Gentle thunder rumbled across the long-past midnight sky, over the dense city of the eastern US city. Recent rain had left it's mark through a thick blanket of humidity that clung to the skin and enhanced the scents of the town. Against the roof of a tall apartment building, the lights of the distant Pitt factory shone in the unmoving puddles. The gravel stones under the stagnant rainfall broke apart the image, leaving a gentle pink and gold aura on the flat surface.
Something distantly thudded. The water rippled, cascading the gentle image into disarray. The same ripples came again, and again. Faster and faster the grew until it was a trembling.
A foot splashed into the puddle, the owner running as fast as they could across the rooftop. Immediately afterwards, another pair of feet splashed across the surface.
Two figures in heavy, dark grey hoodies ran across the wetted gravel. The front figure, a few feet taller than the second, leapt over a large heating pipe with ease. The second figure ducked underneath, pushing themselves up and looking behind themselves briefly. A flash of bright blue under the hoodie, from the person's eyes, witnessed a coming danger. She gasped and darted aside. Something tiny struck where she had just been, tossing gravel into the air.
The two rushed ahead, avoiding several more projectiles. The front figure glanced over their shoulder.
In the distance, they saw him. The man with the duster, holding the weapon. It was aimed at them again.
"Duck!" the front one said, and threw himself flat on the ground. The second figure followed suit, and they both avoided another one of the objects, which this time stuck into a wooden sign at the edge of the building. It was a needle the size of a pencil.
The smaller of the two rushed up. The other lagged, bemoaning the state of his legs. Mopping the water off their front, the person, sounding male and whiney said, "Aww, that's soo gross!"
"Jace, complain later!" the smaller one shouted, pulling him aside as another dart barely missed her.
"It's in my pants now," the taller one grumbled as he stood, "Freakin' cold!"
Back on their feet, they turned, and found themselves off the edge of an apartment. The two with blue eyes looked around, seeing a motel below them that had a similar rooftop, but some twenty feet below.
"We have to jump," Jace decided.
"We'll be in the open!" the smaller one cried out.
"We're in the open now!" Jace retorted.
She growled. "I'll re-phrase: we'll really be in the open!"
They glared at each other, snarling. Then a bright light turned to them from several dozen feet away. Instinctively, the taller one grabbed the smaller one and roared. With as mighty of a toss as he could manage, he threw the other off the side of the building.
"Jace!" the smaller one cried, looking over their shoulder.
She didn't have time to see what had happened behind them. Instead, they pulled off the jacket, and extended their arms. Brown and golden feathers erupted from the person's arms, along with cornsilk blonde hair that billowed behind her as she glided towards the motel rooftop.
The strange sound of 'Boomph' made the girl look over her shoulder. A figure was looking down on her, alone, but holding something in his hands. More importantly, a wad of material had been shot straight at her!
She cried out and spun about, trying to catch it- but too late! The wad of material expanded out and became a huge, knotted net. With no chance to avoid it, she was tangled in its material. The girl screamed and fell ten feet behind her, slamming into the rooftop with a heavy slam.
The air escaped her lips and she slid to a stop. Her vision trembled and her lungs struggled to contract. She felt too dizzy to remember which way was up.
Then her sense of direction came to after a heavy thud rocked the ground under her. She looked through the net, and saw him.
The dark figure snickered, a heavy and satisfied grumble. A small light flickered out from his hand, and a cigarette was lit a moment later. Shaking off the match and tossing it aside, the man, now smoking, approached. He was holding a strange multi-barreled device. It almost looked like a machine gun rifle of some sort, but there was no magazine, and the scope for magnifying vision was the length of the gun itself.
He curled a lip in a grin as his eyes reflected the small pinpoint of light. With a voice that was once smooth, taken years of damage from smoking, the man said to the young woman below him, "Jessandra Boreas. Heh."
"Leave me alone," she warned, her lips trembling.
"Calm down, tweety bird," the man said, approaching.
"Coming from the person who shot me out of the sky? No thanks," she said, trying to shove the net away from her.
Shiiing.
Jess flinched, and looked up. The lowest barrel of the device opened a cartridge which fell out. As the large, almost fist sized spent cartridge fell and clattered on the wet gravel, the figure smiled, and loaded another in. His eyes were on her the entire time. With a quick push and cocking motion, he lowered the gun and took a long, deliberate drag on his cigarette.
"I said don't move, tweety bird," he warned, still grinning.
Jess scowled as her face felt red. "I don't even know how to tell you that it's stupidly rude to call a harpy a 'tweety bird'."
"I'm not sure I'd care even if you tried, you inhuman," the man said, and stepped closer. "But here's what we're going to do," he said, taking the cigarette between his fingers and flicking the spent ashes aside before puffing smoke at Jess, who coughed. He told her, "I'm going to ask the same question I wanted to before you and your brother made this difficult, got it?"
Jess looked up to him, barely able to register his apparel and features aside from his face. In the shadows, all she could make was his shape: a chiseled jaw and graying scruff along his chin.
"First question, little bird," he asked, "You went to a town called Gravity Falls?"
Jess blinked. She recoiled into herself, and lied, "Never heard of it."
"Don't try me," he sneered and lowered the business end of the weapon to her face. She flinched and pulled herself away. With a nasty leer, the man told her, "I may not want to cause permanent damage, but I'll reconsider morals in the face of a complete job." After she shivered and looked away, he nodded. "Good, we understand one another. Now. Answer the question."
"How do you know about Gravity Falls?" Jess asked, looking back, tears in her eyes. Though her voice never cracked, he hands trembled as she held arms. "No one else remembers it, and it just vanished in all sources."
"I don't, personally," he admitted, "But my employer does. And he knows that some harpies, a boy and girl, roughly your age," he flicked cigarette ashes at her, "Stopped by in this imaginary place. So... I'm guessing that was a 'yes' to my question?" he asked. She said nothing. That seemed enough for this aggressor. He said, "Good. Now, number two," he leaned in closer, "Dipper and Mabel Pines – where are they?"
From confusion to fear, the young teenager went through a myriad of emotions. With bite of anger, she asked in honesty, "How should I know?"
"It's for your best interests not to test my patience, little bird," he snickered. In response, Jess chose to spit at him. He barely moved as her spit struck his cheek. He leaned up, and sighed. "Well, when talking doesn't work, kidnapping tends to," he sighed, and adjusted a knob on the middle barrel. "When you wake up, I'll be reminding you, little bird," he aimed the gun for her gut, "That I told you s-"
A form in flight slammed into the man's shoulder, knocking him backwards. With a loud grunt and outcry, he shot into the open sky as his finger slipped against the trigger. As he struggled for footing in the slippery rooftop, the airborne figure charged again and leapt into the air. The attacker flapped his arms, which held a beautiful array of colors; greens, gold, blue, and orange feathers. Propelling a foot higher than he could have normally jumped, Jace Boreas delivered a kick into the man's chest, throwing him backwards.
The man slipped off the edge and began to fall. He never even yelled more than a simple grunt as he shot out his arm behind him. From under his sleeve, a small grappling hook head shot out and slammed into the brick wall. Imbedded with the wall, the man didn't fall, but instead slammed into the hard brick surface. Clattering into the wall, he grunted, his cigarette falling from him; disappearing into the dark ground some thirty feet below him. Groaning, he began to push himself up against the wall, climbing back up with only his feet and one arm, as in the other he still held his hunting tool.
By the time he had reached the surface of the roof, the only thing awaiting was the net. Those two, the people with feathers, were gone. He spat on the ground and sighed as he climbed back over the ledge. Standing off the ground and dusting himself from the grime he had collected, the man place the large rifle-like tool over his shoulder.
A heavy sigh fell from him, and he reached into a pocket within his knee-length trench coat. Withdrawing a large phone, he flipped it open to a large screen. Looking through his contacts, he slides his finger across the screen until a single name appears: Leuthar. He pressed the name, and he held the phone a foot from his face.
Then, a moment later, the face of Alvis Leuthar appeared.
