Gravity Galaxy

by jawmax

For fifteen years Dipper, Mabel, Gideon, and Pacifica were lost in a distant galaxy. Now that they have returned to earth we will hear the tales of how they struggled to get home and continue to adjust to life back on earth.

5. Family Reunion: Gideon

Chapter five

Family Reunion: Gideon

Robbie, Gideon, and Pacifica walked down a hallway. "The documents you just signed are just the beginning. We'll still need to get you guys valid I.D., insurance, we'll need to assess the education you got, and so much more." Robbie said.

"Whatever gets things done faster we're all for it." Gideon slapped Robbie on the back causing him to stubble a bit. "Sorry, I forget how strong I am sometimes."

"How are you not nervous?" Pacifica asked. "This is the first time you'll have seen your parents in fifteen years. What if they changed or don't like what you've become?"

"Paz, I know you didn't leave things on good terms with your parents but remember we're your family too. As for me well knowing Mabel will be there no matter happens keeps me happy."

"I'm just not sure what I am going to find." Pacifica said as they came to an office door.

"Well Gideon your family is waiting for you in here." Robbie opened the door.

Before he went into the office Gideon turned to Pacifica and said. "It's going to be okay."

Gideon's parents looked much the same as the last time he saw them except that his dad was greying. However, what he wasn't expecting was that a teenage girl with short black hair would be standing in the corner. She had a white shirt on that had several dirt stains and torn blue jeans. She was looking at him like she was sizing him up. "Gideon look at you boy!" Bud said. "Well I guess I can't call you that anymore. You've grown into a real man."

Gideon's mom Darla hugged her son. "We thought we would never see you again! Then we get this phone call from the sheriff saying that you were on that spaceship in the news! It's a miracle."

Gideon tried to hold back his tears. "I'm so glad to see you both again." He then looked at the girl in the corner again. "But who is that?"

Bud gave a sigh. "Gideon remember the day you left that your mom was at the doctor's office? Well she was there to double check a pregnancy test. Gideon this is Erika, your little sister. We wanted to surprise you after you got back from your camping trip, but this is not how we wanted it to go."

Gideon felt like he was in a tornado. He had a sister whose whole life he'd missed. She had to be fourteen years old if she was born after he left. "Don't think you can tell me what to do." Erika said.

Darla turned to her daughter. "Erika! Don't speak to your brother like that! He's finally home after so long and your disrespectful tone is not what he needs after what he's been through." This was not something had seen his mother do. It looks like she got more assertive over the years.

Erika snapped back. "A fifteen-year cruise in space yeah sounds so hard! I didn't need a big brother before, and I don't need one now!" She then turned to Gideon. "My whole life they said they would not repeat the mistakes they made with you! They kept your room as you left it like a shrine! I'm the only one in this town who tries to bring some excitement with my awesome stunts! But they keep trying to make me stop saying they don't want to lose me like they lost you! The rush is my life!"

"Erika we just don't want you to get hurt sweetie." Bud said trying to calm his daughter down.

"I wear a helmet and pads all the time!" Erika screamed. "Why won't you trust me!"

Gideon couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop!" He yelled. He took a few deep breathes and calmed down as everyone was in stunned silence. "I don't know what all this is about but what I've been through was not always easy especially in the first couple of years. Erika I'm sorry if you feel like you've always been in my shadow. Before I was taken, I was trying to be a better person and I don't know what kind of brother I would have been if I wasn't abducted."

"It's not like I don't get that you guys were really hurt by what happened, but I need to be me. It's hard not think of myself a replacement for the kid you lost." Erika said rubbing her arms.

"Sweetie we never thought as a replacement." Bud said hugging his daughter.

"Was it really that bad out there?" Erika asked in a hushed tone.

"The first thing that happened was we were all sold into slavery. Mabel and Dipper got lucky and escaped right away but I was dragged off by this crazy woman named Neryo."

"What did she do to you?" Darla asked.

Fifteen years ago,

Neryo carried Gideon to her ship and strapped him into a seat tightly since he was smaller than the harness. "Where are you taking me?" Gideon was still panicking. Neryo ignored him and got into the pilot seat and flew away from the station. "Please I just want to go home!" Gideon pleaded.

After setting a course Gideon's new owner got up and stomped her hoofed foot. "Be quiet! You do not address your general in such a way! You are one of my solders now and you will obey orders! Do otherwise and you are dead! If you want your freedom and a chance to go home, then you will help me win my war! Those are your only options now! Win and go home or die on the battlefield! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Gideon whimpered.

"A solder says 'Sir! Yes sir!'" Neryo shouted.

"Sir! Yes sir!"

"Good. Seems like you not only a scrawny little thing but stupid too! It's like you don't know anything about what going on in this galaxy!"

"I never left my home planet before sir!"

Neryo took a breath. "You don't realize the honor I gave you. I was hoping for more yes, but you are going to help restore the Onyx Dynasty. A grand empire that united hundreds of star systems. It's leader, my mother, was killed by the Grand Cosmic Imperium. Now we fight to restore our empire. When we win; you will be considered a hero. But first I need to pick up more weapons and take you to your unit. I cannot oversee you myself, I have too many operations to command. You'll be in the highly capable hands of my second in command Piker. Welcome to the Onyx Brotherhood."

A week later Gideon was woken up by the sound of an alarm. Gideon was now wearing an Onyx Brotherhood uniform a yellow tank top with green pants and brown boots. "What is going on Sir?" he asked.

Neryo ignored him again. "Kill Cruiser 48 this is Kill Cruiser 1. Standby for docking along with supplies and new personal." Gideon look out the window and saw a black ship that looked like a series of cubes connected by a central structure.

Neryo pulled Gideon along to the airlock on the other side was a red skinned man with black hair, a goatee, and had three eyes, but his left eye had an eyepatch. He looked at Gideon disapprovingly. "Is this the only reinforcement we get?" He said.

"I was out bided with everything else. So, take this runt and make him into a warrior. You're getting more than enough weapons to make up for it, Piker." Neryo said.

"Alright. Guess we have to chisel the man out of the baby fat." Piker pulled Gideon onto his ship. "I'll give you a call if anything changes in the Borhual system." With that he closed the airlock door. Piker then went to intercom. "Grual, Draga get over to the cargo bay and begin the weapons transfer. Chugar, Holar get our recruit situated. He has a lot to learn and get him some dog tags."

Two aliens came up to him. One looked like a pink shaved cat girl his age in the same uniform. The other looked like a middle-aged man in a full red and black space suit that had ridges on his forehead. The inside of his helmet was lit up green. The latter spoke first. "Well hell it's about damn time we got some fresh bodies here. Name's Holar."

The cat girl spoke next. "And I'm Chugar nice to have someone young join us. Welcome to our unit! We're called Piker's Raiders! So why did you join and what's your name?"

Gideon still had a knot in his stomach that started a week ago. "Gideon and I was taken from my planet and sold to your general. I just want to go home."

Piker groaned. "Don't even think of running off. Only the leader of the brotherhood can discharge a soldier. If you abandon your post, then it is the duty of every member of the brotherhood to hunt down and kill you. Holar get to work on him, I'm going to the bridge and get him a Hexa-blaster. You got your orders. Raiders Roll!" With that he left.

"Sure thing, old friend." Holar saluted.

"Don't mind Piker. He's been fighting for most of his life." Chugar said. Now let's get you a bunk and then what should we teach him first Holar?"

Holar chuckled. "Well we can't teach him how to blow stuff up on the ship, so I guess first is how not to snack in between meals!"

An hour later as Gideon was forced to do pushups two other members of the unit came into the barracks. "Draga, Grual, meet out new comrade Gideon! I'm going to teach him how fire a hexa-blaster and fly a rocket pack!" Chugar said.

Draga was a brown, slender lizard like man with a club like tail. "Good because I'm the only sniper we need. This flabby thing is doing it all wrong leave his physical training to me."

Grual was a male of Neryo's species, with filed down horns. "The lads hair reminds me of something. What were they called?" Grual ruffed Gideon hair.

"Stop it just leave me alone!" Gideon screamed as he went into one of his rages.

Everyone was taken aback. Then Grual smiled. "A Punwidge! That's it! They're small, pudgy, have these large tuffs of hair and when you mess with their herd things tend to explode." With that the others began to laugh.

"Well looks like you got yourself a nickname Punwidge." Holar said laughing.

And so, Gideon's training began. A year of absolute hell. Grual taught him how to fix and even upgrade machines. "Treat an engine right and it will get you through any scrape." Gideon tried to make the adjustment he was just shown, and he got shocked.

Draga true to his word focus on Gideons physical training on the rocky planet of Borhual that was the Raiders base. "First thing we need to do is make you less of a target." Draga swung a knife just over Gideon scalp giving him a flat top hair cut in a second.

"My hair!" Gideon screamed.

"Your welcome Punwidge now put on that weighted pack. We are going for a five-kilometer run and I expect with each one that your time to get better! And after that weight training! I've seen coral slugs lift heavier things than you do!"

Holar taught Gideon everything he knew about explosives. "Slide your thumb back and toss it. If you need to set a timed charge twist the top a quarter turn for every thirty seconds you need." Gideon slide the blue circle on the round, silver grenade he was holding but when the circle flashed red, he got scared and dropped it. Holar picked it up and threw it into the distance as it exploded. "Damn it boy! The Imperium's not going to throw dummy grenades at you! All exercises are live fire!"

And Chugar trained Gideon in marksmanship and flying his rocket pack. "You can do it Gideon! Remember it's not like the ships weapons, there's no computer to give you a lock on."

Gideon was flying with his pack with Chugar right beside him with hers. He tried to shoot a target placed on a small peak but while he hit it with red energy bolts the rapid fire of his gun pushed him back and was flying out of control. "Help me!"

"Gideon you got to plan ahead and fly to push back against the recoil!"

Piker didn't seem to want anything to do with Gideon. One-time Gideon wanted to ask him about if he could use the ship's communications. "Commander I want to see if any of the brotherhood heard anything about my friends." Piker closed the door to his quarters in Gideon's face.

But he grew and not just in height. He was getting smarter. "If we reconfigure it like this then we might use less fuel." Gideon said showing Grual a schematic.

"That might just work. Good thinking Punwidge." Grual gave have a slap on the back.

He was getting leaner, faster, and stronger. Gideon ran while holding weights just out of reach of Draga's tail. "That's how you do it rookie! Only have a kilometer to go!" Draga said as he sped up with Gideon keeping pace.

He was getting braver. "Here's a couple of gifts from me!" Gideon tossed two grenades at some Imperium forces.

As they exploded Holar laughed as he fired his gun. "Now that's how you do it!"

And most of all he was growing closer with his comrades in the Raiders. He saw they were hard on him so he would survive. "Really Gideon? Most of the trees near your hometown had green needles instead of red pods?" Chugar asked as they ate together.

