In response to a couple of reviews made by regarding certain chapters, (chapters 2 & 17), of Fallen Pine Trees, I agree and I will make changes to those chapters that I hope will fix things up.
Oh and just so you all know, when Soos took over the Mystery Shack, he also took the title of Mr. Mystery as well.
Fallen Pine Trees
Chapter 18: Retelling of the Past
"It all started years ago. Back when Mystery Shack was just some cruddy home in the middle of the forest owned by the author. The author had…"
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second," interrupted Mason. "What about the author's identity? Did you ever figure this out?"
Everyone, including Mason, Mabel, Soos, (past and future selves), Stan R, Wendy, and Abuelita, "she immediately moved in after Soos took over the Mystery Shack", were sitting around in the Shack's living room; which had remained completely the same except for the baby pictures of all of Soos's kids that hung the walls, and doyleys spread around the room, (courtesy of Abuelita). Future Mason was sitting in the old yellow chair in front of the TV while retelling the events of Weirdmageddon. That is, till his past self-interrupted him due to a curious desire that he himself was more than familiar with.
Looking down at his younger self-future Mason saw they boy's face gleaming with hope and desire, which caused him to smile a little bit remembering himself in his youth. This turned into a concerned frown as he knew of the dangers that could come from learning this secret when the boy was definitely not ready for it. Turning towards older Soos, he gave his old friend a look that pretty much showed his concerns.
"He's gonna find out anyways dude. Might as well tell them now so that they have a better chance to change the future for the better, and hopefully save Mr. Pines," older Soos said in response.
Agreeing with Mr. Mystery future Mason turned back around to face his guests from the past who were all sitting on the floor in front of him, (except for Wendy who was leaning on the doorframe that led to the main stairway) and started talking again.
"Alright, guys listen up. The author of the three journals is Dr. Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. A.K.A. Old Man McGucket."
Hearing this left the gang speechless. True they'd suspected that McGucket had been the author, they'd even investigated it a few weeks ago. But after McGucket's memories were destroyed, the gang, (even Mason), had given up on that lead. Yet now they had confirmation that the town's local nut-job was once, in fact, a genius.
Before the gang could ask any more questions future Mason continued on where he left off, (with the author's identity now being included in the story).
"Anywho, McGucket was once a brilliant scientist, known for having graduated from West Coast Tech with twelve doctorates at the age of eighteen. He'd come to Gravity Falls around ninety-eight years ago, (from this time period, not yours), to study the Mysteries of this town. As you all know, McGucket discovered all sorts of bizarre things all of which, (and more), were recorded in the three journals. McGucket eventually came to theorize that the town's extremely high supernatural, (or weird if you prefer to call it that), levels were caused by a strong connection between the town and a dimension comprised of all things weird; this dimension was called the second dimension. In an attempt to prove that his theory was true, McGucket began exploring unground caves where he encountered one filled with hieroglyphics that told of a fearsome, one-eyed, triangle-shaped demon believed to be from another dimension, (the same one that McGucket had been searching for."
"It was Bill!" Soos interrupted. "Bill was the one who murdered Mr. Pines wasn't he?"
Annoyed by another interruption future Mason calmly, (though also sternly), responded by saying, "Yes, Bill was the demon that the hieroglyphics described. Though as for whether or not he was involved in Grunkle Stan's death, well you'll all just have to quietly listen while I tell you what happened. Okay?"
Everyone, (even the Ramirez's), nodded their understanding, allowing future Mason to continue on.
"Now despite the warnings left on the cave walls, McGucket awakened the demon by reciting an ancient spell in the hopes that Bill could be the key to finding the solutions he'd been looking for. When McGucket met Bill, the latter introduced himself as a misunderstood demon whose only desires were to help unite different groups of life together so that they could all live together in peace and harmony. To prove himself, Bill verified to the young scientists' about the second dimension's existence, as well as its connection to Gravity Falls; he also told McGucket about how the second dimension contained secrets which could allow humankind to unlock the secrets of life itself. The two formed a partnership where Bill helped provide McGucket with the knowledge needed to create a universal portal that would open a gateway between the second dimension and ours. Together they built a massive, triangle-shaped portal under McGucket's house. It took four years of work before McGucket was ready to activate the portal for the first time, which was meant to be a test round before McGucket presented his 'masterpiece' to the world.
That's when everything began to fall apart: upon turning it on, McGucket ended up getting sucked through the portal into the second dimension; but thankfully, he was able to pull himself back into our dimension using a chain that he'd attached to himself and the floor of his laboratory beforehand. Though while inside the other dimension McGucket saw things horrifying beyond imagination, things made him question everything that his demon friend had told him. When McGucket confronted Bill about what he saw, the latter revealed his true plans to take over the formers' dimension and reform it into a dark, twisted image. Disgusted by this revelation, (and driven to near madness), McGucket severed all ties with Bill, hid the journals away, and abandoned his home forever determined to live out an ordinary life.
