I honestly thought about splitting this into two parts, and really I would have were I not convinced I would not have finished both on time due to lack of energy. Again, after this I have law school, so my writing will be slowing back down - hopefully not as bad as before, though. So if you notice that this chapter seems to have two different tones in different parts, that's why. I hope you enjoy, read and review, etc.

Project Turbo zoomed through the woods, his honor guard gliding behind him. He triumphantly looked at the bag bag in has hand as he moved, gloating, "I bet you're getting sick in there, aren't you? Don;t worry, I reckon another ten minutes in there will be enough to end it all."

Meanwhile, a reduced Phoebe held onto the mesh as she was jostled around inside the bag. Even as she felt her stomach tighten, her resolved remained firm. "Come on, Phoebe, you got this," she said to herself, gritting her teeth. "Block out pain, block out the disturbance...just focus on a point and hang in there. Mom taught you how to do this."

Suddenly the entire bag shifted the other way. Phoebe found herself thrown on the other side, her stomach churning while the lightheadedness was amplified. "Then again..." she moaned. "...she probably never put up with something like this."

TSEW! TSEW!

The high-speed caravan received a giant shock as lasers suddenly shot out of the woods behind them. After a few misses, one of the guards was destabilized as a blast hit his board. "WHOA! I'M HIT!"

Turbo looked over his shoulder in surprise. "What? How?"

Phoebe looked outside and saw him spin and fall off at a speed that definitely killed him. Meanwhile, she looked at the direction of the laserfire. She didn't have long to guess what had hit him, however, before she saw emerge the head of an aqua monster she had seen only in her father's journals until that point. For a moment she thought she was hallucinating.

Even that moment, however was short-lived as the rest of the vehicle emerged from the shadows of those distant trees. Phoebe stared at the bike that now raced towards them, and the man who was riding it. "Well, this got interesting."

[AN: "Be Survivor" by ZZ, if you please]

There was no denying it; Kamen Rider Weird was racing towards the pack on his trusty friend the Gobblerider, now officially christened into his armory.

Project Turbo was enraged. "This is impossible! We saw the fight yesterday! That thing is nowhere that fast!"

Ken leaned forward. "I wasn't gunning it back then. Even then, yesterday it was just a gift from family. Now, it's what puts the 'Rider' in Kamen Rider!"

[Stop music]

Phoebe groaned from inside the bag. "Was that joke really necessary?"

[Resume]

"Men! Take him down!" Turbo took a ramp that had formed from the unsteady ground, putting him many feet above Weird. The four remaining Parallels meanwhile rode effortlessly off this elevation to glide in front of their new target and face him with blasters raised.

One floated closeby enough that Ken immediately responded. "Who's hungry!?" Unfortunately, as he clicked the 'Bite' button designed to extend the neck of the figurehead until it bit down, the monster merely stuck slightly out and flailed left to right, ignorant of the target in front of him.

"What?" Ken was confused. "How do you not - ?"

TSEW!

He had to rapidly duck as his foes took the opportunity to get a few shots in. As he straightened himself back out, he grunted in frustration. "Back to Plan A, then." With that HE started firing back with the lasers one more.

TSEW! KaCHINK! "Aah!"

One more guard found himself taking a shot to the chest. His friends sometimes had shaken off one hit and needed another. But taking a shot like that when it throws you off your hoverboard going at high speed was a different matter entirely, especially as he landed on the ground with a sickening crunch.

Unfortunately, the other three were now far wiser and dodged the incoming blasts while returning with their own volleys. Ken was pretty clear on the overall situation: this is turning into a pointless crossfire if I can't throw a curveball soon.

As he looked at Chapter 02 in the keyhole, he realize something: I'm still in Chapter 00…

With that he leaned forward but did little else, unless one counts goading the enemy. "Give it your best shot! I'm wide open!"

The three enemies were all too eager to comply. All three of them squeezed off three shots each, for a total of nine heading towards him.

"Aaand...now!"

"QUILL SABER!"

Out of seemingly nowhere he whipped out his trusty cutlass, deflecting all the blasts that would have otherwise it him. Most went wild as they ricocheted off, but one hit its master square in the head, causing him to fall over with a Wilhelm scream and meet the same fate as his friend.

