I changed my mind and decided to upload the Stan backstory chapter for later. I believe the actual story arc is more important than to know what has already happened, and I believe some of you agree.
One little announcement: remember the last few chapters, both story and backstory wise? They have been part of this fic's first arc, the "Introduction Arc", if you will. This chapter will mark the end of this arc, and at the very end of it will be the main basis for the next story arc.
And no, the "previosly on" format will not be replicated for the earlier chapter. Sorry :(
So, with nothing more to say, read and enjoy!
Last time, on Gravity Falls: Sharingan Master
"I carved a cypher seal into your palm. The seal grabs and...well, seals, most of the power of the piece in a sort of metaphysical-gibberish cage, making sure that the power doesn't consume and then possess you." explained Gabe, who managed to hear something coming as he finished/ "I need to move on. I have to find something else worth to live for after today's revelations."
"You could join Team Mystery." suggested Mabel with a shrug.
"I could, but I won't." replied Gabe. "Maybe when things calm down. Goodbye, Mabel from the Hidden Gravity."
A gigantic dragon puppet, presumably the one Mabel damaged earlier, arrived and the boy jumped to his head. Gabe turned around and waved goodbye with his free hand as the dragon left the village. Mabel waved goodbye with her hand with the carved symbols, looking at it and getting a worried look once Gabe was out of view.
"If this seal controls the power of a cypher piece...what does this mean about Grunkle Stan?" thought Mabel.
Currently
(Forest, the Cypher Tower)
Dipper, Pacifica and Kiniriko managed to arrive at the tower, which was a tall building with what looked like a hologram of an eye at the very top. The rest of the tower looks pretty ancient, almost like it was built centuries ago.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the cypher tower!" proclaimed Pacifica as she, Kiniriko and Dipper walked to the tower. "The go to place if you want to know more about the history of the beast of burden living inside you."
Bill briefly possessed Dipper's body to glare the blonde, who shrugged in response. Seeing that, Bill gave Dipper back his body and the duo walked towards the door, where they saw a drawing of the same eye hologram from the top of the tower.
As the kids check out the door and try to see if it has any of opening, the eagle and monkey masked ANBU soldiers, along with the unnamed platoon of fellow soldiers, arrived and hid in the bushes. The ANBU with the eagle mask signaled the platoon to wait for the right moment, whcih was repeated by the ANBU with the monkey mask as the eagle masked soldier looked at the duo.
Dipper then felt the presence of the ANBU, turning to the ANBU's hiding to see...nobody in there. This did not stop him from correctly believing that they were being watched.
"Pacifica, be ready for anything. I get the feeling we may have unwanted visitors." spoke Dipper with a cautious tone.
"Don't be...ridiculous..."
The blonde girl fell to her knees, which caught Dipper's attention. "P-Pacifica?!" exclaimed a worried Dipper.
"Sorry, I'm feeling a little...lightheaded, for some reason." replied Pacifica, who grabbed her head.
"Lightheaded?" repeated Dipper while he raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, Bill took over Dipper's body and he started to explain as Pacifica looked with surprise.
"Ah yes, there's something you need to know about this place: it is protected by a force field." started Bill, who walked back and forth as he continued his explanation, "The force field covers all of the tower, from top to bottom, and it was designed by its maker to cause a few...side effects, to people stupid enough to approach it. These side effects do not affect cypher hosts, nor tailed beasts and their jinchurikis. Do not ask why the last ones are immune to the effects."
"Just out of curiosity, what side effects are you talking about?" questioned Dipper, who went became the dominant personality.
"Lightheadedness, like the one the blonde is having, nausea, dizziness and hallucinations. And those are the most benign ones." answered Bill, who took over the boy's body. He then turned to see Pacifica breathing heavily, "Granted, most non-cypher hosts would be in terrible pain by now. Either your friend is strong, or she's faking it, which is unlikely."
Dipper regained control of his body and he was understandably angry, "So, you're telling me that this place has a force field that causes side effects to non-cypher hosts after my friend here has suffered some of the mentioned side effects?"
