Disclaimer: Finals are halfway over. Chem tomorrow morning, and social comp. on Thursday. Then... BREAK TIME! I was planning on posting this once they were over, but I wanted to post now. This was a good chapter, and I'm on such a roll. This and one more episode before The Last Mabelcorn, and really freakin' close to the finale.

Also, the stupid title was too long for the site, so I had to go with Triple D... great.

Guest ((former)EMObillcipher89): Yeah, I can understand your reaction.

Nina Everblade: Uh… I guess you can call that kiss cute? The ending was though, I'll agree there.

RainbowCelin: That, I can't really answer. I can't/won't spoil anything in this answer, but think of it this way. If her dimension and Gravity Falls ran in the same time, then she'd have been missing for almost two months. Three months by the end of the series. At that point, she's considered missing or dead in her dimension.

FrostyAngelWings: I wanna see whatever you end up drawing!

nightmarehunter676: Neither can I! One year sure passed quickly.

Nina EverBlade (again): I know, I mentioned it the disclaimer of the chapter. Kinda hard not to know that your first story is a year old. (Sniff) They grow up so fast.

DannyPhantom619: What's being woken?

ultima-owner: It's too deadly for everyone.

Cynder: I answer everyone's review. It makes my day seeing people enjoy the story.

AboveAvenue: Yeah, that's Bill.

RillFipher: Um… why is Elaine a psychopath? I'm curious.

Nina EverBlade (again): You've read it multiple times? Cool.

RainbowCelin (again): This story's not gonna end like that. Elaine's not in a coma, and this isn't just her imagination running wild.

1-18-9-5-19: Everyone's wondering how she ended up there. That, however, won't be addressed until the very end. Sad ending, huh? Well… it's Stan losing his memory, and… I can't really say anything else here. My plan for the finale is intense, and I don't want to say anything else.

For anyone who's reading this now after that chapter was posted, I had gone and severely edited the kiss scene. It's much more gentle now.

I own Elaine and her family, and the Star vs the Forces of Evil theme song belongs to Disney.

"Speaking"

Thinking

"Reading"

Edited: Oct. 2/18


Elaine's POV

Breakfast was… tense, to say the least.

Stan and Ford either ignored each other, or kept shooting annoyed glares. The kids and I tried to get around the awkwardness, and continued chatting about what I planned to do next. Avoiding the Bill topic, due to Ford being right next to us of course, but what I planned to do next in this dimension. Well, it's more interesting than asking about how we slept. Which was… not bad, actually. Mabel was lulled to sleep with me next to her, and Dipper fell asleep knowing I was going to try and keep things together. Ford seemed interested though, in the discussion of the dimensions. I kept seeing him look our way every time I responded. I had also noted that, after our first introduction, his dark outfit was changed to what the cartoon in my dimension gave him. Why he chose to wear the tan coat inside was beyond me, but it didn't really matter.

"So, you're never going home," Dipper repeated for the fourth time as I tuned back into the conversation. "But can't you go back sometime in the future?"

"Maybe." I nudged my scrambled eggs across the plate, and stabbed a piece into the blob of ketchup. "Might end up seeing Gail again one day, but the risk of going back is too high." I sighed, and gave a tiny forced grin. "I'm getting depressed, am I?"

"A little," Mabel replied. "But I'm just glad that you're staying with us." She gasped, as a light bulb seemed to go off in her head. "Does this mean you're coming back to California with us?" Uh…

I never even considered what happened at the end of the show. I knew that it centered around whatever Bill had planned, but I completely forgot that Dipper and Mabel had to leave. I loved the dorks, I do. But… there was one small problem with this. "Mabel, there's a bit of a problem with that."

"Your friend doesn't exist in this world." We all turned to Ford, wondering why he and where he was going with this conversation. I was certain we had the same idea though, seeing we both dealt with dimensional traveling. "If she tried to have a life outside of this town, it would near impossible."

