It's a Great Kanohi Mask, Mabel Pines

If there were one thing Mabel Pines could say she loved more than boy bands, Waddles, and exploring the backwoods with her brother Dipper, it would be archaeology.

Back in Piedmont, she had spent a multitude of her after-school and summer hours digging up the family backyard- and later a nearby beach- looking for buried treasure. She hadn't expected to get much out of her endeavours, especially after some neighbourhood bullies told her she was stupid for doing "sissy things", but the female Pines twin persevered anyway. It gave her comfort to know that she could mess with nature and still gain some productivity out of doing such.

The redwood-packed landscapes of Gravity Falls only gave Mabel more impetus to pursue her passion. There were so many opportunities to excavate for artefacts, and the fact that Dipper often brought her along to take care of some supernatural incidence (recently the two had had to keep a cadre of pixies from terrorizing the northwest town's citizens) made it much, much easier to sneak away and engage herself without earning the ire of those who would probably badmouth her. Like Pacifica Northwest, for instance.

Gosh, Mabel hated that callous numbnut.

Today Mabel had taken advantage of some incredibly abnormal conditions- it was a warm, clear day, the Mystery Shack was closed since the twins' Grunkle Stan wanted to take a "day off", and her brother was preoccupied trying to get noticed by Wendy Corduroy- to trek out on her own and find something that Dipper's 3 book claimed was known as the Great Olmec Mask. Apparently it had the power to warp dimensions, being used by an unknown alien race to escape persecution. Mabel trusted a lot of what the worn text posed, to be fair, but she was kind of hesitant to believe that such a thing had been once owned by a highly advanced extraterrestrial species. Aliens? Here? Really? Seemed like poppycock to her, to be honest.

All the same, though, it would be an adventure finding the thing. So she went.

Packing a knapsack full of important supplies and leaving a note explaining her actions by Wendy's regular counter, Mabel hesitantly opened the squeaking door of the mysterious tourist trap and slipped out. In hindsight it probably hadn't been a good idea to put the note with her brother's crush, given that Wendy could have easily misinterpreted it as coming from him, but Mabel supposed that it would have worked out better for Dipper in the end. After all, any small victory in the battle to win Wendy's affection would be taken by the boy to be a winning of the war.

The 3 book, tentatively nicknamed the Book of Three by Dipper until he could decode the faded wording on its cover page, said that the Olmec had last been hidden in an untouched alcove just south of the clearing where Jeff the Gnome and his cronies had attempted to make Mabel their wife. Seemed fitting enough. It wasn't too much of a struggle to get there; all Mabel had to do to get there was leap over a few unwieldy rocks and cross a few rapids. And once she did…

"Suffice to say," Dipper later recalled to Raven when the dark empath showed interest in the twins' adventures, "she didn't find much." Mabel was embarrassed by her brother's action, but the luminescent blush that appeared on her face betrayed a glimmer of determination in her eyes. A will to succeed. And that same will had definitely been apparent when she tiredly ascended a rain-soaked cliff face and set out her lunch, lamenting the horrible situation that fate had put her in.

"Yeesh! How hard can it be to find one dinky little plastic mask?"

At this exact moment a raccoon stole her burger.

Apparently as hard as it'd be to catch that thief, Mabel noted with a sigh, then a facepalm. Focus, Mabel! You set yourself out to do something this big; might as well finish it! Another sigh, this time more ragged. Even if you have to lose your food to a rodent to do so…

Mabel had spent a good two hours searching high and low for the Olmec Mask. She'd looked through the various redwood trees dotting the stick-filled landscape. Climbed into several, hoping to spot the thing from above. Dipped into a lake, trying to unearth it on its silted bed. And yes, one or two times she had even pulled out her trusty archaeological kit and attempted to find it the good old-fashioned way. No luck.

It was the reasoning that the Book of Three's author had probably been wrong (and delusional) that initially spurred Mabel to the cliff face for some consolation nourishment, but something about seeing the raccoon scurry away with the burger that Soos had prepared for her made her feel… unsure. Maybe the mask was around here after all? This was uncharted territory, after all, at least in the book's view. The gnomes had hindered the author from looking into this place further than he already had. Couldn't hurt to at least do so for him.

So it became that Mabel resumed her search, packing up what remained of her snack and heading back down the cliff. That darn thing had to be around here somewhere! Perhaps it would be near Mermando's hideaway, or in that one particularly hollow redwood a bit closer to the town-

Plink!