Bill took over the body again and retorted, "It is not my fault that you decided to walk to the door like it was nothing."
Dipper managed to regain control of his body and he snarled, "It is your fault for not warning us about the force field!"
Pacifica laughed for a moment, though not too loud or too much so she wouldn't collapse. The laughter caught the attention of Dipper, who turned to the laughing girl.
"Okay, I got to admit this: seeing you switch between yourself and the cypher beast is quite amusing." commented Pacifica, with her canine companion, Kiniriko, nodding in agreement. "However, you should stop what you're doing and deactivate the force field before anything worse happens."
"Right." nodded Dipper, who scratched his chin and he thought for a moment before he finally consulted the cypher beast. "Bill, do you know how to deactivate the force field?"
Bill took over Dipper's body and he walked to the door, pointing at the single eye in the middle of it before he answered, "See that eye on the door? Just put your palm there and I'll do the rest."
It didn't took long before Bill realized he could do it himself, "Actually, since I'm the one in control of your body, I'll just go ahead and do it anyway!"
Bill placed Dipper's palm on the eye, and its outlines turned from black to light blue as the force field made itself visible. The light blue field started to break with a single crack at the top of the shield, with a crack also appearing on the door itself. Both cracks expanded until they were all over the shield and the door, with a few light pillars coming out of the shield before breaking in pieces, shortly followed by the door also breaking in pieces.
However, the shield's pieces eventually vanished either before or after hitting the ground, while the pieces of the door remained. Seeing that the force field was no more, Pacifica got up and stretched a bit before Bill gave Dipper back his body.
Once the duo hugged in joy, the ANBU saw the opportunity and got ready to come out of hiding.
"The shield is down, it's time to strike!" stated the eagle masked ANBU soldier.
"Sssstrike!" repeated the monkey masked ANBU soldier.
The ANBU jumped out of the bushes and screamed as they took out their weapons. Dipper and Pacifica noticed and the girl pushed the boy inside, taking a defensive position with her canine companion as they waited for the strike.
...And then, much to the shock of the eagle and monkey masked ANBU soldiers, a mysterious figure took out a sword and then slashed the platoon's soldiers, who dropped dead shortly afterwards. The figure landed near Pacifica and it revealed herself as Wendy, who held her sword directly at the incoming soldiers.
The eagle and monkey masked soldiers did their best to slow down their fall so they wouldn't be impaled by the redhead's sword...only to see Wendy give them a smug smirk, which caused them confusion before they were punched by Stan and Soos, who came out of nowhere.
The ANBU duo fell and hit the ground while Stan and Soos landed near Pacifica and Wendy, the latter exchanging winks and smiles with Soos. However, the duo soon grew curious once they looked around and they failed to find an important member of the team.
"Where is Mabel?" asked Wendy and Soos in unison.
"She's taking care of something back at Hidden Leaf, like I asked her." answered Pacifica, who got on her canine companion's back before she finished, "She'll probably join us later."
"Noted." told Stan to the blonde, and he turned to the shadows before he continued, "Now, while we wait for her arrival..."
Stan gestured to the shadows, where a familiar little girl came out: Candy. She noticed the gestures and gave the old man a pair of thumbs up and a nod before running to the tower.
She took a deep breath and put a foot on the tower, putting the other after a moment. Once she saw she was now on the tower, she went running to the top of the tower while Stan watched.
Stan turned back to the ANBU duo, who were calling for reinforcements using a walkie-talkie. Although they managed to call for more soldiers, they were left unable to say anything else as their machine was sliced in two by a gust of wind, one that came out of Stan's sword.
They turned around and saw Wendy hold her sword tightly, Pacifica and Kiniriko baring their teeth, Soos giving them an angry glare and Stan aiming his sword at them.
"If you want to go inside, you'll have to go through us first!" stated Stan.
(Meanwhile, inside the Cypher Tower)
Dipper, looking rather exhausted, was going up a long staircase. He stopped to catch his breath when he got on a small platform with a single window in it. "Bill, do you know why there are so many darn stairs in here?" questioned Dipper.
