Depravity Falls

by The Infamous Fly

The show we all know and love depicted in my own twisted style. Will contain violent and disturbing imagery, extremely adult content/language, drugs, death, and mental illness. Season 2, Episode 12 (Series Finale): The final battle begins.

14. S1,E12:Festering Culmination(S1 Finale)

Episode 12: Festering Culmination

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"Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane."― H.P. Lovecraft

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Mabel ogled the metal table in front of her.

The agents had only removed her blindfold after walking her down about thirty minutes of halls, into elevators and up staircases. Now Agent Gray and Agent Lockhart sat across the stainless-steel interrogation table, the former wearing an ecstatic expression, the latter stone-faced as always.

She folded her arms and leaned into her chair as she spoke. "When are you going to let me see Dipper?"

Agent Gray opened a briefcase and removed a recorder, he placed it in the center of the table as he spoke. "He is in a safe location at the moment, when he has recovered and the information we need has been extracted from him, as well as the reason for him falling unconscious, you will be reunited."

She swallowed. "If I tell you everything I know…can I visit him?"

Agent Lockhart cracked his knuckles as he responded. "We'll see. We need to make sure he is not infected first."

Mabel frowned. "Infected with what?"

Agent Gray started the recording and knotted his fingers as he ignored her question. "Were your parent's nervous about sending you into the care of Stan Pines?"

Mabel shook her head.

"Please speak for the recording."

She took a moment to force herself not to tick these guys off any more than she already had. She didn't know how much what they had accused Stan of was true, but by the very fact of pulling her away from her brother after he fell unconscious and were withholding information from her, was enough to know that they were untrustworthy assholes.

As well, they had refused this entire time, to tell her about her apparently missing parents or about the various crimes they'd accused Stan of committing. Had they not been in a position of power, their actions regarding her and everyone else would have bordered on kidnapping.

"No. They were not nervous. If you guys knew my parents were missing, why didn't you tell me and Dipper?"

Agent Lockhart jumped to the next question. "You told us when asked last week, that you have never found your uncle to be guilty of subversive behavior. Would you like to retract that statement?"

Mabel took a long moment. "Stan threatened a friend of mine and he may have been involved in…grave robbing."

Agent Gray adjusted his sunglasses, his smile gone and replaced with the picture of intensity. "I see. And why didn't you alert us to this previously?"

"I found out a full two days after."

"But didn't we supply you with a number to call us in the case of this particular instance."

She raised her vision. "You did supply me with a number. I forgot."

Both grew disgruntled and Agent Gray removed a file from his lap, before flipping it open. "On June 7th, you, your sibling, Gwendolyn Corduroy, Robert Valentino, Tambry Jones, Lee Whit, Thompson Gilmore, and Nate Manson all entered the abandoned 'Dusk Till Dawn' shopping mall. Preceding this night, Lee Whit, Thompson Gilmore, and Nate Manson were never seen nor heard from again. Can you tell us what occurred there?"

"What does this have to do with my uncle?"

"Answer the question," Gray replied.

She forced herself to calm down. "They died."

Agent Lockhart raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I didn't see them die. I was unconscious at the time. All I know is that when I regained control of my body, they were dead."

Gray leaned forward. "What do you mean 'regained control'? That's a very specific use of words."

Mabel turned her attention to the recorder. "Yes, I suppose that is a specific use of words."

Lockhart twitched. "Is there something which you aren't telling us, Miss Pines?"

She met his eyes. "If you want the truth then you're going to have to turn off that recording."

"We can't do that." Gray insisted.

"Well, I'm not going to let you guys lock me up by having recorded evidence."

"Recorded evidence of what?" Lockhart sounded extremely frustrated.

"The supernatural." She said as she watched the tape circle. They must really be using out of date technology.

Gray stood up and drew to her side of the table. "Miss Pines, our group is devoted towards discovering the origin of the unnaturally high amount of disappearances in the Gravity Falls area."

"You're not actually from the CIA, are you?" She asked without looking up.

"You're very clever. Now, I can assure you, that we would not consider prosecuting someone for-"

"If you want the truth you have to turn off that recorder and you have to promise me as much visiting time with my brother as I want."

He practically growled, and then gave his partner some kind of gesture. The moment that the recorder had been turned off, he leaned down, his hot breath cupping her ear lobe.

"We have ways of extracting the information we need, Miss Pines. I would suggest that you co-operate in the most sensible manner possible because whether it's right now or in fifteen years of incarceration from now, we will get the information that we need."

She looked up. "You can't lock me up for doing nothing."

His smile returned and she realized how serpentine his features were. "We have records of your psychotic breakdown when you were thirteen-"

"It wasn't a psychotic breakdown!"

He snapped at her. "Really? Because if I'm not mistaken, you scarred a girl for calling you something or other. Isn't that true?"

He slammed his palms down on the table and she flinched eliciting a laugh out of him. "I'll take that as a yes. We also have a lack of co-operation regarding the disappearance of three teenagers who you were with, all of which were older than you. We also have a record of you saying the words 'regained control of my body', which, to the average Joe, sounds a whole lot like someone admitting that they had a psychotic breakdown. And we have an account from a man named Gideon Gage, that you assaulted him."

He sat back down. "Since we have all your friends in custody, I'm sure that we can get them to give accounts of how clearly unstable you are. So, taken all together, I think we at least have grounds to put you through some psychological evaluation, and, since we can control the outcome of that evaluation, I have to agree. No! We cannot lock you up for no reason."

He folded his fingers. "But I think we can come up with plenty of good reasons for life sentences and hospitalization." He turned to agent Lockhart. "Hey! Wouldn't it be a shame if Ursine woke up only to find that his sister's personality had been medicated out of existence?"

Agent Lockhart remained looking ticked off but played along in spite of his clear uncomfortableness with the concept. "That really would be a shame."

Agent Gray nodded and eyed the pale looking Mabel as he spoke. "A goddamned travesty. So…if you'd like to simply tell us everything, then I'm sure we can come to a much more beneficiary deal. Alright?"

Mabel stood up, startling both grown men with the intensity of her gaze. "No! You can threaten me all you want, I'm not telling you anything until I am able to see my brother. Yeah, you might be able to get most of my experiences by pressuring my friends, but guess what? Only I know where The Journal is. What's The Journal? It's a little red book which contains more information about the supernatural then you could ever research in a thousand years. And my brother, Dipper, hid it in a place, and shared the location with me, alone. You can tear up The Shack if you want to, but you will never find it because his paranoia is finally paying off."

She placed her hands on the table. "And guess what? I'M NOT SCARED BY A COUPLE OF DICKS IN SUITS. Get that through your thick skulls, because I've faced everything from ghosts to weird, scarecrow shapeshifters! Nothing you can do is going to scare me. You wanna lock me up? Fine. You wanna kill your chance of ever understanding what's really happening in this valley? FINE. GO RIGHT AHEAD. But I've faced nine-year-olds more threatening than the two of you, in fact, I recently had my mind melded with the entrails of a demon, a lot like what happened to my brother. So you're never going to get anything out of him or me because the two of us have experienced more in the past few months than either of you ever will!"

She sat back down and used her left hand to correct the strands of hair which had fallen loose. And then, she smiled.

"Do you want to turn on the recorder, because I'll be happy to repeat all of that."

Agent Gray let out a loud sigh, causing her smile to only grow.

[0]

As the two agents discussed their next move outside the room, Mabel hugged her arms and tried not to think about never seeing her brother again.

"Very impressive ShootingStar. You would make a fantastic actress."

She opened her eyes and found Bill sitting across the table from her, his shoes resting beside the tape recorder. In his left hand, he circled a steak knife on the tip of his left index figure.

"Although I must say, you're kind of throwing your brother under the bus. I mean, no, he's never waking up. But if by some stroke of fate he did, they're gonna be pushing him for that book of his."

"What do you want?"

Bill cracked his knuckles and the knife disappeared. "My town back." He sat forward, his eye calculating the level of enzymes emitting from her skin. "Since I've been expelled, a horde of factions have taken control. You're going to aid me in unifying them and getting me ultimate control over the crime syndicates and cults…and before you ask, I'll tell you why you're going to assist me. If you fulfill your side of the deal, I'll awaken your brother and I'll make all of this go away. The government will leave you, your brother, and your uncle alone. And all you gotta do me is one itsy bitsy courtesy."

Mabel stood up. "You…you tore into my mind…you attacked my brother. I'd never do anything for you!"

Bill giggled. "Never say never pumpkin. Creation is studded with variables, not constants."

She turned away, too disturbed by his peering to face him. "J-just leave me alone. I don't know why you think I could help you do that anyway. I'm j-just one person…I don't even know how to drive."

He stood up, flinging the metal chair against the far wall and loping over to her. He placed a thumb against her chin and brought her face towards his. His thumb burnt against her skin but she knew better than to protest.

"You're retailing yourself short." His words, now in a slower, quieter, and deeper tone, were almost as hypnotic as the misty surface of his eye. "It's just like the hoary screen tells you; you can do anything you put your mind to."

"Miss Pines, wake up."

She opened her eyes and found that she had been sleeping against the metal table. Agent Lockhart stood over her, his arms folded. She shook herself and apologized for falling asleep on him. He grunted before finally explaining to her their decision.

"First of all, you are going to type down for us, every single supernatural occurrence which you've experienced. Then, we are going to supply a room for you at the nearest hotel. Since you are a person of interest in a case involving criminal organization, as well as being a minor, I will be keeping with you until either your parents are found or other guardians can be provided. You will not be allowed to stand more than twenty feet away from me at all times, you will be allowed weekly visits with your brother, and he will be able to join you at the residence of your guardians after he recovers. You will provide me and my associates with information regarding the provided occurrences, whenever we ask. Deal?"

Mabel coughed and stood up. "Could I get that all in writing? I'm sorry, but you speak too fast and with too many details for me."

He drew a hand across his face in exasperation and muttered fine as he exited the room.

