In her life, Pacifica Northwest had been told that raising her voice to anything above an angry yell at failing servants was rude and inappropriate. A Northwest always held themselves to the code of dignity and upper-class demeanor. There were exceptions to the rules, though. Sometimes a good shouting was called for in the run of the strange and unusual.
This was one of those times, and Pacifica made no attempt to hide her fear.
The dragon beneath her soared through the cold, wet clouds. Her hair was now covered in freezing water, and her skin prickled with the sting of harsh wind. She could barely force her eyes open, only fear demanding she saw where she was going. Her legs wrapped tightly around the base of the monster's neck, she held onto its horns, still screaming in fear.
How had the day become this? It was fourth of July! Her day to revel with her friends- a day of distant hope that she may be free of her parents grasp. No, today she would be fearing for her life as she soared above clouds and mountain tops, suspended over her very true death only by a fire breathing dragon.
Her body tense and tickled as the dragon dived. If she hadn't been screaming her lungs out, she would have screamed even louder. The cloud darted above her and before her was the lake. Finally lowering to the ground, Pacifica wondered if it passed over the water low enough if she couldn't just jump off.
She was ready now. Broken toes or fingers be damned! That lake could be her best bet for escaping a man-eater that carried her around like a trophy. Well, tough call dragon, Pacifica thought to herself, stalling her screaming as she gritted her teeth, watching the ground grow closer, I'm no princess!
Readied to drop as soon as she could, Pacifica felt the sting of air lesson. The breeze became warmer and warmer. Yet she flinched; the dragon wasn't diving for the lake, but the lake shore.
Ten seconds later, the dragon leveled out its wings and glided to one of the sandy beaches. They were totally uninhabited. With a strong gust of summer air, the Dragon landed with a jolt. Pacifica barely held on, but stayed perfectly still.
Stunned and shaking, Pacifica held on to the horns as she lifted and twisted her legs off the neck of the creature. Muttering to herself dark curses and foul threats, Pacifica flopped off the dragon. Unlike Mabel, Pacifica had little training with coordination, and thus fell to her knees. Dragon rides, though seemingly similar to horseback, had a tad more dread in their moment. Without a second to wait, the dragon passed over her. It crawled to the water on it's folded wings and hind legs.
No chances.
Pacifica turned and ran. The beach was only so large, and she could see the forest edge. Full sand turned to course brown silt, and to grey soil, evolving into rich dirt. The dragon rumbled loudly. Pacifica, terrified of draconic retribution stalled, and collapsed to the ground. Landing in the harsh dirt, Pacifica swore under her breath. Scraping her knee sucked, but at least she was away from her captor.
Turning back to the source of noise, she gasped. Something was emerging from the lake. The dragon had made a low rumble in response to a coming bulge in the lakes water. Staring with her mouth fallen open the entire time, Pacifica saw, the first time in her life, that the crazy conspiracy theorists weren't always wrong.
The Lake Monster, the Gobblewonker, rose out of the water like a snake, its head revealing itself first before the bulk of its body. It glided in the water towards the dragon, which stared back at the monster.
"Oh, please kill the dragon, please kill the dragon," Pacifica begged the coming monster of legend.
The dragon, while a very large creature, was not nearly as tall as the Gobblewonker. Towering above the dragon, the pre-historic remnant glared down at the firebreather. Maybe Pacifica would get the satisfaction of the two killing one another.
Then it rumbled back, a low resonance, and it bobbed its head. The dragon followed suit, bobbing its much larger head in response. They mimed each other for a moment. Pacifica thought they rather looked like birds. Then, done with their odd communications, the two stopped. The Gobblewonker, without more than look to Pacifica, turned and dived back into the waters as the dragon began to scoop up large helpings of lake water into it's gullet.
"What?!" Pacifica gasped. "That's it?"
No battle of beasts, no epic fight that could free her. She had witnessed the possibility of unity in the animal kingdom, only when it served against her.
Yet, the dragon was drinking deeply. It couldn't see her. Or at least she was sure it could.
Run.
Barely a thought passed in her head as she spun and hurtled into the forest. There was nothing now to stop her from fleeing.
The forest edge met her and she was engulfed into the woods. Around trees and boulders she ran, her dress swaying in the gust of wind she emulated. If there was anything she needed, it was to clear space between her and the dragon.
Turning around once, she could no longer see the water's edge. She grinned. She may actually get away! Without that thing following her, too!
After several minutes of hurtling through the woods, Pacifica came to a gasping stop. The love of freedom and safety pulsed through her, assuring her that she could catch her breath. Then as she caught her breath, she remembered the extent of her situation. She was stranded, in the middle of the deep, dark, Gravity Falls woods, without her purse.
That meant the small knife she carried, the pepper spray, and her two most important weapons- phone and credit card, were also missing. No GPS, no map system to check online- just the surroundings of the woods. The rustling of the wind above her now carried sinister reminders to Pacifica. These lands, alone, weren't always so safe.
Maybe though, just maybe, she could find a hill, and then climb a tree? Find a vantage point to secure her location. She knew she was on the other side of the lake from the public access, so she could either be really close to home or... really far away.
The area seemed flat though. At best, she could see the slopes of the mountains around Gravity Falls still. Then, some hundred feet or so ahead, a clearing.
"Yes," she muttered as she rushed forward, her already tired legs and arms barely able to keep up with her needs. It was, to her luck, a large meadow. Several deer spotted her, but only watched her pause.
"Okay, uh, it's got to be like, uh one? The sun sets in the east? Or was it the west?" Pacifica looked up to the sky, trying to spot the sun. Several of the high clouds above blotted out the exact position of the sun, and she grumbled. Wind passed through the trees and she shivered. The remembrance of being so high up without any support but the dragon was too recent, and she shivered. Looking back into the trees for a moment, she heard a rustle of movement.
The deer had all run off, darting deep into the woods. Pacifica stared at their positions now, looking fearfully back at her. It had gotten a bit darker with the rustle of wind, but she wasn't sure that-
The tree directly behind her snapped in two. Splinters and branches crashed around her and she ran. It was behind her.
The sundering forest was all the cue Pacifica needed to start running. She could barely get fifteen feet away from where she had just been before it emerged. An explosion of vegetation and wooden fragments splayed into the air, causing her to stumble and fall. Pacifica tripped over a small bush, crashing and rolling to her side. She slid into the hard ground and felt the sting of more scrapes and bruises forming along her arms and face. Before she could scramble upon her feet, the light above her was blotted out.
Pacifica looked up once more, and saw the head of the dragon peering down on her, and she shrieked. She would not look on death. She couldn't. She had, often hoped, she'd be brave enough to look at the moment that fate decided to take her. Closing her eyes and holding herself as tightly into a ball, she cowed.
"Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me..."
Her praying seemed to have effect.
Blinking and opening her eyes, Pacifica turned and looked up. The big, yellow eyes peered down at her; the head tilted slightly to one side. The animal watched her. Though close, it no longer advanced.
Pacifica could only stare back.
"You're just waiting," she told the dragon, "You're just waiting until I think I'm safe, so you can kill me anyway."
The dragon tilted its head again, listening to her.
"Can... you understand me?" she asked, blinking back.
The dragon, once again, tilted its head.
"Uh... I'm standing up now. If you eat me, I'll punch your throat until you puke," Pacifica warned the monster before her as she stared up. The dragon said nothing. It moved to do nothing. It only stared down at her.
