The Mindscape of Dewford Dingus Turbo Duck DT17|39!$'\
Once Dipper vanished, Dewey was alone. Alone in his own mind. It was a strange feeling, knowing he'd never seen this place before, despite having technically been here his entire life. Or something like that anyway. He honestly hadn't paid much attention whenever [NAME REDACTED] and that guy who looked like he was made of stars tried to explain the whole "Mindscape" situation.
"I know you didn't. That's the problem."
"Hey, what's up?" It was the star guy. Though Dewey couldn't see him, that was definitely his voice, and it sounded annoyed. "Come to say goodbye?"
"In a manner of speaking," the voice said, now somewhat exasperated and honestly kind of like Huey or Uncle Donald right after Dewey had just done something he'd call "awesome," but they called "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, Dewford."
"So… how do you like it?" Dewey said, spreading his arms to show off. Then a thought struck him. "Wait, shouldn't I be waking up now?"
"WAKING UP?" Star Guy shouted, "Do you have any idea how much damage your little stunt caused? The one both I and [NAME REDACTED] warned you multiple times not to attempt under any circumstance?"
"Uh, you mean stopping Crazy-Eyes Mabel?" Dewey replied, "'Cause I'm not gonna apologize for that."
There was an unearthly grating scream that seemed to embody the very essence of frustration, and for a brief instant, Dewey's entire Mindscape flashed bright red. Only the white cracks remained unchanged. When the red was gone, Star Guy himself stood there, looking as usual like a constellation that had walked right out of the night sky, his vague figure only a few inches taller than Dewey. But now he was angrier than Dewey had ever seen him. Even without a visible face, that was easy to tell, since the two bright stars which seemed to function as his eyes were the same burning red color that Huey's turned whenever the Duke took over.
"No," Star Guy said, clearly still annoyed but more under control. "I mean snapping back into your own mind instead of waiting five more minutes for me to take you back safely!"
"But Louie and Webby–" he protested.
"Would have been fine. Your… sister, cousin, whatever… was just about to figure out how to escape when you crashed back in here like a meteor. Shooting Star indeed…"
Right, the white cracks and holes, but they hadn't gotten any bigger since the fight with the fake Mabels. Dewey pointed this out, saying it probably didn't matter, since he felt perfectly fine.
Star Guy gave a short laugh, but clearly wasn't amused. "The only reason your Mindscape hasn't already collapsed under its own metaphysical weight is because I'm currently holding it up, and even if I wanted to stay here for the rest of your life, I can't."
Mind collapsing sounded ominous. And actually scary. "What does that even mean?"
"Well, you've seen what the memory gun does to someone with their own name as the target. Imagine that, but with no hope of recovery. You'd become a blank slate. What's left would still remember some of the basics, like how to walk and talk, maybe even read and write… but it wouldn't be you anymore."
Yikes… It was like death but worse, especially for his family, who'd have to actually live with the effects. Plus, they'd probably blame Dipper and do something horrible to him in revenge. Maybe I can fix it? Dewey thought. He stared at the nearest crack and focused all his willpower on closing it. Instead, the crack (all of them, in fact) widened rapidly, accompanied by earthquake-like tremors that shook more than just the ground.
Star Guy slowly raised his arms, seeming to grab hold of something invisible. The stars composing his body flared, and the shaking stopped. But the cracks were still larger than before, and Star Guy was now breathing(?) heavily. He sounded some kind of tired, at least. "Please don't try that again. You can't fix this kind of damage to your own mind. No mortal can. Your sorceress friend tried, and may have helped keep things stable long enough for me to get here; I don't know. But Lena has neither the strength nor sufficient understanding of the Mindscape for the kind of delicate work required to address the actual problem."
The implication was clear. "But… you can fix it?" Dewey asked.
"Potentially, yes…"
He started to cheer, but Star Guy held up a finger.
"But only for a price."
"What? Why?" That didn't match up with what Dewey knew about Star Guy from the last few months in [NAME REDACTED]'s mind, where Star Guy was a frequent guest. He was supposed to be one of the nice extradimensional cosmic beings, not an evil jerkface one like Bill who made twisted deals that only benefited him in the end. "You saved me from the stone for free, back at the beginning of this. You put me into [NAME REDACTED]'s mind so I wouldn't go insane or die immediately. Why is this any different?"
"The only reason I could stretch your consciousness across dimensions like that was because you created an opening by touching your parallel self's petrified remains, which was also extremely dangerous, but since you couldn't have known that, it was not your fault. This, however," –Star Guy spread his arms to indicate the general state of disrepair in which they stood– "is entirely your fault. Despite numerous warnings, you recklessly, and I repeat, needlessly, endangered not only yourself but the three others within your mind at the time. Had I not intervened, they would likely share your fate of total erasure."
