Nobody had the courage to approach Dipper for the next several hours – nobody except Mabel, of course. He'd been holed up in bed all day, curled into a ball and with his back to her side of the room, but she dutifully stayed with him, knitting the time away. The rhythmic clacking of her needles brought him close to sleep several times, but his mind was too full to let him relax. Frowning, he rolled over to face her.

"About time," she said with a smile, glancing over. "You done moping?"

"I'm not... I'm not moping."

Her face became gloomy. "I know you're not. You're freaking out and bottling it up and you know I hate it when you do that." She dropped her needles and stared at him. "Talk to me. Please? Say something. You wanna yell? You love yelling! I won't even laugh at your voice, I promise."

"I don't really feel like yelling," he replied, sitting up and crossing his legs. "I feel like hiding in a hole forever. Our great uncle's great uncle helped build a machine that's gonna end the world."

Her face screwed up; she had to give him that one. "Well, uh, yeah. Looks kinda bad. But who says we have to sit here and let it happen?" He didn't acknowledge her extra-encouraging, extra-wide smile. "Come on, man, you beat a giant robot and I'm the best at everything! We got this, bro."

Dipper looked over, face dark with worry. "Yeah, but Gideon didn't experiment on people against their will. Also, I don't think anyone in his family's built a magical doomsday device that could destroy the Earth."

"Okay fine, I'll go along with the last one, but... are you sure he hasn't done anything like that? Let's not underestimate his creep factor." She shuddered a little for added effect, but wore a little smirk the whole time.

"Are you serious?" Dipper snapped, standing up. "Mabel, people died! We almost died! And now a whole lot more people could die! This is—it's too big for us! How can you sit there and make fun of it?!"

The undertones of her jovial facade became strained, but she refused to let her toothy smile crack. That didn't stop her from getting a little teary. "What are you yellin' at me for?" she asked. It was meant to sound teasing, but some of her own internal turmoil leaked out with the question.

Dipper ducked his head in shame – mostly because of her tone. He assumed his frustration had once again found the wrong target. "I'm not—I mean, I didn't mean to yell. I'm not feeling too great right now. Sounds like you're not either."

Relief bolstered Mabel's smile and dried her eyes; she'd finally cracked his shell. The rest would be easy. "Come on," she urged, patting the edge of her bed. "Sit. Talk to me. Waddles doesn't mind, do you?" His inquisitive oink made her snort. "I guess that's a yes. Or a no. Uh... whichever answer I wanted. English is stupid."

He took her up on it and plopped down on the mattress. "They all lied to us. Forget Grunkle Stan for a minute because I don't even know where to start with him, but Winter and Summer are freaking aliens and they hid that! Why?" he asked, becoming more unhappy with each word he spoke.

Mabel scratched her head in thought. "I dunno, maybe 'cause if everyone knew they'd freak out? Like you did, mister 'I'm done'?" she said after giving him a gentle poke in the side.

"That's not why I did it, I did it because this whole thing just got... you know," he said, stopping short of repeating himself again. "So much more is at stake!" It welled up inside him once more, a fetid wave of bitter terror. He punched it back with a few deep breaths. "I'm just saying if they'd told us right out, 'hey, we're aliens, keep it to yourself', I'd have been totally okay with it. There was no need to hide anything."

Suddenly it was Mabel who looked vulnerable, lightly hugging her knees. "Sometimes it's super hard to tell the truth, bro."

"Huh?" He looked over at her and blinked. "I think it's your turn to share."

She stared at the floor, knee-hug getting just a little tighter. "Ain't got nothin' to share. I'm just saying lies are easy and the truth... isn't."

"Right, okay. Lies are easy – like right now, to me, I guess."

Dipper's tone was cotton, but it still felt like a blade to her heart. "I set myself up for that one, huh?" She inhaled some courage and met his eyes with her own. "Dipper, why would somebody I've never met try to kill me? Why would they try to kill you?"

His initial answer was awkward silence. Waddles nudged his way between the twins and oinked at each in turn as if asking them what was wrong. "Now you know how I feel," he finally admitted, staring at his socks.

"Oh come on. Like I haven't felt the same way!" she fired back with a glare.

"Well, you're always over there smirking and dancing and putting stickers on your face."

