Chapter 16: Gideon

As Dipper ran, he felt something flowing within him, he started to gain speed. Dipper was worried about everyone in the Shack. He worried about Mabel, Stan, Ford and Pacifica. He started to imagine what could have happened to them. Where they alright? Did someone not make it out? Is someone badly injured? Are they all died? All these thoughts flooded Dipper's mind. When he arrived at the Shack, he saw the building was engulfed in flames, embers were flying around, the whole shack and the open area around it was submerged in the smoke from the fire, it was like a thick gray and black fog taking over the area. He wasted no time and ran straight into the burning building, he went into the living room, no one was there. So he ran to the dining room, no one was there either. Dipper started to worry more than before, he checked the main attraction area, empty except for the flames taking over the whole house. He went and checked Stan's room, nothing but fire everywhere. He quickly checked the attic, not a person in sight. He started to panic, with every door he looked into, he wanted to find them, but he also wanted to not find any burnt bodies. Suddenly, Dipper remembered about the basement where Ford stays and does all his research, Dipper ran as fast as to the stairs, they were destroyed by the fire. He didn't hesitate and jumped down from the first floor to the ground floor and started running to the vending machine. 'Jesus Christ! Please be okay!' He thought as he evaded the fires around him as he rushed down. He felt like he was moving faster than before, Dipper realized that he was using his magic without trying, he knew it was because of his high levels of adrenaline in his system. He got to the vending machine and put in the code. He rushed down the stairs, he went to the main area, no one was there. Dipper started to panic more than before, he went to check the room with the dimensional gateway. He got to the glass window and looked into the gateway's room. He saw Stan, Mabel, Ford and Pacifica in there, they were sitting on the floor, they looked bored and a bit worried. Dipper felt the stress lift right off of his shoulders at the sight of his family and friend all in good shape. He put in the code and entered the room where the others where, but as he got into the room, his adrenaline levels were going down and Dipper started to feel weaker. He tried to say something but before the first word came out, he collapsed onto the floor. Dipper was face down on the floor looking at the ground, he couldn't move, he was too exhausted. He heard the sound of footsteps quickly getting closer to him, then suddenly, Dippee felt the warm embrace of someone's arms around him. He examined the arms, he knew it wasn't Stan nor Ford arms because they have a lot of hair on their arms and Dipper knew it wasn't Mabel because she would have started talking by now. He closed his eyes as he started to fall asleep in Pacifica's arms.

As Dipper started to doze off, he briefly heard a few words coming from the others around him.

"Where do we take him?" Said Stan.

"Well if we stay in here, we should be safe right?" Asked Mabel.

"We can't stay in here, it's too risky. They know we're here! We must move." Replied Ford.

"So we must avoid populated areas, I think I know where we can go." Replied Pacifica.

When Dipper woke up, he found himself laying on a bed, he looked up at the white ceiling. He had never seen this room before, he looked around the room and saw how plain and simple the room was. Dipper recognized the bareness of the room, and concluded he was in Ernest's room. He sat up and looked around him, he saw a note on the side table next to him. Dipper grabbed it and opened it up, he saw the long text written with a delicate handwriting. He started reading the note:

"Dear Dipper,

I hope you are alright because when I come back, I'm gonna kick your ass! You're so reckless these days Pines and that's not always a good thing. If you continue like this, you will get seriously hurt or even killed! Anyway, as much as I would love to continue to scold you, I have stuff to do. I'm sure you're in good hands with Pacifica keeping an eye on you.

Sincerely, Marco." Dipper chuckled to himself as he finished the note, he saw that something was written on the other side, he turned the note over and saw a text written in sloppy handwriting and little drawing everywhere. Dipper smiled cause he knew who wrote this part. He started to read the other note:

"Hi Dipper,

Its me, Star! I wanted to say a few things quickly. I know you did some implosive reaction these past few days and you've needed to help Pacifica and your family, but still you have yourself to worry about to, you can't always just do first and think second, I know from me it's ironic, but still. Oh and don't worry if Marco seems upset in his message, he's just worried about you and misses you so much. Honestly I think you're the reason he wanted to come back to Earth after living on Mewni for so long. Anyway, get better Dipper, I'm gonna go with poneyhead to make some glitter sugar honey marshmallows.