Wow. This was looking like Dewey's biggest mistake ever. Even worse than hiding his investigation into Mom and the Spear of Selene from his brothers. Or trying to be a sky pirate captain. Or failing to keep his stupid beak shut and just let Uncle Scrooge do his job at the Rumble for Ragnarok. (Unless Jörmungandr had been deliberately holding back in more ways than just not using his hands, Dewey still wasn't sure how he didn't have at least several broken bones from those first few minutes of sandbagging.)
Dewey knew his brothers' greatest fear, since it was also his own: losing each other and being alone forever. If Star Guy hadn't decided to help… this mistake would have left Huey worse than alone; with all of his siblings essentially dead, but three clueless strangers wearing their faces. All Dewey had wanted was to save his family from a monster, as usual, but he'd ended up just making a huge mess of things. Also as usual.
"In addition," Star Guy continued, now sounding less frustrated and more apologetic, "As of this moment, I can't restore your mind either."
"Wha- but you just said–" Dewey exclaimed, indignation at the apparent lie overpowering his self-deprecation.
"I said potentially. My influence in your dimension is currently quite small. In fact, I'm stretched to the limits of that influence right now both containing the damage and hiding it from Lena's magical probe so your family doesn't come charging back in here and get hurt. In order to repair your mind, I need unrestricted access to it. That cannot be taken by force. You must freely give it to me as part of a deal."
But would making a deal with a debatably all-powerful cosmic being, even a supposedly benevolent one like Star Guy, whom Dewey had known for (as far as his timescale was concerned) nearly three months, be a way to fix that mistake, or an even bigger one? After all, he'd been tricked into stuff plenty of times before (mostly by Louie). On the more magical side of things, Dewey had seen in [NAME REDACTED]'s memories how Bill convinced Ford he was friendly, and look how that turned out. "A deal? How do I know you won't be like Bill and twist it into something horrible?" he asked suspiciously.
Star Guy sighed. "I suppose I can't fault you for being cautious when I made that exact mistake at your age… At least it means you've learned something from this mess. Here, I'll prove my integrity as best I can."
The nebulous figure spread his arms and rose a few feet into the shattered gray sky. His voice grew deeper and even more echoey, though it was still perfectly understandable.
"A-X-O-L-O-T-L, thy servant calls thy name. I invoke thy ancient power to witness this exchange." As Star Guy spoke, a double circle of light appeared around him, then divided itself into ten equal sections. In each section appeared a different symbol. Dewey recognized one as the Shooting Star which had so recently hung in the sky of his own Mindscape, and another as the Pine Tree from Dipper's hat, but the rest meant nothing to him. One by one, the symbols around the wheel lit up until it was a glowing ring. "Upon my oath and station as the Living Fulcrum, Warden of the Space Between, I do solemnly swear that the forthcoming deal is made in truth and fairness, and that I will abide by the terms, to the extent of my ability, only as they shall be hereafter explicitly stated, or as later amended by mutual agreement. If I speak falsely or make any other attempt herein to deceive, coerce, or mislead, let my power and position be forfeit. According to the judgment of the Axolotl, so let it be done."
The ring of symbols flashed once more, then faded as Star Guy (or should I call him something else now that I know his… name? Title?) descended back to the ground. Dewey got the impression that something very significant had just happened. "Who's the 'Axolotl'?" he asked. It sounded like one of the gods of something-or-other that Webby always rambled about whenever they explored some ancient temple or tomb with Uncle Scrooge.
"The Axolotl is one of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse, if not the absolute strongest, and is the only thing Bill Cipher ever truly feared," Star Guy (just gonna keep going with that) answered, his voice back to normal. Or normal for him at least. "I suppose you'd call him my boss. It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically, I asked him to fire me and take away all my power if I end up lying or tricking you in our deal. I'm not like Bill, and I'll stake all I have on proving that."
Star Guy certainly sounded like he hated everything about Bill. He was either telling the truth or a really good liar… but it's not like Dewey had much choice if he wanted to continue existing in any way that mattered. "Okay… I'll do it. What do you want?"
Star Guy smiled, or at least gave off the impression of doing so. "Here are the terms: You, Dewford Dingus Turbo Duck DT17|39!$'\ , will give me unrestricted access to your mind until such time as the forthcoming terms of this deal are completed in full by both parties. As my side of the deal, I will use that access to fully restore your mind to exactly the condition it was in one second prior to your touching the petrified remains of your parallel, Mabel Danielle Pines GF|46-41'\ . When this deal is concluded, you will remember nothing which occurred after that point."
"You want me to forget about you and [NAME REDACTED] and everything from there?" Had Star Guy not mentioned this before, or had Dewey just not been paying attention again when he did?
"Your gaining that knowledge was an unfortunate consequence of the means by which I and [NAME REDACTED] saved you. Those memories do not belong here any more than Mabel's did, and I do not need your permission to remove them, as doing so falls under the standing terms of my station. Had you not disobeyed me before, I would have done so before returning you home. It's the way things have to be, as I explained several times."
