This chapter takes place before the events of Chapter 79.
All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.
Chapter 81: Back to the Falls
It was the morning after leaving Echo Creek, Robbie having driven throughout the night.
As he saw that they were nearing his hometown he turned to Amity, who had fallen asleep. "Hey, wake up," he said as he shoved Amity who started to yawn.
"Are we there yet?" she asked him.
"We're close," Robbie said.
"That's good," Amity responded while Ghost woke up as well. "You hear that, Ghost? We're almost to Gravity Falls."
"Finally, the sooner we get out of this smelly van, the sooner I can get some fresh air," Ghost told Amity while stretching.
"So like… you're a witch. An actual witch," Robbie said, trying to make some small talk. "Like, spells and broomsticks?"
"We ride staffs, actually," Amity said. "Honestly, I don't know where the broomsticks thing came from. I know that a lot of witches tried to substitute staffs with other items during Palisman shortages, but broomsticks proved to be… less sufficient."
Robbie nodded. "So do you like, grow warts and zits and stuff? Well, it might be embarrassing for a teenage witch…"
"Oh no, quite the opposite, in fact it's like… a right of passage for teenage witches my age," Amity explained. "I had my first wart when I was twelve and I was pretty much treated like a superstar. As if I already hadn't been given special treatment. Back then, at least."
"What, you're like some kind of a rich… witch?" Robbie asked.
"You can say that," she replied while looking out the window. "Where I'm from, I was born under the silver snail. I used to be known as Amity Blight, heiress to Blight Industries." She looked down and sighed. "But I've left that part of myself behind. I'm Amity Goodfellow now, in honor of… in honor of a good friend."
Robbie picked up on what she meant. "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss," Robbie told her.
"Thank you," Amity said as she thought of Puck and then of Janna, hoping that she would be okay. Losing one friend was hard enough. After a moment of silence, she looked up at Robbie. "So um, how are you feeling about all of this? I know you left Gravity Falls to get away from the weirdness, only for me to pull you back…"
"Honestly, I'm… surprisingly okay with it," Robbie admitted. "I don't know, I guess leaving Gravity Falls just gave me the chance to come to terms with it all, since I had plenty of time to think and reflect when I no longer felt trapped. Plus… it is kinda reassuring to know that weird shit isn't just limited to Gravity Falls." He checked the rear view mirror, spotting Star laying down with her back turned to him. "Speaking of, what do you think of the other magical girl in the back?"
"Star?" Amity asked while looking back at her. "I don't know much about her, but… I think she needs help and I just hope she will accept it."
They both thought she was still asleep, but she was only pretending to sleep. Star stayed silent while listening to their conversation. She hugged her bandaged hand close to her while thinking to herself.
Soon, Amity noticed a billboard up ahead, letting her know what they were entering Gravity Falls. "We're here, we're actually here!" she said excitedly as she noticed hot air balloons up in the sky. "Hey, are those airships or some kind of creature… is this a migration?"
"What?" Robbie saw what Amity was pointing at. "Oh, those aren't creatures. They're hot air balloons. We use them to float up in the sky for fun."
"Oh, so they are like our airships, except only government officials are allowed to use them where I'm from, so I've never been up in one," Amity said.
"Really? Man, that sounds like a bummer," Robbie said as he saw more cars and RVs driving past him. "Oh wait, I think I know what's going on around here. They're having the annual Woodsticks music festival. I forgot all about it."
"Woodsticks festival?" Amity asked him.
"It's kinda like Woodstock, a music festival that was held in the 60s but with up and coming indie bands and artists from Oregon. It happens every summer."
"Ooh, you think I could come to this festival?" Amity asked him.
"I'm sure Wendy could get you in," Robbie said as he drove into town, passing by a parked truck with 'Fazio' written on it. "Once I drop you off at the Mystery Shack, you can ask her about it."
"Wait, drop me off? Don't you want to talk to her?" Amity asked while Robbie looked down awkwardly.
"Yeah… not really," he said with a sigh. "She is my ex and I'm not really eager to face her again after I broke up with her. Basically my plan here is to quickly drop you and Star off at the Shack, say hi to my folks, and then hit the road again."
"What?" Amity asked in confusion. "But… don't you want to stay for a while? Like, catch up with your friends? You've been gone for a while."
"Thing is, I don't plan on sticking around. It would be too awkward. Maybe after this I will travel to Montana or Seattle."
Soon they had arrived at the Mystery Shack, Amity smiling as she looked upon it for the first time in what felt like months. Once the van was parked, she got out along with Star who just kicked the back doors open.
Amity went up to the front door and took a deep breath before she knocked. A moment later the door was answered by a familiar face: Dipper, whose face lit up when he saw her.
"Amity, you're here!" Dipper said as he and Amity hugged. He turned to shout back into the Shack. "Everyone, Amity's here!"
"Amity!" Mabel cried out as she showed up with Wendy, running towards Amity and embracing her. "Oh man, it's so nice to see you again!"
"You too, Mabel!" Amity replied before noticing someone behind her and Wendy. "Gus!"
"Amity!" the young illusionist shouted as he ran forward to hug Amity. Both witchlings were in tears. "Thank Titan you're safe!"
"Is Willow also here?" Amity asked, looking around in the hopes that she would show up.
Gus frowned, sadly shaking his head as he let her go. "No… we haven't heard anything about her either. We are hoping Luz somehow got through to her as well, but we have no way of knowing if she did… or if Willow is even in the Human Realm. I only just got here yesterday." He then noticed someone behind Amity. "Since when did you have a cat?"
"Oh, this is Ghost, she's a Palisman I came across before we were sent here," Amity said, before she gestured at Star, who was keeping her distance. "And over there's Star… she's also from another realm."
"Really?" Gus asked, intrigued. "What realm is she from?"
"She said she's from a place called Mewni, though I would recommend giving her some space, she has a problem with… magic," Amity informs him.
"Really?" Gus asks as Amity nodded.
"Nice to meet… you," Mabel went over to greet Star, who just walked past her.
"Hey, almost didn't recognize you without your green hair," Wendy commented while high-fiving Amity. "What's up, Luz's chick?"
"Hey Wendy," Amity said before she noticed someone else in the hall. "Um, who's that?"
Gus turned to Vee, who was in her human form and hiding around the corner while looking at Amity. "Oh, that's just Vee. She's a bit shy when meeting new people, especially witches," he explained. "I told her that you were coming, but she was still pretty nervous about it."
"Oh, well hi, nice to meet you, Vee," Amity said as she carefully walked up to her. "I remember Luz mentioning you before, you're the Basilisk that she and Eda helped out, right?"
"Um… yeah," Vee responded while walking up to her. "Sorry, I just didn't know you would react, considering that one of my kind attacked your school. I was afraid of you hurting me… or me hurting you."
"Hey, it's alright," Amity assured her. "A friend of Luz and Gus is also a friend of mine."
Vee smiled. "That's a relief to hear."
Dipper and Wendy noticed Robbie sitting in his van, so the two decided to go over and talk to him. "Hey, Rob, long time no see," Wendy said with a wave.
"Oh uh, hey guys," Robbie said awkwardly.
"How have you been? We haven't seen you in a long while," Dipper said.
"Oh I've been fine," Robbie replied. "I've been mostly in California, which is where I ran into Amity."
"Well, we want to say thanks for bringing Amity here and it's nice to see you again," Dipper said. "Plus, we got good news. That cult that kidnapped you before, the Blind Eye Society, has been dealt with."
"Yeah, turns out they've been wiping the minds of people around here when they witness weird stuff," Wendy explained. "But we took care of them and they won't be bothering you anymore."
"Really? That's great!" Robbie said, relieved. "That's definitely reassuring."
"You know, since it's still the morning, maybe you could give us a ride to Lazy Susan's diner," Dipper suggested. "I think an occasion like this calls for eating out."
"I mean, couldn't you get Soos or Mr. Pines to drive you there?" Robbie asked.
"Oh, they're too busy with a project for the festival," Dipper explained. "Something to keep Stan from running over the visitors who are in town for the festival, like he did to the Illinois Nazis… and the Packers fans."
"And I still don't have my driver's license, not that Mr. Pines would ever trust me with his car," Wendy pointed out while Robbie looked reluctant. "I need to stay behind to watch the gift shop anyway, so I would appreciate it if you could drive the younger kids. If you don't mind, that is."
Robbie thought about it, realizing that it wouldn't be too bad if Wendy was coming along. "I guess… sure. I haven't eaten anything since I got here anyway."
Dipper turned to the gang. "Hey, who's up to Greasy's Diner for breakfast?"
"Greasy's Diner?" Amity asked, turning to Gus.
"They have the best pancakes around," Gus confirmed..
"I'll stay behind with Wendy at the gift shop," Vee volunteered.
"Great, and also, think you two could keep an eye on Star?" Amity whispered, pointing at Star who was staring at Rock That Looks Like a Face Rock, that rock that looks like a face.
"Yeah, we'll keep an eye out for her," Wendy agreed as Vee nodded.
As the others got into Robbie's van, Amity noticed Sam on the ground in front of her. "When are you going to tell Gus about you being a… well, part-Fae?"
Amity looked down, her voice in a whisper. "Soon, I just have to find the right moment." She got in the van with Gus, Dipper, and Mabel as Robbie got ready to drive them to Greasy's Diner.
At the diner, Robbie was seen eating by himself in his own booth. In another booth sat Amity, Gus, and the Pines twins, the two witches recounting their adventures as they ate.
"So you were brought here by this magician?" Amity asked him while sipping her juice.
"Yeah, Fazio's still around looking for real magic," Gus replied. "I wonder how he's doing…"
"And for my next trick," Fazio said as he held his hat in front of his audience. "I shall pull a rabbit out of my hat!" He grabbed something out of his hat, but rather than a rabbit, it was just a piece of his toupee. "Tadaaaa…. oh."
His audience, the Manotaurs, looked displeased.
"Boo!" Peturitor shouted.
"This magic act displeases us!" spoke the largest Manotaur, Leaderaur. His tribe agreed as they roared at Fazio.
"Get him!" Chetzbar shouted as they grabbed the magician.
"Take him to the Pain Hole!" Leaderaur ordered while the Manotaurs dragged the poor magician away.
"Pain Hole? What… what is the Pain Hole?" Fazio asked as he started to scream. "HELP ME!"
"But if there's one person I also owe being here to, it's Vaggie," Gus mentioned.
"Um… Vaggie?" Amity asked.
"Yeah, she's this woman I met back in Last Vegans," Gus replied. "She's really nice, mentioned that she was a dancer. I think you would've liked her, she's kinda like Luz. Tough, but has a soft side and is just cool to hang out with."
"… I'm gonna tell him," Dipper whispered to Mabel, referring to Vaggie's 'dancing' job. Mabel responded by hitting his arm.