"Hey, what else did you expect from such a tall tower?" replied Bill from inside Dipper's head.
Dipper raised an eyebrow as he thought about it and he nodded just as Candy arrived from the window, which obviously startled the boy. He got ready to attack, but he soon recognized Candy and he calmed down.
"Oh, it's you." said Dipper. "What are you doing here?"
"I would answer your question, but I need to keep going and go up these stairs if I want to get to the library today." replied Dipper with a pessimistic tone.
"You don't need to use the stairs." told Candy to the boy just as he got up a few of the stairs.
"Pardon me?" asked the dumbfounded kid.
"I'm saying that you can walk on the walls instead of using the stairs. Here, let me show you." Candy concentrated her chakra and she put a foot on the wall, putting the other shortly afterwards.
Dipper soon followed, though he closed his eyes before he did anything. Once he opened them after getting on the wall, he remained speechless as Candy walked to him.
"See? If we both walk on the walls instead of using the stairs, we'll get to the top faster!" assured Candy to the boy.
However, Dipper turned to see the corridor and the long way down before he could see the ground. Seeing this, the very possibility of falling and exploding upon hitting the ground, staining the walls with their blood as well, entered Dipper's head.
"I don't know, seeing how far we are from the ground, a single sneeze could unbalance our chakra and make us fall to our deaths. Granted, I'm taking out the platforms from the question, but still." Dipper took another glance at the corridor and the ground that was far away, and he turned to Candy with a worried look before he asked, "There is no other way?"
"Well, there is no other way that can get you faster to the top." honestly answered Candy with a shrug.
Dipper sighed with worry before he scratched his chin. However, he soon realized the obvious: there really was no other way. If he took the stairs, he would be exhausted by the time he reached the top, if he tried to jump from the platform to another he would probably fall and die, so hey, what could go wrong with trying Candy's idea?
"Noted, thanks for telling me." responded Dipper with determination, who grabbed Candy's hand before he started to run.
The duo started to run on the walls and go as fast as they could to the top of the tower. It took them a while, but they managed to arrive and they got on the top's wall before jumping off, landing on the ground safely. Once they decided to look around the floor, they spotted hundreds of thousands of books, all of them with a single eye on the cover...at least, as far as they could see.
"Rasengan!"
The duo looked around until they saw a faint light blue sphere appear, followed by two blue eyes opening and the sphere run towards them. Seeing that, Dipper's eye turned into a sharingan and he raised his palm, accumulating chakra and forming a blue, electric sphere.
"Chidori!"
The boy dashed towards the opposing figure, who narrowed his look as the two got closer. Once they were near each other, the figure used his sharingan on the ground, causing him to jump just before he was hit by Dipper's chidori. The figure landed near the kids as Dipper's chidori faded, and the figure revealed himself to be...Naruto Uzumaki.
"Naruto?" asked a shocked Dipper. "What are you doing here? I thought you were fighting Sasuke."
"I defeated him, and then Kakashi told me to come here to tell you something important." answered Naruto, who failed to see Dipper raise an eyebrow and quietly ask "who is Kakashi?" as he continued. "There is someone that needs to meet you. Specifically, Kurama wants to meet the Cypher Beast."
(Meanwhile, with Team Mystery...and Pacifica)
The team...and Pacifica, fought with the eagle and monkey masked ANBU soldiers on an even battle, at least until Stan used his sword and struck the eagle masked ANBU soldier. All the soldier did was laugh before he effortlessly blocked the attack.
"After all these years, I expected you to become a little rusty." mockingly said the eagle masked ANBU soldier. "But you still use my sword just like you did back in the past."
Surprised about what he heard, ANBU reinforcements arrived and attacked just as Stan and the eagle masked ANBU soldier separated. The two masked soldiers reunited as the reinforcements got ready to attack.
"I wish we could continue sparring, but we are needed elsewhere." said Powers.
"Elsewheeeere." repeated Trigger.
