Legends of Gravity Falls: The Shadow in the Forest
Chapter 7: All for this Family
The Midnight Hammer had launched an all-out offensive on the downtown area, cutting off the escape of any potential witnesses to their operation. The cultists acted with cold efficiency, completely in-sync with their years of training and preparation. The police station and fire department were the first to be captured. Any resistance was quickly subdued. With phone lines and internet servers shut down thanks to sabotage and hacking, there was no chance to call for help. The orders were to capture the townspeople alive, so they could remain around to witness the end once Bill opened his gateway between the Nightmare Realm and the Earth. Despite the heavy fighting and destruction the cultists were careful not to set any large fires for the time being, less anyone elsewhere in the region become alert to what was going one. Any secure area was being used as a makeshift prison, since the cells at the police station filled up quickly. Two of the Disciples approached a Master and relayed prisoner transfers to him.
"Most of the people who surrendered without a fight are going quietly. Some continue to resist however futile it is." The first one spoke.
"It remains a useless effort. None can stand against his will and possibly win." The master replied.
"Even so we got one young girl who was more difficult than some of the men who resisted. She had quite the mouth on her. She swore at me and spat on my robes!" The second Disciple informed his superior. His comrade added next.
"She tried to bite me and said some very crude and simply untrue things about my mother! One of the higher-ups needs to teach this little wretch respect for the Hammer!"
"Mind your place, our exalted leadership has much more important things to do than discipline a brat child. Back to work, both of you." The master ordered.
"At once, sir!" The two replied in unison. A short distance away, another unfortunate Disciple was shoving said girl, her hands chained behind her, into a garage being used to house some prisoners. Grenda was not letting up.
"You think you're so tough? I've seen scarier stuff on a road trip to tourist traps! If you had any guts you'd unlock these cuffs! I'd hit you so hard off your butt your mother would feel the pain!"
"Oh my god, just shut the hell up and get in there with the other rabble already!" The cultist clamored as he felt a nasty headache.
Once disarmed, deprived of the rift, and released from the net, Dipper was kept under watch by two of the Champions on the stern end of the vessel. The stolen fishing boat continued motoring across the water, the pilot waiting for orders from the Grand Master. The leader confronted Dipper while he studied the laser gun he had confiscated.
"Remarkable, to think that after all these years his engineering remains top of the line." Dipper was surprised at the revelation.
"You know Great Uncle Ford?"
"I knew him, as you did. And we had to part ways, like you will soon enough."
"If Ford ever had any ties to you he was certainly right to break them." Dipper spat at the robed man, who felt his unseen expression in the dark stiffen.
"Enough of this prattle, you have a date with destiny, boy. Bring us back to the town immediately."
"At once, your excellency!" The cultist serving as the pilot ordered. The boat began to turn back towards Gravity Falls and Dipper briefly looked up at the sky, noticing that for a brief moment the moon was replaced by Bill's eye. The Grand Master walked over towards the bow, leaving the two Champions alone with the prisoner. Dipper rolled a few thoughts over in his head, and formulated a plan. Smirking to himself, the boy looked up to the cultist guarding him on his right.
"So, do you guys all use the same tailor? They do remarkable work on your dresses." Dipper could almost sense the infuriation in the man as he glared down at him. The boy merely gave his captor an arrogant grin.
"You are but a puny little worthless unbeliever. Mock our uniform robes all you like, at the end of the night you'll still be dead."
"No disrespect, seriously. It takes courage for a man to go out in public wearing a dress. It is still night though, so nobody in town can really see you. Are you still insecure about it?"
"Keep talking, kid. You may be needed alive for the ritual but that doesn't mean I can't turn you into a bloody pulp beforehand." The other Champion turned his head to face his comrade and address him.
"Let it go, the child is just trying to provoke you. Typical of a cornered animal, nothing more." The other cultist agreed, calming down.
"You're right, yes, you're right. The little twerp is nothing." Dipper wouldn't let up though.
"I think you could top it off with some high heels and a sunhat with a nice pink follower on it."
"Okay, that's it. I'm cutting you now." The enraged cultist drew his sword, only for the other to draw his own and block him. He warned his comrade sternly.
"Stop it! We don't have orders to strike him unless he tries to escape. If we kill him too soon the Grand Master will have our heads."
"Out of my way! It is time for this little brat to get a new scar!"
"You'll overdue it! Now stand down!"
"You stand down! I'm cutting him!"
"No you're not!"
Seizing upon the opportunity and noticing the Grand Master turning back to the stern, storming over to reprimand the two fighting cultists, Dipper quickly got up and ran across the opposite side of the boat and out of site. The Grand Master was upon the feuding Champions in moments.