"Okay... so... the dragon is just stalking me now. I mean," Pacifica started to push herself up, "I can understand why you'd think I'm a princess: great hair, fair skin, loves animals, but– "one of the bruises along her arm twanged and she stumbled forward. Her face fell right at the claws of the monster.
Pacifica gulped. Up close, those claws were easily each the size of her forearm. Pretty dang big. She expected her sudden movement was the trigger needed for those claws to dig deep into her, rending her lifeless.
Those massive talons pulled away. With a startled gasp, Pacifica looked up as the jaw of the dragon lowered down, and pushed itself next to her. "What're you- AHH!" she screamed as the dragon pushed itself under her. Its head flicked upwards, and Pacifica was lifted back to her feet. A stumble later, Pacifica stood fully up, hyperventilating.
As it had done for the past several minutes, it continued to watch her carefully.
Pacifica took several steps to the right. The head of the dragon turned and followed her. Several steps more to the left. Still, the eyes and head locked onto her like magnets.
Something clicked with Pacifica. "You... you're not going to kill me?" she asked it. The dragon tilted its head. "Ugh!" she grumbled. "You're just like Alphie," she muttered as she looked to the dragon. It blinked, one eye before the other.
Something about it blinking like that made her chuckle. Could it be that this apex predator, the scariest, meanest thing she had ever met, which included that nasty giant spider and poltergeist, was just a dumb animal? Admittedly, now that Pacifica felt as if it wasn't going to randomly eat or kill her, it was rather cool. It was a beautiful, purple dragon: one that liked her for some reason. Either way, it still hadn't killed her. Yet.
"You're not going to eat me, are you?" she asked it. When it said nothing, she added, "What do you want from me?" she said, adjusting her dress. The dragon rumbled gently, it's deep sound vibrating into the earth. "Uh, okay then," she stumbled for words.
The dragon lowered its head and slowly closed its eyes. Right before her did this strange creature begin to nap. Was this... some sign of dominance? Or did it just not care about her? Pacifica studied herself – maybe she had done something or had something on her that made herself seem docile.
All she could see was her shoes, and her purple dress.
She glanced back to the dragon. With its head lowered, she spotted something not naturally belonging on an animal, as far as she was concerned. A metal choker was tied at the base of its neck; singed, but not broken away. Passing by the bright yellow horns that zigged and zagged up towards the sky, Pacifica studied the choker. It had two studs onto it, build in either side.
She knew enough about horse riding to guess that it could have been part of a saddle. Or a restraint system.
That wasn't all on the dragon. She spotted the belly of the beast, poking just slightly out to the side. It almost made her laugh at first- it was such a large creature and had such a large stomach that surely it shouldn't fly. A joke would have been appropriate for her, if it hadn't been hurt.
A large, smoldering burn was streaked across the underside. The scales hadn't been seared away, but they seemed to have been almost welded together like melted glass. Pacifica blinked as she felt out with her hand. Was there something out there that could burn dragons? Here she thought they were fireproof.
As soon as she touched it, the dragon jolted. It moved its entire belly away from her hand, and moved aside, snarling.
Pacifica fell back and whimpered. "Sorry!" she told the dragon. It curled around it's stomach, and began to lick the wound with a long, serpentine tongue. She meekly told it, "You... you burned yourself there, I think," she pointed out to the dragon, who ignored her as it lapped the wound.
She frowned from her comment. This didn't sit right with her. A dragon being burned was already odd, but now if the dragon had a harness piece stuck on it, wouldn't that mean someone was trying to ride it? Or tame it? Control it?
Who knew about dragons around here?
Her first pick was the twins, but based on how Mabel handled herself back in the cave, something told Pacifica that the Pines didn't know about dragons either. After all, Mabel hadn't come running in with an insane, brilliant plan. Which meant it was probably someone else. The homeless, eccentric McGucket may have had something to do with this, if robots were involved...
No. Her mind raced back to a deal she had made with a shady looking guy, offering magical instruments for money. Pacifica remembered that there was something else, someone else, at work in the area who had the kind of know-how that the twins did. The so-called Warlock.
The dragon's head peaked up, and it snarled. Pacifica glanced around. "What? What is it?!" she demanded as the dragon stood on its legs. Without hesitation, the dragon became entirely engulfed in flames. Pacifica held her ground, putting a hand up from the heat. The dragon turned its attention towards a large boulder. Pacifica turned to the direction as well. She finally took a step to the side, feeling the heat of the crackling immolation. Snarling, the dragon continued its sentry of the rock.
A voice yelled out from the noticed direction, "Pacifica! Run!"
"Mabel?" Pacifica called to the rock.
"Hey!" a hand jotted up and out from behind the large rock. Not a second passed before the dragon roared, and spat a large jet of flame at the rock. The hand was instantly withdrawn. Mabel, now fully retreated behind the boulder, called out, "But seriously, just run away! We'll distract big and scary!"
"Wait! No, hold on!" Pacifica shouted. The dragon moved forward, stomping closer to the now mildly melted boulder. No longer on fire, she could approach it. Pacifica ran forward, and slid right in front of the dragon. "Stop!" she shouted. The dragon lurched, but came to a halt. Now that its eyes were fixed on Pacifica, she pointed behind her. "Don't hurt them. They're not going to hurt me, or you!"
The dragon leaned in closer to her, yellow eyes intently watching her.
"Don't hurt them," she repeated, "Okay? Give me a nod, like this," Pacifica nodded her head, "And promise you won't hurt them." The dragon eyed the boulder behind her once more, but then did as told. It nodded.
"Okay," Pacifica sighed, and turned around. "It's not going to hurt you guys. Come out."
"Uh, oh, so, not that we don't believe you, Pacifica," Mabel called over.
Another voice, the nerdier of the three, said past the stone, "But if it doesn't listen to you, we kind of die if we pop over."
Pacifica hated when the nerds were right. "Fine," Pacifica rolled her eyes. She pointed to the dragon, "Stay here," she said to the mighty reptile thing. As the dragon gave a loud snort, she rushed ahead and walked around the cooked, horrible smelling rock. Hiding behind the rock was the three girls; Mabel, Grenda, and Candy. She asked of them, "Then step out with me."
Mabel stared at Pacifica, and then to her friends. This was a mildly risky maneuver. Mabel's eyes shone the truth: trust in Pacifica was not the issue, it was trust in the dragon. The big beast that could easily kill all four of them in a matter of moments. Well, probably not; they'd give it a run for its money. Death would be more like a likely scenario.
Still, Pacifica seemed confident in her safety. Mabel pursed her lips. She had wondered all this time, running with the two girls next to her, why the dragon had taken the blonde. Maybe she was right in her prior guesswork? Perhaps there was something more than just random luck and a need for food. So, with a sigh, Mabel pushed herself off the rock, and stepped to her blond friend.
"And you two?" Pacifica asked Candy and Grenda. "It won't breathe fire on me."
"Well, uh," Grenda stumbled. Then Candy sighed, shook herself for a moment, and also stepped over. Seeing the frailest of her friends stand and approach, Grenda grumbled, "Aw, heck with it," and also stepped out.
"Care to introduce us?" Mabel asked Pacifica, glancing at the dragon.
