Chapter 23

Disclaimer I don't own

Talk-normal

"Talk"- 3 talking

Talk- 3 thinking

A/N: I'm back! *Dodges arrows, flaming gnomes, and a honey badger*

Sorry for the unintended hiatus. I was suffering a major writer's block, and then things started getting hectic at work because 3 of my senior coworkers left and the rest of us had to pick up the slack while the newer workers dropped like flies. Then my boss had me working 6 day weeks to the point I had to beg her for at least 2 days off. But now I'm back and I just have to say that the latest 2 episodes have left me speechless and clambering for more. Let's just say I have more to work with *wink, wink.*

Also to Reviewer Dragon fire. 262: 2's human name is from one of the stars in the Big Dipper constellation. It's also the name of one of my favorite characters from a game called Devil Survivor 2. Also, I haven't read anything from the Transcence Au…I think, so I'll have to check it out. FYI, 1's human name is Merak "Mark."

Warning's": Violence.


Society of the Blind Eye

"Okay, how about Lazy Susan?"

"No."

"Toby Determined?"

"Ugh, definitely not."

"The Pizza Dude?"

"No. Maybe the alien station/Lefty?

"We accidently blew him/it up. The Summerween store clerk?"

"Too young."

Dipper and 3 were sitting on Dipper's bed facing a board filled with pictures and articles. They had started to really crack down on finding the author with 3 trying to remember the finer details of her father's face.

"Alright author, who are you? Who are you?" Dipper asked himself as 3 placed another picture in the 'maybe' section. "We know that he's muscular and has a strong jaw but nothing else. Heck, for all we know he could have been a very manly she." He muttered to himself as he chewed on a pen, which he accidentally chews through. "Blech! Not again." He grimaced at the taste and flung the remains into a box. "And that was the last working one too. They keep turning up dry for some reason."

"Hmm, I don't see any similarities. Maybe we could raid the town records again, if father feared for his life, wouldn't it stand to reason that he left the town?"

"You have a point there. But before we go big, we should go home, first." He tried to joke.

"Ha, lame." 3 chuckled when 1 spoke up.

"Why are you two trying so hard to find the author?" He asked in a disinterested tone.

"He holds the secrets to everything, 1! If, no, WHEN we find him, we can figure out what Stan want's with that portal downstairs and maybe figure out what Cipher is up to! Plus, don't you want to find father!?" 3 asked hotly.

"Hmph, how do you know he's even alive?"

"1! Don't say that! We know he's still alive because of the mailbox!"

"The mailbox that was destroyed because it couldn't handle a little girl's childishness. Besides, you didn't answer my question."

"What are you blabbering about?"

"I'll repeat: why are you so desperate to find him?"

"I just said-"

"No, that's wishful thinking. Perhaps you're only looking for him to seek answers to the unspoken questions."

Dipper blinked and looked between the two beings in the room. "1, what are you saying?"

"Hm, have you ever thought to yourself about what we are exactly? I mean, it's not every day a book could spontaneously speak or grow a body or have…other attributes."

"W-well, I did think it was strange, but then I heard from Mabel that other books do have some sentience so I didn't think it was too strange for this place." Dipper answered.

"Yes, but then you went to the old fool for more voice serum and tried to give myself and 2 other points that we could communicate with but nothing happened other than soggy books. Then you tried to use the amulet on them but nothing happened then too. And you even use some blood to. By the way blood and the supernatural are never a good combination."

"You're very talkative today, 1." Dipper said nervously, avoiding 3's glare at the blood part.

"What are you trying to say, just spit it out already." 3 said harshly.

"Perhaps the reason you're looking the author is not because of the mystery or your devotion to the boy, but maybe deep down you really want to know WHAT we are. It just doesn't make sense that you would love a man you don't even remember what they he looks like, let alone what he was like. For all we know, he could've been on the same level as Gideon." 1 answered coldly.

"What are you saying?" 3 asked weakly.

"Do you really think that the author was a good man?"

"Hey! Hey! Okay, you two, enough." Dipper cut into the conversation, a little put out by how serious the sibling quarrel had spiraled. "1, I understand your reasoning, but this just further proves about how we have to find him. Once we do, we can decide for ourselves about whether or not he's good or evil. Until then, we just have to focus."

No one said anything for a long time until the brooding silence was broken when an even more excited than usual Mabel slammed opened the door and jumped onto the bed with them.

"Hey, bro-bro, 3! Look what I got!" She squealed, brandishing a dark green bottle that was addressed to her, ignoring the previous tension.

"Yay, a filthy green bottle!" Dipper said sarcastically.

"Mabel, what have I told you about drinking from strange bottles?" 3 asked distracted, still a little put out.

"No sillies, it's a bottle message from Mermando, remember? He was part fish, part shirtless guy."

"How could we forget, it was 5 days ago." 3 said crankily, remembering Dipper giving reverse CPR to the merboy, momentary forgetting her doubt's.

The other girl ignored her when she gasped in excitement, "What if he wants to get back together?"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Mabel." Dipper cautioned her as she eagerly took the message out of the bottle.

"Too late! Hopes are way, way up! 'Dear Mabel...' So far so good! 'It is with a heavy heart...' So far so good! '...that I must inform you…I'm getting married'?!" She finished in shock.

