Let the final battle be joined!
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Zeditha: Obviously it's Larry King. =P (not really) Thanks for reading!
Chapter XI: Destiny Calls
Agent Justin Long stood next to the main doors to the Manor, across the grounds at the front gate. He was tired and bored – he couldn't wait to pass over to Agent Collins for the night shift.
He crossed his arms as he looked out at the local police. Both were sitting on the trunk of their cruiser, arms around each other as they gazed at the sunset. There was no attempt to establish a cordon, no attempt to negotiate with the ASE, no attempt to stop the van careening towards the gate – wait what?
There was a metallic crash as the blue van tore through the gate, skidding to a halt in the middle of the courtyard. Long jumped into action, drawing his pistol as he and several other agents raced over to surround the van.
"Out!" he thundered, pointing his weapon at the driver (a large fellow who was muttering something about the implausibility of this happening twice), "Out of the van and onto the ground, now!"
He turned to a balding agent next to him.
"Jensen, check the van," he ordered.
Jensen nodded and raced up to the van door. He placed his hand on the handle.
There was an animalistic roar.
With a sickening crunch, the massive and unmistakable form of Manly Dan Corduroy burst out of the van, tearing the door off with one hand and grabbing Jensen's collar by the other. Manly Dan hurled Jensen over his shoulder, sending him flying over the van, and turned to the other agents.
"COME, BY BROTHERS!" he yelled, "ATTAAAAACK!"
He leapt off the van, a small biker following after him and chanting 'Get 'em! Get 'em!" They were in turn followed by a largish woman, a greasy-haired young adult and two teenage girls, all armed with a variety of improvised weaponry.
Long ducked under another agent hurled by Manly Dan and shouted into the radio.
"We need backup at the front!" he shouted, "We're under attack!"
"Being beaten up by a girl again, Long?"
"No!" replied Long, "They've got, like, a tank-person or something! Send everyth-AAAAAHHH!"
And with that, Justin Long got a brief taste of flight.
Dipper climbed through the ground floor window of the manor, dropping lightly into the corridor. Shortly after, Stan, Mabel and Wendy climbed through – the former leaned out the window to talk to Soos, Mr. Pines and Tambry.
"Alright, you're on your own now, Soos," he called, "Find the security room...power room...whatever it is and take it over. You sure you can handle it?"
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Pines!" replied Soos, saluting, "I won't let you down. Good luck, dudes!"
"Good luck, kids," gulped Mr. Pines, "I'll see you soon...I hope to God."
Stan nodded and closed the window.
"Alright," he said, "We need to get down into the basement and...what the heck is that smell?"
Dipper sniffed. A lingering foul stench filled his nostrils – it smelt familiar.
"Smells like the dump," he mused.
Stan narrowed his eyes.
"McGucket," he nodded.
"What the heck would he be doing here?" quizzed Wendy.
Dipper shrugs.
"We can find out later," he said, "Come on, we're running out of time."
He ran down the corridor, the rest of the group following behind.
"Sir, Agent Long just called for backup in the front courtyard – something about a tank man."
Stanley looked up from the machine as Agent Collins spoke up. The machine looked a lot like a very early mechanical computer – not unlike those used during the Second World War. Gideon stood next to him, looking over the machine with a smug grin on his face.
"Tank man?" repeated Stanley, "What in the name of..."
"I've got security footage now, sir," replied Collins, handing Stanley a small tablet.
Stanley looked at the footage and raised an eyebrow.
"Is that Dan Corduroy?" he asked, "My god he's grown..."
"Darn it!" shouted Preston from the corner, "I banned the Corduroys from my property!"
Stanley glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.
"...but if he's here to save me that's fine," added Preston, very quickly.
"If he's here, it's likely he's working with Stanford," mused Stanley, "After all, his daughter is one of the Children of Destiny. The attack on the front is probably a ruse."
"Do you want me to withhold reinforcements, sir?" asked Collins.
"No, let Stanford through," replied Stanley, "I'd like to talk to him before this all ends. Besides..."
He turned back to the machine. Gideon pulled a level, and it roared to life.
"...it's too late to stop us now."
There was a loud crash as Soos forced open the door to the security room. A lone agent got up from a chair in front of a series of monitors, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling a gun – Mr. Pines charged into him, punched him in the face and tore the gun out of his hands. He punched him a second time and let him slide to the ground.
Soos and Tambry stared, jaws dropped.
"What?" shrugged Mr. Pines, "They messed with my kids."
Soos and Tambry glanced at each other. They shrugged, and Tambry sat down in the chair.
"Alright, let's see what we can do here," she said, cracking her fingers.
She opened a laptop plugged in on the desk in front of her, smirked, and started typing. An alarm went off, filling the room with red light.
"Is that the good alarm or the bad alarm?" asked Soos, nervously.
"Good alarm," replied Tambry, "I'm sending them all to the east side of the manor."
"But there's nothing there," said Mr. Pines.
"That's the point," nodded Tambry.
"So you're just gonna send them on a wild goose chase?" asked Soos.
