Dipper awoke to the sound of shuffling, as his twin dragged her bag down the hall, fitted out for her time with Candy and Grenda. With a yawn, the young man tried to recall why he was in the living room, and then turned his attention to the dozing red-head beneath him. Quickly recalling last night's events he slid off the sofa, embarrassed by his actions. Wendy had supported him when he was in need of it, and he decided to make up for it later on.
Leaving the lumberjill in peace, he moved towards the sound of Mabel to wish her a good time. "Everything packed?" he asked.
"Huh?" came the reply as the brunette was surprised by his presence. "Y-yeah, I'm ready, but how about you, feeling better?"
Dipper nodded, and told her that he had slept well after being back in Gravity Falls, and for now he would hang around with the people who cared, helping him get over his issues and get back to normal. Mabel was very pleased to hear her brother with some spirit after weeks of light depression.
"That's just it bro-bro; there's always people who care, it's just hard to see them while you mind is clouded," the brunette said with a soft smile. While Dipper appreciated the speech, he was more taken off guard by it. His sister was a lot of things, but philosophical wasn't one of them.
Offering that they go out for breakfast, his plan was dismissed when he was informed of the limousine that was waiting to collect Mabel. A quick pat on his back, and his sister was gone. "Guess it's just me now," he thought, but returning to the sight of Wendy on the sofa redirected his mind into repaying her for before. He thought of a few different things, but quickly decided that brunch and maybe a movie was a good start. Switching out into a clean set of clothes, Dipper left for the local store just down the road, being careful as he left the property since the roads were still covered in puddles.
Making his way to the breakfast isle, Dipper began filling a basket with the various food stuffs until reaching the last fridge. Inside was over a dozen different types of bacon alone, each cut differently with their own flavour. The young man stood before them contemplating, which did he think the lumberjill would most enjoy? While mulling it over, a girl around his age, moved up beside him.
"Pardon me, I just wanted to grab some bacon," she said, alerting Dipper that he was in the way. She wore a peaked hat, light summer clothes, and boots; but that's not what surprised Dipper. The girl had red hair, deep red like the Corduroys. As she reached into the storage unit, she pulled out three packets of meat, handing one to Dipper. "You look like you're having trouble, and my mom swears by this flavour," the girl said with a smile and walked away.
His confusion turned to acceptance, and young man turned his attention to the packet in his grasp: Thick cut, pine smoked, back bacon. He had to admit, it sounded really good. Placing it with the rest of his items, Dipper made his way for the check-out, unaware of the figure watching him.
The strange man in the lab coat paced the isles quietly, watching Dipper for a moment, then turning his attention to the red-haired girl. With a sigh, he grabbed a bag of chips off a shelf and with a small green flash he was gone. Just around the corner of the store, the red-haired girl stood in the shadows, cursing under her breath.
"C'mon! Why won't you work, damn it!" she hissed, fiddling with what appeared to be a small pocket watch.
"That would be because of me," came a voice from behind her. The strange man stood beside her, munching away on his treats. The girl jumped back in surprise and pulled out a small plastic rod, which when she gave it a flick, sparked.
"Back off! I'm warning you, I've fought time-police before," she threatened, though clearly wary of the man.
"Look kid," he chuckled, "you don't want to fight me, and I don't want to fight you; too messy." Another mouthful of chips later he spoke again; "What you're after doing is not easily fixed, and I might add, potentially fatal; and not the nice fatal!"
"Who the hell are you?" asked the girl, losing her patience with the stranger.
"Technically, the counsel of time took my name and gave me the title of 'Chronos,' so that's all I've got" he laughed again. Wiping a happy tear from his eye, Chronos walked towards the girl, who in a panic swung her weapon at him. Before it reached the time agent it stopped, everything stopped. The red-head couldn't move, scream or breath; only move her eyes. "The counsel demands that when cases like this occur, I eliminate the source of the issue, and often I do. However, I don't kill children, animals, or things I like, and since you fall into at least one of those categories, you get to live," he explained, stepping behind the girl as time resumed and her spark rod struck empty air.
