan exclaimed nervously. "I've just nearly lost track of the time!" He then proceeded to run away from the beach at high speeds. "This way fellow knights of masculinity, follow me!" With the three boys running away followed by Arnold deciding to just give up and cower under the shade, Haruko simply shrugged. "Talk about toast not being good in milk." the Vespa Woman snarked. "Hey Gwen, wanna do it for Shaggy over there?" Dipper and Jinyu were quick to defend the younger girl from the former housekeeper's advances. "I'm fine with either you or Jinyu doing it as well, Pine Tree." the orange-haired woman added smiling, causing Dipper to turn redder than blood. Meanwhile the bus had dropped off a young girl around Juan & Jorge's age who had blue hair, a white knee-length dress, a red jewel pendant, green diamond earrings, matching hair-bow and a flower pot in her hands. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend!" Juan declared. "This is Aiko." He then lowered his voice for Aiko. "Come on sweetie, say something." "Uh, hello there. My name's Aiko and I'm dating your friend Juan here." Aiko muttered nervously before she hid her face behind her flower pot. "Haha, she's perfect!" Juan laughed pridefully. "What a beautiful lady! She doesn't drink, swear or sweat! A perfect cinnamon roll as they once referred to people like her!" "My name's Tyrone, a friend of your boyfriend. Hey, nice flower pot you got there." Tyrone introduced himself and complimented Aiko's pot. "You like gardening? I kinda like gardening too." he stated trying to find some common ground between the two. "Uh, yeah." Aiko answered. "So tell us Aiko, what made you want to date my brother?" Juan asked her as the four began walking back to the beach. "What qualities do you find attractive?" "Well I just really like him, that's all!" Aiko responded with a squeak. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed!" She hid herself behind the flower pot again making Juan laugh. "So why did you bring that flower pot here?" Tyrone asked again. "It's my emotional support plant." the flower girl answered shyly. "It may not look like it, but this was very expensive." "See, what did I tell you?! So precious!" Juan cackled loudly. "Oh don't say that Juannie, it's embarrassing!" Aiko blushed with a giggle.

Back at the beach, Jinyu had been nominated to put sunscreen on Haruko. Or so she thought, as the Vespa Woman recoiled upon feeling the solution on her back. "So oily! What SPF is this?!" she cried frantically rubbing herself. Jinyu just gazed at the bottle in her hands and read the label. "Oh, it's tanning oil." "It's what?!" Raharu shouted as her skin suddenly turned a golden tan. "Haha, oldest trick in the book!" Stan applauded with a booming laugh. "Up top!" He held up his hand for Jinyu to give him a high-five, but didn't receive any. "Come on, I just want to feel like I accomplished something with someone as a team!" Jinyu rolled her eyes and returned the high-five. "Yes!" "You're all still holding a grudge I see." Haruko commented. "Just for the past three weeks." Dipper stated scowling. "You were stalking us at Greasy's where we went out to lunch, in the streets and even in Gwen's room! This is nothing!" "You've already gotten what you wanted once before." Jinyu added. "It's time you just gave it all up. Quit it already." "No way." the Vespa Woman declared. "I need to fulfill my wish in order to fulfill my-" She was suddenly interrupted by a volleyball to the face thrown by Aiko jumping for joy while the Ramirez children, Candy, Ezra, Wendy and Mabel stood by. "How embarrassing!" The ball was tossed into the air and Haruko jumped high preparing for a spike. "ATTACK NUMBER...ichi." she shouted smacking the ball downward and crashing it into the sand, blinding everyone. "So, why don't we all call it a truce now?" she offered to Jinyu, Dipper and the Stans before joining the game. "Ready or not, I'm gonna come at you all!" "Yeesh, talk about unsubtle." Dipper snarked before the two heard Gwen approach. "That woman over there, what does she want?" Gwen wondered as they watched Haruko toss volleyballs from above at rapid fire speed. Jinyu gave her answer, as stoic as ever. "That woman's the same as me." "Who wants to go next?!" Jinyu's other half challenged making funny noises into a megaphone. "Uh Jinyu. What is it that you want?" the daughter of Dipper asked the Bel-Air driver. "I was once with someone amazing." the older woman answered. "He was big, strong, and simply amazing. With him, one could simply fly around anywhere in space and live forever. But then, he suddenly disappeared; he abandoned me." "We're talking about the bird guy, right?" Stan interjected. "I said it once, and I'll say it again: dead bird reproductive organs taste terrible!" "Not now Stan." Dipper cringed at the thought of it. "Aw come on kid, you really think I was expecting it to taste like frozen peas?!" his great-uncle complained before Jinyu cut them both off. "As I was saying, it turns out in the end I just wasn't his equal." she continued. "I'm not enough for him. At least, not by myself. And yet we still continue to look for him." "We?" Gwen asked as her father put a hand on her head. "She means Haruko sweetie." Mason stated. "Right Dipper. You chase something because you simply can't catch it. Want to touch it, but you know you can't." Jinyu responded before she turned to Gwen. "You must've experienced something like that in your life, correct?" "You're asking what I really want?" Gwen muttered in surprise. She pondered for a moment before Arnold gave an impressive receive to Tyrone, who retaliated with a spike. "All I want is for me and my family to be safe." she muttered picking up the ball after it rolled to her feet.

Throughout the rest of the day, everybody spent their fun in the sun playing volleyball, eating barbecue, smashing watermelons, surfing and building sandcastles. Even Ford joined in when he finally arrived. "The blue spring of adolescence." Haruko remarked burying Jinyu in the sand with a shovel. "Perhaps this is an extension of our friendship, delayed adolescence if you will." "I'm content with you changing your mind about our relationship." Jinyu replied barely reacting to her other half plotting to get rid of her, even as Haruko began mixing cement. "But regardless, this still doesn't mean I'll let you use any of the children for your schemes. No point in fighting anymore." "Is that so?" Haruhara wondered. "Brainwashing suppression mechanism. They took extra measures ahead of time." Julia replied. "And she's got quite the geniuses to defend her when those fail." "You mean the nerd herd?" Haruko snipped before the two women turned their attention to most of the kids and adults working together on a particularly big sandcastle. Everyone was talking about how tall they can make it, except for Gwen who was perfectly silent as she picked up a crab fawning over a gold coin in its free claw. "By the way," Jinyu spoke again as she was now trapped in a concrete cocoon. "I fail to see the fun in this." "Oop, potty emergency!" Haruko chirped leaving the Jazzmaster woman encased in stone. "When you gotta go, you gotta go! AND I'M GOING!" "You need a lift there Jinyu?" Ford asked towering over the woman, and she quietly replied with "I am perfectly fine Stanford, but thanks anyway." As the kids continued working on the sandcastle, Gwen sat under the shade with Aiko and Ezra. "So, you not gonna swim in the ocean?" Aiko asked cheerfully to the dour girl. "No, no I'm not." Gwen moaned. "Then why even go to the beach if you're not going in the water? Do you have aquaphobia or something?" Ezra commented kicking his feet up on the table. "Better question is, what about you?" the younger girl in the cap replied. "Is it because of Leia?" "W-what gave you that idea you aesaekki?!" Ezra screeched in embarrassment as his face turned redder than Gwen's hair. "I don't know, you just seemed to blush at her swimsuit." Gwen remarked with a barely visible smirk. "Speaking of which, why didn't you bring yours Aiko?" "'Scuse me? That's just what Juan and I didn't agree to." Aiko grinned much to the two's confusion.

As the sun began to set, Juan & Jorge taught Arnold how to make a campfire while Aiko watched, Ian, Leia & Tyrone skipped stones, Ezra sat on a rock by himself and Imelda was getting ready to put Abby to bed. Meanwhile the adults chatted while Jinyu remained trapped in dry cement, with the waves gently taking her off the sand. "So now I have to use these sticks?" Arnold asked trying to light a fire with a pair of twigs. "Exactly my boy! You've been paying attention!" Juan exclaimed as their student in manliness rigorously rubbed the wood together to create a few sparks. "Hey, I'm doing it!" "You're doing amazing sweetie." Jorge congratulated Arnold before the sparks became a full ember. "Woohoo! Hey Aiko, over here!" Juan called to his girlfriend. "Do you think it's cool how much we've taught him?!" The flower pot girl beamed brightly before Dipper stepped toward the three boys. "Hey kids, have you seen Gwen anywhere?" "Beats me. And Haruko is gone too." Jorge responded. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find her!" Arnold shouted racing up and down the shore in search of his cousin. "Wait, Gwen is gone?!" Tyrone added just as concerned for his older sister. "We have to find her before nightfall. I'm getting worried sick." Dipper announced alerting everyone on the beach to the current situation. After an hour of searching, they regrouped at the table with no success. "Where could Gwen be?" Candy asked. "She couldn't have gone far, but we combed every last centimeter of the beach." Ford stated. "Then there's only one place left on this lake that we haven't touched yet," Stan theorized. "And that's Scuttlebutt Island." "Or as Mabel and I call it, Butt Island!" Soos interjected. "Oh you scallywag!" Mabel giggled. "Uh, excuse me." Aiko squeaked. "I still need to get home. Can someone walk me to the bus?" "Why I'd be Patrick Stewart to milady!" Juan politely exclaimed taking his girlfriend by the hand. "Aw, that's my little gentleman." Melody said grinning. "But on an unrelated note, how are we going to get there?" "I think I've got a plan guys." Jorge announced adjusting his sunglasses. "It's time to set sail on the SS Cool Dude II!" At the bus station, Aiko dropped her timid facade for a more harsh and stingy one as she said goodbye to Juan. "Just so we're clear, I'm being charged overtime! Are we clear?" she demanded. "I am terribly sorry." Juan moaned, which earned him a scoff. "Give it." "Uh, here." Juan whimpered handing Aiko a wad of dollar bills. When she snatched it, all the Ramirez boy got in return was her flower pot. "So, was the character I created to your liking?" Aiko asked examining her earnings. "Oh yes, positively adorable!" Juan answered excitedly before the driver announced the bus's oncoming departure. "Okay, all there." the girl stated hopping onboard. "You boys think girls who're only shy and timid are just so precious. And by the way, the pot is yours." "Oh, uh..." Juan stuttered at the thought before Aiko switched back to her character. "A present for you!" she chirped gleefully. "Thanks Aiko! I'm gonna take good care of this-" Juan responded gratefully when he was cut off. "No. No it wasn't. Let's just say that you exchanged the envelope for that. Wouldn't want people finding out that I'm a rent-a-date." "So I bought this from you!" Juan realized as the bus began to leave. "Bye or whatever." Aiko bluntly said farewell before the vehicle drove away, leaving her fake date in the dust. The boy's train of thought went off the rails when Jorge snuck up from behind him to his shock. "Hey bro, you wanna be pirates?"

"Yo-ho, yo-ho. A pirate's life for me." Tyrone, Juan, Jorge and Leia sang onboard the SS Cool Dude II that was now captained by Ford as it left Melody, Imelda, Abby and Candy on the beach. "An insect took our friend away from her hut, look out me hearties yo-ho. And whisked her away to the island of butts, look out me hearties yo-ho." "We've just set sail and I'm already feeling seasick." Ezra groaned growing tired of the singing while he and Arnold leaned over the back of the vessel. "But we still have to find Gwen." Arnold declared trying to be bold as he was suddenly cut off. "When you were a kid, did you ever draw pictures of fireworks while watching them with your family, only for it to be too late?" "W-who's there?" Arnold yipped in shock. "Wait, Jinyu?! Where are you?" he said looking around for the woman. "Do you know where Gwen is?" "You'd try to draw every last colored speck of light. But the only way to color the night sky itself was with just a black pencil." Jinyu continued monologuing. "They lit up the dark sky so beautifully with all the colors." "What does fireworks have to do with finding Gwen?!" Ezra shouted. "All beautiful things eventually fade away." That was when Arnold reminisced on the sandcastle they all built together. Turns out Gwen put on a small smile at that time. "LAND HO! LAND HO!" Ian roared when the Cool Dude II finally reached Scuttlebutt Island. "Weigh anchor everyone!" "Well, this is it." Dipper declared dropping the boat's anchor as the crew disembarked. "Everyone needs to stay sharp. There's no telling what awaits us here." As they marched onward toward the depths of the island, Jinyu washed up on shore just as a shooting star glimmered over her. "Oh, the first star."

"So why do they say three square meals a day anyway?" Tyrone asked while the group continued exploring the Scuttlebutt woods. "A square only has four sides and I have no idea where the meal part came from?" "Last I remember, it means eating well." Pacifica replied. "That makes sense, but what do squares have to do with it?" Tyrone continued. "Quiet everyone, I hear noises!" Ford alerted putting a stop to their sojourn. The noises in question were quite unusual, ranging from beavers chittering while chainsaws roared and dinosaurs snarled. "Dinosaurs, here?" "Oh no. How hot is it today?" Mabel groaned in wonder. The dinosaur stomped closer and closer until it revealed itself as a cute little T-rex that seemed around Tyrone's height with a peculiar red plate on its back, orange boots and a large snout. "Aw! Hey there little guy!" Juan said becoming amazed at how cute the little dinosaur was before it revealed its frog-like tongue that grabbed the boy by his ankle and swallowed him whole. "HELP ME!" "Oh my God, Juan!" Soos cried out shaking the dinosaur by its torso trying to free his son. The creature relented and laid an egg with green spots patterning it that hatched to reveal a traumatized Juan. "You okay there little dude?" "I think I learned what it's like to be reincarnated. And I also learned what flavor the universe is." Juan stuttered utterly astounded at the experience as the dinosaur walked away. "Really, what was it?" Jorge asked. "It was black licorice. Yeah, we're utterly doomed." his twin brother stated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna lie down here and contemplate on how the platypus came to be. You all go on ahead." "Where did that thing come from?" Tyrone asked. "I think I know what." Ford stated taking a knee towards a toxic waste spill. "Radioactive ooze, classic!" Stan exclaimed. "And it's not just that. Look over there!" Dipper added as a colony of beavers with chainsaws for tails emerged chittering cutely. "Sweet, chainsaw-tailed beavers!" Leia cheered becoming distracted by the little critters. "Oop, stay back sis! They do have chainsaws for tails." Ian cautioned his younger sister. "Now let's not get too distracted, cause I feel all these freaks of nature must mean we're close." "Yep, I can definitely see a Medical Mechanica factory from here." Pacifica noted turning her gaze to a giant iron nearby. "When did that show up?" Wendy asked. "I honestly have no idea. Weren't they supposed to be done with Gravity Falls when Atomsk first showed up here?" Ezra wondered. "Though I have a strong feeling we'll be proven wrong soon enough." "No turning back now. Gwen is nearby." Dipper declared stepping further into the dark island forest. "Come on guys." While the others followed, Ford stayed behind to examine the waste before putting on some protective gloves to scoop it up in a beaker. "This should be useful." he muttered.

When they finally reached the Medical Mechanica plant stationed on Scuttlebutt Island, the factory was horrendously dilapidated and a small hole was there to serve as their makeshift entrance. "Okay, here's the plan everyone." Ian announced. "Me, Leia, Dipper, Mabel, Ford, Arnold, Pacifica & Wendy are gonna go in first while the rest of you serve as lookout. This could be a bumpy ride ahead of us." "Aw come on Ian, why can't Ford be lookout while I join you guys?" Stan complained. "If you switch us, I'll let you become your dad's successor!" he tried to barter with the eldest Ramirez son, but his offer fell on deaf ears as Ian snuck in first. "Time for me to put that fencing club practice to good use. And Leia, now might be a good time to whip out all you learned from the kickboxing class Stan signed you up for." "I came prepared." Leia grinned determinedly preparing to use her sarong as a whip. "Wish us luck Grunkle Stan." Mabel said to Stan before she joined her group in exploring the factory. "Oh just you all wait, I'm gonna maim her the hardest by the story's end." he grumbled. Ian's group tiptoed into the Medical Mechanica factory watching out for any sign of Gwen. "Just gotta be quiet everyone. No sudden movements." Dipper whispered just as he began hearing the voices of two familiar girls. One voice was struggling to escape while another must've been her captor. Upon hearing the voices, Dipper scooted to the source hiding behind a pair of large doors. "Let's get to know each other better." he listened in on Haruko as his daughter continued to struggle. The father yipped in fear for her safety and began to peer through the doors to get a closer look. "Everyone, over here." he signaled for the others to group up with him. "Oh no." "Let's get to know each other better." Haruko remarked towering over Gwen in a nurse's uniform. "Please stop." the younger girl whimpered before the Vespa Woman unbuttoned the Hawaiian shirt and the shorts she had on to reveal a pink, purple and white striped one piece underneath. "Oh my, looks like someone was planning on having fun today. Now tell me, where can I hit you so you can overflow?" "Overflow? What kinda hot garbage is she on about?" Leia wondered incredulously as they felt an enraged Dipper about to break down the doors. "Oh dammit, someone help me stop Mr. Pines before he makes a huge mistake and blows our cover!" she ordered trying to hold the father back from barging in, but was too late as he kicked down the doors screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER RAHARU?!" Arnold on the other hand got one good look at his captive cousin and made a bright green blob creature emerge from his forehead to everyone's shock. "What, it came outta him?" Haruhara muttered as the creature slithered for a bit before it faced Arnold. "I have no idea what you're supposed to be, but let me give you one command." he said. "Go save Gwen!" Back outside the factory, the rest of the Cool Dude crew awaited their teammates' return when a loopy Juan came wobbling towards them carrying a flower pot in his hands and a strange stone shape on his back. "Oh hey bro, you're back!" Jorge cheerfully greeted his twin. "How did contemplating the universe go?" "I just paid a visit to the Garden of Eden. And the apples were terrible!" Juan exclaimed shaking his head to relieve himself of his daze while planting the stone on the ground, revealing itself to be the same one that Jinyu was trapped in. "Where'd the flower pot come from? Was it a gift from your girlfriend when she dumped you?" Stan asked the pompadour boy, who then screamed at his brother "YOU TOLD THEM YOU IDIOT?!" "I cannot tell a lie!" Jorge quoted George Washington before bringing his brother close. "But I didn't tell them she was basically a callgirl." he whispered into his ear. "That's between you and me. We can Tony Hawk about it later." "Where are the kids?" Jinyu asked Soos. "Oh yeah dude, they just ran in there after Haruko to save Gwen." the former handyman replied brightly. "I'm sure things will be all hunky-dory by sunrise."

Meanwhile in a small house back at Gravity Falls, Aiko had arrived home to her father who was reading the papers. "Hey Aiko." Masurao asked the girl. "Do you know what happened to the flower pot that was in this room?" "No clue." Aiko fibbed going upstairs, prompting suspicion from her father before he put down his tabloids & shut the door behind him, and the room gave way to reveal various machinery hooked up to a screen with the eyepatched man on it. "This is codename Eyepatch." Eyepatch said. "Do you have an update?" "Actually, I have a slight problem." Masurao proclaimed. "What is it?" Eyepatch asked. "The flower pot seems to have gone missing. What about you and the others?" the capped male replied. "Tonkichi and I are waiting for the right moment to strike. But Kanda on the other hand was able to fish info from Stanford about that motorbike chick." Eyepatch explained making a picture of Haruko mindlessly picking her nose while giving a peace sign. "If what he says is true, she's not of this world and we got an interdimensional apocalypse on the horizon."

"So what species of flower is this supposed to be?" Ezra wondered examining the pot. "Doesn't seem like anything I've researched, so I assume it's just a simple weed." Suddenly the factory behind them exploded while Haruko soared high above it with Gwen in hand and Dipper, Mabel, Tyrone & Arnold clinging onto the green creature chasing after her. With a smirk, Haruko tossed the younger girl away to smack the beast with her bass and send it flying with another hit. "Hey, leave my niece alone you creep!" Mabel shrieked clinging onto the biker's front and giving her a hard slap across the face. Haruko returned the slap and it soon devolved into the two women flailing their hands at each other as they kept falling. As for the boys, they continued grabbing hold of the green blob while it continued going after the airborne Gwen. Thankfully they were able to catch her, but she landed face-first into Arnold's chest causing her cap to react and spawn a mass of wires & metals from her forehead that roped her in and absorbed all nearby metal, even the Medical Mechanica factory. "What the hell is going on now?!" Ian shouted while he, Leia, Pacifica, Ford and Wendy evacuated just in time. "More N.O." Ford declared looking up at the giant object above them. "We have to save Gwen quick before it gets any worse!" "G-Gwen." Arnold muttered in shock at the sight before him. "Sis." Tyrone added just as worried sick. Out of complete nowhere, the flower pot made a comeback by landing on Arnold's face and making him lose his grip on the creature. Dipper & Tyrone were sent flying as well due to the shockwave until the three Pines were rescued at the last moment by Jinyu's Bel-Air. "Listen Arnold, you are the only one that can save Gwen." Julia stated from the backseat of the car. "Back here." she called to the trio lying down in her cement confinement. "So that's where you've been!" Dipper exclaimed. "Not even going to ask how you ended up like this." he added before turning to the giant hunk of metal in the sky. "So that thing's got Gwen?" "We've seen some crazy stuff since you and Haruko came into our lives, but this is the last straw!" Arnold added fiercely. "You gotta help us Jinyu, please!" "If you are unable to draw fireworks; well then," Jinyu declared. "Try shooting one in the air!" Her shades twinkled before her limbs burst from the dry concrete and she stepped onto the hood of her car. "Do it again, as many times as you need!" The Bel-Air once more turned into a mech ready for another fight. "On second thought, maybe you should be one instead!" Jinyu exclaimed folding her arms in a similar matter to a certain fusion of a pair of buster machines before tossing Arnold her bass. "Aw yeah, this is amazing!" Raharu cheered mounting onto the green creature while it waved a white flag in defeat. She smacked its butt with her Mustang to make it fly further toward the machine holding Gwen captive before spotting the Bel-Air giving chase with Arnold standing on the hood with guitar in hand. Haruko wordlessly commanded the blob to fire from one of its hoses, but the Bel-Air blocked the energy spheres and the two charged. The nurse gave the transforming car a mighty smack on the arm and chased it once more. "Cream her Arnold, make your mothers proud!" Pacifica cheered her son on before realizing that Mabel was still falling. "Oh my god, Mabel!" she cried politely helping Stan out of his wheelchair so that she can use it to catch her wife. "COMING IN HOOOOOTTTTT!" Mabel hollered descending into the seat of her grunkle's chair. "And she sticks the landing! Thank you, thank you very much!" she declared to an invisible crowd before Pacifica grabbed her face to give her a big kiss. "Knew you'd come through honey." The blob continued firing at the Bel-Air, but thankfully Arnold refused to back down while Dipper was desperate to escape. "I can't take this anymore!" he screamed lighting up three cigarettes to calm his nerves. "Are you kidding dad?! BEST BEACH DAY EVER!" Tyrone shouted excitedly. Haruko on the other hand wasn't feeling the same way as she commanded the creature to once again fire, this time at one of the automobile's rocket boosters giving her an opening. "Hah, got you now!" Then suddenly, the metallic creature roared and whipped the Bel-Air away, ejecting Dipper & Arnold from it and the latter still armed with Jinyu's guitar. This would prove the perfect chance for the son of Mabel & Pacifica to land a fatal blow upon the beast, which led to Gwen finally being revealed. "Are you okay Gwen?! Say something!" Arnold cried for his unconscious cousin. "Oh no no no no! What am I going to do now?!" "Hmph, she doesn't have enough yet." Haruko suggested having already touched down behind the two on the green blob while it deflated. "Enough of what?" Arnold asked the older woman standing over them with her bass. "A tundra? Tsun-dora? Tsundere?" Haruhara muttered to herself before making her findings clear. "She's definitely one of those people." "Just shut up already Raharu!" Dipper snarled dusting himself off after a nasty landing before racing to his daughter's side. "Please wake up Gwennie! Please!" he exclaimed clutching the girl's shoulder which made her moan. "Saying her name ain't gonna help Pine Tree, let an old friend do the heavy lifting." Haruko lifted her guitar skyward ready to bludgeon Gwen, but Arnold had finally had enough. "Leave them alone!" he shouted shoving her away with tears in his eyes. "Aw." Haruko cooed putting down her string instrument and getting close to the boy. "Then take that hat offa her." she whispered into his ear. "Go on, don't be shy. No need to worry. Your voice will reach her." "Don't do it Arnold, it's a trap!" Jinyu called dropping Mabel, Pacifica, the Stans and Tyrone from her car just in time for it to be shot down. "Leave my son alone you maniac!" Pacifica growled, but the five were too late as Haruko sat down with Arnold in her arms. "You can reach it, it's deep inside of her." she continued toying with his arm. "Why don't we do it together, kay?" Arnold gasped, realizing what was happening, and made her back off. "I don't need your help! Let me help her myself!" he shouted defiantly reaching for the bobble of Gwen's cap. "Don't do it Arnold! You have no idea what will happen next!" Dipper cried to his nephew, but his words fell on deaf ears before the cap started whirring violently. Red sparks erupted from the girl's head as it felt like her hat was literally drilling itself into her skull. When all was said and done, Haruko rapidly tip-toed toward Gwen and attempted to remove her beanie from her head with little success. But what was successful was the fall of the metal creature as its pieces began falling into the lake before the eyes of everyone still on Scuttlebutt Island. As the Pines began to get up to see what was happening, they barely had time to react before the beast collapsed underneath them. When all the metal was completely submerged in the ocean, the sun rose and they were saved by Jinyu as she parked her car on the new metallic part of the island. "Come on Gwen, please come back to us!" Dipper cried trying to wake his daughter up one last time. "What is even going on?!" "I told you all not to touch that!" Jinyu cautioned the Pines just as the rest came racing toward them, along with Haruko freeing herself from the scrap. "That was perhaps the best dogfight I had ever seen." Soos commented. "Yeah, you both totally went Red Wedding on each other!" Juan added excitedly. "As in murdering hundreds of innocents, including a few pregnant women and their unborn children?" Ezra bluntly replied adjusting his glasses, prompting the two boys to remain silent. "Yeah, let's just drop the slang thang." Juan announced and Jorge quietly nodded. "The emergency system has been activated." Jinyu informed her other self. "And there's nothing you can do to stop it." "Aw geez!" Haruko complained. "Damn, they're so sneaky. Those schwifty bastards." she remarked staring up at the sky. "This is all because you tried to tempt my son." Pacifica coldly responded. "That's right, Hakama tried to..." Arnold tried to speak up before Gwen finally began to rise from her slumber. "W-where did she come from? H-h-here comes Gwen." "What did Arnold do to her?" Juan asked. "I do not want to know." Jorge replied just as puzzled. "Yeah, let's just keep this an enigma til next time." a raccoon with a strange accent suddenly appeared behind them. "Hehehehe, most of the characters in this story are SOOOO stupid!" "W-what the hell, where did he come from?! We didn't see him at all throughout this entire chapter!" Jorge cried in shock over the raccoon. "Ah yes, I'd like you to meet Bawuu, my new pet raccoon, or so he calls himself." Ezra introduced Bawuu while he perched on his shoulder. "He just showed up to me and declared that we should live together, because he claims most of the animals on the island are imbeciles. And I have a feeling he'll barely add anything to our adventures going forward." "Well, guess we got no other choice everyone." Stan announced. "You're right Stanley, we'll have to search for the makers of the hat. And it's not from some chic fashion joint." Jinyu added. "I suppose I'll just have to bust on in." Haruko remarked knowing what their next objective was. "Right," the white-haired woman replied. "our objectives may be different, but our target is still one in the same." Haruko just stared up at the sky for a moment in silence when she finally revealed the name of that target. "Medical Mechanica."

