Posting early this week! I'm gonna be gone this weekend, so I'm gonna post this before I disappear. I'll be back to my regular schedule next week!

Chapter 26 - Halloween

To say that the day of Halloween was "interesting" was putting it lightly. As soon as school was let out, the clearing was packed with kids, teenagers, and parents, going from house to house in order to collect candy and – if they thought they could handle it – enter Stanford and Stanley's Shack of Horrors.

Maria watched from the porch as another group of kids was sent scrambling out the door. She snorted and shook her head. "Stanford and Stanley went all out. I don't think I've ever really seen anything like that from them."

"Shermie said that those two could be troublemakers when they wanted to be." A woman with circles under her eyes stepped out of the house, carrying a large bowl of candy in her hands. "I wasn't expecting this to be the result, though."

"You were here for Summerween though, right Mrs. Pines?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "They didn't do anything like this then?"

"Karen is fine." Karen shook her head. "And as for Summerween…no, they didn't do anything like this. They said something about a 'Summerween Trickster' and not wanting to usurp his place as the scariest thing on Summerween." She frowned at the Shack of Horrors. "Doesn't look like there's anything remotely like that during Halloween."

"I should hope not," Maria replied. "I remember hearing something about zombies being a problem, but I haven't seen any around here in the last week, so I think that's a problem that isn't going to be worried over anymore. Especially considering what Dipper did on that particular summer."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about Stanford's nephew or—"

"Dippers in general," Maria amended. "At least, I think. I'm not sure if Tyrone did anything like that. Was there ever a moment where he was trying to impress people by summoning a horde of zombies in order to prove to them that magic is real?"

The look on Karen's face was more than enough of an answer for Maria.

"Yeah. That's common. Unfortunately."

Karen stared at Maria, then shook her head as a group of kids dressed up as pirates approached the porch, carrying large, heavy pillowcases. "Having you around with your talk of cartoons and alternate dimensions is a bit mind-boggling."

Maria chuckled somewhat uneasily. "Yeah, it is a bit crazy. I hope I don't come off as knowing too much."

"Considering how strange this town is already, I doubt that you will at this point," Karen replied. "You've been here two months."

"Yeah." Maria rubbed the back of her head. "I just hope I haven't come off like I know everything. I'm…I'm not like the monster that claims to know everything."

Karen's expression shifted. "I can see how that might be a problem. But I think people can tell the difference, especially considering that you're helping a version of one of my uncles-in-law."

Maria's gaze moved back to the open door leading into the Shack. She could just barely see Sixer sitting on the couch, watching the two of them with an unreadable expression. Although, something about the look on his face made Maria wonder if he was starting to lose his internal barriers.

Because now Sixer was just looking more…tired.

"I just wish I knew more about what I was doing," Maria replied. "Looking things up online is one thing, but I don't have the training for it."

"Well, you're doing quite well so far." Karen paused, thinking. "I think Mizar said something about doing something that might help." She looked worried at that.

"…something?" Maria repeated. "Hm."

If it was Mizar, that probably meant she talked to her brother.

But what would that mean? What sort of deal did she…

"Maybe try not to think about it for a little while," Karen suggested. "You need to come at this with a fresh mind."

"…maybe, but we don't have as much time as we need. You can't solve this kind of damage in a single year." Maria sighed. "I just hope that I can get at least some of the damage undone, but…I dunno."

"You have us to help if you need it," Karen said. "Don't worry. We will get them the help they need."

Change in POV

Stanley cackled as the next batch of kids was sent running from the Shack of Horrors. "Ooh, this is great! I should do something like this every year!"

"I'm glad that you were open to my idea," Stanford replied. "It's not every day that I get to use my knowledge of the multiverse to my advantage like this."

"I should get ya ta make some things later for the Shack's exhibits." Stanley elbowed his brother, grinning. "This is far too much fun to just let ya sit on the sidelines!" He laughed, then looked a bit more serious. "Just, uh, don't make the stuff too real. If we cross over into the Uncanny Valley we're not gonna get all that many customers."

"Don't worry, Stanley. The kinds of material I'd require to truly replicate some of these creatures is impossible to find in our area, much less on the planet in this dimension." Stanford patted his brother on the back reassuringly. "We're going to be all right. I just need to keep Fiddleford in check and make sure that he doesn't add anything dangerous to the animatronics. I think this town is going to have enough death rays and plasma swords from the armory he's building up for next summer."

The conversation taking a darker turn, Stanley's expression shifted to match the mood. "Think we're gonna be ready?"

"I don't know." Stanford's expression was grim. "Puppeteer is a hard Cipher to crack, and considering that all Ciphers are, that's saying something."

"That his name?"

"It's a nickname." Crescent came over, carrying an empty bowl that had once held candy. "Fords've got a system for it or somethin'. Sixer did, too, but we couldn't call ours anythin' but…well, ya know."

Stanley raised an eyebrow at that. "Huh. Really?"

"We have to have a way to tell them apart," Stanford said. "I've been cut off from the main Council of portal-displaced counterparts, but I intend to have that name submitted for consideration as soon as possible."

"There's a council of you people?"

"How else do you think we came up with a system for calling our counterparts and Ciphers anything?" Stanford tapped his chin in thought. "Which…we'll have to come up with something different for Sixer now. Calling him 'Cipher's Pet' doesn't exactly fit now that we know the true circumstances of his imprisonment."