"And there it is." Dipper said as 3 winced in sympathy.

'In order to prevent an undersea civil war... arranged wedding... Queen of the Manatees?!'" She took out a picture that accompanied the letter to see a cringing Mermando next to a manatee in a pink dress and a crown. "And she's so beautiful! This can't be happening!" She howled in misery as 3 rubbed her back in a reassuring manner.

"I'm so sorry Mabel. Cheer up, there's other fish in the sea." And winced at her wording. "Uh, pun not intended."

"Yeah, you'll get over him eventually." Dipper said from her other side consolingly patting his heartbroken sister's knee.

Mabel sighed and pulled out her scrapbook, "You don't understand guys. On my first day here, I made this page for summer romances. Look at my luck." She turned to a page titled Summer Romances with pictures of Norman, Gideon, Gabe, and to their confusion, Mabel and her friends surround by the boyband Sev'ral Times. "Turned out to be gnomes, a child psycho, made out with his own hands. And now..." She pasted the photo over the others and took out a red marker and wrote "FAILED" at the top of the page, "I wish I could just forget about them forever."

"Aw, don't cry, Mabel. It's not the end of the world; you just haven't found the right guy/male creature yet. He's just having difficulty finding you or you finding him."

"Why can I find him now?" She asked dejectedly, wiping her eyes.

"Hey, if it's any consolation, our summer mission isn't a huge success either. We're still trying to find the author of this journal, but with this laptop smashed, we've lost any lead in finding him." Dipper told her, gesturing at the busted laptop and turned to 3 when he saw her wince. "It's alright 3, I don't regret the deal I made with Bill to save you." He looked at the board again and narrowed his eyes. "If only we had a clue, even the smallest one would do and we could crack this mystery wide open." Mabel walked over to the laptop and looked it over with the bottle and gasped, "Wait a minute. Dipper, 3, look!"

"Through your bottle?"

"A dirty one at that?"

"Just do it." She demanded shoving their heads to gather so they could peer through the bottle at the same time. 3 didn't see anything until she and Dipper saw it at the same time. Inside the CPU was a golden plaque that read: McGucket Labs.

"'McGucket Labs.'" He repeated then in shock said, "Wait, Old Man McGucket?"

"You don't think..."

"It's so unlikely."

"Couldn't be... Doesn't make any sense, unless..." He takes the photo from the board and he starts connecting pictures and tying strings to the Author as though on autopilot. "This matches with this... This goes over here... And then the name... So that would mean... Old Man McGucket wrote the journals?!" He yelled as 3's face drained of all color.

"Oh no!" She choked, collapsing.

"What? What's wrong!?" Dipper asked urgently, noticing his friend's distress.

"If this is true, then I dropped kicked Father into a wall! Oh I'm so ashamed!" She wailed into her hands

"Huh? What cha talking about 3?" Mabel asked in confusion as Dipper's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh yeah, when you and 3 switched bodies, 3 knocked out McGucket to prevent him from eating Soos who was trapped in Waddles body." Dipper turned to 3 and said, "Hey, technically MABEL was the one who kicked McGucket as you were in control of her body at the time."

"I-I guess that's true." 3 sniffed.

"Come on guys we got to find McGucket and we'll finally get some answers. To the Junkyard!" Dipper announced as the three children ran downstairs, leaving a quiet 1 alone in the attic.

"…Sigh…"


They found Wendy and Soos in the gift shop and Dipper called to them, "Wendy, Soos, we need to go see Old Man McGucket! Right now!" He called as he and 3 ran for Soos's truck as Mabel grabbed Wendy, "We'll explain on the way!"

"Wait! What's gotten into you guys?" Wendy gasped as she tried to remain upright as the younger girl dragged her.

"There has been a major break in the case! We think the author maybe McGucket!" 3 explained.

"Seriously?" The teen asked in shock. "You too haven't gone nuts from sleep deprivation, right?"

"When it comes to the author, we are serious." Dipper said. She was about to say more when they were interrupted by a zipper. The group turned to see Soos taking off his pants and started to eat them.

"Soos, what are you doing?" Dipper asked as he and 3 traded weirded out looks.

"I'm doing as Little Big Dog told me to do." He replied, muffled from the fabric. The kids turned to Wendy who groaned.

"Don't. Just don't ask."


They soon made it to the junkyard in record time and started to look for the crazy old man.

"Old Man McGucket, are you here?" Dipper called.

"We need to talk to you about something."

"Here hillbilly-billy-billy-billy."

The group soon found themselves at McGucket's shack with Nate and Lee spray painting the phrase "Old Man McSuckit" on the side of the building, laughing.

"That's good."

"Took an hour to think of this, but it was worth it. Ha!" The boys laughed, to entranced with their genius that they didn't notice 3 stalking up behind them.

"What are you doing?" 3 growled furiously at the thought of the teens harassing her father. The teens whirled around and screamed once they caught sight of her expression.

"THE MANIAC! RUN!" They screamed and fled as McGucket came out to investigate.

"Get outta here, you salt lickin', hornswagglin! Eh? Where did those vandal's go?" He turned to the graffiti with a despondent look that made 3's heart clench in pity. "... McSuckit, they got me good." He glanced over at the group and his eyes widened. "Visitors! Come, come." He leads them inside. "Pull up some rusty metal. You're just in time for my hourly turf war with the hillbilly what lives in my mirror." He turns to the brass pan that served as his bathtub and yelled at his reflection. "Quit starin' at me when I bathe!"