"You better not!" Mabel scolded him.
"So how about you? What were you doing before you met Robbie?" Gus asked her.
"Well, I came across a neighborhood called Echo Creek," Amity mentioned. "And I made a few new friends there. Jackie, Marco… and Janna." She fell silent for a moment, remembering the state Janna was in when she left. Amity hoped she was okay, hoped that Jackie and Marco were okay too. "I was also attacked by this… winged mechanical creature."
This caused Gus to stop eating his hashbrowns. "What? You mean…?"
"Like the ones Hunter claimed to see in his visions," Amity confirmed, her tone grave.
"Mechanical creature?" Mabel asked.
"What are you guys talking about?" Dipper asked them.
While Amity and Gus explained it to the twins, the door to the diner opened and Robbie noticed someone heading over to his table. "Tambry?" he asked in surprise as she sat down across from him. Unlike most of the times that Robbie had seen her, she didn't have her phone out.
"Hey, Robbie," Tambry replied awkwardly. "Wendy texted me and said that you were back in town."
"Oh, of course she did," he muttered, shifting his eyes toward the window.
"So… why didn't you tell me you were back?" Tambry asked him.
"I didn't want to stay long," he admitted. "I'm just here to drop the kid off, see my parents, and then I'll be on my way again. Probably go up north to Seattle-"
"Why don't you want to stay?" she interrupted him. "I mean, didn't Wendy tell you that the cult that tried to abduct you was taken care of? You don't need to leave right away."
Robbie sighed. "It isn't just about that or the other weird stuff that happens around here. Look, I don't want to be stuck in this small town my whole life. I know most people around here are content to never leave, but I don't want that. And I don't need to stay either, since I got a van and a guitar. There's nothing here for me anyway." Tambry looked hurt by this, which Robbie didn't notice since he was looking at some mustard on his sleeve. "Is this mustard? There's no way I'm wasting this bad boy." He licked the mustard stain, much to Tambry's disgust.
"Classic Robbie…" Tambry said as she sighed. "So, you'll just… what? Continue to aimlessly drive around? What about school?"
"I'm sure I can take an online course," Robbie said with a shrug.
"You do know that only applies to colleges, right?" she asked him.
"I'm surprised that you care," Robbie commented.
"Of course I care about you, Robbie," she admitted, though she became slightly flustered at this. "B-Because you're my friend, or at least… I thought we were friends."
Robbie looked before he decided to stand up from his seat. "You know, maybe I should go."
"What?!" Tambry stood back up, blocking his way. "So that's it, right? Do you really think that you're too good for this town? Too good for us small town folks?"
"It's not like that, Tambry, really!" Robbie claimed. "I just… I just want to see if there was something else out here for me. But… so far, I haven't found it yet. But it isn't like I was heading anywhere here either. I was always getting hurt by the supernatural or I was never good enough…"
"Good enough for what?" Tambry asked in concern, but Robbie said nothing. The two looked away from each other, an awkward silence following. "I… I missed you, you know."
Robbie managed to look at her. "Yeah… I missed you too."
It was then a bunch of people rushed past them to gather by the entrance. The two teens looked confused as kicking down the door and coming inside was a blond, obese young man in a gray striped shirt, short jeans, tattoos, sandals, and a rope belt full of potions. He appeared to be wearing a pink backpack with wings.
"Woo-hoo! Who's ready to fall in love and party tonight!?" he declared as the crowd cheered.
"LOVE GOD!" the crowd cheered as the Love God hit the jukebox.
"That's what they call me, and we're rewriting history tonight!" he declared. "And it starts with you, and you!" He pointed to a man and a diner waitress, shooting out sparkles at them, causing the two to go up and kiss each other.
"What the hell…?" Amity questioned as the group noticed this.
"Love is real, and it's in your face!" he cries out while heading over to an elderly lady. "Ohoho, what's your name, little angel?"
The elderly woman laughed. "Ohoho, my name's Meredith."
"Meredith, Meredith, we got a problem," he whispered while leaning over to her, pointing at another elderly woman eating a sandwich "That cutie over there is your soulmate, and you're living without her!"
"Oh no, what do I do?" Meredith asked him.
"Get it girl, you know what you love!" he told her as he sprinkled more pink dust. "POW! Match made!" he shouted while Meredith ran up to the woman and managed to lift her up.
"Wa-ho!" she declared, claiming her soulmate.
"Um… who is that?" Gus asked while they watched.
"Oh, I know this guy," Dipper explained. "Wendy showed me a viral video about this guy. He is a musician who calls himself the Love God."
"Is the name literal or not?" Amity asked him.
Dipper was gonna answer, but paused as he thought about it before shrugging. "Maybe…?"
"Hey, where's Mabel?" Gus asked, looking around. Mabel, who had been sitting with them only moments before, was gone.
The Love God was busy eating a hoagie sandwich in a booth when Mabel went up to him. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Love God," Mabel spoke up to him. "Hi, my name's Mabel, huge fan, and may I just say that was some of the finest match-making I've ever seen. What's your secret?"
The Love God leaned back. "Well, between you and me, let's just say that my name's not exactly a coincidence," he said as his wings fluttered.
Mabel gasped. "Oh. My. Love God. Are you an actual love god?" she asked.
"Call me a cherub," he replied. "The Internet's pretty much doing my job for me nowadays, so I'm taking some time to focus on my music career," he said while handing her a cassette he brought out. "Boom. Cassette. Boom. For you."
"Oh that's… great," she said while secretly throwing the cassette away. "So, anyway… I'm looking for some advice, and seeing you being an actual love god, maybe you can help me."
"Sure, what do you need, kid?" he inquired.
"Well, how do you know if someone is your soulmate?" Mabel asks him, while looking at her own hands. "Like, how do you know that if there's someone that you believe could potentially or is really your soulmate? Is it like a red string theory or something?"
"Hmm, depends on what you're looking for, kid." The Love God said.
"Well, how do you know if someone is your soulmate?" Mabel asked him, while looking at her own hands. "Like, you seemed so confident that those two women were soulmates, but how can you be sure? Is it like a red string theory or something? Like, let's say that you've had this image in your head of who your soulmate is supposed to be. But you end up meeting someone who doesn't end up matching those expectations you've had for so long and you still end up having feelings for them. What should I, I mean you, do in that situation?"
"Can you give a more specific example, kid?" he asked while Mabel reluctantly nodded.
"There's... this friend that I'm trying to help, a girl that I know," Mabel started to explain. "She's liked boys all her life. And she was pretty certain that she just liked boys. But then she met this awesome other girl who didn't like her at first, but eventually they became friends. And this girl I know... she realized that she liked this other girl. It's like with those two old ladies. But this girl, she never liked other girls before. She always considered herself very straight and now she doesn't know what she is. So I'm trying to help her out and I don't know if I should tell her to ignore her feelings or to do something with them. Maybe you could help me?"
The Love God understood what Mabel was saying, as if he already knew. "Well, for one, love doesn't always go according to plan," he answered. "Not even the gods can always foresee it or stop love from happening, and believe me, they've tried. Do soulmates exist? Sure, but there is no red string. There isn't just one person your friend can be happy with. But if your friend does find someone that makes her happy, tell her she shouldn't ignore that. Because that person she likes makes her happy for a reason, even if they're not who she expected. Because life rarely goes as expected."
"So… my friend should just go with it and see what happens?" Mabel summed it up.
"Exactly," he said with a nod before he noticed that behind Mabel were the other kids, who had overheard some of their conversation. "Do any of you need love advice?"
"Well, not me," Amity said. "Let's just say, you're not the only magical creature here."
Noticing the ears from Amity and Gus, the Love God realized what she meant. "Ah, witchlings, I see. You're not working for Ares are you? Cause I've told him thousands of times-"
"No, we don't work for some guy named Ares," Gus states, while looking suspicious of the Love God. "What did you use to make those people fall in love?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about any of the ethical implications, kid," the Love God assured him. "The stuff I used doesn't even last longer than three hours. It is more of a nudge than anything else. If the couple is still together after it wears off, it means they were meant to be."
"What makes you an expert though? What if love isn't meant for anybody?" Gus questioned.
"Look kid, I just know how to match people, alright?" the Love God asked. "I'm a cherub, it's my job."
"So it's alright that you can go around and manipulate mortals with magic that influences their actions and choices?" Gus glared at him intensively, making the Love God feel uneasy. Dipper got in between them.
"Whoa, whoa, okay, let's take it easy here," Dipper told them. "We don't want to start something we regret."
"Yeah, we don't…" the Love God said as he stood up, placing his money on the table. "Well, I'm out. If you excuse me, I gotta spread more love." He left, his fans cheering for him.
Gus just continued to glare at the Love God, which concerned Dipper. "Hey man, are you alright?" he asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Gus said. "I just don't think we can trust this guy."
Amity realized what he meant. "Do you want to talk about it, maybe somewhere private?"
Gus just sighed and shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. Don't worry about me."
Mabel cleared her throat and decided to change the subject. "So uh, Amity, now that you're here, would you like to meet the author of the Good Witch Azura books?"
This got Amity to turn to her. "Wait… the author of the books is here? Mildred Featherwhyle? She's here and you know her?"
"Well… we do know where Mildred Featherwhyle is," Mabel replied.
"You could say that she turns out to be an old acquaintance," Dipper added. "We could walk you over to see her."
"Oh my gosh, she is here and I could actually meet her!" Amity said, jumping for joy. "Gus, we're going to meet the author of the Good Witch Azura!"
"That sounds great… wait, what is the big deal about the Good Witch Azura?" Gus asked.
Amity ran up to Robbie. "Robbie, me and the others are going to go meet the author of the Great Witch Azura! She's actually here in this town! We're gonna leave and walk over to see her!"
"Alright, I'll just go see my parents then," Robbie nodded while watching Amity set off with the twins and Gus.
"Is that the kid you were dropping off?" Tambry asked.
"Yeah, you probably don't recognize her, but that's Luz's girlfriend. She, uh, changed her style since the last time she was here," Robbie explained..
"Huh, she does know how to pick 'em," Tambry commented.
The twins led Amity and Gus down to the town's junkyard. Amity looked around in awe, seeing that the town's junkyard was filled with discarded items.
"Whoa, this must be the kind of place Eda used to get her human treasures from," Amity commented while spotting an old MacBook. "Does Mildred live in some kind of place filled with these relics?"
"Yeah, this place does look like an outdoor treasure tomb." Gus comments while looking around.
Amity spotted someone at the junkyard, putting recyclables in certain bins. "Who's that?"
"Oh him?" Mabel saw who Amity was pointing at. "That's just Steve, he does community service around the town. What's up, Steve?" She waved to him.
"Just doing my part!" Steve, formerly known as Blind Ivan, cheerfully said.
