Hmm, Chapter 30? Strange, the story isn't even close to being finished. Hehe, my other stories would be completed by now! XDD Extremely complex plot development, people! ! Today's codes use the A1Z26 Cipher, but they're found within the story.
Chapter 30: Gravity Falls
York Household
"Midna, explain to me, very slowly, what the hell HAPPENED? !" Dillon yelled ragefully.
"Like your slow-witted father, you are excessively thick." Midna replied, frowning with disappointment. "Let me put it to you simply:" She poked Dillon's nasal bridge with each word, "Your shadow. Is. PISSED. Do you remember every time YOU were angry with your father, so you walked away? Well, this is the same thing."
"My fucking SHADOW! How do you get in a fight with your fucking SHADOW, and it flies AWAY?"
"All people's shadows have a conscious, it's just shadowbenders are able to interact with them better. In reality, Shadow is a material all on its own, like poison or earth, the living shadows are composed of that material, and they can touch it. The shadowbenders can control other shadows, but until they're at that level, their own shadow acts for them. But now you have no shadow, so you can't shadowbend."
"So give me a new shadow and give my bending back!"
"Pfft, a god can't just CREATE a life-form out of thin air, they have to be born! We exhausted our energy creating the original life-forms, we don't intend to make anymore. Dillon, you're just going to have to find Mario and kiss up to him."
"In that case, better hope Mario is on a clean metal pole, and not a trashcan, crumbling wooden house, or somebody's butt." Aurora said.
"Either way, I'm snapping a picture when he does." Mason said, holding his phone, and the friends couldn't contain their laughter.
"Midna, do you have ANY idea where Mario could've run off to?" Dillon asked.
"Even you could guess that one." Midna replied. "But for the sake of saving a few lines of dialogue, it's Twilight Town."
"That shadowy forest in Pennsylvania where Mom and my aunts took me to train?"
"Mm-hm. The forest bathed in eternal sunset." Danika replied. "It's sort of the Anderson Family's heritage, and a retreat for shadows who had a… falling out."
"You mean benders get in fights with their shadows regularly?" Haylee asked.
"Yes, but it's also the home of the Twili." Midna replied. "A shadow sub-species who are descended from humans that moved to the Shadow Realm. They're like the Fishmen in Oceana, their appearance changed after adapting to the environment."
"Interspecies relations are weird." Artie said. His siblings stared at him, knowing his crush on Makava.
"Look, let's just go to Twilight Town and get Mario back." Dillon stated impatiently.
"Won't the fact that you can't go into sunlight be a little problematic?" Haruka asked.
"Being a shadow myself, I can serve as your temporary shadow." Midna informed. "You will be able to bend a little bit, but you won't be much without your birth-shadow."
"Whatever, I can live with it. As long as I don't combust like a vampire." Dillon said with silent aggression.
"Technically, vampires would shine like diamonds in sunlight." Aurora corrected.
"Your vampires were not portrayed accurately. Midna, just get in my shadow- or, whatever."
"No wonder Mario left." Midna complied and blended with the floor under Dillon's feet, becoming his shadow.
"I'll call Victoria to tell her you're coming." Danika said. "She works at the local inn, so she could fix some rooms for you kids if you end up staying a while."
"I guess I'll be staying here by myself, then." Django sighed with fake depression. "Just a dead kid and Dillon's sexually-depressed mother. Aaaall by myself, with no one to play with." He slumped lazily on the kitchen chair he was sitting in.
You can come, too, Mr. Django. Kirie signed politely.
"I'm going to assume that was an invitation to come, YES!" The skeleton fist-pumped.
They heard a sudden cellphone ring, coming from Mason's pocket. He took it out and looked at the Caller I.D.. "It's Carol."
"Is she Number One- Ow!" Haruka rubbed her leg after Mason kicked it.
Mason answered, "Hello, Carol?"
"Maseyfairy, THERE you are, I've been trying to call you since yesterday! Your mom said you were in space or something, why would you go without calling me? ?"
"Because you're not my mom, OR my girlfriend, Carol!"
"My, what a mouth on you. Hey, I've got something to tell Dillon: His dad got arrested by the Government!"
"What? !" Dillon took the phone.
"Arrested?…" Danika gasped.
"I'm waiting inside your treehouse, come over and I'll explain."
"We're on our way." Dillon gave the phone back to Mason, who hung up. "'Guess Twilight Town will have to wait."
"Who was she?" Django asked as they piled outside.
"Operative in training." Aurora replied. "She wants to be in our sector."
"Hold on, why is she allowed in your treehouse and not me? ?"
"She isn't, we aren't even sure how she would get in." Mason said.
"Because Maseyfairy lets her in when no one else is around, wink-wink." Haruka pressed her cheeks.
"Why is my 'relationship' with Carol the only one that's mocked?"
"Because you remind us of Dad and Lizzie." Chris answered.
Gravity Falls, Oregon
Cheren and MaKayla flew their S.C.A.M.P.E.R. over a thick, vast forest of towering pine trees, and landed in a random location. They both stepped off as MaKayla looked around. "Why did we land here? Is their treehouse nearby?"
"Sector GF is sort of a 'secret sector.'" Cheren explained. "They're given mystery-based missions and research secrets that the KND can use. They requested the Supreme Leader before me to become their own sector, but he turned it down and insisted they be part of Sector O. After I became leader, I gave 'em the green light. As part of the terms, they don't use an actual treehouse. We're landing this far to avoid giving away their location."
"So where is the location?"
"Some kind of tourist hut in the middle of the woods. I visited here a few times; there really is some weird stuff here. I wouldn't be surprised if some of Roguetown's creatures wandered over here. Be careful, MaKayla."
"You're telling that to a timebender. Watch your own back, Cherry." (Play "Hidden Mountain & Forest" from Smash Bros. Brawl.)
Stage 39: Gravity Falls
Mission: Meet up with Sector GF!
Act 1: Gravity Forest
Cheren and MaKayla marched forward as an eerie wind rustled the pine trees, and the sun could barely poke through the branches. Wooden, tree-bark monsters called Groots broke free from the trees, lashing their thick vine arms at the duo. Cheren sliced the vines with his sword while MaKayla chucked Time Bombs to slow them, giving her leader an easier time to shoot the Groots with Fire Arrows. A short, but high cliff blocked their way ahead, but Cheren noticed the barren areas on the trees, where it looked like branches would grow, but didn't. MaKayla held on while Cheren launched to the first spot with his Hookshot. With his pair of Hookshots, they flew to one target, then the next, and if they fell, they would end up going down a slippery slide carved into the earth, leading off the short cliff, therefore dropping them at the start of this segment.
The two had to time their Hookshot swings when rows of Zingers buzzed back-and-forth between targets, and also when Gnomes launched up to them like arrows, getting their pointed hats stuck in the bark. The final Hookshot target let them off on a safe ground, just before a Gnome stuck into it. It was then Cheren realized, from there, he could've hooked to another target, on a branch that would give him a Heart Piece. Now he couldn't hook the previous target because the Gnome was in the way. 'Guess he'd have to play the level again. The duo wandered into a small field of bushes, where Gnomes popped out and attacked them directly.
