Disclaimer: WOW! I can't believe we're over 200 reviews. Here's the first chapter in season two!

TravisUmbra: It is a sweet chapter, isn't it? Season one was certainly intense, but season two? Oh man. That's gonna be a wild ride. And yeah, wrong show. :)

FrostyAngelWings: Well, I had a lot to say this time around. Big important chapter deserves big amount of words.

PippyTheBest: AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

SolangeloUniverse: You're welcome. I'll be waiting.

CoolCuttz: I thought it'd be best to end on a high note. Bill… it's Bill. Do I really need to explain any further? It didn't take me any time at all to write this, since I already had this written in pen in my own journal. I write 9000 words by hand… wow. No wonder I kept cramping up. Oh well. I hope you like season two, my friend. Things are certainly going to get interesting.

RillFipher: Okay then.

StoriesUnleashed: Glad you like both of my stories! I've seen many tries at a person from the real world entering theirs, but I love it that I'm taking this in a way no one ever thought of. I use so much information, making this as realistic as I can. As for that crackpot theory… hehe. You just keep thinking that.

Akira D. Ryusuke: Thank you! And, try not to think about the kiss too much. It's gonna get even weirder as the story progresses.

SnowyFalls: All of the above! I'll go over and fix those errors. Thanks for letting me know.

Andonexus KotD: She honestly doesn't care what happens at this point. Sure, she wants to get back home, but not if her friends are going to suffer. Regardless if it matters or not, she wants to help them.

EmmieSauce: Thanks!

It's Hetalia: Why thank you! My updating schedule will take a turn when school starts up soon, but I'll try to post as fast as possible.

Elaine is mine, Axel and Asger are the core of justice's, and Kat is RillFipher's. Also, Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star) belongs to Steven Universe.

"Speaking"

Thinking

"Reading"

Edited: Sept. 13/18

Elaine's POV

The halfway point of the summer! Ha ha! FINALLY! I bobbed on my heels in front of the bathroom mirror, grinning ear to ear. It's been only a small time since we fixed the Mystery Shack up again and had the interview, but it felt like ages ago. Although, that may have something to do with how much crazy stuff had been going on. I've finally revealed my secret to the twins, and they didn't care. They… didn't care that I wasn't from their world. Dipper, he… he forgave me for my deal with Bill.

Giggling, I picked up the brush on the table, and began fixing my hair for the grand re-opening. He understood what I did, and he didn't hang it over my head. I even woke up in the middle of the night, just to see the portal's bright blue light come up from under the floorboards. How it even reached the attic when the thing was down in the ground… I didn't exactly know. It was cool though, minus the fact it blinded me for a few minutes. Yeah, that's what I get for being in a dark room and then getting exposed to bright lights.

I went to bed happy that night. With peaceful dreams, and no visits from Cipher…

Cipher. I growled under my breath, and roughly slammed the brush back down. Tugging my hair back into a ponytail with more force than necessary, I glared at my reflection. I was in such a rush yesterday, I never had much time to really think about it. But now that I had time… I was ticked.

Who the heck thinks they could just go ahead and kiss someone like that? No warning, no clues, he j-just did it! He just…! Why did he…!? "Ugh!" Throwing my hands in the air, I yelled in exasperation. "Dang it, Bill! For once, can't you just make some sense!?"

"Elaine?" A quick pounding echoed in the room, and I looked over at the door worriedly. "Hey, are you alright in there?" Dipper?

"O-oh! Uh, I-I'm alright!" I yelled back. I opened the door, and smiled nervously at him. Dipper could tell I wasn't being truthful. "I-it's okay, Dipper. Just… a little mad right now. Emotions got carried away for a sec."

"Bill?" I nodded. Guess he heard that. "What did he do to wind you up so much?" Dipper stepped into the room, and I moved back to give him space. "Well, more wound up than normal."

Well, first there's the countless times I've been forced to hang out with him. But then again, I had grown use to the visits. The painful method that could heal my body. Which I was thankful for, as I no longer had to bandage everything. It still left scars though. And-oh, yeah! He turned his eyeinto a mouth, and kissed me! "Nothing, Dipper. It's nothing to worry about."

Dipper sighed, and grabbed my hand. He led me out of the bathroom and towards the staircase. "You know, now that I know what you were hiding, it makes it somewhat easier to tell when you're lying." He looked up at me, frowning. "How many things you're hiding… I'm okay with that. But if it's serious Elaine, you need to tell us." The thing was, if he knew I was lying about a lot of stuff… he must have picked up on those few times I let my knowledge about Gravity Falls slip through. He was clever, so he should've pieced it together.

"I know, kid." I pulled my hand free, letting his fall back to his side. Dipper, surprised by my action turned to look at me, and I held my hands up in defense. "I… there's a lot that I'm still keeping to myself, Dipper. The deal with the triangular demon and the dimension traveling thing are the two main secrets, but there's still others that I have yet to tell you." Being a cartoon character being the main one. I would never admit the spin my relationship with Bill had taken; that's something I was taking to my grave.

"And I'm okay with that, Elaine," he conceded. "Just… don't bottle up this stuff again. You were close to a panic attack when you told us. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Sighing in defeat, I went to ruffle the hat on his head, messing up the hair underneath. He quickly went to move my hand to adjust it, making me laugh harder.

Ha ha. "I won't, Dippin' Dots. But thanks for the worry." We smiled, and finally entered the gift shop. A large crowd of tourists and several reporters had shown up for the big day, making us smile even harder. We did open yesterday, but only for a short while during all the final repairs. Today was the real deal. Today… was the zombie attack. Oh man. I climbed onto the counter next to Stan and Mabel, helping Dipper up beside me. I really ought to make sure I don't get bit.

