In her life, Pacifica Northwest had been told that raising her voice to anything above an angry yell at failing servants was rude and inappropriate. A Northwest always held themselves to the code of dignity and upper-class demeanor. There were exceptions to the rules, though. Sometimes a good shouting was called for in the run of the strange and unusual.

This was one of those times, and Pacifica made no attempt to hide her fear.

The dragon beneath her soared through the cold, wet clouds. Her hair was now covered in freezing water, and her skin prickled with the sting of harsh wind. She could barely force her eyes open, only fear demanding she saw where she was going. Her legs wrapped tightly around the base of the monster's neck, she held onto it's horns, still screaming in fear.

How had the day become this? It was fourth of July! Her day to revel with her friends- a day of distant hope that she may be free of her parents grasp. No, today she would be fearing for her life as she soared above clouds and mountain tops, suspended over her very true death only by a fire breathing dragon.

Her body tense and tickled as the dragon dived. If she hadn't been screaming, she would have screamed even louder. The cloud darted above her and before her was the lake. Finally lowering to the ground, Pacifica wondered if it passed over the water low enough if she couldn't just jump off.

She was ready now. Broken toes or fingers be damned- that lake could be her best bet for escaping a man-eater that carried her around like a trophy. Well, tough call dragon, Pacifica thought to herself, stalling her screaming as she gritted her teeth, watching the ground grow closer, I'm no princess!

Readied to drop as soon as she could, Pacifica felt the sting of air lesson. The breeze became warmer and warmer. Yet she cringed- the dragon wasn't diving for the lake, but the lake shore.

Ten seconds later, the dragon leveled out it's wings and glided to one of the sandy beaches- totally uninhabited. With a strong gust of summer air, the Dragon landed with a jolt. Pacifica barely held on, but stayed perfectly still.

At least for the landing, afterwards, she murmured to herself, and leapt off. Unlike Mabel, Pacifica had little training with coordination, and thus fell to he knees. The dragon passed over her, crawling to the water on it's folded wings and hind legs.

No chances.

Pacifica turned and ran. The beach was only so large, and she could see the forest edge. Full sand turned to course brown and to grey, evolving into dirt. The dragon rumbled loudly, and she stalled and tripped. Landing in the harsh dirt, Pacifica swore under her breath. Scraping her knee sucked, but at least she was away from her captor.

Turning back to the source of noise, she gasped. Something was emerging from the lake. The dragon had made a low rumble in response to a coming bulge in the lake. Staring with her mouth fallen open the entire time, Pacifica saw, the first time in her life, that the crazy conspiracy theorists weren't always wrong.

The Lake Monster, the Gobblewonker, rose out of the water like a snake, it's head revealing itself first before the bulk of it's body. It glided in the water towards the dragon, which stared back at the monster.

"Oh, please kill the dragon, please kill the dragon," Pacifica begged the coming monster of legend.

The dragon, while a very large creature, was not nearly as tall as the Gobblewonker. Towering above the dragon, the pre-historic remnant glared down at the firebreather. Maybe Pacifica would get the satisfaction of the two killing one another.

Then it rumbled back, a low resonance, and it bobbed it's head. The dragon followed suit, bobbing its much larger head in response. They mimed each other for a moment, and then, within a quick experience, the two stopped. The Gobblewonker, without more than look to Pacifica, turned and dived back into the waters as the dragon began to scoop up large helpings of lake water into it's gullet.

"What?!" Pacifica gasped. "That's it?"

No battle of beasts, no epic fight that could free her. She had witnessed the possibility of unity in the animal kingdom, only when it served against her.

Yet, the dragon was drinking deeply. It couldn't see her. Or at least she was sure it could.

Run.

Barely a thought passed in her head as she spun and hurtled into the forest. There was nothing now to stop her from fleeing.

The forest edge met her and she was engulfed into the woods. Around trees and boulders she ran, her dress swaying in the gust of wind she emulated. If there was anything she needed, it was to clear space between her and the dragon.

Turning around once, she could no longer see the water's edge. She grinned. She may actually get away! Without that thing following her too!

After several minutes of hurtling through the woods, Pacifica came to a gasping stop. The love of freedom and safety pulsed through her, and now she could stop. Then as she caught her breath, she remembered the extent of her situation; stranded, in the middle of the deep, dark, Gravity Falls woods, without her purse.

That meant the small knife she carried, the pepper spray, and her two most important weapons- phone and credit card, were also missing. No gps, no map system to check online- just the surroundings of the woods, and the rustling of the wind above her, which now carried sinister reminders to Pacifica.

Maybe though, just maybe, she could find a hill, and then climb a tree? Find a vantage point to secure her location. She knew she was on the other side of the lake from the public access, so she could either be really close to home or... really far away.

The area seemed flat though. At best, she could see the slopes of the mountains around Gravity Falls still. Then, some hundred feet or so ahead, a clearing.

"Yes," she muttered as she rushed forward, her already tired legs and arms barely able to keep up with her needs. It was, to her luck, a large meadow. Several deer spotted her, but only watched her pause.

"Okay, uh, it's got to be like, uh one? So the sun sets in the east? Or was it the west?" Pacifica looked up to the sky, trying to spot the sun. Several of the high clouds above blotted out the exact position of the sun, and she grumbled. Wind passed through the trees and she shivered. The remembrance of being so high up without any support but the dragon was too recent, and she shivered. Looking back into the trees for a moment, she heard a rustle of movement.

The deer had all run off, darting deep into the woods. Pacifica stared at their positions now, looking fearfully back at her. It had gotten a bit darker with the rustle of wind, but she wasn't sure that-

The tree directly behind her snapped in two. Splinters and branches crashed around her and she ran. It was behind her.

She could barely get fifteen feet away from where she had just been. Flying bits of tree and the shrieking of a horrible monster behind her caused her to stumble and fall, tripping over a small bush. She slid into the hard ground and felt the sting of more scraps and bruises forming along her arms and face. It didn't matter through- the light above her was blotted out.