"Silence! Keep your eyes on the kid, I took a risk not binding him the chains, now…" All three men noticed the prisoner was gone. The Grand Master snarled in a rage at the sight, "You fools let the kid slip away! Find him or I'm sending you overboard!" Dipper had snuck up behind the Grand Master and snatched the laser gun from his loosened hand, immediately running back the other direction. "Damn it! Seize him before he can escape!"
The three cultists gave chase, two heading up the starboard side while one Champion ran up the port side, attempting to corner Dipper on the bow. With amazing speed, Dipper jumped atop the forward cabin roof and climbed over the windshield over the pilot house, catching the cultist at the wheel off-guard. The boy was now back on the stern
"He's back here again!" The man called to the others, not able to intervene while at the controls. Dipper however fired the laser gun at them, and the cultist barely dodged in time, the wheel, gages, and the rest of the pilot station was blown up, destroying both the controls and sending the engines into overdrive. The boat sped up at top speed, and with steering and stability out of control the craft tossed and turned in multiple directions. Everyone clung to the railings along the sides as the boat finally crashed into the shore along Scuttlebutt Island, hurling Dipper off and into the sand while the rest of the men were thrown across the wrecked boat into various spots along the deck, one of the Champions even crashing through the top hatch on the bow and down into the cabin below. Dipper groaned as he caught his senses, and noticed the rift had been launched off the boat and into the sand by the impact too. The Grand Master quickly gathered his own wits and saw Dipper rise to his feet, grab the rift, and run off the beach and into the foliage.
"Assess the damage and your injuries and make it fast! Contact the Grand Harvester and alert him to the situation. I want another boat with a full company out here ASAP! Two of you scour the island and capture or destroy any other craft you find, even if it's a rowboat! I'll handle the boy myself." Spreading his wings once again the cult leader took off, pursuing Dipper further into the island. He quickly caught sight of the kid running into a cave and immediately went in after him. Dipper knew it as the grotto where the Gobblewonker craft had been wrecked by him, Mabel, and Soos on their hunt for the creature. The plan was to either hide out and lose his pursuers in the cave, or use the monster machine to escape if he could get it working. He couldn't reach it in time. The Grand Master was upon him in seconds, his flying speed incredible. With both swords drawn but not in flames, yet, the robed man stared his target down, "An impressive display. I knew you were smart and inquisitive, but your quick thinking and boldness leaves no doubt now. You are definitely a Pines, boy. Under different circumstances you may actually have been able to escape, but all you've done is delay the inevitable."
"I will never go with you willingly! As long as I'm out here, all my friends and family you have captured for sacrifices will be spared." Dipper glared at his opponent.
"Very brave, and foolish. I have you cornered and even if you kill me, you still have the rest of the cult and the Great One himself to contend with. There is no alternative but surrender. I don't wish to cause you pain, but I will if I have to. A broken prisoner is better than none at all."
"You're willing to kill me once I'm your captive but you don't want to hurt me? How gullible do I look to you?!" Dipper snapped in defense.
"The fall of this world to his will is inevitable, boy, but not everything is set in stone, yet. You and your sister have more value to me alive when this is all over than you realize. The others selected for sacrifice must die, but you and Mabel can still be spared. The plan will be serviceable with just the others, but the choice is yours to make."
"I won't give in as long as even one of them dies. Bill cannot win!" Dipper was both confused and angry at the declaration.
"You have yet to realize how doomed the world is. Nothing can stop him now. To serve is madness, but to resist and survive, impossible!"
"No cause is lost as long as there is but one person is left to fight for it!" Dipper would not back down.
"Stubborn and loyal to friends and family. You remind me of old times, boy. Your friends may be understandable, but neither Stan nor Ford deserve your loyalty. You and your sister can join me, and together we can endure the apocalypse."
"What are you talking about? 'Old times'? How do you know our family?" Dipper narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"You've never met your grandfather, have you, Dipper?" The Grand Master asked, his voice softening a bit.
"No, he died before Mabel and I were born. We never got the chance to meet him." Dipper spoke in a similar tone, not sure where this was going. He kept his glare as the Grand Master continued.
"Well, what would you say if I told you that you had that chance right now?" Dipper felt his eyes go wide, and answered the question with his own.
"I don't understand. What are you saying?" In a serious tone laced with sympathy, the leader of the Midnight Hammer revealed the truth.
"I know Stan and Ford as a brother knows his brothers, and I know your mother as a father knows his daughter. Dipper, I am your grandfather. I am Sherman Pines." Dipper began backing up at the revelation, feeling shocked, terrified, and light-headed all at once. His expression was one of both disbelief and despair. The Grand Master, Sherman Pines, sheathed his blades and reached his right hand out and open in an offer of remorse. And, for an alliance.