Bye!" Dipper laughed a bit then put the note back on the side table and got up from the bed. When he put his feet on the ground, he realized something 'I actually went to sleep this time. I wasn't taken to another dimension or anything like that' he thought that it was strange that nothing warped him way or transported his conscience. He looked around the room again, seeing if any details had changed, nothing was different. He got up out of the bed and walked over to the door, when he opened it, he saw Ernest standing there.

"So how are you?" Asked Ernest.

"My leg hurts a bit, but I'm fine. Wait, where are the others?" Dipper replied.

"They're all okay, they're just downstairs." Dipper responded with a nod. He walked over to the stairs and slowly went down the steps, being cautious of his leg. He walked over to the living room and saw his family sitting there on the couches. Mabel shot up at the sight of her brother and ran to hug him.

"Dipper are you alright? Should you even be standing? Are you hurt?" Mabel asked as she hugged him.

"Don't worry Mabel, I'm fine, I just have a bit of leg pain."

"Are you sure?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Yes I'm sure Mabel." He said with a smile. Stan and Ford both got up and went over to him:

"Not bad kid, you ran into a burning building and actually found us, you really are becoming a tough young man. I'm proud of ya kid." Stan said.

"Thanks Grunkle Stan."

"Dipper, I am also surprised. Not many people would be willing to go into a building that's engulfed in flames." Added Ford. Dipper replied with a simple nod. He look over to the other side of the living room and saw Pacifica standing there. He made his way to her and gave her a smile.

"Hey" He said happily, when suddenly Pacifica wrap her arms around him and held him tight. She didn't say anything, she didn't want to say anything and she didn't need to say anything, that one simple embrace was enough to understand how Pacifica felt. Dipper looked down at her, smiled and put his arms around her. He suddenly realized something didn't feel right in the house, something was off, something or someone was missing. Dipper finished his hug with Pacifica and turn to Ernest who was in the doorway of the living room.

"Ernest, where's Victoria? And where's Gideon?" Ernest realized that when he ran after Dipper to get to the burning Mystery Shack, he left Victoria and Gideon. But not just that, they never showed up to the shack at all.

"Crap!" Ernest said as he started running for the front door. Dipper followers after him, disregarding his leg pain and runs out the door. Pacifica run out after the two boys and yelled:

"You guys are retards and are trying to ditch me!" Ernest was running far ahead, trying to see if he could find Victoria. Dipper followed behind Ernest, trying to keep up with his leg. And Pacifica was quickly catching up to Dipper. Ernest headed into town to see if Victoria maybe passed by her. The three asked around if anyone had seen Victoria, but everyone said that they hadn't seen her. Ernest got pissed and decided to sit for a minute to collect his thoughts. Dipper and Pacifica sat beside.

"What now!?" Ernest said. Dipper and Pacifica looked at him and saw something they thought they'd never see, Ernest was showing emotion. Dipper turn away, looked at the ground and put his hands in his pocket, he felt something in his right pocket. He grabbed it and pulled it out, it was Lucy's bracelet. He realized that he handed synced his mind with it yet and decided to take a few seconds to do that. He concentrated his thoughts and felt the bracelet calling out to him. He tried using some magic on it and linked his mind with the bracelet and suddenly he got something. He could see a duel going on, the same duel he saw before, he saw the same golden key on a necklace, then he heard something strange. He couldn't exactly heard what was said, but he could make out a few words:

"You'll never... The only way... hand... now!" These words sent a chill down Dipper spine. He delinked his mind with the object and looked over at Pacifica and Ernest who were both looking over at him. He was about to say something when he heard a familiar voice talking to him.