For an instant Mabel was gone, replaced by something that looked and felt a lot like Dipper with braces and rosier cheeks. Just as quick, though, that almost-invincible grin was back. "Duh, because if I weren't I'd be acting like you. One of us has to put on a happy face, otherwise we're gonna go nuts!"

"I..." Dipper fell silent and found he had no retort, only a vague sense of gratitude. "Never change, Mabel. Never change."

She flashed a cocky smirk. "Why would I change perfection, dork? Now what are we gonna do about this, huh? You're the smart one, start braining or whatever!"

"Bleh," he grumbled, falling back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling in thought while a surprisingly patient Mabel swung her legs and cuddled her pig. Abruptly, he sat up. "Wait. We control the portal."

"Oh, yeah. I guess we do." She looked away for a moment. "I mean, kinda sorta."

Overcome with relief, he clapped his hands once and stood up to pace around. "All we have to do is tell him not to turn it on! That stops the problem from getting worse!"

"So we're gonna go say 'hey, you can't look for your brother 'cause it'll destroy us, sorry'?"

"Ye-" The weight of such a request froze him. "Crap. I didn't think of it like that. And even if he agreed, what about the magic that's still in Gravity Falls? How do we deal with what's already come out?" He drifted over and fell on his own bed to think some more. "I shouldn't have left. We really needed to talk to Winter and Summer."

"You forgetting something?"

He looked over quizzically as Mabel pointed to the table between their beds where their new phones were charging. "Oh yeah, duh," he said, smiling as he got up to get his. "I'll just... is a text appropriate in this situation? I'm not sure what apocalypse planning etiquette is."

She stopped him with a frantic wave of her hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're that sure nobody's spyin' on us? I mean they said they would stop and all but they also tried to murder us. Not a lot of trust going on here."

After a moment of thought, he decided her worries were still valid and sighed. "Yeah, fair point. I'll send them something vague just in case."

Knocking at their door, light and erratic, prevented him from sending anything at all. "Come in!" Mabel chirped happily. "Dipper's stopped being super paranoid, it's safe! Come on!"

"I wasn't paranoid," he said lowly as the door opened. "All right, maybe I was. A little." Mabel's giggling was cut off by registering the new arrival: Pacifica. "Wait, what the heck are you doing here?"

As they stood up and approached, she shut the door, eyes darting about suspiciously. "Look, we need to talk."

"About what?" Mabel asked harshly, putting herself between the blonde and her brother. "Girl, you're not gonna come into my house and talk ish about us-" She fell silent – Pacifica was doing it again, acting almost timid, eyes glued to the floor even though she had a hand on her hip. "Uh. You're doing that thing you did earlier and it's making my hate feel weird."

While shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, she screwed up the courage to regard the Pines and put on a gloomy mask. "Yeah. There's something I, uh..." And then she was hit with a shot of Northwest pride. "Just sit down and listen," she said firmly, pointing toward the nearest bed, "And don't laugh at me."

Late afternoon found the identical twins in the woods once more, and once more were there soldiers nearby. This time their number was smaller – a half-dozen at most – and they weren't keeping their eye on the sisters at all. Lieutenant Colonel Greer, accompanied by Preston Northwest, was using them as perimeter guards while Winter and Summer put on an impromptu demonstration of sorts. Their stage was a large oval clearing, though not the same one they'd used earlier for the release of their prisoners.

"Here's a rock," Summer said, launching a sizable piece of feldspar into her grasp with magic. She turned it over a few times to prove it was mundane. "Just a rock. But..." With a light grunt, she tossed it into the air and snapped with her other hand. The stone twisted into a majestic eagle of an unfamiliar species, mostly black with a brilliant purple crest of feathers. The creature beat its wings and fluttered down to land on her shoulder. "This is a bird from our home. I forget the name... sister? You know these things better than I do, what is this again?"

"A Midlight Eagle. I saw one in the museum of natural history while you were busy with our parents." Winter shook off the displeasure of that memory and snapped, crushing the bird into a rose whose petals were each a different color. "As you may guess," she added, bringing the flower over, letting it float before her nose, and taking a sniff of the scent, "our ability isn't exactly common."

"You can turn anything into anything?" Greer asked, barely able to overcome the awe. "But—but how?"

