A/N: Enjoy

EDIT: 17/1/17 I'd made a mistake in my code. Its fixed now.

Gravity Falls: Red Moon

Chapter one: Between us

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"Uuuuh." The voice next to Dipper Pines wailed overdramatically.

He tried to focus on his book and ignore her. It had only been the second time in less than twenty seconds. With some luck, she'd find something else to do.

"I said 'uuuuh', Dipper." His twin sister nudged him in the arm.

He rolled his eyes and closed his book. "Yes, Mabel. I heard you." He said, turning to his sibling. She had brown hair, just like him. Though hers was much longer. And their faces, though alike, were clearly different. Her cheeks were rounder, where his forehead was bigger, all the more place to house the birthmarks that given him his nickname. Little wonder he always hid it under hair and hat. The frown she had on her face now was not only a stark contrast to her default behavior, but also to the sheshire cat on her blue sweater.

"What is it?"

"I'm bored." She complained.

"Don't you have your gamegirl™ ?"

"The batteries died out like an hour ago, bro!"

"Yeah? Well, too bad." He said, returning his attention to his book.

"Uuuuuh!" She said laying her head sideways on his shoulder. "UUUUUH!"

"Fine." He sighed, shutting the book again. "Fine. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Let's play a roadgame Dipper!"

"Mabel." He said in a hushed tone. "We haven't played roadgames in over a year. Do you really think the best time to start doing that again is when we are surrounded by new kids for a week to come?"

"Oh, come on, don't be a dork."

"I'm trying. That's the point. I don't want to us to be the weird kids out the coming week."

He hoped the message would sink in. There were a few more hours on their bustrip to Happy Camps, their after-christmass activity for the rest of the winter holidays. And that busride filled to the brink with other kids was only the start of it all. He just wanted a normal vacation for once.
Truth be told. He didn't know how his sister managed to not care about those kinds of things. He admired her free spirit, despite how much it could get on his nerves from time to time. She could get laughed at and get a good laugh from it herself; she rose above it with a cheery attitude. Because Mabel always knew who she was. And she liked who she was. Perhaps that was where that strenght came from.

"Hehe." A brutish voice behind his seat uttered.
Dipper felt his ear flap hat he'd gotten from Wendy Corduroy during the past summer they'd spent in the strange little town of Gravity Falls lifted from his head.

"Hey!" He said, turning around angrily.
Next thing he knew, he gulped.

The kid that had taken his hat was a head taller than him and three times as wide. He had a flat nose and a blonde, military style haircut. He leaned over the back of Dipper's seat, towering with a stupid grin on his face. His thick arms and hand dangled the hat in a taunting way. It made him angry beyond words.

"Yeah Dipsauce!" The kid laughed. "Let's play a game. Keep-away!"

Some of the nearby kids giggled and laughed, pointing at the scene happening before them.

Despite far from being a coward, Dipper had always prefered diplomacy or out-thinking his enemies whenever possible, before resorting to violence. Especially when many of his foes in the past had always had the edge on him when it came to physical strength. But he didn't flinch when it mattered. And that hat mattered. His blood boiling, his hand reached quickly, grabbing the kid by the wrist.

He knew he had a savage look on his face. He could feel it. But the other kid had one too. It was obvious this bully wasn't used to his victims standing up for themselves. And that he liked it no less. Dipper was still not going to let go, but he knew he wasn't going to get out unscathed. But so be it. In Gravity Falls, they'd faced bigger problems than this.

Luckily, his sister came to the rescue. He could see, from the side of his vision, that she wore her usual cheery expression; her sharp braces layed bare. She didn't seem impressed by the bully at all. And when she spoke, he could see the doubt and uncertainty grow in the other boy's head. And not only because, as big of a bully as he could be, he would not prove his dominance nor claim more status by beating up a girl. But also by what she said. And the happy-go-lucky way she mentioned it.

"Oh hey there." She said, "I'm Mabel and that's my brother Dipper, whose hat you're holding. Now I don't know just who you think you are. But I'll just call you Ham-hands. I think you want to let go of that hat, Ham-hands. You see, we've seen things that would make you wet your pants? Don't believe me?" She asked.

