Well, my loyal readers, this is it. The final part of Chapter 3! This is the fifth chapter I've written in one sitting, so either I'm dedicated to writing, or I have nothing better to do.

In the last chapter, Team Orion reserved a title match but were trapped due to a guard that Rawk Hawk bribed. After escaping, the team managed to start their fight against Rawk Hawk, and the dramatic conclusion to said fight will happen in this chapter.

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 3: Of Glitz And Glory - Part 10 - The Perpetrator Of Glitzville

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The pain filled screams of Rawk Hawk filled the room as Wendy smirked with sick satisfaction. All of the audience members were shocked, Grubba dropped his microphone, and Dipper, Pacifica and Candy stared on in disgust.

"Wendy! What did you do?!" Pacifica shouted.

"Oh man! OW!" Dipper said, staring in horror and disgust.

"It hurts just to look at it!" Candy said.

Rawk screamed in agony and he stumbled around the stage. The audience members continued to watch in horror as Wendy's finishing attack seemed to send him over the deep end.

"Everyone knows a fighter wants to win, and they'll even go to desperate measures just to do so." Wendy said. "Besides, you deserve it." She opened her hands again and the hands dissipated, leaving Rawk in pain on the floor. Everyone was silent except for Rawk, who was groaning in agony. Then, after a while, Grubba picked up his microphone.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" He shouted. "TEAM ORION ARE THE NEW CHAMPIONS!" The audience then cheered loudly, especially Team Gonzales and Team Lee, who clapped and cheered loudly for their friends. Then Tamrby posted a status update.

Status Update: OMG my friends just became the champs! go glitz pit fighters!

:::::

After the battle, Rawk Hawk was taken to the infirmary and Jolene led the winning team to Grubba's office.

"Hoo-Wee, son!" Grubba said. "That was some finishing move! We haven't had a new champ in a long, long time!"

"Thanks, Mr. Grubba." Dipper said. Then Grubba paid each of them 40 coins and handed Dipper the champ's belt.

"There you go, there's your reward for becoming the champs!" Grubba said. "Now Ms. Jolene, please show them to their new room while I update the rankings, would ya?"

"Certainly, Mr. Grubba." Jolene said. She adjusted her glasses, then left the room, followed by Team Orion.

She took them a short ways down the hall to a door with a star on it, similar to Grubba's door. She opened it and they all entered the champion's room. It had a nice red shag-carpet and a golden wallpaper. A vanity was in the bottom left corner and presents were in the top left corner. A wardrobe was in the top right corner and in the bottom right corner was a raised area with a bed on it. The sheets of the bed resembled a leopard's pelt, and above the bed was a painting that detailed the current team of Team Orion. Above the wardrobe was a vent, and the terminal by the door was gold this time.

"Here you are, welcome to your new room, champions." Jolene said. "Here is your fight money." She handed each of them 20 coins. "Have a good day." She adjusted her glasses, then left the room.

"Well, this is just great." Dipper said sarcastically. "We're champions now but we still don't have the star. All we have is this belt." Dipper said, holding up the champ's belt that had the fake Crystal Star attached to it. Then vibrations were heard. Dipper quickly tossed the belt aside and pulled out the Journal #3, then opened it to the new page as the new message began to form. The others gathered around to read it.

fInD tHe GhOsT iN tHe ChAmP's RoOm.

FrOm X

"A ghost?" Manly Dan asked. "What kind of ghost?"

"Wait, quiet." Dipper said. Everyone was quiet for a moment. Dipper lowered his voice to a whisper. "Hear it?"

"Hear what?" Candy asked in a whisper. Then she heard it. A low grunting noise that faintly sounded like talking. The others began to hear it as well.

"Where is it coming from?" Pacifica asked.

"I think it's coming from the vent." Wendy said, adjusting her ear to face the vent. The voice was a little louder when she did so. "Yep, it's coming from the vent."

One by one, the members of Team Orion began climbing the wardrobe and entering the vent. They all quietly crawled through the dusty, dirty, dark ventilation shaft before reaching the other end of it, where the voice they heard became much clearer. They all went silent so they could hear the voice.