Pacifica looked up once more, and saw the head of the dragon peering down on her, and she shrieked. She would not look on death. She couldn't. Closing her eyes and holding herself as tightly into a ball, she cowed.

"Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me..."

Her praying seemed to have effect.

Blinking and opening her eyes, Pacifica turned and looked up. The big, yellow eyes peered down at her, the head tilted slightly to one side. The animal watched her, blinking.

Pacifica could only stare back.

"You're just waiting," she told the dragon, "you're just waiting until I think I'm safe, so you can kill me anyway."

The dragon tilted it's head again, listening to her.

"Can... you understand me?" she asked, blinking back.

The dragon, once again, tilted it's head.

"Uh... I'm standing up now. If you eat me, I'll punch your throat until you puke," Pacifica warned the monster before her as she stared up. The dragon said nothing. Moved to do nothing. It only stared down at her.

"Okay... so... dragon is just stalking me now. I mean," Pacifica started to push herself up, "I can understand why you'd think I'm a princess: great hair, fair skin, loves animals, but- one of the bruises along her arm twanged and she stumbled forward. Her face fell right at the claws of the monster.

Pacifica gulped. Up close, those claws were easily each the size of her forearm. Pretty dang big.

Only it pulled away. With a startled gasp, Pacifica looked up as the jaw of the dragon lowered down, and pushed itself next to her. "What're you- AHH!" she screamed as the dragon pushed itself under her, and pushed her back to her feet. A stumble later, Pacifica stood fully up, hyperventilating.

As it had done for the past several minutes, it continued to watch her carefully.

Pacifica took several steps to the right. The head of the dragon turned and followed her. Several steps more to the left. Still, the eyes and head locked onto her like magnets.

"You... you're not going to kill me?" she asked it. The dragon tilted it's head. "Ugh!" she grumbled. "You're just like Alphie," she muttered as she looked to the dragon. It blinked, one eye before the other.

Something about it blinking like that made her chuckle. Could it be that this apex predator, the scariest, meanest thing she had ever met, which included that nasty giant spider and poltergeist, was just a dumb animal? That liked her for some odd reason. Either way, it still hadn't killed her.

"You're not going to eat me, are you?" she asked it. When it said nothing. "What do you want from me?" she said, adjusting her dress. The dragon rumbled gently, it's deep sound vibrating into the earth. "Uh, okay then," she stumbled for words.

The dragon lowered its head and slowly closed its eyes. Right before her did this strange creature begin to nap. Was this... some sign of dominance? Or did it just not care about her? Pacifica studied herself- maybe she had done something or had something on her that made herself seem docile.

All she could see was her shoes, and her purple dress.

She glanced back to the dragon. With its head lowered, she spotted something not naturally belonging on an animal, as far as she was concerned. A metal choker was tied at the base of it's neck, singed but not broken away. Passing by the bright yellow horns the creature poked up towards the sky, Pacifica studied the choker. It had to studs onto it, build in either side.

She knew enough about horse riding to guess that it could have been part of a saddle. Or a restraint system.

That wasn't all on the beastie. She spotted the belly of the beast, poking just slightly out to the side. It almost made her laugh at first- it was such a large creature and had such a large stomach that surely it shouldn't fly. A joke would have been appropriate for her, if it hadn't been hurt.

A large, smoldering burn was streaked across the underside. The scales hadn't been seared away, but they seemed to have been glossed together. Pacifica blinked as she felt out with her hand. Was there something out there that could burn dragons? Here she thought they were fireproof.

As soon as she touched it, the dragon jolted and moved aside, snarling. Pacifica fell back and whimpered.

"Sorry!" she told the dragon as it curled around it's stomach, and began to lick it with a long, serpentine tongue. "You... you burned yourself there, I think," she pointed out to the dragon, who ignored her as it lapped the wound.

This didn't sit right with her. A dragon being burned was already odd, but now if the dragon had a harness piece stuck on it, wouldn't that mean someone was trying to ride it? Or tame it? Control it?

Who knew about dragons around here?

Her first pick was the twins, but based on how Mabel handled herself back in the cave, something told Pacifica that the Pines didn't know about dragons either. After all, Mabel hadn't come running in with a insane, brilliant plan. Which meant it was probably someone else. The homeless, eccentric McGucket may have had something to do with this, if robots were involved...

No. Pacifica remembered that there was something else, someone else, at work in the area who had the kind of know-how that the twins did. The so-called Warlock.

The dragon's head peaked up, and it snarled. Pacifica glanced around. "What? What is it?!" she demanded as the dragon stood on it's legs. Without hesitation, the dragon became entirely engulfed in flames, and it turned it's attention towards a large boulder. Pacifica stumbled away further, feeling the heat of the crackling immolation. Snarling, it continued it's sentry of the rock.

"Pacifica! Run!"

"Mabel?" Pacifica called to the rock.

"Hey!" a hand jotted out from behind the large rock. Not a second passed before the dragon roared and spat a large jet of flame at the rock. The hand was instantly withdrawn. "But seriously, just run away! We'll distract big and scary!" she called over the boulder.

"Wait! No, hold on!" Pacifica shouted. The dragon moved forward, stomping closer to the now mildly melted boulder. No longer on fire, she could approach it. Pacifica ran forward, and slid right in front of the dragon. "Stop!" she shouted. The dragon lurched, but came to a halt. Eyes fixed on Pacifica, she pointed behind her. "Don't hurt them. They're not going to hurt me, or you!"

The dragon leaned in closer to her, yellow eyes intently watching her.

"Don't hurt them," she repeated, "okay? Give me a nod, like this," Pacifica nodded her head, "and promise you won't hurt them." The dragon eyed the boulder behind her once more, but then did as told. It nodded.

"Okay," Pacifica sighed, and turned around. "It's not going to hurt you guys. Come out."