Amity was surprised to see that Gravity Falls had its own 'Steve'. "Huh, guess there are Steves in every realm," she said as they walked toward McGucket's home. "Is this where the author lives?"
"Yup," Mabel replied as Dipper knocked on the door.
"Alright, if it's one of you trouble-making younglings!" Bursting out the door was McGucket, who stopped when he saw who it was. "Oh, the Pines and friends, how d'ya do?"
"Amity, meet Fiddleford McGucket… the author of the Good Witch Azura books," Dipper revealed, which surprised her and Gus.
"… Really?" Gus asked, looking puzzled at this, while Amity was silent for a moment.
"Yeah, it's me," McGucket admitted sheepishly. "I'm the true author of that hit children's book series. You probably must be thinking that I don't look like I do in the pictures. Well that's just a stock image used by my publishers so I don't scare children with my real face," he said to Amity, who was silent. "I'm sorry that I'm not like what you've expected…"
"Are you kidding?!" Amity burst in excitement. "I'm speaking to the author of the Azura books! This is amazing!" This surprised McGucket, as well as Dipper, Gus, and a smiling Mabel.
"You're… not disappointed?" McGucket asks her.
"Hey, I've been dreaming of meeting the author for years, I don't care about what you look like," Amity said. "Like, by the Gods, this is a dream come true right now for me! I got so many questions, like what inspired you to write the Azura series? What inspired you to write characters like Hecate, or the Cottage Witch?"
Seeing Amity being excited to meet him and being interested in his work made McGucket smile. "Well, hang on there, cause I can only answer one question at a time," he said, trying in vain to calm her down.
Gus turned to the twins. "So this is her idol…"
"Yeah," Mabel said as she turned to Dipper. "Guess you lost that bet in how she reacts."
Dipper sighed. "Do I really have to wear the shirt?"
"Yup," Mabel told him, making Dipper sigh again. "And don't forget the song."
Back at the Shack, Star was looking around the gift shop. She stopped in front of a copper-colored statue of a man kneeling on a wooden pedestal with a dish in his outstretched arms. The wooden base sat atop four wheels and read 'Pan For Gold 5¢.' The statue wore stereotypical Gold Rush era clothing: suspenders, overalls, boots, brimmed hat, and rolled-up sleeves. His bearded face was grinning with a wide-open mouth, tongue sticking out, and two prominent upper teeth. Star found him rather creepy as Stan came in to check on things and spotted her.
"Hey, see something you're met Old Goldie," Stan pops up, greeting her. "Name's Mr. Mystery, the owner of this establishment. Could I interest you in some merchandise?" He held up a badly stitched Stan doll.
"I'm… not interested," Star told him.
"Alright, well what about a t-shirt-"
"Actually, I came here with Amity," Star told him.
"Amity's here?" Stan realized and Star nodded. "Well, I was expecting the kid to show up. But since you came with her… are you a witch too?"
"Um… not really, but I did come from a… magical realm," Star muttered.
"You know, I once married a witch and she's from the same realm as Amity," Stan mentioned. "Though I know from experience that not every witch is from the Boiling Isles."
"Wait, are there… other witches around here?" Amity asked him.
Stan nodded. "And never steal watches from them, trust me on this," Stan told her.
"I'll keep that in mind," Star responded while walking away, not really wanting to talk to Stan anymore.
The elder Pine just sighed as Vee returned to the gift shop with some food. "Is Star still here?" she asked him.
"You mean silent treatment over there? Yeah, but she appears to not be much of a talker," he said with a shrug. "Is she really staying here too?"
"I think so," Stan confirmed.
Stan shook his head and walked away while grumbling to himself. "There's too many kids staying over…"
Vee went over to Star, who was frowning at some Stan bobbleheads. "Hey, hungry?" she asked, offering a bag of chips.
Star looked at the bag of chips, then up to Vee. Reluctantly, she grabbed the bag and opened it, starting to eat the chips. She looked back up to Vee, who looked at her with an awkward smile. Star tried to figure the girl out, but Vee was trying to figure her out at the same time.
"So… you're from another realm?" Vee asked her.
"Yeah," Star replied while munching. "What's it to you?"
"S-Sorry, it's just…" Vee rubbed her arm. "I noticed how cautious you have been acting and… I can tell that you've been through a lot."
Star narrowed her eyes at Vee. "How do you know? You some kind of telepath or empath?"
"No… it is just that I have been through something that may not be too different from what you went through," Vee said as she revealed her real eyes and ears, much to Star's shock. "I'm a Basilisk from the Boiling Isles… and technically I shouldn't exist. My kind was hunted to extinction a long time ago, but we were brought back." She looked down. "I've already told Gus the story of how I escaped the Demon Realm and got here thanks to Luz and Eda, but I didn't really go into detail with him about why I was brought back and what was done to me…"
"What… happened to you?" Star asked in concern.
Vee took a deep breath. "I don't know how they did it, but the alchemists for Hieron Labs managed to revive me and five others for Emperor Belos, the ruler of the Boiling Isles. They wanted to know how we drained magic, which was an ability we naturally possessed. They performed tests on us, they experimented on us… they tortured us. We were even forced to drain magic from rats, which I hated doing. We were no different then those rats, since we were not seen as sentient beings. Just numbers. Mine was Five. There were six of us in total. Four eventually couldn't take it anymore… and killed himself." She looked down, her fists tightening. "But the rest of us managed to escape thanks to some help we received. To make it harder for us to be recaptured, the five of us split up. I heard that Two, the largest of our group, attacked a school in an attempt to get revenge on witchkind for her tortured existence. But I don't know what ultimately became of her or the others. I… I still have nightmares about Belos and the alchemists at Hieron Labs, even though I know they can't hurt me anymore. I literally moved to a different realm to get away from them."
Star looked at Vee sympathetically. "I'm so sorry for everything you've been through, everything your kind has been through. I wish I had been there to help you then…"
"You do?" Vee asked her.
"Where I'm from, I helped other creatures, monsters specifically, who were in situations like the one you were in," Star admitted, with a saddened expression. "How does it feel to… leave everything behind? Aren't you worried for your fellow Basilisks?"
Vee looked down. "Of course I do. I worry about them constantly and I feel guilty for leaving them behind to pursue a better life, but I knew this was a chance that I couldn't pass up on. And I can't go to the Boiling Isles. I'm just not strong enough…"
"You wouldn't even go back for your fellow Basilisks?" Star asked.
"Like I said before, I have no idea what became of them," Vee said with a sigh. "But I do hope that they're safe…"
"And then, when Azura finds out about the factions being manipulated by the Dark Lord, was there anything symbolic about it?"
Amity continued to ask McGucket questions about Azura, while Dipper, Mabel, and Gus watched. "She's really enjoying herself," Dipper commented.
"Yeah," Mabel nodded before she heard her cell phone ring. "Gotta take this," she said while looking at her screen and seeing Pacifica's name. 'Oh goard, it's Pacifica… okay, calm down, this may be just a normal call… try not to get too Mabely,' she thought as she answered. "Wazzap?" she asked. 'D'oh!'
"Hey Mabel," Pacifica replied. "I just really wanted to hear your voice right now… ugh, my parents have been making me help prepare for this annual party we hold every summer. I have to find the right color dress and make sure the monkey butler doesn't bite Chapman and get the ice sculpture… it's just too much!"
Mabel nodded. "Oh, sounds like you could use a break."
"I'm on my break right now," Pacifica revealed with a sigh. "But you know, I'd honestly rather hang out with you than be made to attend yet another one of my family's parties."
This made Mabel flustered. "O-Oh, really? You want… to hang out with me?"
"Yeah, because unlike my parents and their parties you are actually fun," Pacifica said while Mabel turned as red as a tomato.
"Pacifica! Put down that phone and help us!" shouted a woman on the other end.
Pacifica sighed. "Sorry Mabel, break time's over. I'll chat with you later."
"Yeah, chat with you later!" Mabel said as Pacifica hung up. The Pines girl just sighed, which Dipper noticed.
"Hey, everything alright with you?" he asked her. "Are you and Paz doing well?"
"Well, um…" Mabel nervously answered before she noticed Ghost coming back. "Oh hey, there's Ghost!"
"It looks like she has something in her mouth," he pointed out, seeing how full Ghost's cheeks were before a pixie popped her head out of her mouth.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" she cried out, trying to get out of Ghost's mouth.
"Oh my Titan, that's a pixie!" Gus pointed out, though they couldn't understand the pixie. To them she just sounded like bells.
"Spit her out, Ghost!" Mabel tried to get Ghost to cough her out, but Ghost refused and dodged Dipper's attempt at catching her.
"Spit her out!" Dipper told the cat Palisman who just avoided them.
"Amity!" Gus called for Amity, which drew her attention. "We got a situation with your Palisman!"
Amity saw Ghost being chased around by the Pines Twins. "What's going on?" she asked them.
"Your cat is trying to eat a pixie," Dipper responded while Ghost just jumped on his head. "Gah!"
"Ghost!" she called to her Palisman, which stopped at her command. She walked up to her Palisman. "Ghost, that is not food! Spit her out, right now!" Ghost groaned while Amity placed her hands on her hips. "Ghost…"
Ghost rolled her eyes before she spat out the pixie.
"Bleh! Smells like fucking fish in there!" ranted a pixie with a stocky build, short brown hair, tanned skin, amethyst eyes, a purple short-sleeve dress with white trims that stopped at her knees, white fingerless gloves, and purple boots. She turned to Amity in anger. "Do you have any idea what's it like to be in that fucking cat's mouth?!"
"I'm so sorry," Amity apologized. "I have been trying to tell her that she can't eat things that are sentient…"
The trio were surprised to see Amity speaking to the pixie. "I didn't know Amity speaks pixie," Mabel commented.
"Yeah, neither did I…" Gus responded in confusion as the pixie turned to Ghost.
"You'll pay for this, you damn cat!" she declared as she flew over Ghost, sprinkling some pixie dust on the cat.
"Bah! What did you sprinkle me with?!" Ghost asked before the cat Palisman suddenly started to float up, her rear lifting off the ground. "What… what!? Why am I floating? Amity, help!"
"Well fiddle-my-timbers! I've never seen a cat fly!" McGucket cried out.
"Ghost, hang on!" Amity jumped up in the air, trying to reach Ghost. She kept reaching out to her, eventually managing to catch her paw "Gotcha!" she said while grabbing onto Ghost. She didn't quite realize that she wasn't on the ground yet. Instead she was floating in the air herself, which she didn't notice until she saw the shocked stares from everyone else. "Oh… um… I can fly now."
"Owhaaat!?" Mabel exclaimed.
"Is… is that normal?" Dipper asked, turning to Gus.
"Witches are unable to fly without their staffs," Gus explained. "Unless you're a witch born with wings, but Amity has never flew before…"
The pixie was also curious, flying up to Amity. "Are you…?"
