"One more time!"
Dipper grumbled, "This... is... a lot."
"One more! One more!"
Dipper grunted, pushed his feet into the grass earth below him, and lifted himself into the air. With a twist and a flip of his leg, he kicked at the make-shift target Grenda held above her head for him. Dipper slapped the boxing target away, and landed on his feet. A shaky landing, but he was still upright. Sweating and panting as he held his arms out, he found balance.
"Yeah!" Grenda cheered with Mabel, hollering as Dipper recovered slowly.
"There, ten times. Can I please get a break?" Dipper begged. Before either twin could say otherwise, he sat down on the grass. Dipper found himself staring up at the three girls, and Yuki. The alien held a notepad, which he scribbled down something on an unseen paper. Dipper often found that his notes were in Urlin, which only Mabel and Yuki could read.
"Dipper," Mabel walked from Grenda and Candy, who gave each other a high five with their target gloves, "We have to make sure we're ready for tomorrow!"
"I know that," Dipper panted, laying back, "I know this is your thing, but I'm exhausted."
"Pain is weakness just crying that you're beating it down with awesomeness," Mabel told Dipper easily and calmly. He eyed his sister, sweat sliding down from his face. His pleading look did not go unnoticed by Mabel. "I know dude," she sat down next to him, leaning on her knees, "But you're doing super well! I'm so surprised you're learning this fast."
"Always surprised," Dipper groaned, but his mouth failed his desire to guilt his sister, and a smile battled its way out. "I'm not that good."
"Oh, stop it," she told him, gently bopping his head with a fist, "You're being stupid if you think that. You just did a spinning high-kick! Ten times!"
"You could do that without thinking," Dipper said.
"Well duh, I've been doing it for two years! Pfft," Mabel rolled her eyes, "You just want to have me keep telling you that you're making progress. Like a doofus."
He looked away with a smile. Mabel may not have the same investigative ability that Dipper had, but she knew him all too well. He told her, "It's your turn anyway," while refusing to stand back up. "I'm done for now."
"Fine, dopey-dip," she said, granting him a moment of peace. She got back up to face her rough-housing friends. "Grenda! High as you can make it!"
"Play the Stoney Palboa music!" Grenda shouted. Candy, next to her, began to beat-box the theme. Mabel committed a seriously impressive leap, flip, and kick, all at the same time, and then repeated the process.
Dipper watched, a smile on his face. Maybe it was because he could watch her for a moment, but he came to the same conclusion she had. She was right, he had made progress. Almost a month since they arrived had gone by. He knew of the soreness of muscles that he had never felt before. With her constantly demanding of his training with hers, he had learned how to flip himself in mid-air. That was impressive enough for him to have a heck of an ego boost. Not that he would use that to boast – surely not.
He gave their final idea for the talent show a think-through. Dipper had a simple equation that the audience would provide the numbers for. When they gave the numbers, they would have eleven padded signs to hit on a post, each one higher than the next. It was inverse; nine would be a simple punch, while zero and the single needed period for decimals was at the top together. Soos had promised, with a little help from Yuki, who claimed this would be easy to set up, that they would be able to build it for the following day. Until then, the two just needed to keep practicing their technique. For Mabel, this was just a warm up.
"Dipper," Yuki's voice called him out of his thoughts, "Should the audience comply with your pre-requisites, there should only be the eleven triggers needed. If you could please have a limit to the numerical suggestions, that would reduce the size of your monitor."
"Two digits only," Dipper told him simply, "Should give us something to work with without being too complicated."
"A wise choice," Yuki grinned, and added some notation to his pad, "I had worried that we would attempt a task too high to accomplish in the time allotted."
"Hey, they say less can be more," Dipper shrugged, and Yuki laughed. "Have you heard that expression before?"
"No! But I appreciate and agree with it. It is something that I think my father would have enjoyed," Yuki told him, coming to stand next to him. Yuki joined him as they watched his sister continue to leap to Candy's tunes.
Dipper looked up to the newest employee of the Mystery Manor. Quietly Dipper stated, "You don't really talk about your father that much."
Yuki shook his head. "No. He and I were close, once," Yuki quietly explained, "But the Chrono-energy erasure incident put a strain on our time together. I know he never thought poorly of me," Yuki assured Dipper, "but there was… well. I suppose such things are only in my past. I must think of the future, to my times with humans."
Dipper snorted. He was always curious to learn more of Yuki's past, of the world he came from, of the alien races that traveled the stars. Still, Yuki's focus was always ahead, rarely behind. Dipper said, "Yeah, we humans are a lot to handle."
Yuki let out a tired sigh. "I sometimes fear that all humans think along the lines of your Grand Uncle and Pacifica."
"What?" Dipper looked up to the alien.
Yuki was poking at chin worriedly. "I, well, have noticed his tendencies towards simple monetary gain," Yuki explain quietly, "And as he is your elder, I... worry that he will leave such an imprint upon you."
"Wait, Dipper said, leaning up, "You think I'm going to grow up to be selfish?" Dipper asked pointedly.
Yuki looked quickly to him, like he had just harmed Dipper. "No! I suppose not... well," he sighed, and sat down, "I have only had several years to study humans. I've seen a pattern, much as any species which requires parental development: the young look to the elders. And... well, after witnessing the attempts a Pacifica Northwest at bribing you and your sister-"
"They were just attempts," Dipper reminded Yuki, who nodded.
"I do not seek to explain that you are corrupt, nor do I believe in any sense that is the case. I simply worry that if someone so young can be so, er, influenced as her... do you understand?" Yuki sighed, frustrated with himself.
Dipper sighed and nodded. Again, Yuki continued to prove his unerring ethics. Dipper put a hand on his shoulder. "We're not Pacifica, buddy," he told Yuki.
"Why is she so designed against you?" Yuki inquired, "I have yet to find any un-redeemable qualities about the two of you."
Dipper held himself back from correcting him. "We have history together," Dipper sighed. "Mabel and her had sort of a competitive thing going on last time we were here. Like I told you, she and I have a… past. Look, she's just as rude and inconsiderate as ever, and I think Mabel kind of hoped that she would have been nice since last time."
Yuki nodded, slowly and filled with confusion. "But you have not answered-"
"She's got a super-rich family," Dipper told him, "And is a spoiled brat."
That answered Yuki's question. "Ah, monetary gain again," Yuki sighed and stood back up, "It is such an unfortunate thing; to be driven to naught but the consumption of material."
"Humans can make it work somehow," Dipper told Yuki.
The alien frowned. "I… suppose." He started to walked towards the building, but told Dipper, "I shall inform Soos of the requirements and begin working on them. Good luck training, my dear friend," Yuki nodded to Dipper and turned. Dipper chuckled and looked back to his sister. Yuki, formal and polite as ever, was just too much.
"Forty five!" Grenda shouted as Mabel flipped one last time, and landed, sweat falling from her chin.
Mabel cheered, "Woohoo! Sweaty group hug!" Mabel shouted and rushed forward to her friends for a jumping hug as the three of them bounced.
"I am quite pleased to see your skills in person," Candy adjusted her glasses, wiping off some of Mabel's sweat from the rims, "They are something to aspire to."
"Ahhh, knock it off you," Mabel shook her hand in the air, waving away the received gifts of flattery.
"Mabel," Grenda leaned in closer to the three of them, eyeing the retreating figure with darker skin, "You gotta let us on in the new worker."
"I told you, that's Yuki," Mabel explained easily, "He's an alien who got stranded here saving the town from non-existence or something like that."
"Yeah, but what does he like to do?" Grenda asked, grinning as she looked past Mabel, "And does he like wrestling?"
"I don't think so," Mabel told her with a shaking of her head. "He's kind of anti-violence and stuff. At least unless he has no choice. He once punched a giant cat-man, but it was strangling Dipper, so, yeah."
"Then he is very smart for our standards?" Candy inquired, also peering past Mabel as Yuki entered the gift shop.
"Yeah," Dipper had stood up, and approached the three, "He was a scientist for his race. He was dealing with technology that surpassed ours so much it was scary. They found ways of isolating a bubble of reality, and could actually move that bubble around wherever they like."
"Uh... that sounds super sciency," Grenda nodded, and looked to her dark-haired companion, "Science-y, right?"
"Very science-y," Candy nodded.
"Why are you guys interested?" Mabel asked, "want me to ask him to hang out? He would probably learn more about being human-like if he hung out with us!"
"Sure! A cutie like that can totally be around us!" Grenda grinned.