The other two looked at each other in shock. One of them called out, "Shoot him from behind!"

"Roger!" his teammate replied as they slowed down together, passing on either side of Ken.

But he was too quick for one of them. Sticking out one leg in a powerful kick proved enough to get one soldier to wobble on his hoverboard - "Woah! What the-?" - and lose control of the deceleration, leaving him right behind Ken's arm. Barely turning around to look, Ken inverted his grip on the Quill Saber and stabbed him in the gut, his body losing blood as it fell into the bushes.

That left only one shooter to deal with, but with a distinct advantage - Ken had no idea where he was firing. In fact - THUNK! "Ow!" - a stray shot him him in the shoulder. The armor blunted his attack, but Ken knew the entire routine was too much of a distraction to deal with Turbo first. With Phoebe already being taken on this joyride for five minutes, he had to do something now.

The hostage in question looked out of her imprisonment, scanning for her own way out of the problem were she in his shoes. As she looked up at the trees that the two were cruising through and under, she had a flash of inspiration. "KEN!" she yelled, fully aware that he was probably not going to be able to hear her now-tiny voice. ""Use the -"

But Ken's own mind hadn't been idle. Revving the motorbike to get more speed, he widened the gap between him and his pursuer before performing a wheelie and shooting lasers into the air. Or so it seemed.

CRACK! The blasts hit a branch overhanging a few feet above them. The Gobblerider zoomed through effortlessly before the limb broke completely and fell to the ground. The final soldier, however, was less fortunate; with a BONK and a second CRACK, it broke on his helmet and caused him to fall to the ground dead.

Phoebe couldn't help but smile at the display. "Maybe he's not so bad after all..." she frowned. "But then...why did I..."

Ken, meanwhile, was ready for the final boss. Calling up to Project Turbo, still riding the upper ledge, he challenged, "Your men are down. Get off your wheels, come on down, and fight me yourself!"

"Not after that display!" Turbo mocked in reply. "You have lasers, I have Death Disks!" With that he effortlessly rotated, began driving backwards, and aimed both arms at Weird.

"Death Disks? What even - ?"

His question was answered with the many circular blades launching off of the Parallels arms and straight at the hero below. He crouched behind the handlebars and thereby dodged several, but a few others hit the hull of the Gobblerider. One in particular hit the wheel with a CHING, nearly resulting in a jam and actually causing it to wobble a fair bit.

"Woah! No no no..." Ken rooted his feet on the ground in order to break. As he steadied himself, he picked up speed again and drew his Quill Saber. "Well, at least he can't reload."

Of course he had to say that. Turbo's arms regrew all the missing disks before he started launching them again.

Ken started swatting the new projectiles out of the way, bobbing and weaving on the narrow road. "I need a game changer quick." He looked at the figurehead and let out a quick breath of anxiety. "OK, let's try this again." With that, he once again squeezed the button labeled 'Bite'.

Once again, however, it failed him as the dragonic figurehead just flailed about. "Come on! I can't get a straight shot with the lasers. I need you, boy!" His pleas, however, were of little help.

He quickly slapped his ear to patch a call through the helmet. "Ford, this is Ken, I need some tech help. What did you do to my 'bite' function?"

Ford replied, "We turned off Auto-Lock, and judging by your helmet cam feed, it wouldn't help you here either! The woods are two thick, it wouldn't get a clear bite on that target!"

"OK, putting a pin in the helmet cam thing, why would you turn Auto-Lock off?! What am I supposed to do now?" Ken had to move rapidly to the far right of the 'lane' to dodge the next volley. As the road turned, he became aware that they had almost made a full lap.

"It's based on your willpower now! We added it to the Rider system so it only works with you, like we said! Think with your mind where you want the jaw to go!"

Ken became flustered, "While I'm driving through dense forestry and have a guy shooting at me?! This is too much!"

"Not your tune from last night, Ken" a third voice joined the conversation.

Ken's breath was taken in a second. "Dipper? You're on the call?"

"Yeah, I am. This is my daughter on the line, you know!" Dipper responded forcefully. "And when another life was on the line yesterday, you faced everything that threatened it - including my doubt - and told the world to bring it on. You have a lot of willpower, Kamen Rider Weird. Now it's time to use it!"

