"Mabel!" cried Dipper in alarm, seeing his crying sister in the presence of a wanted terrorist. "Let her go or-" the rest of his threat was cut off as his sister ran and wrapped her arms around him.

"Leave us alone you android freak!" yelled Robbie, picking an empty bottle from the ground and throwing it as hard as he could at the criminal.

Phil caught the bottle with ease and in one fluid movement threw it right back at the teen, catching him between the eyes.

"Phil!" snapped Mabel angrily through her tears, confusing her brother as Robbie stumbled.

"He started it!" Phil said defensively. "And he called me an android!"

"Uh, what's happening?" asked Dipper, looking between his sister and the cyborg. "Why aren't we running from the terrorist?"

"Phil is not a terrorist!" Mabel corrected him firmly, wiping her eyes as Robbie shook his head clear. "He's a good guy! He was framed and now we need to help him clear his name, see his daughter and get his old job back!"

"Um, actually, Mabel," said Phil, raising his hand, "We can't really do that last one. They don't allow criminals in the TPAES."

"But you're innocent," Mabel said with a frown.

"Well, not entirely. I did break out of prison," Phil pointed out. "Doesn't matter if the charges were wrong, breaking out is still illegal. But at least that's a crime I actually committed so I'm happy to be arrested for that one."

"But that's not fair!"

"No, that's pretty fair," Phil reasoned. "Just because I didn't do one bad thing doesn't mean they should ignore the bad things I have done."

"Wait," said Robbie, rubbing the red spot on his brow, "so you're not the bad guy? Then who is?"

"That crazy commander lady who gave us the button," explained Mabel. "Axel."

"Wait, you've met her?" Phil asked. "When?"

Mabel quickly recounted how they had been stopped by the three agents on their way to the Mall and then told her brother and Robbie Phil's side of the story and how they had met, leaving out some details that she thought Robbie didn't need to know, such as her conversation with Wendy, Preston Northwest's treatment of his daughter and the conversation just before they appeared in front of the boys.

"That was a big risk you took, Mabel!" Dipper said with concern in his voice. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I once trusted someone when no one else did and that I was willing to do it again," Mabel answered.

Dipper hesitated. "Okay, Mabel," he said after a moment. "I'm sorry. I trust you, I was just-"

"You were just worried," Mabel said gently. "That's okay. You always look out for me. And I love you for it," she added with a smile.

Robbie looked between the two and had the impression he was missing something. "Wait," he said, holding up his hands. "How do we know this isn't a double-bluff?" he asked them, pointing to Phil. "Like, how do we know he isn't just lying so he can get us all together and kill us all at the same time?"

"Dude, that sounds paranoid even to me," said Dipper as Phil scowled at the oldest teen.

"Here, I can prove that Axel is the evil one," Mabel said. She turned to Phil. "What do you think of Waddles?" she asked him.

"What, your pig?" He shrugged. "I'm more of a dog man myself but sure, I guess he's okay. Whatever floats your boat."

"See?" said Mabel proudly, turning to the others. "Phil likes Waddles but when I asked Axel about him she said she hated him! What more proof do you need?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need more proof than that to trust him," Robbie scoffed. "I mean, I don't like you pig either and I ain't evil."

"That's debatable," grunted Phil. "But here how's this for proof? See this plasma pistol?" he asked drawing the weapon from the future. He fired at one of the trashbags and they all watched as it disintegrated before their eyes. Then he put it back in its holster before pointing at Mabel, his hand in the shape of a pistol. "Pew!" he said, mimicking the sound it had made. He pointed Robbie. "Pew!" He pointed at Dipper. "Pew!" He pointed at Robbie. "Pew!" He patted the pistol in its holster. "If I wanted any of you dead," he told Robbie, "you'd be dead."

"Why did you shoot me twice?" asked the moody teen.

"Because you'd be atomised after the second so a third would be pointless."

"What is your problem with me?" he demanded, turning red.

"You tried to mind control your girlfriend when she broke up with you!" Phil barked. "What, you think you're the only person to ever have their heart broken?" He stormed towards the gangly teen, towering over him as Dipper and Mabel stepped out of his way at seeing the fury in his eyes. "The love of my life left me," he hissed an inch away from Robbie's face. "I would have done anything for her. But I never once thought about doing what you did." Phil narrowed his eyes. "Slavery is still slavery, whatever century you're from."