"Mister Jeffreys. It is rather early to be... did you find the twins already?" the man asked, his sleepy voice jumping to at a possible realization.
Given his name, Mister Jeffreys claimed with an earthy voice, "I'm on their trail, mister Leuthar. I found the harpies, and their children. It's only a matter of time."
"Ah," Leuthar, nodded his head, and rubbed his eyes. "Mister Jeffreys, I understand that professionalism is your motto, but reporting in at midnight-"
"Three A.M. to be specific," he corrected.
Leuthar grumbled, "I'm on the west coast, sir."
Mister Jeffreys stiffened. "Apologies."
"As I was saying," Leuthar shook his head, "I appreciate your candidness in reporting in. However, this update does not please me, and therefore will absolutely not please my boss."
"I was under the impression mister Kinley was very excited to work with me," Jeffreys admitted, "After all, he called me first."
At the remark, The sleepy face of Alvis Leuthar harshened. His eyes narrowed, and he barked at the man with the rifle, "Do not get a head over yourself, Alberta. We would have called Montana had we known where to contact him, but since the beginning of this summer, he has gone missing!" Leuthar snapped, leaving Alberta Jeffreys standing cold in the rain with a stony face. "Now, be a good professional hunter, hitman, and assassin, and go find me the twins!"
After a scowl, the man nodded. "Just the twins?" he asked.
"For now," Leuthar nodded, "They will lead us to something more... important to our plans. Someone far more valuable than any normal human..."
Out of the car, into the early morning air, with a blasting bellow that sent all pidgeons in half a mile flying for their lives, Mabel declared out to the sky, "Look out world! Mabel is here to save your everything!" She cackled, placing her foot upon a ledge, looking over a cityscape in the distance.
"Mabel," a voice behind her called out, belonged to by her brother, Dipper, "Who are you even talking to? You're looking out over the cliff."
Mabel turned about half way. "The entire city, duh! Who else would someone like myself talk to?"
Nearby Dipper, Soos exclaimed, "The seagulls!"
"Also true," Mabel grinned.
Dipper sighed and shook his head. He walked towards a vending machine. It had been a long, very long and very taxing drive from Georgia. They had passed through more states than Mabel could remember on the east coast of the United States. She had been shocked that there had been a North and South Carolina, and then equally confused when there had been a West Virginia, but not an East Virginia. "Seriously?" she had asked. "Did the pilgrims come, and set up just so everywhere they went, things would be super confusing?! Why not just call it stuff like Maryland? Or Mabel-land! Delaware could be Dipperware!"
Since the drive, the gang had been under radio silence with Zander and his band of professional martial artists with an elemental touch. Considering he had given them a location, Pittsburg, they had anticipated such. However, the four had kept a close on their newest member: a youthful Stanford Pines.
His voice shared with the open air as he yawned. "Wow!" he exclaimed, "Pittsburg has really changed since I last saw it."
Soos chortled. "The miracles of modern technology and stuff," Soos claimed as he walked next to him, "Want a soda? I got some Pitt. I hear it's even fresher in this city than anywhere else."
"Thank you, Soos," Ford grasped a soda and opened it with the same satisfying hiss. "Ahh, refreshing. And entirely non-organic! Just the way soda aught to be."
"They have a pit of a peach inside it," Mabel argued, coming closer, "It's not fake."
Ford snorted, and smirked at his grand-niece. "Mabel, trust me. I probably know more about nutrition than you would fashion choices, and that's saying something; you know every fashion choice. Why, go ahead and ask me anything of this soda," he said, holding it away from his gaze.
"Hm," she gazed at her own can, taken from Soos's arms, "What is... the total carb stuff in-"
"Forty one," Ford stated, "sodium should also be forty one, and total calories should be, oh, uh, one hundred and thirteen."
Mabel stared at him, a deflated look in her eyes. "You win today, magic scientist," she grumbled and handed back Soos the soda.
Returning from the vending machines with armfuls of snack bags and drinks, Dipper deposited them in the back of his car seats. "Speaking of today," he said as he leaned up, "Ford, I wanted us to have a chat."
"Oh. You and I, Dipper?" Ford asked.
"All of us," Dipper said, glancing back to a motorcycle belonging to Mabel, currently being used by a certain red-head, who was looking out to the city across the river. Wendy turned to Dipper, catching his gaze. After a moment, she slid off the bike and started moving over to them.
"Well then, just what else is there to talk about?" Ford asked. He held up a hand, and started to count aloud, "Along the way we've had a chat about rules concerning physical distance between you four and I, about taking multiple tests to ensure absolute lack of demonic control, which I have, and no less than five separate times I had to re-explain that I. Am. Not. Your. Enemy."
Fords frustration rang as clear as Mabels screech from earlier. He was not mad, but on the cusp of anger. Dipper, despite the insistence, admitted, "Still could use more convincing."
Ford sighed. "I'm not sure I can offer much more," he told them, "I've not done anything to hinder you. My aid back in Georgia was, I would hope, appreciated. Now we're nearing my home state territory."
Wendy rounded the corner of Stanley's El Diablo, or Soos's ride. She said, "Listen dude, so far I don't have any reason to doubt you. But we also don't have all that much leeway to be trusting, man. I mean, people are trying to stop us from saving the world. So, don't take it personal when I say it's going to take more than a few nice words, and one time we had to work together, to get me to trust you."
"Ditto," Dipper said, crossing his arms, "Except I have a lot more reasons."
Quick to reply, Ford told Dipper, "All of which I have heard, thank you."
Soos stepped closed to Ford, "Listen Mister Ford," he said, "As far as I'm concerned, you don't seem to be the other Ford that I met once. You helped Dipper and Mabel and Wendy and I defeat a whole island of spooky scary skele-things and ghosts. So, I sorta trust you."
"Ah. Well, thank you for the vote of confidence," Ford nodded and patted Soos's shoulder.
"Besides, you're probably the closest thing to seeing Mister Pines I'll ever have again," Soos quietly said, seeming crestfallen.
Ford blinked and retracted his hand. "Right. Well." He turned to Mabel. "Do I need to watch myself around you, Mabel?"
"Nah," she shrugged.
"Oh good," he sighed.
"I mean, you try anything, and I'll break your hand," Mabel admitted cheerily. Stanford gulped, and slowly nodded. Mabel added, still as happy as before, "And since you don't seem too evil, I'm especially okay with you!"
"Good by me," Ford nodded, and he turned back to Dipper. "I'll note that while a fifty percent is by no means a success in school, it still means no majority. Unless you want to really point something out that makes me a liability, Dipper, I am your ally now."
Dipper clenched his jaw. The day and a half of driving through the five states had allowed the tensions of battling the undead to weather away. Granted, Ford had been curiously helpful to the gang after Soos made a wrong turn which led them into West Virginia. Reservations still were locked into Dipper's brain. His fingers idly traced one of the journals he held in his vest, feeling the weight of the pages written and ink spent upon them.
"Dipper, please," Ford asked, "You don't have to trust me, I won't force you to make that choice. But be scientific about this," he said.
Wanting to believe it otherwise, Dipper relented. Ford made a good point. "Fine," Dipper nodded, "I'll let evidence speak to the hypothesis, and not the other way around."
"Thank you," Ford nodded gently. "Now," he spun towards Mabel and looked over her head. "Pittsburg!" he cried out, "What brings us here?"
"Supposedly we're getting a call from Zander here," Dipper said as the five moved closer to the edge of the river.
"Ah yes, the person you work with," Ford summarized with an air of snarkiness, "And is far, far more suspicious than I, but yet has his orders complied with regardless."
Mabel giggled. "Don't worry, Grunkle Ford," Mabel patted his arm, "Dipper doesn't really trust Zander, but he totally should," Mabel glared at her brother, "And even though he doesn't trust you, you look really handsome considering you're technically sixty-eight!"
Grunkle Ford looked to her, and then chuckled. "Hah!" he barked. "Talk about a silver lining to missing out on thirty years of life! I really must look great for my age."