"A cutie?" Dipper snorted, thinking of Yuki. The curly hairs certainly could be seen as cute, and the eyes were quite exotic. Still, was Yuki a 'cutie'?
"What? Isn't he?" Grenda rounded on Dipper.
Not flustered by Grenda's aggressive protection of Yuki, Dipper shook his head. "He's like... eighty-one years old or something," Dipper told them.
"What!?" Grenda and Candy barked, and the twins laughed.
With only an hour more of training, the twins continued to hang out with Candy and Grenda, who begrudgingly denied the Mabel a chance to sleep over, as the twins would need their sleep. Indeed, aside from a brief chat with Wendy and Soos about the coming competition, the twins practically stormed to their rooms, and passed out on their beds. Lying on their beds, darkness soon took them, and their strange dreams danced inside their heads effortlessly.
Saturday morning was one of great anticipation. Dipper and Mabel were so energetic, it was hard to tell which twin was supposed to be the nutty one. Dipper was tapping his foot endlessly while he brushed his teeth, humming a tune to the most recent song he had heard- a beautiful violin cover from Linty Sireling. Mabel eventually caught onto the tune, and the two of them hummed it the entire time as they slowly grew prepared.
"And here you are!" Mabel tossed to him a robe of his approximate size. It was off-white with green and blue detailing along the stitching and detail.
"Wait, but this is yours," he told her, holding it out to examine.
"Yeah, but we need matching clothes!" Mabel declared, "And I'm supposed to keep my robes with me when I practice. So, you can use that older one, because I can use this one!" she declared, picking out the one Dipper had seen her use the most. It certainly had a decent amount of physical wear on it.
"I guess I can, you know, if you're okay with that," Dipper said, trying it on over his morning shirt. "Wow. Doesn't fit that badly," he admitted.
"Oh wow, the twins can fit in almost the same clothes?" Mabel gasped, rocking herself to the side dramatically, "Oh, I never!"
"Shuddup," Dipper poked her nose and walked past her as she fell back onto her bed with a loud 'whoop'. Dipper checked himself out in the mirror, looking from side the side. The robe did not look bad on him. He certainly felt a tad more martial with it on. It was almost like he had actually taken lessons. Training that was other than the dozens of laps around a house, and lots of kicking and punching training with his sister. He hummed. "I could get used to this," Dipper admitted to himself.
"Well don't be wearing it downstairs!" Mabel called to him from the bedroom. He turned as the robe fell from his shoulders and he gathered it in his arms. "In the bag," she asked while holding up a large paper bag. "Thank you," she added as he promptly put it inside. Mabel began to collect the bag up and slip her own robe into it as well while Dipper sat on his bed. She only had to turn and spot him sitting down to know he was thinking of something upsetting again. His eyes were darker and more focused, and he pressed his interlocked fingers against his lips. "It's about the Warlock, isn't it?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah," Dipper nodded.
"Bro, I don't know what else we can do other than make sure we're there," she admitted sadly, "Warning people never seems to work."
"I had a thought, "Dipper told her, "Maybe the cops would listen to you. They probably still think you have magical future seeing powers," Dipper argued. Mabel put her hands at her hips, and he shook his head, adding, "But even if they did believe us, we don't know what he'll do or how."
"Or when!" Mabel added, "That's a big one too!" Dipper groaned and rubbed his brown hair through. Mabel shrugged, crossing over to sit with him. "Dipper, maybe it's our job to make sure he doesn't try anything."
"Huh?" he asked her.
"Well, last time he messed with us, he sent something after us, instead of himself," Mabel explained, "And that sounds like a scardy cat if I've ever heard of one."
"You think if we just show up, he won't be there?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah! He'd be too afraid to mess!" she said, and jabbed at the air a few times. "Still," Mabel added, her own mind working hard as she thought, "I guess that doesn't mean that he couldn't, you know, try getting someone else to do his dirty work for him."
"Then this sucker," Dipper told her, and turned to his own blue and silver journal, "is coming too." It had laid open, having a few more additions from the first and second edition journals Grunkle Ford had written.
"So," Mabel declared, "To battle, my stalwart companion?" she asked, lifting the bag in her arms and presenting an elbow for him to interlock.
Dipper grinned. "For justice, honor, and totally shoving to Pacifica!" Dipper declared, and the two of them, arm in arm, marched out of the room. Down the stairs they went, and found a quiet pair of adults they didn't recognize in the gift shop.
Standing with these adults, was their Grunkle Stan. "Ah! There you are!" A loud, gruff voice called from behind the quiet duo. Grunkle Stan roughly pushed past the two of them, wearing his usual suit, bow-tie, and fez. "Hendricks, please, allow me to introduce my competing grand sort-of-children," Grunkle Stan declared, putting a hand on each of them, squeezing together.
"Hello," the adult couple said to the twins, who nodded back.
"They're great at kicking butts, and being athletic, terrifying teenagers who won't hesitate to pull out teeth if you look at them the wrong way!" Grunkle Stan lied quickly, "But don't worry! They only go crazy when I catch you trying to haggle with me! Ha!"
"Grunkle Stan, what are you-" Dipper looked behind himself to face the older man.
Grunkle Stan continued to advertise the twins. "They will be competing in the Annual Gravity Falls Talent Show!" Grunkle Stan added, "Which is a great reason to stay an extra day and night! Remember, travel plans can come and go, but annual events only come... only once a year," he told them ominously.
The man must have thought Stan was an absolute genius. "Oh! That does sound like a good idea!" the man said to his apparent wife.
"What a wonderful suggestion," she said to Grunkle Stan, "Book us for the rest of today and the evening. We'll need to see this talent show."
"Excellent!" Grunkle Stan clapped his hands together loudly, stunning the twins as he walked around them, and he assisted the couple out the door, passing a smirking Wendy, leaning on the counter with her sack on her shoulder. Stan called to the couple, "I'll be there to watch myself! Thank you!" As Grunkle Stan led them out, he bolted back in and slammed the door, and hollered. "Yes! Make that two nights!"
Wendy, going to the register and adding the charge to the couple, snorted. "Man, and I thought you got creative when you wanted to take the same gullible group through the exact same tour, but with different lightning," Wendy told her boss as he retreated back to the middle of the shop.
Stan, at the mention of his prior schemes, grumbled. "I had to stop doing that. It's too much attention when someone has a stroke due to strobe lights. Damn epileptics," Grunkle Stan grumbled, "Ruining my career chances."
Mabel strolled up to him. "You're actually going to be down at the competition?" Mabel asked.
He flashed a proud grin. "Heck yeah! Being present when you two win, or Soos, I suppose," Grunkle Stan told them, "Is instrumental towards my plan to attract six hundred percent more business!" he informed them. "See, all I have to do is make sure that when you win, I rush onto the stage, steal the microphone, and tell the whole town that they can find you at my shop! Easy as pie!"
"I think they'd kick you off stage if you did that, Stan," Wendy pointed out.
"Let 'em! As long as the good word of business opportunity gets going, it'll be worth it," he told them firmly.
"Okay man," Wendy shook her head slowly and took the seat behind the counter. To the twins, she said, "Good luck you two."
Dipper, inferring to her words, deflated. "Huh?"
"Good luck? At the show?" she repeated.
Mabel, sad as well, asked, "You're not coming Wendy?"
"No," Grunkle Stan turned to them, "Since Yuki has decided that helping you two and Soos is more important than remaining a vigilant watchman here, I need someone here when I make my big announcement. Wendy said she can step in for him. So don't try roping her into this!" Grunkle Stan warned them. "Now, if you have everything, let's get down into town to win this thing and get me some business," he ordered as he turned, continuously adjusting his bow-tie.
"Yeah, sorry guys," Wendy apologized to two let down teens, "I needed some money for my phone."
"Wait, your dad doesn't pay for service?" Dipper asked as Wendy held out her phone.
"No. He thinks having a cell phone is for people 'not manly enough to shout across the state to talk to one another'," Wendy rolled her eyes, "or using seismic vibrations to communicate."
Mabel seemed to understand. "To be fair, that does sound super manly," Mabel shrugged, "Well, at least you'll have a nice, quiet evening to yourself!" she told Wendy.
She smiled lightly back. "Yeah. Aught to be fun, right?" Wendy asked to Dipper.
He forced a smile to his face. Mabel led the way out of the building, the weight in his chest built as he left her behind. Sensing a struggle in her brother, Mabel put an arm around his shoulder. "C'mon buddy," she kindly said as they left the gift shop. Dipper's clearly distraught face plain to read for his sister. Mabel reminded him, "She'll be there when we get back, won't she?"