The tiny creatures jumped in the air and dove at them like arrows, and with their great speed, MaKayla had to slow them, giving Cheren the chance to shoot them with real arrows. With the creatures knocked out, the kids proceeded to a grouping of trees—a tree that was oddly-shaped stepped away like a gigantic leg, quaking the ground, and a flock of crows flapped away when the branches forcefully rustled. The two exchanged frightened glances and followed a right path, away from that monster. A river flowed gently into the forest, so the friends stayed along its side as they progressed. The earth suddenly trembled, and they felt their selves floating into the air. "W-What's happening? !" Cheren exclaimed.
"Gravity anomalies are common in this forest. My father senses them regularly, he told us. I'd like to know what's causing them." Unfortunately, the two were about to be lifted to some Zingers, who managed to float in place, so the kids swam along the low-G to keep from hitting them. They floated above a large tree branch when the gravity dropped them, crossing a group of rope bridges across other branches. Skulltulas ambushed them from above, but Cheren was quick to act by batting them, turning them around, then stabbing their weak undersides. The last branch overlooked a far cliff, so Cheren told MaKayla to grab on before he glided them over using the Pirates' Sail.
They followed the path through a shady area of forest, where a ray of sun shone against a giant crystal, causing a purple light to shine through the other side. Cheren drew his blade when a Skulltula crept toward them, but when the spider walked through the light, it shrunk to the size of a regular tiny spider. The two stared curiously before Cheren stomped the Skulltula, then Fi came out. "Master Cheren, I have determined this is a Size Crystal. When light shines upon it, depending on which side, the other side will cause targets to either shrink or grow. I surmise an 88% chance the woodland creatures will have varying heights. Master, your Mirror Shield may be able to deflect the light."
"Magic is lovely." Cheren said. A tall, pointed boulder was blocking their path, so Cheren bounced the purple light with his shield to decrease the rock's size. The next path had Size Crystals lodged in the sides, touching the ground with blue beams, and when innocent local Goomba wandered into those beams, they grew to giant size. MaKayla ran, jumped, and climbed on top of one to begin bashing the creature's head, since Goombas still had weak bodies regardless. Cheren blasted another Goomba with Fire Arrows until it was down, but now Buzzy Beetles were wandering onto the Grow Lights and changing size. They curled in their massive shells and spun at the operatives, so Cheren and Kayla evasively dodged them. The world shook when the giant beetles bounced around the walls. Another giant boulder was blocking the way, so the kids tricked the beetles into ramming into it until it smashed open.
A giant Skulltula was seated on a web, blocking the path out of there. There was a blue light, but that would only make the Skulltula bigger. "Wait a second, can't we just make OURSELVES bigger with these? ?" Cheren realized.
"It'll be hard to fit yourself in a purple light, don't risk it." MaKayla said.
"Fine. …Kayla, grab that pebble." MaKayla picked up a nearby pebble, while Cheren bounced the blue light above the spider. Kayla tossed the pebble above and into the light, it grew to boulder size and crushed the Skulltula. Thankfully, the stone was still flat enough for the duo to climb over; Cheren noticed a tiny Size Crystal growing from a mound. "I think I'll take one… you know, just in case." So he did.
Over this pebble-boulder, the two could slide down a snaky slope, laughing with excitement before they were set onto a mostly barren ground. Undead hands reached up from the earth; the Redeads made their otherworldly moans as they limped toward the duo. Cheren ran between some and performed a spin attack, MaKayla leapt around with strong, swift kicks to send their heads flying, but their horrifying screams caused the kids to shudder in place. A tremendous, tree-root foot stomped a grouping of zombies, then kept walking, and the friends saw it was the same monster from earlier. They paid it no mind still, doing away with the rest of the Redeads before proceeding down the next path.
The world shook, and the two were uplifted by Gravity Fails. There were a lot of spider webs in the branches above, so they maneuvered around the air to avoid them. They flew forward, feeling the gravity return when they were above a path of webs, so they let their selves land on a branch in-between. While wondering where to go next, the gravity failed again, they were able to keep going. Above a garden of very sharp pine cones, they let the gravity drop them over a solid patch. They repeated these intervals until they landed on the next path between some trees. Groots emerged from the bark, and Gnomes leapt out from behind the creatures and flew at the kids, Cheren and Kayla dodged as the latter slowed the Groots, and Cheren shot the Gnomes with arrows. He hit the Groots with Fire Arrows before hurrying forward with his friend.
"Creee-ee." A weird sound was heard, the two whipped around to see nothing there. A sign nearby read, Beware the Hide Behind. Cheren and Kayla exchanged worried glances and kept forward. They heard footsteps behind, they turned around, nothing there. MaKayla stood back-to-back with Cheren and kept walking, they heard the steps up in the branches, aiming to gnash down on them. They exchanged frantic glances and ran for it, and hearing the quick footsteps, MaKayla threw a Time Bomb back, and the two whipped around to catch the Hide Behind in the act, a tall, lanky shadow creature. Cheren leapt and slayed the monster with a jump attack, so the two could continue without worry.
The earth quaked again when they made it to a barren area under a cliff. The gigantic, tree-bark monster stomped out of the woods to their right, hunching forward and planting his hands against the cliff's edge. Curious, the two hurried behind the monster, and were able to climb the vines around its left leg. Walltulas were creeping along, Cheren shot them down with arrows before climbing. They then had to sidle up a thin ledge, sloping up to the creature's back, Cheren sliced a Snapdragon that got in the way. They reached the sloped part of the back, hurried up, then ran across the giant's arm to get onto the cliff. They turned back to its gruff, wrinkled face as MaKayla waved happily, "Thank you, Mr. Tree Giant!"
"I, AM, KING, GROOT!"
"We'll tell your story!" The duo continued through the woods, encountering a wall of Gnomes that blocked the path. A huge, muscular Gnome – made up of many normal Gnomes – dropped onto the ground, the operatives readying their selves. The Gnome aimed its fists and blasted its smaller comrades like pointed bullets, Cheren bounced them against the body with his Mirror Shield. MaKayla ran, punched, and kicked several of their little Gnome faces, climbing to the head (a Gnome with a brown beard) for a quick punch before flipping down. Cheren got behind the giant and shot a M.A.R.B.L.E. at the left leg, blowing those Gnomes off. It hopped around on the other leg, then with perfect agility, MaKayla leapt toward, spun sideways and horizontally in the air, and kicked the head Gnome off, letting the whole thing crumble down.
"Ow!" The brown-bearded Gnome fell on his back as Cheren and Kayla stood over him. "Hey, you're not bad, toots. How would you like to be my queen?"
"I'm a King, sorry." Kayla remarked.
"Really?" The Gnome stared at her lower area. "I thought male humans had-" MaKayla forcefully kicked him toward the wall of Gnomes and let them topple. She exchanged a friendly nod with Cheren before they progressed, making it to an open road. The sign indicated the 'Mystery Shack' to their right, and there it was. A large gift shop in the middle of the forest, displaying its name on the roof, though the 'S' was fallen and upside-down, so it looked like 'Mystery Hack'. No refunds. (End song.)
"So that's Sector GF?" MaKayla asked as they approached the entrance.