Yeah, so apparently Dewey hadn't been listening again. It wasn't his fault Star Guy and [NAME REDACTED] used so many words Dewey didn't understand. "Fine. What's my end of the deal then? Are you gonna put a curse on me or something?"
"Hardly. After repairing your mind, I will possess your body and use it to speak with Gyro Gearloose. I am very interested in his greatest invention."
"You want to possess me? That sure sounds like something Bill would do." Maybe Dewey should reconsider this after all. "And why would you want one of Gyro's inventions? They always turn evil."
"Whether or not I am successful in persuading Gyro to help me, you will have your body back by the end of this day, and I promise to be more careful with it than you typically are." That… actually sounded fair.
"As for Gyro, this particular invention of his never went evil, at least not of its own accord. I need it to save my brother."
"Your… brother?" That's about the last thing Dewey was expecting. "How does that even work? Aren't you some kind of immortal space-god thing?"
Star Guy gave that impression of smiling again. "Both of those questions have the same answer: I wasn't always this way… I began my existence as a mortal just like you… though actually, I was the same species Dipper is. I have an older sister and two younger twin brothers."
Star Guy gestured up at the sky, where a blue silhouette the same color as his eye-stars appeared in the sky, followed by a pink one that appeared to have longer hair, and two slightly lighter blue ones that were otherwise identical to the first.
"After gaining my power, I had no choice but to leave my home dimension behind… along with my family." The stars in his body dimmed, and the emotion radiating from him changed to deep sadness as one of the light blue figures faded away, and the darker one rose upward, ringed by that same magic circle full of symbols from earlier. "My brothers have a… medical condition of sorts, for which my home world has no cure. One has already died from it, and if I cannot save him, so will the other before long. My sister has lost too much already. I won't let her lose another sibling," he said, echoing voice hard with determination. The colorful figures vanished and the sky returned to normal.
That's certainly something Dewey could understand. If Huey or Louie were dying, he'd gladly give up anything, including himself, to save them, and… wait a minute. There was a hole in this story. Probably not a lie, but perhaps just something Star Guy had forgotten to tell him? "If you're so powerful now, why can't you save him all by yourself?"
Star Guy's voice turned from determined to sad again. "I wish I could. But that would only be possible if I reentered my home universe in full physical form, which would require opening a massive Rift that could very well destroy it entirely. In fact, that's the reason I had to leave in the first place.
"So instead, I have been searching other dimensions for one with the necessary knowledge to save my brother, and now I've found one. I would contact Gyro myself… but this dimension is locked up tight, especially to beings like me. Even your individual Mindscapes are nearly inaccessible from the outside. But when you touched that stone, yours was briefly opened to the Multiverse, which is both why you could've died and why I could save you at all. You are my only link to this dimension, and even that connection will last only as long as the Rift remains open. I need to persuade Gyro to help me before that happens, and you are my only access to him." For a moment, Star Guy's voice stopped being all cosmic and echoey. He sounded just like a kid Dewey's age, and was no longer explaining, but pleading. "Please. Help me save my brother's life. That is all the payment I ask for saving yours."
Well, Star Guy certainly had Dewey convinced. He nodded. "I already said I'll do it."
"Then there's only one thing left." Star Guy held out his right hand, and its starry appearance receded, revealing it to be made of ordinary featherless skin with five fingers, just like Dipper's had been. A nimbus of blue flames ignited around the hand.
Dewey knew what this meant. He swallowed, shook Star Guy's hand, and the blue fire spread to cover his own as well. Though the fire itself caused no sensation, Dewey did feel a slight chill run through his whole body. Hopefully, this hadn't been an even bigger mistake.
"Thank you. Now, time to hold up my end of the bargain."
Star Guy snapped the fingers of his free hand, and a spherical pulse of blue light rippled out from the snap. As the light passed over the white cracks, they shrank away and vanished. Even the jagged, gaping entrance hole and the two smaller ones left by the memory gun quickly sealed themselves, leaving behind no trace of damage.
"There. Your mind is healed."
"That's it?" Dewey was surprised. He'd expected something more dramatic.
"The deal makes it easy. Also helps that yours isn't the first or even the most broken mind I've had to help put back together."
"What happens now, then?"
In answer, Star Guy snapped his fingers again, and the scenery blurred before resolving into the living room at McDuck Manor, though it was clearly still the Mindscape since everything remained grayscale. "Brace yourself. In my experience, this next part tends to be… unsettling for the host."
Star Guy's grip on their still-clasped hands tightened, and Dewey felt a very strange and indeed unsettling sensation that he could scarcely describe. It was somewhat like the stretching sensation that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in [NAME REDACTED]'s Mindscape, except this time the stretching kept going until something ripped.