As they stepped out, Dipper managed to plainly explain, "So much for getting a chance to show off."
There was little that Mabel could do in her attempts to shed Dipper from his melancholy. Grunkle Stan opted to drive them to the town, as he seemed excited for his various planned opportunities of profit and exploitation. Mabel did a great job of shielding the gloomy Dipper from most of the jives and teases Grunkle Stan had. It was mostly just her and the old con-man, chatting and joking together as Dipper grumbled quietly to the side. He really had hoped she could see him being, as he quietly put it, cool.
Arriving to the show, the sigh of the crowd shocked the twins. This was just as crowded, if not more so, than the pioneer day they remembered. The streets were packed with excited on-lookers as the last bits of the stage and the entire presentation were set up. Grunkle Stan sighed and parked the car next to Soos's, a street away from the center of all the attention.
"Okay you two gremlins," he barked orders at them, "Make sure to make everyone super impressed with your amazingness. No holding back!"
"We got it," Dipper grumbled as he pushed himself out the car, still mildly moody his crush wasn't here to see his triumph. Behind him, Mabel shrugged and followed her brother out.
"Hey!"
The twins turned around to see their Grand Uncle pulling himself out. Though he wore his usual Mister Mystery attire, there was something else he wore that was new: a genuine smile.
"Knock 'em dead, you two," he said with all the confidence in the world.
His heart swelled just enough to battle away the melancholy. Dipper allowed himself to feel slightly better, if not just for the fact that even under his schemes, Grunkle Stan was still there for them. Mabel gave a war cry fit for a warrior princess. She waved back to Grunkle Stan, and pulled Dipper ahead as he tried cleaning out his ears.
Through the crowds, and the other soon-to-be competitors, the twins bobbed and weaved. It was almost a pre-show warm up for the two of them. Without running into a single person, they finally made it to the sign-up booth, near the stage. A man on stage was pacing back on forth, with smooth, blond, slicked back hair. He read from a small post-it card in his hand as he mouthed words again and again.
"Next!" someone shouted, and the twins advanced, passing by what looked like Toby Determined in a pin-stripe outfit with suspenders.
"Pine Twins," Dipper announced as they approached the table, with the same two bored and frustrated looking employees staring at them from the other day. "Combat-Mathematics?" Dipper clarified.
The woman nodded. "Yeah. Sigh here," the woman nodded and pushed her already lying hand across the large paper, and pointed to the paper. Dipper and Mabel found their imprinted names and sighed. "Thank you. You can wait behind the stage to prepare. You're second to last."
"Aww, nuts!" Mabel pouted.
Dipper laughed and nodded. "Thanks," he told them, and pulled Mabel away with her paper bag.
"We're almost last?" she asked her brother, "How lame is that?"
Dipper was not so sure about that. "Well, that isn't so bad. Think about it like this," He explained, "It either means we get to see how lame our stuff is in comparison to literally the entire town," Dipper groaned, but patted his sister's back, "Or we wrap the show up with the absolute best there is!"
"Ah Yeah bro-bro!" Mabel shouted, and leapt up to a high five as they rounded the corner.
"Hey!" Still in high five, the two landed and looked ahead. Wearing a scowl as clear as the burning sun in the cloudless day, Pacifica glared at them. Her fists were clenched and her blue eyes had locked onto the twins. She was wearing a very elaborate, and quite beautiful, dress with slits on the sides. She had a matching top that perfectly conformed into an ideal dancing costume. "What the heck are you two doing here!?" she demanded.
"Pacifica!" Mabel ran up to her, and held her hand up, "Up top!" she requested. Pacifica stared at her, crossing her arms. "Up... top!" Mabel tried again. The blond continued to watch her. "Is this another one of those things you don't know how to do? You know, high five?" Mabel asked worriedly.
"I warned you two not to come here!" Pacifica reprimanded them loudly, her shouts catching the attention of some of the other competitors. "The heck – I paid you two to leave!"
Dipper, eager for chances to dig into her, explained in a bored voice, "Yeah, we didn't take the money," Dipper walked up to Mabel, picking at his finger nail easily, exemplifying his disregard for her. "We're going to be part of this competition. It's our right to be here."
"It's your right!?" Pacifica yelled, and then pulled her hair and spun around, "God! You two," she pointed at them, "I better not see you again, or I'll have you personally escorted out; by force," she added dangerously.
"Yeah right," Mabel waved a hand at her, "I know you really wouldn't do that," Mabel patted Pacifica's shoulder and then leaned on her, "You're just mad because we have soo much to catch up! It's not going to be easy."
"E-excuse me!?" Pacifica shoved away Mabel quickly.
"Well, yeah," Mabel said pleasantly, "You do remember me, so... you know, we can catch up and be friends. Right?" Mabel tried using her best diplomacy with a grand smile.
"Okay, Mabel," Pacifica stepped closer, her voice quieter as she grew closer, "I want you to get this straight, got it?" Mabel nodded and watched her carefully. "We are not friends. I do not want to be your friend. You are going to ruin this show, and I will have to deal with it all!" Pacifica warned them, growing hot in the face.
Dipper pointed out, "You sure that won't be your crazy spider-summoning flute?"
"I've taken extra precautions against that," Pacifica told them firmly, and pointed to an open box, to which the side read 'insecticide'. "There shouldn't be an insect around here to crawl on my shoes, or in your big mouth for that matter," Pacifica snorted at Dipper, who scowled back.
"Pacifica, I promise we're not going to cause anything," Mabel asked the blonde, "Just let us compete? Please?"
"I already told you," Pacifica barely gave Mabel a look before turning away and flipping her hair into Mabel's face, "Next time I'm back here, I want you two gone."
"But if the-"
"That's my warning!" Pacifica continued away, pacing herself to leave hurriedly. "Get lost!"
Watching her stomp away, Dipper angrily barked, "God she's such a snot."
Mabel nodded and huffed. "It's not like we're actually going to try messing with anything," Mabel told him, "I mean, when have we ever tried getting in her way with stuff?"
"I'm actually sure it's the opposite," Dipper told her, "She's gotten in our way more than she has us."
"What a poo-face," Mabel quietly grumbled.
Dipper blinked. He whistled at his sister. "Wow. She really upset you," he said. Mabel looked to him angrily and nodded. "Still was holding out for her?"
Mabel nodded again, the anger dissipating into a small sadness. "I guess sometimes you just have to let someone go," Mabel sighed and continued past a group of worried looking goats tied to a stake. Dipper self-inflected for a moment, wondering if Mabel had meant any of that about him, regarding Pacifica. This was Mabel, though, so he shrugged and followed her.
"Hey you dudes," a voice called to them once they passed the goats.
"Soos!"
"Yup!" Soos waved to them over from a table, where he had laid out his tools, varying from large to small, and a single electronic keyboard. "And Yuki!" Soos pointed to the side, where the alien was examining a water fountain worriedly. "Hey, Yuki?" Soos called over.
Yuki, cautiously, studied the square-shaped water-dispenser. "Ah!" Yuki barked as he pushed down the nozzel, and water came out. That seemed to worry him. "But, there is no guarantee that this source of water is fresh or clean of pathogens! On what terms would a human being drink from this!?" Yuki demanded. "Surely only the most desperate-"
"Excuse me," a short man, Toby Determined walked past him and took a sip form the water fountain. He eagerly slorped at the water.
Yuki looked repulsed and horrified as the man slurped from the water. "Barbaric," Yuki quietly grunted.
The twins and Soos silently agreed to let Yuki be, he was clearly dealing with a lot. "Well, I guess you can talk to him later," Soos said, "So, you guys ready to have a crazy time out there?"
"If we can," Mabel admitted.
"Uh oh, some strange mystery calling you away?" Soos asked, leaning across the table closer to them, lowering his voice to deny those closest to them, the goats, the ability to hear them.
Dipper explained in a simmering tone, "No, just some jerk blonde girl who thinks she can rule the world."
"Wow," Soos scratched his head, "That's a heck of a mystery."
"No, it's just Pacifica," Mabel told Soos. "She thinks we're going to ruin the competition if we join."
"It's like she thinks weird things just gravitate around us," Dipper admitted.
From behind a fence, a twangy voice cried out, "Gravity is just a theory! Gravitate that!"
Old Man McGucket called from past a fence behind Soos, holding himself up along the edge of the fence, his long bulbous nose poking out from the edge. He added, "It makes you think if meteorites just have the ideas in their heads to hit the ground whenever they feel like it, don't it?"
"Hi Fiddleford!" Mabel waved to the old man.