"Uh, oh, so, not that we don't believe you, Pacifica," Mabel called over.

"But if it doesn't listen to you, we kind of die if we pop over," Candy added.

"Fine," Pacifica rolled her eyes, "stay here," she said to the dragon. As the dragon gave a loud snort, she rushed ahead and walked around the horrible smelling rock. Hiding behind the rock was the three girls. "Then step out with me."

Mabel stared at Pacifica, and then to her friends. This was a mildly risky maneuver. Trust in Pacifica wasn't the issue- it was the dragon. The big beast that could easily kill all four of them in a matter of moments. Well, probably not- they'd give it a run for it's money.

Still, Pacifica seemed confident in her safety. Mabel pursed her lips. She had wondered all this time, running with the two girls next to her, why the dragon had taken the blonde. Maybe she was right- there was something more than just random luck and a need for food. So, with a sigh, she pushed herself off the rock, and stepped to her friend.

"And you two?" Pacifica asked Candy and Grenda. "It won't breathe fire on me."

"Well, uh," Grenda stumbled. Then Candy sighed, shook herself for a moment, and also stepped over. "Aw, heck with it." Grenda grumbled and also stepped out.

"Care to introduce us?" Mabel asked Pacifica, glancing at the dragon. The blond sighed.

"Dragon. Don't eat my friends unless they do something really dumb or annoying," Pacifica told the dragon. It rumbled and seemed to grin.

"That wasn't exactly what I asked," Mabel admitted.

"Shut up and come over here," Pacifica rolled her eyes and pulled on Mabel's arms. Not daring to resist the sweet-heart of a dragon, Mabel went with Pacifica and her two friends followed closely behind. "Look," Pacifica pointed to the neck, and Mabel squinted. The dragon glared at them, but at their safe distance, it made no hostile moves.

"A chain?" Mabel asked.

"It's a harness piece I think," Pacifica told them.

"You put that around the dragon already?" Grenda asked.

"No!" Pacifica snapped, "It was like that when I checked it. Seriously, where would I just keep a large, metal, collar on me?"

"I don't know, who knows what you got on your purse these days," Grenda bit back. Pacifica glared, but said nothing.

Mabel was busy studying the neck. There wasn't just the collar. There were scratches in the chain as well. Something had been digging into the neck, sharp and hard enough to cut away at those thick dragon scales. Only a moment of eyeing the dragon did Mabel look to the right, and find a large burnt patch.

"Yikes," she said and pointed, "looks like he burnt himself when he got all hot and bothered earlier."

"That was there before the fire thing it did," Pacifica told her.

"Wait... it didn't burn itself there?" Mabel asked. Pacifica shook her head. "Something else burned a dragon? The scary lizard dues who rule the skies?"

"I think they're reptiles, actually," Candy pointed out.

"Thank you, reptiles that rule the sky?" Mabel added.

"Looks that way," Pacifica shrugged, "I sure as heck didn't burn it. And it doesn't want anyone touching it," she added just as Mabel got closer to the wound.

"I won't!" Mabel whined. The dragon then stepped aside and whipped it's head to face Mabel. Mabel gulped and the dragon snarled. "Ooookay, message received, you big, mean, scaly muther-hubbard."

"Told you," Pacifica sighed.

Well, we can at least remove that collar thing, right?" Mabel said. Pacifica blinked and looked to the others.

"That thing is metal."

"Meh. We just got to pull at the weak spots," Mabel assured her, stepping alongside the dragon to it's neck. "Just make sure that it's okay with us going there. Grenda? Candy?" Mabel called to her friends, "some help, dudettes?"

The two stared at the dragon for a long moment, sharing an well-justified appreciation for the power it held. In the end, they resigned their fear and stepped next to the beast's neck.

"Sweet. Okay, you ready?" she asked.

"One," Grenda stated.

"Two," Candy shrugged.

"Three!" Mabel groaned as she pulled as hard as she could. As she had hoped, the metal around the neck was thick, but the sheet connector was a cheaper, softer metal. It snapped in two, and fell aside with a loud clunk. "Yikes, heavy stuff." Mabel gasped as she stepped away from the chunk of heavy steel. The neck of the dragon instantly shot up.

Without warning to the two ladies, the dragon shook it's head ferociously. Knocked aside and down by the whipping head, the three scrambled for cover- the dragon was clamoring around in circles, stretching it's head, scratching it on the melted boulder, and letting out a series of hisses and snaps in the air. Only Pacifica stood, watching the dragon.

"Hm. I think it's happy," she guessed with a grin. The dragon then stormed over to Pacifica, who flinched and ducked. Yet as she held her head, the dragon rubbed the side of it's head against her.

"Aww, I think it likes you," Mabel cooed. "I'm going to call her Magenta."

"Makes sense," Grenda chuckled as she stood up, "one fire breathing monster to like another."

"Hey!" Pacifica snapped back.

"Actually, based on appearance, it is possible the dragon sees you as kin," Candy said as she too stood, smudging dirt off her glasses.

"Kin?" Pacifica asked, trying to push the dragon off. It only came closer and rubbed harder.

"Kin, a type of relation closely associated with family and parental-" Candy started.

"AWW! I get it!" Mabel gasped and bounded off the dirt and over to the startled girl and her dragon. "It thinks your related to it!"

"How? We don't look anything alike," Pacifica said.

"But look at your hair and it's horns," Mabel grabbed a small chunk of Pacificas hair, and pointed to the horns, "same shade of gold! Oh! And your skin is the same type as it's belly scales!" Mabel pinched Pacifica's skin and pointed to the belly. "Aaaand, look at your dress and it's scales!"

Pacifica was slowly gathering the correlating data. Her brain seemed to gather each pointed out point on it's own, and she slowed down with each further point. Finally, after several seconds of staring at Mabel, she looked back to the Dragon. It stared back to Pacifica, those wide yellow eyes carefully drinking her in.