"Yup. Perfectly disguised, no one would ever suspect. Their great-uncle owns this tourist trap, their room is up in the roof. Let's go say 'Hello'." Cheren walked onto the porch and opened the door-
"WHOOA-!" The minute he did so, a blue-haired girl collided into him, both falling on the ground. They stared into each other's brown eyes for a minute, blushing. Cheren grinned. "Heheh. Why must we keep running into each other like this?"
"Hehe. Sorry." The girl climbed off and helped Cheren up. He and MaKayla saw the white, winged kitten behind her.
"Your name was Wendy, right? And the cat was…"
"Carla." Wendy replied. "And you… were…"
"Cheren. This is MaKayla, one of my operatives. What brings you here?"
"I'm doing work for Mister Facilier. You wouldn't happen to know about the gravity anomalies that happen around here?"
"We may've encountered some." MaKayla said.
"We call them 'Gravity Fails'." Cheren followed.
"Hehe. Good name. Can I ask why you're here?" Wendy requested.
"It's kind of a long story. We're here to meet up with some friends."
"Well, we won't keep you." Carla replied, walking around the group. "Let's look elsewhere, Wendy."
"Hold on!" MaKayla stopped them. "Maybe you two should join us."
"Why ever should we?"
"Yeah, Kayla, how come?" Cheren asked.
"They're here to check out the gravity anomalies, and we're here for information about the Apocalypse. I wonder if both of us can find what we're looking for."
"Wait… you know about the Apocalypse as well?" Wendy asked.
"Y-Yeah, we're trying to stop it." Cheren said, scratching his head confusedly. "How do you-"
"Please, Carla, can't we join them?" she pleaded to her cat. "I told Mr. Facilier I would help them stop it, I think we should."
"Wendy, we have our own priorities to take care of, we'll just be in the way."
"But Carla, maybe they can help us look for the source of these anomalies."
"We'd be happy to help." MaKayla smiled. "I can easily track the source with my power."
"It's official:" Cheren patted Wendy's shoulder. "You're a temporary KND ally."
"Really? Great! I promise not to be in the way too much."
"Siiiigh." Carla sighed. "Very well. As long as we don't get too far off track."
The group headed upstairs and approached a room down the hall, guarded by two girls. One was shorter, with long black hair, glasses, and a green striped shirt, while the other was large and bulkier, with brown hair in a ponytail, a pink shirt with 'COOL' written, and purple shorts. "HALT!" the large girl spoke with a gruff, man-like voice, holding a hand to them. "This room is restricted. Only those who know the password may enter! Unless you're here to give me your number, Cutie." She smiled flirtingly at Cheren.
"Hello, Numbuh Pounds. Numbuh Cals." Cheren greeted. "The password is Waddles."
"Numbuh 3621, welcome!" the shorter girl, Candy spoke with a French accent. "Dipper and Mabel were expecting you."
"I'm STILL waiting for your call!" the large one, Grenda scowled with hands on her hips.
"Numbuh Pounds, I told you I didn't want your number. May we enter now?"
"Fine, whatever." The girls entered first, followed by the four guests. "Hey guys, the Supreme Leader's here!"
"All right, you made it!" Dipper looked up from his journal. He was a brown-haired boy in a light-red T-shirt, navy-blue vest, and a blue and white hat with a pine tree.
"I baked cookies!" Mabel grinned, showing the braces on her teeth, holding a tray of cookies. She had long brown hair, a light-blue sweater with a white bird, and a purple skirt.
"WOOOOOOOO!" a distant, otherworldly applause roared throughout the room.
The Pines Twins looked confused. "What was that?" Dipper asked.
"Our readers are really excited to see you." Cheren blushed.
"I know I'd be excited to see me." Mabel replied. "HEYOOOO!" she waved at the readers.
"WOOOOOOOO!"
"I love those guys."
"Numbuh 2012, you said something about your uncle's journal." Cheren reminded. "Did you get it?"
"Yes! It's right here." Dipper held up the brown book, with a golden six-fingered hand, and a large "3" written on it. Cheren, Wendy, and MaKayla peeked over Dipper's shoulder as he opened it. "I found this a long time ago while I was exploring the woods. It tells about all the weird things in Gravity Falls." The pages depicted the Gnomes, Redeads, and Size Crystals. "Our Grunkle Stan took it from us to think up props for his shop. What is it you said you were looking for?"
"THAT!" MaKayla pointed at a picture of a block with strange writing. "That's the very same rock we found on Planet Glacia! Only Suki was able to read it back then…"
"Well, what did it say?"
"Um, it was written by someone called 'Ichigo Kurosaki'. It just congratulated Suki for being the 'Chosen One', and that there're six more. Also, her power would be important. But let me look back, just in case. Thankfully, I have a very keen memory." MaKayla touched her forehead and closed her eyes. She rewinded her own memory back to when they and Sector SOUL found the Gibberish Rock. She reopened, "No, that one was written differently."
"Wait a second, if this book is about Gravity Falls, wouldn't that mean that rock is HERE?" Cheren asked.
"Hey, you're right!" Dipper perked. "That secret bunker I told you about! What if it's somewhere in there?"
"Excuse me, but I would like to take a look." Carla spoke up.
The twins looked at her—"AAH! !" and screamed. "Did that cat just talk? !"
"And it has wings!" Mabel exclaimed. "It's a bird-cat!"
"I wonder if that's somewhere in here? ?" Dipper flipped the pages.
"JUST give me that book!" Carla shouted. Dipper complied and handed it to her. The kitten skimmed through pages with ghosts, some kind of black triangle with an eye (and red ink written), and what looked like part of some blueprints. "There are an awful lot of blank areas."
"Yeah, I've been wondering about that myself." Dipper said. "It's like the author got lost in thought while writing it."
"…" Wendy glanced at the pink wand in her hand. "W-Wait! Let me see it." She knelt beside Carla and touched her wand to the book. "Aparecium." A light glow emitted, then faded. Everyone stared as faint white writing appeared on the current page.
Dipper gasped. "How did you do that?"
"It's a Revealing Charm. Mister Facilier taught me how to do it when he talked about invisible ink."
"Invisible ink…" Dipper took the book and excitedly flipped the pages. "I don't believe it! It's a whole bunch of mysteries I didn't even know about! So many more things to-"
"Yes, yes, Season 2 was a hoot, flip back to the Gibberish Rock!" MaKayla demanded.
"R-Right, right." Dipper hurriedly flipped to said page. "Yes, there's writing! 'I discovered this rock when I was in Germany, doing research for a company. I visited a local art gallery and found this rock in its basement. I tried to translate the language to the best of my abilities, but no luck.' There's also a code—Mabel, write this down: 9-6 / 25-15-21 / 23-1-14-20 / 8-5-12-16 / 1-19-11 / 13-1-18-25. We'll decode that later."
"So the rock isn't here." MaKayla said with disappointment. "It was just research."
"No, come on, there has to be something!" Dipper flipped more pages and skimmed the invisible ink. "AHA! !" He startled them with his sudden outburst. "Lookathis!" He showed them a drawing of a pyramid, with similar writing as the Gibberish Rock. It was made with invisible ink. "'I discovered this in one of the dimensions. Its stone and symbols are very similar to the cube from my world. There is definitely a connection. I want to continue researching, but using the machine too much is very risky. I wonder if he would know anything'… Who?"