Strutting by, Mabel said as she beamed, "Good to know my handsome genes will still be kicking at thirty." Ford laughed and shook his head, and continued to drink away at his soda, grinning to himself. As Mabel passed by Wendy, who offered her a cheeky grin, she saw Dipper glaring over her shoulder. "Really, bro?" she asked with a near whisper.
Seething, Dipper mumbled, "Just because I can agree to wait for evidence to speak for itself doesn't mean that I have to like the situation. There's too many questions for him to be a safe bet."
"But he's been nice so far," Mabel said.
"So?" Dipper asked.
"So, well, if he was under the control of Bill Cipher, wouldn't he be trying to do nasty evil stuff, like last time?" Mabel asked.
"Bill had a specific plan last time: use the portal to assume physical form and enter the world through Stanford. He managed to get unlocked before blowing up the portal, which means he's got other plans," Dipper rationalized, "Which means that there could be a whole new set of plans he's given to Stanford."
"Like what?" Mabel rolled her eyes.
"I don't know," Dipper hissed, "That's the annoying part."
Mabel nodded, and leaned in with a grin. "Innocent until proven guilty."
The words she used drove an annoyingly true steak into Dipper's mind. He had been assuming a lot of guilt onto Ford. Now, Dipper would never stop being suspicious, but certainly his placement of blame was driven a bit more out of personal experiences with, according to Stanford, was a different person altogether: another version of Stanford.
When he looked over Mabel's shoulder to check on his estranged grand uncle, he gasped. The man was holding on of the journals!
"Hey!" Dipper barked, pushing past Mabel.
"Be easy on him, Dippity-doo-daah!" Mabel called.
Ford looked up after adjusting his reading glasses, "Yes?" he asked.
"What exactly are you doing with my journals?" Dipper snapped.
Ford raised an eyebrow. "Well, for one, they're actually my journals, as you're forgetting. Two, I needed to update a theory I had on spectral activity levels. With what we witnessed; I may have been entirely wrong about the classifications regarding ghost formations! Although," he checked the front of the book, which had a number two carved within it, "I don't think this is the book I wrote my detailed analysis on incorporeal undead haunting levels. I think that was number three."
Dipper paused; his mouth slightly open. At first, he had been ready to debate the need of keeping Ford away from his own sources, as he still didn't have proof for trusting him, but then he just started talking. The way he talked about his knowledge and need to update... it was hypnotic. Dipper shook his head, trying to remove the wonderful internal swooning his brain had just done.
"Look Ford, I know they're yours technically," Dipper started, "But the last time we had you-"
"Dipper, please," Ford asked, his eyes looking in earnest to the boy, "I am not that person you met years ago. To me, we've never met before. I don't know of you, or what my extended family has become. And that is so strange to think – my baby brother had children, who then went ahead and had children themselves. Man," he scratched his chin, covered with scruff, "Makes you really think about things."
Dipper paused, watching him again. "Even... even if you were a version of Ford that I had never met before, and you had no real connection to Bill-"
"Ah!" Ford suddenly blurted out as he turned a page, "I thought I had forgotten to write something on that." He patted his pockets and withdrew a pen, "Lets add a new element to this formula here," he said.
Dipper couldn't resist. To watch the author himself begin writing a note was too much. Quietly he sidestepped around the book until he could look over Ford's arm, seeing what he was writing.
"That's an incantation," Dipper mused as he watched. His eyes narrowed as he saw a circle formed, icons drawn within.
"Oh!" Ford gasped, seeing Dipper next to him, "Well, you're somewhat correct. It is, if I am correct, a Ritual spell for protection against demon activity. I am basing it off of my experiences with other demons. I may be able to prevent the forces of Bill Cipher from interacting with others, with such a sigil."
"That..." Dipper scowled. "I met someone who had used that kind of spell."
"Oh! Was it successful?" Ford asked, turning to him, "where there specific limitations? I had only written a theory on the concept of spell-docking. To think it worked-"
"A punk named Gideon used it to make a deal with Cipher," Dipper growled.
"Gideon?" Ford asked, an eyebrow raised, "I... huh... well, sorry that it was met in the wrong hands. Magic, like many great utilities," Ford sighed, "Can be easily turned into a weapon."
Dipper frowned and pocketed his hands. "I guess."
Ford reached out and placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Dipper, don't let that cloaked know-it all tell you what you can and cannot do," Ford declared, gaining Dipper's attention suddenly. "He may believe that magical dependency is a condition, but I've spent more than five years testing the limits of magical charms, protective barriers, and incantations. Does it look like I've become dependent on magic? Does it look like I'm floating around everywhere, instead of walking?"
Ford had a point, and it was the same point Dipper had in his head all along. He had rarely used magic, and if he wanted to go out on a stretch, he had gone out and used magical objects, and he was always depending on them all the time either. The idea filled into Dipper's mind like a flood, and for the first time, he nodded in agreement.
"I just think that magic is really, uh, misrepresented, "Dipper explained.
"Well, considering the people you've said you've run into, a Sorcerer and Warlock, "Ford explained, "I can see why. Sorcerers are those who have more in-tuned magical prowess, but Warlocks take their magic to dangerous extremes. They may be the most terrible of the lot of magical theorists and practitioners, and that even includes clown magicians."
Dipper shuddered, "Those exist?"
"Sadly, yes," Ford nodded somberly, "And are easily the scariest of the casters. Imagine someone who makes a magical incantation using no other words but honks and beeps." Dipper snorted, holding a hand to his mouth. Protesting the seriousness of it all, Ford said, "No, I'm deadly serious."
"Considering the things we've seen, I don't doubt it," Dipper managed. The two chuckled for a moment, and Ford gave the teen a quizzical glance.
"Dipper, just why is it you don't use the spells I've recorded?" Ford asked.
"Uhh," Dipper blinked, "That's a kind of forward question."
Ford closed the journal. "Sorry. You just strike me as the type that values pragmatic solutions," Ford explained, "And when it comes to magic, nothing can be more pragmatic."
Dipper paused. "Pragmatic. Like... being realistic. Magic?" he re-stated.
"Yes, yes, I know it's a tad strange, but seriously!" Ford declared, "The source of magic is a mystery that seems as endless and forth-giving as the powers that fuel life itself! Why not use it to aid life to it's fullest?" He leaned closer to Dipper and lowered his voice, "I did some research into the matter, and found out that just over four hundred years ago, there was almost a peak in magical usage."
Dipper also leaned in. "You said four hundred years?"
"Yes!" Ford nodded excitedly, "Just imagine- right before the boom in technological advancement, we almost had a golden age in arcane studies! And then... something just cancelled it all out," Ford grumbled, "My thoughts are that the age of persecutions and xenophobia killed all desire to use things considered magic." He then said quietly, a tear falling from his eyes, "Like the great library of Alexandria…"
Dipper bit his tongue. The things he had learned this summer regarding the advancement of magic almost had him blurt out some answers right onto Stanford. He remembered what the Guardsman- no, what Zander had told him.
'Long ago, more than four hundred actually, a great mage crafted it to save the world.' Dipper heard the words of, at the time, the rather excited sounding Zander from under his voice-distorting mask. 'It, at the time, instantly absorbed eighty percent of all magic on earth and around earth.' With a whirl of excitement, Dipper realized that he had the answer to what had happened, and that weighed greatly in his mind as a chip he could bargain with.
"You know," Dipper said, considering his options, "Maybe we could figure out what really happened?" Ford looked to him, giving his glasses a brief adjustment. Dipper added, "Maybe if you, uh, taught me a thing or two you know about magic, I'd consider-"
Ford laughed. "Of course! Any chance to begin explaining my life's work in magic thesis sounds exciting! So, if you want to learn magic, we'd start with-"
"Hold it!"
Mabel darted around the car, and grasped Dipper's scruff. "Just one sec, Grunkle Ford!" she happily chuckled, "Gotta chat with my bro-dee-bro!"
"Uhh, sure thing," he said, watching Dipper gag as he was dragged away.