McGucket eventually found a job as a mechanic at the Gravity Falls Repair Shop, fell in love, and started a happy family. Though the memories of what he saw in the portal haunted him constantly. After some years, McGucket couldn't take it anymore, at this point the memories were driving him insane. He tried everything to get rid of those accursed memories, but nothing worked. He soon became so desperate that he went so far as to ask the Society of the Blind Eye, (a group that he'd been avoiding for so many years), for help. He told them of what had happened and begged them to wipe the memories of his dreadful experience in the portal. The society agreed to help him, though they felt that everything that the scientist had learned was a danger, so instead of erasing just the portal memories, they erased all of his memories linked to the supernatural. Now erasing that many memories in one blast can have some side-effects, which include utter insanity. It was because this that turned McGucket into the deranged kook that you guys know of him as.
To make matters worse, McGucket had apparently done more than enough to assist Bill in his plans. When McGucket activated the portal, he created a hole between the barriers that separate the second dimension and ours. This hole, though temporary weakened the barriers enough that Bill was able to slowly break them down on their own till he could one day come to our dimension freely with all his minions. Of course, the barriers had only been weakened a little bit so it required many, many years of effort before Bill could finally invade."
"So when did they get into our dimension future dude?" Mabel asked.
"Augh," Mason moaned in annoyance while slapping himself hard on the face. "Mabel YOU IDIOT!"
"What?" Mabel asked puzzled.
"Um did you not read the inscription on Grunkle Stan's statue outside? It said that he died on August 1st, 2013. That's one year ahead of our time. Jeez, sometimes I wonder how you managed to pass preschool you fucking idiot."
"Hey leave her, I mean me, or my younger self alone you dorky jerk," future Mabel defended.
"At least my spouse isn't half FISH!" Future Mason countered.
"Why I oughta…"
"Enough!"
Everyone immediately turned to the direction from which the British, feminine sounding voice, seeing that it belonged to Wendy's future self. This, of course, caused the gang, (especially Wendy), to gasp, once again.
Taking a good look at Wendy's older self, the gang noticed that she'd changed quite a bit over the last twenty years with the first change being how she spoke with a British accent, "as mentioned before". Secondly, her outfit was now comprised of a red flannel shirt, (being similar in design to the one she wore when she was younger), beige cargo pants, and dark brown sneakers. Finally, She no longer wore a lumberjack hat which revealed that she'd switched from long hair to a, very short, a pixie style cut.
"Oh my god, Wendy!" Future Mabel beamed. Running over to the door that led to the Shack's gift shop, "where older Wendy stood", and embracing older Wendy in an extremely tight hug. "I haven't seen you since my twins baby shower."
"Yeah um…Mab…el," older Wendy tried to say as future Mabel squeezed the life out of her. "Could you…please?"
"Oh yeah sorry," future Mabel apologized before releasing her.
"Hi-ya Wendy," future Mason greeted.
"Hey Wendy," older Soos also greeted.
"Hey, guys. Hey Abuelita," older Wendy greeted back after catching her breath.
"Hola," Abuelita greeted.
Taking a look around the room, older Wendy noticed the younger versions of herself, the Pines twins, and Soos hanging around near the TV.
"So did they?" She asked
"Yep," older Soos answered, knowing what his friend/former employee was thinking.
"And did this happen before or after Mason started dating you know who?"
"After," Soos answered again. "About three weeks after the twins encountered those vampire skulls thingies."
"Uh-huh. Now I'm gonna assume that you guys were telling our past selves about Weirdmageddon. Am I wrong?"
"Nope, you're dead on," future Mason responded. "In fact, I'd just finished telling them the first half of the story about how Bill managed to enter our dimension."
"Well, what're you waiting for? Finish the damn story."
"I'm with older Wendy dude," agreed Soos. "We need to know how Mr. Pines died."
"Yeah," said Mabel.
"Soos's is right," also agreed Mason. "Continue where you left off."
In response to the gang's request, future Mason continued. "Okay, so about a year after Mabel and I first visited Gravity Falls, "F.Y.I. the twins' first visit was during the events of the series", Bill had finally managed to break through the barriers and invade our dimension. Throughout that same year, McGucket had begun to remember certain parts of his past, (particularly Bill and the demon's true plans). He tried to warn the town but no one would listen, well except for me, but I didn't have that much of an influence back then either to assist McGucket. So when Bill invaded, the Gravity Falls was pretty much defenceless against Bill's followers, both demons and humans."
"Wait," Mabel interrupted. "Bill had human followers?"
"Augh quit interrupting Mabel," Mason complained.
"You started it," Mabel countered.
"Both of you SHUT UP!" Future Mason shouted before continuing. "Yes Mabel, Bill did have human allies. These allies were Gideon, Gideon's prison buddies, and Blind Ivan and a few others."
