A Mirror Broken: Part Two
The shock from seeing Tala's true face hadn't worn off. Seeing an evil visage of Wendy was unlike they could ever imagine. This version of Mason's lover appeared as though she was at least nineteen or twenty years old. She was a good foot taller than her younger counterpart and had a silver streak running down the fair left side of her long red hair. Her build was slightly more muscular then the other Wendy's was and there was look of pure madness in her icy blue eyes as opposed to her counterparts now shocked green ones. No one was more horrified by this revelation more than Wendy herself, who still reeling that their new enemy was her from another earth. Dipper put a protective arm around her to silently assure that he was still for her regardless of what their adversary looked like.
While Penn, Sashi and Boone hardly knew the group they had come to save, they could only imagine the confusion and anguish they were going through of seeing a friend and lover as a type of monster. The part-time heroes were also still trying to comprehend witnessing the brutal deaths at the hand of the woman who had been slaying alternate versions of trio throughout the Multiverse and using different versions of the Trans-Dimensional Projector to traverse the multiple universes to continue her quest for power. She had defeated once already, and Penn and his team feared that they wouldn't fare any better a second time.
"God, I never get tired of that!" Tala said as she laughed once more "no matter how many times I make that reveal, everyone makes those exact same faces and it's priceless every time!"
Wendy couldn't bear to look at this twisted reflection version of herself and buried her head into Mason's shoulder and tried her best not to weep. The other Wendy took note of this reaction and grinned darkly, loving the sight of another version of herself refusing to accept the reality before them. Dipper and the others were still reeling from seeing this wicked version of the woman he loved, but they still wanted to know how she was capable of the powers she wielded. The other and much larger question on their minds was why any version of their friend would become a soul stealing monster.
"Why are you doing this?" Mabel demanded
"And how?" Penn added
"I'll show you" Tala replied
With that, she threw off her robes and revealed the attire under it. She wore a bright green long sleeved vest over a black shirt and had on green skirt with long black boots that ran up to her thighs. To top her off her outlandish attire, she wore a long green cape that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. But the one piece of clothing that the group was focused on was a dark green opal that was attached to a choker around her neck.
"Dudes, is it just me, or is this Wendy dressed almost like Gideon?" Soos pondered
"How very astute of you, Soos" Tala congratulated in a sarcastic voice "I guess you could say that I had the role of Gideon in my universe. In fact, Madame Tala was my stage name. However, unlike that moron, I was born with my mental powers rather than have them given to me by some gem"
"So why are you wearing gem now?" Sashi demanded
"This is the Eye of Anubis" the other Wendy explained "it amplifies my powers with every soul I consume, trapping them within it for all eternity. And trust me, I've consumed a lot quite of souls"
"You're a monster!" Melody condemned
"Like I haven't heard that one from every Melody" the wicked Wendy deadpanned with an eyeroll "Now then, now that I've gotten my back story out of the way…"
Tala extended her arms out toward the group and began psychically pull the people she had come to consume toward her. Dipper and the other's tried their best to fight against the force that was dragging them toward the soul-eating villain, but the power that the reverse Wendy was using was too great from them resist for long. Acting quickly, Penn and his friends sprang into action. Sashi searched for something she could use as a weapon while Peen and Boone tried desperately to pull Dipper and the others away from Wendy's mental hold on them, but to no avail. Just as the Mystery Shack group was a mere foot away from their fate, Sashi snatched up a broom, snapped off the tip of it and turned it into a makeshift spear. The part-time sidekick steadied herself and took careful aim at Tala's chest before throwing her weapon with everything she had.
The makeshift struck spear struck the villainous version of Wendy dead in the chest, making her release her hold on her prey as she did. As Dipper and his friends recovered from nearly being drained of their lifeforce, they watched as the alternate version of Mason's lover stumble backwards as she clutched onto the broom that was now impaled into her chest. Wendy however, refused to look at sight, just wanting to get this whole nightmare over with. But just as they thought they had won, Tala began to laugh once more. She took hold of the broom in her chest and ripped it from her body, much to the horror of everyone around her. The wound Sash's weapon had made sealed shut, leaving not even so much as a small scar behind as it healed.