"Look, I can explain… if I could get down..." Amity said as her shadow, Sam, rose up to pull her down, shocking everyone.
"Your shadow moves as well!?" Gus exclaimed.
"Amity, girl, what is going on with you lately?" Mabel asked, walking up to her.
Amity looked at Sam and Ghost before sighing. "Alright, here it is… apparently, due to some… previous complications and altercations… it turns out that I'm… half-Fae," she said, which shocked everyone.
"WHAT!?" they exclaimed.
"Half-Fae?" the pixie asked, both surprised and curious.
"But… how is that possible?" Gus asked.
"Well… you remember Luz mentioning Puck?" Amity asked and he nodded. "I made a deal with him in order to save her and Eda from the petrification ceremony, but as an unforeseen consequence of that deal, it turns out that I have become part-Fae." She looked down to Sam. "Oh, and this is Sam, short for shadow Amity."
Sam rose up, waving at them. "Hi…"
"You know, I did notice that you looked pinker than last time," Mabel commented, referring to her eyes.
Amity then turned to Gus, looking worried. "Gus… I know that you've had some bad experiences with the Fae. Especially with the Coachman and Meteora-"
"Stop right there," Gus cuts her off. "Amity… you're still you. Just like Luz is still Luz despite what she's going through right now. You may be experiencing some changes as well, but that just means I want to help you however I can."
This reassured the half-Fae girl. "Thanks for understanding," she said.
"So what can you tell us about the half-Fae situation you have?" Dipper inquired.
Amity sighed before she began to go more into depth. "Well, for one, I learned this from a hairy monster named Bigfoot."
"BIGFOOT!?" Dipper and Mabel exclaimed.
"Are you saying Bigfoot's real!?" Dipper asked her.
"Yeah, and apparently he is from a world of monsters," Mabel replied, which caused Dipper to exasperate.
"You have got to tell me about him later…" he said while the pixie flew away from the group, though she stayed close to listen. As she overheard Amity's story, she saw Ghost and the two narrowed their eyes at each other before the pixie huffed at the cat Palisman.
The Valentino funeral home, where the Valentino family handled the funeral services of the town while being bright about it. Robbie had to stop by to see his parents.
"Oh it's been so nice to see you again, Robert!" Robbie's dad joyfully said.
"Yes, though it's sad that you have to leave so soon," his mom said as she hugged her son. "Remember, if you ever see someone who is in need of a good death bed, tell them to give us a call!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Robbie replied awkwardly. It had been a while since he had seen his folks and he was still a little put off by how jolly they can be about death and funerals. But despite their quirks, they were still his parents and, well, he still loved them. "It's um, nice seeing you guys again. I wasn't sure if you two would want me to leave again…"
"Oh Robert Stacey Valentino, you're practically a man now." Mr. Valentino said, patting his son's shoulders "Wherever you go, whatever you choose, just remember that we're behind you."
"That's right," Mrs. Valentino added, smiling at her son warmly, "But don't be afraid to ask if you need some help."
This made Robbie smile at them, "Thanks, guys," he said after giving them one final hug. "I'll see you around." He started to head back to his van when he heard someone calling out to him.
"Robbie!" shouted Thompson of all people. "Oh man, it's so great to see you here!"
"Thompson? Hey!" Robbie greeted. "How you've been, man?"
"Oh you know, the usual," Thompson responded. "But it's really good to see you around again, man. Nate and Lee miss hanging with you."
"Yeah…" Robbie said while looking away awkwardly.
"You know, things haven't really been the same since you left," Thompson mentioned. "Wendy's been hanging out more at the Shack while Tambry is on her cellphone more than usual."
"Really?" Robbie asked. "Because she wasn't on it at all while I was talking with her."
"Huh, that's weird," Thompson said before continuing. "Now it is just me, Nate, and Lee most of the time, but even then it just feels like we're just drifting apart."
"Oh, that's… wow," Robbie said in surprise, since this was his first time hearing it.
"Hey man, you're about to leave, right?" Thompson asked him and Robbie nodded. "Well, I don't think that is a good idea…"
Robbie sighed. "I've already talked to Tambry about this-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but with the concert and all, maybe you could stay at least for tonight so you can come to the Woodstick festival," Thompsons suggested. "Just so the gang can have one last night together, which you didn't get before you left. This could be a chance to remind everyone why we're friends. I really need this, man. Especially since I've always been the glue for you guys, letting you pick on me to keep you all together."
Robbie winced silently, reminded of how they used to pick on Thompson a lot. "Yeah… that's not really a good thing, Thompson."
Thompson looked at him weirdly. "What? Come on, you know I don't mind…"
Robbie just sighed, "Look man, I have had a lot of time to think and reflect. Part of that is that I don't think I was fair to you back then and neither were the others. Thompson, it was wrong of us in how we treated you, and… I'm sorry. You deserve better friends."
This surprised Thompson. "Wow… you really have changed," he commented. "But man, I don't know if I have any friends who'd want me."
The goth teen looked at his pudgy compatriot and sighed. "You know… maybe I can go. But in the future you don't need to let us pick on you for our approval."
"I… I appreciate that," Thompson replied, smiling at Robbie. "I think I can get used to this new Robbie."
Robbie nodded and patted Thompson's back. "Yeah, it'll be great to see the gang back together, even if it's for one night."
Back at the Shack, Vee was shown talking on the phone.
"Yeah, Wendy's invited us to go see a concert so I'll be out late with my friends," she informed them.
"Alright, have fun at the concert!" Durland responded happily.
"Try not to get into any trouble," Blubs warned her.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Vee assured them. After ending the call, she turned to Star who was sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV. She went up to her. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah," Star responded, not looking at her. "Just trying to figure out your strange Earth entertainment…"
"Well, me and my friends are going to see a concert tonight. Maybe you'd like to come," Vee offered her.
"A… concert?" Star asked her. "You mean, like one of those stage shows?"
"Yeah," Vee answered. "I know you just got here and you are still getting used to everything… but it could be fun. And I would like you to come with us."
Star gave Vee a suspicious look. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because you've been through a lot, like I have," Vee told her. "And I want to help you, just like how so many people here have helped me.
Star looked down at her knees while rubbing her bandaged hand. "You know, I'm not used to people being so nice to me."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Vee asked.
"NO!" Star shut her down, startling Vee. "I… don't."
"Okay," Vee nodded, deciding to not press the issue. "I won't ask anymore. But I do know that it's hard to trust people. But if you give people a chance… they might surprise you."
Star looked up to Vee as she reluctantly answered. "I… I guess I could go. Besides, there's nothing on this thing except for some show about a duck detective."
"Yeah, that show is a hit in this town," Vee noted as she walked back to the gift shop, Star standing up from the couch and following her.
In the gift shop they saw Amity, Gus, Dipper and Mabel with Wendy.
"Alright, who's up for the most overpriced day of the summer?!" Wendy called out while wearing a patterned headband with a yellow bandanna, a short light-blue top up her midriff, jean short-shorts, wrist bands, and cowgirl boots.
"We do!" Gus replied while wearing a blue-striped shirt with a purple beanie, green jeans, and white sneakers. "Thanks for lending me this outfit, Wendy. Now I feel like a true concert participant."
"Would you like one as well, Amity?" Mabel offered while wearing her tie-dye sweater.
"I think I'm good with what I have right now," Amity replied while noticing Star. "Hey, are you coming as well?"
Star was glancing at Wendy, her face red. "Uh… yeah…" she said while looking at Wendy's clear cut biceps.
"Hey," Mabel said to Star as she came over. "I've noticed your hand… is it alright?"
"Uh, mostly," Star replied. "I just don't like showing it around."
"Believe me, I get it," Mabel replied while digging into her pocket. "How about using this?" She held up a fingerless glove for Star, who noticed that Mabel was wearing only one fingerless glove over one of her hands.
"Um, thanks," Star replied as she took the glove. "You didn't… have to do that, you know."
"Like I said, I get where you are coming from," Mabel responded while rubbing her own hand…
"Balloon faster, Soos!" Stan ordered as he and Soos hung out just outside of the Woodstick festival area, putting the final touches on Stan's special project. "We need this thing up in the air before the festival ends."
"Are you sure that that open flame should be that close to that dangling cloth and rope?" a concerned Soos asked.
"I'm sure about everything," Stan confidently answered. "Now lube up those engine gears with some kerosene. More kerosene!"
Meanwhile, the Falls gang had made it to the Woodstick festival, which was filled with hipsters, indie artists, and dads that expected White Snake. While checking out the stands, Wendy, Dipper, Mabel, Amity, Gus, Vee, and Star met up with Tambry, Nate and Lee in order to mingle.
"I remember when me and Luz saw a concert at the Socket, though it was much different than this," Amity said looking around the crowd. "It was much more… formal."
"You don't have concerts like this?" Dipper asked her.
"Not with Head Witch Crane around," Amity said. "He was never a fan of indie music…"
"Geez, he sounds like a major bummer," Mabel commented.
"Yeah, but at least Luz and Eda always shared with us music from the Human Realm," Gus replied. "Though hopefully this will be a different experience."
Robbie and Thompson soon arrived.
"Hey guys, who just decided to tag along!" Thompson waved to Wendy, Lee, Nate, and Tambry, who saw Robbie.
"Robbie? Alright, Thompson!" Nate cried out.
"Yeah, welcome back, Robbie!" Lee cheered as they rushed over to them.
"Looks like the old gang's back together again," Wendy commented.
"Hey, guys," Robbie waved to them as he looked at Tambry, who looked up from her phone for a split second. "Hey, Tambry…" he said awkwardly.
"Hey, Robbie," Tambry responded, just as awkwardly, while looking back down at her phone. "Glad that you could make it…"
Amity smiled as she saw Robbie interacting with his friends before she noticed Star checking out the souvenir and food stands.
"Get your flannel chips here! They're chips covered in flannel!"
"Would you like to take home a Woodstick festival beard? Gives you an extra hip look!"
"Tired of the mainstream? Listen to these albums!"
Star was looking at some wood carvings as Amity walked up to her. "Hey, see something you like?"
"I… don't know…" Star said while turning to some tie-dyes.
"So, um, how are you feeling right now?" Amity asked her.
"Fine, it's just that… this is all new to me," Star admitted.
"Yeah, I get that," Amity responded. "Everything here's new to me as well, so you're not alone."
"Hey, have you seen what this guy's selling?" Vee pointed to some sculptures made out of soda cans. "This guy makes characters out of these soda cans!"
Meanwhile, a security guard was watching the entrances to the festivals. As he looked around, he was suddenly hit in the back of the neck, rendering him unconscious. He was quickly dragged away, a fate that befell other security guards as well…
Back to the group, Dipper and Gus were telling Amity about what they've been up to before she came.
"So you guys just faced a giant vampire bat?" Amity asked them.