Living Room, McDuck Manor, Dimension [YNGBRG/NGNS] DT17|39!$'\
Dewey nearly cried with relief at the sunlight streaming in through the windows of the real living room. After three months in the mostly monochrome Mindscape, seeing color again was amazing, especially with so much at once. Webby had clearly turned the occasion into one of her trademark sleepovers, so the floor was covered in pillows and sleeping bags: red, blue, green, pink, purple, and black. Usually the actual sleeping was done in Webby's room since it was bigger, but they apparently hadn't wanted to move Dewey. In fact, the red and green bags were right next to the couch, meaning Huey and Louie had slept as close to Dewey as they possibly could. Then who was using the blue bag?
Wait, back up… Dewey was currently looking at himself curled under a blanket on the couch. So where was he looking from? He glanced downward to find himself hovering at least four feet off the ground, his "body" both translucent and glowing faintly white, just like the ghost butler, Duckworth. "Cool, cool, long as it's temporary." His voice echoed a bit like Duckworth's did, too.
Meanwhile, Dewey's actual body groggily sat up and groaned. "Ughhhh… man, it's been so long since I've inhabited a body…" It was Dewey's beak moving, but Star Guy's voice coming out of it. Without all those echoes and stuff, he sounded kind of like Dipper. Well, Star Guy did say he used to be the same kind of animal. "Wait, did I seriously just say that? Dang it…" Star Guy mumbled, "Let's get this over with… Come on, Dewey."
"Um… How do I move?" Dewey asked.
"Oh, right," Star Guy answered, "You're technically still in the Mindscape. In that state, without a vessel to possess, you're basically a ghost… crap, I did it again," he muttered. "Anyway, you can fly around by thinking about it and pass through physical objects, but you can't touch anything and most people won't be able to see or hear you. Other ghosts or magical beings probably can though, so avoid Duckworth and Lena. With enough focus, you can also possess some inanimate objects and animals. Not people, though. Anything sentient has to give you permission."
"Cooooool… I wanna scare Louie."
"Please don't. I'd rather not have to explain this." Star Guy carefully set Dewey's feet on the floor and stood up slowly, keeping a hand on the couch for balance. "Yeesh, how do you ducks even walk with these stick-thin legs and huge flippers all the time?" He tried a few wobbly steps and tripped on a sleeping bag. "Ow… Yeah, that's 'hilarious' all right…" Star Guy grumbled as he awkwardly picked Dewey's body back up. Dewey himself floated closer to make sure he wasn't injured (not that he'd usually care about something that small, but for some reason, it was different with someone else controlling his body).
Just as Star Guy was standing back up, Dewey heard a clunk and a voice exclaimed, "DEWEY? You're awake!"
In the door to the foyer stood Louie. An open can of Pep lay on the ground at his feet, the soda slowly soaking into the carpet as Louie stared wide-eyed at his "brother." Less than a second later, Louie had grabbed the duck who seemed to be his older brother in a hug. Though Star Guy stiffened at first, he quickly regained composure and returned the gesture of affection. At the same time, Dewey heard Star Guy's echoing voice, though his borrowed beak hadn't moved at all. "I did not plan on having to impersonate you this early, and to one of your brothers no less! He better not have heard what we were saying…"
Fortunately, it seemed that Louie had not heard anything that Star Guy had said before, at least not the specifics, since after releasing Star Guy/Dewey from the hug (and leaving a wet spot on his shoulder), he did ask who Dewey had been talking to, which Star Guy explained as wondering aloud why he'd woken up in the TV room surrounded by sleeping bags. Louie also did not appear to notice "Dewey's" completely different voice. Did that mean Star Guy sounded just like Dewey to everyone except Dewey?
"I think so. At least that's one problem solved…"
Apparently there was something different about Dewey's appearance though, as Louie's next words made evident.
"What's that on your face?" Louie asked, poking his "brother" on the forehead. Star Guy instinctively looked up, but of course could see nothing.
"Dewey, what's he talking about?"
Dewey drifted closer to look at his own face, and saw something which had definitely not been there this morning. It was a pattern of brown feathers on his forehead: seven dots connected by thin lines into the shape of a lopsided square with a short "tail" coming off the left side, surrounded by several more dots. After thinking for a moment, Dewey realized that he'd seen it on someone's forehead before. Someone who was also in this room.
Apparently, Huey and Louie had let Dipper borrow Dewey's blue sleeping bag, which made sense, as Dewey himself had already been asleep on the couch. The alien boy was still sacked out on the floor, and Dewey didn't blame him after all the guy had been through lately both inside Dewey's mind and out, plus probably not sleeping all that well back home either. He actually looked peaceful now, just like before waking up in Louie's bed… wow, was that really only yesterday? Focus, Dewey…
Now that he was thinking about it more, Dewey realized what the mark was: a constellation, one of the few he actually remembered from Huey going on about them back when they lived on the houseboat and would look at the stars while out on the ocean. It was Ursa Major, also known as… the Big Dipper. Suddenly, a whole bunch of things about Star Guy made a lot more sense. Like why he appeared as a walking constellation, and why he'd been annoyed about some of the things he'd said upon waking up in Dewey's body.