"Then why? Why aren't you going to interfere if it's your job?" she asked, shaking off the dizzy feeling of a time-lock.
"Kid, you know enough about time travel to get this far, and by that reasoning, you also know the consequences of time manipulation," his happy joking tone was now dead serious as he looked the red-head in the eyes. One of his was a white iris, while the other was a soft gold that churned behind the membrane, like sand in an hourglass. "What you've done, is send a flare out to every possible future alerting them that their chance of coming true is being tampered with."
"But I haven't done anything yet!" the girl replied, becoming frightened.
"But you have! Just now, inside! The whole 'my mom swears by this flavour' speech you just pulled! Believe it or not, each one of those flavoured meats was a different future which you just cut out by direct interference!" Chronos explained, trying to keep calm. The only people who mess with time are those who think they understand it, when they've only read the first page of time travel, in a library dedicated to it.
The young girl was starting to hyperventilate, the seriousness of her actions being realised, when a warm hand touched her shoulder. Chronos aura radiated tranquillity which eased the girl back into rationality.
"Here's what I'm going to do," he said calmly; "You have about a month to indirectly influence the events you want. I'd prefer if you didn't interact with anyone, but definitely no further chats with him! In return, I will prevent any large temporal interference from effecting the universal outcome. But know this: if others replicate what you have done, they are entitled to the same factors as you are, understand?" When the red-head nodded, Chronos removed his hand off her shoulder.
With his work done for now, the time guardian was consumed in a bright green flash, and a green spark rocketing away from the location, up a drain pipe. The sound of the store's automatic doors opening with a chime drew the girl's attention, and she watched Dipper on his way back to the Mystery Shack.
"I'll definitely succeed, I have to!" she whispered to herself, and walked briskly in the opposite direction.
Carefully the door to the Mystery Shack eased open as Dipper snuck back inside. Thankfully Wendy was still asleep, giving him time to start cooking. Trying his best to remain silent, the young man worked away, leaving the bacon until last. He knew from experience that the lumberjill loved her bacon pan-fried; the only drawback being the noise of said frying. Sure enough, just as he had finished putting it all together on a plate, Wendy strolled into the kitchen wearing Mabel's gown.
"Morning Wendy, just in time," the young man greeted her, placed the plate down and pulled out a seat. Pleasantly surprised, the red-head wasted no time in taking her place and took a moment to admire the selection of breakfast goodies before her.
"Something good happen?" she asked with a grin, grabbing a fork and digging in.
"You could say that," Dipper answered, slider some of the bacon from the pan in between two slices of buttered bread. "It's more of a thank you, for last night. I needed to get some things off my chest, and you helped me out," he admitted. Wendy paused mid-bite, a hard beat in her chest was felt but for a moment. When Dipper turned around from the grill she resumed eating until her first cut of bacon.
"Oh my God Dipper! What is this," she asked, trying to stop her eyes fluttering. "What do you do to this, it's the best bacon I've had in my life, and my Dad know more about bacon than anyone!"
Dipper laughed softly at her behaviour, like watching a child try chocolate for the first time. "It's pine wood smoked, I think. Somebody I ran into at the store suggested it."
Regaining her composure, Wendy asked jokingly; "Who was it? I must punish them for hiding this treasure from me!"
"I don't actually know who it was, at least I've never seen them around before. A girl a little younger than me; and she had red-hair like yours," he explained. Wendy looked at him in confusion and her eyebrows raised.
"That's weird, only my family has red-hair in Gravity Falls. Maybe they were just passing through?" she proposed. Dipper shrugged and bit into his sandwich.
"Whoever they were, they've got good taste!"
Shortly after breakfast, the Dipper left Wendy to change out of Mabel's gear, and took the time to finally organise his belongings in the attic room.
"Aaaaand, there! Sorted," he said to himself, wiping his hands together. Some months back he read an article on mental attitude adjustment, and one fact was that an organised room in the morning set your brain up for the day. A quick knock on the door turned his attention, and Wendy poked her head inside.
