The Man in the Woods

The moment Grunkle Ford revealed himself and pulled out the memory gun, Dipper realized their plan with a sickening clarity.

He also realized that this had to be Grunkle Stan's idea, because Ford was great and all, but Stan was eons better when it came to trickery.

Dipper just didn't know if Mabel knew what the plan was. He glanced at her and she was watching both of their grunkles with wide, worried eyes. Her hands clutched at Stan's fez as Ford readied the gun and then, with some slight hesitation, fired it at Stan.

Dipper's own heart clenched at the sight.

No, no, no. He could hear the denial chiming through his thoughts, but he knew better. To try to still it, he drew closer to Mabel and grabbed her arm in comfort. Neither of them looked away from the sight before them.

When the blue light faded and the memory gun dropped to the ground, Dipper knew it was over. He also knew that Grunkle Stan was probably gone. However, he didn't really have time to think about that.

With a flash of light, the people who had been turned into banners were falling into a pile on the floor, back to normal. Then the pyramid gave a huge shudder, and looking up, Dipper could see it was collapsing from the top down, though it seemed like the debris was falling up toward the Rift, rather than down to the ground.

"Wah!" Mabel yelled as the floor fell apart under their feet, and Dipper held her more tightly.

As the weirdness was sucked up into the Rift, they all began to fall towards the ground. Both he and his sister screamed but before Dipper could fully register what was happening, Ford was grabbing both of them and curling around them. He caught a glimpse of the quickly approaching ground and he hadn't even realized that they were so far up. It was like falling from the Gideon-bot all over again.

However, they never hit the ground at a terminal velocity. There was another flash of light from the Rift and suddenly all three of them were sitting on the ground, Ford hovering protectively over them.

They blinked and looked around. Dipper was astonished, his mouth falling open a bit.

They were in the woods and it looked just like it always did. There were no signs of the destruction that had come in the wake of Weirdmaggedon and the sky peeking through the tops of the trees was a calm blue. It was also so quiet, with just the faint sounds of the birds and the wind whispering through the branches above. After the constant sound of screams, fire, and crashing that had become the norm in only a few days, it was too quiet.

"H-how?" Dipper asked, tentatively reaching out and touching a tree trunk. There weren't even any marks of the way the forest had been totaled.

"Full reversal." Ford said as he straightened, his eyes darting around and searching for something. "Not only did Bill's death end Weirdmaggedon, but the energy of the Rift reabsorbing all of the effects seems to have restored everything destroyed during Weirdmaggedon."

"Where's Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked, and as Dipper looked over at his twin, he realized who Ford was searching for.

"Mabel…" Dipper grimaced, because if she still didn't realize what had happened, they had to explain it before they found him. He reached out to her, because he knew this was going to hurt, heck it was hurting him just thinking about it, but her face lit up in delight as she caught sight of something through the trees.

"There!" She pointed at something and immediately took off, carrying the fez.

"Mabel, wait!" Ford tried to call her back, but she was a girl on a mission. Dipper knew that there would be no stopping her now.

He sighed and followed her. This is not going to be pretty, he thought as Ford followed them both through the bushes.

They broke through the tree line into a small clearing. Stan was kneeling in the grass, eyes blinking open, and right away Dipper could see that something was off.

He had never seen Stan so relaxed.

"Oh my gosh! Grunkle Stan, you did it!" Mabel ran up to their grunkle, so happy, and she plopped the fez on his head.

For a moment, Dipper felt a spark of hope. Maybe it was fine. After all, it couldn't all be gone, right? Besides, as much as Stan cared for them both, Mabel was definitely his favorite. If anyone could bring something back, it would be –

"Oh, uh, hey there…kiddo." Stan said, an awkward smile on his face as he gently took Mabel's hands off his shoulders. Dipper's heart fell to the bottom of his shoes. "What's your name?"

He's gone. Dipper thought, his chest beginning to tighten. He's… he's really gone.

But Mabel hadn't quite gotten that yet. "Grunkle Stan?" He could tell that she knew there was something wrong, but she didn't want to believe it.

"Heh." Stan looked around in confusion, and there was something innocent about him that Dipper would've never associated with him. After all, Stanley Pines was an accomplished con man whose experience with the world had left him jaded. The person before them reminded Dipper more of Mabel when they were younger, the way she was curious about everything and proceeded to poke her nose into things that she really shouldn't. "Who you talkin' to?"

Mabel's eyes widened, tears beginning to fill them. "C-c'mon, it's me." She appealed to him, begging. "It's me, Grunkle Stan!" Dipper couldn't take it anymore, and apparently Ford felt the same, as they both reached out and began to pull Mabel away. "Stan, it's me!"

Ford placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic glance. "We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill. It's all gone. Stan has no idea, but he did it. He saved the world." Ford stepped up to Stan, and Stan, who had been looking off to the side, not even realizing they were talking about him like he was a little kid or something, turned and gazed up at Ford. "He saved me." Ford's voice wavered as he knelt before him. He threw his arms around Stan. "You're our hero, Stanley." As he buried his face in Stan's shoulder, Stan himself just blinking in sedate surprise, Dipper could hear the sounds of his sobs.

It was too much.

Mabel sunk to the ground, her own tears overwhelming her as she buried her head in her hands. Large sobs wracked her body and Dipper instantly put his hand on her shoulder in comfort. He felt the tears had been prickling his eyes also escape, and he pulled down the brim of his hat to hide them.

Mabel turned into him, and he hugged her tight. Their tears stained both of their shoulders.

What are we supposed to do now?

AN: The scene that broke everyone's heart from Dipper's perspective. Enjoy.