Some ten feet away, Dipper wrung himself free from his sister's iron grip. "The heck, Mabel!?"
"Bro, you can't be serious about learning magic, of all things!" she whispered.
"So? What if he teaches me about how to counter magic?" Dipper said, "Defensive counter actions. Didn't think of that, did you?"
"I did!" Mabel hissed, "it's called dodging Dipper."
"It's not just-"
Honing her argument to a quiet grumble, Mabel told her brother, "Dipper, Zander asked us not to get into magic. He's done nothing but trying to make this whole thing better and better, and I think we should trust him. I mean, he's probably like six hundred years old or something," she laughed, "I'd trust his opinion of magic over Ford's."
Dipper scowled, and looked over his shoulder. Ford was again looking again into his journal, and the man cast a look out towards the city. Though it hurt Dipper to think that he could trust anything about Zander, Mabel did have a point. Zander, in the guise of the Guardsman, had battled Omir Steindorf, the impossibly strong Sorcerer and former Warlock of older times. He had fought directly against terrible magic and come out alive. Still... Ford's intellect was something Dipper hated to pass up on. He turned back to his sister, her eyes wide and shining with a mixture of worry and care.
He sighed, ventilating his frustration. "Mabel, I'm not going dark side, okay?" Dipper said, "I promise you."
"Okay. I just worry, you know?" she nervously chuckled, "Someone like the Gaurdsman is scared by magic, how bad can it be?" she said.
"Maybe he's just that biased," Dipper suggested.
Wendy walked by, "I know I am."
"You've got reason to be," Dipper called to her as she walked towards her bike. He looked back to his sister and patted her shoulder. "No dark-siding today."
She smiled. "Tootin' right. We should get in the city, right?"
"No idea," Dipper said, walking back to Soos and Ford. "Wendy," he called over his shoulder, drawing her attention. "So, uh, guys," he said, rubbing his hands together, "Zander wants to call us soon. He also said that we shouldn't linger anywhere for more than an hour, unless he finds us a safe spot."
Quick to the cut, Ford reminded them "Which, I shall point out, he has yet to do."
"Considering these jerks use magic and are super-rich or whatever," Mabel added, "I can see why it's so hard. It's like if Pacifica could use mind-reading! She could bribe you with exactly what you'd want."
"Who?" Ford asked.
Mabel's cheery smile drooped slightly. "Forget it," she sighed.
"But if we wait here too long, we risk supposedly being seen," Dipper reminded them, "but we should consider a place to go. Any ideas-"
"Oh!" Soos's hand shot up, "Oh! Ohh! OHHH!"
"Soos!" Dipper cried out, "Yes? What?"
Soos declared, "The original Pitt-Cola factory!"
"The what?" the two ladies cried out while Ford nodded.
Soos gasped and pointed to the city sky-line. "Why, it's only one of America's greatest wonders! The original Pitt cola factory built in nineteen oh nine! Forged on the backs of child labor, and other neato turn-of-the-century stuff, the legend says that it was built out of only material that grew from peach trees!"
"Including the metal?" Dipper asked.
Soos smiled and said, "Yeah, so they say."
"While I think they disproved that, one year after opening," Ford declared, "Each slab of wood in that building is actually made from a peach tree. It's a wonder it still stands," Ford shrugged.
"I didn't know Pitt was an east coast soda," Mabel hummed, "Does that mean we've been betraying our local flavors for the tide of peach flavored sugar drink!?"
"Not really dude," Wendy said, "I think the closest thing we had in Gravity Falls for local flavors was whatever that occasional liquorish flavor in the water was, and then Toby Determined's attempt at creating a hard drink with pineapples."
"Oh, that liquorish flavor?" Ford asked, "That's from a rare Dryad tree in the wilds. It can cause people to act more chaotically and free of spirit, among other hippie things."
"Woah, dude," Wendy put a hand to her forehead, "My entire freshmen year explained."
"So, how about?" Soos asked, approaching the four, "We could stop by the Pitt Factory?"
"Ohhh... sure," Dipper shrugged, "Sounds kinda cool, really."
"Yush!" Soos pumped his arm up and down, "To the source of all sugary goodness!"
With their new caravan of three cars, one of which was stolen, and a bike, the gang started their hike into the greater downtown of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The city, despite warnings from Ford before they left, had a good air of it. It was not nearly as dense as other major cities the twins had passed through, but the tempered air of the humid summer morning made it more passable than they had expected.
The journey to the Pitt Cola factory was not a difficult one. Dozens of signs and directions were laid out from the highway exits, leading would-be tourists right to one of the greater attractions of the city. They could see it past various shorter motels and more historical buildings, but the closer they got, the hard it became to spot as other, more modern and tall buildings enclosed them in the streets.
Finally, Dipper slowed to a stop in right before the turn to the parking lot. As he slowed, his willingness to entreat Soos diminished. He reached inside his pocket, and dialed feverishly, and Mabel turned to him.
"Dip?" she asked.
"This place is crowded," Dipper mumbled.
As he got to the same program that allowed group phone calls, he realized just how right he was. This place was a hot tourist spot. If Grunkle Stan had ever seen this, his jealousy would have spiked. Easily fifty or so people were just standing around, taking photographs of the front of the building, and even more were going inside. Dipper even saw a line to enter the building, with a ten-minute wait.
The conference call started, and Dipper started. "Guys," he gulped, "This suddenly seems less like something we should do."
Soos was first to speak up. "Aww, come on dawg, a ten-minute wait for a tour is nothing."
"Not that," Dipper said, "It's the attention this place is getting," he explained.
Soos agreed, "Naturally a lot."
Ford put in his two cents. "Dipper isn't wrong – this place has quite the focus on it."
Wendy pitched in. "Be pretty hard to not get spotted in there."
Ford laughed. "Nonsense! Having a crowd surrounding you is just what you need to avoid being spotted. One of the best tricks into being unseen is finding yourself looking perfectly innocuous. Joining a random crowd when we're on the run?"
"See? Ford thinks it's a good idea," Soos said.
"I would like to point out, however," Ford started, "That it would require a certain amount of self-maintenance. We must appear as the crowd would, and nothing more."
Next to Dipper, Mabel shrugged. "We've done harder things that sink into a crowd of random tourists."
Dipper chewed his lip, and glanced back to the building. Something in his gut warned him about this. He couldn't pin-point it, but it was there; this underlying fear of being discovered again. It had been several days since their last encounter with Graupner's goons and their resources, and Dipper didn't want to see that return already. Still, Soos had been more than helpful thus far, and if they were quick and quiet about this...
"Okay, let's go in quickly," Dipper decided.
"YUSH!" Soos cried out.
"But let's be qui-" the phones began to turn off, and Dipper glared at his own, "Ugh... great. Well, damage control with Soos might be a thing," Dipper worried.
"Nah, this is going to be cool!" Mabel decided, "Just imagine, the five of us taking a small little break. Walking around, with no worries, and only the smell of crushed fruit, added sugars, and caffeinated peach drink to accompany us... and maybe twenty other tourists."
"That last part is the thing that worries me," Dipper sighed, and had the car pull forward.
Finding a parking spot was no issue, as the parking lot seemed to have been built to accommodate a much larger scene than the one that had arrived. However, it was the middle of the week, and while schools hadn't started up again, lots of people still worked. The four vehicles found themselves a corner spot, and the five approached the entrance.
"This is going to be so swell," Soos chuckled, "if we ever get a chance to make a homage to the Mystery Manor, think of all the neat tricks we can come up with from this place! Mister Pines would be soo excited!"
"I would be?" Ford asked, and then slapped his head once he remembered who was speaking, "Ah. Right."
Dipper chuckled. "That's not a bad idea, actually," he said, "Something to remember Grunkle Sta-" As he spoke, Wendy stopped dead in her tracks. Having been next to her the entire time, seeing her eyes jut wide and he suddenly look up into the tall smoke stacks of the factory, her pupils contracting. "Uhh, hold up," Dipper called out.
