Mabel stood behind her uncle, her hands folded behind her back, barely daring to breathe lest she disturb him. She was honored that Stanford would allow her to be in his presence while he worked on his ongoing project. She watched his long thin fingers write calculations, draw lines for his project, and overall just exist. She let her eyes drift from his fingers and up his arms, to his neck and his face, which was twisted into an expression of pure concentration.

He was tense, and Mabel felt herself tensing with every moment she found herself watching him. Her hands dropped from her back to her skirt's pockets. Her legs rubbed together, her leggings bunching a bit at the knees. Even though the fabric barely made a noise Stanford was snapped out of his strange stupor, and looked back at his niece.

"Mabel," he said in his chilling voice. Mabel gasped a tiny bit at his saying of her name, and her cheeks flushed a bit. "Yes great uncle Stanford?" She responded, moving a bit towards him. "Take a look at this. What do you make of it?" Stanford said, waving her even closer. She stepped up next to him and looked down at the papers surrounding him.

There were dozens of equations that meant nothing to Mabel, but what she did understand was a drawing of a large X over a rough iteration of Gravity Falls. "Something's coming..." she whispered, and Stanford nodded. "But what?" Her uncle placed a hand on her arm, and Mabel froze. She looked at him, his eyes glowing. "My dear, use that brain of yours." he said, and Mabel felt a bit of shame welling up in her.

"You... You have a plan... And this X has something to do with it..." she said, and Stanford nodded. "There was something... something on the other side... and you want to bring it here." Stanford smiled at her, his white teeth seeming to be more of a snarl than a smile, but Mabel didn't care. Stanford dropped his hand, then waved at his drawing. "This is, or will be, Weirdmageddon."

Mabel nodded at him, staring in wonder at the drawing. "Is it the end goal?" She asked, and Stanford rolled his eyes at her. "Oh no my dear, this will only be the beginning. It's too sad that Mason..." He trailed a finger down the page, then said, "Legend says that it requires a sacrifice... not of life... but of the mind... And, as it is said, there can only be one heir..." He looked at his niece, and added, "And by the looks of things, that heir is you."

He said the last word in a hushed whisper, and Mabel felt her shortest hairs stand on end. "Do not tell Mason." Stanford said, waving Mabel away once more. "I trust you with that."

Mabel gulped, but nodded anyway. "Thank you..." She breathed, a pit opening up in her stomach. Stanford looked at her with his piercing blue eyes. "Of course."

Robbie sat cross-legged in front of Ford, his hands lifted up to his chin. Ford had a grin on his face, the tip of his finger tilting a black piece of wood towards himself. Robbie scrunched his eyebrows in, and focused on the wood in front of him.

"Would you just let it be my turn! You do this every time!" Robbie snapped, not very harshly, but enough to gain Ford's attention. "Have patience my young friend." Ford said, lifting his spare index finger. "I'm thinking." The teenager nodded, leaning back and adding, "Well, you seem to do a lot of it." Ford snapped his eyes up and looked at him for a moment before returning his attention to his piece. "Thank you.

"It wasn't meant as a compliment..." Robbie said, breathing a sigh of relief once Ford lifted his finger off of the piece. "Wow. Who knew that chess would be the most boring and interesting game I've ever played." The old man looked up at him and smiled. "I knew you'd like it." Ford said, watching Robbie place his rook a few steps forward. "Never said that." Robbie rebutted, and Ford rolled his eyes. "Well, you implied it."

Robbie rolled his eyes, but a small smile spread over his face. Ford did a near repeat of his last move, taking a minute where Robbie would only need fifteen seconds. "Why do I get the feeling you're trying to teach me something?" Robbie asked, as Ford leaned back and took his finger off of his piece. Ford looked at him, and answered, "I assure you, I'm not trying to teach you... You see, this was something I'd do with Bill..."

He trailed off, and Robbie raised his eyebrows. "Bill? Who's that?" Ford sighed, shaking his head and sliding a pawn forward, for once not lingering on it. "You know Will Cipher..." Robbie shook his head, and Ford waved a dismissive hand at him. "You know what, it's unimportant. Just know that I used to play this with a... friend..."

