Chapter Six: The Nightmare of Valentines, Part Three
Pacifica's earliest memory of Valentines Day was mostly an unpleasant one.
It had started out as a good day. She was in the third grade, attending 'Stuffy McSneeringshire's Private School for the Elite'. It was a nice enough school, and Pacifica seemed to fit right in. She had been attending special classes and day-care services since before she could walk. So it wasn't hard for her to get used to the academic environment. And it seemed even easier to make friends.
Everyone around her seemed eager to make her acquaintance. Even some of the she went, it was surrounded by a carnival of smiling faces.
Even at that age, it was pretty easy to see the hints of desperation in their eyes- but she chose to ignore it. Everybody had an ulterior motive. That just seemed to be a fact of life.
Once the bell rung, Pacifica and her friends got to their seats and sat patiently as the teacher spoke.
Their teacher told them that it was Valentines Day. And because of that, they were to be given the entire first lesson to make cards and give them to the people they liked the most. Their closest friends.
It wasn't long before the entire classroom was a flurry of activity. Some of them had already brought cards to give people. While the rest had resorted to hastily calling their servants and barking at them to bring as many heart-shaped cards as they could carry.
Nobody, it seemed, had even considered making their own cards.
Nobody except for Pacifica, that is.
Pacifica had always loved arts and crafts. Especially painting. In fact, one of the few purely happy memories she had ever shared with one of her parents, was the day she gave her mother a handmade card for Mothers Day. It was one of the warmest responses she had ever gotten from her mother. There was hug, and even a kiss on the forehead.
It was the first time she had ever felt like she had something resembling a 'normal' mother. Like the ones she had seen in books and movies.
Her father was a different story. Sometimes, it felt like he didn't even know that she existed. He was always either consumed with work, or too tired to say or do much of anything. But that didn't stop her from painting her father a nice pretty picture for Fathers Day.
She hoped that one day, one of her paintings would make him smile. And then, she could go on to become a world famous artist. And maybe make a lot of other people smile too.
While the classroom buzzed with activity, Pacifica noticed a small pile of cards starting to form on her desk. She smiled to herself, and made a note of every name she saw. She was going to make the best card in the entire world, and give it to all of them.
She smiled to herself, as she added another layer of glitter.
Yep. This was going to be the best Valentines Day card of all time.
Pacifica was putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece, when she noticed something. Far off in the back of the classroom, there was a boy sitting at his desk, all alone. As people moved around the class, dropping card after card on other peoples desks, his remained completely bare.
After a while, the boy began to look sad. Until finally, he simply laid his head down on his desk.
The boys name was Patrick. Patrick Silvers. He was fairly short for his age, with jet black hair that seemed to poke out in every direction in long, thick curls. He had dark brown skin, and dark brown eyes.
Pacifica had seen him around school from time to time. He didn't talk much, and he always looked a little awkward in the school uniform. Probably because the one he wore always seemed to be one or two sizes two big- which only served to accentuate his small, skinny frame.
As Pacifica watched him there, sitting all alone, she felt an odd pang in her chest. She glanced at the enormous pile of cards on her own desk- and then, she glanced back at him. That was when she decided to do something. Something that was unheard of in the Northwest family.
She decided to do something 'nice'.
And so, she set to work. She was going to make another card. An amazing card. Using all the glitter she could get her hands on. Once she was done, she stood up, walked across the classroom, and set it down on Patrick's desk.
It took a moment for him to realize that somebody was standing there in front of him. But when he finally looked up, he was met with a smile from the one and only Pacifica Northwest.
She gave him a small wave, and then went back to her desk.
He stared at her in shock for a moment. Then, he noticed the card. And his look of shock shifted to a look of surprise, before finally settling on a soft smile.
At first, nobody else seemed to take any notice of who Pacifica had given her card to. Everybody else was busy dealing with their own Valentines Day cards. But by the time their first break rolled around, rumors began to spread across the school.
Rumors that Pacifica Northwest had given a special Valentines Day card to Patrick Silvers. The poorest kid in school.
It didn't take long for Pacifica to notice that something was wrong. Many of the smiling faces that had greeted her every day were replaced by sneers. And by the end of the day, she had found herself walking through the hallway, all alone.
That was when the girl approached her. She was an older girl. Tall, with long brown hair. Pacifica couldn't remember her name. But judging by the swarms of people she usually had following her around at all times, Pacifica guessed that she was someone that was supposed to be 'important'.
The girl put her hands on her hips, and sneered.
"So you're crushing on low-class scum like Patrick Silvers?" she spat. "Don't you even know how gross that is? His family is practically bankrupt, you know? He doesn't even belong here."
Pacifica said nothing in response, so the girl continued.
"There are rules around here, Northwest. Like if you hang around low-class nothings- well, that makes you the same. A low-class nothing. I'm not surprised though. You Northwests have always been about putting on a good show. But it looks like people are finally starting to recognize what you truly are."
The girl pulled a crumpled up piece of paper, and threw it at Pacifica's feet.
It didn't take long for Pacifica to realize what it was.
It was the Valentines Day card that she had given to all of her friends. Just lying there. In ruins.
Pacifica could feel tears stinging her eyes, as she stared at it.
"You're nothing, Northwest. It looks like all your little friends are finally starting to understand that."
The girl was about to leave, when something happened that she had clearly not been expecting.
Pacifica had never been in a fight before. And she hadn't really been in one since. At least, not a physical fight. She had always been taught that violence was both barbaric, and wrong. But something just seemed to take control of her in that moment. And before she knew it, she had already launched herself head first into the other girl.
The fight only lasted a few minutes, before someone finally showed up to break it up. There were no clear winners. Pacifica was crying, and the other girl was bleeding.
It was probably safe to call it a 'draw'.
The fight seemed to have been the last straw. After that, everyone at the school seemed to turn their back on her. It took a great deal of bribery from her parents to keep her from being expelled- but she was still forced to leave the school. And on the day she left, she received not one single goodbye. In any form.
After that, Pacifica was enrolled in school at Gravity Falls. It was considered 'slumming it', at least by her parents. But they wanted to keep her far away from anyone that could be considered either rich, or important. At least until some of the gossip about the 'Northwest Problem Child' had died down a bit.
She changed rabidly after that. There were more classes, and even more pressure from her parents. And after a while she was forced to look in a mirror, and come to the realization that she had become the very same as that older girl. She had hurt people. She had sneered at people. And she had, in general, been the worst.
Mabel had been the first person in a long time to stand up to her. And remind her what it was like to act and feel like an actual person.
And Dipper... Had given her hope.
Like everyone from Gravity Falls, she owed a lot to the Mystery Twins. More than she could ever tell them.
And now, here she was. Standing in the middle of a padded dungeon with one of the Mystery Twins, while the other was apparently at the mercy of her psychotic fanboy and an even more psychotic puppet-boy.
She sighed, as she watched Dipper pacing around the room, stopping occasionally to pat down the walls- apparently searching for a switch or a secret button. Then, he would tap at the one-way mirror and frown. Dipper rubbed his forehead as he thought.
Then, suddenly he snapped to attention. And Pacifica could practically see the little cartoon light-bulb floating over his head.
"Hey, Pacifica? Can you stand back please? I think I know how we're going to get out of here." said Dipper, as he walked over to the other side of the padded room.
"Sure..." muttered Pacifica. She joined him at the back of the room, and stared at her reflection in the one-way mirror. Then, out of nowhere- it suddenly occurred to her who exactly she was locked in a room with. And she suddenly got the urge to fix up her hair a little. She took deep breath, and suppressed it.
'Adventure now, hairbrush later.' she silently told herself.
Dipper went through his trench coat for a moment. After the standard few seconds of awkwardly rummaging around, he finally pulled out his 'Ectoplasm and Dark Energy Detector Mark 7'. Pacifica raised an eyebrow when she noticed the device in his hand.
"You're going to try and use that thing again? I thought you said it was a waste of money." said Pacifica.
"Yeah, well- You might say I came up with a good secondary use for it." said Dipper. And with that- he threw the device as hard as he could against the one-way mirror. The device burst through, sending tiny shards of broken glass in every direction. Dipper let out a satisfied sigh.