AN: At long last, chapter 3 is done! Apparently I'm just as talented at procrastinating as I am with everything else I'm good at. Ooh speaking of which, still need to finally get back to work on Gravity Soul! Until we meet again some sunny day everyone!

[codylabs]

Chapter 5

Mabel shone the beam from the laser pointer all around the floor. Juan chased it to and fro joyously, his saws scuffing up the floorboards whenever he thought he’d caught it. Always it eluded him, always it escaped him, always he gave chase. He was just like a cat. A heavy metal cat, but nonetheless just as smart, playful, energetic and eager. Mabel laughed at his antics.

When he finally got tired, Mabel turned the laser off, and sat down next to a wall outlet. Juan crawled up on her chest, and stuck his hooks into the socket beside her. A few sparks fizzled, and the robot relaxed.

Mabel petted him. He wasn’t quite as fun to pet as normal animals, since he wasn’t soft or furry in the least. But he was warm, and he was active and squirmy, and if she closed her eyes she could aaaaalmost imagine he was something nice to cuddle.

He finished recharging, and curled up in her lap. She petted his antennae, and they extended and retracted at her touch. His red eyes looked up and met hers, and for a moment, she felt they shared a deep, spiritual bond.

His claws plucked at her sweater as he stretched, and aperture-like eyelids twisted shut over his cameras. He wiggled around one more time to get comfortable, and then he was asleep.

Such a sweet thing.

Too bad she couldn’t talk to him. He spoke and heard in radio signals, and since she hadn’t figured out how to do that with her own body, she had to speak with the walkie talkie. She would listen in on his ‘distress signal’, and add words of her own onto the same frequency. She hoped he could hear her, and she hoped he understood that she was just trying to be friendly.

She pulled out her walkie talkie again now, and turned it over to his usual frequency.

But for some reason, the line was quiet. She cycled through all the other channels, but those were all quiet too. Mable frowned at the robot, and the realization slowly dawned on her.

Sometime in the last hour, Juan had stopped sending out his S.O.S.

He thinks I’m his mommy.

He’s happy here.

He loves me.

But it broke her heart. And she put her hands to her head, and her heart began to race, because another realization was close behind the first.

He doesn’t want his real mom anymore.

His real mom is looking for him, but now she’ll never find him.

I’m his mom now.

“Oh no…” She told the creature. “No… I can’t do that… I can’t keep you… This isn’t right for you… I’m not right for you… This…” She shook her head, and brushed aside a tear. “This was never what I wanted…”

Meanwhile, ten miles away, Dipper and Wendy ventured deeper into a hidden valley. And as they did so, they realized they’d stepped into a different world entirely.

“Okaaaay.” Wendy nodded. “We can tell them apart, at least. The trunks here aren’t bark-colored brown. They’re more like rust-colored brown. And the newer, smaller branches are totally grey.”

“Probably is rust. The newer shoots just haven’t had time to rust.”

“And, of course.” She added. “If we’re ever unsure, we can always just touch the leaves. If they feel like leaves, you’re good. But if they lay you open, chances are they belong to the robot trees.”

“Ha ha. Yeah.” Dipper laughed nervously. “Robot trees.” He echoed. He looked around him again, just to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. But he wasn’t. Before today, he never would have imagined using the words ‘robot’ and ‘tree’ in the same sentence, but there you have it. Those words had passed his lips. And as ridiculous at it sounded, it was nonetheless true. “Robot trees.” He repeated, and liked the sound of it. “I guess this is a thing now.”

“Man, you can smell it!” Wendy commented on the air. “Like oil, or the school’s metal shop after somebody’s been grinding… It’s not normal.”

“Yeah… Wow.”

“So how do we do this whole ‘science’ thing?” She asked, dragging them back to the mission. “I mean, we could just walk around, but shouldn’t we be doing… ‘Experiments’ or some junk?”

“Uh… I dunno…” Dipper bent over to examine a smallish sort of weed. “I guess we take pictures and stuff… And cram as many samples as we can into our backpacks.”

“Sounds good…” Wendy slipped on some gloves, grasped a tuft of grass, and pulled. And then she pulled some more. And then pulled some more. “Oh, okay, want to play it like that, do ya?” She grumbled at the plant. She pulled out an axe, and chopped it into the roots beneath her hand. The tuft finally came out with a snap. She shoved the plant into her backpack.

Dipper peered down at the hole where the grass had been. He poked his finger inside.

A tiny spark of electricity arced between his roots, directly through his finger. He yelped with pain, and brought back his hand.

“You okay? What got ya?”

“Oh, these… The roots zapped me. It must have its power cells down below ground. The panels charge up sun during the day, the batteries power it at night…”

“Wear gloves mate.”

“Yeah.”

This time he wasn’t zapped, and he brought out a handful of soil.

“Dirt?” Wendy frowned curiously.

“Soil.” He clarified, and he dumped the sample into a plastic bag. “Metal plants are growing out of this soil. That… Doesn’t happen. Ever. And that means this soil must be special.”

“Fair enough.”

He pulled out a disposable camera. Ford had suggested no electronics, but this model was so simple that it wouldn’t count. Nothing could detect this bad boy. Dipper took pictures of Wendy’s sample, his sample, and the hole they’d removed it from. Then they moved on.

Careful to dodge the leaves, they made their way up to the trunk of one of the larger trees. Wendy began tapping lightly on the surface with the back of her axe, looking for irregularities or hollow spots. The metallic clanking echoed through the silent forest.

Dipper was hit by a sudden sense of deja-vu, as he remembered his very first adventure in Gravity Falls. He’d found Ford’s hollow, fake metal tree, and a mechanism inside had opened the way to the journal. It was the thing that started it all. The one event that made the way for his entire life since. He took a minute to reflect. He… Or rather they… Had come so far since then. So very far. They knew so much, had done so much, conquered so much, become so much… It was amazing.

“Hey, this part sounds hollow.” Wendy remarked, and tapped again.

“Cool…” Dipper nodded. “Wonder what’s in there… Do we have a way to cut through?”

“Well… The trunk looks like it has a sort of grain to it, like regular wood. Maybe an axe will work?”

She took a swing at it, and made an impressively loud sound.

The axe didn’t work.

There was a dent in the tree, but there was also a dent in the axe.

“Awe…” She ran her finger along the defaced blade. Suddenly she laughed. “Look at me! I’m a scientist! Whacking a metal thing!”

Dipper laughed too. “Who’s the greater scientist? The scientist who whacks, or the scientist who watches whack?”

She groaned in mock-misery. “Waaaah… Why does science feel so much like the chain gang?” She struck the tree once more.

Then they heard movement inside the hollow spot, and took a step back. Something was alive in there. They could hear it scuttling around, clacking against the inside of the tree. Then the sound moved upwards through the trunk. Their eyes followed it up, and landed on a small hole, about 10 feet up. A tiny robot peeked its head out of this hole, and looked down at them with red eyes. It had a vaguely similar design to Juan, but with several different specializations. It was thinner than Juan, and longer, as if for fitting through tight spaces. And instead of buzzsaws, it had a system of small drill bits, which it spun at them in an angry, threatening sort of way.

“Guess we know what the hollow spot was.” Wendy observed.

“Robot squirrel.” Dipper smiled. He held up his camera and took another shot. “Cool.”

Irritated by the flash, the robot climbed out of its hole and up the tree away from them. It had long hooks on the ends of its legs, and a small sort of hollow cone where a tail would be.

As they watched, this cone began to emit a loud wining sound. Dust began to spray and billow around the animal. Then it let go of the tree, and hovered through the air off toward another tree. It grabbed onto a branch of the new tree, pulled itself up into a better position, and looked back at them.

“Robot rocket squirrel.” Wendy noted as Dipper snapped another picture.

“Just too cool.” He nodded.

They continued on.

“Hey, have you seen any other tracks recently? Any sign of the lion?”

“Naw, man. I can’t track anything here. Can’t make heads or tails of this grass, and all the tree roots just cover the mud and dirt.”

“All right.”

“Are you picking up any radio signals? Like Juan makes? Or from the decoy we put on her yesterday?”

“No, nothing from the decoy.” He said. “The tracker we put on her stopped transmitting sometime last night. I guess she found a way to get it off.”

“Dang it… Well, any signals at all?”

“Uh…” He turned on his walkie talkie briefly. It became to click and whistle with noise. There were hundreds of signals around here. All of them weak, quiet and brief. Like the chirping of crickets, or the singing of birds. Dipper realized this forest wasn’t silent. It was filled with life, but all of it was silent to human ears. He turned the device back off, and returned it to his vest. “Yeah. None as loud as Juan, but… Yeah. They’re there. And they’re everywhere. But they’re all so quiet that they’re undetectable from far away. Probably why we never detected this place before.”

“Huh. Say!” Wendy pointed ahead. “What’s that up there?”

She gestured toward a nearby stream. Bright, bulbous white flowers were growing all along its banks, some of them the height of trees.

“Woah. Giant flowers.”

“That’s science, right?”

“Yeah…” He approached the nearest one, and circled it slowly. Nothing much to see… But this plant didn’t have any leaves; no solar panels. All the other trees had solar panels. How was this one getting its energy?

He looked inside the bulb of the flower, and slowly put it together. Although they wide pedals were white on the outside, they were extremely shiny on the inside, like so many separate sections of a bowl-shaped mirror. And each one shared the exact same shape: that of a geometrically perfect paraboloid. And in the exact center of each ‘dish’, there was a tiny metal bud, attached to the wider stalk by what looked like tubes.

“Solar thermoelectric power.” Dipper nodded.

“A what now?” Wendy frowned.

“Instead of using plain old solar panels, like the trees do, these plants use the flowers.” Dipper explained. “The flowers are giant mirror dishes, and concentrate sunlight into those little buds. Those buds must have steam turbines or something inside them. The sunlight is all focused into the bud, that boils the steam, the steam spins the turbines, the turbines generate power, and that’s what powers the plant.”

“Woooooah…” Wendy scratched her head. “So ‘flower power’ is a real thing… I always thought those stupid hippies were insane…”

“Solar collection is actually much more efficient that normal photovoltaic systems.” Dipper continued. “It’s not used much in the human world because it’s so expensive to build, but these things just grow that way, so I guess expense isn’t an issue… And that’s probably why they only grow so near the creek. They pump up the water to refuel their turbines and dispose of waste heat.”

Wendy considered this.

“Is that why you were so tired this morning?”

“What?”

“You stayed up super late studying weird science.”

“Uh… Yeah. Why?”

“Okay… Hey wait a minute, why the heck were you studying thermoelectric solar power anyway? That’s such a randomly specific thing…”

“Well… I figured that these things would have to live without fuel, so I just started researching self-sustaining power, and clean energy… Parabolic solar collectors came up at some point so I read about them… And anyway, it came in handy, didn’t it?”

Wendy scratched her head. “Of all the millions of people in history who’ve ever gone out looking for trouble, only two of them have ever happened upon a thermoelectric solar flower. And one of those people just HAPPENED to thoroughly research that same thing the night before.”

“It… Seemed prudent.”

“Why are you wearing long pants instead of shorts today? As if you knew we would be walking through razor grass.”

“Well… You mentioned my… Habits… Yesterday… And it seemed… It seemed like a good idea?”

Wendy seemed suddenly suspicious for some reason.

“Dipper.” She asked. “Are you psychic?”

Why was she so suspicious? He went on the defensive. “No…”

“Do you have any psychic friends?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Is being psychic a thing?”

“Not that I know of…”

“Have you always been this randomly lucky?”

“Definitely not.”

“Do you consult oracles?”

“No.”

“Do you own a crystal ball?”

“No.”

“Does a future-Dipper travel back in time to give you advice?”

“What?? No…”

She gave him a hard stare. He frowned back at her, in a confused way. What was she thinking? What did it matter? What was going on? Did she seriously believe whatever that was? Why? Huh?

Then Wendy just smiled and shrugged. “Ah, never mind.” She turned back to the flowers. “Flower power. The hippies were right. Whatever we do, we can’t tell my dad about this. Got it?”

“Umm… Yeeeeeah… Got it.” Dipper yanked one of the smaller stems out of the streambed. It weighted about 3 pounds. Wow. He never thought he’d ever hold a 3-pound flower, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. He put it in his backpack. “This sample is Ford’s eyes only.”

Seeing as how there was less razor-grass in the water, they followed the creek up deeper into the woods. They kept a look out for lion-bot tracks, but nothing was visible.

Before long, a loud roar echoed through the trees. It was like the sound of a massive motor, grinding, tearing, ripping.

“Woah.” Wendy said. “Cliché giant monster sound. That might be our girl, huh?”

“She never made noise before… What was that?”

Now there was a new sound, the whizzing of small motors, and the scraping of metal-on-metal. The teens looked up to see several monkey-octopus-robots swing through the treetops above them, moving away from the cliché monster sound. Each one had a spherical torso about the size of a basketball. The torso had an eye on the top, another eye on bottom, and 5 long tentacles around the rim. They were using these tentacles in much the same way that normal monkeys use their arms. (Except, judging by the way they were swinging and flipping, they had very little concept of right-side-up and upside-down.) Dipper thought they looked strikingly like the evil robot from the movie ‘The Incredibles’ but he kept this to himself, as it would make him seem like a total dork.

One of the monkey-bots stopped to look down at them, and spun one of its claws in their direction. Dipper noticed it had smaller monkey-bots latched onto some recharge sockets between its arms. Nursing babies; Mabel would think that was adorable. The mother seemed to decide they weren’t a threat, and followed its companions off into the distance. Dipper took several pictures as they went.

“Good grief, they look just like the robot from ‘The Incredibles’.” Wendy frowned.

“You’re such a dork.” He replied.

“And among present company.” She retorted. “I need not feel ashamed.”

The monster noise sounded again, and they continued to follow it up the creek. They were moving even more carefully now, silent and alert. Eventually the noise was very near, just on the other side of the next thicket. They stopped and hid themselves to prepare. Dipper got his camera ready, Wendy took her axe out, and they both tightened the logging chaps on their arms.

“This could be it.” Dipper whispered.

“Don’t engage.” She reminded him. “Just take pictures. Be ready to run.”

“Yeah.”

They stepped quickly from behind the thicket. She leveled her weapon, he leveled his camera, and they both came into view of the sound’s source. And then they both frowned, disappointed.

An adorable little round robot had been cutting down a small tree. Now it paused in its work, and looked up at them. It had a flat paddle tail, little chubby legs, and a gigantic cutting blade built into the front of its head. The blade slowed down, and the noise died off. It tilted its head at them curiously.

“Aw man…” Wendy groaned. “All that noise! All that noise, and it turned out to just be a chainsaw beaver.”

“Come on!” Dipper sighed, taking a picture anyway. “Man, who knew?”

The chainsaw beaver cavorted back toward the creek, and disappeared beneath the water.

“Well.” Dipper shrugged, and noticed the tree the beaver had been chewing on. “Hey! At least we can get a picture of the inside of these trees. For science!”

“Yeh science!”

As it turned out, there wasn’t much for science to see. The trees had bark on the outside and growth rings in the middle, just like normal trees. The only really different part was all the pipes and wires, but even those weren’t all that surprising.

“This is boring.” Wendy decided, after Dipper took his 4th picture of the tree’s innards. “Let’s keep going. Gotta be more to see!”

They left the creek now, and steered into the trees. Toward what seemed like the center of the robot forest.

The trees were getting closer together now, and the grass was getting thicker. All the leaves were still razor sharp, so they proceeded ever more slowly and carefully. Dipper had taken the precaution of wearing long pants today, so his legs were mostly shielded. And the chainsaw chaps kept the worst of it off his arms. But he was still getting pricked and sliced, just a little bit, here and there. On his exposed hands, or through his socks, and even a couple times on his face. It was always just light brushes or pricks, but even that was enough to sting. Sometimes he would stumble or let his arms get clumsy, and a branch would contact his pants or chaps hard enough to pierce through. He would make a face, pull himself free, and soldier on.

Good grief, this was miserable! Dipper felt he was made of paper, walking through a world made of scissors and knives. Dying slowly and surely, just by walking. Once he wiped the sweat off his face, and there was traces of red among the moisture. He looked at Wendy. Her face had some slight damage as well, though he couldn’t tell about the rest of her body. Their eyes met, and they silently shared their misery.

This place wasn’t a good place.

This place wasn’t okay for people to live.

This place wasn’t suited for flesh.

Well, it explained one mystery at least: why they hadn’t seen any ordinary animals or birds around here. Everything soft that ventured in here carelessly (or without clothes) probably just DIED.

“When we come back tomorrow.” Dipper said. “We need football pads and helmets. And bigger boots.”

“We need something more like knight armor.” She agreed.

“And a diamond-tipped weed-eater.”

“Or a tank.”

“Or one of McGucket’s robots.”

Wendy thought about this. “Say.” She said. “Are we seriously coming back tomorrow?”

“Uh…”

“You have a hot date tomorrow, and I just need a day to rest and… You know, take a bath! Don’t want to go through this two days in a row…” She rolled back the chaps to show him the scratches and cuts on her arms. “Plus, dad wants me looking for a job and stuff…”

“Oh yeah… Yeah…” Dipper remembered his date. “I guess I probably shouldn’t show up to some fancy dinner looking like I got ambushed by a pencil sharpener…”

“Pacifica would NOT appreciate that.” Agreed Wendy.

“No, she would NOT.” Dipper glanced around. “Say, speaking of eating, you want to take a break somewhere?” Dipper asked. “Have some lunch?”

“Ugh.” Wendy nodded, and stopped walking. “Yeah actaully. I just need to sit down.”

They found a hollow trunk from some massive fallen tree, and Dipper ducked inside. Apparently, small animals or micro-organisms in this ecosystem found the inside easier to eat than the outside. Although the outer crust and bark was mostly intact, the inside had been cut completely away. A few small robot bugs scampered away as he crawled deeper.

The metal wasn’t particularly smooth, but it was sure better than the grass outside, so he got himself comfortable in the narrow space. Wendy ducked in after him, and took off her backpack. Dipper took off his hat and chainsaw chaps, and wiped his face with his shirt. All his tiny cuts stung as he did so, and he remembered not to wipe again. Now he removed a map and a sandwich from his pack, and leaned back against the metal to chew thoughtfully and inspect the map.

Wendy peaked over his shoulder at the map.

“We’re somewhere around here, right?” She pointed to some contours in the southeast.

“Yeah.” He made a small black mark at his best guess. “And the robot forest is… Well, we crossed in somewhere about here: the northwest border…” He drew a short line.

“Oh wow. We haven’t come very far have we? Maybe a half mile. How big is this forest anyway?”

“I’m not sure how far it extends south and east, but it can’t be much more than about 20 miles wide and 50 miles long, since there’s a highway over here, and the cliffs over here, and there’s hiking trails all along the cliffs…”

“Yeah…” Wendy nodded. “I’m thinking this place has to be pretty small, y’know, since nobody’s ever noticed it before. A couple miles at most.”

“Yeah, or very new…” Dipper began to chew his pencil. “Say, what if something we did caused the creation of this place? What if we… Released it from somewhere, somehow? What if it came in through Bill’s rift, or…”

“I doubt it. It doesn’t look new.” Wendy shrugged. “Some of these trees are dead, some of them have all fallen over, like this one, and… And most of these trees are gigantic! Just like the normal forest. How many growth rings did we see in that tree the beaver was sawing on?”

“Uh… 16, I think…”

“Yeah.” She said. “And that was a really small tree. So, assuming growth rings here mean the same thing they do in the normal forest, that means this place has to be a couple hundred years old at least… Right? Before the white man settled here, for sure…”

Dipper nodded, slowly, and chewed his pencil even harder.

“What if they’re not robot trees?” He asked. “What if they’re just normal trees… And normal mountain lions, squirrels, monkeys, and beavers, for that matter? What if there’s some virus that turns things into robots?!?”

Wendy’s eyes got wide. “Dude… We’d be infected then!”

“Oh dang!” Dipper looked at his hands, rolled up his sleeves, and blinked his eyes. Everything seemed normal… He stuck out his tongue. “Weny! Iz ma tug a saw yeh?”

She looked. “No. Not a saw yet. Show me your feet.” He took off his right shoe. “No.” She reassured him. “Not a tank track yet… Maybe it takes a while… Or starts on the inside and works its way out… Maybe you have a robot liver by now? How would we check?”

Dipper put his shoe back on. And then he put some serious thought into the virus theory. “No.” He finally answered, after a minute or two. “That can’t be it… A conversion virus doesn’t make sense…”

“Why not? There’s been weirder things.”

“Because… Because the creatures here are all made of straight-up metal.” He tapped the tree trunk next to his head, and the resounding clang proved his point. “But normal living bodies don’t have any metal in them, not more than a few grams at least… So we’d have to start eating metal, gorging on it, if we wanted to transform our bodies into that. And then, the only way we could actually chew or digest that metal is if we already had a body like that… So… So the conversion process can’t happen. It’s a chicken-and-egg sort of thing.”

Wendy thought about this. “So… I guess that begs another question: where’d all THIS metal come from anyway?” She asked. “This forest is made of metal, but where did it come from originally? There’s not that much metal in the ground, there’s just rock…”

“A lot of rock is actually aluminum by weight…”

“Really?”

“Yeah…”

“Well… You’ve held Juan, and those plants. They’re heavier than aluminum. Gotta be partially steel, at least.”

“Yeah…” Dipper scratched his head, and turned back to the map.

“Hey, what’s that big circle?” Wendy leaned over and pointed to a mile-wide disk he’d drawn on the map, centered around the hill above the town. “That’s the Weirdmageddon radius, isn’t it?”

“The Weirdmageddon radius was a little bigger. That’s actually…” He suddenly hesitated. That circle was the giant, buried alien spaceship. But should he tell her about that? Ford had definitely told him to keep it a close and guarded secret from anyone outside the inner circle… But then again, who would he ever trust more than Wendy? She would probably run across it on her own eventually… Right? It would be safest and best to tell her all about it up front…

That was when Dipper got a new idea: he wouldn’t tell Wendy about the UFO. He would show her. One of these days, he would show it.

But for now, he still had to tell her what the circle was. “That’s uh…” He decided on a half-truth. “That’s the epicenter.” He said. “The focal point of weirdness in Gravity Falls. Ford’s been studying the ‘weirdness magnetism effect’ of this place, and as it turns out, this place exerts a pull on anything unusual. Sometimes it manifests as a psychological pull, which is how six-fingered Ford and I guess Trembley found it. Sometimes it manifests as a literal magnetic force, as it was for ethereal beings like Bill and his goonies. And sometimes it’s just quantum probability. For instance, gnomes could theoretically live anywhere. But they’re very improbable, which makes them very probable to be here. And brain-switching carpets? Or eye bats? Those things probably don’t exist. So when they do exist, they probably exist here.”

“That probably makes sense.” Wendy joked. “And that circle is where it’s strongest?”

“Yeah.”

“Man. The town’s right on the edge of it.”

“Hence why we get mermaids, living video games, and ghosts popping up underfoot all the time.”

“Makes sense… Makes sense…” She turned back to her backpack, and began removing her lunch.

Dipper looked back at the map, and his eyes caught on the ship

Could the crashed UFO have anything to do with this robot forest?