"Did I forget to mention that the eye also heals any and all wounds?" the dark version of Wendy commented as she tossed the broom aside "must've slipped my mind"
"Then we'll just keep hitting you till you finally go down!" Penn proclaimed
"You're welcome to try" Tala offered "Take your best shot"
"Get her!" Mason commanded
Everyone rushed toward the villainess, only to be knocked backwards by a psychic shockwave. Sashi was the first to recoil from the initial attack and lunged once more at the wicked woman. Tala smirked as she saw the violent teen coming at and stood at the ready for her attack. The part-time sidekick threw a flurry of kicks and punches at the villainess, who only blocked every attempted hit on her person. Sashi was refused to back down and tried to use her more advanced moves to try and throw Tala off her balance. The sidekick tried a sweeping kick, the mental mistress levitated off the ground to avoid the attack before landing back the ground and bringing her leg up to strike the teenage square in the gut with a single strong kick, knocking the air out of the young marital artist's lungs in a one powerful blow. Tala then launched Sashi away from her vicinity with a blast of telekinetic energy that sent her flying into Soos, which caused the two of them to tumble back into the dirt.
Penn and Boone also tried to rush Tala, but with a flick of her wrist, she pinned the pair up against a nearby tree and held them there with her powers. Mabel got behind the villain and took out her grappling hook and fired it at the doppelganger of her friend with the intention of wrapping the line around her enemy's throat. But as the hook was only inches away from its target, the alternate Wendy stopped the line with a thought before redirecting it back to Mabel who was then hogtied by her own grappling hook.
"What's the matter Mabel? Not into bondage?" Tala cruelly joked
Suddenly, a fist came flying in that struck Tala across her cheek that sent her stumbling backwards. She looked up to see that the one who had struck was Dipper, who had his fists up and ready for another round.
"Now this is new" she noted "usually, most Dipper's I run into usually hesitate when they fight me, but you're the first to actually hit me!"
"Because the Wendy I love isn't a monster like you!" Mason shot back
"Well she's not acting like herself either" the twisted mirror of his lover pointed out as she motioned her head over to where Wendy was standing
His girlfriend had a look of sheer terror on her face. Wendy was still petrified by the sight of the dark reflection of herself and was unable to so much as move to aide her lover. In that moment of distraction, Tala reached out and grabbed Mason by the throat and lifted off the ground. She then opened her mouth as Dipper tried his best to break out of her hold on his neck. Suddenly, Tala's eyes changed to green like before when she devoured Rippin and Larry's souls. Dipper's eyes also glowed the same shade of green as well as his body went limp while his mouth was forced open. The two groups of heroes could only look on hopelessly in horror as Mason's soul was drained from his body.
Mabel let out a scream that was a mixture of fear and sadness as she watched her brother's body wither away into an almost mummified state. In that moment, a flash of white-hot rage sparked within Wendy's mind as she watched the alternate version of herself toss the body of the man she loved to the ground as if his corpse was a candy wrapper. With a furious of anger, the redhead charged at her doppelganger with her fists at the ready. But before she could even throw a single punch, Tala shoved her back with a telekinetic blast before yanking her into the air and tossing her through the window of the Mystery Shack.
"Next?" the mental mistress asked casually
Suddenly, Tala heard the sound of a car horn from the right side of her. she turned her head to see Soos's car with the handyman and Sashi at the front seats. The owner of the Mystery Shack hit the gas pedal with the full weight of his foot as he rammed his vehicle into the psychic at full speed. Before Tala could react, the car hit the villainess and continued to drive until Soos slammed it into the tree that was earlier the spot where Dipper and Wendy where enjoying a short reprieve from the madness in their lives. The heavy-set man and the part-time sidekick staggered out of the now wrecked vehicle, feeling disoriented from the sudden impact from the tree.
