Greetings from SeekerMeeker.
Let's do this: the final chapter of this story.
FYI: S3 of "Amphibia" is coming! Oh boy, I cannot wait!
FYI 2: I apologize for the poor quality of this story. But it's one way to try and "establish" my AU. Thank you for bearing with me.
Chapter 13: Gate
April 3, 202X
1:15 PM
A Gate Room, inside of a secret Archon Corporation research complex in northern Nevada
"What next?"
Pacifica echoed, as the eight people stood. They stared at the strange, ominous structure, floating silently above the cavern floor.
"OK," Dipper admitted. "Everything went so fast, that I am not even sure what the heck is going on?!"
The others stared at him.
"Never mind," he gasped, clearing his throat.
"I don't blame you," Anna admitted. "You know what? Let's just sit down for a sec?"
The others nodded in agreement, and collapsed on the floor.
"Ugh!" everybody moaned, as finally, after the few hours of tense moments, they were finally able to rest.
"What the heck has just happened?" Dipper moaned, as he leaned against a rough wall, too tired to notice.
"You answer that yourself," Pacifica retorted, as she leaned on the same wall, sitting right next to him.
"Yeah," Dipper said, leaning more on her left shoulder. "Like if I can solve every problem."
"Says the boy who claims to," Pacifica retorted, getting a little closer to him.
"Says the girl who has a tongue," Dipper groaned, subconsciously leaning towards her.
Mabel smirked, watching them from a distance. Sneaking away, she then looked around.
Anna sat on a short, broken stalagmite, acting as a makeshift chair. Sighing in relief, she took out her phone, and scrolled down for a video.
"Ooh~!" Mabel noted, bouncing over to check. "Nice cat phone!"
"Ah thanks!" Anna replied, showing her the phone. "You like cats?"
"I sure do!" Mabel replied.
Huh, Anna thought. She sure acts like a college kid. Ha, that sounds weird.
Soon, the two started to talk, chatting about random things, from animals to manga. They started to go crazy, wildly discussing romantic interests from various manga and magazines.
"Ugh," Twig groaned, rolling his eyes. "I will leave them alone..."
However, he stared at Anna, blinking less than usual.
"Whatcha doin?" Molly asked, causing him to jump.
"Nothing," he replied. "Just watching them."
Molly craned her neck, and frowned.
"They're not your type?" she asked.
Twig blushed, then playfully pushed her aside.
"Man!" Twig groaned. "You're starting to get interested in that kind of stuff! When you're a little younger, you got grossed out by such!"
"Well not anymore," she grunted. "I am a teenager now."
Twig rolled his eyes, but smiled.
"Getting ready for adulthood?" he asked.
"Definitely!" Molly replied with a smile. "Finally, we can leave it for good!"
Twig's smile disappeared, and he nodded solemnly.
"Leave what?"
Both jumped, this time by Broadie.
"Ah...?" Molly was about to speak, but Twig put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her.
"We're leaving an issue behind," he replied. "Let's just put it that way."
"Oh," Broadie said with a nod. "I understand."
He then went back, and watched a video that Haddie was showing on her own phone. The two siblings sighed in relief.
"Good thing," Molly gasped. "That was close!"
"Don't worry," Twig said. "I hope that it will get better. Good thing that Broadie is the type to respect privacy."
They continued to chat about their "issue" in a low whisper, while the others were doing their things. Fortunately, the room had Internet access, and the eight humans momentarily forgot that they were still far from safe. Of course, they were tired from everything that transpired.
Maybe not everyone was.
"Ooh!" Mabel shouted, as she jumped over to Haddie, enthralled by her phone. "What do you have there? Halloween-style phone? I love Halloween!"
"Oh," Haddie said with a blush, hesitating. "Th-thanks. It's just a skull sticker."
"But it looks cool!" Mabel continued, her eyes sparkling.
"Hehe," Haddie admitted with a small smile.
Eventually, Haddie warmed up to her. Before long, she found herself discussing about boys with ease.
"Man," she admitted. "It's been a while since I've met someone like you."
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone thinks I am a punk of sort," she groaned. "I mean, I dress 'dark,' but that does not mean I am dark."
"Oh," Mabel noted. "Well, I have my own dark days."
The two continued to chat. Eventually, Broadie got up, stretching.
"Ugh," he reacted with a yawn. "Now, I am bored."
He then walked around, and surveyed the walls. It was still a cavern, but it felt...off. He had been to a number of caves, including the famous Luray Caverns on the East Coast. However, this cave felt something different, as if it was otherworldly.