"Well- I probably just voided the warranty, but at least it finally came in handy ." muttered Dipper.
Pacifica stared blankly at Dipper, as she watched him carefully slid some of the glass out of the way, and make his way through the mirror and disappear in the darkness on the other side.
There were a few seconds of silence, as Pacifica stared at the newly broken mirror.
"Hey, I think I found the exit. Yep. It's got the sign and everything. Are you coming, Pacifica? Or did you want to stay here for the rest of the night?" said Dipper, from the other side of the mirror.
Pacifica sighed. "Alright, alright- I'm coming, okay? Just give me a second. I'm not exactly used to crawling through broken glass, you know."
"Oh- Uh... Right. I can give you a hand if you like..." said Dipper, as he pushed at the glass in order to make the hole a little wider. Once he was done, he stretched his hand out to Pacifica. "Come on. Something tells me whatever's supposed to be happening... It's happening now." he said.
Pacifica faltered. Then, she frowned and shook her head to rid herself of the pink tinge on her cheeks.
The hole in the one-way mirror led to a dark control room. Luckily, there was a neon sign that read 'Exit' in big green letters above one of the doors. It was a safe bet to say that that was the exit.
The exit led to another hallway. After holding the door open for Pacifica, Dipper closed it behind him. Once he had closed it, an enormous painting began to lower down from higher up on the ceiling- until it completely covered the door.
Dipper blinked. "Okay- so that's how they kept that place a secret, I guess... I wonder if they installed that, or if it was already there to begin with..." he muttered, as he stroked his chin in thought.
"Uh, Dipper- Didn't you say that there was something bad happening? You know, now?" said Pacifica.
Dipper nodded. "That's right- We've got to get to the ballroom. Do you know the way?" he asked.
Pacifica shook her head. "No one really know where anything is around here. It's a miracle anybody even gets to class." she muttered.
Dipper cocked an eyebrow. "And, what- There's no 'app for that'?" he asked.
Pacifica rolled her eyes. "No. And believe me- I've checked." she said.
Dipper sighed. "Well, then- I guess we'll have to figure out another way to get to the-... the..." Dipper suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and stared off into the distance. He blinked, and then frowned.
Pacifica followed his line of sight to the empty hallway on their left side. She frowned. "Dipper? What is it? Are you... Okay?" she asked.
Dipper shifted his eye back to the floor, and rubbed his forehead. He muttered something to himself, and sighed. Standing at the end of the hall, was Wendy Corduroy. She was waving to him. As if she wanted him to follow her. Pacifica couldn't see her, so it obviously wasn't the real thing.
It was the Not-Wendy.
'What does she want now?' thought Dipper. 'She obviously wants me to follow her... Is she going to show me the way to the ballroom? Or... Is she trying to lead me away?'
He frowned, and shook his head. He had no reason to trust whatever it was that was masquerading as Wendy. But, it also seemed like he had little other choice. It was either follow her and hope that she didn't send them on a wild goose chase, or go by himself and definitely wind up on a wild goose chase.
Dipper sighed.
"Pacifica... Follow me. Okay?" he muttered. Without waiting to hear Pacifica's response, Dipper began to run as fast as his legs could take him, towards the Not-Wendy. Not-Wendy smiled, and turned a corner. Gliding across the floor like she was wearing rollerskates.
Actually... Upon closer inspection- she was wearing rollarskates. And chewing gum. And blowing it into bubbles every now and again, and then sending Dipper the same mischievous grin.
Dipper grit his teeth. She- no it was pretending to be Wendy again. Luckily, Dipper didn't have much time to think about that before Pacifica ran alongside him, looking both confused and, for some reason- slightly amused.
"Where are you going, Pines? Did your 'Ghosty-sense' go off or something?" she asked.
Dipper wanted to say something back- but he only managed to sputter out a 'no' as he kept running.
Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "Are you getting tired just from this? This is just a jog. You really need to get out more." she said.
Dipper rolled his eyes and kept running. Although he tended to get chased by things like monsters or angry mobs on a semi-regular basis, it did not, apparently, off-set the long stretches of time he spent cooped up somewhere with a book or a computer. Or the junk food. Or the long stretches of time often spent without sleep.
Mercifully, it didn't take long for the Not-Wendy to stop in front of a set of enormous and expensive looking black doors. As Dipper stopped to gasp for air, the Not-Wendy shot him a playful smirk and disappeared.
"Wow- This is it! This the ballroom! How'd you know where it was? This place is one of the hardest rooms to find in the whole school!" exclaimed Pacifica.
Dipper shrugged, as he slowly managed to catch his breath. "I dunno... Luck, I guess..." he muttered.
Pacifica gave him a look. "Really? It was just luck?"
Dipper nodded, slowly. "Yeah... And I think we're about to find out if it was good luck or bad." he muttered. Doing his best not to notice the incredulous look on Pacifica's face, Dipper approached the door. He was about to touch it- when Pacifica suddenly let out a high pitched yelp.
Dipper spun around immediately, and it didn't take him long to spot what had surprised her.
It was a body. Lying against the wall, opposite the doors. It was small, and covered in blood and gore. And it was wearing a familiar looking suit that hung loosely over the frail, thin form underneath.
Dipper and Pacifica stared blankly at it for what seemed like an eternity, as the flesh on its face seemed to fall away, revealing what looked like the face of an old wooden puppet underneath. The wooden half was a dull brown, with simple looking features, and one large glass eye. Blood continued to pool all around it, as it seemed to sit silently in a pile of its own flesh.
The other half of it's face was still partly in tact- although it was obviously on a slow downward slide.
It looked as if his body was melting away, revealing the bloody form of a puppet underneath. But although most of it's hair had fallen away, and the fancy looking suit it was wearing was slowly being rendered unrecognizable underneath the layers of blood and gore, it was still easy for Dipper to recognize exactly who it was he was looking at.
"...Gideon..." he muttered.
The blue, glass eye on the puppet side of his face suddenly twitched, and focus on Dipper.
"...Pa-... Paahns..." wheezed Gideon.
Pacifica felt herself start to tremble. She bit her lip, and took a deep breath. "Wha-... What happened to you?" she asked.
Gideon tried to move, causing the fleshy side of his face to begin its gradual descent. "Ah... Ah... Bet... You... Are... Hhhaaappy, Paahns." he wheezed. "Be-... Because... N-now... Ah get to... Play... The loser... Again..."
Tears began to form in his glassy eye, as the fleshy side of his face finally fell away. Landing with a sickening 'slap' on his chest.
Now, Gideon had two glassy eyes. Trained on both Dipper and Pacifica. He stared them for a moment, as the tears began to trickle down his bloody, wooden face.
"Now... Now look... At that... I... I went an'... Went an' ruined my favorite... Suit..."
Dipper and Pacifica went silent, as the tears running down Gideon's wooden face turned into a stream. Pacifica stared at him with her eyes filled with both horror, and an overwhelming sense of pity. She grit her teeth when she felt tears start to form in her own eyes.
"Gideon. Tell us... Tell us what happened to you. What... What's going on?" she demanded, in as soft and firm a voice as she could manage.
Dipper frowned, as he noticed some of the pieces of flesh surrounding Gideon start to dissolve into nothingness. Finally, he took a deep breath, and let it out through his nose. He had seen his share of horrifying things during his time as a 'junior' paranormal investigator. And even now, there were still some creatures that scared him.
But he had only seen a handful of real victims- including himself. And he had learned that recoiling in horror wasn't always the most appropriate response. He gave Pacifica a look.
She was doing well. Her face was rife with genuine concern, and only a few shadows of least he could do, was try and do the same. So, he put on a brave face- and looked Gideon in the eyes.
"You... You switched places, didn't you? With Jigg, I mean. So now... You're the puppet... And he's the master?" asked Dipper.
Gideon nodded, slowly. "Th-that... That's right... P-... Pines..." he spat. Gideon's voice was strained, and quiet. As he moved to sit up straight against the wall, his features continued to fall away.