It didn’t seem like it could. The forest didn’t start until about 12 miles south of the crash site’s furthest radius… If this was aliens, it would have to be a separate crash entirely…

Worth an investigation, anyway.

Wendy extended her hand with some food in it.

“Bacon?” She offered.

“Oh yeah! I could go for some bacon right now…” Dipper took a piece from her.

“Smoked sausage?”

“Oh… Sure.”

“How about some jerky?”

“Um… Did your dad pack you this lunch, by any chance?”

“What makes you say that?” She asked.

“Oh you know… It’s just your dad’s sort of… Style. I mean, meaty, high-protein everything… And this.” Dipper held up the package of jerky, with its ultra-manly mascot, and its ‘YOU’RE INADEQUATE’ slogan. “I haven’t seen anything less than a manotaur try to chew this brand.”

“It sure takes a mighty resolve, doesn’t it? Well, surprise! I packed this lunch! That’s just the Corduroy style, mate! Gotta keep your energy up, and keep your jaws strong.” She ripped open the bag of jerky, removed a stick, and tore off of a piece with her teeth. “And hey.” She continued with her mouth full. “Don’t be intimidated by a little bag of jerky, dude. I bet you can chew it. Take some.”

Her encouragement suddenly made Dipper feel very motivated to chew it. He took some from Wendy, bit off a huge piece, and he chewed it.

And he kept chewing it.

And he kept chewing it.

A minute later, he paused briefly, frowned, and kept chewing it.

And he kept chewing it.

About 5 minutes later, it was finally chewed, and he swallowed.

He rubbed his jaw, and stared down at the rest of the jerky. “I don’t… I don’t really want to do that again.” He decided out loud.

“Hmm.” She snickered. “5 minutes. Not bad.”

“’Not bad’…? What’s ‘good’, then?”

“I can chew it in 2 minutes. My brothers are between 3 and 6. My dad can do 45 seconds. I saw a manotaur do it in 5 seconds once, but I think he mostly swallowed it whole, and that’s totally cheating.”

“Oh totally. Those guys are bogus.” Dipper rubbed his jaw again. “So… I ate the jerky. Does that… Prove I’m manly, then?”

“Eh.” She shrugged. “There’s better ways to measure manliness. Mayor Tyler, for instance, can giiiit, giiiit that jerky in about 4 minutes, and he ain’t no man. So…”

“What’s a better metric?” Dipper perked up. “Wrestling bears…? Jumping over cliffs…? Plunging your fist into holes filled with pain…?” (He had done all these things at some point, and thought he’d done all right.)

“Uh…” She frowned, and scratched her head. “That third one is super random, but yeah… That’s kind of the stuff my dad uses… But I’ve got another little method. A little more… Personal. You wanna try?”

“Okay!”

“Awesome. Do you have a spider phobia or anything?”

“Uh… Well, no not really… I mean kinda. Not as bad as some people, but I’m not a huge fan of spiders anyway…”

“Awesome!” She smiled. “Well then, if you wanna prove your manliness, would you go ahead and describe what you see?”

She turned around. When he saw what was on her back, Dipper gave a scream nothing short of girly. “AHH! UH. Yeah! Spiders!”

“Describe them.”

“Uh… There’s about, like, 7 maybe. They’re all about 4 inches across. They… Ooooh… Wow. They’re pretty spiky and… Wow. They’ve got drills and everything. You know what, until today, I wouldn’t have honestly believed that robots could look quite that scary.”

“Good to know.” She nodded, and began to hold perfectly still. “Now would you do me a solid and pick them off for me?”

“UHH?”

“Come on, I can’t see back there.” She hissed. “Grab them and pull them off. Be a man, man.”

“I’m not sure…”

“And they’re sharp little legs are starting to get on my nerves.”

“Uhh…”

“Literally on my nerves. As in past my skin, and down to my nerves. Come on man, you got this.”

Dipper summoned up every ounce of manly courage he had in his reserves, reached forward, and gripped one of the spiders by the thorax. It panicked, waved its drill around threateningly, and began to grip into Wendy’s skin with its legs.

“OW.” Wendy grimaced.

“Sorry!” Dipper stuttered. “Uh… I don’t want to hurt you…”

Wendy’s cool demeanor broke, just for a second. “Just yank it, wimp!”

He yanked it, hard.

It didn’t yank.

Instead, it dug in further. The skin on Wendy’s back stretched up in eight points as Dipper pulled, and each point began to bleed badly.

“OW!” She screeched, and doubled over in pain. Tears came to her eyes.

“UH!” As his heart thundered out of control, Dipper let go of the spider, and turned to his backpack. “SCREW MANLINESS! THIS IS GETTING DUMB!” He said, and pulled out the magnet gun. He flipped it to pulse. “Hold still!”

The gun hummed, and the spiders all convulsed violently. Their red eyes stopped glowing, their legs went limp, and then they were dead. Dipper picked them off one by one, and tossed them outside the log. The last one he removed was the one that had dug in. He had to manually unhook each of its legs, leaving a circle of 8 wounds on Wendy’s back. This one he didn’t toss. This one he smashed with the butt of the magnet gun, leaving its wreckage sparking on the bottom of the log.

They breathed a sigh of relief. Wendy’s breath sounded forced. Dipper had never seen her like this, in so much pain.

“Are you okay?” Dipper asked.

She turned back to him, and she had tears in her eyes. She stretched her back experimentally. “Uh…” Her voice was small and shaky. “I didn’t stay chill…” She muttered, ashamed.

“Oh man, oh man, I’m… I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to yank it.”

She stretched some more, and grimaced. “Uh… No. You didn’t do ANYTHING wrong. I was the one who told you too… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay… I…”

“Dipper, no, I’m SORRY. I did WRONG. I made a fool of you, and made you hurt me on accident. And dude, that wasn’t a manliness test. Heck, far as I know, manliness CAN’T be measured! You know what that was?? That was me being dumb! I just wanted to tease you a little, and… And honestly, I kind of have a thing with spiders. So when you described them… I started to panic. Just wanted them gone. I did the worst possible thing I could have done, and I yelled at you, and made you panic… But you didn’t panic for long. You did all right. So here it is, honestly: I’m sorry.”

Dipper nodded, and held her eye. “I forgive you.”

“And finally: you’re not a wimp. You know that. I know that. We both know that. Don’t let anyone tell you different. But I forgot it for a second, and I made it sound like I meant it. I made it sound like I don’t respect you, even though I do. I’M SORRY.”

“And I said I forgive you.” He repeated plainly.

She held his eye for a minute, took a deep breath, and then smiled shyly. She picked up her backpack. “Let’s get back in the open.” She mumbled, and led the way out of the log.

Dipper cast another glance around the inside of the tree, looking for more sharp metal creepy-crawlies. Now that his eyes were adjusted for the darkness, he noticed a mean-looking centipede thing and a colony of shredder beetles (which he named himself based on what their mouths looked like.) Metal bugs seemed to be much larger than their normal counterparts.

He wasted very little time following Wendy out into the light. He picked up one of the dead spiders, and put it in his pack with the other samples. Then he shouldered the pack, tightened his chaps, and seated the hat more firmly on his head.

Wendy grimaced as she put her pack on over the spider cuts.

“Want me to carry your stuff…?” Dipper offered.

“Uh… I’ll be fine…”

They stood there for a moment, and Dipper began to have second thoughts about this mission. He looked left, toward the iron thicket ahead of them. He looked right, back the way they’d come. He looked at his camera, already full of amazing pictures. He looked at the cuts on his hands, still painful. And then he looked Wendy in the eye, and he could tell she was thinking all these same things.

“We need to go back.” She stated, matter-of-factly. “We’re getting cut, drilled, sliced, and stabbed. It ain’t getting easier to take, and it sure as heck ain’t stopping. We can’t survive here. We’re only human, and there’s only two of us. If we stay here any longer… If something bigger or sharper comes around… Something that’s actually trying to kill us… Nobody will know anything’s wrong until 6, when Thompson shows to pick us up and we’re not there… We’re not in a good spot. This wasn’t a good plan.”

It was then that Dipper understood: Wendy was afraid. He’d seen it before only rarely, but he recognized it now: she feared for their safety. She feared for their lives. And that made him afraid too.

“Yeah…” He agreed. “But we need to come back. Like we said earlier: armed to the teeth, and armored from head to toe. We’ll bring the equipment, and a plan, but we need to come back here.”

“Oh, of course! We will!” She promised. “Heck yes we will. But not now. Not until we have a plan. For now we need to get OUT.”

He nodded. “Let’s go.”

[hyacinth-halcyon-blog]

May I please ask a question? How did you get used to the tarot decks you use? What techniques worked best - any tips for a beginner? Thank you!

So I have a few things I like to do to get to know a deck. I’ll walk you through an introduction to my newest deck, the Gravity Falls tarot, as I’m still getting to know it myself. 

Under a cut because it got long thanks to images. I am very visual so most of this method of mine unfortunately isn’t helpful for those who are blind or otherwise have vision impairment.

I’m very visual so the first thing I do is I put the booklet aside if there is one, pull out the cards, and look at them. As I look, I ask myself questions about each card’s artwork such as: What is the mood of this card? Is there a story being told? If so, what is the story? Does the story/artwork connect to any other cards I’m seeing? If you have prior knowledge of the tarot archetypes, how do the cards match them? How do they vary from them? I’m sure there are other questions one could think of but I’ll try to stick to these for the purpose of this walkthrough. With that said, let’s get looking shall we?

The first card I want to look at is actually a pair of cards, The Sun and The Moon:

Immediately we have very contrasting moods. In The Moon, the colors are dark and moody monocolor blues. Dipper is looking over his shoulder as though worried of being followed and the moon is turned into Bill Cipher’s creepy eyeball, watching his every mood. This card clearly illustrates the fear and paranoia associated with The Moon.

Meanwhile The Sun is bright and multicolored. Mabel’s mindscape is surreal and full of absurdity. Her expression is one of joy and determination. This card shows off the cheer of the sun but also how too much joy leads to a distortion of reality.

OH MY GOD WHY IS IT HUGE I AM SORRY

ahem uh, now we have Soos as The Hanged Man. If you’re familiar with the archetype it is associated with sacrifice as well as vulnerability and trust. Soos is dedicated entirely to Grunkle Stan literally willing to give his life because he wants Stan to be his adopted father. Here, Soos is falling with no end in sight. He is helpless but still cheerful. His only light is a tiny glowstick but still he smiles. A willing loyal dedicated sacrifice. (There were hints he would die so although this never happened that also adds a layer to this card IMO)

Also huge I’m sorry. We have the Mystery Shack as The Tower. The mood is somewhat whimsical and bright with Grunkle Stan shimmering and grinningly inviting you into his tourist trap. However the shack itself is falling apart hinting at the destruction to come if people keep ignoring it. The whimsy masks the serious issues that are to come just like how the show began completely silly but hinted at the darker secrets of the town.

One of the unique things about this deck is that it has alternate versions of some cards. How do these two versions of The Fool vary? The one on the right is just silly. The 8 ½ president does everything in a silly way. He’s found preserved in brittle iirc. Absurd. But the version on the left is more like the traditional Fool, beginning journeys. This is young Ford and Stan enjoying a summer on the beach. It speaks of innocence and joy but those who know the story know that their innocence won’t last. Quency Trembly speaks of the foolishness of The Fool whereas Stan and Ford speak of the journey aspect of The Fool.

Now this deck doesn’t have clear story-linking cards so I’m switching to my Haindl deck for a moment. 

The cards depicted here are the 2 of Cups and the 9 of Swords. Very different cards and suits. But both portray a bird. On the two of cups it is symbolizing the fantasy and dreams of love whereas in the 9 of Swords these fantasies and dreams are being cruelly stabbed.

So basically I do this for all of the cards in the deck as a way to first get acquainted. Now, if there is a booklet, I like to go through it and compare my impressions to the ‘canon’ explanations of the cards. Often times you will have different feelings than the ones in the book and that’s okay. Personally I see the book more as general guidelines and reminders than a hard rule. Booklets with artwork descriptions are especially helpful because they can clarify what is happening in the image or draw your attention to things you missed on your first look through.

Different decks will feel different and have different moods so after I first go through and examine the cards I like to interview the deck. There’s a few such spreads I’ve seen like this and this. I did the first spread for the Gravity Falls tarot deck and here was the answers I got:

Card 1: Who are you? The essence of this deck. - The Hermit (rev) - This card depicts Fiddleford McGuckit (sp?) working on Ford’s old laptop. Fiddleford looks anxious and concerned about something. Fiddleford has memory and cognition issues thanks to being zapped repeatedly with a memory ray to forget the oddities of Gravity Falls. Upright the card speaks of knowledge gained from isolation and being apart. But reversed warns against too much isolation and a need to be together to get the knowledge. The knowledge is there to be grabbed but needs a partner.

Card 2: Why did you find me? Is this deck here to teach, to heal? - The Emperor - So this made me chuckle because it portrays Pacifica’s father who is a billionaire. The deck was bought for me as a gift so this is a pretty literal answer: it found me because money. If the deck is here to teach anything this card speaks of power.

Card 3: How do you speak? Is the deck poetic, blunt? - Strength (rev) - This card depicts Grunkle Stan who is generally crude and blunt. The reversal here speaks of riddles and secrets.

Card 4: How should I listen? intuition or by studying the book? - The Magician (rev) - This card has Gideon on it. Gideon is pretty forceful and arrogant so I get the sense of intuitive reading is best with this deck. 

Card 5: Where are we going? Where will working with this deck lead me to? - The Star (rev) - This card is Wendy. She’s up in a tree doing her rad lumberjack thing while the nightsky glimmers behind her. Below her is the darkness of the woods steeped in shadows. That is where this deck leads.

Card 6: How do we work? What will our relationship be like? - The Lovers (rev) - The Lovers here are Waddles and Gompers (the goat). The Lovers is a card about partnerships and decision-making. I also associate it with a level of equality and respect. When reversed there is imbalance like in a mentor-mentee relationship.

Card 7: Can you connect to the divine? Should I use this deck to talk to the gods? - This deck has a special card dedicated to Alex Hirsch which appeared here reversed. IN short, creator rev speaks of no don’t use it to talk to the gods.

The deck sees itself as very knowledgeable and concerned with secrets and hidden knowledge. I asked which character summed it up the best and unsurprisingly got Ford as the Fool (with Stan) but the Journals as Judgement also popped out. So those together represent this deck’s personality.

I hope this helps :x

[theotherscarmanthewoman]

Series 2 Episode 2: Sweet Thumbelina don’t be glum (and other stories)

Anyway, the cat loses interest; perhaps it’s intending to eat the freshly-murdered Mr. Farrow instead. However, the Doctor rules out getting back to the ship just now, because cats are super-quick and he doesn’t fancy being a part of its diet. This has touched a nerve with Babs, who reckons this is getting more horrifying every moment; clearly being eaten by cats is something she, as someone whose flat (according to Ian in one of his douchier moments right at the beginning of the show) is probably full of stray animals like a sixties Disney Princess (well, she’s got the physics-defying hair for it), fears above all things. Just thought I'd bring up that little gem. What is more likely is that, as discussed in previous episodes, the relentless threat of death is starting to Bother our Babs. Susan asks whether they ought to try communicating with the people here, but the Doctor and Ian are against it because of Science: they’ll sound like a squeak and the unshrunk humans will sound like a low growl. Barbara, however, has other fears: that they will be seen as freaks who will be put in glass cases and examined under microscopes. We seem to be learning a lot about Barbara’s phobias this week. The Doctor has another important thing to add: the people who live in this house are murderers and therefore have insane and/or criminal minds and are incapable of showing sympathy and understanding. So there. You share those Victorian attitudes to mental health, Doctor! Though to be fair, he's not wrong about the whole 'don't put your trust in murderers' thing.

Babs wonders whether they oughtn’t to do something about that there murder; the Doctor reckons they can do sod-all in their current state. But before they can get into it, a giant leg approaches—everybody run! AND OH WE HAVE TRIPPAGE! BARBARA HAS GONE OVER ON HER ANKLE PURELY FOR THE PURPOSES OF SPLITTING UP THE GROUP. Though it should be noted that Susan tries to go back for her. Yes Susan. (As well you might, after Babs was willing to be guillotined rather than leave you behind when you were afflicted with that narratively-convenient headache.) The Doctor and Susan head over to a pipe, while Ian gets Barbara to join him in the briefcase. Looming above the briefcase is our murderous businessman Forester, who is chatting to Smithers the Scientist, who is wearing a lab coat because he is a Scientist. He tries to tell him some cock-and-bull story about Farrow stealing the formula and accidentally shooting himself, but a brief examination of the body (which merely looks like a pen has exploded over its shirt) puts paid to that. Smithers, rather coolly, advises him not to try that shit with the police, as Farrow has clearly been shot through the heart from some feet away. No flies on Smithers. (Or on anyone, if DN6 makes it to production. Yeah I’m paying attention to the plot!) Anyway, the reason Smithers is so unfazed by the body is because apparently he’s seen people dying of starvation all over the world, which is why he’s been developing DN6. And he’s been working crazy hours for the past year to do it, too, and is pissed off that Forester didn’t just try to bribe Farrow instead. Forester reckons he can make it look like a boating accident seeing as how Farrow was off on his French river cruise…which I seriously doubt, seeing as how the body will still have a gunshot wound in it when the police find it washed up on the Riviera. Smithers doesn’t give a shit as long as he can stop people starving to death. Which is a noble cause, but surely DN6 wouldn’t actually achieve this if what it’s really doing is causing widespread crop failure because all the pollinators have been wiped out. Anyway, Forester is going to get on with his dastardly scheme…but he’s going to take Farrow’s briefcase back into the lab first. Because of reasons. In the lab, Ian and Babs emerge from the briefcase, looking green around the gills; Babs says it was worse than the Big Dipper. Which just adds to my ongoing ‘Barbara and Ian go to a fairground and are reminded of all sorts of fucked-up stuff from their adventures with the Doctor’ head canon. Also, I choose to believe they once went to Blackpool on a school trip in an advisory capacity and it was basically like a Willy Russell film only with Carole Ann Ford instead of a kid called Carol. Also also, Ian’s lament—‘of course it had to happen to us­—of all the places to pick, we had to choose one that was movable’—is the story of their lives. Barbara reflects ruefully that she’s bashed her knee on a large piece of metal that turns out to have been a paperclip; Barbara’s sense of the absurd continues to be prevalent.

Anyway, because she’s done her ankle in, she’d like to find some water to bathe it in. Sigh. I should note at this point that I have cruckled my ankles several times and it’s absolute agony, but seriously they could’ve found another way to get these two into the briefcase and then to the sink. Why are women’s ankles always a plot device and why do men never go over on them? Outside, Forester and Smithers are moving the body. They take it past a drain, inside which the Doctor and Susan are lurking. Susan’s seen Forester take the briefcase, and the Doctor nearly falls down the drain when he goes over to investigate the drainpipe, which he pronounces smelly. In fact it has an awful chemical smell, which means it’s a special pipe and probably leads inside the house, and the Doctor intends to climb up it. It’s corroded so it’s got lots of handholds and footholds, and the chemical smell mean’s it’s germ-free. So no tetanus for the Gallifreyans, then, just maybe a few hideous chemical burns. Then a beautiful thing happens:

SUSAN: It's too far for you, Grandfather. DOCTOR: Well, if it is, I shall have to give up, and I'm not going to give up before I've tried. And remember, you must think of the other two. They must be constantly reminding themselves they're only one inch high. There's only the two of us to help them. SUSAN: All right. But you let me go first. DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, go on.

YES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! The Doctor is willing to scale a giant drainpipe full of chemicals to help his humans, despite his age and despite Susan’s protests, and is actually advocating thinking of others before thinking of oneself. I mean he doesn’t particularly care about the murder or the indiscriminate slaughter of small things all around him, but still, he now cares about literally twice as many people in the universe as he did at the beginning of the first series. Also he is actually displaying empathy here, which might be a first. Meanwhile, back on the workbench, Ian has failed to find ankle-bathing water, but that’s ok because Babs is fine now. Apart from the shocking bruise on her knee, that is. I wonder is Barbara in some way related to Arthur Dent? Anyway, Ian wishes there’s something he could do to help her, but is it just me or is it quite nice to see them worrying about something so normal as a bumped knee? They go off exploring. Back in the pipes, Susan is checking up on her Grandfather’s progress. Handholds and footholds or no handholds and footholds, it’s impressing that they are essentially scaling a crazy-high climbing wall without the aid of a safety harness. You go, Gallifreyans. Meanwhile, Ian is pointing out features of interest such as Enormous Test Tubes to a politely interested Barbara. Which only adds to my ongoing collection of ‘post-Doctor Babs and Ian go on holiday’ headcanons. They come across a large pile of grain which looks to me an awful lot like giant Sugar Puffs. Which, after having consulted the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Wikipedia, I can confirm is because Sugar Puffs are in fact puffed-up grains of wheat. Which is what this is. Also, did you know that Sugar Puffs (well, Quaker Oats) helped finance the 1966 film The Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD? And that posters for said breakfast cereal can be seen all over the film? And that Sugar Puffs held a giveaway competition in which the grand prize was a Dalek prop from the film? WIKIPEDIA, WIKIPEDIA, WE THANK THEE FOR THIS BOON. But seriously, this is some of the best googling I’ve ever done.

Anyway, Babs doesn’t have access to Wikipedia and is clearly not a fan of Sugar Puffs, because she asks Ian whether he reckons it’s corn or wheat; Ian says wheat, so it must be true. He then turns his back for a couple of seconds while Barbara is a FUCKING IDIOT and picks up one of the grains to confirm that yes, this is wheat. Have you forgotten all about the Doctor telling the gang not to eat or drink anything (and by extension handle food and drink) because of the indiscriminate deadly insecticide, Babs? Having put it down, she realises it’s covered in sticky stuff like toffee. Maybe she’s not being dumb and actually thinks she’s come across a pile of Sugar Puffs? Ian, however, is distracted by a book of litmus paper, and is so busy pretending to be a Shakespearean Emo mulling over how often he’s held such a piece of paper between his fingers that he doesn’t find it weird that Babs has asked for his handkerchief, nor notice that she is wiping her hands vigorously with it. Ian is also stupid this week. Having said that, it is rather poignant that Ian has found himself in his former work environment and that he is now using a book of litmus paper as a bench. The humans are bearing these insults to their reality that make it so utterly absurd rather well.

Anyway, Ian reckons that whatever is killing the insects has been sprayed onto the grain. Barbara, meanwhile, claims to have forgotten all about the Doctor’s warning about whatever killed the bugs being fatal to them, too. Because of course you’d forget something like that. Ian is so busy warning her not to touch stuff and pontificating about the distinctive aroma of the stuff that’s coating the wheat that he doesn’t notice how worried Barbara has suddenly become, how weird it is that she keeps scrubbing at her hands, OR THAT THE SMELL IS NOW ON HER AND THE HANDKERCHIEF. UGH this serial drives me crazy. AND SHE DOESN’T TELL HIM SHE’S GOT THE DEADLY STUFF ALL OVER HER HANDS. I mean fair enough, at first it’s because he’s prattling away and not listening to her attempts to interject, BUT THEN WHEN HE'S ACTUALLY LISTENING SHE DOESN’T CONVEY VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NO REASON AT ALL. BARBARA, I KNOW HE’S A FUSSPOT WHO WORRIES ABOUT YOU EVEN WHEN YOU’VE JUST BASHED YOUR KNEE ON A PAPERCLIP, BUT THIS IS NO TIME TO BE SO FUCKING STOICAL. Babs is super downcast, but Ian doesn’t think this is so unusual and apparently takes this for perfectly normal despair. Even though Barbara is the kind of person who will tear a bed apart with her bare hands if there’s the slimmest chance it will help her crowbar her way out of prison. (In fairness, Babs never despairs when Susan’s around, but will occasionally get maudlin around Ian…but still, he should be more intuitive by now and know something is up.) He decides to cheer her up with blind optimism, suggesting all they need is a piece of string to get down to ground level. Then by heart breaks a bit, because Babs—automatically, it seems—corrects him, saying that at their size string is too thick, and what they need is a reel of cotton. And she catches herself. And suddenly the full ridiculousness of everything catches up with her. And she’s angry. And even though I’m pissed off that she’s being idiotic about this whole ‘probably dying but not going to tell anyone’ thing, I love that we get to see more of Barbara dealing with the absurd, because it’s consistent with the way she’s been going since The Aztecs and the way we saw her in The Reign of Terror. As I’ve said, being home (which they don’t mention at all) but the wrong size and having to scurry about like Borrowers is one insult too many to their sense of reality; they’re an inch high in their own world and it’s made home alien, and for Barbara at least this is the last fucking straw.

