AN: In honor of the 10th Anniversary of Gravity Falls, I'm posting an extra chapter this week!
The figure removed the coverings on their face as the portal died completely, revealing a face that was nearly identical to Stan's and proving Stan's claim they were brothers.
"Finally!" Stan grinned as he rose to his feet. "After all these years, you're actually here! Brother!"
Stan moved forward, arms wide open to envelop his brother in a hug only to get a punch in the face instead. Mike winced at the sight while the twins in his arms gasped in shock. That was the kind of response Mike always feared he'd get when he'd finally get a proper reunion with his own brother. (His encounters with Golden Freddy didn't count as those were always brief and full of fear and desperation, plus it was nearly impossible to tell which thoughts and emotions being projected at him belonged to Evan and which belonged to Cassidy.) Mike tuned out the fight and focused instead on the kids still in his embrace.
"Are you two alright?" He asked, checking them over. "You didn't get hurt or anything when we fell?"
Both of them assured him they were fine and he let them rise to their feet. They immediately hurried towards their Grunkles to break up the fight. As Mike rose to his feet, he heard the familiar whine of something powering up and he immediately looked to the source. His eyes widened as he saw the glowing end of some sort of futuristic gun pointed straight at his head.
"MIKE!" Mabel screamed in terror as the gun went off. Only through a combination of Mike diving out of the way and Stan knocking his brother's arm in a different direction was Mike spared from dying a second time. It was extremely close though, the shot knocking Mike's hat off and the faint scent of burning hair began filling the air.
"What are you doing Ford!" Stan shouted, unsuccessfully trying to get the gun away from his brother. "You can't just go shooting people for no reason!"
"You almost killed Mike!" Mabel scolded with a mix of fear and anger. "You need to apologize right now!"
"HEY! Watch the hair!" Mike snapped in annoyance as he rose back to his feet. "I can't exactly grow it back any more and I don't need to lose more than I already have!"
Running a hand over his head Mike couldn't help the disappointed groan that escaped his throat when he found the new noticeably thin spot. Sure, it'd be covered up under his hat, but it was still the principle of the thing! Snatching up his hat Mike couldn't help but complain as he found a huge hole blown through it, "Great… now I have to get a new hat too!"
As Mike looked up and noticed all the stunned looks aimed at him, it occurred to him that normal people wouldn't react to almost being killed with annoyance and mild complaints. But Mike had spent the majority of his afterlife with things constantly trying to finish killing him that he wasn't phased by it anymore (which probably said more about his mental state than he liked to think about).
"If you're done being trigger happy, I'm sure the kids have a lot of questions for you," Mike suggested casually, snapping everyone out of their stupor.
"There'll be time for introductions and explanations later," Ford conceded, reluctantly putting his gun down. "But first, tell me, Stan: are there any security breaches? Does anyone else know about this portal?"
"No, just us." Stan immediately defended before admitting, "Also maybe the entire U.S. government."
"The what?!" Ford sputtered in shock and anger. And sure enough, on the security monitors, the agents had returned and were searching the Shack. Since the agents weren't an immediate threat, the twins managed to convince both of the older Pines to share their backstory.
Once that was done, Dipper came up with the idea to use the memory gun on the agents and Ford was able to convince them to leave and destroyed all the evidence of their investigation. With everything settled, Stan ordered the twins to bed so he and Ford could talk. The twins reluctantly obeyed with Mike escorting them while Soos awkwardly left for his home.
"I can't believe I finally met the Author," Dipper couldn't help but gush a little as the three of them went upstairs. "Mike I'm so glad you convinced me to hear Stan out or I might not have ever met him…"
"I have confidence you would have realized Stan still cared about you on your own," Mike replied, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "You're a smart cookie, after all, you just needed a little reminder to help you see through your anger and hurt."
"Yeah," Dipper agreed before getting a mischievous look. "Since we just learned a lot of Stan's big secrets, how about you share some of yours?"
"Don't you think you had enough revelations for today?" Mike only sort of joked, getting two head shakes in return. "I'm still not going to tell you everything, but I can explain a few things. What do you want to know first?"
"Are you really as big a criminal as you said you were?" Mabel asked immediately, looking surprisingly excited about the possible answer.
"Technically yeah," Mike replied easily. "Most people don't believe in possessed killer animatronics so they aren't exactly happy when you destroy them, occasionally burning the whole building in the process for good measure. And since other restaurants with animatronics wouldn't want to hire someone that had been fired for tampering with animatronics and destroying them, I often had to use fake names to get hired so I could investigate for more evil animatronics."
