The day after, and the day after that, dawned as brilliant, sunny things full of relatively cool air. And yet, Dipper and Mabel may as well have been trapped in a permanent cloud. What they'd learned from the Duskterons sat there like a chunk of ice that wouldn't melt, no matter what they tried to do. No amount of books could lift the boy from his dank fog, nor could a full-volume sleepover with Grenda and Candy help Mabel with hers. Wendy had a similar shadow in her eyes – she even admitted to them in private that her anguish was about the same story – but the handyman either didn't know or had known long enough to have some way of dealing with it. Mabel wanted to ask him which it was, but giving the awful truth a voice again was the last thing she wanted to do. Pa had been right: all the Pines wanted to do was forget. Every time they brought it up, the endeavor would fail and threaten to plunge them into an even sadder state.

Thankfully, however, there wouldn't be a choice. Stan had known all along something wasn't right, but lacked the courage to ask questions until the lunchtime tour group was out the door and he found himself in the gift shop with his great niece, great nephew, and the lazy teenager. Thirty-six hours of their awkward behavior was finally too much for him to take. "All right, that's it. Somebody better start talking," he demanded.

The kids looked to to the teenager for help. "Uh..." she whimpered shakily. "I don't know how to put it, man."

"Listen, I might be blind, selfish, and generally cranky, but I'm not dumb. I see the moping." He pointed at the redhead. "I see you doing actual work! Come on, you can talk to me. Really." Their skeptical looks made him squint. "I don't care for your tone. Expression. Whichever."

Dipper, slumped so far over his forehead rested on the counter top, was the one to break the ice. "It's the old hospital. We found out what happened there fifty years ago."

"And it blows," Mabel added sadly.

The old man became just as downtrodden. "Ooo. Oh. I don't know where to go with this."

"Who does?" Wendy ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Have you been in town the past couple of days? It's tense."

Mabel shuddered. "Creepy forced old people smiles everywhere. Can't take it." She clung to Dipper fiercely. "How could someone do this? I don't understand."

"You don't understand 'cause you're a decent human being." Stan moved away to put the closed sign on the door. "I remember that day. Everybody in Gravity Falls acted like you three for a month afterward. Longer, in some cases."

"How did people get past it?" Dipper asked.

"They didn't. You don't get past stuff like this. It sticks with you forever."

"No! No no no! You're supposed to say it gets better!" Mabel yelled. "I'm gonna cry again oh boy..."

"Mabel's right. I don't get how someone could... forget it. I'm just gonna end up making myself sad again." Wendy sat on the stool and leaned back. Her eyes dropped as the Pines closed on her in a haphazard hug. "Thanks, guys."

"Yeah. We know how you feel," Dipper confirmed. "Everything just... sucks."

Stan frowned as he looked over them. "Eh. You know what? Take the rest of the day off. And a couple more after that. I can't ask you three to work when you're feeling like this."

"And Grunkle Stan's heart grew three sizes that day," Mabel quipped – but her smile was weak at best.

"Don't push your luck, kid," he fired right back, arms crossed and grinning.

"Heh, thanks Mister Pines. Seriously. I'm gonna go home and check on dad." Wendy tossed up a wave and departed.

The Pines family broke up as well. While Stan prepared for another tour, the twins hunkered down in their bedroom. "If we had the time machine we could go fix this," Dipper muttered unhappily, lying on his bed and staring at the mold on the ceiling beams. "Stop the guy from being born or something."

While Mabel shared his ideals, sadness had activated the logical part of her mind. "Yeah, but then the future would be all different. What if people we knew went poof? What if we went poof for some stupid reason?"

"True. Man." He rubbed firmly at his eyes. His thoughts traveled to the other twins, whom they hadn't seen since leaving the Dusk 2 Dawn. "Wonder how Winnie and Sue are handling it. I mean, they talk to ghosts too. Maybe they're... 'used to it' is the wrong thing to say, I guess."

She gasped with horror. "What if the baby ghosts are still talking to them? What if every person that ever died here is talking to them?! Holy moley!" Mabel hopped up and slipped on her sneakers. "Come on, bro. We dragged them into this, we gotta go see if they're okay."

"You've got a point." He nodded and stood. "Been cooped up in here too long anyway. The walk might clear our heads."