"Cops don't care about stuff like that here, kids," Stan then took over. "If Elaine here tried to attend a school in Piedmont, or get a job, there'd be questions."

"Which is why the government was after me," I finished. "Being in Gravity Falls is essentially my safe place. If there's a way to forge an ID, then I'd gladly go back with you. But I have no birth certificate, or social insurance, or anything. I don't exist."

"We'll get to that problem when the time comes," Dipper said, visibly disappointed. "Just hoping."

"Alright." Ford stood up, and went to put his dishes in the sink. "I am going to call each of you into my room to run a medical examination. We need to make sure that there is no radiation from the portal on you. When is that… gopher man going to arrive?"

"Soos; and he and Wendy should be here soon," Stan said, frowning at the indirect insult. Ford walked out of the room, and Stan began to gather our dishes. "Already had him check me out last night. You kids can go in the gift shop until then. Not opening the Shack today until we fix this place up again."

"Lazy Tuesday!" Mabel cheered. How weird, that the whole portal thing happened Saturday. We ended up screwing our sleeping schedule up when we spent all of Sunday hiding in the lab with Ford, or Monday where we had to contact the construction workers to rebuild the Mystery Shack… again. Man, our insurance rate must be high.

"I'm gonna go grab my journal from the attic." I headed to the stairs. "Call me when it's my turn." The book was still in its spot behind the boxes, which had all fallen over due to the lack of gravity. Pulling it out, I sat down on the window seat and got out my pen. "Here we go."

"Sweet freakin' potato smothered in butter. Stanford Pines is BACK. I'm… pretty sure I made a weird first impression. He thought I was Dipper and Mabel's older sister. Which, to be honest, I can see where he was coming from. I basically act like a family figure to Mabel. Though, there is still Dipper's crush on me. Everything's weird like that.

Bill was really happy that I was staying here. True, it meant I still had to help him out-wait." Di-did we even still do that daily question thing? "Cipher! You mind popping in for a moment?"

"Something bothering you, Angel?" Bill 'grinned', appearing in front of me.

"Are we still doing that daily question thing? Because although you're keeping your word on healing my injuries, we haven't really been asking each other stuff lately." Maybe it's because I've been so busy, or depressed, that I haven't had time to think about it.

"Got it in one, kid. I've been letting you slide through on that deal," he waved my question off. "We can call it off now though, if ya want. Seeing how you're not leaving my side or this dimension any time soon, there's not too much stress on having you answer my questions. All I gotta do is just be around you, to see and hear what I need to know. Ha! Not like that's anything new."

"Does this mean you'll keep me healed, even though we're not asking each other stuff anymore?" He nodded. "Okay then." Bill patted the top of my head, and I smirked. "It's been… wow, our relationship's changed a lot, huh?"

"You're letting me use you as a puppet to learn how to fool other fleshbags, but besides a few other things, I wouldn't say it's too much. You can still ask me stuff, if you want." Pulling my head back, I picked up my journal to continue writing.

"I'll take that offer up down the road." Hmmm… what else should I add? "So even though we're no longer doing the question thing, I still help him out by being his eyes around Gravity Falls. Being someone on the inside, and hearing what goes on." I paused from my writing, and looked back up. "I won't lie though, you have your nice moments, Bill. They're creepy and disturbing as heck, but you're not all bad."

"You're too different than Sixer, you know that?" I knew that. I knew that very well. While we're both fully aware of his plans, I wasn't threatened by him. I liked his twisted and snappy sense of humor, and he liked me in return. I knew how to be careful, and with our close bond, I was on my way to try and diffuse his plans for this world in a less violent way than what Ford kept imagining. He… he won't kill me. Time Baby had no idea what he's talking about. Bill would never kill me. He… wouldn't.

"Elaine! It's your turn!" Dipper shouted, his voice echoing from under the door and showing just how long I had been up there.

"I have to go. Ford is checking everyone over for radiation, and I'm guessing I'm the last one. We've chatted for a while." Tossing the book in the corner, I stood up and quickly hugged the triangle. "See you later, Cipher." I was actually willingly hugging him. How had we gone from barely standing each other, to this?

