Tales Of The Flame & The Axe: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Part One: Times Are Changing
Mabel and Pacifica Pines were just your average teenage girls; well as average as two teenage girls who grew up in the small Pacific Northwest town of Gravity Falls, Oregon could hope to be. Their home resided deep in the forest and the twins would often find themselves in pursuit of all things strange that dwelled within it. Luckily, the town was more than happy to oblige with their quests for the bizarre. The twin sisters were the best of friends, even after the final day of competition at the 2032 North American Outdoorsman Games took an unexpected and tragic turn. That fateful late afternoon in Wisconsin, Pacifica Pines was cheering on Mabel as she sawed, hacked and climbed her way through the competition. While both girls had continued on the legacy of the Corduroy name in the event, Mabel was by far the better of the two at it; even breaking a few of the records her mother had held. Tied in points with a fellow teen from Colorado, the competitors were tasked with one final contest to crown a national champion. "Hatchet throwing… I've totally got this one!" the auburn haired twelve year old thought to herself as she picked up the short handle of one and examined it.
Waiting for the event to start, she turned around and spied her sister and mother at the front of the crowd that had formed to cheer her on. A determined look came over the face of Mabel Elise Pines as the official held up a pistol and fired into the air, signaling the start of the contest. For the first few minutes, the girls were neck and neck; each teen landing the miniature axes near the bullseye. Down to her final hatchet, she knew that if she was going to win and be crowned champion that she would have to land a perfect bullseye, as accuracy was the tiebreaker. Drenched head to toe in sweat, she took a deep breath and tried to focus on the mark. The handle of the hatchet slipped from her moist grasp a moment too soon and the young woman knew she had just blown her chance at victory. A loud thud was heard as the head of the axe struck the board and ricocheted off of it. Instead of falling harmlessly to the ground, it instead flew back towards the frightened twelve year old girl. Missing Mabel's head by mere inches, the errant axe continued its trajectory towards the crowd of spectators that stood behind her. Soaring through the crowd, it finally struck an unlucky bystander. The sharp steel edge of the blade made contact with the soft flesh of its victim; cutting though their forearm like a hot knife through butter. A high pitched yelp was heard as Mabel turned around and frantically searched for where the axe had gone. "OH MY GOD! PACIFICA!" Wendy Pines shouted as she looked down to see that her daughter had been the unlucky soul to have been struck by the wayward blade. Lying in the grass in front of them was the pale skinned arm and hand of the teen girl she stood next to.
Absolute terror filled the mind of thirty-five year old Wendy Pines, who out of pure shock froze in place for a moment, before snapping out of it and jumping into action. Practically ripping off her trademark green flannel long sleeved shirt, she covered the end of her traumatized daughters arm with the garment and pressed hard against the bloody stump. "MABEL! COME OVER HERE! YOU GOTTA HELP ME!" the auburn haired woman shouted to her fear struck daughter as she returned her gaze to Pacifica, who had collapsed to the grass below. "PACIFICA! You gotta stay with me, honey!" she tried to encourage the ever-fading brunette as she kneeled down and held her against her body; blood staining her white tank top. "Mom… I-I don't wanna die…" Pacifica said in a terrified voice as tears filled her hazel colored eyes. "Y-You're gonna be fine babygirl… Mommas got ya…" Wendy tried to convince both the scared young woman and herself. Quickly removing her brown leather belt, she handed it to the recently arrived Mabel as the redhead continued to apply pressure to the wound. "MABEL!… You gotta wrap this around her arm! Wrap it towards the top of my shirt… Near her elbow and pull it as tight as you can…" the ginger woman instructed her other daughter, who was adorned in a pair of black skinny jeans and a purple t-shirt. A look of determination came over the girl and she replied to her mother's request with a confident nod of her head. Taking the band of leather, she looped it through the buckle and slid it up the bloody remains of her sister's arm; pulling with all her might as she tried to stop the bleeding. Although Wendy had loathed the apocalypse training her father had put her through when she was roughly the same age as her daughters, she once again saw the immeasurable value it held; putting it to use in an effort to save her daughter's life. "You stay here with Pacifica… I'll be right back…" the alabaster skinned woman told Mabel Elise as she sprinted away towards the medical station.