The blond sighed. "Dragon. Don't eat my friends unless they do something really dumb or annoying," Pacifica told the dragon. It rumbled and seemed to grin.
Feeling a little out of control of the situation, Mabel nervously giggled, saying, "That wasn't exactly what I asked."
Pacifica rolled her eyes, and told her, "Shut up and come over here," pulling on Mabel's arms. Not daring to resist the sweetheart of a dragon, Mabel went with Pacifica. Her two friends followed closely behind. "Look," Pacifica pointed to the neck, and Mabel squinted. The dragon glared at them, but at their safe distance, it made no hostile moves.
"A chain?" Mabel asked.
"It's a harness piece I think," Pacifica told them.
"You put that around the dragon already?" Grenda asked.
"No!" Pacifica snapped, "It was like that when I checked it. Seriously, where would I just keep a large, metal, collar on me?"
"I don't know, who knows what you got on your purse these days," Grenda bit back.
Pacifica narrowed her eyes. Mabel was busy studying the neck. There wasn't just the collar. There were scratches in the chain as well. Something had been digging into the neck, sharp and hard enough to cut away at those thick dragon scales. Only a moment of eyeing the dragon did Mabel look to the right, and find a large burnt patch.
"Yikes," she said and pointed, "Looks like he burnt himself when he got all hot and bothered earlier."
"That was there before the fire thing it did," Pacifica told her.
"Wait... it didn't burn itself there?" Mabel asked. Pacifica shook her head. Mabel added, her eyes growing wide, "Something else burned a dragon? The scary lizard dues who rule the skies?"
"I think they're reptiles, actually," Candy pointed out.
Mabel nodded to Candy, "Thank you, reptiles that rule the sky?"
"Looks that way," Pacifica shrugged, "I sure as heck didn't burn it. And it doesn't want anyone touching it," she added just as Mabel got closer to the wound.
"I won't!" Mabel whined. She hadn't a chance to move away, for the dragon must have considered what Mabel had wanted to do. It reeled about and whipped its massive head to face Mabel. Mabel gulped and the dragon snarled. "Ooookay, message received, you big, mean, scaly muther-hubbard."
"Told you," Pacifica sighed, doing her best to suppress a satisfied grin.
"Well, we can at least remove that collar thing, right?" Mabel said.
Pacifica blinked and looked to the others. "That thing is metal."
"Meh. We just got to pull at the weak spots," Mabel assured her, stepping alongside the dragon to its neck. "Just make sure that it's okay with us going there. Grenda? Candy?" Mabel called to her friends, "Some help, dudettes?"
The two stared at the dragon for a long moment, sharing a well-justified appreciation for the power it held. In the end, they resigned their fear and stepped next to the beast's neck.
"Sweet. Okay, you ready?" she asked.
"One," Grenda stated.
"Two," Candy shrugged.
"Three!" Mabel groaned as she pulled as hard as she could. As she had hoped, the metal around the neck was thick, but the sheet connector was a cheaper, softer metal. It snapped in two, and fell aside with a loud clunk. "Yikes, heavy stuff." Mabel gasped as she stepped away from the chunk of heavy steel. The neck of the dragon whipped up as its head rose.
Without warning to the two ladies, the dragon shook its head ferociously. Knocked aside and down by the whipping head, the three scrambled for cover. The dragon was clamoring around in circles, stretching its head, scratching it on the melted boulder, and letting out a series of hisses and snaps in the air. Only Pacifica remained upright, watching the dragon.
Pacifica chuckled. "I think it's happy," she guessed with a grin. The dragon then stormed over to Pacifica, who flinched and ducked. Yet as she held her head, the dragon rubbed the side of its head against her. Doing her best to still stay upright, Pacifica pushed back against the dragon, scratching its chin. The dragon then, very quickly collapsed to the ground, letting out a series purrs.
From behind a mound of earth, Mabel cooed. "Aww, I think it likes you," Mabel said, "I'm going to call her Magenta."
"Makes sense," Grenda chuckled as she stood up, "One fire breathing monster to like another."
"Hey!" Pacifica snapped back.
"Actually, based on appearance, it is possible the dragon sees you as kin," Candy said as she too stood, smudging dirt off her glasses.
"Kin?" Pacifica asked, trying to push the dragon off. It only came closer and rubbed harder.
"Kin, a type of relation closely associated with family and parental-" Candy started.
"Aww! I get it!" Mabel gasped and bounded off the dirt and over to the startled girl and her dragon. "It thinks your related to it!"
"How? We don't look anything alike," Pacifica said.
"But look at your hair and it's horns," Mabel grabbed a small chunk of Pacificas hair, and pointed to the horns, "Same shade of gold! Oh! And your skin is the same type as its belly scales!" Mabel pinched Pacifica's skin and pointed to the belly. "Aaaand, look at your dress and it's scales!"
Pacifica was slowly gathering the correlating data. Her brain seemed to gather each pointed out point on it's own, and she slowed down with each further point. Finally, after several seconds of staring at Mabel, she looked back to the Dragon. It stared back to Pacifica, those wide yellow eyes carefully drinking her in.
"Great. It thinks we're related," Pacifica sighed and stepped aside.
"I wish I had a dragon mom," Mabel sighed. "That'd be just too cool. Not that mom isn't cool, but still. Dragon mom. Dang. Good Magenta," she said, and patted the side of the dragon's snout. The dragon had relaxed, and thus did not rip Mabel apart for touching her.
Grenda laughed, "Or dragon pet!"
Pacifica snorted, and shook her head. "Ha! Right. Dragon... pet… " Pacifica slowly turned and stared at the dragon, aware of the reality that she could be presented with. "A pet dragon?" she asked herself so quietly. The dragon, hearing her soft words, turned its massive heard towards her. Pacifica, eying the creature that had brought her heartrate to unhealthy levels, lifted out her hand to the snout. The dragon watched her very carefully. Pacifica did not touch the dragon, and instead awaited to see the dragon's reaction.
It moved its snout to her palm. Pacifica's eyes widened.
From the forests, a voice called out, "That's the idea."
The four gasped and turned to the edge of the forest. The dragon snorted and leapt over the group, hiding behind Pacifica.
Standing at the edge of the forest, flanked by four men in suits, was Graupner Kinley. He wore his usual outfit. He had small patches of dust and soot on his clothes, which he idly tried patting off. As he did, he sneered, saying to Pacifica, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything intimate between a damsel and the dragon?"
"Warlock," Mabel and Pacifica said in unison. They glanced to each other at their word.
Mabel took to accusing the Warlock quickly. "So, you're behind... dragons," Mabel stated. "Are you summoning them from far off parallel dimension, or breeding them in a lab? Or Both!" she declared.
Graupner Kinley cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "What makes you think that I have anything to do with making that thing?" At that, Mabel peered back at the cowering dragon. The spines along the back of the dragon all curled down, along with the flaps of skin along it's head. She couldn't believe it, the dragon was scared. Some sort of fury built into her heart at the sight of a creature like that being terrified of someone like him. Graupner added, as someone might talk about a weird weather pattern, "Just got lucky, and dug it out from a long-buried cave," he grunted, and massaged his throat, "It got a little carried away when we tried tying it up."
"You tried tying it up?" Pacifica demanded.
"Not cool," Candy said.
The Warlock studied the scene before him. His eyes loomed on Pacifica for a moment, and those pale blue orbs shined with malice. He said, "So, why don't you all just come quiet," he let out a small, pained cough, "I don't have to worry about killing you, and then hand the dragon over," the warlock offered.