Instead of going into Gravity Falls directly, via the highway, they cut through the woods. This back route proved to be considerably harder, but it gave them other things to think about while scrambling through trees and over obstacles. At least, that had been the idea. Dipper noticed his sister lagging behind somewhat; upon going back to check, he found her in tears for the hundredth time in the past couple of days. "Why?!" she gasped. "Why would anyone hurt adorable tiny little..."

"I know. I know." All they could do now was hug. "I'm almost afraid to find out what else this place is hiding."

Frustrated, Mabel pounded his shoulder with a fist. "Which is stupid! I love Gravity Falls, it's all dorky and silly and... but now I'm just like..." She had to pause for a few sniffles. "I'm thinking things I didn't before. And bro, I don't like 'em."

He nodded over her shoulder, almost ready to weep himself. "No kidding," was all the comfort he had to offer.

They pressed on. A winding, noisy creek forced them to take a detour as Dipper looked for some place to ford it. The type of tree surrounding them changed with distance, from firs and cedar to massive redwoods. Mabel recognized the change almost instantly. "Hey, aren't we near the mines?"

"Huh?" His eyes darted about. "Oh, yeah. I guess so." Something stung his brain after a few seconds. "Ew, what is that? Do you smell it?"

She made a show of sniffing the air, her head head tossed back as she stood on her tiptoes. "I don't smell any—oh wow that is terrible what the ick," she replied, her expression changing mid-sentence as the odor filled her nose. "I'd make fun of you for not showering but this junk smells like death."

Overcome by curiosity – and against his better judgment – Dipper was already following the scent. "Yeah it does. Come on."

Several minutes of difficult travel lead them away from the creek and deeper into the redwoods. For a while, it was a game of hot or cold as one twin or the other tried to keep track of the awful odor. At last their noses agreed; helped by the wind, they followed it until a small clearing came into view. Scattered across the grass was the mutilated corpse of some massive dinosaur. Its head was entirely gone, and it had been split lengthwise down its body, exposing its ribcage. The rest seemed to be intact, featuring a small pair of arms and powerful, enormous rear legs, with a long tail attached. The brown taint of dried blood covered almost everything, including the nearby tree trunks to a height taller than the Pines. Mabel's first reaction was to run, hand over her mouth. Dipper couldn't make himself move. "What... what the?" he mumbled, flabbergasted by the sight. Only the sound of his sister losing her breakfast could make him turn and walk away. "Mabel? You all right?"

"Do I look all right?!" she snapped, hunched over and sucking air. The pungent smell made her hurl again. This time Dipper held her hair clear and rubbed her back to ease the process. "Th-thanks, bro."

"Let's get out of here." He lead her back toward the creek, pale as a sheet as he tried to resolve what they'd seen. "I'm trying to figure out what could kill a dinosaur like that and, gonna be honest here, all the possibilities make me wanna curl into a ball and cry."

She had other priorities at the moment anyway. A fierce look was on her face as she wiped her mouth with a sleeve. "Forget it, we have to warn the town!"

"They wouldn't believe us, and warn them about what? We don't know what did this."

"Well then, we'll warn the people that know better!" she shot back, grabbing his hand and running. "Come on, Dipper! We gotta move!"

Mabel hadn't been the only one searching for sanity in the insane. Sue spent hours on the couch with her laptop, trawling the internet for some good reason. Or some reason period. The awful truth was affecting her more than Winnie – or perhaps the blue-eyed woman was just better at hiding her revulsion. "There has to be an explanation for this!" she yelled suddenly, clutching the sides of her head. "It makes no sense! Why would anyone-" Words failed to express her disgust, so groans and growling had to do.

"You realize you might be looking for a why where none exists," Winnie replied gently. "Don't drive yourself crazy."

Sue crossed her arms with a fearsome huff and glared off to the side. "Sister, if we have a why attached to us, anything can."

"...you've got me there." Staring at the floor seemed like a good plan for the next few moments. Sue's demeanor was too much for her to ignore, though. "How bad did it get for you out there?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Winter."

She didn't yield an inch, despite the soft nature of her reply. "I'm listening anyway."

The red-eyed woman turned her back and bared teeth, determined to resist as long as possible. It wasn't long before the memories became too much. She removed the computer from her lap and folded up like an accordion, ending up on her side in a ball. "It was so awful. You can't even begin to imagine."