"Hey man, you ready to…whoa, what's this?" she said getting lost halfway. The red-head moved over to the desk by wall and picked up pieces of paper, each with hand drawn images of locations or strange creatures, some of which she recognised from past adventures with the Pines twins. "Dipper, did you draw all these?"
The young man nodded; "I took up drawing lessons a while back, since I wanted to keep adding to Gruncle Ford's works. More detailed sketches are more professional, and it's something that can be relaxing. Truth be told, Mabel is still better at art, she just doesn't like pencils."
Just as Wendy was placing the images back, her pocket buzzed and chimed. Removing her cell phone from her pocket, the young woman huffed aloud; "My brothers need me back at home for a while, something to do with Dad. I'll catch you later, yeah?"
"Sure, just give me a heads-up first," Dipper answered. With a wave, the lumberjill was out the door and driving back towards town. With his afternoon now open, Dipper left his room for the TV, only to stop at the sound of knocking coming from the back door by the gift shop. Without hesitation, he unlocked the passage and opened the way in.
Standing in from of him were two girls, one slightly older than him and the other slightly younger. Both had platinum blonde hair, and wore expensive looking clothes. To be frank, they looked entirely out of place.
"Hi, can I help you ladies?" Dipper asked, unsure of what else to do. The younger of the pair stepped up, looking up at him with a smile.
"Hello, we were hoping that you could help us out," she began, her voice proud and well spoken. "We have come with our parents on a business trip, and were informed that this location was of interest and worth a visitation."
Looking quickly at the older girl, then back to the younger, Dipper answered; "Well, yes, I mean, this is a place many tourists visit, but we don't have a tour today, or for the next few days."
"I told you, what do we do now?" whispered the older girl.
"Perhaps you could make an exception just this once for us? Maybe this could change your mind," they younger said, producing a bundle of money from her handbag. Unfortunately for her, the reaction from Dipper was not what she expected.
Dipper remembered the old Pacifica Northwest and the way her family behaved with their money. Granted, all had improved since then, but he still behaved hostile to those who thought money could get them everything they wanted. "I decline," he said sternly, moved to close the door.
"Please wait!" the older girl spoke up. While it appeared to be an outburst, the volume was little more than average speech. Opening the door again, Dipper watched her fidget in place before removing an envelope from her own handbag. "I apologise for our behaviour, we just really wanted to see what was inside. Please take this as a gift; if you have any friends who enjoy high class dining, this should suffice."
Softly handing the item to Dipper, the older girl stepped back, her long hair hiding her face. Dipper sighed, now feeling like the bad guy, and stepped to one side, waving his hand inside; "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, please look around, and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask."
When the pair wandered in, the younger girl lowered her head in shame, while the older one followed close, thanking Dipper for letting them in. As they examined the junk that adorned the walls and shelves, Dipper investigated the envelope. Inside was a ticket for 'Dinner for two, with bottle of Sanguine Felicis' at La Paradox, the fancy restaurant on the East of town. Thinking this was the perfect thing for his dinner with Pacifica, the young man retired the item to his pocket.
"Oh, Gina look," said the older girl, beckoning her companion over. "Remember this?" She pointed to a slab of stone, taken from Bill Cipher's fortress years ago. It held insane symbols to match its creator.
"I'm sorry, but you said you two have never been to this town before, right?" Dipper asked. When the younger of the two confirmed this, he continued; "So why do you recognise a relic that has no equal in the world?"
Gina froze up, increasing Dipper's suspicion. However, when the quiet, older girl stepped up, the young man listened carefully. "It's our brother, he is really in love with this stuff, and goes out of his way to uncover the newest of rumours at any cost." Dipper believed her; since he had seen first-hand what extravagant amounts of money could do. A soft series of chimes rang through the air, and the sisters, and Dipper had just confirmed, looked at him and thanked him for his patience.
"I'm sorry for my behaviour, and I hope Aura's token makes up for it," Gina said. Dipper reached behind the counter momentarily, producing two badges, some stickers, and a Stan bobble-head. Handing them to the duo he gave a quick speech on how money was a useful tool, but letting it change you towards arrogance was an easy trap.