Ken felt invigorated at the speech and inhaled deeply but slowly. "OK….I got this..."

"You sure do….now make him see that." With that, the link was terminated.

Ken looked at all the trees around him,all the branches that protruded out of them like…..Suddenly he had it. "Alright, Gobblerider. Take a BITE!" he said as he hit the button one more time, this time focusing on what he wanted to happen.

Turbo was a bit too distracted to notice this conversation or the minute actions of the Rider. Especially as he held in his hand what he thought was the key to victory - three more disks. "You're tired out and out of options. Now PERISH!" With a wicked cackle he threw them with all his might….

Only for them to suddenly be jammed into a piece of wood. The Parallel became flustered with confusion. "Wait...what?"

The green eyes of the legendary Gobblewonker looked at him in defiance as it held in its mouth a long tree branch that had just blocked the shot. Even the Kamen Rider who controlled him looked at their enemy with newfound confidence and anger - as if he wasn't already full of it. Phoebe was at this point holding her stomach, but even she was in awe as she saw the two heads ready to fight any threat.

"You're not in the clear yet!" Turbo instantly threw more, one after another.

"Drop!" Ken called out as he hit the button again. The Gobblerider spat out its bark just in time for Ken to yell "...and again!" With another slap of the button, the figurehead once again grabbed a branch, tore it off and began swatting and blocking disk after disk.

"Have them back!" Ken offered as the Gobblewonker threw the bark at the offending Parallel. As it hit him in the shins, the impact sent him spinning around in circles as loss of control practically paralyzed him, leaving him unable to shoot.

Weird's own lane began rising to the same height as Turbo's, with a single wide tree in the median and the clearing with the cave right next to them. With that Ken called out "NOW!" and slammed the button for the last time. The Gobblewonker reached out and grabbed a branch hanging high from the tree.

"Aaand pull!"

The neck retracted, lifting the entire bike and rider as the momentum sent him forward. With that, Ken found himself sailing towards his foe. "Phoebe, hold on tight!" he exclaimed as he released the button and free fell right through Turbo. As he did, with several swings of the arm the Quill Saber cut through multiple times.

The two of them landed in the clearing where the race had begun - one still on their feet, one on the ground with their armor shattered. "My precious wheels!" cried Turbo. "At least I still have your - wait, where?" He found his hand empty and started searching his pockets like a teenager looking for a key.

"Missing something?" Kamen Rider Weird held up the black mesh bag, freshly seized from the captor. As he opened it up, its passenger rolled out and was covered in blue light before expanding back to her normal size. The only sign that she had been captured was a face that looked a little greener than usual. Combined with the fact that she was still able to glower at the Parallel Commander as she got up, he had never seen anything that intimidating in his life.

Ken turned to her. "You OK?"

Even as she looked sick, Phoebe nodded. "Just...finish this jerk."

Ken nodded before turning to Turbo. "You said you still have something? Doesn't look like you do. And so," he said as the Gobblerider drove up behind him. "this ends here."

Without looking, he leaned back and hit the 'bite' button. The Gobblewonker head immediately bit down on the Rider suit collar and threw him straight in the air. Turbo didn't even try to run, knowing that all he could do was stare impending defeat in the face.

As Ken flew in the air, he pushed in the center of the Driver, which responded with "FINAL NOTE!" As he once again rotated his sword to form the copper energy orb, he also extended his leg to the target beneath him as the foot gained power.

"WEIRD! CRITICAL STRIKE!"

With that he slashed the orb straight at the Parallel as his own descent accelerated. The blast from the orb friend the armor and left it sparking, while Ken soaring through with a mighty Rider Kick shortly after proved too much for the commander to handle.

"I only regret that I lost in a match of speed. Glory to Kraus!" he said as he fell and exploded. BOOM!

Ken spun the wheel to expose Chapter 00 and pulled it out with a "To be continued" from the Driver. Meanwhile he turned around to the object of this whole mission. "Phoebe, please tell me you're OK…."

Phoebe was hunched over, looking all the world as if she was on the verge of retching. "Yeah, I'll be fine, but….uggh, so glad I haven't eaten yet."