Even Mabel struggled to think of a defence to that. Which made it all the more surprising that Dipper tried it. "Uh, not to downplay what Robbie tried to do in any way, but Wendy has forgiven him," he said awkwardly. "She, er, she wouldn't be willing to hang out with him otherwise. We had a talk, he gave me some advice and he admitted he was sorry." He cleared his throat. "Look, nobody here cares about Wendy more than me but I believe him when he says he regrets what he did. Besides," he added miserably, "Robbie wasn't the only one who hurt Wendy that night. When I showed her what Robbie was doing, I didn't do it to help her, I did it to help me. I didn't really care if the mind control had worked on her, I just didn't want them to be together anymore. Just so she'd spend more time with me." He sighed. "I didn't really care about Wendy that day, I just cared about what I wanted."

"You weren't the only jerk that night, Dipper," Mabel said quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "While you and Robbie were being selfish and hurting Wendy, I was being selfish and hurting Candy, Grenda and Sev'ral Timez. The band trusted me to protect them and set them free and I just used and hoarded them like they were toys." She pulled her brother close. "We've both messed up plenty of times and hurt our friends and even each other," she told him. "But they've forgiven us and I'll always forgive you and you'll always forgive me. We'll always help pick each other up, even when we've deserved to be knocked down." She turned back to Phil who was still glaring at the miserable goth. "Can you take us to Wendy?" she asked him.

"Sure," he said, taking out his tablet after one final glare at Robbie. "I'll locate Corduroy."

"Hey!" said Mabel as her brother also reacted to the hostility in his voice. "I can get not liking Robbie but what's you beef with Wendy? What's she done?"

"Here's a list," said Phil, reaching into his satchel and passing a wanted poster to her. She turned it over and saw the heading 'Why I Hate Wendy Corduroy' at the top, followed by a long list that stretched all the way to the bottom of the poster.

"Why do you have a list like this?" asked Dipper as Mabel scanned the paper.

Phil shrugged. "Everybody needs a hobby. Your sister knits, scumbag over there draws manga-"

"Who told you that?" gasped Robbie.

"-Mine is making lists. It keeps me calm and I needed to do something while I thought about how I'd convince you all I wasn't a murderer. Those eejits I saved from the dinosaurs had a pen and wanted posters so I just made a list."

"Okay then, why would you make a list about why you don't like Wendy?" asked Dipper, who made so many lists it might as well have been a hobby while his sister blanched at some of the items she read.

"Because I hate her," he said. "And I like making lists. I thought we just covered this?"

"But why do you hate her?" Dipper demanded.

"It's all on the list!"

Dipper sighed and turned to his sister. "Okay, fine," he said, reaching for the poster. "Let me see what-"

"No!" Mabel cried, ramming it in her mouth and chewing until it was pulp. "That list was not meant for your eyes!" she declared as she swallowed.

"So," Robbie said slowly after a moment of silence, Dipper glancing between Mabel and Phil, "We going to get her or what?"

Phil raised his tablet and searched for the moment he had last seen his fellow redhead, just before Mabel had pulled the time tape on his belt in what she thought would be a sacrificial move. "Here we go," he said, hitting the sound button so the teenagers could see and hear their friend leap at the bright silhouettes and land in the snow. "Now we just need to head to the park, activate the time tapes and - wait." He frowned as he saw someone approach her. "Who's - oh. Oh." The teens gasped as they saw Axel block Wendy's attack and deal one of her own. Phil dropped to his haunches and the tablet fell from his fingers as Axel started screaming at Wendy. "Damn," he said as Dipper picked up the tablet to see what happened next . "Damn damn damn," Phil sighed as he leaned back, rolling onto his rear and staring at the sky.

"Phil?" Mabel asked, resting her hand on his arm as the conversation from the tablet continued. "You okay?"

"No, sweetheart, I'm not," he told her. "I didn't want to believe it was her. I didn't want to believe it was anyone. But there's my proof." He closed his eyes. "She's the traitor. Why else would she be alone?"