The three paused and turned, seeing Dipper, and then seeing Wendy. Soos nervously laughed. "Wendy? Wassup, dawg?"
She looked to the others. "Uh... that crazy wraith senses tingling," she mentioned.
Eying her, Ford mused, "I'm still curious as to how that works."
"What is it?" Mabel asked.
Wendy pointed up to the smoke stack. "We're being watched. Just us."
Dipper spun and looked up himself. Three, tall, pink and grey smokestacks rose into the grim looking sky, almost swallowed by low-hanging clouds. Yet, as his eyes focused, he did see something. A figure, crouched on a circular platform that encircled one smokestack. He was holding something in his hands. At the distance he was, Dipper couldn't see where he was focusing, but Wendy's unnatural senses had been right too many times before. If she said that he was watching them, he was watching them.
"Change of plans," Dipper announced, "We leave now."
"Lets hurry," Wendy urged.
Sadly, Soos told his longed-for attraction, "Welp, another time, attraction of the eastern coast," and the five turned.
Behind them, walking around their cars, were six men. Each held a strange looking weapon of sorts; triple barreled, and each barrel of a different size. The five paused, aware of their position. One in the middle approached them, holding out his own weapon, and lifted his head into a bold grin.
Chizzled in face and scarred across one eye, the man held a mix of rugged attractiveness and masculine toughness. His hair, brown with streaks of gray, was unkempt and fell almost over his eyes, dark and powerful. His lips gently held a half-spent cigarette, and he puffed out a wisp of smoke.
"Well, well, well," he chuckled as the five behind him approached as well, flanking his sides, "Didn't think it'd be that easy."
"Gentlemen," Ford blurted out, "I don't believe we have business with one another."
The leader gave Ford a hard eye. "You? No." He turned to the twins. "Them? Well... different story."
"Us?" Mabel gasped, and then paused. She eyed the man before them, and muttered, "I'm getting some really big déjà vu here."
Dipper turned and stared at the man as well. Indeed, looking at the person's face was the strangest feeling. The image looked... incomplete. Like he was missing a feature. Almost as if they'd met before. Dipper scowled, and clenched his fist. "Who're you?"
"Just a man with a job," he said, flicking ashes from his cigarette, "A job to find Dipper and Mabel Pines." At that, Ford stepped forward with Soos and Wendy, blockading the twins. The man before them all smirked. "And only them," he said, "Now get out of my way."
"Now listen here," Ford grumbled, "We're on a mission just a bit more important than battling head-hunters. So, unless you intend to save the world with us, I'm going to have to ask you... whoever you are," Ford added with a blink, "To leave. Now."
The man laughed, tossing his mostly spent cig away. He aimed the gun right at him. "Step aside, kid."
"Kid?" Ford raised an eyebrow. His eyes narrowed. He seemed to have a similar reaction to the twins. He said, fully scanning the bounty-hunter before them, "Wait... I recognize that-"
"Bag 'em," the man called out, and fired.
The unmatched speed of Wendy Corduroy allowed her to dart between Ford and the shot. A single needle, the size of a pencil, blasted out and struck her dead in the chest. She turned, and shouted, "Run!"
Taking her heed, the four turned and ran. More and more of the darts fired out at the four, barely missing them, while Wendy stayed a few feet behind the others, becoming a meat shield for the strange projectiles. One after another struck her back, her legs, and her arm. Yet she just grunted and shouted, "Keep going!"
"Sorry guys!" Soos cried out as they ran, "Bad idea! This was such a bad idea!"
"Soos, we'll talk about it later!" Dipper shouted.
As he turned away from Soos, a figure stepped out from a car and aimed one of the needle guns at Dipper. He slid to a stop, unaware of where to go.
"Dive!" Mabel cried as she leapt ahead. The needle gun shot out, striking her shoulder, but she had committed to a punch right across his jaw. The man, large enough to lift a buck over his shoulders took the punch full on, and stumbled back before collapsing to the ground. Mabel spun to her brother; triumphant fist raised. "Hah! Mabel just... sucker... punch... yeah," Mabel said, struggling to stand before her eyelids closed.
"Mabel!" Dipper shouted, catching her. She was entirely limp. Grunting as he tried lifting her to his shoulders, Dipper cried out, "Mabel's out!"
"Tell me we have a plan more than just 'run away'!" Ford barked as they turned down a row of the parking lot.
"You have an idea!?" Dipper shouted back.
"If you do," Wendy gasped as another needle struck her leg, "Gah! Start on it! These things really sting!"
"Just maybe," Ford cried out, and spun around, his arms extended outward, "I need a moment!"
"I'll try to give you one, dude!" Wendy said, also turning and charging down the assailants.
"Mister Ford, what are you going to do!?" Soos worriedly asked.
Dipper turned from Ford to Wendy. She was already in the faces of these goons. Wendy had spirit to fight in droves, but Dipper watched something he had not anticipated. These men were trained to fight and capture. She dove after one, and he would dodge, and another two would try to pin her down. She fought her way out, but others were slipping by her.
Dipper then looked back to ford, who was mumbling under his breath. Dipper looked back to Wendy, and saw she had managed to gain the attention of all the goons, these men with their strange weapons.
Only, there were five of them. Dipper blinked, and worriedly looked around. A shadow had crept up behind Soos.
"Behind you!" Dipper shouted to Soos. Soos cried out and ducked just in time. A needle shot out right where he had been, and landing into the back shoulder of Stanford, who winced. He then stumbled, collapsing forward.
"Oh no! Mister Ford!" Soos cried out, crawling over to the unconscious man on the ground.
Behind Soos, the man reloaded the single-shot device that he had used to neutralize Ford. A strong smirk stretched on his lips, he looked to Dipper.
"Look, kid," he said, "This doesn't have to end in a lot of pain. Just a kidnapping, and some human trafficking. You cooperate, your immune friend doesn't have to get beaten up any more than she already has been," he said, nodding to Wendy.
Dipper looked back. As ever, Wendy refused to back down. But she was surrounded, and rather than using their darts, they now were striking her back. Fisticuffs, and even the butt of the weapons they carried. She stumbled back and forth, bounced around. She always swung out, striking one of them somewhere, but not before they would kick her back.
"So how about?" the leader asked, not lowering his gun, "Going to save your girlfriend some trouble?"
Dipper blushed and turned back to him. "What makes you think she's my girlfriend?" he said, a bitter underlying to his words.
The leader scoffed. "Instincts, that's all. That and..." a shadow passed over Dipper and the man, and he gasped, turning around and pointing his gun into the sky.
A creature, airborne, slammed into him, knocking him past Dipper and onto the ground. Dipper gasped as the creature landed next to him. With feathers wider than a grown man was tall, the landed person ran towards the hunter. Beautiful array of orange, silver, and red, the feathers tucked against the side of a well-toned arm of thin but practiced muscle as it dived to the side, another dart shot out in retaliation.
"Harpies!" the man on the ground cried out.
Three of the men bullying Wendy looked up just in time for yet another figure to slam down on one of their own, crushing him into the pavement, forcing out a strained 'Oof'. This one was similar in size, but had brown and green feathers, and the person leapt back into the air in a spiral, the feathers creating a mesmerizing display that confused the opponents. Dipper realized his one was a woman, and she leapt up again and kicked another off their feet and against a Pitt Cola truck, which honked and blared loudly.
"Damned hunter," the newcomer before Dipper growled as he rushed towards the downed man.
"Bird-brain!" the hunter laughed, and threw something fist sized onto the ground.
An explosion of gas erupted around him, and the winged man stalled, leaping far back with his winged arms. Dipper coughed as the fumes reached him, a thick haze that made his eyes water. He turned away, lifting his sister with him. As he stepped away, next to the winged man, the smoke cleared, and the man was gone.
Beyond the clearing smoke, the other newcomer was settling down with Wendy at her back, the two watching as the five goons ran off, tails between their legs. As they ran off, Wendy sighed. She reached up, and started yanking needle after needle from her body.
