The morning came quicker than expected, with the sun barely risen not everyone was awake but the ones who were all tried to keep close to their usual morning rituals
"Hmmgh what time is it?" Ruby asked taking a seat at the kitchen table while rubbing her eyelids; she wore some old man sweatpants and her blouse much like her mother hoping the bag of clothes they all found was at least washed before being put into storage, next to her was the younger Fletcher now named Flores; still wearing his blue hoodie and black sweatpants, and on the other side was the older Fletcher who kept his name; wearing a black t-shirt a size too big and the same black pants from yesterday he's white cloak still hanging to his shoulders, the both of them slowly eating a bowl of cheap cereal
"A little past seven" Her mother said at the stove the smell of pancakes wafting through the air, next to her Stan sipped his morning coffee whilst reading the paper
"How was your sleep?" Her mother asked looking over, her eyes narrowing slightly making Ruby quickly check herself over for anything unusual
"Fletcher, Flores can you both go one second without glaring at each other please?" peeking at the boys Ruby watched them turn away in opposite directions still chewing the cereal with as much force as they could muster
"Sorry Mrs Rose" they both said like a child caught dipping in the cookie jar, something Ruby knows all about
"It's alright, just enjoy your breakfast please" Ruby felt like her world has come to a crawl, sitting at the chair in pure silence after her mother had chewed out two almost perfect strangers who continued to disobey her with every second she looked away only making Ruby grow more nervous in case she caught them
"You heard her kids stop threatening each other" Stan said sipping his coffee making Fletcher scoff
"I am not a child"
"and yet you continue to act like one" Stan replied making Fletcher do an eye-roll only proving his point, Fletcher went to the sink, his bowl immediately taken by Summer
"I've got it sweetie just try and get some sleep today" Nodding gratefully Fletcher left towards the lounge room where he and his twin had spent the night
"Didn't sleep much either Flores?" Summer asked catching Ruby's attention
"Were you both looking for the girl screaming last night, I thought we were being attacked at first" She said with a some-what awkward smile hoping that he'd return it; but only received a wall of stone
"No we-I don't feel like sleeping at night" He explained making her cock her head to the side
"Are you afraid of the dark or something?" She asked innocently, Summer managed to catch the giggle before it left her throat but Stan pinched the bridge of his nose snorting from the effort it took to not wake up the entire house, Flores merely stopped mid-spoonful, his eyes darting to her oblivious ones filled with malice
"It's alright, I was scared of the dark till I was eleven" She said hoping it'd cheer him up a little, instead she watched him immediately stand up and leave without a word he's knuckles turning white
"It's alright sweetie, how about you go wake up the twins for a nice big stack of pancakes?" Summer said reaching for Flores' discarded bowl with one hand and another on Ruby's shoulder giving it a light squeeze, Ruby kept her eyes on the floor but nodded anyway standing to go wake up the kids, Summer just brought the bowl back to the sink whilst Stan took an empty chair
"See that's why I didn't sit in the middle" He said turning a page
"They're not bad boys, I mean it'd be a little unnerving if I was stuck in a house with my other self" She said returning to her post at the stove, flipping another three pancakes onto the plate; immediately adding more batter
"You know you're not their mother right?" Stan asked raising a brow at the woman who merely glanced back
"I know but if we're going to be living together, I'd rather go to sleep without worrying about them killing each other, any of them" She said remembering that Six is still a factor whether or not he shows up from that basement anytime soon
"I get it, I especially don't need the kids hearing they're shouting matches when I'm not around" Stan replied
"Neither does Ruby, she may be the same age as Flores but if she's anything like me she's probably still a bit too innocent, for those kinds of words" Stan dropped the paper leaning back into his chair to face Summer better
"If ya want results I'd suggest a bit of a hands-on approach"
"That won't work if my daughter Yang taught me anything it's that stubborn children tend to get creative when it comes to getting what they want" She said remembering the last plan Yang tried with creating a very life-like painting of cookies that she shoved into the jar, forgetting that Summer would open it eventually
"Maybe, Maybe not either way I prefer to do things the old-fashioned way" Stan said popping his knuckles
"You're not gonna try and belt them are you?!" Summer gasped raising a hand to her mouth, forcing him to wave his hands like he was trying to blow out a fire
"Are you crazy the one in the cape would kill me, No I'm just gonna do what my old man did when Ford and I started fighting" He said easing her nerves and reminding her that Fletcher is still enough of a threat to keep her on the ropes
"And what's that?"