"Yeah, right," Mabel snorted. Her gaze turned to the men. All of them held their hands inside their suit jackets, gripping something tightly as they stared at the four and the dragon through sunglasses. Her quick glance of the men told her a few things; they weren't the united states agents she had seen before. They lacked badges, earpieces, or any other form of identification. These were some sort of fancy bodyguards. She snapped her vision back to Graupner. Mabel inquired, "How did you find us?"
"Tracking device in the collar," Graupner shrugged, "You know," he swallowed loudly, looking angry as he did, "I'm not in the mood for fighting. I'll let you all just walk off. But leave the dragon. So, get lost or else-"
"Get lost?" Pacifica repeated, furious, "Excuse me? Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"Northwest. Pacifica, the brat," The warlock chimed with glee.
Pacifica clenched her jaw, and through her teeth warned, "Brat or not, I still have my family's power. You back off, or I get my phone, and I let them know they're going to call some dirty people to do some dirty things to you," Pacifica said, stepping closer to the dragon. "And I mean hit-men."
"Pacifica," Mabel whispered as subtly as she could, "I thought you dropped your purse."
"I did! I'm bluffing, stupid!" Pacifica hissed back, barely moving her lips.
The Warlock laughed. With a high-pitched, mocking tone, Graupner Kinley told her, "Boo-hoo, my ddaddy is scarier than your daddy."
Pacifica snarled, but gasped as Grenda stepped up next to her. "Yeah?" she roared, having the bodyguards pull out their weapons: pistols. The pistols in mention however were cylindrical and had long barrels. Mabel was sure that those pistols weren't meant for bullets. Grenda continued, unphased by such displays of weaponry, "How about we just have our new dragon friend show you what we think!?"
Graupner sneered, but his eyes betrayed him. Hesitation, even for a moment, meant that he still was afraid of the dragon. Still, clenching his jaw tightly before speaking, he called out, "That's why I brought some friends."
Nearby trees began to sway and lose leaves in a ferocious wind. Flying over the trees, a helicopter blew past them overhead; swooping past the unprepared teens and the dragon. Magenta the dragon roared and hissed at the flying device.
Candy, counting the items stacked against her and her allies, whined, "He has a helicopter too? Not fair."
"Mabel, you got an idea, right?" Pacifica asked quietly to Mabel. The brunette silently nodded, and behind her back made a finger-puppet show- using her hand as a base for ground and two fingers for legs. The stood silently at first, and then suddenly turned and darted aside. Pacifica understood the message, "Oh, really? I guess that'll work."
"Just make for your manor," Mabel said quietly. She looked to Grenda and Candy, effortlessly and silently communicating with them what she had just told Pacifica. The helicopter was still in the distance.
Mabel focused on the Warlock. "Fine," Mabel called ahead, taking a step forward, "We'll–"
She whipped to the side, and ran across the field. The other three followed suit. The dragon, much larger than the others, began to crawl in pace with them, swerving left and right in its gait.
Stunned at their departure, the Warlock grumbled, "Oh c'mon!" The men beside him only watched for a moment, staring at the warlock. He realized they hadn't been given orders, or assumed what to do. A wince before speaking, Graupner furiously reminded them, "Get them!?" The four men took to running, beginning their chase.
With a dragon following close by, and three friends to safeguard, Mabel had officially completed her day's fill of running. She had been lucky, in her mind. It was the fourth of July, which as far as memory served, holidays often brought some weird stuff out. She had chased after a 'something', and now had that same dragon was running with her. Despite their newfound animal companion, they needed cover quickly.
The helicopter was coming over.
"Here it comes!" Grenda roared as the flying machine darted above.
Mabel dared to glance up. In the helicopter, two men in suits stood, peering down on the group through rifles with scopes. Just like the four chasing after them now, they made little to no reaction as they shot down.
There was no loud bang into the air, no horrible crack of wood or splintering of earth. Mabel felt a projectile barely miss her arm.
"Tranquilizer darts!" she shouted.
"Great, so if we drop, we get captured and dragged off to who-knows where!" Pacifica complained as she jumped behind a tree and continued running. "I'm so sick of running for my life!"
Candy, huffing over her sharp breaths as she ran, told Pacifica, "Then get on your dragon!"
"I–" Pacifica looked over her shoulder to the massive reptilian. That idea had clearly never dawned upon her. Still, the script had gone from the dragon as a kidnapper to the dragon as a friend. Pacifica, feeling the impulsive rush of reckless abandoned, turned around. She jumped onto the neck of the large dragon. It barely flinched as she climbed up and rode it once again.
Pacifica atop the dragon proved to be a better bet than Mabel could have guessed. No sooner had the blond teen leapt onto the bounding creature than a hail of darts landed where she had just been.
"Yikes!" Mabel said, sliding to the side as she barely dodged an incoming dart.
"These are huge!" Grenda shouted as they all took cover with the foliage of the woods once more.
Grenda, though the queen of hyperbole, was not wrong. The darts being shot at them at high velocities were made for larger animals. They were easily five inches long of nasty, shiny, metal syringe. Tranquilizer harpoons were more of a correct statement. Mabel peered into the sky. The helicopter flew above them, darting left and right. It was tracking them through the woods.
Atop her mount, Pacifica asked, "How are we going to lose them now?"
"You tell us!" Grenda called back.
"I don't know!" Pacifica yelled, "This is your sort of deal, after all!"
Candy yelled at her, "Well, start thinking like it is your deal too!" Candy yelled.
Pacifica, pink in the cheeks, was about to snap back. "I-"
BOOM!
The girls and the dragon roared and shrieked. A stick of dynamite had been tossed before them, shredding the canopy above. More explosions of similar size began to happen around then. Leaves, branches, and even entire trees began to fall, flames reaching the ground. The helicopter was bombing them.
"They're going to kill us!" Pacifica screamed.
Mabel gritted her teeth. Turning around briefly, she spotted the coming four agents. They still had those guns on them, but they were not firing them yet. They weren't in range. She pointed a direction, and shouted, "This way!"
Think, Mabel girl, think! she said to herself as she spun and ran with the group. Her highly developed constitution and endurance let her run and think in detail. As her speed matched those running, she thought. Make Dipper proud of your detective work!
If the helicopter was dropping sticks of dynamite around them (and fortunately missing), Mabel realized it meant one of two things; they were lousy shots, or couldn't see them perfectly. But since she was certain that they wanted the dragon alive, they wouldn't toss bombs in to kill them and the dragon. Those in the helicopter needed to clear out the canopy of the woods. Which meant, as she looked back, the only thing giving the enemy vision, were the four agents following them.
She glanced back and stared for a single moment. To her glee, one of them did have a walkie-talkie on them. That meant Mabel would likely be right: they were probably communicating up to the helicopter!
"Yes," she muttered, and she turned and ran again. "I got it!" she shouted as she caught up with friends, and newly acquainted dragon partner-in-crime. She told them excitedly, "We need to shake off the thugs from the dragon!"
"How?" Candy shouted.
"I'm not sure, but if they want the dragon, they'll follow it, and not us. The chopper will throw the boom-sticks down, but can't if they can't get info from them," Mabel told Grenda and Candy. Mabel looked to her friends, her long trusted partners in violence, boy-chasing, and romance magazine sharing, ride-or-die friends. The three of them had grown so much since their first adventures together. Still running for their life, they had more options.