"It... It looks like... Y-... Ya'll was... Right..." said Gideon. "A-and... And..." he trailed off, as he slowly lowered his head. The skin on his hands had already fallen away. Replaced by hands of wood. His fingers twitched a little as he stared down at them. There was still blood on them.
If he could have, Gideon would have grit his teeth.
'Her blood too...' he thought.
The tears began to stop, as Gideon felt an overwhelming cold surge through his body. Once it had spread to every part of his body, it seemed to stay with him. Everything went numb, as his vision began to blur.
Gideon whispered Dipper's first name.
His real first name.
And moved his head up slowly to face him.
"Tell... Mabel... I-... I..." Gideons body began to go limp, as he struggled to get the words out.
"Tell her... That... That I... I'm sorry... I'm just... Sorry..."
And with that, his eyes seemed to fade.
His body slowly slouched over.
And Dipper and Pacifica simply stood there. Stunned into silence.
* ~ * GravityFalls * ~ *
Time passed. But the silence between them hung heavily in the air.
There was a whirlpool of shock, sadness and pity whirling through them both. Pacifica felt like crying. Screaming. Or maybe just hiding under her covers and pretending what she had just seen was some kind of bad dream.
Dipper wanted to feel angry. Or sad. But instead, he just felt... Hopeless.
Although he had tried to reason with Gideon a few times in the past, he had never truly believed that he was capable of change. Not really. But the sound of his voice... The pain and the regret that was so heavily infused in his final words...
Maybe there had been some hope for Gideon. But now... It was gone.
Dipper closed his eyes, and slowly shook his head. "Jigg... Will be in the ballroom. I-" Dipper's voice cracked, but he did his best to shake it off. "I'll... I'll put a stop to this. Before he hurts anyone else." he muttered
"No..." muttered Pacifica. Her voice was trembling, so she rubbed some of the wetness from her eyes, and took a deep breath.. "We'll stop this. I-... Before... I was the one that asked you for help... With Jigg... Right? The job... It's still the same. We'll... We'll stop him. Together."
Dipper slowly shook his head. "Pacifica... He... He's obviously a lot more dangerous than I thought. Maybe... Maybe it'd be better if I-"
"If you even think about going in there alone, I'll sick my lawyers on you for a breach of a verbal contract." growled Pacifica.
Dipper sighed. "Okay... fine." he muttered, as he walked over to the ballroom doors. "Just... Stay behind me. Okay?"
He didn't bother waiting for a response. Instead, he gripped the door knob and slowly pushed the door open. Plumes of smoke burst out from behind the door as he opened it, sending Dipper into a fit of coughing and sputtering. He grimaced as the smell of ash filled his nostrils.
The smoke soon began to fade, revealing nothing but darkness beyond the doorway. Dipper grit his teeth, and pulled a flashlight out of his trench-coat pocket.
"Pacifica? Do you have a light?" he muttered.
Pacifica thought for a moment, and then pulled out her phone. She pressed a small button on the side, and the screen suddenly lit up. Bright enough to make Dipper wince a little. He glanced at the phone, and then back at Pacifica. "I guess that'll do..." he muttered. "And uh-... Like I said... Just... Stay close."
Pacifica gave him a small nod, as she followed him into the darkness.
Once they had taken a few careful steps further into the room, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. Dipper and Pacifica froze for a moment. When what followed was only more silence, they both let out a small weary sigh, before continuing forward.
Even with Dipper's flashlight and Pacifica's phone combined, it was still hard to see where they were walking. The air was permeated by a thick grey fog.
Their slow, careful footsteps echoed throughout the room. As they moved further in, they began to feel an odd, gentle warmth in the air. The warmth gradually turned into heat. And before long, they could both feel beads of sweat forming on their faces.
Dipper aimed his flashlight forward and tried his best to squint through the fog. But it seemed to be no use. He couldn't see walls, the ceiling, or even the surface he was standing on. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he finally noticed something far off into the distance.
Dipper frowned.
It looked like a silhouette of some kind. Although he couldn't quite tell if it was human- or something else entirely. "Do you see that, Pacifica? Over there..." he whispered, as he pointed at the unmoving shadow in the distance. Pacifica frowned a little, and nodded.
They approached it, slowly. Keeping as close to each other as possible as they moved. Eventually, they finally managed to get close enough for Dippers flashlight to cut through the fog, and shine onto the silhouette. Revealing it for what it was.
A statue. Of a tall, thin man wearing white striped suit- with a large jack-o-lantern for a head.
Dipper blinked, and Pacifica gasped.
Dipper turned his attention to Pacifica. "Do you know who or what that's supposed to be?" he asked.
Pacifica nodded. "Yeah... It's Mr Skellington... The music teacher..." she said.
Dipper stared at the statue for a moment, and sighed. "Of course it is." he muttered.
Slowly, the fog began to lift, and the heat seemed to grow even more intense. Suddenly, a bright light shone down from above, backing the entire room in an eery golden glow.
All of a sudden, they were surrounded by statues. It didn't take more than a glance for Dipper to realize what they all were.
They were the students. All frozen in stone. Their faces twisted in pain and sadness, with long streaks of black running down from their eyes.
Dipper squeezed his flashlight, as he felt his heart start to sink into his stomach. He scanned the crowd of statues, and he felt his heart seem to suddenly stop in his chest when he found what he was looking for.
"MABEL!" he yelled, as he ran across the floor. Standing in the circle, was a statue of Mabel. With Candy and Grenda standing at either side of her. All of their faces were twisted into the same expression of horror and pain. And they all had the same black substance running down their cheeks from their eyes.
Dipper grimaced, and shuddered.
"I-... No..." he muttered. "Mabel..." his voice was shaking almost as much as he was, as he grit his teeth and felt tears start to sting his eyes. He tried to take a breath- but it escaped as a sob.
He grit his teeth as hard as he could, and closed his eyes. 'She's not dead...' he silently told himself. 'None of them... None of them are dead.'
And then he looked at her face again. At her dull, lifeless eyes. And he had to choke back another sob. He had seen that look before. In the images of his own dead body that seemed to haunt him every now and again in his nightmares. It was exactly the same.
"M-... Mabel..." he whispered. Dipper slowly brought his hand to her face. It was cold. And the streaks of black fluid coming from her eyes were... sticky. Dipper shuddered, as he stared into the pain ridden expression on her face.
"I-... I should've gotten here sooner... I-... I shouldn't have let you come with me to this stupid school... It-... It's just like always... Wherever I go... It's always following me... A-and... And..."
He took a deep breath, and choked back another sob. "But don't worry... Okay?" he said. "I'll...I'll bring you back. You... And everyone else..."
Pacifica's eyes darted from Mabel, to Dipper- and then back again. She could feel the urge to scream rising in her chest, but she pushed it down. With a deep breath, she rose her hand and gently placed it on Dippers shoulder. She wanted it be firm. Reassuring. But she couldn't get rid of the slight trembling in her hand.
"Y-... You will do it, Dipper. You'll save the day. I know you will." she whispered.
Dipper was silent. The entire room was silent.
And then, all of a sudden- Pacifica felt herself start to move. And in a quick flash of movement, she had tightened her grip on his shoulder- and spun him around to face her. And before brain could convince her to do otherwise, she had wrapped her arms around him and squeezed as tightly as she could.
Dipper let out a low wheeze, as Pacifica did her best to hide her face. He opened his mouth to ask her to let go. Or to at least stop trying to turn his ribs into dust. And then, he noticed it.
She was trembling.
'She's... scared...' he thought. '... And... So am I...' he then, he took a deep breath, and did something that even surprised himself. He wrapped his arms around her slender form, and hugged her back.
He tried to ignore the softness he felt, and the alluring scent she seemed to have in her hair. His face flushed a lit red, as he felt her trembling suddenly stop. And all of a sudden... His seemed to disappear as well.
"Th-... There's no need to assume... That this is irreversible." muttered Dipper. "And... We're not too late..."
Pacifica did her best to keep her face hidden, as she slowly nodded.
"Right..." she muttered.