"Oh, this is bad." It said.

"That sounds like Grubba." Manly Dan whispered.

"This Mighty Orion character has risen up faster than I thought." Grubba said. "And then he found Bandy Andy and King K yesterday. I thought I had them hidden away and locked up tight. Now I feel that Jolene and the Mighty Orion are getting suspicious."

"Wait, so all this time, Grubba was responsible for the disappearances?" Pacifica asked.

"This man is a cruel liar." Dipper whispered.

"My plan could be ruined is Bandy Andy or King K awaken from their comas and tell security the truth." Grubba said. "Hopefully they won't. Hopefully they'll end up just like Prince Mush."

"Prince Mush?" Candy asked.

"I've heard he was the first champion of the Glitz Pit." Manly Dan said. "Right before Rawk Hawk was about to battle Prince Mush for the title of champion, Mush mysteriously disappeared, making Rawk the winner by default."

"As long as nobody knows or finds out about my Crystal Star power draining machine, then I should remain this young forever." Grubba said. Dipper peaked through the cracks of the vent and saw Grubba put a paper in his desk drawer, then leave the room. Once he was gone, Dipper waited a moment before breaking the vent open with his hammer. They all jumped out of the vent and into the new room.

"Isn't this his office?" Pacifica asked. Dipper sprinted over to the desk and opened the drawer. Inside he found the piece of paper that Grubba had put away earlier.

"This paper is detailing blueprints for a power draining machine." He said. "It appears the machine runs on the Crystal Star to allow the user of the machine to drain the life force of something else. I'm guessing that Grubba drained King K's and Bandy Andy's life forces and used them to power himself up!"

"The question is how do we get the Crystal Star now?" Manly Dan asked. Then the doorknob turned and Grubba reentered his office. As soon as he did, Dipper reacted.

"Hold it right there, Grubba!" He shouted, readying his hammer to attack.

"What in tarnations are y'all doing in my office?" He asked.

"Recognize this?" Dipper held up the document on the power draining machine. "We know all about your secret, Grubba! It's over!"

"Oh boy…this isn't good, this isn't good at all…" Grubba said before sprinting out of his office.

"Quickly! After him!" Dipper said. They all ran out of the office and followed Grubba. They saw him quickly enter the ring. "Alright, Wendy, go get Mario and the rest of them!"

"Right." Wendy said. Then she sprinted off to get Mario, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie and Little Dan.

"Now Pacifica, go get Lee, Nate, Tambry, and Thompson!" Dipper said.

"On it!" Pacifica said. Then she sprinted off to get Team Lee.

"Alright guys, it's just us now." Dipper said. "Let's end this."

:::::

Dipper broke the doors open with his hammer, allowing him and the others access to the arena. Most of the electronics were turned off, the monitor that showcased fights only showed static, and the stands were empty. They all sprinted inside and saw Grubba on the stage.

"Give us the star, Grubba!" Dipper shouted. "You're cornered and outnumbered!"

"You may have figured out my plan, but I ain't givin' you the star." Grubba said. "Get a look at this." The room rumbled and shook as the nine panels in the center of the stage began to lower themselves down along with Grubba. Then they came back up again, this time with a new contraption resembling a cage rising up as well. In the cage was Grubba.

"This must be the power draining machine." Manly Dan said.

"Your eyes work, captain obvious." Grubba said. Dipper glared at him but then when wide-eyed when he saw what was hovering above the machine.

"Guys! Look up there!" He pointed. "It's the Crystal Star!" The others looked up and saw that Dipper was right. The third Crystal Star hovered over the power draining machine, obviously giving the machine its power.

"We have to stop Grubba and destroy this machine!" Candy said.

"Who said you'll be able to stop me? You'll just be takin' a good o' dirt nap here in a second after I'm done with ya!" Grubba asked sarcastically. "Now try this on for size…" He readied himself in the cage. "MUSCLE UUUUUUUUUUP!" He began to glow a bright white before he grew. When the glowing cleared, Grubba was now bigger than he was before and was now orange. All of his clothes were gone except for his glasses and his red bowtie, and he now sported a large golden Mohawk. "MACHOOOOO GRUBBA!"