The duo left and the reinforcements went running towards the team...right before they were struck by a giant fireball that came from the top of the tower. Most of them only came out damaged, while the rest were knocked out by it.
Stan smiled before he and the rest looked up to see a shadowy figure at the top of the tower. The figure then jumped, headed for the ground...and landed face-first, with the team cringing once the figure collided.
The figure then got up and revealed herself to be Mabel, who wiped off the dust from her clothes before she got up.
"Well, I don't know what I was expecting when I did the jump." remarked Mabel before she took out a kunai.
"So, you did manage to take care of that guy after all." spoke Pacifica in relief. "How did it go?"
"Well, things happened, and I have a few questions to ask Stan later, but I'm ready for action now." remarked Mabel, who turned to the reinforcements and got an excited smile. "And I see you were nice enough to leave me some ANBU fodder."
And then the reinforcements were wiped out by a few bombs, although one of them called for more reinforcements before he was killed.
"Guys! You didn't even let me kill a few!" whined the girl in frustration.
"But we didn't even move a muscle!" replied Pacifica. "And besides, none of us have bombs...that I know of, anyway."
"But if you didn't kill the reinforcements, who did?"
As if to answer the girl's question, three shadowy figures appeared, flashing malicious smirks as they walked forward to show their real identities. The first one was Orochimaru, who eyed Wendy with a look of smug perversion.
"You!" snarled Wendy.
The next one was Hidan, who looked at Soos as he laughed like a maniac.
"You!" growled Soos.
The next one was Hidan's partner, named Kakuzu, who walked forward and slapped Hidan in the head to shut him up.
"You!" hissed Stan.
And they were soon joined by a fourth member, one that arrived...in a gigantic dragon puppet. The fourth member was a blonde boy with soulless-looking blue eyes, who jumped off the dragon and walked to the trio.
And, much to her horror, Mabel knew who the boy was.
"Gabe?!" asked Mabel.
Gabe's eyes returned to normal once he heard that, and he turned around before he got any closer to the trio.
"Mabel?" asked a surprised Gabe.
"What...I thought you were going to follow a different path!"
"I tried! I honestly tried! But when I was in the skies going back to Hidden Sand, I felt a great pain in my head, hundreds of "618" numbers appeared and before I knew it, I am holding some strange apparatus in the middle of a deserted facility and a voice tells me to deliver it to these guys."
"618?" asked Stan, feeling the number was...familiar.
Gabe reached for his pockets and then took out the mentioned strange apparatus, one that looked like a detonator. Gabe glanced between the three obviously evil men on one side, and Mabel and the team...and Pacifica on the other side.
Just as he was about to take a decision, the wind blew harder as a person "teleported" in front of Gabe. The person was the Hooded Feminine Figure, who looked down and glared at the blonde.
"Horny lady!" exclaimed Mabel with a look of anger.
As everybody except Mabel and the Feminine Figure tried to hold back their laughter, the figure whispered something on Gabe's ears, which caused his eyes to become soulless again, and he hands the apparatus to the trio. He then returned to the feminine figure, who put a hand on his shoulder as Mabel looked with shock and horror.
The chocolate haired girl screamed "Nooooo!" and went running after the duo, taking a leap...and falling on the ground once the figure and Gabe had teleported away. Seeing this, Mabel looked up to see the smiling-or in Kakuzu's case, frowning-trio and eyed them with fury.
"What did you do to him! And another important matter, what did Gideon do to him!" hissed Mabel as she got up.
Hidan grabbed and threw the girl back to the team, who frowned and glared as the trio responded.
"We? Nothing." replied Kakuzu.
"Gideon? He was more than happy to do nothing." answered Hidan with a tone of dislike.
"But the figure?" responded Orochimaru, who laughed before he resumed, "Oh boy, you really don't want to know what she did to him."
"Either way, you should probably worry about the prime cypher host instead of us." told Hidan to the team. "'Cause let me tell you, this tower is going to be nothing but dust and destroyed history in a few minutes."