(It is at this point that I finally gain access to the DVD player for an evening, so expect gratuitous use of infotext from hereon in.) Ian, who hasn’t employed the Chesterton Neck Pinch for a while, decides that the time is ripe to grab the bestie by the shoulders and give her a good shake. Because this is what being on Earth again does to Ian. Le sigh. However, he must be given token emotional intelligence points for telling Babs to forget about how absurd it all is and concentrate on getting back. Which is pretty much where their characters had been going all last season. Barbara, Barbara, don’t let the crazy grind you down. Although in this case a large part of Barbara’s mopey turn is because she is worried that she’s going to drop dead like that bumblebee from last week. Anyway, Barbara rallies round, and Ian suggests they use the paperclips from the briefcase to make a ladder. Which, according to the infotext, ‘was Barbara’s idea until a late revision to the script’. THANK YOU, INFOTEXT, FOR THIS EVIDENCE OF BARBARA’S RESOURCEFULNESS BEING GIVEN AWAY TO IAN FOR REASONS. She suggests they also try to find out more about the death glaze (insecticide) in the briefcase, but is shot down by Ian who scoffs at her and says the other thing is much more important. AND INFOTEXT STRIKES AGAIN: ‘Ian wasn’t as dismissive of Barbara’s scripted suggestion that the briefcase would “tell us what they do here” either.’ SCRIPT REVISIONS, Y U MAKE IAN A DICKHEAD? Well, presumably for more dramatic tension, as Babs once again scrubs at her hands with Ian’s handkerchief like Lady Macbeth, but still, UGH. Back in ‘the pipe of black drapes’ (thank you, infotext), the Doctor is bloody knackered but persevering. Meanwhile, Ian is offscreen trying to figure out how to open the briefcase and refusing Barbara’s help. Because I swear to god the 1960s make Ian a bellend. He isn’t being particularly Sciency, but is just pushing the clasp; Babs suggest he tries right to left; ‘great minds think alike’, quoth Ian. BUT OH WHAT’S THIS? IT’S A GIANT FLY! MOVING AROUND LIKE THE ANIMATRONIC MARVEL IT IS JUST BEHIND BARBARA…WHO HASN’T SEEN IT! Ian opens the briefcase in manly triumph, but is somewhat deflated to discover that Babs is not sharing in his victory. That is because she is now staring at the giant fly with an expression on her face that is more resigned than terrified. As she backs away…SHE SWOONS! We have a swoon! Because this is what Barbara does in this serial. Mostly because she’s, Y’KNOW, DYING, but I don’t like how everyone’s meant to not notice she’s ill because ladies just swoon when they see giant flies. Especially ladies who have taken on Daleks and brains in jars and all manner of unsavoury characters without having had a fit of the vapours; it’s just what they do.

Enter Ian; the fly buzzes off, and he once again showcases his excellent fireman’s lift technique as he hoists Babs over his shoulder to…safety? I dunno, AWAY. Oh but here come Smithers and Forester. Smithers sasses Forester about being so dumb he’s not noticed the blood all over the patio, then assures him that he’s just in it For The Science. And he has Crazy Eyes just so we know how much he’s in it For The Science. AAAAAH and here comes possibly my favourite of the Giant Sets: THE SINK. With an actual plughole! Out of which the Doctor and Susan have clambered, and next to which the Doctor is currently lying flat on his back looking absolutely fucking knackered. Never before has a Doctor been so relatable when it comes to physical exertion. Soon, however, he’s giving Susan a lesson about echo chambers (the sink is acting like one) and admitting to not having a Scooby as to the whereabouts or indeed condition of the Space Baes.

And OH infotext, you have more gems for me: apparently, when Babs woke up from her swoon in the script, she struggled more against the Chesterton Shoulder Grab (applied with the superhuman reflexes of a man waiting for the Bae to regain consciousness) because she thought it was the fly savaging her—a thought conveyed through the following words: IS THIS THE GHASTLY EMBRACE? Oh Louis Marks. Calmed by Ian’s slightly less ghastly embrace, Babs establishes her ok-ness, while Ian tells her she gave him ‘the fright of his life’ when he saw her standing lying there. Which is to be expected, because he loves you yeahhhh yeahhh yeahhhh. (Sorry, I’ll stop making Beatles jokes.) Oh Ian, babes, I’m glad you’re telling her about your Feelings but right now she’s more concerned about the whereabouts of the fly. Which buzzed off when the humans scared it...ONTO THE PILE OF SEEDS, WHERE IT LANDED AND DIED INSTANTLY. RUH-ROH. Babs, understandably shitting herself, demands to see the dead fly; Ian once again mistakes Barbara being legit worried about dying (BUT NOT TELLING ANYONE) for Barbara just being morbid, and tries to get into the mood, relishing telling her how it must have died the moment it landed. I…I can’t even lambast Ian for being an insensitive dick here, because reading his OTT speculations as to the fly’s hideous demise as a response to Babs staring at the dead fly like he’s trying to indulge Babs in her increasingly Susan-like antics is just too funny. Though BOY does he get it wrong: Babs yells at him to stop it and turns away having mild hysterics. And Ian is just like ‘IAN DID BAD THING!?’, trotting over to her side like a concerned puppy. Pausing only to touch his hands with her insecticide-infected hands without consequence—in much the same way that the Doctor gets the smelly insecticide on him from that dead bee with no harm done (ARGH!)—Babs looks like she’s about to stop being a tit and tell him she’s dying, when… DAMMIT SUSAN! An amplified voice calls the humans’ names. Ian asks what Babs was about to tell him, and instead of telling him like a sensible person, Babs’s face lights up and she says it doesn’t matter because if they’ve found Susan it means they can get back to the ship. WHICH HELPS YOU HOW, BABS? I mean I’ve seen the end of this serial so I know getting back to the Tardis will indeed make everything ok, but do you at this point!?!? Ian punches her on the chin in delight, and off they pop in search of their Space Daughter.

Presenting: The Chesterton Chin Punch

Back in the sink, the Doctor is mansplaining acoustics to Susan the super-advanced space child who knows this baby science like the back of her hand. But hey, the Beeb has to inform its audience, so Susan has to be dumb again. Over the edge of the sink appear our two favourite teachers, and Susan is so excited to see them she has to hug her grandfather a bit. Babs and Ian marvel at their having managed to climb that drainpipe, and look cheery at the prospect of climbing down it, the loons. But first they have to climb down what is to them a thirty-foot plug chain down to the sink; Ian asks Babs whether she thinks she can make it; Babs cheerily reckons she can, and that it’ll be worth it just to Susan and the Doctor again. FAMILY. In your face, Chesterton. Who insists on going first. Outside, Smithers and Forester are clearing up the blood…which is now all over their hands so OH EM GEE THEY NEED TO USE THE SINK. And sure enough, the Doctor alerts the gang to the low rumbling of giant human voices. Babs and Ian scarper back up the chain, and the Gallifreyans jump back down the plughole. How tense! Smithers spots the dead fly and is enormously enthusiastic about the effects of DN6. Apparently he doesn’t now Farrow was trying to stop it because it worked too well. Back in the briefcase, the humans emerge and observe with some consternation that the tap is on…and OH MY GOODNESS SMITHERS HAS PULLED THE PLUG PUT AND SUSAN AND THE DOCTOR WILL BE DROWNED FOR SURE!

WILL THE GALLIFREYANS SURVIVE THIS ORDEAL BY WATER? WILL BARBARA STOP BEING A PRAT AND ACTUALLY TELL SOMEONE SHE'S DEFINITELY PROBABLY DYING AT SOME POINT? WILL IAN INVENT STILL MORE WEIRDLY COMBATIVE GESTURES OF AFFECTION/COMFORT TO MATCH THE CHESTERTON NECK PINCH, THE CHESTERTON SHOULDER RUB, AND THE CHESTERTON CHIN PUNCH? WILL THE GANG EVER GET BACK TO THEIR NORMAL SIZE, OR WILL THEY BE KNEE HIGH TO THUMBELINA FOR ALL ETERNITY? Summary (as applicable to this episode) Does it pass the Bechdel test? By a cat's whisker and only because I'm feeling generous. Is the gaze problematic? Nope. Is/are the woman companion(s) dressed 'for the Dads'? Nope. High necks and dungarees all round. Does a woman fall over/twist her ankle (whilst running from peril)? YUP (yup). Does a woman wander off alone for the sole dramatic purpose of getting into trouble so she can be rescued later? Nope. Though Barbara loitering behind for the sole dramatic purpose of getting into trouble so she can be a plot point later is a variant of the same. Is/are the woman companion(s) captured? Both Ian and Barbara are sort of captured when they're carried off in a briefcase. Does the Doctor/a man companion/any other man have to rescue the woman companion(s) from peril? Ian has to fireman's lift Babs...somewhere? Is a woman placed under threat of actual bodily harm? Yup. Babs is now dying. Does a woman have to deal with a sexual predator? Nope. Is/are the woman companion's/s' first/only reaction(s) to peril gratuitous screaming? No, but there is swooning. Does a woman faint at the sight of peril/horror or generally lose consciousness (discounting normal sleep)? Yes. Though a case could be made for Barbara's fainting fit as an early symptom of having been poisoned by insecticide. Does a woman companion go into hysterics over something reasonably minor? To Ian, Babs probably goes into hysterics over something relatively minor, but we know she's freaking out because she knows she's probably going to die. 

Is a woman 'spared' the ordeal of having to do/witness something unpleasant by a man who makes a decision on her behalf/keeps her deliberately ignorant? Nope, this week it's Babs not letting on. Which brings me to another new category... Does a woman suffer in silence (to further the plot)? AND HOW. Does a man automatically disbelieve or belittle something a woman (companion) says happened to her? Yes ish, as Ian refuses to believe that Susan and he have been shrunk. Does a man talk over a woman or talk about a woman as though she isn't there? Not enormously.

Does the woman companion have to be calmed/comforted by the Doctor/a man companion/a man? Yup.

Is a woman the first/only person to be (most gratuitously) menaced by the episode's antagonist(s)? Yup. Babs and the insecticide. Though the Doctor and Susan are menaced a fair amount by the whole plughole situation.

Is a man shamed into doing/not doing something because the alternative is a woman doing/not doing something? No. The Doctor is actually motivated by empathy in his climbing endeavours this week.

Does the woman companion come up with a plan? No. And as the infotext tells us, Babs's plan about paperclips is actually given to Ian in the revised script. BOO.

Does the woman companion do something stupid/banal/weird which inspires a man to be a Man with a Plan? Babs banging her knee on a paperclip gives Ian the paperclip ladder idea, though see above for how this was actually Barbara's idea originally.

Does a woman come up with a theory and is it ridiculed by the Doctor/a man? No.

Does a woman call the Doctor out on his bullshit? No need this week.

Does a woman get to be a badass? No. Well, Susan a bit, with the whole scaling-a-drainpipe thing, though so does the Doctor.

Is the young, strong, straight, white male lead the person most often in control of the situation? No.

Is there past/future/alien sexism? It's the present day, so N/A. 

Does a 'present'-day character call anybody out on past/future/alien sexism? N/A. Does an past/future/alien person have the hots for a woman companion and is it reciprocated? N/A.

Did a woman write/direct/produce this episode? No/No/Yes.

Verdict

More entertaining than last episode, but CHRIST ON A BIKE the humans are dumb this week. Barbara doesn't tell Ian she's probably dying PURELY to rack up the dramatic tension and (later) get Team Tardis invested in the whole insecticide plot, and Ian (who ought to know Babs better by now) fails to notice that a) she's not just being morbid this week and b) she's wandering around with his handkerchief that must surely have that distinctive smell of insecticide all over it (as must she). I do appreciate all the little moments the humans have had this week dealing with reality slapping them in the face (Babs catching herself talking about shinning down a workbench on a reel of cotton and almost losing it is one of my favourite moments this week), and I really appreciate this ongoing thread (no pun intended) of them having to deal with not only danger but also situations that are so ridiculous as to rob them of all human dignity. The sets are particularly gorgeous this week (LOVE THAT SINK SET), and I adore the Doctor's little pep talk to Susan in which he actually shows empathy towards his humans. Susan has a lot of gumption this week and is adorable when she's waving up from the sink, but I really don't appreciate it when the writers make her dumb so the Doctor can educate the kids at home. Next week, let's not have women being uncharacteristically stupid just to further the plot, ok? Ok. 

[fangirlwithapen]

Where Dreams Turn Into Nightmares

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Chapter: 14/?

Read on AO3 ; Read on fanfiction.net

Dipper Pines is willing to do anything for his twin sister Mabel. Even if it means traveling into an alternate dimension with someone he barely trusts to get her back.

Chapter 14: Reunion

Happy (late) new year everyone! I know it's been, like, a million years since I updated last, and I'm really sorry about that! Life's been hijacking my plans a lot lately, and things have been piling up for me to do! I'm gonna try as hard as I can to update more often. Enjoy!

The first thing Dipper noticed when he came to was an intense headache. He groaned, lifting his head to his hands, and he sat up onto his elbow. He was about to scan his surroundings when he was startled by a nasally voice behind him.

"Don't worry; the headache's normal after a hypnosis trance."

Dipper spun around to face the voice, not sure if he should be ready to fight something or run for his life. Instead he saw the red circular demon who had been with Diablo- Alvin, he thought- with his back to him and a light blue flame sprouting from his hands. "What... What's going on? Where am I?" He asked the demon, not fully sure if he'd get a response. After all, this was a DEMON he was dealing with, and he wasn't sure if this was gonna end in some form of bizarre mutilation.

"Storage closet. Near the Converter. I had to knock both of you out so I could convince Diablo you had collapsed of exhaustion. That way I had an excuse to get you away from there."

"Wha-" Dipper was beyond confused. This was a demon, right? One of the monsters that had kidnapped countless children- including his own SISTER- to fuel their sick dimension? Why in God's name would a demon be trying to help him and- MABEL! Where was she? Had Alvin taken him away and left Mabel to suffer in the hands of Bill and Diablo? "Where's my sister?"

Alvin didn't answer. From what Dipper could tell, he was muttering something in a language Dipper couldn't recognize over the flames that he was creating. But why?

"Hey, you! Didn't you hear me? I'm talking to you!" Dipper shakily rose to his feet, still dizzy from the trance, and stumbled over to Alvin. "Where is- Mabel!"

There she was, encapsulated in the blue flames that Alvin was creating. She was still unconscious, and from the looks of it, she wasn't breathing much. Which was a sight that Dipper did not respond well to. "HEY! What are you doing to her? Back away!"

Alvin gave Dipper a terrifying glare, one that made Dipper squeak with fear. "I'm removing the trance that Diablo placed over your sister."

Dipper swallowed nervously. "Trance?"

"Yes. Diablo cast a fear trance over Subject 621 so she would fear all other humans and try to annihilate you on sight. It's an incredibly powerful trance, so it may take some time to undo. Now step aside."

"You have done this before, right, uh... Alvin?" Dipper raised an eyebrow skeptically at Alvin.

A sheepish look appeared on Alvin's face. "Well, not exactly... no. But I've studied trances extensively, and I've memorized how to cast and undo trances. It should be fine. Now stand aside. I have work to do."

Dipper couldn't believe his ears. He was supposed to entrust his sister's fate with a demon who had never undone a trance before? "Wait just a minute, man. You've never done this before? How do I know you won't screw it up and like, erase Mabel's mind or something?"

"Stand aside," Alvin's patient tone became increasingly irritated. "I know what I'm doing."

"Only because you read about it! This is my sister we're talking about! Why should I trust you with saving her, anyway? You've been trying to kill her for weeks!"

"I SAID STAND ASIDE!" Alvin roared, and Dipper shut up immediately. "And you don't know the half of it! If it wasn't for me, your sister would have died a long time ago, boy!"

Shock filled Dipper's entire body, and he took a step backward. "What... what did you say?" He sputtered.

"I'm sure you remember the DVD we sent you of Subject 621's dreams, yes?"

How could Dipper forget it? He had watched his sister go through torture; that DVD was probably something Dipper would never forget, no matter how hard he tried.

"Well, before we filmed the DVD, Diablo had entirely different plans for her. He originally planned to keep the dream the same, except he wanted to let your sister bleed out on camera while you and your family watched. It was me who convinced him to keep her alive, boy! I told Diablo that her dreams could give the Converter enough power to keep the Dreamscape running for decades. Luckily, he believed me, and he let me patch her up afterwards."

Dipper breathed shakily and heavily. Man, Diablo was gonna make him watch his own sister's death? He couldn't believe it. Dipper had seen a lot of messed-up crap since he'd been in the Dreamscape, but absolutely nothing in the universe would have been more painful or horrifying than that. Just the thought was like a punch to Dipper's stomach. "What- why would you want to save her?"

Alvin sighed as he continued to work. "You may not believe this, but I have a family too. And I know I would be absolutely crushed if anything happened to them. Family is... It's one of the most important things in the universe to me. I've done a lot of things that I desperately wish I could take back while I've been under Diablo's care, but I would never purposely tear apart a family. And when I saw that Diablo wasn't afraid to annihilate your twin and your family- that was the last straw for me."

"Wow." Dipper came closer to Alvin, flashing him a soft smile. "I just- I don't know how to thank you, man. Mabel's the most important person in the whole world to me and I just... I wanna thank you for giving her back to me."

Alvin looked over at the grateful twelve-year-old standing next to him. He could tell that Dipper was trying to act mature and calm-well, as calm as one can be when his sister has been abducted by an insane demon overlord- but he was failing. Alvin could easily see the fear and innocence etched all over the boy's face, and to be quite frank, it broke his heart a little. Granted, if any other demon, even, God forbid, Diablo, found out that he felt sympathy for a weak, feeble-minded 12-year-old human, he would be cast out of this dimension faster than you could say treason. But Alvin had stopped caring what the other demons and his boss thought of him a long time ago. He was done ruining lives under Diablo's watch. So done.

After a few more minutes, Alvin finished his incantation and released his fiery grip on Dipper's sister. Both the demon and the boy watched her in anticipation, praying that she would open her eyes and be back to her normal self. Well, anyway, half of that happened at first. Dipper nudged her softly and she stirred, opening her eyes slowly and groaning. Dipper smiled lightly, sighing in relief. But his smile faded when she inched away from him.

"Dipper?" Mabel squeaked, almost sounding frightened of him.

He couldn't understand why she was afraid of him. She was his twin; they'd lived together, played together, and been best friends for their entire lives! Didn't she know that he would never in a million years try to hurt her? "It's me, Mabel," he said hesitantly, "It's Dipper."

She stayed silent, but the fear still remained in her eyes as they darted to Alvin, standing next to Dipper.

"It's okay, Mabel," Dipper said soothingly. "Alvin's not gonna hurt you. He's the reason we're together again. He saved your life!"

The mask of fear still remained frozen on Mabel's face as she stared Dipper dead in the eyes. "How... How do I know that you're not like the others?"

"The others?"

"They- they always acted the same. They would pretend they cared, that they were sorry for everything that happened down there, in the basement. Then they stopped; they took it all back and- they hurt me. Badly." She sucked in a breath, trying to contain her composure. "How do I know you're not gonna do the same thing?"

Dipper swallowed thickly. He couldn't really describe what he was feeling; it was somewhere between rage and melancholy. He felt an intense, burning rage at Diablo for making his sister go through all that crap, and at the same time he felt a deep sadness with her, with everything she had experienced in her time here. He knelt down so he could face Mabel, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Listen to me, Mabel." He lifted her head with his hand. "I can't begin to know what's happened to you here. I've only heard bits and pieces, and what I've heard is messed up, sis. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you from it. And I can't promise you that I'll protect you from everything from here on in, because I'm not perfect, and you know that. But I swear, I'm gonna try my hardest to. I'm gonna protect you from as much as I can, just like you protect me from bullies at school and the weird things in Gravity Falls. Because you're my sister, and my twin, and my best friend, and- as much as I hate to say it- you're the Alpha Twin. But you've gotta trust me if we wanna get out of here. Grunkle Stan is waiting for us somewhere, and you need to trust that we will keep you safe from now on, okay? Will you rejoin the Mystery Twins?"

Mabel stayed silent for a minute, scanning Dipper's face for any dishonesty or any sign that this was like her dreams. Meanwhile Dipper held his breath in anticipation, hoping with all his might that she believed him. After what seemed like an eternity to Dipper, Mabel smiled tearily and replied, "You know it, Bro-Bro."

Dipper couldn't help but laugh in joy as he grinned and pulled his twin in for a long awaited hug. For a moment, it didn't even register in Dipper's mind that they were in the basement of a genocidal dream factory and they were probably being hunted by a demon who wouldn't hesitate to blast them off the face of the earth if he found them. For that small moment, it was just him and Mabel in a little time-defiant bubble. Dipper knew that soon they would have to get moving again, but for right now he really didn't care. They Mystery Twins were finally back in action, and for that one infinitesimal moment, that was all that mattered.

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 19

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

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Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

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Tapping her foot on the carpeted floor, Padmé bit her fingers as she was seated on the sofa, waiting for her guests to arrive. It was already half-past nine on her square clock and her friends hadn’t arrived yet. With the curfew in place, she presumed they were held back by the patrols.

According to Dooku, anyone who was out after half past seven would either be taken for questioning or executed on the spot. Just last week, a man was shot in the head for buying powdered milk for his baby daughter. In another case, a homeless person disappeared after they were found sleeping underneath the bridge.

It was necessary in order to maintain the peace on the planet, but Padmé felt it was unnecessary. Coruscant was doing fine when Palpatine was still alive. Sure, they were attacked by the Separatist before, but they rebuilt from the damage, except for the lower levels.

The people living in the lower levels were struggling to get fresh air, which contributed to the mortality rate and asthma rate among infants and children. Their waters were also laced with lead, and their houses weren’t built to sustain the damage they received from the upper-level, making them more vulnerable during the Battle of Coruscant.

Dooku had evacuated them out of the disaster area afterwards, but he never mentioned where they went, or what happened to them. Padmé assumed the worst, considering the Emperor is no stranger to cruelty and genocide. She could only hope the folks were surviving this new ordeal.

With a massive blackout, the candles were lit in every corner, including the dining table. Padmé could finally see the stars in the sky, but she felt trapped, like a bird in the cage. It’s only a matter of time before Agent Doherty stormed her apartment and arrested her on the spot for dissent against the government.

Before C-3P0 could check on her, she heard a knock on the door. I hope it’s them.

Padmé took a deep breath and answered the door, finding her longtime friend, Riyo Chuchi standing in front of her, along with Commander Fox, Commander Tori, and ARC Trooper Dipper.

“Hello, Padmé,” Riyo chirped, her arms widened. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Riyo, you actually came,” Padmé embraced. “I missed you so much.”

“I miss you too. I was so worried about you, especially since you’re stuck in this hellhole.”

“I know,” she held her hand. “I hope nothing bad happened to you all during this curfew.”

“No trouble at all, Senator,” Commander Fox assured. “We’ve received your message on base and we’re here to help you.”

“Commander Fox, it is an honour to see you again,” Threepio greeted him. “It’s weird not having you around.”

“It’s good to see you again, Goldie. Hope you’re holding up alright.”

“I’m fine, thanks you very much.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Commander,” Padmé shook his hand. “Also, you don’t have to be so formal with me. You can just call me Padmé instead.”

“Then it’s a pleasure to meet you, Padmé,” Tori spoke, smiling at the senator. “I’m Tori and this is my daughter, Frieda, and my best soldier, Dipper.”

Padmé let out a grin as she shook hands with the little girl. “Hello, Frieda. I love your dress. You look so pretty.”

“Thank you,” Frieda replied. “You are pretty too, like a princess.”

“You’re so cute. How old are you?”

“I’m five years old,” Frieda held up five fingers, making her ruffle her hair.

“She’s a clever child,” Padmé praised her, as she led them to the dining room, filled with platters of food on the tables, along with the candles in the middle.

The food she had prepared wasn’t war rations like the four of them were used to. Rather, there were platters of roasted potatoes, lamb shanks, buttered broccolis, and berry pavlova for dessert.

Tori’s eyes widened as her mouth watered at the sight of the luxurious meal. The last delicious thing she ever ate was mala chicken that Lira and Eva ordered from a restaurant downtown. Even then, she had never had this much food before.

“That’s a lot you cooked,” she commented, as she took a seat beside Dipper. “It’s scrumptious. I like it.”

“It’s not much,” shrugged Padmé, placing a baby chair next to Tori. “Besides, you came all the way to Coruscant, so I thought you needed some energy for tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Dipper smiled at her. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“It’s the least I could do, Dipper. Say, I never met you before. Could you tell me a bit about yourself?”

Dipper scratched the back of his neck, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, I’m an ARC Trooper and I like to read books whenever I have time.”

“Really? What books do you read?”

“Oh, I always loved mystery and crime novels. Punishment and Crime is my absolute favourite.”

“I like that book too,” Padmé giggled. “It’s an absolute classic. By the way, I love your hair and your Big Dipper tattoo. I bet you were popular with the ladies.”

“Thank you, Padmé,” he accepted her compliment. “But I’m actually gay.”

“Oh, my apologies. I bet you were popular with the men out there.”

“Well, I wish.”

Fox chewed on his food as he listened to their conversations, reminding him when he was first assigned to Coruscant. But then he remembered why he was here. “As much as I don’t want to interrupt this lovely conversation, we need to discuss our mission.”

“Of course, Commander Fox,” Padmé cleared her throat, as she explained her plan to them. “I want you all to continue the investigation of Chancellor Palpatine’s murder. The Emperor announced to the Senate that he would be more transparent with the investigation, but whenever we demanded answers, he didn’t comment on that.”

“If he didn’t want to say anything, then he’s guilty,” said Riyo, slurping on her drink.

“Which is why I called you all here on Coruscant to help me investigate the Chancellor’s death. I learned from an ISB agent that the case files were kept in his penthouse.”

“Oh dear,” Fox expressed his disdain. “That sounds a lot like a trap.”

“I know, but the place is unguarded, with only sensors to keep away intruders.”

“That is suspicious,” Tori sided with Fox. “For all I know, the Imperials could wait for us when we get there, and that is the last thing we want.”