Some time passed. And then, just as suddenly as she had grabbed him- Pacifica let suddenly let go. She turned her back to him, and took a few deep breaths. Her face was beet red. In fact, it felt like her entire body was flushed from the sudden close encounter. She bit her lip, and turned her attention to the floor.
Dipper, for his part- looked mostly bewildered. Some had time passed before he noticed the color in his cheeks, which he was wuick to shake off. Or at least, try to.
He cleared his throat, and glanced at Pacifica. "..Th-... Thanks..." he muttered.
Pacifica kept her eyes trained on the floor as she slowly nodded. "Uh-... S-sure..." she muttered.
Silence.
"C-can we... I mean... Uh, can we just like, forget how awkward that was?" asked Pacifica.
Dipper smiled a little. "Sure."
There was another brief moment of silence between them, before a voice began to echo throughout the ballroom. "Geeze-louise. You know, this ain't the time or the place for your lame 'teen romance' deal. I mean, read the atmosphere you guys. Seriously." said the voice.
Dipper and Pacifica both bristled at the sound of his voice. It was uniquely high-pitched, with a hint of rasp that could only be described as 'rusty'.
They looked up at the enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It's intricate golden arches were sprinkled with multi-colored gems, and connected to a set of large, bright lights. Sitting amongst the lights, was a small figure. The lights were too bright to be able to fully make out who it was, but was easy enough to figure out.
"Jigg..." spat Pacifica.
Jigg slid down from the chandelier on a thin string, and gently patted down his suit when he landed.
He looked taller. His suit seemed to fit better. But the most glaringly obvious change was in his face. It looked... Human. Pale, with a sharp nose and long curvy lips. His eyes were no longer made of glass. They were now big, and soulful. And a dark, chocolate brown. His long frizzy black hair now fell straight, past his shoulders. Which, coupled with his long black eyelashes seemed to give him an oddly feminine look.
The only remnants of his old face that remained on his soft, pretty new one- were a set of red lines that fell down from his eyes across his cheeks to the bottom of his face. There were four of them going down from either eye.
Jigg took a long, deep breath and smiled, revealing a wide set of perfect looking teeth. "Ain't it grand?" he muttered. "That's the sweet, salty smell of true despair. High quality, too. You just can't find quality stuff like that anymore... Not since what happened in the Hellscape, at least."
"Nice of you guys to finally show up, by the way." Jigg continued, as he pulled a set of white gloves out of his pocket, and slowly slid them on to his hands. "So, I spent some time thinkin' about what to say when you finally showed up. There were a few options, of course. The good ol' fashioned 'villain rant'. You know, where I explain that the Wonkenshire chocolates were tainted with a despair potion, and the floor was booby trapped with a 'turn 'em to statues' curse. Just so you folks can make proper sense of what's goin' on.
Then, I'd tell you that the markings on the ceiling- which were a total nightmare to put there by the way- were there to help harvest their despair ridden souls, an' serve 'em to a being of pure evil. But then I was like- you know what? That's just a device used in fiction to make sure that people can understand the plot. And it's kind of a waste of time. Don't you think?" asked Jigg.
Dipper spoke through gritted teeth. "How do we change them back?" he growled.
Jigg shrugged. "I dunno. Getting 'em their hearts back would probably be a good start." he said, without breaking his wide grin.
With his white gloves now fitted perfectly onto his hands, Jigg pulled a small bottle out of his jacket. "This is them, by the way. I wanted to use a heart shaped bottle- but I thought, ya know? Too much. That's too much. A little bit of subtly goes a long way, ya know?"
"What do want!?" spat Pacifica. "What exactly is worth doing all of this!?"
Jigg stroked his chin for a second, and shrugged. "There are... Four pieces. And now, I'm going to be the second. That's all." he said.
"What does that even mean?" growled Dipper.
Jigg grinned. "Like I said. It's all about subtly. You gotta be real careful with what you say and do. It's all a part of the ancient art of playin' the bad guy. Now then..." slowly, the smile on his face began to fade. Replaced by a cold, distant stare. "Let's get the show on the road... shall we?" he said.
Jigg clicked his fingers. And all of a sudden, all the statues erupted in flames. Dipper and Pacifica's eye widened, as the watched the fire.
It wasn't orange, or even red. The flames were black. And they seemed to absorb all the light around them, rather than emit it. But what Dipper and Pacifica were staring, were the mouths that began to appear on the surface of the flames. There were dozens of them. All smiling, and revealing different sets of teeth. And as the fire spread, it began to grow more and more.
It was long before all the mouths began to speak. Some of them in a whisper, some of them screaming. Each individual mouth seemed to have its own voice, and none of them seemed to be saying the same thing.
"Hearts!"
"Die!"
"WHHHYYY!?"
"Ice-cream!"
"SCREEEEAAAMM!"
"Bleeeeed..."
"Fall?"
"Dream..."
Dipper and Pacifica cringed, and covered their ears as the voices filled the room. The voices were surrounding them. Smothering them. And the black fire effectively turned the entire room into an enormous furnace. Dipper felt his knees buckle as the voices pounded against his eardrums and his body seemed to turn into one giant faucet of sweat.
Pacifica tried her best to stand her ground, but the noise coupled with the heat was starting to make it unbearable. Without thinking, she began to lean against Dipper, as the fire circled them like a vicious black inferno.
Jigg happily chuckled to himself as he began to fiddle with the bottle in his hands.
Pacifica took a deep breath. She was still holding her phone in her hand. She stared at it for a moment, and then nodded. She nudged Dipper to get his attention, and mouth some words to him.
"When I move, go for the bottle." she mouthed.
Dipper stared at her for a moment, frowned a little, and nodded.
With that, Pacifica drew her arm back- and threw her phone as hard as she could. It zipped across the room, and smacked straight into Jiggs face. Jigg gasped as blood began to spray out of his nose, and he suddenly lost grip of the bottle. Before it had the chance to hit the ground, however, Dipper had already dived for it- and caught it. After rolling around the floor a few times, he quickly got to his feet.
And then, he ran. Pacifica joined him soon after, as the fire began to howl with laughter.
Jigg rubbed his bloody nose, and chuckled. "I was hopin' you'd put up a fight." he muttered. Dipper and Pacifica fought through the flames, and squeezed through the circle of statues to reach the other side. They didn't stop running until Pacifica noticed something on the wall. She grabbed Dipper by the trench coat. "Over there!" she yelled.
Pacifica pointed to a large metal box on one of the walls. It was bright red, and covered in various love-heart themed stickers. Mercifully, none of the stickers covered the big white letters painted on it that read 'In Case of Fire'.
They wasted no time in getting to it and swinging it open, to reveal a large fire-hose, and an axe. Dipper glanced at, and then back at the black fire. "I don't know if it'll work- but it's worth a shot!" Dipper yelled over the noise. Pacifica nodded, as she slowly unraveled the fire-hose.
She turned the handle as far as it would go- and a jet of water erupted out of the hose. Pacifica grit her teeth as she tried to hold it steady, against the fire.
"Oh- you're using water? Cute." said Jigg. Somehow, his voice seemed to cut through all the others.
Dipper glanced at Pacifica, and then back at the red box. He grit his teeth, and pulled out the axe. "Keep him busy!" yelled Dipper. "I've got an idea!"
Pacifica nodded, as she sprayed the fire down with water. Some of the flames let out a loud hiss, while others seemed to stop and enjoy the shower. Either way, she seemed to be successfully stalling it.
Dipper ran off, as the fire began to divide- revealing Jigg's smiling form. Pacifica grit her teeth. The hose seemed to be doing its best to squirm its way out of her hands, but she managed to keep her grip and aim the stream at Jigg. The water hit him in the chest with enough pressure to tear off the buttons on his jacket, and send him sliding across the floor.
The black flames crept closer, as Pacifica did her best to keep them at bay.
Minutes passed that felt like hours, as the fire gradually continued to draw closer and closer to her. Finally, she grit her teeth- and dropped the hose. The water-pressure running through it caused the hose to start flinging around wildly, and Pacifica narrowly dodged a close encounter with the metal hose-nozzle as she ran.