(Meanwhile, at the tower)
Candy walked around and checked the books while Dipper and Naruto continued to talk. She then spot a particular shelf were there was a book marked with 3 instead of an eye like the rest. When she looked, however, there was no book with a "2" or a "1" in the cover, and everything else had an eye instead of a number.
"Who is this Kurama you are talking about, Naruto?" asked Dipper.
"Oh, just the tailed beast that is living inside my body." answered Naruto with a casual tone. "He discovered that you were heading for the tower, and since reading all the books would take you forever, he told me to find you so the beast would know...a simplified version of his origin. Of his true nature."
"What do you mean?"
"Dipper, the Cypher Beast is a tailed beast. Just not an official one."
Candy reached for the book as Dipper processed what he was just told. He then let out an ear piercing scream that shaked the ground and the shelf containing the books, which unbalanced the girl just as she grabbed the "3" book. The book fell on top of her as Naruto and Dipper continued to talk.
"A tailed beast?! You mean one of the tailed beasts?!" shouted Dipper in shock.
"An unnoficial one, but yes." answered Naruto with a smile.
"But-But how?!"
"You have to speak with Kurama in order to find out, Dipper. And even then, he's not willing to tell you the actual story." answered and explained Naruto. "If you want to meet him though, you'll have to go in the mental realm."
Naruto closed his eyes and fell, hitting the ground and remaining motionless for a long time. "Naruto?"
"Dipper, he's at the mental realm!" informed Bill from inside Dipper's head. "I can see him! All you got to do is close your eyes and I'll take you to there! Don't question anything, just do it!"
"You sound oddly enthusiastic about this, but fine." replied Dipper as he closed his eyes.
Once the boy's eyes were closed, Bill helped him enter the mental realm, whereupon his body fell and hit the floor. Candy was unaware of this at the time, since she was reading the "3" book.
Before he knew it Dipper was at the mental realm, which was almost exactly like the environment he was currently in, only with everything in black and white. He turned to his left to see Bill standing nearby him, and then he looked forward to see Naruto walk to him...with a giant red fox-like creature with nine tails by his side.
"Who is the giant fox?" asked Dipper.
"The giant fox is Kurama." responded Naruto. "He has a few things to show you."
"And by things, he means images. These images happened a long time ago, back before the Cypher Beast was separated in Yin and Yang halves." said Kurama. "Once the images have been shown, you must decipher the events behind them, either manually or reading one of the books. There is no other way."
"There are actually quite a few ways, but most of them make the cypher beast and Kurama relive bad experiences, so there is no other way that doesn't end badly." corrected Naruto.
"Fine then, let's not waste time and see the images." replied Dipper.
Kurama raised his hands and positioned them above Dipper and Bill, who looked with worry as the hands approached. Once they were over the duo's heads, Kurama slightly lowered his hands just enough so they would gently touch their heads, causing a stream of particular images to flow through their brains.
Among these pictures was the completed body of the Cypher Beast, the mentioned beast attacking Hidden Gravity, the ANBU fighting the beast and helping the citizens escape certain death, and another...with Quentin Trembley standing at the top of a house, looking at the beast defiantly.
"Wow, these images are of high quality." remarked Bill, Dipper nodding in agreement shortly afterwards.
(Back outside the tower)
"Before we decide to beat you up for all the things you have done, just tell us something. How did you found out we were here?" inquired Wendy.
"Oh, that was quite easy actually. You see, we have a little "inside agent", as you may call it, who has supplied us with information about your whereabouts, weapons, jutsus and stuff we don't really care about for quite some time." answered Orochimaru.
This revelation made the team glare with anger and get ready to attack the trio...except for Pacifica and Kiniriko, who exchanged worried looks and quietly sneaked out of the scene.
"Tell us where is this agent." growled Stan, who gripped his sword and frowned. "Now."
"We would gladly cooperate, and by that I mean we would rather tell you to go to hell, but I'm afraid the agent is already here." replied Orochimaru with a smug smile.
"Isn't that right, Pacifica?" asked Kakuzu with a glare.