“I understand your doubts, and I’m aware how risky it is,” Padmé sighed. “But those files could help turn the tides of the war. If you want to defeat the Empire, then exposing the truth is the only way to win.”

Riyo stroked her chin, bobbing her head. “She has a point, Fox. If the entire galaxy learned who killed Palpatine, then we could get as much support as we need.”

Fox turned to Dipper, who was indulging in his dessert. “What about you, trooper? Do you think we should search for Palpatine’s murderer?”

The latter put down his fork as he pondered for a moment, before making up his mind. “We made it this far, so might as well help Padmé with the Chancellor’s death. Besides, I do like myself some mysteries in life.”

“Then I guess we’ve made our decision,” Padmé decided their fate.

“Alright then, we’ll help you with the mission,” Fox resigned to the final votes. “But as soon as we’re done, we’re getting you out of here. Understood?”

“Understood, Commander.”

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 73

Eyyyyyyy look at me finishing a chapter on Thanksgiving. Because of course I would. Either way this one is hella cute and filled with all them good Dipifica vibes i won’t shut up about, also god bless its finally canon. Anyway I’ll stop spoiling the chapter and let you at it. Enjoy!

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/188894376744/universe-falls-chapter-72

***

Chapter 73: Mismatched Making

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For the past several weeks, the Crystal Temple had sat still and silent, its usual inhabitants having taken up shop at the barn out in the countryside to finish their progress on the drill. Likewise, the Mystery Shack was also rather silent, for while Stan had more or less remained there to maintain the gift shop and the museum while the rest of his family was away, for the past day or so he had been absent, a large closed sign hanging from the door all the while. However, that peaceful quiet all but came to an end as the conman’s car pulled up in front of the shack to let out the far too many passengers that had piled into it for the trip back. 

“We’re home!” Steven exclaimed brightly, bursting out of the vehicle first with both Dipper and Mabel not too far behind. 

“Oh, it’s been so long!” Mabel proclaimed dramatically, hopping up onto the shack’s porch to hug one of its support beams. “I almost forgot what this old place looked like!”

“Mabel, we’ve only been gone a few weeks,” Dipper chuckled, amused. 

“A few weeks too many!” Steven chimed in, already running towards the hill that led up to the temple. The Gems followed after him, ready to finally settle back in themselves, something they readily started doing the moment the young Gem first burst back in through the front door. “Hello, house!” he greeted blithely, running inside. 

The Gems all chuckled amongst themselves as they watched their young ward run about, refamiliarizing himself with his cozy home. “Hello, bed!” Steven grinned, flopping onto said bed as he switched his television on. “Hello, TV! We’ve got some catching up to do. Hello, kitchen!” he continued, rushing back downstairs to throw the fridge open. “Hello, food--augh!” The young Gem quickly stumbled back, rushing to cover his nose to avoid the overwhelmingly foul stench coming from the fridge. 

“Uh oh, did that cake go bad?” Amethyst asked, taking a peek inside at the rotten assortment of food. 

“That was a cake?!” Steven gawked in disbelief before he quickly picked himself up off the ground to head towards the door. 

“Steven, where are you going?” Pearl asked curiously. “I thought you were all excited about being back home.”

“And I am!” Steven grinned. “But now that I’ve gotten ‘re-acquainted’ with home, I’ve gotta do the same with the Mystery Shack! And with Dipper and Mabel and Mr. Pines and Mr. Ford!”

“Dude, we literally just saw them like… 5 minutes ago,” Amethyst pointed out, deadpan. 

“And I miss them already!” the young Gem heaved a heavy sigh, leaning against the door. “See you guys later!”

As Steven set out to head back down to the shack, the Pines family was just stepping inside, all eager to pick up their usual flow of activity where they’d left off. “Ah, finally,” Ford sighed rather contentedly as he made a beeline to the basement stairs. “Back to my real lab again. Even if we did manage to build a functional, earth-piercing drill there, working out of a barn is… less than ideal when it comes to in-depth, tactile scientific research. Also, I miss my favorite reading chair. And my favorite coffee maker, unlike the one at the barn that Peridot broke. Twice...”

“Heh, yeah, that’s right, sixer, head on back down to your ‘nerd cave’,” Stan called as the author began to trudge down to the basement. “Meanwhile, I’ve got real work to do. Like marking up all these prices!” The conman quickly began doing just that, working his way through the gift shop to raise the tabs on just about everything. “Shack’s been closed for two days now; I’ve gotta make up for all those lost profits somehow! Though… I guess I could always cut Soos and Wendy’s pay again… hm…”

While Stan pondered over this plan, Dipper and Mabel eagerly ran past him to head back up their usual space in the attic, ready to make themselves comfortable within it once more. “Yeeeesssss!” Mabel cheered as she burst through the door first. “Bed!” she happily jumped onto her bed, high fiving each of her colorful posters along the wall and ceiling as she did. “Posters!” As she flopped down onto her stomach, she didn’t hesitate to wrap her nearby pet pig up in a tight, affectionate hug, glad to see him again after all the time they’d been apart. “Waddles! Ah, it’s so great to be back! Dontcha think so, bro-bro?”

“I gotta admit, I do,” Dipper grinned as he much more calmly reclined on his bed. “Especially since we don’t really have anything to worry about for the change. The Cluster’s under control, Lapis is finally free from being Malachite and her and Peridot are ok with living together. Even that group of Rubies is out of our hair with no problems at all. For once, it looks like everything is finally gonna be ok.”

“You can say that again!” Steven chimed in as he entered the attic blithely. “We’ve been through a lot of really tough, dangerous stuff this summer. But now that it’s all over, we can spend the rest of our summer just hanging out and having fun!”

“Yeah! Like all those kids in those wacky summer comedies!” Mabel exclaimed excitedly. 

“I love those kinds of movies!” the young Gem quipped brightly. 

“So do I!” 

“Heh, well while you guys are off having your ‘wacky summer comedy’,” Dipper chuckled as he leaned back on his his bed again. “I’m gonna use this as much-needed chance to hang back and relax.”

“You? ‘Relax’?” Mabel scoffed. “Pfft, I don’t believe it. Just watch, Steven, it’ll be no time at all before he’s out and about with one of the journals, hunting down some monster or mystery or something, just like he always does.”

“Oh, come on, Mabel, I’m not that predictable,” Dipper protested, sitting up. “Sure I like a good mystery hunt every now and then, but after dealing with so many of them this summer, I… kinda wouldn’t mind a change of pace. Maybe I’ll try my hand at hunting down something else for a change.”

“Oh yeah?” Mabel asked with a challenging smirk. “Like what?”

“Like…” Dipper trailed off, admittedly unsure of what to say. After all, he’d spent so much time lately embroiled in one mystery, one fight, one disaster after another. So much time spent struggling in the loudest of moments to win the quiet moments like these. And now that they finally had these quiet moments, admittedly, he really had no idea what to do with them. 

Fortunately, he didn’t have to supply an answer to his sister’s question as the shack’s doorbell abruptly rang out. “Well, right now, I guess I’m hunting down the door,” he said succinctly, slipping out of the conversation to answer it. 

“Wait… how can you hunt down a door…?” Steven wondered, confused, though all the same, him and Mabel followed along after Dipper to see who had arrived. The initial speculation on all sides was that it was probably the Gems, though it was a bit odd for them to not just enter without knocking or ringing as they usually did. Though who was actually at the door was just about the very last person any of the kids could have expected, even from the moment Dipper first swung it open. 

“P-Pacifica!?” Dipper exclaimed, absolutely baffled to see the heiress standing in front of him. Even more bewildering was the fact that, unlike the last time she had ventured out to the shack to seek his help, this time, Pacifica hadn’t come in any sort of heavy coat or concealing disguise. Rather, she was in her usual fashionable attire, her expression pensive and her hands held tightly behind her back before she greeted him back with a somewhat awkward wave. 

“O-oh! Uh, h-hey, Dipper,” she said, smiling rather tightly. “Looks like you’re back--finally. N-not that I haven’t been hanging out around here waiting for you to get back ever since that day we spent at the mines, b-because that would be weird, obviously, but… um… what was I talking about again?”

“I… honestly have no idea,” Dipper frowned, confused before breaking into a small, cordial smile. “But anyway, hi, Pacifica. What brings you all the way out here-”

“Pacifica!” Mabel suddenly interrupted, pushing her brother aside to brightly greet the heiress. “Hi! How are you?! Did you come out here to invite all of us to another super glitzy, glamorous party? Because if you are, we are so on board, the last one was so fun! 

“Yeah, it was!” Steven interjected just as cheerfully. “Ya know, aside from the vengeful ghost and crazy Gem mutants. But that’s the sort of stuff we deal with all the time, so I guess it was nothing too out of the ordinary.”

“Oh… you guys are here too…” Pacifica’s smile fell as she looked between Steven and Mabel. “Great…”

“Uh, so…” Dipper cut in, squeezing his way back into the conversation between the pair. “Like I was trying to ask before, what’s up, Pacifica? You need some help busting another ghost or dealing with a pack of angry, city-slick dwarves?” 

The heiress couldn’t help but let out something of a small laugh at this, one that Dipper slightly joined in on, not noticing as Steven, and Mabel in particular, watched the exchange curiously. “No, nothing like that,” Pacifica smirked. “I was just… um… w-well, you remember how you said after your how drill thing was over, we’d… uh… h-hang out?”

“Yeah…?” Dipper nodded, raising an eyebrow before he realized Pacifica’s intention in coming all this way to see him. “Oh, wait, you mean right now?”

“Uh… I mean, if you wanna?” she shrugged apprehensively. “I-if you’re busy though, I-I totally get it. I can always come back some other time.”

“I mean, we did only get back from the barn for weeks on end just a few minutes ago…” Dipper noted with an earnest frown. “But…”

“But he’s totally free and he would totally love to hang out with you!” Mabel sharply interrupted, excitedly pushing her brother out the door a bit. “Wouldn’t you, Dipper?”

“Uh… well…” Dipper hesitated for a moment before meeting Pacifica’s hopeful expression. She offered him a small, almost demure smile, one that carried none of the cold haughtiness she often used to front, but instead, it was completely honest, completely genuine. And if there was something that Dipper knew well from experience, it was that Pacifica was always at her very best when she was at her most genuine. “You know what? Sure, why not. It’ll be fun.”

“R-really?” Pacifica asked, quite surprised to hear this as her cheeks flushed the slightest pink. 

“Yes, really!” Mabel exclaimed as she pushed Dipper out towards Pacifica even more, urging the pair off. “Now, go on, get outta here, you crazy kids! Go out and make some memories!”

“Yeah, and have fun!” Steven called after the two as they exchanged a somewhat startled glance, though ultimately decided to head off together towards town all the same. Leaving a very satisfied and a somewhat confused Steven behind. “Huh… that’s… kinda weird,” the young Gem noted. “I wonder when Dipper and Pacifica became such good friends.”

“Friends?” Mabel scoffed. “Steven, please. Those two aren’t just friends. They’re absolutely, 100%, head over heels in love with each other!”

“Whaaaaat?!” Steven exclaimed, dumbfounded. “But… how can you tell?”

“Just look at them!” Mabel motioned towards the pair as they headed off down the forest trail. They lingered noticeably close beside each other as they casually conversed and caught up, sharing the occasional warm laugh along the way. “The rich, elegant heiress with a hidden heart of gold; the awkward, nerdy bookworm who’s looking for something more in his life. Its like something out of a fairy tale, a true, forbidden romance, just like Romeo and Juliet! Though hopefully with a lot less dying involved…”

“Eh, I don’t know, Mabel…” Steven frowned, crossing his arms. “I’m pretty sure Dipper and Pacifica are just friends.”

“Oh sure they are now,” Mabel said with a flippant wave of her hand. “But the sparks of something deeper are there, for sure. And if you don’t take it from me, then why don’t we just go see for ourselves.”

“What do you mean?” the young Gem asked, confused. 

“I mean,” Mabel put on a wry, daring smirk as she wrapped an arm around Steven’s shoulder and nodded off to the path Dipper and Pacifica had just taken. “You and me going undercover, Steven. For the sake... of LOVE!”

***

Neither Dipper nor Pacifica had any particular plans in mind as they ventured into town together to spend the afternoon. After all, Gravity Falls was a rather small town with not too much to offer in the way of man-made attractions, but even so, they decided to make do with what they had. Though as they first set out on the town, Pacifica did make it a point to make herself rather scarce, doing everything she could to conceal both herself and Dipper from anyone who so much as looked like they had a camera at the ready. It was a strange, sort of anxious behavior, one that Dipper quickly picked up on, especially as the heiress pulled them both into another alley for what seemed like the fifth time in the past hour. 

“Uh… Pacifica?” he asked as she peeked around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. “What are you doing?”

“Huh?” Pacifica turned back to him, startled before throwing on a forced, casual grin. “Oh, uh, n-nothing! Just, uh… hanging out in a dark alley, like all you middle class people do!”

“Uh, I hate to break it to you, Pacifica, but most middle class people don’t do that,” Dipper pointed out, somewhat amused until his smile faded somewhat. “You know, if you’re embarrassed to be hanging out with me, you can just admit it. At least then we won’t have to keep ducking in and out of alleyways every five minutes.”

“Embara--what? No!” the heiress quickly shook her head, flustered. “I’m not embarrassed by you. It’s just…” She hesitated, glancing away in anxious shame, almost as if she was afraid to tell him the truth. Though as she met his patient, expectant expression once more, she ultimately folded and decided to do just that. “I’ve never… ‘hung out’ with anyone before. Heck, I’ve never even had any real friends before, just fake ones that my parents hand picked for me, This sort of thing is all new to me and I’m just… scared, I guess, that I might mess it up. Or even worse, that my parents might find out and keep us from hanging out anymore. I mean, no offense, but… you’re not exactly their… favorite person…”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Dipper remarked with a bit of a sardonic grin, though his manner turned serious as he placed a consoling hand on Paifica’s shoulder. “But… if you really are worried about word getting back to your parents, then… I think I know somewhere we can go where nobody will be around to snitch on us.

For a moment, the most Pacifica could do was look to him, surprised and bewildered that he was willing to accommodate her so easily, all for the sake of making her feel more comfortable. But in the end, she smiled, warmly, almost daringly accepting the hand he was holding out to her to let him take her away to wherever he might lead. And that’s exactly what he did. 

Though just as the pair slipped out of the alley as discreetly as they could, the lid of the dumpster tucked away within it suddenly flipped open. And out of it, both Steven and Mabel popped up, their ‘undercover’ mission steadily underway. 

“Aha! See, Steven?” Mabel asked with an eager grin. “Just like I said, it’s forbidden love! And what’s better yet is they aren’t even about to let that stop them, they’re sneaking off to go hang out together alone anyway! Augh, it's so beautiful and so romantic I could cry! Speaking of which, you brought that box of tissues, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Steven nodded, handing said tissues off to her. “But… I don’t know… I still think they’re hanging out just as friends, Mabel.”

“But Dipper took her hand, Steven!” Mabel protested. “He took her hand! That’s always how it starts, and then it builds and builds from there until they’re in smooch city! Believe me, I’ve read enough $5 romance novels from the grocery store to know all about these sorts of things.”

“Hm… well, you do seem like an expert when it comes to love,” Steven noted. “I mean, you’ve been in plenty of relationships yourself, right?”

“You bet I have!” Mabel grinned proudly. “Like the time I… uh, actually, let’s not count when I dated all those gnomes. Ew, or Gideon either… Mermando was nice, but… he was the one that got away… and ugh, and let’s not even bring up Gabe. And not to mention my massive crush on youuuuuuu-” She trailed off, her eyes wide  as she looked to Steven, realizing what she had practically just let slip until she found a rather sloppy way to recover from it. “Y-your sandals! T-they’re so… pink and cute a-and… I love them!”

“Um… thanks?” the young Gem raised a confused eyebrow at this, though thankfully, he didn’t seem to suspect anything else of it, much to Mabel’s immense relief. “So, you think maybe we should just let Dipper and Pacifica hang out without us spying on them from afar to see if they’re in love?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I don’t!” Mabel exclaimed, more than ready to change the subject. “We’ve barely even scratched the surface when it comes to those two adorable lovebirds! Now come on!” She boldly pointed in the direction Dipper and Pacifica had went, ever curious to see just where their unplanned day might take them next. Or ideally, how that day might end up bringing them closer together. “We’ve got ourselves a romance to watch blossom!”

***

True to his word, Dipper wasted no time in leading Pacifica not only out of town, but away from prying eyes that might carry word of her rather rebellious activities back to her parents. Instead, he took her back towards the forest, heading out past the temple and the shack and out into the open woods before venturing off the beaten path entirely. Pacifica was rather hesitant as she watched him do so, unsure if she should follow after him as she stared into the light-speckled shadows deep within the vast labyrinth of trees ahead. 

“Uh… are you sure about this?” she asked, frowning at the untamed shrubbery he expected her to head after him into. 

“What?” Dipper asked with something of a challenging grin. “You wanted to make you weren’t caught hanging out with me, right? Well, nobody’s gonna catch us all the way out here, I can guarantee that.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Pacifica paused, frowning down at her outfit, one that was quite ill-suited for traversing the wilds of the woods. “It’s like, super gross and dirty out there…” She caught herself, however, upon looking back to Dipper, who could only really raise a critical eyebrow at such a shallow concern. “A-and isn’t it also sort of dangerous too?” the heiress recanted, coming up with a much better excuse. “What if we run into a bear or a rabid chipmunk or something? Why don’t you have that weird magic sword of yours, just in case?”

“First of all, the Sword of Seasons wasn’t magic, it was technology,” Dipper pointed out before his tone turned slightly embarrassed. “And uh… I sort of… dropped it into the lake on accident. It’s a long story, but don’t worry. We won’t need it anyway.”

“Oh yeah?” Pacifica crossed her arms. “And how do you know that?”

“Because,” Dipper pulled back a few branches leading into an obscured clearing deeper into the woods. “What we’re looking for is right here.”

“It’s… a mailbox?” Pacifica frowned, absolutely confused as she joined Dipper in walking towards it. Sure enough, it was a simple, unextraordinary mailbox, resting alone and rather mismatched against the forest that surrounded it. “Ok, I’m lost,” the heiress shook her head. “You really dragged me all the way out here to the middle of nowhere to look at a boring old mailbox. Is this really what people do when they hang out? Or is this just some weird nerd thing of yours?”

“Oh, this isn’t just any ordinary, boring old mailbox,” Dipper corrected with a knowing smirk. “Its magical. I… think. To be honest, I’m still not actually sure about how it works but trust me, its weird.”

“A magical mailbox?” Pacifica chuckled incredulously. “You know, Pines, I knew you were into some strange, kinda dumb stuff, but this is a little out there, even for you.”

“No, it really works!” Dipper protested insistently as he reached into his backpack to pull out a notebook and a pen. “Watch this.” 

The heiress did so, observing as he wrote a simple greeting of ‘hello’ onto a page before ripping it out of the book and slipping it inside the mailbox. For a moment, nothing really happened at all, that is until the mailbox’s flag suddenly flipped upward entirely on its own accord. “W-what?” Pacifica balked, taken aback by this, though Dipper simply offered her a coy grin as he opened the mailbox and pulled an entirely new slip of paper out of it.

“Out there, huh?” his smirk widened as he showed her the page, which unexplainably read ‘Hello, Dipper and Pacifica,” as plain as day.

“H-how did you do that?!” Pacifica demanded, taking the page and looking over it in disbelief. She was quick to turn back to the mailbox itself, peeking inside to see if there was any hidden chamber or compartment inside. “Is this some sort of weird prank or something?!”

“No, its not,” Dipper laughed, thoroughly amused. “Amethyst and Garnet told me about this mailbox that can answer basically any question, so me and Soos came out here to see if it actually existed a few weeks back. And it turns out, it’s totally the real deal. It knows pretty much everything”

“Hmph, I don’t buy it,” the heiress scoffed.

“Then why don’t you try it out for yourself,” Dipper offered his pen and paper to her, which she readily snatched to pose the mailbox a question. 

“Alright, ‘magic mailbox’,” she snarked as she scribbled her question down before tossing it into the box. “If you’re so ‘all-knowing’, then what did I have for breakfast this morning?”

The mailbox was quick to come up with a response, its flag tipping upward once more just before Pacifica quickly retrieved her answer and read it aloud. “Strawberry crepes suzette with quiche lorraine and imported no-pulp orange juice’?! How does it know that?!”

“Like I said, I have no idea,” Dipper shrugged. “You can ask it anything and it just knows somehow! Isn’t it cool?”

“...Anything, huh?” Pacifica mused thoughtfully, tapping the pen against the paper for a moment as she looked between the mailbox and Dipper. And then, she tipped the notebook up a bit, scribbling another quick question onto it and making sure to keep it out of Dipper’s sight all the while. 

“What are you writing?” he asked, intrigued as he tried to peer over the top of the notebook and see. 

“Nothing!” Pacifica lightly pushed him away, letting out a small, somewhat flustered laugh as she did. “I-I just wanna know something really dumb.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” 

“Like nothing,” she insisted, beating him to the mailbox as she shoved her question inside. Sure enough, it delivered another answer, one that only came in the form of a simple ‘yes’. The heiress was unable to hold back a small, delighted gasp as she read it, one that only made Dipper all the more curious to know what she had asked. 

“Come on, seriously, what did you ask?” he pressed with a wry smile as he began to follow her out of the clearing. 

“It doesn’t matter,” she grinned with a playful wave of her hand.

“Well you sure seem happy about it, so yeah, I think it kinda does.”

“Oh, mind your own business!” she shoved him once more, though this time, he lightly shoved her back, eliciting a shared, bright laugh from them both as they continued back into the woods from whence they came. 

As soon as they’d left, however, Steven and Mabel emerged from their own hiding spot beyond the other side of the clearing, both of them still intent on spying on the pair’s adventures from afar. “Playful pushing? Him showing her magicy stuff? Her getting all excited over a question she wouldn’t let him see?” Mabel listed, growing steadily more excited as she did. “It’s all too good to be true!”

“It is?” Steven asked. “How?”

“Don’t you see, Steven?” Mabel replied, stars practically brimming in her eyes as she hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. “Those are all classic slow burn romance tropes! The evidence just keeps stacking up. And I have a feeling that they’re nowhere close to finished yet!”

***

And sure enough, they weren’t. For as the next day arrived, Pacifica showed up at the Mystery Shack, this time on Dipper’s invitation for them to hang out once again. Just like the day prior, the pair set out into the forest rather than into town, and just as before, Steven and Mabel followed after them, watching from the shadows as they spent more time together. 

“And then we found the Gems’ lost memories about Great Uncle Ford and the portal, but that’s a whole other long story that leads into several more long stories,” Dipper recounted as he led the way through the forest and across a small stream. 

“Wait, let me see if I can get this all straight,” Pacifica interjected, holding her hands up. “So your great uncle actually has a twin brother who was trapped in another dimension for the past 30 years. And the whole time, your uncle was trying to bring that brother back using this huge portal that was secretly under the Mystery Shack the entire time but no one knew about it?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Dipper nodded. 

“And the Gems factor into all this… how?”

“They sort of… don’t for a pretty long time. Like I said before, they lost their memories about all of this thanks to their leader, Rose, erasing them after they were possessed by…” Dipper trailed off, his expression darkening at the mere thought of the dream demon. “Y-you know what? N-never mind that right now.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Pacifica sighed, relieved. “I feel like my brain’s about to burst from everything you’ve been telling me. Your life is like some crazy movie or huge story written by a psychopath or something. Seriously, how do you deal with all these massive bombshell shake ups all the time?”

“Eh, you learn to just deal with them as they come,” Dipper shrugged, hopping up onto a nearby log to take a seat. Pacifica joined him, glad for the much needed break from their ongoing hike, though even so, she watched in curious confusion as Dipper pulled a snack out of his bag that she was entirely unfamiliar with. 

“What’s that?” she asked, intrigued by the oddly shaped sandwich. 

“Oh, it’s peanut butter and jelly,” Dipper grinned, offering half to her. “Mabel packed it for me before we left and for some reason she cut it into a heart shape and said it was ‘for luck’, whatever that means. Anyway, you can have some if you’re hungry.”

Pacifica didn’t immediately accept his offer, instead looking over the half-heart sandwich with a furrowed brow of confusion. “You said this is a… peanut--who and… what, exactly?”

“What, you’ve never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before?” Dipper asked with an incredulous chuckle before meeting the heiress’s dumbfounded expression once more. “Oh my gosh, you’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Is this some sort of… poor person snack?” Pacifica wondered, holding the sandwich up to get a better look at it. “N-not that being poor is a bad thing! It’s just… I-I’m not really allowed to anything that doesn’t cost over at least $100 per tiny gourmet plate portion, so… yeah…”

“Are you kidding?” Dipper asked in apt disbelief. “Your parents don’t even let you eat what you want?”

“Heh, welcome to the super ‘glamorous’ world of a Northwest,” the heiress laughed somewhat bitterly.

“Well, here’s your official welcome into the super average world of a Pines,” Dipper countered, placing his half of the sandwich into her open hand with a playful grin. “And unlike most of your high class gourmet meals, this one’s completely free.”