"Maybe she came with Lolph or Dundgren and they split up?" suggested Mabel. "Maybe they wanted to cover as much time as they could and-"

"No," said Phil, putting his head in his hands. "The TPAES doesn't work like that. They wouldn't risk splitting up or sending a lone officer when it comes to something as important as the Cipher Cult, not even one as skillful as Axel." He sighed. "It's her. It was always her."

"But what does she want with Wendy?" Dipper asked, watching with growing despair as he saw Axel put a hand on Wendy's shoulder and activate her time tape.

"No idea," grunted Phil, getting to his feet. "But, whatever it is, it can't be good. For any of us."


"So what do you need me to do?" Wendy asked Commander Axel as she led her down one of the alleys of the town.

"Pink's cybernetics make him strong and durable so I might need your help to fight him," Axel explained as she reached into a dumpster and pulled out a large case. "You're tougher than you look since one hit with a shock-baton is enough to knock most grown men out cold," she said, opening the case to reveal an assortment of equipment, some of them clearly weapons. "And when you swung that axe at me there was speed and strength behind it."

"Yeah, I've three brothers," Wendy explained. "They're pretty strong but I always beat them. Gotta learn to fight smart when they gang up on you, you know?"

"You're fighting style's a bit outdated compared to anything in the future but you've got some potential and a punch is still a punch," Axel continued, ignoring her as she pulled out several devices and considered them one by one. "You can't beat him but you can at least be useful to me. Here, try these on," she said, passing her a pair of gloves.

They looked like blue rubber gloves but were thick as leather and she could hear a faint electrical hum when she put them near her ear. "Those are displacer gloves," Axel told her. "I'd tell explain the science to you but I'm not patient enough. Also, I checked your grades and I'm pretty sure your an idiot."

Wendy gave her a look but said nothing, not even correcting her about the recent improvements in her grades. She put the gloves on and flexed her fingers, feeling the material tighten around her palm and digits. She did a quick jab and felt an electrical tingle across her skin as a small shockwave issues from her knuckles, denting a trashcan and sending it flying as the mortar on the wall behind it trembled, loose flecks and dust falling free. "Huh," said Wendy, peering at the gloves. "Cool."

Axel clipped her hard over the head. "Stop being a stupid idiot, you stupid idiot!" she snapped as Wendy glared at her and rubbed the sore spot. "Here, stay still so I can put this on you," she said, roughly grabbing Wendy's arm and attaching a metal arm to her fleshy one with several straps.

"Uh, what's this?" Wendy asked the older woman, struggling under the weight of the metal limbs as another arm and then legs were added.

"Exosuit," grunted Axel, attaching the legs and arms to the sockets on the backpiece, finally sending power through the limbs before she started tightening the straps that went under her arms and over her shoulders. "Those gloves will let you hit Pink hard enough for him to feel it but that's hardly going to help if you break your bones after the first punch. That's a thick skull he's got and this will give you the support you need to keep hitting him. On the bright side, he's so used to protecting what little flesh he has, he's out of practise defending his head or that metal chest of his." She fixed the buckle across Wendy's chest and stepped back to make sure everything was correct.

Wendy took her axe from its sheath and looked at her reflection on the blade. "I look like a poor man's Ellen Ripley," she said. She frowned. "A really poor man. This thing doesn't cover any of my vitals! What do I do if he throws a punch?"

"Duck," Axel suggested. "He's still taller than you so bend your knees and throw in an uppercut while you're at it. Make yourself useful for once."

Wendy glared at her but didn't retort, the guilt of what Pink could be doing to Mabel gnawing at her. Neither did she say thanks when Axel handed her a new axe, though she was pleasantly surprised that the woman had a futuristic version of her favourite weapon. It was larger and longer than her own, too heavy for some of her more nimble grapples or maneuvers but she had seen how her standard weapon held up against Pink and knew this one would fare much better. She took a few practise swing to test its weight, reach and balance. The exosuit and new weapon took a little getting used to but an axe was still an axe and she knew how to hack and slash with it in one hand and grapple and punch with the other at the same time. Besides, if it became too difficult for her to use properly she could always just throw it and use her fists and legs as a last resort.

