Author's Note's:
Me: This chapter is so depressing!
Bill: oh, boo hooo!
Me: shut up Bill!
Random Fan: Yes you're so insensitive!
Bill: Hello I'm a demon! Why is it you guys keep forgetting that?
Me: Do you want me to throw another random pie at him.
Random Fan: yes!
Bill: Don't you- (random pie gets smacked in his face)
Random Fan: Wow that's a good look for you Bill!
Bill: Read or die!
Random Fan: (Starts reading) Just outside of Portland, Oregon…
(Just outside of Portland, Oregon…)
They had been walking for hours…
Wendy forced herself to move forward even though her muscles were aching like they had never ached before.
The group had walked though out the night, they were obviously too anxious to sleep. No words had been exchanged between them; then again what could they possibly say?
Wendy had wanted to strike up a conversation with Mabel since the journey had begun, but the young female twin had distanced herself from the others, walking several yards out of reach.
Pacifica figured she had to be crying, because every now and then the wind would send one of her tears flying back towards them. It was heart wrenching to watch as the tears kept coming, almost like a steady rain.
And yet the rest of the world around them was happy, as if it didn't have a care in the world. Birds chirped as dawn approached its peak, the sky dance in different shades of pinks and purples. The grass swayed in the morning breeze, as the morning insects began to buzz around.
'This is so wrong!' Pacifica thought to herself. 'The whole world is completely oblivious of the danger that is literally at its doorstep.'
It was an unsettling felling to say the least.
Mabel cursed under her breath as she nearly tripped over a tree root. Oh, how she wished more than anything that this was all one terrible nightmare. But as the sun began to rose, she began to realize that she was never going to wake up. On normal days she would have welcomed the morning sun rise with open arms, but today she cursed the sun, and all its glory.
Because today was perhaps the worse day of her young life…
August 31 yes today was her birthday, or at least it was supposed to be, but now it simply marked her first day without Dipper.
The first of many!
"Pine Tree is one of use now, meaning even if you somehow manage to defeat me all the demons get sucked back in with me; INCLDING PINE TREE!"
Mabel Pines clenched her fist as Bill's voice echoed through her mind. She would make that stupid Dorito pay, even if it was the last thing she ever did. But did she really have the strength to do what must be done? She knew deep in her heart that Dipper would want her to do the right thing, but could she really sentence her own brother to a decaying world far from her reach?
Could she really accept the fact that he was already lost to her, never to be seen again? Well… she could see him again, but Mabel dreaded that even more!
Why?
Because Dipper was a demon now, and Mabel saw how the other demons acted. Did she really want to see what Dipper had turned into? No, she'd rather remember him for what he was, and not the monster he was bound to become!
Again, tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and she did her best to hold them in; but it was easier said than done. How could she had let this happen? She was the older twin, and yet 9/10th of the time her brother was the one saving her.
Well not this time!
No, this time Mabel would be doing all the saving, and she's been doing it without Dipper. Everything for the rest of her days would be done without him.
"You're living for both of us now…"
Dipper's words caused her heart to shatter even more if that was even possible.
"I see some buildings!" Gideon shouted, running up to Mabel and pointing off into the distance.
Mabel had seen them too and nodded. "Were almost to the next town." She rasped. Her voice was strained, and it caused Gideon to flinch despite himself.
"Listen I know you and I are not the best of friends." He said softly. "But I know we can win this."
"I can't do this without him." Mabel suddenly cried, embracing Gideon; and sobbing loudly.
Gideon held her tight and tried to be comforting. "Well get through this you'll see." he assured her.
"I can't do this Gideon; I feel so alone!" Mabel cried.
"You're not alone my 'Lille Marshmallow" Gideon assured her. "We're all here for you, we'll find the other three symbols and together well stop Bill!"
"Gideon is right!" Pacifica said, as she and the rest of the group joined them. "We're with you Mabel!"