"Stick 'em' in a boxing ring and let them duke it out!"
"That's so much worse, Fletcher will kill him!"
"No, he won't, they're the same person remember if he killed the kid he'd just kill himself and if he does, either way, problem solved!" At that moment Ruby returned with the younger Pines twins in tow
"Grunkle Stan, can we go see Sparkie today?" Dipper asked hopefully as Mabel jumped up on a chair, a knife and fork magically appearing in her hands
"No" Stan replied ignoring the boys downcast look
"Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes!" Mabel chanted the smell of food distracting her from the conversation, When the plate of fluffy white discs made its way to her she stabbed it with a knife tearing it apart, the other half falling back on the plate which she smacked her face on
"Mabel stop trying to be the pig" Stan said gruffly, standing up to scoot his seat to Ruby, he received a 'thank you' as Summer just grabbed a cloth cleaning the girl's face of syrup as they laughed
"Oh come now Stanley, how could you say that to this little ball of sunshine!" She cooed pinching Mabel's cheeks and making her squeal in laughter trying to hide her face
"Because she's hanging with that pig too much, if this keeps up I'll have to explain to her parents why she keeps trying to pee outdoors"
"Too late for that" Dipper said smirking to himself, only getting a kick to his side in response when Summer started tickling the shrieking girl
"Ow Mabel!" He said glaring at his sister
"Sorry Bro-Bro, I guess you were just a casualty in war" She responded still smiling from Summers's onslaught, with a mischievous smirk she took a bite of her pancakes and chewed it into mush showing it to Dipper who pushed a hand to her chest trying to keep her away
"Ew Mabel, that's so gross, stop!" He laughed as she started chomping as loud as she could a bit dropping to the floor, causing Stan to narrow his eyes at her
"Alright that's enough kids, your Uncle worked hard for this food so you're going to eat every last bite" Summer said lifting Mable off of Dipper and returning her to her seat getting two nods in return
"Yes Mrs Rose" They said Summer just ruffled their heads
"Now what do we say to Stan?" Summer prompted, the twins turned to him
"Thanks Grunkle Stan" They said again simultaneously cutting into the pancakes instead of questioning his dumbstruck expression, his jaw seeming hit the ground as he's eyes grew wider than dinner plates
"Thanks Mr Pines" Ruby said cutting into her stack, helping return him bit by bit to reality
"Y-yeah uh no problem kids" He responded after a minute if anyone noticed they ignored it, taking his paper and mug Stan made his way to leave the kitchen torn between being annoyed and grateful
"You okay Stan?" Summer asked turning around he swept a hand through his hair
"I just, how did you do that?" He asked
"Do what?" She replied tilting her head slightly
"Y'know get through to them like that, I usually have to threaten with keeping them in the house before they even start to listen to me"
"They're kids Stan, not convicts, just let them have a little fun, Childhood doesn't last forever you know" She replied
"Good idea I'll show them how to fleece some schmucks tomorrow, it'll be perfect!" He exclaimed rubbing his hands together as if money would appear from the friction alone
"Uh no, how about letting them go see 'Sparkie' was it?" He groaned rubbing his eyes
"It's some T-Rex they found frozen in tree sap, they think if they talk to it enough it'll imprint on them, Mabel's been wasting all her yarn trying to knit it a sweater" He explained making Summer smile even though she had no idea what a T-rex is
"Exploration that's perfect, just let them go I'll send Ruby with them so if anything happens they'll be fine" Watching him look for the answer in the ceiling felt a little strange but eventually he just sighed and trudged over to the kitchen door
"Hey kids" Perking up all three looked at him
"If Ya want, you can go see Sparkie" Cringing at the shriek of excitement from the twins, he watched Mabel pull out a 'blueprint' of the giant lizard's sweater and Dipper cough into his first awkwardly trying to avoid Ruby's gaze
"Thanks Grunkle Stan" He said
"I didn't finish, you can go as long as Ruby goes with you" He said pointing at the girl who was suddenly bombarded by the kid's hopeful eyes, unable to break their hearts and with nothing to do…
"Y-yeah no problem" She said hoping this 'Sparkie' person wasn't a big talker
"Yes, Girls' trip!" Mabel yelled pumping her fist
"I'm not a girl!" Dipper yelled slamming his noodle-like arm against the table causing him to wince
"Doesn't matter!" She yelled back raising both fists whilst jumping up on the table making it shake
"Shut the hell up!" A random voice from one of the Fletchers yelled
While her daughter took the twins to see Sparkie, Summer had her own mission to attend to; starting after she returned from the basement
The elevator doors swung open with a hiss, allowing her to step into the much different basement than it was yesterday everything looked wiped down clean, pure chrome reflecting everything around her dozens of contraptions glowing, sparking, some glowing red hot like lava and others covered in a strange amount of frost