"Welcome, to the grand re-opening of the Mystery Shack!" Grunkle Stan announced, earning a loud cheer and applause. "We're here to celebrate the defeat of that skunk Li'l Gideon!" I lifted up a Gideon doll behind the table that Stan found in the Shack when Gideon took it over, holding it above my head as the crowd began booing. "Please, please… boo harder!" Stan gestured, gaining a bigger reaction. "But I didn't catch that porkchop all alone. These three scamps deserve SOME of the glory." He tossed the doll out of my hands, and wrapped his arms around us. Mabel narrowed her eyes, elbowing him in the stomach. "Okay, okay. Most of the glory," he surrendered. I grinned, high fiving the girl in success.

"Smile for the camera!" Toby said, walking up to us holding… a cinder block with a painted lens.

"Your camera's a cinder block, Toby," Stan deadpanned. It's the wax figure thing all over again.

"I just wanna be a part of things..." Toby mumbled, lowering the block sadly. Shandra leaned in front of him, drawing our attention to the female reporter.

"Smile for a REAL camera," she suggested, mocking Toby. The cameraman beside her held up the camera, and Stan let go of us.

"Everybody say 'something stupid'!" Mabel told us. Stan hopped off the counter, standing behind us, and proceeded to preform jazz hands. Mabel gave the camera crossed eyes while poking her cheeks and sticking her tongue out, Dipper pretended to choke himself, while I pressed my cheeks together to make a fish face. "Something stupid!"

"And don't any of you guys forget about the after-party tonight at eight," Stan reminded them. He fished out the poster from his coat, holding it up for them to see. I had gone to town designing that thing. Neon didn't come cheap, but highlighters… I went through a dozen packs in several hours. My hands… they were cramping so much.

Mabel reached down in front of the counter, and pulled up the karaoke machine from our first party. Where exactly had that thing been anyway? I don't remember seeing them put it away. "We're doing a karaoke bonanza, people! Light! Music! Enchantment!" She blew a handful of confetti out from her hand that she took out from her sweater pocket, then took out a poster of her own. "And an amazing karaoke performance by our family band, Love Patrol Alpha!"

Why on earth am I drawn on there? Yeah, the Pines called me family now too; I didn't expect that meant I was included in that! Besides, I didn't sing in public! Stan and Dipper mumbled their protests to Mabel, to which she casually dismissed them. Wendy thankfully rescued our awkward moment, barging in through the door and blasting an air horn. "Buy a ticket, people! You know you don't have anything going on in your lives! I'm talking to you, Pizza Guy! Don't lame out on me!" The tourists followed after her, and the door finally closed.

"Aah," Stan sighed. He moved to the front of the counter, as the kids and I hopped off the top. "The town loves us, we finally got that Gideon smell out of the carpet. Everything is finally going my way." Especially since you got all the information for the portal, huh?

"Hey, Grunkle Stan," Dipper began. "Now that we have a moment. I've been meaning to ask you for my journal back."

"Wha-? Journal?" Stan faked himself searching for the book on him, before exclaiming as if he remembered something. "Oh!" He laughed, then knelt down and lifted the counter up. Stan slid the book out from under it, and handed it back to Dipper. "You mean this old thing! It was so boring I couldn't even finish it."

"Wait, you're just gonna give it to me?" Dipper asked. "Just like that?"

"What else do you want? A kiss on the cheek?" Stan teased, pointing at his face.

"I… I gotta go!" Dipper shouted. He tucked the journal under his arm, and grabbed me and Mabel. The two of us exclaimed in surprise as we were dragged back up the stairs and into the living room. He threw us over to his bed, before turning around to lock the door behind him. Mabel and me sat down on her bed, as he ran around the room turning Mabel's stuffed toys around and bringing down the screen on the window. Wha-how long did we have that? Do you have any idea how much of a relief it'd be if I didn't have a window to the Nightmare Realm perched right above my head? Dipper turned on his electric lamp on the table below the window, before he began pacing.

"Mabel, Elaine, we've gotta talk. Almost losing my journal made me realize that I'm halfway through the summer, and still no closer to figuring out the big mysteries of Gravity Falls." Huh. Title song reference. "Gideon almost destroyed the town to get his hands on this journal. But why?" I leaned to the side, and studied the bill board he had set up while I was in the washroom earlier. No wonder he was acting this way. All this research is driving him nuts. "Who wrote it?" Your Grunkle Ford. Six fingers, and amazing at Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. "Where are all the other journals?" Under the house in Ford's lab. You know, I wondered when Stan had the time to pick up the second journal after hiding it back at the robot crash site. Maybe he went back later to retrieve it? "What was Bill talking about when he said 'everything's going to change'?" That… I didn't know. Whatever the plan was, I had never saw those last few episodes. It's as much as a mystery as it was to the rest of them. "There's something HUGE going on right under our noses. And it's time we stop goofing around and get to the bottom of it."

"Bro, you looked at that thing like, a bazillion times," Mabel said. We walked over to him, Mabel gesturing to the book. "There's nothing left to discover! Half the pages are blank, remember?"

Dipper flipped through the book until coming to a halt at the start of the empty section. "I just feel like I'm one puzzle piece away from figuring out everything."

"Don't worry Dipper!" Mabel picked up Waddles, having placed a detective's hat on him. "Lord Mystery Ham is on the case! I play by me own rules!" She said in a British accent, pretending to be the pig. "Wot? Wot?"

"I don't know why I tell you things… do you hear that?" We looked around curiously, before we heard Stan yell from downstairs about using the garden hose on the elderly. "What's going on?" Dipper said before tucking the journal back under his vest, and quickly unlocked the door. Setting down Waddles, Mabel and me chased after him down the stairs and into the gift shop.

"Grunkle Stan, what's happening?" Mabel asked worriedly.