"What machine is he talking about?" Cheren asked.
"I think it's this." Dipper flipped to the blueprint page. "I never found out what this was, but I assumed it's part of a design for some… alien machine." There was invisible ink. "'At last, I found the Original Worlds!'."
"I've seen just about enough." Cheren stated. "Dipper, take us to this secret bunker you told me about."
"I wonder if this has to do with the gravity fails!" Wendy said excitedly. "Carla, we have to check it out!"
"What if Dr. Facilier is expecting us, we can't spend too long."
"You know, she kinda showed us the invisible ink." MaKayla noted. "Who says a little magic can't be helpful?"
"Yeah, Carla, it'll be fun! I'm sure Mister Facilier wouldn't mind."
"Perfect." Cheren smirked confidently. "We're cracking the mystery behind these rocks today!"
"Who are these girls again?" Dipper asked.
"MaKayla, from Sector IC." The timebender responded.
"My name's Wendy." The mage bowed. "This is my cat, Carla."
"Um, no offense, but we kind of already know a Wendy." Dipper said. "So I'm gonna call you… Uhhhh…"
"BLUE GIRL!" Mabel shouted.
"Yeah, that's it! Blue Girl!" Dipper agreed. "Is that okay?"
"Um… I guess so." Wendy looked down and shifted her feet.
Cheren touched her shoulder and passed a smile. "I'll call you Wendy."
The girl flushed. "Heh heh heh."
"You can call ME Grenda!" Grenda popped up between Cheren and Wendy, grinning at him. "Cutiiiieee."
Cheren sweatdropped, looking fearfully. "O-Okay, sure."
"Boy, you're so SWEATY!" Grenda grabbed Cheren in a bone-crushing hug. "I like sweaty guys with glasses. We should call each other and talk about our sweatglands!"
"EW, NO!"
"Congratulations, Cheren, you got your eleventeenth girlfriend!" MaKayla smiled.
"Wow! That's more crushes than Mabel." Dipper remarked.
"I demand to see Cheren's Romance Book!" Mabel shouted.
Cheren shook his head and pushed away from Grenda. "Look, just take us to this bunker!"
"Candy, Grenda, hold the fort." Dipper ordered as they piled out. "We'll call you in case we run into trouble."
"Oh-ho, that's his excuse." Grenda eye-rolled.
"Want to look at Dipper's Internet history?" Candy smiled.
"Hot dog!" Grenda perked.
The band of kids headed downstairs and to the exit, passing an old man with a muscular body, black tux, and square glasses, who was stacking items on shelves. "Bye Grunkle Stan, we're going to investigate a secret bunker for clues about the Apocalypse!" Dipper told him quickly.
"Okay, kids, be back by dinner!" He didn't look at them, and the kids shut the door on the way out. "Wait… What?"
The Pines Twins led the group not too far away from the shack, to a seemingly ordinary pine tree. "Me and Mabel were playing Sit-on-the-Pinecones, and when she grabbed that branch up there, this secret stairway opened."
"For the record, I won the contest." Mabel grinned. "Now stand aside, kids. I'll flip that switch with my-" She whipped out her signature device, "GRAPPLING HOOK!"
"Won't it be easier for me to fly up and-" Carla said.
"Too late, my Mabel urges are acting!" The Pines sister shot the grappler up, bounced off the lever-branch, and "OW!" hit Dipper's head.
The ground shook slightly as the space around the tree sunk down. Wooden plank stairs popped out of the side in spiral fashion, leading into a passage. Dipper switched on his flashlight and led the way down. (Play "Dungeon 5" from Ib.)
Act 2: The Author's Bunker
The group wandered into an abandoned laboratory, with dust-covered knick-knacks, opened food cans, and waste drums. "This is the desk I found that laptop." Dipper indicated. "And we found a tunnel through there." He pointed at a sealed hatch with a turnable wheel.
"I wonder what all these things do?" Wendy asked, taking a ray gun-like device and studying it.
"It may not be worth finding out, don't touch those." Carla told her.
"Imagine how much Grunkle Stan could make for this." Mabel thought aloud, tapping a spider in a corner. She gasped with an idea, "Maybe HE'S the author!"
"Heheh, sure, Mabel. …?" While examining the desk, Dipper discovered a small slip of paper behind the back-right leg, against the wall. He picked it up and read the little writing. "'I knew this was a bad idea. I trusted him, but he lied to me. I need to escape someplace where he can't find me, but I won't be able to come back. I must hide the journals someplace safe and sever connections with my family. To my son, Ruford, if you find this, know that I love you. I know your power will be a great gift to everyone.' …Well-p, I am officially scared out of my wits." Dipper balled the paper and flicked it under the table.
"Look, we won't find anything unless we keep going." Cheren said impatiently, standing by the tunnel.
"Yeah." Dipper held the flashlight against his shoulder while skimming the journal, following Cheren, who crawled into the tunnel first. "Cheren, wait!" Dipper stopped him. "This is a pipe maze. We have to follow a specific path or we'll keep going in circles." The specific path was highlighted with white ink.
"How would that be possible?" Carla questioned.
"Maybe the Author's a wizard." Wendy said.
"There are a lot of spells in here, I'm expecting that." Dipper said. On his instruction, they crawled left, right, left, straight, right right, straight, left, left, straight, left, we're out of there. However, Mabel noticed a group of numbers on the tunnel's side and quickly wrote them down: 1 / 7-15-4 / 23-8-15 / 23-9-12-12 / 3-8-1-14-7-5 / 20-8-5 / 23-15-18-12-4.
They were in a small room in which the floor, walls, and ceiling were made up of tiles, all with strange symbols. "I get the feeling we'll need to touch certain ones." MaKayla said. "We shouldn't move until we're sure-"
"W-Whoa!" Wendy stumbled after climbing out of the tunnel, stepping on a panel that pressed down. The tunnel sealed, and one at a time, the panels began to rise from the structure, threatening to crush them.
Dipper hurriedly flipped the pages, finding one with these same symbols, though some were highlighted by white ink. "Quick, press these buttons!" Carla saw one on the ceiling, she flew up, nimbly dodged the rising panels, and pressed. Cheren saw one across the room, he shot his Hookshot to press it. MaKayla saw a symbol on the floor to her right, nearly blocked by rising panels, she crawled underneath with her skinny form, pressed it, and escaped. Mabel frantically hopped around the panels and saw it in a corner, "Got it!" She pressed, returned to her friends, and they barely escaped through an opened passage.
The operatives gasped for breath, seeing the panels completely clutter the room. Worried, Dipper phoned his wristwatch, "Candy, Grenda. Can you guys hear me?"
Candy's image was staticky. "Yah, Dipper, is something wrong?"
"Sigh, good, we still have reception. …Barely. W-We're fine, but if we don't call in an hour, come with back-up. Hopefully there's another way out." Transmission ended. Dipper got his flashlight and journal, "Hokay, let's keep going."