"WHAT?!" The gang gasped. Blind Ivan had been the leader of the Society of the Blind Eye, a group dedicated to erasing all "strange" memories from the people of Gravity Falls. After an encounter with the society which resulted in the gang kicking the formers' butts, all members of the Blind Eye were stripped of all memories relating to the cult; though Ivan, (accidentally), ended up losing all his memories. Since then he'd been travelling around the country as a banjo minstrel. Yet it appeared that the guy may have regained his memories somehow.
Knowing what the gang was probably thinking, future Mason began to explain, "When Blind Ivan told us of the society's history, he left out some major parts: true that the society's purpose had been to wipe away memories, however, the reason for doing this was not to make people's lives better, but to keep anyone from learning of Bill's plans so that no one could interfere. Ivan also lied about how Bill had formed the society after he'd began working with McGucket, (the latter of whom who had no idea of the former's relation to the cult), and had appointed Blind Ivan as one of his lieutenants, who, (with Bills assistance), invented the Memory Gun, recruited others to the cult, and trick those members into thinking that they were actually helping people."
"So no one except for Bill and Blind Ivan knew of the Blind Eye Society's true purpose?" Mason clarified.
"Correct," future Mason answered. "Also unbeknownst to us, Bill had been watching our whole encounter with the society; and afterwards, restored Ivan's memories."
"What about the rest of the society?" Mason asked. "Did Bill restore their memories too?"
"Only a few of them. By this time Bill believed that he was so close that he didn't need to keep wiping people's memories anymore, and just needed minions to assist in the invasion. So he chose certain members who knew he could persuade into siding with him when he invaded our dimension. Among those who were chosen were Bud, (obviously), and three other guys whose names I don't recall.
Anywho, back to Bill's invasion, which he named Wierdmageddon. Now as I already said, no one had expected this to happen, as such everyone was unprepared for when Bill took over and started capturing everyone, (both humans and creatures), and turning them into the stones which he used for his gigantic thrown. Things were bad, but there was some hope: you see Grunkle Stan had always believed that he'd live to see the apocalypse, so he prepared himself for it by storing all sorts of supplies, (food, flashlights, etc.), inside the Mystery Shack. On top of that, a few weeks before Wierdmageddon, McGucket had created a mystical shield, made out of rare ingredients, that could make anything within its boundaries immune to Bill's magic. Coincidentally, McGucket chose to place the shield around the Mystery Shack, which Grunkle Stan was against at the time. But in the end, the both the Mystery Shack's shield and supplies made it the perfect place for all that escape Bill's wrath to take refuge in.
Among the survivors were myself, Pacifica, Stacy, Natasha, "Pacifica's friend with brown hair", Soos, Wendy, McGucket, Grunkle Stan, Sherriff Bulbs, Multi-Bear, a couple of Manotaurs including Chutzpar, a bunch of gnomes, Sev'ral Timez, a unicorn, Rumble McSkirmish, Grenda, Bats Biker, Wax Larry King's head, Candy, Waddles, and Mabel. Together we became the known as the Gravity Rangers, (the name was Soos's idea)."
"What about Mermando?" Mabel asked worriedly.
"Don't worry the city that he lives in was not within the borders of Gravity Falls so he and his people were not affected by Wierdmageddon," future Mabel's answered.
Annoyed by how they were getting off track, again, future Mason resumed where he'd "forcibly" left off. "Now though we were forced to hide within the Mystery Shack, McGucket found a way to find what Bill was up to by attaching wireless cameras, (that he could monitor from inside the Shack), onto raccoons and sent them out to spy on the triangle-shaped demon. This strategy proved useful as the raccoons found out that though Bill was able to reform Gravity Falls into his own sick, twisted image, he couldn't do it to the rest of the world, nor could he even leave the town. The reason for this being because Bill and his fellow demons were, (in our dimension), just spirits, and spirits can't last long in this dimension without a body that can keep regenerating their energy levels and allow them to survive. The only reason that Bill and his demons were able to maintain his spirit form in Gravity Falls without bodies was due to the town's insanely high levels of weirdness. On top of all that, it was discovered that only the most powerful of the demons, (that being Bill), needed to possess a body in order to keep the rest of them alive. Though in order to do this, Bill couldn't just take over anyone's body. He needed someone strong, (but not overly strong like Manly Dan), smart, (but again not too smart like myself), fearless, manipulative, and in complete control of their life. That, someone, was apparently Stanford Pines. With Grunkle Stan's body, Bill could finally achieve his life-long goals of reforming everything into his horrifying image and rule for all eternity."
DUN, DUN, DUN!
I'm really sorry about how this chapter didn't cover Grunkle Stan's death, but we're just about there. Wait and see.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter though and will be looking forward to Retelling of the Past Part 2.
Also, this chapter was originally named Welcome to the Future Part 5, but I figured I used the "Welcome to the Future" name enough that it was starting to get old, so I renamed the chapter to give it a bit more fling. Hope you like it.