Dipper cut him off and said, "You can drop the act, McGucket. I know you're the Author. You studied the mysteries of this town and wrote a series of books, just like this one." He accused, holding up a fake Journal 3.

Wendy then said, "Dude, you're the genius Dipper and Aris has been searching for all summer!" She pulled the wrecked laptop from Soos's bag and gave it to the confused old man.

"You have all the answers that we seek to the towns mysteries." 3 continued, hiding her position as his 'daughter' in case it was another false trail.

McGucket looked from the group to the ruined laptop in his hands and sighed. "Uh, genius? I'm no genius. I've never done nothin' worthwhile in my life. Everyone knows I'm no good to nobody. I can't remember what I used to be, but I must've been a big failure to end up like this." He said gazing at the newspaper showing the man eating a raccoon while his son was gazing away from the camera in shame.

"But the laptop has your name on it." Soos argued weakly.

"Perhaps you've forgotten, maybe if you see something from that time, maybe it'll shake something loose." 3 said, feeling real pity for the man.

Dipper quickly started showing the pages to the confused old man, "Yeah! Look, what about these entries? Are you sure you didn't write any of it? Here, look closely."

McGucket sighed in frustration and said, "I told you, I don't recall. Everything before 1982 is just a blur. Just a hazy..." He froze when he caught sight of something and began screaming and backing away. "The Blind Eye! Robes, the men, my mind! They did something!"

3 quickly made her way over to Dipper who was staring down at the page that caused such a violent reaction. On the page showed a robed figure and an eyeballed crossed out with an x titled: The Blind Eye in cursive.

"Who did?" Dipper asked urgently.

McGucket struggled mentally for a moment then groaned, "I... oh, I don't recall."

"Maybe, just maybe, that you got to close to something and this 'Blind Eye' is behind your memory loss. Like the Men in Black of Gravity Falls." 3 said, thinking aloud.

"Oh, you poor old man! No wonder your mind's all…pbbth. You've been through something intense." Mabel said sympathetically as she made raspberry to describe McGucket's state of mind.

"Just as I was thinking, we've got to get to the bottom of this." Dipper declared, storing the fake book away. Wendy turned to the old man and asked.

"Think, dude. What is the earliest thing you can remember?"

"Uh, this is, I think." He went over to a wall and pulled down another newspaper article that showed a disorientated McGucket in front of the history museum.

"The history museum!"

"That's where we're going." Dipper said, "All right, everybody, to the car. We will get McGucket's memories back or at least find a lead on how to do it." They piled into the car and were soon on their way to find some answers until Wendy snapped.

"Ugh, Soos!" She growled. She punched the CD player open and tossed it out the window in anger. Soos glared and after a beat of awkward silence she said.

"I'll buy you a new one."

Dipper on the other hand was practically vibrating with excitement. "This is it, 3. I can practically taste it. We will finally get answers."

"Agreed…" 3 said quietly.

"Hey, what's wrong? I would've thought you would be chomping at the bit to get a lead on your dad." Then he remembered the conversation in the attic "Is what 1 said what's bothering you?"

3 nodded, "I want to believe that father is a good person, but…1 has a point. Why am I so desperate to find a man I don't remember but for brief events? Maybe we're like that Shape-shifter in the bunker, but, you know not as dangerous or volatile or as gross-looking. Maybe we were successes due to that devotion." She confided.

Dipper was quiet for a moment and squeezed her hand reassuringly, "We don't know that for sure, but if it does end up being true, then so what? You're your own person now, if he is not what you thought he'd be like, then you and your sibling's could just walk away. And if he won't let that happen, then we'll just sic Mabel and Flamel on him." He joked.

"Heh, you're right." But still…


Thy soon arrived at the museum, but soon discovered it was closed. Wendy picked the locked and the group soon climbed into the building.

"I'm surprised that an alarm didn't go off. In every movie I've seen, museums alarms are always going off." 3 said in surprise, looking around the area.

"Eh, it's Gravity Falls. I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who would even want to break in here while everyone else breaks into the pool." Dipper said with a shrug.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Soos called.

"All right guys, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious." Dipper cautioned as Mabel sighed dejectedly, walking past a stuffed cougar.

"Mabel, are you okay? You just walked by a cat without petting it." Wendy asked in concern.

"Oh Wendy, everything I look at reminds me of failed romances. That formaldehyde heart. That romantic diorama. Even this poster of my ex-crush." She said pointing to a poster of Gabe and pulled it down to reveal a poster of Sev'ral Timez. "Aw, come on!"

Dipper ignored them and turned to McGucket. "So your last memory was here. Anything coming back?" McGucket opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Soos.

"Guys, look!" He yelled, pointing at a shadowy figure down the hallway.

"Hey, who's there?" Dipper yelled as thy chased them until they came to an empty room filled with eyes.

"Well kettle my corn. He vanish-ified." The old man exclaimed.

"It doesn't make sense. Where did he go?" Dipper asked looking around.

"Maybe there's a secret entrance or a trap door."

"I feel like all these eyeballs are a-watchin' me." McGucket said nervously and 3 could see his point, almost every eye in the room was turned towards his position. That sort of thing would freak anyone out.