"Yeah, you never shut down the gift shop," Dipper pointed out. Stan wrapped his arms around him nervously, looking around until the doorbell rang. I walked over to Wendy; the two of us watching him doing a pathetic job trying to bribe the agents. Dipper though, was close enough to hear their conversation, and I smirked at how his face lit up at the mention of an investigation.

"Wait! Wait, did you guys say you're investigating the mysteries of this town?" Dipper rushed up to them the moment Powers and Trigger walked into the room.

"That information is classified, but yes," Powers said, knelling down to Dipper's level. "Look. Between you and me I believe there is a conspiracy of paranormal origin all connected to this town. We're just one small lead away from blowing the lid off this entire mystery."

"Are you kidding me?" Dipper exclaimed, beside himself. "I'm investigating the exact same thing! I found this journal in the woods which has almost all the answers. If we work together, we could crack the case!" Or summon a hoard of zombies. But, you know, whatever worked.

Powers glanced back at Trigger, an unsaid message conveyed before he turned back to Dipper. "If you have evidence of these claims, we should talk." He handed him a card from his jacket. Dipper, looked at it, before smiling.

"We could talk right now!" He yelled happily. "Please, please. C-come in! I have so much to show you!" Stan quickly jumped in front of Dipper, knocking him over.

"Hehe, I'm sorry agents," Stan said, trying to hide his nervousness. "The kid has an overactive imagination. And like, a sweating problem." I smothered a small snort, having it come out as a weird cough. Mabel laughed beside Soos, and Dipper gave Stan an annoyed and surprised look. "Paranormal town stuff is just part of gift shop lore. Sells more tickets you know?" Stan snapped his fingers, and Soos rushed up to the agents.

"Popodopopo! Swag!" He stuck a bumper sticker to each of them, and put funny antennae on their heads.

"We have other spots to investigate," Powers finally said. How is he so serious, while that just happened to him? "We'll be on our way."

Trigger quickly scooped up ten bobble heads, gathering them in his arms. "I'm confiscating this for evidence."

"Smart move," Powers replied. The two hopped into the car, driving away.

"Wait!" Dipper cried, and began to run. "No, wait! We got so much to talk about!" Stan held out his arm, preventing him from going any further.

"Hold it, kiddo. Trust me, the last thing you want around a party, is cops." Stan leaned back, closing the vending machine door. Guess he forgot to close it this morning. "I'm confiscating that card." He picked the paper out of Dipper's hands, and dropped it into a box he took of a shelf. "Now how's about you be a normal kid. Flirt with a girl, or steal a pie off a window sill."

But he isn't Tom Sawyer. And… this isn't several centuries ago. "But Grunkle Stan!" Dipper shouted as Stan walked out of the room. "You don't understand!"

"And don't go talking to those agents," Stan called back over his shoulder.

"Ugh!" Dipper turned around as Mabel and me walked over to him. "That could've been my big break!" Wendy and Soos left the Mystery Shack, leaving us alone. Mabel plucked the journal from his hands as he brought it back out again, looking at him shyly.

"Bro, maybe Grunkle Stan is right. We're throwing a party tonight! Can't you go one night without searching for aliens or raising the dead or whatever?"

"I'm not gonna raise the dead," Dipper frowned. "I just need a chance to show those agents my book!"

"Trust me Dipper, the only book you'll need tonight is right here. Boop!" Mabel handed him a book of karaoke songs. "I say kara, you say oke! Kara!" She raised her arms before lowering them. "Kara! Kara!" She put her arms down again, and smirked. "I could do this all day."

"Well… he's not all wrong, you know," I decided to join in. "Dipper, we just dealt with Bill and Gideon, all in one week. While this could be a big break, we need to take it easy right now. Goodness knows I'll have gray hair in my twenties at this rate." Dipper thought over that, giving a small amused smile at the joke I threw in, and nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, alright. But if I can, I will get that card back. I'll try and enjoy myself though." He went on ahead into the Shack, and called out over his shoulder. "But just for tonight!"

Mabel and me shrugged, still satisfied with the result. "Meh. I still call it a win."

(Time Skip)

Back into the party clothes we go. I spun around in the bedroom, my hair done up in pigtails once again. I was back in my outfit from Double Dipper, only this time I wasn't wearing the long sleeves due to shame. I just liked the look of it. The talk Mabel and Dipper had given me at the end of our first visit to the pool had convinced me that I shouldn't be ashamed of how I looked. That still didn't affect my feeling of my hand. "Now, let's spy on the enemy."

Heading down to the empty dark gift shop, I made my way up the ladder and onto the roof. Swinging my legs on the roof at Wendy's spot, I watched Wendy and Dipper sneak into the house. No doubt heading to get the card from Stan's room, I thought. Swimsuit magazines and… fully clothed women. I swear, I thought this was a kid's show in my world.

The next part of the summer had a shape shifter that ended up getting attacked with an ax to the chest, Bill possessing Dipper… I really needed to make sure that he didn't kill himself; Dipper, and Bill. There's the ghost in the Northwest mansion, which I seriously hoped Pacifica already knew about. And of course, Ford.

Stanford Pines. The author of the journals. The man who basically doomed the multiverse… alongside me and my own deal. I leaned over the edge again, watching Blubs and Durland talk with Mabel about joining in on the party before the girl gave them party horns and sent them on their way. Mabel seemed to sense that she was being watched, and looked up behind her. Mabel grinned, and waved at me. Giggling, I returned the gesture. I know that I should focus on the future, but right now… I could make out Wendy having returned from inside the Shack, and saw her chatting with Asger and Kat; the three laughed over the image of Thompson on her phone. Pacifica was by Candy and Grenda, mocking Stan by using the pinatas as ugly masks. I had been doing nothing but panicking over the Bill… thing, the future of my stay in Gravity Falls; they were all things I should worry over. But… there was no harm in taking just one night off.