He then noticed something.
"Hey guys!" he shouted.
The others looked.
"What is it?" Anna asked.
He pointed at something, and the others looked:
In front of the stairs...was a display board.
"Huh?!" the others noted, getting up.
"That was not there," Dipper noted, eyes wide open.
"Was there a display board here?" Pacifica asked. "I didn't hear anything. Did you all?"
The others shook their heads. Dipper walked towards it, although he was shaking a little. Soon, the others followed, and they came upon the board.
The display board looked like something found inside spaceships, with a variety of screens and buttons. In the middle of the display, a single screen floated, showing a 3-D image of the portal in front of them.
"Can you hack into it?" Mabel asked Dipper with sparkly eyes.
"Mabel," he groaned. "I am not very skilled at that. Anyway, that was years ago, when Grunkle Stan made us...yeah."
"Huh?" the younger five teens asked, as Dipper dealt with the display.
"Eh-hehehe," Mabel whispered with a blush.
"Oh," Pacifica noted. "I know. You two told me. Long story short, bad teenage drama."
The five teens looked at each other, then shrugged.
"OK!" Dipper said with the click of a button. "This sounds interesting."
A new display board showed, and the others crowded in to look. It was bright red, with giant cyan words with a warning:
WARNING: EXTREME CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS WILL BE ERASED BY FORCE.
"Erased?" the group asked.
"How does that even make sense?" Anna asked.
Dipper clicked another button, and a loading screen appeared. Soon, the loading finished, and another screen appeared.
"That was fast," Twig noted.
The screen showed only one folder app, and Dipper clicked it. A single poem appeared in golden letters, contrasted with the blue background:
Here lies the Way
But here you pay
Three Sovereigns shall rise
To overthrow the World's wise
Five Emperors shall stand
Upon many a land
Their hunger shall decide all.
"Hunger?" the eight people asked in unison.
"That last line is odd," Pacifica remarked.
"Man," Anna suddenly cried out. "I am hungry! Has anyone brought something to eat?"
The others looked at their own belongings, and shrugged or shook their heads.
"Say," Broadie noted. "What do we have here?"
The others looked. Broadie opened up a cabinet underneath the display, and found a box of cookies.
"Something's better than nothing!" Anna admitted.
"Who puts these cookies here?" Dipper asked, as each got a pack of cookie.
"Who cares?" Molly retorted. "At least we have something."
Eight chewing noises echoed throughout the cave, and soon all eight people sighed in relief.
"That's better!" Dipper grunted.
"Me too!" Mabel agreed.
The others joined in as well.
"But we're not even sure yet," Pacifica said. "I mean, everything does not make sense right now. One moment we're in our usual inter-school festival, the next moment we infiltrate a mysterious building, and now this?"
Ring-ring!
"Huh?" she noted, taking out her phone. "I thought there was no service here?"
A single text message appeared:
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ring-ring!
"Who's this?" Mabel asked, taking her own phone out.
Pacifica craned her head to look.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
"Weird," Mabel noted, but Pacifica started to pale.
Ring-ring!
"Who is it this time?" Dipper asked, taking his own phone.
Pacifica slowly turned around.
There was no one behind, except for the five teens.
"You OK?" Anna asked.
Mabel peeked into her brother's phone:
MASON, LOOK BEHIND YOU.
"What the?!" Dipper gasped. "Who knows my real-"
"GET OUTTA HE-UGGHHHH!"
Pacifica's scream echoed throughout the cave, followed by the other seven's. All eight people fell on the floor, writhing in pain.
"UGHHH!" various people screamed.
"What the UGH!" Dipper roared with pain, holding his stomach tight.
It felt like somebody had kicked him. No, it felt like...being poisoned.
"Well-well-well," a familiar voice echoed, as Dipper looked up.
Herbert Barrow and his men came in, eyeing everything. His eyes saw the mysterious portal, and gasped.
"Finally!" he boomed, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. "We've found the Gate!"
"The Gate?" Anna gasped, reeling in from the pain. "Ugh, what did you all do?!"
"Just a harmless shot to the stomach," Barrow grunted. "Men, tie them!"
"Tie us youngsters?!" Pacifica protested. "I am suing all of you!"
Various men set up around the Gate, while some of them dragged the eight people into a corner. Three then stood guard over them.
All eight were still in pain.
"OW!" Dipper groaned. "Man, it hurts!"
"It hurts-it hurts-it hurts!" Mabel screamed.
"Quiet!" one of the soldiers shouted.
"I am still suing you all!" Pacifica exclaimed, gritting her teeth.