Dipper's own eyes widen and said, "Wait... they are! Move aside." McGucket moves aside, revealing a central eye staring at them, Dipper moves forward and pushes it, and a staircase forms from behind the fireplace.

"A secret passageway."

"Jackpot!"

McGucket nodded, "We'll have to be stealthy. I'll hambone a message if there's trouble." He slaps his arms and legs a number of times, but no one knew what he was trying to say.

"I have no idea what that means."

"Ditto."

They go down the staircase and soon heard a number of voices chanting, creepily. They then arrived to the ground floor to find a curtain with the x-ed out eye printed on it. They peeked through a curtain to see a circle of hooded figures standing around a box and a chair with restraints a little ways to the side.

"I don't like the look of this, guys." 3 whispered but was quickly shushed when what looked like the lead robed figure came forward.

"Who is the subject of our meeting?" He asked. Two more members came forward with someone in-between them with a bag covering their face. "This woman." They said, removing the bag to reveal Lazy Susan from the diner.

"Lazy Susan?" Dipper whispered in horror.

"What is it you have seen?" The lead guy asked, theatrically.

"Speak!"

Lazy Susan glanced around nervously and said, "Uh, well, uh, I was leaving the diner, and I saw these little bearded doodads, and I was, like, 'Bwaaa?'"

"There, there." He went over to the box and pulled out a gun-like object out of the box. When 3 saw it, she hissed in pain and grabbed her temple. "Psst, 3, what's wrong?" Dipper asked in concern.

"Headache." She hissed through gritted teeth.

"You won't be like "Bwaaa?" for much longer." The man continued, messing with the side control panel of the thing.

"What is that gizmo? It looks like a hair dryer. Are you guy's barbers?" The Lead Member doesn't answer as he pointed it at her and fired, letting out a beam of light that caused her to scream in pain until she went quiet and dazed.

"Lazy Susan, what do you know of little bearded men?"

"My mind is cleared, thanks to the Society of the Blind Eye." She answered robotically as the member's grinned under their hoods and announced, "It is unseen!"

"Oh my gosh. They erased Lazy Susan's memory." Dipper said in shock as McGucket hambones an unknown phase. "Guys, are you seeing this? They just wiped Lazy Susan's memory!"

Soos snorted and said, "They should've wiped off that awful mascara." He joked, much to the ire of the females in the room.

"I think she looks beautiful!"

"She's doing the best she can, Soos!"

"Not Cool!"

"Whoa, touched a nerve there."

The leader began speaking again, cutting off any further conversation. "Lazy Susan, how do you feel?"

"I feel great! I can't even remember what was wrong, or what I'm doing here, or if I'm a man or a woman!" She babbled as she was led away from the group.

"Your memories will be safe with us, buried in the Hall of the Forgotten." He removes a familiar looking tube from the memory erasing gun, and sent it into a series of pipes leading away from the room.

"Into the Hall of the Forgotten. Into the Hall of the Forgotten." The others chanted.

"Good chanting, boys. Have you been practicing? Meeting adjourned." The leader said as the members dispersed with farewells.

"Unsee you later."

"Unsee you later!"

The group waited for a beat then cautiously approached the memory gun.

"Amazing. A secret society of evil mind erasers." Dipper said in amazement as he turned to the old man. "I'll bet they erased your memory a long time ago. If we could find where your memories have been hidden, it could be the key to unlocking all the mysteries of Gravity Falls. All right, Mabel, Wendy, you two stay here and make sure those robe guys don't come back." Dipper said, taking the lead, while looking at 3 in concern as she rubbed her head in pain.

"Whoo! Girls club." Wendy cheered, messing up Mabel's hair.

"Aris, you, I, Soos, and McGucket are gonna go find the Hall of the Forgotten." He continued as Soos' hat was sucked into the pipe.

"Follow that hat!" The four chased after the hat until they heard someone yell nearby.

"Halt! Is someone there?"

"Quick hide!" Dipper called as they hid in the pioneer section. 3 hid in the wagon, Soos as the woman, Dipper as the child, and McGucket as the man just in time as two society members came into the room.

They looked around and they held their breath as one of them approached the exhibit they were hiding in. The member tried to fixed McGucket's eyes so they'd see straight but they continued to roll to the side until the member gave up.

"Man, these are really poorly made. I could've sworn I heard someone."

"Probably just the janitor kissing that wax settler woman again."

"Woof! Remind me to erase that from my memory." The man said as they leave and the group let out their collective breath.

"Whew!" He notices the hat speed by. "There it is. Hurry!" They soon followed after the hat to a vent going down and they slid down to come upon double doors with the society's symbol on the doors. They nodded to each other and pushed them open to find the room filled with tubes that contained the memories the society has stolen over the years.

"Honey fogelin', salt lickin' skullduggery." McGucket cursed, looking around.

"Man, you have got to teach me some of those old-men swear words." Soos chuckled as they began searching though the tubes. 3 and Dipper went further into the room until Dipper stopped her.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem to be in pain ever since you saw the memory gun."

"I'm fine; it's just sympathy pain from when Susan was zapped." 3 assured him, rubbing her forehead. "By the way…don't these tubes look familiar? I could've sworn I've seen it before…" She asked, holding up a tube. Dipper frowned thoughtfully.

