Opening File: Northwest Fest

150 years ago, Nathaniel Northwest commissioned the numerous other townsfolk to build him the Northwest Manor. In return they would host a grand party every year in which everyone in Gravity Falls was welcome. However, after they completed the manor, the Northwests locked out the townsfolk, and since then the party only welcomes the super-rich and elite, including dukes and duchesses.

Close File

Xxx

"Choice is perhaps the greatest gift one can have. It's what allows us to determine our path in life and become who we want to be. Without choice life what purpose would there be in life?" TOM asked as the file closed. "And choice will always be the one gift you can never lose."

Xxx

Over 5,500 Years Ago
Earth

War is Hell.

Rose Quartz learned this the hard way through the many years of fighting against Homeworld's armies and against the Grimm. Where Gems fought, the Grimm came and attacked both sides, slaughtering dozen of Gems without mercy.

It was too much to bear.

More Gems were being destroyed by the constant fighting and there seemed to be no end to it. Yellow would call in more Gems, Blue would coordinate and White would simply await their reports back on Homeworld. The war reached across the world with Homeworld's armies attempting to destroy the Grimm and suffering massive casualties.

And if one world was not enough more had become involved.

The machines of planet Cybertron, one of the few races that had actually managed to repel a Gem invasion before the beginning of Earth's colonization, much to the chagrin of Yellow Diamond. Now they were somehow here, fighting against the colonization of this planet as well.

The Accelerons were another powerful organic race that had not only fended off a Gem invasion but were now also fighting to protect Earth and many other young planets from colonization. Their prowess in racing was flawlessly combined with the art of combat allowed them to take Homeworld's armies by complete surprise.

Allied with them were the Galvans, an advanced species that stood against Gem expansion. They provided intelligence, technology and more to their allies that allowed them to better stop the Empire from conquering dozens of worlds.

Era 1 was meant to be the era of the Gem Empire's rise to supremacy but when one planet resisted colonization suddenly more enemies appeared, fighting them at every step.

So much death.

So much destruction.

With no sign of it ending.

She just wanted the fighting to end.

But how?

'I think I know a way!'

Rose Quartz had been so busy contemplating what to do she had been completely caught off guard as a strange presence made itself known to her in the mindscape. It a strange bright yellow triangle shaped being, hovering in front of her, wearing a black bow tie and top hat with a single large slitted eye that seemed to stare right through her.

"Hi there, Pinky!" The triangle greeted in a strange obnoxious voice. "Couldn't help but notice you spacing off so I decided to drop in and say hi."

Rose jumped back, summoning her sword and shield and pointed her sword at the mysterious being. "Who are you?"

"Whoa, don't get all shatter on my, Pinky." The triangle raised its hands. "No need to threaten a fellow guardian of this planet."

"What?" Rose questioned, keeping her sword raised.

"Come on. Are you really that surprised? I mean, half the universe is up in flames already and it's all centered on this little planet you are standing on?" The triangle chuckled. "I have to give you props for that. I never thought a single space rock could shake things up as much as you have. Good thing I am here to try and help clean up the whole mess."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "…How?"

"Here's how it goes: you tried to scare those big rocks off the planet when you couldn't convince them to stop building their colony here but you bit off more than you can chew. So why not leave convincing those big sisters to me?" Bill gestured to himself. "I'm really good at getting people to see things my way."

Rose lowered her sword. "You can convince them to leave the Earth alone?"

"You betcha! I'll help you with your problem and you can help me with a problem I've got." The triangle tipped his hat to her. "Name's Bill, Bill Cipher. Resident guardian of this planet and the guy who is always there when you need a helping hand."

"So, how will you help me?" Rose asked.

"I'll just pop up and tell those Diamonds why it's a bad idea to hollow out this planet to make more of themselves. All you need to do is make one simple handshake?" Bill held out his hand that was engulfed in blue flames. "So, what say you, Pinky? One guardian to another, will you help me clean this planet up?"