"They sure do Chugar. I hope to show them to you someday." Before he knew it, he had been with them for a year.

Fifteen years later,

"They made you into a child soldier?" Darla was horrified.

"You killed people." Erika whispered.

Gideon tried to explain. "Only enemy soldiers or I would be dead. My unit taught me everything I need to survive but all their lessons never prepared me for one of most defining moments of my life."

"Son you don't have to say anything more if you don't feel like it." Bud said.

"No Dad. I need to." Gideon said rubbing his hands.

Fourteen years ago,

Gideon and Chugar were standing watch near their ships hidden dock. There were a lot of stars out and everything was quiet. "One thing I never understood is why are we fighting over this pile of rocks." Gideon asked.

"This planet is rich in Vyron crystals that ships need for Hyper Jump. Without this world we could find ourselves cut off from the other units of the brotherhood." Chugar answered. "Gideon who do you miss most from home?"

"That's easy. Mabel. I feel in love with her the first time I saw her, but I wasn't a nice guy then. I threatened her brother when I thought he was trying to break us up among other things. She couldn't stand me for a long time after that, we were starting to be friends again when all this happened."

Chugar tilted her head. "What is she like?"

Gideon smiled as he thought about Mabel. "While her looks are what first attracted me to her what I really fell in love with was her positive and friendly personality. She could befriend anyone and almost always saw the positive. She would like you. You're brave, adventurous, and curious. And she loves cats."

"What's a cat?" Chugar asked.

Gideon awkwardly tried to describe them. "They're animals. You look a lot like them except they're smaller, walk on all fours, and fluffier."

"Sounds cute." Chugar thought for a moment. "Gideon, you're my best friend and I will do everything in my power to let you see Mabel again."

"Thank you. You're one of the best friends I've ever had too." Gideon thought for a moment. "Chugar you never told me why you are in the Brotherhood."

"It's nothing that special really, my family has been fighting in the brotherhood since it was founded. I'm the last one." Chugar pulled out a pendent from under her clothes that looked like a cat's eye. "My people believe that our ancestors can watch over us through these talismans like this, so they are still with me. And the Raiders have become my second family. Look this was taken after a victory we had one month before you joined." Chugar took out a photo of her and the other Raiders laughing and drinking."

Gideon studied the picture. "I didn't know Piker could smile." He said pointing to Piker who had Chugar on his lap. "He doesn't like me."

"There has to be a reason Gideon. The Commander's one the bravest most honorable men I've ever known. He's my hero, before he joined the Brotherhood, he was a marshal of one of the roughest planets in the Dynasty. When the Imperium took his home over, he joined up and climbed the ranks all the way to Neryo's second in command. He always makes sure we never target civilians and chews out units that do. He's always talking about how we are going to rebuild our worlds better than they were before the Imperium invaded. And he makes sure we never leave a comrade behind."

"He might leave me behind." Gideon then yawned.

"We'll talk about it more later. Get some rest I'll take the first watch." Chugar said.

"Okay." Gideon placed his gun down on a nearby rock."

"You sure you don't want it closer?" Chugar asked.

"I don't want to roll over it and set it off." He began to close his eyes looking up to the stars. "Good night Mabel."

The next thing Gideon knew a bolt of energy hit Chugar in her lower torso bleeding white blood. Gideon snapped up and tried to reach for his gun, but it was blasted apart. He crawled over and grabbed Chugar's hexa-blaster. "Gideon, help…help me." Chugar cried.

Gideon shot at his attackers in the dark while talking on his communicator. "We are under attack! Repeat we're under attack! Chugar's been hit!" Gideon kept firing. "Stay away from her! Stay away!" This went on for a few minutes until Gideon was hit in the leg. "No. Not like this."

An Imperium soldier stood over him but was then hit in the head with a long range shot. Piker rode in on a hover bike with a giant snake skull over the bars shooting with his pistol. "Draga keep providing covering fire!"

Grual and Holar rode in on a jeep with tank treads. Grual drove while Holar fired with a rocket launcher. "Die Imperium scum!" Holar shouted as jump off the jeep and fired another round.

"Grual help Chugar back to the ship!" Piker ordered.

"Don't worry you two! I got ya!" Grual said placing Chugar and Gideon on the jeep.

"I tried to fight them as long as I could." Gideon said in pain.

"You did good lad." Grual said as he began to drive back to their dock. He turned on the vehicles com. "Draga meet up back at the ship! I'm going to need help if we're going to save Chugar!"

"Holar and I will cover you!" Piker said. "Raiders Roll!"

They got back to the ship as fast as they could. Grual placed Chugar on a bunk and pulled out a spray can. "She's lost too much blood and was hit in the heart. If she doesn't get a plasma booster now, she won't make it! Draga find some now!" He sprayed Chugar's wound and it began to close. He then tossed the can to Gideon. "Seal your wound."

Piker and Holar came in. "We took out all of those Imperium goons." Piker said.

As Gideon did as he was told Draga threw box of medicines. "All we got are painkillers and antibiotics!"

Piker pulled out his pistol and aimed at Gideon. "This is your fault! If she dies, you're next!"

"Hold on Commander! He acted just like a Punwidge. His herd was attacked, and he exploded!" Grual shouted.

Holar stood between Piker and Gideon. "You and I have been friends for a long time. We started the Raiders together. You have done everything to keep this crew together. But you have been harder on that boy than you have with any of the rest us! Tonight, he could have ran and saved his own skin, but he didn't! He stood his ground and wouldn't leave a comrade behind! You may not want to admit it, but Gideon is a Raider like any us!"

"Stop it!" Chugar screamed. "I don't want to die seeing my family tear itself apart!"

"Chugar you shouldn't move!" Draga said.

Chugar ignored him and pulled out the photo, careful not to stain any of the faces with her blood. "Commander take this, remember who you are. I don't know why you hate Gideon but there must be a good reason. You are a good man. Please make sure that he survives this war!" Piker took the picture. "Gideon take this, it will let me watch over you." She took off her talisman.

"I can't take that." Gideon said.

"Please. Take it… find your way home…and…and show me those green trees you told me…a…about. Raiders Roll." She places the eye in his hand and died.

Fourteen years later,

"I still have it." Gideon pulled out the Talisman. "With all the excitement I haven't showed her yet, but I am going to keep my promise." Gideon's family was in stunned silence. "Since then this and her gun was always been close, and I can't help but get nervous without my gun. Mabel has been a big help with that. The next year was when Mabel and Dipper found me."

Thirteen years ago,

Dipper and Mabel had just finished unloading the shipment of weapons to Onyx Brotherhood members on their moon base. They were now sixteen years old. "I don't like this Dipper. These guys blew up a hospital two days ago!"

"Mabel trading with them was your idea. We can't help it if what most them want are weapons." Dipper touched his quan disk to the disk of a large crab like alien. "We have one more thing we want in payment. We're looking for a member of our race that should be serving in the Brotherhood. He'd be younger than we are with white hair."

"Now that you mentioned it, I did see someone like that in Piker's Raiders when we delivered some food supplies to them last week. They operate in the Borhual system. They shouldn't be hard to find; it only has one planet."

"Estimated travel time to the Borhual system thirty-six standard hours." Ixcia said.

Dipper was overcome with joy. "I can't believe it he's only a day and a half away! Ixcia! Prepare for immediate launch!"

Mabel couldn't contain her enthusiasm. "I'll plot a course for Borhual! Hang on Gideon we're coming for you!"

Thirty-six hours later in the Borhual system.

Kill Cruiser 48 was taking heavy fire from a large Imperium ship that looked like a gold ring with two saucers attached to its sides. "Tri-laser cannons are down! The power conduits have been severed!" Draga yelled. He, Gideon and Holar were on the bridge.

"Grual can you repair them?" Holar asked over the coms.

Grual answered from the engine room. "I'm doing all I can to keep this bucket in the stars!"

A beeping came from Gideon's station. Gideon was now officially a teenager at thirteen years old. "Incoming channel from the enemy ship!" he said.

Holar made a quick decision. "Let 'em talk it might buy us time. Gideon help Grual out!"

Gideon opened the channel and began to run to the engine room. On the main screen a man with yellow skin and black hair appeared. He had an egg-shaped head his two eyes were lined up vertically rather horizontally he only had two small holes for a nose. "I am Kondar, captain of the Imperium destroyer Hand of Suprema. Your defenses are gone, and you are at my mercy. However, as an officer and a gentleman I am willing to spare your lives if you surrender." Kondar's voice was fed through the ship's intercom.

Gideon made it to the engine room. "Sounds like a windbag. He should be talking for a good long while. How bad is it?"

Grual wiped sweat from his brow. "I won't lie to you Punwidge. It's bad. One more hit we're goners."

Back on the Bridge Holar asked. "And why the hell should we do that?"

Kondar looked like he smelled something foul when he heard Holar's crude language. "Because today is the day the Onyx Brotherhood terrorist organization meets it's end. Two days ago, I captured your mercenary allies and in exchange for thier lives they told us that General Neryo was meeting with her second in command Commander Piker on this planet today. I have already dispatched an elite squad of Centurions to kill them, to cut off the head as it were. I am offering you and your crew a chance to live, to repent of you many crimes. You have fifteen seconds to give me your answer.

Draga shook his head no after reading a report from the engine room. It was hopeless.

Holar banged his fist against his armor. "I don't need one. Go frag yourself!"

Kondar looked disappointed. "Crude and defiant to the last then. Fire!"

The destroyer fired. In the engine room sparks flew from the engine. "Gideon look out!" Grual pushed Gideon out of the room as the engine exploded. Grual was incinerated.

"Grual!" Gideon screamed. He then felt the ship tip.

"We're going down! Everyone, strap yourselves in!" Draga said over the intercom. Gideon ran to a chair like the one Neryo strapped him into two years ago. He didn't have time to think about how he grew into it as he secured himself while the ship fell to the planet below.

Earlier on the Ixcia,

"We'll be in the Borhual system any second now." Mabel said at navigation. As they came out of Hyper Jump the twins saw a ship that they recognize as a kill cruiser from all their trading and a ring like ship they never seen before.

"Activating cloak." Ixcia said.

"Ixcia what's wrong?" Dipper asked sitting at the helm.

"That is an Imperium destroyer. The most powerful type of ship in their fleet. We do not have the fire power to fight such a ship."

Mabel pointed at the second ship. "That giant space doughnut shooting at that kill cruiser! Gideon could be on board!"

They saw the rear of the cruiser burst into flame as it began to tilt. "The Kill Cruiser's engines have been destroyed. It is being pulled into the planet's gravity well." Ixcia said.

Dipper flown Ixcia toward the planet. "Ixcia track that cruiser! We're going to follow it. Hang on Gideon, we're almost there! Don't die on us now!"