The team gasped in horror and they turned to see Pacifica was gone, and then they turned to the forest, where they saw Pacifica and Kiniriko getting ready to go inside. The blonde girl turned back, saw the shocked looks on the team's faces and, shedding a tear, she and Kiniriko go to the woods without hesitation.
"But...why?" questioned Mabel in disbelief.
"Hahaha! You are going to love finding this out!" said Hidan with a maniac smirk. "Sure, you'll be pissed off once you hear me out, but listen to this before you rip the blonde limb from limb: she has a chip installed inside her brain that transforms her into an obedient after saying a specific password. We say the password and boom! We now have an inside agent!"
"And that is it." added Kakuzu. "Now you may hunt her down and kill her in any way you please. You must be angry enough to do that."
The team remained still for a moment before they withdrawn their weapons and shook their heads.
"Actually...it's quite the contrary. I pity Pacifica. Hate her, I do, but I pity her as well." stated Mabel.
"Pity? She betrayed you, little girl!" retorted Hidan.
"Betray, bullshit! You made her do it!" hissed Stan.
"After you nearly killed me years ago I thought nothing you. Guess I was wrong." told Wendy to Orochimaru, who frowned with disdain.
"You will pay for what you did. That's a promise." proclaimed Soos.
"So, you're not going to kill us? Huh, that's the first smart thing you have done in your entire, dumbass lives." mocked Hidan as he handed the apparatus to Orochimaru. "You should be preoccupied with the tower instead. Specially because there is no cypher piece in there."
That single line gave rise to a possibility. One that was blatantly confirmed when they looked up and saw Tobi implanting a few detonators on the tower itself, the figure looking down and laughing in derision before he teleported away.
"This is a trap!" exclaimed Stan
"Oh, this is a trap indeed! A trap that you're too late to stop!" stated Hidan.
The team exchanged worried looks before they went to the walls and went running on them towards the top, only getting to the middle of the tower's height before Orochimaru activated the apparatus. This caused the detonators to start blinking.
(Back inside the tower...again)
Candy walked to the unconscious Dipper and Naruto, and she lightly kicked Dipper's shoulder just as he and Naruto returned from the mental realm.
"How long were we out of reality?" asked Dipper.
"Don't ask me, I have been reading this book for a while." replied Candy, who showed the book to the duo.
"That book looks intriguing." remarked Naruto. "Did you find anything interesting inside it?"
"Tell me your definition of interesting first." replied Candy, who raised an eyebrow.
"Ramen, jutsu, friendship and beating up Sasuke." quickly answered Naruto with a smile on his face. "Granted, the last one sounds a bit weird, but I got my reasons."
"It has a lot of interesting information about the cypher beast, but none of the things you mentioned, Naruto." the boy sulked once he heard that as Candy approached Dipper. "I thought you could take this back wherever you're currently residing and investigate the beast there. If you want to check the other books-"
"This is no time to read books!"
The trio turned to see Mabel, Wendy, Stan and Soos come from the window and run towards Dipper once they got on the ground.
"This whole place is going to blow up! You need to get out of here!" told Mabel to her brother.
"This place is going to what!? Just what happened down there?!" replied an understandably horrified Dipper.
"Long story short, this was a trap all along." stated Soos.
The detonators went off and the ground started to shake. From outside, the tower's floors started to collapse and the inside started to crumble, with various pieces of debris falling and almost hitting the guys inside.
"We can continue explaining once we're not in danger of getting blown up along with the tower!" said Stan, who pulled Mabel away before a piece of debris hit her.
Naruto gave Dipper a determined look, and the boy returned the look before they started to run to the walls. Seeing that, the team and Candy shrugged and followed them, seeing that they got on the walls and then jumped off the window, which they soon repeated just as more debris started to fall.
(Outside the tower...again)
Naruto, Team Mystery and Candy managed to jump out before the tower's explosion reached the last floor, the intensity of the explosion knocking out the team briefly as the tower crumbled to pieces, the eye hologram vanishing from existence just as the team regained consciousness and continued to fall. Don't ask how they were knocked out, but it looked cool.