"And finally we have this," Axel was saying, pulling out a strange helmet with goggles and headset. "Take off your hat and put this on."

"What is it?" Wendy asked, removing her cap and awkwardly tucking it into the back of her belt where it would receive the most protection from the exosuit.

Axel rolled her eyes. "You're too stupid to understand so just clamp it over that empty head of yours and shut up."

"Oh come on, lady!" Wendy snapped. "I get it, I messed up! But I just want to know what it is so I can - what are you doing?" Wendy drew her arm back as Axel tucked the helmet into her armpit and started unfastening the straps on Wendy's arm.

"I'm taking the damn thing off," Axel barked, trying to grab the teen's arm. "We've got one chance to stop Pink and if you can't even put a damn suit on without questioning me then I can't trust you in the field. Stay still so I can take that off!"

"What?" Wendy took a step back, dodging the older woman's surprisingly slow swipes. "But - but you said I could help rescue Mabel!"

"Clearly I was wrong." Axel sighed. "You won't listen to me, you question everything I say, I can't trust you to help rescue the kid, I'll have to risk facing Pink on my own." She looked away. "Who knows what he's done to that poor girl while we've been arguing," she said, chilling Wendy's blood. "You proved I couldn't trust you to keep her safe and now I can't even trust you to help save her. I'm wasting my time with you and now the girl's suffering just because you're-"

"No!" Wendy took the helmet from her, ramming it on her head. "Look! I'm sorry, you're right, I did fail her! But I can help get her back, I don't care what happens to me, I don't care if I get hurt, I just need...to…"

Axel considered her, standing there, her mouth agape. Then she leaned over and buckled the chinstrap, adjusting it so the helmet wouldn't fall off. "Corduroy?" she asked as a trail of drool escaped the teen's mouth.

"Yeah?" Wendy asked distractedly.

"Remember the girl you were with? Mabel?"

Wendy gave the smallest of nods.

"Do you care about that girl?"

Wendy nodded again. "I love her," Wendy said. "She's like a little sister."

"Right, well, I've got bad news. She's dead." Axel watched carefully as the information slowly made its way through the fog of Wendy's brain. The redhead didn't react for several moments but then Axel saw her chest rise and fall faster as she took it in, biting her lower lip. "How does that make you feel?"

"Sad," said Wendy as two tiny streams trickled out of the goggles.

"And what if I told you she was murdered? How would that make you feel?"

The breathing changed from short and rapid to long and heavy as her fists clenched. "Angry," Wendy said as her cheeks flushed.

"Angry enough to kill?"

"Yes," Wendy hissed through gritted teeth.

"Okay then," Axel said. "Let's not waste anyone else's time then, huh?"


"So what do we do now?" Dipper asked, handing over the tablet and the chronometer he had taken when the cyborg was unconscious. "How do we find Wendy?"

"I don't know," Phil said, putting the tablet away and returning the other device to his wrist. "Regroup? I left those two morons in an alley near here. It was actually the same day I found all of you, just earlier. We might as well go back, wake them up and then decide what we want to do."

"Wait," said Dipper. "I've been wondering about this but why is it still so easy for us to keep traveling through time if that temporal storm is there? You said it almost killed you before, why haven't we been affected?"

"Couple of reasons," Phil said. "That first jump I made to get here was from thousands of years in the future. It's much easier to take a single step in a hurricane than walk a mile in it. Honestly, I only survived due to a mixture of luck and my time-tanium since that's resistant to the flow of time. Later, my tablet also picked up that there were some times earlier in that day where I could safely jump to but that scan ran while I was unconscious, which was plenty more time than Lolph and Dundgren had. Besides, they'd frozen time so they couldn't do that and scan at the same time. I bet your friends activated that time beacon and Axel rigged it so only she would be alerted and that's how she made it here safely. As for why you guys have been travelling through time without any ill-effects, that's because you were lucky enough to be in a lull in the temporal storm when you travelled. If you had been a few minutes later or earlier then the trip could have killed you in any number of ways. I've experienced that temporal storm and know what can happen so every one of you dodged a nasty bullet. Finally, we've been travelling backwards in time and the temporal storm was made when Cipher took out Time Baby which hasn't happened yet, hence no temporal storm. If any of you had tried going into the future then I doubt you'd be able to talk."