"I told you it was good idea" Sashi mentioned as she fought through dazed feeling
"I just hope this is covered by my insurance, dude" Soos replied
Since Tala had been apparently crushed by Soos's car, her mental hold on Penn and Boone was broken, allowing them to move away from the tree they were previously being telekinetically pinned to. Penn quickly rushed over to Mabel's side and untied her while at the same time Wendy dragged herself out of the gift shop and saw the broken body of her wicked doppelganger crushed between Soos's car and the tree. Victory tasted like ashes in the ginger's mouth, for she had lost her love to a twisted version of herself. It almost as if she had killed Mason herself. But just everyone had thought they had won this battle, Boone noticed that Tala's fingers were starting to twitch.
"You guys…" he warned the others "I don't think she's dead!"
No sooner had the part-time Wiseman said that, the car was shoved back several feet to allow the broken and mangled body to shamble out of the wreckage. Tala neck, legs and arms were broken and contorted into horrid and inhuman angels. Her chest had been crushed in on itself and apart of her face had been ripped off to reveal a good chunk of her skull and apart of her brain as well. The twisted body moving about was more than enough to make both Boone and Soos vomit.
"What part of 'heal from any wound' did you morons not understand?!" she demanded in a gargled voice as blood erupted of her mouth "Now I have to go and pull myself back together, but I'll be pack for seconds!"
"Oh no you don't!" Wendy denied as she ran toward her other self "You're not getting away!"
But it was too late, her doppelganger had already flown into the skies above before. Wendy screamed in rage up toward the skies as she watched her twisted reflection of herself fly off into the distance. There was no immediate battle plan, no rousing speech to rally them together, only fear, sadness and dread filled the heroes' hearts as they gathered around Dipper's body. Mabel fell to her knees before throwing herself over her twin brother's body and sobbing uncontrollably over the loss she had been suddenly dealt. Soon, Soos and Melody were also weeping for the loss of their friend.
Penn and his friends were also disheartened as well. They had traveled here to try and save these people from threat they should've been able to stop, but yet they had already lost already and there no way they knew if they could protect the others from sharing the same fate as Mason did. Never had the part-time heroes felt this helpless before. they were facing an enemy with unmeasurable power and there was nothing they could think that could stop Tala from striking again once she had healed herself.
The only one who wasn't in tears was Mason's lover, for her sadness had turned into rage. She refused to let the boy she loved die for nothing while his killer still remained at large and hunting the other members of the Cipher Wheel. She didn't care if Tala was different version of herself, like Mason had said, she was a monster and simple, and the last time she checked, she was in the business of killing monsters.
"We're not going to let her get away with this" she told the others "We're going find her and kill her!"
"But how, Wendy?" Penn questioned "we don't even know where she went"
"No, but I know where she'll go next" the lumberjack's daughter answered, "She'll be looking for the other people on the Cipher Wheel after she heals up"
"What the hell is this Cipher Wheel anyway?" Penn's sidekick asked
"Long story short: it's a McGuffin that didn't work" Wendy replied, "But Tala is going to go after those who are on it"
"Ok, so who's on this wheel thing?" Boone inquired
"Me, Mason, Mabel and Soos for starters, as well as Mabel's great uncles" the lumberjack's daughter explained "There's also four more along with us"
"You don't think she'll go after Mr. Pines next, do you?" Soos wondered
"I doubt it, she'll save him and Ford for last, the same goes for Mcguket" Wendy concluded "So that means we need to find Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica before she does"
"We'll help in any way we can" Penn offered "What do you need?"
"We need to find the others and get them back to Mcguket's mansion. That place is like a fortress" Wendy informed the others "Mabel, you, Sashi and I will get Pacifica. Soos, you take Penn and Boone and get Robbie. I'll call Stan and tell him what's going on, hopefully he and Ford can get to Gideon before Tala can"
"No" Mabel suddenly spoke as she stood up "I'll call them. they need to hear this from me"
"Are you sure, Mabel?" her friend asked "You can— "
"Please, Mabel" she begged with pleading eyes "Just let me do this"
"…ok" the ginger conceded
"What about me?" Melody commented
"You need to go straight to Mcguket's house. You'll be safe there" Wendy replied
Soos's girlfriend nodded in understanding. While she wanted to help more, she knew that this was far beyond her understanding and knew that her boyfriend and his friends would be able to handle this.