"How did I not figure it out in three months? You are Dipper! You've got his birthmark on your… uh, my forehead!"
The whole room suddenly flashed back into the gray of the Mindscape. Only the two Deweys retained their color, though the one on the ground was now surrounded by a faintly glowing blue outline. Louie stood next to him, completely frozen.
"This is bad…" Star Guy said. Now that Dewey knew what to listen for, his voice under the echo wasn't just kind of similar to Dipper's, it was exactly the same.
"So, what, are you him from the future or something?" Dewey asked.
"No, we're dimensional parallels, just like you and Mabel. Or at least we would have been, when I was still mortal."
"Your real name is still Dipper, though?"
"Actually, it's Mason."
Dewey ignored this. "And you're possessing me…"
"Ohhhh, no. Don't go there."
"Dewey, plus Dipper…"
"Stop it."
"Dewper! That's it, I'm callin' you Dewper!"
"Ughhh… You really are just like Mabel. This does mean we need to avoid him as well, though."
"Because if you two touch, it will destroy the universe or mess up my mind again, right?"
"Fortunately not. Even if I weren't inhabiting your body, I don't technically belong to any dimension anymore."Dewper then got an expression which, on Dewey's face, made him look just like Huey upon encountering a mystery or scientific problem."That stone on the other hand… Now that I think of it, I don't know what would happen if I touched that while possessing you… I'm pretty sure I could handle the influx of memories better… and I could always just wipe them away… No. Bad Dipper."He lightly slapped Dewey's face."No experimenting with stuff that might rip holes in reality unless Axolotl tells you to."Dewper stopped talking (thinking?) to himself. "We need to avoid Dipper because of the birthmark; seeing it on you will make him suspicious. Do you have any way to hide it? Maybe borrow one of your brother's hats?"
"That would make them suspicious, but I do have another idea," Dewey said, unable to keep the grin from his beak. "We just need to get to the upstairs bathroom."
After agreeing on a rough idea of what to say, Dewper snapped his fingers and color returned to the world. "I don't know," he told Louie, "The last thing I remember is falling on my face outside, so it's probably dirt from that. I'll go upstairs and wash it off." He looked down at Dewey's blue shirt. "Should probably change out of this gross, sweaty shirt, too…"
"You don't remember anything about Mabel?" Louie asked.
"Nerp!" Dewper said, "Who's Mabel?"
Louie's eyes widened. "You really don't remember…" he said, "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine," Dewper answered, "Why wouldn't I be? Did something happen while I was out? Wait, how long has it been?"
"About twelve hours," Louie replied.
"Then why are you worried? I've slept longer than that before… once…"
"Okay, okay…" Louie said, "Just come back here when you're done and we can show everyone else that you're still you. We already had to stop Mom and Uncle Donald from beating up Dipper when they got back this morning and found out."
"Yikes… But yeah, sure. Nothing but 100% all-original Dewey here," Dewper lied, "Back in a flash!"
He walked out the door and up the stairs. Dewper quickly mastered moving around in Dewey's body. "With our deal being what it is," he quietly explained on the way, "I should be able to do anything exactly as well as you can by accessing your memories and instincts; I just forgot to do that at the start. Bill didn't have that kind of permission when he took me –or presumably the other Dipper downstairs– as a puppet, so he had to figure out/remember how to walk by himself."
Once they made it to the triplets' bathroom, Dewper (it's still hilarious) peered into the mirror while Dewey himself hovered over his own shoulder. "Hmm…" he said, squinting at Dewey's reflection. "When Bill possessed someone, their eyes turned yellow with slit pupils. Yours haven't changed at all, so I'm guessing this birthmark is my equivalent to that." He tapped Dewey's lower beak while thinking out loud. "Now that I think of it, the same thing happened way back at the beginning, so this makes sense… Alright, what's your idea for hiding it?"
Dewey grinned. "Can you access my hairstyling skills?"
"Where did you say this hairstyle came from again?" Dewper asked, fingering the new do as they walked (or in Dewey's case, floated) back downstairs. "I feel like Robbie. And that's not a good feeling."
"I told you," Dewey answered, hovering beside himself. "My Uncle Donald looked like this when he was our age. I saw it when I tagged along with these time-traveling Christmas ghosts who used to hang out with Uncle Scrooge every year."
"Right… should've remembered that. [NAME REDACTED]'s watched it enough times…" Dewper mumbled. "And you're sure no one will think it's weird? Not the hairstyle itself;" –he flicked Dewey's head feathers, which now hung down over his forehead and part of one eye– "that's definitely weird, but the fact that you changed it at all."