I wasn't upset. Just… how much had I changed since arriving in Gravity Falls?

3rd POV

Elaine stood in front of Ford's door, hesitant. The entire walk, from the attic to the downstairs room was silent, but it wasn't like she had anything to say aloud about it. Should she knock though? Should she just walk in to the room? No. No, that'd be rude. Maybe I shouldn't do this. I-I don't think I'm ready. "Enter." Oh. So that solved things. She glanced down at the floor, seeing that the hall light created a small shadow that must have been seen from the other side. Here… here we go. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Elaine opened the door and stepped inside. Ford had cleaned off the desk at the far side, with medical equipment scattered about, and the journal one lying on the couch with a blanket. Where did he get all of this? Was this stored down in the lab, or was it stored in his room already? "Elaine, was it?" Ford was in one of two chairs at the desk, writing in journal three.

"Yes, sir," she answered, still examining the room. Other than the new items, the only other major difference was that the couch on the side looked like a messy bed. A blanket was thrown onto the right side, not being bothered to be folded, and a pillow sat on the opposite end, still holding an indent where Ford's head rested. Slowly, she moved through the room towards the scientist, the floorboards creaking ever so quietly under her sneakers.

Ford watched her hesitance upon entering, mentally repeating what was spoken of the teen with a frown. Stanley had told him, during his checkup, that she was a sensitive girl. Seeing firsthand what happened when the boy, Dipper, began yelling at her, she had adopted a very quick fight-or-flight response. It looked as if she was approaching a panic attack, before running off to deal with it instead of having to be around them. This wasn't the first time she had done this too, apparently. He had been given small snippets from the children and his brother of the unusual teen, and he came to the horrible conclusion that this girl was essentially a younger, more timid version of him. Secretive, paranoid, thinks on her feet… but while his was mental, she was emotional damage.

"No need to call me sir, Elaine. You can call me Ford, same as the children." Elaine blushed, and sat down opposite of him. Glancing over at the journal, she saw he had Dipper's observations opened. Dipper's heart rate was written down, and she grinned. Of course Ford would have noticed that. How couldn't he? "First, let me scan you for any excess radiation."

"Is that gonna hurt?" Elaine asked, watching him pull out a box. It was nothing special, just a small gray box with a needle pointing out at the end, with a meter showing levels from green to red and a light above that. EMF was very easy to count, and the girl had to wonder how much she was carrying. It wasn't just the portal, but also considering she must have traveled a lot with Bill, and the trip to arrive in the town in the first place. Then again, the traveling with Bill was her Mindscape-self. Her mental state. Not her physical-self. Ford shook his head, and held the antenna towards her as he turned it on.

Neither of them expected the device to smoke and short out on his hand… and start sparking on top of that.

"That's unusual," Ford muttered. He quickly wrapped a rag around it, in case it set of the smoke alarm and sat it down. "But I suppose it must have to do with your situation." He flipped to a fresh page, and began writing down his notes. "Do you have any idea how far your dimension is from this one?"

"No clue. A lot of these things are still a mystery to me. I'm piecing things together as I go," Elaine shrugged. Yeah, she wasn't going to mention the other dimensional travel she'd done. Ford held the journal out in front of him, and kept looking from her to his writing, his pen keeping up with their conversation.

"Observations:

Excessive radiation. Most likely due to her transportation to this world.

Constant twitching. Either due to the emissions, or nervousness from choosing her final resting place."

That line… sounded a little morbid, even to him. He should change that later on. Ford nodded in thought, making a mental note and turned back to the teen. That necklace around her neck… it wasn't like any other symbol on the zodiac, but there seemed to be some sort of importance behind it. Some sort of reason. I should research more on that once the portal is out of the way, he noted. "Any other notes you need, Ford?"