"This is now," I murmured, and laughed. "This is right now." I shouldn't be letting everything get in the way of what's to come. Bill… I couldn't let what happened continue to cloud my mind until I saw him again. I needed to focus on what's in front of me. And what's in front of me right now, were my friends.

"Ellie!" I watched Mabel call up to me, her hands cupped around her mouth. "Get down here! You're missing out on all the fun!" Giving a thumbs up, I climbed back down the roof, and slid down the ladder in the gift shop . Running outside, I tackled Mabel in a hug. "Whoa!" Mabel cried, as I spun her around in a circle. "Ha ha! Elaine!"

"Oh! I love you, dork!" I exclaimed. Who cared if I looked like a goof right now? I was being a goof with people I loved. "Sorry, sorry," I breathed, giggling to myself. "Got a little… carried away."

"It's okay, Elaine. I've just.. never seen you so excited," Mabel looked at me in amused suspicion. "You weren't talking to a cute boy behind my back, were you?" Ew! Cipher's anything but cute! Adorable, in a weird razzle dazzle demonic dorito sort of way; but not cute though. Never, ever cute. "Judging by your face," Mabel mused, rubbing her chin. "I'm gonna say… no."

"Yeah, sorry kid." I sat her down, clasping my hands together behind my back and grinned. "No guy here for me. Most of the boys here aren't exactly… decent." I had nothing against Asger, but he belonged to Wendy. The guys in Wendy's group… were too annoying and rude. Wait… besides Dipper, was Bill really the only other guy I hung out with constantly?

"Oh well. Maybe we'll find someone for you before the summer's up," Mabel shrugged. "Hey! Elaine, wanna try out the karaoke machine? I'm sure you'd be amazing at it!"

"What makes you say that, kid?" We started walking towards the stage, and I watched the back of her head curiously.

"You never sing in front of anybody! The only time you did so was to me when I had that nightmare a few weeks ago," Mabel pouted. "I still hear you sometimes when you're alone, singing under your breath. What's wrong with doing it in front of a crowd?"

"I… have a thing with crowds, Mabel." Stage fright. I can handle it when I'm singing in front of a crowd with other people, but when I was alone… yikes. The only time other I sang to someone this summer was… the party in the Nightmare Realm. Bill made me sing, even if he didn't mean to. And yet, I was enjoying myself. I was having fun, regardless of the bizarre way it started.

If I could handle that… then shouldn't I be able to sing in front of the townsfolk? "Would you like me to try though, Mabel?" We locked eyes, and I rested a hand on her shoulder. Well, there's no harm in doing it. "I'll try, Mabel. If you'd like me to."

"You would? Aahhh!" She squealed, and grabbed my hands. Shouting in surprise, she dragged me up onto the stage before pushing me up to the machine. "Choose one! Choose one! Choose one!"

"Alright, alright!" Laughing, I nudged her back off stage, and read through the playlist. No. No. No. Definitely not Disco Girl. Oh. OH! That's the one. "Here we go." I pressed play, and watched the song begin to load. The dozen or so people in front of the stage turned to look at me as the instrumental intro started, and I could see my crew watching me too off to the side. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. That's… a lot of people. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I held the mic up to my face, hoping I didn't psych myself out, and started singing.

"I can't help it if I make a scene, stepping out of my hot pink limousine. I'm turning heads, and I'm stopping traffic. When I pose, they scream, and when I joke, they laugh." I spun on my heels, leaning backwards and batting my eyes. The audience chuckled at my behavior, and I began the next part in a laugh. Might have been acting out the parts, but if Mabel wanted a show, then I'd deliver one. "I've got a pair of eyes that they're getting lost in, I hypnotize by the way I'm walking. I've got them dazzled like a stage magician, when I point, they look, and when I talk, they listen."

"Well. Everybody needs a friend, and I've got you, and you, and you." I pointed at Asger, Kat, and Mabel, earning laughs from the two teens and a grin from the younger girl. She was standing off at the foot of the stage, so seeing her ecstatic face helped pressure me to continue onward. "So many, I can't even name them, can you blame me? I'm too famous."

"Haven't you noticed that I'm a star? I'm coming into view as the world is turning. Haven't you noticed I made it this far? Now everyone can see me burning, now everyone can see me burning." My face fell slightly as I sang the last part. "Now everyone can see me burning…" I lowered the mic, and everyone burst into applause. I grinned, bowing as Mabel rushed up alongside me and took the device from me. Now everyone can see me burning. Heh. How painfully ironic.

"What do you say guys, is this party legendary? When I say Mabel, you say Pines!" Mabel shouted, just as the ground began shaking under our feet. The female twin didn't seem to notice, but the rest of us did. We looked around worriedly, and the fact a woman began screaming didn't help.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" A guy shouted by the punch table, holding his head in fear.

"Why does that never work?" Mabel asked me.

Wendy, Asger, and Kat watched the punch table shake; the red liquid in the bowl splashed over the edge, staining the white table cover. "Whoa, WHOA! I think it's an earthquake!" Wendy blasted her air horn. "Hey, everybody, we got to get out of here!" Asger grabbed Kat's hand, and dragged the blue haired girl over to Pacifica. Once he had both girls, he took off running alongside Wendy towards the exit of the property. Wherever Axel was… she must have been in hiding. No doubt with this many people around she'd be watching this closely.

"Mabel, escape while you still can!" Grenda yelled at Mabel as she carried Candy away in a backpack.