"Nerp," Dewey assured him, "I try a new style for a day every month or so to see if I like 'em, but so far nothing has stuck, and neither will this one. I'll change it back to my regular Dew just as soon as you're gone."
"Okay then… let's get back before your brother gets suspicious."
They found Louie back on the living room couch. Though he raised an eyebrow at the hairstyle, it didn't provoke any other reaction.
"See?" Dewey said to Dewper as they followed Louie into the backyard. "I told you, I do that kind of thing all the time."
"Alright, I trust you," Dewper responded telepathically, "Now, why not enjoy your temporary ghost powers, like I know you've been itching to this whole time? Just make sure to avoid Duckworth and Lena, and listen for my signal to come back and retake your body."
That barely registered because now Dewey was flying! Actually flying under his own power, and not in [NAME REDACTED]'s boring gray Mindscape! It was just like that time he found the winged sandals in that chest that Storkules left on the boat! Sure, Dewey couldn't feel the wind on his face, but there was still that dizzying rush of speed he constantly craved.
THIS… IS… AMAZING!
Gyro Gearloose had initially been quite annoyed when Red Nephew called the lab again early this morning. Much to his chagrin, he'd been anxious to get back to work on Fenton's GizmoCloud. It was the first time since secretly building the Spear of Selene that Gyro had ever been so enthused with an idea that someone else had come up with (and that had turned into the second-biggest failure of his life). It was as irritating as it was fascinating.
But that would have to wait. Apparently a rift in space-time had opened at McDuck Manor, and Mr. McDuck wanted someone to analyze it, never mind that Gyro didn't have any of the necessary equipment, since it had all been destroyed with the RAMrod a few months ago; or much expertise in the fields of fifth-dimensional calculus and theoretical physics. That had always been Dr. Waddlemeyer's field of study, while Gyro focused more on engineering and chemistry. But there's no way Gyro was going to admit that, so he and Fenton (with Boyd tagging along) all went to the manor to offer a professional opinion.
Once there, Red Nephew showed them the strange alien which had fallen out of the Rift. According to him, the odd-looking creature was actually a version of Red Nephew from a parallel universe, but Gyro was not allowed to run tests on it yet, or probably ever, since it had to return home through the Rift. Plus, it was still asleep. Red Nephew then led them out to the forested backyard and the Rift itself.
Gyro actually stared open-beaked for a few seconds at the ten-foot-wide, gold-lined, coruscating window into what looked vaguely like outer space, before regaining his composure. It was then that Gyro noticed he was not the only "expert" called in to study this thing; Pink Girl and her friends were already there comparing the symbols ringing the Rift to those in a thick book. After allowing himself a brief moment of annoyance that a couple of children were being consulted on the same project as himself, Gyro got Boyd and Fenton started taking readings with their respective scanners, and set up his tablet (then, somewhat reluctantly, Red Nephew's as well) to receive the data.
Soon, the four of them were all swapping various theories and interpretations of the mostly nonsensical information. Gyro found himself grudgingly appreciating the input of others, something that had been happening with increasing regularity since the adventure in Tokyolk. Even Red Nephew made some interesting contributions, though Gyro did suppose that the boy was the only one of them who'd ever actually been to another universe, however briefly. Though, according to Fenton, he'd also rewired the Mark One Gizmoduck armor to bypass the processor core in less than a minute despite having never studied it before… Hmm… Maybe Gyro should consider learning Red Nephew's actual name.
His musings upon both this and the Rift situation were interrupted by the arrival of Green and Blue Nephews, which caused their brother (and Pink Girl) to drop everything and tackle Blue Nephew in a tear-filled hug. Gyro never understood why other people seemed to like touching so much. (Except now that Boyd was living with him, it was becoming more evident. Clearly, further experimentation was necessary.)
Eventually, the children untangled themselves. Blue Nephew stood up and looked Gyro directly in the eyes. That's when things got strange.
Something about Blue Nephew's gaze held Gyro captive, almost like hypnosis. His normally sky-blue eyes seemed to grow and grow and grow, darkening into a deep indigo filled with multicolored stars, draining all other color from the world… until Gyro's vision abruptly snapped back with a sound not quite like muted thunder, which left behind only silence. Everything and everyone were frozen and gray, except for Gyro himself, the Rift, and… Blue Nephew. Who was now also glowing?
"What's going on? What is this?" Gyro asked, more to himself than anyone else. "Is this hypnotism? Or some kind of temporal distortion caused by the Rift? If so, then why are you and I the only ones unaffected?"
The last thing he expected was for Blue Nephew to answer in an echoing voice which, if Gyro recalled their few prior interactions correctly, did not sound anything like Blue Nephew.
"Greetings, Dr. Gearloose. I've wanted to speak to you for quite some time. You wouldn't believe what it took to set up this meeting."
This was beginning to look like magic. Gyro hated magic, in many ways even more than Mr. McDuck did. He meant to ask more questions, but what came instead was "You're not Blue Nephew."