"Use your magic again, try to see where the bracelet went, you'll see why." Dipper rolled his eyes and thought 'Where it went? Dan it Kyle and his vague riddles, can't just give me the answer.' He does what Kyle told him and tries using his magic to see where the bracelet is and he got a glimpse of something, he saw Lucy, cleaning her room and listen to music. Dipper realized what Kyle was telling him and turned to the two next to him.

"I know how to find Victoria, do any of you two have something of hers?" He asked, Ernest pulled out a hairpin and presented it to Dipper without saying a word, meanwhile Pacifica was ask every question possible:

"How do you know how to find her? Why do you need the hairpin? Who's bracelet does that belong to?" Dipper didn't answer any of her questions, he was concentrated on location Victoria and suddenly he got a few glimpses of where she was, he saw a rocky area and a river. He got up and shouted:

"Quick, to the top of the Gravity Falls waterfall!" Dipper gave back the hairpin to Ernest and started running when suddenly, Ernest called out to him.

"Ah Dipper, you know she's probably just with Gideon, if you saw her alive, when I'm sure she's okay." Pacifica turned to him and shouted:

"Retard! When some guy tries to get your girl, you fight him and beat him up for trying to get with her! You don't stand on the sidelines waiting, you attack!" Dipper chuckled and smiled.

"She's right you know, this is the only way you can get her. But then again, you did say you wanted to leave. So I guess it's settled, Pacifica and I will go save her from whatever bullshit Gideon is trying to pull." Added Dipper. Ernest thought back to the fight with Victoria, he wasn't happy that they fought, but he also didn't dislike it. It made him feel alive and pushed him to fight for something he cared about. The. he asked himself the simple question: 'What if...?' He then turned to Dipper and Pacifica, grinned and said:

"Let's go get her!" Pacifica smiled.

"Hey before we go after her, let's get something first." Said Dipper with a grin on his face.

So the three went back to the burnt remains of the Mystery Shack and looked around. Most of the building was turned to ash, only two things were still standing, the face rock that looks like a face and the vending machine. Dipper pushed the vending machine over so he could have access to the basement, Ernest and Pacifica follow Dipper down the stairs. Once they got to the main underground area, they found the place in a horrible state, books and pages all over the floor and gadgets smashed into pieces.

"What the hell happened here?" Asked Ernest.

"I don't know, it wasn't like this when we left. When Stan carried Dipper out and we all left the remains of the house, this area was untouched." Pacifica said.

"It's like something got in here and wreaked the place." Added Ernest. Dipper looked at the books on the floor, he got one of the ripped up books from the floor and looked at the damage done.

"Not something, but someone." Dipper said as he showed the two the rips in the book.

"Someone! But who? And why?" Asked Ernest.

"I'm unsure, but I think I know what try are after." Dipper continued looking around, he grabbed a thin metallic rod off the floor and put it into a hole in the wall. It was a small metallic hole, made from the same material as the rod Dipper grabbed. He proceeded by turned the metallic rod and suddenly, a small compartment in the floor opened up, it had stopwatch in it and a note showing how to use it.

"Pines, what is that?" Pacifica asked. Dipper smiled and replied:

"Something that will give us the upper hand against Gideon, and it was one of the things he was looking for."

"What! What he was looking for?" Ernest shouted.

"Dipper, that's a big claim, do you have the proof?" Asked Pacifica.

"Pacifica, do you really doubt me? We both know how danger Gideon can be with all his knowledge. Remeber, he knows a lot of the weird things in this town and can easily manipulate people with his southern charm. Of course, it may not be Gideon, but I don't think it could be anyone else." Replied Dipper, Pacifica turned away.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgement." Ernest said.

"So, shall we go get Victoria back?" Asked Dipper with a smile, Pacifica turned back and looked at him. She was silent, she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing come out. It was as if something was stopping her from saying what she needed to say, Pacifica took a deep breath and tried talking again. Still nothing. She decided to say something else instead:

"We need something else." She was surprised that she could speak again, she then tried again to say what she wanted to say before, but nothing. As if what she needed to say was forbidden. 'What the hell! I need to tell him!' She thought, but every time she tried to talk about it, no sound escaped her mouth.