Ken looked at the entrance to Echo Cave. "We still have a portal to deal with." With that, he opened the seat of his bike to find a few PCFB bombs waiting for him. He picked up one and walked to the entrance. Phoebe seemed a bit more relaxed herself as she followed.

Neither one had anything quite as dramatic as the speech from the last closing of a portal prepared, but one of them did feel like a few words were in order. Ken firmly called to the glowing rift, "If any Parallels are listening, give me a hiss."

He heard a very loud chorus of hisses in response. He smirked a bit as he replied "Pass this message to Kraus: he'd better not let any of his men try kidnapping again. Just because I'm the only Kamen Rider doesn't mean I'm the only person you should be afraid of upsetting. Case in point..." With that he turned to Phoebe and offered the flashbang. "Care to do the honors?"

Phoebe held it in her hand, rotating it for a few seconds. Then she offered a nod of thanks before addressing the same invisible crowd. "Just to be very clear; he may have the tools to kill you all, but if you cross my family again, you'll find something else to fear as well." With that, she threw the bomb at the portal, and with a flash it was neutralized and the teenagers looked once again into the peaceful opening of a cave without any dimensional gateway blocking it.

After standing there in silence for awhile, Phoebe walked slowly to a rock and sat down. Ken followed suit about a foot and a half away. For awhile, the two sat awkwardly next to each other, unsure of what to do next. Then one thought of something.

"You said you hadn't eaten in a while?" Ken asked, taking his backpack off. As Phoebe looked on, Ken reached in and took out the two Tupperware inside. As he offered the red one to her, she saw that his eyes were full of concern, pleading, guilt...odd emotions for a hero to have. She sighed deeply and took the container, unsure of what to do next.

"Thanks," she said, opening it. "I guess this was Gladys' idea?"

"She more or less insisted," Ken replied honestly. As the two bit down, Ken was swept away at how good it was despite being cold. "This is the best."

Phoebe gave a small smile of assent. "It's Uncle Soos. Expect nothing less." The two ate in awkward silence for awhile.

Ken eventually spoke up again, the bravado he had when speaking to the Parallels all but gone. "She also said we should talk, you know? Sort things out. You said something similar before being captured. And you're both right, I have a lot that I want explained and a few things I should - "

"Ken," Phoebe cut him off. "We do need to talk, but we just went through quite a fight.

And honestly...I needed a few hours to sort things out myself before telling you. I still do. Can we hold this off for a bit, until maybe just before you leave?"

Ken exhaled. "You're probably right..." Ken assented. "Especially with your family worried about you."

As his Mariachi Eye of the Tiger ringtone once again went off, he looked at his phone for a split second before passing it to the redhead beside him. "Speaking of..."

She picked up. "Dad? I'll be home soon."

"Are you hurt? Do you need help getting here? Should I prep the healing unit?"

Phoebe chuckled- both out of amusement and to calm Dipper's nerves. "I'm fine, Dad. I gotta admit, Ken did a good job getting me out of trouble."

"Oh...alright. Just come straight home, OK?"

Phoebe nodded despite not being on camera. "I know, Dad. See you in a few." As she hung up, she nodded to Ken. "Can that bike fit two?"

"It already has once," Ken groaned as he got up and the two walked to the Gobblerider. Opening the seat again, he was met with a pleasant surprise. "Ford added a guest helmet, too." He tossed it to Phoebe.

As they sat down and put their helmets on, Phoebe inquired, "So you ride a motorcycle with a figurehead capable of biting and breaking wood, and you still worry about helmet safety?"

As he revved up the vehicle, Ken shrugged in half-defeat. "Control what you can, I suppose." With that, the two rode back into the forest at a far safer speed than before.

##############################################################################################

As they pulled up, Phoebe sighed. "Well, time to face the music."

Ken tried reassuring her. "He seemed more relieved than anything else on the phone."

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't talking about him."

"Wait, then..."

"FEE-FEE!"

Gladys came tearing out of the Shack and ran to her cousin, who simply protested. "Hey, no, don't - !"

But the sixteen-year old girl was never one for listening when she felt a hug was in order. As she squeezed the redhead fiercely, she couldn't help but scold. "You stupid butt! You should've come to me when you were feeling down!"

