Dipper's life flashed before his young eyes at that point...
His first kiss...
His first facial hair...
His first tattoo...
When he saved the planet...
Wait...
No, those were things he WANTED to do... But sadly might never get the chance to.
All because...
Of a stupid argument between his two Grunkles...
They were so full of mutual hatred towards each other...
Refusing to see each other's point of view...
Their old wounds open for everyone to see...
They didn't notice...
Something that could end all life as we know it...
Slowly hurtling towards the ground...
Yes, the Time Rift was in a highly fragile glass container...
And, on impact...
Would, in all likelihood,
Have an apocolyptic effect on the Earth.
And, the last thing Stan and Ford would ever experience on this mortal coil...
Was pain.
The pain of not being able to let go of the past...
The pain of not being able to cope with each other in the present...
The pain of separation that faced them in the future...
It was a tragedy...
That two brothers, who were once so close...
Could end up this way...
All because, of a stupid accident...
A petty feud...
And each one's stubbornness.
Was this REALLY how they wanted their last day on Earth to end?
With acrimony and bitterness?
Dipper shook his head at the pointless argument.
How absolutely stupid to bicker over something so trivial...
It really was pathetic how they couldn't just put their differences aside...
And make up...
Why waste time quarreling over the small stuff?
THEY WERE FAMILY.
They should be there for each other through thick and thin.
It was okay to air out some issues once in a while...
Clear the air a bit.
Calm things down.
But, to hold a grudge for 30 YEARS...
Madness.
Sheer madness.
That's when it hit Dipper...
Stan and Ford, right now...
Could easily be...
Him and Mabel...
Given a bit of time...
Things might seem minor at this moment...
But, as his Grunkles had proven...
Things could easily escalate...
Into...
Well, causing the destruction of the world.
But, even worse than that...
Dying, without ever knowing...
How the other twin truly felt.
He just wished she was here now...
So he could tell her...
How truly sorry he was.
True, there was fault on both sides...
But, knowing how sensitive she was...
How easily she took things to heart...
He shouldn't have snapped at her the way he did.
Maybe...
If they had another opportunity...
They could talk things out...
In a more calm collected way...
And then, perhaps...
They wouldn't end up...
Like the pair of geriatric pugilists in front of him...
Instead of siblings who shared a lifelong connection...
Which very few are lucky to have.
What Dipper wouldn't give...
For another 'do-over'...
But, there was no Blendin Blandin around now to fool...
No time measuring device to cover up his mistakes.
He was just going to have to accept.
That this was it.
And you know the absolute WORST part?
No-one else was aware how cruelly their lives...
Were about to be cut short...
Except for him.
What a burden for a 12 year old to have to carry...
At least he wouldn't have to dwell on it for long.
Here we go...
After what must be the longest final thought on record...
The Rift had finally almost completed it's slow descent to the ground...
Goodbye, cruel world...
At least Bill won't be getting his triangular mitts on Earth.
It'll be a burnt out husk by the time everything's finished.
Dipper braced himself for the impact...
Which never came.
He waited 5 seconds...
10 seconds...
15...
Hang on...
Something's not right here...
By all feasible probability...
We should be playing our hearts up in heaven by now...
Everything should be toast.
And, I...
I certainly shouldn't be able to be as self-aware as this...
What the...
Opening his right eye...
Just a teensy bit, from behind the palms of his hands...
Dipper dared to see what was keeping the planet from imploding.
What he saw...
Caused him to remove both of his hands from his face...
And gasp in shock.
There she was.
The lady of the hour.
The girl of the moment.
The true heroine.
Mabel.
On the ground...
Her right arm stretched as far as it would go...
Holding up the still intact Time Rift...
She'd returned from her little trip upstairs...
Spotted the danger just in time...
And, unlike Dipper who was quivering like a jelly...
With his eyes shut tight...
Had taken it upon herself...
To take a dive that a professional swimmer would be proud of...
And grab the explosive item...