"No, I am not. I come from beyond this reality," the thing said, "You may call me… Mason. Dewey has temporarily allowed me to speak through him. Hopefully we can drop any pretenses of disbelief. I know you have worked alongside Scrooge McDuck long enough to be aware that there exist forces which this world's science cannot currently explain. If it helps, you may think of me as an n-dimensional being. Though less than accurate, that description will suffice for our purposes."
Fantastic. Just what Gyro needed: something that stubbornly refused to be defined by science. "Mason" kept talking though.
"To answer your previous questions, I have pulled your consciousness into the Mindscape, an astral plane where physical laws do not apply. Here, we will not be interrupted."
It sounded like this "Mason" wasn't going to let him go anytime soon, so Gyro might as well see what it wants. He asked that very question.
"Straight to the point; I like that about you," Mason said, "To make a long, complicated, and depressing story short, I have been searching many dimensions for a solution to my problem, and now I've found one. Or should I say, I've found you, one of the most skilled robotics engineers in the Multiverse. Your greatest invention is exactly what I need."
Well, whatever this "Mason" was, it seemed to have an appreciation for genius. However, despite what most people seemed to think, Gyro was well aware of his own ego. He knew that to give in to the flattery of a being such as this would be the height of folly. "What would someone like you want with the Gizmoduck armor?" he asked suspiciously.
Mason laughed, which sounded very odd. "The armor is quite impressive, but I'm sure you would agree that it pales in comparison to your true greatest invention: the living machine that is your son Boyd." Mason pointed to the grayed-out, frozen child standing next to Gyro.
Any remaining interest Gyro had in this situation vanished immediately. No one was going to take Boyd away from him again. "I won't let you hurt him. He's had enough of that already. First Akita, then Beaks, even Green Nephew…"
"No, no!" Mason quickly said, holding up Blue Nephew's hands in a defensive gesture. "Let me explain properly. You see, my still-mortal younger brother is dying of an incurable disease. Though his body is beyond help, his mind can still be saved if transferred into an artificial vessel. I have the means to do so. What I lack is the vessel itself."
Gyro failed to see how this changed anything. "You're not taking him. I don't care if you're some all-powerful cosmic… thing. I won't let Boyd be used again."
"Once again, I am sorry for my lack of clarity. Tearing apart your newly restored family is the last thing I desire," Mason explained further, taking an apologetic tone, "I don't need Boyd specifically. What I need are his design schematics. I will give them to a capable engineer in my home universe, who can then modify them to construct a new body for my brother."
That was certainly a different matter. Except those were no longer Gyro's secrets to share. They may have originally come from his mind, but just as a biological person's DNA was their property, those designs now belonged to Boyd himself. "It's not my decision," Gyro said, "It's his."
"I understand," Mason replied. "Excuse me for a moment while I bring him in."
The glowing outline around Mason/Blue Nephew flashed, and it was suddenly not Blue Nephew's form that stood there, but what looked like a walking constellation, a vague silhouette filled with something very much like whatever was visible through the Rift. Indeed, there must be some connection between them, as the star thing touched one hand to Boyd's frozen gray form and the other to the Rift itself, then flared brightly.
When the light faded, Boyd had regained color, and some of the golden chains crisscrossing the Rift had wrapped themselves around Mason's arm.
"Sorry for the delay," Mason said, sounding oddly tired. Could cosmic beings like him even get tired? How did that even work? "Digital minds are more difficult to connect with this way, and your dimension's laws are objecting to my attempt to draw more power through the Rift." Mason gestured toward the golden chains now slowly growing up its arm like vines. "I don't have much more time, so I'll make this quick."
He addressed Boyd next. "You know what I need. I have temporarily uploaded the full explanation into your memory banks."
Boyd blinked his big yellow eyes. "He… saved your life."
"Yes, mine and many more. Without both of my brothers' respective sacrifices, I would never have become what I am now, and an entire universe would have been destroyed. It's my fault one of them died, so I must do all I can to save the other."
"You… you want to make him like me," Boyd said hesitantly, "A machine."
Gyro's heart just about broke to hear that a part of Boyd still thought of that as what most defined him. He'd have to do better at reminding his creation son that it didn't matter what he was made of. Fortunately, Mason's answer seemed to go a long way toward that as well.
"All three of us know that you are far more than a mere machine, Boyd," Mason said reassuringly, "But otherwise, that is correct. I want to help my brother become what you have always known you are; what he already is, but does not yet believe himself to be: a definitely real boy."
Boyd stared at the ground for what seemed like several minutes. Even outside this strange timeless gray space, that would have been like weeks to his high-speed computer brain. "Okay…" the robot child said, "Just don't use them to hurt anyone."