"Hey, leave me alone!" Phoebe whined. "I needed my space for a bit, OK?"

Gladys responded, "Nuh-uh, what you needed was to talk things out and tell Ken why was was being stupid!"

"He wasn't, OK? I just - "

Ken decided to interject. "Gladys, she's had a long day...just, let her take a breather, OK?"

Gladys pouted as she put Phoebe down, who brushed herself off and walked to the Shack. The elder cousin, meanwhile, glared at the 'offender' in question. "You said you'd talk it out!"

"Gladys, I wanted to, but she promised me we'd do it later. Can you just….let that be how this goes?"

She huffed. "Oh, fine!" before sauntering back inside, where Dipper was giving his daughter a big hug.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know that I was - "

"It's OK, Dad," Phoebe said as she smiled at her dad while Wendy silently joined the group hug. "You had to get Ken familiarized with the area, I get that. I guess I just feel like a jerk for not acting like I understood."

Wendy stroked her daughter's hair. "You're not a jerk, cutie. We all know that you have the best intentions whenever you act."

"Well, I'm not done yet..." Phoebe looked up at Wendy. "Mom, I need to talk to someone in private later. Can I - ?"

Wendy smiled. "Don't need to say another word. Go ahead."

Dipper ruffled Phoebe's hair himself. "Is it with who I think it is? Good luck, kiddo."

Phoebe smiled. "Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. Now I need to go...prepare."

With that, she retreated to her room upstairs, to a secondary room that had been built within the attic once the family had gotten a little too large for prior accommodations. Once she got there, she took out a piece of paper, sighed, and wrote down "Why I have problems with Ken."

###########################################################################################

"You sure she told you to meet her here, dawg?" Soos asked as he stood in the gift shop with a certain hero.

Ken sighed. "Yes, Soos, I'm sure. I just hope it's soon, I don't want Grandpa Fiddleford to worry."

"I thought you said he was fine with you being out as late as you had to."

"It's a privilege I'd rather not overuse. Force of habit from home, long story. Now, then - "

"Sorry!"

The two turned to see Phoebe run downstairs and straight to Ken. As she looked at him, he could tell she tensed up slightly. Nevertheless, she continued, "I needed longer than I thought."

"It's fine. I really have no reason to complain like I was." Ken turned to Soos. "so she said she wanted privacy, and uh..."

Phoebe couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I didn't expect to get it here, per se." With that, she moved a curtain to reveal a ladder. "We're going up."

Soos shuddered. "Yeah, you doods are definitely on your own there. Have fun, and good night in case I don't see you when you get down."

"Thanks, Soos," the two said together as they climbed up.

Ken was met with a sight that hadn't exactly lost its glamor for Phoebe either. Two lounge chairs and a cooler with soda sat on the roof overlooking the parking lot. Phoebe sat down and motioned for Ken to take the other seat.

"This is amazing!" Ken remarked as he obliged. "Nice view and everything."

Phoebe looked out towards the setting sun. "My mom, my dad, my aunt Maymay...a long time ago, this was their luxury spot, their secret to get away from everything else. Stan found his way up here once, and eventually the rest of the family was pretty familiar with it, but to this day it's mostly them, the twins, and myself."

Ken looked at her. "So am I now part of this group too?"

Phoebe shrugged. "It's a free country. The others don't like coming up here - especially Soos - but whether you do is your own choice now that you've been up once." Phoebe muttered to herself. "God knows I've made enough bad decisions for one day."

Ken looked at her. "Phoebe, today wasn't your fault, OK? It was mine. I didn't notice you in the woods, I let you follow me long enough to hear about that last chore - "

Phoebe interrupted. "Ken, no. Let me talk, OK? This is my fault, and you need to understand why."

"Phoebe, if you're doing this out of some sense of duty, don't. I don't want you to do something you don't want to do."

Despite being repentant, Phoebe still testily replied, "What makes you think I don't want to?"

Ken pointed to her hand. "Mostly because you apparently made a draft for this conversation."

"What? Oh," she deflated. "Um, yeah, this is more of a scratchpad than a draft. You met Aunt Paz...it was an idea she came up with, actually. To sort out what I was really thinking and feeling." She crumpled it up and threw it behind her. "I don't really need it now."