Without a second to spare...
To prevent the rupture of the world.
Dipper was frozen in shock.
And awe.
What WAS it about this girl?
She ALWAYS seemed to have a knack...
For being in the right place at the right time...
And making the right decision.
It had happened once before, when the Time Portal had opened...
And now, it had occurred again.
She might be all eccentricities and fun on the surface...
But, when push came to shove...
He could ALWAYS rely on her.
She was his sister.
His twin.
Her name was Mabel.
And, he loved her.
That's when he noticed her condition...
She may have instigated a minor miracle by catching the Time Rift...
And saving all life...
But, right now...
Her hand was shaking...
She was just about to spill it...
The strain of stretching her arm so far...
While keeping hold of the glass case...
Was just too much...
Dipper instantly stopped his mental constipation.
He needed to take a leaf out of his sister's book.
And be a man of ACTION.
Straightaway, he ran forward...
Snatched the dangerous item from Mabel's fading grip...
And put it where it belonged...
In a secure drawer.
Next to the bubble wrap.
Where it couldn't lead to a new Dark Age.
After closing it...
And, completely out of breath...
(Despite his lack of any recent physical exercise)
Dipper turned round to his sister...
And simply nodded at her...
For a Job Well Done.
Mabel grinned back at her bro-bro.
THE MYSTERY TWINS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!
No words needed to be exchanged
Nothing more required to be said.
They knew they had each other's back
By that one close-call alone
That seemed to encapsulate every near-death encounter
They'd experienced that summer, together
In one little package.
And, the fact they'd survived them all...
Was mostly down to dumb luck...
But some of it, at least...
Had got to be down to...
That special bond only twin siblings could possibly have...
That even their own mother and father wouldn't understand...
And, to think...
They almost lost that...
Over something, so...
Petty.
Suddenly, it occurred to both Dipper and Mabel...
That perhaps silent acknowledgement WASN'T enough...
Dipper's eyes began to water...
Mabel on, the other hand...
Was fully bawling away.
SOB SOB!
She got up...
Ran over to her brother
And literally tackled him to the floor...
Hugging him as if her very life depended on it.
(Actually, it did... just a few seconds ago...)
Dipper, usually embarrassed by such an open display of affection...
(He always thought himself as 'the big man after all...)
Lost all of his pride and cyncism for just a minute...
And embraced his sister with the same spirit of affection
This was no 'awkward sibling hug'
This was the genuine. heartfelt reforging of a lifelong connection...
That was very nearly severed for good.
Even Waddles, oinking down the stairs at that very moment...
Jumping straight onto Dipper's head...
Squashing his freshly washed cap in the process...
Couldn't spoil the mood between the two reacquainted siblings.
Life was good...
Life would go on...
And, they intended to make the most out of every single day...
Meanwhile, watching on...
And completely forgotten about in all this melee...
Grunkles Ford and Stanley...
Both unused to such public spectacles of familial love...
Were nervously looking at their niece and nephew...
And, then at each other.
The kids making up as emphatically as that...
And saving the Earth, together...
Reminded them of something...
A memory from long back...
Of two young boys...
Riding their bikes together, on the coast
Complete opposites, for all intents and purposes...
One, smart as a whip
The other, as strong as a lion.
The original Mystery Twins...
They didn't always see eye to eye...
And indeed, got in more fights then they could remember...
But, like Dipper and Mabel now...
They ALWAYS made up in the end...
They NEVER let an argument go on for too long...
Because, after all...
If you haven't got family...
What else was there left?
But, after everything that had happened...
After so much time...
After all that had been said...
And done...
Was there REALLY a way back for them?
Could they REALLY let bygones be bygones...
And just 'move on'?
One thing was for sure...
They certainly wouldn't be rolling around on the floor...
In an unbridled celebration of brotherly love...
Both men were too proud for that...
Too stubborn...
Their grandkids were putting them to shame in this regard.
But, perhaps...
There was a way...
They could reach common ground...