"So if the time police have machines that can scan for time travel safe zones," Mabel said thoughtfully, "why not just send someone here and try to scan for them? Then they can, I don't know, send a time-message in a time-bottle for future time-people to read, let them know what points in time are safe in case they ever need to go to Gravity Falls again."

"Smart plan," Phil agreed. "We've thought about doing that sort of thing but it's difficult. The storm was seen as being too risky to travel through so it would be a one-way trip until it passes. Which we reckon might be another decade from your time."

"Can't you just check your records or send probes out to see which dates were safe to travel from?" asked Dipper.

"Sadly, no. It won't work like that. Without Time Baby, we no longer have infinite resources and the Cipher Cult and the re-introduction of democracy has stretched us a bit thin. We can't afford to just send things out to see when it's safe again. Anyway, most of the world's records were lost when Time Baby took over. Tabula rasa. But, because we now had access to time travel it meant that we could uncover the truth about historical and scientific mysteries. We've seen how life first appeared on Earth. We have videos of the speeches great leaders made during revolutions. We know that the first female president of America was Ben Franklin. History is less speculative when you can go back in time and actually see what happened for yourself. To you, the whole Weirdmageddon thing happened last year. For us, it was both thousands of years ago and only three years ago since Time Baby vanished. We'd never even heard of Gravity Falls before then, the only person we knew about was McGucket since his inventions helped lead to some major scientific breakthroughs. Well, him and your sister since she abolished the electoral college."

"What a crazy afternoon that was!" commented Mabel. Her eyes narrowed. "Stupid unicorns."

"After Time Baby's defeat we took an interest in the area," Phil continued, everyone ignoring Robbie's confused stares. "We did some research and looked back into your lives. You two were especially interesting. Two kids who beat Globnar and helped destroy Cipher all in one summer. It's no wonder you became celebrities."

"We're celebrities?" Dipper asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah," Phil said seriously. "My girl admires you in particular, kid. All the things you've done for your sister, using your bravery and smarts to beat so many foes, she's got her own pine tree hat and likes to think about how you would handle any situation, gives her something to aspire to."

"Aw, you're finally popular with the ladies!" Mabel joked, elbowing her brother as he turned red.

"Mabel! That's not what he said!"

"No, she's right," Phil said. "You're pretty popular. You're smart, brave and kind. Lots of boys and girls want to find someone like that in the future. Of course, Mary - my daughter - she's too old for you and I doubt it would work even if she wasn't but if she brought home a boy like you I think I'd be very happy for her."

Dipper blushed and cleared his throat, never having someone say anything like that to him before. "So, uh, so does that mean you know our future?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, how many kids does Soos have?" Mabel asked. "How many handsome boy bands declare their undying love to me before a royal prince falls for me at first sight when I sweep him off his perfect feet?"

"No idea and wouldn't tell you even if I did," Phil grunted. "We put a block on finding anything about your lives after Weirdmageddon. We know tidbits from the last year but any more would mean more chances for the Cipher Cult to get to you or your descendants if they couldn't reach any of you. It was for your protection, we didn't want them suddenly popping up at your weddings or at the hospitals where your kids were born if they somehow managed to get their hands on a time tape. I don't know your futures and I want to keep it that way."

"But why hasn't Axel tried to kill us yet?" Dipper asked. "She's in TPAES. She has access to time tape and she managed to sneak away on her own and has laser guns. What's her goal?"

"I don't know," Phil admitted. "She knows killing you won't bring Cipher back. She can't go back in time and change Weirdmageddon, you guys are famous and TPAES would be over her in a second if she tried it since the storm doesn't interfere with travelling to time before that. Axel's smart and has enough experience with the flow of time to know that the Cipher Cult's plans don't make sense. So why is she doing this if she knows it won't work?" Phil sighed. "We're missing something. Something important. Maybe there's some other goal or a special method but if there is then I just can't see it." He shook his head. "Forget it. If I can get to that beacon I can fix it so TPAES can show up, give them the video of Axel on that tablet and clear my name. Then it can be sorted by people who are paid to do the thinking. We've avoided any paradoxes so far so we're doing better than I thought at least. That could have been disastrous."