Winnie lounged against the armrest almost flippantly, but her eyes were deadly serious. "We both know that's a lie."

"Damn it!" Sue uncoiled and stood in one fluid, bitter motion. "I got so good at tricking them into coming with me. 'Oh, I won't hurt you.' And then..." Her palms came together with a tremendous noise. "That was it. The end. Little boys and girls, sister. Just old enough to trust a smiling stranger and too young to know better." Winnie had to hold her up as she began to slump and sob. "There must be some reason he did these things. There was a reason for us. If there isn't... then..."

A hug made her go quiet. "There probably is, but the question is whether or not we want to hear it." Winnie sat her down, never breaking their embrace. "I would attract people by pretending to be drowning. They would swim out to me and be so tired they couldn't escape. Our transgressions are equal. You know that."

"Are his?" Sue asked wearily, pointing at the laptop's screen. "What if he was like us?"

"I sincerely doubt it," she replied, brow furrowing deeply. "And unless we find some way to revive him, we'll never find out regardless. But what he did does raise questions about the... feeling."

This was something they could face together, and for that Sue was glad. She pulled away, retrieved her laptop, and tried to settle her nerves. "Oh, yes. What could have happened at the Mystery Shack for such a cloud to hang over it?"

"At least those sensations are not quite the same. That's something to be hopeful for." Winnie stared through the bay window and frowned at the beautiful day beyond. "And it's not just there. There are little puffs of it all over."

"Right. Not from the living people though. Which is so weird."

Her brow furrowed again, this time in thought. "Either the town is full of ghosts, or something else is going on here."

Sue's breaths were slow and even as she continued to fight the anguish in her heart. "Mhm. I want to know too, but we need to tread carefully. Look at what's already been discovered in our name."

"Mmm." Winnie took up her own laptop and started to browse. "I'm surprised Dipper and Mabel haven't been by to see us. I wonder why?" A heavy knock at the front door prevented any answers. Her first instinct was to open it at range as usual, but she caught herself with a low grumble. After answering it the normal way, she found the Pines twins and Wendy standing on the porch. Past them was a brown truck, which suddenly drove away down the street. She got a glance of a man with a baseball cap inside before it left, then turned her attention to Mabel and Dipper. "We were just talking about you two," she greeted, just as the red-faced, panicked looks on their faces could register. "Is something wrong?"

"Dinosaur killer!" Mabel wheezed, hands on her knees as she gasped for air. "No idea what happened. Gotta be on the look out for a... I dunno, a thing that looks like it could murder a dinosaur."

All she could manage in reply was a confused "What?" as Sue came up to see what was going on. "I'm a little lost here."

"Join the club!" Wendy exclaimed. "There are freakin' dinosaurs in the old mine?" Her hands flew up in dumbfounded disgust. "This town, man. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Did you actually see the dinosaur?" Sue asked, almost timidly.

"Yeah! We did!" Dipper gasped. "Man, I am not built for running in the woods like that."

Mabel forced herself past the twins to find cool air. Her brother and Wendy followed, nearly tripping over her as she sat down to recover. "We got two possibilities here," she began gravely. "One: a bigger dinosaur killed that dinosaur and now we've got Jurassic Park: Gravity Falls happening. Two: I dunno what two could be but it's scary as heck to think about."

"I went with aliens," her brother advised breathlessly.

Wendy was thinking in a different direction. "Coulda been Octavia." Her eyes lit up. "Oh yeah, stay away from the mud flap factory. And don't ever drink the water from that stream that runs by it, either."

"We'll... keep that in mind?" Sue looked up as Soos opened the door. "We've got a party going on now."

His eyes lit up too, but unlike Wendy his expression was full of glee. "Wait, did somebody say party? Dude! Lemme go get my DJ guide!"

"Soos, no. She's kidding." Dipper had recovered enough to stand up straight. "Oh yeah, this is Soos. He's kinda like the Mystery Shack fixer handy dude."

"What's up?" he chirped, waving happily. "Nice place. And ride." He examined the twins for a seconds, his face screwing up. "Man. You guys work out?"

Winnie, arms crossed, nodded idly. "Yes, we do. Nice to meet you." She watched as he, the Pines, and Wendy occupied their sofa. "Tired?"