Once they landed on the ground, they turned around and saw the remaining debris falling on the pile of broken stuff that used to be the cypher tower. When the final piece of debris fell, Dipper walked to the ruins and he desperately searched for something, anything that still remained. However, all he could find were the destroyed books.
"Sorry, Bill, we lost-" thought Dipper as he saw the destroyed remains.
"Just the extensive history of my life, Dipper. I'll get over it." replied the saddened Bill inside Dipper's mind.
Naruto frowned sadly before leaving the forest. Dipper then came out of the ruins and walked back to the team, looking at the ground with a miserable look on his face. Candy and most of the team looked with sadness, except for Mabel, who walked to her brother and she took a deep breath before speaking.
"Okay, so, this is the story: Pacifica has a chip installed in her head that makes her obedient when she hears a specific password. Candy told us there was a cypher piece in the tower, but this all turned out to be a trap set up by Gideon."
This failed to cheer him up. And once Mabel noticed this, she decided to change the subject.
"Well, the cypher tower was blown up and the history of the cypher beast is now gone forever." remarked Mabel, unaware that Dipper wasn't paying attention. "But at least we're alive! And look, Candy managed to save one of the books! So not everything went wrong, right Dipper?"
Dipper then looked around and he noticed there was someone missing: Pacifica. He then turned to Candy, who walked to him and handed the "3" book to Dipper, who glanced between the book and the forest for a few times before he walked towards it..
"Dipper?" repeated Mabel, this time sounding concerned about her brother's answer.
"I'll go back to Pacifica's cottage." uttered Dipper.
"Are you crazy?!" scolded Mabel before she blocked Dipper's way.
Stan, Wendy and Soos backed away as an argument ensued between the twins. Candy, instead, simply left before things worsened.
"Mabel, I know the revelations today have put Pacifica-and a few other characters, I believe-in a new light, but that doesn't change the fact that I live with her until the problem with the cypher beast is over." informed Dipper to his sister.
"Dipper, it took me a long time to figure this out. In fact, it took being told to my face that Pacifica was an inside agent all along for me to finally realize her true colors. Don't take the same amount time in finding out she compromised you!"
"They told you she has a chip inside her head, Mabel. Do you know if the chip was activated? Do you even know if she acts any different when the chip is on?"
"Does that even matter? Pacifica has been an inside agent all along. She was never your friend, and she probably will never be. She's with Gideon, and she carries out his plans like another one of his pawns. If you continue to be near her, she could give you even more trouble!"
"Or she could help me with my current situation. Just because somebody is affiliated with Gideon, even on a technicality, doesn't mean they all share his ideals, or even want to carry them out."
"Well excuse me, sir I-know-everything, but of all the Gideon collaborators we have seen so far, they have been either crazy psychopaths, disturbingly perverted people, or both of them!"
"I don't remember ever meeting any Gideon collaborator since we were children. Even when I spent time with Pacifica, she never acted like the people that work with Gideon. She looks like a nice girl and all!"
"She could be faking it! Have you ever thought about that!?"
The twins exchanged exasperated looks before Dipper decided it wasn't worth it and he walked back to the forest.
"I'm not going to waste my time with this conversation, I have to go back to Pacifica's cottage."
Having heard that, Mabel looked shocked for a moment as Dipper walked to the forest. He shock soon changed to anger before she held back her tears and...snapped.
"FINE! Go back with Pacifica! Live your delusion all you want! But once things start to get out of hand and you discover it is her fault, don't come back crying that your idea that she was still nice was wrong!"
"Trust me, I don't plan to ever come back!" stated Dipper, who turned around and saw Mabel with anger as he said so.
This statement shocked the team, but mostly Mabel, who finally shed a few tears as she walked forward and looked at Dipper with an expression of disbelief.
"You...you don't mean it." she uttered with worry as she grabbed Dipper's hand.
Dipper slapped the girl's hand away and he glared with a look of quiet fury, which shocked Mabel even further.
"After seeing you act and say stuff like that to the person that not only didn't try to kill me when she found out I was the prime cypher host, but who was nice enough to let me live in her cottage when I left Hidden Gravity, not to mention that you're treating...I would rather be with her than to put up with your attitude."