"Uh," Mabel said hesitantly, raising her hand. "So about these paradoxes. How bad is disastrous? Exactly?"

"Mabel!" Dipper snapped as Phil groaned. "What did you do?"

"Me? I didn't do anything!" She prodded his chest with an accusing finger. "It was you! Causing trouble with Wendy! I thought you'd learned your lesson from last year."

"Wait, what?" asked Phil, Dipper and Robbie together.

"You messed up Wendy's timeline," she told her brother, scowling. "Back when you tried to cheer up younger Wendy! When I asked our Wendy about it she said she now had two memories about why she changed clothes and started wearing that stupid hat!"

"S'not stupid," Dipper muttered petulantly.

"Oh come on!" Phil cried, throwing his hands in the air. "I thought you'd be the last person to mess with time! You're meant to be the smart one!"

"I saw her alone and crying in the woods!" Dipper said. "What would you have done?"

Phil opened his mouth to say that he would have ignored her and continued his mission. Then he remembered another little girl, alone in the woods asking for help with tears in her eyes. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, kid," he said. "Just tell me what happened. And then you tell me what happened with Corduroy," he said to Mabel.

They quickly explained what they had witnessed, Dipper revealing he thought nothing would happen since he knew the Wendy of the future would start to dress like that around that time in her life. Mabel recounted the story of the different memories of how Wendy received her hat and the pain it had caused her.

"Crap," said Phil after it ended. "Bloody rotten crap with dead flies as sprinkles."

"Ew!" said Mabel. "I'm hungry, stop it!"

"Sorry." Phil looked at the sky, thinking hard. "Okay," he said eventually. "Sounds like you've made two timelines. They'll have to wrestle for dominance eventually. That will cause problems. That's the bad news. The good news is that time in Gravity Falls is more...I'm trying to think of a way to describe it…"

"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff?" suggested Dipper.

They all stared at him. Even Mabel.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" demanded Phil. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"It - was a reference!" Dipper stuttered. "From-"

"That was a stupid reference that will never catch on!" Phil snapped. "Whoever said that knows nothing about time travel! No! Time travel in Gravity Falls is more malleable! Stretchy! Things that could cause ruin in other places will barley cause a bump here!" He sighed. "Look, you messed up, I won't lie. But it could have been a lot worse and you're kind of lucky it happened here of all places. I think that we won't feel the effects of this little screw-up for another year at least. Maybe two. And it won't result in the destruction of the galaxy like it normally would."

Dipper sighed in relief.

"Probably just the destruction of the town and everyone in it."

Dipper gasped in horror.

"Maybe the state."

"Why don't we go get Lee and Nate!" Mabel said loudly as Dipper clutched at his chest. "Then we fix that time beacon, clear your name, rescue Wendy, go shopping! Yay!"

"Hmm? Oh, sure. Here," he said, passing a time tape to Mabel. "Hold this. Now hold your brother. Traveling with more than two people at once doesn't always go well. More likely to cause fires. The rats will be fine, they're too small to make a difference," he added when Mabel glanced at the shoebox. "I'm going to pull this and that will send you to roughly the same time I left those eejits. They're in the dumpster across the street. Wake them up and explain to them that I'm not the bad guy. Got that?"

"Got it!" said Mabel, rubbing her brother's back as he tried to control his breathing.

Phil grinned at her and let the cord go, sending them back to the morning of the day they had met.

Leaving him alone in an alley with Robbie.

Robbie swallowed nervously as the large man stood up straighter. He could practically taste the anger coming off him in waves. "So, uh, glad to hear you're not a murderer," he said.

"I've killed before and I'd do it again if I had to," Pink answered.

"Oh." Robbie glanced at the future pistol and taser on the man's belt. "Good thing we're both on the same side then, huh? Hehe…" He trailed off as the man turned to him, suspicion and rage in his eyes.

"What advice did you give him?" Pink demanded, walking forward.

"What?" He tried to step back from the cyborg but Pink moved faster and suddenly a hand was around the teen's throat and he was lifted into the air, slammed against the wall with enough force to take the air out of his lungs.