Gideon didn't know how long he was out. He woke with a stabbing pain in his left side. He looked down and saw a fragment of the ship was sticking into him. He lifted the harness and walked to the bridge despite the pain. When he got there, he looked around found Draga staring at him with dead eyes. "Draga no…" Gideon then heard coughing and turn to see Holar with his helmet broke seeing his cream-colored skin for the first time. "Holar are you hurt?"

Holar coughed again. "Suit ruptured. Damn my people's candy-ass immune system!" Holar went into a coughing fit. "Kid, with this infection and my injuries I'm a goner. Where's Grual?"

"He died when the engine blew." Gideon was crying.

"Then it's up to you." Holar coughed up green blood. "You heard that windbag say it. They're after the commander! See that mountain?" He pointed to a distant mountain. "He's meeting Neryo in a canyon just under it. Fly there…you might save 'em. Raiders… don't leave their comrades…behind."

"I don't know if I can make it with this." Gideon pointed to the shrapnel sticking out of him.

"Gideon you got to try. You can do…" Holar couldn't finish speaking as his eyes shut for the last time.

"It's up to me then." Gideon made his way out of the ship despite the pain, but his vision was blurry. He heard the roar of engines as he collapsed. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he saw the most beautiful woman he ever seen standing over him with long brown hair. "I really must be dying if I'm seeing angels. "

"Not if I can help it!" The woman said opening a bag of medical supplies that snapped off to the back of her belt.

A man with a birth mark in the shape of the Big Dipper came up from behind the woman. "Come on Gideon! We've come too far and done too much to lose you now!"

"Dipper? Mabel?" Gideon could not believe his eyes.

Mabel who since their time in prison last year had trained herself to be their medic injected Gideon with a painkiller. "Dipper I need you to pull this out so I can seal the wound." She held up the bio sealer spray can and another injection. "Then I'm going to give him a plasma booster."

"Right!" Dipper held onto the shrapnel with his power gauntlet. "On three! 1,2,3!" He pulled it out while Mabel used the spray sealing Gideons wound. She then used the injection. As his body quickly made more blood cells Gideon became more alert.

"It's going to be okay Gideon." Mabel said. Gideon could hardly believe it but Mabel had grown even more beautiful. When he first met her, she was a girl but now she was a woman. Her curves, her height, he never felt like this before. This was more than just some crush.

"Let's get you onboard Ixcia and get you out of here." Dipper said.

Dipper's words snapped Gideon out of his lustful stupor. He was a Raider and Raiders don't leave their comrades behind. "We can't leave, my commander is in danger!"

"Gideon these people forced you to fight their war for two years! You don't owe them anything!" Dipper tried to reason with him.

"You're wrong! The Raiders aren't like the rest of the Brotherhood! And even if I leave, I would be disserting my post! The brotherhood would hunt me down and kill me! Piker is with Neryo! She is the only one who can release me from the Brotherhood!"

Mabel looked to her brother. "We have too many guys hunting us down as it is. We may not have a choice."

"They should be in a canyon under that mountain!" Gideon pointed in the direction they need to go.

Ixcia's voice came over Dipper and Mabel's communicators. "My scans show that canyon is too narrow for me to land in."

"Then we'll take the jet bike." Dipper said as the bike flew out of the cloaked ship. "Gideon you get inside Ixcia. We'll get Neryo to release you even if have to force her." The crystal in Dipper's gauntlet glowed as he clenched his fist.

"No this is my mission and I have to finish it!" Gideon said standing up.

"Gideon you can't move around too much! You'll tear the seal!" Mabel pleaded.

"My dead comrades are counting on me! I must complete my mission!"

Dipper sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, you ride with Mabel on the jet bike. I'll keep up with my boosters."

"You can only fly with them for ten minutes before they need to recharge for fifteen. Can you make it in that time?' Mabel asked.

"If I push them then I think so yes."

Mabel helped Gideon onto the jet bike. "You grew and got skinner. Guess we can't call you Lil' Gideon anymore." Mabel climbed on herself. "Hold on tight to my waist. Tell me if you start to feel any pain. Oh, and keep your hands right where they are Gideon."

Gideon blushed a said nothing as they flew off. "Alright, let's go!" Dipper said as he took off.

Part way to the canyon Ixcia contacted them. "Dipper, Mabel. My scans of the crashed cruiser show that while it's Tri-laser cannons are disconnected from its power grid they are largely intact and could be integrated with my systems once we get to a proper space dock. This would make me a match for Imperium cruisers. Soostron can move them to my cargo hold with the power loader along with any other components we might be able to salvage. Shall I have him begin?"

Dipper looked to Gideon who nodded yes. "Do it Ixcia. We've needed more fire power from day one."

When they reached to mouth of the canyon, they found something they were not expecting. "It's the centurions that were going after Piker but…"

"All their heads have been chopped off." Mabel said looking down at the bodies.

Dipper pulled out his scantrix to get some readings. "Gideon you've been on this planet a lot, right? Do you know of any animals here that could do this?"

"No." Gideon said pulling gun off his rocket pack. "And Piker and Neryo prefer guns to blades I don't think they did this."

"Scans show that the each were struck once with a very sharp blade. Someone cut their heads off with a single move each."

"Whoever did could be after Piker we have to hurry!" Gideon yelled.

Dipper continued to look at the scantrix. "My boosters need to recharge. We're are going on foot from here everyone stay alert."

They made their way down the canyon each with weapons at the ready. "Are we close Dipper?" Mabel asked.

"I'm picking up three humanoids ahead." Dipper said as they turned a corner to see Piker and Neryo together, the sun right above them in the sky.

"Gideon what are you doing here?" Piker asked.

"Who the hell are all of you?" Neryo growled pointing two guns at them.

Gideon answered his commander. "The Imperium learned about your meeting from mercenaries they caught and sent a squad after you. We came to save you, but they were already dead. Sir the ship crashed, the others they're all dead."

"What?" Piker was shocked. Before anyone knew it, someone jumped down from the higher up in the canyon. It was a young woman in a skintight black jumpsuit with a long blonde ponytail holding a pair of long triangular daggers and had a black and yellow vizor over her eyes. She leapt at Neryo who shot at her, but she dodged with speed and grace. The girl slashed Neryo's guns in half then as Neryo tried to punch her attacker she spun around sliding to behind the Brotherhood's leader and stabbed her in the back with her left hand, orange blood spilling out the other side. She then pulled the other blade to the general's throat with her right. "Stop!" Piker shouted. "She has to know why she is going to die." He said with venom in his voice.

The young woman lowered her head and used her right thumb to push her visor up never losing her grip on her dagger. She then lifted her head and looked at Piker. "The clients orders must be obeyed." The three humans recognized her.

"Pacifica?!" the they all said at once.

Piker was surprised by their familiarity with the sixteen-year girl. "You all know this girl? She is a Felggur assassin I hired." They tried to move closer to their long-lost friend when Piker pulled out his pistol. "Don't move! I'm not going to let you stop her!"

"Traitor!" Neryo wheezed spiting up more blood.

"Yes, I betrayed you and you want to know why?" Piker pointed to Gideon. "Because of him!"

"Me?" Gideon didn't understand.

Piker ignored Gideon and continued to talk to Neryo. "I heard you when he came here. You don't even remember him! He is everything wrong with the Onyx Brother! He is an outsider with no real stake in our war just like those mercs who betrayed us to the Imperium! He is a slave when we are fighting for all our people's freedom! And most of all he was a child just like Chugar! A girl who died too young in your war! Who died because you cared more about having your soldiers well-armed than making sure they had proper medical supplies! My men, my brothers died fighting a war to free us from one tyrant not knowing we were going to replace him with another! Because all you care about is reclaiming your mother's crown!"

"The Onyx Dynasty is mine by birthright!" Neryo spat.

"Your Dynasty died with your mother! A tyrant just like you! For twenty years I fought to build a better future for children like Chugar and Gideon, but you are too caught up with recapturing past glory and don't care who dies to get it! That changes today because when you die, I become the new leader of the brotherhood and there will be no more hired guns and murderers who target civilians in my brotherhood! There will be no more slaves who lost their freedom to fight for ours! And most of all there be no more children dying before their time! And that's all I have to say about that."

"Bastard!" Neryo shouted as Pacifica slit her throat. Pacifica then twirled her daggers so fast all the blood flew off. She then hung the daggers off her belt. In the whole thing not one drop of blood got on her.

Mabel was the first to recover from the shock. "Okay that was intense, but everything is all right now! We're all back together and now we can all go back to our ship and find a way home."

Pacifica moved to a fighting stance. "I must return to the Felggur." Her voice was cold and barely had any feeling to it and her eyes had a glazed look in them.

"Pacifica it's over. Just come with us." Dipper pleaded.

"No, I must obey the laws of Felggur. Obedience is everything."

"Pacifica what's wrong with you? It's us your friends!" Gideon said gun shaking in his hands.

Pacifica lowered her hands in reach of the daggers.

Piker tuned his gun on Pacifica. "Stop that right now! Neryo is dead! The mission is over! There is no reason for you to fight them."

"The mission is over. The target was eliminated so you are no longer a client and I no longer must obey you. Only the laws of the Felggur."

Dipper came to a horrifying realization. "The soldiers at the entrance of the canyon. That was you!"

Pacifica reached up and pulled down he visor. "Yes. They got in the way of my assignment and had to be eliminated. Don't get my way."

Mabel was crying. "Pacifica please! We don't have to this! This isn't you! Don't make us do something crazy!"

"You're better than this Pacifica!" Dipper said.

In an instant Pacifica reached for a small pack on the back of her belt. "Look out!" Piker yelled as there was a blinding flash of light. The next thing they knew Pacifica was gone.

"Why Pacifica?" Mabel cried.

Gideon dropped his gun. "She wasn't acting like the Pacifica I knew. Is this my fault? We promised each other to help us both be better people."

"We've got go after her!" Mabel yelled.

"Don't bother!" Piker said putting his gun away. "She used a flash disk. It stuns whoever looks at it without protective eyewear. Look, the sun was right above us but now it's at an angle and our shadows are longer. We've been standing here like a bunch of slack jawed idiots for about an hour. She's long gone by now. Probably left on a ship."

Dipper turned to Piker and pushed him against the canyon wall and held up his gloved hand ready to punch him. "You hired her! The last time we saw her she was bought as a slave by a man from the Azure Crown Star Cluster! Tell me everything about these Felggur you know, or I am going to smash in your skull!"

"Dipper!" Gideon yelled.

"It's all right Gideon. He's upset and I am more than willing to tell you all what I know but it isn't much. Like you probably figured out the Felggur is an order of assassins. What you said about who bought your friend seemed to confirm the rumors that their headquarters is somewhere in in Azure Crown Cluster. They are expensive to hire, I had to save my whole pay for two years to pay for their services. There is a com channel you can call them on but don't bother. It's untraceable, they check their targets, you must pay in advance and you can never choose the assassin. They always assign them to you so you can't trick them by ordering a fake job and asking for her. The worst thing is they take their recruits in as children, mentally condition them to obey their orders and train them to be living weapons. That's what the name Felggur means, children of death."