Ford sat slumped over the desk a tarp hanging in front of him, walking up to him quietly she peeked over him wondering if his strange muttering was him awake, alas he's glasses fell halfway off his face during his slumber, a red leather-bound book still clutched in his hand, placing down one of the plates in her hands, she fixed his glasses then slid the book out of his grasp; giving it a glance it had a sketched out golden logo of he's six-fingered hand the leather and paper smelling brand new, Summer just placed it on the little bookshelf across from his head closing it without a sound
"Ahhh Mrs Rose-Xiao-Long" She almost jumped out of her skin when a voice spoke far too close without her noticing, Turning around she found Six still wearing the same clothes from yesterday a clipboard in his hand writing something down
"I apologize Mrs Rose-Xiao-Long, I hope I didn't startle you" He said he's voice still devoid of emotion like yesterday as if she were just a test subject he needed to keep calm
"No-No it's fine, just call me Summer" She said her smile not fully reaching her eyes
"I suppose they're for us?" Six asked pointing his pen at the thick stack of pancakes in her hand
"Ah yes sorry I almost forgot" She said placing the last plate down next to the sleeping Ford
"Thank you Summer, I'll ensure Ford gets he's when he wakes up" Unsure how to respond or if she should, Summer nodded then immediately went to the elevator pressing the top floor
A few seconds after the elevator closed Ford opened his eyes, turning around to gaze at the door like Six
"Did it work?" He asked as Six jotted down some more notes and then handed him the clipboard
"I'd say it worked better than expected for an early trial Dr Pines" Six replied watching Ford scan through the papers
"Truly excellent for just a prototype, we could probably finish this by tomorrow morning"
"With their equipment almost finished, how about we look into this problem of yours?" Six proposed getting a nod and Ford pulling Journal 3 from his coat
"Are you sure you know something about Him that could help?" Ford asked handing him the book already opened on Bill Ciphers' page
"Don't worry I've dealt with my fair share of Demons"
"Really, how did that go?"
"Well one of them's upstairs"
After a nice long shower, Summer left the bathroom with a sigh of contentment, the shock of Six getting past her senses washed away into the drain; finished drying her hair she dressed in yesterday's battle dress and left the bathroom almost walking into the kids
"Sorry Mrs Rose, we'll see you later!" Dipper yelled running to the exit as Mabel dragged Ruby by the hand who kept stammering about slowing down
Letting them be, Summer went in the opposite direction towards the living immediately finding who she was looking for
Fletcher swaddled himself in a blanket leaning against the giant skull of some very dangerous-looking creature as Flores lay Face-down towards the TV, the both of them staring into it their eyes beginning to droop; until Summed stepped in front of it
"What gives?" Flores asked lazily not caring about the show all that much anyway like Fletcher who just grunted
"I was thinking we should go out to explore the town?" She said in a chipper tone
"I thought you said to get some sleep?" Fletcher replied
"Take Ruby" Flores added the both of them draping an arm over their eyes
"I did and I would but she's hanging with the twins today, and I'm thinking if you two stay up today you'll fall asleep so fast you won't have to fear the dark"
"I am not afraid of the dark!" They said simultaneously a shot of adrenaline bursting through their veins as well as the blood in their cheeks
"Great, then you both won't have to stay up all night for no reason now go take some showers and come get me when you're ready" Leaving no room for an argument they nodded then groaned the second she left the room
An hour later the trio walked through the streets of Gravity Falls and it being such a small town; everyone waved smiling at the newcomers
"This waving hurts so much it makes my arm want to fall off" Flores said passing another crowd of locals
"Shut up wimp" Fletcher said raising his hood even higher still refusing to wave or greet a single person this entire time, in response Flores immediately elbowed his counterpart in the ribs which prompted Fletcher to shove his younger self back
"Boys Stop Fighting We're here to have a good time not argue" Summer scolded
"Sorry Mrs Rose" they replied still surprising her slightly that they obey her so well
"It's alright boys let's just ah, let's go to the mall" She said the idea almost leaving when she realized that such a small town probably doesn't even have one, looking around she found a makeshift fruit stall next to an old man with a thick gray mustache; leaning back on his lawn chair reading a plain green book
"Excuse me?" Summer said
"Whaddya want?" He replied stiffly not bothering to look up
Sorry, I just want to know where the mall is?" She asked ignoring his gruff tone
"What do I look like a map to you?" He said making her do a double take
"uhhh No?"