"Paz… I-I'm so sorry for this… I-It was an accident… I swear…" the emotional redhead apologized as she continued to apply pressure to the bloody stump of her twins arm with all her might. "I know it was an accident… I-I can't hold on any more… I-I love you Mabes…" Pacifica said as she passed out from a combination of blood loss and pain. "HELP! HELP!" the brunette pre-teen screamed at the top of her lungs as most of the crowd around them continued to record with their phones. Much to her relief, her mother had returned with a few paramedics in tow. A look of confusion came across Mabel's face as she saw her mother and one of the technicians drag a presumably heavy red plastic cooler over to the scene. They threw it down on the ground and pried the white plastic top off the rectangular container. Wendy dug her alabaster skinned hands into the frigid contents and began removing anything that wasn't ice from it. Beer and soda cans flew through the air as she tried to make room for the severed arm of her daughter in hopes of preserving it. Wendy reached for the lifeless limb of her eldest child; an arm she had caressed soon after birth and a hand she had held countless times. She placed it into the container and covered it in ice, hoping that it could be reattached and that Pacifica could continue to live the carefree life that every girl her age was supposed to.
Though she had lost a lot of blood, the chestnut haired twelve year old would live to see another day; thanks to the quick actions of her mother and sister. Although the staff at the Milwaukee University Medical Center tried valiantly to reattach the arm to the twelve year old, they were unsuccessful in their efforts. Mabel had become riddled with guilt over the incident; despite being told by both her mother and several doctors that it had been a freak occurrence. Dipper had flown in from the bayou of Louisiana, where he and his team of researchers were hot on the heels of a creature known as a Swamp Ape. Pacifica tried to stay in good spirits, but had inherited her mother's red hot anger. She wasn't so much angry at her twin sister, who she realized had no intent of harming her in any fashion, but at herself for not being more aware of her surroundings. Angry that people would treat her differently from now on and that she would always be looked at as weak and feeble; different from the other girls her age. Mabel, on the other hand, hadn't spoken much since the incident. The usually cheerful girl had become reserved and withdrawn from the things that usually made her happy. Even a trip to a local ice cream shop couldn't bring a smile to the teenage girl's face.
After a week in the hospital, the quartet of Pines traveled home to Gravity Falls, Oregon and returned to their normal lives. Dipper was able to have his good friend Fiddleford McGucket develop a prosthetic arm that was leaps and bounds above what he had been offered by various medical professionals for his daughter. Concerned that it wouldn't grow with her and would look out of place, McGucket had taken great care to make it both removable and upgradable as the young lady continued to blossom into a woman. The end of the arm had been permanently fused to her nerve endings and bones, which allowed for a sensation of both touch and pressure for Pacifica. The rest of the prosthetic attached to that anchor point and for the most part looked no different from that of an ordinary arm; save for the joints and quiet clicking of the servo motors that controlled the motion in her wrist and hand. "I can turn the hand into a grappling hook that can shoot out of it if ya want!" the bearded old inventor asked his now thirtysomething friend. A lot had changed since Dipper first met the slightly eccentric man in the fateful summer twenty years prior, but he knew that crazy old man would always be the same. "Nah… I think she'd be alright with just a regular arm… After all, she's a teenage girl, not some sort of comic book hero or anything… Besides... Grappling hooks were sort of my sister's thing…" he replied. "Fine… Suit yourself…" the grey haired man commented as he finished the prosthetic for Pacifica.
The learning curve had less severe than the twelve year old had figured and she soon went back to resuming her everyday life. Aside from the noises it made, it appeared to operate just the same as the real thing. A few weeks after receiving the arm, she decided that a game of baseball was in order, as she had been a softball pitcher during the school year. Harper and Lucas Bennett were the first to show up for the impromptu match; quickly followed by Mateo Ramirez and his younger sister Alessandra. Rounding out the squad was Grendy Chiu and her father Mason Pines playing catcher. The opposing team consisted of the twin girl's cousins and their mother as the catcher for Team Corduroy. Among the spectators were Claire and Dan Corduroy, Tambry and Nate Bennett, Soos and Melody Ramirez, Grenda and Candy Chiu and the original mystery twins themselves, Stan and Ford Pines. Even at eighty-five years old, the duo were far from the stereotype of what elderly men should be. While they did move a bit slower than in their heyday, the Pines brothers still were very active for their advanced age. Following a few years of traveling the world in an effort to eliminate any means to summon the demon known as Bill Cipher, the pair had settled down in the small Pacific Northwest town. Stan had formally adopted Soos and now spent most of his free time helping out his son and grandchildren at the Mystery Shack. Ford, meanwhile, had taken a teaching position at Gravity Falls High School and had helped to shape the minds of those interested in science and technology. He found that inspiring children to pursue those fields would not only be his legacy, but his impact on society as a whole.
