It had been a few years.

A few years since the rift had broken open.

A few years since Weirdmageddon had been unleashed.

A few years since the movement to take back Gravity Falls failed and the resistance, along with people who were frozen in Bill's Fearamid, were forced to retreat.

A few years since they had cleared out the UFO in Gravity Falls and settled there.

A few years since...

Since...

No, don't finish that sentence, Mabel thought to herself. Tearing herself out of her mind, she gazed around at the pine forest. The trees still looked somewhat how they did before the weirdness happened... Before Bill happened. She let out a half-stifled sigh, before glancing down at her the watch around her wrist. She tensed up, her eyes widening. It was around 11:54. Another weirdness wave was scheduled for 12:00. Sh*t... she thought. This is what I get for getting lost in my thoughts.

Grunkle Ford and Fiddleford (along with some help from Dipper) had figured out a way to give, for the most part, freakishly accurate predictions for when any weirdness wave would happen. The resistance's UFO base had been protected from such waves by unicorn-hair magic (which the unicorns had given away just because of the dire circumstances.) It was a good thing they had, too, because Bill had decided to take more extreme measures when it came to the weirdness waves. Gone were the days when a wave could've just turned you into a chair or something like that.

Now, if you were an unlucky soul who just happened to be caught in such a wave, you would be transformed into something much worse. A demon. A demon without a scrap of sanity left. Without any inner resemblance of who they might've been before. A demon incapable of any thought other than kill.

They all looked the same. Their eyes changed color in favor of blood-red crimson or a sickly yellow, both without pupils. Sharper teeth? Check. Claws? Check. Demonic wings? Check.

Ford, Fiddleford, and Dipper had tried to make some kind of cure for this sort of transformation, trying to fashion one from the same unicorn hair that protected the base. But there was no such luck yet, and either way, there were some... complications... for lack of a better word.

I said don't think about that! Mabel reprimanded herself. She arrived at the base of the "hill", or rather, the top of the UFO. The fifteen year-old began climbing, and though it wasn't very steep, it still stole some of her energy. She checked her watch again. 11:57. Maybe she could get back before she got demonized... Mabel reached for the walkie-talkie attached to her belt, about to tell someone that she was about to reach the entrance and to let her in, but before she could, it had already crackled to life, words starting to form on the other end. She recognized it as Grunkle Stan's voice.

"Pumpkin, where are ya? You know one of those weird waves are about to go over!"

She unclipped the radio from her belt, holding it to her mouth. "Yeah, I'm climbing up now. Can you get someone to open the hatch?"

"On it. Oh, and by the way, you might wanna hurry."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, because of the wave and stuff-" she started, but was cut off.

"That too... But, Mabel, one of the groups we sent out earlier came back."

"So?" she asked, exasperated. She guessed it was good that they were all safe, but why did she need to hurry for that?

"Mabel, they found him."

Her heart skipped a beat, and her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be. This had to be some kind of sick joke. He... he couldn't... Could it be possible? Could they really have found him?"

"They... they found him? Like, him, him?"

"Yes, Mabel. Who else would it be?"

Mabel couldn't speak for a long moment, the radio trembling in her shaking hands.

"I... I'm coming."

She didn't listen for a response. She was already racing up the hill, her heart still pounding in her chest and ignoring the far off screeches of the humans-turned-demon.

Mabel practically slid into the room, her eyes filled with hope. "They found him?" she asked, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.

Ford turned around to face her, nodding as confirmation.

Mabel turned her head to look at a steel door on the other side of the room. (It had been surprisingly easy to remodel the UFO to fit their needs.) From the other side, she could hear muffled growling, somehow loud enough to be heard through the steel. Her breathing was slow, yet her heartbeat fast.

"Can I go in?" she asked.

Ford glanced at the door, a small frown on his face. "I'm not sure if that's a great idea..."

"Why!? I-"

"You know he's not going to be the same, right?" Ford interrupted her. "Not now, not ever. I know that you, me and, Stan want to believe that he'll be fine, but you have to remember that..."

He sighed, taking off his glasses, to rub his eyelids as his eyes grew misty.

"Mabel, that's not your brother anymore."

Mabel swung her legs, sitting on a chair by the wall. The thirteen-year old had a soft smile on her face, holding a walkie-talkie in both hands.

"So, Dip-Dop, how's the outside world?" she asked. She could practically hear her twin shrugging from the other end.

"Still... apocalyptic..." he answered. "But I mean, other than that, I guess it's okay."

"I wish I could be out there, instead of stuck in this boring UFO."