"Listen lady if you're not buying, I'm not interes-" He stopped short the second he glanced up seeing the two men on either side of her, standing a whole ft above her sharing the same furrowed brow, clenched jaws, and matching eyes lasering he's skull, The old man watched the one on the left crack his knuckles whilst popping his neck and the one on the right raise an arm from his cloak holding a collapsed blade that extended the second he squeezed it; causing a chill to run down his back
"Oh sorry for bothering you then" She apologized beginning to move away
"NoNoNo No bother at all miss, the mall is just down the street on the very last left" He stammered jumping to his feet
"Oh thank you so much!" Summer said smiling, the men behind her still looking displeased
"Uh Uh here take some fruit, on the house for a beautiful woman like yourself!" He sweated shoving everything into a plastic bag and then handing it to her
"Are you sure this is kinda a lot?" Summer asked the old man's eyes almost buldging when the other two refused to budge an inch, not letting him know whether they were pleased or not
"Of course, of course, I also have this map just give me a sec-" He said pulling out his wallet
"Don't worry about it, we're just exploring for the day, thanks for the fruit!" She said walking off whilst reaching in to inhale a strawberry, Fletcher followed barely noticing his younger self have to keep up a couple of steps
"Let me guess…" He whispered leaning over, matching his 'twins' smile when he pulled out the old man's wallet
"Thirty bucks are you joking?" Flores whispered back, the old man barely having enough cash to get anything worthwhile
"Flores?" Summer called making them straighten their backs, the wallet behind Flores' back
"Yes Mrs Rose?" He replied with a toothy smile mirroring Fletchers, turning around she placed her free hand on her hip
"We're giving that man his wallet back later, understand?" Looking down they mumbled
"Yes Mrs Rose" Instead of further scolding she placed both hands on their hair and ruffled it slightly; forcing Fletcher's hood back
"But thank you for standing up for me, he was kind of a jerk" She said smiling having to balance on her toes to reach their heads but didn't mind the height difference when they smiled back
"Anytime Mrs Rose" Flores said, Fletcher just giving her a small nod
"Alright now let's go to the mall!" She said excitedly a whole new world to explore included the different kinds of dust that could exist, the thought of a teleporting variant exciting her further
In the opposite direction of the town were the Pines twins and their new caretaker slowly rappelling down into the dark pit below; full of more Gravity Falls weirdness
Upon reaching the bottom Ruby held the old lantern the twins brought from their bedroom, following them through the dark they navigated with ease
"So Sparkie lives down here?" Ruby asked watching the shadows dance in the corners of her eyes, it caused her heart rate begin to spike despite her trying remind herself that Grimm didn't exist in this world but to no avail
"Yeah, she's been living in tree sap for the last bajillion years!" Mabel said taking the lead through one random cave mouth after the next
"Why do you think Sparkie's a girl, what if it's a guy!" Dipper retorted causing Mabel to turn around and blow a raspberry with her thumb down
"No dice Dip, she hasn't got that guy junk down there that you have" She said causing both his and Ruby's cheeks to burn beet red
"Gross Mabel I don't want to hear you say that and neither does Ruby!" Dipper yelled as she laughed heartily refusing to pause for a breath
"Mabel stop!" Dipper shouted both he and Ruby a few steps behind
"I-I'm S-Sorry it's j-just-" she tried stopping when her back hit something scaly and sticky; looking up she saw nothing but pitch black until two yellow eyes with black slits opened peering down at her, gulping the giant lizard roared shaking the very ground below them
"RUN!" The second either twin took a step, a Red blur immediately engulfed their vision, the wind almost ripping their faces off, several hard slams that thankfully only jolted the twins until finally pitch darkness
"Wha-what?" Mabel said walking in a circle then falling, unlike Dipper who immediately shuffled till he hit the cave wall emptying his stomach
"You okay Bro-Bro?" Mabel asked wearily trying to soothe the oncoming headache, Dipper just groaned in response he's stomach finally empty
"We're trapped!" Ruby's voice cried out helping Mabel clear her head slightly
