"Dipper! Mabel! Breakfast!"
"Coming!"
The two twins rushed downstairs into the kitchen, the smell of pancakes wafting into their roses with the promise of delicious maple syrup.
Am I the only one who doesn't put butter on their pancakes?
Bill was placing the plate of pancakes down on the table right as the twins sat down.
"Ya know, ya didn't haveta do that. I could've done it myself." Grunkle Stan said to him as the kids served themselves.
"Nah. I mean, besides, my pancakes are better than your pancakes. Right?" Bill threw back with a smirk, looking to the twins for an answer in his favor.
The two turned their heads and looked at each other, eyes widening as they dropped their forks mid-chew. "It's happening…" they said in unison.
"It's called Stan-cakes!" the old man protested.
"Sure, when you make them with Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Anybody could do that. I, however, made them from scratch!" Dipper's guardian said again as he sat down, pointing a finger at himself as he said the 'I' part.
"You're lucky we even had the ingredients in the first place. And are you challenging me?"
"Maybe so, maybe not. You tell me! Reality is an illusion, after all." Bill answered with a wide grin that said otherwise.
"You haven't changed at all, Cipher." Ford joked.
And that's how the two con-men started bickering back and forth about pancakes, Dipper and Mabel giggling the whole time, but it was suddenly interrupted by Ford again.
"Bill, you might want to see this."
"We'll continue this later." Bill said to Stan before walking over. His eyes skimmed over the alert on his phone before looking back up with a serious, eye-piercing gaze that could surely turn anyone to stone if he could.
"What? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Dipper nervously asked, already taking out his notebook and chewing on his pen.
"Preston got out of jail."
"WHAT?!" the four of them all exclaimed at once.
"And that's not all," Ford added. "Gideon and Ghost Eyes are with him as well."
"You mean that white-haired little scammer who tried to take away my property?!"" Stan yelled.
"Hey, keep in mind I own this place as well." Ford said firmly before continuing. "But yes, that's him."
"Radicals," Bill said. "It's time to roll out."
"So what are we doing again?" Mabel asked.
"We're trying to find Pacifica before Preston does." Dipper and Bill said in unison.
"Hey! That's a twin thing, don't steal it!"
"Mayor Tyler just messaged me and said she should have a list on where each citizen lives. I'm guessing either Priscilla moved with Pacifica somewhere in town or someone took Pacifica in." Ford said as he stared at a hologram from his watch.
"Then we're off!" Mabel proclaimed.
"Mabes, we've been walking here this whole time." he brother deadpanned.
"Oh."
They walked inside of the building they were approaching and quickly found the mayor's office, swiftly knocking on the door.
"Git in here, everyone's welcome!" Tyler Cutebiker said welcomingly as he got up and opened the door for them. "Sit down folks, what is it you need?"
"We were wondering if you happened to know where Pacifica Northwest is currently residing." Bill stated.
"It's urgent." Dipper added.
"Of course!" the young man responded, swiveling around in his desk chair. "Secretary!"
"Yes sir?"
"Look up Northwest, Pacifica."
She typed rapidly on the keyboard, then clicked on a few things. "She's currently living with Susan Wentworth, sir."
The five of them shot up from their seats and ran towards the exit. "Thank you!" Mabel shouted, having the decency to have manners before being dragged along hurriedly by her brother.
Knock, knock.
No answer.
The door was unlocked and slightly open. "Somebody must've broken in. Take out your weapons." Ford ordered, taking out his gun. Stan put on his brass knuckles, Mabel held her grappling hook proudly in the air, Bill held a taser, and Dipper took out his small dagger he kept inside his vest. They walked in, careful to not make a single sound on the floorboards. Each of them split up and explored the different rooms in the house, but there was nothing there that they were aware of. They met back up in the living room.
"Who do you think-" Dipper started to whisper but was suddenly yanked backwards from someone grabbing him. He hit the ground with a thud and his knife flew out of his hands. He was about to get back up when it was unexpectedly pressed against his throat.
"Preston." Bill snarled angrily.
"Hello, Bill." he said simply. "Looking for my daughter? You're too late. You can't save this town."
Another person from the shadows suddenly grabbed Mabel and put a gag in her mouth before dragging her away and out the door. There was the slam of a car door and some evil cackling outside before the vehicle was started up and drove away. It was hard to see in the darkness, but he noticed that he had white hair and-
That was when he realized that it was Gideon. And he had just kidnapped his sister.
"No! Mabel!" he screamed.
"How do you like my idea of payback, hm, Cipher?" Preston had the nerve to throw back with a malicious smile.
No regrets ;)