They walked down a stairway into a vast, underground cavern, where a still river lay. The stairs let off on a small islet with spider webs and stalagmites. Mabel discovered a code engraved on a stalagmite: 1-14 / 1-18-20-8-19-20 / 13-21-19-20 / 3-18-4-1-20-5. An arrow sign read Switch and pointed down a left cavern. However, there was no way to cross the river. "I'll go look for it." Wendy offered. "Step aside, you guys." She blasted twin air blasts behind her and raced across the river at super speed, sidestepping to dodge falling stalactites and finding a tall island at the end. She grinded up and around the rails leading up it, suddenly stopping herself before she went off the edge. She stepped on a switch and raced back to her friends, finding that a pathway of barrels floated up from the water.
"Nice job." Cheren smiled at her, and Wendy blushed before joining her friends over the barrels. They reached another tall island pillar and climbed its rugged side. Once on top, they overlooked a trio of floating platforms, which had bladed wings spiraling around and around. MaKayla tossed Time Bombs to slow their speed, making it safer to jump, but good timing still helped them. There was nothing between this current platform and the other, except for the big swinging axes. Mabel aimed her grappling hook, waited for each axe to be away, then fired, grabbing a stalagmite on that ledge to pull herself over. She pulled a lever, forcing the axes to stop, and the kids were able to hop across them.
They then had to sidle across a thin ledge between close walls, still very high above the river. Dipper poked Cheren and showed him the journal. An ordinary line had highlighted white marks, possibly indicating the parts of this ledge that are safe to stand on. Dipper memorized the pattern, so he jumped the first chunk of the ledge and confirmed its solidity; he almost fell, so Carla flew in front and kept him on. He jumped or sidled his way across the ledge, and the others mimicked the action; though since Wendy was a bit more clumsy, Carla held her hands and floated to keep the blue-haired steady.
"Anyone starting to wonder how the Author got through all this?" Dipper asked as they wandered into a dark hallway, using his flashlight. They were in a decaying library of sorts, the shelves were filled with many old books. Whether they were for the Author's research or for collection, they couldn't say. Cheren decided to take a dark-pink book off a shelf and read its contents.
The … of Making Pa…ies To a …Sick Child's … Parents … Dependence
The ink was much too smeared, so he put the book back. Mabel pulled out a red book, then noticed a 14 on the wall behind it. She pulled the rest down to unveil the new code. 6-15-18 / 14-15-23 / 8-5 / 19-12-5-5-16-19. "I wonder if he had any books on the Apocalypse." MaKayla said, skimming the faded titles.
"This practically is the Apocalypse." Dipper remarked somberly.
The earth began shaking, they felt their bodies lift off the ground for a few seconds. "I really felt it that time!" MaKayla rose her voice. "I feel a powerful source of energy down this cave. This way." She eagerly ran forward first, Dipper aimed the flashlight her direction as they all hurried after. The further they went into its depths, the more they hoped they would find a way out soon. (End song.)
In the center of this dungeon, a short boy with a blue tuxedo and huge white pompadour carefully set the blue energy cube, known as the Tesseract, into a slot. He closed the hatch, flipped a few mini switches on the panel, and two tubes of energy sparked to life. A triangular machine with a hole in its center glowed to life, ready to channel its power into the center. Li'l Gideon pulled off his goggles to look. "Is it workin'?"
Bill Cipher, the golden, one-eyed intangible triangle, rubbed his nonexistent chin. "Yep, I think it is."
"There! I helped you fixed your machine, Demon!" Gideon yelled demandingly. "Now you have to help me!"
"Relax, kid, a deal's a deal. But there's something I wanna do with this, first. Our guests should be arriving right about… NOW!" He threw his attention to the entrance, when the operatives rushed in.
"There's people already here!" Wendy exclaimed.
"It's Little Gideon!" Dipper pointed. "And… BILL? !"
"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite saps, Dipper and Mabel Pines!" The twins glared at Bill's comment. "And who are these, some friends of yours? Ahh, yes: Cheren Uno, MaKayla King, Wendy Marvell, and of course, Charle!"
"It's Carla!" the cat shouted.
"How do you know our names?" Cheren glared.
"Please, anybody can figure out THOSE names. I happen to know lots of things! LOTS OF THINGS." His voice turned deep and malicious, his body displaying images of Malladus, the World Leaders, and a black dragon. Bill resumed to normal and spoke, "Very nice of you twerps to join us this evening. I was a bit afraid when Dipper started snooping around this bunker. Thankfully, he couldn't get far in without you bunch."
Cheren drew his sword, "What kind of creature are you? !"
"I am BILL CIPHER!" The triangle projected a wheel behind him, with many symbols. "One of the Six Demon Saints! Master and creator of dreams, keeper of secrets, and knower of knowledge! And this is my little sidekick, Li'l Gideon."
"I AM NOT your sidekick!" Gideon screamed. "I specifically called you back to help with Master President's plan!"
"Master President?" Cheren questioned.
"What're you up to, Gideon? How did you get out of prison?" Dipper demanded.
"You'd love to know that, wouldn't you?" Gideon smirked. "Well, for your information, my bail was paid by a special 'friend', you might say. In return, he wanted me to steal Journal 2 back and get in contact with this one-eyed demon."
"In return, Gideon's been helping me handsomely." Bill followed. "Thanks to his resources, he was able to find the right material to fix the machine you see behind me. The only thing missing was the perfect power core to function such a device. Luckily, a recently-departed god has provided me just what I needed!"
"And what does this machine-of-the-hour do?" MaKayla asked.
"I'm glad you asked, Miss Thinks-She-Knows-Everything. My friends, you are looking at the greatest, and only worthwhile achievement the Author of those journals has created. Behold, the Multiverse Portal!"
"Dun-dun-duuuuun!" Mabel sang.
"A Multiverse Portal?" Carla questioned.
"A portal for travelling multiple universes." Bill spoke matter-of-factly. "For you slow-brained kittens."
"And why would you want something like this?"
"Yes, Bill. Wah DID Ah have to fix this for you?" Gideon asked.
"Haven't you ever wished to travel the multiverses? To see what other worlds are like compared to our own? I know the Author sure did!" Bill's eye half-closed in a giddy fashion. "That's why he asked me to help him build this machine to begin with! He wrote all about me in his journals. Yup, there's no person you can trust greater than Bill Cipher! And if you still doubt this wonder, how about we just SHOW YOU. Turn it on, Gideon!"
The white-haired child approached a large lever in the corner. "Hold on a second!" Carla spoke up. "A machine that transports to multiple dimensions can't just do so willy-nilly. A device of this magnitude has to burn and consume terrific amounts of energy! This town is already facing gravity distortions, that's just a small issue. We're talking about tearing through our very dimension, maybe even beyond! A machine like this could cause very hazardous effects for the Space-Time Continuum."
"Hmmmm, you make a good point." Bill tapped his 'chin'. "You're forgetting something though:" The spirit turned red and fiery, "I DON'T CARE."
Cheren and Wendy ran to attack Gideon, but the boy stretched a hand forward, caught them in a psychic grip, and blew them back. "Oh yes, Gideon's a psychicbender. Did you know that?" Bill remarked.