Dipper let air fall from his lips. He lowered Mabel to the ground softly, and pulled out the needle from her shoulder. She was out cold, her eyes closed, and her breathing gentle. A step next to her had Dipper look up.
"Is she okay?" the voice of the man with winged arms asked, his voice like an angelic accord.
Dipper blinked, and looked to his feathers, and then his face. It was pointed and androgynous, with long blond hair that fell behind his back. Silky and absolutely well groomed, the man looked down to Dipper and his sister with cold blue eyes that startled Dipper. Along the sides of his ears, small feathers of color matching his wings shot out, just as groomed as his hair.
"I think she's okay," Dipper managed, checking on his sister's vitals through her pulse. "Knocked out for a bit, but..." he stood, looking at the man, "Who're you?"
"Yeah, dad!" A voice floated down behind Dipper, familiar and youthful, "Don't be rude. Introduce yourself."
Dipper spun around in an instant. The form landing next to him was unmistakable. Corn silk hair, bright blue eyes, and young as Dipper remembered with her brown feathers along her arm. He smiled and shouted, "Jess!"
"Hi Dipper!" she cried back, and ran to him. Dipper had little time to brace for the hug around his mid-center, but he laughed as she did and squeezed him tightly. He patted her back, and as she let go, he turned back.
"Wait, your dad!?" he gasped.
The man smiled and approached. "So, you're the one that Jess doesn't shut up about," he said, that cool, melodic tone nearing hypnotic qualities. "Dipper, it's good to meet you. I'm Archer."
"Hi," Dipper managed, shaking the man's hand.
Archer the Harpy nodded past Dipper. "You saw my wife, Chloe. She is, uh, nitpicking with your friend," she said.
Another shadow passed over Dipper. He turned and saw, as yet another figure landed next to them, a familiar friend. The fourth arrival was also unmistakably recognizable. "Jace!" Dipper called out.
"Hey bud!" Jace waved over as he landed next to Wendy.
Just behind Jace, there was another harpy. The woman who was aiding Wendy seemed on a rant. "-and, oh you poor thing, they've shot up your jacket! My goodness, you must have taken more dosage than should be humanly possible of that nasty tranquilizer! We should find you an antidote before you die! If at all possible. Or at least fix you up: those holes must make it-"
"Thanks, ma'am," Wendy tried waving her off, "But I'm fine. Really."
"No, no," Chloe insisted, "Truly, you must let me help. I'm excellent with these sorts of things. Caretaking is in the family line, after all."
"Mom, she's fine," Jace rolled his eyes, and then spotted Soos, "Heya, Soos!" he waved, and turned to Wendy, "Sup, Wendy."
"Hey," she nodded back, adjusting her jacket. Soos gave a toothy, somewhat faulty grin.
"Dipper," Jess spoke up, looking up to him as she used to, "What are you guys doing here? I thought you all were still in Gravity Falls? Did something happen? And, uh, who's that?" she said, looking to the passed-out Stanford.
Dipper pursed his lips. Looking around, he noticed that the crowds from the tourists were looking their way, cameras at the ready. "I'll explain what I can, but, uh, maybe you guys have somewhere that we can hide? Just temporarily?"
The father and mother exchanged glances. It was a quick enough exchange that Dipper hadn't a chance to make out any hidden intention. The mom spoke up. "I think we can accommodate you five. Anyone who helped our family is welcome for quick stop in our abode. And I can put some tea on."
"Tea... would be nice," Dipper nodded and forced a smile as he began to hike his sister back up, into his arms.
Getting four cars with only three drivers was an especially difficult task, but Archer and Chloe turned out to be excellent drivers of, what they called 'human vehicles'. As they climbed away, they were not short of people snapping pictures of them as they passed, pointing to the feathers along the arms of all four family members. Jace and his father took the attention in stride, even going so far as to wave and wink at people who asked if they were human or not.
Dipper found Jess in the car with him, like old times. "What happened?" she started asking. "How are you? Did you ever beat up that hunter? Are you and Wendy, uh, still not, you know..?"
Though her questions were 'mostly' innocent enough, he tried assuring her that whatever questions she'd have would be answered, once they were safe. His mind was too busy trying to realize what had just happened. They hadn't even been out of the car for a few moments, not even a minute when the people were onto them. What had happened? How did the enemy catch on to them so fast? Had they known the gang would just decide to sight-see?
Over one of the many bridges over the Ohio river, the caravan pulled into a shadow-covered parking lot under the bridge. Carrying Mabel and Ford with them, the gang and their re-connected Harpy friends trailed up a section underneath the bridge made entirely by planks of wood and light metals. Dipper continued to glance over the edge, looking towards the river below, aware of how far of a fall he would take if the wood gave away.
"Truthfully," Archer the harpy announced from over his shoulder as he carried Ford easily in his arms, "We built this place to accommodate the weight of harpies, with our hollow bones. Watch your step."
Dipper gulped and followed his lead, avoiding places he may assume were less intact. They came to a two-story construct in the direct center of the bridge. In the dark shadow of heavy steel construction, the harpies pulled out a makeshift door and allowed Soos, Dipper, and Wendy to step inside.
Inside, the two-story building was a mess of blankets, pillows and mattresses, all fixated into spiral nests. There were no stairs in the place, but three separate platforms divided the kitchen, and two bedrooms from the lowest spot, the 'living room'.
"Welcome to our humble abode!" Jace declared, waving his arms around. "Pretty cool, huh?"
Eying the home, Dipper smiled. "The ground is so... comfy," Dipper admitted, lying down onto one of the pillow compounds.
"I imagine that this is your first time inside a harpy home," Archer said to the three conscious visitors.
"You could say that," Dipper nodded, "Seen some stuff like it, but this is the nicest so far."
"Ohh, you're just saying that," Chloe laughed, and she leapt up into the air, landing on the kitchen platform. "Is earl grey alright for tea?" The three nodded. Dipper turned and lowered Mabel onto the pillows nearest Soos, as Ford had been by Archer.
"So," Dipper rubbed his hands together, looking at the siblings first, and then their father as he leapt into the air and rested himself on the ledge of the kitchen platform, "Uh... I'll answer those question, but I want one answered first. Why... are you all here?" he asked, "you're supposed to be Canadian!"
"We are," Jess said.
"Mom and dad wanted to move," Jace sighed, putting his hands through his hair, patting his scalp gently.
"Well," Chloe began over the kettle above, "When we heard that the Phoenix, rest it's poor, burning soul," she said with a shudder and shake of her head, "Had moved on, we had no real reason to stay in the Rockies."
"The Rockies? You all lived in the Rockies in Canada? Wow," Dipper awed.
Jess shrugged. "Made it hard to get any schooling except for homeschool."
"Chloe's home was made, you see," Archer began again, "To facilitate a bird like a Phoenix. It was a beautiful compound, but one that took quite a lot of labor. Lots of protective insulations. Since the poor thing is gone, we can move to wherever we'd like. We were thinking of going back to our roots, and traveling to Greece."
"Greece?" Dipper asked. "Pittsburg isn't, uh, exactly Europe."
"Duh," Jace rolled his eyes, "That's when these jerks came into the picture. These hunters."
Dipper paused, listening to the resentment in Jace's words. "The people who attacked us. You fought them before."
"Yes," Archer said with a sigh, "Alberta and his men are nothing but evil."
Dipper frowned. That name, Alberta. That stirred a memory. From what, or why, he wasn't sure. He sunk into his seat, ready to pour over his memories. Then, next to him, Mabel stirred. A dreary hand reached out and poked Dipper. Half-drugged, Mabel mumbled, "Tell... my dreams to stop teasing me."
"Mabel?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah, and if Jace is in my dream, tell him he grows up sounding really handsome," Mabel added.
Jess rolled her eyes as Jace snorted and laughed at Mabel's words. Dipper gently shook his sister, giving her a jostle. "You can tell him yourself."