Candy had a nasty glint in her eye as she grinned back. "Okay. Mabel, what are you thinking?" Candy asked, her keen mind, catching a look in Mabel's eye.
"Guerilla warfare," she stated. Candy nodded.
"Come again?" Grenda asked.
Candy explained, "Hit and run, girl."
Grenda gave a big nod. "Ah, gotcha. Us three?" Grenda asked Mabel, who nodded.
Pacifica, still atop her dragon, asked worriedly, "Wait, what about me?" Pacifica said as the three girls below her planned.
"Look, Pacifica, they want the dragon," Mabel started, "And I imagine that if they caught you, we'd be in more trouble than just losing Magenta. You take the dragon and go. We'll meet up with you!" Mabel explained.
Pacifica looked to Mabel and her friends. "But– but then you guys are staying behind!" she pointed out, a twinge of worry growing in her voice.
Mabel cackled, saying, "We've gotten out of worse before. Heck, this one time I died, and had to escape the underworld." Without further explanation, she then turned and continued her running. The three girls stared at Mabel for a moment, exchanged looks with one another (and Magenta), and followed. There certainly was a new appreciation for Mabel. Mabel told them after a moment of pondering, "It sounds a lot cooler than it really was."
Pacifica whined, "But, still-"
"Look!" Grenda shouted up to her, "Do you want a chance to run away, or not!?"
"Of course, I want us to get away! But-"
"Then take it!" Grenda interrupted Pacifica. The dragon hummed, it's deep voice vibrating into the ground. The blond, rich girl looked down to the dragon and grunted.
"Don't get hurt!" she shouted.
Mabel, fire burning in her eyes, roared, "Mystery twin, detachment squad, REVERSE!"
Mabel and the two slid to a stop, turned, and charged. The well-dressed agents had only just climbed over a large log when the tree girls made their attack. Mabel ran the fastest, sprinting like life depended on it. She leapt high into the air. Grenda and Candy remained on foot, but Grenda, roaring like a wounded animal, dived into the first man she could. Candy ducked behind a tree, removed her pepper-spray can, and ran forward. The helicopter blazed overhead.
The kick of the female mystery twin smashed clean across the face of the Agent. It was the kind of kick she reserved only for her master, and it sent the man spinning. She landed, and watched him stay up-right, catching himself by a tree. He recovered, and removed his smashed glasses. Mabel gulped. This man had scars up and down his face along his eyes. Before her wasn't a mild-mannered goon. He looked like the kind of person who enjoyed a good throw-down, and had the scarring to prove it.
Grenda was busy exchanging blows with her target; a tall, wide-shouldered man. As she punched and slammed her fists, he replied in kind. He struck her as hard as he could, delivering large circles of blue and black on her face. Still, Grenda stood, and struck back.
Mabel wouldn't allow herself to take such damage. The man she had kicked made a motion to shoot at her with his weapon. She ducked and dived. There was movement behind her; another goon! The person behind her had just made to grab at her arms, but the dart shot at Mabel struck their shoe. Hitting somewhere around the big toe, the would-be grabber howled in pain.
Screaming, the shot man hopped on one foot for a brief moment and then slumped to the ground like a wet noodle. Mabel made her advantage an opportunity: the unloaded gun was grabbed and tossed aside. While the taller man made to punch at Mabel, she ducked back and cart wheeled, kicking him in his chin. Pain flared in Mabel's toe, but she wasn't ready to resign to a little 'ouch' like that.
She landed and stood looking at the injured man. He spat next to him, leaving a crimson spot on the ground. Mabel grinned. She already knew what she was going to be doing. He was angry at her, and that would play to her strengths. She was very annoying in a fight, and according to emos back home, very annoying in general.
"Get ready to be burned, sucka!" she told him, and dived in for the fight again. He kicked out at her, in what could have been a rib-breaking strike into her chest. She slid down, bending at the knees. Then, one foot pushing off the ground, she leapt up. Leading with her free foot, she kicked into the back of his knee. The man screamed and fell. Mabel, now above him, lifted her leg in a sharp jab with her own knee; delivered to the man's face.
Three strikes, he's out.
Her competitor collapsed to the ground. Mabel turned to Grenda, still dealing with the man, but now gaining footing. Grenda had him in her bear grip, something to be feared. Turning to her other side, Candy was striking the man with a large stick over and over. His hands covered and rubbed his eyes, and he wailed and cried. She had clearly gotten him with her home-brewed mace.
Rushing over to Candy, Mabel took one prepared moment for Candy to step aside. After the moment and Candy moved, Mabel screamed as loud as she could and karate-chopped the man by the base of his neck. The guard went rigid. Like a floppy piece of plywood, he fell aside.
"Granite Grenda Finisher!"
The two turned away from the fallen guard and to Grenda. A black eye, a puffed up half lower lip, and at least three, large, black and blue bruises to coved her face, but Grenda beamed. The girl had lifted up the man above her head with two arms. She then intentionally fell backwards. His back hit the ground first, and with his weight plus hers, the resounding cracks and outcries of the man told the two ladies that he wouldn't be getting up soon. Rolling over from her victory, Grenda stood up, dusting her shoulders off.
"No biggie," she said to her friends, and then winced. "My face feels big though."
"Yeah, you took a few punches there," Mabel pointed out, timidly pointing to the three huge bruises across her face."
"Heh, that happens," Grenda shrugged.
Candy patted her friend's shoulder proudly. "Grenda is used to many injuries. Captain of the wrestling team means that she can... can-" Candy whimpered as she suddenly stumbled.
"Candy?" Mabel gasped, and looked to her left quickly. A dart barely flew past her. Grenda shouted and dived to the ground. The small framed girl fell right into Mabel's outstretched arms. Candy began to drool, her eyes out of focus.
"Oh no!" Mabel gasped, and looked to Grenda.
A voice called from the distance, "Having some problems?"
Mabel sealed her eyes shut tightly and shook her head. Of course, she had forgotten Warlock of jerkfaces. She reached down to her unconscious friend and removed the dart imbedded into her back.
"I can carry her!" Grenda told Mabel.
"Okay," Mabel nodded. She hastily handed off the now limp Candy to Grenda. Grenda stood, hunched over and carrying her dazed friend. Mabel quickly inquired, "Ready? He'll try to nail us as soon as we get up."
"No way he can," Grenda told Mabel with a grin.
"Then," Mabel sighed, "let's go!"
They ran. Mabel only had the smallest chance to glance behind her as she and Grenda pelted out from under the cover of the log. Some thirty feet behind them, the Warlock had only just made it to the log now, carrying with him a variant of the same pistol used by the four incapacitated men.
To Mabel's horror, the moment he arrived to the logs, he waved his hands above the four men. There was a light of some sort. The fallen goons all jolted. One by one, they stood on their feet. Shaking their heads and loosening up, the body guards started running after the girls again.
"He can heal them!?" Mabel whined to Grenda.
"Rude!" Grenda shouted back.
Still, they ran. What else could they do now? The helicopter wove around their heads, tracking them as they fled from the now five men behind them. The occasional dart would soar right into a tree next to them. Mortality hung in the balance as the two ladies ran. A single hit from the long darts meant game over now. No one would be left behind, but they had no one to carry them all.