[0]

Gideon walked into the town square, his smile almost as pale as his sun-deprived skin. When you were as old as he felt, the sun was your only real enemy. Well, it wouldn't be one for long. With Stan Pines out of the picture all he had to do was get the town to condemn that death trap he called a house and then claim the ultimate power lurking beneath it.

He leaned against the statue of Quentin Trebly as a mob of the Brotherhood approached torches and pitchforks in hand.

Their leader, Nathan or something along those lines, stepped forward first as Gideon pretended to be disinterested.
"Leave our town you fowl being! You are a desecration to all that is holy!"

Gideon lifted an eyebrow and then spoke as he dusted himself off. "Calm yourself, there's no need for me and you all to be enemies. That wouldn't be opportune for anyone involved."

The preacher removed a metal cross from his cloak. "NOW! BEGONE, LEST WE MAKE IT THAT YOU NEVER EXISTED!"

Gideon smiled. "Funny, cause after tonight…" He raised a hand, and the leader of the backward thinking hooligans was lifted into the air choking and kicking. "…everyone's going to pretend that you're the one who never existed."

The preacher's gasps turned to gurgles as blood escaped his mouth with the crushing of his windpipe. He struck the ground like a bullet, drawing gasps and screams from his followers.

Gideon grinned and stepped closer. "Now I want what all of you want, for all these mad paganists and their heathen worship to be gone from your little town. You can either gain a powerful ally…" His eyes glowed as energy coursed through his every vein, turning him into something of an illuminating sky blue skeleton. "…or you and your loved ones can crumble and die, one…by…one."

They didn't need much convincing after that.

[0]

Mabel stared at her sleeping brother.

His chest rose and fell with the beeping of the machine to his left. Despite the fact that they were not in the town hospital, instead stowed away in some special facility which the government guys had set up with startling speed, she could not help but remember when his arm had been broken.

Men in lab coats, wearing gas masks and heavy gloves, fretted over him, writing down his vitals every five seconds. She was not allowed to come within seven feet of his bed, and she wondered what they were afraid of. Whatever had happened to Dipper, it wasn't any disease. And even if it was, how would they know that seven feet was far enough away? The contagion could already have afflicted her friends.

Perhaps they were testing Candy, Brenda, and Robbie just at this moment.

She considered asking Agent Lockhart if they were, but decided against it. He was on the phone with somebody and growing more distressed by the moment.

As she looked at him, Agent Lockhart agreed to something and clicked his phone shut. He grabbed Mabel's hand and tugged her out the exit. "C'mon, they need to stabilize him."

Mabel nodded along, forcing herself not to object but keeping an eye on her brother as they dragged him away.

[0]

Stan glared at Agent Gray as the younger man sat down and gave him a characteristic smile. He sat down across the table and crossed his legs while Stan tested the maneuverability of his hands and the length of the

Agent Gray removed a checklist and licked his finger, soaking in this moment. "Now…would you like to inform us as to why you broke into the Pines family residence one day previous to the reported disappearance of Arthur and Ruby Pines?"

Stan smirked. "I was delivering a cup of sugar."

Agent Gray adjusted his sunglasses. "I hope you know that we have no qualms about using um, rather illegal means to acquire the information which we need. Nobody is looking for you Stan Pines, no one will care if you are found in a ditch a couple weeks from now…and hey, with all the criminal connections you have, and we would be the last blamed even if someone did care about you."

Stan twitched. "If you kill me, you don't get all the sweet knowledge in my brain."

Agent Gray stood up and slid on a glove with little metal studs. "No…but a week is long enough to get all we need."
He walked up behind Stan, before yanking a bag over his head and making contact with the con man's chin. Pain jerked through Stan, reminding him of his brass knuckle brawling days. A second blow landed in the exact same area, as did the third one.

Agent Gray grabbed his sweat drenched hair and leaned down to his ear. "I can do this all week, by the way, I've waited over thirty years to get the answers that I need, so no one, including you, is going to stop me."

Stan cleared his throat and spat out blood before speaking. "If you think this is torture then you are going to have to up the ante."

Agent Gray broke his nose for that.

[0]

Gideon snapped the neck of the leader of the drug boss with two fingers.

He raised his gaze and smiled to the man's associates.

"What were you saying about me being too old, again?"

[0]

As they were still "stabilizing" Dipper, but wanted to show her that they were good on their end of the bargain, the agents decided it would be fine for her to visit one of her friends. It didn't take her long to decide that Candy was the one she wanted to speak with.

The girl was the timidest of all of them, and would be understandably freaked out by being arrested by a government she did not trust and which probably wasn't treating her the same way as Brenda or Robbie.

The girl had been placed in a little blinding white "holding area", which seemed to be code for "cell" in this organization. Agent Lockhart chose to enter with her and regarded Candy with some distaste. No, it wasn't distaste. It was fear.

What was a grown man like him, armed to the teeth, doing being afraid of her tiny friend?

Mabel wasn't sure that she wanted to find out.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she sat down on Candy's cot.

The girl was staring at the corner of the room and surprised Mabel. "Yes. They ask few questions, merely want to know everything I do about Mr. Pines."

Mabel tried not to wince. She didn't blame her friend for not having regrets for revealing everything she knew about Stan to these people. But, no matter how she tried, she could imagine her great uncle doing something to her parents. He wasn't like Gideon, nice for the purpose of controlling those he was attracted to. No, in fact, he'd been a bit of a jerk to her and Dipper when they first arrived, resentful of their presence.

Even if he had committed some of those other crimes, it wasn't right if he ended up locked up forever for murdering people he hadn't (or worse, getting the injection). However, it was clear to her that the people she was dealing with didn't really care about Stan's crimes any more than they did about this town. The arrest was a front for getting him in a room, getting him under their thumb, where they could squeeze all the information they desired out of him.

Candy slid to face her. "Have you seen Brenda? I am afraid that they will do something to her!"

Mabel's thoughts jumped to the brawny brunette. She had admitted to using drugs while in the Dreamworld. What if they tested her and found out? They would have another person, forced to stay in this place and answer their questions.

It occurred to her, that if they found out about the existence of something like Bill, it might turn their entire operation on its head.

"I haven't seen her, I'll ask to though…don't worry."

Candy nodded, playing with her blanket and licking her lips. She was hiding something.

"What's wrong?" Mabel asked.

Candy raised her face, her expression begging for forgiveness. "Mabel, I did not want to…but…but they made me. I h-had to, I had to."

Mabel tilted her head. "Wait, slow down. What did they make you do?"

Candy swallowed. "Th-they m-made me t-tell them about the-the old man."

Mabel's frowned deepened as she asked what old man Candy was referring to.

"The…the one with the c-cast on h-his arm. They said he could be very useful. I don't know what that means but he, he did not do as wrong as Mr. Pines."

"Wait, why would the government care about McGucket?"

Candy shook her head. "Not men in suits, they not care…no, was my-"

As she spoke, the door opened and a Korean couple stepped in. The man was in a brown jacket and jeans, while the woman was in a gray top with white slacks. Agent Lockhart stepped forward and spoke with an edge to his voice.

"Miss Cho, you are free to leave with your parents."

Candy swallowed. "Yes, my parents, they are ones who want to know of Mr. McGukit."

The woman said a single word in Korean, and Candy snapped to attention. She gave Mabel a quick hug before moving like a soldier to her parent's side. The man said something to her as they walked out and Lockhart kept the door open.

"Your guardian is here."

Mabel gaped at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. She didn't have any godparent or friends of the family. Still, she stood and followed him down the hall, past many, many "holding areas."

When she saw Wendy, answering some questions to a man in a lab coat, she bolted forward and surprised the redhead with a hug.

"Woah! Calm down there, everything is going to be okay."

[0]

Cold water splashed on Stan's face, and his eyes opened.

Agent Gray was literally in his face. "You sure do have a great pain tolerance." He stood, and straightened his collar. "Make yourself presentable, Mr. Pines, we've got company."

By the time that Stan processed this, the door jerked open and harsh light struck. Mabel and the person he least expected to see entered. Wendy avoided his gaze and folded her coat arms, Mabel stared at his various bruises and bloody spots with whimpering confusion.

She glared at Agent Gray. "What did you do to him?"

The man removed his glove. "What's the matter? He's the reason your brother's in the infirmary, the reason that you have those scars on your stomach. Don't you want your parent's back?"

Mabel's kicked dog expression should have been enough to break the agent's stony demeanor. It didn't, and Gray shrugged, speaking with Lockhart as the younger entered the cell.

Lockhart tapped his watch. "You have five minutes for visiting."

Mabel nodded and rounded the table, squatting in front of Stan. She drew a hand across his face and he cringed multiple times when she touched his bruises. With swelling eyes, she looked up at him and swallowed.

"Stan…did you know that our parents had gone missing?"

He sighed and gave a quick nod.

"…did you…did you have anything to do with it?"

Stan spoke despite the pain it caused. "Mabel…I'm not the reason why they are gone...I'm just the person who tried to fix the situation." Mabel stood up. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Stan cast his gaze to the concrete floor of the cell.

"H-how do I know that you aren't just like Gideon? Or like all the other people we've met who turned out to be lying? You-you let this happen to Dipper…you kn-knew about Bill and you never once warned us about him…"

Stan groaned. "I thought he was dead…"

Mabel gave a crippling mockery of a laugh. "Oh, well that makes it all okay...how, how stupid do you think I am?"

Stan closed his eyes. "I don't think that you're stupid at all."

"W-well, y-you must have…you m-must have figured out how st-stupid I was to s-say and d-do all th-those things…j-just to get our trust…now Dipper's hurt because of you…and if W-Wendy hadn't showed up, I might have been spending the next three years of my life in a foster home."

Mabel gave a noise of frustration, desiring to say more but finding herself unable. She turned to Lockhart and asked to leave the cell.

As he led Mabel out, Wendy placed her hands in her pockets. "I told you that this would blow up in your face."