"What the heck!" Anna protested. "What was that for?"
"You OK?" Twig groaned.
"I am fine," Molly tried to speak, but she was in pain as well.
"Now I am both in pain AND hungry," Haddie grumbled.
"Oh mustard!" Broadie moaned. "That was...unexpected."
"So I see that you have survived," Barrow said, as he came to them. "And you have led me to the very thing I've been looking for."
"And isn't this your facility?" Pacifica groaned.
"Yes," he replied. "But you will be amazed at how much we do NOT know about this place. I pulled the strings to acquire this property, all to find a way to replace the Oracle Stones and magical artifacts that were starting to lose power."
"What does all this mean?" Dipper asked, trying to remain cool.
"All I am saying is this," Barrow said, and went on to explain:
Barrow confirmed their suspicions that the world is full of Mutants, and how they are a major force of change in the world. However, recently they were starting to not only weaken, but also disappear. Through some careful research, it turned out that the Oracle Stones were just a facet of the larger reality. He believed that the Gates were the true key part of this.
"And what is this Gate-thing?" Mabel asked, despite the pain.
"The Gate is some sort of an interdimensional gateway to other realms," Barrow explained. "But for some reason, nobody can go in, but anyone can leave it."
The eight looked at each other.
"But it does not always involve a person," said Barrow. "It can also be animals, plants, or even nonliving concepts, such as magic."
"Magic?!" the five teens asked, but the older trio had a more controlled reaction. Mabel merely smirked, while Dipper rolled his eyes. Pacifica just sighed.
"Here we go again," the three older people declared.
"I guess that you three have seen something like this," remarked Barrow. "But this one is different: it needs keys to activate."
"Keys?"
"Some kind of food," Barrow retorted. "An odd choice, but these Gates seem to require some sort of Mutants or somebody with the right kind of 'edible keys' that can activate the portals. Other than that, even I have little knowledge of this."
The five teens and three college students looked at each other.
"Wait a second," Anna began. "Didn't we-"
"Sir!" one of the soldiers interrupted, saluting the leader.
"What is it?" Barrow asked.
"There is something wrong with the Gate," he began. "It appears that even though there is no key in sight, the Gate is-WAUGH!"
Everybody in the room flew in the air, apparently blasted by a sudden explosion of energy. Multiple people hit the walls, and were knocked unconscious. The eight tied teens and young adults, however, simply bumped into the wall, so that they remained conscious.
"Uf!" Dipper groaned. "I hope I did not lose any brain cells because of that!"
"They grow fast you know?" Pacifica retorted. "With the right stuff in your head."
"Says the girl who talks smart," Dipper retorted back.
"Says the boy who likes to seduce me," Pacifica interrupted.
"What the [expletive] has happened here?!" Barrow roared.
The others looked. The Gate continued to float magically, but its edges were cracked. Runic markings on it glowed a bright white color, while the center of the Gate started to swirl faster and faster. The stairway that led up to it was mysterious demolished, as if a giant had smashed it like a banana.
"Si-sir!" one of the soldiers gasped, running towards Barrow. "We-we need to get out here! It's too danger-waugh!"
Barrow grabbed the soldier by the collar, and threw him away.
"Not on my watch!" Barrow roared. "After years of searching in this facility, I am NEVER backing down! Nobody will dare take this away! I have already spent my time, my money, my EVERYTHING! And the Immortals demand I pay them back!"
"Immortals?" the group of teens and young adults asked.
"You sure worship the Immortals," a voice suddenly boomed.
Everyone froze. The voice was sudden, and it was deep, but something that nobody heard.
"Umm," Dipper began, but Mabel put a finger to his mouth.
"It sounds like something...not of this world," one of the soldiers gasped.
"I see you," the voice continued to echo, unnerving everyone inside.
"Who...who are you?!" Barrow gasped, trying to stay cool. "Show yourself, coward!"
"Coward?" the voice answered. "You are the coward, Herbert Brown. Selling your soul to the Immortals, in return for power. Not surprising for Humans to do."
"Uh," the other people, including the eight, wondered.
"Three and Five are gathered," the voice continued. "And I have gathered them up. Now, let it begin."
"What?"
"Once this story ends," the voice replied. "Then, the true missions begin. As you and your company, you hypocrites. I know that you will be one of their enemies. We will see what the future will hold. Good luck to the True Heroes."
"I have no idea what's going on," Dipper noted.
"I know," the voice said. "Soon, you will see."
"Um," Anna asked. "Who are you?"
The others nodded in affirmation.