"Ruby, Ruby where are you?" Mabel called aimlessly searching the darkness until a hand grabbed her shoulder causing her to shriek
"It's okay Mabel it's just me" Ruby said keeping her grip as the younger girl started chuckling from shock
"Hehe you almost gave me a heart attack" Mabel said the sound of feet shuffling nearby
"Guys, where are you" Dipper asked Ruby managing to grab his shoulder causing him to also shriek, once he stopped Ruby snapped her fingers
"Oh, that was you screaming last night!" She exclaimed he's blushing almost penetrating the dark from how hard Mabel laughed; another roar from the distance silenced that laugh
"What do we do, I can't see in the dark, much less run!" Ruby said her hands holding the siblings in place
"Don't worry Rubes, we know how..to.." Realizing without knowing exactly where they are they couldn't just start running in a random direction; the caves were bigger than what they'd explored much bigger
"What happened to the lantern?" Dipper asked
"I dropped it somewhere along the way" Ruby replied the ground starting to shift slightly below them
"Okay, Okay, Okay, I've got an idea!" Ruby said scooping up each of her charges, taking a few deep breaths
"Woah what are you gonna do?!" Mabel asked as Dipper began struggling in the older girl's grip
"Not again, Not again!" He almost screamed his stomach already churning
"Please don't hurt, Please don't hurt!" Ruby begged, the trio disappearing in a flurry of rose petals and dust the next ten seconds full of crashes and intense wind speeds eventually the ride stopped with a crash the twins getting pinned to the ground
"Ahhhh my braces, I think they shifted!" Mabel shouted
"Argh my stomach" Dipper said hiccuping harshly
"Dipper are my braces okay!" Mabel asked trying to move under the unknown weight
"Yeah they're fine, wait I can see them!" Looking forwards she had done it, Ruby found the exit the thought rushing back to him, turning around slightly even in the dimly lit area Dipper saw the blood running from her nose multiple small amounts of black bumps on her face already promising massive bruising
"Oh my gosh Ruby!" The duo managed to crawl out from underneath her, quickly helping the unconscious girl lay back against the cave wall
"Wait, did she hit the wall or something?" Dipper wondered aloud checking over Ruby's injuries
"Is that what all that jolting was, I thought it was part of her magic powers?" Mabel answered
"Either way, that's the exit right there we just need to…." Dipper trailed off upon noticing a very large footprint that certainly wasn't there before, The both of them gulping the air
"What do we do?" Mabel asked
"I don't know" Mabel looked back to Ruby a crazy idea forming in her head, Reaching behind the girl Mabel stiffly dragged the red box out from her hip barely able to lift one end
"What are you doing?!" Dipper whisper-yelled
"Grab the other end of this, maybe we can scare it off if we shoot at it" Mabel said placing the gizmo on the ground to press a bunch of what she thought were hidden buttons turning out to just be red-coloured bolts
"Mabel are you crazy, we can't shoot a gun especially if we don't know how that thing works!" Dipper said the weapons of the visitors being the first thing they asked, especially Ruby's massive scythe Crescent Rose; Instead of replying Mabel pressed what finally turned out to be a button ejecting the very large magazine
"Just help me do this with your nerd stuff" She said gesturing to the contraption with a sigh Dipper checked the direction of the magazine and worked accordingly slowly but surely he managed to eject the grip and trigger not bothering to find out how the stock works he shoved the magazine back inside
"Alright that should be it" Muttering under his breath, Dipper held one end of the Gun finger on the trigger, as Mabel held the other
"Let's do this, Hey Ugly!" Mabel called out the two of them slowly made their way to the exit, getting closer a snarl from whatever's been trying to find them it's ugly yellow eyes peered at them in the darkness stepping into the light
"Holy…" "...Crap" they said together if Jurassic Park taught them anything it's that Velcoraptors are scarily smart creatures and aren't supposed to be almost ten feet tall, The giant lizard started making a guttural unintelligible sound that took them a second to realize meant this wasn't the one from earlier, the one from earlier appeared from behind the current one and then another coming from somewhere else in the darkness each slightly bigger than the last
"Oh no no no Dipper shoot!"
"At which one?!"