They didn't have to humiliate themselves...
In an open exhibition of sappy sentiment...
They didn't even have to talk to each other, much
At first...
But, for the sake of their grandchildren...
And each other...
They could attempt to work things through...
By living under the same roof...
Going about their day-to-day routine...
Gradually getting to know each other again...
It would be a long and arduous process...
Lasting long beyond this Summer...
Which would mean Ford wouldn't quite get his shack back just yet.
But, the pair were willing...
To give it a go.
It might just all crash and burn...
And end their relationship even worse than before.
But, they'd try.
Damn it, they'd try.
Realising both were thinking the same thing...
Each brother eyed each other wearily...
Silently.
Stan was the first to react.
Spitting on his hand...
He extended his palm over to his brother...
Meaning for him to shake it.
Ford, stared at the fingers of his estranged brother...
Before shaking his head.
WHAT?!
Stan was momentarily shocked
Had they really come this far...
For his knucklehead sibling...
To ruin it all at the last minute?
The fez wearer had nothing to worry about, though.
Ford had something better in mind.
Laying out his flat palm...
He took his brother's hand...
And before Stan knew what was happening...
He was being given an HIGH-SIX.
By the genius freak-of-nature himself.
Maybe just a small gesture, in the great scheme of things...
But to Stan, it meant the world.
The long, difficult road to conciliation would start here...
The odds were against it...
He knew that, as a professional gambler.
But this was the one time...
He was willing to put his cards on the table...
And take a leap into the unknown.
The two brothers nodded at each other...
Before turning back to their niece and nephew.
The pair of kids had long since picked themselves off the dusty ground.
Best friends they were again.
And were now sitting, side by side...
With a certain pig curled up by Mabel's feet...
Studying a book with great interest.
The two grunkles, intrigued, decided to investigate.
For a change, the book under study...
WASN'T any of the journals.
Even nerds like Dipper need a break from mysteries sometimes.
Instead, it was an album full of photos.
A photo album, if you like.
Now being pored over by the younger twins.
Mabel had gone to fetch it from the upper floor...
While Stan and Ford were still in the middle of their angry feud...
And Dipper was despairing in the middle of the room...
She thought that bringing back some old memories...
Would rekindle her older relations's friendship with each other...
And make everything right again.
As it turned out...
This wasn't necessary...
Some problems just have a way of working themselves out...
But, seeing as how she'd gone to all the trouble...
Of fetching it in the first place...
It seemed like a wasted effort to just put it back...
So, now the junior Pines...
Were laughing at some of the treasured images...
Cooing over the baby pictures...
While wondering why everything was in black and white.
Seeing what all the fuss was about...
Brought an uncontrollable grin to both Stan and Ford's faces...
And, putting to one side all the bickering...
Shouting...
And just the general all-round chaos, of minutes earlier...
They sat on that dusty floor with their niece and nephew...
Telling them all about the family they'd never met...
Their money obsessed, fame hungry grandfather...
His hard working, put upon wife...
And, Shermie...
The sister that neither Ford or Stan even knew that well...
Along with amusing stories of their own childhood...
Until fate tore them apart.
And, one and all...
In the basement of that rundown old building that day...
Wounds started to heal...
Alliances began to be mended...
And, a family that had drifted so far away from each other...
Started to reform again.
It was really all just a distraction from what was to follow...
Bill was still coming...
THE END WAS NIGH...
Nothing had changed there.
But, in a sense...
They'd taken a great step towards their own survival.
After all, the old saying is true:
"Together we stand...
Divided, we fall".
And, the fact that this long at-war family...
Was finally putting aside their differences...
To support each other in their hour of need...
Gave them more strength than a million unicorn hairs.
WATCH, OUT BILL!
The Pines are coming for you.
And, we will win.
[Thought I'd set myself a challenge, by writing the final chapter without any conversational dialogue. I thought I did pretty well, as it happens. I hope you enjoyed. Til' next time... :) ]