Chapter 10
Matt got off the bus and hugged his brother tightly. The parents picking their kids up were baffled to see them embrace each other for obvious reasons. One was Hispanic, the other, a white boy. To a young mother, she thought this was the most adorable thing she ever saw. To a grown man with a red beard however, it was a bit weird, and suspicious. The man decided to ask up.
"Is he your brother?" asked the man. Tyrone looked up at the guy and nodded.
"Yeah he is." Replied Tyrone, knowing there was more to the man's words than just that.
"Okay." Said the man as he walked away with his kid.
"Is there a problem?" asked Tyrone a little angrily. Matt pulled his arm quickly.
"Tyrone, no." he whispered.
The man with the red beard shook his head. "There is no problem at all. I just asked." Said the man.
Matt pulled Tyrone's arm tightly this time. "Please, let's go." He said a little harshly. Tyrone looked at his brother and nodded.
They both walked away and Matt held Tyrone's hand.
"Dude, what was that all about?" he asked.
"I don't want anyone to say something to you. Not like last time." Said Tyrone.
Matt nodded slowly.
"Did you hear about the missing kids?" asked Tyrone, hoping to change the subject and get Matt's mind on other things.
"I heard about it at School. Everyone is on edge." Said Matt.
"I think there is something evil going on here in Gravity Falls again." Said Tyrone.
"It could be. I bet you it's that mermaid from last time!" said Matt.
"Don't bring her up." Said Tyrone rolling his eyes, but with a smile. Matt chuckled a little.
"I saw you talking with someone in the bus. Who was he?" asked Tyrone.
"I made a new friend. His name is Shinji. He's Japanese." Said Matt.
"Cool. Your making new friends already. That makes me proud." Said Tyrone.
"I'm glad your proud. But what are we going to do now?" asked Matt.
"Dipper is looking through the old journals like a crazy man. He's hoping to find anything similar, but there's nothing." Said Tyrone.
"Why not ask the main source of the journals?" said Matt.
"He's doing that right now. Hopefully we find an answer." Said Tyrone.
Matt chuckled again. Tyrone looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?" he asked.
"The way we talk. We sound like superheroes from a comic book. We are like worried over supernatural stuff." Said Matt.
"Ever since we both got dragged into Dipper and Mabel's life, it's one weird thing after another." Said Tyrone.
"First there was the Bogey Man, then the Dream World, then the moving trees from last night…"
Tyrone interrupted Matt quickly. "Moving trees?" he asked.
"I saw some trees move a little last night. I didn't think much of it." Said Matt.
"Anything else?" asked Tyrone.
"Well there was one thing, but I took it as an owl. I saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the distance. But then they vanished into thin air." Said Matt.
Tyrone felt chills up his spine. "We better tell Dipper." He said sounding alarmed.
Meanwhile, Dipper was beginning to dial his friend, Soos. If anyone knew where he could locate his Uncle Ford and Uncle Stan, it was that guy. He waited until Soos picked up.
"Dipper my man! How are you!" cried Soos over the phone.
"I'm good Soos! You are not going to believe what's going on in town." Said Dipper. He then recounted what was going on with the missing children and the Red eyes that Matt and Tyrone mentioned when they returned home.
After Dipper was finished, Soos let out a sigh. "Red eyes? Really?" he asked.
"Yeah! Red eyes." Said Dipper.
"I remember hearing something about that when I was a kid. Actually, the same things happened a long time ago." Said Soos.
"Really?" asked Dipper. He didn't expect Soos to know anything about that.
"When I was a boy, Dad, I mean, Mr. Pines, was seriously drunk one day. He fell on the couch and I decided to clean the shop and stuff. However, kids were also going missing too and I was under house arrest by Mr. Pines and my Grandma. Mr. Pines didn't want to lose his only handyman that worked for free." Said Soos with a chuckle.
"Of coarse he would say that." Said Dipper rolling his eyes, but smiling at the same time.
"Now, around that time….. there were rumors of a naked woman appearing out of nowhere and seducing people into a myst. First, grown people were going missing, then kids. Those who saw the woman say that she had glowing yellow eyes and floating purple hair." Said Soos.
"The journals don't have anything about that." Said Dipper.
"Actually, there is one person in town that has seen the woman and lived to tell about it." Said Soos.
"Was it Uncle Ford?" asked Dipper.
"Nope. It was Old Man Mcgucket." Said Soos.