"Yeah, well make sure everyone's okay, and then we'll set off!" Wendy agreed.
"But where will we even begin?" Mabel sobbed. "Those three could be anywhere around the world!"
"We'll know them when we see them…" Candy said, reciting what Dipper had told them from before.
"We could hack hospital computers to see who was born with six fingers." Grenda said, thinking out loud.
McGucket stroked his beard in deep thought. "Perhaps theirs another way…" he said, half to himself.
"Yeah like what old Man?" Robbie snapped, obviously tiered form the long journey.
"Ford had another associate." McGucket explained. "I remember seeing a name…." he stroked his beard some more. "It was Ivan something…or another…Ivan Worm… Wormman? No Wormwood!" He shouted correcting himself. "Ivan Wormwood was the name."
"But that could have been anybody!" Robbie stated the obvious.
"Well, it's the only lead we have." Wendy pointed out.
"Ivan Wormwood?" Mabel repeated the name under her breath as she pulled away from Gideon. "I'm sure a phone book might give us something."
"So what we check every Ivan Wormwood in the yellow pages and say, "Hey I'm so and so, and your old friend Ford wanted me to call you!" Robbie snapped.
"Don't listen to him Mabel, Robbie's always like this when he's tiered." Wendy assured her.
"It's okay." Mabel gave Robbie a reassuring smile. "We're all angry, but we can't give up! We'll find the other's today, and tomorrow well start our search for this Ivan guy."
"They shouldn't be hard to find." Pacifica agreed as they began to walk again. "No doubt Mom and Dad managed to find a computer and order a hotel room."
"Do you think they got enough rooms for everyone or just themselves?" Gideon hated the question the moment it came out of his mouth, but it was too late now.
"If they didn't then I'll buy them myself!" Pacifica said in fact.
"I'm sorry I didn't-" Gideon began.
"It's okay." Pacifica assured him. "I know how my parents are, but rest assured if they did leave them out on the street I will correct them, because I don't take crap from them anymore!"
"We'll probably make it into town by 10am, 9 if we hurry." McGucket informed them.
"Then let's hurry!" Mabel said starting to run, the rest of the group followed her lead.
It took them until 10:30, but the group finally made it to town.
Pacifica couldn't believe her eyes; Gravity Falls had been messed up for so long it was hard to remember what a normal town looked like. It was hard to imagine that just one week ago Gravity Falls was just as normal as this.
"Portland, Oregon" Gideon whispered. "The Big city, it may be hard to find them in this place." he pointed out the obvious.
"We'll just start by checking all the hotels in the area." Wendy stated.
"Yeah that won't take long" Robbie scoffed.
"Trust me I have a pretty good idea where my parents would end up." Pacifica said taking the lead.
(Hotel Monaco Portland)
It turned out Pacifica's instincts were right on the money, The group found Mr. and Mrs. Northwest sitting in the lobby of the Monaco Hotel; looking well dressed and as snooty as ever.
"Pacifica!" Mrs. Northwest ran to her daughter and embraced her.
It was something Mabel had never seen before, and obviously, Pacifica herself was unaccustomed to it as well for she flinched at the sudden contact of her mother's arms, but after a second or two the realization hit her; and she hugged her back.
"Oh mom thank goodness we found you!" Pacifica exclaimed.
"Where are our parents you greedy snobs?" Robbie yelled. "You left them didn't you?"
"Shhh boy!" Mr. Northwest hissed. "There are important people in here." he muttered under his breath.
Several of the hotel staff gave them strange looks, but otherwise paid them no mind.
"There; all fine." Mrs. Northwest assured them. "We have the whole top floor book for just us, we pretending to be a tour group exploring the city so we don't raise any alarms."
"Wow that was pretty quick thinking." Wendy admitted.
"Yes well we're not as helpless as we appear." Mr. Northwest spoke sternly. "Now come, and let's get you all fed and in some decent clothes."