Stan scowled at her boots. "None of this pain would have happened if you hadn't run like a coward."

Wendy snarled. "I got out while I could, Stan. Not to mention, you lied to me. Yeah, I know about that…McGucket came to me after Summerween, he told me that The Machine? It doesn't bring people back from the dead Stan! That's a myth which you invented to get more power!" She stepped closer. "You know, it's my fault for trusting a scumbag like you. But I at least thought…that you would have the decency to tell me what you actually had to offer."

As Wendy turned away Stan raised an eyebrow. "Since we're talking about lying, it's safe to assume that you've explained everything to Mabel, right?"

Wendy flinched and Stan smirked. "That's what I thought."

Wendy took a deep breath and said her peace as she opened the door. "Have fun rotting in here Stan."

[0]

Robbie glared at the secretary as she returned his possessions to him, one at a time. He had just been shoved into a dark room, asked a number of invasive questions regarding his personal life and then shoved back out. As well, he had come to the conclusion that because he had not killed Gideon when he had the chance, a demon would not have sent Dipper into a coma.

His mood only brightened when he heard Mabel's voice, and he turned to give her a smile. That smile immediately was replaced with a grimace when he recognized who stood behind her, guiltily inspecting the floor.

Mabel noticed the animosity in the air and coughed before she spoke. "Robbie…I know that you might umm, have negative feelings towards Wendy. And that's totally understandable…but she has already offered to act as my guardian until my-my parents are found…and we need all the help we can get."
Robbie wanted to disagree, to claim that the redhead was untrustworthy. To tell about the time he had caught his girlfriend in hushed conversation with Stan. To tell about the fact that she was clearly an accomplice in the charges sent Stan's way.

Instead, he grumbled something about needing sleep and turned away. She was right, and he was too afraid that the demon would be hunting them down, one by one, to reject assistance in reviving Dipper and dispelling the monster.

He asked Mabel about Dipper and she told him that, according to what Lockhart had said, there was nothing which could have been immediately seen, which was wrong with him.

Somehow that was much, much worse than if they had found any physical damage.

Robbie sighed. "Alright, umm…" he glanced up at the agent who lurked behind Wendy and wondered if he needed to conceal his plans from him. He took Mabel by the shoulder and drew her away from Wendy and the agent. "Tomorrow, you come over to my house and I'll go through the books that Dipper lent me. There must be something which will help your brother."

She nodded, a glimmer of hope returning to her.

Robbie collected his things, cast one last glare at his ex and was lead into one of the trucks. He was unaware that, after the SBE dropped him off and he was allowed to walk home, Bergmann watched him from the safety of a nearby alleyway.

[0]

Manda Ramirez opened her eyes.

She was sitting in the same cell which she had for the past two weeks. She breathed in and out, taking in her surroundings.

Her bruises, the result of intense interrogation, should have hurt as she stood up and made her way to the door. The pain didn't bother her, however. Not anymore, not after what the Hollow One had showed her.

Right at this moment, it was whispering to her, as those like it whispered to all the others down here. She looked side to side, her eyes focusing on the man who sat in a slump in the cell at the far end of the hall. Then she turned her attention to the soldier standing just outside her cell.

"You're making Gn'aak angry, Mr. Sandman…" She called out in a sing=song voice, speaking to no singular spot, but rather the whole world and all the eyes which watched it.

Her threat made the world giggle.

[0]

Mabel was falling through a mass of blackness and rushing purple. Gold coursed through the liquid which she traversed in a terrifying mixture of soaring and tumbling. The world was blooming, consuming her and dissolving her flesh piece by piece. It was sickly tepid in temperature but made all of her bones feel frozen.

As she fell further, more and more of the nightmarish world was revealed. Diamond white pyramids rose from the slime below, the pinnacles of each glowing with blue fire. The purple stretched away to reveal massive gorge which stretched for as far as the eye could see. Little stick figures danced about on the surface of the world, writhing with the pain of the blue fire which refused to go out.

A sound reached her, a high pitched growl. Then the gorge began to move, up and down, back and forth, and with these movements, she realized that it was not a chasm. It was a mouth. Bronze trees toppled into the abyss as she was deafened and the atmosphere stripped away her flesh.

She held warped eyes in front of her face as she plummeted into the darkness.

"Remember ShootingStar, not all objects cremate in the mesosphere. And asking for a friend can have dangerous magnitudes."

Mabel jerked awake, tears rushing to her eyes. Dipper had been down there in the darkness, struggling between the jaws of something which was consuming him. As she stared at the hotel room wall, she realized that her memory of being consumed by Bill was exactly what her brother must be feeling at the moment.

Lockhart sat in the corner, raising an eyebrow at her distress. Apparently, he didn't sleep.

Wendy sat up in the other bed. She was dressed in her undershirt and some boxers. Concern covered her face, and Mabel got the feeling that she looked like a ghost.

"Are you okay?"

Mabel gave no verbal response. She just crawled out of her bed, skin still crawling at with the same awful feeling she had been given when Bill pulled her into his body. Her ears were filled with whispers which made her head grow hot and hurt.

She collapsed onto Wendy's bed, and the older teen wrapped her arms around shoulders and pulled her onto her lap. The redhead reached over and snapped off the light.

"It's okay…get some rest…tomorrow will be better."

Mabel stared at darkened ceiling, feeling Lockhart's eyes on her. The whispers slowly faded as she closed her eyes and willed herself to go to sleep.

[0]

Gideon glared across the desk at his competitor.

Preston Norwood sighed and adjusted the clock. He titled his head, his face framed by the rays of sunlight that had just begun to between the window shades. He had always preferred to stay in the shadows and this occasion was no different. Gideon could barely see him given the lighting of the room.

"If you think that this assumption will pay off…you are going to be sorely mistaken."

Gideon giggled, sounding a lot like the demon he'd summoned. "I know that it will pay off. It's about time that this town had someone to unify all the freaks and criminals, and that person should be me."

Preston bristled. Notwithstanding his appearance, the warlock's manner was still befitting a child's. A spoiled, coy child.

"No, it shouldn't."

Gideon frowned and stood, his eyes glowing with teal energy. "Excuse me? I could tear you apart, here and now…"

Preston shook his head stiffly. "If the old ones had wanted you in power, do you really think they would have chosen my family to found the town? No, you are just a puppet who has overestimated his worth."

Gideon snarled and lifted a bony finger, energy exiting and fluctuating around Preston. In return, Preston's eyes blinked with golden light and his breathing took on a luminous quality.

"I would suggest that you quit…right about now…" He said through closed teeth.

Gideon seethed, angry that his magic wasn't working properly. "I will tear down everything you own, Norwood. I will burn this town to the ground if I have to get its power."

With that, he turned away and Preston sighed. He had hoped that they might be able to conduct themselves in a fashion befitting gentlemen. Now he was going to have to get his hands dirty.

[0]

As Wendy picked up bagels, Mabel texted Robbie and asked where his house was. He gave a response which shocked her, but she went along with it anyway.

She dressed in the bathroom, putting on her favorite sweater (fuchsia with a rainbow in the center) and looking herself in the eye via the mirror. The rings of sleeplessness lay beneath each of her eyes, but she ignored them.

She was feeling good about today. The birds were singing, the sun was shining. Today she was going to get her brother back, or at least, get on the track of getting her brother back.

As she stepped back out, she frowned to find that Lockhart was typing something down. He adjusted is sunglasses.

Clearing her throat, she gained his ticked off attention.

"What?" He asked as though she were going to ask him to flush the toilet for her.

Mabel folded her arms. "Why are you like this?"

Lockhart twitched. "What do you mean?"

She gave a vague gesture to his entire form. "You so much about doing your job that you are completely apathetic to other people's emotions."

He gave a crooked smile. "Spoilers, that's most people."

She frowned. "I don't believe that."

He turned away. "Well then, you are in for a disappointment. People care about doing their jobs and getting on with their lives. That's why no one cares about Global warming, that's why no one cares about this place. That's why no one will care when you are gone."

Her frown deepened. "You care."

"No, I don't." He replied as he checked the parking lot and watched Wendy return with a bag.

"You said no one cared about this place. But you and your partner…the two of you must want to stop the disappearances right? Why would you work in the government, if you didn't want to help people?"

He snapped. Whipping towards her with a slasher smile which showed that he had just a few too many teeth, he removed his sunglasses, revealing two very red irises. "Power. That's the reason anyone does anything. Power over their life or the lives of others. This is a means to an end."

Mabel remained unfazed. "I still don't believe you. You were uncomfortable with locking me up for no reason, you were worried about your partner. That means you still have empathy…even if you're not completely human, that's fine. There's nothing perfect about being human. That's what makes being alive worth it."

He fumed. "Oh, shut up. I swear to god, I shouldn't have to deal with punks like you. You think the world is all rainbows and sunshine? I've seen things which would make you break down sobbing."

She tilted her head. "Of course, there is bad stuff in the world. What's your point?"

He returned the sunglasses to his face and turned away. But she caught his expression. What he had seen wasn't bad, it was crushing. Not evil, but unfathomable. Something which could not be fought, something which did not abide moral lines.

Her skin felt like it was crawling again. Like she was back in that claustrophobic madness which dwelled within Bill's form.

Wendy opened the door before curiosity destroyed them both and Mabel leaped to explain the plan to her. Wendy wasn't happy about visiting Robbie, but nodded along and offered Lockhart a bagel.

He gave his response as he exited the room. "You can eat on the way. Let's just get this spiritual mumbo-jumbo out of the way…"

Wendy gave Mabel a quizzical look as to the man's clear yearning to leave and Mabel promised to explain later.

[0]

Robbie lived in an abandoned chapel, which lay at the base of Mount Faith. He had long since destroyed any relics of the faith and replaced them with curtains, sectioning off different areas of the building. In a great stone casket, one in the basement of the building, he kept the book Dipper had given him, along with the anti-demon objects.