She kept close to the wall, as she ran along the outside of the room. The black flames gave chase behind her like a tidal wave of fire, all while chuckling and talking amongst themselves.
Jigg meanwhile, picked himself off the floor, and sighed. "Great. Now I'm all wet..." he muttered. "Then again, I guess it was a little refreshing. These fancy pants suits don't give the ol' flesh nearly enough breathing room..."
"HEY JIGG!"
Jigg blinked, and spun around to find Dipper standing at the other side of the room. Jigg smiled a little when he noticed the axe that Dipper was lamely trying to hide behind his back.
"'Hey' to you too, bucko. You know, I knew you'd find a way to escape that little dungeon. But to be honest, I thought you'd get to a it a little faster than that. Now look... Everyone you were supposed to protect... They're all gone." said Jigg, his smile growing all the wider. "While you were off screwin' around... They were here... Suffering. But then again, that's nothin' new for you, is it Pines? You're always off gallivanting around... And the people you claim to love are always suffering for it... It's more than a little sad, if ya ask me."
Dipper grit his teeth, as his grip tightened on the axe. "Why don't you try coming a little closer and saying that." he growled.
Jigg chuckled, as he took a few steps closer, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. "What're you going to do, lil' Dipper? Hit me with an axe? This is still Gideons body, y'know. I mean sure, I reformed it a bunch- but that's only 'cuz I didn't want to look like a cheap Elvis impersonator."
"So instead you went with 'Vampire'? At least Gideon's was somewhat original." said Dipper.
Jigg opened his mouth to reply, but Dipper didn't give him a chance. He held the axe over head, and swung. There was loud 'clang!' as the axe smashed into the large pillar next to him. Or, more accurately- the long metal chains attached to the pillar.
All of a sudden, there was a high pitched whine, followed by a deafening screech.
Jigg blinked, as he looked around the room.
There were chains attached to about four of the stone pillars, and all of the chains led straight up to the ceiling and connected to the chandelier. The chains were helping to keep it hanging from the ceiling. And it looked like Dipper had managed to break the chain supports on almost every pillar.
Then- the last one snapped. And the chandelier suddenly dropped out of the ceiling. Jigg blinked, as he noticed where he was standing.
Right in the middle of the room. Directly underneath the chandelier.
Jigg raised an eyebrow. "Impressive." he muttered.
As the chandelier fell Jigg simply put his hand in the air... And it stopped.
There was a moment of silence, as the chandelier seemed to hover just over his hand. Then, with a flick of his wrist- the chandelier went flying off to the side, and crashed through the enormous ballroom window. Shards of glass went flying in every direction, as a cold gust of air came rushing in from outside. There was a small 'crash' as the chandelier hit the ground below.
Suddenly, Dipper felt himself being pulled forward, and across the room Pacifica felt the same. Soon they were both sent flying towards each other- crashing with an enormous 'smack' right in front of Jigg.
Jigg twisted his fingers around, and Dipper and Pacifica could feel invisible strings wrapping themselves around their bodies. They struggled, but it was no use.
"Ain't it great? My ol' invisible string trick is so much more powerful now that I picked up this coat o' flesh. It's as handy as it is dandy." said Jigg.
"Screw you!" snarled Pacifica.
Jigg chuckled. "Now, now. Calm yourself, sweetheart. Ya wanna die with a little dignity, don't you?" he asked.
"Go to Hell!" bellowed Pacifica.
"She means Hell-scape." muttered Dipper.
"There too!" yelled Pacifica.
Jigg rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Let's just cut the chit-chat, shall we? Dippy-boy? You wanna give me the bottle back now?" he said.
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Dippy-boy?" he muttered.
Pacifica scoffed. "That's like, the worst. Do you have no imagination?" she said.
Jigg sighed. "You know, as much as I appreciate the whole 'banter' thing, it's starting to get... A little stale. So let's say I just ramp things up a little?" he said, as he carefully placed his palm on Dipper's forehead. "Now... I want to see you reach into that coat of yours... And give me the bottle. Okay?"
Dipper grit his teeth. "No." he growled.
Jigg smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."
A ferocious explosion of pain ripped through Dipper's forehead, and ran down his entire body. He screamed, and after a few seconds, the pain suddenly dissapeared.
Dipper gasped desperately for air, as Jigg smiled down at him.
"Ready yet?" asked Jigg.
Dipper coughed and wheezed, as Pacifica struggled with all her might against the invisible ropes. "STOP IT!" she bellowed.
Jigg ignored her. "Well, Dippster? We're waitin'." he said.
Dipper grit his teeth, and looked Jigg in the eyes. "I'll... Never... Do it..." he growled through shallow breaths.
Jigg shrugged. "Whatever you say, Bucko. Whatever you say."
Another surge of pain ripped through his body. Dipper grit his teeth as hard he could. His entire body began to tremble. He tightened his hands into fists until they went white, and his fingernails began to draw blood from his palms.
Pacifica was screaming... Jig was laughing... But all of the noise was starting to fade away. Everything around him seemed to be slowly fading into black.
And then- it stopped. The pain went away, and the entire world seemed to come rushing back to him.
Jigg sighed. "Well, well. Look's like your a little tougher than I gave ya credit for, lil' Dipper." he said.
Dipper coughed and sputtered, before making a few desperate gasps for air.
"Well... If you're not going to break like a good little boy... I guess I could move on to the princess here." said Jigg.
Pacifica snarled. "Just try it, you freak!" she bellowed. "I'll tear you to shreds you worthless sack of garbage!"
Jigg raised his eyebrows. "Ooh. Feisty. This is going to be fun." he said, with a chuckle. Jigg moved his hand towards Pacifica, slowly. She grit her teeth, and braced herself. But just before Jiggs hand touched her, Dipper raised his voice.
"Wait!... Wait... S-... Stop..." he muttered. "I'll do it... I'll... I'll give you the bottle..."
Jigg let out a disappointed sigh. "Aw. You couldn't let me have my fun, could you? Well, fine then." he muttered.
"Wait- Dipper! You can't-" Pacifica was interrupted when the invisible strings suddenly disappeared, and she felt Dipper collapse on the floor.
Jigg watched Pacifica help him to his feet with a bored look on his face.
"Dipper... Don't do this. You're giving him what he wants. I-... I can take anything that little jerk throws at me. Okay?" said Pacifica. "You can't do this."
Dipper sighed, and shook his head. "It'd only be delaying the inevitable, Pacifica... If he wanted too... He could just kill us both and take it..." he muttered. Dipper reached into his trench-coat, and grit his teeth. Moving as slowly as he could, he carefully pulled out the bottle, and held it in his trembling hands. It was made of crystal. And Dipper could see its contents peacefully swirling around inside. It looked like a pool of every color he could think of. And somewhere in there, were the souls of Mabel, Grenda, Candy, and... Everyone else.
"Hurry up, Pines. We don't have all day." said Jigg.
Dipper gripped the bottle even harder in his hand. He needed a plan. An idea. Anything. But his tired, frazzled mind kept coming up empty. All he could see were the images of all those pain-ridden statues. Gideon's lifeless body. His hands kept shaking.
Finally, Jigg let out a tired sigh. "Look- I don't wanna be here all night, y'know? I've got a school to destroy. Secrets to find. So if you're going to insist on being a timid lil' baby about every little thing- Like dooming the souls of your sister, her friends and a bunch've strangers to getting consumed by fire- Well then, I guess we can just do this the hard way."
Jigg clicked his fingers, and the black flames suddenly appeared behind him. The mouths amidst the flames laughing, coughing and talking amongst themselves as always. Jigg flashed Dipper and Pacifica a large smile, before turning to face them.
"Alright, guys! I was goin' to offer you the hearts before we bound together and got started with the real fun... But then I got to thinkin'... What's say we do this now? We've got two fresh lil' victims here, and I'm sure you guys'd love to hear 'em scream. Almost as much as I would." he said. "So- what do ya say? Shall we?"
The mouths began to laugh, scream and whisper.