"Great. It thinks we're related," Pacifica sighed and stepped aside.

"I wish I had a dragon mom," Mabel sighed. "That'd be just too cool. Not that mom isn't cool, but still. Dragon mom. Dang. Good Magenta," she said, and patted the side of the dragon's snout.

"Or dragon pet!" Grenda piped in.

"Ha! Right. Dragon..." Pacifica slowly turned and stared at the dragon, "...pet..."

"Th-that's th-the idea."

The four gasped and turned to the edge of the forest. The dragon snorted and leapt over the group, hiding behind Pacifica.

Standing at the edge of the forest, flanked by four men in suits, was Graupner Kinley.

"Warlock," Mabel and Pacifica said in unison. They glanced to each other but said nothing.

"So, you're behind... dragons," Mabel stated. "Are you summoning them from far off parallel dimension, or breeding them in a lab? OR BOTH!" she declared.

He cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "What makes you th-think that I have anything t-t-to do with making th-that thing?" Mabel peered back at the cowering dragon. The spins along the back of the dragon all curled down, along with the flaps of skin along it's head. "Just got l-lucky, and dug it out from a long buried c-cave. It got a little c-carried away when we t-tried tying it up."

"You tried tying it up?" Pacifica demanded.

"Not cool," Candy said.

"So, why d-don't you all just surrender, I d-don't have to worry about ki-killing you, and then hand the dragon over," the warlock said.

"Yeah, right," Mabel snorted. Her gaze turned to the men. All of them held their hands inside their jackets, gripping something tightly as they stared at the four and the dragon through sunglasses. Her quick glance of the men told her a few things- they weren't the agents, as they didn't have the earpieces, and they had no form of identification. These were some sort of bodyguards. She snapped her vision back to Graupner. "How did you find us?"

"Tracking d-device in the collar," he shrugged, "so, g-get lost or else-"

"Get lost?" Pacifica snorted, "excuse me? Do you even know who're you're talking to?"

"Northwest. P-Pacifica, the brat," the warlock chimed with glee.

Pacifica clenched her jaw. "Brat or not, I still have my family's power. You back off, or I get my phone, and I let them know they're going to call some dirty people to do some dirty things to you," Pacifica said, stepping closer to the dragon. "And I mean hit-men."

"Pacifica," Mabel whispered as subtly as she could, "I thought you dropped your purse."

"I did! I'm bluffing, stupid!" Pacifica hissed back, barely moving her lips. The Warlock laughed.

"My d-daddy is scarier th-than your daddy," he said in a mocking voice. Pacifica snarled, but gasped as Grenda stepped up next to her.

"YEAH!?" she roared, having the guardsman pull out their weapons- pistols. The pistols in mention however were cylindrical and had long barrels. Mabel was sure that those pistols weren't meant for standard bullets. Grenda continued, "how about we just have our new dragon friend show you what we think!?"

Graupner sneered, but his eyes betrayed him. Hesitation, even for a moment, meant that he still was afraid of the dragon. "That's why I brought some friends," he called loudly. Flying over the trees, a helicopter blew overhead, swooping past the unprepared teens and the dragon, who roared and cowed at the flying device.

"He has a helicopter too?" Candy whined. "Not fair."

"Mabel, you got an idea, right?" Pacifica asked quietly to Mabel. The brunette silently nodded, and behind her back made a finger-puppet show- using her hand as a base for ground and two fingers for legs. The stood silently at first, and then suddenly turned and darted aside. "Oh... I, uh... that'll work."

"Just make for your manor," Mabel said quietly. She looked to Grenda and Candy, effortlessly and silently communicating with them what she had just told Pacifica. The helicopter was still in the distance.

"Fine," Mabel called ahead, taking a step forward, "We'll-"

She whipped to the side, and ran across the field. The other three followed suit. The dragon, much larger than the others, began to crawl in stead with them, swerving left and right in it's gait.

"Oh c'mon!" The warlock grumbled across the field. The men beside him only watched for a moment, staring at the warlock. "G-get them!?" he reminded them. The four man shrugged and then began their chase.

With a dragon following close by, and three friends to watch out for, Mabel had officially continued her day's fill of chasing. She had been lucky, in her mind. It was only the fourth of July, and she had chased after a 'something'. Now she was being chased by, and needed cover quickly.

The helicopter was coming over.

"Here it comes!" Grenda roared as the flying machine darted above.

Mabel dared to glance up. In the helicopter, two men in suits stood, peering down on the group through rifles with scopes. Just like the four chasing after them now, they made little to no reaction as they shot down.

No loud bang into the air, no horrible crack of wood or splintering of earth. Mabel felt a projectile barely miss her arm.

"Tranquilizer darts!" she shouted.

"Great, so if we drop, we get captured and dragged off to who-knows where!" Pacifica complained as she jumped behind a tree and continued running. "I'm so sick of running for my life!"

"Then get on your dragon!" Candy told her.

"I... okay," Pacifica shrugged as she turned and jumped onto the neck of the large dragon. It barely flinched as she climbed up and rode it once again.

Pacifica atop the dragon proved to be a better bet than Mabel could have guessed. No sooner had the blond teen leapt onto the bounding creature than a hail of darts landed where she had just been.

"Yikes!" Mabel said, sliding to the side as she barely dodged an incoming dart.

"These are huge!" Grenda shouted as they finally vanished into the foliage of the woods again.

Grenda, while the queen of exaggeration, was not wrong. The darts being shot at them at high velocities were made for larger animals- as they were nearly five inches long. Tranquilizer harpoons were more of a correct statement as Mabel peered into the sky. The helicopter flew above them, darting left and right. It was tracking them through the woods.

"How are we going to lose them now?" Pacifica asked.

"You tell us!" Grenda called back.

"I don't know!" Pacifica yelled, "this is your sort of deal after all!"

"Well, start thinking like it is!" Candy yelled.

"I-"

BOOM.