Dipper felt crestfallen when he heard this. "I doubt he would remember." Said Dipper.
"You'll be surprised he still has his memories intact. He was Ford's friend after all. Talk with him and see if you can get answers." Said Soos.
Dipper nodded and quickly said yes to Soos. He realized that speaking to the crazy man was their last option. Ford was not around to ask, but McGucket was. Dipper knew he had to act quickly. If not, then Gravity Falls would be in trouble again.
"Welcome back to my arcade!" cried McGucket who was sitting on his rocking chair in his office. It was an empty room save for decapitated heads of animals and an old couch. Dipper, Mabel, Tyrone and Matt sat there. Mabel and Matt were excited to be in Mcgucket's arcade, since it was the most popular place to visit and the most fun! Dipper and Tyrone on the other hand were nervous and anxious. McGucket was a nice fellow, yet he was very eccentric.
Dipper briefly explained to the old man what he learned from Soos and asked him if he knew more. As he was telling McGucket, his face suddenly began to change. Fear was written all over him and he quickly grabbed the pillow from his rocking chair.
"What else?! Did you see her! Did you see the naked woman!?" cried Mcgucket in a panic.
"We don't even know who that is!? And we haven't even seen her either." Said Dipper.
"If we did, we both would have closed our eyes." Said Tyrone.
"I did see an old naked lady walk by the shack once." Said Mabel. Everyone quickly turned to her.
"Did she have purple hair?!" asked Old man McGucket.
"No, she was wearing an old hat with a bird on it." Said Mabel.
"Oh, that was Mrs. Num Yum. Never mind." Said McGucket. Everyone then burst into a laughter.
After Dipper took a few breaths, he quickly asked again, although with a smile on his face. "So this woman, and the pair of red eyes…. What is all this?" asked Dipper.
Old Man McGucket closed his eyes. For a while, he said nothing. Matt even thought the old man fell asleep, until the old man opened both his eyes and stood up front. He picked up his glasses, and quickly grabbed a pair of black gloves. He quickly grabbed a long white lab coat and covered himself. He removed his hat and in an instant, he placed a brown wig on his bald head. He looked like a totally different person! Matt and Tyrone were dumbfounded by the fact that the old man changed from a simple hillbilly to a mad scientist looking fellow.
However, to Dipper and Mabel, they knew all to well who just appeared right before them. Before he was Old Man McGucket, he was once Uncle Ford's assistant. A very smart and capable man who lost his mind thanks to the madness of Gravity Falls. Standing before them was Fiddleford McGucket.
"Dipper, Mabel, you both look taller than the last time I saw you both." Said Fiddleford.
"Likewise Mr. McGucket." Said Dipper with a smile. Mabel nodded. "It's good to see you again." She replied.
Tyrone and Matt both looked at each other and then at Fiddleford. He smiled with a toothy grin. He still had those rotting teeth and long white cartoonish beard. "You must be Tyrone and Matt. Yes, my other self has very kind memories of you two. I'm sorry the Viscount said those terrible things to you both. I have my other self's memories." Said Fiddleford.
"What happened to you?!" cried Matt. Tyrone held Matt's shoulder tightly.
"Long ago, I was once this man. But I'm sure Dipper and Mabel told you about Stanford and Gravity Falls." Said Fiddleford.
Tyrone and Matt nodded.
"Don't worry. I'll go back to being Old Man McGucket. This man standing before you is just a temporary thing to warn you all of a danger that is coming to Gravity Falls." Said Fiddleford.
"So there really is a danger." Said Dipper.
"Yes. The missing children you all speak of is the work of the ancient evil, The North Wind." Said Fiddleford.
"Who's she?" asked Tyrone.
"Glad you asked. The North Wind is a wicked supernatural entity living in Gravity Falls. She is on par with the wicked Bill Cipher." Said Fiddleford.
"I knew it! She's working with the Nacho!" cried Mabel.
"Yes. In fact, she and Bill used to date." Said Fiddleford.
"No way!" cried Tyrone and Matt in unison.
"Yes way. They were a thing. And because those two were powerful, they wanted to take over Gravity Falls, then the world. But they went through what all couples go through. They bickered and fought and broke up." Said Fiddleford.
"And what does that have to do with the missing kids?" asked Dipper.
"You see, The North Wind is what you call an alternate version of Mexico's "La LLorona." She kidnaps kids and seals them away for some reason, then she releases them back to their families." Said Fiddleford.