Summer retrieved her prop, inflating it into a white hot-air balloon with blue and red vertical stripes. The basket and propane burner were included. "Oh, with enough help you can do lots of things," she murmured with a grin, firing the burner a few times before flattening the whole contraption back into its original rock form and throwing it away. "I'm surprised you believed what you heard about us this time."

"Well, when you get twenty-odd people saying the same thing in debriefing, what other choice did we have?" Greer replied, staring at the rock. Beside her, Preston's visage lacked the same amount of gobsmacked terror. "Why'd they ask me to be the Army liaison with you guys? No offense, of course, it's just that I've read the whole first contact protocol and it didn't come close to preparing me for this."

Winter nodded politely. "We understand that the concept might be a little overwhelming, although Mister Northwest apparently doesn't seem to think so." Now all three women were looking at him.

"Ah, don't think me disinterested," he said, hands raised slightly. "I'm just observing the potential death of mass production as we know it and it is rather fascinating. Let's try to keep this one under wraps so I might avoid being driven into the poorhouse."

"Another secret for the pile, I suppose." Winter shared a glance with her sister before continuing. "So, what did you mean by decontamination?"

He straightened his tie and took a few steps to the side. "Those details I don't have for you. They're contingent on you agreeing first."

Summer's eyes narrowed. "Oh my. First you try to kill us, now you want our help with something? This is rich," she said lowly, squirming with displeasure.

"Yeaaaaaah," Greer admitted with a frown. She looked into the forest. "Based on what I know, you two might be our best and only chance at, er, fixing our problem. And before you ask, that's all the detail you'll get for now."

"Give us some indication you held up your side of the deal and we will consider it," Winter said curtly, arms crossed. "Until then, we are neutral to your plight at best."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Greer scratched at her beret and started walking. "But the Admiral won't be pleased. I'll see what I can do about getting confirmation from NSA, but it may take me a day. I guess Mister Northwest will relay any requests or concerns to us until then, and probably afterward if we can help it."

"Oh, I'd be quite willing to serve as an ambassador for humanity given the correct reward," he confirmed, walking after her with a wry grin. "Perhaps a little help becoming the next United States Senator from Oregon?"

Greer waved angrily at him. "Buzz off. I swore to uphold and protect the Constitution, so if you want an election rigged you'll have to bitch at someone else." Her next wave was of a friendlier sort, directed at the twins. "We'll be in touch, Miss Weiss. And Miss Weiss."

The twins watched her escort break the perimeter and catch up with them for a while before meandering in the other direction. "I know what I think about this, but what about you?" Summer asked, eyes on her sister.

"Mm. I could be two for two on bringing down national governments by getting wrapped up in their little problem. I want more answers first." She smiled a bit when Summer nodded. "If anything, perhaps we've given them further incentive to keep their distance. I suspect they wouldn't want us turning their capital and everyone in it into a field of barley." A few steps later, her head was ducked. "Not like it'd be the first time for me."

Summer took her by the hand and picked up their pace. "Oh, forget that, sister. Do you think Dipper's all right?"

"I... I'm not sure, and I don't really want to bother him. Perhaps we finally managed to put too much on his plate and he needs a while to collect himself. Besides, if there were a problem Mabel would get in touch with us."

There was an image that came to Summer and caused her a fit of giggles. "I'm stunned she hasn't already sent a thousand messages. I've never seen someone so pleased to have a phone."

"Perhaps she's still afraid of being watched. I would be."

That was it for any laughter, and for any talking. They defied gravity a few minutes later, choosing to move about by force of will rather than stay attached to the earth. With the pit's magic no longer wailing and the portal inactive, neither had the slightest idea where they were in the woods related to the Mystery Shack. It was the closest they could get to being lost with Gravity Falls' magical beacons still shining. Winter sniffed the humid air, checking for any sign of the odd odor she'd run into on her jaunt with Stan and Soos.

Before Summer could ask what she was up to, her phone emitted a pleasant series of chimes. "Oh. I didn't know we even got reception out here." She smiled at the number. "Well, well. She must have known we were talking about her. Oh, hmm. I shouldn't kid about people listening, I guess."

Mabel's voice leaped from the speaker just as soon as Summer tapped the screen. "Guys! Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Where are you? Are talking to any—I mean if anyone's spying you should stop because we're gonna talk about makeup and boy bands and wow that's boring so don't mind us! Ahahaha—did it work?"

"We're alone, Mabel," Winter assured her gently. "Why do you seem more wound up than usual?"