Dipper, eying the old fella, asked, "What are you doing here, McGucket?"
"I'm here to show of my amazing skills to the world!" McGucket told them, leaping off the fence and next to Soos, "Excuse me, strange squishy man of tallness," McGucket told Soos as he reached over to the tools.
"Haha, I am kind of squishy, aren't I?" Soos chuckled as he pocked his belly. "Nice and winter ready."
The twins worried at that decliration. They knew of the extensive skill McGucket had, ranging from replicating local cryptids as robots, to assisting in the construction of multi-dimensional portals. Dipper quickly asked, "You aren't going to build a giant death robot on stage, are you?"
Mabel piped up, "Or some kind of shrink ray that will turn the audience into the size of an ant?"
"No! I'm going to dance!" McGucket declared as he rattled a screwdriver and a wrench together to produce a clickety-clackety tune to which he jigged. As he giggled and cackled madly, he then paused, his crooked eyes pondering. "Although, come to think of it, maybe that's a good-"
"Dancing is a fantastic idea!" the three of them told McGucket.
"Well, I'll be!" McGucket put down the tools and let a single tear fall down and out from his eye, "I'd never think the day this old coot would receive such a welcome response from yon' younger folk! C'mere yall!" McGucket then reached around and hugged the three of them and then wandered off, gibbering and humming to himself.
Yuki returned, still trembling. "Did thee know of the mystery of water fountains? What vile conundrums they are," Yuki shook visibly, and then heard McGucket trip over a goat as he wandered away. "Ah... that would be the elderly man in the abandoned scrap metal section of town, if I remember correctly."
"Fiddleford McGucket," Dipper told him, and then looked to Mabel, "Seriously, I feel kind of bad. Who names their kid Fiddleford?"
"I like the name! It's lovely," she told him happily.
"It's a pretty rad name if you ask me," Soos piped in and turned to Yuki, who was busy watching the goats chew on McGucket's beard, "Right bud?"
"Pardon?" Yuki asked Soos.
"Exactly!" Soos nodded to the twins, "Everyone likes the name."
Dipper, clearly outnumbered on the opinion of such names as Fiddleford, asked Soos and Yuki, "So, you guys have our gear all set up and stuff?"
"Ah yeah dude, check it out," Soos told them. From under the table, Soos pulled something and lifted it vertical. There were two pieces, and with a grunt, Soos lifted the larger, and more complicated one onto the stand. "So, each of these targets," Soos pointed to the targets in question, each one growing higher and higher and were crudely painted with a number or symbol on it, "You can hit like this, "Soos slapped the one right at his waist level, and it spun around the pole on a metal arm, "And look at the top, " Soos pointed to the top, where the number one appeared, "Boom. You got yourself a number, bro."
"Cool!" Mabel gasped.
"How do we clear the board of numbers?" Dipper asked them both.
Yuki moved closer. "The pedal located here," he pointed to the base of the thick and heavy looking platform, "Shall erase all symbols present on the board. After your leaping through the air, I believed it was instrumental that wiping the measurements should be easy."
"So, we just stomp it-" Mabel began.
"Press gently, please," Yuki told Mabel.
"To clear the numbers?" she continued. The two before the twins nodded. "Sweeeet."
"So Soos, what are you going to do?" Dipper asked.
The handyman's eyes lit up. "Ah, I'm going to be bringing my long-time popular internet series to the stage!" Soos told the twins.
"Your what!?" the twins gasped.
"Fixin' It With Soos!" Soos declared, proudly crossing his arms, "With the help of Melody's editing tips, I was able to get over a thousand views! Pretty crazy, huh?" Soos asked them.
Expecting slightly higher numbers, Dipper asked, "Oh... just a thousand?"
As always, Soos seemed unable to detect disappointment in others unless directly stated. "Oh yeah buddy! I'm at one thousand, one hundred and two. Pretty nuts-o, huh?" Soos asked around.
"Indeed!" Yuki acknowledged his accomplishment. "You have effectively had an entire population of a small town watch your series, such as Gravity Falls."
"First the town, then Oregon, then the world!" Soos declared proudly.
The air hummed as the large speakers roared to life. "We will begin the show shortly," the bored voice of one of the announcers called around, "Could contestants pleased be prepared for their calling, and line up by the entrance, please."
"Whoa, time to go!" Soos said, grabbing all his tools, his keyboard, and grabbing a boombox. "I'll catch you guys later! Good luck!"
"Good luck Soos!" the twins and Yuki shouted back.
"He must be soon if he's going up already," Mabel stated.
"He is third in line," Yuki told them, "He was quite excited to participate. As would be expected, considering he told me that he was here the moment they allowed sign up."
"Wow," Mabel nodded, and then bounced into the air, "Hey! Let's go watch the opening! We can see it from the side over there!" she pointed to the other side of the stage, as the growing noise of a gathering crowd echoed to them.
The three of them hurried over, Mabel bounding over with her paper bag rocking back and forth. Once the three could lean around the side of the stage, they found an impressive display of the entire town's population. Directly before the stage, sitting on a table were three judges, each of them well dressed and particularly snobby looking. Hundreds of people were standing and watching as Pacifica Northwest marched out on stage with the announcer, the blond man with the slicked back hair.
"Hello Gravity Falls!" Pacifica called into the microphone, her voice rocking the air around them proudly and enthusiastically. "Welcome to your second Annual Talent Show Competition!" the crowd roared and hooted, calling up to Pacifica with fervor. "Alright folks! We have plenty of talented people excited to show you what they got. Are you excited?" She called, and the crowd replied in kind.
Yuki applauded, receiving a glance from both twins. "She has quite the presence," he told them eagerly.
Pushing away the desire to remind Yuki of Pacifica's track record as a snobby brat, he turned back with Mabel to watch. Pacifica called out again, "Great to hear it! Enough with me. As much as everyone loves me, I think it's about time I handed over the show to the one and only, Ray Oceancrest!"
"Thank you, Pacifica!" Ray Oceancrest called to her, as she waved and started walking off stage, towards the twins. The gasped and ducked behind the edge, unwilling to test Pacifica on her threats. However, it left an awestruck Yuki to watch the events outside unfold.
Before Mabel or Dipper could reach out and pull him down, she noticed him. "Hey," Pacifica called once she was off the stage, catching Yuki's attention, "You. I saw you yesterday, didn't I?"
"Yes," he responded curtly, "I'm Uki-Dohth," he told her.
"Oh yeah, that Canadian, or Japanese person, or something," she pointed out, giving him another study. His outfit clearly upset her good fashion senses. "You're friends with Dipper and Mabel, right?" she asked him firmly.
"I am. They have done much to ensure my stay here has been pleasant," he informed her kindly.
"Hmph. Just tell them that I'll have them thrown out next time I see them, you got it? My guards won't mess around," she warned. From behind the stage, the twins gasped and looked to one another silently. She was deadly serious if she was talking about guards already.
Yuki had also gasped. "But why? They have not, to my understanding, done anything wrong to you or mistreated you in any way," he told her, "Why act with such hostility?"
Pacifica rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Look," she said, looking at his hat, "This isn't about making friends, this is about me ensuring this event stays normal and not weird in any way. Wherever those twins go, weird stuff happens. It's just how it works, and I don't care about it as long as they don't bring it here, now and while I have all the responsibility," she gritted her teeth, leaning into Yuki, who blinked worriedly. She stared into his eyes for several moment and her face began to relax, and then she leaned back while adjusting her top briefly. She cleared her throat. "Well. Hope you enjoy the show, Uki-Dohth," she stated formally and turned away, walking past the hidden twins.
Quietly, still leaning away from her aggressive stance, he replied, "As best as I can," Rubbing his head. As Pacifica walked distantly away, Dipper and Mabel re-emerged. "She is quite serious," he urged the twins.
"You don't say?" Dipper sarcastically told him. Yuki nodded earnestly before facing Dipper, which then he pointed at Dipper's expression.
"Sarcasm," Yuki noted.
Dipper rolled his eyes. Though amused at Yuki, he was sour from the blond's insistence. "So now she's actually going to try to throw us out? What the heck?!" he snapped.
Mabel sighed. "She's going to cause more trouble by having us thrown out than just keeping us here, isn't she?" Mabel asked the two. The three shared a synchronous nod solemnly. "Well, Yuki, you can stay here and watch," Mabel told her friend, "But Dipper and I need to scout around first."
"Oh, right!" Dipper nodded.
Yuki, though not proficient with English, understood her code. "Very well. I will keep a watch for the figure in a hood," Yuki told them.