Or… it would be right below her, come to think of it! Could it be? Was it possible that the Great Olmec Mask, warper of reality, saviour of an entire alien race, had simply been hidden… in the ground? Mabel was more than a little airheaded, but even she knew that such a conclusion was ridiculous.

And yet here it was. "I guess that old coot was more than a little delusional," the Pines girl said with a chuckle. Lowering herself to the ground, being careful not to hurt her ankle even more than she already had (it had been sprained by her collision with the mask), Mabel retrieved her broom and shovel, began excavating the site where she had made the discovery. It was a little difficult to get through all the dirt, especially given that her ankle throbbed each time she made a particularly forceful dig, but in time…

Looking straight down at a strange-looking piece of metal, Mabel couldn't help but gasp. There it is… the Great Olmec Mask. In her excitement, she began squealing incoherently. Just as the guy described it!

It was beautiful. Numerous carefully moulded facets lined its edges, giving the mask an almost mechanical feel. The metal which now lay in Mabel's hands had been curved in a smooth fashion, probably intended to wrap around the wearer's face. Tiny little spots gave off a powerful aura, and as the coup de grace two little eyeholes allowed the wearer to see. Mabel considered the possibility that she herself might be able to don the mask, and in fact was very close to doing just that- the cold material had only just brushed her cheeks when-

BLIP!

"The Olmak!"

Wait.

"Finally! I've been looking for it for so long!"

What?

Mabel was a bit hesitant to tell the robotic monstrosity in front of her that his pronunciation of the term was wrong, especially given that the thing in front of her was… well… a robotic monstrosity, but a strange little voice in her head told her it would be entirely okay to do so. After all, it reasoned, not every day you meet something out of the sci-fi movies your dork of a brother enjoys watching.

And Candy, Mabel reminded.

Yes, and Candy… Honestly, Mabel, what even is it with you and Candy? The girl's so gosh darn smart… and nerdy… and you're… well…

Ugh. Mabel hated it when her conscience did this! She liked Candy, and didn't know what her mind had against her. The two were about to engage each other in a particularly passionate debate on the subject when the "robotic monstrosity" in front of them brought their attention back to the matter at hand.

"Uh, hello?" it said. "Something up?"

The golden sheen of the monstrosity's mask glimmered spectacularly in the mid-afternoon sunlight, its silver chest and shoulder armour reacting similarly. White-paneled limbs were complemented by dark grey wiring, giving off an impression of strength and muscularity. By the robot's notched feet lay a long black staff, one that Mabel's eyes quickly traversed the length of only to find a bladed scythe. This guy looked dangerous.

He sure as heck does!

Shush! The young girl turned to the creature and smiled widely, aiming to brighten up its day despite the underlying fear that she might have done a severe wrong. "Not much, mister. Just exploring the wilderness, is all. Something up with you?"

The robot frowned- something Mabel hadn't expected it to be able to do, given that robots weren't usually supposed to show such emotions. "I'm surprised you assume me to be male at first glance."

"You're not?" Mabel asked, now a little surprised.

Mabel was further surprised to find that robots could facepalm.

"I…" The robot sighed. "Never mind. I would like to have the Kanohi Olmak back, if you don't mind. I don't know why it's here, but-"

"Isn't the correct pronunciation Olmec?"

"No… I am reasonably sure it is Olmak. Now, go ahead and take the mask off of your face… yes, like that, then…"

Mabel froze for a moment before glowering. What right did this guy have to take the Olmak… Olmec away from her? It had the power to rip holes in the fabric of reality! It was dangerous! She had to make sure that Dipper got his hands on it before the wrong people- Gideon- could use it for their own personal gain!

"I don't expect you to do anything good with it," Mabel said with a scowl.

"Excuse me?" The robot seemed angry now. "This is a Great Kanohi Olmak, for the Great Spirit's sake! I've been using it to traverse different dimensions so I can find my way back home! I don't expect you to do anything good with it, frankly, judging by the way you were looking at me so weirdly a while back."

Wait… to find a way back home…

Mabel's conscience's sarcastic response was telling: He seems reasonable enough. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all? Only one way to find out, Mabel supposed.