Pacifica tried her best to suppress the sudden blush that filled her cheeks as she accepted his offering, though all the same, she was still a bit hesitant to try the sandwich for herself. Until, of course, she ventured her first bite of the sandwich. “Mm! This is sooo good!” she exclaimed, her eyes alight with newfound discovery. She disregarded all the proper manners she had been taught in favor of voicing her overwhelming excitement over such a simple treat. “The bread’s so soft and it’s all so creamy, but then there’s like… little nuts in it too? I love that!”

“That’s the power of chunky peanut butter,” Dipper chuckled warmly, amused by the heiress’s elation as she scarfed down another bite. 

“And this fruity taste? What is that?”

“Strawberry jam. So technically, it’s more of a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but eh, same difference.”

“Whatever it is, it’s amazing!” Pacifica grinned as she finished off the other half. “And you just eat stuff like that all the time?!”

“Eh, maybe not all the time, but PB&J is a longtime favorite for me and Mabel for a reason,” Dipper said, still laughing, especially as he noticed the small smudge of jam marring the heiress’s face. “Oh, hey, you got a little something on your cheek there.”

“Huh?” Pacifica reached up, rubbing just shy of the jam that she missed it entirely. 

“Here, I got it,” Dipper slipped his vest off, not really having anything else but the corner of it to wipe the heiress’ face clean. He stopped short as soon as he did however, suddenly caught off guard by exactly what he was doing, and exactly how close their faces happened to be as he did. In the briefest, most breathless of moments, he caught sight of her eyes, wide and wondering as they practically sparkled in the low light coming in through the trees above. Eyes that were staring at nothing else in the world at that moment... other than him. “I-I… s-sorry,” he quickly recanted, backing off as he hastily threw his vest back on and slipped off the log to stand. “W-we should probably get going.”

“O-oh…” Pacifica frowned somewhat, slowly, almost sadly returning to reality as she did the same. “Yeah, you’re right… Um… thanks, by the way, for the… what was it called again? Sandy Witch?”

“Sandwich,” Dipper corrected with a smirk. “And you’re welcome. I’ll be sure to bring you another one when we hang out again tomorrow.”

“T-tomorrow…” Pacifica repeated, her former smile returning in full force upon hearing this. “Yeah, tomorrow. I can hardly wait…”

“Steven, please tell me you saw that!” Mabel whispered as she looked out of her hiding spot just behind the log the pair had been sitting on moments ago. “Because it was absolutely adorable!”

“Yeah, that was really cute,” Steven agreed with a warm grin. “Still, I can’t believe Pacifica’s never had a PB&J before… That’s like… one of the basic food groups alongside donuts and fry bits!”

“Who cares about that?” Mabel shook her head dismissively. “Did you see the way those two were looking at each other? It’s like they were hypnotized… by love!”

“Eh, I don’t know…” Steven noted with a frown. “I’m still not sure if that was really ‘love’ or not…”

“Oh, so you still need even more proof, huh?” Mabel challenged, her hands on her hips. “Well, then don’t worry, Universe. If you need proof, then I’ll give ya proof!”

At this, she let out something of a wild, almost manic laugh, one that admittedly startled Steven as he anxiously tried to reign her back down from her obvious obsession. “O-or instead of that, maybe we could just--whoa!” The young Gem didn’t get a chance to finish as Mabel suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him along after her once more, all for the sake of secretly eavesdropping in on Dipper and Pacifica once more. “O-or I guess we could always just keep doing this, that’s fine too!”

***

The next several days flowed along in a similar, surprisingly sweet succession. In light of the lack of any old or new threats or foes to face, Dipper didn’t mind spending his now very open free time with Pacifica at all. If anything, their already unexpected friendship seemed to grow closer and closer with each passing day as they shared new discoveries, snacks, and even secrets on occasion. The woods of Gravity Falls were essentially a treasure trove of adventures just waiting to be had, though fortunately none of their trips into it led to any real danger or disaster. Though one constant that neither of them were ever aware of during their days together was the fact that just about everywhere they went, Steven and Mabel followed behind at a safe distance, always unseen but always keeping tabs on the pair to look out for any signs of budding love between them. And suffice to say that, at least as far as Mabel was concerned, by the time the week was through, they’d seen more than enough signs of just that. 

All the same, Dipper and Pacifica’s latest trip into the woods happened to fall under the cover of dusk, just as the sky filled in with the colors of twilight and the shadows of the trees gave way to darkness. Even so, the pair ventured into that darkness unfettered, their path only illuminated by a simple flashlight as Dipper led the way further into the forest, his hand intertwined with Pacifica’s all the while. 

“Alright, Pines, I’ve had enough of your ‘mysteries’ for one week,” Pacifica remarked wryly as she eagerly followed after his swift pace. “Where are we heading this time? Some sort of creepy cave or underground tunnel to find some secret monster or something?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Dipper chuckled, pulling the first journal out of his vest. “Its something I found in here that I’ve never had a chance to see for myself before. And I have a feeling it’ll be right up your alley.”

“Oh really?” Pacifica smirked. “So you’re saying it’s some sort of magical creature that eats terrible, over-controlling, prestige-obsessed parents?”

“Heh, if only,” Dipper replied just as playfully as they finally emerged into a small clearing entirely covered by trees from above. This served to block just about all forms of dying daylight out, to the point that the entire clearing was practically engulfed in darkness when Dipper suddenly shut his flashlight off entirely. 

“D-Dipper!” Pacifica gasped, blindly reaching around until she grasped onto his shoulder tightly. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry,” he assured, placing his hand over hers to steady her. “Just wait and watch…”

The heiress let out an uneasy breath as she decided to heed him, allowing the symphony of the evening to fill in for them. Crickets, cicadas, and birds alike all echoed around the darkened den of trees, frightening and fascinating Pacifica all at the same time, but amidst them, she held on tight to Dipper, almost as if he was the anchor keeping her from losing herself to it all. Until… 

A sudden speck of light illuminated somewhere in the darkened space before the pair, small and sparse but persistent all the same. Another tiny light soon joined it, followed by another, then another, until the petite glowing orbs were popping up all around them, creating a warm, ambient sort of radiance that soon filled the entire clearing, making it apparent exactly what these little lights really were. 

“Fireflies…?” Pacifica wondered, smiling softly as she cupped her hands under one of the glowing insects. 

“Not exactly…” Dipper noted knowingly, watching expectantly until the creature’s normal yellow light suddenly, starkly turned a bright, vibrant purple. 

“W-what?!” the heiress gasped, her hands flying away from the bug as she looked around to its kin, only to see similar shifts among them. The fireflies all seemed to slowly, gently change colors with each passing moment at random intervals, some glowing pink while others illuminated blue, as even more blinked orange and still more among them turned green. As they meandered about the clearing, they ultimately created a glittering rainbow of light, one that absolutely enchanted Pacifica as she simply stood there, trying to take it all in. 

“They’re… beautiful…” she whispered, afraid she might scare them off if she was too loud. “What are they?”

“Iridescects,” Dipper informed, nodding to their depiction in the journal before shutting it and putting it away altogether. “Or, color-changing fireflies. They only live here in Gravity Falls, and they only come out during the summer months. I’ve been meaning to come out here to see them for myself, but everything’s been so busy lately that I haven’t gotten the chance to until now.”

“So,” Pacifica began, her wondering smile still apparent as she stood close to him and gazed out at the iridescects. “Was it worth the wait?”

Dipper paused, taking a moment to glance over at the heiress beside him. And the moment he did, it felt as though the entire world slowed to a soft, almost dreamlike crawl. 

The iridescects still drifted through the clearing, colors changing as steadily as ever as they hovered across the otherwise shadowy trees behind them. And yet, despite their practically magical beauty, Dipper found himself captivated by beauty of an entirely different kind. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he’d always known Pacifica to carry an almost regal sort of elegance and grace, though as he looked to her now, those things seemed so much more natural, so much more vibrant, so much more free. The lights all around her reflected off of her skin to the point that it almost seemed to take on an otherworldly glow, her golden hair taking on a similar, constantly changing, but always appealing pallor. Yet what he noticed most, what amazed him the most, was her smile, her eyes, her soft, easy laughter as a small group of iridescects came to hover around her head, creating what looked like a sparkling, multicolored crown. A crown that somehow, in some impossible way, served to make her appear even more radiant than she already was on her own. 

And suddenly, there was that feeling again, striking at his heart and bearing in deep. The very same feeling he’d first felt inklings of that night at the party when they’d first danced, that feeling he’d felt again, stronger and more realized deep within the titan’s ore mines. The same feeling he’d felt brief, crisp moments of scattered across the week he’d just spent with her each time they sat close, each time they happened to touch hands, each time their eyes happened to meet in stolen glances carried by unspoken words, unknown thoughts, and that feeling. So warm, so curious, so real and raw and rich that this time, it refused to be ignored. It demanded to be known, to be realized, to be felt. And as he slowly started to allow himself to feel it, he couldn’t help but wonder, as he looked down to her empty hand beside him, just waiting to be held, if maybe, just maybe, that feeling might just end up taking him somewhere this time after all. 

And yet… 

Maybe, he wondered, he feared, it wouldn’t take him anywhere, just like it hadn’t once before. 

As the gravity of that fear pulled him back down to earth once again, he suddenly drew his hand away from hers before they could even skim one another. His awestruck expression fell into something much more solemn as he tore his glance away from her, almost as if so much as looking at her was like holding onto a promise that would never be guaranteed. “Y-yeah,” he finally answered her question halfheartedly. For even despite the blissfully warm array of colored lights all around them, he felt as though he was standing in a sea of cold, empty darkness instead. “I… I guess it was…”

***

“Ok, Steven, I think we can both agree,” Mabel began, pacing around in front of the chalkboard she’d positioned in the shack’s den. “That what we witnessed last night in the woods was pretty much THE most romantic thing ever! The color changing fireflies, the cool night air, and they way they kept smiling at each other? Augh, it was all so perfect!”

“Yeah, you know, I wasn’t really sold on the idea before, but… I think last night convinced me for sure,” Steven nodded with an excited grin. “Looks like Dipper and Pacifica really do like each other like that. So I guess that means we can be happy for them and move on with our lives now, right?”

“Wrong!” Mabel corrected succinctly. “You saw what happened last night, Steven! Dipper was this close to making a move that would have changed everything! He totally would have taken him and Pacifica out of the friend zone and into the love zone, but nooooo, he just had to back out at the last second, just like he always used to do with Wendy back when he was crushing on her too!”

“Oh yeah,” Steven nodded thoughtfully. “He almost took her hand and everything. Why do you think he didn’t?”

“Cause he’s an awkward dork who doesn’t know how to show people how he really feels!” Mabel huffed, frustrated over the fact that she knew her brother far too well. “But to be honest, I… kinda think Pacifica might be the same way. Which, I’ll admit, is gonna make this… a little tough.”

“Make what tough?”

Steven and Mabel both let out a startled gasp as they turned to find Dipper entering the room, curious to know what their ongoing conversation was about. Though that curiosity only grew as he spotted the chalkboard that Mabel had written D + P onto, surrounded by a bold, massive heart. “Uh… what’s going on in here?” he asked, confused.. 

“Um… good question…” Steven frowned, still somewhat lost in Mabel’s shuffle. 

“N-nothing!” Mabel insisted readily. “And certainly nothing that involves you and a certain rich girl you’ve been hanging out a lot with lately, though if there’s anything you wanna discuss on that front, bro-bro, we’d be more than happy to listen!”

“Uh… no, thanks,” Dipper raised an eyebrow, looking between the pair with growing suspicion. “Wait a minute…” he glanced past his sister, narrowing his eyes at the chalkboard and the heart drawn on it until he all too quickly realized exactly who the initials within it stood for. “Mabel, please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing…”

“Me? Doing what?” Mabel feigned innocence. “Dear brother, I haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about!”

“Ok then,” Dipper said flatly before turning to the young Gem. “Steven, what’s Mabel holding behind her back?”

“Oh, well, it looks like a list!” Steven informed, catching the title of said list before Mabel could hastily shove it into her sweater. “I think it said ‘Dipper and Pacifica matchmaking ideas’ or something like that?”

“Steven!” Mabel hissed, flustered, especially as she looked back to her brother’s disapproving expression. 

“Oh no, absolutely not, Mabel!” he quickly, adamantly exclaimed. “There is no way I’m letting you try to set me and Pacifica up. Like I’ve told you so many times before, we’re just friends!”

“Yeah, but don’t you wanna be more than friends with her?!” Mabel protested earnestly. “We’ve been secretly watching you guys all week, and we’ve seen that special spark between you guys! All you gotta do is stoke it a little, bro-bro, and it’ll turn into a full fledged, passionate romance for the ages before you know it! Right, Steven?”

“Uh… yeah,” the young Gem shrugged with an awkward smile. “Um, sorry for spying on you all week by the way, that was Mabel’s idea.”

“A great one, just like all my ideas are!”

“...Ok, first of all, never do that again,” Dipper began, hardly even surprised by his sister’s antics at this point. “Second of all, there is no spark! Pacifica and I have been hanging out a lot lately, yeah, but we don’t have feelings for each other and that’s that! So you can forget any of your little matchmaking schemes, Mabel, because they’d just be a big waste of time anyway.”

“That’s what you say, Dipper!” Mabel called after her brother as he turned to leave, thoroughly annoyed. “But just you wait and see! You and Pacifica will be smoochin’ it up before you know it! After all, the only thing stronger than the power of love is the power of MABEL!”

“Uh, I dunno, are you really sure about this, Mabel?” Steven asked just as soon as Dipper had left. “Even if Dipper and Pacifica do like each other, I don’t know if its such a good idea to try to force them to be together.”

“You’re right, Steven, its not.”

“Garnet!” Steven and Mabel both gasped, startled as the Gem leader spoke up from her previously unknown spot leaning against the front entryway. 

“How long have you been standing there?” the young Gem asked, startled, though not surprised, given just how often Garnet did this sort of thing. 

“Long enough,” the Gem leader noted as she stepped up to the kids. 

“Great! Then you’re in on the plan to get Dipper and Pacifica to be an official couple then?” Mabel asked with an eager smile. “This sort of thing is right up your alley, Garnet. After all, you are certified expert when it comes to all things love and romance!”

“Hm, thanks,” Garnet smirked, adjusting her shades, though her smile quickly fell into seriousness all the same. “But I can’t say I’m completely in on the plan.”

“Aw, why not?” Mabel frowned, disappointed. 

“Mabel,” Garnet began, kneeling down to the girl’s level. “I know you mean well in trying to help your brother find love. And… you’re not wrong. There definitely is something there between him and Pacifica. Believe me, I know. I’ve been watching them over the past week too.”

“You have?” Steven asked, bewildered. “Why?”

The Gem leader grinned once more at this. “Let’s just say I could see the sparks flying between those two from a mile away. Even back before either of them knew it.”

“Oh my goooosh!” Mabel gasped, excited beyond measure. “So if even your future vision saw them falling in love, then that means they must belong together! In that case, we gotta get ourselves on matchmaking patrol STAT! Break out the romantic candles and the sweeping violin music! Steven, call up a reservation at the nearest fancy restaurant as fast as you can. We’re workin’ overtime here people, this is a love emergency!”

“Hold on there, Mabel,” Garnet cautioned much more calmly, effectively stopping Mabel’s frenetic energy right in its tracks. “There’s a better way of doing this. Love isn’t something that can just be rushed out the door; it needs time to grow, and for the people who are feeling it to grow along with it. And if we really want to bring Dipper and Pacifica together, then that’s what we have to do: help them grow together.”

“So… how do we do that?” Steven asked, curious.

The Gem leader smirked. “I have a few ideas in mind…”

“Then let’s try them!” Mabel readily lept on board. “All of them! No matter how big or crazy they might be or how many illegal fireworks might be involved in any number of them!”

“There’s no illegal fireworks involved in any of them,” Garnet informed evenly. 

“Oh, wait, that’s one of my ideas, sorry,” Mabel chuckled. “Still, this is a pretty big deal. I have a feeling we’re gonna need some extra help to make sure it all works out…”

“Help with what, dude?” Soos asked as him and Wendy entered the den for their break. 

“Oh, you know,” Mabel said with a casual grin. “Only making sure Dipper ends up with the one true love of his life!”

“Whoa, really?” Wendy asked, both her and Soos equally intrigued upon hearing this. “Well, good for him. I knew the kid would bounce back eventually. So who’s the lucky lady?”

“Pacifica Northwest,” Steven said, somewhat obliviously. 

“Whaaaaa?!” both coworkers exclaimed, exchanging a baffled glance at this. 

“No way!” Soos shook his head, amazed. “I thought Pacifica like, hated all of you guys.”

“She did, until Dipper worked his way into her heart and melted it entirely!” Mabel gushed dramatically. “Seriously, they’re so cute together, and they’d be even cuter if they would just admit how they really feel about each other! So what do you guys say? Are you in?”

“Oh yeah, of course!” Soos readily agreed. “Anything for Dipper, dude.”

“Yeah, what the heck, why not?” Wendy shrugged with a smooth grin. “This whole thing honestly sounds super wholesome and sweet, and besides, it’ll be a good excuse to get us out of work for the rest of the day.”

“Hey, hey!” Stan snapped, suddenly poking his head out from the gift shop upon overhearing this remark. “What have I told you kids before? There is never any good excuse to get out of work.”

“Oh, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel greeted the conman with a bright wave. “You’re just in time to help us get Dipper a girlfriend!”

The moment he heard this, Stan was unable to hold back a heavy burst of laughter, slapping his knee as he leaned up against the doorframe. “Ha! Especially not that!” he chortled, essentially beside himself with amusement as he looked to the group in the den incredulously. “That’s a good one! I mean, we all know the words ‘Dipper’, ‘getting’, and ‘girlfriend’ don’t even belong in the same sentence together! Seriously, Mabel, you’re splittin’ my sides here!”

“I wouldn’t speak so soon if I were you, Stan,” Garnet spoke up knowingly. “The chances of Dipper and Pacifica ending up together are much higher than you might think.”

“Pfft, oh what, did you see that with your fancy future powers--wait,” the conman stopped short as he considered exactly what the Gem leader had said. “Did… you just say Pacifica? As in that bratty, spoiled rotten Northwest girl?”

“Uh huh,” Steven nodded. “Her and Dipper have been hanging out a whole lot lately.”

“Cause they’re in looooove,” Mabel added with zealous smile. 

Stan, however, completely ignored them, his eyes growing wide with dawning realization. “As in the same Northwests who are so stupidly wealthy that they have way more money than they even know what to do with? Those Northwests?” 

“Oh boy,” Wendy smirked, crossing her arms. “I can already tell where this is about to go.”

“Well, then why didn’t you mention that from the get-go?!” Stan exclaimed with newfound excitement. “If Dipper really does get with that Northwest girl and they end up getting married someday, then we’ll all be RICH!”

“Does that mean you’re gonna help us out too, Mr. Pines?” Soos asked. 

“Are you kidding? Of course I am!” the conman said as though it was obvious. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to make absurd amounts of money without even doing anything and I’m not about to let any of you kids mess it up, and I’m especially not about to let Dipper mess it up!”

“Actually, Dipper’s not the one you’ll have to worry about on that front,” Garnet noted, though once again, Stan largely paid her no mind as caught up in his own flights of fantasy over the matter. 

“So what are we sitting around here waiting for?” the conman asked, dollar signs practically in his eyes. “Let’s get those kids hitched so I can finally buy my own private island in the Carribean, just like I’ve always dreamed of!”

“Uh, m-maybe we should just settle for getting them together for now?” Steven suggested much more rationally. 

“Eh, that works too,” Stan shrugged as everyone came in close to begin properly planning. “Just as long as I walk outta the wedding with the deed to my new personal island when it’s all said and done.”

***

Despite the many hands involved, the first stages of planning out a starting scheme went surprisingly smoothly. And in the end, the entire group walked out of their meeting with something that they all hoped and believed had a solid chance at working; the only thing they had to do was to make it all happen. 

Securing a venue for the affair was easy enough of a task; the temple house had just enough room and would do the job nicely, especially after Steven, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy spent the better half of an afternoon stringing up lights and setting up tables. In the process, they managed to recruit Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst into their plans as well, with the former all set up to provide a romantic violin accompaniment while the latter pair would handle the food. Strangely though, neither Garnet nor Stan really participated in the preparations, save for dropping in to carry out a table here, take a few plates and utensils there, even cart off one of the flower arrangements for some unknown reason that neither of them would never explain, no matter how many times they were asked. Even so, the others managed to pull their plans together in record time, with everything and everyone set up perfectly in place just as evening began to fall. All that was left was to bring the hopefully soon-to-be couple into the mix and let nature take its course. 

While, of course, not letting either of them in on that plan at all. 

“Ok, seriously, you guys, what is going on?!” Dipper asked with a frustrated huff as Steven and Mabel shoved him out the Mystery Shack’s front door. Out of nowhere, the pair had pounced on him, forcing him into a clean-cut dress shirt and freshly-pressed pair of pants before they essentially held him down to run a comb through his hair. By the end of it all, even he had to admit he was dressed to impress, though for what reason, he hadn’t the faintest idea. 

“Oh, you’ll see…” Mabel said with a leading grin, more or less dragging her brother up towards the temple. 

“That’s what you guys have been saying for the past two hours now!” Dipper protested, thoroughly aggravated. “And it’s not good enough anymore! I need some answers now! Why are you guys acting so weird? And why did you force me to get all dressed up like this?”

“Aw, sorry, Dipper!” Steven said much more apologetically. “We’d tell you, but that’d ruin the surprise!”

“What surprise?” Dipper asked, still quite disgruntled as they all stepped up onto the temple’s porch. 

“This one!” Steven and Mabel chimed in cheery unison as they threw the door open to reveal the equally bewildered heiress standing just on the other side of it. 

Surprised, Pacifica spun around, showing off the simple, yet classy teal tea tress she was wearing. Her golden hair carried a slight wave to it, her face peppered with just a little bit more makeup than usual, creating an elegant, natural, appealing look. All the same, her eyes widened as she caught sight of Dipper, looking his own formal attire over for a moment before she ultimately broke into a small, impressed smile. “Hey.”

“H-hey,” he returned her greeting much more tightly, trying his best not to show just how mesmerized he actually was by how lovely she looked. 

“Its working!” Mabel whispered to Steven, unable to hide the huge grin on her face. “It’s working!”

“Its starting to,” Steven agreed, chuckling before speaking up to the entranced pair with a formal bow. “Sir, madam, your table awaits.”

“Wait, what?” Pacifica blinked back into reality, confused. “Table?”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Dipper cut in, sending Steven and Mabel a suspicious glare. “This better not be-”

“A date! Yep, you got it!” Mabel exclaimed, pressing past the pair into the shack. 

“A-a date?!” Pacifica flinched, startled as her cheeks flushing bright red as she looked to Dipper, battled and distressed. 

“Pacifica, I swear I had no idea they were planning this!” he quickly assured, scowling at the pair. “Though in retrospect I guess I should have seen this coming considering how you guys always take these sort of things way too far…”

“What was that?” Mabel asked with a growing smirk as she stood before the curtain obscuring the rest of the house. “I couldn’t hear you over that romantic violin music.” She paused, her smile fading as she realized no such music was wafting through the building. “I said… that romantic violin music!”

“Oh! Sorry!” Connie called from the other side of the curtain. At this prompting, she began to play an elegant solo piece, one that Steven and Mabel used as their cue to pull the curtain back to finally reveal their master plan. 

“Prepare yourselves… for a night of romance!” Mabel proclaimed, throwing a dramatic hand out to the setup behind her. In just a few hours alone, the rag-tag team had turned the house into a makeshift restaurant, complete with Christmas lights and candles in an attempt at creating a sense of atmosphere and ambiance, though in reality it ended up coming across as somewhat cheap, perhaps even a bit cheesy. A handful of small tables had been set up, complete with lacy tablecloths and fine plastic dining ware, and at each of those tables sat a different, romantically-involved couple, each of which had been invited for the sole purpose of filling the restaurant up. 

The couple that was clearly enjoying themselves the most was Soos and Melody, the latter of whom just so happened to be visiting town at just the right time to make this impromptu date possible. They sat leaning in close, warmly conversing all the while as they absently munched on their breadstick appetizers before they happened to grab the same exact one, opting to eat it together until it led up to a brief, but very welcome kiss. Sitting at the table across from them was Robbie and Tambry, neither of whom were very invested in their date as much as they were sending each other flirtatious text messages, occasionally reacting to said messages with a coy grin across the table. Surprisingly, Lars and Sadie were also present, though quite begrudgingly so, given how flustered they were as they realized just how romantic the atmosphere around them actually was, something they were clearly uninformed of in advance. And still several other couples sat somewhat boredly as Wendy casually waited on their tables and Connie kept her gentle violin accompaniment going all the while. Even as a very audible argument began to break out between the pair of “chefs” in the very open kitchen nearby. 

“Amethyst, for the last time, nachos are not considered fine dining!” Pearl huffed, clearly irritated. 

“Oh yeah, and how would you know, P?” Amethyst retorted, still trying to prepare the simple snack food despite the white Gem’s protests. “You don’t even eat.”

“Maybe not, but I do know refined elegance when I see it and nachos certainly are not that!”

“Huh, and things were going so smoothly in here too…” Steven noted with a concerned frown that he was quick to chase away with a forced smile as he turned back to Dipper and Pacifica. “N-not that there’s a problem, because there isn’t!”

“Uh, yeah, there is,” Dipper replied flatly. 