MaKayla froze Gideon in time and attempted to run and kick him, but Bill flew in her path and stared with his wide single eye.
A woman was stabbed in the heart, and her blood soaked the floor of the classroom. Four-year-old MaKayla stared with horror.
MaKayla fell to her knees, and Gideon blasted her to the others with psychic. The white-haired child shook and channeled his power, causing the ground beneath the operatives to crumble. "WAAAAAAHHHHHH!" They fell in. With that, Gideon used psychic to pull the large lever. The triangular machine sparked as a vortex formed within the center.
The kids hit the ground in the bottom of a huge underground chamber. A chasm was on the sides around this floor. "Ouch. Is everyone okay?" Cheren asked.
"I've survived worse." Dipper said, wiping blood from his nose. "We've gotta get back up there and stop that machine! Who knows what Bill's planning to do with it?"
"Wendy, use a Shrinking Spell on everyone and I can carry you up." Carla said.
"Great idea, Carla!" Wendy held up her wand. "Hold still, everyone."
"Hahahahahahaha!" Li'l Gideon hovered above them using his power. "Y'all aren't getting out of here that easy! My other friend will see to that!" Gideon pulled out a dog whistle and blew.
"AAAAAHH!" Carla clamped her ears shut and fell, but none of the others were effected.
They all heard a distant cry that sounded like it belonged to an overgrown bug. Their suspicions were true, for a huge, alien-like creature with slimy white skin and a round mouth crawled through the hole above, and hopped to the floor. Its left arm was bulkier than its right, and it stood upright on four legs. "What kind of creature is that?" Dipper asked.
"Friends, I'd like you to meet the Shape Shifter." Bill Cipher announced, floating beside Gideon. "I named him Glen. He used to go with the Author on his adventures, and he's seen many a monster. How about I show him a few more?" He flew in front of the creature, and Bill's body displayed brief images of several familiar monsters. Glen demonstrated his power by changing into Mukak, Dodongo Dragon, Xitsflicks, and then Grenda.
"WAAAAAH!" Mabel cowered behind Dipper. "It's hideous! !"
"Um, Mabel? …" Dipper wanted to question her judgment.
"Go ahead, Glen!" Gideon cheered. "Show these mouth-breathers who's boss!"
"Whatever you say, Ice Cream Topping!" Glen said with Grenda's voice. (Play "Desire for All That Is Lost" from Kingdom Hearts II!)
Boss fight: Glen
"Reducio!" Wendy cast the Shrink Spell, but Glen morphed into Army Dillo and bounced it upward with his armored shell.
"Whoa!" Gideon dodged the blast. Glen came out of his shell and laughed at the operatives. Still in armadillo form, Glen curled into the metal shell and rolled at the kids, who all jumped aside except for MaKayla. The timebender slowed the giant wheel in time, nearly stopping it in place, though it threatened to push her off the edge. Wendy blew a cyclone from her mouth and successfully knocked it down, but Glen transformed into a glob of water and slithered away, emerging to be Chaos 6. The overgrown water insect lashed its axe tail at the lot while they dodged, until Mabel grabbed ahold and let it lift her above. She took out some Ice Candy and threw it into the liquid body, freezing it solid. Cheren blasted M.A.R.B.L.E.s and blew the creature to smithereens.
"Pull yerself together!" Gideon demanded, and the melted ice droplets slithered to a center and reformed the beast, who transformed into Crackjack, the giant psychotic clown jack-in-the-box. The kids scattered again as the monster hopped toward Dipper, grinning madly and trying to stab the boy with its knife. Cheren ran in front of the creature and shot his Hookshots into its mouth. Glen chomped his teeth on the chains, keeping them inside, but Cheren passed the items to Wendy, who boosted away and caused the jack-in-the-box to topple over. She readied to cast a spell at Glen's head, but was caught in a psychic grip and thrown backward.
"Fine! 'Guess I need to help, too." Gideon decided, taking land on Glen's back when the creature turned into Icipede. The Child Psychic held the operatives in place while Glen crawled around to snap them in his claws, Cheren used his Hookshots to rescue Dipper and MaKayla. He then drew his bow and launched Fire Arrows to melt its various ice chunks, so the creature transformed into Dogadon and flew high in the air. The dragon rammed into the cave's walls and caused boulders to fall, which Gideon grabbed with his psychic to chuck at the heroes. MaKayla stopped the boulders with her timebending and quickly Rewinded them back, but the Dogadon form changed its front into Army Dillo's shield, protecting himself while the dragonfly wings remained in flight.
"He can merge multiple forms at once?" Cheren observed.
"I have an idea!" Dipper said. "MaKayla, get ready to slow them, Carla, fly up from behind." He ran away from the others and yelled, "HEY, GIDEON! How many of those things can you throw? !"
"Enough to finally squash YOU!" Gideon grabbed multiple boulders with psychic and chucked them consecutively.
"NOW!" Dipper yelled, MaKayla slowed the boulders in time, allowing Dipper to jump his way up. Gideon clutched the boy in psychic, but Carla flew up behind and rammed Gideon in the back, knocking him on his front. Dipper was released, so he jumped to the Dogadon's face, the dragonfly shaking furiously, but the action caused Gideon to lose his balance and plummet toward the abyss. He saved himself by floating and landed on the ground, but Dipper dropped from Glen and landed on the Child Psychic, wrestling with him. Gideon threw him off, then blew his whistle to sick Glen on Cheren, in the form of a Moldorm.
"Corpus levitas Diablo Daminium Mondo Vicium!" Gideon read aloud from Journal 2, summoning a group of Redeads from the earth. MaKayla kicked Glen off of Cheren, then helped freeze the zombies in time while the swordsman sliced them up. He flinched and dodged aside when Glen leapt back up in the form of Goht, the giant robotic goat whom Cheren recalled was destroyed by Kyurem, back in Termina. The shape-shifter charged an energy beam in its horns and blasted at them, missing and striking a wall over the chasm, unveiling a secret tunnel. The Goht leaped into the tunnel while Mabel shot her grappling hook onto its horn. "WHOOOAA!" It didn't serve her much, for she was flapping behind Goht while holding the device.
"Mabel!" Dipper cried.
"I'll save her!" Wendy leapt over the pit and chased the creature.
"The fewer, the better!" Gideon stated, grabbing a zombie's remains and chucking at Dipper and Kayla. The psychic hovered in the air and encased himself in a bubble, bouncing around forcefully to crush Dipper, MaKayla, and Cheren. When he attempts to smash the latter again, Cheren holds up his Mirror Shield, causing Gideon to bounce suddenly to the curved ceiling, then against the wall before he flies toward Dipper, his bubble deactivated. The male Pines readies his fist and socks Gideon in the cheek, knocking on his back.
"Ooooo, left hook!" Bill perked up. "Nice punching, Pine Tree!"
"You either help me or stay outta this, Triangle!" Gideon shouted. He shone blue and flew at Dipper, pushing him away, then when Cheren swung his sword down, Gideon blocked it with psychic and pushed the leader back. MaKayla rolled forward and dealt several quick jabs against his stomach before kicking Gideon away. They looked when Wendy leapt back in from the tunnel, holding Mabel by the sleeve, and Glen in the form of Crazy Dillo spiraled after them, creating an explosion of dust after hitting the ground.