Jigg shrugged. "That's good enough for me."
With that, he brought his hands to his jaw, and fiddled with it until there was a sickening 'crack'. Then, he opened his mouth impossibly wide, and took a long, deep breath. All the flames seemed to readily launch themselves into his mouth, as Jigg quickly slurped up the entire inferno. It lasted about a minute. But eventually, any and all traces of the black flames had disappeared into his mouth.
Then, Jigg began to chuckle. His laughter echoing throughout the room, as the air around him seemed to tremble in fear. His jaw snapped back to his face, as Jigg began to writhe in laughter. He quickly began to claw at himself. As if he had begun to feel things crawling around underneath his skin. He kept laughing, and laughing. Even as he ripped apart his shirt, and clawed at his face.
Deep cuts began to appear all over his body. And pretty quickly, they all began to open wider and wider- each one revealing a set of human teeth. Soon the mouths began to prop up on his chest, across his stomach, his arms and all over his face. Each and every one of them laughing hysterically along with him. Then his entire body burst into flames.
They looked normal at first- but pretty soon, the fire began to burn black.
Jigg slowly turned back around to face Dipper and Pacifica. His eyes now replaced by a new set of cackling mouths.
Dipper and Pacifica began to back away slowly, as Jigg took a few steps closer.
"Look. We are now the second piece of the puzzle... Isn't wonderful?" said Jigg. "And now, we get to take one of the 'Pines Twins' that I heard so much about... And rip him apart. Oh- And of course, you too Princess. We wouldn't want to forget about the precious little Northwest girl, now would we?"
Jigg's voice now consisted of thousands of others, all speaking at once. As he approached them, he burst into another fit of hysterical laughter. All the other voices joined him in the deafening cackle.
"YA'LL 'RE FORGETTIN' SOMEONE ELSE!"
Suddenly, the cackling stopped. Jigg 'blinked' with the mouths that had replaced his eyes, and gave Dipper and Pacifica an odd look. "Hey, uh... Did you guys just say something? In a dumb kinda faux southern accent? Either of you? No?"
Dipper and Pacifica slowly glanced at each other, and then back at Jigg. They both silently shook their heads.
"No, come on you guys. It had to 've been you. I mean, who else would try and pull off the whole 'folksy country boy' deal in a voice that sounds like a cat being strangled with a belt? No one. That's who."
The clouds slowly parted outside, allowing the light of the moon to spill in through the enormous broken window. And there, standing by the entrance- was a puppet. Wearing a loose fitting suit, drenched in blood.
Jigg groaned. "Oh, right. You." he muttered.
Gideons wooden jaws couldn't form his usual evil grin. So he instead, he settled with a nod.
"Yeah. Me."
* ~ * GravityFalls * ~ *
It had started to rain outside. Flashes of lightning lit up with room. Revealing short flashes of the statues. Of Jigg hulking body, now bathed in black flames and thousands of grinning mouths. Of Dipper and Pacifica's dumbfounded expressions.
And the short, fragile looking form of Gideon's new puppet body.
The noise of the rain and the thunder began to fill the room, as Gideon and Jigg stared at each other in complete silence.
And then, the quiet was broken.
"Well, well. If it ain't ol' Giddyup himself. Did you come to check out what you're missing?" asked Jigg, as he struck a pose. "Check it out. We've become part of something bigger. A power to end all power. And to think- This could have been you. You could have been our host. You were supposed too. But then... You went all soft an' weepy. And over what? A girl?"
Jigg launched into another round of loud, hysterical laughter.
"And more than that- A girl who will never feel the same about you. Not ever. Can you even imagine something so pathetic? We know we can't." said Jigg.
Gideon balled his thin wooden fingers into fists. "I know I've told ya'll a million times. And ya never listen. But I'll say it again any-how. Jigg. Shut. Up." he growled. "Nothin'... Nothin' I've ever done has been for Mabel. It's always been about me. Now ain't any different."
The mouths collectively sighed.
"Well... If that's true, then we guess there's no reason to keep you around as a puppet... Now, is there?" asked Jigg, as he took a few menacing steps forward.
While Jigg had his attention focused on Gideon, Dipper slowly inched closer to Pacifica. He whispered something to her. She frowned a little, and whispered something back. They continued to quietly squabble like this, as Jigg walked past them and towards Gideon.
Gideon stood perfectly still, and silently clenched his wooden jaw.
There was another flash of lightning. The storm outside was turning treacherous.
Gideon opened his hands, and flexed his wooden fingers in front of him. "I... I thought that I wanted to make 'er happy. I thought... That if I did somethin' big, then... Well, then maybe... But all this time, it weren't ever about her. I've always just been thinkin' about myself." he muttered. Another roar of thunder drowned his voice out to everyone but himself. "And so now... I-... I just wanna do somethin' for her. Somethin' like takin' someone whose done nothin' but cause her pain... And throw 'im away. And... Ya'll 're goin' down with me."
And with that, Gideon let out a loud, high-pitched scream and launched himself at was a loud 'thunk' as Gideon's body seemed to simply bounce off of him.
But Gideon wasted no time in picked himself up, and launching himself headfirst into Jigg one more time.
Dipper turned his attention from Gideon and Jigg, back to Pacifica.
"Okay. So is that our plan?" he whispered.
Pacifica gave him a small nod.
Dipper took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. "Okay. I don't know how long it'll take... But I'll tell you when it's ready." he said.
"Right." said Pacifica.
Dipper faltered. "Are you... Are you sure you don't want to switch places?" he muttered.
Pacifica gave him a stern look. "No. I'll do it. I didn't attend all of those expensive self-defense classes for nothing." she muttered. "Besides... You look like you can barely even keep your eyes open... Let alone try and pick to fight with a fire demon."
Dipper gave her a look, but she wouldn't budge. Finally, he sighed. "Fine... Just... Be careful, okay?" he muttered.
Pacifica smiled. "You too."
With that, Dipper and Pacifica ran off to different sides of the room.
Pacifica picked up the axe that Dipper had used earlier to bring down the chandelier, while Dipper managed to wrangle the fire-hose that Pacifica has used to bat away the black flames. It was still writhing across the floor with a powerful stream of water spraying all over the place. Once he had it, he pulled down on a small lever on the nozzle- causing the water to stop abruptly.
Gideon continued to recklessly launch himself at Jigg, only to be batted away as Pacifica slowly approached him from behind with the axe.
She gripped the handle with all of the strength she could muster, and held her breath. Gideon was getting himself back up on his feet, as Jigg pointed and laughed. She grit her teeth- and swung.
The axe zipped through the air, the blade approaching what looked like Jigg's neck at an incredible speed. And then- he ducked. And the axe found itself grazing across the ends of a few black flames, but otherwise leaving Jigg completely fine.
"Oh, look. The princess has decided-" Jigg couldn't even make it through his sentence before Pacifica took another swing. Aiming for his chest this time. He jumped backward, just in time for Gideon to jump at him again. Gideon dig his best to wrap his wooden limbs around Jiggs back, and he dug his fingers into the black, fiery surface of Jigg's body in desperate attempt to find a grip.
Jigg roared in frustration, as the black flames on his body licked at Gideons wooden frame. Gideon could feel any of the pain. Not from the flames, nor from the many mouths on Jiggs body that had started biting at him. Trying desperately to get him to let go.
But Gideon Gleeful was a lot of things. And stubborn was definitely one of them.
As Jigg tried his best to reach behind him and rip the annoying puppet-boy off of his back, Pacifica grit her teeth, and seized the opportunity. This time when she swung the axe, it lodged itself square in his chest. Jigg roared, although whether it was out of pain or surprise was hard to tell.
Pacifica quickly pulled the axe out of his chest, and gave a guttural scream as she swung again. Jigg jumped backwards, and the axe found itself embedded into the floor. All of the mouths were screaming in fury, as Jigg's hand seemed to grow and stretch. Pacifica pulled the axe out of the floor just in time to use the handle to block a swipe from Jiggs large fiery hand.