More and more of the busy bus grew quiet as she extended her hand. Ham-hands was frozen, not understanding just what was going on and unsure how to react. Even as the girl's finger prodded his cheek and she made a farting sound with her tongue out. She then continued to prod his forehead. His chin. His nose. And he just sat there, wide-eyed as the entire bus looked over to them by now.

"See? We've seen too much to be scared of a one-dimensional bully such as yourself." She continued happily.

"You're insane." The bully managed eventually. His eyes darting from her to Dipper. "She's insane." He went on.

She snorted. "Yeah. And there is one thing you should know about this camping trip..." She laughed. And then, in one go, she leaned over the bus-seat and grabbed him by the collar, pressing her face up against his, looking him straight in the eye. She spoke with a low, raspy voice. "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!"

Ham-hands let go of hat. And Dipper took it from him with more than just some satisfaction.

His sister let him go and laughed out loud in the silent bus. "Hah. Movie references." She exclaimed before the both of them sank back into their seats.

Slowly but surely, the noise in the bus returned. And with it, Dipper's adrenaline weared off as his embarresment took its place.

"Okay." He said, adjusting the hat. "What game do you want to do?"

"I thought you didn't want to be the weird kid out." She asked.

"I think that boat has sailed by now."

"Nah. I'm fine."

"Your f…? Oh sure." He said, a tad annoyed. He loved his sister, but her fickleness could be a bit much sometimes.

"Hey Dipper?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said, just as he'd decided to reach for his book again.

"If mom and dad wanted to get rid of us for a week..."

"Come on Mabel, that's not fair. You know they couldn't take time off from work."

"Why couldn't they send us back to Gravity Falls?"

He didn't know what to say. That is to say, the reason was obvious. As their great-uncles, the twins Stanford and Stanley Pines had set about travelling the world in search for paranormal anomalies, they had no family in Gravity Falls they could stay at.

Well, it depended on what you called family. Soos and Wendy Corduroy… Grenda and Candy… Old man Mcgucket… Hell, even Pacifica Northwest and Gideon Gleeful had become more than treasured memories and friends. Could they not be called family? Not in the eyes of their parents, apparently.

"Dipper?" She asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"Yeah?"

"You still often think about what's happening there now?"

His hand reached for one of the ear flaps on his hat. His thumb stroked the inner wool absentmindedly.

"Every day." He said, remembering red hair and a smile that made his legs feel as wobly and noodly as bullies kept reminding him they were.

Wendy Corduroy pulled the collar of her thick coat up, shielding her from the worst of the snowstorm. She was grateful for the inner wool-lining, yet found herself longing after her old cap. Dipper's hat didn't shelter near as much as her old ear flap hat had. It hadn't been much of a problem over the last few months, but now that the heart of winter had struck the remote town of Gravity Falls, she was starting to notice. And, while she'd never admit as much, perhaps she had to recognize that she'd been to laid back in looking for a replacement.

As she plowed through the six and a half inches of snow, not seeing a single fellow Gravity Faller in sight, she felt the slight headache coming up. She didn't want to get sick. Not now. She couldn't afford it. It was december 26th, and seriously who got sick in the holiday season? There were enough schooldays for that.

In any case, she was not looking forward to watching the new movie at The Royal. "Going away again from the past and present.', the 1985 classic was playing in the small theater. She'd heard Dipper and Soos gosh over it like nerds during the summer, but she'd never seen it herself. It seemed apt, now that she had the chance. But watching a big screen with a headache coming up was not on her priority list right now. She wished she hadn't convinced Tambry to watch it with her tonight. Her best friend didn't especially want to go in the first place. Nor would she be apt company. She'd probably spend more time watching the screen on her phone than the big one in any case.