"Pacifica—blondie, get over here and tell them what you told us! That a girl, here." Some background noise came through next, as well a muffled, incredulous "I cannot believe this!" from Dipper.

"Don't boss me around! I do the bossing!" she complained, voice getting louder and clearer toward the end. "God, fine. Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, we can hear you fine," Summer replied. "And... you're at the Mystery Shack? How interesting."

"Yeah—that's not the point. He's..." Pacifica hesitated a few times, each one marked by an uncertain little noise. "I had a dream last night. There was a weird little golden triangle freak flying around in it and he talked to me about you. I mean not just you, but these nerds, your uncle, the Corduroy chick and what's-his-name with the stupid question mark shirt."

"What about us?" Winter asked, sharing a stunned look with Summer.

"He wants to meet you, but he can't figure out how." Again, she paused for a while. "I asked him why he couldn't just show up in your brains and he got all defensive. Threw like, this goat at me with tentacles for eyes! And it meowed. I... I feel funny. Anyway, he wanted me to tell you directly, but I just—I couldn't handle thinking about it. Not after what dad said."

"Oh, this is the worst part," Dipper interjected.

"Move, weirdo. I told dad about my dream and he just kind of laughed it off. Said that was just how Bill worked. Is that even his name? Is he really always watching?"

"Wow, you look like you're gonna puke," Mabel pointed out nervously. "Yeah, aim that way. Throw up on him."

"Hey!"

"Leave me alone!" she yelled viciously, then her voice got low again. "Dad said you get used to Bill poking around in your mind, that most of the time you don't even know he was there. He makes you forget. What else has he made me forget? I don't wanna live here anymore."

The twins struggled to process all this new information with various degrees of surprise in their expressions. "Can't you move away?" Summer finally asked. "You have family in Seattle, right? Maybe you should stay with them."

"That's what I wanted to do. But dad said if we're born in Gravity Falls, we belong to him. I would never get away."

"Boom, there it is!" Dipper shouted. "I'm done again! Maximum done!"

"Oh, calm your Cheez-Its, bro," Mabel chided. "We beat Bill once already, it's not that big of a deal."

"You knew about him?!" Pacifica yelled with horror. "What, is he your buddy? Did you send him to mess with me? Huh?"

"Oops. Uh, whoa there, sister. Let's tone down the paranoia a little, okay?"

"All right, all right, everyone try to relax," Winter said with a sigh. "Stay there, we're on our way to you."

Getting there wasn't an issue – some quick high-altitude scouting on Summer's part saw to that – but when they entered the gift shop, Stan's crowd gathered around them like an exhibit, wanting photographs and autographs and all the other graphs they could get. Winter had to turn up the sternness to get everyone out of their way. They found the Pines and Pacifica in the upstairs bedroom. The blonde looked more than a little distraught. Dipper was on his bed, mumbling something under his breath while hiding his eyes. Mabel was still smiling, as ever. "Hey!" she greeted happily. "I've been having a think, and maybe it'd be a good idea to go back to being hunted by the government. Dip seemed to handle that a lot better."

"They weren't invading all the minds in Gravity Falls, Mabel," he said weakly, sitting up. "At least I'm pretty sure. If I'm proven wrong then I give up and will be moving to Antarctica as soon as practicable."

"Oh man, you'd suck at being a penguin. And I'd pay money to watch."

Pacifica snorted a bit as she stood to regard the older twins. "Well, that was fast. You must have driven like maniacs."

"We came on foot, actually." Winter made sure the door was locked before continuing. "What drove you to come here?"

The blonde shrugged a little, pacing idly around the room as she explained. "Uh, well, it was kinda my mom's idea. I told her about it too; I think she thinks I'm having whatever problem you helped her with. I didn't find you at home, and since you're all buddy-buddy with squeaky-vest and sweater-weirdo I thought you might be here. Mister Pines made me wait with these two. Said he wanted to see us fight and started taking bets. What a creep. I guess I just got tired of trying to hold it all in."

"That is definitely Grunkle Stan," Mabel confirmed with a smile. "By the way, I would have won. Moving on; what do we do about this 'Bill owns Gravity Falls' business? What does that even mean?"