"WHAT?!" Mabel leapt in her seat, dizzy still and out of focus in her gaze. Then she saw the siblings. "JACE! JESSYBOO!" she screeched and charged them, tackling them to the ground in a large hug. "I missed you two lovebirds soooo much!"
"Hi Mabel," Jess coughed out.
"Heya Mabel-bear!" Jace giggled as he hugged back.
"Aww, you came up with a nick-name for me too!?" She whimpered, and snuggled him extra.
"Alright, up you three," Dipper chuckled.
With Wendy's help, the three were pulled upright, only for Mabel to flop down again. She groaned, "Ugh. I feel like Constance just possessed me again. What did I miss? I'm not actually hallucinating, am I?"
"Nah," Wendy shook her head, "Jace and Jess's parents swooped in and kicked those jerks out."
"Whoa," Mabel gasped, and looked to the parents above her. "I now understand everything... Jace gets his looks from the both of you," she nearly whispered.
"Aww, she's just a darling," Chloe rubbed her husband's shoulder. He smiled, watching Jace sit next to Mabel.
"So, you moved away?" Dipper asked, "And met these hunters."
Chloe scowled. "Absolute barbarians."
"They make a living," Jess explained, "Hunting down what people are calling 'extra-normal' people."
"Huh?" Dipper and Mabel tilted their head to the side.
"Yeah," Jace nodded, "Apparently, it's not cool to call people like Harpies and merfolk 'unnatural' or 'paranormal', so they made up a new word on the news – 'Extranormal'."
"Extranormal. Fine by me," Wendy mused over the idea, "Kind of makes me feel better."
A tad harsh on her reply, Jess glared at Wendy. "Why does it make you feel better?" Jess asked, her eyes squinting at Wendy.
Wendy went red immediately, glancing to Dipper. "Uh, well," she chewed her words.
"Is there still a secret going on with you?" Jess snapped. "Even after all that in town!?"
Jace rolled his eyes. "Dude, sis," Jace glared at her.
Wendy shook her head. "Jess, no. I'm, uh, sort of on the same spectrum as you and Jace."
"Oh," she nodded, her eyes cold and locked onto Wendy, "Thought it was cool to be a weirdo like us, huh? So, what are you calling yourself? Semi-Normal?"
"Jess, calm down," Archer cooed. "Apologies," he said to Wendy, who looked up to him, "She's always been one to be more mistrusting. After the business in that town, she's become even more so."
Taking a moment to process the new information, as well as recounting the last time the two had met Wendy slowly nodded to the father. She turned to the scowling Harpy, Jess, and said, "Jess, I'm a wraith."
Jace's mouth fell open and his skin went even more pale. Jess on the other hand blinked and slowly nodded. "Oh," she said, and looked to Dipper, and whispered, "She is, right?" Dipper nodded solemnly. Jess then said, "I guess that's... reason enough. Still, what's a wraith?"
Soos explained in one breath, "She's sort of dead but not really though."
"How... unnerving," Chloe admitted.
Wendy agreed, "Tell me about it."
Without a word, Ford shot up. A pillow still atop his head, he looked around. Clearing his throat first, Ford stated, "So. I take it we escaped and found our way into a fabrics shop."
"We're guests to a lovely family of harpies," Mabel explained.
Ford gasped and looked around. "Excellent! Hello!" he cried out, giving each a quick six-fingered wave, "A harpy home!? Magnificent! I haven't been in such refined company in years!"
Eying the newest member of the twin's repertoire, Jace asked, "You've met harpies before?"
Ford laughed. "Naturally! Wonderful people, with an acute aesthetic knowledge. Harpy-kind has changed far more than human kind over the last millennia. Quite like gnomes, but in reverse."
"As fascinating as this is," Archer said, his cold blue eyes glancing over the now fully awake crew, "I think we are owed an explanation. Jace and Jessandra," to which Jess mumbled to call her 'Jess', "Explained that you were all in a town in Oregon, this 'Gravity Falls'. You arrived in this town just a week after our troubles with Alberta and his hunters began, and they seem very keen on finding you two," he looked to the twins.
"Dad," Jace grumbled, "Don't be so rude."
"I have only stated the facts," Archer reminded him, "Jace, we've been more than kind in letting them stay here, and explain our happenings. Maybe we could," he looked to the five, "Be repaid in kind? After all," he floated down and landed in a seat directly before them all, "We're aware of some strange happenings these days."
Dipper licked his lips and nodded. "Fair enough."
With a deep breath, he began to explain. Starting from where they left off, the death of the Phoenix. The men who caused the storm- Omir Steindorf and Graupner Kinley. Their attempts at taking over the town to capture a powerful stone with enough magic in it to do nearly anything lead to the absolute erase of the town's existence, past and presently. That had an effect- releasing waves of arcane power into the world, which began to have more and more strange things return. 'Extra-normal' people started to resurface. With the help of Zander, they planned on stemming the overflow of magic before catastrophic events begin.
"Dipper left out the cool parts where Zander is also an ancient martial artist who can do things like magic," Mabel added, "and is really, really cool."
"Zander Maximillion?" Jace asked, "But he was just a dude. A music dude."
Jess, however, smirked and nodded her head. "I thought something was off about the way he just waltzed up to a crowd of people, and started fighting like it was nothing," Jess admitted.
Trying to ignore the pings of annoyance when anyone spoke kindly of Zander, Dipper said, "Well, according to him, the magical amount in the world should be somewhere from ten to fifteen percent returned."
From above, Chloe floated down, holding a large tray of tea cups and a hot kettle. "Well, as much as this is very important to discuss, tea for everyone," she said, handing out the cups and pouring away.
"Thank you miss..." Mabel stared at Chloe. "Did we ever get your last names?" Mabel turned to Jace.
"Boreas," Jace patted her head.
Mabel turned back to his mother, "Thank you miss Boreas!"
Archer nodded, "Then we have nothing to argue about. Ever since the boom of media attention, it's been a mix blessing for our family. At first, people were excited to meet us, but now... there's a shadow on the minds of the common human."
"Fear?" Ford asked.
Archer nodded. "Many believe that this resurgence of extra-normals means some sort of conspiracy. The public are now talking about this, wondering if these sightings are implying our return and campaign to terrorize humans."
Chloe laughed, a squawking cackle, "Hardly!"
"Well, they're not totally wrong," Dipper argued, "There is a correlation – the destruction of the stone of conservation."
Ford eyed Dipper, "The what was destroyed?"
With a quick look to him, Dipper said, "I'll explain in detail later." He turned back to the group at large. "The thing that absorbed most of the world's magic is gone, so things are starting to return that should have always been there."
"Well, regardless of intent," Archer grumbled, "This attention is making some so fearful they become violent."
Mabel gasped, "Just like Zander said."
Archer's cold eyes peered aside, a dark thought behind them. "Alberta and his hunters are exactly the result. They are bounty hunters and the such who now are specializing in catching extra-normals. Last night," he looked to his children, "they attempted to take Jace and Jess while they were coming back from the movies."
"Well, sort of," Jess admitted, and turned to Dipper, "They knew that we had met."
That bit of information ate at Dipper. He closed his eyes. "Knowing us... endangered you," he sighed.
"Oh no," Mabel whined, "Are you two okay?" she asked, grabbed Jace's cheeks, "Tell me they didn't rip out any feathers!? Where did they touch you!? I'LL KILL THEM!" she roared.
"I'm fine," Jace chuckled, pulling his face free gently.
Dipper turned to Jess, who now he scanned her, saw the bruises. Her eyes had bags under them. The more he looked, the more she turned away. He a clawing regret in his gut. Dipper managed to say, "Jess, I'm so sorry we got you involved."
She looked back finally, and seeing his eyes the way they were, her lips trembled. "Dipper, I... it's worth it, knowing you. I mean, knowing you guys!" she added as her face shot bright red. "Knowing you guys! Right? Yeah! Yeah..." she glanced around. Wendy held back a small snicker. Jess whipped her head around. "What's so funny?!" she snapped at Wendy.
"Nothing," she said, patting her chest with her fist, "Just coughing."