"That does make sense," Dipper agreed, jotting down notes. "I don't suppose this means you'll finally tell us your last name?"
"If I do, you have to promise not to look me up," Mike replied seriously. "Between my name and the other details I've told you I have no doubt you could find out more about me and there are some things I'm not ready to talk about yet and you aren't ready to hear. Do you think you can resist trying to find out more about me until I'm ready to actually tell you?"
Dipper and Mabel both realized how very serious this was for Mike so they both firmly nodded and said "We promise."
"I'll even tell you my real first name in exchange," Dipper offered, getting a surprised look from Mabel.
"Sounds fair to me," Mike said, understanding that this was a big deal for Dipper. "Alright then… Afton… My last name is Afton…"
"My real name is Mason…" Dipper confessed. "But I don't really like it…"
"Thanks for telling me," Mike smiled. "I'll keep your secret as long as you want me to. But Stan was right, it's been a long day… I'll leave you two to get some sleep."
There was some good-natured grumbling that made Mike smile as he closed the door behind him. His smile faded though as he heard Stan and Ford talking and the deal Ford was demanding. Mike stopped just outside of the hallway, staying out of sight as he listened.
"You really aren't gonna thank me, are you?" Stan said in disbelief before his voice harden in anger. "Fine. On one condition: you stay away from the twins; I don't want them in danger. And don't even think about attacking Mike again or you'll see a real fight from me. Cause as far as I'm concerned, they're the only family I have left."
Stan stormed off as Mike forcibly stored away Stan's statement about him being family to process later and leaned casually against the open doorway, looking at Ford who was glaring at where Stan retreated.
"You two make quite the disastrous pair don't you," Mike commented, startling Ford. The older man immediately whipped out his gun as he whirled around, keeping it trained at Mike though he didn't fire.
"You don't want to do that," Mike stated easily, sounding far too indifferent for having a weapon pointed at him by someone that had already proven they were willing to shoot him. "Stan's already mad at you and the kids would be upset if you killed me for no reason. I don't think you want to deal with that sort of fallout right now."
"I should just shoot you anyway," Ford glared even as he lowered his gun though he didn't have any inclination to put it away yet. "I don't know how you convinced them to let you stay around when you're clearly some kind of extradimensional being that is using some poor deceased body as a vessel."
"Actually they're the ones that convinced me to stick around," Mike corrected with a small smile that was so genuinely fond that Ford's resolve faltered a bit. "And this body was mine originally… I just stuck around in it once I died."
"You can't fool me with your lies," Ford scoffed, his grip tightening on his gun. "Ghosts aren't strong enough for that kind of possession when they're first formed and it takes decades to get the required power, meaning their body would have already decayed beyond use for them. No… you're something far more sinister than that… Are you allied with Cipher?"
"Considering I have no idea who that is… no… I'm not…" Mike replied with a shrug. "I'm just a guy who happened to die in extremely unique circumstances… but I doubt anything I say will convince you that I'm not here to harm anyone, so let's talk about something far more important… You should be making more of an effort to make up with Stan. If you did, I know you'll easily be welcomed into the family."
"Why should I be the one to make things up with him!" Ford snapped, his temper rising. "It's his fault! He's the one that…"
"Cost you your dream school… knocked you into the portal… blah blah blah…" Mike cut in with a roll of his eyes. "I was there when you both were explaining the backstory to everyone remember? And whether or not it was really his fault or not isn't for me to decide. I wasn't there and you are clearly hiding a lot more about that story…"
"No I'm not," Ford instantly defended, but Mike waved away his protests.
"Look I'm not judging you for keeping secrets," Mike said. "I would be a hypocrite if I did. I'm just trying to give you some friendly advice… or I guess unfriendly advice considering our current mutual dislike for each other…"
Mike then stood up straight and his demeanor changed to show the seriousness of what he was going to say next. And although Mike's posture wasn't exactly threatening, he did gain an intense aura that bordered on intimidating that almost had Ford raising his gun again.
"Take it from a guy that in a span of a few years lost practically everyone he cared about and his own life soon after that," Mike stated, looking Ford right in the eyes. "You don't know how much time you have left with your loved ones and you should do your best to cherish the time you do have. Because if something were to happen to your brother without mending your relationship and him knowing how much you really cared, you'll regret it for the rest of your existence…"
Having said all he needed to, Mike turned and retreated to his room, leaving behind a stunned Ford with just a little bit more to think about.