Ken looked at her as the paper dropped. "So, then, you feel ready?"

Phoebe nodded. Both abandoned the lounge chairs for the edge of the roof, their feet dangling as they sat. With that, Phoebe began:

"I have to first off make one thing clear: yesterday was my fault, and there's no real way to argue otherwise. I was the one who chose to follow you. I was the one who used the skills taught to me to stay out of your sight. I was the one who chose to go on a dangerous errand alone despite the only nearby source of help heading home. I did all that because I let my negative feelings cloud my head. And yes, those feelings were about you. So what were they?"

"It wasn't blind hatred. You're a great person to be around, like the night before you first put on the Driver - sitting with me, Finn, and Gladys around a campfire. And you wouldn't be a Kamen Rider if you didn't care about others. I think I already knew both of those things, even if what happened today reminds me of how true that is.

"I think in the end a lot of it was jealousy. Jealousy of a lot of things, which I can't consider all at once. First there were your abilities. I mean, look at today - you cut the toenails of a forest giant with a sword in five seconds and he enjoyed it! You can take on waves of foes thanks to an invention someone else made! For someone I just met to suddenly have that kind of potential and handle Gravity Falls that well….I guess I was just disturbed, given how long I lived here and yet can't always say the same as you.

Another part of me was jealous at how much Dad trusted you. He goes from insisting that he alone will handle everything to trusting you with paranormal research and hero duties in two days. That included tasks that normally I could and would do. Part of me wondered if I was being replaced in his mind."

"Phoebe, he would never - " Ken interrupted, but Phoebe plowed ahead.

"I said part of me. The other part of me knew that he was just trying to get you familiar with the woods as fast as possible, and that there was no way that he would leave me feeling abandoned on purpose. So then there was the guilt of even thinking that way - that apparently I had so little faith in him.

"And then of course, part of it was inferiority. I know you had your martial arts self-training in San Francisco, but you never had any scrape with the paranormal. Meanwhile, I'd been reading the Journals since I was a baby and learned everything about survival from my mom. So for you to come here and suddenly do what I was doing and more - and once in a while better - made me feel inferior.

"All this led to a single question in my mind. Yeah, I know that when I say this year is different than last, you'll automatically think it's because of the Parallels. But what else has changed is the fact that you're here - both as Kamen Rider Weird and as just Ken. And I was...confused. In this new order, who am I?

"It's not fair that all of this was projected on you in the way that it was, or that you had to save me as a result. At least I hope now you understand where this all came from. I don't stand by it, but there's nothing I can do about the past."

Ken sat there, dumbfounded and lost in thought, for a full three minutes after Phoebe was done. Eventually he got up and looked at her. "That's...a lot. I get why you couldn't talk about it until just now. You know how you needed time to think about all this…?"

Phoebe looked up at him, confused. "Yeah..."

"I think now I do, too. Is it OK if we continue this tomorrow morning?"

Phoebe was bewildered. "Sure, but….what do you need time to think about?"

Ken said aloud. "Mostly what to think of all that jealousy and doubt." Then as he climbed down and left the house for his bike, he added under his breath "And how to make things right..."

########################################################################################################

Ken lay on his bed that night, rotating Chapter 02 in his hand. It had been five hours and an uneventful dinner with Fiddleford - although the fricasseed squirrel was rather unique - but he had finally had an idea hit him. What he had in mind was something that after today almost no one would approve of, if it was anyone else. But given who this was and what they were capable of, with was worth a try. He just had to make sure he wouldn't regret before going through with it.

In other words, it didn't even need a second thought. "Saxon?"

"Yes, sir?" The house responded.

"Can you set my alarm to 7:30 and let Grandpa know in the morning that I left early if he asks?"

"Understood, sir?"

"Oh, and..." Ken said with a smile. "...don't play the music alarm tomorrow. It won't quite fit the mood."

"Something you have to do, sir?"

Ken rotated in his bed and settled in for sleep. "Just need to talk with a few people before work."

###################################################################################

Phoebe sat once again on the roof the next morning, looking at the woods that stretched beyond where the eye could see. What she told Ken yesterday about the woods having changed - somehow, looking from a higher perspective like this made her forget that. She was at peace here, as if nothing was different from last week, or last year, or when her mother had first taken her up here as a baby.