The girls and the dragon roared and shrieked. A stick of dynamite had been tossed before them, shredding the canopy above. More explosions of similar size began to happen around then. Leaves, branches, and even entire trees began to fall, flames reaching the ground.

"They're going to kill us!" Pacifica screamed.

Mabel gritted her teeth. Turning around briefly, she spotted the coming four agents. They still had those guns on them, but they weren't firing them yet. So they weren't in range.

Think, Mabel girl, think! she said to herself as she spun and ran with the group, her amazing constitution and endurance able to propel her to catch up. As her speed matched those running, she thought. Make Dipper proud of your detective work!

If the helicopter was dropping bombs around them and missing, it meant one of two things: they were lousy shots or couldn't see them perfectly. But since, she was certain that they wanted the dragon alive, they wouldn't toss bombs in to kill them and the dragon. They needed to clear out the canopy of the woods. Which meant, as she looked back, the only thing giving the enemy vision, were the four agents following them.

She glanced back and stared for a single moment. To her glee, one of them did have a walkie-talkie on them.

"Yes," she muttered, and she turned and ran again. "I got it!" she shouted as she caught up with friends and newly acquainted dragon partner in crime. "We need to shake off the agents from the dragon!"

"How?" Candy shouted.

"I'm not sure, but if they wanted the dragon, they'll follow it, and not us," Mabel told Grenda and Candy. Mabel looked to her friends, her long trusted partners in violence, boy-chasing, and romance magazine sharing. The three of them had grown so much since their first adventures together. Still running for their life, they had more options.

"Mabel, what are you thinking?" Candy asked, her keen mind, catching a look in Mabel's eye.

"Guerilla warfare," she stated. Candy sighed and nodded.

"Come again?" Grenda asked.

"Hit and run, girl," Candy told her friend.

"Ah, gotcha. Us three?" Grenda asked Mabel.

"Wait, what about me?" Pacifica said as the three girls below her planned.

"Look, Pacifica, they want the dragon," Mabel started, "and I can only imagine that if they caught you, we'd be in more trouble than just losing Magenta. So you take it and go, and we'll meet up with you!" Mabel explained.

"But- but then you guys are staying behind!" she pointed out.

"We've gotten out of worse before. Heck, this one time I died, and had to escape the underworld," Mabel shrugged. The three girls stared at her for a moment, and then continued to running; a new appreciation for Mabel. "It sounds a lot cooler than it really was."

"But still-"

"Look!" Grenda shouted up to her, "do you want a chance to run away or not!?"

"Of course I want us to get away, but-"

"Then take it!" Grenda interrupted Pacifica. The Dragon hummed, it's deep voice vibrating into the ground. The blond, rich girl looked down to the dragon and grunted.

"Don't get hurt!" she shouted.

"Mystery twin, detachment squad, REVERSE!"

Mabel and the two slid to a stop, turned and charged. The well-dressed agents had only just climbed over a large log when the tree girls made their attack. Mabel ran the fastest, and leapt high into the air. Grenda and Candy remained on foot, but Grenda, roaring like a wounded animal, dived into the first man she could. Candy ducked behind a tree, removed her pepper-spray can, and ran forward.

As the helicopter blazed overhead, the kick of the first female mystery twin smashed clean across the face of the Agent. The kind of kick she reserved only for her master sent the man spinning. She landed, and watched him stay up-right. He recovered, and removed his glasses. Mabel gulped. This man had scars up and down his face along his eyes. The kind of person who enjoyed fighting, as opposed to the common Gravity Falls resident.

Grenda was busy exchanging blows with her target- a tall, wide-shouldered man with no withholding his hits. Her struck her as hard as he could, delivering large circles of blue and black on her face.

Mabel wouldn't allow herself to take such damage. The man she had kicked made a motion to shoot at her, and she ducked and dived. A man behind her had just made to grab at her arms, but the dart shot at Mabel struck his shoe. Hitting somewhere around his big toe, the man howled in pain.

Screaming in pain, the man hopped on one foot for a brief moment, and then slumped to the ground like a limp noodle. Mabel made her advantage an opportunity: the unloaded gun was grabbed and tossed aside. While the taller man made to punch at Mabel, she ducked back and cart wheeled, kicking him in his chin. Pain flared in Mabel's toe, but she wasn't ready to resign to a little 'ouch' like that.

She landed and stood looking at the injured man, who spat next to him, leaving a crimson spot on the ground. Mabel grinned. She already knew what she was going to be doing. He was angry at her, and that would play to her strengths- being very hard to hit.

"Get ready to be burned, sucka!" she told him, and dived in for the fight again. He kicked out at her, in what could have been a rib-breaking strike into her chest. She ducked down, bending at the knees. Then, one foot pushing off the ground, she leapt up, and with her free foot, she kicked into the pocket of his knee. The man screamed and fell aside.

Three strikes, he's out.

Mabel turned to Grenda, still dealing with the man, but now gaining footing- she had him in her bear grip- something to be feared. Turning to her other side, Candy was striking the man with a large stick over and over. His hands covered and rubbed his eyes, and he wailed and cried. She had clearly gotten him with her home-brewed mace.

Rushing over to Candy, Mabel took one prepared moment for Candy to step aside. After the moment and Candy moved, Mabel screamed as loud as she could and karate-chopped the man by the base of his neck. The guard went rigid and fell aside.

"GRANITE GRENDA FINISH!"

The two turned away from the fallen guard and to Grenda. A black eye, a puffed up half lower lip, and at least three large black and blue bruises to cover her face, the girl had lifted up the man, and fallen backwards. His back hit the ground first, and with his weight plus hers, the resounding cracks and outcries of the man told the two ladies that he wouldn't be getting up soon. Rolling over from her victory, Grenda stood up, dusting her shoulders off.

"No biggie," she said to her friends, and then winced. "My face feels big though."

"Yeah, you took a few punches there," Mabel pointed out, timidly pointing to the three huge bruises across her face."