"Dipper said you gave him advice when you were alone," Phil snarled. "What advice? What did you say to him?"

Robbie gasped and struggled in the grip but the fingers never budged. "He was feeling down with girl troubles!" Robbie barely managed to say. "Having trouble moving on! I told him I knew what that was like and that he should-"

"What? What did you say?" Pink lowered his arm so his eyes were closer to the teen. "Did you tell him to try it your way? Mind control? Enslavement? Huh?"

"No!" Robbie gasped. "That he shouldn't be worried about it! He wasn't like me, he wasn't trying to trick her and that he was better than me!"

Robbie slid to the ground as Pink released him, taking deep gulps of air while the cyborg pulled out his scanner wand and waved it at him. "Scanner says your telling the truth," he said grudgingly.

"That's because I am!" Robbie got unsteadily to his feet. "I meant what I said - I'm sorry for what I did to Wendy!" He rubbed at his neck and glared at the man. "Why do you care? You hate Wendy!"

Pink put his hand on Robbie's chest and pushed him up against the wall hard enough to leave bruises on his back. "What, you think just because someone's a piece of crap then it's okay to do bad things to them? Huh? Listen to me you little punk," he hissed. "I know exactly the type of man you are - I've seen it all across time. Creeps who care only about themselves and think that means they can treat others however they want! I know what you tried to do. I know you threatened to beat up a twelve-year old just because he happened to like your girlfriend!"

"I wasn't really going to-" Robbie said before the hand pushed him into the wall harder.

"Shut up! That's not even the worst you've done, not even close! I saw that little smirk you had before you tried your back alley subliminal messaging crap on her! You knew exactly what you were doing, you just didn't give a damn! And then, when you think you've got her under your power, what do you do?" Phil leaned closer, Robbie turning even paler at the hate in his eyes. "You take her to somewhere where you can be all alone with her."

Robbie felt himself flush at what the man was implying, anger rising in him despite the pressure on his ribs. "I didn't - I would never - I didn't even know-"

The rest of his words were cut off as Pink drew his arm back and Robbie slid to the ground again with a grunt.

Pink leaned in closer to the teen as he struggled to his feet. "I'm a cop. Despite my crimes. Which means I can't really do anything to stop you, Valentino. But I'm also a parent. And if you ever try anything like that on the poor girl you're dating, I will make sure the whole town knows exactly the kind of man you are."

Fear drowned out the anger. The pain in his ribs was overpowered by the pain in his chest at the thought of life without Tambry. "Please," he pleaded on his knees in the muck of the street, tears building in his eyes. "Please, don't tell her parents! They'll never let me see her again! I can't bare that! She's everything to me. I'd rather go to future-jail! Just - just not that!" He reached his hands out to him but they were slapped away.

Pink reached down and grabbed the mewling teen by the hoodie as he activated the time tape. "Be quiet," he snarled. "I'm not here for you. As soon as I've stopped Axel and found Corduroy I'm going to leave and never come back. Unless you give me a reason to."

Robbie couldn't say anything more, couldn't even gather the strength to tell him the truth, knowing he wouldn't be believed, only Tambry had believed him and now he could lose her just because of one stupid, selfish mistake he had made last summer.

Robbie wiped the tears from his eyes just as a figure stepped round the corner and slashed at Pink, the cyborg dragging Robbie out of the blades path as it sliced clean through the dumpster beside them. Just as Pink threw Robbie further down the alley and away from them, the other person slammed a fist into Pink's chest with enough force to send him flying backwards into the street, connecting hard with a fire hydrant.

Robbie stared at the redhead, recognising her straight away even with her strange power armour and alien helmet.

"You killed Mabel," he heard her say as she tightened her grip on her glowing red axe and bared her teeth. "I'm gonna kill you."


Author's note: There's a freeze-frame bonus during The Last Mabelcorn that mentions abolishing the electoral college as one of Mabel's good deeds. I found that hilarious. While you could argue that it's hard to believe a child could get rid of that confusing system in one afternoon, I would counter that argument with two points: 1) it's Gravity Falls and 2) it's Mabel. Again my AU, my rules.