"I bet you wish you could feel that free all the time."

Phoebe was startled a bit as she turned around to see Ken coming up behind her. Still, she couldn't help but give a small smile. Despite his request to abruptly end the conversation, she had to admit that getting all of it off her own chest had made her feel better - both in general and about him. He wasn't the enemy, an she had come to terms with that. "I was talking aloud, wasn't I?"

Ken sat down next to her. "You don't sound surprised."

Phoebe looked back at him. "I've been told I can have that problem at times...supposedly it runs in the family."

As the two looked off into the distance, Ken remarked "I can only imagine from whom..."

For a moment there was a prolonged pause. One had gone back to enjoying the view, but unbeknownst to her, the other was thinking about a conversation from just an hour ago….

#############################################################################################################

"Dipper? Can we talk?" Ken said as he entered the lab.

Dipper checked his watch without getting up. Arriving half an hour early meant this was serious. "Um, yeah, is everything OK?"

"Mostly," Ken truthfully admitted. "This is less about me and more about...Phoebe."

Dipper nodded solemnly. "Thanks for getting her out of that trap yesterday, by the way."

"Well, it was the least I could do." Ken shifted uncomfortably. "I am the reason she walked into it, after all."

Dipper shifted uncomfortably as well. "I think the blame's on me, too. There were definitely better ways to get you involved in Gravity Falls."

Ken nodded. "Well, if it was the two of us who made the problem, let's solve it together."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Ken looked at him. "She was able to follow me without being seen, navigated the woods without a map, had her own extraction kit from what I heard, held off Parallel soldiers until I got there, killed a few..."

"Where are you going with…?"

"...kept me out of the net, withstood what would have been insane G-force for her without vomiting, and did not really panic the entire time." He sighed and turned away. "Dipper, you've been a great mentor so far, but even you can't make up for the fact that she had thirteen years to learn all that, and spent them well."

Dipper found himself becoming anxious as he replied, "You'd better not be going where I think you are with this. I'm not making her another Driver or giving yours to her. Even before you showed up she was the last person I'd have ever allowed near it! I won't put Phoebe at that kind of risk."

"Woahwoahwoahwoahwoah!" Ken held up both hands. "I would never give her or anyone that burden either, no matter how good they are! But.." he said, looking Dipper straight in the eye. "...she will put herself in front of that risk no matter what we do. So I was hoping she could work with me and be on scene with me."

Dipper crossed his arms. "On scene as in wherever I send you? Including Parallel fights?"

"I'll make sure she only fights in self-defense and gets out of range as soon as feasible. But exploring the woods, running errands, meeting creatures...I could use her. I can watch her back and she can watch mine. Nothing will happen to either of us - you have my word."

Dipper stood up and paced a bit, back facing Ken. "It's a lot to ask, and I think you know that...I just...don't know..."

Ken looked down to his feet. "As I said, you prepared her for this. There may be something new in there, but it's still the same woods. She knows the danger and how to avoid it. Do you feel confident in what you've taught her?"

A silence settled on them for a moment. Finally Dipper spoke.

"The night you officially became a Kamen Rider, the one regret I had was that I couldn't be out in the field with you. This… might be the next best thing."

"You mean - "

"Yeah," Dipper turned around to face his mentee. "Ask her if she wants to join you...without letting on this conversation ever happened."

#################################################################################################

Ken sighed and took a deep breath. "Phoebe, I thought about what you said last night...it meant a lot..."

Phoebe looked at him. "I'm glad you - "

"...but it was also laughably wrong."

She was taken aback. "Um, what?"

Ken started holding up fingers as he counted. "One, yes there's a lot I can do that you can't, but the same goes the other way around. I sure couldn't stay hidden in the woods like you did when following me yesterday. Two, you're right that a lot of what I can do is only because of Dipper and Ford, and I don't plan to let myself forget that for a second."

He was so immersed in thought that he didn't see Phoebe look at him with a changing face - one that went from a confused stare to a happy smile.

"Three, you should never feel guilty about feeling that Dipper's doing something wrong, even if it has to be by accident. It's what allows him to improve, to be a better father and do right by you as his daughter."