"Little bit," the girl whined, rubbing herself from knees to ankles. "Ohhhhhh I hate rocks."

The redhead chuckled faintly. "I had to carry her back to the road. Was worth it, though. I got to post a pic of a headless dinosaur on Twitter. I should get a ton of retweets."

"That's nice and all, but we need to figure out what's going on," Dipper pointed out while slipping on his hat. "Octavia might have eight legs and laser eyes, but I doubt she could do all the stuff we saw." Mabel began to squeal beside him and wave her arms. "No,. Not only is your idea terrible, it's not even right of us to bring it up. No." He yelped as she smacked the back of his head. "Geez! Fine! Ask!"

Her arms shot up in celebration. "Woo! I was thinking you two could talk to the ghost of the dinosaur and ask it what happened! Brilliant, right? I know. Hold your applause."

Everyone's faces went blank. Winnie and Sue stared at each other for a few moments, unsure if they'd heard her correctly. "You want us to what?" the red-eyed woman finally asked.

Mabel glared and folded her arms. "Talk to the dino-ghost! Come on, girls. You heard me. Let's do this."

Wendy needed more clarification, and so raised her hand. "Hold it, you guys talk to ghosts?"

Genuine annoyance was seeping onto Winnie's face. With a sigh, she hid her eyes. "Yes, we talk to ghosts. Thank you for not telling anyone, Mabel."

"Pff, thank me later after we've saved Gravity Falls from certain... uh. Huh." Her head tilted. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, balls! I messed up!"

"Told you," Dipper stated with a smile, only to get another smack for his effort. "Ow!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, are you the new Gideon?" Soos interjected with a glare – or at least what passed as a glare for him. "'Cause we're gonna have to fight if you try to steal any deeds or shrink me. Or shrink the deeds and steal me. Wait, no, that kinda sounds like I'm hitting on you. Never mind."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Moving on, we were coming up here anyway to check on you two. How you holding up since the... you know, got out?" Their deeply crestfallen looks said it all. "Oh, man. I was afraid of that." His face screwed up when he glanced over at Soos, who looked exactly the same. "You already knew? We were scared of telling you 'cause it's depressing as heck."

He dropped his head, replying mournfully, "Mister Pines mentioned it after the building fell down. You all have my sympathies." He perked up a bit upon receiving some hugs from Mabel.

"Hey!" she shouted, standing up just as soon as she was done reassuring the handyman. "So what if my idea is stupid? At least we'd be outside and doing something besides turbo-moping until we cry to death. What do you say?"

"I'm in," Wendy sighed. "Can't really have some death beast roaming the forest. Might hurt my family, ya know." A wry smile crept onto her face. "Besides, more chances to take pictures I can sell."

"Oh, fine. If only to satisfy you," Dipper grumbled, arms crossed in mock distaste.

Soos rubbed his hands together excitedly. "It's like a murder mystery. You bet your life I'm on board!"

The identical twins shared one more look of disbelief before Winnie relented. "Fine, I suppose it can't hurt."

Chanting 'dinosaur' and cheering with various degrees of joy, the Mystery Shack detachment walked out the front door. The two women didn't immediately follow, however. "I bet they would be surprised if they knew what really happened," Sue said lowly.

Winnie couldn't help but smile as she slid on a pair of black thong sandals with turquoise trim. "I've no doubt about that. How did you even get it out of the mine?"

"Ah, sister," the red-eyed woman teased, wagging her finger. "We both know a little magic goes a long way. I was a little angrier than I thought. I needed space to fight."

She rolled her eyes on the way to the door. "Right. How long are we going to keep up this lie?"

Sue's smile died in a flash. "As long as we can, I guess. If they knew everything, the only way we'd be greeted in Gravity Falls is with bullets."

Soos lead everyone through the woods, humming a little tune with spoken words randomly thrown in. The rotting odor again served as a guidepost, but Winnie and Sue were focused on another sense entirely – the unquantifiable thing hovering over the town, which they noticed was now clustered mostly behind them and to their left. They even knew where the Mystery Shack was, thanks to the distinct pitch of its spark.

"Watch these rocks," Dipper advised, pointing up ahead. "Mabel nearly broke her leg." When they reached them, the girl gave one an angry kick. "How can you hold a grudge against an inanimate object?"

