Once the barrier was up, Stan felt confident it was safe enough to head out on his planned revenge road trip. Soos, the twins, and Mabel's friends would join him on his trip while Mike and Ford stayed behind at the Shack. Mike could not in good conscious leave Gravity Falls when he knew there was a killer animatronic around and Ford would be continuing his own research and providing Mike backup if the animatronic attacked. Mabel and Dipper had been reluctant to leave Mike behind, but Mike and Stan convinced them it would be alright (and a relaxing break from the stress of what happened recently). Soon they headed out, leaving Ford and Mike alone.
"Hey Ford," Mike began as they headed back inside. "I've been wondering if it's alright if I rework the security cameras and monitors to better suit my needs."
"It's fine with me," Ford replied. "If you need any help just let me know, I'll probably be nearby working on my own research."
"Sounds good," Mike agreed.
They spent most of their free hours like this, Mike dismantling the monitoring system, rewiring it, and repairing it while Ford worked quietly nearby. Sometimes they talked, but mostly they just enjoyed the quiet comradery as they worked on their various projects.
"There's so much rusted machinery and broken wires, I'm surprised any of this worked at all," Mike grumbled as he replaced some parts and worked on connecting the new components he was adding.
"I'm sure you'll be able to make it work as you need it," Ford commented, taking the moment to stretch. "`You're really quite talented with machinery."
"I'm no genius, but I'm no slouch either," Mike agreed. "I've kind of had to get good with electronics considering everything, but this type of older technology that was still ahead of the curve is kind of right up my alley."
"I expect being the son of the founder of Afton Robotics also helps with your familiarity," Ford said casually only to pause when he noticed Mike stiffing up.
"How'd you find out?" Mike asked, attempting to seem calm as he continued to work.
"The piece of Molten Freddy I studied," Ford informed. "It was made with a unique metal alloy primarily used by one company. A little research into the company's history made things pretty easy as a lot of your family's history is quite… public…"
"I'm aware," Mike sighed, glancing over at Ford. "Which is why I made Dipper promise not to look me up once I finally told him my last name. You haven't said anything to him have you?"
"No, as your past wasn't crucial for the current problem," Ford explained. "I'm sorry I should have realized that you haven't spoken of what happened with the others… I imagine it's quite the sensitive topic."
"Really? Who would have thought that talking about how the serial killer that built those evil animatronics that coincidentally murdered me too just so happens to be my own father would be such a hard topic of conversation," Mike said with biting sarcasm, pulling out wires with a bit more force than necessary.
"I deserved that," Ford admitted with a wince. "I understand why you haven't said anything, but I know the others would be understanding if you told them. If anything, I think that would get them more motivated to take down Molten Freddy."
"I'd rather they not face them at all," Mike said darkly, beginning to put things back into the control panel. "But I know by now that I can't stop them so all I can do is make sure they're as prepared as I can make them be."
The two fell silent for a bit with only the sounds of Mike's tinkering filling the room.
"I… I looked into your brother's accident…" Ford began slowly, waiting to see if Mike would shut down this conversation. When Mike remained silent, Ford continued, "That animatronic should not have had the power and force to have caused that much damage. It wouldn't have been necessary for the animatronic to function and the only way it could have happened is if someone purposefully made it strong enough to kill."
"…I know…" Mike said softly, keeping his gaze focused on his task. "The main reason I threw myself into learning engineering and robotics was to try and understand what happened. I needed to know what went wrong and how I could make sure it never happened again. It didn't take me long to figure out the animatronic was stronger than it should be, but at the time I couldn't figure out why that was. It wasn't until after I was killed that I learned that their deadliness was intentional."
Mike could still remember the horror and betrayal that he felt when he finally understood how much of a monster his father was and how Willam's evil acts literally tore his family apart.
"But you still blame yourself for your brother's death," Ford said in confusion. "Even though you know that your prank should have never been fatal? Why blame yourself when clearly it's your father's fault?"
"You didn't hear him beg me to stop…" Mike replied quietly, pausing his work to wipe a few stray tears away. "He was absolutely terrified and I just laughed at him and mocked him for his tears. Yes, my father's a killer, but if I had been a better brother, Evan wouldn't have been one of his victims."