The twins grabbed hands, and Mabel led the charge. Through the crowd they began to fan around, looking left and right for a single person in a cloak. It was rather easy in this day's temperature and weather if someone was wearing a hood- caps were the most common feature worn on the head, as the sun shone brightly and only the stage was shaded.
"I don't see him," Mabel admitted after a few minutes went by, the two ignoring the first two acts.
"Let's try over there," Dipper suggested, pointing away, on the side of the standing crowd they had come from.
As they moved, a boombox on stage played a loud, cheesy, and excited song. "Now please, give it up for Jesus Alzarimano Ramirez!" the announcer, Mister Ocreancrest, declared.
"F-f-f-f-f-fixin' it with Soos!" the boombox roared into the crowd, Soos moon-walking onto stage as he carried his electronic keyboard on his shoulder, and a bag of tools in his hand. On the table of the boom box was a collection of scrap and material. Once Soos did a quick spin by the table, he flicked his thumb onto the stop button, and placed down the keyboard, and hit a few keys, playing the sounds of a man shouting 'yeah!', an explosion, and a tiger roar. The announcer looked startled, but clapped as enthusiastically as he could, walking away backwards.
"Whatup dudes!" Soos declared loudly. The audience cheered and Soos waved to them.
"Aww, I wish we could watch," Mabel whined as they continued to move about the crowd.
"So, this is my first ever live version of Fixin' It With Soos! Starring me: Soos!" he shoved a thumb at himself. "So, what we've got here today, is a bunch of scrap," he pointed to the table. "It looks pretty useless, you would say. I would say, nay! Or, is it 'neigh', like a horse, you know?" Soos asked the crowd. They stared blankly back at him. "Huh. Probably questions better suited for philosophers. Anyway, what I'm going to do is let you tell me something I should build, and I build it! With this stuff!"
"So," Soos stepped to the edge of the stage, "What should I build dudes? Any ideas?"
"Build a horse!" someone shouted from the crowd.
"A horse? Hmm," Soos puzzled with his hand at this chin, "A challenge. But no task is too great for the power of SOOS!" Soos declared loudly, then he bent backwards and pressed a key on the board, and a baby cried. "Ah, dang, wrong one," he tried again, and this time thunder boom around, "Yes!"
"Can't we just watch him for a little bit?" Mabel pulled Dipper to a stop, "I mean, is it really likely that this guy is going to try something in like five minutes?"
"Mabel-"
"It's Soos!" Mabel told him with a gentle prod, "he'd do the same for us."
Dipper couldn't reply to that, as much as he wanted to. Indeed, his eyes turned towards one of their long-time friends who had they had the opportunity to cheer on and clap for. Dipper knew they had an important task, but their friendship was also a priority. Besides, had the Warlock wanted to attack at the beginning, it would probably already have happened.
"Okay, we can watch," Dipper signed and relaxed.
Soos's demonstration of construction was an enchantingly weird mix of his horrible catch-phrases, puns, and actual construction theory. Very quickly the mess on the table was changing into, somehow, a life-sized metallic horse. By the end of his ten minutes demonstration, Soos had made a clock-work horse, which at the end of his show, picking up the boombox and keyboard, he mounted the horse.
"Remember dudes, we always break stuff, and with the power of fixin' it, anything can be- Whoa!" Soos struggled to stay on as the horse suddenly bolted ahead, blazing a trail off the stage. He charged nearby a frightened Yuki, and through the wooden fence past him.
"Give it up for Mister Ramirez!" the announcer clapped as the cries for help from Soos grew further and further distant.
Mabel turned to her brother. "Okay, let's go find loser pants, and beat him up."
"I hope we don't have to," Dipper told his sister, "This is a person with magic, remember?"
"Magic is nothing in comparison to reality! My fists are a reality he'll face soon," Mabel told Dipper, who chuckled.
For the next half our they passed back and forth, bouncing around the crowd, pushing through as silently as they could. More than once they passed by Grenda and Candy, happily cheering on for whoever was on stage. At a few points the twins got terribly distracted, especially when a line of goats were brought on stage and sang with their bleats the national anthem.
Yet there was still no sign of him. The warlock was either doing an impressive job at hiding himself, or he wasn't present this day. It was easy to count people out and see if they vaguely resembled their target. He was, after all, taller than them by a bit, and always had been spotted wearing that stupid hoodie.
"We're wrapping it up here, folks!" Ray Oceancrest announced happily, "Talk about a line up of great people!"
"Oi!" someone called behind the twins, and they spun around instantly. Grunkle Stan was standing there, in the crowd, pushing his way over to them. "The heck are you two doing here?"
"That warlock jerk could be here!" Mabel announced. "We're going to find him!"
"Could be?" Stan asked with a tease of annoyance.
Dipper was quick to details. "We have good reason to believe that he sold Pacifica a cursed flute, and he'll be here to hurt people-" Dipper started.
Stan's mouth dropped open. "You took it from her, right?" he needed to know from them. The twins exchanged slow look to one another. Grunkle Stan barked loudly at them, "Really!? And you didn't tell me any of this either!?"
"We've got it under control!" Dipper told Stan loudly as someone took to the stage.
"Kids, you've got no time!" Stan told them, "You're supposed to be up there, flattering these stupid shmucks so that when you win, I can get on stage and promote my business! You can't do that if you're down here!" he reminded them.
"This is more important than just a few bucks, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel declared.
The old man scowled at her, and then threw his hands above him. "Fine! I'll go look for this loser. You two get to your spots, got it!?" he demanded.
"But-"
"Go! I can handle some whiny eighteen-year-old on my own!" he told them as he pushed his way through the crowd. Dipper and Mabel watched him disappear, shoving his way through aggressively.
Mabel eyed her brother. "Well, I guess it won't be that hard for him, right?" Mabel said as their elder vanished. "It's just a guy in a hoodie."
"I... I guess Grunkle Stan knows more about magic and stuff than we do. And he can punch stuff... let's just keep our ears open," Dipper told her as he nodded.
"Right, message received. Boop-Boop, transmitted," Mabel put her hands to her ears and acted like they were antennas. Dipper frowned at her, but the two did begin their return towards the stage.
"Thank you Blubs and Durland!" Ray Oceancrest declared, as the deputy and sheriff marched off stage, done with their synchronized dance and singing duet. "Now, we have another duo for you."
"Oh crud!" Mabel shouted as they barely passed Yuki, who had waved them over. "Our stuff!" The twins raced over to grab the heavy pieces to their performance.
"The Pine Twins!" Ray Oceancrest shouted as Dipper and Mabel barely made it to the edge of the stage, and carried up the electronic parts to their act. The announcer stepped aside, clapping for them along with the audience.
By the side, Yuki was almost shoved aside by Pacifica. "They're still here?" she barked angrily, catching Mabel's attention, who glanced behind her. Pacifica snapped at the air, "What the heck!"
Yuki, taking the side of the twins, eyed her impatiently. "Yes, and they will be performing their act, as they wish," Yuki told Pacifica directly. She who spun to him, breathing rapidly. Though her wrath was something Yuki clearly wished to avoid, he spotted something at her feet. A poodle was at her side, sniffing Yuki with interesting. Calmed at its presence, he reached out with a hand, saying, "Greetings again, Alphie," Yuki spoke to the dog.
"I – how do you know his name?" Pacifica demanded as she gently pulled her dog away from him.
Yuki stumbled for words, having forgotten that no one knew he had cared for the animals in their stasis aboard his ship. "Uh... your dog reminds myself of an Alphie I knew," Yuki stumbled as Pacifica stared at him.
On stage, Dipper felt the sting of mass attention. He was now being watched by a small horde of humans. His throat tightened. He looked over to his sister, and she shot him a beaming smile. That was more than enough for courage. "Hello Gravity Falls!" Dipper called loudly to the people.
Mabel turned her attention from the side to the crowd, and put on her best smile. "Howdy doodle poodle friends!" Mabel added on, giving a nice dramatic bow. "We're going to make something so totally boring way cooler than it should be- Math!" she declared.
The crowd began to murmur as Dipper nodded. "That's right," he turned to Mabel, talking to her and the crowd at the same time, "A lot of people think Math is boring, even though it's used in everyday life. So, we thought how else we could make it kind of interesting."
"With freaking awesome martial arts!" Mabel roared to the crowd, hands in the air, getting an enthusiastic reply. "Whoo! Yeah!"