"It doesn't matter just shoot!" Taking a second to strain every muscle in his hand the trigger refused to move a centimeter
"What's going on back there?!" Mabel shouted with each step she took back dwarfed by theirs
"I don't know, I don't know!" He shouted back slapping the side of the weapon
"c'mon c'mon work" Suddenly something clicked inside the gun and the trigger pushed back against his finger
"Wait I got it, I got it!" pulling the trigger a small knob on the side shot forwards with another loud click but without the expected bang, all color drained from Dipper's face turning him paperwhite much like Mabel who stared at the lizard take longer strides towards them opening it's maw
"Dipper do something!"
"I can't" He almost whispered barely reaching her ears
"What?!" she shouted back the weight of the gun finally buckling her arms
"I can't" He repeated, with a horrifying screech the raptor leapt forwards done toying with its prey the twins couldn't cry, scream, or even think both just started at their death silently hoping the other wouldn't feel any pain; the gun was ripped from their grasps dropping them to the floor, with precise finesse they watched the older girl unlock the contraptions complicated inner workings on instinct, the metal expanding from a box into the massive scythe they saw the day before swinging into the lizards eye gouging it out
"Stay behind me!" She ordered flipping the scythe back into the sniper with the stock this time around, she cocked the bolt back and fired blindly the safety already disabled
The lizards stayed away from the one in red especially the one who lost an eye to her; all of them still growling, Ruby kept shooting hoping their skulls weren't any harder than a Grimms but her swollen eyes and lack of light from where they stood didn't tell her if the shots hit their mark regardless, but she could tell they were getting braver stepping closer and closer each second, instead of reloading Ruby shifted it back to its scythe form with a swing narrowly missing another
With her Aura exhausted and the chances of reloading fast enough in her state were too small to risk it, Swinging became more and more desperate as they closed in; one of them the one who's eye she took prepared itself once again with another screech; it leapt forward which Ruby responded in kind hoping to take another eye except she never hit her mark, instead the creature paused in the darkness it's one good eye still visible dilating as it screeched in pain, looking up were another pair of eyes bigger yet somewhat similar to the first; with a crunch she watched her attacker fly into the sunlight crumbling
"Oh my gosh" Dipper said disbelieving
"That's so cool!" Mabel gushed watching their massive friend enter the light its roar shaking the entire cave the sound of a distant mine collapse echoing from its sheer force alone, the raptors backed cornered by the giant dwarfing them by a mile
"Good girl sparkie, get them!" Mabel commanded which the T-rex followed moving in undisturbed by the raptors snapping jaws trying to appear dominant
One tried escaping around their adversary when their backs hit the walls, which Sparkie bashed her head into it sending it stumbling, another tried going behind her getting a mighty wack from her tail the sound of bone crunching and its screech echoing through the cavern When the one missing an eye finally regained it senses it immediately backed away further into the wall as the much larger Sparkie growled then roared even louder than before, the raptor immediately ran and Sparkie let it, knowing she'll get it later
"Sparkie!" perking her head the shiny one ran to her, arms spread past the shouting one in red, lowering her head she received a tiny hug from the girl
"Oh you're such a good girl aren't you, yes you are, yes you are" Mabel cooed scratching under Sparkie's jaw as best she could, the apex predator seemingly purring from the affection
"Just wait until Grunkle Stan sees you, he's going to love my new big softball!" She kept rambling
"So that's sparkie?" Ruby asked compacting crescent rose as Dipper approached
"Yeah, I guess all those visits worked out in the end" Dipper explained
"Mabel you're not keeping her, she'll try to eat everyone!" Dipper continued watching his sister climb atop Sparkies back
"No she won't, she hasn't met Ruby and she's fine...Oh My Gosh Ruby!" Mabel suddenly shouted jumping off Sparkie to run up to the other girl and engulfing her in a hug
"Are you okay?" Mabel asked making Ruby giggle embracing the shorter girl
"Yeah I've had worse surprisingly" She replied smoothing Mabel's hair down
"Well if you're okay enough we should probably-" Dipper started walking up to them getting cut off the second Mabel grabbed his arm dragging him in
"No talking, hug time" She said grinning while squeezing the life out of both of them
"That's. A. Bit. Too. Tight. Mabel. Mable!" Dipper choked out whilst Ruby just included him in the hug, happy they were all okay
A couple of minutes later, Sparkie helped them reach almost halfway up the rope with her head watching them inch upwards
"Don't worry girl, we'll come visit soon, now go show those jerks who's boss!" Mabel yelled down to her scaly friend, not understanding the girl at all but decided to go find a quick meal Sparkie began following the prints in the dark
Reaching the top of the hole that used to be a church, they dusted themselves off stretching in the warm sunlight
"Hey Ruby….Thanks" Dipper said finishing when she saw him rubbing his arm
"For what?"