Well, Mabel wondered if Grenda could carry her as well, but it wasn't something she considered testing out.
A rock ahead presented the option- left or right.
"The right?" Mabel suggested.
"Right!" Grenda nodded.
The two turned and ran, sliding down the hill as fast as they could without losing footing. Then, as they found themselves at the base of the hill, did they realize their mistake.
"Wrong," Mabel grumbled.
They were now in a grotto. One surrounded by a steep ledge of rock. Getting out, as they looked around, came from one direction- the one they just came from. Where, to their dismay, five men stood, looking down on them.
The Warlock cackled. One of the guards let out a small scoff. There was a buzz on the walkie-talkie on him, and the man lifted it up to his face. "Copy that," the man said into the walkie-talkie, "We've got them. Keep on looking for the dragon."
"Roger that," the voice of the pilot replied.
Graupner Kinley took a deep breath, relishing the moment. "Now, that feels good. Cornering you," he elaborated, and then cleared his throat with a rough cough, "Ugh," and he mumbled something dark and quiet. Looking to Mabel with a sneer, the Warlock made his intentions known, "So, how about we make this easy. Come quietly, and my boys won't have to lift you off the ground," Graupner said, playing with the barrel end of the gun.
"So, you can do what? Hold us hostage?" Mabel said. The Warlock grinned and shrugged. Mabel shook her head. "Nice try. You can drag us for all we care."
A vein twitched in Graupner's temple. "Maybe we will," the warlock glared down at them, his eyes shining with anger. "I'll make sure to drag you through each-"
From the walkie-talkie, a voice cried out, "Contact!"
Graupner snarled. Interrupted, he yanked the device from the soldier's hands. Holding it to his face, he spoke back. "Where is it now?"
"Airborne!" the pilot cried. "It's turning ab- Whoa! It's on us!"
"Wait, what do you mean it's on you?" Graupner growled. "Then shoot it down! We'll fly it back to base later!"
"It's staying on our six! Can't get a good bead on it – Aaagh!" the pilot roared.
High above, the helicopter zoomed past, swaying trees in it's wake of wind. Then the sky grew orange and the heat of dragon fire permeated the woods. The woods grew darker in the shadow of a hundred-foot spray of fire that nearly entirely engulfed the hunter helicopter.
Graupner yelled, "Skywatch, turn around and take care of it!" Grauper shouted into the walkie-talkie.
The walkie-talkie called back. "Kinley, it's turning around! Heading straight for-"
The battle cry of a huge dragon blasting through the trees and foliage cut out the warning of the pilot. The Warlock and his men had just enough time to dive aside, dodging the swooping attack of the dragon. Atop it, Pacifica steered, pulling the horns aside to avoid the large boulder.
"Welcome to the battlefield, air support!" Mabel called as Pacifica and the dragon made their return after the swooped past the three.
"Like I'm going to let you get all the hero-worship in this one," Pacifica shouted down at them. She turned her attention to the Warlock. He had gotten back on his feet, spinning his hands around one another, creating a ball of black flame. "We got him now!" Pacifica yelled to Mabel.
Mabel turned to Grenda. "We got to keep moving," she said as the dragon, flapping it's wings again, dived forward at the warlock. "C'mon, we can get Candy out of here!"
"Yeah!" Grenda agreed as the two started to run again. "You know, maybe I was wrong about Pacifi-"
BOOM.
Mabel and Grenda were thrown clear off their feet.
Trees splintered and were cooked instantly in the heat and light.
Her ears ringing and stinging like wasps buzzed around them, Mabel felt the ground beneath her. The world felt upside down. She couldn't make out what she was doing until she blinked out the dirt from her eyes. She and Grenda had been throw some thirty feet back into the grotto.
Stumbling back up, Mabel saw the ruins of the woods around her. Blackened trees, all stripped of their leaves and many more branches, reminded her of what had happened. Which, as she climbed up, brushing off the rubble from her sweater, she saw what remained.
The warlock faced away from her, staring at the collapsed, purple dragon.
The Warlock noted to himself, "Huh. Dragon fire and blackflame react poorly. That was what caused the first explosion," the warlock muttered to himself.
Mabel looked around him, and let out a whimper. The dragon's right wing, held up and caught in the remains of a tree, looked horribly burnt. Holes through the membrane of skin made it nearly useless for flight. The other wing cupped around a struggling Northwest. Pacifica had struck her head on something; a large bruise forming on her forehead. She was still awake, but seemed incapable of focusing. Dark fire plumed all around them. The woods had flames crackling and dancing on several remaining trees.
Graupner Kinley snickered, "Now I get four girls to ransom, a dragon to work with, and one of them is Mabel Pines? Oh. It's is perfect."
Mabel took a heavy step, trying to steady herself. With a dark warning, she growled, "Leave them alone."
He turned around, his slightly singed cloak fluttering in the turn. He let out a hacking cough before shouting. "You're still up!?" he demanded. "That nearly knocked out everyone-"
"Except me," Mabel pointed to herself with a thumb, and then pointed at him, "And you, buster," Mabel told him. She took the most natural form of defense she knew: a boxers stance. With effort, she raised her fists. Exhausted and dizzy, Mabel told the Warlock, "Your move, creep."
His lip twitched, but he grinned. "Fine by me," he told her. He lifted his hand behind him, pointing to Pacifica and the dragon. From a tiny mote of darkness, those black flame sbegan to grow into his palm.
Mabel looked to him, and his target. "What are you doing?" Mabel demanded, "I'm over here, dummy!"
He laughed, tasting her confusion as anyone would a sweet. He told her, "I'm giving you a choice. You, or them," he told her.
"What!?" she cried out. "What the heck is the matter with you!?" Mabel yelled, fear and anger mixing terribly.
At that, Graupner winked. The growing ball of flame expanded steadily. As Mabel seemed frozen in place, he happily stated, "Countdown for roast blond – Five, four," he started counting down.
Mabel took no chances. She ran for him.
"Three, two," he told her, holding the fire behind him still.
In her experience, Mabel had seen him hold such attacks at bay. This was like his own jab, though deadly. It was already readied. If she struck him, he'd send the attack at Pacifica. Mid-way running at him, Mabel winced at her next choice. She ran past him. She slid across the soil, between the Warlock and her rich, blond friend.
The Warlock, seemingly bored with Mabel's choice, ended with a dull, "One."
Mabel clenched her whole body. The odd, dark fires burst from his palm and raced towards her. It was the fire that melted dragonscale. It was the same fire that reacted with dragonfire to cause explosive power. She was the line of defense between her and the Warlock. Pacifica was in trouble because of this man. This man was Mabel's enemy, and now put a target on people in Mabel's life. What else was there she could do? In the face of letting friends be hurt or killed, she had no alternative.
She wouldn't let the fear of pain and death stop her though. Until it came for her, in person, she would do the only thing she knew to do in the sight of the end. She gritted her teeth. There was a ghost of a man, a memory, who lived across town in a beaten up tourist trap, telling her one, simple thing:
Fight.
Mabel, yelling back against fate, screamed, "RIGHT HOOK!"
Mabel roared. She punched back at the black flame, putting her back, her heart, mind, soul into it. Her whole, entire existence flowed into the single punch.
The fire was gone. Mabel blinked.