"So, here's how this is going to work," Dipper stated aloud as Mabel went over and pulled up the top half of the instrument Soos and Yuki made, "We're going to ask for numbers. We have to hit these numbers," Dipper pointed to the numbers above him and next to him as he moved next to Mabel, "In order to answer a math problem you make up, and we have five seconds to solve it."
"Sounds pretty math-like, huh?" Mabel nodded to the group, getting a few yes's and nods.
"So, uh, let's start," Dipper said to Mabel, who nodded excitedly. "My sister is going to go first. So, we get to start with one number – one hundred," Dipper told them, approaching the edge of the stage, "Give us a number to add between one and a hundred."
Among the cries, a voice piped up. "Ninety-Eight!"
"Mabel," Dipper turned quickly. She had to act fast. Five seconds to punch out one hundred and nintey eight, but Mabel already knew that answer. With a grin, she punched at one, and then flipped into the air, and kicked out twice, hitting both nine and eight before landing on her feet. The crowd gasped and applauded when she moved forward punching the air excitedly.
"See? Math totally can be cool!" she shouted, "Not just for dorks, like Dipper!" she looked at her brother as he walked past her, preparing himself to do quick calculation and hit the correct number. He scowled at her and hit the peddle on the stand, erasing the number at the top. "So, give us number between ten and one hundred to subtract!" she demanded.
"Forty five!"
"Dipper!" Mabel spun as the crowd gasped. Dipper instantly knew the answer, and he struck at one, then kicked high and twisted his body to land his heel on five, and then he leapt up and punched three. One hundred and fifty-three.
"Boom!" Dipper called out, and the crowd cheered. As he stepped up and exchanged glances with Mabel, he worried slightly next. This was where things got difficult. An addition, a subtraction, a multiplication, and a division. Mabel had to deal with a multiplication with more than two digits. Dipper wasn't sure how well she'd do here; five seconds wasn't a lot of time.
"I got it bro," she whispered to him as they passed, and he smiled. He made sure to watch her as she walked over, and cleared the bar with a press of the pedal.
"Okay guys, part three. Give us a number to multiply between two and nine," he asked of the crowd.
"Five!"
Dipper groaned internally and quickly spun to Mabel. She still hadn't moved. She was frozen, her eyes moving back and forth between invisible numerals in her mind. One second had passed. She had four seconds to solve this problem and still hit the three numbers Dipper had already solved for her: seven hundred and sixty five. Three seconds.
"Mabel?" Dipper quickly said.
She burst into movement and struck them all; seven, six, and then in a high leap she spun and whipped herself into a spin, hitting five in the blink of an eye. She landed and turned, sweat on her face as she hollered back at the crowd.
"Math, suckas!" she declared, and looked to her brother, who was weakly smiling at her, "Told you I had it," she winked. He snorted and walked past her to take the position, and he cleared the board one last time. "Okay guys!" Mabel called to the group, "One last number. This time, we're going to divide! So... another number between six and... twelve!"
"Seven!"
Mabel spun and Dipper's eyes widened. Five seconds, counting down. The math followed quickly, tracing the division of whatever he could, until he came across a relatively simple answer: one hundred and nine point three, rounded up of course. Three seconds. That was five symbols he had to hit, two of which were the highest the past went to. He gulped. Two seconds remaining- now or never. Dipper punched twice rapidly, striking two numbers in succession, and then he jumped and twisted himself as best he could. In a single, balanced kick, he struck nine and the period at the same time. He landed and then leapt up and punched three. It had been a risk to hit nine and the decimal point simultaneously.
It paid off: it read properly.
"Yes!" Dipper shouted, shoving his hands into the air and ran to his sister. She ran and they hugged as the crowd clapped and applauded. The two of them looked down to the judges, who were writing down notes or applauding with the crowd.
"That's all for now, folks!" Mabel cheered as she hung off Dipper's shoulders, and they both grabbed their parts of the mechanism.
"Thank you!" Dipper added as they left the stage, being applauded by Ray Oceancrest.
"Wow, folks! Talk about stiff competition!" he called around as the twins left the stage.
Still clapping and beaming was Yuki, and a stiff but not ranging mad Pacifica. Yuki eagerly congratulated them. "You two have performed far above adequately!" Yuki informed them taking away the halves of the device with his strength, and hugging them both, "I must say, you have done very well!"
"Aww, thanks Yuki," Mabel hugged back.
"Thanks man," Dipper patted his shoulder with a large smile. Dipper turned, ready to gloat to a blonde he was certain was staring at the three of them with her usual glare. "So, how about an apolo..."
Pacifica was already moving on stage with her dog when Dipper had turned, and the three of them watched, wondering what her performance would end up being.
"And our final show for the day, give it up for your host, Pacifica Northwest!" Ray bellowed triumphantly, as Pacifica took the stage with her dog.
She removed the leash silently, and stood before the town voicelessly. Two flashes of light before her illuminated her and the poodle into dark blue. The crowd grew quiet as soft music began to drum on the speakers on the edges of the stage, and Pacifica reached behind her and removed the flute. With a twirl that would make any color-guard proud, she spun it around her and laid it before her lips and stepped forward with her dog.
The two slowly stepped forward, step by step, as Pacifica played the flute along with the music. It was all instrumental, a tune that was somber, slow, almost sleepy. Sounding. Pacifica's actions and movement matched the song wonderfully, almost creating this hypnotizing effect as she mildly rocked back and forth between her steps.
Then the music, along with the lights and movement all picked up. Drums were added, and it became a merry jauntier tune. Pacifica and her dog bounded around the stage, still in synchronous choreography. Then Pacifica leaned backwards as the dog leapt over her and then she leapt backwards over the dog, who ran under her.
Dipper chuckled and Mabel laughed, entranced. It was cute, charming even. It was the exact kind of performance that Pacifica was saying she could put on all along. The twins would never have dared to give her any credit since she already boasted past her due, but she was really owning up the act. Yuki was clapping happily and laughing.
Dancing side by side, spinning in place, even doing a small tango bit together, the two really gave the competition another strong piece to consider. The crowd was in love, and the judges weren't even able to write down notes. Or at least, they were not bothering to. If what the grumpy pair by the side of the crowd had told the twins was true, they had no reason to take notes on Pacifica, as she was already the first-place winner.
The flute had been playing for a few minutes when Mabel felt something on the ground. She looked down and saw nothing, and shrugged. Again, something underneath her foot distracted her. "Huh," she grunted as she lifted her foot and found nothing. Again, with the other foot, but Dipper gasped and looked down too. "You can feel that?" Mabel two looked to Yuki.
He was looking to the sky. "Something is amiss, my friends," Yuki told them.
Birds of all shapes and colors were flying away, crossing over the town in a hurried pace, squawking, chirping, and crying loudly. The twins stared skyward, and looked towards the source. Trees in the forest were being pushed aside, swaying around wildly.
Dipper's stomach dropped. He looked to the stage, and then the scaffolding that held up the electronics. "The speakers," Dipper pointed out, "It's not just the recorder music it's playing-"
"They're also playing the music of the flute," Mabel chimed in. They turned towards the crowd, ready to begin making a scene. To their dawning horror, they saw it. There, pushing its way closer to the middle, was a figure in a hood. Mabel's hairs stood on end as she shouted, "Dipper!"
"I know! We have to-"
The rumbling now was vibrating through the ground so heavily that the performance had come to a standstill. The crowd was worriedly looking around. "Earthquake!" Someone shouted. As people began to try to run for cover, something massive burst its way through the curtains, tearing down half the stage and throwing the other half behind it.
A spider, almost fifteen feet high and twenty five feet long, had crawled its way from the deep woods of Gravity Falls. It was now climbing its way to the stage, where Pacifica was screaming, her dog barking at the monstrous spider. If the crowd had been panicked by an earthquake, what followed was pandemonium.
"Don't hurt us!" Pacifica screamed as the spider slowly moved closer to her, backing her and the dog away. "Dad!? Mom?!" Pacifica called into the crowd, which was buzzing around so dizzily as people ran around no one could keep track of anything. "Someone!" Pacified cried aloud as she fell to her knees, holding her dog at her side. The spider watched her, clicking its mandibles together as it crept closer.
There was no question of action for one of the twins. "We're coming!" Mabel shouted.
"Dang it!" Dipper shouted as he followed suit, not willing to let anyone, even someone as annoying as Pacifica, be eaten by a giant spider. The spider saw them coming and hissed loudly, pushing itself higher and backing away. "How do we fight this thing!?" Dipper demanded of his sister as they stared down the face of an eight-eyed monster with sharp legs about ten feet in length each. The fangs themselves, dripping with something like venom, were about a foot in length each.