"For being awesome, you got your scythe and went all bam, bam, pow get outta here!" Mable said with her sound effects punching the air
"Of course guys, just uh let's just not mention the part where you tried to shoot Crescent Rose huh?" Ruby asked awkwardly receiving two zipping gestures over their mouths then throwing away the key
"Your secret is safe with us"
"Mabel you're not supposed to say anything"
"Says who?" Mabel replied already walking away
"Says everybody!" Dipper retorted following his older sibling, Ruby laughed at the memories of her partner back home not hitting as hard as usual thanks to the twins and the warmth of the sunlight seemingly help the pain fade away as she followed the twins through the forest
"Ooooh, what does that one do?" Summer asked pointing at a shining stone behind the glass case, the store clerk's face flat on the glass wishing the day would pass faster
"That's another diamond ma'am and like the others, it doesn't do anything that you've described"
"Oh ok…." Summer said trailing off and looking at another immediately repeating the process
"Please, Please God!" Flores said on his knees banging his head against the glass door of the store as Fletcher stood next to him, meditating on the futility of life, the meaning of death is just being the absence of life, yet life is repeating the same process over and over to avoid death, does that mean death is just being unable to avoid it any longer than what is this right now, unable to avoid death's sweet embrace it's quiet beckoning as Summer asked the clerk another question about Those Fucking Stones, About What He Thinks About The Necklace For Ruby, About How Fucking Retarded That Shitty Little Clerk looks….Wait
"Fletcher?" Summer called again to the saner-minded twin who shook his head furiously
"Pardon me?" He replied walking up to her and wiping away a thin trickle of sweat from his forehead to greet the Rose who held up a silver chain necklace the red pendant in the middle matching her namesake
"Do you think Ruby would like this, I thought she'd like a little something to remember me by?" wiping his eyelids tiredly Fletcher just nodded
"Sure Mrs Rose, whatever you say" The woman smiled at the pendant in her grasp then turned to the clerk
"I'll take it"
A few minutes later out of the godforsaken store with no air-conditioning did wonders for the men, taking in the gentle breeze
"Shall we head back?" Summer asked almost grinning ear from ear from the small bag in her possession, the boys just nodding swiftly
"I just realized, how did you pay for that?" Flores asked heading back the way they arrived, a familiar figure in the distance
"Stanley gave me a lien card that he said can only be used once" She explained pulling out a credit card covered in paper like a little envelope
"Lien?" The boys said simultaneously, the older one grabbing it from her as the younger chucked a semi-vandalized wallet back to the old man sitting frozen in his chair; peeling off the paper Fletcher immediately realized why Stan said to only use it once, showing he's doppelganger they both resisted the shallow laughter threatening to burst at the name that was clearly not Stanley's printed onto the plastic
"What are you laughing at?" Summer asked turning to see Fletcher throw the card into a nearby trash can
"Nothing Mrs Rose" One said wiping a stray tear from both sides of the same eye neither of them knowing the old man knew how to have a little fun, throwing Tad Strange's card into the trash
A half an hour's walk back to the shack was mostly serene unlike the first time filled with insults and threats letting Summer relax throughout, knowing she wouldn't turn around to a dead body this time around
Opening the shack's rickety red door, they separated without a word; Fletcher ripped the vending machine off the wall to enter the basement without needing a passcode, Flores went to sleep in Summers room at her proposal, whilst Summer herself walked towards the kitchen through the living room unaware of the younger Pines twins were sitting in a corner each facing the wall
"Ow!"