"Ok, so even if we manage to save everyone, what's to stop Tala from coming after us all at once?" Sashi mentioned "We can't exactly put her down"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" the redhead said, "right now we need to focus on saving everyone for Tala has a chance to feed on them as well"
"What about Dipper?" Mabel asked sorrowfully "We can't just leave him here"
"And we're not, Mabel" Wendy assured before looking back to Melody "Melody, I want you to take his body to the mansion. Maybe Ford can figure out a way to reverse what Tala did to him"
"How can you reverse getting your soul ripped out of Brendan Fraser Mummy style?" Boone asked before getting elbowed in the gut by Sashi
"Look, we've wasted enough time as it is. We need to get going now!" Wendy ordered
The rest of the group nodded in a united understanding before setting out to carry out their respective duties. As they did that, Wendy kneeled down next to the body of her beloved and gently caressed his cheek like she did when he was still alive before placing a sweet kiss atop his now cold forehead. She was going to avenge him if that was the last thing she did on this earth.
"I won't let her get away with this" she whispered to her lover's body "I swear it"
With that, everyone split up and headed off to carry out their respective missions. They were still unsure as to how they were going to stop Tala once they had gotten everyone to the mansion, but that didn't matter now. What did matter was keeping anyone else from sharing Dipper's fate and finding some way to bring down the interdimensional villainess once and for all. The heroes knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but so long as Mason's killer still walked the earth they wouldn't rest until she was stopped. It didn't matter how times they had to kill her, all that mattered was avenging Dipper's death.
When Stan first got the call from Mabel, he couldn't quite understand what his grand-niece was saying due to the fact that she was in tears on the other end. It was obvious that she was distressed about something, but he didn't want it was. After getting her to calm down, he finally found out the reason why she was upset, and in all honesty, he wished he hadn't. Upon hearing that Dipper had been apparently slain by a version of Wendy from another earth, the former owner of the Mystery Shack fell to his knees and stunned sadness. Ford and Mcguket, who were in the room when he got the news, quickly rushed to his side and questioned what he had heard over the phone. When he told them the tragic news, they to wept for their loss.
But soon their tear soon turned to rage. The two brothers and the inventor weren't the type of people to simply sit on their asses and grieve, not while Mason's killer still breathed. They immediately went to work setting up defenses and arming themselves with Stan's weapons who had brought them over from the Mystery Shack as well as broke out Ford and Fiddleford's experimental arsenal. They knew that the woman calling herself Tala would be coming after them in order to drain them of their souls as Dipper did. But if she wanted their souls, she'd have to work for them first.
Just then, they heard a knock at the door, nearly making the three elderly men jump out of their skins in surprise. With his shotgun in hand, Stan carefully made his way to the front dor. While he doubted that Tala would do something as announce herself to the men she was hunting, the old con-artist knew that one can never be too careful when dealing with the paranormal. Stan threw open the door and much to his relief, found Gideon standing before him.
"Put that blasted gun away before you blow my face off!" the boy ordered
"You know, if this had been a year ago I would've shot you dead and pinned it on Tobey" Stan commented "I see you got my message. You wouldn't have happened to bring your boys along with you, did you?"
"I did, they're forming a perimeter around the building as we speak" the old man's former rival answered as he entered "I can assure you that whatever is hunting us won't be coming in here anytime soon"
After Mabel had told Stan of the loss of Dipper, she explained the entire situation to him. not only had she told him of Tala's intentions, but also their need to rescue Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica below they shared the same fate as Dipper. Stan and Ford were tasked with locating Gideon, and while he and the former Mr. Mystery had put aside their rivalry since the end of Weirdmageddon, that didn't mean they still bare some form of animosity toward one another. Since last year, the former villain had been trying to repair the damage he had done to the town by assisting with the reconstruction of it with the help of his former prison inmates.
Rather than leave the mansion, Stan called his former rival and told him most of the situation. After making sure his parents were safe in the cellar, Gideon and his gang headed to old inventor's manor as fast as he could travel. While he still didn't fully understand as to who or what was hunting them, what was told of who had fallen to their unknown enemy's hands.