The game was fairly one sided, as the Corduroy team consisted mostly of teenage boys who spent their summers helping their fathers at the family lumber yard at the edge of town, but fun was had by all nonetheless. "Sorry sis, but looks like we win again…" Mark Corduroy said as he rest his hand on his younger siblings shoulder. The red haired man had taken after his father; his burly frame making Wendy look as if she were a child as she stood next to him. "That's only because you, Jonas and Clyde have the entire starting lineup of the 2040 Seattle Navigators on your side. Next time we draw names from a hat…" she said with a chuckle. Indeed, she was right in her assessment of the other team. Mark and his wife had four strapping boys and his younger brother Jonas sported a trio of teens; two boys and a girl. Clyde, who was the youngest of the family, had four children as well; evenly split with two boys and girls. Courtney Corduroy, who was the same age as her twin cousins Mabel and Pacifica, walked up to the pair.
"Oh God… Here comes trouble…" Pacifica deadpanned as she caught sight of the red haired tormenter they called family. "Well, well, well… If it isn't the freak twins…" she insulted the girls. "Shut up Courntney!" Pacifica said as she stared her down with her hazel eyes; the cold gaze looking as if it could burn a hole through the snotty twelve year old. "Don't tell me what to do… Y-You… Cripple!" she shot back. "Hey! Leave my sister alone…" Mabel said as she now stood shoulder to shoulder with her twin. "Or what? Lil' Miss Butcher is gonna cut off my arm too?" she taunted as the auburn haired twin let out an audible gasp; not quite believing that her cousin could be that cruel. A flash of rage came over Pacifica as she heard the incredibly callous insult. Lunging forward, the chestnut haired pre-teen grabbed her cousin by the throat with her prosthetic hand and lifted her about a foot off the ground. The red haired tween felt a sense of panic race through her mind as she knew that she had gone too far. The oldest of three children, Courtney had become a bit of a bully to both her younger siblings, cousins and kids her age. She quickly concluded that picking on a girl with a cybernetic arm probably wasn't the best move she could have made.
"What the hell is going on here?!" a familiar voice bellowed from the far end of the field. It was none other than thirty-five year old Wendy Pines, who now sported shoulder length locks, running towards the scene. "Pacifica Kathleen Pines! You put Courtney down this instant!" she shouted as several other people began to observe the scene. Instead, the angered teen formed a smirk on her face and squeezed tighter; the once red face of her cousin now turning a more lavender hue. "Pacifica! Please! Y-You're gonna kill her!" Mabel pleaded as she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Good… She's been a pain in our ass since kindergarten… High time I did something about it…" she said in a disturbingly calm tone of voice. "Pacifica! I said to PUT HER DOWN!" Wendy sneered at her daughter. "Fine!" the chestnut haired teen said with a sigh as she threw her red maned tormenter to the ground. Courtney writhed around on the loose dirt that covered the ballfield; her petite hands wrapped around her throat as she gasped for air. "It's gonna be alright honey!" Courtney's mother exclaimed as she came to her fallen child's aid. Jonas Corduroy soon joined his wife as they tried to tend to the shaken teen girl.
"I want an explanation right now! And it better be a damn good one…" Wendy said in an angry tone as she glared down at her daughter. "I-I… Courtney was teasing us… A-and she called Mabes a butcher because… Well… You know… I-I got tweaked and just lost it…" the brown haired young woman said as she broke down and began to cry. "You need to do something about that out of control daughter of yours!" a shrill voice exclaimed as Wendy soon recognized it. Megan Corduroy had gotten up from checking on her daughter and now stood face to face with her sister-in-law. While the two were not the best of friends by any stretch of the imagination, they did seem to get along alright at family functions. "Excuse me?!" Wendy shot back with an offended tone. "You heard me! Pacifica could have seriously hurt Courtney just now! You need to do something about it!" the short, sandy haired woman practically commanded as she made eye contact with the taller ginger woman. "C'mon Meg… We all know who started this shit!" Wendy retorted. Over the years, she had noticed that Courtney Corduroy had tended to bully not only her daughters, but most every kid their age in town. There was not a doubt in her mind that her niece had started the conflict, but still she realized that her daughter could have handled it better. "Well… At least Courtney didn't get physical… That was all Pacifica…" the average built woman pointed out to her older in-law. "I can't deny that… She did have your daughter by the throat… I'll talk to her and tell her that violence is not the answer… But you have to have a serious talk with Courtney and tell her that she needs to be nicer to her cousins… That she should think before she speaks... We're supposed to be family after all…" Wendy said, hoping to guilt Megan into talking to her daughter about her rampant bullying. "Alright… I will…" the sandy haired woman relented before turning her attention back to her daughter.