But on the other hand, she needed this, she reflected. She'd been cooped up for too long. And Christmas at the Corduroy's hadn't proven much relaxing. And she needed that unwinding. Not only school had been stress. And not only one of her brothers having a terrible bout of puberty was denying her any down time at home. But then there were the animal casualties at Fendersons farm… Mysterious they were; they had her investigating; searching through old tomes in the town library. It was hard to believe just how easily the people of Gravity Falls had turned back to ignoring the supernatural. It was almost like the Blind Eye society was back in business. If Fenderson was content with his farm animals turning up drained and dead, perhaps that was his business. But with the Mystery Shack crew scattered, she felt like it was her job to at least look into it. The most frustrating thing of all was that she hadn't been able to inform Dipper and Mabel about her progress. Their advice and memories from the journals had proven most valuable over the last few months in previous cases such as the attack of the Minticore. An unholy chimera; one part mythological beast, one part Freshmaker. Who else but the wonder twins could have figured to defeat it with diet pitt cola? Alas, with the snowstorm hitting, internet was out in this one-horse town. If you sent a mail, you were lucky if it arrived three days later. Let alone skype… She was on her own on this one. Well, she had Soos. But you know...

Turning the corner, again, she found the street empty, abandonded and dark. Some of the streetlamps were flickering. The snowstorm raging around her sure was doing a number on the town; blanketing the normally colorful town in white and gray. For once, 'Gray Street' was appropriately named. Gray street had become Gray street only because of Gravity Falls' finest of traditions of going with the flow. Gray was as good a word as Gravy, the peoply of the town had recogned. So after Robbie, ten years ago, had blotted out the V, rather then get mad, the people had decided to adapt. Nobody had been more upset than Robbie himself.
She passed a spray-painted anarchy symbol as she readjusted Dipper's, that is to say, her hat. The red A barely got any of her attention. Some kid had been thinking himself a rebel as of late. The logo was all over town.

She was all for yelling 'down with the system' and being a rebel just for the sake of being a rebel and young. But it was kind of a shame to see it on Gray street. It had only just been revamped. They'd even managed to lure in a Mcdonald's on it. In the distance, its shiny yellow M tried to lure her in, but she refused. Not because it was killing small businesses, like Greasy's diner. But because she really didn't have the time. If she didn't hurry, she'd be late and judging by the vibrating in her pocket, Tambry was already there and messaging her like crazy.

Carefull not to slip on the ice underneath the snow, she began a faster jog. She went through the alleyways and cut a few corners. The phone vibrated again. But she was almost there. And anyways, she didn't feel like taking off her gloves in this cold.

She passed the giant P signalling the parking space a bit further down the street of The Royal. There were hardly any cars there. During the day people who came in for work or shopping tended to place their car there. But the little cinema was the only late-night attraction in this part of town. And with such slippery roads, it seemed many had decided to stay at home tonight, opting to recover from yesterday's celebration.

And Christmas had been exhausting. Though it hadn't been a waste. With Weirdmaggedon come and gone, her dad had finally relucted to celebrate the holiday propper. Rather than preparing for the end of the world. He'd even goten her a present she'd had her hopes for; a new smartphone. Sure, it hadn't been the one she'd had her eye on, but they'd tried. And you couldn't expect too much from old folk. Especially her dad. He didn't know a smartphone wasn't automatically an Iphone, even if you gave it in a protective casing with a giant I on it. But still, it had been welcome. And it was currently going like mad inside her coat.

Strange thing too. Because underneath The Royal's neon lights, she couldn't see Tambry. The R on the sign flickered on and off ominously when she arrived. The guy in the booth, a pimple-covered teen from another class at her school seemed surprised to see her. He smiled kindly, sitting behind the glass.

"Oh hey Wendy." The scrawny boy said, waving his hand. His voice lisping due to the obvious braces, recently installed.

Unlike Mabel, he hadn't yet learned to talk properly without them.

"Heeey." She waved back, a tad embarrased for not remembering his name.

She tried to glance the nametag on his shirt, but it was no help. It read E. Smithson. What was that kids name again? Erik? Ethan? Elvis? What help was just thet letter E?

"Hey..." She repeated again, snapping out of it as she realized she hadn't talked in too long. "You." She finished. Luckily, the boy didn't seem to notice. If anything, he seemed glad to have somebody to talk to. "I didn't know you got a job here?" She added, feeling a tad relieved he wasn't causing a fuzz. "The pay any good?" She added.