"I'm...I'm sorry to hear about Dipper, Stan" he said sincerely
"Thanks…" Stan found himself saying "That means a lot coming from you"
"If there's any way I can help in stopping this thing that's hunting us, you'll have my aide" the boy furthered
"Let's just focus on surviving first" the Ford reasoned
Suddenly, the group heard a scream coming outside which was then followed by more—the screams of Gideon's team. Ford and the others could hear the sounds Gideon's fellow former prison inmate being attack by unseen enemy that was no doubt the one who had come for them. What took them aback was how sudden the attack was, Ford assumed that they at least had more time before Tala arrived.
"Up the stairs—Go! Now!" the scientist commanded
"But my men— "Gideon attempted to argue
"It's too late for them!" Stan interrupted before snatching up the boy "Come on pipsqueak, we gotta move!"
Before anyone could move, one of Gideon's gang members, Ghost Eyes, was thrown through one of the windows and landed at the feet for Stan and the others. He was then suddenly yanked into the air by an invisible force as he eyes flashed with green light. The group watched in shock as Ghost Eyes soul was pulled from his body and flew behind him, turning his body into a withered husk. Stand and Ford could only imagine the pain their grand-nephew went through when he was attacked in such a fashion. Within seconds after his soul was removed, Ghost Eyes's body was dropped back down to the floor to reveal Tala floating behind him. Even though he knew who Tala was, it still disturbed him to see the face of ex-employee as the adversary they were facing.
"Wait—Dipper's girlfriend is doing this!" Gideon shouted in confusion "But why?!"
"That ain't our Wendy, this ones from another universe" Stan explained as he locked eyes with her "and this one's a soul-stealing bitch!"
"Ah Stan, no matter how many versions of you I absorb, I never get tired of your petty insults" Tala said before looking over to Gideon "Thank you for the appetizer by the way, Gideon. I was feeling a tad hungry"
"We ain't scared of you, missy!" Mcguket declared
"That was first your mistake" the other Wendy replied, "and your last"
With that, Tala lunged at Ford and the rest of her prey.
While Pacifica had changed as a person, her father's sins of trying to unite with Bill weighed heavily on the Northwest family. Once the Northwest's name invoked one of respect, now it was one of shame. While the family still had money, they weren't as powerful or influential as they once were. After losing their mansion to Mcguket, Pacific and her parents had since moved into a smaller house outside of town and away from those who considered them a pariah. Despite her disposition, the heiress to the Northwest's now slightly diminished fortune kept her new outlook on life in balance. While she had lost her previous so-called friends after the stigma her farther caused her, she had since befriended Candi and Grenda and even Mabel via long-distance before coming back to Gravity Falls. By all accountants, the girl who once looked down on everyone was now happier than she had ever been before.
But the blonde's reformation from being a snob to a humble person didn't save her from Tala's grasp, as was evident from her withered body lying on the ground alongside the drained bodies of her parents. Wendy, Mabel and Sashi had arrived too late rescue them, and now were once again left in the wake of the carnage of the evil version of lumberjack's daughter had left behind. Wendy clenched her fists in anger as she looked down at the bodies of the Northwest families. She had failed to protect those around her once again.
"This can't be happening!" Mabel shouted in a panic
"How could Tala be healing from those wounds already?" Sashi asked "I know that gem around her neck is strong, but I didn't think she would try to attack anyone while she was still healing"
"Well, it looks like she can heal faster than we thought" the redhead noted
Just then, Wendy got a call from Soos, and she had a bad feeling that his team had failed in saving Robbie.
"Dude, it's a mess here" the handyman began "Tala got Robbie and the rest of your friends. I'm so sorry, Wendy"
"Dammit!" Wendy cursed in anger "She got to Pacifica to. That means she's probably already heading for Stan and the others"
"I'll call Mr. Pines and warn him" Soos replied "in the meantime, you dudes better get over there. We're headed to the mansion as well"
"Just stay safe, Soos" the redhead warned him before hanging up
Soos breathed out a defeated sigh. Things were looking more and more grim with each passing moment. When he, Penn and Boone found Robbie's car, it had been flipped on its side and laying on the side of the road on the edge of town. It was almost as if the goth and his friends were trying to serve out of the way of something in the road. Upon further inspection, the trio discovered that the roof of the van had been ripped upon by something, or rather, someone with great strength. But Soos and the part-time heroes knew that this was not done through physical strength, this accomplished by mental strength. They found Robbie and Wendy's friends laying within the wrecked vehicle in the same condition as Dipper was currently in.