"Yep, desmodus rotundus," Dipper explained. "We get a few of them every summer, since the heat draws them from their caves. They go after cows, sheep, and feeble humans. Pretty standard monster-of-the-week stuff."
"Yeah, and compared to the monsters of the Boiling Isles, it was pretty low tier," Gus said with a bored tone. He then spotted something. "Ooh, glowing sticks!" he said while running toward someone who was giving out glow sticks. Dipper followed him and Amity was about to as well when she heard a voice.
"Amity? Amity Goodfellow?"
Amity's eyes widened, since the voice sounded familiar to him. "Morty?" she asked as she turned around, only to see that instead of Morty it was a heavyset, light-skinned man with short brown hair parted down the middle, a thick mustache, gray and cream goggles, a light gray jacket, and white boots.
"Not exactly," he told her. "My name is Blendin Blandin. I am here about a strange girl who shouldn't be here."
Amity was confused. "Do you mean Star?" she asked.
"Wait, Star?" Blendin asked in confusion, spotting Star in the distance as he realized his mistake. "Oh no, I am too early…"
"Hey Amity!" Mabel shouted, getting her attention. "They're starting the concert now!"
"I'll be there!" Amity shouted as she turned back to Blendin, who had disappeared from sight. "Huh? Sam, did you see where he went?"
"I… don't think I did," Sam said in confusion. "One moment he was there, but the next he was not."
Amity was left even more confused, but she decided to put that aside as she went over to join Mabel and the others, just in time to see someone coming up on stage.
When the spotlight hit the short silhouette on stage, Dipper and Mabel's eyes widened.
"Hello, Gravity Falls!" spoke the gnome on stage.
"Is that…?" Mabel asked in shock.
"Jeff?" Dipper finished in surprise and confusion.
"Who's Jeff?" Gus asked them.
"I know you have all come to enjoy your loud and obnoxious festivities, but there has been a change of plans," Jeff the Gnome said into a microphone he had pulled down. "For too long, we magical inhabitants of the forest have been forced to hide from you humans and live in secret… but no more! This time has come for a change, this time has come for us to rise up and reclaim what's ours!"
The concert guests were confused, muttering to themselves.
"Is this part of the show?" Amity asked while Star realized what was going on.
"No…" Star said.
"Under the forest's new queen, the gnomes and their allies shall conquer Gravity Falls!" Jeff declared as many of his gnome brethren gathered on the stage. Coming out of the forests are the barf fairies and woodland creatures that charged into the crowd, who started to panic. "Creatures of the forest… ATTACK!"
All hell broke loose.
"What is going on?!" Mabel questioned as she was startled by one possum bursting from a cotton candy stand. "WAAH!"
"Righteous!" said a large, hulking figure that emerged from the forest. He was a large, ape-beast dressed as a hiker, wearing cargo shorts and a baseball cap.
"Is that Bigfoot!?" Amity exclaimed.
"No, that's the Abominable Bro-Man!" Dipper explained. "I've read about him in the journal, he's supposed to be at the local mountain peaks!"
"Danny Boy~! The pipes, the pipes are calling~!" sang a group of the most hideous creatures of Gravity Falls. Bursting through the crowd were Leprechaun faced miniature horses with rainbow beards, large big noses, large big eyes, big eyebrows, rosy cheeks, rainbow horns, green furred pony bodies, and rainbow tails. They were incredibly nightmarish to look at.
"Are those… Leprechauns!?" Gus exclaimed with a terrified look.
"Leprecorns!" Mabel shouted as she kicked one away. "They're an interbred of leprechauns and unicorns! They're so gross to look at!"
"Crap, they're more annoying than the Ponyheads!" Star shouted as she blasted her magic at them.
"Look out for the barf fairies!" Vee pointed at the ugly looking fairies that puked on the crowd.
"Yuk! My rainbow hair!" cried out a hipster girl.
"What kind of show is this!?" cried a hipster.
As the crowd fled from the attacking magical creatures, the Love God came out of his van to see what the commotion was. Even he was shocked.
"This is weird, but not the good kind of weird!" the Love God cried out as his groupies ran off in fear. "Time for this Love God to fight them off!" he shouted as he threw his love potions around with no specific target. He was just trying to hit anyone that wasn't him, whether it was a magical creature… or a pedestrian. "MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR!"
One hit a pair of gnomes, causing them to stop fighting and start making out. The Love God's actions only caused more chaos.
"Hiyah!" Wendy kicked one Leprecorn away while jumping over and kicking a gnome. "Get away, you weirdo freaks!" she shouted while grabbing a gnome and slammed him on her knee, Bane-style.
"AAAAH!" the gnome cried out as he fell down.
Robbie used a large glow stick to hit one fairy away. He then heard a scream and he turned to see that Tambry had tripped due to trying to run while looking at her phone. Just as one barf fairy was about to vomit on her, Robbie ran up and slammed his glow stick against the barf fairy, hitting it away from Tambry "Get back, get back!" he shouted as he waved the glow stick at the creatures. "I said, get back!" he shouted while protecting Tambry.
Once the creatures had backed away, he looked down at her. "Are you alright, Tambers?" he asked, while Tambry looked flustered as his hand was offered to her.
"Y-Yeah," Tambry replied, taking his hand. "Thanks, Robbie."
"Uh, no problems, Tambers," he said while a gnome jumped toward him from behind.
"Look out!" Tambry shoved Robbie aside and punched the gnome away, surprising Robbie.
"Whoa…" Robbie said as he saw another gnome, which he kicked away from Tambry as she kicked a Leprecorn away from Robbie. "Get away from her/him!" they shouted simultaneously.
"Watch your back, you two!" Wendy told them while putting a deer in a head-lock.
Thompson had found himself ganged up on by several gnomes riding on the wolves, which he backed away from. "N-Nice, wolves…" he said nervously while the wolves growled. He had been separated from the group in all of the chaos.
"Let's eat this guy for Schmebulock!" one gnome declared.
"For Schmebulock!" they all declared until they got hit by folded t-shirts.
"Move off, doggies!" shouted Nate as he, along with Lee, chased the gnomes away with t-shirt cannons they had found. "You alright, Thompson?"
"You guys… saved me?" Thompson asked in surprise.
"Of course, man! You're our bro!" Lee replied as they kept running
"Aw, thanks guys…!" Thompson said as the three fought their way through the chaos.
In another spot, Star and Vee were together. Gnomes riding on the Leprecorns ganged up on the girls, while Vee tied to fend them off with a chair. Star however, kept blasting at them with no restraint.
"Why are they fighting us?!" Vee cried out.
"This is a rebellion!" Star shouted while grabbing her chair and using it to beat a Leprecorn to death, spilling out its rainbow blood. "We have to fight them by any means necessary! Might include draining their magic."
"But… I don't want to hurt them," Vee said as she saw a gnome coming closer to her, causing her to kick it back.
"It's either you or them," Star said as she blasted some barf fairies, causing the others to flee.
Dipper and Mabel were also together during the chaos as they saw a hipster man getting beaten up by his own beard.
"Ow! Why! Is! My! Beard! Hitting me!?" he cried out as the twins saw more beards crawling around.
"Beard cubs!" Dipper shouted, while grabbing a stand and pulling it down to prevent the beard cubs from coming after them.
"Hey, it's the Love God!" Mabel pointed to the Love God who was throwing love potions around at random. Nearby, Amity and Gus were defending themselves against the assault. Amity shielded her and Gus from the love potions being thrown around.
"Watch where you're throwing stuff, you idiot!" Amity shouted at the Love God while Sam tried to catch the potions before they hit anybody. Amity formed an abomi-spear, using it to knock gnomes off of the animals they were riding on.
Gus dodged another Leprecorn attack as he saw the Abominable Bro-Man, who roared which scared the crowd. Gus created the illusion of a giant monster that roared at him in response.
"Dude…" the Abominable Bro-Man said in shock.
The witch boy used light spells against the gnome army while Amity, Ghost and Sam fought off the barf fairies. Amity then recognized a pixie as the same pixie from before and she prepared to defend herself.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm not here to fight ya!" the pixie insisted.
"You're… not?" Amity asked the purple dressed pixie.
"I'm here to help!" she said as she sprinkled pixie dust on the gnomes and Leprecorns, which caused them to float up into the sky as they screamed. She then punched a barf fairy out.
"You got a name?" Amity asked the pixie after she punched a gnome with her abomi-fists.
"Acorn!" she replied as she almost got eaten by a deer. "Fuck! Watch it!"
"Why are you helping us?" Amity asked her while shooting fire spells at one gnome.
"Let's just say, you interest me," Acorn said while Sam grabbed two gnomes and threw them away from Amity and Gus.
"This town sure has a lot of these guys…" Sam commented.
"Hey Gus, we have a new ally!" Amity said while turning to see that Gus was gone. "Gus?"
The Porter boy saw the Love God throwing around his potions and glared at him. He planned to put a stop to it when he noticed one potion about to hit near Mabel. "Mabel, watch out!"
"AAH!" Mabel tried to dodge, but the love potion hit the ground near her, causing pink dust to sparkle around her. She shut her eyes and when she reopened them, she was shocked by who she saw in front of her.
"Hi, Mabel," spoke a pink illusion of Pacifica, who was looking flirtatiously at Mabel. "The stars are so bright tonight… wanna walk down to the lake and hold hands?"
"Wah… wah… wah…" Mabel was stammering at the sight, her face redder than her cheeks. Dipper had a blank stare as he watched this.
"Wow," Dipper said as he punched a beard cub.
Gus glared at the Love God, his eyes glowing blue as targeted the Love God with a spell, who's eyes also glowed blue.
"What… the…" the Love God said as he knelt over, holding his head. "What's going on with my mind!?"
Meanwhile, Star keeps blasting the magical creatures. She stomped on the head of a gnome, then punched one barf fairy and blasted another to dust. She was then toppled over by a group of raccoons and a group of Leprecorns surrounded her, ready to trample Star.
Vee saw Star in trouble. "NO!" she shouted as she rushed to her rescue, taking a deep breath as she drained the magic from the Leprecorns.
"Me lucky charms!" one exclaimed as they kneel over.
Star saw what Vee had done as she got up. Using her hand, she blasted the Leprecorns, turning them into rainbow dust. "Thanks, Vee," she said to the disguised Basilisk.
"Yeah…" Vee said while looking shocked at what she had done. "No… problem."
Meanwhile, Gus held up his glowing blue hands toward the Love God, who was kneeling in agony. "Oh please… stop! I don't want to see…!"
"See what?" Gus demanded as his eyes continued to glow. "You claim that you know what you're doing, but you're nothing but a bumbling, irresponsible bastard! And I'll make sure you never manipulate anyone else with your sick love potions, Mom!" he shouted as he had the Love God cornered, not realizing a gnome was about to take a shot at him with a bow and arrow.