"Yeah right," Jess mumbled.
"This is a dangerous time for our family," Archer said sadly. "Once this all blows over, hopefully if you call can fix this it will be sooner, but until then, we're probably going to have to keep on the move. Our plans to sail to Greece may have to be put on hold."
"Yes," Chloe sighed, "Otherwise people may try to drown us in the ocean. Just rude."
Mabel said to the mother, "Took the words out of my mouth."
Dipper shook his mind and looked around. Meeting up with this family had been lucky. The ambush from these hunters and this 'Alberta' was less so, but seeing Jess and Jace again was fantastic. His sister was beaming, leaning against Jace's chest like she'd tell him from time to time she wish she could, and Soos...
Dipper saw Soos playing with his cup of tea, staring at the dark water. He hadn't said a thing since they left the scuffle back at the Pitt factory. With a quiet, soft voice, Dipper asked, "Soos?"
He jolted. Some tea splattered around. "Oh – yeah dawg? Sup?"
"Are you okay?" Dipper asked. Soos smiled at him, shaky and almost certainly untrue. "Soos what's wron-"
"Wait!" Ford shouted, causing Dipper to flinch. "You said the name of the man who attacked was Alberta?" Archer nodded.
"He's a jerk," Jess added with a small pout.
His brow furrowed, Ford dwelled aloud, "I thought his voice was familiar."
"You know him?" Wendy asked.
"Knew of him," Ford admitted, "He was popular back in my time. Well, more accurately, his brother was famous back then. The Jeffreys were big archeologists, famous for their talking dogs-"
Then and there, the missing piece to the puzzle appeared. Inside Dipper's head, a lightbulb flashed. "Did you say Jeffreys!?" Dipper gasped.
Mabel seemed to be on the same track. "Talking dogs!?" Mabel yipped.
"...Yes?" Ford answered with uncertainty.
"This guy, Alberta," Dipper said, "Is related to Montana Jeffreys?"
"Why yes!" Ford gasped and grinned, "Montana was the popular brother. He's one of the greatest celebrity archeologists of his time. I don't know what ever came of him, but his brother was never far off, but certainly in the shadow of his older brother."
Chuckling beside himself, Dipper told them "We ran into Montana this summer."
"You did?" Wendy and Soos both asked.
With a disbelieving grumble, Wendy said, "Still, missing out on everything."
"You have a habit of getting tangled in every web that you can," Archer noted.
"That's Dipper and Mabel for you," Jace admitted, "Going into danger, to solve a mystery or to save the day."
"Then we have a common goal," Archer stood back up, his feathers stretching as he did, "We need to have you all on the move. Your goal is one that may make our lives easier. But more importantly, it's become clearer that while you are near my family," he looked to his children, "We are in danger."
Jace let out a heavy sigh, and nodded. Jess looked up to her father, eyes shining. "Dad, don't say that," Jess mumbled.
"He's right," Dipper said, going over to his sister and lifting her to her feet, "We're waiting on a call anyway, and with people who are willing to actually kill us on our trail, we could be putting you in danger."
"But, but," Jess said, her head whirling from her father, to her brother, and mother, "But we're already in danger. People are trying to hunt extra-normals."
Wendy pointed out as she stood up, "People are specifically going after us, though."
"Thanks, Wendy," Jess nearly snarled, fuming, "But I think the point is that we could, well, help each other out! What if, we, uh, guide you through the city first! We've been here for like two weeks! We know the place."
Archer Boreas said, with an underlining warning, "Jessandra."
"And besides dad," Jess said, "You've been teaching us your family's combat stuff! We can kind of hold our own!"
"Defending yourself and looking for trouble are different things, dear," Chloe stated with a bite. "Jessie, your friends are on a mission that could save the world. We need to let them be, and not slow them down."
"Well then," Ford stood up fully, and drained the cup of tea, "Thank you very much for the hospitality. We should to be going."
Her eyes growing big, Jess whined, "But... so soon?"
"C'mon sis," Jace shrugged as he stood up, "We'll see them again, sure as the wind."
Jess glared at her brother. "The wind is never certain. It changes all the time."
Tired of her remarks, Jace simmered as he told her, "We'll see them again. Stop making this harder."
"I'm not!" she barked.
"Jess," Dipper quietly said. She turned to him, her blue eyes and shimmering. "It'll be okay. Besides, we got a jump and got away from those hunter guys. Not like they're onto us again or-"
Before he could finish, Wendy's head whipped to the side, and she glared out a window. Could it be… wraith senses?
Dipper stared at her. Her own eyes widened, and Dipper grumbled, "No, not again."
Wendy hollered, "Hit the deck!"
Grabbing Jess in a hug, Dipper threw himself to the ground just as Wendy knocked down Soos and Ford and the others dived to the floor.
The air was filled with shredding wooden walls and shattering glass. Bullets soared like rain through the air, cutting away at the structure like butter. Dipper hardly could look up with the shrapnel of splinters flying through the air, but he could see a swerving, tracing trail of gunfire making a line across the structure they had made. He had never seen such a concentrated fire of bullets in his life, and the buzzing in his ears told him what was firing it was no joke.
Then it all stopped, and the building began to shake and tremble. A loud whirring of helicopter blades in the distance told Dipper that they had a moment.
"Everybody okay!?" he called out.
As he stood up, Soos mumbled, "So that's what it's like to be inside a firecracker."
Wendy leapt back up, her eyes ahead. Dipper saw it too, movement by the door. The door slammed open, knocked off the hinges. A man stood there, holding a triple barreled weapon in his arms. Thinking fast, Dipper tossed one of the heavier pillows at him, knocking aside the weapon as it would have fired at Archer Boreas.
Following his action, Wendy took initiative. She charged the man and roared, leaping up and kicking out with both feet. The man fell backwards and vanished over the side of the platform. But as she landed from her drop-kick, the base that held her broke. Wendy was there, and then it fell away and...
She was gone.
Checklist... 1. The Harpies are back, check. 2. Awkward relations between Dipper and Jess, Check. 3. Action and drama and a heck of a cliffhanger (hehe, literally), check.
Have I your attention again? ;)
Well now, since that's all good and done, I'm just going to settle here and enjoy the arrival of this chapter, and the second third of the Third/final season of this series. I know a lot, lot, LOT of people were begging for Jess and Jace to return, and I knew, from the moment I wrote them in, they would be. But, like all things in a series, such times can only last for so long.
A lot of people have been begging me to know about DipperxJess. For those of you curious how that is going to end, I suggest you re-watch 'Into the Bunker'.
But how this chapter goes? Well... tune in next time when Soos gets his wishes and they go chasing into the city again, right smack into the factory. Let's see if it's what he asked for next time.
ALSO! OCTOBER IS BACK! WHICH MEANS HALLOWEEN IS COMING! YAAAY! (runs around, decorating computer and house with various halloween things.) Aww goodie goodie! So, in honor of my tradition, I'll be releasing yet ANOTHER single-shot episode featuring the spookiest time of the year! Now, I know last time we had the three minor episodes that were asked for, and I'm going to DO IT AGAIN!
So, if you have an idea for a spooktastic halloween short that you'd like to see written by ME, lemme know! Try to keep it semi-canon to either my story or the real show canon. AU's are more difficult to write (I.E. see my previous halloween one-shots). If you check reviews, and someone has a good idea, just let me know! I'll probably take a few ideas people write and make a vote on my profile page next week. So, if you have an idea, REVIEW AND LEMME KNOW! (or PM me, but if I like it, I'm putting it up on the page anyhoo.)
And finally: This episode has been sponsored by Pitt Cola. PITT! So good you'll wish you'd move into the country to eat a lot of peaches.
(A huge peach lands on EZB, crushing him flat. A boy pops out of the house-sized peach from a small port hole, along with a dapper grasshopper the size of a man.)
James: (in the Giant Peach) Have we landed? This doesn't look like New York.
Mr. Grasshopper: More than you realized, by lad. But it certainly smells like actors.