"Now that you mention it…it does ring a bell. Eh, it'll come to us eventually, right now we have to find McGucket's before one of those robe guys come around."


They scoured through numerous Tubes but they still couldn't find them.

"Look at all these tubes." Dipper groaned.

"People must've been getting their memories erased all over town." Soos agreed.

"Tell me about it. There are tubes from: Pacifica, Gideon's mother, Tambry, Eris, Mark, Al, and even one from Robbie." 3 said over her shoulder.

"Hey I got one of his memories too." Dipper said, shaking the tube they went over to the machine and inserted Dipper's in first.

It showed Robbie strapped to the chair with the leader interrogating him off screen.

"Yes, Robbie, what is it that you have seen?"

"So I was attacked by this magic kung-fu guy that was throwing, like, balls of fire at me. I kicked his butt though." Robbie said cockily.

"Robbie, speak honestly."

"I was saved by two 12-year-old's." He moaned in embarrassment.

"I've always wondered why he never brought it up." Dipper admitted as he gestured for 3 to places hers in. This time it showed a much younger Robbie in the chair, about 6 years old.

"Tell, us child, what have you seen?"

"Uh, I was playing in some kid's back yard when I soaked this monster lady with my water gun, she turned towards me and she grew these, like, ginormous claws and screamed at me. But! I wasn't scared or peed myself, I just decided to investigate something behind a tree and these two buff futuristic guys come from nowhere and blasted the tree I was hid-I mean investigating."

"Hm, the time police was active even then." 3 said, but wondered about that monster-lady part of the story.

"Why are they erasing peoples' memories? I still don't get it." Dipper asked himself when they heard McGucket call out to them.

"Looky, fellers." He pointed to a tube on a shelf that was labelled 'McGucket Memories.' "It's those words what people call me."

"Oh, dude, your memories. We did it!" Soos cheered.

"Grabby, grabby. I got it!" He takes the tube, which sets off an alarm. "The alarm in my brain is a-ringin' again. Ah!"

"So there is an alarm!" 3 yelled as society members started to pour into the room.

"Halt! Who's there?"

"Oh no!"

"Run!"

"Way ahead of you!" 3 called, dragging Dipper away as Soos ran after them, losing McGucket on the way.

"Get back here!" One man yelled from behind them, they hid behind a statue as they turned the corner and remained there until the men ran past them.

"Okay, I think we're safe." Dipper sighed when a group of hands came from behind them and dragged them further into the shadows.

"Gotcha!" a member called, as the group's hands were bound behind them.

"Hey, let us go!" Dipper yelled as they struggled in the member's arms.

The member that held 3 sneered at him. "As if we'd let you go with all you memories intact. You've shouldn't have-ow! Did you just bite me!?" He shouted, outraged, to see 3's teeth embedded in his arm. "Let go! I said let go you brat!" He shouted, punching 3 in the side of the head, stunning her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Dipper screamed, furious. 3 quickly shock off her daze and renewed her struggling, kicking and head butting him in the face until his patience snapped and punched her again, and everything went black.


..

.

Huh?

"…lax…be over…"

Who is that?

"Airy, this is for your own good. You'll understand in time."

What's going on?

"Know whatever happens, I'll always love you."

.


"-Ris!"

"Aris!"

"Hey, wake up!" 3 groggily looked up to find herself back in the Hall of Forgotten and that she was tied to a pole with a worried but now relieved Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy.

"Aris? Oh thank god you're awake!" Wendy said, in relief.

"Are you alright?" Mabel asked.

"I, I think so. What happened?" She asked sleepily, not noticing the society members surrounding them.

"These jerks knocked you out cold and tied us up." Dipper said darkly.

"Spare me the dramatics. Now if you're quite done, I would like to go back to my diabolical monologue." The lead member growled and cleared his throat. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes. You shouldn't have come here. We do not give up our secrets lightly."

"Who are you bathrobe-wearing freaks?" Wendy snarled as Dipper demanded, "Why are you doing this?"

"What's with your creepy British accent?" Mabel asked randomly.

"What's with that gun thing?" 3 asked, still a little tired from the hit.

"Well, I suppose we are going to erase your minds anyway." The leader nodded to the members and they one by one removed their hoods.

"Toby Determined?"

"Bud Gleeful?"

"That farmer guy?"

"Buff Tattoo man?"

"Creepy dude who married a woodpecker? You too? How's that marriage going, by the way?" Soos asked the man

"Oh, great, great." He waited for the bird to turn its head and whispered. "Not great."

"And you've never met me before. And if you had, you wouldn't remember." He removes his hood, revealing a bald tattooed head and a red scar through one eye." I am Blind Ivan, and we are the Society of the Blind Eye. Formed many years ago by our founder... our founder... Does anyone remember who he was?" Ivan asked the other members.

"We've been using' that ray on our own brains an awful lot." Bud said sheepishly.

"Why would you do all this? What do you have to gain?" Dipper demanded.

"As you have no doubt discovered, Gravity Falls is a town plagued with supernatural strangeness. No one knew how to stop the things that went bump in the night, so our founder invented the next best thing: a way for us to forget. We took it upon ourselves to help the troubled townsfolk by erasing the memories of the strange things they've seen. Now the people of Gravity Falls go about their lives ignorant and happy, thanks to us. And as a perk, we help ourselves forget things that trouble us. Everyone has something they'd rather forget. In fact, your own sister was about to use that ray on herself. Isn't that right?" Ivan said with a twisted grin as he looked at Mabel.