"Yeah, sorry Dad," replied the Gina, looking at the merchandise in her hands. Dipper frowned, and looked to the older sister, who had gone pale. The young man was shocked when the quiet young woman grasped her sister's wrist tightly and begged his forgiveness for Gina's behaviour. Waving it off, he watched Aura drag Gina out of the Shack and towards town.
"Rich people are probably the weirdest thing in this world," he sighed, and returned to the living room, hoping to find something interesting to watch while he waited for Pacifica to call him about their plans for later.
Just beyond the tree line, out of direct sight; Aura and Gina were concealed.
"What was that!" Aura hissed, her tender persona in conflict with her emotions.
"I'm sorry it just slipped out," Gina apologised. It was an honest mistake on her part. The pair's mission to influence Dipper's actions was somewhat successful. "At least we have a chance; now it's just the waiting game until the best moment," she concluded, pulling a technological sphere from her handbag.
"Is that an automatic temporal grapple?" came a voice. The sisters spun quickly in search of the source, and then slowly turned their gazes upwards. Sitting on a high branch was Chronos, grinning down at them. Without hesitation, Aura pulled out a remote like device and pointed it at him. "Don't do it missy," he said before she pushed a button. The sound of a television switching off was heard, and leaves in mid-fall stuck in place.
"That should buy us enough time to find somewhere to hide, God; why did I agree to do this?" Aura said.
"Because somebody messed with your chance at existence, and wasn't subtle about it," answered Chronos, still sitting happily on his perch. The fact he was still mobile in time scared the life out of Aura. "Now, now, don't fret. You're fast with your hands, and that's worth complimenting. But now you both are going to listen to me, so you don't dig a hole so deep you can't climb out!" His usual trick of transporting via green lighting placed him in front of the sisters.
"Just who are you?" asked Gina. Chronos rolled his eyes, realising that he may have to answer that question many times over the next few weeks, and it was only day one. Giving the same explanation the red-haired girl received, Chronos informed them of his job, his task, and what his deal was with the time travellers that were related to the outcome they were trying to achieve.
"So that's the deal, you two can influence indirectly, without the use of high powered temporal devices or taking with him again," Chronos finished.
"Wait, so what does that leave us with?" Gina asked.
"Why, your initiative of course! You aren't the first to arrive, and I had already placed the Omega Chain, so you accepted the terms when you gained entry," he said pressing a button on his wrist device, which showed a holographic document signed by both Aura and Gina. "It was all in the terms and conditions." The girls scowled, frustrated at him and themselves.
"Well then, we have work to do, goodbye!" Gina announced and turned heel. Another green flash and the oddly dressed man loomed over the girl, his hand outstretched and open.
"Don't try and cheat at my game, it doesn't bode well. The device please," he asked in a jovial tone, but the energy he was giving off was threatening. With a shaky hand Gina produced the tech-sphere, placing it in his grasp. Never breaking eye contact, the agent dropped the device to the ground causing it to vanish into a rift. "Break the rules and you don't deal with me; the counsel will send a colleague of mine who isn't as friendly."
With his point securely placed in their minds, Chronos turned to leave, only pausing when Aura called out to him; "Just how screwed are?"
With a laugh, he replied; "About as screwed as everyone else who is trying to change the future. But let me put it this way: it's about as risky as learning to swim, in a pool filled with crocodiles, wearing a suit made of bloody chickens. Have fun kids!"
Lightning struck the earth, and Chronos was gone. The sisters looked to each other and swallowed hand, they now knew what they were in for.
"Guess we have a month to fix things," Gina said.
"And so do the others. All we can do now is play the game," Aura replied. The pair began their walk back to town, now that Chronos had disabled their advanced devices, leaving the duo with only basic items.
"I think we should wait a bit, then go see if we can convince her to work with us," Gina proposed. Aura agreed, and got lost in her thoughts during their movement, hoping she could save their future, not just for herself and Gina, but her their little brother Tyrone as well.
Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Due to the nature of the story, it will take longer to finish chapters since I can't contradict myself with time travel.
Reviews for this story are greatly appreciated since they will help me figure out exactly how you guys/gals want things to work out.
Stay Classy,
TGGDSD.