The warlock's mouth dropped open. "Wh-wh-what!?" he gasped, stuttering worse than ever. "How-how-how-how-"
Mabel felt her hand, and then heard sizzling to her left. Other than the strongest, Grunkle Stan inspired punch she had ever given, she had felt some sort of connect. Had there been a reasonable person there, she was afraid she would have broken her knuckles, and their entire face. Looking to the side, Mabel was stunned. The black flame had been knocked into a lone stump some fifteen feet away. There, it ate at the scorched wood until there was only pitch-black ashes.
Had she… Did she punch a fireball away?
"Impossible!" the warlock shouted at her. "What spell did you use!?"
"It's, uh, called, um... BEING AWESOME!" Mabel roared back at the Warlock.
He stumbled and tripped over his cloak. "That's... wait," he gasped, and stared up at her, "You manipulated fire. That's the paths!"
Before Mabel even considered throwing another warning at him, he turned and ran. In the distance, his men greeted him. They also rushed away, making a beeline towards the unfettered woods. The helicopter buzzed over her head, leaving them all finally alone.
Behind her, a voice asked, "Mabel, what did you just do?"
Mabel gasped and spun around. Pacifica was awake. Mabel rushed to her. The blond was still very clearly dizzy. Mabel told her, a dim smile on her face, "Hey, stay still. You kinda conked the side of you head there, girly-doe," Mabel chuckled.
Pacifica shook her head, now grabbing Mabel's wrist. "You... the fire bent around your arm and... and-"
"Doesn't matter right now," Mabel told her, "We need to get everyone back to safety before jerk-face-McLoser comes running back," she declared her. The dragon's wing came crashing down, pulled away from the now charred bits of branch.
Pacifica, in a rare moment of lost composure, looked to the dragon with watering eyes. "It's not going to die, is it?" Pacifica asked Mabel.
"I don't think so?" Mabel answered. "It looks like it's wing got most of the fire." She scanned the said wing, and grimaced. "But I don't know if it will fly again."
Pacifica shot up suddenly, rigidly straight. "Why?" Pacifica turned around, squinting at Mabel with a fury unkindled. Mabel flinched, holding up her exhausted hands. Pacifica snapped, "Because that man, that – ugh – decided to burn away all that skin? Huh?" she asked heatedly. Mabel shrugged. Pacifica bared her teeth. "Well, I don't think so. This dragon will one day fly again, or my name isn't Pacifica Northwest!"
"And so, after trying to sew on new wings, that's how we discovered that dragons are mildly allergic to latex!" Mabel finished her story with bravado.
Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Arline, and Soos all stared at Mabel, their eyes and faces stuck in a permanent stun. The only one not looking like they had just heard the most ludicrous story about dragons and chases in the wild was Yuki, who nodded.
"That sounds about right," he shrugged.
It was now six in the evening. The first ever publicly held Northwest gathering had finally gone underway. Fireworks would soon be fired into the afternoon sky. The terrace and porch of the backyard was filled with people.
Nearly five hours ago, the four girls had returned, broken, bruised, tired, drugged, and all of them exhausted. While the two parents threatened to sue the three ladies for their supposed mistreatment of their daughter, Pacifica swore off the parents. When they did not listen, Magenta the dragon took in, nearly biting Pacifica's father's head off. With a healthy dose of the fear of death put into him, he let the four girls clean up.
After that, with the help of Arline and Zander, whom the dragon eyed with an air of suspicion, the party was quickly set up.
Dipper groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "You mean I missed our first encounter of one of the most crucially identifiable species today? A dragon? I need to put so much in the book," Dipper said.
"Yeah, well, they're going to keep Magenta as a pet. Pacifica said that since she's a rarity, the parents are going to fix up the wing in no-time, so they can parade around saying the own a one-of-a-kind animal. Gah," Mabel explained, up until her hands gave an awful twinge. Her two hands held before her, she spied the thick wrappings around her fingers and palms.
Arline put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Keep them on for a day or so," Arline reminded her, "After that, you can take them off and get back to punching things," Arline chuckled.
Mabel whined. "But that's one whole day of things to punch I'm never getting baaaack..."
Stan chuckled. "I'm going to go steal as much free food as I can fit in my jacket. Left-overs for the next week, you three!" Stan told Dipper and Mabel.
"Blech," the twins groaned.
"At least it'll be seasoned," Dipper suggested.
Mabel nodded. "You should go ask Pacifica to introduce you to Magenta. She'll probably be okay with you," Mabel told Dipper.
His eyes sparkled, and he removed his journal from his jacket. "Great idea!" he nodded, and ran off. Unfortunately for him, Mabel had been about to tell him he was running in the wrong direction. Pacifica was behind him and Mabel, speaking to Candy and Grenda. She was mid-way through some sort of explination.
"–But as far as people handling are concerned, the best thing to do, in your position," Pacifica told Grenda, "Is to remind them of your positional power, rather than your physical."
"Why not both?" Grenda asked.
"If you want people to really respect you, it needs to come from your authority first, your strength second," Pacifica explained to her.
"Hm. That does sound like a heel kind of move," Grenda nodded thoughtfully.
Candy, who had only recently come back from the heavy dose of tranquilizer, yawned loudly. She looked to Pacifica, and asked, "Does this mean you're going to stop harassing our clubs for now on?"
Pacifica went pink in the cheeks. "I – what? I never–" Pacifica looked between the two ladies as Mabel walked over. Both Candy and Grenda awaited an answer, trepidation in their eyes. Pacifica looked like she had broken something, and struggled to put something to words. Finally, after a hand from Mabel landed on her shoulders, she calmed. Pacifica quietly said, "Yeah. I'm sorry about that."
Candy and Grenda stared at the blond for a moment.
In unison, they exclaimed with laughter and squeezed Pacifica with a large hug.
"Thanks Pacifica!" Candy said.
"Yeah! Now we're going to get some FOOD!" Grenda roared, and began to holler.
"Aww, you three are friends now?" Mabel asked, hopping next to Pacifica. The blond took a long breath in, and then gave a tiny nod. Mabel exuded even more squeals than before. "Yessss! All my friends are cool with one another!"
Pacifica played with her hair, her eyes downcast. "Well, they both fought for my life," Pacifica explained, "And I can't say I'm suddenly like, close with them, or anything. But, you know… I do appreciate that. Dipper did that, and I gave him a chance, didn't I?"
Mabel smirked. "Ohh, is Yuki going to have to watch out as you go looking for closer lady friends?" Mabel wiggeld her eyebrows.
Pacifica went red in the face. "Ew! No! Stop that!" she demanded, pushing Mabel's face.
"Careful," Mabel warned her, falsly swooning, "Your feminine charms are too much for my meek heart!"
Pacifica, relenting with her pushing, laughed. The two of them shared a very real, very sincere moment of joy. Mabel stopped first, eying her friend. She asked Pacifica, as the blond calmed down, "I'm happy for you, Pacifica."
Pacifica nodded. "Me too. I kinda of get," she admitted, "That I've had it easy, you know? You and Dipper showed me that. Then Yuki really hit the rest home. Gosh, he's so smart," she admitted, looking away to her boyfriend, "And now I'm just seeing how smart your friends are. I really appreciate them, now. They stuck their neck out for me. I have to appreciate that."
"Could have fooled me," Mabel winked with a cat-like grin.