"Just a few." She remained silent, watching him dash the pen along the page at a quick but extremely detailed pace. On one side of the opened book was his observations, and a drawing of her necklace under them. The other side had a paragraph about her, and a slowly developing image of the teen herself. Her appearance had her standing with her hands behind her back. Her eyes seemed... sad, and happy at the same time. A small smile was on her face, as she rocked on the balls of her feet.

"Elaine Milton. My first impression of this teen was how quiet she was. Despite the children's argument that she is usually much more active, she seems to be much more depressed than she appears.

I had initially thought she was a niece herself, seeing how close she was to the Pines family. Her personality switched from calm and quiet to energetic and sarcastic. To summarize: a perfect blend of both Mabel and Dipper's attributes." He had a few other observations that he picked up from Dipper and Mabel before the girl had come in, and written them in beforehand.

"Owns her own journal styled like my own. Neither twin gave a clear answer to where she had received the book, and what its contents hold. I may need to ask more about it and see what her thoughts on interdimensional travel are.

Had been bitten by a gremloblin. Was told this from Dipper when he tried to catch one. I need to discuss monster safety with him in the future. Should ask to see the scar alongside the burns that Stanley said he had treated." At least his brother had enough common sense to know not to bring her to the hospital. They would have asked too many questions.

"Ford, c-can I ask you something?" Add nervous stutter to that list. "What happened during your time across the multiverse?" She wanted to know. She'd end up finding out at some point, but it didn't hurt to ask now.

"Elaine, there's too much that I can tell you. Regardless of your case, the path I lead is too dark and weird for others to follow," Ford told her, completely serious. Elaine blinked. Wh… really? He was really going with this?

"Ford, I analyzed things much more than Dipper did. I'm not sure if you've read the entries we've made to journal three yet, but…" did Dipper write about her deal with Bill? If he did, then he was bound to find out about her much faster than she was ready. "But I've read your entries further, going in between the lines using what I've learned this summer… Bill's a pain, isn't he?"

Ford almost fell out of his chair at that. "Wait, you know Bill?" He asked, leaning forward in alarm.

"I know enough that you should've been more smart to see all the warnings he was putting up. Possession and eye bleeding?" Thank goodness that didn't happen to her or Dipper. They weren't possessed long enough for that to happen. "Ford, you're smart, but you're also an idiot." I've been waiting to say that for days.

That was a blow to his ego. She wasn't holding anything back, was she? "I was young and foolish back then. I didn't know what I was doing because my thirst for knowledge clouded my judgment." Elaine nodded, resting back in her own chair.

"Doing what you thought was right for your own needs, but not realizing how much it was hurting the people you cared about until it was too late," she mumbled. Ford looked at her in surprise. How much… what had this girl seen and done to turn into this? What had she experienced to mirror himself so closely?

"Elaine," he began. "The fact that you are aware of the dangers of this town more than the kids is a grave threat. Especially if Bill happens to know of your small knowledge in his ultimate goal." Too little too late for that, Ford. "But perhaps, I can help you adjust yourself. Be able to defend your mind, and teach you more about this town. It appears that you're going to be staying here for a while."

"You want to… teach me?" This was… okay, that was going way off track. But it's not like that was anything new to her. "Ford, I-I need to think about this. Not that I think you're bad or anything, but… you're not the greatest role model."

"Fair enough. I'll let you think on it." Elaine stood up, making her towards the door.

"I'll see you at lunch, Ford." She walked out of the room, leaving Stanford to his thoughts. "Oh, this is going way off track," she muttered, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. She slapped a hand to her forehead, and groaned. "Oh… I need to lie down."

Elaine's POV

"It's gonna get a little weird. Gonna get a little wild. I ain't from 'round here. I'm from… another dimension… man, those lyrics hurt in my context."

I was lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling while the family sans Ford was relaxing in the gift shop. I had saw Mabel carry in a bag of cheesies, which was no doubt empty by now. I needed to think.