"Wait, no! Don't leave!" Mabel cried as the last of the townsfolk left. "We haven't even done our family karaoke song yet!" Mabel slid off the stage, and Soos and us frowned at the empty area. Hearing several loud groans behind us, we turned around to watch Dipper run up to us… followed by a hoard of zombies. Their skin was greenish gray and decomposing, falling off their skeletal forms in chunks. The occasional one even had their eyeball dangling from a socket, swinging back and forth. "Dipper, what's the one thing I asked you not to do tonight?"

"Raise the dead," Dipper admitted, looking ashamed.

"And what did you go ahead and do?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Raise the dead," he repeated. We turned around, hearing the monsters get closer. Soos backed up over to us, standing in front of us in a sad attempt to protect us. I might have used myself as a human shield occasionally, but this is one time where that was a terrible idea!

"Stay back dudes, this is about to get intense," Soos warned. A zombie knocked over the punch table, and the swarm got even closer. "AAAHHHH!" We screamed, our backs hitting the deck. "Sorry, one second." Soos took out his phone, and snapped a picture. The twins and I stopped screaming, and looked at him incredulously. "You got to admit this is pretty cool."

Yeah, if this was The Walking Dead! Really glad that wasn't the show I ended up in. "ZOMBIES!" Dipper shrieked. As if we didn't already know what was hunting us for food. Finally, that line from our first adventure makes sense.

"Don't panic," Mabel tried to calm him. "Maybe they're just a really ugly flash mob!?" A zombie swung its arm at us, forcing the twins and I to duck and run even closer up to the stage. Soos quickly got back in front, looking at us determinedly.

"Dudes, stay calm. I've been training for this moment my whole life. With all the horror movies I've seen, I know literally everything there is to know about how to avoid zombies." Except that you should NEVER turn your back on them, even for a second. I gasped as the zombie sank its teeth into Soos' shoulder, leaving behind a blackish purple wound; blood dripped out onto his sleeve, and trickled down his arm. His eyes began glowing the same eerier yellow as the rest of the undead creatures, and Soos turned around to face us. "Second thought, gonna flip the script. Can I, eat your brains? Yea or nay? Seeing some yea faces over here."

Screaming in horror, we took off running around the Mystery Shack. I looked at the twins to make sure they were keeping up, and saw that Waddles had somehow joined in our chase, and that Mabel was lugging the karaoke machine with her. Where on earth did the pig come from!? A zombie reached out for us, only for Dipper to pick up a shovel and slice its spinal cord. The two parts of the creature collapsed, and we ran around it. "Quick! The golf cart!" Dipper cried, and we looked at the vehicle… only for it to get flipped over and have the zombies start biting at the roof. "Aw, come on!"

"Hoo, that's a bummer," Soos said as he made his way around the house. "Good news for me though, ha ha."

"Soos!" Dipper and I shouted.

"Sorry, dude, I just really want those brains!" He and the zombies continued to advance, as Dipper looked around for anything to slow them down.

"Stay back!" He picked up a colorful disco ball off the ground, knocked over from the party. He tossed it in the air, and batted it with a shovel, sending it into a zombie's mouth. That shovel also makes perfect sense now. It swallowed, and suddenly colorful rays of light shone out between its ribs. We gasped in fear, as they once again began to advance.

"Give it up, dudes! Your fighting only makes us look more rad!" We backed up slowly, Dipper in front of us holding the shovel.

"What do we do?" Mabel asked desperately. "Where's Grunkle Stan!?"

"How's he supposed to help!?" Dipper shouted back. "He doesn't believe in the supernatural!"

I grabbed their hands, and dragged them back around the house again. "The only thing he's willing to believe are dinosaurs and the crazy fact of where I come from!" I yelled at them. "Now move!" We slid around the corner, only for a zombie to pop up in front of me and Dipper. "AH!"

"Take that, sucka!" Mabel flung the karaoke machine at from behind her, and knocked the zombie's head clean off. As if landed behind us, Dipper and I gazed at Mabel in surprise. Usually, the girl was a pacifist. This side… we never saw before. I like it. "This thing's a surprisingly good weapon!"

"Quick! In the house!" I told them. "Board up the entrance!" I jumped onto the deck, holding the door open for them to run in before I closed it behind me as fast as I could. The twins knocked down one of the shelves in front of the door, and I rolled the Mayan stone in front as well.

Backing away from the door, Dipper looked at us nervously. "Okay, maybe that'll hold 'em. AH!" Shrieking, we turned to face the window, seeing Soos poke his head in.

"Hey dudes! By the way, I taught the zombies how to get into the fuse box. Among these dudes I'm like a genius, ha ha!" The lights flickered, before they went out. Ominous red light poured in from outside, as the zombies began climbing in as well. "Get those brains, dawg!"

Mabel screamed, and Dipper ran for the other door only for a zombie to smash its hand through the wood. Mabel and I backed into the wall as Dipper joined us. "Dipper, isn't there something in the journal about defeating zombies!"

Dipper frantically looked through the journal. "NO! THERE'S NOTHING IN HERE ABOUT WEAKNESSES!" He sighed, and I held the twins close to me, The zombies continued to enter through the window, and through the now shattered doors. "This can't be happening. I wanted answers so bad I put everyone in danger. Now we're toast, it's all my fault, and no one can save us!" A zombie finally reached us, and grabbed Dipper by the arm. "Ah, NO!" Dipper struggled as he was brought into the air by the monster. "GUYS, I'M SORRY!"

"DIPPER!" Dipper continued to scream, the zombie opening its mouth, until something rammed into its mouth, breaking the rotting head on impact and knocking the twin to the ground and into my arms.

The zombie dropped to the floor, and a foot crushed its head, leaving splintered bone sticking out from under the shoe. Oh my… I have never been so impressed with Stan in all of my time this summer. Y'know, except for the dino fight. Grunkle Stan stood in front of the vending machine, hat missing, clothes torn, and panting heavily. "YOU THREE! ATTIC! NOW!"