"Mabel? Seriously?" Dipper asked as 3 groaned, whether in pain or annoyance, she wasn't sure.

"Ha, ha, maybe..." Mabel trailed off. 3 turned to Bud Gleeful and said, "You know? If you erased you mind of every little thing you didn't like, I can see how Gideon grew into a little psycho."

Dipper turned to Ivan and said, "Don't you see? This is ruining lives! What about Old Man McGucket? He lives in a hut and talks to animals, thanks to you. Don't you feel bad about that?"

Blind Ivan frowned and said, "Mmm, maybe a little." He zaps himself with the ray. "But not anymore. You won't be telling anyone else what you've learned here. Say good-bye to your summer." He aims the ray gun at them, getting ready to fire.

Soos began to panic and said, "Guys, if we're gonna forget everything, I got some stuff I wanna get off my chest. Mabel, for half the summer, I thought your name was Maple, like the syrup. No one corrected me!" He confessed.

"I only love some of my stuffed animals, and the guilt is killing me!" Mabel wailed in shame.

"Sometimes I use big words, and I don't actually know what they mean. I mean, I'm supposed to be the smart guy. If I'm not the smart guy, who am I!?" Dipper broke down.

"The reason none of you can find a working pen lately is because I've been drinking the ink! I just unscrew the cap and just suck it out!" 3 admitted, garnering some strange looks from the society.

"Okay, I'm not actually laid back. I'm stressed, like, 24/7. Have you met my family?" Wendy broke down, shaking with nerves.

Blind Ivan scoffed and said, "Oh, stop being a bunch of babies." He was about to fire when a garbage lid came flying from nowhere and knocked away the gun. "Owie!"

"McGucket?!" The group call in shock as McGucket came over wheeling a can filled with mining memorabilia. "I raided the mining display for weapons. Now fight like a hillbilly, fellers!" Everyone grabs a weapon: banjos, stuffed raccoons, a shovel and an informational display about dysentery.

"Oh, nobody better mess!" Soos growled.

"They know too much. Don't let them escape!" Ivan yelled as the Blind Eyes came charging forward till it turned into a free for all.

"Get this song outta your head!" Wendy yelled as she smashed a banjo onto the Farmer's head as Soos chased another member with a dysentery display. "Dysentery's gonna get you, dawg!"

"This is for punching me twice! Jerks!" 3 yelled bashing her shovel on the guy's head then, just because she could, smash the handle in the family jewels. Seeing this, the other members gave her a wide berth.

Dipper noticed the tube that had rolled away in the fray and went to grab it. "I gotta get the memory tube.

"Oh no you don't!" The Tattoo man growled, gearing up to hit him, Dipper quickly place the tube in a nearby pipe and ran just as his fist smashed the area his head was once occupying.

"Mabel, catch!" He shouted as the tube zoomed near her. She tried to grab it when the Farmer tore it from her hands. "I'll take that, thank you." He tried running away, but was blocked by Soos. "Give it up, boy. You're no match for the unstoppable power of-" He did notice Mabel sneaking up behind him and used the pipe to suck his robe off, leaving the Farmer in his underwear, much to everyone's disgust. "That's right; I don't wear nothin' under my robe. Not gonna apologize for that. Maybe y'all should apologize for bein' a bunch of prudes." He said, offended.

"Eew!"

Soos grabbed the eraser gun and held it to his head, "Well, time to erase that forever." Blind Ivan came from behind him and snatches it away.

"Give me that tube." He snarled at Dipper. 3 grabbed the tube and tossed it into a pipe above them and the three of them raced towards it.

"Never! That memory belongs to McGucket."

"Besides, you guys stole them first!"

"The Society's secrets belong to us!" He snarled, he grabbed Dipper and flung him into 3, causing them to crash into a pile of memories as he grabbed the tube just as Wendy and Soos ran up to them. He held up the ray and stalked towards the fallen children as the rest of the members boxed them in. "End of the line. By tomorrow, this will all seem like a bad dream. Say goodbye to your precious memories." He growled, pointing the ray and ready to fire.

"No!" Dipper yelled, blocking 3 as she clutched her head and whispered, "Not again." He shields his eyes, but nothing happened. He glanced up to find that McGucket had jumped in front of them, shielding them from the ray. "McGucket, you took a bullet for us..." He whispered, and then gasped in horror as McGucket got shot with the ray again. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay!?" He asked.

McGucket just cackled, "As okay as I'll ever be!" He said as he advanced towards a panicking Ivan who continued to shot him.

"What!? Why... isn't... this... working!?" He grunted, retreating.

"Hit me with your best shot, Baldy. But my mind's been gone for thirty-odd years. You can't break what's already broken!" He called, knocking the ray away and said, "Say goodnight, Sally!" He head-butts Blind Ivan and the others quickly gathered the rest of the members as Dipper helped 3 up.

"Ugh, when we get back to the Shack, I'm going to sleep forever." 3 moaned, rubbing her aching head.

"Yeah, ever since we saw the ray, your head has taken a real beating." Dipper said then frowned. "Hey, just as Ivan was about to shoot us, I heard you whisper 'Not again,' what was with that?" He asked.