"Who am I?" the voice rang in a very deep, dominating tone, causing the walls to shake.
"Who I am?" the voice spoke again, this time with a calm, soothing tone.
"I...am," the voice finished, this time with a more feminine, sweet whistle.
The Gate's central core suddenly burst, basking the room in a massive ray of white light.
40 minutes later...
"Oh...my head," Dipper groaned.
"My stomach hurts," Mabel grunted.
"I am still suing that stupid company!" Pacifica yelled, getting up with a wince. "And I will-wait, where are we?"
They got up, and looked around.
"Are you kidding me?!" she gasped.
"We're back at our campus!" Mabel gawked.
Dipper scratched his head, then took out a pen and chewed on it.
"I cannot wrap my mind around what happened," he noted. "Everything happened so fast, that I think that there is a time loop of sort."
"Who cares?" Pacifica groaned. "And look, our trip buses are back!"
They saw them. Sure enough, the same old buses were unloading their cargo of students, and they were all chatting as if nothing had happened.
"Let's just blend in," Dipper said. "And hope that nobody will notice."
The others agreed, and walked right into the crowd of students, with the teachers checking them. To their surprise, their own belongings were also in the buses, and they hurried to get them and walk away.
"That was easy," Mabel noted.
"Who cares?" Pacifica said. "We're good now, and we're far away from those lunatics. I just want to take a break."
"Agreed," the twins answered.
"Let's go," Dipper said. "To freedom!"
Grrr...
"Maybe we need to eat," Pacifica said with a blush, and all three laughed.
Unknown to them, however, three pairs of eyes, their eyes, glowed, then returned back to normal.
At the same time...
"Oh..." Anna groaned, as she got up.
"Wha...what happened?" Twig gasped, shaking his head.
"What the?!" Molly yelled, waking others up. "We're back at school!"
All five got up, and gasped.
They were back, but right behind a set of bushes, so that the students unloading from the buses did not notice them.
"Well," Anna said. "Was it all a dream?"
Grr...
"I don't think so," Twig said. "And look, we have some markings on our skin, where they bound us."
They looked at each other, and understood.
"Good to be back!" Haddie said. "Man, I am tired of supernatural stuff for the day!"
"Says the girl who likes creepy stuff," Anna said, and all five laughed. They then got up, and blended right into the crowd of students.
"Anna!" a voice yelled.
"Mrs. Cherry!" Anna replied, waving at her. "What's up?"
"We were wondering where you were!" she gasped. "Even the people at the facility refused to tell us! Those guys are freaks! But thanks be to Virgin Mary! As long as you five are safe, we'll just let it go for the day."
"Huh?"
"We were about to call the police," she explained. "But since you all are back now, I'll let them know to not call. Today was crazy enough; even I want to go home."
The others nodded.
Grr...
"Oho," Mrs. Cherry said with a smile. "You five are hungry. I have some hot sandwiches that I just bought. I will treat you all for the day!"
"Thank you!" the five cheered, as they blended right into the crowd again.
"But as you know," she said in a whisper to Anna, as they entered the school. "I am curious about what exactly happened. Care to tell me?"
"It's...complicated," Anna admitted.
"Take your time," Mrs. Cherry said. "I can wait."
"Thank you so much," Anna replied. "But yes; it was too crazy for us. We just want to take break for once.
Ring-ring!
"Huh?"
She took out her phone, and gasped.
"Hey Dipper!" she answered it. "What's the sitch? Uh-huh. We're back here too, just like you three. Uh-huh. Yeah, we just want to rest for the day. Thanks, see ya!"
Click.
She sighed in relief, and walked with the others. Unknown to them, five pairs of eyes, their eyes, glowed for a while, before fading back to normal.
Seven days later...
"That was crazy."
Dipper, Mabel, and Pacifica sat on a bench, the same bench on which they met as a trio, in the middle of the woods...again.
"That was crazy," Mabel copied her brother, as she ate another caramel apple.
"True," the others replied in complete agreement.
"And we're eating the same foods," Mabel added with a grin.
"Not quite," Dipper corrected her, this time trying a bento. With some effort, he managed to pick up a piece of unagi sushi with chopsticks, then quickly put it into his mouth.
He made a face, then slowly smiled as he chewed.
"Mmm!" he grunted. "This sushi is good!"
"What did I tell you?" Pacifica snickered. "Sushi is healthy for you, and it's good. But this one..."
She glared at her food: a hamburger.
"So this is that mincemeat sandwich?" she asked.
"What?" the twins asked.
"My fancy term for this thing," she retorted, inspecting it.