"Grunkle… Grunkle Stan!?" Dipper gasped out.

"I said NOW!" Nodding furiously, I grabbed their hands, and dragged them behind me through the living room. Stan followed behind us, knocking the zombies back with his bat. As we ran up the stairs, I glanced back to watch Stan start to punch the zombies with his brass knuckles.

"MOVE!" I shoved them into the bedroom, and slammed the door behind me. Spinning around, the door began thumping loudly. Oh, please be Stan! Backing away slowly, I stood in front of Dipper and Mabel. Please be Stan. Please, PLEASE be Stan!

It's Stan. He opened the door, and quickly closed it behind him. Coughing, he clutched his side in pain. "Oh! Ow. Everything hurts." He slid a chair beside him under the handle, barricading them.

"Grunkle Stan, that was amazing!" Dipper exclaimed. "Are you alright?" He looked around, before facing Stan again. "Heh, hehe, well, at least you can't deny magic exists anymore, right?" That was all he could say right now? Really!?

"… kid, I've always known."

Dipper froze in shock, and looked at him accusingly. He heard those words, but he didn't know what to make of them. Something like that being thrown out there, in the middle of this fight for our lives. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not an idiot, Dipper!" Stan snapped. "Of course this town is weird! And the one thing I know about that weirdness is that it's dangerous!" A zombie broke through the door, making us back into the middle of the room. "I've been lying about it to keep you away from it. To try to protect you from it!" A zombie smashed through the window behind us, and Stan spun around to punch it in the face. He stuck his head through the window, looking out below him. "It looks like I didn't lie well enough."

"What do we do, what do we do?" Mabel asked me. Waddles ran under her bed, shaking nervously.

"I dunno, kid. I deal with demons and interdimensional travel. Not zombie fighting. That's some Shaun of the Dead, Walking Dead, Resident Evil business," I frowned to myself. "Why didn't I ever listen to my friends when they said I should watch or play at least one of them?"

"Well, normally the journal would help us," Dipper said, walking around the room. "But there's nothing in there about defeating zombies!" He paused in front of a black light lying discarded on the floor from when I was testing the posters earlier. "It's hopeless!"

"Wait, back up, kid!" I interrupted. "The journal! Dipper, there's invisible ink!" The book glowed under the light, showing the same cursive writing as in the regular passages.

"What?" Dipper sat down, and began flipping through the pages until stopping on the cover. "All this time I thought I knew all the journal's secrets, but they're written in some kind of invisible ink!"

"Invisible ink?" Stan muttered.

"This is it! Zombies have a weakness! Previously thought to be invincible, their skulls can be shattered by a perfect three-part harmony." Dipper ran that over in his head, blinking in confusion. "Three-part harmony, how can we create that? I have a naturally high-pitched scream…?" He suggested. I giggled to myself. I can't believe he willingly admitted that.

"I can make noises with my body?" Stan added, looking equally confused. "Sometimes intentionally."

"Boys, boys," Mabel said, grinning slyly. "I think you're both missing the obvious solution." She held up the karaoke machine beside her, and I laughed as their faces fell. "Elaine, anyway to get to the roof without heading back down through the Shack?"

"Uh, doi?" I reached over to the window after crawling over my bed. Sticking my head through the shattered glass, I spun around, and gripped the top of the window. We're gonna have to fix it anyway. Pushing the frame, I watched as the glass fell to the ground below, knocking out a zombie while doing so. Bonus. I crawled up onto the roof, careful to not scratch myself like I had done when throwing myself into the Gideon-bot. Sticking my head back over the edge to look at the Pines upside-down, I carefully motioned for them to follow. "Come on, guys!"

Stan helped the twins up to the roof; I hooked my arms around them to pull them up, so they didn't slip and plummet to the ground. After he handed me the karaoke machine, Stan crawled out too. Climbing over the edge to the awning, Mabel quickly began setting up the machine. Dipper looked at me nervously, microphone now in hand. I gave one to Stan, and held Mabel's for her as she finished setting up the song. "Okay, that ought to do it." She flicked the switch, and the sound system screeched due to the feedback. "Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?"

"I think so, kid." Judging by the zombies looking up at us, I'd say that's a yes. "All mics hooked up?"

"Yep!" Mabel cheered, and turned to our undead audience. "Zombies and gentlemen! I'm Mabel, they're Dipper, Elaine, and Stan, and together we're Love Patrol Alpha!"

"I never agreed to that name," Dipper muttered.

"Hit it!" Mabel said, just as the music began to pick up. Stan and Dipper looked at the lyrics, and I snickered at their faces.

"Uh, Mabel, our lives may not be worth this," Stan said. Why's that? Afraid your manhood is at stake? We're the only humans around for miles, and it's not like the zombies were gonna remember anything.

"Friday night, and we're gonna party 'til dawn," Dipper depressingly sang, starting us off. He bobbed up and down to the beat, making my laughs come out harder, especially when he sang the next line. "Don't worry, Daddy, I got my favorite dress on!?" He turned to Mabel disturbed, his voice raising at the end. "Mabel, this is stupid!"

"Always knew you liked women's clothing," I mumbled. I would've kept laughing, but judging by his face, Dipper looked close to throwing me off the roof by this point.

"We'll roll into the party, the boys are lookin' are way," Mabel picked up where he left off. "We just keep dancin', we don't care what they say! And all the boys are gettin' up in my face-aah!" A zombie popped up over the edge of the awning, making us back away nervously.

"We didn't mean that literally!" I shrieked. "Guys, we have to sing together or it won't work!"

Stan squinted at the lyrics, and began singing. "Boys are a bore, let's show 'em the door."