Having said that, Dipper moved Mabel away and walked to the forest...although he stopped and turned around to see Mabel as he spoke.
"Sure, I might be wrong about Pacifica. Sure, she might share Gideon's ideals and wants to carry out his goals. Sure, she might fit in the category of the common Gideon collaborator. Sure, she might not be my friend and might never be. Sure, she. And sure, this could end badly for me and the rest of the world! Okay, not the world, but at least myself."
The team went to Mabel as Dipper finished his point.
"But unless anybody presents undeniable proof right in front of my face, I'm willing to give her a chance, see if she does this by her own will and not the chip, and find out the truth about her before jumping to conclusions." stated Dipper. "Are you willing to do the same, Mabel?"
Having said his thoughts, Dipper goes into the forest as Mabel cried, slowly frowning in anger as Stan put his hand on her shoulder in pity.
"Let's go back. We have nothing more to do here." muttered Mabel, looking away from the rest.
Stan crouched down and looked at Mabel, but she turned away from the old man almost instantly. Having seen that, Stan sees both Wendy and Soos, who both nod to go back to Hidden Gravity. With their decision taken, Stan sighed sadly before they left.
(Back at Pacifica's Cottage)
Dipper went inside and closed the door, and the first thing he saw was a solemn Pacifica looking through the window, with Kiniriko trying to comfort her as she did. Dipper took a few steps forward, but the girl didn't even seem to notice.
"Pacifica...about what happened today..." started Dipper, who scratched his head as he tried to continue.
"I thought I was helping you, I thought that telling your family and friends about your whereabouts was the right thing to do. But all I did was compromise you, and it all ended in the destruction of the only place you could have learned about the Cypher Beast. Sure, you grabbed that book before the tower blew up, but at what cost?" mused Pacifica.
Dipper walked towards the girl, but she turned around and the boy is greeted by her crying, sorrowful face.
"But Dipper, you must trust me, I only want you to be safe! I honestly didn't want this to happen! They put a chip in my head! If they say a specific password, then I become their puppet, forced to do whatever they want to do! I don't remember if telling your team was the chip's fault, but at this point, that is the least of my worries."
Pacifica turned around again and eyed the window with sadness. Dipper returned the look, walked to the girl, grabbed her shoulder and turned her around so she would see his reassuring face.
"Don't worry, I believe you." reassured Dipper to Pacifica, who reacted with shock. "I'm willing to give you a chance before jumping to conclusions."
"You...do?"
Before Dipper could give her his answer, Pacifica hugged the boy tightly and cried a few tears in joy. Dipper returned the hug shortly afterwards, and the duo separated after a while.
Having made peace, Pacifica walked back to the window and Dipper went to his bed. He sit down and a piece fell out of the "3" book. Curious about what fell, the boy grabbed the item and saw that it was a piece of paper...one that looked like part of a blueprint.
"Huh?" uttered a surprised Dipper.
Dipper inspected the piece and discovered that it looked like a piece from some kind of blueprint. Pacifica, who was currently looking at the scenery outside her cottage, heard Dipper's voice and turned around to see him checking the piece.
"What is it?" asked Pacifica, who walked to the boy as he eyed the piece. "What did you find?"
"It looks like a torn piece from a blueprint." responded Dipper, who looked at the place firmly without turning to see Pacifica. "Wait a minute!"
Dipper continued to search the other pages of the book in order to find the rest of the pieces shortly afterwards.
Once he got them all, he put them on the ground and started to assemble them to form the blueprint. When he managed to literally put all the pieces together, he discovered something...unsettling.
"It is a blueprint! One for a Cypher Beast drug!"
To Be Continued
This marks the end of "the Introduction Arc" and the next chapter will mark the beginning of the "Cypher Drug Arc". I don't have a set number of arcs, but there will be a few of them. Also, since this has been absent from the story so far, here's a cryptogram:
6-9-14-4 20-8-5 16-1-19-19-23-15-18-4