A shrug was the response he received from the boy. "Cool... Uh... Check." Robbie positioned his knight so it could easily take out Ford's king. Ford moved a piece accordingly, and the rest of the game was spent in silence.

"And this doohicky over here 'elps make the engine work!" Robbie and Pacifica stared at a broken piece of machinery that Fiddleford was showing them. The old man had been spending most of his time reverse-engineering the alien craft. There was a gleam in his eyes that showed pure crazed happiness, and Robbie and Pacifica were actually a bit afraid of him.

"That's really neat Mr. McGucket," Pacifica said, staring at the seemingly random series of wires and metal pieces. "Do you think that any of this would still work?" Fiddleford shook his head, his hat looking like it wanted to topple off of his head. "No siree-bob. This stuff's is older than literally America. Any energy it used was used'up a bajillion years ago."

Robbie and Pacifica nodded, and the teenager asked, "So... We can basically push any button we want?" Fiddleford shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I don' see whyever not. Just don't let the space-mites get ya." The young'uns shared a look, and then Robbie said in a loud voice, "Bet I can press more than you shortstack!" Pacifica flipped her hair over her shoulder and retorted, "In your dreams!"

The two of them stood nearly still though, watching Fiddleford stare at the two of them, as if waiting for a signal. It took him a moment to realize that they were waiting for him, and as soon as he did he said, "Well, watcha waitin' for? Go get 'im!" He waved his hands forward, and Robbie and Pacifica dashed off, each going in different directions.

Fifteen minutes later saw Robbie and Pacifica running back into the same room that they had left Fiddleford in, both out of breath. Robbie was the first one to choke out, "How much... did... you get... Paz...?" Pacifica shook her head, along with Fiddleford, who looked over at her with his glasses-covered eyes. "Thirty... eight..." she said, stretching. Robbie shook his head, and replied, "Well, I got thirty-two... So you win... This time..."

That was about the time the orbs showed up.

Ford had been having a relatively peaceful day. He had a random book that Stan had brought him propped open in his hand, and he was just starting to read the introduction when the sound of three different shouts carried their way into his room.

Instantly his mind dashed to the worst: Stanford was there... Shifty had gone crazy again... No matter what it was it had frightened Robbie, Pacifica, and Fiddlefored by the sounds of it. His book was dropped, and his hand went to his blaster, pulling it out and prepping to dash off towards the hallway where the shouts had come from.

Luckily (or unluckily if you thought about it) the three screamers dashed into the room a second later, all completely out of breath. "What is it?!" He asked, and Pacifica answered, "I dunno... but I thought that everything here was... dead."

"It should be." Ford said, moving to stand in front of his friends. "Unless you accidentally... reactivated the security system!" The two young people shared a look behind him, but Ford held his ground. "How many of them were there?" It was Robbie's turn to reply, "Two... How can I help?" Ford glanced back at the teenager, and reached with his left hand into his pocket and pulled out a magnet gun.

But he never got the chance to hand it to Robbie, as that was when the orb-shaped drones appeared.

"Listen," Ford said, taking a step back, along with the others, "I've studied these... they detect adrenaline, as long as we stay cool-headed..." It was at that moment that Pacifica screamed, and one of the orbs let out a series of cables. "Like the opposite of that!" Ford yelled, firing the blaster and the magnet gun at the same time, hitting the orb in the center of their vision, causing it to spiral towards them.

Ford turned around at that moment, throwing himself towards the other three people. The orb crashed right in the place he'd been only a few moments before. Breathing heavily he flipped over a second later as the second orb's tentacles snaked out towards him once again. His eyes widened, and he dropped the magnet gun on the ground, pointing his blaster at the arm and shooting it off.

The orb calmly just sent another appendage out, this time snaring around Ford's boot. "All I wanted to do was read!" He cried, trying to get a good aim at the drone, but only getting his arm caught up in another tentacle.

A moment later the sound of a blast was heard, and the ball crashed to the ground just like the first. The metal grip on Ford was released, and the man turned to see Pacifica standing behind him, the magnet gun pointed at the place the drone was.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Ford! I don't know what happened!" The girl knelt down in front of him, pulling the metal off of him. "We thought that the ship was completely broken... then those droid-thingies came, and I freaked and..." Ford shook his head at the girl, and said, "No, Pacifica... It's fine my dear... You have quite good aim..."