She just frowned, "I don't know, maybe we've encountered them before, but we didn't win this time?" She asked, not really convinced at her own explanation.

"No, then they would've said something to that affect."

"But don't forget they also use the ray on themselves…"

"Yeah, speaking of which, let's give these guy's a taste of their own medicine." Dipper said, waving the ray in front of her and headed over to the group who was now tied up.

"Unhand us!" Ivan snarled.

"It isn't so fun being tied up, is it?" Mabel mocked them, and then pulled out a permanent marker. "Hey, wanna draw on their faces?"

"What!?"

Mabel just giggled and crosses out Ivan's "knowledge" tattoo and replaces it with "butts" as 3 and Dipper came up behind them.

"Hey, stop that! That's not funny!"

"It's pretty funny."

"It's, like, objectively funny."

"Yeah, it's hilarious."

"We'll have our revenge. We'll never forget what you've done." Ivan swore as Dipper dialed 'the Society of the Blind Eye' into the ray.

"Oh, I think you just might. Say cheese." Dipper grinned as he fired the ray.


"Thanks for visiting the Museum for Gold Miner Appreciation Night. Be sure to tip the gold miner on your way out." Dipper bid farewell as the former Society stumbled out of the museum entrance.

"Remember, all money donated tonight will go to a just cause." 3 waved them off as they deposited money into McGucket's hat. Suddenly, Blind Ivan paused and turned to them.

"I'm sorry, but what's my name? Where am I?" He asked.

Dipper winced and muttered, "Oh, might've overdone that one."

Mabel suddenly appeared next to Ivan and said, "Your name is Toot-toot McBumbersnazzle. You're a traveling banjo minstrel, with a song in your heart, and funny tattoos on your head." She said, handing him a banjo and one of her fake Id's.

Blind Ivan smiled gullibly and nodded, "Yes, I am Toot-toot McBumbersnazzle. Cheers! 'Toot-toot is my name...'" He sang as he left the area and the six reentered the Hall of Forgotten to see McGucket's memories.

"All right, McGucket, are you ready to see your memories? Find out who you really are?" Dipper asked as he set up the memory viewer.

"I'm not so sure. What if I don't like what I see?" McGucket said nervously and a little frightened.

"We've come all this way. Go on." Mabel assured him. McGucket took a deep breath and places the tube into the machine. An image pops up on the screen of McGucket, 30 years younger, with a head full hair and a dressed like a professor, surrounded by charts. The younger then began speaking.

"My name is Fiddleford Hadron McGucket, and I wish to unsee what I have seen." The younger said, causing the group to gasp at the now familiar phase.

"Sweet sarsaparilla." McGucket gasped.

Fiddleford continued, "For the past year, I have been working as an assistant for a visiting researcher. He has been cataloging his findings about Gravity Falls in a series of journals." 3 and Dipper exchanged glances and looked at the mysterious blueprint in the fake journal. "I helped him build a machine which he believed had the potential to benefit all mankind, but something went wrong. I decided to quit the project. But I lie awake at night, haunted by the thoughts of what I've done. I believe I have invented a machine that can permanently erase these memories from my mind." He holds up the memory erasing ray. "Test subject one: Fiddleford." He shoots it. The screen goes to static until it cleared again with the caption Day 5 on the lower left.

Now it showed an overjoyed Fiddleford saying, "It worked! I can't recall a thing." The machine started to turn to static multiple times. "I call it the Society of the Blind Eye. We will help those who want to forget by erasing their bad memories!" He said, showing the camera the Blind Eye symbol.

Static, Fiddleford is more disheveled and nervous looking. "Today, I came across a colony of little men, very disturbing. I would like to forget seeing this." Static, Fiddleford's lab is a mess and his arm is in a cast. "I accidentally hit another car in town today. I feel terri-bibble! Terrible. I've been forgetting words lately. I wonder if there are any negative side effects..." He asked himself nervously.

Static. Fiddleford is now sporting a beard and is filming from a motel. "I saw something in the lake, something big! My hair's been a-fallin' out, so I got this hat from a scarecrow. Hey, are my pants on backwards?" Static. Fiddleford is wild-eyed and filming from the junkyard. Maniacal giggling and speaking gibberish and finally the video shorted out with Old man McGucket forming a triangle around his eye.

No one said anything for a moment, their eyes glued to the snowstorm on the screen, until Mabel broke the heavy silence.

"Oh, McGucket, I'm so sorry."

McGucket just removed the tube and turned to them with a tender smile on his face. "Aw, hush. You kids helped me get my memories back, just like you said."

"But did you want those memories back?" Mabel asked, unconvinced.

"After all these years, I finally know who I am. Maybe I messed up in the past, but now that I seen what happened; I can begin to put myself together again." He hambones a message, but 3 had the feeling that he was thanking them.

Dipper smiled at the man then something hit him, "Still don't know what that means. So, wait. You weren't the Author, but you worked with him. Do you remember who he was?"

McGucket frowned and rubbed his head, "It's beginning to come back, but I need more time. And reading glasses. Heck! I got some remembering' to do." He smiled, placing a pair of goggles that had its right lenses on his eyes.

Wendy smiled down on Mabel and held up the memory ray, "So Mabel, you still wanna erase those failed summer romances?"