"About half a buck less an hour than the pool." He said, trying to work away the spit in his mouth. He started blushing and uttered a short, shy, one-syllable laugh. "I remember you working there." He said, looking down.

Well, this was as creepy as Gravity Falls got. But for a whole other reason.

"Yeah..." She replied. "You seen Tambry?" She asked. "She gone in yet?"

She felt her new phone vibrate again.

"You're the first one I've seen all night." The kid replied, a tad confused. "It's a slow night. I hope I'm getting paid at the end of this."

"Oh."

"But you know, if you want, I could watch the movie with you? Doesn't seem like anyone else is coming anyway?"

"Uh… Thanks." She replied, backing up. "But I gotta go. Gotta go… go… check up on Tambry. Yeah. That's it."

"Some other time then?" He called after her as she moved on.

"With this kind of weather, hell might just freeze over!" She yelled back in what she hoped wasn't a too cruel voice.

Using her teeth she undid her gloves and reached for her phone.

She couldn't believe Tambry. Sure, she hadn't wanted to go herself after all, but she'd still showed, hadn't she? And Tambry had been calling and texting to call it off, but far too late. She'd already been on the road, when her phone had started going off. And thus she'd had to suffer through that awkwardness with Eli or Evan or Ernie or whatever his name was.

However, as her phone revealed the three missed calls and the 17 missed messages, she stopped dead in her tracks. An immeadiate sense of dread and adrenaline overcame her. It wasn't like Corduroy's to freeze in the sight of danger. Even in weather as freezing as this was. But this was more than enough to warrant a second to recollect herself.

The first two messages had been innocent enough. Just her sending a text letting her know she was getting ready and that she'd left the house. But another had been sent a few moments later, claiming that she felt like she was being followed. And another. And then one that she was certain she was being followed and was heading back home. Then a phonecall.

And she'd just let it go to voicemail, because she didn't want to get her hands cold.

She tried to call her now. But every time the phone rang without being answered, it was like being told: too little, too late. Eventually it went to voicemail. Just about the last thing she wanted to hear right now. So she returned to the messages.

Wendy skimmed ahead. She didn't want to, but she had to. Dreading to read it all, she read more.

Tambry had tried to head back. But she'd been cut off at every turn, forced to either walk into the stranger or take a detour. It hadn't made sense how the strange figure had always managed to cut her off.

She was scared by then. Completely terrified. The messages became shorter. And more accusing, demanding Wendy to pick up and help her. Tambry'd tried calling her parents, but they were out to dinner and didn't have their phone on, it seemed. She'd tried calling for people on the street and hand rung the doorbells of random houses as she ran from the stalking figure. But none had answered her plea. Another call. Another voicemail…

She'd run into the woods by then. More figures had appeared, leaving her no streets to go into. Into the woods. Oh God. Was she still out there? Alone, hunted by whoever these creeps were? Short one-word messages were all that followed. Help. Help. Please. Lost. HELP!

And one last voicemail.

Wendy had a hard time breathing, for just one second. Next, a fury and determination filled her heart. She ran as hard as she could, ice be damned. Her gloves fell to the ground, but she didn't care.

She hurried her way through town over to where she was sure Tambry would've passed on her way to the theatre. And indeed, she found the tracks of one person still in the snow.
The snowfall was doing its best to cover up the lead, but she'd been fast enough. For this at least. Following it was not a hard thing to do. She didn't want to stop to think about what that meant for Tambry's pursuers.

They'd hunted her across town alright. But she only slowed down once, hoping to find where they'd entered the forest as soon as possible. It was when she passed a house with a bunch of chopped logs in it's front lawn, and an axe still fresh in a stump. Whoever the careless owner of such fine steel had been, she could kiss him. She dislodged the axe with ease and continued again on her way; doubling her efforts.

When she finally came to the woods, she still couldn't see any other prints in the snow but Tambry's. She didn't like that. Not one bit. But at least it would allow her to follow the tracks, knowing for sure they belonged to her friend.

Away from the town's meager lights, she grabbed her smartphone and switched on it's flashlight. There were no new messages. She couldn't afford to stop and think about what that might mean.