As the gnome shot at Gus, Sam grabbed the arrow before it could hit him Gus. Amity punched the gnome with her abomi-fist while turning to Gus. "Gus! Snap out of it!" she shouted while riding on her staff, grabbing Gus away from the Love God.
"Hey! Why did you-!?" Gus demanded before Amity cut him off.
"You already stopped him!" Amity told him. "All you needed to do was stop him, not torture him! What's gotten into you?"
Gus looked down. "S-Sorry, it's just… let's go get the others, they need our help."
"Agreed," Amity said. "Sam, get Dipper and Mabel!"
Sam went to rescue the Pine twins, who had been surrounded before Sam grabbed them and flew them to relative safety. "You guys alright?"
"Well, other than Mabel being under some love illusion, we're fine!" Dipper replied. "But there are too many of them. If only there was a way to put a stop to this!"
Meanwhile, Stan and Soos had finished fixing up their own hot air balloon. Stan was looking at the blueprints for the balloon, not paying attention to the screams that could be heard in the distance.
"Uh, should we be worried about that, Mr. Pines?" Soos asked.
"Why should we?" Stan asked. "It just sounds like a bunch of rowdy kids having fun. But anyway, it's finally done. When these idiots see this balloon, they'll understand that I love young people." The blueprint showed a balloon that looked like Stan himself with the words 'I HEART KIDS' written on it. "'I heart kids.' All right, let 'er rip!"
Soos proceeded to let the balloon go as he took a step back. But then he saw something falling. "Oh no! A letter rip!" he pointed up while diving out of the way.
"What the H?" Stan asked before getting crushed by the large letter 'H' from the balloon, followed by the letter 'R' that hit the ground immediately afterward.
Back to the chaos, the army of magical creatures stopped when they saw something in the sky above.
"Look!" one gnome pointed up as the Stan balloon loomed over them all, now reading 'I EAT KIDS'. This causes a panic from both the people and the magical creatures.
"I eat kids? But we're kids!" shouted one teenager.
"It's heaven's punishment for our terrible taste in everything!" another responded as they ran away along with the magical creatures.
"Retreat!" a gnome general ordered while all the forest creatures ran off.
"Chill sesh! Chill sesh!" the Bro-Man shouted as he ran off.
The balloon started to catch on fire, making it even more horrifying as it plummeted towards a hill. A young boy and his mother held onto each other as it fell towards them.
"Mommy, is the floating head gonna eat us?" the boy asked.
"Yes, Charlie. Yes he will!" Charlie's mother replied while crying.
"Run away from the sky demon!" the magical creatures screamed as they fled. Wendy, Robbie, and Tambry got out of their way, as did Thompson, Lee, and Nate. Star and Vee also watched the army retreat.
"This day just keeps getting weirder!" Tambry said.
"Never a dull day in Gravity Falls," Robbie replied as they saw they were in the clear.
Jeff the Gnome saw the 'sky demon' change direction and head for the stage. "Oh shucks, I'm out of here!" he said as he ran off the stage as the Stan balloon crashed down. Once he's away from the stage, he tried to run back into the woods… only for purple goo to grab him. "AAAH!"
"Gotcha," Amity said while holding Jeff upside down as she along with Gus, Dipper, and a recovered Mabel glared at him.
"Please, I bruise easily!" Jeff cried out.
"Mabel, are you alright?" Gus asked her.
"Yeah, I think I'm good," Mabel replied while rubbing her eyes. "What happened to the Love God?"
Gus turned to the Love God, who was now shivering while in a fetal position. "I… think he'll be fine…"
"Alright, you better tell us why you staged this attack, Jeff," Dipper demanded
"Like I'm gonna tell you anything-UGH!" Jeff felt Amity's abomi-fist squeezing him.
"You see her? She's Luz's girlfriend," Mabel said, pointing to Amity. "She's tough as nails, just like Luz. Hope you remember the last time Luz was here."
Jeff paled when he turned to Amity, who gave him a sweet smile… as a dark aura radiated from her which made the gnome look terrified.
"I-I-It wasn't my idea! It was our new ruler!" Jeff stammered.
"Your new ruler?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah, we got a new queen. Real nice lady," Jeff explained. "She's still back in our territory."
"I think we know where to go now," Mabel said while turning to Dipper, both twins nodding.
"We're coming too, in case this queen's some powerful tyrant," Amity said as Gus nodded.
"Anyone else want to come?" Dipper asked, turning to Vee and Star who had come over.
"Nah, I still… need to process what happened," Vee said while Wendy was seen recovering with their friends.
"Alright, let's go find this queen!" Dipper declared as the group went into the woods, taking Jeff with them.
Amity rode on her staff with Gus seated behind her. Dipper and Mabel were being carried by Sam, with Jeff hanging from Sam's shadowy tail. They ended up in the lair of the gnomes, passing by a statue which Gus noticed.
"What's with the statue?" Gus pointed at the statue of a long-bearded gnome wearing a crown.
"Oh, that's their previous king," Dipper explained. "He turned to stone after a kid correctly answered a riddle of what a ghost's favorite ice cream flavor is."
"Which is…?" Amity asked him.
"Cookies and scream," Dipper said as they settled on the ground.
"What? Come on, it is obviously boo berry," Mabel told him.
"Halt!" a voice shouted before the two could get into an argument.
Popping out from the bushes were gnomes carrying bows and arrows, targeting the four. Amity and Gus prepared to fight while Dipper and Mabel stood behind them. "Where's your queen?" Amity demanded.
"That would be me," said a female voice.
Everyone turned to see the queen of the gnomes, who wore a large wooden mask, a crown, a dress made out of leaves that reached to her knees, stick arm guards, and a large wooden staff that she carried. Once she removed the mask, Amity and Gus were shocked to see who it was.
"EVERSCENCE SLIPKNOT!?" they exclaimed.
"Wait, you know her?" Mabel asked them.
"Her name is Everscence Slipknot?" Dipper tilted his head in confusion.
"Eve, I can't believe it!" Amity said as she walked up to her. "When you went missing, we… wait, you were here in the human world this entire time?! And in Gravity Falls of all places!?"
"It is good to see you, my old friends," Eve said in a regal manner. "Ever since arriving in this place, I realized that the Titan himself sent me here with a purpose. The gnomes needed a leader, and I was chosen to be their leader…"
"Is this something to be concerned about?" Gus asked as Eve silently chuckled.
"No need to worry, Augustus," Eve said as she raised her hands. "It is alright, they are friends," she told the gnomes, who lowered their weapons.
"My… my queen!" Jeff rushed towards her. "I'm sorry, the invasion failed…"
"It is alright, since you at least brought my old friends to me," Eve assured him, patting Jeff on the head. "Follow me friends, we have so much to discuss," she said as she led them away.
"Wow, Eve has changed a lot," Amity whispered to Gus.
"Yeah…" Gus said.
Eve led the group to a large, glowing tree, looking up at it with a calm and distant look. Amity and Gus didn't know what to make of this new and serious Eve.
"This tree is something special," she said while patting the tree. "It is said that for generations, this tree has led the magical creatures here to…" She looked around, realizing that there were no gnomes in sight. She turned to the group… and tears flooded down her face immediately "WAAAH! I'm so glad to see you guys again!" she broke down, hugging Amity and Gus, surprising them.
"Wait, what!?" Gus exclaimed while Eve kept crying on their shoulders.
"Eve… are you okay?" Amity asked her as Eve lifted up her tear and snot covered face.
"Okay? Do I look okay!?" Eve exclaimed. "I didn't even want to be queen, those gnomes forced me into it and I just went along so they wouldn't get angry with me. You have to get me the fuck out of here! These gnomes are so gross! They bathe with squirrels!"
"Yeah, that checks out." Dipper said dully.
"But what about that attack you ordered?" Mabel asked her.
"I never ordered an attack, they just asked me what they should do about the disappearances of the creatures around the forests," Eve explained "All I did was suggest they should, maybe, talk to the people in town. But everyone just took it the wrong way." She looked down. "You wouldn't believe what I have been through since coming here…"
After transporting to the human realm, Eve fell down a large hill. "WAAAAAAAAHHH!" she cried as rolled off a cliff, causing her to fall down to the woods below. "AAAIIEEEE!"
She walked through the forest, coming upon some unicorns. "Excuse me, but do you know where I could find the nearest town?"
"Wow, check out the hair on this girl," one unicorn spoke through his horn.
"Yes… hey witch, who did your hair? A blind crab?" the other unicorn heckled as the two unicorns laughed at the embarrassed Eve.
Eve dipped her toes in the water of the lake, seeing that it was not boiling hot. She decided to go for a swim… but then she swam back screaming while being chased by the real Gobblewonker.
"AAAAAH!" she cried as the Gobblewonker even chased her on land.
"CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAAAP!" Eve ran from a pack of wolves, climbing up a tree and sitting on a branch so the wolves wouldn't eat her. But they kept barking at her.
The tired Eve walked into a large cave, not knowing that it was reserved for the Manotaurs. Once the Manotaurs saw her, they made an outcry.
"FEMALE!" the Manotaurs pointed to her.
"GET HER OUT OF HERE BEFORE SHE RUINS OUR MANCAVE!" the leader ordered while Eve ran once again.
Eve sat alone in a makeshift tent she made for herself. She looked tired, her clothes were tattered and messy. All she could do was curl up in a fetal position as she wept.
"...The nights were the hardest," Eve said while having a thousand yard stare.
"Well, at least you're alive, Eve," Amity told her. "We do need to find a way to get you out of here though."
"Yeah, these gnomes will not let go since you have agreed to be their queen," Dipper pointed out.
"Well, how do queens usually step down from their position?" Gus asked.
"A rousing speech might help," Mabel suggested.
"It could be worth a try…" Eve considered.
And so, the gnomes had gathered around while Eve stood in front of them. She cleared her throat before she made a declaration.
"Attention, my loyal subjects," Eve said through her façade. "In my time with you, I have realized that it is an honor to be your queen."
"Yeah/Go Queen/You're the best!" the gnomes cheered.
"But, however, if you were to ask me, I don't think you need a queen," Eve said, which led to some confusion of the gnomes. "Why is a monarchy necessary when you have all proven yourselves that you can take care of yourselves just fine without the rule of royalty! So from this day forth, you won't need someone to rule over you, but instead you will-"
"Wait," one gnome spoke up. "Are you leaving us?"
Eve paused for a second before she continued. "It does not matter if I-"
"She's totally ditching us!" the gnome declared as many gasped.
"She's quitting!?"
"We can't let her leave!"
"Get her!"
"Now, now…" Eve backs away while the gnomes marched toward her, but they were blocked by a purple abomi-wall. Amity, Gus, and the twins went to grab her.
