Previously on Autumn:
"We don't have much time!"
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"Gideon has an army!"
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"You're not going into this battle. Not without us."
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"It begins."
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"…and they essentially are zombified."
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"I didn't know I could do that!"
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"Going somewhere?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Let me out of here!" I bang against the metal bars of my makeshift prison. I'm still on the street right in the middle of the town; how are Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland not noticing this?
"If you say so." He shrugs. Half of the bars lift, making spaces large enough for me to walk out through.
I'm running towards the twins when a blue ray of light catches my eye.
"But first," Gideon grins. "Why are you fighting this battle?"
"Because it's what's right." I clench my fists. "I got this town into this battle. I'm going to help them get out."
"But it's not your battle."
"Yes it is." I say through gritted teeth. "You made it my battle."
"You don't have to be the one who fights it." The blue light becomes brighter. I feel myself being drawn towards it.
"I…I have to…" My mind feels numb.
"No you don't." I'm almost immersed in the light now.
"No…no I don't…"
It feels so good…
Suddenly a cold splash of water hits me straight over the head.
"What?" I shiver.
Mabel grins and tosses an empty bucket aside.
"Thanks." I smile.
She looks up at Gideon, suddenly serious-looking. "You can't take her!"
"I don't need you're little friend!" Gideon cackles. "This is just a minor inconvenience."
His robotic machine walks away smoothly compared to ours, smashing a couple of benches in the process.
Mabel's brave face falters and then crumbles all together. She runs towards me and grabs me into an awkward hug. I stand stiffly. She pulls back.
"Are you okay?" She asks. "Your eyes were turning green and stuff. It was creepy."
"I'm fine." I assure her. "You guys snapped me out of it."
"Wait, that's it!" Dipper yells.
I look at him quizzically.
"Gideon was trying to get control of you through mind powers." He paces. "That's how he's controlling his army; through their minds. He must have made another amulet-"
"Right you are, Theodore!" Quentin Trembley walks over wearing half a pair of pants (I'm sorry if he's OOC, guys).
"I told you, my name's not Roderick, and it's not Theodore!" Dipper whines, his voice cracking.
"My apologies, Clarisse!"
Dipper looks unamused.
"Go on, Mr. President!" Mabel bows goofily, smiling again.
"That small man has strange brain powers!" Trembley declares. "He is controlling the society with his dragons and-"
"I'll take this." Dipper steps in front of him.
"Very well! I will go now!" He runs away, thrusting his knees backwards instead of forwards. "Remember, eat less fruit and jump over fish in races!"
"Huh." I stare. "That's actually the most normal thing I've ever heard him say."
Dipper clears his throat. "All of Gideon's power comes from his amulet. If we could get it away from him, he'd be at a loss."
"That's a good plan, but we'll need to do more." I point out. "Gideon could easily replace his amulet; it's not his source of power."
Mabel taps her chin. "So what you're saying is that can't just get the magical doohickey off of his neck, but we need to steal his creepy number 2 book with it?"
"Exactly." I nod.
"We'll need a plan." Dipper pulls a small notebook out of his vest, clicking a pen along with it.
"Ugh, more plans!" Mabel complains. "Can't we just have an epic battle sequence in the second to last chapter without it being all complicated and stuff?"
"Hang on." I turn out and tap the air, it shuddering slightly in a circle around my finger. "Is the fourth wall still there? Yeah? Okay."
"Uh, back to the story." Dipper scribbles something in his notebook. "I can see how this is going to work; we still have a leg up on Gideon."
"What is it?" I ponder. "He's got a giant robot- like us- and a whole army; which, er, we do too."
Dipper shakes his head. "But our army has control. They want to fight for us."
"So what you're saying is, we need everyone to work together?"
Mabel jumps around. "TOGETHER WE WILL FIGHT THE CREEPY STALKER!"
Dipper points to her. "Can you show enthusiasm like that?"
I shake my head.
"Never mind." He rips the page he was writing on out of the notebook and hands it to me. "So, here's the plan."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Ready?" I hold down the button on one of Stan's old walkie-talkies.
"Ready," comes a static filled reply.
"Ready." Another one follows.
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Ready."
"Then let's do this."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A giant metal spider rampages through the town, crushing some trees and lampposts in its path.
A short boy sits on top of it, laughing evilly at the damage. He's really enjoying it.
"Hey, Gideon!" Mabel runs into the street, stopping him in his path.
"Mabel, my apple cobbler!" He grins. "Hello!"
"Gideon!" A Mabel with the number 2 on her sweater steps out from behind a building. "Hi!"
"What in tarnation…?" He scratches his mountain of hair.