"Whoa, Grubba beefed up!" Manly Dan said, a little taken aback by Grubba's new form.

"We can still take him down! Come on, team!" Dipper jumped into the air towards Grubba, readying his hammer. "Take THIS!" He swung the hammer and smacked Grubba in the face, but he barely took any damage. Dipper barely had any time to react before Grubba swung his arm towards Dipper, hurling him into the empty stands.

"Oh no, Dipper!" Candy called out. Then she jumped up towards Grubba and smacked his torso with her rod. Grubba retaliated by punching her into the ground.

'How are we gonna beat this guy?' Manly Dan thought.

"You better take that left hand of yours and get out of here well you still can, Blandly Dan." Grubba said. Something snapped inside of Manly Dan.

"It's not Blandly Dan, it's Manly Dan." He said. "And I don't use my left hand, I use my right hand…" He lunged towards Grubba, ready to strike. "THE MANLY HAND!" He punched Grubba across his face, landing a bruise on his cheek. However, Grubba still didn't take any damage and simply smacked Manly Dan away, sending him into the stands along with Dipper. Then a large hand appeared and punched Grubba in the gut, sending him to the floor.

"Hey! Freak!" Wendy shouted. "Leave my friends alone!" She sprinted into the arena, followed by Mario, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Little Dan. They all began to attack Grubba.

"Piercing Blow!" Pacifica came out of nowhere as her scepter transformed into the large glowing blue hammer. She slammed it down on Grubba's head and dealt a little bit of damage to him. In retaliation, Grubba punched Pacifica away, sending her to the floor.

"We're here now, what's the prob-WHOA!" Lee was taken aback by Grubba's new form. "Is that Grubba?!"

"Yes, it is Grubba!" Candy shouted, sprinting away from the stage. She healed herself with a Super Shroom and brought out the Emerald Star. "Clock Out!" She threw the star into the air and a large bomb with a green star symbol on it came down in its place. She caught it and threw it over to Grubba. It exploded upon contact with him, but he wasn't fazed.

"How are we going to beat this guy?!" Mario asked. Little Dan ran over to Grubba but stopped.

"Of course, I can't jump high enough to jump on him, and he's too big to gulp." He said. Grubba was about to stomp on Little Dan when Manly Dan sprinted over and blocked the attack, holding Grubba's foot in place. Little Dan quickly ran away and Manly Dan followed.

Team Lee jumped on to the stage in attempt to fight but were immediately smacked away by one of Grubba's colossal arms. Team Gonzales tried as well but they also met a similar fate. Team Orion did all they could but their attacks were useless against Grubba.

"Come on…there has to be some way to beat him…" Dipper said weakly, barely able to stand up.

"I'll admit, I admired your spunk, kid." Grubba said to Dipper. "You bein' handicapped and all, yet you still wanted to fight. I admired that a lot, son."

"Quit the crap, Grubba!" Dipper shouted. "We only want the star!

"And you think I'm going to give that up?" Grubba asked. "Forget it, kid. Just hand over your Crystal Stars and nobody gets hurt…too badly." Dipper simply glared at Grubba, but then had an idea.

"…okay, I'll hand them over." He said, 'accepting defeat'. He took out the Diamond Star and took the Emerald Star from Candy. He walked over to Grubba, but before he handed them over, eh threw the Diamond Star into the air. "Earth Tremor!" The Diamond Star came down on the stage hard, causing a massive fissure on the stage. Grubba wobbled around and took some damage.

"What, did you think that was gonna beat me?" Grubba asked sarcastically.

"No, but this will." Dipper said, smirking. He snapped his fingers, and the power draining machine collapsed on Grubba, knocking him out.

:::::

Grubba returned to his original state as all of the heroes and Team Lee gathered around the stage. They all stared at the defeated Grubba.

"He's been causing all of the disappearances…" Dipper muttered. Then everyone heard a voice.

"Wonderful job, Orion and Gonzales." The voice said. They all turned to see Jolene.

"Ms. Jolene? What are you doing here?" Goombella asked.