"Oh, dudes I'm starving." Soos said as his stomach growled.
"I'll call room service the moment we get up to the main room." Mrs. Northwest assured him.
"The main room?" Candy asked.
"Yes we've been treating the largest room on the floor as a meeting place. We mostly listen to the news to see if there are any sightings of what's going on in Gravity Falls." Mrs. Northwest explained.
"And is there?" Mabel asked hopefully.
"No, they are completely oblivious to what's going on." Mr. Northwest said gravely.
A chill ran up Mabel's spine.
Things weren't looking good at all...
The small group enters the elevator, and it takes them up to the top floor.
It felt so wrong to be in an elevator, and yet the people around them only seemed to be worried about their own little worlds. Not even bothering to notice the children in their ratty clothes.
Finally, they reach their destination and Mr. Northwest leads them to the main room. "Everyone they have arrived." Mr. Northwest announced once they entered the room.
The group entered the room to see... well everyone. Even the gnomes and the other magical beings of Gravity Falls had somehow managed to get up here.
"Dad!" Wendy raced over to her father and younger brother's embracing them.
"Candy, Grenda!"
Mabel watched as Grenda's parents came rushing towards them, and her stomach knotted up. She wanted to be happy for them, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel sour. All around her families were being reunited, and she was all alone.
"Gideon, Son!" Budd Gleeful goes to hug his son and stops as if unsure.
Gideon holds out his little arms. "Go ahead and hug me before I change my mind."
Budd smiled and embraced his son.
Mabel looked away to bitter to watch.
"Hey Hamdog it's going to be okay." Soos said pulling her into a hug. "I miss him too."
"He's torturing him Soos, I just know it." Mabel cried.
Everyone looked at her, most of them were looks of confusion. "What's going on?" May Tyler asked?
Wendy stood, a grave look in her eyes. "Dipper has been taken prisoner." She answered. Everyone gasped.
"No not the Pines boy!" Lazy Susan shouted. "He was like our guide."
"We will save Destructor!" Beardy, the Manitar vowed.
"Yeah!" the town's folk agreed in unison.
"We can't!" Mabel cried.
"Yes we can Mabel." Tambry tried to sound encouraging.
"Yeah we'll have Doctor Fun-Times back before you know it-" Nate began.
"No, we can never get him back!" Mabel screamed. "Don't you understand? Bill took him away and... And..." Mabel burst into tears.
Soos held her tight.
"Dipper's been turned into a demon." Wendy told them. "He's one of them now, and it's only a matter of time before Bill break through his defenses and convinces him to take down the barrier."
"You mean not only can we never go home, but now were not even safe here!" A woman asked as she held her son close.
"We can still win our home back." Candy spoke up. "The Zodiac is a circle for a reason, there are other's out there with the power to stop Bill."
"Great and how are we supposed to find them?" Budd asked.
"Ivan Wormwood!" McGucket yelled. "He was a friend of Ford's, or at least I think he was, He mentioned him a few times."
"Is that the only lead we have?" Lazy Susan asked.
Candy nodded.
The room went quiet as everyone looked to Mabel.
Mabel pulled away from Soos and met their eyes. 'They're all looking to me now for answers. This must be how Dipper feels when everyone is depending on him.' Just the thought of her brother made her want to ball up in a ball and cry even more, but this time she managed to hold back the tears and put on a brave face. "Alright people grab as many hotel room phones, and phonebooks as you can find and start calling! We've got an Ivan Wormwood to find."
Everyone got to moving right away, not wanting to waste any time; for time was something that they didn't have much of.
'Be strong Dipper!' Mabel begged inwardly as she readied her own calling station at the coffee table of the large room. 'Were going to stop him, so just hang on a little longer...'
'Please...'
Chapter End Notes
Thanks for reading as always I ask you to leave a comment. Again the next chapter will be up as soon as I post it.
So until then as always this is… Emily signing off :)