Instead of retracting his hand to go for another swipe at her, Jigg grabbed the handle of the axe. Pacifica grit her teeth. She was holding the axe with both hands. One next to the blade on one end, and the other hand on the end of the handle. Jiggs hand was clutching down on the middle of the axe, and pushing down with a tremendous force.
The mouths began to laugh hysterically, as Pacifica felt her knees buckle from underneath her. Pretty soon, she had her back against the floor, and she was pushing against his with all her might. Suddenly, Jiggs hand seemed to burn through the handle, and she rolled to the side just before his fist crashed into the floor.
She got to her feet, still holding the bladed side of the axe, with only part of the handle left. The other half of the long wooden handle, she threw to the side. The second she was on her feet, she ran in the opposite direction. As fast as her feet could carry her.
Jigg growled, as he used his newly enlarged hand to rip Gideon off of his back, and throw him at her. Gideon flew through the air and crashed into her head-first, knocking her back off her feet.
Dipper grit his teeth until his jaw screamed in protest, as he watched on from the sidelines. He looked at the hose. And then back at the water pump in the wall. It had taken some tinkering, but he it looked like he had managed to get it to do what he wanted it too. Now, he just had to wait for the pressure to build. It was already high. But he needed to make it insane.
His hands were still trembling as he picked up the hose. He was in worse shape than he looked. Much worse. There was still a viscous, searing pain spreading throughout the inside of his skull. And it was taking everything he had to keep his body parts following orders. He carefully placed his hand on the handle near the nozzle, and did his best to keep himself from fading back into unconsciousness.
Lightning lit up the room in a terrific flash, as the rain continued to fall outside. Pacifica and Gideon were trying to pick themselves up off the floor, as Jigg stood over them. Behind them was the broken window. Beyond it, a long fall into the darkness below.
Pacifica gripped the axe blade in her hand, and grit her teeth. And Gideon tightened his hands into fists once more, as he slowly got to his feet.
Jigg laughed. "Wow. You know. We're actually impressed. Look at you. You're really trying, huh? You're really doin' your best to put up a fight. It's so precious. Especially comin' from the likes of you two." he said. "We mean- Look at you. Two o' the most spoiled brats in the whole world. Standin' in front of me... Like you think you stand a chance. Then again- we guess it ain't the most surprisin' thing in the world. After all, you two 've always been arrogant. And we guess now, it's finally gonna get you ripped to shreds. About time, are we right?"
Gideon and Pacifica didn't so much as acknowledge each others presence. They simply stood there. Both primed and ready.
There was another flash of lightning, followed quickly by a massive roar of thunder.
Jigg watched them both as thousands of sadistic grins formed all across his body. And then, he noticed something.
Someone was missing. The mouths licked their lips. 'Did we kill him already? If so, then maybe it would be fun to parade the body around a bit... Just to watch 'em squirm...' he thought.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the air.
"PACIFICA!" bellowed Dipper.
In an instant, Pacifica grabbed Gideon by the shoulder, and jumped to the side. As Dipper suddenly stepped out from behind one of the pillars, holding the fire-hose. The entire thing had ballooned, and it was easy to feel the intense amount of pressure inside as Dipper pointed the nozzle at Jigg, and pushed down on the lever.
An enormous jet of water sprayed out- hard enough to knock Dipper off of his feet, and slam him into the wall. Even with the sudden jolt however, Dipper managed to keep to powerful stream of water on target, as it crashed violently against Jigg. Jigg felt himself being pushed towards the broken window, and the darkness below. He roared as he tried to push back- but it was no use. As he teetered on the edge, using every ounce of strength he had to fight back, Pacifica and Gideon approached him from either side.
Pacifica grit her teeth. "TAKE THIS YOU CREEPY JERK!" she bellowed, as she swung the axe head into his torso with all of her might.
And then- he fell. Gideon and Pacifica listened quietly to the sound of his roar quietly fading as he fell into the darkness below.
The jet-stream of water shooting out of the fire-hose suddenly stopped. There was a pause, as Dipper glanced down at it. And then, the fire-hose'popped'. Sending a wave of water splashing all around. Dipper let out a weary sigh, as he dropped the remnants of the hose, and joined Gideon and Pacifica at the broken window.
Pacifica took a deep breath.
"Is it over?" she muttered.
Dipper squinted down at the earth below. There was a flash of lightning, highlighting the grass underneath... Along with a massive patch of black. And nothing else.
Dipper sighed. "For now... I think so." he muttered.
* ~ * GravityFalls * ~ *
There were a few small lights high up on some of the tall stone pillars around the ballroom. It took a while to find the right lightswitch, but after spending an awkward period of silence in the dark- save for the occasional flashes of lightning- the room was soon lit in a bright yellow glow.
Gideon had been staring out the broken window the entire time, seemingly lost in thought. There were a set of enormous black curtains hanging on either side of the now broken window. Once the room had been bathed in light, Pacifica slowly unravelled the curtains and began to pull them closed.
Gideon spared the dark abyss outside one more look, before walking away. His clothes, and his body, were charred black. And there were teeth marks all over his small wooden chest, and his arms. He tried not to look at them. He couldn't feel anything. Even when he moved. He had to focus his attention on his feet just to convince himself that he wasn't floating through the air.
He supposed that it was a good thing that he felt so... numb. After all, he was in pretty bad shape. And had always had something of a weak constitution when it came to pain.
But it was still... unsettling. It felt as if he was having an out of body experience of some kind. A permanent one.
He shuddered.
As he approached the exit, he stopped. "I'm goin' to go an' change. I'll be back..." he called out. He didn't bother turning around as he spoke, nor did he bother to wait for an answer.
Dipper quietly watched him leave. And then, he got back to work. He could feel his consciousness trying to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let it. He still had things to do.
When Gideon returned, Dipper and Pacifica were waiting for him in the middle of the room.
Pacifica put her hands on her hips, and scowled. "What took you so long?" she demanded.
Gideon huffed. "I didn't ask ya'll to wait." he growled, as he made his way towards them. He was wearing a fresh blue suit, complete with a string tie and a pair of expensive looking shoes. They were old clothes. They were still a little wide on him- but it was the best he could do. To complete the outfit, he was wear a large white wig.
It looked almost as if he had suddenly grown his old hairstyle back. In fact, his entire outfit looked exactly like the one he used to wear back when he was still doing shows in the Tent of Telepathy back in Gravity Falls.
Dipper and Pacifica each raised an eyebrow at him, but neither of them said anything.
Once Gideon had joined them, Dipper cleared his throat. "Alright... I..." he took a deep breath as he shook off another dizzy spell. "S-sorry..." he muttered. "Anyway- I looked over the markings on the floor... They were what activated the 'statue spell'. And it looks like I should be able to use them to reverse the spell as well. First though... I'll have to release their hearts. They should be able to find their hosts all by themselves. When everything... Is done... They should all be back to normal."
He wiped a layer of sweat from his forehead. "Okay... So... Is everyone ready?" he asked.
"Just get on with it." muttered Gideon.
Dipper ignored him, as he carefully pulled the crystal bottle out of his trenchcoat. Then, he popped open the lid.
There was a sudden burst of color, as a stream of gold shot out of the bottle and into the air like a geyser. The gold began to separate into dozens of little balls that slowly drifted downward like golden snowflakes. As each golden sphere touched a statue, the statues began to glow.
Once all the statues seemed to be glowing, Dipper got onto his knees, and put his hand on one of the symbols on the floor. He began to mutter something, and each of the symbols began to flow. And then, all of a sudden- they began to 'pop' like bubbles.
First one symbol. Then another, and another. The floor began to shake as the symbols popped out of existence.
Then- there was a blinding flash of light.
And all of a sudden, the statues were human again. Some of them were gasping desperately for air, and others were crying. But they were all alive.
Dipper breathed a long sigh of relief, as his light-headedness slowly took over. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, to find Pacifica smiling down at him.
"We did it." she muttered. "I told you we would."
Diper smiled a little, and nodded.
Pacifica had barely managed to help him to his feet before Dipper found himself being tackled back to the ground. "Dipper!" exclaimed Mabel, as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed as tightly as she could. "You're here! I thought- I mean, I saw-... But you're here!" she sputtered. There were tears running down he face, as she let out a quiet sob.