Dipper let Piker go and lowered his fist. "So, you're saying Pacifica's brainwashed. That they are controlling her!"

"That about sums it up yes. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go the Kill Cruiser and bury my comrades."

"Of course, sir." Gideon said and then realized something. "I gave them permission to take our tri-laser canons. I hope I didn't overstep."

"Salvage rights. Finders keepers. Just let me take a few personal items. If they survived the crash."

"We better hurry back then." Mabel said. "Those Imp soldiers haven't reported for at least an hour and their bosses will send a search party.

"Imps?" Piker didn't understand.

"Short for Imperials. It's also the name of small demons on our planet." Dipper explained.

"Fitting. Think I'll spread that around. My bike is just behind that rock. Let's go."

Mabel had a demand to make. "Gideon is riding with me. I treated his injuries and I must look after them. And I don't want any arguments from you. Even if you the leader of some tough rebel space army."

"Mabel." Gideon was both flattered and shocked that she would talk to the Commander, no General like that.

"Mabel? So, this is the girl I heard you telling the guys you were sweet on. Watch yourself with her, she's a spitfire." Piker chuckled. They rode back to the ships seeing Soostron in the power loader carrying a crate full of explosives. "That's one of Holar's fun boxes. He always knew how to keep them secure. But looks like he didn't write a message on it like he always did. Guess he didn't have time."

Gideon had a sad look on his face. "Do you guy have a spectral painter?" He asked Dipper and Mabel.

"I use it a lot to draw." Mabel said.

"Good; I know what I should put on this. I know where their bodies are. Draga and Holar are in the bridge. What's left of Grual should be in the engine room."

Piker entered the wreck. "There is something I want for the funeral among those personal items. Let's split up and meet back here."

Dipper asked Soostron a question. "Soostron as soon as your done securing that crate could you help us dig some graves?" The robot nodded.

Dipper came out dragging the large suit of Holar with his gauntlet while Mabel carried Draga. Gideon came back carrying a charred skull and dog tags while dragging his footlocker. "This is all could find of Grual. He saved my life."

"Those are your things?" Dipper asked.

Gideon look down at the locker. "Just some spare uniforms and my training weights. Everything else of mine I'm carrying with me."

Piker came out of the ship holding two items. "I found my old marshal's badge and the photo Chugar gave me. I had a bottle of Olar whiskey I was saving for our final victory. Figured I'd pour them one last drink, but the bottle broke in the crash. Nothing to do about that. Shame."

With the graves dug and the Raiders laid to rest in them, scrap metal from the Cruiser 48 used as tombstones with their dog tags hanging from them, Gideon was the first to speak a few words. "You three helped make me who I am today. At first, I thought you all just wanted to tease me and make me suffer. But you all knew you had to push me hard if the pile of pudding I was would have a chance. Thank you all."

Piker sighed. "You boys were my brothers for most of my life. I know what I must do but I just never thought I'd have to do it without you guys. That was one of the reasons I didn't tell any you what I was doing so that if it went sideways you all would be safe. But it's like you always said Grual. We got to fix things ourselves because the universe is cruel and doesn't give a shit about us. Draga, figures it would take the whole ship crashing to take you down. That cocky attitude of yours always seemed to make it seem like you had your own built in force field. Holar, we joined the Brotherhood at the same time and made the Raiders together. You spoke your mind and was always ready with a joke. When things seem dark, I will think back to you my old friend. All of you give Chugar my love. She let me know what it was like to have daughter. You all saw something in Gideon I didn't see or didn't want to see." Piker turned to Gideon. "The day we met all I saw was the things about this war I hated. But without realizing it you have grown into a fine young man with so much more potential. It's only now that when I look back that I know you are worthy of my respect. That is why as my first order as General of the Onyx Brother that I release you from your service. You are going to do great things out there."

Gideon was shocked at the prospect of his own freedom. "But sir what about you? You might need my help…"

"Don't be a damn fool now!" Piker shouted. "You have too much to do! Didn't you make a promise to Chugar? To show her spirit your planet's trees? And don't make me doubt our comrades' faith in you! Your friend is still out there alive, and she needs your help! Prove to me once and for all that you are the Raider they believed you to be!"

Gideon sniffed with tears in his eyes. "A Raider never leaves his comrades behind." When he said it he had wiped away his tears.

"You're not my soldier anymore but consider this my final mission for you! Go with your friends and save that Pacifica girl. Then get yourselves home and keep your promise to Chugar!"

Gideon stood as straight as he could and gave a salute. "Sir! Yes, sir!"

Piker then spoke to the Pines twins. "You two look out for him. I know you can do it with that ship of yours."

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.

Piker pointed to ship that while still cloaked had gathered some dust from the wind. "I may have only two good eyes but that is the outline of a Larnekian Star Singer mark three. They only made fifty of them before the Imps blew up the shipyard they were made at a hundred years ago. While she is a cargo ship what you got there is a rare and beautiful work of craftsmanship."

Mabel turned to the ship. "Ixcia why didn't you tell us you were so special?"

"You never asked." The ship replied.

"I walked into that one. Are you getting a sense of humor after spending so much time with us?"

Piker chuckled as he got on his bike. "Ixcia. The name of the Larnekian goddess of good fortune. I take it as a good omen for you all. Now none of you worry about me. There's a mining town a few hours ride from here. It's where Neryo lands her private shuttle here and it has a cloaking device. I'll get off this planet just fine." Piker stopped for a minute. "Hey Gideon, one last thing! Toss me your dog tags!"

"Why do you want those?" Gideon asked.

"I'll always treasure Chugar's photo, but it doesn't have all my Raiders. I want something to remember you by!" Without a word Gideon took off his dog tags and threw them at Piker who caught it in one hand and rode off.

"Well Gideon I think it's safe to say that there nothing for you here anymore." Dipper said.

"There's just one thing I want to do before we take off." Gideon said.

"You need this right?" Mabel held a device with a nozzle, a black vertical cylinder with a handle and a touchscreen with several colors. "Ever use a spectral painter before?"

"A couple of times." Gideon touched a corner of the screen that was black and began to wright on the grey box the used to belong to Holar.

"Not bad." Dipper said as the cargo bay closed. He then realized something. "I almost forgot." He pulled out the scrantrix. "Ixcia, update crew manifest."

"Right like when we first came aboard." Mabel said as Dipper scanned Gideon. "Just say your first name into Dipper's scantrix so our ship's A.I. will to listen and help you. She'll want to keep you safe."

"Gideon." He said.

Dipper had a satisfied look. "There. Icxia should be connecting to your translator implant to talk to you if you lose your communicator and she can you track with it too."

"So, this ship will actually care about me?" While Gideon's old ship had a computer, it wasn't a sentient A.I.

Mabel urged the boys on to the lift. "It's her rule number two. Rule one is she has to do what the captain says."

"Oh, right which of you should I report to?"

Dipper held up his hands as they made it to common area. "Relax Gideon. It's sorta weird but both me and Mabel are co-captains, but we decided a long time ago when you and Pacifica got back we would do things democratically. You were just discharged remember? You're a civilian again."

They lead Gideon to the crew quarters. "We already had Soostron put your stuff in your room." Mabel said. "It's the one right next to Dipper's room. Tell me what color you want for your name on the door and I'll write you. We'll give you the grand tour after we have Ixcia check on that wound in the sickbay but first let's get out of this system."

"I'll take navigation this time." Dipper said. You want take helm Gideon?"

"They…said they'd teach me to fly the cruiser next year if the war wasn't over by then." Gideon hung his head.

Mabel pat Gideon's back before taking the helm. "Oh, sorry Gideon! We're both just so excited that we have you back. I guess we forgot that you'll need time mourn." They lifted off the surface and saw the destroyer was still in orbit.

"At least we're still cloaked." Dipper said just something hit Ixcia and the Destroyer locked on to them with a tractor beam. "Seriously? Ixcia what happened?"

Gideon was a little surprised to see Ixcia's avatar. "Debris from the Kill Cruiser's sensor array impacted my hull, spreading highly charged theta particles." She said.

"Which to the Imps sensors lit us up like a Christmas tree and that tractor beam is keeping us from raising the shields or jumping! Can't something go according to plan once?" Dipper yelled.

"Does it ever for us?" Mabel said as a channel was opened.

The Imperium captain looked at the humans with a calm but arrogant look. "I am Captain Kondar of the Imperium destroyer Hand of Suprema. We have scanned your vessel and your weapons are useless against us."

"You killed my friends!" Gideon shouted.

"Sir! Those lifeforms are wanted for heresy! We should just destroy them now!" a crewman said.

"Try it and we'll blow some holes in your space donut!" Mabel said.

"Hold your fire until my command! We must show these barbarians who side with the Onyx Brotherhood that we are more noble than they. I shall give you fifteen minutes to make peace with yourselves before I blast your ship out of the stars and let your energies rejoin with the heart of the cosmos. It is a shame that I must end lives so young." Kondar closed the channel and turn to his men. "They may make one last desperate attempt to fight back but they have nothing that can destroy this ship. My strategic planning is unmatched. They are doomed."

On the Ixcia at the same time. "Is there any weakness we can use? Dipper asked.

"Scans show that there is damage on their sensor array from the previous battle that they have not yet been able to repair. The array is next to the tractor emitter. If the new cannons were installed, we could destroy their sensors and break free from the tractor beam allowing us to go into hyper jump."

Gideon had an idea. "I have a plan but there's no time to explain it."

"You've been through enough to know what you're doing. What do you need?" Dipper said.

Gideon pointed to the enemy ship. "Point the cargo bay doors at that array and I need a life patch! The rest I need to do myself in the cargo bay as soon as you see that thing blow jump us out of here!"

"Right!" Mabel said as she turned the ship. "Ixcia give him whatever help he needs that's an order!"

As Gideon got on the lift down to the cargo bay Soostron handed him a life patch. "Thanks friend." Gideon said as he slapped the patch on. "Ixcia lower the power loader but don't detach it!"

"Confirmed." Ixcia said as the loader came down.

Gideon climbed on and used the loader to grab Holar's fun box. "Thanks for one last gift guys." Gideon said. "Ixcia when I tell you to open the cargo bay door!"

Ixcia then said. "Gideon, I have extrapolated your plan. There is a 47.92% chance that you will be blown into space."

"I know don't pull me in until this thing blows. I won't lose any more friends!" Gideon lifted the crate above his head. "Now!" The door opened and while he was being blown out, he threw the crate.

On the Hand of Suprema one of the crewmen noticed something on the scanner. "Sir! Explosive decompression from the heretic's cargo bay! Two objects detected!"

Kondar wrinkled his small nose. "So, their last act defiance is to throw trash at us."

The crewman looked back to the screen. "Sir there is something written on the first object. Raiders Roll?"