"She returns them? Then this means that the current missing kids will come back?" asked Mabel.
"Yeah. But it's a process that takes years! The kids are returned to their families broken with no memory of what has happened, and they are not the same as they were before. Only one child never came back from the North Wind's clutches and there was even a large search party for the missing boy. Ford and Myself were part of that search party, and sadly we found the missing child. He was not alive." Said Fiddleford.
"That's awful." Said Dipper. Mabel, Tyrone and Matt were horrified by this and Fiddleford continued his story.
"After the child was buried, Ford and I were searching countless ways to defeat Bill, because at the time, we thought he was responsible. When we encountered him, he told us of the North Wind and who she was. Ford did get a chance to meet her, and he DID write a journal entry of the woman. The pages included her weaknesses, and her hideouts." Said Fiddleford.
"Which journal was it?! I could have missed it." Said Dipper with is hopes rising up.
"I'm terribly sorry, but Ford wrote it in the very first volume of the journals. When the North Wind learned of this, she snatched the pages off the book and destroyed them." Said Fiddleford.
"Why am I not surprised." Said Tyrone.
"No! But you were there! You read the journal entry!" said Dipper. Fiddleford shook his head sadly.
"As you probably know, and might remember, most of my memories of my time with Ford here in Gravity Falls fell to ruin with that memory wipe machine I created." Said Fiddleford.
"Man! We know who the woman is, yet we don't know her weaknesses or anything!" said Dipper.
"It's not his fault Dipper. We have enough information as is!" said Mabel optimistically.
"We know what she did, and who she is now. We can now tell everyone to be extra careful." Said Tyrone.
"Yeah! And besides, we got friends all over the place that will help us." Said Matt.
"But there isn't anyone supernatural in our team that can stop The North Wind." Grumbled Dipper.
"Oh there is! You just haven't met him yet." Said Fiddleford.
"What?! Who is it?" asked Matt.
"He is an elusive creature that has lived in Gravity Falls for many years. Ford wrote briefly about him in the journal, but with false information. But he did owe Ford money that one time." Said Fiddleford.
"Who is it! I demand to know!" cried Dipper desperately.
"Calm down." Said Tyrone.
"He is knows as the Mothman. One of the Three Great Guardians of Gravity Falls." Said Fiddleford.
"There are three of them? And where were they during Weirdmageddon?" cried Mabel.
"The Guardians were there! Why, it was they who helped me with my person. I sometimes switch between Old Man McGucket, then Mr. Fiddlford! What makes you think I tinker away with potions and stuff. And that giant robot Tree house during our final battle?" said Fiddleford.
"I wish I could have seen it! It was probably epic!" said Matt.
"It was epic! And they were by our side, without anyone knowing." Said Fiddleford.
"Who are they?" asked Dipper.
"There's the Great Prince, which is a blue Deer with connections to water and life; then there's Amalthea, the Unicorn of Unity and Strength. She has nothing to do with those other unicorns in the forest." Said Fiddleford.
"Oh don't remind me!" said Mabel, remembering a bad childhood experience with Unicorns in Gravity Falls. It's a long story.
"Then there's the Mothman, the strongest of the three Guardians. He has the power to see things before they happen, and has warned many of future dangers. He tried to warn Ford about Bill Cipher, but he scoffed at him many times. And we all know how that turned out." Said Fiddleford.
"Will he come to us if we need him?" asked Dipper.
"The Mothman usually can't allow himself to be seen by humans. He rarely does that. But he does have an apprentice living in Gravity Falls. Some have taken the mantle to be Moth Man's spies and confidants. So far there is only one living here." Said Fiddle ford.
"Who is it?" asked Tyrone.
"You two have already met him. He was with his cousin in the arcade." Said Fiddleford.
"Huck! Huck is friends with the Mothman!?" cried Matt.
"Well there you have it! We know where to turn to now!" said Tyrone to Dipper.
"Yeah, I guess your right!" said Dipper.
"Great! Hopefully we save the kids in time!" cried Mabel.
"But careful friends. Bill may be locked up, but his influence is still here. The North Wind is just as powerful as he is. Don't underestimate her." Said Fiddleford.
"Okay dude!" said Matt. Fiddleford smiled his toothy grin and in an instant, he went back to Old Man McGucket.
"Well, what did I miss!" he asked cheerfully and everyone began to laugh.