Things were looking all the more dire as it clear that Tala was moving faster than they could anticipate. With both Robbie and Pacifica drained of their souls, Tala's hit list was quickly sinking down and there was no doubt that she would going after Mr. Pines and his brother next. Hopefully, along with Mcguket and Gideon, could keep Melody safe from this monster's soul sucking rampage.
"Shouldn't we call the cops or something?" Penn asked
"Nah dude, this way over their heads" Soos explained "besides we'd just be racking out Tala's body count if we did"
"Then what can we do?" Boone questioned "we can't kill her—we can't even touch her!"
"We'll find a way, Boone" his friend reassured before muttersing under his breath "I hope…"
Suddenly, the owner of the Mystery Shack's cellphone rang once more. At first, he assumed that it was Wendy calling him back with a plan to stop her evil doppelganger, but instead was his lover name that came up on his phone. The new Mr. Mystery merely thought that Melody only wanted to tell them that she had arrived at Mcguket's mansion safely and that she wanted to tell him that she was worried about him.
"Hey sweetie, you make it over there ok?" he inquired sweetly
"Put me on speaker, now" Tala's voice ordered on the other end of the line
Soos nearly dropped the phone. It had only been a less than a second after hearing the woman's voice and his mind was already racing with images of Melody being drained of her lifeforce like Dipper and the others. He did as he was instructed to do and put the madwoman on speaker for Penn and Boone to hear.
"Let me start by saying that your girlfriend is still alive, Soos" she began "But that can change if you all don't do exactly as I say"
"What do you want?" Penn demanded
"Well, as you can already guess I've drained Stan, Ford, Mcguket and Gideon" she explained "Now all I need is Soos, Mabel and my weaker self and my work here is done. So, here's the deal: their lives for Melody's. Personally, I think it's a fair trade, after all, isn't a hero supposed to sacrifice themselves for others?"
"There is no way we're going to— "the part-time hero attempted to deny
"I'll do it" Soos complied firmly "Just please…don't hurt her"
"Good boy. Now I want you to tell Mabel and my other me what's going on and meet me at Mcguket's mansion within the hour, or she'll be joining the rest of my prey" Tala threated "Oh and Penn, if I see you or any of your friends than you can explained to Soos why the love of his life had to die!"
After giving her demands, Tala cut communication between them. Soos was still in a haze of confusion even after his enemy had hung up the phone. was she lying? Could Melody already be dead? It was difficult to say. What he did know was that he had to make a choice right now: his life and the life of his friends for the woman he loved. The handyman was ready to sacrifice himself for Melody, but he doubted that Mabel and Wendy would be willing to die so easily.
"You can't actuality be considering this, Soos" Penn tried to reason "you'll be walking right into a trap!"
"What choice do I have, dude?' Soos countered "Melody's my girlfriend—I'm not just gonna abandon her!"
Penn paused for a moment, bring his finger up to his chin as he began to fall in a deep train of thought. How could they stop a villain that attack you without so much as touch? Let alone one that could drain you of your very soul and place it in an endless void. Suddenly, a spark an idea can to the part-time hero. Perhaps Tala's greatest weapon was also her greatest weakness as well.
"Guys, I think I may have an idea" he told his friends
As instructed, Soos, Mabel and Wendy arrived at Mcguket's manor alone and unarmed. It wasn't like they could actuality harm Tala since she could send them flying all across the room like ragdolls with just a thought. The trio still didn't know if the invader from another earth had kept her word on keeping Melody alive, but they didn't want to run the risk of endangering the woman more than they already had. Penn and his team hung back, but still remained close to be at their side when the time was right.