Mabel looked at the reminiscing McGucket and smiled, "You know, no one likes having bad memories, but maybe it's better to remember the bad things and learn from them than to go all denial crazy trying to forget."

Wendy grinned and said, "That's some mature junk right there, Mabel."

"Yep. Miss Mature. That's me. Hey, you wanna help me vandalize this picture of my jerky ex-crush?" She giggled, holding up Gabe's poster and a marker.

"All right!"

"Wooh, yeah!"

"Yeah, I never liked that guy."

"I was going to do that anyway."


3 was still laughing when it suddenly hit her. "Ah! So that's where I recognized these bottles from!"

"What do you mean, Aris?" Dipper asked in confusion.

"One moment." She quickly ran out to Soos's truck and grabbed her bag to pull out the tube that said "My regrets" she'd found in the forest 5 days ago and ran back to the confused group. "Doesn't this look like a memory bottle?" She asked, presenting the tube.

They looked and their eyes widened in recognition, "Hey, yeah! But what was it doing out in the middle of the forest. Ivan said it himself: they don't let go of their secrets lightly."

"Maybe it was something so messed up, that none of the robe wearing freaks wanted around incase they'd remember it if they see it again." Wendy suggested.

"Well, only one way to find out." 3 said placing the tube into the machine. The screen came to life with a harsh static killed their ears and the screen came alive to show a blizzard of static and a garbled message.

"Don't worry dudes, I can fix it." Soos assured them and then smacked the tube on the table a couple of times to show a bad quality young Fiddleford on screen again.

"McGucket, I think this is another one of your memory tubes." 3 told the old man, who nodded with wide eyes.

"Test #4, after trial and error I have determined that by speaking…bout wha…troubles the mind before usin…forgetting ray, it increase…chance of for…tting from 50% to 95% of success. Now…drove me…forget off my chest." The memory was badly degraded due to it being out in the wild for so long, but they could make most of the words. Fiddleford cleared his throat and began his message that could be barely heard over the static.

"About a year ago, back when…starting our investigation, I…associate St…were exploring…woods, categorizing…exotic flora and fauna when…ley stumbled upon… children in the woods: 2 boys and…infant girls…the most peculiar of children with…amber eyes, snowy skin, and…red hair…nonetheless…taken…children, especially the…girl." The entire video was over whelmed with static that had Soos beating the side till the image returned.

"However, we soon realized that… not normal…The eldest…see…future, the second …telepath, the third…amazing strength and kinesis. My part…over joyed…encouraged the children to harness…." Fiddleford smiled in fondness then he became serious. "But…where …wrong…man…new to…par…game and…children and he couldn't…all of them… once…meaning to, he accident…favor of…siblings." Fiddleford took a deep breath and continued.

"The younge…resent…sibling…so…attempted… kill…attentself." He cut himself off to wipe the tears that spilt onto his face. "…lured…trap…another colleague…he blew up…but my colleague…something wrong…sacrificed…save…life." The video was starting to skip ahead and the tube was making uncomfortable noises as the group exchanged nervous glances.

"Uh…McGucket? Do you remember any of this?" Dipper asked the old man nervously who wordlessly shook his head.

"This, this is some kind of heavy stuff." Soos said quietly.

"Yeah, do you think this has something to do with the author?" Wendy asked

"I don't know…"

The video finally cleared again with Fiddleford saying, "Sealed…journals…protect…children…be one day…he will return…portal…one thing I have to say." Fiddleford looked into the camera, "I'm sorry." He then took out a photo from his suit pocket and showed it to the camera that had the group gasping in shock once again. Dipper quickly turned to 3, who had her eyes glued to the screen that was filled with a grainy photo of three children: 2 boys and a girl, with the younger two looking startlingly familiar.

"Hey, uh, Polaris, doesn't that girl in the photo look like you?" Soos asked. In the photo showed a definitely younger looking 3 and she would bet that the boys resembled 1 and 2's human forms.

"I don't get it, I mean, how!?" 3 choked. She then remembered her and 1's conversation this afternoon. Did he know or at least have and inkling of what's going on. She continued to look at the screen till it spluttered and died the memory over.

"Hey, Aris." Dipper said, catching her attention. "Don't worry, we will solve this mystery, everything's fine." He said, though he still looked troubled.

Wendy sighed, "Well it's been a wild day: Secret societies, erasing said minds, and a big reveal, I'd say we best be getting home. Stan is probably wondering where we are since we sort of skipped from work." The kids nodded and they all headed to Soos's truck.


"Hey, you know what? Going on this big adventure actually made me get that stupid song out of my head." Wendy said happily.

"Nice." He starts the car and 'Straight Blanchin' plays.

"Oh, come on!" She yelled.

McGucket meanwhile was looking through the fake journal and said, "It's all so familiar. It's almost like I can remember..."

3 meanwhile was deep in thought from everything that has occurred. Nothing's making sense, who is my father, why did those children look like me and my brother's, and what did my father have to do with the portal in the basement? I mean, my father is a good person; surely he wouldn't knowingly make something so dangerous. Right?


Hmm, some seeds of doubt have been planted; wonder what they'll grow into? And what's with the memory tube they found in the forest? Only time would tell. I would like to thank everybody that has reviewed and followed and, if my schedule allows, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.