When he received Mabel's call that she was coming, he was in the middle of examining the section on dream demons. Placing a dog ear on the page, he returned the book inside and climbed the rotting staircase.

"Okay…yes…I'll have something ready by the time you get here…"

As he spoke, excitement bubbling in his heart that he might be able to repent for failing so miserably at the task his sister had bestowed on him, the bomb which Bergmann had placed inside the chapel while he slept last night, was remotely triggered.

It ticked away, twenty minutes away from going off.

Robbie changed into the second pair of clothes he owned and removed the tome regarding demons from the casket. He had just stepped out onto the porch of the chapel, ready to greet the approaching car, driven by that same stone-faced agent, when the bomb reached ten seconds.

He barely had time to step off the chapel and begin his analysis of the text, when the building exploded. Splinters shot everywhere, the book in his arms catching on fire at the same time that he did. The breath was forced out of him, as he was sent into the mud from the blast. Pain seared his stump of a left arm and he screamed as she struggled to wiggle out of the surrounding flames.

Half-deafened by the blast, he was pulled from the ground by Wendy, her scent unmistakable. Mabel was screaming and the agent was on the phone, as though this sort of thing happened all the time.

When he awoke, it was in a hospital room. There was screaming at the end of his bed, Wendy spitting back the venom which Tambry was losing on her. Mabel was in the corner, staring at the floor and gripping her knees. If she'd rocked forward and backward, she would have no doubt been the perfect poster child for traumatized children.

The agent stood next to her, totally apathetic to the lashing out of the teenage girls. Although, if they kept it up, he looked just annoyed enough to maybe pull out a gun and send them out of the room.

Robbie wheezed and the room grew silent. Tambry bolted over to him, saying something which he was having trouble hearing. Mabel walked over to him, asking him to forgive her. He didn't know what she meant, but it was clear she blamed herself for his removed arm as well as his burns and fucked up ear.

Doctor ushered them all out, but not before Wendy could cast one last mournful look towards him. Pity had never been so acidic.

The doctor bent over him and managed a smile. "You're very lucky Mr. Valentino, with some rest and a hearing aid, you will be good as new."

Robbie doubted this but knew better than to argue.

When the man left, he lay back down and apologized to his sister, for failing her once again, as the painkillers pulled him back into sleep.

[0]

Pacifica had awoken, surrounded by photos of Mabel. Despite the strange warmth they gave her, she had stuffed them into the file to which they belonged, and placed that file next to the one for Dipper.

Then her daily routine began. She'd showered, dressed, and fixed her hair. By the time that she was headed downstairs, her mother was on the couch, discussing something ominous with the person she least wanted to see.

It was Gideon, albeit, a much older Gideon. He had to be in his seventies, despite the fact that he had never sounded or looked more energetic. Every word he said was serrated, ready to cut open the world for his liking. Her mother was walking on eggshells in their conversation.

They were discussing the ownership of her mother's little "club" on the lake, as well as the transition of the money made there.

When he spotted her (unfortunately) a smile crossed the old man's face. "Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine."

The way he said it, she was unsure if he was being sarcastic or just creepy.

"Uh…thanks." She replied as she speed-walked to the door.

"Say good morning to Mabel for me!" He called, before returning his attention to her mother.

Even as she tread out the front door, she could feel his eyes on her.

She put on her ear buds and jogged into town, in accordance with her schedule. She had reached main street, when she spotted Mabel, entering the Greasy Ladle with a one of those not-really-CIA agents behind her (one of the two who her father had led around and her mother had flirted with), and with the Irish chick who had threatened Mavis and Brianna to stay away from Mabel so many weeks ago.

She waited until they had found a table, to enter and wave at Mabel. The brunette didn't see her, too busy leaning on the redhead the moment that they sat down. She had clearly missed sleep and her morale had hit an all-time low.

Mabel ordered something from Susan and then left her head on the table surface, while the redhead gave an unhelpful smile and the agent stood next to the booth with a constant expression of displeasure.

"Hey, Mabel!" She called, telling herself that she definitely was not jealous of this other girl in the least and burying any thoughts which indicated to the contrary.

Mabel raised her gaze and gave Pacifica a halfhearted smile. "Oh…hey, Paz…sorry I look like this…a lot of crap has happened."

The redhead scratched Mabel's scalp. "You also didn't get very much sleep…"

Mabel groaned in response.

Pacifica had known that the government vans were headed for the Mystery Shack, but had assumed Mabel would be glad to have her creep of an uncle out of her life. She was going to sit down in the booth, but the agent stopped her.

"I have to check your purse, Ma'am."

Pacifica balked, before shoving the purple fabric into his hands. She spoke tightly as she moved to Mabel's side. "Keep it."

As Lockhart glared at the back of her head, she sat down and placed her hands on the table. "What happened?"

Mabel gave hearty sigh and sat up, the dark circles under her eyes almost as unnerving Pacifica as hearing Mabel speak in a sarcastic tone. "Well, for starters, I had a demon pull me into him, which is still giving me nightmares. What happened after that? Oh yeah, my uncle got arrested by the shadiest bunch of people who were ever given badges! Apparently, I've been living with a mass murderer, who probably knocked off my parents and has some weird fixation on me and Dipper. That means I'm just as stupid and naive as everything in this town has been telling me since the first day I got here."

Mabel removed her sweater, tossing it to the side and glaring at the table. "Then, my brother collapsed into a catatonic state, so that leaves me without anything to go on. And maybe you aren't aware Paz, but Dipper is the one who always has a plan, he's the one who helps me fix everything. Oh, yeah, and now I can't go to the bathroom without this guy-"

She jerked a thumb in the direction of Mr. Suit. "-standing outside of the stall. I can't eat or drink without him testing it, and the alternative is that he and his partner are going to lock me up and frame me for murder!" Her voice took on a self-inflicted cruelty. "Better yet, one of my friends almost died and is in the burn ward because he tried to help me!"

Again, she collapsed onto the table. "So altogether…this has been the worst week of my life and nothing short of a miracle is going to turn this around."

Pacifica watched as the town folk surrounding cast disturbed glances the way of Mabel, before trying to return to their meals. She took a moment to stare at the agent, who was completely apathetic to Mabel's horrible position. Then she looked to the redhead and noticed her uncomfortableness with this list of events.

She had done something, to contribute to this, hadn't she?

It didn't matter. Not right now. Right now Mabel needed to be helped and Pacifica couldn't do that if she didn't understand the girl's position.

Sliding over to Mabel, Pacifica struggled with knowing what to do. There was no going around it, she would have to initiate some body contact. She steeled herself, hoping to convince her body that Mabel was not a threat before placing a hand on Mabel's back.

Slowly, she drew the hand up and down, hushing Mabel and promising that she would help any way she could. It worked too well, and Pacifica froze when Mabel leaned on her, too exhausted and downtrodden to attempt anything else.

Susan returned with some sandwiches, asking what the matter was when she saw Mabel's quivering form and heard her squeaky little cries.

Pacifica thanked Susan for the food and was prepared to pay her. However, the old woman insisted that it was "No charge", before hurrying off to take orders.

Pacifica turned back to Mabel and slid back into the booth. She was going to ask Mabel what problem she wanted to handle first, but found that the brunette had fallen asleep. She actually looked very cute asleep, her little snores contributing to the picture of innocence.

Pacifica was about to ask the redhead for her name, but then she heard "One slice of Blueberry pie, please. And umm, can you dribbles some maple syrup on it."

McGucket. He was sitting at the diner counter, in a sharp suit which made him almost unrecognizable.

Susan responded with a giggle. "Of course, Fiddleford. The answer has always and will always be yes."

The redhead stood and approached him, saying something and receiving a hug from the short, old man. Pacifica glanced at Mabel, then at the agent, before slipping back out of the booth and dawdling close enough to hear their conversation, but not close enough for either to realize they were being listened to.

"Wendy! It feels like it's been months!" He only ceased embracing her waist after a moment of uncomfortableness on the part of the teen.

"Wendy" sighed and spoke as she scratched the back of her neck. "It's only been three weeks…"

McGucket smiled. "Well, you know the saying…time sure does drag on when everything is going terribly wrong…"

Wendy gave him a skeptical look. "I've never heard that one. Just that time flies when you're having fun…what's with the suit?"

His mood changed from barely concealed sorrow to jubilance. "Well…I've been hired by a company to work on computer design!"

Wendy nodded. She was clearly happy that the old mechanic was no longer reliant on Stan Pines. "Congratulations!"

He was about to say something else when the door opened, and six men in red robes entered. On the front of their hoods, was a golden eye. In their hands, they clutched metal crosses and pokers. Pacifica's eyes widened and she pressed herself against the counter as they passed, headed for Mabel.

The agent blocked their way. "Now, what do you gentlemen want?"

The tallest pointed a bony finger at Mabel. "Her."

Seeing which way this was going, everyone besides Wendy and McGucket cleared out of the building. Unamused, the agent removed a gun from his pocket. "I'm afraid that I cannot allow that."

The tallest giggled. "Then we will have to use forceful measures…"

It was a blur of motion, Wendy leaped forward, removing an axe from her belt and slamming it against one of the cultist's head. As his knees buckled and he fell to the floor, the diner erupted in havoc.

The agent slammed someone into the wall. Wendy kicked another in the chest. McGucket sighed and opened his briefcase, removing a small metal device. He injected one of the cultists in the neck with it, and the man staggered to the floor, writhing with electricity.

Then Pacifica saw that someone had grabbed Mabel.

She bolted forward, a rage bursting alive in her stomach. Her shoe connected with the man's chin and her hand whipped out, slamming into the neck of another assaulter. No one was going to hurt her friend.

Mabel opened her eyes and watched as more hood wearing bastards flooded the building. They jumped onto of the agent, slamming him to the floor and calling him a fascist as they clawed at his face with their overgrown, dirt caked nails.

Pacifica yanked the diner window open and grabbed her hand.