As Gideon floated in the loader he pulled out his hexa-blaster. "This is for the Raiders!" As he fired his time with the Raider flashed in his mind. The last thing he saw before the box exploded was Chugar saying. "You're my best friend."

Alarms sound on the Imperium bridge. "Damage report!" Kondar ordered.

One of the crewmen reported. "Tractor beam has lost power. And our sensors are gone! We're completely blind!"

Kondar grabbed the hair on his forehead. "It can't be! An officer and strategist of my caliber, outwitted by children? Impossible!" With that last word he torn out his hair leaving a him only with hair on the back of his head.

The next thing Gideon knew he was looking up at Ixcia's avatar being projected from a set of robot hands hanging from a white ceiling. "Procedure complete. Recommend two days confinement to sickbay for observation and recovery." She said.

"Gideon you little dummy!" Mabel scolded. "Getting yourself blown out and back in reopened your wound!"

"It was the only way." Gideon couldn't look at the older girl.

"Ixcia display my personal star chart and update." Dipper ordered. The map of the galaxy wasn't anything Gideon hadn't seen before but this one had a lot of systems marked red. "Forty-nine. Forty-nine systems and two years we looked for you! We had to do some dirty dealings to find you! And when we do, we almost lose you! Do you realize how worried we were?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't lose you guys too!"

"Just don't scare us like that anymore." Mabel squeezed Gideon's hand.

Dipper reached up and slid the map to a blue area that looked like a crown. "This is the Azure Crown Cluster. Pacifica comes and goes to somewhere in that place with thousands of star systems and we are going to need your help to find her".

"Whatever you need me to do." Gideon said.

Mabel let go of Gideon and pointed straight up. "Right. Well first thing is you need to get better. Ixcia set a course for the nearest port on the way to the Azure Crown Cluster."

Thirteen years later,

"Crashes, brain washed assassins, giant war ships, that place in space you were at sounds like a death trap!" Bud said.

Darla was livid. "You're lucky to be home alive much less in one piece!"

"I had a lot of help." Gideon said as they heard a knock on the door.

The door opened and Mabel came in. "Hey Honey."

"Mabel my Angel." They took each other's hands and kissed. "What are doing here?"

"My parents want to meet you and your family." Mabel smiled.

"Mabel did you really marry our Gideon?" Bud asked.

Mabel gazed lovingly at her husband. "It took a few years for me to see what a wonderful and handsome man he's become."

Bud gave Mabel a bear hug. "Well welcome to the Gleefuls!"

As Bud let go Mabel saw Erika. "Oh hello."

Gideon made the introductions. "Mabel, this is Erika. The baby sister I didn't I know I had."

Erika growled at being called baby, but Mabel was excited. "Oh my gosh! Forget making a new sweater! My next arts and crafts project will be drawing a college of all the cute big brother little sister moments you two should have had!"

Erika was really getting annoyed. "Listen Mabel, right? We've just met so you wouldn't know this about me but Erika Gleeful doesn't do cute."

Erika's attitude was no match for the power of Mabel. "You're sassy. I like you."

"Mabel could be the answer to our prayers." Darla whispered to Bud.

"Gideon was just telling us how he met up with you again." Bud said.

Gideon looked at Mabel with his eyes full of memories. "Yeah, but a month after coming aboard I thought that I would never be good enough for you."

Mabel looked at Gideon like he was joking. "What? That was all me. You were the big hero that week."

Darla said. "Well that sounds like another story. My son saving the day again."

"Mom, Mabel's family is waiting for us." Gideon said hoping to avoid the awkward parts of the story.

Mabel attempted to reassure her husband. "We got time Gideon. Dipper needs to get Pacifica, he gave Grunkle Ford the scantrix to study, Mom and Dad are calling our other relatives, and Grunkle Stan well…"

If you were in the men's room of the Gravity Falls town hall at that moment and looked under one of the stalls you would see an old man's shoes and heard a loud snoring.

Mabel started with the story. "Well like we said it was almost a month after Gideon came aboard and unfortunately it was also time for my monthly visit from Aunt Flo…"

Thirteen years ago,

Gideon was making his way to the lavatory. "I shouldn't have drunk all that Apa tea." As he got in, he heard someone crying. "Mabel? Are you okay?"

The door to the toilet opened. Mabel looked very angry. "Gideon what are you doing here?! Are you trying to get a peek, you little perv?!"

Gideon was shocked. "No! It's not like that." Gideon blushed. "I just heard you crying. I thought I could help."

"It's none of your business! You think you can help me?! You're just a stupid little kid! Leave me alone!" Mabel stormed out.

Gideon was both hurt and confused. "I don't understand. What did I do?"

Half an hour later Gideon entered the bridge and sat at the engineering station. Dipper was at the helm. "Hey Gideon. That adjustment you made to the maneuvering thrusters yesterday made turning really smooth." Gideon didn't say anything. Then Mabel came in. She looked at Gideon and, in a huff, sat at tactical. "Mabel, I doubt that we're going to be attacked when we get to Panfrora. It's a neutral planet, we just need pick up some food and a few spare parts." Mabel still refused to say anything. "Good talk Mabel." Dipper said sarcastically.

The next day Dipper went to Gideon's door, his name painted in green. When Dipper rang the bell there wasn't an answer at first. "Come in." Gideon said. On the floor of the room was the set of weights Gideon brought with him but instead of working out he was tinkering with a piece of machinery, but he was barely working on it.

"Hey man, what cha working on?" Dipper asked.

"It's a new capacitor for the jet bike. Should increase acceleration." Gideon said.

"Gideon, I know something happened between you and Mabel yesterday, so you want to tell me what happened?"

Gideon gave a heavy sigh. "I heard her crying in the bathroom and when she came out, she yelled at me. She called me a perv and a stupid little kid! I was just trying to help. I thought I knew what Mabel was like, but it was like talking to a stranger! At least with machines if there's a problem you don't get yelled at if you try to fix it."

Dipper rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Right first off Gideon you need to knock or something you can't just walk in on a girl in the bathroom. We really need to make a sign to hang outside the door. Second it was good you wanted to help but there's nothing you can do about it. It's just that time of the month for her."

Gideon put down the capacitor looking confused. "Time of the month for what?"

Dipper looked at Gideon like he was joking. "You know, she's having her period."

The look on Gideon's face didn't change. "Dipper you're not making any sense."

Hearing that the color drained out of Dipper's face. "Didn't your parents tell you about puberty? About the changes as you grow up? The differences between boys and girls?" Now Dipper looked like he was about to panic.

Now Gideon was even more confused. "Not much. I have started getting pimples, you heard my voice crack, and I noticed hair growing where it wasn't before. I asked the other Raiders about what was happening to me once, but they all just said 'not it' and left the room."

Dipper slapped his forehead. "Oh man, why me…" Dipper took a deep breath trying to calm down. "Gideon it looks like it's fallen to me to tell you the facts of life. Ixcia could you back me up here please?"

The projection orb in the room turned on and Ixcia produced some diagrams of the human body. "My scans of all of you allow me to provide accurate data on your biological processes."

Dipper gulped. "Okay there is a lot to go over, but I guess the first thing you need to know is that Mabel now goes through something every month called a period and all women of our species goes through this. A lot of things go on in her body for about three days and it really affects her mood. She either cries and cries or she just gets mad at everything. And unfortunately for us men are usually the everything. You offered to help with something you didn't understand, nothing can be done for it. For both the girl and the guys around her the only option is to endure it. Like if we ran into an Ion Storm, the only thing any we can do is ride out. Yep, grab an Apa tea for three days and ride it out. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you. She doesn't know that you didn't know."

Gideon looked like he understood. "Wow, okay so we both misunderstood what was going on and this period made her madder at me then she normally might have been. But why does she have to through all this?"

Dipper took another deep breath and sighed. "Well the short answer is that it's because it means she's now able to have a baby."

"What? A baby?" Gideon started to panic.

Dipper placed his hands onto Gideon's shoulders. "Like I said there's more to it. And we are going talk about that now. Buckle up Gideon I'm going to tell about puberty; nature's way of saying she hates us all. It's time to say goodbye to your childhood." Two hours later Dipper stepped out of Gideon's room. "Okay now if you have any more questions or just need to talk about this kind of stuff just ask me alright?"

Gideon looked uneasy. "Yeah sure. But I have a lot to process. I think I just want to be alone right now." Gideon closed his door.

Dipper leaned against his own door and groaned. "That was not fun. Ixcia is Mabel in her room?"

"Affirmative." Ixcia said.

Dipper then chimed Mabel's room. "Mabel, I know you want to be alone right now, but we really need to talk about Gideon and what happened yesterday."

The door opened and Dipper saw Mabel was crying and hugging her Waddles plushie. "You're not on his side, are you? You boys are all alike."

Dipper came in and closed the door. "I'm not on any side here. This whole thing is a big messed up mistake because we were abducted. I just got through telling Gideon about the birds and the bees!"

"What? He didn't know?"

"No! His parents never told him and those aliens he lived with had no idea what to say to him, so I had to do it! I'm sixteen years old Mabel! I wasn't planning to give the talk to anyone for a good long time! It was so awkward!"

Mabel's crying got worse. "Poor Gideon! I was such a jerk! He must hate me now."

"He doesn't hate you Mabel. He understands that he made a mistake. But after you're done going through this one you need to sit down and talk with him. We're older so we have to be the adults here."

"I hate being the adult. But you're right. I'm sorry you had to be put in the middle of all this."

"It's okay. It's just one more sign of how messed up my life has become. I'm wanted for a crime that I know almost nothing about, I just found out someone turned Pacifica into the winner of the Miss Murder Pageant, and I just told someone who was once my enemy everything I know about sex! It isn't fair for any of us! I don't want to make you feel worse but after you get through this you should really sit down and talk with Gideon. It might help if he heard a female point of view on this."

"Alright, and Dipper thanks for putting up with me. And don't worry, I think only Grunkle Stan can give the talk without feeling awkward."

"No problem." Dipper turned to leave. "I'm going to double check on what supplies we need pick up on Panfrora tomorrow."

Mabel nervously rubbed her arms. "Not add to all the awkwardness of these past two days but I hope we can pick up some feminine care products while we're there. I'm almost out." Dipper groaned as he left.

The next day they arrived on Panfrora. It was a world with one large ocean with countless islands no bigger than New Zealand. They looked down at this beautiful world feeling that maybe things were finally looking up. Little did they realize how wrong they were. "What are the people like here Ixcia?" Gideon asked.

"Two races call this their homeworld. The Aquafrora and Terrafrora. The mammalian Terrafrora live on the islands while the Aquafrora are amphibious and have several cities built under the ocean like the port we are going to land at." Ixcia explained.

"That sounds like a cool place to do some shopping. I'm taking us down." Dipper said as he made a turn at the helm.