That was when he blacked out for the millionth time.

Stanford had the most peculiar sinking feeling. Like his inner ear was telling him that he was falling. It was a consuming feeling, and he was actually grateful that he was sitting down (whatever twisted sense of gratitude his mind could conjure). Then, as quickly as the feeling began, it ended. He was left feeling perfectly... fine... But now there was a dull throbbing was beginning, right over his left shoulder blade, but it also seemed to be hovering just outside of his skin...

Wasn't that the shoulder that Mabel had injured on the other Stanford?

Knitting his brow he stood up, running his right hand over his coat's shoulder. Now that he was thinking about it, he'd been sort of achy ever since he'd entered this universe. He set his shoulders back, rolling his head and stepping over to his black curtained windows. He looked out of the triangle-shaped window down at the yard, his eyes seeming to add weight to the bright world outdoors.

Which was too calm. Too ordinary. Too plain.

Was it possible that he was developing a connection to his alternate self? If he hurt himself would the other Stanford feel it? His six-fingered hands tightened behind his back around his wrists, and he was now staring at nothing. Releasing his left wrist he clicked out a knife from the inside of his sleeve. He unfolded his arms, and lifted his left sleeve up, exposing pale skin.

But before he could do anything to himself he halted. This was ludicrous. Why should he compromise himself when all he had was a hunch to go on. If it was anyone else he would not hesitate, but this was leaping to conclusions that he wasn't ready for yet. He slid the knife back in place and stepped back over to his desk. The bubbling rift on it stood there, floating ever-so-tantalizingly stilly.

It wasn't time. But it would be soon... very soon... but first his nephew's sanity was the priority.

Dipper stared at the ceiling again. This would make it his fifth sleepless night. Every part of his body and mind was begging him to sleep, but any time he got even close to rest he could feel... It touch him.

The only way he could describe It was a voice with long, airy fingers. It haunted him. It was from his uncle, to fulfill that promise Stanford had made him back in the early sessions. Dipper wished he could go back to those days. Now every time he was locked in the training room he was sure that he would experience pain. On the plus side, his internal magic was being...

His eyes snapped open, and a pulse of blue magic came from his right palm. Whatever it hit was small, and felt to the floor with a light squeak. Dipper pushed himself out of bed, and he crossed his dark room, a tiny blue light serving as the only illumination.

What he found was a smoky black creature, shaped a little like a bat. He knelt down in front of it. The... thing opened its blue eyes and stared at Dipper. "Mason..." it said, and it had It's voice. Dipper nodded, and closed his eyes for a good ten seconds. The thing took a shaky gasp. "You have gotten better... he is pleased..."

"What were you doing in my room?!" Dipper snapped, a bit harsher than he'd do if he was rested. The creature shrunk back, and choked out, "Master wanted me to check on you... he wants to know if you're ready to be... sacrifice...d." The thing took another breath, it's tiny body shaking tremendously. Dipper felt his blood run cold. "What do you mean..."

"You serve a greater purpose than yourself... just like me..." the bat-like thing said. "In order for... For the..." The black whisp suddenly quivered for a moment, then it's body disolved into the floor, Dipper left staring at the place where it had been.

The boy turned back to his bed, and fell face down on the mattress, and slept for the first time in days, the creature's words echoing through his dreams.

Wow... This fic is getting longer than I'd originally expected. Stanford's a jerk. Ford's a 'hero' I guess. Dipper's getting paranoid (and for good cause). Mabel's planning on 'sacrificing' her brother... And Robbie...

It's actually pretty good for Robbie.

Well, let's get into the meat of the chapter. The Stanfords are linked. Yup. That's totally going to come up again. And you betcha Stanford's going to exploit that during Weirdmageddon. Ford still doesn't know right now (obviously), but he will soon...

And the whole 'sacrifice' thing... Yeah... That's a thing now. If you think about it, Dipper sort of sacrificed his relationship with Mabel, and that's what led to Weirdmageddon. This time it's the opposite, and Stanford is a whole lot meaner than Ford. Don't worry, Dipper's got an arch coming.

Anyway, hope you guys liked this! Feel free to leave your thoughts!

-BrilliantLight