"Gideon!" Clones 3, 4, and 5 pop out, running towards him.
It seems like a good time. I focus my energy, this time actually growing a beanstalk, not turning into a tree.
Within a few seconds, I can see the book peeking out from behind Gideon's pale blue suit. He seems distracted enough; nine Mabels are standing in front of him, begging for his attention.
I reach forward, almost getting it, but when I'm just a few inches away, Gideon turns around, grinning still.
"Uh…hi?" I squeak.
"Hello." He laughs. "You really thought you could take hold of my book, and it would all be over?"
"Maybe?" My voice squeaks even more.
"It is over." He cackles. "It's all over!"
Gideon's eyes begin to glow bright blue, along with his amulet. The green plant below me begins to shrivel up.
I'm about to fall from my 20-foot post.
"Autumn, grab on!" Willow reaches her hand out and catches me just before I'm going to fall.
All of the rest of the dryads sprout beanstalks to get to the same height as us. Gnomes crawl up the vines and onto arms of the spider machine.
"Get off!" Gideon yells, swatting at the little men. They crawl all around him, trying to get the book out of his grasp.
From the water tower comes a large blast that Gideon avoids by conjuring an electric forcefield. Most of the gnomes are washed away, but they reform into a larger figure.
The clone army opens their umbrellas, helping water shoot back towards the robotic spider.
At the base, Rumble McSkirmish is punching at the legs, making dents, but nothing major enough for actual damage. He screams, "Robot fight attack!", the cue for the other robots to come out and fight.
Stan, Soos, and Dan have gotten pretty good at controlling their respective machines. They skillfully avoid the beanstalks and walk towards the spider. While small arms try to pry the book away, Stan jumps out of his robot and onto Gideon's. The two engage in a full-on slap-fight, each trying not to fall out of the small seat.
"Give it to me, you little troll!" Stan cries.
"Never!" Gideon yells.
A floating blob of water blots out the sun from the downtown area, and- oh good lord- half a dozen merfolk hover in it, Mermando in front. For some reason, they attempt nothing except to thrust their hands into the action and try to get the book.
Everyone does their part in reaching and prying and thrusting arms out. But just as everything is at its peak, a single arm snatches the book away from its short keeper.
"You got it?" I yell upwards.
Dipper flashes a thumbs up, and silently climbs down on the ladder of vines.
"We've got it." He smiles, whispering. Pulling the third volume out from his vest, all three books get laid down to form a triangle.
They start to glow.
A pulsing gold light grows brighter as it continues to steadily increase the area it shines in. After three smaller pulses, it expands to cover the entire town in light.
As it passes Gideon, his amulet cracks, sending up a small puff of blue smoke. A look of realization crosses the young boy's face as he pats the area behind him to find the book missing.
With the destruction of the amulet, all of the controlled tourists stand up straight with a shock, eyes returning to normal. They look around, confused, and surprised to see their downtown covered in trees and robot parts.
Robot parts! Right. Gideon's robot collapses with him on top, it having been controlled by the amulet's magic. The boy lands upside down, his hair blocking his fall.
All of the people and creatures who were fighting for the book land on a soft, newly-conjured bed of grass which disappears almost as soon as it appeared.
The gold light disappears, quickly fixing all of the damage that had been spread through town, including the parts from the broken automaton.
Gideon lays on the street, curled up. His eyes widen when I walk over to him.
"This time, you don't have an upper hand." I cross my arms. "Any power you might have had control of is gone, because it never was yours in the first place."
"That's a lie!" He spits. "I'll always have power over you, and this town!"
"But that's just it." I kneel down. "This town has some crazy magic going on- I knew that since I got here. There's too much of it for anyone to control, and it can drive anyone mad to try to harness it alone." I gesture to everyone who had fought by my side for what is right. "This town is powerful, and it can't be stolen by one person. The secrets of Gravity Falls remain protected by its citizens."
"Your words mean nothing!" Gideon yells angrily. "I'm meant to control this town. I know more than you could imagine, and I have more power than you could ever possess."
"Keep telling yourself that." I roll my eyes, walking away.
"Aren't you going to fight back?" Dipper asks.
"Something tells me that it's not use." I say. "Besides, he doesn't have the book anymore. He's just some run-of-the-mill fake psychic."
"I'm just happy this is safe." Mabel surveys the town. It doesn't look like anything happened to it. "Let's head home."
I want to thank you guys for everything. There's on chapter left of this story, and I'll go into more detail later. But I needed to say how happy I am with how my first story went. I know the battle scene was a little…underdone, but I'm glad you guys have stayed with my until now. The epilogue will be up on Tuesday.
Thank you.