"I can't even begin to think about that right now. All I want is the other two journals so we can get a clearer picture about what Bill is and how to stop him." Dipper, hand on his chest and head down, looked a lot like he had after the attack in the forest. He felt Summer's worried eyes on him. "I'm okay. I'm not going to storm out again even though I really, really want to."

"What journals?" Pacifica asked, looking at the others in turn.

"Uh, we'll..." Dipper trailed off, expression becoming distant. "Huh. Mabel, should we tell her about the stuff?"

"Not sure I want my arch-foe to have that kinda info, bro-bro. Hee, rhyming."

He nodded at that. "Oh, I get it, but I think the Northwests have details we don't." He glanced at the other twins. "What do you two think?"

Summer's face screwed up with disdain. "I think we have to speak with Bill."

"Hahaha no," Dipper laughed, waving his hands frantically in denial. "That would be the worst idea. Let's do anything but that."

Mabel tried to be gentle with her disagreement. "I don't think we have a choice on either one. Blondie's family knows. And Bill..."

"Stan insinuated that Bill came from the portal."

All eyes went to Winter, who absorbed the Pines' surprise by smoothing back her ebony hair. Pacifica was more confused than anything. "What portal?" she demanded, anxiety increasing. "What is going on around here?"

"Oh." Mabel slumped forward and facepalmed lightly. "Oh honey. Wow. Where do we even start?"

"A good place is probably the gentleman conning people downstairs," Summer replied grimly. "I'm sure he'll enjoy inducting another person into his secret club."

The blonde tilted her head and blinked. "What does he have to do with this?"

"It looks like literally everything," Dipper breathed in reply, moving toward the door. "I'll get him, hold on."

They decided to wait in silence, even the incredibly jittery Pacifica. It wasn't long before Stan poked his head through the doorway. "Ah, come on. I took like a hundred bucks in wagers expecting a throwdown and neither of you have a scratch?" The blonde pinned him down with a hellish glare. "Yeesh. I'm joking, don't sue me. What do you kids want?" The atmosphere made his skin crawl. "Uh, forget it." He turned to escape, but Dipper was right behind him, blocking his way. Winter gently dragged him into the room with her power.

"H-how is he doing that? Is this place haunted?"

She ignored Pacifica's questions and shut the door, again with magic. "Tell him what you told us."

"Ew, why?" A fearsome gaze from the blue-eyed woman made her relent. "Uh, f-fine. Whatever."

Stan listened attentively to her recounting of the dream, face remaining stoic throughout. When she concluded, he doffed his fez and looked away sadly. "Sorry, kid. He comes for the natives eventually. I, uh... I dunno what to say. Guess I shouldn't be surprised your family knew. I mean, besides you. They were probably trying to protect you."

"Is Bill gonna stalk us too?" Mabel asked, hugging Waddles for comfort. "I know we haven't seen him since the stupid deed thing but this whole conversation isn't doing much for my confidence level."

"I can't answer that without knowing some really specific stuff, and all that equipment left when Apollyon packed up and shipped out. Although... maybe now that our friends have made a deal with the boys back in Washington, we could find out. Have 'em call it in as a favor," he said, stroking his gray stubble with a smile. "Anyway, Pacifica has a point; your chance is way lower than anyone born here. Heck, you even have a generation separating you."

"That's good news. We'll ask about the items you need," Summer confirmed, "but as much as talking to him disturbs me, learning how Bill fits into the overall scheme of Gravity Falls and what he wants with us just became pretty important. Especially if he really is in control of the area."

"Among other things," Winter said with a scowl, "Like what he has to do with the magic around town and why we can't detect him."

Stan stared blankly at her candor. "Uh, we just spilling all these beans in front of Miss Rich over here? Yeah? Okay, if you say so. Stanley just said he's everywhere in Gravity Falls, always watching, always waiting." A stunted cry from Pacifica made him pause briefly. "I'm really sorry, kid. As for what he wants and all the rest? Not a clue. You'd have to ask him yourself, and that means either meeting him in a dream or summoning him. Which I ain't gonna do."

"Given his apparent reluctance to come to us, we'll have to find someone who will," Winter said, already planning as the words came out. "Who should we ask?"

Mabel's abrupt retching made everyone look over. She needed several seconds and more than a few whispered "oh no"s to collect herself and look back. "Gideon friggin' Gleeful, of course," she whined, "Because suddenly the entire gosh dang universe hates my guts."