I understood where Ford was coming from. Perhaps he thought of me as some form of kinship because of the similarities between us. But… his request made me anxious. I didn't want to get close yet. I shouldn't have even mentioned I knew about Bill in any way. What on earth did Dipper write in that journal about me and Bill anyway? Too many questions. Way too many to deal with right n-

"Get down! Don't let it taste human flesh!"

"Okay, now we're into things." Rolling off the couch, I got to my feet and headed to the commotion. Poking my head around the corner, I found a smiling Ford holding a burnt cycloptopus and a disgusted Stan. Dipper and Mabel watched Ford in aw, soaking in the excitement. "It's too soon for this, guys."

"Great. Now get it outta here," Stan told Ford. Ford walked past him, avoiding eye contact. The smoke from the monster drifted behind him. "Take it back to your nerd lab, or whatever. It smells like if death could barf."

"Great Uncle Ford! You need any help with that?" Dipper ran up to him, holding journal-journal two? Ford let him read it? "I've read all about these creatures in your journal, and I think I know how to-"

"No!" Ford harshly cut him off, before his face relaxed. "I'm sorry, Dipper, but the dark weird road I travel, I'm afraid you cannot follow. However, your friend here is a different story." Dipper looked at me, and I stepped around the corner to get into Ford's line of sight. "Elaine, would you come down to the lab with me? There is something revolving around your situation I must speak with you about in private." Dipper looked at me in disbelief, while my face mimicked his own. However, it was directed at Ford himself. Why was I getting a different treatment? I wasn't asking for this!

But... it didn't seem like I had much of a choice there. "I, uh, s-sure!" With a pitied look sent at Dipper, I stepped down into the staircase, and heard Ford address the family.

"Well, call us for dinner!" The door closed behind him, and he carried the monster beside him. I kept my head down, avoiding the man's eyes. No matter how much I've read and learned about Ford, he's still a stranger to me. "What do you know about the portal, Elaine?" We stepped into the elevator, and began descending.

"I know that Bill wanted to use it to unleash havoc on this dimension because of the lack of a dimension to rule That's why you were so upset with Stan starting it up again." Ford nodded, and the elevator came to a stop. Ford got out ahead of me, and grabbed a large glass jar. He shoved the cycloptopus into it, sealing it shut. Motioning me over to the window, he pulled the tarp back to reveal the dismantled portal. "You tore it down."

"I had to. The risk of leaving it be was too great." Ford opened the door to the larger room, and I walked in. A hole in the ceiling let unknown light stream down into it. The triangular shape of the main part of the portal was split in two, one piece on either side of the room.

"Whoa." I walked closer, looking at the wreckage before stopping. Did… why do I hear… Bill's laughter? Looking at my feet, I stepped back in alarm. The rift, a small tear in between worlds, was sparkling a foot above the ground. "F-Ford!? We have a problem!" Ford walked closer to me, and once he saw the rift, he pulled out a mason jar from his jacket and quickly scooped it up.

"Good eyes, Elaine. We need to contain this immediately." He ran back to the lab, and I watched him hastily begin to try and construct a container for the rift. Snatching out a circular glass sphere, and an odd base with several tubes sticking out, he began to carefully slide the rift from the jar into the ball. "Steady…" Ford allowed it to transwer without any problems, and motioned for me to come over. "Elaine, hold the base above it. Well have to attach it upside-down to prevent the tear from breaking any further."

"O-okay." I gripped the odd square, seeing the black and yellow stripes acting like caution tape. Ford juggled the sphere with one hand, and with the other, pulled out a small blowtorch from a drawer at the table. Flicking it on, he began to fuse the tubes to the sphere to keep them attached, melting the material to the shiny frame. It reminded me of a snow globe, but more evil and cosmic. Once he was done, he put away the tool, and wrote it into the third journal. "You heard it too, didn't you? When you were right beside it?"