“Oh, and what might that problem be, dear brother?” Mabel asked, trying to maintain an air of class despite how classless the scene behind her was. 

“Well for starters, you invited half the town to… whatever this is,” Dipper huffed, waving a hand out at the restaurant. “And second of all, you guys just threw all this together without even asking either me or Pacifica! I mean, did it ever occur to you that maybe we didn’t want you guys setting us up on some big, embarrassing date? B-because we don’t. We definitely don’t…” He essentially had to hold back a disappointed sigh as he said this, and likewise, he didn’t even bother to glance back at Pacifica behind him. Though if he would have, he’d have gotten a glance at an expression that was every bit as crestfallen and fretful as his own. “Right?” 

“Um, y-yeah…” the heiress forced herself to say, frowning as she wrapped her arms around herself and looked to the floor. “Right…”

“More like right idea, wrong execution.” 

The kids were all quite surprised by this interruption as Garnet suddenly stepped into the house, a confident grin on her face as she looked down to the hesitant pair in front of her. “Dipper, Pacifica, your other table awaits,” she stepped aside, holding the door open to the night air outside. 

“Other table?” Steven and Mabel whispered to each other, completely bewildered by this turn of events. 

Likewise, Dipper and Pacifica exchanged a wondering glance, but even so, they decided to at the very least follow the Gem leader’s lead, curious to know where it might take them. At the same time, Garnet silently beckoned Steven and Mabel, as well as Connie to pick up shop and follow after her, which they all did, even despite their palpable confusion. 

“Hey, wait, where you guys goin’?” Amethyst called as she noticed the group heading out the door. “What are we supposed to do with all these nachos?!”

“Not serve them to our guests, obviously,” Pearl scowled, snatching a plate away from the purple Gem before she hastily grabbed it right back. 

“Ah well,” she shrugged with a smirk before scarfing down the entire plate whole in full view of their very confused patrons. “More for me!”

***

As initially out of the loop as Dipper and Pacifica themselves were, now it was Mabel and Steven’s turn, for as the two of them and Connie treaded after Garnet and the couple from a distance, they couldn’t help but wonder exactly what shakeup to their well thought out plans the Gem leader had in mind. Which was exactly what Steven ventured to ask her as she continued to lead the group out past the shack and into the forest instead. 

“Um, Garnet?” he asked in a whisper as him, Mabel, and Connie caught up to the Gem leader. “Where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise,” Garnet said, a finger to her lips as she vaguely nodded back at the pair behind her. 

“Uh, n-not to sound like Nervous Nelly here, but this... wasn’t part of the plan,” Mabel frowned anxiously. 

“It was,” the Gem leader countered. “It’s just a bit of a different spin on the plan. I figured those two would appreciate just a little more privacy. And I wasn’t the only one to think so either.”

“Yeah, that’s right, which means you three oughta give them that privacy!” Steven, Mabel, and Connie all gasped in surprise as Stan of all people suddenly pulled all three of them aside, away from the setup that Garnet was taking the pair still following her to. 

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked, bewildered. “What are you doing out here?”

“Like I said before, I ain’t about to let anyone mess this whole shebang up,” the conman said bluntly. “And that includes you kids. So sit back and watch some real romance happen. Or at least romance according to Shades over there, though since she’s pretty much in constant honeymoon mode, I’d say they’re in pretty good hands.”

“Boy, I’ll say,” Connie agreed, glancing forward and prompting Steven and Mabel to do the same. “Look!”

Garnet had finally stopped, Dipper and Pacifica pausing behind her as they looked around the dark, yet very open clearing they were now standing in with a shared sense of confusion. That is, until the Gem leader swept her hands out, somehow filling the entire area with a soft sort of gentle, multi-colored light, all of which radiated from the handful of iridescects filling the jars and lanterns strung across the clearing. Under that light sat a single table, set only for two, and every bit as warm and inviting as the rest of the serene, intimate setting very much was. 

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Garnet concluded with a simple smile as she turned to the pair, pulling down her shades a bit to reveal her trio of eyes, the topmost of which offered them a brief, knowing wink. “Enjoy.”

And with that, the Gem leader stepped aside, joining Stan and the kids back in the shadows of the surrounding trees. As she did, Dipper and Pacifica looked to each other once more, both of them equally perplexed as they tried to make sense of exactly what both of them had been unwittingly dragged into. 

“W-well, I gotta admit,” Pacifica began diffidently. “This… wasn’t what I was expecting when Mabel texted me earlier and told me to dress up nice and come all the way out here without even explaining why.”

“Ugh, Pacifica, I’m so sorry about all of this,” Dipper sighed tiredly. “I don’t know what those two were thinking with all this. Well, actually… I know exactly what Mabel was thinking, b-but that doesn’t matter. A-anyway, if you wanna call it a night and go home, I wouldn’t blame you. I mean, this is probably way more awkward than you ever could have bargained for…”

“N-no, its not!” Pacifica suddenly exclaimed, far more intently than she had meant to. She recanted somewhat, flustered, though she still managed a small, genuine smile all the same. “I-I mean… it’s actually really… sweet that your sister and your friends would throw all this together for us. E-even if it is sort of… out of the blue. Still, y-you… wouldn’t want all their hard work to just go to waste, would you?”

Briefly, Dipper paused, looking between heiress and the table before them, both of which were practically aglow in the low light surrounding them. And despite his staunch rejection of this so-called ‘date’ before, he found himself hard pressed to turn the offer down when Pacifica herself was the one presenting it to him. “N-no, I guess not,” he shrugged just as apprehensively, following after her as she moved to take a seat. 

Things were still somewhat stilted as they did so, however, the noises of nighttime filling in for any sort of actual conversation. That is, until they happened to lift the covers off their plates to reveal the deceptively simple, but surprisingly meaningful meal underneath. 

“Oh! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!” Pacifica laughed brightly, absolutely charmed the once again heart-shaped snack. “How’d they know?”

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know the answer to that,” Dipper remarked, chuckling himself. “Honestly, I still can’t believe how much you liked PB&J the first time you tried it. It was pretty funny to see you get so excited over something as simple as a sandwich.”

“Ugh, no, it wasn’t,” the heiress smirked, blushing. “It was embarrassing. Even if that sandwich was totally delicious.”

The pair shared another laugh over this, one that was filled with warm that didn’t slip away, even after it was over. “You know…” Pacifica began with a soft, easy smile. “Even though we can both agree that this isn’t a… ‘date’, it’s still really nice to just be here… together…”

“Y-yeah…” Dipper agreed with a grin that was every bit as genuine as the heiress’ own. “It is…”

As the pair continued their casual conversation, they had largely forgotten about the group spectating over them from the sidelines. While both Garnet and Stan had taken a much more discreet, wiser approach to watching in the woods, Steven, Mabel, and Connie had all scaled a nearby tree to get a better vantage point. They had perched themselves on an obscured branch, just out of the pair’s view, but still giving them a perfect spot to see and hear everything that was going on between them. And suffice to say, they were quite happy with what they were seeing. 

“Oh my gosh, Garnet was right, this was way better than our old plan!” Mabel gasped, delighted as the pair leaned in a bit from their respective ends on the table, laughing softly all the while. For a moment, it seemed as though their hands were about to overlap, though just before they could, they both ended up drawing back, noticeably flustered as their conversation carried on all the same. “But… they’re still holding back…” Mabel frowned upon seeing this. “Ugh! I can’t deal with all this ‘will they/won’t they’ tension! I need those two to finally get to Smooch City already!”

“Hm…” Steven mused, staring down at the pair. “There’s gotta be something we can do. What did Garnet say again? We have to help them grow together?” The young Gem paused, looking around the dimly lit clearing for anything that could give him an idea. And sure enough, he found that idea in the form of the violin still resting in Connie’s arms. “That’s it! Connie, can you play us a song? Something slow and easy, but emotional and passionate? Like a love song!”

“Well,” Connie grinned, positioning her bow to play. “Let’s see what I can come up with…” After a few practice notes, she was quick to find her footing in a smooth, natural, calmly-tempoed tune, one that soon filled the entire clearing with its gentle, pleasing sound. 

“Yes, that’s perfect!” Steven whispered, stars in his eyes. “Now, if only I had my-”

“I’ve got you covered,” Garnet said as she handed the young Gem’s ukelele up to him. 

“Thanks!” he smiled back down at her, quickly tuning his own instrument before finding the perfect place to jump into Connie’s melody to create a sweet, soothing duet. One that wasn’t lost on the pair listening to it from down below. 

“Yeesh,” Dipper shook his head, facepalming. “They just don’t know when to quit with this stuff, do they? Remind me to get new friends and a new sister when all this is over.” Pacifica couldn’t hold back a small snort of a laugh at this remark, one that admittedly caught Dipper off guard from the very second he heard it. “Whoa, since when do you snort when you laugh?”

“Augh! Sorry!” the heiress flushed, covering her face in embarrassment. “It’s something my parents have tried to break me out of doing ever since I was little. They say its ‘not ladylike’, but sometimes I-I guess sometimes the snort just can’t help but slip through the cracks.”

“Well, I’m glad it does,” Dipper remarked, not even realizing just how red his own face was as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with her, largely speaking without thinking at this point. “Cause to be honest, i-its really… well, cute.”

By this point, Pacifica’s smile was so wide and so elated that she couldn’t help but let the bright, cherished feelings sparking within her brim over, urging her to be bold, urging her to take a chance, urging her to cross the line. Which she did in the form of something quite simple really; by doing nothing more than slowly, carefully resting her hand on top of Dipper’s own. “Say, Dipper…” she began thoughtfully, perhaps even a bit leadingly as she met his awestruck expression evenly. “You remember the night of the party, right? After the ghost was gone and we just went out there danced like a bunch of total dorks for hours and hours until we couldn’t anymore?” 

“Heh, how could I forget?” he answered, finally tearing his gaze away from their hands and toward her imploring smile instead. 

“Do you maybe wanna… I dunno… give that another go?” she offered, her tone soft and hopeful as the musical melody continued sweeping through the air, practically inviting them to move along to it. “W-we don’t have to, of course, I just thought… W-well, it might be-”

“‘Fun, or something’?” he countered, repeating the very words she had used the last time she’d asked him to dance. “Y-yeah, I think it would too, though… I, uh… don’t really know how to dance to something like, um… well, this.” He paused, allowing the almost waltz-like tune to fill in once again. 

“Oh, it’s easy,” Pacifica assured as they stood and stepped up to each other. “All you have to do is just put this hand here, and this other hand here…” she trailed off, steadying herself as she rested one of his hands against her back before she took his other one. As apprehensive as he clearly was, his touch was light and more than welcome, especially as she met his anxious, yet adapting expression with a soft, good-natured smile of her own. “And then… you just go.”

And with that, their dance began, Pacifica leading it given her greater experience with this sort of skill. It began slow and easy, though still in time with the music as they spun in calm, cool circles near their table, their eyes never drifting away from each other all the while. And as that melody carried them on across the clearing, Steven decided to put words to it as he strummed along, creating a fitting love song for the pair that was clearly starting to fall into exactly that. 

“How could it be? Now do you see? Its starting all at once…”

Prompted on by these gentle lyrics, they spun out wider, greater, with Pacifica gradually letting Dipper take the lead as he grew more and more comfortable with each and every step. True, he was still new to this, but she trusted him, she always had, from that very moment he’d helped her realize she could be so much kinder, so much stronger, so much happier than she’d ever thought possible. Happiness that she always, always felt in full form whenever he was by her side.

“You take a leap, then fall in deep. Slow at first, then all at once…”

Perhaps it was the night air or the colorful lights or the dreamlike music urging them onward, but urged by whatever it was, Dipper accepted the lead Pacifica was giving him, using it to spin her out swiftly yet carefully. When he pulled her back in, it was as though her eyes were sparkling as she looked to him, unquestionable elation and excitement filling them to the point that both were instantly infectious. For a brief moment, he could hardly believe that this moment was real, that they were here, together, like this. Certainly it had to be some sort of dream or fantasy and yet as he looked to her again, felt her hand intertwined with his own, he knew that this perhaps the realest thing in the entire world, the realest feeling he’d ever experienced in his entire life. 

“Doubts disappear, there’s no more fear. And it happens all at once…”

Gradually yet naturally, their pace began to slow, their twirls becoming more lofty as the music did the same. Their hearts were both admittedly racing, both from their ongoing dance and from nerves, fear, and exhilaration all at the same time. But there was no question they treasured all of those feelings. They wanted to cling onto that moment, as blissful and sweet as it was. They wanted it, and everything it represented, to last for as long as it was able, even as the song soon came to its peaceful, promising end. 

“Now that you know, your hearts can grow…. Together, all at once…”

Even as the lyrics reached their gentle conclusion, Connie and Steven continued playing their song, albeit a bit softer as the couple opted to ultimately slow dance to it down below. For awhile, neither Dipper nor Pacifica said anything as they continued, their hands still pressed together and their eyes tightly locked on nothing other than each other all the while. When this lingering silence finally was broken, however, Dipper was the one to do it, even if his voice was barely over a whisper when he did. 

“A-are you ok?” he asked softly, intently. 

“Y-yeah…” she nodded, just as subdued as he was. “I… I’m just a little dizzy.”

“Oh. S-should we stop?”

“No…” “Never,” she wanted to say, but she didn’t. And yet, despite this, they still stopped all the same, still holding onto each other loosely as they stared at each other, entranced and enchanted and unsure of what might happen next. That is, until, acting not on reason or logic or any sort of thought at all, slowly but surely they both began to lean in, their faces steadily drawing closer together, much to the delight of the trio watching them from the trees.

“YES!” Mabel shouted in a bright, elated whisper as she pulled out her camera to capture the moment as it happened. “This is it! Smooch City here they come!”

“I’m so happy for them!” Steven grinned joyously as tears started welling up in his eyes. ���Oh man, I wish I’d brought a box of-” The young Gem stopped short as Garnet handed him off a box of tissues from down below right on time for his tears to begin to fall. “Thanks again!”

“Guys, shh!” Connie cautioned with a small, amused chuckle. “You’ll ruin their moment!”

Steven and Mabel were quick to pipe down at this, opting to instead watch in anticipation as Dipper and Pacifica only continued to move in closer and closer. For what felt like ages, nothing else seemed to matter, not the several sets of eyes they knew were on them, or the radiant colored lights all around. As if on instinct, their eyes both slipped shut, both of them breathless as they braved themselves to bound across the line and let their hearts lead the way. 

Until, at the very last minute, when one of them realized exactly what was happening. And as soon as they did, they were all too quick to fearfully pull away. 

Once Pacifica noticed her eager lips had been kept waiting, she hesitantly opened her eyes, only to see something that made her heart immediately plummet. For some reason, Dipper had pulled away, relinquishing his hold on her entirely as he took a small step back. His expression was rife with dread and guilt as he all but refused to make eye contact with her and instead gazed downward fretfully. 

“D-Dipper?” Pacifica dared to venture, newfound hurt filling into her own expression as she reached an almost trembling hand out toward him. 

“I-I... “ he hesitated, finally looking up at her before shaking his head. “I-I can’t do this… I’m sorry…”

The heiress flinched, awestruck as she watched him turn to leave her behind without even explaining why at all. All of the previous warmth that had once spread throughout her was now filled in with a bitter chill, one that carried into her tone as she worked up the courage to fiercely call him out. “S-so that’s it then?” she asked in disbelief. “Y-you’re just gonna walk away like its nothing? I thought… I thought you… t-that we were…” She took in a sharp breath, forcing every ounce of willpower she had to keep herself from breaking down entirely. “I-I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought, does it? Because clearly, you weren’t thinking the same thing.”

Dipper let out a long, remorseful sigh at this, briefly glancing over his shoulder at her to meet her bitter gaze. “Pacifica, that’s not-”

“Oh, what? That’s not it?” Pacifica filled in, obviously frustrated. “Then what is it, Dipper? Is… is it me?”

“W-what?” Dipper turned fully at this, seemingly distressed. 

“Look, I get it, ok?” the heiress continued, choking back a small, harsh sob. “I treated you and your sister and your friends terribly. I was awful to everyone and, a-a lot of the time, I feel like I still am except for when I’m with you. Y-you made me want to try to be someone better, to be somebody who’s actually worth all the effort but… b-but… I guess that’s not good enough, is it?” She let out a small, pained laugh at this, her tears finally falling as she shook her head. “I should have known; after all, nothing I ever do is ever good enough for anyone, right?”

She was more than ready to resign herself to such a grim thought, a thought that she had always been taught her entire life and had only recently begun to believe could be false. But all too quickly she was being reminded of just how miserably true it really was, just how hopeless and powerless she to make that change she desperately wanted. 

Until, of course, he came along and, in a single moment, pulled her right out of the darkness of that despair and back into the light, just as he had before. Only this time, it was in the very last way she could have ever expected:

With a kiss. 

She barely had time to react, to think as she felt it, his lips pressed against hers in perhaps the most surprising moment of her entire life. Admittedly, it was quite surprising for him too, especially as he realized exactly what his feeling had so recklessly, thoughtlessly pushed him into doing. And yet it was too late to take it back now, for they there were, standing there, kissing of all things, both of them feeling absolutely ridiculous… and absolutely wonderful all at the same time. 

“YESSSSSSS!” Mabel cheered as quietly as she could as she snapped a picture from the trees. “I got it! This baby is getting an entire scrapbook page all to itself!”

“I-I’m so glad you brought these tissues along, Garnet,” Steven sniffled as he glanced down at the Gem leader. “C-cause I’m really needing them now!”

“You’re not the only one,” Garnet grinned, thumbing away a stray proud tear of her own. 

“Huh,” Stan remarked, absolutely dumbfounded as he watched the scene unfold. “Who could’ve guessed the kid actually had it in him? Either way, I’ll be rollin’ in dough in no time!”

These collective, excited reactions were all but lost on Dipper and Pacifica themselves as they slowly drew away, their faces still close as they tried their best to catch their breath and regain their bearings. After all, everything had just changed in an instant; and yet neither of them could deny that it was an instant in which they could go back to and live in forever, for all it was worth. 

“O-Ok…” Pacifica spoke up first, uncertain. “Now I’m really confused. A-are you like… trying to play some sort of mind game with me?” 

“N-no!” Dipper quickly, anxiously replied, gripping her hand and holding onto it tightly. “I’m not, I-I’m sorry, I just… I-It's not you, please, don’t think it’s you. I love how much you’ve been trying to change and it is good enough and it’s always been good enough and I… I’m just rambling at this point, aren’t I?”

“Um… yeah, sort of?” the heiress raised an eyebrow. “What exactly are you trying to say here?”

“I-I don’t know!” he admitted earnestly, absolutely overwhelmed by all of the thoughts in his head conflicting with the feelings in his heart. “I’m just so bad at these sort of things, I always have been, e-even… even the last time I felt this way about someone…”

“L-last time?” she asked, concerned. “Wait… you mean that crush you used to have on that Wendy girl?”

“W-wha--how did you know about that?!”

“Mabel told me,” she said with an understanding smile. “I didn’t really know why she did… until now, I guess.”

“Ugh, like I said earlier, remind me to get a new sister…” Dipper grumbled, letting out a long groan as he allowed himself to flop down to sit in the grass, defeated. Pacifica hesitated a moment, but ultimately joined him, sitting close, though not too close, as she waited for a long enough beat of silence to pass before speaking up. 

“Uh… so if you don’t mind me asking, what happened with… that whole situation?” she asked, curious. 

“It was dumb,” Dipper shook his head dejectedly. “I was dumb. She’s way older than me and I knew that, but I just had to go and fall in love with her even though some part of me always knew it was never gonna work out. So I spent so long being all anxious and scared and coming up with all these crazy plans to get her to impress her when it all just ended up being a huge waste of time in the end anyway. But then, after it did fall apart, I started to wonder if I was ever really in love with her at all? Like… maybe I just thought I was all this time? I don’t know…” he sighed, closing his eyes thoughtfully. “I know this sort of stuff is all a part of growing up, but that doesn’t keep it from being less confusing…”

“W-well, at least we have that in common,” Pacifica grinned slightly. “After all, I’m all new to this stuff too…”

“Wait… you are?” Dipper looked to her, amazed. “Aren’t you like, the most popular girl in town? I would have thought you’d have had a thousand boyfriends by now.”

“Heh, never any real ones,” the heiress chuckled. “More like stuffy suitors my parents forced me to hang out with to make their business partners or the press happy. But I never actually cared about any of those guys… until… until you.”

“Pacifica…” Dipper said quietly, unsure of what to follow it up with, though thankfully he didn’t have to as she continued for him. 

“I… think I finally get it… why you held back at first,” she explained, slowly taking his hand once more. “It’s… hard wondering if you’ll ever really be good enough, working so hard to try to be the best you can for something that you’re not even sure is gonna work out in the end. It’s like a weight… one that’s so heavy you sometimes wonder how you can even carry it all without being crushed completely. So in a way… I guess we both have our own weights we need to carry, huh?”

He hesitated, though only for a moment. And in that moment, he realized that while his supposedly infatuated interactions with Wendy had always felt awkward and stilted, with Pacifica, it was like always seemed to know exactly what to say and do. A fact that, once again, proved to be completely true as he gave her the kind, easy smile he knew she deserved. “Well,” he began, prompted on by courage he didn’t know he had. Courage that was fueled by affection that he was now absolutely, finally certain of as he offered her hand a steady, supportive squeeze. “Maybe we can carry those weights together. That is… if you want to…”

Tears were welling up in the heiress’ eyes, though this time, they were filled with unquestionable joy as she nodded warmly. “Of course…” she whispered blissfully, somewhat playfully as she began to lean in closer to him. “But only if we take things slow…”

“Like I said, I’ve never done this before,” he laughed, overwhelmed once more, though by feelings of an entirely different, much better kind. “So slow is the only way I really know how to go.”

“Same here… and that’s perfectly fine with me,” she agreed, her eyes closing along with his as they drew in, this time entirely on purpose. 

And on that purpose, their lips met once more. Perhaps even more than their first kiss, this second one was genuine, crisp, and warm, one guided not by fear or guilt but by instinct, by fondness, by faith that this could and would work out. As it continued, she lifted her hand to rest gingerly against his cheek as he absently weaved his fingers through her hair, the mere touches alone striking even more soaring emotions within them both. And by the time it was all over, it felt as though by that kiss alone they had solidified something, that they had made a promise to themselves and each other that this was the start of a bond, of a relationship that they’d cherish and protect, no matter what might come their way. 

For as long and dreamlike as it all was, eventually, that kiss did eventually come to its natural end, though even as it did, they lingered close, their foreheads pressed lightly together as they shared a small, sweet laugh. However, for as tender as this moment was, it didn’t last long before it was inevitably interrupted by the flood of excitement that rushed out to meet them. 

“Mazel tov to the happy, brand new couple!” Mabel cheered, catching the pair off guard as she tossed a handful of rice over them from behind. Steven stood alongside her, brightly applauding while Connie hurried over to try to keep them from ruining the moment any more than they already had. 

“M-Mabel! Steven!” Dipper exclaimed as him and Pacifica pulled away, flustered. “What are you guys-”

“Oh, no need to thank us, bro-bro,” Mabel grinned proudly. “We were more than happy to make a match out of a couple as cute as you two, right, Steven?”

“Right!” the young Gem happily agreed. “Though… to be honest, I think we owe a lot of our success here to Garnet.”

“Well, my experience in the field of romance has never steered me wrong before,” the Gem leader remarked, grinning as she stepped up to the group. 

“Hey! Don’t forget about me!” Stan cut in brashly. “I helped set all this up too! Speaking of which…” The conman threw on an amicable, somewhat patronizing smile as he looked to Pacifica. “Welcome to the family, kid. Does folks on your side of the tracks still do that whole dowry thing? And if so, how much are your parents willing to fork out for yours? Just asking for the sake of reference.”

“Uh…” Pacifica trailed off, exchanging a bewildered glance with Dipper over such an odd question. 

“Ugh, come on, you guys…” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning to his new girlfriend with an apologetic smile. “S-sorry. I hope you don’t mind dealing with… them.” He nodded to the group surrounding them, composed of Steven, Mabel, and even Garnet’s wide, elated smiles and Stan’s much more greedy one. 

Even so, the heiress let out a bright, genuinely amused chuckle at their antics, one that did more than enough to set Dipper at ease that she’d find a way to fit in among his occasionally overbearing friends and family just fine. “I think I’ll get used to it,” she grinned, accepting his hand as he helped her up to stand. “After all, I’d much rather deal with them than my family.”

“Well then, like Grunkle Stan said, welcome to ours!” Mabel quipped, throwing an arm around both Dipper and Pacifica’s shoulders as she sandwiched herself between them. “Oh my gosh, Pacifica! Does this technically make us sisters now?!”

“Um… I’m pretty sure that’s now how any of this works,” Pacifica noted sardonically. 

“Alright, everyone, it’s getting pretty late out here,” Garnet spoke up, nodding over to the jars of iridescects that were starting to dim as they fell asleep for the night. “Let’s head back to the shack; I’ll make everyone some hot chocolate.”

“Ooo yeah!” Steven exclaimed excitedly, readily following after the Gem leader as she began to head back. “And we can put on a movie too!”

“Something romantic for you two lovebirds to cuddle up to,” Mabel added, offering Dipper and Pacifica a sly wink.