"We're takin' over the dance floor!" The twins and I joined in. "Oh-oh! Girls do what we like!" I watched as the zombies right below us, crawling the roof fell off as our voices sang in a very ugly harmony, and causing a few of their heads to explode. "Oh-oh! We're taking over midnight! Oh-oh! Girls do what we like! Oh-oh! We're taking over tonight!"

Mabel and Stan had the roughest singing voices, but I could mainly hear Dipper since I was right up next to him. What I couldn't hear while watching the show. Kid actually had a pretty sweet set of pipes, to my amazement. While he did sing that dorky kid song in the convenience store, he wasn't putting as much effort into it as he was right now. I paused in my own singing, and listened to the preteen. Hey, there's four of us. It's fine if I stopped for a moment. Dipper noticed the voice change, and glanced over at me. I gestured for him to keep going, beaming at how confident he looked. Dipper rolled his eyes, and grabbed my hand. Pulling me down to his height, he stuck his mic out for me to join in with him."Takin' over tooniiiight!" We finished as the guitar rift began… and when the zombie popped up over the edge. "AAHHH!"

"DUCK!" Bending down quickly next to Stan, Mabel fired the confetti cannon, knocking the zombie's head off and into the punch bowl on an upright table far below. "Thank you! We'll be here all night!" Mabel yelled, gazing down at the corpses littering the Mystery Shack's grounds as the sun shone down on us from behind the trees.

"Deal with it, zombie idiots!" Stan shouted, erupting into maniacal laughter.

"PINES! PINES! PINES! PINES!"

(Time Skip)

I dropped into the remains of the couch, groaning. "Oh, everything hurts." Chuckling, Stan walked past me to pick up his fez, placing it back on his head. Dipper and Mabel followed into the living room behind us, and Dipper looked at the ravaged area.

"I'm sorry about this, guys. I totally ruined everything," he frowned.

"Dipper, are you kidding me? I got to sing karaoke with my three favorite people in the world!" Mabel cheered. "No party could ever top that." I got up, and hugged the two, smiling.

"Glad to know you see me like that, Mabel," I said. Three favorite people, huh? Stan walked over, and put his own hands around us.

"Kids, listen," he began. "This town is crazy. So you need to be careful. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt on my watch." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed deeply. "I'll let you hold onto that spooky journal, as long as you promise me you'll only use it for self-defense, and not go looking for trouble."

"Okay," Dipper agreed, and gave him a hard look. "As long as you promise me that you don't have any other bombshell secrets about this town."

"Promise," Stan said.

"Promise," Dipper finished.

And of course, their fingers were crossed. "Man, we have got a lot of zombie damage to clean up." Stan looked around. "Where's my handyman anyway?"

"Brains!" We turned to the door, watching Soos come into the room. "Braaains!"

"Holy Moses!" Stan yelled. Spinning around, he grabbed a chair from the table and held it over his head, ready to bash Soos' head in with it.

"Wait!" Dipper shouted, holding up his hand. "There's a page in here about curing zombification. It's gonna take a lot of formaldehyde."

"Ooh, and cinnamon!" Mabel added, leaning over his shoulder.

"Come on Soos, let's fix you up. You coming, Elaine?" Dipper asked me. I opened my mouth to answer, only for Stan to set a hand on my shoulder.

"Actually, I'd like to speak to Elaine for a second. You kids go, uh… unzombie Soos," Stan said, rolling his hand and gesturing towards the kitchen. Dipper and Mabel blinked, watching me for reassurance. I… honestly don't know, to be frank. Shrugging, I nodded for them to go help Soos.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit." Dipper nodded, and gave me one last look before he followed Mabel out of the room. I caught a glimpse of him pulling out the journal and the black light as he rounded the corner, and soon Stan and me were left behind. "What is it, Grunkle Stan?" I asked.

Stan sighed, and bent down to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Kid, I'm sorry about that. Being ignorant about what was about to happen tonight, yet I already told you I believed you about being from a different reality."

"Oh. I-it's okay, Stan," I smiled softly. Sort of a kick in the teeth, really. Stan had admitted after my emotional outburst that he believed me in being from an alternate world, yet he did a 360 and said that the journal was utter nonsense. If I wasn't from a dimension where I already knew the truth, I'd probably be a lot more upset than I already was. "I don't have any grudge against you. You were only doing what you thought was best for the kids."

"Glad you see it that way, kid. There's just, uh, one last thing I need to tell you," Stan said. Why is he looking so nervous? Stan chuckled uneasily. "Can you come down to the gift shop once the kids go to bed for the night?"

"Uh, sure?" I answered. "But why-?"

"You'll find out tonight, kid." He stood back up, and looked around the demolition. "Well, looks like it's time to call in the construction crew. Try not to get yourself hurt, Elaine."

"I make zero promises!" I shouted, watching him head into the kitchen. "Ha ha! Ha! Hehe… heh." I looked around me, and sighed, slapping a hand to my forehead. "Oh, good lord, what a way to start he rest of the summer."

(Time Skip)

Slowly sitting up in my bed, I checked the twins' beds. Dipper and Mabel were passed out, the weight of the previous night still on their shoulders. I knew that our exploits with the shape shifter wouldn't start until either tomorrow or the following day, once most of the Mystery Shack was rebuilt. Checking the clock on the wall, the moonlight showed it was almost midnight. "I hope he's down there." Creeping out of the room, I made my way down the stairs and into the gift shop. I pushed my glasses up on my nose, and hugged myself. "Grunkle Stan? You down here?"

"Yep." Jumping and giving a small squeal, I whirled around to find Stan leaning against the vending machine. "Dipper and Mabel didn't see anything?"