Phoebe looked at him with surprise. "You're...more passionate about that than I thought."

Ken looked at her to see if there was any trace of mockery in her voice and face. There wasn't, so he deflated a bit and explained, "You know my parents' marriage was rushed, and then shortly afterwards my mother left Gravity Falls and with it my father. She had parenthood thrusted into her hands before she was really ready, and she had to do it alone. It was like Maslow's hierarchy and Erikson's stages of development had a burdensome baby. She was able to take care of my physical needs when I was a baby, but when I started having complex emotional needs she needed me to be vocal so she could understand and adapt." He shook his head and gave a weak laugh. "In a way, she needed me to teach her how to be my mother. Crazy world we lived in."

Phoebe replied, "Wow….I never thought of it that way...I guess having a supportive family was something I just took for granted."

After a moment of silence, Ken got back on track. "Anyway..." Phoebe looked back at him. "Four, you said these woods are different, that it's a different world order than it was before. Is it, though? I'll admit I'm new, but I don't consider that as having to be monumental change. As for the Parallels, they're the last in a long list of dangerous things that I'm just learning have lurked in the forest. You knew it and have been careful around them despite how many years of venturing in there. And that," he said, looking very seriously into her eyes, "brings me to Five - answering your question of what you are in this world of yours."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Let me guess - Phoebe Mabel Pines, the avid explorer who's proud to call Gravity Falls my summer home and can handle anything it throws at her? No more, no less and all that?"

"You're middle name's Mabel as in your aunt?" Ken was thrown off-rhythm for a second before surging back into it. "And yes, that's exactly who you are. I'd even say that's all you should be, but...I do want to add one more thing to that."

"Huh?" Phoebe said, taken aback. "What would that be?"

Ken responded. "My friend." Phoebe looked at him in disbelief as he got up. "I may be a Kamen Rider, but I could use a partner out there to watch my back and show me what they know about the area. And it could be more fun that way - which, honestly, is the best way to handle fear as far as I know. You wouldn't honestly be going too far out of the old beaten track - the same treks as before, but this time with more sense of purpose and less reason to fear." He offered a hand down. "How about it?"

Phoebe couldn't help but look at Ken in a new light. Here was someone who really only became involved in the family affairs by dumb luck, who was taking away time from his own quest of finding out his family story by becoming its protector - and yet there was humility and a desire to be her friend. All those accusations she had in her head yesterday morning seemed like the silliest thoughts imaginable. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

With that, she clasped his hand and shook it. "Sounds great to me."

As she got up, the atmosphere magically became jovial. The two started smiling, then laughing. The laughing amplified from gentle to laughing lungs out, up to the point where Ken was leaning on a lawn chair to breath.

As they wheezed, Ken apologized. "Sorry, I just….I dunno, it's funny to me how easily we seem to have resolved everything."

"No, I get it." Phoebe replied as she shook her head for clarity's sake. "I don't know why, but I do, you know?"

"Yeah..." Ken smiled. "So, partner, I have to still get the Organo-Gold from Echo Cave. Do you want to - "

"Wait a minute…." Phoebe checked her shirt pocket before pulling out a vial filled with the olden fluid. "No, we don't."

Ken gasped at the sight of the glorious liquid. "Wait, how?!"

Phoebe explained. "I had the syringe out and was loading it with the extract when the rift was opening. I barely got it into the vial before I was forced back by Parallels coming through."

Ken was in awe. "So that means….you could have gotten out of there...but you chose to get this instead. You risked your life for it?"

Phoebe smiled. "When you put it that way, I sound like a liability. Sure you want me arund, Ken Takigawa McGucket?"

Ken grinned even broader than before. "You know what, Phoebe Mabel Pines? I think we'll be getting along just fine."

With that he eyed the height of the rooftop to see if he could jump below or had to go back to the ladder. Suddenly, though, with a giant CREEAKING sound his attention was drawn to where Phoebe had decided to jump onto a nearby tree which sagged with her weight. She was therefore able to grab the tip of another tree, which then sagged until it deposited her on the ground.

She then looked up as Ken backed up on the roof, giving himself a running start for his attempt as he nervously rubbed his hands. She couldn't help but chuckle as she replied:

"Now that you mention it….So do I….."