"Heh, that happens," Grenda shrugged.

"Grenda is used to many injuries. Captain of the wrestling team means that she... can-" Candy whimpered as she suddenly stumbled.

"Candy?" Mabel gasped, and looked to her left quickly. A dart barely flew past her. Grenda shouted and dived to the ground. The small framed girl fell right into Mabel's outstretched arms. Candy began to drool, her eyes out of focus.

"Oh no!" Mabel gasped, and looked to Grenda.

"Having some p-problems?" a voice called from the distance.

Mabel sealed her eyes shut tightly and shook her head. Of course- she had forgotten Warlock. She reached down to her unconscious friend and removed the dart imbedded into her back.

"I can carry her!" Grenda told Mabel.

"Okay," Mabel nodded. She hastily handed off the now limp Candy to Grenda. Grenda stood, hunched over and carrying her dazed friend. "Ready? He'll try to nail us as soon as we get up."

"No way he can," Grenda told Mabel with a grin.

"Then," Mabel sighed, "let's GO!"

They ran. Mabel only had the smallest chance to glance behind her as she and Grenda pelted out from under the cover of the log. Some thirty feet behind them, he had only just made it to the log now, carrying with him a variant of the same pistol used by the four incapacitated men.

To Mabel's horror, the moment he arrived to the logs, he waved his hands above the four men, and they all jolted. One by one, they stood on their feet, and then started running after the girls again.

"He can heal them!?" Mabel whined to Grenda.

"Totally not fair!" Grenda shouted back.

Still they ran. What else could they do now? The helicopter wove around their heads, tracking them as they fled from the now five men behind them. The occasional dart would soar right into a tree next to them. Mortality hung in the balance as the two ladies ran. A single hit from the long darts meant game over now. No one would be left behind, but they had no one to carry them all.

Well, Mabel wondered if Grenda could carry her as well, but it wasn't something she considered testing out.

A rock ahead presented the option- left or right.

"The right?" Mabel suggested.

"Right!" Grenda nodded.

The two turned and ran, sliding down the hill as fast as they could without losing footing. Then, as they found themselves at the base of the hill, did they realize their mistake.

"Wrong," Mabel grumbled.

They were now in a grotto. One surrounded by a steep ledge of rock. Getting out, as they looked around, came from one direction- the one they just came from. Where, to their dismay, five men stood, looking down on them.

"Copy that," one of the men said into a walkie-talkie, "we've got them. Keep on looking for the dragon."

"Roger that," the voice of the pilot replied.

"So, how ab-b-bout we make this easy. Come quietly, and my b-boys won't have to lift you off th-the ground," Graupner said, playing with the barrel end of the gun.

"So you can do what? Hold us hostage?" Mabel said. The Warlock grinned and shrugged. "Nice try. You can drag us for all we care."

"Maybe we will," the warlock glared down at them, his eyes shining with anger. "I'll make sure t-to yank you through-"

"Contact!" the pilot on the walkie talkie called.

Graupner snarled and yanked the device from the soldier. Holding it to his face, he spoke back. "Wh-where is it now?"

"Airborne!" the pilot cried. "Whoa! It's on us!"

"Wait, what d-do you mean it's on you?" Graupner growled. "Shoot it d-down, and then we'll fly it back to b-base later!"

"It's staying on our six! Can't get a good bead on it- OH GOD!" the pilot roared. High above, the helicopter zoomed past, swaying trees in it's wake of wind. Then the sky grew orange and the heat of dragon fire permeated the woods. The woods grew darker in the shadow of a hundred foot column of fire in the sky that nearly entirely engulfed the hunter helicopter.

"Skywatch, t-turn around and t-take care of-" Grauper shouted into the walkie-talkie.

"Kinley, it's turning around! Heading straight for-"

The battle cry of a huge dragon blasting through the trees and foliage cut out the warning of the pilot. The Warlock and his men had just enough time to dive aside, dodging the swooping attack of the dragon. Atop it, Pacifica steered, pulling the horns aside to avoid the large boulder.

"Welcome to the battlefield, air support!" Mabel called as Pacifica and the dragon made their return after the swooped past the three.

"Like I'm going to let you get all the hero-worship in this one," Pacifica smirked back. She turned her attention to the Warlock, who was back on his feet, spinning his hands around one another, creating a ball of black flame. "He's ours," Pacifica told Mabel.

Mabel turned to Grenda. "We got to keep moving," she said as the dragon, flapping it's wings again, dived forward at the warlock. "C'mon, we can get Candy out of here!"

"Yeah!" Grenad agreed as the two started to run again. "You know, maybe I was wrong about Pacifi-"

BOOM.

Mabel and Grenda were thrown clear off their feet.

Trees splintered and were cooked instantly in the heat and light.

Her ears ringing and stinging like wasps buzzed around them, Mabel felt the ground beneath her. The world felt upside down. She couldn't make out what she was doing until she blinked out the dirt from her eyes. She and Grenda had been throw some thirty feet back into the grotto.

Stumbling back up, Mabel saw the ruins of the woods around her. Blackened trees, all stripped of their leafs and many more branches, reminded her of what had happened. Which, as she climbed up, brushing off the rubble from her sweater, she saw what remained.

The warlock faced away from her, staring at the collapsed dragon.

"Huh. Dragon fire and blackflame d-do not react well. So th-that was what caused the explosion," the warlock muttered to himself. Mabel looked around. The dragon's right wing, held up and caught in the remains of a tree, looked horribly burnt. Holes through the membrane of skin made it nearly useless for flight. The other wing held a struggling Northwest. Pacifica had struck her head on something- a large bruise forming on her forehead. She was still awake, but seemed incapable of focusing. Fire plumed all around them. The woods had flames crackling and dancing on several remaining trees.

"So now I g-get four girls to ransom, and a d-dragon to work with," Graupner Kinley snickered, "oh, this is perfect."