"Run, okay? Run and don't look back." She insisted.

Mabel nodded, as she dropped out the window and stumbled across the wet dirt. Pacifica watched her disappear into the woods, before jerking back to the cultists and colliding her foot with one of the idiots which had just stood up.

McGucket cocked a revolver at the ceiling and silenced the brawl with a firing. As everyone paused to look his way, Pacifica realized how regal he looked despite his goofy appearance. He had a power to his gaze which drew the eye and kept the mind at a sluggish pace. If she hadn't known better, she would have said he was a hypnotist.

"Friends, neighbors…is this really what you want to do? To assault children and an officer of the law, so that you can fulfill the will of a madman, who cares nothing about you each or our community? Please, I implore you…lay down your arms. If you truly have faith, then you will place your lives in fate." He stepped down. "Our town has been through more than any outsider can ever understand…but we have survived. Have the hope of our founders…and surrender yourselves to providence."

Pacifica expected them to laugh at him.

Instead, all of the cultists lay down their weapons and put their hands behind their heads. The agent stood and cast a glare to Wendy.

"Your friend is very persuasive…" he said with an air of suspicion.

Wendy turned her eyes to McGucket, who was staring at the cultists with sympathy. She was going to ask him something when Pacifica tapped her shoulder.

"Oh, hey, sorry we haven't been introduced. I'm-"

"We need to find Mabel." Pacifica insisted.

Wendy realized that the girl had escaped and nodded, grabbing McGucket and explaining the situation while Pacifica cast one last distasteful look her way and sprinted out of the messy diner.

Her hands gripped Mabel's sweater as she resisted the urge to smell it.

[0]

Mabel stumbled through the woods, trying to keep herself together as she cast worried glances over her shoulder. Her legs hurt and her throat was burning, but she didn't want to stop. If she did, she might be forced to think about how horrible her life had become. Then she would have to return, to force herself to fix it.

"Tonight, tonight, while I'm holding you so near. Tonight, tonight, what I'd give if I could hear."

The sound of Bill's voice reached her at the same time that the snapping of his needle-like hands did. He strode out from behind a massive tree and continued his odd singing from across the river. As she stared at him, he pretended that she was nothing.
"The three little words that would thrill the heart of me. Just whisper, 'I love you and will eternally.' Tonight, tonight, more than any time before. This heart of mine seems to need you so much more."

His head shifted to stare at her, although she got the idea that he had been watching her the whole time. His vision took in more information than any satellite ever would.

"The touch of your hands, the thrill of your embrace. Keep saying that no one will ever take your place. While looking up afar, I wished upon a star. And prayed for a blessing from above. Now, if my wish should come true until our life is through. I'll have you, dear, to have, to hold and to love."

He finally spoke, no smugness in his voice, but instead the hint of being angered. "Locky didn't allow me to finish my proposal…"

Mabel turned away. "Forget it…I don't care what you do to me, I'm not making a deal with a demon." She quivered, worse than before. "I-I'm not stupid! I'm not going to do the one thing which every piece of media in my entire life has told me not to."

Bill began to levitate. "Aw, c'mon ShootingStar. I'm not the reason for your dilemmas…remember, Gideon beckoned me. He's the one whose been making your life miserable, he's accountable for the Trickster's victims. He's the reason that your brother is insentient right now and why you're in this position."

Bill twirled his cane childishly. "I'm your one real ally, the person who wants to yank the rug out from under him and fragment his control of this town. If you had let me eradicate your uncle's resolution I could have used him to off Gideon. But you didn't want that. You wanted to have your cake and eat it too. Well, if you don't want to make a transaction to restore the quality of your life, that's your call." He turned away, unable to stop himself from adding. "I just thought you were going to cease being a spoiled princess and consider someone else for once."

His voice turned accusatory as his eye turned back to bore through her and stare at all her naked desires and impulses with microscopic certainty. "Gideon's not the only reason for PineTree's current state.

Mabel didn't turn around. "Wh-what do you want anyway?"

"Nothing much. Just a murder."

She whirled towards him. "Why would I ever do that? Why would you want me specifically to kill someone for you?"

Bill's eye gleamed. "Because you're ShootingStar. You and your brother were made for great things!"

"I don't want to be special!" She declared. "I want to be back home in Piedmont, ignored by my parents, made fun of in school, if only so that I won't have to deal with things like you!"

Bill shrugged. "Some are born into greatness…" He swiveled with a step, his fingers snapping and causing the same kitchen knife he'd been earlier doing parlor tricks with to materialize on the river bed. It glinted, beckoning her small, innocent hands. "…others have greatness lodged in their rib cage. You think Phineas Gage told the iron pole which impaled him that he'd prefer not to be the subject of medical study? If he had, iron poles don't listen to Homo sapiens anyway."
Bill turned away as a voice reached her and pulled her out of dreamland and back to the wakey-world.

Pacifica was bent over her, inspecting her face for injuries as concern crossed her angelic face. "Mabel? Are you okay?"

Sitting up, Mabel nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine…I must have-"

Her eyes locked on the knife lying on the bed of the stream. It gleamed in the dirty water, well deteriorated but also still sharp enough to cut through bone. It was real. She could reach out and pet it. Run it across her palms even.

"-nodded off."

Mabel realized that she was unraveling. Ha. That was funny, spend all that time keeping your brother sane, only for all that stress to come down on you like cats and dogs.

Pacifica let out a breath. She had been worried.

Wasn't that adorable? Scared of that which would be her downfall. Rod Serling couldn't make that kind of irony.

"Well, those weirdos have been arrested…I should probably get you back to that government guy, huh?"

Or you could take that knife and I could die and you could die and the government guy and the Irish chick can scream when they follow the trail of red from down river. They could call it a suicide pact but the hobo's who make a folk song about us would know it was really an escape. You from the scars, and me from insanity.

Heh, well, if this inner monolog is anything to go by, it is too late for one of us.

"Yes. That…that seems like a g-good idea…" Mabel stood up and dusted off her skirt, and leaned forward, kissing Pacifica on the cheek and speaking as she set off insights of Lockhart and his world of paperwork and rules and holding areas and unblinking red eyes. "Thanks for looking for me."

Pacifica shook herself and half ran to keep up with the taller girl. She spoke with a mixture of confusion and affront. "Well, what was I going to do?"

Leave me here to terminally dehydrate. Go back to your obviously miserable life and forget that I ever existed. Maybe pause to check your text messages while I fail at doing mental calisthenics with a demon who is going to get his way one way or another.

Mabel shrugged, rejecting all these answers and opting for uncomfortable silence. It was fun to watch this girl attempt to gain x-ray vision and gawk through Mabel's skull at all the wheels which were moving.

Ha! Jokes on you, my skull is made of lead. Here, let me open it up for you and poison you.

The moment that they found Lockhart, she had only four words for him.

"Take me to Dipper."

[0]

Gideon stood at the base of the hill, staring up at the mansion in which the Idonists celebrated their stupidity. The Norwood's had been given their chance. Both of them.

Now it was time to follow through with his threat. So help him, he lied more than most people on the planet. But when he threatened others, he never lied about his capabilities. He closed his eyes and envisioned a fire, a great, magnificent fire which sent smoke billowing into the air and sent individuals leaping from the windows and into the water for escape. Then he imagined his sister.

All for her. All for Mabel.

He raised a hand, opened his eyes, and grinned as fire consumed the mansion. Flakes of ash filled the air and polluted the water as he listed to the screams inside. Stupid, little pigs. They would no better than to challenge his authority after this.

[0]

Dipper's vitals were normal, the doctor told Mabel. The doctor had not wanted to reveal anything, but Lockhart had convinced the doctor that she was the proper security clearance.

So, the doctor went on with the disturbing information. He had no skull injuries, no brain injuries either. They could not identify a toxin within him or a disease. Nothing could explain his symptoms of head trauma.

By all accounts, he should have been standing right beside her, cracking sarcastic jokes about the government's capacity to spend tax dollars on things no one cared about. He should have been plotting out how they were going to escape this nightmare.

But he wasn't.

And, unfortunately, she knew why. For as long as her brother existed, he posed a danger in Gideon's mind for her attention (and in a weird, serial killer type way, her affections). Even if she saved her twin from his current state without taking Bill's deal, then Gideon would continue trying to kill him.

There was no escape.

When no one was looking, she crouched beside his bed and leaned her forehead on the side of his bed. "Please, Dipper…please…I need your help here, I can't solve this one on my own and I think…I don't think I can trust my own mind very much anymore.

Lockhart had another call, leaning again the wall and nodding every few seconds. Apparently, they had given up on the seven-foot boundary.

She felt herself unravel a little more and she closed her eyes, imagining Dipper as he'd looked when they were three. Smiling and inquisitive, chasing butterflies and eager for museum visits.

"Please…I'm just asking for a little help here…not much…just one of those 'ah-ha' lightbulb moments so that I can fix everything." She clasped her hands together. "Please."

Dipper's breathing went on the same as normal, and Mabel felt like crying, even though her eyes felt dry and irritated from too much of just that.

She couldn't kill somebody, she wouldn't. No matter what, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she crossed that line. From a very young age, she had believed that everyone deserved a chance to redeem themselves that executing someone was unnecessary no matter what they had done.

There had to be another way. There was always another way.

Then it occurred to her, where had Dipper gotten his ideas? The Journal. Surely, there must have been some passage in that book regarding a situation similar to this one? Something which would awaken her brother so that they could face Gideon and his forces together?

"Thanks, bro!" She kissed him on the forehead and sprinted over to Agent Lockhart.

"If I tell you everything that happened in the mall, will you take me to the Shack?"

At first, he was confused by the proposal. Then he nodded.

Mabel had never been more relieved.

[0]

Stan awoke again to cold water. As he regained is senses, he wondered how long he had been in this cell. Days, for all he knew. The brutality which he'd faced had been doled out over and over again.