Mabel gulped. "You, uh, thinking about punching it?" Mabel asked as she realized she too had no idea what she was going to do. The spider took a few steps closer, its many eyes gazing around.
Dipper, closing in around Pacifica with his sister, encouraged her sardonically, "By all means, take your shot!"
A voice from the crowd shouted, "Kids! Look out!"
The twins turned. Running from the crowd was Grunkle Stan, pointing somewhere else. Their eyes quickly saw what he pointed at: a figure rushing at them at a blistering speed. It bobbed and weaved through the crowd effortlessly. Hooded, the figure leapt so high into the air, it cleared over the spider by a good ten feet. The twins gasped as the person, still in motion, punched their hands past one another. From sparks that erupted around the person like their arms were made of flint, a fire erupted around their arms. The spider never saw it coming as the landing person slammed a fist on top of its head.
The gigantic arachnid screeched and fell. Though it staggered, it pushed itself up. The figure who had launched itself high into the air leapt again. It landed between the twins and the spider. The figure, kneeling, with burning arms, stood up fully, and slowly approached the spider, each step well placed and confident. The eight-eyed beast stabbed at her with one of its limbs, and the person knocked it aside with a kick, and then thrust its arm forward. Fire burst out in a jet. The fire faded before hitting the spider, but it was certainly startled. From whatever purpose the beast had, fear infected its primitive mind.
The spider screamed aloud, and made to bite the person. The person stepped forward and held its arms out. The flames grew bright and hot, and then exploded out around the figure. The fabric flapped and whipped in the heat wind. The flames roar were even louder than the spiders'. As if the action wasn't intimidating enough, the person stepped forward again, and yelled. "Leave!"
The spider got the point. Skittering it's eight legs hurriedly, it climbed over the other side of the stage. From where it had come, it began to disappear, screeching in fright as it retreated for the woods. Silence fell as the spider's steps faded, telling the crowd of it's disappearance. The hooded figure faced away, staring at a dropped flute. Then they noticed that their arms were on fire still, and hurriedly patted the flames out.
Dipper and Mabel stared. Someone literally just leapt from the crowd and thrown fire around on their arms and hands like... like magic. But it had chased the spider away, not attacked with it, or tried taming it as a mount. This person had defended them. Dipper wanted to ask 'who are you?' but flurry of movement passed by them, and a man with graying hair and trimmed mustache approached the figure.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Preston Northwest had taken the stage. The figure turned just in time for him to grasp its arm and raise it high, "Our Gravity Falls Talent Contest First Place Winner!"
The crowd, slowly emerging from the buildings, and whatever little cover they had found, burst into an ear shattering roar of applause and cheers. Somewhere in that mix, Grunkle Stan screamed, "What?! No! My business opportunity!"
"What is your name?" Preston Northwest asked the hooded figure.
The person turned their head to him, stammering. "A-ah, it's Arline."
"Give a well-deserved round of applause for Arline!" Preston Northwest stepped aside, but not before removing the hood of the woman. Golden hair fell behind her in a ponytail. The crowd screamed and chanted her name, and she just stood there, staring back at them awkwardly. Eventually she nodded to the crowd and started thanking them quietly.
"Y-yeah," she waved at a few people that threw flowers, "Wow. That's a lot. Okay," she told them, and took a step away from the edge of the stage. Someone threw underwear at her, and she shuddered.
Dipper gasped and laughed. "It wasn't him at all," he clapped his sister's back loudly as Pacifica got up with her dog and followed her father down the stage, "We had someone else in town who could help out all along! Cool!" she had not responded yet. "Mabel?" Dipper asked when Mabel still said nothing. Then Dipper noticed her face. Her eyes were as wide as when she first saw Waddles. Her mouth was as dropped down and out, and her face was pale.
"M-m-master?" Mabel asked.
When what she had said finally clicked in his brain, Dipper's mouth followed suit and fell open. He slowly turned back to face their savior. He stared at the woman before him, trying to both be polite and let the crowd applaud her, and try to begin leaving. Mabel had not exaggerated about appearances. The woman, who was still thanking those for applauding her, did indeed have golden hair, great big blue eyes, and a fair complexion, and was quite pretty. She did kind of resemble Mabel to a certain degree. She wore gloves at the ends of her jacket's sleeves, where the fire had mildly singed her clothing.
Was this the person that had shown Mabel how to fight?
The woman, Arline, turned and approached the two, dusting off some of the ashes in the crevices of her clothing. Her eyes stared with an unrelenting strength at the two of them and stopped before them, and all Dipper could do was gulp.
"Mabel," Arline started, her voice stern and tight. "You've been busy."
Dipper whipped his head to look to his sister. She nervously smiled. "Hi?" Mabel attempted; her voice squeaky.
The woman before the two of them had her own lips tremble and a smile exploded out. She was laughing and she reached over and grasped Mabel, and locked her into a hug. "You did amazing with that combat math bit!" Arline told her in the hug, and then pushed her away, "I was worried that when your dad said you wouldn't be coming back for a while that you were tired of me!"
Mabel shook her head. "No way! It was just important I got up here as quickly as I could," Mabel explained, "See, I thought my grand uncle died, but it just turned out he was actually just a robot in disguised as him, and we had to rescue him from aliens!"
Arline's eyes widened further. "Oh," Arline stated, clearly a little taken aback at the reason. She eventually nodded, "I guess that is pretty important. Aliens, huh?" she looked to the two of them.
Dipper tacked on, "Mabel's not lying. Real, humanoid, extraterrestrials."
Arline's gaze finally fixated on Dipper. "So, you must be Dipper, Mabel's twin," Arline commented.
"Ah, yeah," Dipper nodded, eyeing his sister worriedly, "That's me."
"I've heard a whole lot about you," Arline told him with a grin. Dipper went to hold his hand out, but she stepped up and also hugged him too. "You're learning really quickly, you know that?" she told him as she backed off, "Just like Mabel did."
If he hadn't heard it for weeks by this point, he would have assumed she was being polite. "Oh. Thank you," he managed to say, feeling a certain weight behind her words. This was the woman who had taught his sister everything she knew, and could, somehow, punch with fire.
Arline chuckled, watching Dipper think. She looked around. "I'm sure you need to go celebrate with your friends, or make sure they didn't skip out of town when that spider showed up," Arline commented.
"Oh!" Dipper tapped his sister's shoulder, "We do have someone we need to see!"
"Yeah, we do," Mabel nodded, and then waved to her master, "We'll be back in a bit! This is important!"
"Take your time," Arline called to them.
They moved off stage and found Yuki, staring at the woman still. "That is the master I heard of?" Yuki asked Mabel.
Mabel nodded quickly. "Yeah. Yuki, where did Pacifica go?" Mabel asked the alien. He bent his head and pointed to the broken-down sign Soos and his metal horse had raced through. There, the twins spotted Pacifica standing by her father as he stepped inside a well-polished limousine with her dog. As they quietly approached, they overheard them talking.
"But it wasn't my fault!" Pacifica told her father heatedly. "How could I have known a giant spider was going to crash the event?"
He didn't look at her as he prepared to step into the vehicle. "Sounds like you didn't use enough insecticide," her father told her.
"But then-"
He whipped around to face her. He radiated a cold disappointment that would have frozen anyone. "Pacifica," her father told her, his voice as impressive as it was commanding, "This is your responsibility. You are in charge of this entire show, which means cleaning it up if it has failed. Next time, I will not be there to make sure people can spot the silver lining of having a true winner; that will be up to you. Now, go clean up your mess. We'll expect you home tonight, that is unless you can't clean this all up by then."
Without another word, her father closed the door, and the car drove away, leaving a perfectly rigid blond with frizzled hair. The air was tense, like it was charged with electricity. With a sudden burst of anger, Pacifica shouted and tossed the flute onto the ground. As it splintered, a hiss and puff of green smoke erupted from it, and Pacifica fell backwards.
The twins couldn't move forward. The teenager who had been willing to throw Dipper and Mabel out, who looked down on them at every chance she could, was tearing up next to the side walk, holding her palms to her eyes.
"They were right," she croaked softly and growled, "Damn it."
Mabel leaned behind the fence and sighed, eyeing Dipper, who was looking back. They were technically in their rights to go out there and remind Pacifica that they had warned her about the Flute, and they wouldn't bring trouble. However, watching the girl lose control of her emotions, spirit crushed, was more than enough. Arguably, it was kind of overkill when they heard it come from her father.
Mabel, knowing Dipper would be harder to convince, reached out to hold his shoulder. "She did just want to put on a show," Mabel reminded him in a whisper.