The light of her phone helped her see as her pass inevitably slowed down. There were rocks and roots to trip her over. The tracks in the snow were harder to recognize in the encreasing darkness and the branches of trees kept smacking her in the face. But she pressed on.

"Come on." She dogged herself on. "Come on." Hold on Tambry.

She had no idea where the track had lead her, but after what seemed like an hour of traversing the woods, she came to an abandoned ruin, it looked like a tomb if she'd ever seen one. Desolate and covered in moss, the whole thing was little more than some huge slabs of stone worked into a small hill with an ancient staircase leading down. The arc of the doorway was especially cracked and bent out of shape by centuries or millenia of roots growing around them; pushing them always slightly and gaining ground inch by inch.

Without hesitation, she tore off a part from a front-pocket on her coat, allowing her to slide in the cellphone without having it's flashlight be cut off by the fabric. Her fingers tightened around the handle of the axe. She marched in ready to show them, whoever they were, just what happened when you messed with the friends of a Corduroy.

Holding the axe firmly in both hands, she descended the stone stairs. Her footsteps echoing softly around her and deep into the darkness that lay ahead. When the steps ended and she felt normal ground under the soles of her boots, she heard a low sound drumming on. She couldn' t quite place it. But it's rythm was just about the first thing she noticed.

She tried her best to peer beyond the beam of light shining from her chest as she shuffled closer towards the humming sound. And as she faced the shadows that humming grew to chanting.

"What the..." She told herself as she moved from chamber to chamber.

Her flashlight revealed an ancient structure, all in ruin, around her. The entire place didn't exactly look safe, more like on the brink of collapse. And every step she took, the feeling inside her that this tomb would become… well… her tomb, grew. The worst part, apart from the ominous chanting growing louder and louder, was that with every step she took, the shadows danced beyond her flashlight. Stones and roots sticking through the roof; all cast menacing shades in the bright, white light. And all were turned worse by her own imagination.

She walked underneath another archway, hoping she'd be able to find her way back once she'd found Tambry, when in the distance she saw a faint gold light dancing on a wall. The way it danced told her it was illuminated by fire. She grabbed her axe in the right hand and drew her phone out of her makeshift holder with her left and lowered it, to shine just in front of her feet. She needed it so she wouldn't trip or fall into a bottomless pit of sorts, but she couldn't have it give away her position.

She moved closer to the light, and the chanting rose with each step. She couldn't make out the words. They surely weren't english.

When she came to the illuminated wall, she could see clearly the light came from another chamber around the corner. Carefull not to make a sound, she peered in; afraid of what she might find. Afraid that she might be to late.

What she saw horrified her. In the middle of the round chamber, lighted like gold by torches hanging from the wall, was a shiny, bronzen altar. And the figure lying atop it with open eyes, frozen in the moment, was a familiar one. Six figures were praying and chanting on their knees, surrounding the altar. They threw up their arms and brought them down singing their awfull mumbo-jumbo. And they were hideous. Neither male nor female, but naked and with a body so pale and wrinkled and misshapen; their arms and legs too long, their bald heads too oval; their fingers more clawlike than actual hands, their eyes a sickly yellow and their ears pointy. And even from her hiding spot, she could see the sharp fangs on the ones somewhat facing her. Above the altar a metal disk hung, chained up to the cealing. And from it a radiant beauty of a woman hung down. Only the ample upper part of her body departed from the disk. Where the rest of her body went as it dissapeared into the metal disk, she could not tell, but it didn't exit the other way. The woman simply dissapeared from the waist down.
She wore victorian clothing; gold and red and amplifying her hourglass body. With her long red, wavy hear hanging from the other side of her head, its ends kissing the bronze altar, Wendy could see her flawless face. Her skin was white, but not the sickly tone of that of the thralls around her. No, this was like seeing snow-white come to life. Her red lips and red eyes somehow only amplified her beauty. Though the trickle of blood dripping from her lips did not.

The droplets were claimed by gravity and splashed on the figure lying on the slab of the impressive altar. And it was a figure Wendy knew all too well. Her friend's eyes were open, but Wendy could tell she didn't see. She was in the room, but her mind was somewhere else.