"Come on, I think we're done here!" Amity said while leading the group out, but there were more gnomes in the way. Amity turned Ghost into a staff as she held Gus and Eve by her side while Sam took the twins. They flew above the gnomes, who chased them out of their lair.
Jeff the Gnome led the chase. "You're not going anywhere! Gnomes of the forest, assembled!" he declared, as his brethren started to pile on each other to form into something gigantic. The heroes looked back to see a monstrous being made out of gnomes.
"Alright guys, just like we've practiced!" Jeff said as the gnome monster roared.
"Glad we don't have gnomes in the Isles!" Gus declared as the gang tried to escape from the gnome monster as it chased after them. Amity used her abomination magic to shoot abomi-goo at their feet, tripping the monster. But the gnome monster turned its hands into feet and continued to chase after them.
"I had no idea they could do this!" Dipper shouted as one gnome jumped out and grabbed onto him. "YAH!"
"Hiyah!" Mabel kicked the gnome off of her brother as another gnome grabbed Eve by the leg as it tried to pull her off of the staff.
"Get him off! Get him off!" Eve swung her legs, trying to get the gnome off. Amity used her abomi-goo to grab the gnome and swing it back to the monster. "Thanks, Amity!"
"No problem!" Amity replied.
"Look out!" Gus shouted as the monster threw a tree at them. Amity tried to dodge the tree, but was hit by its branches, causing the witches to fall to the ground. Sam and the Pines twins rushed over to see if they were okay.
"Well then," Jeff said as he piloted the gnome monster. "Looks like there's nowhere left for you to run!"
More gnomes emerged from the bushes and trees around the kids, closing in on them. They were surrounded. But as the gnomes began to advance, sparkling dust was spread around on all of the gnomes, including the gnome monster.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Jeff asked in confusion as he looked at the dust.
"Um, Jeff?" one gnome asked as he started to float up. Others soon followed.
"We're flying!" one cried out.
"We can fly!" they shout.
"They can fly?" Amity asked in confusion.
"Yeah, they flew…" Dipper pointed as they saw all the gnomes flying up high.
"We can't fly!" Jeff cried out as his gnome monster disassembled, every gnome starting to fly around. "Who's responsible for this!?"
Acorn flew up in front of him, sticking her tongue out while flying away with a huff, joining Amity.
"How do you like my work?" Acorn asked her, clapping her hands. "Just some pixie dust will send these boys floating."
"Pixie dust?" Amity asked while looking up at the gnomes.
"You haven't seen the last of us! We will have our revenge!" Jeff cried out as he floated away.
"How long are they going to float up like that?" Eve asked.
Acorn answered and Amity translated. "She says that they'll be up there for a while, at least until the pixie dust wears off. Then it'll be raining gnomes."
"Not the strangest weather in this town…" Dipper commented.
"Come on, let's head back to Woodstick," Mabel said as the gang decided to leave the woods. Acorn would have followed them, if not for Ghost trying to eat her.
"Ah! Get away from me, you fucking cat!" Acorn told her off.
Back at the Woodstick festival, everyone was still recovering from the attack. Responding to the scene were the police, the fire department, ambulances and the media, which included reporter and anchorwoman Shandra Jimenez.
"The annual Woodstick festival became a nightmare tonight. According to witnesses, they were attacked by wild animals, their own boards, and… a gang of little men?" She went to one of the victims, the same bearded hipster from before but without the beard. "Sir, what can you tell me what happened here?"
"My beard was like punching me and punching me!" he said, his face shaved.
"And then there were all these little bearded men who kept pelting us with squirrels and raccoons!" a teen girl added as Blubs and Durland walked up to Shandra.
"We'll take it from here," Blubs spoke up. "This whole thing was a concert stunt gone wrong. Everyone got a little too excited and someone brought some animals that got agitated by the commotion and got loose."
"They ended up causing a gas leak that mixed with all the incenses in the air, resulting in some mass hallucinations," Durland added. "Then again, this is Oregon. Something was in the pine wood alright."
"Though we don't know where the hot air balloon came from…" Blubs said while turning to the balloon wreckage, which was still on stage.
Stan and Soos walked amongst the recovering people. "What's everybody crying about? In my day, zeppelins fell from the sky like raindrops," he said while everyone spotted him.
"It's him! The horrible old man from the sky!" a teen cried out as they screamed and ran away.
"...You know what? Being loved by the youth is overrated. Being feared, now that's priceless," Stan commented while walking away from the balloon wreckage.
Meanwhile, Robbie and Tambry sat by an ambulance with blankets wrapped around them and hot cocoa in their hands. Their other friends were nearby while Thompson was being checked by the paramedics. The two looked down at their drinks, then up at each other.
"Can I say something?" they asked at the same time.
"You go first," Robbie insisted.
Tambry sighed. "Robbie… after all of this, it's still hard to say but… I like you, okay?" She looked away, flustered. "I… I don't know when I started liking you, but I don't think I realized how much I liked you until after you left. Maybe that isn't a reason for you to stay in town… but I don't want you to leave again."
Robbie looked down to his cocoa, then back up at Tambr. "Actually… I would say that is a pretty good reason for me to stay," he said while his hand reached for hers, which surprised Tambry. "Honestly, I think I may have liked you before as well, though I knew Nate had a crush on you and I didn't want to get in the way…"
He glanced over at Nate, who noticed that the two were holding hands. But rather than get mad, Nate instead smiled and gave Robbie a thumbs up.
"So… does this mean we're dating?" Tambry asked.
"It is if that's what you want it to be," Robbie replied while Tambry scooted closer to him.
"Then yeah, I'd like that," she said as she pulled out her phone and started texting. "Status update…" She stopped herself. "You know what? Forget it." She put her phone away. "Maybe I should stare at something other than my phone for a while." Robbie let her lay her head on his arm, the two still holding hands.
Wendy noticed the newly formed couple and she smiled. "Good for them," she said.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Lee asked.
"Well, I would say that it looks like Robbie has decided to stay," Wendy replied.
"And that he and Tambry may be together now," Nate said, choosing to be happy for the new couple.
"Woo-hoo! Robbie's here to stay!" Lee cheered.
"Guess the old gang's back together again after all," Thompson said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Star was rebandaging her hand while Vee sat next to her. "Thanks for the save, Vee. I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem." Vee replied, while looking down. "I wish I didn't have to use my abilities though…"
"Look, I get it," Star responded while looking at her hand. "I don't like using my power either… but sometimes you have no choice. You did what you had to in the moment and I am thankful that you did. Because sometimes we do have to do stuff that we don't enjoy for the right reasons. Stuff that we don't want to do, but have to because it is necessary."
"I… think I understand," Vee said as she spotted Blubs and Durland rushing towards her.
"Vee, are you alright?" Durland asked her, worried.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Blubs asked as the two checked up on Vee.
"Hey, don't worry, I'm fine, guys," Vee said she went over to embrace them in a hug, the two cops hugging her back. "But I am glad to see you two right now."
"You wanna go home?" Durland asked her.
"Yeah, I'm tired," Vee responded while turning to Star. "Bye Star, tell the others that I'm turning in for the night."
"Alright, see ya," Star waved to them while watching Vee leave. She then looked down at her own gloved hand, quietly thinking to herself.
It was then that Amity, Gus, Eve, Dipper and Mabel finally returned to survey the damage, away from everyone else. Eve had a look of guilt. "I had no idea…"
"Hey, it's alright, no one's blaming you for this," Amity assured her.
"Though I can't help but worry that this could cause problems for us in the future…" Dipper mentioned.
"HEY!" the Love God shouted as he ran over to them, pointing at Gus. "You! You have a lot of nerve for what you did to me!"
"Hey, someone had stop you from throwing around your potions!" Gus countered. "Some 'love god' you are!"
"Oh, oh is that how you want to be? Let me call my mom!" the Love God threatened as he raised his hands, his eyes glowing. "Aphrodite, goddess of love and passion! Your son has called for you!"
"You have reached the Aphrodite help line, your beseechment is important to us. Please hold," spoke an automated voice from the sky, which confused the others. "Thank you for holding, we've realized you have your choice of deities, and appreciated your patronage."
And it was then that a spotlight shone down from the sky. The others were shocked to see flowers blooming from the grass and birds appearing as a jingle started to play while a large clam hovered down to the ground.
"Aphrodite, Aphrodite Aphrodite…! The Goddess of LOVE!"
Emerging from the clam was a tall woman with a slender and hourglass build, with very long, thick golden hair that reached down to her legs. She had purple eyelids, dark magenta lips, blue eyes and long eyelashes standing out from the corner of her eyes. She wore a dark magenta, single-strapped dress with a heart-shaped brooch on the strap, with a skirt that reached down to her feet with a slit cut at the front just reaching her thighs. She also wore golden high heels and ankle bracelets that matched her hair color. As a goddess, she had out a luminous pink glow around her.
"I am Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and-" She looked down at the Love God. "Oh… Eros…"
"Hey mom, gotta deal with that kid over there!" the Love God pointed to Gus. "He put me into some kind of nightmarish spell, you have to do something about this, along with his friends!"
Aphrodite looked at them and crossed her arms. "Oh… yeah, you do know they're kids, and you're immortal."
"But I'm the victim here, and he hurt me!" the Love God complained.
"You're the victim? You've been flailing around love potions at everybody!" Gus pointed out.
"You did what!?" Aphrodite exclaimed as she turned to see that some teens had broken up while one teen was privately making out with a Leprecorn. "Oh no… I'll never hear the end of this from Freyja. Okay, I'm gonna have to send in a squad to fix what you did here and clean up your mess!" she scolded her son, who looked down.
"S-Sorry, mom…" the Love God replied.
She turned to the gang. "Look, I'm so, so sorry for my son's actions. I know that he has been neglecting his duties to pursue his music career, but he should know better than to thoughtlessly throw around his potions like this."
"Well, even so, it still doesn't seem right to manipulate people into falling in love," Gus said while looking down.
"Manipulate?" Aphrodite asked. "That is a bold accusation…"
"Well, why do you guys do that? Like, make mortals fall in love or make them do things? What if they don't want what you immortals want?" Gus asked.
Aphrodite sighed. "Well, honestly back in the day we did it because we thought that we knew best. But we were proven over and over again that even gods can be wrong… usually by the mortals that we viewed as inferior. Eventually we decided to let mortals decide their own destinies and by then we were not being worshiped as much as we once were. So we were forced to change with the times, though occasionally we still try to help a mortal out, usually by giving them a nudge in the right direction. Like what about you?"
"I'm, uh, aromantic," Gus admitted.
"Oh, is that all?" Aphrodite asked and Gus nodded. "That isn't a problem at all. Aromanticism doesn't mean you have no desire for long-term companions. Many aromantic people have lifelong partners or are part of queerplatonic relationships, connections they have with other people that are strong and emotionally intimate, but not romantic in nature. These kind of relationships are just as valid and just as meaningful as romantic relationships. And perhaps one day you will find someone to be in a queerplatonic relationship with you… if that is something you desire."