Wendy blew the smoke away as they all searched frantically for the shape-shifter. "Huh?" two voices said simultaneously. Two Dippers stared at each other. "Aw, man! Not this bit again!"
"Which one is the REAL Dipper?" Mabel exclaimed.
"I am!" Dipper said.
"No, I am!" Dipper contradicted.
"Why you-!" Naturally, both started to fight.
"I'm not through, yet!" Gideon lit with bright blue, raising Cheren, Wendy, and MaKayla in the air. Mabel looked between the Dippers and Gideon, panicking, but noticed that Carla had snuck behind the psychic.
"Carla! Gideon's ticklish!"
"What?" Gideon looked at her, confused. Seizing the chance, Carla stuck her paws under Gideon's arms and began tickling. "Hahahaha! HAH HA ha ha ha! HAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA—AAAAAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!" His mouth was foaming.
His hostages were released, and Mabel took the chance to take Gideon's whistle, throwing it in the chasm, as well as Journal 2. She flipped through its pages hurriedly. "Look! It says its main form is weak against fire!"
"But which one is it? !" Cheren yelled, holding his sword ready as he watched the Dippers.
"It's him! I mean, me! I mean—GAH, dang it!" The twins rolled on the ground, punching each other.
"Ooh, I know! Show us your birthmark!" Mabel beamed.
"Birthmark, what birthmark?" a Dipper asked.
"She means this one!" Dipper held up the hair blocking his forehead, revealing the Big Dipper mark.
"HEEE-YAH!" Cheren spun and stabbed his sword into the other Dipper. Glen made its horrendous bug-like cry, transforming into Ripto, Dracula, a blue-skinned girl, screaming with their voices for that time, then reverted to his slimy white form, oozing green blood. Cheren grabbed his bow, aimed a Fire Arrow, and loosed.
"Engorgio!" Wendy hit the arrow with a spell, increasing its size, and swallowing the creature in bright flames. The monster cried in the most agonizing pain, stumbling backwards and falling into the abyss. Li'l Gideon was still cracking up under Carla's tickle torture, so MaKayla made the final blow and stomped him in the stomach, knocking the laugh-sick boy unconscious. (End song.)
"All RIGHT!" Dipper exclaimed, hugging Mabel tight. "We have Journal #2!"
"We can't celebrate now, we have to stop that machine!" Carla reminded.
"Right!" Wendy nodded seriously. "Everyone, stand together." They all stood in a bunch as Wendy held her wand above. "Reducio!" They were all zapped to a small size, leaving Carla to pick them up and fly them to the hole they fell in through.
Once on solid ground, Wendy re-expanded them all, and MaKayla used her timebending to repair the hole into solid ground again. "It's too late, brats!" Bill Cipher declared. The cave was quaking furiously as the Multiverse Portal was spiraling its rainbowy colors. "The portal is almost at 100% capacity! A gateway to endless universes will be mine to use as I please!"
"Not if we shut it down, first!" Wendy ran forward.
"Wendy, wait, it might ex-" MaKayla tried to chase her.
A quick, but sudden energy pulse bursted from the machine, knocking them all down. When Wendy and MaKayla recovered, the girls found their selves floating off the ground, towards the spiraling vortex. "MAKAYLA!" Cheren screamed.
"WENDY!" Carla yelled.
MaKayla was about to fly in first, Wendy reached and grabbed her hand, Cheren jumped and grabbed Wendy's other hand. The Supreme Leader held tight and struggled to pull back. Dipper grabbed and pulled Cheren, followed by Mabel, and Carla in the very back. "NNNN!" Gideon teleported back into the room and blasted them with psychic. The line of friends was forced to release.
"WAAAAAH!" MaKayla and Wendy vanished into the portal.
"MAKAYLA!" "WENDY!" their friends cried again.
The Transportifier began sparking again, the earth quaking at the force of its power. The vortex quickly shrank into nothingness, all of the lights disabled, and the machine was shut down completely. "Yuh-oh… this is problematic." Bill said.
"Whaddyou MEAN 'problematic'? !" Gideon shouted.
"I thought I memorized the blueprint, but the Author must've done something. It didn't stay on as long as it used to."
"I'm TIRED of working on this thing! ! We've gotta get back to Washington NOW!"
"Don't worry, Gideon, we've done enough for today." Bill told him calmly. "I think our friends got a worthy demonstration."
"What did you DO to them? !" Carla demanded. "Where's Wendy? !"
"If my calculations are correct, your friends have been zapped to another dimension! What dimension specifically, I can't say. But I'm afraid you won't be SEEING THEM anytime soon. Not until this machine is fixed."
Cheren whipped his sword out, "BRING THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!"
"Sorry, kid, but that's beyond my power at the moment!" Bill said perkily. "But don't worry, I'm sure your friends will survive… as long as they make it through the Dimensional Byway, ha ha haaaa! I'd love to stay and mess with you more, but fighting would be pointless. You can't destroy me, and I don't want to destroy you. YET. See you down the road." A wall of sapphire flames sprouted behind the spirit. "Oh, and remember: Reality is an illusion, we're all figments of a fanfiction writer's mind, watch lots of football, bye!" And in a blinding flash, Bill was gone. Gideon had vanished as well.
Carla solemnly approached the machine, staring at the barren portal. "Wendy…" She fell to her knees, her shiny brown eyes watering. "I knew we shouldn't have come… Why don't you listen to me, Child…"
Mabel came beside her and put a comforting hand on the kitten's back. "I'm sorry, Carla. You know, whenever I'm upset, I talk to my pet, Waddles and pretend like he understands me. But since you're an animal, maybe he could understand you for real."
"Um… thank you, Mabel." Both of them looked at the portal. Carla sighed and calmed herself. "To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm so attached to her. We only met a few months ago, but all that time, I've felt… indebted to Wendy. I feel like I'd sooner die for her than…than let anything happen."
Cheren bore the same solemn look as he stared at the portal. He wasn't personally close to MaKayla, but why shouldn't he be concerned for all of his operatives the same way. "I'm sorry, Cheren." Dipper told him sympathetically. "I wish there was something we could do."
Cheren remembered something. "Your journal had blueprints to this machine, didn't it?"
"Yes, but only part of it. We still need Journal 1. I'm not sure where it is."
Carla stomped her paw and looked at them with pure austerity in her eyes. "Find the other journal as quickly as possible. If it tells us how to fix this machine, make it your Number One priority!"
"We'll try our best, Carla, but I'm not even sure if the other journal is IN Gravity Falls." Dipper replied. "The Author travelled to Germany, so the journal could be hidden in any-"
"Mister Cheren, you're the commander of an army of children with access to a variety of technologies, according to Dr. Facilier." Carla spoke matter-of-factly. "You should expend every available resource at your disposal to finding this other journal. Can you do that?"
Cheren didn't want to admit that half of their treehouses were being taken over by apes. And nearly every other sector was unavailable, everyone was stressing and scrambling over the Apocalypse. …Cheren smiled promisingly and gave a thumbs-up. "You have my word. We'll save both MaKayla AND Wendy. Promise."