Still, he had not revealed the information which they wanted to know. He couldn't. If they started interfering, it could be disastrous.

"You've got a visitor, Pines."

The door opened and he raised his head (which throbbed like dead weight) and face McGucket. The man was well dressed and wearing a well-worn look of concern.

"You've really stepped in it this time." He said with that soft Southern accent which calmed the pain in Stan's skull.

Spitting out a little more blood, Stan didn't bother to respond with words.

Fids smirked. "I've seen you worse though…heh, and I guess you've seen me even better than this…"
Stan slumped his head forward and spoke aloud his wondering. "You sound like you've got your story fixed."

Fids shook his head. "I hardly remember anything besides my son and my father…and Georgia…and you, Stan. Everything else is gone. Heh, not sure if it has something to do with all the satanics which your niece and nephew were up to in the living room…but I was out back, just staring at the flowers and all of sudden…my thoughts became much more straightforward."

He removed a suitcase. "Stan, the last thing I want is you, the person who saved me from myself…to be imprisoned." He sighed. "Your brother…ruined my life...he caused my family, and so many others, such death and misery. More than can be forgiven. He is the reason that my son is dead and that I spent years, wallowing in filth and dementia."

Stan's eyes widened. Fids had assumed he and his brother were the same people for the past two decades. This sudden distinction not only surprised him, it made him feel as though the rabbit had hypnotized him into pulling it out of a rabbit.

"…but you repaired me. You gave me a reason to be alive. You have nothing but good intentions, I can think of no one who less deserves to be locked up." He placed his suitcase on the table and adjusted his collar. "I have a deal which should get you out of this position. But you will have to postpone your plans."

Stan sighed. He knew exactly what Fids was proposing. He hated the idea but had to admit that the computer scientist was being pragmatic.

"Alright. But first, we're going to need for Corduroy to agree."

Fids sighed, expecting as much.

[0]

Wendy had not been allowed to enter the Shack grounds (again, the contamination excuse), so she stood beside the car as Lockhart insisted that she follow directly behind him as he led her inside.

It had taken all of five minutes to write down about the ghosts and her possession, and she hoped her sloppy handwriting wouldn't anger Lockhart or Gray. But she felt her anxiety dying away as she approached the house she had stayed in for the past two months. Admittedly, it looked terrible with soldiers and people in lab coats running about, testing this and that and stacking objects outside for categorization.

Still, the knowledge that soon this would all be over, was enough to add a spring to her step. They climbed the stairs, Mabel bolting ahead with the hopes of finding the Journal and being to read out of it before Lockhart got his hands on it.

He called after her, ticked off by this behavior. She ignored him and climbed into the attic. On the one hand, given how much these guys had torn up the house she was surprised they had not found the journal before. On the other hand, her brother had picked an incredibly good spot to hide something, the kind of "hide in plain sight" stuff that he loved.

There, in the attic, she opened the stain glass window and climbed out onto the roof. The rotting shingles creaked under her sneakers and she took a deep breath. At ground level, soldiers and scientists were staring up at her with a mixture of astonishment and confusion.

Lockhart called again. And again, she continued, crawling up the shingles like a gecko. Reaching the part of the roof where a bird's nest resided against a hole in the roof, she reached underneath and slid a large red book out. Sitting upright, she flipped it open and read it in the afternoon sun.

It was unintelligible. Just a series of squiggles and symbols scrawled without regard to consistency or logic. If there was any pattern behind what inscribed the dull pages, then Mabel lacked the tools to divine it.

How had Dipper ever understood any of this? He had never bothered to teach her any of the codes, not that she had ever asked to learn them. She hadn't thought it essential.

In her frustration, she threw the book. It sailed through the air and landed in the hands of her bodyguard. He briefly flipped through the pages, before raising an eyebrow.

"This is the book with all the answers in it?"

Mabel swallowed. She didn't need to answer for a smile to spread across his normally stoic face. It was like a conquistador discovering the fountain of youth.

"Well, I am needed somewhere. C'mon."

He offered his hand and she ignored it, sliding down the roof tiles and dropping in through the window.

As she sat in the back of the car, she heard sirens echoing through the town. Smoke was rising in the distance. She didn't care.

From the front seat, the book sat, mocking her.

Wendy was saying something but she wasn't listening. Her phone, they had given her back her cell phone after they had no doubt bugged it. It buzzed in her pocket, against something sharp and metal which she did not remember picking up.

The phone held a message. The sharp metal thing had a message to, but its message whispered into her, piercing all barriers.

That's what sharp metal things did anyway, right? Pierce.

The car was parked next to the lake, and in the corner of her eye, she could see the mansion on the island, falling apart. It was ravaged by flames. People were being fished out of the water, some alive, some not. Obviously, the fire department could not reach the house itself, as they did not have command of a boat and by the time one was provided, anyone inside would have died from a lack of oxygen if not from the heat.

Wendy told her to stay put and exited the car as well. Lockhart was speaking with someone in a suit, Wendy was running into the water to help in the rescue effort. The sharp metal thing buzzed again.

It was as she inspected the carpeting of the car, a world of dead gray fabric, that it occurred to her the one way out of this.

She opened the door and while moving at a gentle pace, she disappeared into the forest.

[0]

Gideon laughed and popped open a two-hundred-year-old champagne bottle. He giggled at the appearance of the foam, listening to the town radio as it warned of the fire which had begun striking the forest. Arson was so much messier than other crimes, sometimes getting out of hand. Ah well, perhaps the destruction would send a message to the Fey.

As he poured a single glass and toasted to the Bill Cipher, a knock came from the door. Annoyed at his employees for daring to disturb him, he stomped over to the door. He still had a youthful strength which transcended his elder frame. And now that he was taller than most, he had taken to physical abuse of those who caused him discomfort as a seal takes to water.

But he paused his words as he opened the door, his eyes widening and his mouth falling over. It was like a dream. Mabel Pines was standing in front of him, completely naked, her hands to her sides. A gust of autumn wind caused gooseflesh to ripple across her beautiful, perfect body, her nipples growing erect as she stared up at him, emotionless.

"Gideon, may I please come in?"

He shook his head. "Y-you can't be real, you mu-must be some k-k-kind of shuh-shapeshifter or m-mirage…"

She shook her head. "Touch me, Gideon. You'll see that I am real."

He looked at her again, eyes latching onto the scars on her stomach and the birthmark patches which held to her left thigh and right kidney. Those were details no shapeshifter would have known.

"Gideon…may I please come in?"

This time, he nodded, wiping the drool from his mouth as she stepped inside and closed the door. So many times he had awoken from dreams of this nature and brought himself to an incredible climax. He practically whimpered as she drew a hand across his neck.

"Gideon…I will be your wife, your lover, your slave…but you must promise me that you will cure my brother and leave me alone in exchange. I can never truly be yours if he is asleep."

Gideon shook his head. "N-no! He'll tr-try to take y-you from me…"

Mabel nodded. "He will…at first…" Her hand latched onto his member and this time, he really did whimper, the sound coming out in the raspy voice which did not belong to his mental state. "…but then I will tell him that I truly love you. It will drive him mad Gideon, it will make him so frustrated and upset…but while he is unconscious, I must look after him first and you second. If he is awake, you can adopt us both from the foster home and I will be yours…always and eternal."

Panting, Gideon nodded, turned on almost as much by her as the idea of locking that idiotic youth alone in a room next to his own so that the boy could listen as Gideon brought his sister to an orgasm over and over. It would be delicious, it would make every waking moment so much better.

He giggled. "Mabel, what made you realize my love?"

She grinned as they collapsed onto Gideon's bed, and she drew a hand along his cheek. "I realized how pointless it was to fight it…I've always wanted a true love, and you're the only person Gideon…the only one who really, and truly loves me. I realized that you're too powerful to beat and that my brother will always ruin his life by fooling around where he's not supposed to. You're the only one Gideon, the only one who cares about me now, who hasn't been hiding things from me."

He nodded. "Mabel…I-I've dreamed about this moment…" He breathed in her scent and drew a hand through her hair. "…oh, I am going to make this night heaven for you…"

She grew a little sad. "Yes, I know. I've also dreamed about this."

Her hand gripped his amulet and before he could protest, she tore it off with a face twisted with rage. Immediately, a coldness seized him. He fell off the bed, gasping for breath as every piece of him shriveled and cracked. More pain than he'd ever experienced struck him, rattling through each bone, infecting each cell. It was energy, rotting him from the inside out.

He stared up at his naked love, who returned his tear-blurred gaze with a passive expression.

He forced himself to speak, his voice coming out in painful rasps and a voice far too old. "M-Mabel…I…I could have helped you…I was going to change… for you."

She shook her head and responded in an exhausted voice. "No, you weren't Gideon. People don't change…especially people like you."

His heart sped up enough to send vibrations through his whole body, and finally, it exploded. Rigor mortis set in and his blood grew cold, causing his body to become even paler. Like a corpse he bloated and his stomach burst, sending blood and bile across the carpet. Mabel watched as his eyeballs shrunk and sputtered, and as his lungs puffed out poisonous air.

Mabel's tears only came, as he began shrinking and snapping, his body crushed by the force of too many years. When they did come, it was not in the sobbing of guilt, but by in little streaks. Her expression did not change, even as green chains clasped onto his soul and dragged him away. She did not grow anymore disturbed when Bill materialized over him and giggled at his position.

"Nice work ShootingStar!" Bill congratulated.

Gideon found that he had died but still had his consciousness and sight. He had returned to his nine-year-old form, with the only difference being that his skin was glowing and that slime was dripping out of his eye sockets. Golden shackles were latched to his wrists and ankles, connecting to one chain which was held in Bill's left hand.

The demon rolled his eye to face Gideon and stepped closer. "Maybe next time you won't reach too far, Icarus. Oh, I forgot! THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TIME!"

Gideon glanced between them, beyond confused. Then he saw the brand on Mabel's hand.