"I'm here because I knew Grubba's secret all along." Jolene replied. "You see, I've been helping you all this time."

"Wait, you mean you're X?" Little Dan asked.

"Yes, I was X." Jolene replied. "I helped you because…once I saw you battle in the ring, I knew you were the only ones who could take down Grubba." She adjusted her glasses and took a breath. "You see, my family was poor. Very, very poor. In an attempt to earn money, my younger brother, Mush, signed up to be a fighter here in the Glitz Pit. He was a natural, and he made us very wealthy for a time. Then one day, he was about to fight Rawk Hawk. I was in the stands waiting for him to show up, but he never did." She took another breath. "I went to look for him, and then I accidentally saw Grubba use the machine to vanish Mush and drain his power. I then decided to go undercover and work here at the Glitz Pit so I could find a way to stop Grubba, and then you two arrived. I was sure that you two could put an end to Grubba's plans, and I was right."

"…thank you…" Dipper muttered. "…without your help, we would never have saved Bandy Andy or King K, or have found the star."

"You are very welcome." Jolene said. She walked on to the stage and faced Grubba with a scowl. "Grubba, where is he? Where is Mush?"

"Mush…ain't around…no more…" Grubba muttered in pain.

"You…you mean he's…no, he can't be." Jolene said.

"He…he's gone…" Grubba weakly said.

"…Mush…" Jolene muttered. They were all silent for a moment.

"Wait, what's the star doing?" Nate asked. The Crystal Star began spinning rapidly before a Toad popped out. The Toad wore a hat similar to Jolene's and had hair similar to Jolene's as well. He wore a blue sleeveless tee and had on blue sweatpants.

"Where…where am I?" The Toad asked. "Am I in the Glitz Pit?"

"Mush?" Jolene asked in disbelief.

"Huh? Sis?" Mush asked. "What's going on?"

"Mush! It's you!" Jolene happily hugged her younger brother, who returned the hug. "You've been gone for so long, and Grubba said you were dead!"

"It's good to see you too, sis." Mush replied. "Later on, you're gonna have to explain to me what happened, cause I don't remember a thing."

"I will, Mush. I will." Jolene replied. She turned to Dipper and Mario. "Orion, Gonzales…no, Dipper and Mario, I want you to have this." She pointed to the Crystal Star as it spun around rapidly before leaping high into the air and landing on the ground standing up in front of Jolene.

'We finally have the third star…' Dipper thought.

"Here, I'll get it." Manly Dan said. He walked over to the star and was about to pick it up when it spun around him rapidly before appearing over his head. Manly Dan smirked and reached up to grab it, holding it high in the air. The other heroes smiled and clapped.

After a long battle, they had finally gotten their third Crystal Star.

:::::

Gideon watched from the second floor of the Glitz Pit. He watched the whole thing. The battle with Grubba, and the heroes getting the Crystal Star. Of course, he stayed out of it and stayed hidden. Then he heard static coming from a mechanical wristwatch he had.

"Yes? What is it?" He asked into the wristwatch.

"Do they have it?" A voice asked.

"Yep, the heroes have the star." Gideon replied.

"Find a way to get it to us." The voice said.

"Sure thing, Master Grodus." Gideon replied with a dangerous smirk. He shut off the wristwatch.

"Sure thing indeed."

-{End Of Chapter 3}-

There you go, folks. The Glitzville arc comes to a conclusion.

After many long battles, Team Orion emerged as the champions, however, they still had no clue where the Crystal Star was. Then X guided them to Grubba's office where they had uncovered Grubba's evil plans with the Crystal Star power draining machine! After a long battle, the heroes bested Grubba and have claimed their third Crystal Star!

Mario and Dipper's journey still continues, however, as the search for Peach, Mabel, the rest of the Crystal Stars, and the other residents of Gravity Falls, continues. Gideon also has plans as well. With his vast knowledge of the Mushroom Kingdom and his undercover work for the X-Nauts, will our heroes be safe? This and many other questions will be answered soon, as the journey continues…

Save all story progress up to this point?

Saving, do not press the power button on your laptop or home button on your mobile device…

Your progress has been saved.

Stay Tuned!

~087-B