"I-... I'm so glad... You're still alive..." she whispered.
Dipper was only able let out a long wheeze in response.
Luckily for Dipper's rib-cage, Mabel took that as a sign to let go. After helping Dipper get back on his feet, Mabel looked around. Most of the decorations had been destroyed. Some of them were wet, and others had burned. And all of the party goers were sitting on the floor, looking as if they had just been awoken from a terrible nightmare.
Mabel sighed.
She had spent the whole day working on the Valentines Day dance with Grenda, Candy and Mr Skellington. All to give Dipper, and everyone else the perfect Valentines Day. And now... It was all ruined.
She slumped her shoulders, and sighed again.
And she didn't even manage to find a date for Dipper. Or for herself for that matter.
"Sorry, Mabel... It was a puppet... Turned into a person... And then into a fire-demon..." muttered Dipper, with a sigh. "You know the drill."
Mabel sighed. "It's okay, Dipper... I'm sorry I didn't find a girl for you to go to the dance with..." she muttered.
"I told you... You don't have to worry about that stuff, Mabel. If I really wanted a date or something... I'd find one myself." said Dipper.
"Well, yeah but... I know you won't. Because... I know you still think about Lillith..." muttered Mabel.
Dipper shuddered at the sound of her name. He was still feeling the after effects of being tortured by Jigg. The last thing he needed was the familiar throb of pain in his chest he got whenever he remembered... her. He grimaced, and shook his head. "That's..." he trailed off mid-sentence, and frowned a little. "That's true. But I don't think finding someone else is going to help. It might just make it worse."
"But what if it doesn't? What if... What if you find someone really special. Someone who makes you wanna forget about everything else?" asked Mabel.
Dipper sighed. "I don't-"
All of a sudden, Dipper was interrupted by a tall, thin man with a Jack-o-Lantern on his head. "Mabel! There you are! I have been looking all over!" exclaimed Mr Skellington, as he rushed over to her side.
Mabel looked at him, and then back down at the floor. "I'm sorry, Mr Skellington..." she muttered. "It looks like this Valentines Day is kind of..." she trailed off, as he shoulders slumped once again.
"What are you talking about? This is great! I've heard of this sort of thing before. The 'highs and lows of love'. What a perfect way to capture the feeling of this day of love!" said Mr Skellington. "Now all you have to do is bring them back up again!"
Mabel sighed, and shook her head. "No... You don't get it. I mean- look around! Everything's ruined... And everybody's sad. It's... It's over, Mr Skellington..." she muttered.
"Now now- Let's hear none of that! Who's the girl who taught me all about this wonderful pink lovey-dovey holiday? Why, you're the foremost expert in the field!" exclaimed Mr Skellington. "The decorations are only decorations. They do not represent the true spirit of the day! You taught me that he true spirit is inside of you! It is the love! That's what Valentines is about!"
"You're... You're right, Mr Skellington! It's about the love!" Mabel exclaimed. "And even if everyone's gotten all down... Well then, all I need to do is just need to cheer 'em back up with the power of love! Also- music! Valentines Day won't be defeated so easily!"
Mabel turned to look at Dipper.
Dipper smiled at her. "Go on. Go do whatever you're gonna do." he said.
Mabel grinned, and raced over to the other side of the room. There, the members of the live band they had hired to perform at the dance had gathered around their previously abandoned instruments. They all looked dazed and confused, and one of them was still weeping uncontrollably.
But then again- they had been like that before they had been turned into statues and back again.
Mabel skidded to halt in front of them, and pulled their microphone off of its stand. She turned it on, sending a high pitched whine throughout the entire room. Everyone winced, and turned their attention to the source of the noise.
"Good evening everybody! I know you're all feeling weird and weepy right now- But Mabel the Queen of Love is here to make it all better!" she exclaimed. "Guys! Play the eighties-est, cheesiest, most crowd pleasing-est song you can think of!"
One of the band members thought for a moment. "Uh... You mean, 'Death, Metal and Other Nightmares'?" he asked.
Somewhere amongst the crowd, Mr Skellington looked excited.
Mabel frowned. "What? No! Just do 'Don't Start Un-Believing!'" she exclaimed.
The band members sighed. "Fiiiine." they groaned.
Somewhere amongst the crowd, Mr Skellington slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
Mabel gave the microphone to the band and jumped into the crowd to join Candy and Grenda, as the band began to fill the room with music.
The music slowly began to lift everyone's spirits. And before too long, some of the couples had even started to pick themselves up, and start dancing. The air in the room seemed to brighten, and Mabel was just about to start dancing herself, when she noticed something on the floor.
It looked like a small white rectangle, with the word 'Pacifica' written across it in small pink studs. Mabel picked it up, and gave it a closer look. Flipping it over, she realised that it was a smart-phone. She stared at the screen for a moment.
"I guess this belongs to Pacifica..." she muttered.
Without thinking, she pressed a small button on it's side, and the phone lit up.
Mabel gasped.
On the screen, was a picture of Dipper. She recognized it from the first article that the Piedmont Times had ever written about him during their first week home after their long, memorable summer in Gravity Falls. The picture showed Dipper posing proudly for the camera, with an enormous smile- holding a small birdcage with a pixie in it. The pixie was filing it's nails, and looking bored.
Mabel smiled a little. It was a nice picture. And it had been a long time since she had seen her brother smile like that. She remembered the article that the picture had been taken for. 'Local Boy Captures Thief'. For some reason, the paper had neglected to mention that the thief was a pixie. Nor did anyone seem to make a big deal about it. But it had been a big deal for Dipper. It was the first case he had ever taken on as the towns 'Paranormal Investigator'.
Mabel stared at the picture for a while, and grinned. Then- she suddenly stopped.
'Wait- Why would Pacifica have this picture? And as her wallpaper, too...' she thought.
Then, suddenly, something clicked into place.
Across the room, Pacifica was being swarmed by people. Her clothes were an absolute mess. Luckily, some of them seemed to think that is was a new kind of fashion called 'Post-apocalypse chic'. As she tried her best to back away from the crowd, she was already being asked to dance by rich boys who seemed to have already abandoned the girls they had actually invited.
All of a sudden, she felt something grab her by the arm- and pull her away.
By the time she was able to even register what was happening, she had already been pulled behind a pillar across the room and out of view from the rest of the crowd. Mabel let go of her arm, and cleared her throat. Pacifica was about to ask her why she had pulled her across the room- and maybe thank her for it- when she noticed what Mabel was holding in her hand.
Pacifica's mouth snapped shut. Mabel had her phone. And her wallpaper was lit up brightly across its screen.
She gulped, as Mabel put on the most serious face she could muster.
"Pacifica..." she muttered. "Do you wanna make kissy faces at my bro-bro?"
* ~ * GravityFalls * ~ *
A man clad in a long black hood made his way through the forest. His face hidden underneath a long black hood. In one hand, he carried Jigg's unconscious form by the scruff of his neck.
The man was completely silent, as the forest itself seemed to shrink away from his very presence.
Further in the forest, the man slowly came to a stop. Standing in front of him, was another man. Dressed in a fedora, a black and red striped sweater, and long brown pants. His skin was covered in hundreds of eyes, all of different shapes and sizes. They blinked out of sync, as they all focused on the man in the cloak.
All of the eyes seemed to glare at once, as he slowly rose his gloved hand in front of him, showing off the blades.."What the hell're you supposed to be?" growled Coach Krueger.
The man in the cloak was silent.
A few minutes later, the man in the cloak was walking through the forest once again. Holding Jigg in one hand, and Krueger in the other.
To be continued...
(AN: ... So it turns out this chapter actually turned out to be *super* long. Sorry about that. Also, a big thank you to the many people who were kind enough to review my story. I really hope you liked this chapter. I might need a little break before I start work on the next one... But I promise it'll happen sooner or later. I've got big plans...)
(PS: To avoid confusion- allow me to remind readers that Coach Krueger was introduced earlier in the story.)