"Mocking laughter. He's taunting us through the rip." Bill knew. B-but how? I'd never mentioned a rift to him. Yet… when the portal blew up, only then was he able to contact me from down there. Did this somehow allow him to see and hear more about Ford's plan? Where else would he have heard about the rift in The Last Mabelcorn? And… keeping my personal window on my hand blocked wasn't contributing to that. "Ford, why can't you tell anyone else about this?" He took the rift from me, and put it away into a cupboard in the top of the desk.

"Elaine, you must understand that the life before me is one of constant solitude and vigilance against the insanity of Bill. Even if it takes the rest of my life, I have to protect this dimension." I shook my head, and crossed my arms.

"There are people who can help you know. Dipper's gone through almost the same stuff I've done, minus the dimensional travel." I leaned against the table, eyes closed in thought. "Yeah, the life we have is a difficult one, but that doesn't mean we have to be alone in it." I grinned at Ford, and the elder Pines tried to smile back.

A loud scream came from behind us as well as the sound of breaking boards, and we spun around to move to the back of the lab. A shattered jar with the cycloptopus still hiding inside and journal two lying on the floor greeted us, as well as Dipper lying on his stomach from his unexpected fall. "Dipper! Stop!" Ford yelled. He got to his feet, walking over to him. We're gonna have to fix that hole.

"Great Uncle Ford!" Dipper cried out.

"What did I say about coming down here? My work is far too dangerous for a single living soul to spend even one second i-wait! Is that a 38-sided die from Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons!?" He pointed at the blue dice in Dipper's hand.

"Yeah! Y-you know that game?" Dipper asked.

"With pen and paper, shield and sword…" Ford began.

"Our quest shall be our sweet reward!" Dipper joined in, bathed in the light from the hole above us. The two laughed, and I giggled at their enthusiasm.

"This is my favorite game in the whole multiverse!" He took the die from Dipper, looking at it fondly. "I can't believe they still make it!"

"They do! And I've been looking all day for someone to play it with me!" Dipper exclaimed. He pulled out the game book from his vest, showing it to Ford.

Ford took the book, looking at the cover. "My boy, do you know what this means?" He knelt down to Dipper's height, looking him head on. "We must stop everything I've been working on at once… and PLAY!" The boy's face brightened, and I laughed at his large goofy smile. A screech cut the moment off, and the cycloptopus latched onto Ford's face on the side. Ripping it off, we winced at the large red welts it left behind as he tossed the beast to the other side of the room. "That's… going to leave a mark."

"Hmmm... I got this." I walked over to where the monster was thrown, ignoring their concerned remarks and held out my hand. The cycloptopus hissed, but I held up my other hand in a surrendering motion. "Shh… it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. It's… you're fine. You're fine." I have zero idea what I'm doing. I probably sounded silly right now, but I had no other id-oh. "Guess that did work." Tentacles wrapped around my lower arm slowly, and soon the monster crawled off the floor and up to my shoulder. I smirked, turning around to see Ford's dumbfounded look. Inside, that is my exact reaction. I didn't think this would work. At least my face looked better than his right now. "I've dealt with a lot of crazy stuff all summer, so I think my chances at trying this were higher than Dipper's. Plus, heh… monsters kinda love me." I was friends with the Henchmaniacs and Bill. No doubt, the little beast sensed his essence on me. That's that enhanced sixth sense working right there. "Good... thing." I petted its head, making it create a sound similar to a purr. "I'll keep it quiet while you nerds play."

"You don't want to play, Elaine?" Dipper asked watching the monster nervously.

"It's not like I'm not into that sort of stuff, kid. I think it sounds really interesting. It's just I'm probably the most competitive person you'll meet. Trouble and Monopoly usually result in me and Gail screaming at each other and ourselves." I sat down on the floor, and the cycloptopus moved to my lap.

"Gail?" Ford asked.

"My younger sister. She's his age." I pointed my thump at Dipper, and began carefully petting the monster.

"I'll run back upstairs and get the rest of the game pieces." Dipper dashed to the elevator, and Ford looked up at the ceiling.