"Well I wish I could've stayed back at base, but I guess we don't get what we want, huh?" came his good-humored reply. It was a mystery as to how the two twins could keep on messing around in the end of the world.

"See any deer in the forest?" Mabel asked.

"No. And even if I did they'd probably be demons or something."

"What would a demon deer look like?" Mabel mused.

"Good question..."

"But so you haven't seen any deer... You see any unicorns yet?"

Dipper had been sent out to try and find any remaining unicorns. They needed more hair, as the unicorns back at the UFO didn't have any more to give. (They had to use a lot of hair.)

"Honestly, I don't know if there's any left. If..."

He trailed off, and Mabel was left to wonder why. She was about to ask, but before she could, he spoke again. His voice was shaking when he did.

"Mabel, they said the next wave would be in two hours, right?"

"Y-yeah?" Mabel stammered, not liking the fear in his tone.

"Okay, don't panic, but I, uh, I think the prediction might've been... about... two hours off..."

"W-what do you mean?"

She didn't get a response. The radio turned to static, which tempted her to cover her ears, but she couldn't. Her eyes widened as she stared at the radio. "D-Dipper?" she asked through the static. She could hear the radio coming back to life on the other end, and she desperately pleaded for him to say something, for him to be alright, and oh gosh is he okay? she thought.

From the other end, half-consumed by the static, she could hear a unearthly growl, before everything went silent.

Mabel didn't care if Ford told her that it wasn't her brother anymore. She didn't care if Ford told her it wasn't a good idea to go in, not because it was dangerous, but more so for her own sanity.

She didn't care. All she cared about was that he was here.

Surprisingly, Ford didn't stop her when she pushed past him and entered the code to walk into the room where the growling was coming from. She shut the door behind her, and steeling herself mentally for what she was about to see, she turned around.

The lights in the room were dim, but not so dark that she couldn't see to the other corner in the room. There was a figure pacing in the darkness, crimson eyes flashing in the darkness. She could see the muzzle latched onto his face, hardly muffling the loud and wolfish growls he was emitting. A shackle was locked around his neck and connected by a chain to the wall, the only thing between the demon and Mabel, who could easily be killed if not for it.

Already, she hated having to treat him like this. Like he was some sort of wild and out-of-control animal... even if he kind of was.

She could already feel tears clouding her gaze, but she wiped them away with the sleeve of her sweater. The demon must've finally realized she was there, because even though he didn't have pupils, she could still see his red gaze trained on her, and she could hear the growling getting lower and more threatening.

"Come on..." she murmured, her breath hitching. "Come on, Dipper, this isn't you."

Dipper, or at least what was left of him inside, unfurled his wings from his back, struggling against the chain. The growling had stopped, replaced by a quiet yet high-pitched chittering that did nothing to reassure Mabel in any way.

She took a step forward, although making sure not to get too close to the point that she might be at risk. "Come on, y-you... Do you even know it's me? C-can... can you understand me?"

Then the chittering stopped, before a short silence ensued. He was still tugging at the chain, but now, instead of growling or chittering, she could hear what sounded like a voice, half-silenced by the muzzle. Her throat dry, she reached forwards with shaking hands. She was surprised that he didn't try to attack her or claw her while she was unlatching the muzzle. With a final click it came off, and she pulled it back from his face.

He was breathing heavily, and for a moment he scanned her up-and-down with his strangely colored eyes. Then, baring sharp teeth, he let out another loud growl, and Mabel had to jump back as he attempted to slice her with knife-sharp claws. Frustration was painted across his face, along with blind rage.

She thought she had been imagining it when she heard him speak, and her heart sank into her chest...

...except, he had. And he did again. But it did nothing to ease the pain in her heart.

His voice his twisted and distorted, nothing like his own (which, even though Mabel hadn't heard his in two years, she knew it didn't sound like this.) He only roared one word, one word loud enough to shake the walls of the room, and one word that diminished any hope that Dipper was still in there somewhere.

"KILL!"

He wanted to kill her. That was all he could think of now. His mind was warped beyond recognition, and it was at this moment when Mabel realized that Ford had been right. This wasn't her brother anymore. This wasn't Dipper.

Whatever he was, he finally seemed to realize that it was useless trying to pull against the chain. He stopped tugging, instead pacing the corner, eyes still sparkling with hatred.

"You're not Dipper," she murmured, tears running down her cheeks. "But..."

Her eyes wavered over the demon and her heartbeat steadied. "But I'll get him back."

Whatever it took, whoever she had to convince, no matter the risks she'd have to take, she would get her twin back.

No matter what.