"Tambry." She breathed.

The beautiful woman turned her gaze to her and Wendy could feel those red eyes penetrate her. In one moment utter silence dominated the chamber. The ugly creatures turned to face her. And yet somehow, their horrible mugs were naught compared to the destructive power the strange woman's look held.

Then, all of a sudden, she hissed. And as one, the monsters moved and rushed for her. Wendy moved from her hiding spot herself. Her brain begging her to turn and run for her life. But her heart was filled with righteous fury and she'd never been one to let a friend down. No matter what it took.

Her war-cry rang louder than their mindless drooling and hungering sounds. And when the nearest one leapt for her, she swung the axe with all her might.

In two different places, its body and head turned to dust upon falling to the ground.

A wordless cry from the mysterious woman ensued and the rest of her warriors froze.

"Yeah?" Wendy roared, high on adrenaline. "Come get some!"

Her eyes locked with the woman's. And for a moment, despite feeling the crushing weight of her gaze, she felt like she could take every-one in that room. Even that freak herself.

Viciously, the woman hissed again before sinking deeper into the disk. Rapid and undescribeable movements around her made Wendy take her eyes off the dissapearing figure, however. As suddenly she found herself surrounded by five big, mean looking bats. They flew past her and she tried to strike one of them as they moved for the exit to the chamber, but missed. And by then they'd dissapeared into the darkness and beyond the corner. She could hear their flapping get further and further away.

She turned back to the altar quickly, ony to see the last of the strands of wavy red hear dissapear into the disk.

"Tambry!" She repeated, running over quickly.

Once at the altar, she grabbed the axe with both hands again and peered up into the metal disk; expecting to find the woman. A red-haired face stared back at her, looking very cross indeed. But it was her own. She now saw only it's outer rim had been made of metal. A bronzen metal enscrybed in strange hieroglyphs. But insided of that outer rim was naught but a giant mirror.

Not trusting the mysterious object for one second, she placed her arms underneath her friends legs and back. With some care she heaved her off the altar. Removing her, she found a strange inscription on the altar. It read "viɿƚuƨ ƨɒnǫuiniƨ" at the top of the slab. In the middle she could see: "ɘx viƚɒ moɿƚɘ" And just under that: "ɘx moɿƨ viƚɒ". And more toward the bottom it read: "viɿƚuƨ ƚɘnɘdɿɒɿum". But she ignored it rapidly and lay her friend on the ground instead. Some things were more important than others.
She quickly checked the girls breathing and found her pulse. Albeit faint. Tambry was looking bleaker than usual and felt cold. She was also bleeding slightly from her neck. Wendy did what she could with a clean handkerchief, but she knew her friend had to get medical attention asap. She tried talking to her. She shook her slightly. She even slapped her once, trying to snap her out of it. But the girl did not wake.

"Okay." Wendy said as much to herself as to her friend. "We have to get you out of here."

She undid her own coat and put it on her friend. She also forced her gloves over the girl's first pair. Not an easy feat when the other person is non-responsive. But she had to keep her warm, which wasn't happening despite the thick clothing she'd already been wearing before.

"You're going to be al right." Wendy whispered.

She bent over to pick up her friend, but rose without her. Despite knowing her friend needed to get back to town sooner rather than later. A terrible anger in her would not let her leave yet, she knew. She stared furiously at the mirror hanging over the altar for a second, realizing what she had to do. She grabbed the axe she'd leaned against the altar with both hands and raised it into a striking position.

"You stay out of my town!" She shouted, swingin the axe.

Shards of mirror nbroke off and scattered. And even more fell down when she managed to wriggle free the blade of the axe from the metal sheet behind the glass.

With the axe in one hand and her phone now pocketed in the front of her pants, she heaved her friend over her shoulder, hanging one of the girl's arms and one of her legs over her shoulders and locking it with her free arm. It was a good thing Tambry had always been worried enough about her appearance to stay thin, for Wendy did not know how much more she could carry like this.

But they were going home, and she would make sure of it.