Crescent glowered; Stanley mimicked his expression. "Really, Stanford?"

"I'd like to see you come up with something else when Puppeteer is called Bounty Hunter and everyone instantly thought of the classic villain in his chair petting a cat," Stanford replied. "We didn't know the circumstances, just the results. But now we know the true situation."

"Yeah, but tellin' them that isn't gonna be easy," Crescent replied. "You Fords're stubborn as hell. Do ya really think ya can just send in a report and just let that be the end of it?"

"I don't expect it to be. It's why I haven't asked Maria to locate the dimensional hub yet – getting my counterparts involved in this may make things worse, not better, and I don't think we're ready to deal with the chaos that will come when my counterparts start an investigation into Sixer's previous whereabouts. Because that is going to happen when I send in anything regarding a change in his situation or the knowledge that we now have."

Stanford nodded across the clearing to where Maria was talking to Karen. He knew the nurse was going to have her hands full tomorrow in the hospital with calls for children overeating candy, or possible cases of food poisoning, among other things. "With any luck, the moment that the year is up and Cipher invades, I'll have sent it in. The council being what it is, they should be kept debating over it until long after Puppeteer is gone, and then they'll send someone to investigate the situation. Depending on what happens…I hope that we can solve the problem of your souls by then."

Crescent grunted in reply. "And if ya can't? All we know is that he ripped out a bit; we dunno if he did anything with it or—"

"We'll figure something out," Stanford replied. He fixed his gaze more directly on Crescent. "Just because it looks like nothing can be changed from your perspective doesn't mean that's the truth."

"Yeah. Why else do ya think that we were able ta take out our demon just because I suggested somethin'?" Stanley grinned. "Stanford didn't see a solution – I did."

"One that I didn't want to take," Stanford replied. "But we had no other options."

"Yeah, yeah. What's done is done; our problem's gone, an' that's the end of it." Stanley dropped an arm around Stanford's shoulders and grinned. "Now we got other Ciphers to tear apart."

Stanford nodded in agreement.

Crescent stared at the two of them with a befuddled expression.

"…you two are really serious about this."

Stanley nodded, determined. "You shouldn't hafta live like this. An' I'm gonna see to it yer not chained down ever again."

Crescent went wide-eyed. He nearly dropped the bowl in his hands, but then quickly caught it again. "Can't…can't say I was expectin' that."

"Well, start expectin' it," Stanley replied. "We didn't pull ya outta there just cause we needed extra hands – look around, we got more'n enough a' em!" He motioned to the Shacks that sat in the clearing. "Come on – let's get more candy for those kids who survive the Shack of Horrors. I got some big candy bars hidin' in the kitchen."

Change in POV

Alcor hovered in front of the library, Mizar sitting on the porch in front of him while she handed out handfuls of candy from a bowl that was nearly bottomless. "Halloween is quieter than I was expecting. I'm not sensing any deals being made, which is odd."

"Is it?" Mizar looked back at him. "Hmm. Does that mean Grunkle Journal and Grunkle Andrew are feeling the same thing?"

"They should be. I've been starting to get a name for myself, but all of a sudden everything's gone silent. I don't like it. It means something else is happening and I would rather it didn't."

"So look."

"I've tried. Something is blocking my vision."

Mizar blinked, then turned and stared at her brother. "Something is blocking you from being able to see everything."

Alcor nodded, looking grim.

"…I don't like the sound of that."

"I don't, either. It means he is starting to prepare for the inevitable – his inevitable."

"Well, it's not gonna be the inevitable – not if we have anything to say about it." Mizar nodded determinedly. "Think Grunkle Journal knows already?"

"If he doesn't, he's not gonna be happy when he learns about it. I'd better make sure he does before he curses everyone in the clearing to not be able to read for a week." Alcor vanished from sight.

Mizar hummed to herself and handed out more candy to the kids who came over. "Hey Candy, Grenda. You guys still up for that creepy movie marathon later?"

"Oh yes." Candy nodded. "Will Star be there too?"

"I'll have to see. Grunkle Sphinx is really attached to her, and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have her watch anything too creepy." Mizar shrugged as she dropped a giant peppermint into Candy's bag, then a box of German chocolates into Grenda's. "Or we could plan another movie night later and watch some better stuff."

Her two friends nodded.

"She's probably gone without boy-crazy stuff for years," Grenda said. "Let's plan for that!"

"Sounds good." Mizar grinned. "See you guys in a bit!"

Change in POV

"Halloween is a strange holiday," Vash commented. He looked down from the roof of Alex's home, watching the people running around in costume below them.

"It's not a holiday," Knives corrected. "If it was, it is likely that the children would have gotten off school today. But they did not."

"They got a half-day; that's just as good," Vash replied. He leaned back against the roof, smiling. "I like it. Dressing up in costume and getting candy for it – that's a great idea. I wish that we'd been able to do that back on Gunsmoke."

Knives said nothing in reply to that.

"Maybe, when we go back, we can see if we can get the tradition started if the Earth culture hasn't started doing that already. I think our sisters would like to be able to see some people dressed up like them or us for Halloween."

"I doubt that the parents would allow their children to take on the appearance of naked women with wings," Knives replied flatly.

"Oh come on, Knives, don't take all the fun out of it!"