"Yeah, even if she was being stupid about it," he whispered back, and he sighed, "Maybe we should just leave her alo-" Yuki strode past the two of them, heading right for Pacifica "Yuki! What are you doing?!" he hissed at him.
The alien said nothing to them, striding past them to the sitting, sniffling girl. She heard someone coming, and stood quickly, wiping her face away.
"What!?" she barked before turning, but then saw the teen alien looking to her, "Oh. Yes, uh, Uki-Dohth. I imagine you'd like an apology for the state of the show?" Pacifica nodded sadly. "I assure you, Northwest organized events never have this happen. Usually."
"No," Yuki told her, and looked back, "The transpired events were beyond your means of control. You took precautions against one form of arachnid, but not a gigantoid. A cryptid of such size and measurement was not to be expected."
"Ah... next time I guess we'll be ready for that," Pacifica shrugged.
He shook his head. "It matters not. I have not come to belittle you," he told her, and then held out his hand, "These are from myself, Dipper, and Mabel," he said as he gave back the two fifty dollar bills.
"I-I don't want the money," she told him, "Northwests don't have return policies on bribe- err, donations," she told him officially with a still sniffle.
Yuki didn't move his hand away. "It would be wrong for us to keep any form of payment for a task we neither followed nor intended to follow. Please," he asked her kindly, "Take it back."
"But I'm giving it to you," Pacifica told him, "Just take it!"
"If I am to take money from you, Miss Northwest," Yuki told her softly, "It will have been earned."
Pacifica blinked. She reached over, as if to take the money. She eyed the money, and looked up to his eyes. Last time they had shone with timidity, but Yuki was quite confident in his convictions. With a small snort, she knocked away his hand. "Earn it the," she told him, "Go help my crew clean up the mess, and you've got the hundred," she told him plainly.
Yuki, with a small smile, nodded. He turned around walked past the section of the fence that the twins were still hiding behind. Yuki looked to them each, but continued by, walking towards the dispersing crowd, where workers were beginning to pack up and analyze the damage they needed to repair.
"You two," Pacifica called, making the twins jump, "Fine. You want to hear it? Fine. You were right? Okay!" she barked at them.
"Are you okay?" Mabel finally turned around the fence, and Dipper begrudgingly followed.
"Sure, Pacifica Northwest, first time coordinator and manager of the Gravity Falls Talent Show Competition, just fine!" she said, pushing by the two of them, "I had one shot to prove that I could handle this on my own, and it's ruined. So, yeah," she continued angrily, with biting sarcasm, "I'm fine!"
"Pacifica, you could have been killed," Dipper reminded her, "But you're still okay. Same with your dog, and the people here."
"I don't care!" Pacifica turned towards them, "This was my chance to get my dad off my back! Now I... ugh!" she clenched her fists and stormed onwards.
"Wait, Pacifica!" Mabel called after her, and the Blond spun around once more listening and glaring at Mabel. "I'm... sorry we gave you a hard time, okay? We just wanted to have fun here, and make sure you're safe. We're sorry."
Pacifica stared at them, her expression growing softer, but still full of anger. A moment passed, but she nodded stiffly, and turned back, and hurried behind the stage, her now messy hair trailing behind her.
"This was just to get at her dad?" Dipper asked his sister, who turned around. "Some things never change," he admitted, feeling sad for her for the first time in years.
"C'mon dude," Mabel patted his shoulder, "I think we made our point with her, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe next time she'll, you know, listen to us," Dipper sighed, getting the last of his pent-up frustration out of his system. "Let's go talk to your master, or Arline? What do I call her?" he asked Mabel, who snickered.
"Until she starts teaching you, you can call her whatever you want," Mabel told him as they walked back to the front of the stage.
Standing on the stage was Grunkle Stan, and sitting by the edge of the stairs was Arline. "Remember folks!" Grunkle Stan called to the dispersing crowds, "For more amazing math-related beatings, come to the Mystery Manor! Hey! I'm not done advertising!" Grunkle Stan roared, as people left, ignoring him, "You hear me!?"
"Hey guys," Arline stood up and walked down the steps as they approached.
"Master, why are you even here?" Mabel asked, "You should be back in California!" Mabel declared.
"Well, without you being taught, I realized that I could go on a vacation myself. And you told me about this place," she said excitedly, "And wow! Giant spiders, big trees, mostly clean air? I love it already!" Arline told them, "I think I'll stay around for a bit."
"Oh really!?" Mabel excitedly jumped, "You want to stick around!?"
"Yeah!" Arline told them excitedly. "It could be fun."
"Well, as it turns out, we're staying at a motel of sorts," Dipper told her, "Run by our Grunkle Stan. Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called over to the defeated, lonely man on the stage, who turned around and glared at the three of them, "This is Arline! She taught Mabel how to fight, and wants to stay at the Mystery Manor."
"Oh, great," Grunkle Stan marched over, passing them in a huff, "Let the one person who ruined my chance to sucker the entire town stay at the Manor? Great! Wonderful!" he grumbled and whined as he marched past.
"I didn't hear a no," Dipper shrugged.
Arline seemed a bit more hesitant than Dipper. "I did hear some issue though," Arline stated, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, that's just Grunkle Stan for you," Mabel waved her hand through the air, "C'mon! We can take you around town and then bring you over to the Manor!"
"Sounds fun to me!" Arline told them with a grasp of their shoulders.
The three of them turned around and started walking down main street, passing by the construction workers and Yuki, who was easily holding ten times his weight in his arms, shocking people left and right. As the three continued down the street and Mabel started pointing out the various shops and businesses, a metallic horse zoomed by, with a screaming Soos desperately clinging on to its wire mane as 'Fixing It With Soos' still played on his boombox.
Bragging rights! Where in the end, no one really brags. Funny how that works, huh?
NEW PLAYER HAS ENTERED THE GAME: ARLINE.
Pretty crazy what she can do, isn't it? No, this isn't some weird cross-over with Avatar: The Last Airbender of Legend of Korra. There were people before that who could bend and warp elements. :p
And that's the first full episode with Pacifica. How'd you all like it? Hopefully it's another character I can write well enough for a passing grade. :)
So, next Episode is called "American Werewolf In Oregon" which comes close to "Totally Real Paranormal Ghost Shows" for longest title of an episode. I bet you guys can't guess what it's about! :O
So remember, apply bug spray, and I'll see you guys next- (the metal horse Soos made crashes through EZB's room, and tramples him and his computer under the stampede. Soos runs through the room after the horse.)
Soos: Sorry dawg! (he continues after the horse as EZB groans painfully, almost squashed flat.)
Pacifica Northwest, sitting at the edge of the stage, wondered how long it would take to fix this mess. She had taken all the notes from her prior years of watching family run events, and this was a different case. There hadn't been as much property damage. Maybe, because that was all paperwork, she could go home and write checks from bed?
"Hey boss."
Pacifica, broken from her daydreaming, whipped up to the hired hands. Most of them were before her. Their leader, a man with huge brows and little to no face visible behind them and the facial hair, awaited a conversation.
"What?" she asked, in no mood for irritating questions.
"We're done."
"What?!" she snapped, hopping off the platform. "You are not done. It's been thirty minutes-"
"Look around," the man with no visible face asked her to do.
To her disbelief, other than the stage, he was right. Chairs were folded up and placed away. Heavy electronic devices were arranged by their cases. The ground was spotless, not a single piece of trash lay around. The trashcans were all ready to be taken and disposed of.
Pacifica rubbed her hair gently, not wanting it to fray any further. There was, at least, one nice thing that happened to her today. She looked back to the workers, who seemed just as bemused as her. "How?" she asked them, "This was going to be our afternoon."
"No idea," the man told her. "We had a little extra help? Look," he pocketed his hands, "Job is done. We're clear to pack everything?"
With her day suddenly cleared, Pacifica reeled. She finally, though weakly, nodded to them. "Yeah. Go put them in the vans," she said. As her crew walked off, eager to put their day behind them, she spotted someone walking away, down the main road.
It was that Canadian-Japanese guy. She squinted at him. He was leaving, certainly going back to wherever he stayed. She looked over to the neatly stacked electronic crates, and then back to him. As she eyed him, he observed the pair of fifty-dollar bills she had offered him, holding them to his eyes.
"Uki-dohth, huh?" Pacifica muttered. She again eyed the work done to the area. "No way," she added with a theory. There was… no way one person could have done all that clean up, could there? She shook her head. "I'm starting to sound like Dipper," she scolded herself darkly. She walked away, ready to head home.
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