"Hey, that was-"
"A joke, doofus," Mabel winked at Pacifica. Pacifica, in turn, pushed away Mabel by her face.
Walking over to Yuki, Pacifica called to Mabel, "Talk to me later. I'll be spending some time with a handsome man," she winked to Mabel.
Mabel, ever the romance enthusiast, ran in place to burn at the rise of energy. Mabel told herself, mid-jog, "Man, Oxytocin is a helluva drug!" A hand fell to her shoulder, gripping tightly. She looked up to see Arline. To her surprise, her master looked slightly uncertain. "Heya?" Mabel asked.
"What you did out there was dangerous," Arline told her, her voice no longer pleasant or kind. Mabel blinked and stared up at her usually happy master. Arline turned her gently, allowing them to speak face-to-face. She added urgently, "You could have been killed by doing what you did."
Mabel gulped. She was being scolded? "But, what else was I going to do?" Mabel asked.
Arline sighed. "Mabel..."
"You know I couldn't let Pacifica and Magenta get hurt anymore," Mabel defended.
"No, I get that," Arline shook her head. She let go of Mabel, and leaned back against a stone handrail nearby. "Sorry, Mabel," Arline apologized, rubbing her forehead.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Arline grumbled, "I'm just not used to this sort of setting when I'm trying to teach people. Don't typically have to worry about people trying to kill the women I care about in my life, right?" she asked Mabel with a chuckled. Mabel obliged her, laughing a little herself. Arline went on, "Just promise me that you'll be more careful for now on," she then lowered her voice to a whisper, "If the Warlock is using Blackflame, that means he's been using a very, very old source for magic spells."
Intrigued, Mabel asked, "What is blackflame?"
Arline scowled. "Bad business, that's what. Some cultures have crazy names for it, like nightkiller, or demontouch, or 'that bad fire'. Honestly, the last one is really uninspired," she added in a mumble. "It's a spell that creates fire, but can burn just about anything. People who survive it get scars never heal fully."
"Never?" Mabel repeated, thinking back to Magenta.
Arline told her with a sorrowful look, "The dragon will probably be burned like that for the rest of its life."
Mabel felt her lip twitch. She looked to Pacifica. She was chatting with Yuki now, resting her head against his shoulder as she stared up at him. Dipper had joined with them, and was taking notes from Pacifica and Yuki. Mabel smiled towards her brother, ever the biggest dork. Mabel had to tell Pacifica about the scarring at some point, but it wouldn't be now. She had a night to go through, and had already dealt with enough. Besides, she thought her and Yuki just made the cutest little couple.
Arline lifted herself from her lean. "Mabel," Arline asked, "You weren't lying at all earlier, were you?"
"Huh? Why? 'Bout what?" Mabel asked.
"Not that I don't believe you," Arline assured her, "It's just... because... if you did do everything you said you did, you manipulated fire today."
Mabel's mouth dropped open. "Ohhhh, that makes more sense."
"What?!" Arline gasped and broken into a laugh, "Mabel! That's huge! You being able to do something like that only when you're fifteen is astounding!" Arline told her. "You... do you have any idea how long it took me to do that?"
"I dunno, like a year?" Mabel guessed. Arline's jaw dropped down. "See, only a year. Called it!" Mabel laughed. As her teacher and master stared at her pupil, she could only end up smiling.
"Go hang out with your brother, "she told Mabel. With a grin and chuckle, Mabel bounded away, off to seek her probably lost brother. Arline added with a grin, "A year, huh?" and as she leaned over a stone balcony, she lifted out her hand, creating a small spark of flame. "Dang, Mabel; never walking, always running."
But, really, it's probably just coincidence.
I mean, it's not like certain things line up for sheer... coincidences...
SO- Season 2, Episode 13 done! Draconic Tendencies!
A lot has happened since the last update, let me tell you. So, first of all, a show of hands, WHO'SE EXCITED AS I AM FOR NEXT ACTUAL EPISODE!? AAHHHHHHHH
And while I'm on the topic, I've gotten a torrential downpour of people reminding me of the updates to come. For those of you that don't know, the newest information out about the Stan twins is this- Grunkle Stan is actually Stanley, and The Author is actually Stanford.
So, yeah. I screwed up big.
Not to worry though- just a few switcheroos in EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER WHERE THE NAME STANFORD IS MENTIONED...
I swear, Alex Hirsch, this is revenge for using your namesake, isn't it!? Jerk.
Well, HAH! I beat you to your Dungeons and Dragons episode! By almost half a freakin' YEAR! (but he'll probably do it better... dangit.)
So, starting next week, I'll be slowly changing all the Stanfords to Stanley and Stanleys to Stanford. It's going to take a while, but... oh well.
And finally, before I send myself to doom and give you some cryptograms, I want to remind you all of my 'canon' policy. I'm trying my hardest here, you guys, but in the end, the main series and this WILL deviate. It'll be a sad day for us, but hey. At least we could have had some fun pretending they're almost the same thing. But I can't predict everything. My plot won't allow for it. :p
And so... my doom.
(EZB is handed a sign with the word 'doom' written on it.)
Oh. Less dramatic than I thought.
(EZB explodes into smoldering remains with a loud pop.)
The fireworks would be starting soon, and Arline pocketed her hands to her sides. The air around her was cooling, and a gentle breeze tossed around her hair lightly. If only Mabel knew how quick she was coming along, if she thought element control was something easy... Arline grinned and looked to the deep blue sky.
She leaned up from the balcony ledge. Arline was ready to get herself some refreshments. After all, she had a lot more training to do if she wanted to start testing Mabel's newest skill. That was, if Mabel could replicate it reliably. When she had started to learn to utilize flame, it took months before it was consistent. Maybe Mabel would pick it up faster?
A vein in Arline's neck twitched, just below her ear, by her jaw.
It was involuntary, but it meant something to her. She knew this feeling well; her master had a long time ago instilled the fear and awareness of being studied at distance. She turned and looked around. No one seemed to be looking at her on the porch. She knew she had to be quick.
Then she looked up.
There was someone watching her: Zander Maximillion. In the brief moment she spotted him, he was staring down at her. He seemed fixed on her being. The moment she spotted him, he looked up and away, and turned towards the manor. No word, no comment, no smile.
Arline frowned. He had been just above the spot where Mabel and her had spoken. An ally had been listening in rather intently to a private conversation. An ally who, as she knew, was not afraid to get close to people. He wanted to hear in on their chat, but not reveal himself? Arline wasn't sure why, but something began to bug her. That hadn't felt very Zander Maximillion of him, keeping a distance.
Arline thought back to the story of the day. Mabel had claimed the Warlock wanted to capture the dragon when he found it in the mountains. He had, with him, bodyguards, a tracking collar, and a whole helicopter to use. Now, Arline had a few cheeky resources to throw around, sure. Even with her own master's financial assistances before, she knew that the kind of resources the Warlock displayed showed real wealth.
He had real big money.
As Arline dwelled on potential threats, she was looking at the retreating back of someone they all knew who had more than enough cash on them to go around. There were others in Arline's mind who had targets on their back, but Zander Maximillion might just become a new suspect.
D jluo zlwk d Ylnlqj khulwdjh ulglqj d gudjrq? Qhyhu khdug ri wkdw ehiruh.
-AND-
Nzyvo ovzimvw uriv-kfmxs! Rg'h hfkvi vuuvxgrev!