"I should patch that hole up when we're done playing," he mused. Ford looked down at me, and the cycloptopus hissed at him. "How are you doing that? Those creatures are incredibly dangerous." Yeah, I know. You were screaming about them eating flesh. Not that different than Bill though. This thing just doesn't eat its victims in one bite.

"Like I said, monsters love me." And respect me out of fear for their very lives. "I'll keep it quiet. Isn't that right?" I scratched the top of its head, and smiled as the purring sound increased.

(Time Skip)

"Alright. You've entered the chamber. Princess Unatainabelle beckons you." I snorted as Ford made a flirty face, after he sat the die down from moving it in around his six fingers. It's my favorite Disney princess. The author of the journals: Princess Unatainabelle! "But WAIT! IT'S A TRAP!" Dipper gasped dramatically, and my laughter grew. "An illusion cast by Probabilitor the Annoying."

"You know his weakness, right?" Dipper asked. "Prime-statistical anomalies over 37 but not exceeding 51!" They shouted together, and Dipper and him rolled their die. "Yes! Uh! In your face, you cardboard wizard!"

"Man, I really have to start reading the instruction book to understand this. This looks awesome!" I was a nerd in high school. Drove myself insane for good grades, played online games, you name it. I was a female Ford and Dipper. Just a little more tech savvy. The cycloptopus was now back in a new jar, having fallen asleep in my lap.

Ford held up the image of Probabilitor, looking it over. "Hm. The old boy looks a bit different than he did back in my day."

"Mmm, yeah, they change the art every few years," Dipper told him. "Thankfully you missed the period when the creators of the game tried to make it 'cooler'." He shivered. "Must have been dark times, those 90's."

"Hey, I was born in that decade!" I threw a die at the back of his head. "Granted it was at the end of the decade, but still!"

"Wait, end of the decade?" Dipper turned around in confusion. "But you're 16, right?"

"Kid, my dimension was a few years ahead of yours. I'm from 2016. I was born in 99, not 95 or 96 or whatever. Which means, I guess we'd be the same age then?" I never really thought about it, but it made sense. While I was older, and my birthday was close to when I had arrived, I kept forgetting I jumped back in time by four years. In a weird way, we were around the same age… kind of.

"Freaky," Dipper added.

"Sounds like a good time to be stuck between dimensions," Ford said, going back to the conversation about the game art.

"Great Uncle Ford, I've been meaning to ask you: where were you before you came out of that machine, and what have you been doing down here? Are you working on something behind that curtain?" Ford and me exchanged a look at the curtain, and turned back to him.

"Dipper, it's best if you and the family stay away from that subject. Honestly, I'm not sure any of you could handle the real answer," Ford admitted.

"But, but I can handle it-" Dipper protested, but got cut off.

"Ah-ah! But I can show you something I brought back with me." Ford pulled out a red pouch, and dumped out its contents. Several normal game dice, and a small plastic black box. Taking the box, he held it up to show Dipper, and opened it up. "An infinity-sided die." It had a crystal-like appearance, and I watched in amazement as the sides continued shifting, with new symbols each time.

"Whoa… that's so cool. And… impossible!" Dipper exclaimed.

"These things are outlawed in 9000 dimensions. You wanna know why? Look at those symbols. Infinite sides means infinite outcomes. If I rolled it, anything could happen. Our faces could melt into jelly. The world could turn into an egg. Or you could just roll an eight. Who knows. That's why I have to keep it in this protective cheap plastic case." Ford snapped it shut, and patted the lid.

"Yeah, because plastic protects everything." Ford gave a half-heated glare at my sarcasm, and sat the box down in front of the Probabilitor cutout. "Now, back to the game! You've got Probabilitor on the ropes." It was nice to see Dipper getting along with someone else who enjoyed nerdy and fantasy stuff. Though, watching how close they were now, even though they just met… I hoped this wouldn't affect Mabel as much as it did to my dimension's version.