They entered a clear tube on the surface and descended beneath the waves to a domed city. What they didn't see was that a ship that looked like a black orb with four scythe-like prongs followed them. As they went deeper, and deeper Mabel saw a group of green fish-like people swimming outside the tube. These were Aquafrora. "They remind me of Mer…Mermandooooooo!" Mabel began to cry.

"Who?" Gideon asked.

Dipper immediately replied. "I'll explain later."

After they landed, they were met by the dock master a Terrafrora woman who looked human except she had blue spots all over her skin. "Welcome. Your transmission said you needed to get spare parts and food supplies. I can give you directions to both a nearby parts store and a supermarket."

Mabel spoke first. "I'll go get the food and the things I need. You two go get those parts."

They nodded in agreement and went thier separate ways for now. The ship that followed them landed and six figures in yellow hooded robes stepped out.

"So, who is this Mermando?" Gideon asked.

Dipper looked up at the dome and the sea beyond. "Right. So, Mermando is a Merman that Mabel first met the summer we met you. As I recall at the time you and Grunkle Stan were having a dispute over one of the lounge chairs at the public pool."

Gideon giggled at the memory. "The look on Stan's face when he realized the chair was covered in glue is something I'll treasure forever."

"Yeah well, Mabel got a big crush him. She helped him get back to sea and he was her first kiss."

"Oh." Gideon said and then thought about something. "Dipper, has Mabel been on dates since she came to space?"

Dipper knew what this question meant. Gideon was still in love with his sister. "I'll tell you but don't get jealous. She's dated five guys in the past two years. Two of them just wanted a one-night stand that they never got, two more were ok but we had leave soon after, and the last would only go out with her if I came along with one his friends as a double date. Here's a tip. Never let a Nelox try to kiss you, they have three-inch fangs and they hurt. But back to Mabel she only went out with them because she wanted to do something fun. With us traveling so much she knows that there's not much of a chance for a long-term relationship."

"It doesn't matter much anyway." Gideon said glumly. "She was right. I'm am a just a stupid little kid and she is practically a woman now! She'll never want me. It's just like you and Wendy."

Dipper reeled for a second at what Gideon said but he remembered something. "Wendy was too old for me then and I accept that, and I moved on. If Wendy finds someone who makes her happy then I'll be happy for her. But after Mabel and I went back home to California a new couple moved into our neighborhood. They started dating when the guy was a senior in high school, and she was a sophomore in college, but they were happy. You are a teen now; you're growing and maturing. I told you to be someone worth loving, the rest is up her. I won't push Mabel to any choice, but I will support whatever choices she makes about her love life. If someday she decides you are the one who makes her happy then I won't stand in the way."

"But Dipper she's changed so much."

"Yes, she's taller and has curves. She has new needs and problems. But all the parts of her that I love about her as my sister, her humor, her friendliness, her positive attitude, those are all still there. And if those are the things that you fell in love with then what does it matter if she's changed?"

Gideon never thought Dipper would be this supportive. "You really think I that if I wait, I might still have a chance? You really wouldn't mind if she really liked me?"

"Her happiness is what matters to me. But if she does fall in love with you and you break her heart then I'm shoving my gauntlet down your windpipe." Dipper said in a hushed tone.

"And you would have every right. So yeah for now the thing to make me happy is seeing Mabel happy. It's like I kept telling myself since you two went back home. If it's meant to be then it will happen." Gideon said.

"Good now let's get those parts." Dipper said offering a high five, Gideon obliged.

In another part of the city bald portly terrafrora entered a building and was greeted by a by an elderly aquafrora. "Hello, Mr. Potwer what can the bank do for you today?"

"Well pay day's coming and you how I like to personally transfer to the employees in the office. I'll also need a little extra, The Mrs. and I are going to a charity ball tonight." As Mr. Potwer spoke, he didn't notice six robed figures enter behind him.

"Excuse me gentlemen you will have to speak with another member of our staff." The old fish woman said.

No one could see any features of five of the men but the one in front had long mandibles poking out of his hood. "The only thing I need anyone here to do is to get down on the floor." He said mandibles clicking after he spoke. In that instant he touched a controller he held and the robes of the other five fell away revealing five black combat droids each with a plasma cannon for one arm. The droids aimed straight up and fired sending the whole bank to their knees.

"Listen don't hurt anyone. There is no need to rob this place. I am a very rich man and can pay you whatever you want if let everyone go." Mr. Potwer pleaded.

Crix looked down at the man. "I don't want your money. I have what I need." After some more clicking Crix turned to elderly teller. "You! Hit the alarm now!" Crix demanded.

Back at the dock the crew of the Ixcia were loading up their purchases onto the ship. "So, Mabel did you find what you needed?" Dipper asked.

Mabel had a grumpy look on her face. "Yeah, I got enough to last me for months, but those prices were outrageous! Five Centaquan for one lousy box?"

"Well as soon as we get these aboard, we'll see if we can find any jobs that take us closer to the Azure Crown Cluster."

"Couldn't we stay a little a longer?" Gideon asked. "This is the nicest place I've been to in years and I'm sure Mabel could find something fun for us to do here."

"I wish we could Gideon." Dipper said. "But getting all this stuff really hit our wallet hard. We've been traveling for a month with no jobs. We need the work." Dipper then whispered to Gideon so the dock master couldn't hear. "Also, we can't stay in one place too long or a bounty hunter or the Imps could find us. I don't want to make this world a target for them."

"That should be the last of your supplies loaded onto your ship. You can leave at any time." The dock master said.

"I afraid I can't let them do that Davaria." A tall aquafrora man in grey body armor. "I am Pulba captain of the local police precinct."

Dipper was quick to defend them all. "We didn't break any laws and we scanned everything we just brought aboard so there shouldn't be nothing illegal."

"I am not accusing you of anything in fact we need your help. Ten minutes ago, a man and five combat droids attacked the bank on Coral Street and have taken several hostages. He says he will only negotiate with Dipper and Mable Pines of the Ixcia and that you must remain in his line of sight outside the bank."

Davaria looked scared. "Coral Street? My husband works at that bank!"

Pulba continued to speak. "I need you all to come with me."

"Of course, we'll help." Mabel said.

"I'm going too!" Davaria said.

They arrived at the command post the police made outside of the bank. Ships of the police and local news were all over the place. "Alright they're here now." Pulba said to another aquafrora officer. "Call the suspect." A nearby monitor was turned on.

On the screen Crix a, combat droid and a terrafrora man appeared. "Please, I have a wife." The man begged.

"And if you want to live to see her lay you a clutch of eggs, you'll tell them my demands!" Crix shouted. He pushed a few buttons on the controller and the droid pointed its cannon right at his head.

"Arvon! Davaria screamed.

Arvon spoke. "Dipper and Mabel Pines, our captor will release us if you transfer the command codes of your ship to him. He also demands safe passage out of this system on that ship."

Crix turned the camera to his face. "The two of you have twenty minutes to complete the transfer. Unless of course you don't care about the hostages." The screen went to staic.

"I can't believe it's Crix." Mabel said.

"You two know that oversized cockroach?' Gideon asked.

Dipper answered. "We met him two years ago. He wanted to buy Ixcia from us. Since then we've seen him from time to time sulking close to Ixcia each time."

Mabel added. "And now he wants Ixcia in exchange for the hostages. We just learned she is a rare ship. Is he some crazy obsessed collector?"

"Who cares?!" Davaria said. "Just give him your ship! It's not worth my husband's life!"

"Ixcia is more than just a ship!" Dipper argued. "She is a sapient A.I. and our friend and I don't want to put her into the claws of someone who would do something like this!"

"Wait a minute." Gideon said. "Crix only talked about the two of you. He must have no idea I joined the crew so he's not watching me. He's was controlling the droids by remote. I can easily build a jammer that would disable them. But I have to get close to use it."

"Not likely." Pulba said. "Look at the bank." He pulled out a tablet with the street layout and floor plans of the building. "He can see out to the street, no rear access, and the skylight will let him know if anyone coming in from above."

Dipper look around at all the buildings then at Pulba and Davaria. "Your peoples, they used war with each other, didn't they?"

"That's all ancient history! What does that have to do with this?" Davaria asked.

"It shaped the people who built this city. People who would fear an attack from the surface. People who focus all their defenses upward… not look below them!"

"I think I see what you're talking about." Pulba said. He swiped the tablet to show below street level. "Your right the sewer is right next to an old vault from back when the bank handled physical currency and the door can open from the inside to the sever room. Wait, it won't work, the vault wall will take too long cut with lasers."

"What if we just blow a hole into it?" Gideon asked.

"But if he hears an explosion, he'll have the hostages shot!" Mabel said.

"Not if I use a subsonic detonator. Grual used one to break into an Imp barracks and he made it out of parts of our vibrational cleaner. He showed me how to do it. I can make it and the jammer with the spare parts we got."

"How long do you need?" Dipper asked.

"If Soostron rushes the parts here I can build them and be inside that bank in twenty-five, thirty minutes at most."

"We don't have that kind of time." Pulba said.

"We need to buy more time." Dipper thought as hard as he could. "Wait a second he thought you would lay eggs!" Dipper pointed to Davaria.

"Well my people don't." she said.

"Exactly! Crix seems to be very good with robots but he seems to have no idea about alien anatomy! And that would include us! Mabel! Remember your big scene in our fourth-grade school play?"

For the first time in three days Mabel smiled. "Oh yeah, I think I know what you're planning Bro-Bro. Gideon you call Ixcia and get working on what you need, Dipper and I will try to buy you as much time as we can."

In the bank Crix was running out of patience. He paced around the room. "Time is almost up." He then heard a beeping on his tablet. "Finally!" Dipper appeared on the screen. "Good, now give me the command codes!"

"I can't!" Dipper said. "The codes are spilt between me and Mabel!"

"So, she needs to give hers too!"

"She can't! Her condition makes her too delirious to use it! Don't you realize that doing is going to keep you from your goal? Do you have no idea why we came to this planet? My sister is sick and if we don't get her to Doctor Medicine soon, she will die!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Auntie Em is that you?" Mabel said feigning delirium.

Dipper continued. "My sister has Plasma Meltdown Syndrome or P.M.S. and if she doesn't have an operation in the next few hours she will die, and you will lose her half of the code forever!"

"This must be a trick! I never heard of this P.M.S." Crix was getting angry.

"I'm not surprised it's from our native galaxy. Once I tell you what it is doing to her, you'll know why twenty minutes is too short a time to get what you want."

Meanwhile in the nearby sewer Gideon just finish putting the jammer together and was now working on the detonator. "Heavens to Betsy this place stinks! I just hope the twins are convincing."

Back at the street Dipper and Mabel continued their ruse. "So, you see her body is literally pouring the life out of itself. Please Crix! Don't kill the hostages because of my sister's suffering!"

"I see the tunnel! Grunkle Stan I'm coming home!" Mabel said.

"No Mabel! Don't go into the light!" Dipper cried.