"Hold on, Dipper!" Mabel spoke up. "What about this laptop?" She pulled out the broken device.
"Mabel, of course!" Dipper spoke elatedly. "Maybe the Author left back-up blueprints on it, o-or something about the dimension they went to."
"Huh? Actually, I was gonna say we beat the machine with this laptop and see if it comes on. But yeah, your stuff works!"
"It doesn't actually look that broken." Carla observed, walking closer. "If you had tools in the Mystery Shack, I could easily fix it myself."
Dipper and Mabel's wristwatches beeped. They answered and heard Candy's French accent. "Dipper, Mabel, Teen Ninjas have appeared in the forest! They could be looking for you!"
"What? What could they want?" Dipper panicked.
"You don't think Gideon called them, do you?" Mabel asked.
"If he did, they might be able to find this bunker."
"Isn't there a shortcut outta this place?" Cheren asked, feeling around the wall. He noticed a small compartment, and opened to find a terminal. "What's this?"
Dipper quickly searched Journal 3, finding a picture of the tree that hid the secret bunker. The bunker's secret entrance was depicted with invisible ink, and Dipper noticed a tiny code in the top-left corner, with the same ink. "Cheren, see if this can work: 1017118."
Cheren inputted the numbers, then pushed Enter. A secret door with a ladder unveiled beside the terminal. "It worked! You guys stay down here, I can take care of the ninjas."
He climbed the ladder out of a secret hatch in the woods that was concealed under some bushes. He closed it and quickly hurried through the forest, finding a small band of Teen Ninjas flying around the trees on jetshoes. "Dude, we looked everywhere. I don't see any operatives." A teen with long orange hair and a lumberjack hat said. "I think Gideon was just trying to punk us. You know how brats are."
Cheren did know a few Wendys as operatives, but none personally, so he sort of forgot at first: Wendy Corduroy was a TND operative from Sector O, who was entrusted with protecting Sector GF's secret. But it looks like she had to keep her cover when the ninjas were called to Gravity Falls. Still, for the sake of differentiating, he would call her Corduroy. "Guess again, Wendell." A nearby, red-haired teen said (hey, that name works, too). "I'm sensing a powerful body of chi nearby! It's, sniff sniff, kind of hot! It's over… there!" Karin pointed giddily in Cheren's direction.
The white-haired half-Fishman, Suigetsu Hozuki hovered above. "Well, isn't this a find, the Supreme Leader out for a little stroll."
"Can I ask what you're doing here?" Cheren clutched his sword.
"Doing stuff that's none of your business! !" Karin retorted hotly.
"Our boss sent us here to help one of his benefactors." Suigetsu said, holding his own large sword. "I guess it was true. The same kid who attacked the Corporate Presidents hasn't gotten his fill. I guess we better do somethin'." He shot down at Cheren and swung his sword, Cheren clashed back and attempted to slice Suigetsu, but he flew up.
"HAAAAH!" Karin shot down for some fast-pace punches and kicks, Cheren took blows before jumping away and throwing his Bananarang, but the girl flew up and dodged, then avoided Cheren's arrows with her Observation Haki. Before he knew it, Cheren was encased inside a bubble of water that originated from Suigetsu's water-made arms.
"Whoa, dude, I thought we were gonna capture 'em, not drown!" Corduroy said with concern.
"That was before we found out this kid was Supreme Leader! This kid's the worst troublemaker of all of them. And the minute we silence him in a water grave," Cheren was furiously struggling to escape the water, "we'll be in for the promotion of a lifetime."
Suigetsu's water suddenly boiled, so he quickly released to avoid evaporating. Cheren was lit on fire, having gone into Demon State. Suigetsu growled and lashed arms-made-into-Water Whips at him, but Cheren grabbed them both and made them bubble, "Aaah!" forcing Suigetsu to pull away. He whipped his attention to Karin, zipped up, and slashed her armor to pieces, letting her hit the ground.
"Tagging out, man!" Corduroy cried, retreating. A swarm of Teen Ninjas revealed their selves from behind the pine trees, narrowing their sights on the flaming child of anger. They flew at him, Cheren raised his sword as it shone with vicious flames—and everything stopped.
Cheren's fire vanished, his anger replaced with confusion. Everything had stopped, from the flapping butterflies to the jetshoes' engines. Everything fell dead quiet. Was this another one of Gravity Falls' mysteries?
Cheren heard crunching in the grass—another sound, and turned around. A familiar man in a purple cape, pale skin under brown hair, and a blue shirt with a clock on it, held a scepter with a clock for a head. "Mr. King?" Cheren spoke.
Jagar held a finger by his mouth, gesturing a 'shush'. He held his cape open and reached to his back pocket. He pulled out a brown book, with a golden, six-fingered hand icon with a "1" on it.
"Journal #1…" Cheren gazed with shock. "Why would you have-"
"I'll explain why later." Jagar said calmly. "Let's entrust this to your friends so they can repair that machine and bring my daughter back." He calmly approached Cheren and gave him the journal. "I'll erase all these teens' memories so they'll forget why they came." He turned around and walked away. "Afterward, I'd like you to come back to my house. I want to discuss something with you."
"Wh…What?"
"I need to explain to you… why we can't let the Twenty Keys come together."
Washington; White House
"Wah, Little Gideon, it's a pleasure to see you again." U.S. President McGarfield swerved his chair around, smiling charmingly at his miniscule partner, who was almost totally hidden behind his office desk. "I hope you didn't run into any 'problems' in that there Gravity Falls."
"Would wittle old me wun into any problems?" Gideon spoke with an adorable face. "Whatever would you mean, Master President?"
"Nothin' of the sort." James brushed the air. "So I trust that our special 'friend' is cooperating?"
"Behavin' like a girl in ballet class. Ah must say I had mixed feelings about working with Bill again, but he's been mighty fine help. This Author was tellin' the truth about him. There ain't no one you can trust better than Bill Cipher!"
Close to the White House was President James' Elementary School for the Seriously Uneducated. It was the quietest, most peaceful school you would ever find in the world, because all of the children were asleep. They were, however, paying close attention in class, which took place entirely in the Subconscious. Everyone looked half-awake, the dimension was entirely black-and-white, and wobbly. There was only one teacher in the entire school.
"Great job so far, class." Bill Cipher spoke, holding his golden cane in both hands. "But let's try it ONE more time. Repeat after me: Ahem. 'The World Government is our friend.'"
"The World Government is our friend." They droned.
"'We can live in bliss under the Government's watchful eye.'"
"We can live in bliss under the Government's watchful eye."
"'America is the Government's example. We must stand to be the greatest country.'"
"America is the Government's example. We must stand to be the greatest country."
"'The New World Order should not be feared. All hail the New World Order.'" Bill's eye was peering through their souls.
"The New World Order should not be feared. All hail the New World Order."
So yeah, almost all our favorite Gravity Falls hoo-ha. X) Anyways, yes, this stage plays a pretty integral part of the storyline, the Multiverse Portal will be extremely important. Unfortunately, that importance will only be seen in the DLC. XP Next time, we're going to meet the main character of the Presidents Saga; a certain somebody we haven't seen since Frozen Saga. Stay tuned.