"Your fraternal unit should rouse soon, ShootingStar. In the meantime, InfinitySign and I have some business elsewhere!"

Bill gave a light tug and the entire world shifted to darkness, Gideon being dragged away from his true love.

[0]

Mabel stumbled out into the moonlight, staring up at the pale yellow full moon as she dressed. She was found later the next morning, at Dipper's side, begging him for clemency. Lockhart was mystified as to how she had found the bed without him.

The next day, he told her that her uncle wanted her.

It turned out, his criminal record had been wiped clean following him providing some information. Gray gave her back The Journal, telling her that it was about as useful as a child's finger painting. Stan's "deal" with the SBE apparently involved them releasing Dipper into his care as well, something which they were so reluctant to do that Mabel wondered what her uncle possibly could have offered them.

Dipper was moved to the town hospital, and Stan explained everything to her as they sat, waiting for a number of men in suits to return to the room. It was funny, she found that she really didn't care about his explanation. Dipper would have. But not her. Staying with a man who had blood on his hands, was better than entering the foster system and being separated from her brother.

She could tell that Stan wasn't lying, however, his explanation was as true as the bandages on his face. She only had one question for him when it was all said and done.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

He sighed. "I didn't think it was crucial to drag you through all this shit that way. I thought I could keep you safe." He squirmed. "I'm sorry for that."

Mabel slept that night without nightmares, for the first time in what felt like forever.

For the following weeks, she visited Dipper every morning, to check on his condition. With every passing day, her friends grew more concerned at her mental state, for how the visits wore on her. But none of them interfered. They didn't know what she did.

Bill had promised "soon." That meant, eventually, Dipper would wake up. Otherwise, he would have flipped the table on her and said that her brother would never wake up. Instead, he had said "soon", which could have meant decades given the demon's lifespan. But it meant that Dipper would wake up.

That she was sure of.

She stopped eating as much, spending most of her time sculpting. She slept more and more. Eventually, to deal with the nightmares about killing Gideon and being consumed by Bill, she spoke to Waddles. Keeping him with her at all times relieved the pit in her stomach sometimes and the crawling energy on her skin.

Sometimes, he talked back.

She didn't tell anybody about that, just like she didn't tell anybody why she knew Dipper would wake up. Because they locked up people who had done what she'd done.

Time crawled by. Things changed. Most things stayed the same.

Wendy made up with her brother and father. Tearful affair.

Candy and Brenda morphed into a singular unit. Always holding hands, Brenda often speaking for them both.

Pacifica taught her how to play golf better and Mabel faked smiles for her in return. The blond stopped hanging around with as many horrible people as well.

McGucket bought his own house with his new, well-paying job. He still stopped by the Shack every few days, mostly to catch up with Stan, but sometimes, he would give her an encouraging smile. If anyone would understand how the days were blurring and how unhinged she was becoming, it would be her.

Robbie bought an apartment too, and he forgave Wendy for abandoning him. Tambry moved in with him. Mabel began to teach him about sculpting, although she knew the only reason he put himself through it is because he felt like a big brother to her.

On the day of her birthday, Candy and Pacifica threw a party to surprise her. She put on a smile for them, and ate a slice of cake, even though it tasted like ash. Then, as the party was dying off, she slipped out the back door and found Stan leaning on the railing. He didn't say a word, he just offered her Dipper's present (a new baseball cap) and told her to be back before dark.

She walked the town, finding that people treated her more like them, now that she was broken by the mysteries which jaunted through the woods. Susan would always have a meal ready for her, while Tobias had become significantly less of a freak, one-time gently awakening her from Dipper's bedside and walking with her to Stan's car.

That time, they all watched her with sad eyes. They would have been disgusted if they knew what she had done if she had not taken to wearing gloves and hiding the mark on her hand.

When she walked through the hospital, she heard Dipper's voice. He was asking a nurse about where he was.

Her heart did a flip and she bolted down the hall, trying to tell herself that it must have been some kind of trick. But there, he was sitting up, asking the nurse why he had a stubble.

Then he saw her and must have immediately understood. Mabel jumped on him, holding and refusing to let go as he patted her back and cooed as he allowed her to sob into his hospital gown.

[0]

There was one last thing to attend to. Dipper had to hear Stan's story, he needed to know if they should stay with Stan. Mabel was willing to enter the foster system if Dipper considered it reason as to staying with Stan.

So, sitting at the same table which Stan always used at the Greasy Ladle, Stan ordered a massive breakfast (Dipper was famished) and began to tell his story.

"When you two were five years old, your parents brought you up here…to stay here with me and my brother for a month. While you were here…my brother…who studied demons and the supernatural…he realized that Mabel's imaginary friend, "William", was actually a demon, whispering to her and umm, taking over her body."

Dipper frowned. "Wait, you have a brother?"

Stan shook his head. "No interrupting, this is a long story and uh, a painful one…if you want to hear it…you're going to have to say any questions until afterward."

Dipper slouched and scratched at his stubble, eliciting a giggle from his sister.

Stan drank a little coffee and continued. "So, he realized this and the two of us tried to afterward the demon from Mabel."

Dipper's eyes widened.

"Relax, it wasn't a medieval torture exorcism! We just tied her down and said a few words and umm, you were supposed to be sleeping Dipper…but you walked in on it and thought we were hurting her. You freaked out and the demon, having possessed Mabel…ran off with her. We had to explain what was happening and you calmed down. After a night of looking, McGucket found Mabel, but not before the demon had sent out a call to all his followers…they came from across the world…streaming into this town, in search of essentially their god. They believed that you and Mabel, were chosen, like, how God chose Mary to birth his child, you two were supposed to bring about the apocalypse for them."

Stan took another sip. "They killed my brother."

He let that sink in, before continuing. "…then they tried to kill your parents. But I...I had been funding my brother's experiments for a very long time with illegal practices."

"What kind of practices?" Dipper asked, his arms folded in front of him.

Stan smirked. "Some gambling rigs, but mostly, I just dressed up some shit as 'magical artifacts' and sold it to rich people who think that they are smarter than the tourists."

He chuckled. "I used the money to hunt down the cultists, one by one. Some of them are still around…but I didn't think that they posed a threat to the family. See, I knew I had to protect you and your parents…since I and my brother were identical and I am...legally speaking, supposed to be dead, I assumed his identity and turned the house into a tourist trap. No one would suspect me responsible for the organized crime if they saw me acting goofy and dressing up for a bunch of rubes." He cracked his neck. "Why else would I not be at The Shack and let you guys slack off so many times?"

Mabel swallowed and continued. "And the demon's followers…they are the ones who…who are the reason that mom and dad are…gone."

Dipper stared at the table. "And that's it?"

Stan shook his head. "I-I used a machine, to trap the demon inside Mabel's mind and then, blank her memory. I thought that would kill the demon. It didn't apparently because that demon was Bill…but because Mabel had total amnesia, I had to umm, blank your memory as well Dipper. Otherwise, one of you would have been traumatized and the other…would be ignorant. You were both little kids, you didn't deserve to deal with all that…so I returned you to your parents and I told them that you might be under surveillance. I guess I let my guard down, or they did, but after I brought you two here, your parents disappeared. Yes, I broke into your house, but only to figure out what happened to them."

Susan arrived and refilled his mug. He drank a little more before making a tired grunt. "So…if you wanna leave, just tell me and I'll take you to the foster home myself. I'm sorry I kept all this from you."

Dipper stared at his plate and the syrup which oozed off of the bacon. "And is there anything else which you are hiding from us?"

Stan raised his gaze and sniffed. "No."

Dipper shifted. "Well…then we should stay with you. You know about the supernatural, and since it's obvious that Bill is after us…"

Mabel winced. Neither of them noticed.

"…then you are the best person to stay with."

Stan smiled. "Alright…I'll get you two registered for school tomorrow."

Mabel's eyes widened. "Hey! No fair, we just got Dipper back and now we have to go to school?"

Stan rolled his eyes and took a bite out of his Belgian Waffle. "Mabel, you and your brother have been through hell. I expect you can survive a little more high school."

She crossed her arms and Dipper was about to tease her with a strip of bacon when he registered the acquisition. "Wait, it's the end of summer?"

Stan nodded.

"So…I'm sixteen?"

Mabel beamed. "That's right! I forgot to give you your gift, I was so busy telling everybody and getting you out of the hospital!" She reached into her purse and removed a small blue package.

"Happy birthday, bro."

Staring at it, then her, he tore the present open and frowned as he removed a small, white and blue trucker's cap, with the universal symbol for a conifer on the front.

"The SBE confiscated your old one…so uh, yeah…I figured that you could use a new hat."

Dipper tentatively placed the hat on his head. For a long moment, he stared at the table. Then a smile broke across his face.

"Thanks, Mabes."

Stan shrugged. "I think it looks terrible on you."

Mable threw a hard-boiled egg at him.

[0]

Brenda puckered her lips and made kissing noises, before hanging up on Candy. She closed her phone and slipped it into her pocket as she approached the man responsible for her addiction.

"I'm out."

He looked up from fixing a fridge, startled. "Excuse me?"

"I'm done. You can find somebody else to prey on, but I am done."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really now…? First, the mansion burns, now you're turning your back on me?"

Brenda folded her arms. "Yes."

He shook his head. "I don't buy it." He stood and brushed his oily hands against his slacks as he moved to retrieve his water bottle. "You are no different a person from when I found you, beating the shit out of that mugger. You can lie to the loser your dragging along, but not to me."

She fumed. "You don't know me." Then she turned and headed for the door.

He cast a skeptical look her way and grinned. "I know you will be back. You're not the first person to think they had their shit in order."

She ignored him and kicked the door open, exiting the warehouse and leaving Tate McGucket alone with the refrigerator. Removing his shirt, and revealing the tattoos inscribed on his chest, he smirked.

She would be back. They always came back.

[0]

Robbie sat beside Tambry's sleeping form, his eyes on his arm.