"Mike…" Ford began with sympathy. "It wasn't your-"
"Don't," Mike cut Ford off, refusing to look up from his work. "I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it right now."
"Very well…" Ford conceded, returning to his own work as well. Ford didn't like that Mike felt so guilty for something that wasn't his fault, but he knew it was best to drop it for now.
"I think that should about do it…" Mike said as he put the last panel in place and picked up a tablet. "And now to just see if it works."
"What exactly were you doing again?" Ford asked, taking the opportunity to take a break from his own work.
"I reworked the system so I could monitor all the camera feeds from this one tablet," Mike said, tapping the screen and flipping it around to show Ford. "I can now remotely control them and have eyes around the Shack without having to be stuck down here. I know the barrier is supposed to keep Molten Freddy out, but I just feel better being able to keep a better eye on things."
"I can understand that and that seems very helpful," Ford nodded. "Can there be more than one tablet so Stan and I can have our own as well or will that not work?"
"I'm sure I could program it to connect to more than one tablet," Mike said, absentmindedly looking through the cameras. "The only potential issue is two people trying to switch cameras at once, but I'm sure I can… Ford… I think we have company…"
"What?" Ford asked, instantly on alert and coming over to look at Mike's screen. "Is it Molten Freddy?"
"No… they're human…" Mike replied, showing the video to Ford. "I think it's the owners from the other tourist attractions. Didn't Stan mention how they always prank him every year? I think that's what this is."
"I believe you're right," Ford agreed as he studied the feed. "Well… we shouldn't just sit back and let them get away with whatever they're planning…"
"What do you have in mind?" Mike asked, a grin slowly spreading on his face.
"Just an alien substance that I can recreate and modify for our own needs fairly quickly," Ford responded, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "I'll whip a batch real quick and I need you to get as much of Mabel's glitter as you can carry."
"On it!" Mike agreed, hurrying upstairs immediately. Mike grabbed glitter of all colors and sparkly-ness and had just come back to the gift shop as Ford came up. Ford took the glitter that Mike offered and quickly poured it into his water balloon-type containers. Sealing them shut, Ford handed half of them to Mike.
"give it a good shake before you toss it for the best results," Ford instructed, getting a nod from Mike. They split off immediately, Ford going out the gift shop door while Mike went for the other entrance to sneak around the other side.
The first one that Mike came across was some guy dressed like an ear of corn. Mike wasted no time shaking up one of his balloons and tossing it at the guy. Mike perfectly hit the corn guy square in the back and the balloon exploded, covering the corn guy in a bright blue goop that sparkled with glitter.
"Hey!" the corn guy yelled, whipping around to glare at Mike. "What do you think you're do-"
The corn guy was cut off as Mike used the opportunity to throw another balloon right at his face, leaving the corn guy sputtering and spitting out yellow goop from his mouth. Corn guy seemed to get the hint at this point and turned to make a run for it, Mike chasing right after him and tossing more balloons. Mike was soon at the front of the house where he could see Ford chasing some guy with an upside-down hat, who was covered in purple and pink goop. An old lady tried to retaliate, even popping balloons with her knitting needles, but she soon became overwhelmed by Mike and Ford's combined efforts. The three intruders decided it wasn't worth it and made a break for it just as Stan's RV drove up.
"Hot Belgium Waffles," Stan exclaimed as he took in the fleeing goop-covered figures with Mike and Ford tossing the last of their balloons after them. "What's going on?"
"I think the other attraction owners were trying to get revenge," Dipper commented as he and the others joined Mike and Ford.
"Well they tried, but we were able to drive them off," Mike said with a smirk.
"Nice one you two!" Stan laughed, giving Ford a playful punch on the shoulder and pulling Mike in for a noogie. "You showed them why no one messes with the Mystery Shack or the Pines family."
"Pines! Pines! Pines!" Dipper and Mabel began to cheer, getting the others to join in as well. Soon they all dissolved into laughter as they went home, Mabel and Dipper eager to share their road trip adventures with the rest of the family.