The front door to the mansion slowly opened via Tala's mental command to allow her last three victims to step inside. Once they entered, they found Wendy's wicked doppelganger had placed the drained bodies of her victims in chairs as they were lined up in a row. Wendy doubted that her twisted reflection did this for the sake of some ritual, but more of a way as to show them that there was no hope for them. As they upon the withered bodies of their friends and family, Mabel fell to her knees when she saw the bodies of her great-uncles sitting before her. despair filled the girl's heart once again as she realized that more of her family had fallen prey to Tala soul-draining hunger.
"Ah, excellent, you came" came Tala's voice
The three heroes looked up to see the one who was hunting them slowly descend from the ceiling above them all the while having a devious smirk on her face as she did, obviously thinking she had won. In the villainess's clutches was Melody, who was struggling in her grasp.
"And here I was beginning to think that didn't care for poor little Melody here" the invader from another earth continued
"We did as you asked, now let her go!" Soos demanded
"Of course, I'm a woman of my word after all" Tala replied before suddenly adding "oh wait, no I'm not!"
Suddenly, Tala opened her mouth and proceed to consume Melody's soul right before her lover and his friend's eyes. After feeding on her lifeforce, Tala tossed the body of Soos's girlfriend at his feet. Soos let out a mournful cry and collapsed to his knees and cradled Melody's body in his arms as he began to sob. Wendy glared daggers at her villainous counterpart, who only smirked back at her younger self.
"You three are by far the most gullible versions of my victims I've ever met!" Tala taunted with a laugh "did you really think for one second that I'd actuality hold up my end of the bargain?"
"Actuality, we didn't" Wendy replied, "Which is why we didn't either!"
Just then, a gunshot rang out from behind before the interdimensional villainess felt something strike her in the back that caused her to stumble forward. Surprised and infuriated, Tala spun around to see Penn, Boone and Sashi standing on the balcony above her with an assortment of Stan's weaponry in their hands.
"What?!" Tala exclaimed in rage
"We may or may not told Penn and friends about the secret passageways Ford installed into this place for situations like this" Wendy explained "and I may have told them where Stan keeps his guns"
"Normally I'm above killing my enemies, but for you I'll make an exception!" the part-time hero declared
The three heroes opened fire on the psychic, but just before their bullets hit her, Tala created a telekinetic shield in front of her. however, while she was focused on the three assailants above her that she failed to notice Mabel drawing her grappling hook once more. However, instead of aiming for the villain's neck, she instead took aim at the woman's ankle. She fired and this time the cord hit its mark. Tala noticed to late what Mabel was doing as she pulled off her balance and sent falling face first onto the ground. The wicked version of Wendy quickly flipped over and fired a psychic blast that Mabel sailing back several feet.
Soos grabbed a nearby vase off of a table attempted to bash it over Tala's skull, only to be grabbed by a mental force and flung right into Penn and friends. Wendy kept up the attack by coming behind and putting her arm around Tala's throat in a choke hold. Sadly however, her hold on her other worldly counterpart knocked her off her body with another blast of metal energy. With Wendy stunned, Tala telekinetically held the teenager in place before lifting her into the air.
"An admirable last stand, but I think it's time you surrendered" her doppelganger said
"I'll never stop fighting you!" Wendy defiantly spat "not after what you did to Mason!"
"Trust me darling, you're better off without him" her evil counterpart reasoned "every Mason I've drained is the same: their hopelessly in love in love with us"
"And you think that a bad thing?" Wendy questioned
"If you have bigger ambitions than ruling a small backwater town, yes" Tala nonchalantly answered "Although to be fair, my Mason did find me the Eye of Anubis. He told me that it was a token of his love, can you believe that shit? I almost felt bad taking his soul—keyword being almost"
"So, you've always been a bitch is what you're saying?" the lumberjack's daughter concluded
"I'd say I'm a driven, work-focused woman, but bitch works to" Tala replied
"Your also easily distracted" Sashi's voiced pointed out
Before Tala could react, the part-time sidekick suddenly darted toward the universe-hopping villainess and managed to snatch the Eye of Anubis from her neck, forcing her to drop Wendy in the process. Tala fired another psychic blast the violent teen, but Sashi managed to toss the gem over to Penn before getting slammed into the wall by the mental blast. Tala was about unleash another telekinetic attack when the part-time hero held the gem into the air.