"Just hold still kid" Stan ordered rubbing some ointment on Ruby's cheek, the red-cloaked girl facing away from where her mother stood
"Sweetie what happened?" Summer asked quickly dashing to her daughter's side who could only force a smile until Stan applied more medicine to another cut
"It's alright mom, we just had a scuffle with a dinosaur" Ruby explained whilst Summer tried to cup her cheeks cut short by Stan's shooing
"What's a dinosaur?" She asked resigning herself to just sit next to Ruby, watching Stan's raised brow
"You don't have those where you're from, Well technically we're not supposed to either but it's just a big lizard basically" He said closing the well-used first aid kit on the table
"But before we get into that, Kids!" Stan called the twins coming out of the living room vying for another moment in time-out than this
"So who wants to explain to me what happened before I get the belt?" Knowing their softie of a Grunkle would never follow through with the threat it didn't make it sound any less menacing
"We went down to the caves like we said, but more of the Dino's escaped from the sap and chased us around for a bit" Dipper explained trying to keep his voice as clear as possible lest he's Grunkle makes him repeat it, Mabel on the other hand rolled her sweater up to half of her face trying to pretend the short yet once awesome adventure never happened, her eyes still glancing at the heavily bruised Rose
"Let me guess Ruby's face got messed up because of the running?" Stan argued the girl in question working the nerve to speak up
"Well technically yeah"
"Hmm?" Stan hummed a little softer tone to the injured girl but still stern enough to make her knees wobble
"I didn't know what I was looking at so I grabbed the Twins and ran, I couldn't see in the dark so I kept running face-first into the walls" Stan sighed removing the Fez from atop his head to brush a hand through his gray locks whilst leaning back into the chair
"Alright, Summer she's your daughter but I feel like she's learned whatever lesson happened down there in the caves, About scary monsters whatever…" Stanley began getting a nod from the woman who held her younger copies hands
"...But as for you two, You're grounded for a week" He finished, if either twin were going to complain or argue they knew it would only make him madder, so they just nodded slowly with downcast eyes
"I mean it this time a full week, no adventures, no journal, no world-ending apocalypse whatever, you are to stay in this house watch TV, read a book I don't care, Got it?"
"I said Got it" He repeated when they didn't answer
"Yes Grunkle Stan" They said somberly, without another word they tried shuffling back to the attic until
"Wait a second kids…Stanley" Summer said catching everyone's attention
"I'm on board with the no adventures rule but it's summer vacation maybe we can cut some sort of compromise?" she asked hopefully watching Stan cross his arms over his chest yet kept his full attention
"What kind?"
"What if maybe they can go see their friends and have a little fun before Summer's over, Perhaps a strict curfew or something along those lines?"
"Sorry Summer but every time they leave this house they always run into Zombies, ghosts, and even gnomes at one point"
"What if they had a babysitter?" Ruby piped up immediately regretting the mixed eyes she gained from it
"I don't know kid, you've already got this from day one you sure you could handle it?"
"Well we don't know if we don't try?" Ruby said sheepishly at the horrible yet somewhat effective quote, Stan uncrossed he's arms to rest one on the table
"Then if you watch them, who's going to be watching you?" Stan said helping form a smile on Summers face
"I've got an idea" She said
"Absolutely not" Flores said holding an arm over his face to stop the lightbulbs onslaught of well…Light
"Please Flores-"
"Fletcher my name is Fletcher, when that pricks not near me my name is Fletcher" Instead of arguing about it Summer just sat down on the couch opposite to the younger Fletcher
"I know things are a little complicated right now, but this is more for you then them" She said borrowing his brow
"What do I get out of this exactly?"
"Some friends, a little fun-just listen I understand you didn't ask to come to this world neither did I, but we're going to have to make the most of it while we can, a portal to another world isn't something that's easy to make you know" Sighing Flores ran a hand through his hair, He knew he probably wasn't going to go back to his world, family, friends, anything for a long time if ever
"I don't know what's happened to Sam in this time paradox crap but what makes you think they can even help us get back?" He asked, watching her head tilt he realized
"Oh heh you didn't think his name was actually Six did you?"
"I suppose I sorta did actually" She laughed into her hand as he did the same
"As for your question, future you…" He avoided her glance
"...He was you at some point whether he remembers or not and if he's barely twenty then we should be getting back in no time"
"Didn't you say a portal to another world isn't easy to make?"
"I did and it still holds true but I've been talking with Stanley, I'm gonna try and get a job to help with things and depending on how the summer ends you and Ruby are going to the high school"
"You're joking, I'm not…Oh I get it now" He smiled at mostly guessing the woman's true intentions, remembering his first conversation with the awkward girl in question
"She's a good girl I've always known that but she's terrible at making friends without her sister and since you're a little older.."
"You want me to fill the role while we're here?" Watching her nod, Flor-Fletcher couldn't help but feel a little hurt, something she noticed immediately
"No No, I don't mean it like that, just if you go to the school, And you are going if summer ends first, I need to know you will look out for each other..please" turning his attention to the wall, floor, just anywhere but her eyes he took a breath grumbling
"Pardon me?"
"What do you need me to do?" He grumbled again crossing his arms over his chest; his heart lightening a little from her smile