(Time Skip)

"Ho ho ho man. And then, if I had a dragon here, and then a plus three fire mode-"

"Dipper, are you going to go to sleep?" Mabel asked tiredly, as I groaned into my pillow. Two minutes. If this goes on for two more minutes, I'm taking a pillow and knocking him out with it. Dipper still had the lamp on, with graph paper scattered over his bed. I had my head buried under my pillow, trying to block out the light. "You've been saying dork words for hours."

Dipper looked up from the floor, working on his current graph. "Sorry, Mabel, I got to finish this dungeon. It's going to totally stump Great Uncle Ford tomorrow, I can't wait to see the look on his face."

"Dipper." I peaked at him from under the pillow. "I swear, I will drag Bill in here and have him knock you out if you don't call it quits soon. You know I get angsty without my sleep."

"Okay, okay. Just give me a few more minutes." Well, that did something, I guess.

"You're uh, spending a lot of time with old Fordsy lately, huh?" Mabel asked.

"You have no idea. I knew the author must be cool, but he's better than I imagined. And, he doesn't make fun of me all the time, like you and Grunkle Stan do."

"Okay, intervention!" I finally threw my pillow at Dipper's head, earning a shout, and sat upright. "Dipper, thatwas uncalled for. No matter if it's right or not. Don't you guys see, this is exactly what Mabel was worried about!" That got Dipper's attention. Mabel got off her bed, and sat down beside me in my own. "I get that you are enjoying playing that game with him, and you'll probably do a lot of other stuff together, but you basically ignored Mabel all day. You don't think I like having Ford around too? This is the first time I've had someone who completely understand what it's like being stuck outside your dimension, away from people you cared about. Away from your family."

Dipper and Mabel stared at me guiltily, and Dipper opened his mouth. "I'm not done yet, kid. Hold on a little longer. Don't you dorks get it? With this already growing tension between the uncles, it's like you're being forced to pick sides. Guys… you're turning into Ford and Stan."

Dipper's eyes widened as my words registered. "Oh no. Mabel, what are we doing?"

"I don't know. Ford hasn't even been here for very long. How are we already drifting apart?" She asked. Dipper sat down beside me after getting off from the floor, looking extremely conflicted. My words stuck in their heads, showing that our fears from earlier were already starting to come true. Sighing, I wrapped my arms around the twins, pulling them in tightly.

"Look guys, I want you to promise me that you're not gonna separate anymore than you've already have. I don't like seeing you fight, and the fact we're splitting apart after all of this, after all we've done already, isn't going to continue." Dipper and Mabel nodded, and I let them go.

"Sorry for making fun of your game, Dipper," Mabel said, turning off the lamp as we all climbed back into bed. "I… I just want to spend the summer with you, and all this nerd junk with Grunkle Ford is…" bothering her. She didn't want to say it, but those words were still there.

"Alright. Sorry, Mabel. I… guess I was just starstruck at being with the author, I sort of lost track of everything else." He crawled back into bed. His apology didn't sound as genuine as I would've thought it'd be, with how fast and casual he said it. What's worse, is that I didn't know if Mabel or himself knew that. "… you already broke it, Elaine." The lights turned off, as we all laid in our own beds under the covers. "Your promise from when he first showed up. You said we were going to be fine."

"… I'm trying, Dippin' Dots. I'm not gonna let you dorks have a falling out like Stan and Ford did. We're going to get through this. Even if I have to handcuff ourselves together, we're not breaking the Mystery Kids up." I yawned, and rolled onto my side, staring ahead in thought. "Hey, guys…? M… Mystery Kids?"

"Mystery Kids," Mabel repeated, her voice hopeful and tired.

"… Mystery Kids."

Now let's hope it stayed that way.


Been a while since I've done two-part episodes. Season one was full of them. Not that many in season two, but there will be a lot of them once Weirdmageddon hits. That should take a lot of chapters.

You know what else I'm thinking? There IS going to be a sequel to GFA. In the future, probably a few months after this story's done.

Until next time!

Angel