Wendy practically dragged Pacifica by the ear as she led her away from the scene so that they could discuss what had just transpired. Meanwhile, Mabel was joined by her friends Harper, Lucas, Mateo, Grendy and Allie. "What happened, dude?" Mateo asked as he chomped down on a sub sandwich. Dressed in a pair of flip flops, khaki shorts and a plain green t-shirt, he definitely resembled his father Soos. "Oh, you know… Courtney just being her usual jerky self" the redhead replied as she swept a bit of hair from her face on the sunny late summer afternoon. "Well… Yeah, we kinda figured that… But what made Paz go all agro on her this time? She doesn't usually let her get to her like that…" asked a somewhat concerned Grendy; the fifteen year old worried about the younger girl. "Well… Pacifica told her off… A-And then Courtney called Pacifica a cripple. I told her to lay off and then she asked if I would cut her arm off too if she didn't… That's why she got so mad and tried to choke her out…" Mabel recalled as the group listened intently; the redhead's hazel eyes filling with tears as she recalled the callous remark her cousin had made. "Well… I'm glad she finally got what was coming to her if you ask me…" Grendy commented. Mateo, Allie, Harper and Lucas all nodded in agreement with the petite fifteen year old.
Meanwhile, Wendy had led Pacifica to the front porch of the Mystery Shack, where they took a seat on the well-worn wood planks. "Look… I know that your cousin Courtney is a bully and can be a real jerk … But you have to be the bigger person… I-I mean… You could have really hurt her… That hand of yours is stronger than you think. You could have snapped her neck like a twig…" Wendy said to her daughter as she looked down at the ground below. "Mom, I know that… Mr. McGucket told me that I had to be careful… It's just that… Well, she called me a cripple and Mabel a butcher… I got really angry and the next thing I knew, my hand was around her throat…" the brunette said as her hazel eyes began to tear up. "Well… Those were some downright horrible things she said… But you have to be the bigger person. I know she can be a-" Wendy said before being cut off by her daughter. "A BITCH! HELL YEAH SHE IS! AND I'LL TELL YOU WHAT! ME, MABEL AND EVERY OTHER GIRL IN THIS TOWN IS SICK OF HER SHIT!" the twelve year old exploded. The auburn haired mother was shocked by the language her child used, as she had tried her best to not curse around them. Surely she had picked it up from someone else. "Language!" Wendy scolded as she locked eyes with the angry pre-teen. "Sorry Mom… I-It's just that she's so mean… And nobody does anything about it… That and I'm pretty sure that you said that Mabel and I have to stick up for one another when someone is being mean to one of us… That family sticks together… Just like you and your brothers… A-And like how Dad and Aunt Mabel used to…" she explained. For once, Wendy Pines had nothing to say. She couldn't disagree with what her daughter had just said, but at the same time wanted to keep the peace in her family. After mulling over what to say for a moment, she finally began. "You're right… You are supposed to be there for each other… And, well… Courtney is a bitch… Like, I love your Uncle Jonas and all, but his daughter is outta control…" the freckled woman commented as she rest her arm on her daughter's shoulders. "Hey Mom?" the twelve year old asked. "Yeah?" Wendy responded with curiosity. "Next time I'll just walk away… I promise…" the brunette said as she turned and hugged her mother; the duo taking in the calm of the forest in Gravity Falls, Oregon.
Author's Note: So, here is the next big story that I've been working on for the better part of a few months. Tales Of The Flame & The Axe will take place fifteen years after the events of Pause The Moment. The epilogue of Pause The Moment and this chapter are set twelve years in the future to establish the girls and the world around them, but the story will mostly take place when they are fifteen. The girls know who they were named after, as the epilogue in Pause The Moment showed, but they still don't know the full circumstances surrounding their demise. I will eventually give all of the Corduroy in-laws and cousins names, but if you have any ideas, feel free to PM me. You will see some characters from past stories making a comeback as well, so be on the lookout for them in upcoming chapters. I'm really excited about this next part of my story, as I've had this idea for a while now and now get to share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy! Until next time… -iKLOT
My Playlist For This Chapter:
Sofi Tukker/NERVO – "Best Friend"
Alice Merton – "No Roots"
Bleachers – "I Miss Those Days"
The Official Shooting Star Falls AU Reading Order:
Underage Discoveries On A Reckless Night: A Shooting Star Falls Prequel
A Shooting Star Falls
Echoes Of A Nearby Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Scarred Summer: A Shooting Star Falls Story
The Dark Days of Candy Chiu: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Forever Memories: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Stable Times Or A Wild Ride?: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Grenda's Confession: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Birthday Weirdness In The Rose City: A Shooting Star Falls Story
The Gift Of Forever: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Wendy & Dipper Vs The Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Life In Transit: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Pause The Moment: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Tales Of The Flame & The Axe: A Shooting Star Falls Story