"It tried to kill me!" she yelled furiously. Only when her rage was spent – which meant more kicking – did she scramble over the formation.

Before long the clearing and its awful contents came into view. Overpowering was the best way to describe the smell. "I'm just gonna wait over here," Mabel squeaked, on the edge of retching again. She wasn't the only one reluctant to approach.

"Uh, you're up," Wendy said, waving at the identical twins and fanning the air away from her nose. "Do the... ghost thing? I guess? I don't even know."

Winnie nodded and lead her sister into the clearing. "This should be fun," she murmured, once they had enough distance to ensure privacy. "We'd better think up a good story."

Sue's mind was elsewhere. It was the first time she'd seen her handiwork in full daylight. The extent of her violence was breathtaking. "I can't believe I managed to tear its head off with my hands," she whispered. "I don't actually remember where it ended up. I think I threw it."

Blinking with the revelation, Winnie moved to the rear of the carcass so they'd be out of sight. "Just how mad were you?"

"I couldn't see straight." She poked at the base of the creature's tail with her shoe and blinked. "You're always so calm. I wish you'd teach me."

"No teaching necessary, sister. I know what happens when I lose control. That's enough of a deterrent for me." At her urging, they began to move back toward the others, albeit slowly. "Fib time. Let's brainstorm."

"Okay. Um..." Her ruby eyes rolled about in thought. "At least we know dinosaurs don't have 'ghosts'. I don't feel a thing. I kind of doubt there's an animal alive here that could kill one of these things, either. I've got nothing."

"They're expecting us to be spirit whisperers. If we come up empty, what happens then?" Winnie ran a hand over her hair and scowled. "We're in a hole."

Sue wilted, pawing at her face. "I'm sorry. The best I have is 'we don't know'. Then we can pretend to be in the same boat with everyone else."

"All right. Let's go."

An expectant smile from Mabel as they walked up almost undid Sue, but she stuck to the script. "Sorry. No ghosts to talk to here. We're not sure what happened."

"Told you, again." Dipper braced for another attack, but his sister was too ill to launch one. "You're about as green as the Hulk."

"Blaaaaargh," she moaned in response, partially doubled over. "Uh oh. Dry heaving."

Wendy and Soos' faces screwed up at the noises she made next. "Dude, we'd better get outta here before hambone blows chunks again."

They traversed the forest, going past Mabel's rocky nemesis and to the dirt road where the truck was parked. "Thanks for letting us drag you along," Dipper smiled, tipping his hat. "I'm too tired to be sad. I guess something went right."

"Yep," the redhead agreed. "Dang, man, seven thousand retweets!" She put her phone away with a smirk.

The boy nodded up at her. "I guess we should be heading home ourselves. Mabel probably needs to rehydrate."

"Nothing... left... to puke..." she moaned dramatically.

Soos patted her head gently. "Please don't lose it in the truck, dude."

"No promises."

"Before you run off, take this." Winnie produced a notepad and pen from her jeans pocket, scribbled something down, and handed the sheet to Dipper. "My phone number. Now you won't have to walk so much."

Dipper glanced over it and smiled. "Thanks. You sure you don't want a ride?"

Sue ran in place with a huge grin. "It's okay, we'll run back."

Goodbyes were exchanged. The twins watched the truck drive away until it disappeared beyond a curve. "I thought that went well," Winnie affirmed, once more smoothing back her hair.

"Yes! Still doesn't answer our questions, though." A glint in the sky drew her gaze. A jet was flying high overhead. "What an odd place this is."

"Yes. But at least the people are nice." Off they went, jogging down the path. Except for the wind rustling the branches above, the woods were incredibly quiet. A few minutes of running still hadn't gotten them clear of the forest, and for some reason Sue was beginning to lag behind. "What's the matter?"

Certainly wasn't exertion. She hadn't even broken a sweat. Some strange mixture of confusion and anxiety was on her face. "Do you get the feeling someone's watching us in here?"

Winnie's eyes darted about, landing on tree trunks and bushes. "Not really, why?"

"Not sure. Just a... hmm." Sue peeked back over her shoulder at the woods. "I'm beginning to get as curious as you are. What is Gravity Falls hiding from us?"