"No. They're still asleep." Only person who might've seen something would've been Bill. But it's not like this would interest him… I hoped. "So, what do you want to show me?" Stan turned around, and faced the machine. I couldn't see around him, but I heard the distinct sound of him inputting the code into the entrance. A puff of smoke came out from the bottom as it swung open, revealing the staircase leading down to the basement. "Stan…?"

"C'mon, kid. Got something to show you," Stan began heading down the stairs, and I quickly followed after him. Wait. I turned around, and after making sure no one was around, closed the door behind me. Keeping a steady hand on the wall, I followed him down the stairs. The flickering bulb above us the only source of light. Once we reached the bottom, he walked into a cellar-like room, with an elevator at the end. The pipes for the house led directly above us, but the ancient door was what drew me in. Stan kept checking back at me, and input another code into the elevator. Stepping in, I watched the dial above our heads go down to the third floor, and the doors opened again. "This way, Elaine. Now, listen kid." I walked beside Stan, our feet in step. "You got to promise me that what I'm about to show you, stays between you and me. You do not tell the kids any of this, understand?"

"Please, Grunkle Stan. I've seen a lot of messed up stuff this summer," I shrugged. "Whatever you're gonna show me won't be that bad."

The cracked dials, gauges, and flashing lights illuminated the new room, along with the large red light above the desk at the end in front of a sheet of protective glass. I looked down at the table, and paused as Stan continued ahead of me. Journal two and one were laid out in front of me, with the photocopied sheets of journal three beside them. "Stan?" I called out, my voice still clearly heard over the soft whirring of the systems.

"In here, Elaine." Stan opened the door beside the desk, and walked in without saying anything in regards to my question. Wow. I felt myself gap at the sight far ahead of me, passing the dusty machinery until I came to a rest in the middle of the giant cavern. I looked upwards, taking in the bright blue light. And when I meant up, I meant way up. The portal's… a lot more impressive than I'd thought it'd be. It was… huge, to say the least. Gigantic. The upside-down triangle with a huge glowing center, and the stands supporting it up… just-just wow! No wonder Ford didn't want to stop his research. This thing was incredible! The symbols around the edges of the device flashed on and off in a bright blue, and electricity crackled around it.

"Stan," I breathed. The light from the vortex bathed me in a strange glow, despite my distance from it. I didn't dare move any closer, not wanting to risk anything happening. It was beautiful… and dangerous. "What… is this?"

"Listen, Elaine. I didn't really want to bring you or anyone else down here, but after hearing what you had to say a few days ago about being from a different world, I'd figure you should know about this." He inhaled, trying to compose himself. No doubt, he'd never explained this to anyone before. The last time he was down here with anybody was with… Ford. "Three decades ago, someone close to me built this thing."

"A portal," I said. I kept staring at the machine, mystified. I was listening, but all I could stare at was what was in front of me.

"Yeah, a portal," Stan agreed. "When he showed me it all those years ago, there was an… accident," he frowned. "The machine broke, and he accidentally fell inside. He had hidden those journals all over this town, and only they had the equations and know-how to rebuild it. With journal one, I could only get so far. But now that I have Gideon's journal, and the pages from Dipper's..."

"You can finally get some progress done," I finished. Stan and I looked at each other, the glow of the portal lighting up our faces. He chuckled, and rubbed the top of my head.

"Yeah. It's close too. I just need a few more components. Nuclear waste mostly," Stan said. Nuclear waste? Where on earth do you even find that?

"This is a very interesting and weird conversation, Stan," I informed him, stating the obvious. "But why are you showing this to me of all people?" Not that I didn't already know about what he was working on, but what's there to gain from telling me this?

"Well, y'see Elaine." Stan rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a portal. And if I can get this thing up and running, it MIGHT, be able to bring you back home." WHAT!? I stumbled back at the shock of the idea, finally looking at Stan and drawing all of my attention away from the machine. Could it!? How was it that I forgot about the portal in the basement? I knew that led to outside this dimension, so then… could I have just skipped my deal with Bill and have used this instead. No, you couldn't have, I reminded myself. Bill chose to attack you at your weakest moment. You didn't have time to mentally prepare yourself. You weren't thinking rationally.

"Look Elaine, I understand the feeling of homesickness and missing those you care about." Stan shoved his hands in his suit. "It's not a good feeling; and I don't want you to have to keep going through what I'm going through. Once I finally have it up and running, maybe with that person's help we can send you home."

"Stan…" I whispered. Walking up to him, I hugged him tightly. "Thank you." Stan froze, then chuckled, patting my back awkwardly.

"You're welcome, but, uh… that's enough depressing talk for now." He let me go, and I smiled at how uncomfortable he looked, despite how happy he was. "One last thing. Do me a favor and not tell the kids. They're already too deep into this, I mean, Dipper summoned a hoard of zombies just to prove a dang point. I don't want them any closer to this insanity. Please, Elaine. Keep watching over them for me, would ya?"

"Hehe," I laughed, and reached up to pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Stan. If anything, they should keep an eye on me." Seeing how I keep hiding stuff from them, and I had a demon on my back, they had every right to worry about me. Besides, what's one more secret to keep from them? Which is… really depressing and sad, if I think to long about it.

"Thanks, kid. Why don't we head back to bed, okay? We've had a rough week so far," Stan suggested. Laughing, I followed after him back through the door. Hmmm… I paused, and looked back at the portal. Is it a good idea? Can Grunkle Stan actually bring me back home? "You comin', kid?" Stan asked from the elevator.

"Oh, coming!" I cast one last look at the room, and stepped in beside him. A lot is changing, Elaine. But for better… or for worse?

I originally was going to have this as two chapters, but I found out it was really easy to type it as one. Plus, I really didn't want to end this partway through.

Until next time!

Angel