"What else do we need?" Asked Dipper.

"If we are going up against Gideon, I'm gonna need a weapon right? So we need a weapon for me!" Replied Pacifica as she crossed her arms. Dipper nodded and went looking into his bag, he pulled out the sword and handed it to her.

"Here, you're better with it than I am." He said. Pacifica looked over at the weapon being handed to her, she slowly grabbed the sword. She hold the sword in her left hand as she felt the blade with her right hand, she examined the blade, seeing its sharpness and its shape. Pacifica looked at the weird patterns on the sword, it looked like a liquid steel blade, looking almost magical. She gave it a swing and smiled.

"Dipper, are you sure I can use this, you know it's a Damascus steel blade right? This thing is super valuable." Pacifica said, Dipper looked at her, give her a quick small hug and whispered to her:

"I only trust you with something so valuable, plus you actually know how to use a sword due to your fencing lessons" Pacifica blushed lightly as she pushed Dipper a bit away from her. She looked away, holding the sword in hand

"Alright, let's go!" Exclaimed Ernest. The other two nodded and all of them left the basement. On their way to The Gravity Falls waterfalls to confront Gideon, Pacifica was thinking back to what Dipper said: I don't think it could be anyone else. She looked at the sword in her hand 'Dipper needs to know, it's not just Gideon' she thought.

"Hey Dipper, I just remembered." Ernest said as he searched his pocket, he pulled out the hairpin they used to track Victoria, he looked at it, thinking about Victoria. Then he looked up and called Dipper over, Dipper went over to him and Ernest handed the hairpin over to him.

"It's Victoria's, you did say you were collecting the 5 pieces." Added Ernest. Dipper nodded and got out the other two he collected, Jackie's earring, Lucy's bracelet and now, Victoria's hairpin. Dipper smiled at the sight of the 3 pieces in his hand, he put them away and looked up at Pacifca and Ernest.

"Dipper, maybe we should go get the other two pieces before you confront Gideon. You have no clue what he has in store, I'm almost positive he has something up his sleeve." Ernest said. Pacifica nodded.

"Well where should I look?" Asked Dipper.

"Dipper think about it, it could only be a small hand of people. I mean two pieces where here in town, one was near your Marco's. The next ones have to be close by." Ernest said. Dipper nodded.

"Okay, let's move!" Ernest exclaimed as he started walking. Dipper was about to move when suddenly, Pacifica placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Dipper..."

"Yeah P?"

"Um...Please...don't rush in head first...Think before you attack Gideon out of nowhere." Pacifica said quietly.

"Okay...I will" Dipper said. The two went silent, they looked at each other keeping the silence. Pacifica looked up at him in the eyes. Dipper looked down at the girl standing in front of him. Pacifica blushes and says:

"Um...Pines...we should catch up to Ernest."

"Yeah we should" Diper replied, but none of the two moved. Ernest turned around and saw the two teens looking at each other with love filled eyes. Ernest smiled and left the two to their business and waited for them to be done.

"Dipper, can I tell you something?" Asked Pacifica.

"Sure, what's up?"

"It's...Its not Gideon who attacked the Shack nor who took Victoria." Dipper looked down at her with perplexing eyes.

"How are you so sure?" He asked.

"Because, I know who's behind all this..." Pacifica said.

Meanwhile, in a mysterious room.

"I got the girl for you sir." Gideon said.

"Good, thank you for your service Gideon. But you're job isn't done yet." Said a mysterious person.

"Sir, is it time?"

"Yes, Gideon. It's time to open the gateway."

End of Chapter 16: Gideon

What!? If Gideon isn't behind this, then who's behind all this? Who's the mysterious man? Find out in the next chapter!

Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for being patient. Please leave a comment so I know you guys are still enjoying it and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!