"I wouldn't if I were you" he warned "I've got your gem, remember? We wouldn't want anything bad happening to it, would we?"
"Nice try Penn, but the gem can only be destroyed by the owner of the Eye if they so command it to" Tala informed him "you must be a special kind of stupid to think you could convince to destroy my own gem"
"Like the special kind of stupid who forgot that another version of herself is standing in the same room as her to hear that?" Wendy commented
Tala's eyes widen to horror upon making that realization. Tala attempted to whirl around and try to silence her counterpart from speaking by draining her soul, but it was too late by then.
"Gem, I order you to destroy yourself!" the lumberjack girl commanded
The Eye of Anubis began to rapidly heat up in Penn's hand, causing him to drop it. the alternate Wendy tried to over to her source of power, but Sashi, Boone and Soos tackled her to the ground and kept her pinned as the gem stared to crack apart as dark green light began to rise from the inside of the Eye. Suddenly, the Eye of Anubis exploded from inside out. The resulting destruction of the gem allowed the captive souls that had been trapped inside of it for so long to spill back out into the of the recently stolen souls returned to their bodies while the hundreds flew freely, finally released from their prison. To everyone's joy, they witnessed as Dipper, Stan, Ford and the others were restored to their original selves in a matter of seconds.
"Ugh, I feel like I just went through my divorce all over again" Stan groaned "only this time I lost the car"
"Guys!" Mabel cried out as she ran over to her family members and embraced in a group hug "You're ok!"
"Aside the possible phycological trauma I might deal with in the future, yes we're fine Mabel" her brother assured her
"Mason!" Wendy shouted in joy as she ran over to him and hugged him tightly "thank god that worked!"
Before Mason could return the hug, Tala threw the trio that was keeping her pinned with powerful psychic shockwave. She lunged toward the girl who had ruined her plans with murder in her eyes. Acting quickly, Dipper reached down and grabbed one of Stan's guns that had dropped during the fight and fired a shot right into Tala's stomach, making her collapse to the ground as she screamed in pain.
"I'm guessing you haven't felt real pain in a long time, huh?" Mason gathered "How does it feel to the one of the receiving end?"
"This isn't over!" his lover evil counterpart snarled
Before Dipper could put another bullet into her, Tala ripped open a hole in the roof of the mansion before rocketing out of the building and into skies above. Dipper growled in anger, cursing himself for not pulling the trigger sooner. Now Tala was out there, no doubt plotting her revenge on those who had stolen her power from her.
"You should've shot her in the head" Robbie mentioned
"Robbie, I'm holding a gun and pist off, do you really wanna test me?" Mason threated, making the goth quickly shut up
"Well great, now we've got another whacko after us" Stan griped "and I was hoping to keep this summer freak free"
"You think she'll try to flee to another world?" Rippin asked
"I doubt it, she's lost her gem that strength her powers. She can't go to her earth and face her Bill now" Dipper concluded
"Which means she's our problem now" Ford concluded
"If Tala ever comes back, we'll be there to help you guys out" Penn offered with a handshake
"Thanks, Penn" Mason replied, returning the handshake as he did
"Yay, new friends!" Soos cheered as Melody hugged him tightly
"Right, well, I've had about enough this this 'team-up' nonsense. Can we please go home now?" the part-time villain questioned Penn "tell Phyllis to send us back at once"
"Actually Rippin, we're going back to the theater" his rival corrected "You and Larry can take the bus back to Middleburg"
"Cheer up Rippin, I've got enough money to take us back home" his part-time minion informed him "on the trip back I can tell you about the time I got trapped inside a washing machine for three days"
And there it was, the start of a new adventure for the Pines Twins and their friends. In just one day, they had gained both new friends and a new enemy. But in a strange way, Mason was almost excited by this turn of events. Ever since he had left Gravity Falls the first time, he had been craving a new adventure, and perhaps this was what he had been waiting for. True, he knew that Tala was still out there along with an unknown threats to the town, but Dipper had feeling that this time he and his family wouldn't facing these new dangers alone.