Crix didn't know what to think. It had to be a trick, but the way Dipper talked, it didn't seem like a disease he made up just a few minutes ago. But if the girl dies, he would lose everything he was working toward. He had to be sure but how? He then had an idea. He pointed to a group of the hostages. "All of you! Move over there!" He used his controller to have four of the droids lock their weapons on the hostages. Crix then looked at his tablet. "I am going to send one of my droids outside to see these so-called symptoms for myself live. If it looks like the droid is being attacked or tampered with the others will shot the hostages! And the same goes if I don't see exactly what you described!"

Dipper looked at Mabel not sure what do. She gave a nod. "All right." Dipper said. The droid came out the doors as Mabel got ready. "These people better throw us a parade or something for this." Mabel thought.

Gideon placed the subsonic detonator on the vault wall and pressed a few buttons and stepped far back. It made a muffled sound and exploded quietly. "Thank you Grual." Gideon climbed a ladder to the vault door and like the police captain said it was easy to open from the inside. He climbed up to the server room.

Gideon crack opened the and heard the voice of Crix from the other side. "Screeeeeek! Disgusting! That is most the horrible thing I've ever seen! Alright get this Doctor Medicine and tell him that if she dies the hostages die!" Crix then threw the tablet down and stomped it into pieces out disgust at what he had seen.

Gideon came into the room, the droids targeted him but with the press of one button they all went limp and unmoving. Gideon pointed his gun at Crix. "Oh, I'm sorry Crix did I break your toys?" Gideon kept his eyes on Crix while he spoke to the hostages. "Get out of here! There was no argument as they ran out of the bank.

"But it couldn't be a trick! What I saw was real! This P.M.S." Crix said looking confused.

"I don't know what you saw and I don't want to. Everything Dipper told you was the truth except for one small detail. It's completely normal and harmless. Just something our women go through. You lost because you know nothing about human anatomy."

"And you know nothing about mine." Crix opened his mouth and out came a brown fluid that hit Gideon in the face.

"My eyes! I can see!" Gideon yelled as they felt like they were burning. He felt Crix push him down as he ran past him down into the sewers.

A short time later Dipper was scanning Gideon. "There is no need for alarm." Ixcia said through the scantrix. "The blindness is only temporary, and Gideon's eyesight should return in a maximum of one hour."

"Well that's good news at least." Dipper said.

Mr. Potwer and Pulba walked up to the humans. "I want to thank you all for what you did today." Mr. Potwer said.

"He is a very wealthy man. His family owns the company that invented algae bars." Pulba said.

"How does a lifetime supply sound to you? We can make regular deliveries." Mr. Potwer asked.

Dipper held up his hands. "We can't accept that for two reasons first it would put your employees in danger. We're wanted by the Imperium for heresy."

Potwer looked shocked. "Oh, well then no deliveries in Imperium space. But you did say there were two reasons."

Mabel answered this time. "We can't stand the taste. We only eat them if we have to."

Mr. Potwer looked embarrassed. "I have heard that some species feel that way while aquafrora love them. However, when my family first made the bars we only focused on nutrition since my people lack taste buds."

"Well that explains a lot." Dipper said turning to Pulba. "Did you find Crix?"

"Unfortunately, no. We are combing the sewers but are sure…" Before Pulba could finish the black ship flew right over them.

"You may have evaded me for now, but I will get your ship!" Crix said on load speakers before flying out of the city.

"Great one more guy who will keep hunting us." Dipper said.

Mabel took Gideon's hand. "Gideon, I want to apologize for how I treated you the past couple of days. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You put yourself on the line today and could have been hurt much worse than this. You deserve better."

Gideon squeezed Mabel's hand back. "I should have waited outside the lavatory when I knew someone was in there. I can guess what you had to show Crix and it must have been humiliating. I get why you were mad."

"Still we need to figure out how to keep this from happening again. And Dipper wants us to talk about what he taught you, so you see it from a girl's point of view after this whole thing is done."

Gideon looked a little nervous. "I thought I was getting used to it. But…"

Mabel gave Gideon a pat on the back. "Yeah well, it's going to awkward for both of us. But for right now I want you to know I am proud of and you are still my friend but for those three day of the month I probably won't stand you."

"Understood. Since it's not over after we get back to the ship, I'll see you tomorrow." Gideon said with a smile.

Thirteen years later,

"Well that was certainly an adventure in growing up." Darla said blushing.

Bud gave a sigh of relief. "I just want to say that I am grateful to your brother Mabel. I was not looking forward to giving Gideon the talk. Nothing against you son, I just have a hard time talking about anything intimate with anyone other than your mother. I was planning on telling you when we found out Erika was on the way. But then the next day came and…"

"Dad if there's is one thing I know, it's things don't always go according to plan." Gideon said.

"All I can say is I could have gone without all the talk about your period Mabel." Erika snapped who then covered her face.

Mabel took Erika's hands and looked her in the eye. "The whole point of that story was to A, show you how smart and brave your brother is and B, show that Dipper became like a big brother to Gideon before we even dated. Don't you see? You got two awesome big brothers for the price of one!"

"And that price seems to be an annoyingly nice sister in law." Erika huffed.

Gideon slammed his fist on the desk in the room. "That's enough! Erika I've been very patient with your attitude because we've just met and this whole thing must be a big shock, but I will never have anyone speak to my wife like that even if you're my sister! If it weren't for Mabel's kindness and creativity, we never would have found our first lead to finding Pacifica!"

"Gideon, it's okay. I know not everyone finds my enthusiasm charming." Mabel said.

"Still I think she needs to hear this." Gideon said. "It all started during an event Mabel and Dipper's lives that I was glad to witness.

Twelve years ago,

Dipper, Mabel, and Gideon were sitting in the common area each with a tablet taking tests. Dipper and Mabel were seventeen while Gideon was fourteen and had another growth spurt and bigger muscles. "…and done." Dipper said.

Mabel put tablet down. "Same here."

While Gideon worked on his assignment Ixcia evaluated Dipper and Mabel's test. "Congratulations, Mabel, Dipper you have both scored 100%. You have officially completed the standard education for beings in this galaxy. In human terms you have just graduated."

"Wow, I can hardly believe it." Mabel said.

"That's great!" Gideon said.

"Thank you, Gideon. And thank you too Ixcia, you have been a great teacher."

"It has been gratifying, providing your education and watching your progress. And I am certain to continue to do so with Gideon who has scored an 87%." Ixcia responded.

"Guess there's still room for improvement." Gideon said with a smile. "Then again chemistry isn't my best subject. The only chemical reactions the Raiders thought I needed to know about were the explosive kind."

"After this job we should do something to celebrate!' Mabel then noticed Dipper hadn't said anything. She looked to see Dipper was shedding tears. "Dipper why are you crying?"

Dipper wiped away his tears. "Sorry it's just you know I had an image of this day. You and me in caps and gowns, and in the audience would be Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Stan, and Ford."

"Yeah, they should have seen us graduate." Mabel said sadly. She then perked right back up. "But you know you just have to imagine it and it will be like we're are all there. It's magic just like this." Mabel did a magic trick and made it look like a spare computer chip was pulled out of Dippers ear.

"Grandpa taught you that. Yes, I can see them." He remembered how Grandpa Sherman loved to show them magic tricks when they were little. Dipper continued. "And when I think about that I also find myself thinking about how Pacifica is our age how she should be back home on earth graduating herself. Instead she's been brainwashed and could be out there right now being forced to kill someone! We don't know how to find her or even if the brainwashing can be undone!"

Mabel hugged Dipper. "We are going to find her and get her back Dipper. On come, Pacifica would want us to be happy right now."

"I'll try but it would be easier if we weren't heading to one of the few systems in the Azure Crown that the Imperium controls."

Gideon stood up. "Don't worry Dipper, Mabel has a plan."

"Remember the terrafrora we met last year?" Mabel picked up the spectral painter.

They later landed on the planet Rin-Tou, a world with jungles growing right next to Imperium built cities. With their disguises in place their cargo was inspected without incident. As the inspection crew left Gideon started scratching the spots Mabel painted on him. "Quit that!" Dipper said his birthmark painted.

Gideon gave two more scratches. "It just itches a lot."

"That's because the paint was not meant to be used on skin. Just be glad it comes off in the vibra-cleaner. The important thing is that no one suspects us, Mabel get the item."

Mabel went to one of the walls of the cargo bay and pushed it, sliding a panel to the side. Over the years Mabel and Dipper kept finding compartments like this. Obviously Darnak used them for smuggling. Mabel pulled out a small box. "You are going to make someone very happy." Mabel said to the box.

The group made their way to a small square at the edge of the city. They sat down at a café and ordered some apa tea. After waiting five minutes an old grey furred man-sized monkey wearing blue robes with a staff sat with them. "Do have what you promised?" he asked.

Mabel smiled. "As we agreed Mr. Huo-Huo but I still think five kiloquan is too much." Mabel opened the box reveling a tattered old book.

"For the risks you must have taken to return my grandmother's holy book to me, nonsense!" Huo-Huo said as he took out his quan disk.

"That collector was more than willing to give it to us because he wanted something else more, love. So, we got your precious keepsake back to you and I got to make two people happy with my match making skills." The transfer was complete.

"Oh, it far more than a keepsake. This is the last remaining copy of our holy text. Since the Imperium came when I was a small child, they gave us knowledge that advanced us thousands of years in decades but in the process my people have forgotten who we are. This will help remind them."

"Does this mean you are going to organize a resistance movement?" Dipper asked.

"Violence is not our way. My hope is that we can convince the Imperium that there is room for our faith as well as faith in the Empress."

"I highly doubt that." As Dipper said those words many centurions entered the square surrounding a fat snail like man with a shell too small for him. Dipper got a good look at one centurion right next to the slug. "Mabel look away!"

"What is it Dipper?" Mabel asked.

"I can't believe! It's Buckgis, the first Imp who tried to arrest us!"

"Really? Gideon asked.

Mabel took a quick peek. She saw Buckgis was talking to the snail and that the tooth Dipper knocked out of his mouth was replaced with a gold one. "It's him all right but we should be fine. We've grown a lot since then and we're in disguise. Who is the big guy next to him?"

"That is the governor of this whole system." Hou-Hou said.

The conversation between the two grew heated. "Don't you think pulling so many centurions from their normal duties is a little excessive?" Buckgis asked.

The Governor's eye stalks stretched over the large rock man. "Of course not! There have been four attempts on my life in two weeks! Until the assassin is caught you and these men will provide me protection twenty-five hours a day!"

As they talked Mabel noticed someone run along the rooftops. A brown furred man like Hou-Hou wearing a black jumpsuit and a black monstrous mask. He leapt from the roof and pulled out a large shamateur ready to strike. "Lookout!" She screamed.

Buckgis deployed his shield just in time saving the governor's life. Buckgis the swung his taser stick at the man missing. "Surrender!" Buckgis ordered.