Gus looked down. "I'll… think about it, Ms. Goddess."
Aprodite nodded. "And can you at least apologize to my son here? And you too, Eros. I want you two to make up and bury the hatchet."
Gus and the Love God didn't look at each other in the eyes as Gus spoke first. "Sorry."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," the Love God mumbled while rubbing his arm.
"Thank you, boys," Aphrodite said as Amity walked up to her.
"Excuse me, you're an actual goddess, right?" Amity asked her. "Is there a way for you to make us a portal to the Demon Realm?"
"Ooh, sorry, that is not within my power," Aphrodite said, much to Amity's disappointment. "Wait a second… you're Amity, aren't you?"
Amity looked up. "Uh, yeah…"
"Oh, my Gods!" Aphrodite squealed. "I am such a big fan of you and Luz! You two are one of the cutest couples to ever form! I've read all about you from the gods' chats and forum rooms, I've been a big fan of all the stories about your exploits! An enemies turned lovers story is so good! I've written dozens of fanfiction and AUs about you two, even ones about you two also being Greek Goddesses falling in love! You're one of my top favorite ships! The girls back home will be so jealous! Can I take a picture with you?" she asked while holding her phone, while Amity looked very weirded out about the goddess's excitement about her.
"Uh, sure…" Amity agreed as Aphrodite stood next to her, taking a picture as they both smiled.
Mabel was watching this in amazement. "Wow, who knew that even gods can be a little nerdy," she said to her brother.
Dipper was too busy looking around. "I really hope nobody notices any of this…"
"Well then, we must be going," Aphrodite said while grabbing her son. "I'm gonna have a long worded discussion with you, especially about this!" She held up her phone, showing the Love God a viral video of him from the last concert.
"Oh come on, mom! It was just a video!" he claimed, only to get his ear pulled. "Owowow, not the ear!"
"Like I said, we're gonna have a long discussion when we get home!" Aphrodite brought him over to her clam, which closed on them as they rose up back up into the sky, leaving more flowers behind
"I can't believe it… an actual god…" Eve said in shock.
"Yeah, Luz once met a god like her as well," Amity mentioned. "She said that he was a cheapskate."
Dipper turned to Mabel and cleared his throat. "Uh Mabel, can we um… talk about earlier?"
"Like what?" Mabel asked him.
"When the Love God hit you with one of his potions, a vision of Pacifica appeared in front of you," Dipper said, causing Mabel to look flustered.
"Oh… you saw that," Mabel said while hiding her face under her sweater. She then took a deep breath and showed her face again. "Okay… I think I have a crush on Pacifica Northwest… you don't think that's… weird, right?"
"What?" Dipper asked in surprise. "No, Mabel, of course not. I mean, I know weird. Amity having a living shadow? That's weird. Us battling an army of magical creatures? That's weird. A bunch of gnomes standing on top of each other to create a giant monster? That's weird. But you liking Pacifica? Not weird at all. And no matter what, I am still gonna support you and help you in any way I can." He patted her back. "I promise."
"Thanks, Dipper," Mabel responded with a small smile. "I've still been trying to figure this out. I mean, it's not like I am attracted to other girls all of the sudden… just Pacifica. I still like boys. Or at least I still think I like boys. Pacifica is the exception."
"And hey, it is okay to not be sure," Dipper told her. "You don't even have to put a definitive label on it. Just… like who you like."
"I'll… do that," Mabel replied as she hugged Dipper. "Thanks, bro."
"Don't mention it," Dipper said as he hugged her back.
And so everyone heads back to the Mystery Shack in Soos's truck and Stan's car. Once they returned, they saw Fazio walking from the woods.
"Fazio, is that you?" Gus asked him.
"Yeah, kid, I had a rough day," Fazio replied. "I managed to get a gig at this Manotaur cave and uh… I think I'll just turn in for the night."
"Well, this is Amity, and Eve, my friends," Gus pointed to them. "They are witches, like me."
"Hello, sir," Amity greeted him.
"Hi, nice to meet Gus's friends," Fazio replied before he snapped his fingers. "Just remembered something… Vaggie texted me back."
"She did?" Gus asked him.
"Yeah, texted her yesterday that you got here safe and sound. But she didn't reply until earlier today with a 'that's great' and a smiley emoji," he explained. "She never sent me a smiley before… oh well, at least she's up to date. Later, kids." He began to head for his truck.
"What is he?" Eve asked Gus.
"He's called a magician," Gus explained.
"Oh… what's a magician?" Eve asked again.
Amity, Gus, Ghost, Eve, and Star gathered inside the living room as the twins came back in.
"Grunkle Stan says you guys can sleep here if you want or use the break room," Mabel confirmed.
"Thanks, we appreciate it," Amity replied as Dipper set up the sleeping bags for them.
"I think I'll stay in the break room," Star said as she took her sleeping bag with her.
Eve turned to Amity and Gus. "So… we are all just stuck here until Luz finds a way to get us home?" she asked.
Gus nodded. "At least Luz will know where we are when she does find a way to get here," he pointed out. "Though I am still worried about Willow, I hope she's safe…"
"Yeah, me too…" Amity admitted while looking down. She then looked up at Eve. "Um, Eve, could you tell us what exactly happened to you the day that you went missing?"
Eve, who now wore a Mystery Shack souvenir t-shirt and sweatpants, started to explain. "Well… when I was going into my room when I saw that someone had broken into my room and was reading the diary of a human named Philip that I found."
"Yeah, your friends mentioned that," Amity confirmed. "They already filled me and Luz in on the human who lived in the Isles, Philip."
"Yeah… in fact, this Philip also left notes on how to build a portal door, which we tried to make ourselves," Eve explained. "My kidnapper apparently needed the journal to finish building his portal door and he took me with him so that he could use me as a test subject to make sure the portal wasn't dangerous to use. So when his door was finished, he threw me in and I ended up here, proving that it worked. So he then left me stranded here…"
Amity nodded, wondering something. "Your abductor… was he an old witch?"
"No," Eve confirmed. "He looked young."
"Do you remember what he looked like?" Amity asked her.
"Um… well, let me sketch it for you," she said as she spotted a notebook on the table and she grabbed it along with a pen. "I am very good at remembering details and faces, which is useful for solving mysteries." Eve finished up her sketch and showed it to everyone. "This is what he looked like."
When Amity looked at the sketch, her eyes widened in shock. "No…" she said, backing away. "It… it just can't be… it can't be!"
Acorn was hanging outside of the Shack, looking in through the window. She was curiously watching Amity. "Hmm, I've never met a witch-Fae before… I wonder-"
"GOTCHA!" Ghost shouted as she jumped up and caught Acorn in her mouth.
"AHH! Let me go!" Acorn cried out but Ghost ignored her cries and swallowed the pixie whole, sending her to her stomach.
"Finally!" Ghost said before she started to head back inside, looking rather proud of herself. Muffled shouts could be heard coming from the very angry pixie now inside her, since Acorn was swearing a storm of curses.
"You damn cat! When I get out of here, I am gonna make you pay!" Acorn promised, hoping that she would be able to get out of here as Ghost found somewhere inside the Shack to lay down…
Some notes to throw in:
When adapting "The Love God" in this, we've taken the liberties to rewrite and revamp many of the many problematic stuff that made this episode not aged well, besides Stan and Soos's subplot. The episode itself is just entirely awful. I mean, Mabel putting love potions without the consent of Robbie and Tambry, Wendy was pretty off about the whole Robbie and Tambry getting together rather than be happy for them, which is just forced conflict in writing, and Thompson… yeah, he doesn't need to be a punching bag for his friend group's approval. This episode really shed some really dark light and this derailed a lot of characters that we felt it deserves a complete remake.
The new OC, Acorn, is a pixie character that is a combination of one of Buck's OCs along with Glimmer from She-Ra 2018 if Karen Fukuhara was allowed to swear. She will return to make more appearances, and that gag where Ghost tries to eat her is based off of the behavior of one of Buck's cats.
Having Aphrodite as the Love God's mom was a follow up joke back in Chapter 16 in Book 1, as Aphrodite is based off of the Disney's version of her from Hercules. We've also included her jingle from the Hercules Animated Series. And her meeting with Gus is a way to show that platonic relationships are just as good as romantic relationships. It's a way that to show that those under the aromantic spectrum can still find companionship with a partner.
Oh, and yeah, Eve being in Gravity Falls was the plan all along. Turns out, she became a much more important character than we originally planned. She was included into being stranded in the human realm, and much to her luck she ends up in Gravity Falls.
Also the mention about the vampire bat that Dipper fought that one time that was shown in "Northwest Mystery Manor" episode was just a way to throw it in due to someone keep asking if the part about the vampire bat would be adapted. Honestly, we have no interest in adapting that, as it serves no purpose of the story other than the establish how Gravity Falls are more aware of their surroundings of magical beings. So yeah, you can stop asking about it.
Also if you're curious, the Abominable Bro-Man, the Beard Cubs and the Leprecorns are based from Journal #3. Just a warning about looking at the Leprecorns…
One last note to mentioned, the Love God getting those two old ladies together was based off of the original concept of what Alex Hirtch had for the episode, until Disney says no and made to have Meredith be with an old man instead. We've decided to have what Alex Hirtch originally intended to have for this chapter.
And now to answer reviews:
Moheart7: Well, we have been thinking up some members but if you got some that would make for potential members, submit away. And yeah, you are thinking a little too much on it.
Ultimate-drax: Thanks for the review.
BlueKnight-X2: Hunter being a Fullmetal Alchemist reference? Wasn't intentional… but maybe…
The Great Fossil King: Not something good, obviously.
Crosshot: Ivy named himself that in honor of Number Four's death.
JTK: Well we wanted to make this chapter special, and it's not the first time in canon where the B-plot overshadows the A-plot. I mean, look like Gus's episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", Gus's plot was overshadowed by the Lumity moments. So no harm, no foul, I guess.
OMAC001: Indeed it does.
Matteso: 1) You're correct. 2) I mean, Terra is the worst coven head to work with… 3) Spoilers. 4) Just a mistake that's corrected. 5) Depends, but you know, it's an AU, sometimes things don't end up the same as canon. I mean, there are dozens of different designed Spider-Mans, so what's to say there aren't different designed Harpy Lilith's?
61394: Well, guess this makes Terra the Boiling Isles' Morality.
Shuffollower: Donna hasn't suspect anything yet, and Eda would have let Luz know. As for the question of if the characters from "I'm in the Band" are canon in the LCU… sure.
Alamout: 1) No comment 2) Have been considering on that. 3) Really? 4) Maybe.
Remember to submit your OCs as the OC contest continues.