"Well… uh… the guy who wrote the Book of Three said that he hid it here to prevent mal… malevolent forces from capturing it. I just dug it up because… uh…"

The robot wasn't convinced.

The Pines sister gave it a sheepish grin. "I thought it might be a cool thing to find it?"

"It is not 'cool'," the monstrosity said, "People's lives could be at risk!"

"Would those lives happen to be living here, or in wherever the heck you came out of? Because frankly," Mabel said, "I'd rather save the people I care about first."

The robot froze, ostensibly thinking about something. It stayed deep in thought for a minute, standing still as sea-faring winds danced around it and blew up leaves. Then it shrugged and gave Mabel a sheepish grin of its own.

"Did you say… the people you care about?"

"Yeah, I did," Mabel said, looking at the robot curiously. "Why?"

A second of dead air was followed by an outstretched fist being placed by Mabel's, the gesture not noticed at first. "Because I think I can help you. Takanuva."

Takanuva…

Well, that was interesting. Despite her better wishes, the Pines sister quickly found herself smiling again. She grinned up at Takanuva and returned its fist, the action producing a highly audible clunk.

"Strange name, but it's actually pretty cool. Mine's Mabel!"

Takanuva smiled. "It is nice to meet you, Mabel. I hope you will make my time in this dimension enjoyable. So… what exactly is about to happen to your loved ones?"

"Did you just imply you were staying here?" Mabel asked. "I thought you were gonna take this stupid mask and jet!"

"Well, I can't exactly leave without doing my part to aid others. The Olmak won't let me."

"Huh."

"Yeah! I know, right? Honestly!" Takanuva said, beginning to walk in an aimless direction. "Sometimes I think the Great Beings were more than a little messed up in the head."

Mabel stayed where she was at first. Taka's (she liked the moniker) sudden departure was a bit unnerving to her. Still… it claimed it could help her…

And you can show him off to Dipper!

It's just Dipper, Mabel thought. And what's with calling that bucket of bolts a him?

Hello? Earth to Mabel! Did you not notice his incredibly boyish voice? 'Sides… you could also show him off to Pacifica…

Pacifica. How had she not thought of that before? Gadzooks, you're right! The heck am I standing around for? She quickly tore out after Takanuva, kicking up a storm of leaves and dust in her path. The robot was evidently more than a little surprised that a little human girl was following, but he seemingly paid the fact no heed.

"Great Beings, huh? They some kind of gods?"

"In a way, yes," Takanuva replied, vaulting himself and Mabel over a felled tree. "We believe they created us and programmed us and the like, but our true god is Mata Nui. Do you have a god?"

"Dipper says we actually have gods," Mabel said nonchalantly, "He says they were described in that little book he keeps carrying around! Honestly."

"This Dipper sounds interesting," Taka noted.

"Yeah. So how are you going to help me?"

"Tell me what sort of danger your friends and family are in at first. I'll consider helping you once I know exactly what's up."

And so the two talked, whiling away their trip back to the town with stories about each other's universes. Takanuva found that this dimension was significantly notable in that it had supernatural occurences even as the world was mostly normal; he made a pact to take care of this Gideon when he got the chance. Mabel learned that people could control elements, and that sometimes even robots could be incredibly cool people. Thus was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

So... uh... yeah.

This story was based on a prompt a Tumblr user by the name of pkmnbreederethan gave to me: "Mabel finds a Great Kanohi Mask". Doesn't get much simpler than that. The Takanuva bit was added in the middle of my writing; I figured I was crossing BIONICLE and GF over enough already by adding a Kanohi, so why not go the extra mile and put the two universes together fully? (Apparently the "Takanuva leaps through different dimensions attempting to get to Karda Nui" plot thread has been used multiple times before, though? I'm not too sure.)

If you've seen the Season Two spoilers, you probably know who hid the Olmak (and, hopefully, why.) If not... well... I was planning on making this a one-shot, but I left the story open-ended enough so that I could come back to it if I wanted to. Maybe I'll elaborate on exactly why Taka's looking for the mask and what he and Mabel get up to in town another chapter.

(Oh, and the reference to Raven of Teen Titans fame was intentional. I hope to be able to connect this story and its companion one [a crossover between Gravity Falls and Adventure Time which I should be writing soon! It involves Dipper and the Enchiridion, if you're curious.] to a later crossover, Northwest of Weird, which features her in a significant role.)

Any and all feedback is appreciated.