Th assassin took a swing at Buckgis. "Those who get in the way of the…assignment must be eliminated!" Buckgis blocked the sword but the top part of his shield was cut clean off. The other centurions tried to fight but were either knocked out or killed.

"Stop this!" Hou-Hou pleaded with the young member of his race. "Killing is not our way!"

"Obedience is everything!" The black clad monkey raised his weapon. Before the assassin could bring his sword down on the old man Dipper tackled him and knocked off the mask.

As the young monkey got up the old priest was shocked to see a small scar on his lip. "Hok-Hok? Is that you?"

"Grandfather…no…must…finish…my mission! Must return to…Shadow Cradle." The young simian struggled to say.

"You!" Buckgis recognized Dipper. "You may have changed but I can tell it's you heretic! I owe you for the tooth!"

"So much for a low profile." Dipper said. While this was happening Hok-Hok fired a grappling dart from his wrist and zipped up to the rooftops escaping.

"No! Hok-Hok come back!" Huo-Huo shouted to his grandson.

"We got to go now!" Gideon said turning on his rocket pack.

"I know a place in the jungle." Huo-Huo said.

"Ixcia rendezvous with us once we provide coordinates!" Dipper grabbed Huo-Huo and flew off with his boosters while Mabel fired her grappling hook into the nearby jungle zipping off with the others.

"After them!" Buckgis ordered.

"No! You must catch the assassin!" the governor said.

Later Ixcia landed in a crumbling village in the jungle. "I do not understand how my grandson could do something like this." Huo-Huo said.

"When was the last time you saw your grandson?" Mabel asked.

"Eleven years ago. He was only six when he was taken, and his parents killed. We are the only family we have left."

Dipper thought for a moment. "The way he was talking…he said obedience was everything! Those were the exact same words Pacifica said to us last year! Your grandson was taken by the Felggur!"

"And you stopped him from killing that fat slug!" the voice came from an orange furred monkey girl who was hanging from the trees by her tail who leapt down.

"Kemu-Kemu! You hired an assassin?" Huo-Huo scolded.

"That man's taxes are bleeding our people dry!" The girl said. "It's a better use of what little money we have then getting some musty old book back!"

"Killing is not our way! You may not be the one doing it yourself but paying another to do it for you is no different!"

Kemu-Kemu hung her head in shame. "I had no idea the Felggur would send your grandson."

Mabel got between Huo-Huo and Kemu-Kemu. "I know this seems bad, but this could be a good thing for all of us."

"How?" Huo-Huo asked.

"If we catch Hok-Hok not only can we reunite your family, but he might be able to tell more about the Felgurr, maybe even where their hideout is."

"Do you really think we can break through that brainwashing they did to him?" Dipper asked.

Gideon answered. "It might be easier than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

Gideon thought back. "During the fight Hok-Hok was struggling with his words and even hesitated when his grandfather recognized him. The governor said Hok-Hok had been trying to kill him for two weeks."

"I did give them the job two weeks ago." Kemu-Kemu said.

"Right and Hok-Hok said he had to return to something he called the Shadow Cradle, so what if this brainwashing the Felggur have has to be reapplied every two weeks or so. If that's the case, then that means we just have to hold him until the whole thing just wears off."

"If it does then the same thing will work for Pacifica!" Dipper jumped for joy.

Kemu-Kemu held up her hand. "Even if you do get him the Imps won't stop until Hok-Hok and you are dead."

"Or think we're all dead. Like how everyone thought Grunkle Stan was dead." Mabel said, a plan forming in her head.

"So, you want to fake his death and ours. How do you think we can do this? Dipper asked.

"It's like Grandpa Shermy always said. Magic is all about getting people to look at what you want them to see and away from what you don't. Gideon we are going have to rely on you to make this all work and hope Hok-Hok's next attack somewhere that can make this convincing."

The three humans soon had a plan and were following the governor. As he and his security detail began to cross one of the bridges in the city Dipper spoke on the coms. "Okay everyone this could be it, our first chance to get real information on the Felggur."

Gideon switched to a private channel. "Mabel, I know we all want Pacifica back, but does Dipper seem to get more emotional about the subject?"

Mabel answered on the same channel. "Dipper will deny it, but I think it's because he was starting to fall in love her, he may even still love her. The thing is, I think she was falling for him too. I saw things with the two of them, lines Dipper tried to hide in his journal, a text Pacifica thought she was sending to Dipper, but I got it by mistake. This whole abduction may have been bad, but it could give them the chance to realize their feelings. That's my hope anyway. But we better be ready."

As they switched back to the regular frequency, they heard Dipper say. "Here he comes, Mabel let's give them a good show and keep the Governor alive. Hok-Hok doesn't need another death on his conscience. Gideon wait until Ixcia is in position. Allright let's do this!"

Hok-Hok jumped up from under the bridge face to face with Buckgis. "This is the end for you assassin!" Buckgis said as he swung his weapon.

However, Dipper stopped him by grabbing his Buckgis wrist an began to wrestle with him. "Stop! He's been with the Felggur since he was a kid! They messed with his head! He can't be held accountable for his actions!"

Buckgis pushed back. "And why would a heretic like you care about him?"

"My friend was sold to the Felggur when we were abducted, if I can save him then I can save her! Not only that he has family who misses him!"

"If this friend is one of your kind then she is a heretic as well as a murderer and will get what she deserves!" Buckgis kicked Dipper but there was still fight in him. He was not the boy he was three years ago; he would do what he had to save Pacifica.

Hok-Hok was closing in on the governor. "Please! I'll pay you anything! I have more money than the Imperium knows!" The snail begged.

"I must complete my assignment! The Laws of the Felggur must be obeyed!" Hok-Hok- said Ready for a killing blow.

"Not so fast!" Gideon said shooting a line between Hok-Hok and his target.

The next thing Hok-Hok knew a hook and cable attached to his sword. "You don't have to do this Hok-Hok!" Mabel said. "You can come home to your grandpa! He loves you!"

"I must obey the laws of the Felggur!" Hook tried to pull his sword free. "Obedience is everything!"

"No, it's not! Family and love are! You're just repeating what they want you to be!" Mabel cried. "Your people are people of peace! Don't let the Felggur destroy that part of you! Fight back!"

"I want to but…I'm…not sure…I can!" Hok-Hok was struggling.

Dipper and Buckgis continued to struggle. "You see that? You people are supposed to be all about justice and order! Where is the justice in punishing a victim? Where is the justice in denying his grandfather the one person to make his life whole again? What is justice to you?" Buckgis said nothing and kept fighting Dipper shot at Buckgis' shield and flew to Mabel who pulled Hok-Hok close.

While all this was going on the other centurions shot at Gideon. "I'm hit!" Gideon's flight pattern became erratic. Two of his grenades fell from him. "My grenades!"

There was a huge explosion and part of the bridge was destroyed. "Well Sargent. It looks like four criminals have faced justice today." The governor said smugly.

"Make that five." Buckgis said as he cuffed the governor.

"What is the meaning of this outrage!"

"I heard you try to bribe that man. To me that sounded like a confession to the rumor that you've been over taxing this system and keeping the extra for yourself! No wonder someone sent an assassin after you! Take him away!" As the former governor was taken away all Buckgis could think about were the last words Dipper said to him. "What is justice to you?" Buckgis couldn't believe he was being shaken so much by the words of a heretic.

Unknown the centurions the four that jumped or flew off the bridge at the moment of the explosion and landed in Ixcia's cargo bay. They were so distracted by the explosion they never noticed to ship fly under them cloak and go back to the jungle. "How is my grandson?" Huo-Huo asked.

"He put up a fight but he's unharmed." Mabel said as Hok-Hok screamed.

"I…the fog…it is lifted!" Hok-Hok said happily. "I am free!

Hou-Hou hugged his grandson. "Thank the ancestors! And thank all of you."

"We were glad to do it." Dipper said. "Hok-Hok is there anything you remember about where the Shadow Cradle is or anything else about the Felggur? We need to save out friend from them too."

Hok-Hok thought. "The cradle is the machine they use to control us. I never learned where we were trained. We used a chain of cargo ships to transfer supplies and members to and from the base. I can tell you where I was supposed to go from here to get to the chain but to those not trained to follow it, it would take a long time to travel it."

"Well now that the imps think we're dead we got plenty of time to do just that." Mabel said.

"Good, I know of one of your kind in the Felggur, she must be the friend you wish to save. I can tell you about what we went through but it won't be pleasant. Just call me when you find where they are. I want to help."

"No! Hok-Hok if you join them you may have to kill again! It is not our way." Huo-Huo pleaded.

"Is it not written in the old religion that we must help who we can Grandfather? How can I turn my back on the suffering of others that I myself went through?"

Huo-Huo sighed. "You are right. But until then stay with me and read you great grandmother's sacred book and help me restore our faith to our people."

"Of course." Hok-Hok went to describe the chain of ships, how he was raised and educated by the Felggur, and most of all what the brainwashing was like. That part made the three humans ill knowing that their friend was still going through that every two weeks.

They got back on their ship and began the long process of finding Pacifica. "Well Dipper, we got a plan now." Mabel said.

"Mabel, I'm not sure I can be happy until we destroy this…thing that has sunk it's claws into Pacifica. It takes innocent lives and twists them to kill anyone so long as the price is right. We can't just save her but everyone under the Felggur's control."

"Just so long as you don't lose yourself while doing it. I don't think Pacifica would forgive any of us if we let that happen. We are going to find her and then we can finally go home."

Twelve years later,

"If it weren't for Mabel doing a nice thing for one old man or her idea for a magic trick, we never would have found the chain of cargo ships." Gideon said.

Erika was silent for a moment. "This whole thing has shown me one thing. I have the coolest, most badass big brother I could have hoped for!" Erika gave a rock and roll sign. "You fought a ton of enemy soldiers alone in the dark to try and save your friend, you stared down a giant warship with nothing but a box full of bombs and an alien forklift, you saved a bunch of people from killer robots, and you flew within a hair of a giant explosion! I think you're my new hero!

Everyone else in the room was shocked except for Mabel. "We'll that's just what I hoped you would realize."

"Gideon you got to show me how to fly with that jet pack of yours, or better yet how to fly your ship! Can you imagine what kind of stunts I can do with those?"

Bud decided to ironically nip this in the bud. "Erika Grace Gleeful! You are too young for a learner's permit for a car in this state. I am not letting you behind the wheel of an alien spaceship! Your brother can take you flying but you will not get behind the controls!"

"Fine." Erika huffed.

"We better get going." Mabel said. "The others are waiting for us all."

"And I want to introduce Dipper and Paz to my little sister." Gideon said with a smile.

"Well if they are as half as cool as the two of you then I'm going to like them." Erika said.

As the other members of the Gleeful family left Gideon held his hand to his wife. "Ready my Queen?"

Mabel took her husbands hand. "Yes, my Punwidge."