Though Mason's lack of a visible face meant it couldn't actually smile, a feeling of intense gratitude and relief emanated from its nebulous form. "I wouldn't dream of it." The starry appearance of Mason's arm drew away, revealing featherless skin, and blue flames ignited around his and Boyd's already-clasped hands. Boyd's eyes went blank as innumerable lines of text and images rapidly flashed across them.
"Thank you, Boyd. This means more than you know."
Mason released Boyd's hand, and the robot immediately turned gray again, in the same position as before. The strange eldritch being then looked back at Gyro. "That goes for you as well, Dr. Gearloose. I promise that your work will be used for good. As proof of my gratitude and in exchange for the gift of your knowledge, I will share some of mine. I know that you wish to understand this Rift and the being who emerged from it. His name is Dipper Pines, and though he cannot help you, I will soon send others who can. You will know them by these symbols." The simple shapes of a blue pine tree and a stylized magenta shooting star appeared above Mason's head. "Remember them."
Gyro didn't think he'd ever be able to forget anything about this surreal experience. He nodded, and Mason echoed the motion, then seemed to remember something itself. "Oh… and it might be best if you didn't tell anyone else about this. In any other situation, I wouldn't bother asking that, but the kind of people you associate with would probably believe it, which would cause a number of problems, particularly for Dewey, or as you know him, Blue Nephew."
Mason snapped his fingers. There was a popping sound, and Gyro opened his eyes. He did not remember closing them. Color and sound had returned to the world.
"Dr. Gearloose, are you okay?" asked a voice from somewhere down and to the left. It was Red Nephew. "You were just kind of staring into space for a second there."
"Yes… yes, I'm fine." Gyro replied. He looked at the Rift again. "I think we're done here. We don't have the… expertise to make a proper study of this thing."
Dewey didn't know how long he'd been zooming through the clouds in elated loops and corkscrews before the world turned gray and he heard Dewper's telepathic call.
"I've got what I need from Gyro and Boyd. It's time to reclaim your body."
"Aww…"
"I know you're having fun, but it's going to happen no matter what. I had to touch the Rift, and it's drawing me back. There's not much time."
Reluctantly, Dewey followed the psychic signal, instantly appearing in front of Dewper, who was back in his Star Guy form, one arm stuck up to the shoulder inside the Rift as golden chains slowly wrapped themselves around his nebulous body. "So… I guess this is goodbye, then?"
"One last thing," Star Guy said, "With your permission, I will leave behind a brief, slightly modified memory of the events from my waking up in your body to the moment you take over again."
"Why? I don't want to remember something that didn't happen."
"You won't," Star Guy assured him. "Everything in that memory will be something you've personally seen happen, just from the perspective of your body, and with our interactions removed."
"How do I know you're not gonna plant something else in there?" Dewey asked. Aside from flying around just barely, he'd spent a lot of the time since waking up trying to think of ways that Star Guy could potentially twist their deal. But that kind of thing was Louie's talent, not his, and Dewey hadn't come up with much. Implanting a memory though… that raised some red flags.
"This would be an extension of our previous deal, subject to the same condition that if I have lied to you, I forfeit my power and station. I promise that you will remember nothing you have not already seen, except for my uneventful walk through the backyard with Louie. Here, see for yourself."
Dewey suddenly found himself holding a large glasslike golden ball which, aside from its color, was not unlike the Sphere of Selene. In the ball, Dewey could see exactly what Star Guy had described, only his own ghostly form was not present, nor did he talk to anyone except Louie.
"Looks okay… I thought memories were doors though?"
"Many aspects of the Mindscape are open to interpretation," Star Guy explained, "The doors are what Dipper expected, and as the caster of the spell, his expectation shaped what they saw. These orbs are simply a different interpretation of memories."
"Okay then…" Dewey said. It made as much sense as anything else he'd learned about the Mindscape. "So… I guess this is it?"
Star Guy smiled. "This is it. As per our agreement, your body is your own again." He pointed to Dewey's grayed-out, frozen body standing next to his brothers. "Thank you for all your help, Dewford Duck. Our current business is concluded, but perhaps you and I will meet again someday."
The golden chains had now pulled Star Guy about halfway into the Rift, his own form merging with the space visible through it. "Oh… I almost forgot." Star Guy reached his remaining hand toward Dewey, and a small cloud of tiny multicolored orbs, just like the one Dewey was holding, all erupted from his mental form and streamed toward–
Why was everything gray? Why were his brothers and Webby and the nerds all standing like statues around this weird portal-looking thing? And why were there two of him?
Dewey touched the frozen gray version of himself, and suddenly color returned to the world. He staggered slightly and blinked.
"Are you okay, Dewey?" Huey asked, sounding slightly worried. Which was probably warranted, since Dewey had been unconscious for about half a day after touching that weird stone that Dipper had dropped. His legs still felt slightly weak.
"I'm fine," Dewey assured his brothers. "Just a bit rusty after sleeping for so long. Hey, where's Uncle Donald going?"