"Leave them alone," Mabel managed to warn him. He whipped around, his slightly singed cloak fluttering in the turn.

"You're still up!?" he demanded. "That nearly knocked out everyone-"

"Except me and you, buster," Mabel told him, and she raised her fists. "Your move, creep."

His lip twitched, but he grinned. "Fine b-by me," he told her, and raised his hand behind him, pointing to Pacifica and the dragon. Black flame began to grow into his palm.

"What are you doing?" Mabel demanded.

"Giving you the ch-choice you have to t-take," he told her, and winked. "Five, four," he started counting down. Mabel took no chances. She ran for him. "Three, two," he told her and held the fire behind him still. Mabel then realized what he really planned on doing, and she dived over him and slid to a stop between him and the dragon. Now in front of her, the black fire swirling in his palm, he smiled.

"One," he reminded her as easily as anyone could.

Mabel clenched her whole body. The fire from his palm raced towards her. The fire that melted dragonscale. The fire that reacted with dragonfire to cause explosive power. What... what else was there she could do. In the face of letting friends be hurt or killed, she had no alternative.

She wouldn't let the fear of pain and death stop her though. Until it came for her, in person, she would do the only thing she knew to do in the sight of the end.

Fight.

"RIGHT HOOK!" she screamed.

Mabel roared and punched back at the black flame, putting her entire being, heart, mind, soul- her whole entire existence into the single punch.

The fire vanished.

The warlock's mouth dropped open. Mabel blinked.

"Wh-wh-wh-what!?" he gasped, stuttering worse than ever. "How-how-how-how-how-"

Mabel felt her hand, and then heard sizzling to her left. She gave her strongest right hook she had ever tried to do in her life. Had there been a reasonable person there, she was afraid she would have broken her knuckles, and their jaw. Looking to the side, Mabel was stunned. The black flame had been knocked into a lone stump some fifteen feet away. There, it ate at the semi-burnt wood until there was only pitch-black ashes.

She... punched a fireball away?

"Imp-p-p-possible!" the warlock shouted at her. "What sp-pell d-did you use!?"

"It's, uh, called, um... BEING AWESOME!" Mabel roared back at the Warlock. He stumbled and tripped over his cloak.

"That's... wait," he gasped, and stared up at her, "the paths!"

Before Mabel even considered throwing another warning at him, he turned and ran. In the distance, his men greeted him. They also rushed away, closing towards the unfettered woods. The helicopter buzzed over her head, leaving them finally alone.

"Mabel, what did you just do?" Pacifica asked from behind her. Mabel gasped and spun around.

"Hey, stay still. You kinda conked the side of you head there, girly-doe," Mabel chuckled. Pacifica shook her head, now grabbing Mabel's wrist.

"You... the fire bent around your arm and... and-"

"Hey, doesn't matter right now. We need to get everyone back to safety before jerk-face-McLoser comes running back," she told her. The dragon's wing came crashing down, pulled away from the now charred bits of branch.

"It's not going to die, is it?" Pacifica asked, standing up, and walking to the whimpering dragon.

"I don't think so?" Mabel answered. "It looks like it's wing go most of the fire." She scanned the said wing, and grimaced. "But I don't know if it will fly again."

"Why?" Pacifica turned around, squinting at Mabel, "because that man decided to burn away all that skin? Huh?" she asked heatedly. Mabel shrugged. "Well... I don't think so. This dragon will one day fly again, or my name isn't Pacifica Northwest!"


"And so, after trying to sew on new wings, that's how we discovered that dragons are mildly allergic to latex!" Mabel finished her story with vabrado.

Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Arline, and Soos all stared at Mabel, their eyes and faces stuck in a permanent stun. The only one not looking like they had just heard the most ludicrous story about dragons and chases in the wild was Yuki, who nodded.

"That sounds about right," he shrugged.

It was now six in the evening. The first ever publicly held Northwest gathering had finally gone underway. Fireworks would soon be underway, and the terrace and porch of the backyard was filled with people.

Nearly five hours ago, the four girls had returned, broken, bruised, tired, drugged, and all exhausted. While the two parents threatened to sue the three ladies for their supposed mistreatment of their daughter, Pacifica swore off the parents. When they did not listen, Magenta the dragon took in, nearly biting Pacifica's father's head off. With a healthy dose of the fear of death put into him, he let the four girls clean up.

After that, with the help of Arline and Zander, whom the dragon continued to eye suspiciously, the party was quickly set up.

Dipper groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "You mean I missed one of the most crucially identifiable species today? A dragon? I need to put so much in the book," Dipper said.

"Yeah, well, they're going to keep Magenta as a pet. Pacifica said that since she's a rarity, the parents are going to fix up the wing in no-time, so they can parade around saying the own a one-of-a-kind animal. Gah," Mabel explained up until her hands gave an awful twinge. Her two hands held before her, she spied the thick wrappings around her fingers and palms.

"Keep them on for a day or so," Arline reminded her. "After that, you can take them off and get back to punching things," Arline chuckled.

Mabel whined. "But that's one whole day of things to punch I'm never getting baaaack..."

Stan chuckled. "I'm going to go steal as much free food as I can fit in my jacket. Left-overs for the next week, you three!" Stan told Dipper and Mabel.

"Blech," the twins groaned.

"At least it'll be seasoned," Dipper suggested. Mabel nodded.

"You should go ask Pacifica to introduce you to Magenta. She'll probably be okay with you," Mabel told Dipper. His eyes glistened, and he removed the journal from his jacket.

"Great idea!" he nodded, and ran off. Unfortunately for him, Mabel had been about to tell him he was running in the wrong direction. Pacifica was behind him and Mabel, speaking to Candy and Grenda.

"-but as far as people handling are concerned, the best thing to do, in your position," Pacifica told Grenda, "is to remind them of your positional power, rather than your physical."

"Why not both?" Grenda asked.

"If you want people to really respect you, it needs to come from your authority first, your strength second," Pacifica explained to her.