"Just eat it," Dipper groaned.
Sighing, she unwrapped it and, with a deep breath, bit it.
"Hmm," she grunted. "Hmm...ooh!"
"What did we tell you?" Mabel said with a grin.
"What did you order?" Pacifica asked, after gulping. "I can tell that this is not a cheap knockoff!"
"An expensive burger," Dipper replied with a smirk. "Organic burger from some fancy restaurant named Elevation Burger."
Pacifica gasped, almost choking on another bite.
"Golly!" she grunted. "My-my parents invested in that restaurant chain! I should have realized!"
"I guess you guys don't eat fast food," Dipper noted. "Including higher-quality ones."
"My parents did it for the money," Pacifica said, as she continued to eat, talking only after swallowing. "And to improve their image since losing the Manor. I guess burger is something to connect with the people."
"Burger," Mabel suddenly mused, thinking.
"It's not a big deal," Dipper said with a groan. "Don't overthink it."
"No Dip," she replied. "The word 'burger' suddenly reminded me of 'hunger,' and especially when Pacifica said about food connecting with people. When those villains at the Archon talked about it, I am thinking...what's up with them?"
Dipper and Pacifica looked at each other straight in their eyes, while Mabel deliberately leaned away, her eyes staring up at the sky.
"Their hunger shall decide all," Mabel reminisced. "I wonder that sounds weird...but Dipper, remember that we talked about that weird book we've seen?"
"Yeah?" Dipper replied.
"And what does that book have to do with the Archon?" Pacifica retorted. "Or even everything that happened ever since?"
"That Codex," Mabel said. "I think it has to do with us."
"How so?" the other two asked, confused.
"No-no," Mabel said. "Sorry, I need to rephrase my thoughts more like this. Remember those bad guys at the Archon? They said something about 'edible keys' and with 'magic.' Now that I think about it, didn't we eat something?"
The others looked at her, then at each other.
"Uh..."
"Remember when they shot us," Mabel said. "They said something about us 'eating' something. They were furious, as if we took something before they did. Then, the Gate-thing lit up the room, and we're here."
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.
"You felt something in your mouth?" Mabel asked.
Dipper thought, then blinked.
"I did," he admitted.
"And so did I," Pacifica joined in. "But what are you talking about?"
"This whole incident makes no sense," Mabel said. "But I believe that despite the confusing situation, I think...we ate something from the Gate, and then it rewarded us or something."
"You're not making sense," Dipper said. However, Pacifica mused, then snapped her fingers.
"I think I know," Pacifica said. "Let me see if I get what you're saying: you're basically saying that the Gate gave us some food, we ate them somehow, and the Gate sent us back to our schools."
"Bingo," Mabel replied.
All three looked at each other, as the revelation dawned upon them.
"In other words," Dipper said. "We ate something, and it affected us, and now we're here with a reason."
"And we have nobody to tell us," Pacifica groaned. "And so, what's next?"
"Ahem," Dipper cleared his throat. "We'll have to see, but at the end of day, I do have this feeling...that this 'hunger' is going to matter more than we realize."
"And we have to fight whatever evil is out there," Mabel said. "With our heads and hearts!"
"Or the stomach," Pacifica added, and all three laughed.
"But seriously," she said, as all three got up to walk back home. "Power and food...if they are two things that control the world, then those definitely do."
"Power and food," the twins mused.
"They are indeed powerful," Dipper said. "If eating the Forbidden Fruit gave unexpected powers, then so does the food that we ate. Whatever it is, we know one thing: there is more to this world."
"High five three?" Mabel asked.
The others smiled, and put their hands, including their smartphones, together in a hand-stack.
"High five three!" all three shouted, before skipping away.
"This is a strange journey," a man spoke, watching the trio disappear in the distance.
He continued to stare at the trio, then took out a book.
It was brown, with black letters on the sides, and golden corners.
He flipped the pages, took out a pen, and wrote.
"I will see more of them," he said, before snapping his fingers. He disappeared into a portal, a swirling vortex of blue-and-white energies.
Thank you to everyone who has been patient with me.
I know that the story originally was supposed to be longer, and focused on the Oracle Stones. However, I had other plans, and I hope that this is a taste of the things to come.
I know that making a prequel is NOT easy, but I hope that this story is worth your time.
This is one of two stories that will be my Gravity Gates prequel, albeit rough. Thank you everyone, and may you all be blessed and strong, through these crazy times. May God bless you all, and be safe out there!
The story "Gravity Hunger" officially ends, but it is only the beginning.
Peace Seeker.