Gideon had disappeared off the face of the earth. There had been no rumblings regarding the demon. Dipper was back and Mabel had returned to her former self.

He had a girlfriend. She was hot.

Everything should have been fine.

Then why, was the skin of his forearm, beginning to lose color?

Tambry's eyes fluttered open. She looked so beautiful without any of her make-up. "What's the matter?"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her. Only when the embrace was broken, he responded. "I'm fine, thanks for worrying…"

She frowned but smiled mischievously. "Well, it's the last day of summer…are we going to celebrate or what?"

Robbie leaned closer as he spoke. "Does celebrating involve not leaving the bed until absolutely necessary and then gorging ourselves?"

She smirked. "You know me too well."

[0]

Agent Gray watched as scientists moved about the seemingly alien technology. After a whole month of attempts, they were no closer to figuring out what the machine did, what it ran on, and from what elements it was constructed.

Lockhart approached, worried by his partner intense glare. Ever since Mabel Pines had given them the information regarding ghosts and Stanford Pines had traded The Machine for his freedom, Gray had become a bit frantic.

Lockhart shuffled his feet for a moment, before forcing himself to speak. "Um, Jake? I think you should maybe take a sabbatical…let me handle this one for a little while…"

Terrifyingly, his partner did not respond.

"…then you can be rested up and you'll be able to think straight."

Gray wheeled on him, speaking in a vicious rasp. "You think I don't know what you're trying to do? Who told you to get rid of me? Was it a message from Command? Do they think I'm not capable? Was it one of the bastards who've been pushing for this job for the past twenty years, trying to turn this into a deranged science experiment?"

Lockhart felt the bile rise in his throat. "No one told me to do this, Jake. I'm just worried about you."

For a moment, regret flooded the older man's face. It reminded Lockhart of his big brother's expression after hitting him in a fit of drunk rage.

In Gray's eyes, he could see the wife and children who had been waiting for the past four years for him to come home. Ever since The Incident, his partner had come closer and closer to the truth he had spent so many years of his life working towards. He had been on this case for longer than anyone else, he had been on it before the SBE even existed.

Lockhart had read the files and listened to the tapes. Gray had once been enthusiastic, believing they were on the verge of a breakthrough in how they viewed biology and astrophysics.

That optimism had died a little more with every year and everybody found, killed by unexplainable phenomena. That was before Command had seen the mountain of unfinished cases and taken control of the situation. Before Gray had met his wife, before Lockhart had even been conceived.

He'd been fighting for this before the Augmentation process was even released to the SBE for use.

"I…I'm fine…" Jacob White replied (Command had an ironic sense of humor when choosing aliases).

With that, the older agent turned away and Lockhart wondered if the Augmentation process was affecting them both in the same way. He glanced back towards The Machine and felt the alien pull which it emitted begin to sink into his brain cells.

He turned away, somewhere between the feeling of being close to vomiting and the feeling of discovering you were the only sane person left in the world. He gritted his teeth and followed Gray, hoping that they came to answers soon.

Otherwise, he would have more to worry about than his partner's deteriorating mental health.

[0]

Bergmann's life had turned into a nightmare.

First, his boss had disappeared. Then Stan Pines had been released and Preston Norwood had consumed Gideon's followers into his own flock. He'd needed to get out, to escape before either Pines or Norwood caught up with him.

But nothing worked. No escape plan had come to fruition. Buses would not pick him up and no one would offer a ride out of town. He was trapped in this one bedroom apartment, staring at the peeling wallpaper and becoming more paranoid by the second. Everything from the buzzing of the flies to the movement of clunky feet outside his door set him off.

He switched on the TV in a bid to relax. It made him sit up straight.

Gideon stood there, eyes green, skin blackened. He stood in a mass of shifting shadow, as young as when he had first found Bergmann, training Chupacabra in Puerto Rico. His amulet was noticeably absent. The child glared into the camera, an unholy anger at Bergmann's failure to kill the amputee.

"Now listen here you overgrown piece of shit, I have a very important job for you, alright?"

Bergmann nodded, unable to think otherwise.

"Good, you'll want to get a pen and paper…as I'm about to give you some vital coordinates."

The nightmare had somehow gotten a whole lot worse.

[0]

Bill watched as all of his pawns interacted, before switching his attention to the Nightmare realm around him.

Gideon teleported to his side, speaking solemnly. "It is done."

Bill glanced at him and smiled. "Nice work, InfinitySign. Give him a round of applause!"
There was a chorus of shrieks and roars in agreement, as Bill's friends peered over the edge of a red cloud and focused on Gideon's now sobbing form. Strangely, enough, this did not raise the boy's spirits.

Bill leaned in as he spoke. "Aw c'mon, cheer up. You wanted to live forever…" He jerked towards his allies. "WELCOME TO THE CLUB!"

They laughed again. Gideon did not. Somehow, the tears never stopped rolling down his cheeks. Bill thought that effect was interesting, but mostly, he just considered it hilarious.

He turned back to his pawns and the mouth which wriggled beneath his eye bowed to resemble a smile.

Ah, well, two down…eight to go.

---

Message: Gniht wols a si dlrow eht fo dne eht. Remmus eno ni dne sgniht lla ton.

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*IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! DO NOT SKIP THIS BIT!*

THUS ENDETH SEASON ONE.

SEASON TWO WILL BE OUT Relatively SOON! I need to take a break for this story, however, as there are other projects I want to work on. I will continue this story, however, just be aware of the brief hiatus.

There may be short stories during the break. There may not. Don't get your hopes up.

Anyway, tell me what your favorite episode of Depravity Falls is in a review! :)

---

"Fun" facts:

1: That song which Bill was singing is a beautiful Do-Op number called "Tonight, Tonight" and should be credited to a band named "The Mellow Kings."

2: The Demons don't get along so well, except for Bill and his entourage. That's why Gn'aak was not enthusiastic about Bill's summoning.

3: I am surprised no one figured out what Gideon's ultimate fate was going to be. There isn't much subtly to the name "Infinity Sign."

Comments:

Guest: I haven't even read it yet but I just want to leave a review so you know this is awesome and I'm gonna keep reading till I get here or even further (I hope).

Thank you for the encouragement!

IsmaelParica:

So, Dipper's brain dead.

F*ck, you made me think of Game of Thrones with this (should've seen this coming, though).

;)

Keeper of Worlds:

So, Dipper is as close to dead you can be with a pulse due in part to a demon basically dumping a brain nuke on him and the rest of everything is going to a symphony of discord and misery for Bill to twist and use as he desires...Well shit. That's not good for them at all.

Robbie really pulled through here and so did Candy. Things are only going to get deadlier at this rate. Hopefully, Wendy can return to shed things back to focus and not have everyone being flippantly toyed with by an arrogant little-depraved pervert semi-immortal and a nigh all-powerful dream demon bent on total world dominion and madness.

SnowFlake could never have been the one to take down InfinitySign.

Coldblue:

Thanks for updating and great chapter!

This will be one of my shorter reviews for "Depravity Falls" ever so far. I think.

"Nightmare to Reality":

Pretty good chapter. I know you can't fit in too many characters into this chapter, but it rather interesting to read about this chapter. Sort of glad how everything turned out with Bill Cipher. It rather interesting how all that all went down with transitioning reality to conscious of whoever mind. Dipper Pines is either brain dead or his conscious is not within his body, but the Nightmare Realm. Stanford Pines has been arrest by Government Agents who will try to pump Stan for any information that they need. Mable is probably very worried about her brother and glad that her friends are okay. Candy is glad everyone relatively alive so far that it is interesting to read what will happen between her and Brenda. Brenda seems to come from a poor background by mentioning that she lives in a Trailer, but there more about Brenda that I want know more about. Robbie was interesting supporting character that was interesting in this chapter and I wonder how close Robbie will get with Tambry as this story progress. The Government Agents will be the Pine Twins obstacle now. Though, is Stan keeping Dipper and Mable parents from contacting them or were the Government Agents just trying to make Stan Pines into more of a villain? It going to be interesting to read.

Questions

1) Are Dipper Pines's mind/thoughts in the Nightmare Realm? Did Bill cause Dipper mind to glimpse into the Nightmare Realm?

If Dipper glimpsed the Nightmare Realm he would no longer function.

3) How will Preston Norwood react to Gideon Gleeful attempt for complete Power Grab of Gravity Falls?

Preston is very glad that Gideon has been taken care of. He was prepared to send assassin after assassin to Gideon's door otherwise.

4) Was Fiddleford McGucket arrested as well by the Government Agents or did he escape the raid?

He was not arrested, as he proved useful to certain entities as a "free" man.

Suggestions

3) Preston Norwood is the ONLY other powerful figure in Gravity Falls. There three pillars of Powers: Stanford Pines, Gideon Gleeful, and Preston Norwood. They have the major power in Gravity Falls. With Stanford Pines being apprehended by the Agency, Gideon going to grab for power. Preston Norwood should also make a grab for power that Gideon Gleeful has NOT taken. Sort of show how Stan got weaker in Gravity Falls, while Gideon and Preston gain more power. This would add more obstacles for the characters in "Depravity Falls".

The burning of the Idonist's building was a direct attack at Norwood's supremacy.

5) This group has been severely weakened. Without the Brains or the Resources, they don't have much power. Sure they have Pacifica Norwood, but she is under Preston Norwood's control. It rather interesting to read the struggle of these characters. Mable Pines in particular with how her brother is just comatose and likely to never wake up, with whatever the doctors say or something. Candy, Brenda, and Robbie would try to comfort her as best as they can. Though, it does make me wonder where Mable staying in Gravity Falls with Stan being arrested/apprehended by Agents and Dipper is in a coma. I doubt that Candy, Brenda, and Robbie can do much, yet they could understand her struggle. Maybe Robbie more than anyone right now. Candy and Brenda can only do so much with their own issues. Robbie not close to his parents and is alone technically.

Had Mabel not taken the initiative, they would have been exceedingly screwed.