"So does this mean you're going to stop harassing our clubs for now on?" Candy asked Pacifica after a long yawn.

"I- what? I never... oh," Pacifica looked between her two speakers as Mabel walked over. A mild shade of pink washed over her face. "Sorry. Yes."

Candy and Grenda stared at the blond for a moment.

In unison, they exclaimed with laughter and squeezed Pacifica with a large hug.

"Thanks Pacifica!" Candy said.

"Yeah! Now we're going to get some FOOD!" Grenda roared, and began to holler.

"Aww, you three are friends now?" Mabel asked, hopping next to Pacifica. The blond sighed and nodded, citing even more squeals from Mabel. "YESSS! All my friends are cool with one another!"

"Well... they both fought for my life," Pacifica shrugged, playing with her hair, "so, you know... that kind of means a lot to me."

"Could have fooled me," Mabel winked with a cat-like grin.

"Hey, that was-"

"A joke, doofus," Mabel winked at Pacifica. She in turn pushed away Mabel by her face and walked over to Yuki.

"Talk to me later. I'll be spending some time with a handsome man," she winked to Mabel, who ran in place at the couple. As she did, a hand fell to her shoulder, gripping tightly.

"What you did out there was dangerous," Arline told her, her voice no longer pleasant or kind. Mabel blinked and stared up at her usually happy master. "You could have been killed by doing what you did."

"But... what else was I going to do?" Mabel asked. Arline sighed.

"Mabel..."

"You know I couldn't let Pacifica and Magenta get hurt anymore," Mabel defended.

"No, I get that," Arline shook her head. "I... just be more careful for now on. If the Warlock is using Blackflame, that means he's been using a very, very old source for magic spells," Arline continued to explain in a whisper.

"What is blackflame?" Mabel asked.

"It's also called nightkiller and demontouch. A spell that acts like fire, but burns anything. Scars never heal fully," Arline said sadly, "the dragon will probably be burned like that for the rest of it's life."

Mabel gulped and looked to Pacifica. She was chatting with Yuki now, resting her head against his shoulder as she stared up at him. Mabel had to tell her at some point, but it wouldn't be now. She had a nice night to go through.

"But Mabel," Arline continued, "you weren't lying at all earlier, were you?"

"Huh? Why?" Mabel asked.

"Not that I don't believe you," Arline assured her, hands on the girls shoulders as she turned and faced her directly, "It's just... because... if you did do everything you said you did, you manipulated fire today."

Mabel's mouth dropped open. "Ohhhh, that makes more sense."

"What?!" Arline gasped and broken into a laugh, "Mabel! That's huge! You being able to do something like that only when you're fifteen is astounding!" Arline told her. "You... do you have any idea how long it took me to do that?"

"I dunno, like a year?" Mabel guessed. Arline's jaw dropped down. "See, only a year. Called it!" Mabel laughed. As her teacher and master stared at her pupil, she could only end up smiling.

"Go hang out with your brother, "she told Mabel. With a grin and chuckle, Mabel bounded away, off to seek her probably lost brother.

The fireworks would be starting soon, and Arline pocketed her hands to her sides. The air around her was cooling, and a gentle breeze tossed around her hair lightly. If only Mabel knew how quick she was coming along, if she thought element control was something easy... Arline grinned and looked to the deep blue sky.

Her neck twitched.

It was involuntary. She knew this feeling well- her master had a long time ago instilled the fear and awareness of being studied at distance. She turned and looked around. No one seemed to be looking at her on the porch.

Then she looked up.

Zander Maximillion stared down at her, fixed on her being. The moment she spotted him, he looked up and away, and turned towards the manor.

An ally had been listening in rather intently to a private conversation. An ally who, as she knew, was not afraid to get close to people. He wanted to hear in on their chat but not reveal himself? Arline wasn't sure why, but something began to bug her.

Mabel claimed the Warlock wanted to capture the dragon when he found out about it. He had then found bodyguards, a tracking collar, and a whole helicopter to use. That cost money.

And she was looking at the retreating back of someone they all knew who had more than enough cash on them to go around.


But, really, it's probably just coincidence.

I mean, it's not like certain things line up for sheer... coincidences...

SO- Season 2, Episode 13 done! Draconic Tendencies!

A lot has happened since the last update, let me tell you. So, first of all, a show of hands, WHO'SE EXCITED AS I AM FOR NEXT ACTUAL EPISODE!? AAHHHHHHHH

And while I'm on the topic, I've gotten a torrential downpour of people reminding me of the updates to come. For those of you that don't know, the newest information out about the Stan twins is this- Grunkle Stan is actually Stanley, and The Author is actually Stanford.

So, yeah. I screwed up big.

Not to worry though- just a few switcheroos in EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER WHERE THE NAME STANFORD IS MENTIONED...

I swear, Alex Hirsch, this is revenge for using your namesake, isn't it!? Jerk.

Well, HAH! I beat you to your Dungeons and Dragons episode! By almost half a freakin' YEAR! (but he'll probably do it better... dangit.)

So, starting next week, I'll be slowly changing all the Stanfords to Stanley and Stanleys to Stanford. It's going to take a while, but... oh well.

And finally, before I send myself to doom and give you some cryptograms, I want to remind you all of my 'canon' policy. I'm trying my hardest here, you guys, but in the end, the main series and this WILL deviate. It'll be a sad day for us, but hey. At least we could have had some fun pretending they're almost the same thing. But I can't predict everything. My plot won't allow for it. :p

And so... my doom.

(EZB is handed a sign with the word 'doom' written on it.)

Oh. Less dramatic than I thought.

(EZB explodes into smoldering remains with a loud pop.)


D jluo zlwk d Ylnlqj khulwdjh ulglqj d gudjrq? Qhyhu khdug ri wkdw ehiruh.

-AND-

Nzyvo ovzimvw uriv-kfmxs! Rg'h hfkvi vuuvxgrev!