Even though Dipper let out an exasperated sigh at this, Pacifica merely chuckled once more, a laugh that Dipper himself couldn’t help but join in after a moment or two. As the others all went on ahead, the newly-formed couple trailed at the back of the group, their hands inconspicuously intertwining as they set out. As their fingers laced themselves together, they shared a soft smile, realizing just how well their hands fit together, how well they fit together. It was strange, perhaps even downright bizarre just how two people, so completely different yet also so very much the same, hand ended up together, but through fate or luck or something else entirely, they had. And as they strolled through the darkness into their fledgling future together, at long last, neither of them had any doubts left at all. Their feelings for each other were real, rich, and radiant, and there was no question in either of their hearts or minds, that together was exactly where they needed to be. 

“Now that you know, your hearts can grow…”

“Together....”

“All at once…”

Next:

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 16

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

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Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

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“How the fuck did they find us?” Odd Eye shouted through her helmet, as she blasted at the battle droids with her twin pistols, along with Mina and Tarot, who were by her side.

“I don’t know,” Mina answered, her eyes fixed on the enemies in front of her. “Our intel was secure. How was it possible that they figured out our location?”

“Maybe they had a spy,” Tarot guessed. “I mean, how else would they know we were here on this part of the island?”

The ARC Trooper made a good point. The 212th and the Coruscant Guard were supposed to be the diversion while they could land peacefully, but the plans seemed to fall through, as usual. Odd Eye wouldn’t be shocked, as this wasn’t the first time for their well-formulated strategy.

They were on their way to the rendezvous point until the droids caught them off-guard. Luckily, both the 666th and 197th Battalions were prepared for battle, otherwise, they would be dead by now. I guess there’s every reason General Almarez-Guttierez is always cautious.

“Hey Raul,” Erina yelled for his name, as she shot a Super Battle Droid by the centre. “Are you doing okay back there?”

“Today is a very interesting day, Eri,” Raul snickered. “We were supposed to get to the rendezvous point of time, but we ended up joining the party.”

“I didn’t really ask how your day is, but thanks for the update anyway,” she rolled her eyes as she blasted another droid from her left.

“You’re very much welcome, dear,” Raul gave a wink, as he punched a B1 unit with his enormous arms.

“I’m being sarcastic, in case you can’t tell.”

“Really? You don’t sound sarcastic at all.”

Erina slapped her forehead. “We have been together for more than a decade, and you still can’t tell whether I’m being sarcastic?”

“Well, you were screaming in this cross-fire that it’s pretty hard to tell,” he shrugged, grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Fair point,” she acknowledged her partner, as they both continued to focus their fire on the Imperials in their surroundings, hoping to end this as soon as possible.

With a droid popper in his hand, clone trooper Nygma of the 197th tossed one towards them, deactivating them. Avoiding the blasts, he crawled on the ground as his comrades were shielding themselves behind the trees.

“We’re almost there,” Mina barked, as she threw a bomb 6 feet apart from her current position. “We can win this one.”

“Yes, commander,” Bouncy replied, before jumping from his hiding spot and fired multiple times with a rotary blaster, screaming with glory. “Eat lasers, you clankers.”

Odd Eye covered her ears as she dashed through the enemies, tackling them with Tarot and Draco. Despite feeling a slight pain in her pack, she continued with her duty and responsibility as a clone trooper.

With the Imperial droid army calling for reinforcement, her head was spinning on the battlefield as one of her best troops, Draco, was shot in the shoulders. “Are you okay?” she asked, kneeling by his side.

“I’m alright, commander,” he bobbed his head. “It’s just a flesh wound, that’s all.”

Her eyes scanned for their medic, Sabrina, who was treating the clone from Mina’s battalion, Brake. Their medic, Rosie, was a civilian who volunteered for the war effort and joined them after the death of Hana on Coruscant. She was currently busy treating another clone, who couldn’t move his leg at all.

This is madness, she whispered underneath her ears, as she crawled on her elbows and knees and spotted General Almarez-Guttierez from afar, who was occupied with another batch of droids with General Gomez. I need to warn them.

“General,” Odd Eye reached them. “We need to retreat right now. We need our troops to take over the city of Mendes and we can’t lose them right now.”

“She’s right,” Raul agreed with her plan, helping her up on her feet. “Our mission on Mendes is more important if we’re going to win against the Empire. What do you say, Eri?”

She let out a small groan, nodding her head. “Alright then, commander. We’ll do what you suggested. Besides, the others are waiting for us at the rendezvous point, anyway.”

“Thank you, General,” said Odd Eye, as she ran back towards her troops, who were still engaged with the opposing side. “Guys, we have to retreat right now. Come on.”

“Right behind you, commander,” Mina saluted, as she got up and gestured to the others to follow them. “Hurry, we have to get out of this hellhole.”

As they turned around and marched together, the Republic remnants’ army avoided getting hit by their blasts, despite not having a lightsaber. ARC Trooper Tarot, who was all the way behind, defended his brothers and sisters along with the other Mina.

“So, did your predictions come true?” she raised her questions towards him. “Was your tarot reading accurate?’

“Yes, it happened,” Tarot admitted. “The Temperance card upright represents patience, and this situation is perfect for our generals and commanders to remain calm, even when the situation is stressful.”

“Well, looks like the commander made a wise decision after all,” she dragged her lips downwards. “It really came true.”

“What can I say? Tarot readings never lie, unless you’re incompetent in the arts.”

“I have a question though,” the other Mina raised her finger. “Will we stay alive after this?”

Before the former could take out his cards from his utility belt, Commander Mina cleared her throat, showing that they need to stay focused on their current goals, which is to stay alive. He couldn’t argue, since she made a good point and also, he doesn’t want to end up like his best friend, Fortune.

“I’ll answer your questions once things have settled down, so be patient.”

Meanwhile, Erina and Raul were holding each other’s hands as they checked on their troops behind them every few seconds, making sure that no one was missing. The medics, Sabrina, and Rosie were carrying their patients on their back, making sure they weren’t left behind.

The injured clone cried in pain as his body was quivering, making Rosie push herself to run faster. “It’s alright, Wren,” she soothed him with a hushed tone. “I know you can make it. Just hang in there, alright?”

“How long till we reached our destination?” Odd Eye asked, looking at Rosie’s struggles with her patient.

“We’re almost there,” Erina informed her, opening her holomap. “Just try to be patient.”

If you say so, the commander forced herself to agree, not wanting to blow up in her face. The sound of droids shooting in their direction was intense for her ears, and it was not a good time to fight with her superior officer. Just like what Tarot said, just be patient and things will go smoothly.

They continued their journey on foot for a while underneath the dark sky. The rain stopped pouring from the sky, leaving the forest floor full of puddles and mud that stained their armour. The surrounding air grew colder, which was a stark contrast to the humidity during the day. Gunfires had waned in the distance, leaving a tranquil surrounding for the soldiers.

But Commander Mina felt her gut was twisting inside. With sweat pouring underneath her helmet, she slowed down her pace, sharpening her eyes on her surroundings. Odd Eye noticed her odd behaviour, prompting her to question her comrade. “Are you alright?”

“I have a feeling something terrible will happen once we reach our rendezvous point.”

Odd Eye hummed to herself as she pondered on her thoughts for a while. She has a point. I feel odd too.

Before she could ask her best men, Tarot, the cavalry had arrived at their destination, only to find Boil, Faven, and Hyewon underneath a tree, their hands tied behind them. Mina recognised them as they were part of the 212th and Coruscant Guards, making her take off her helmet. “Are you guys okay?”

“Where’s your commander?” Odd Eye demanded, looking at a deserted spot. “Why are you guys the only ones here?”

“Well…” Boil dragged his words, when the Imperials revealed themselves with their blasters pointed towards them, leaving their jaws hanging. “We were caught by the Imps.”

“Surrender, Republic dogs,” the droid commander ordered, catching both the 666th and the 197th off-guard.

[andrewmoocow]

Gravity Soul chapter 7: The Excalibur Filler, Are We All Fools? (originally posted on April 21, 2018)

AN: Last time on Gravity Soul, our heroes begin their search for Pacifica but suddenly an old enemy of Maka and company makes her dastardly debut! After a hard-fought battle, Medusa splits the team apart and sends them tumbling towards different parts of the forest. The team consisting of the Stan twins, Wendy, Death the Kid and his Demon Weapons the Thompsons find themselves upon a particular cave where they meet a certain annoying Holy Sword. Hilarity ensues. 6-15-15-12-19!

"Ugh my head, where are we?" Stan groaned rubbing his head as he got up from his fall. "Anyone okay here? Use the hand signal if yes!" Suddenly Ford rose up shaking his head as well. "Now what was that signal again?" the scientist wondered. "Oh, I know!" Patty cried getting up. Rather than making an OK symbol, she clapped her hands, formed her hand into a peace symbol, then into an OK symbol before putting it over her eyes. "I think that was the "I can see your underwear" one." "Dammit, be serious everyone!" Ford exclaimed in frustration. "No egghead, she's right. Your underwear is showing!" Liz stated pointing to his pants, in which they began to drop down a bit. "Oh my goodness, thanks for the heads up!" Ford hastily pulled them up and secured them with his belt. "Now where are we?" "I think we're somewhere near a cave." Wendy guessed pointing at one hidden behind a waterfall and a few bushes here and there. Although it did look gorgeous, there was still the task at hand. "Do you think it might lead us to something useful?" Death the Kid asked examining the cave entrance. "I dunno, let's get in there!" Stan began marching into the cave with the others following close behind, except for Kid who was clinging onto a nearby tree branch. "Hey, this is no time to climb up trees!" "No, I simply refuse to walk into that cave. I'll get wet." Kid stated continuing to grab onto the branch. "Okay then, climb onto my back." Wendy offered. The young shinigami complied leaping down and jumping onto the redhead's back before they finally proceeded. "I have a bad feeling about this." he said.

Traversing further into the cave, the team felt an air of mystery surround them as if something fantastic would await them. But Kid on the other hand felt a heavy amount of deja vu smack him in the face as he watched the fairies fly about. "Something seems awfully familiar about this cave." he mused trying his hardest not to fall off of Wendy. "Almost like we are in for a world of pure obnoxiousness." "Oh please Stripes, I got enough of that from Gideon last summer." Stan sneered smacking a fairy onto his back. "But we seem to be close, these winged things seem to be spreading." Suddenly one fairy flew before them with a benign expression on her face. "Greetings travelers, what happens to bring you here?" "Yeah Crysta, you know where we can find something that can help us kill a merged monstrosity?" Wendy asked. The fairy's face then contorted before them, her eyes darting to one side, gritted teeth showing, her nose completely vanishing only leaving behind the nostrils and wrinkles appearing all over before she flew away in a hurry. "Wait a minute Kid, didn't you and Black Star make that face before?" Ford asked Kid, who was now frozen in fear. "Oh no, not him! Anyone but him again!" he began panicking before making his decision. "That is it, we are leaving right now!" He then leaped off of Wendy not even caring about getting wet and stomped back towards the cave entrance before Stan grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Oh no you don't squirt, you're coming with us whether you like it or not!" he yelled dragging him through the water while Liz and Patty led the way. "I already told you I'd get wet!" the symmetry-obsessed boy cried. "Who cares, we are finding this whatsit and getting outta here!" Finally making it to a domed chamber with a small stone platform in the middle and a sword implanted in it, Stan immediately got excited. "Neato, a sword! We could definitely use one of these!" he cried walking onto the platform and pulling on the weapon. "Good grief this is tough! Someone give me a lift here!" he called before Ford stepped up and grabbed the handle of the sword as well. "Now what could a sword be doing here?" "Yo when you get that out, can I have it as a souvenir?" Wendy asked. "No Wendy, no one's taking it as a souvenir unless you value your sanity!" Kid shouted pointing at her before trying to make a mad dash for the brothers. "DOOOO-OOOON'T PUUUU-UUULL IIIII-IIITTTT!" But he was too late. Stan and Ford finally pulled the sword free and it shone heavenly upon them. "CONGRATULATIONS TRAVELERS! I AM EXCALIBUR, THE GREATEST AND MOST STRONGEST WEAPON OF ALL!" a voice boomed for everyone to hear. "AS A REWARD FOR PULLING ME FROM THE STONE, I SHALL NAME ONE OF YOU MY NEW MEISTER!" The light descended upon the twins and gave way to reveal a small white creature standing before them. The creature had no mouth to speak of, his only facial features being a rather long nose and a pair of eyes staring blankly at the Pines. He wore a white top hat on his head with a matching frilled ruff & jacket and held a cane in his non-existent hand. "That's it, this is Excalibur?! Kinda expected him to be taller!" Stan commented trying to hold back laughter while his brother gazed in awe. "I cannot believe it, the sword of King Arthur himself, and we pulled it out of the stone!" "FOOL!" Excalibur shouted spooking the twins. "Why yes, I am indeed Excalibur, the strongest weapon in the world formerly wielded by King Arthur. And I see you've brought an old friend too." He then turned his gaze to Kid, already cringing at the sight of him. "Please Excalibur, I insist that I interview you!" Ford exclaimed dropping to his knees in excitement. "I want all the details, like Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail-" "FOOL! You're asking too much sir." the sword stated smacking Ford with his cane, making his nose jiggle. "So what makes you so afraid of him Kid? Other than actually being pretty rude." Wendy asked. "He must have some kind of latent power to incite anger in those he comes across!" Kid deduced pounding his fist into his palm. "Plus, he is of course disgustingly obnoxious. But I don't know what he is doing here, he's supposed to be in the Eternal Cave." "Why this is my summer home, it is very nice this time of year." Excalibur stated spinning around in a circle. "Now then my six-fingered muchacho, you said you wanted to hear my story?" he asked pointing his cane at Ford. "Why yes! Please tell us sir." Ford sat down on the platform and began listening intently to the sword's tale while the others did their own thing. "My legend dates back to the 12th century. It began on an intensely hot midsummer's day. Wait, it was a chilly autumn's day..."

"Grunkle Stan, Ford, Wendy, Kid! Where are you?" Dipper called for the aforementioned people as he, Mabel, Waddles, Maka, Soul and Crona scoured the forest for them. "They couldn't have gone far. We gotta get them back before we can continue on to Kishin Cipher." Maka declared. "Yeah but at this rate, what chance do we have? I mean, we've seen how strong Medusa's gotten thanks to him!" Soul replied. "Chances are whatever else he's gonna throw at us is gonna waste our asses!" "Don't say that Soul," Crona said. "even if the odds are against us, I know we can win in the end." he said before Ragnarok interjected. "Now that's my boy! You've grown much braver!" he shouted harshly rubbing his head. "Hey, stop it Ragnarok!" "But how can we contact anyone else now? She destroyed our flashlight and now we're separated from the others." Mabel wondered before she suddenly got an idea. "Wait, I think I have a sweater for that!" She took off her current shooting star sweater before swapping it with a lightbulb design that actually functioned as a light source when she pressed it. "Wow, that's really efficient!" Maka exclaimed. "Though don't you think it might become a fire hazard?" "No, it's a fun hazard." Mabel boldly declared. "Now let's get the band back together!" She raced off deeper into the woods before the others followed in hot pursuit. "We're coming guys!"

In another dark part of the forest, Soos, Melody, McGucket and Stein were trying to find a way out while Spirit panicked for his daughter. "Oh what am I going to do?! What if my little Maka is hurt or even dead?! This forest is just so dangerous, there could be predators or criminals out here!" Suddenly his worrying was silenced by Blair. "Oh don't worry big guy, I'm sure Maka's group is fine!" the sexy Monster Cat assured him. "Besides, she's still super strong!" "Oh thanks Blair." Spirit gratefully thanked her. "By the way, why were you so quiet lately?" he asked. "I dunno, I just couldn't find the right thing to say." Meanwhile Soos and Stein were trying to contact the others. "So what do you suppose we do doc?" the former handyman asked. "Why don't we just use the flashlight?" Melody suggested. "That is a great idea Ms. Melody. In fact, I'll try it right now." Stein pulled out the tool and turned it on for about a few seconds before it suddenly flickered out and died. "What the?!" "Sorry 'bout that dude, but if it makes you feel any better I packed spare batteries!" Soos tried to cheer him up by sifting through his backpack but finding no spares. "Oh right, I used up most of them for my radio." He pulled out a radio and turned on some music. "Am I blanchin'? Girl we blanchin'! I live up in a mansion!" "That actually is quite catchy, but let us not distract ourselves." Stein stated. "I suggest we sit here and wait until someone finds us." Just as he spoke, they spotted a faint light in the distance, which upon further inspection turned out to come from a sweater Mabel was wearing as Dipper, Maka, Soul, Crona and Waddles followed her. "Soos, Dr. Stein!" "Dudes! You're safe!" Soos cried scooping the twins in his arms. "Thought we lost you there." he said before Melody joined in on the hug and Blair glomped Soul. "I've missed you too Soul! I was worried you were hurt something fierce or-" "MAKA CHOP!" Maka screamed slapping Soul silly. "Okay, enough stalling. Now we need to find the others and proceed on our mission." Dipper stated. "Let's move out everyone!" With that, the nearly reassembled crew set off to find the other members.

"The one thousand provisions of the Holy Sword Excalibur. #618. When ordering food at a restaurant, always ask for many plates of breadsticks." Team Stan and Excalibur were now sitting at a fancy restaurant calmly waiting for their waiter to arrive. "So you brought us here to this place just so you can get some breadsticks?" Stan asked before the stereotypically French waiter arrived at their table. "Allo allo allo, vat can I get you?" "Okay, I'll have some linguini with a side of tea, Earl Grey, hot." Ford stated. "My scoundrel of a brother here will take some ratatouille. Our dark-haired companion and his fair maidens shall have the escargot, symmetrical of course and finally Ms. Corduroy will have the beef bourguignon." "Anything else mousier?" the waiter asked jotting down their order. "No, I think that's it." Wendy said before Excalibur hit her with his cane. "FOOL! You forgot one thing." he declared. "All right fine. The little guy here will take some breadsticks." "Make that 20 plates of breadsticks garcon." the Holy Sword added. "Mon dieu, that many?!" the waiter gasped. "Oh well, I shall make a note of it." He walked away leaving the patrons at their table. "Seriously, twenty breadsticks? Isn't that a little excessive?" Liz asked before she got a cane to the face. "FOOL! Nothing is too excessive." "I don't want to know what the bill will be like." Kid deadpanned. "Once they come with it, I suggest we say thanks for the food then run for it." Stan suggested. "#202. I can only accept the grandest of toilets." "Are you done yet Excalibur?! Other people need to go too!" Stan cried pounding on the door of a large duck where the sword did his business. "In fact, how can a guy like him go to the john when he doesn't have a hoo-ha or uh-oh?" "I can't take it anymore Grunkle Stan! I have to go now!" Dipper cried behind him doing a potty dance. "Just go behind a tree kid, simple as that!" "I get he wants his privacy," Ford stated standing before the duck. "but isn't this a bit much?" As it turned out, the duck had taken up a small part of Gravity Falls. "#75, Excalibur's birthday, which is everyday by the way, shall be celebrated in grand style." "Wait, everyday?! You must be like really old then!" Wendy exclaimed. "So what kind of cake do you prefer?" Stan asked looking over a catalogue of confectionary treats. "Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, carrot, coconut, devil's food-" Suddenly Excalibur cut him off. "All of the above! It is my birthday after all."

"Black Star? Tsubaki?" Dipper called out for the ninja and his weapon. "Gideon?! Where are you guys?!" "Should we search for Stan and Kid first?" McGucket inquired crawling behind them. "You know, you've got a good point McG. Why don't we find them first?" Mabel responded. "We'll save them for last. Right now we need to get Team #4 back." Dipper stated. "Yeah but aren't we going out of order? Three comes before four y'know." Soos added. "Ditto." Soul replied. "Okay, change of plans. We'll find Stan, Ford and Kid first then Black Star and Gideon." the boy changed his mind and looked onward. "But where could they be?" Suddenly they heard a faint voice singing. "Excalibur, Excalibur! From the United King, I'm looking for heaven, I'm going to California!" the voice crooned. "What is that?" Maka wondered. "I think I know that voice from anywhere." Stein announced before his face distorted in disgust. "It's Excalibur." "Wait, the Excalibur?! As in King Arthur's sword?!" Dipper exclaimed cheerfully. "Please, I have got to see it in person, I just have to!" Just then, Stein simply commanded him to stop talking. "I admire your enthusiasm Dipper, but just so you know Excalibur can be very abrasive which explains why he doesn't have too many Meisters." "Yeah I have to agree dude, that face he made really gives me a bad feeling about this." Soos agreed with the strongest Meister before attempting to imitate the Excalibur face. "Y'know for some reason I can't make it myself." he stated. "Well we got no time to waste, let's find the others and get back on track!" Melody declared walking away from the group before the others followed her.

"#452, attendance of my five-hour story telling party is absolutely mandatory." Every character that has and will eventually appear in this story were now gathered around Excalibur while he told a story that went on for quite a while. As he continued narrating, the audience grew smaller over time until only Ford and Dipper were left. "That is all!" the sword declared to his two-man audience applauding his tale.

"Now if I were a wrinkly old man in a dark forest, where would I be?" Gideon pondered as he, Ghost Eyes, Black Star and Tsubaki searched the woods for the rest of the Mystery Meisters. "Probably taking a whiz, what else?" Black Star answered. "Or perhaps he just gave up and went back to the Shack." Ghost Eyes added. "I don't really think so guys. Mr. Pines may be old, but he most certainly isn't a quitter." Tsubaki disagreed with them. "Besides, did you see how he fought Medusa?! And he's only like fifty-something years old!" "Yep, a fifty-something year old man who found a way to ruin my reputation last summer." Gideon snarked before he pulled out their flashlight and flickered it twice to signal help. Suddenly it began to give out and finally died. "Uh, did we pack any batteries?" "Actually, I think Soos used up most of them." Black Star guessed before he randomly bumped straight into Soul, who was already with the twins, Maka and Crona. "Wait, Soul?!" he exclaimed staring at his friend. "Black Star?" "SOUL!" Black Star cried as the two ran towards each other with tears in their eyes and cherry blossom petals flying around before hugging tightly, still crying. "I thought you were a goner bro!" the last of the Star Clan sobbed. "Me too buddy!" Suddenly, the two of them were shot in the head by none other than Death the Kid. "Oops, finger slipped again. My mistake." "Kid? Then that must mean..." Mabel gasped before her great uncles and Wendy came into view behind him. "Hey kids, sorry it took so long." Stan nervously apologized before Dipper and Mabel rushed into their arms. "We were worried sick, where were you two?" the alpha twin asked. "Well we found this cave that had all these little fairies and this little annoying thing in a hat." Stan replied. "Oh look, here he comes now!" "Wait, little annoying thing in a hat? Oh no!" Black Star panicked before he found none other than Excalibur stepping out of the night shadows of the forest. "Long time no see!" the sword benignly greeted the party. "OH HELL NOOOOO!" Black Star screamed at the top of his lungs, echoing throughout the forest before Tsubaki stuck her hand over her partner's mouth. "Be quiet Black Star, Kishin Cipher could still be watching us." "So why did you bring him with you?!" Black Star demanded incredulously removing his weapon's hand and glaring at Black Star. "FOOL!" Excalibur shouted as usual. "Why it's actually the other way around. In exchange for learning my 1000 provisions, I would help your companions find you guys and here we are." "I can't believe it, the very Excalibur wielded by King Arthur! I have like a jillion questions for you!" Dipper exclaimed getting incredibly excited before he finally collapsed. "Hey Dipper, you all right?" Wendy asked waking him up. "Oh I'm fine Wendy. So how was meeting Excalibur." And that was when she, Stan, Ford and Kid all made the Excalibur face. "Painful." they answered. "And I guess we're pretty much stuck with him." Liz added transforming back into her human form. "And trust me, I've dealt with Patty's childishness and Kid's disorders to know how to survive this." "No time to waste everyone, let's find Pacifica!" Patty shouted transforming as well and pointing onward. "Yes, follow me everyone!" Excalibur exclaimed letting his cane lead the way. "For your information Excalibur, Dipper and I are supposed to be the leaders." Maka stated before she got a whack to the head from the Holy Sword. "FOOL! I actually know this town from top to bottom for some reason, so let me be the leader." As the Mystery Meisters dreadfully followed the Holy Sword onward to the former Northwest Mansion, a wolflike creature with a frog perched on its head watched them from behind a tree, its left eye glowing a hellish red and fangs showing as it snarled.

"Master Kishin Cipher, the enemy has now been led astray. There is no doubt your master plan will go uninterrupted." Medusa reported back to a large sack hanging under the hole in the roof before a crystal ball appeared from out of nowhere and showed the Mystery Meisters now reunited and on their way. "I greatly apologize for failing you oh great God of Weirdness and Madness, please tell me what I should do to redeem myself." There was dead silence until Kishin Cipher telepathically installed a new order within the witch's mind. "Understood." she accepted and walked over to the now lowered cage containing Pacifica Northwest. "Wake up little one." The former rich girl awoken and rubbed her eyes to find the witch towering over her with a cold frown on her face. "W-what are you going to do with me?" she whimpered curling up into a ball and trying to scoot away from her. "Why it's simple Llama," Medusa answered, her stoic expression turning into a manic grin. "we're going to prepare you.”

And that was Chapter 7, the aptly named Excalibur chapter! Just what is Medusa going to prepare Pacifica for and will our brave band of heroes save her in time while surviving Excalibur?! Find out on the next chapter of Gravity Soul! Review or I'll take your soul.