"Uh-huh," said Tambry, "Among other things..."
Dipper, Mabel, Wendy and Stan crept down the staircase into the basement of the Northwest Manor. Above them, they could hear the sounds of alarms ringing, agents running and the fire control system being activated. It sounded like Soos, Tambry and Mr. Pines had found the security room.
"...you really wanna do this, fellas?" Dipper heard the voice of Bud Gleeful say from down the hall, "You have to admit, it's kind of...how to put it...amoral?"
"If I want your opinion, old man, I'd ask for it!" Gideon growled back.
They reached a corner, and Dipper peeked around. Stanley, Gideon and Bud were gathered around a mechanical computer, the former with his hand over a lever.
"Bud, I know it sounds terrible," replied Stanley, solemnly, "But I've seen what the Children of Destiny can do. I saw countless timelines where the world was destroyed through their power as I fell through that portal. I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen."
"But...surely, there's a better way," shrugged Bud.
"If there was, I would do it," snapped Stanley, "But there isn't. God forgive us, there isn't..."
He reached down for the lever. Stan immediately burst out of cover, running straight for his brother.
Agent Collins reacted swiftly, stepping in front of her boss and drawing her gun. Stan didn't even break his stride, slamming straight into the agent and twisting her arms upwards. There was a bang as she aimed fruitlessly into the sky before Stan managed to snatch the gun, aiming it straight at Stanley. The other ASE agents immediately drew their weapons, aiming them at Stan.
"Well, so much for stealth," muttered Wendy as she, Dipper and Mabel followed Stan into the room.
"Stanford, please," said Stanley, "You know this has to be done."
"All I know is that you're going too far, Stanley," snapped Stan, "Step away from the...what is that, a computer?"
"You'd shoot your own brother?" demanded Stanley.
"To protect my family?" replied Stan, "Yes."
"Well then," nodded Stanley, "Get it over with."
He extended his arms, exposing himself to his brother.
"Fire," he snapped.
Stan's hands began to shake. He was sweating visibly.
"That's enough, Stanley!" shouted Mabel, "Stop messing with him!"
"I'm not messing with him, Mabel," replied Stanley, "If he's going to threaten me, he'd better be able to back it up. Fire, Stanford."
Stan swallowed. Slowly, he lowered the gun.
"I can't," he replied, "Not my brother. I...I can't..."
"Well, ain't that a shame, Stanford," sneered Gideon, "Well, if we're not gonna have any more interruptions, I'd like to be gettin' rid of Dipper now, so..."
"Stanley!" an old, creaky voice thundered.
"Oh you've got to be kiddin' me," groaned Gideon.
All eyes fell on the entrance again. Dipper gasped as Old Man McGucket strode into the room, Pacifica following slightly awkwardly behind.
"Fiddleford?" gasped Stanley, "Wh-what do you know? What did you hear?"
"Enough," replied McGucket, "Jus' enough. Why?"
"The Children of Destiny are massive threats, they..." began Stanley.
"No they ain't," replied McGucket, "They're perfectly normal fellers, just like you. 'Fact, there's only one Child o' Destiny who'd try to ruin the world, Stanley – and I reckon you jus' been played by him."
"What?" said Stanley, "What do you..."
"Well, that charade was nice while it lasted," shrugged Gideon, walking over to the lever, "Surprise, Stanley old friend! It's me!"
He threw the level. Both the machine and the generator began to whine loudly.
"You idiot!" exclaimed Dipper, "You just killed yourself!"
"No, I didn't," replied Gideon, "This machine was never gonna kill the Children of Destiny – I made sure of that. It's gonna funnel their power instead – right into this room."
"And what would it be powering in this room?" asked Pacifica.
"Ain't that just the thing, llama?" sneered Gideon.
"Wait, what?" said Pacifica, tilting her head.
"Wait, what?" exclaimed Mabel.
"You knew?!" demanded Dipper.
"Of course," nodded Gideon, pulling the Children of Destiny book from his jacket, "Unlike you, I actually bothered to read this thing through. The thing's deciphered on page twenty-nine."
"You didn't answer our question," snapped Wendy, "What is it powering?"
"Something special," replied Gideon, "Something very near and dear to this town – or at least it was before the Pines family intervened."
Green electricity began to arc above him, and he extended his arms.
"It's almost a shame you and that lumberjack freak made it in here," he sighed, "This room's shielded, y'see, so this machine can't scoop up your juicy little inner power. But that's okay, that just makes beatin' you that much more satisfyin'."
"What is it powering, boy?!" demanded Stanley, "Answer me!"
"I thought you'd have worked it out by now," said Gideon, "Who else would it be powerin'..."
There was a clap of thunder and the electricity turned a pale blue. Gideon slowly levitated into the air as his eyes began to glow. He grinned psychotically as power flowed through him – Dipper realised with utter dread what was happening as Gideon finished his sentence, his voice echoing slightly as he did.
"...but widdle 'ol me?"
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AN: Yeah, you know I thought it was a bit odd Gideon was going along with Stanley's plan... :P