Rose stared at the hand, contemplating the offer. A chance to end the war for good sounded almost too good to be true but she couldn't bear the idea of the fighting continuing one second longer. If she could convince the Diamonds to leave Earth alone then she and the other Crystal Gems could live here in peace, even if they would still have to contend with the Grimm.

"Very well." Rose brought up her hand and shook Bill Cipher's.

"Sweet, let me show what we'll do!" Bill laughed.

If only Rose knew what was about to happen.

Xxx

Gravity Falls
A day before the Northwest Ball

"So this is what you want?"

Jack Spicer looked over the book that Gideon showed him, specifically the pages that showed some sort of schematic.

"It was written many years ago by a brilliant unknown author who learned secrets too powerful for one man. He hid his journals where he thought no one would ever find 'em. Because he knew that if the journals were ever bought together, they would unleash a gateway to unimaginable power." Gideon explained. "And that's what my father and 'master' want."

"And the geniuses?" Jack asked.

"Let's just say that Cipher's nervous with all the heroes and hunters out there. He wants a crack team of geniuses to finish the gateway in case we never find the other journals." Gideon answered. "But if we get the gateway first we can use it for ourselves. We can run Gravity Falls and maybe even find a way to destroy the Grimm once and for all."

Spicer thought this kid was a psycho.

However given that Jack Spicer himself had dreams of running the world one day he wasn't exactly one to talk. "All right. Let's get the deed to that shack."

Xxx

"So little Gideon is trying to get the shack and the gateway for himself, huh?" Bill Cipher had to laugh at the arrogance of that little meat-bag. "He's got spunk, I'll give him that."

"So what do you plan on doing?" Klarion asked, stroking Teekle's fur.

"Nothing, yet. Gideon getting his hands on the deed actually comes in handy for me, especially since he has no clue where the other journals are hidden. My buddies will keep him in line. In the meantime we'll have to make sure no one else gets in our way."

"I am sure your 'daughter' will be up to the task."

Xxx

England

"Northwests having their annual ball huh? And they have invited us."

"Aren't they associated with…"

"Yes. Perhaps someone should pay them a visit."

Xxx

Hawaii

"Do we have to go?"

"Yes we do, Lilo. It's important that we…interact with influential people around the world and the Northwests have invited several families we do business with." Queen Nani smiled. "If we are lucky we might meet some kids over there that might be your age."

"Won't they be stuck-up?"

"Maybe but you never know."

Xxx

GrimmFall

"Why am I coming along?"

"Because Fanny, Daddy has a lot of friends going to that party and since you are my daughter you'll have to know these friends as well."

Fanny simply sighed and pouted. "Fine."

Xxx

Japan
Tokyo
Sanban Residence

"Welcome back, Lady Sanban."

Genki Sanban gave the maid a small smile as she stepped through the front door. "It is good to be home, Sayoko. Did anything happen while I was away?"

"Yes. Kuki fainted from an apparent Semblance overload." Sayoko answered.

Genki frowned when she heard the news. "A Semblance overload?"

Sayoko nodded. "Yes. She is resting now with Mushi and Danielle watching her."

"I see." Genki took a deep breath. "I will go check up on them immediately. Anything else?"

"Yes. Your husband received an invite from the Northwests to their annual ball." Sayoko answered.

Genki rolled her eyes. "Toss it into the garbage. I have no wish or time to deal with people like the Northwests."

Sanban Industries naturally had ties to a large number of businesses across the world, including Fulbright Corporation and DexLabs, and rich families such as the Northwests. Genki didn't need her Semblance to know that the Northwest family was made up of scum and frauds, rubbing their success in other people's faces and stomping on those they deemed inferior. They had sent invites to her and her husband before but Genki made it a point to only work with legitimate and trustworthy business partners.

And the Northwest family was neither.

"As you wish, my lady."

Xxx

"Mama!"

Genki smiled, kneeling down to accept a hug from her youngest daughter the moment the door opened. Looking up she spied Kuki on her bed and Danielle sitting nearby, having gotten up when Mushi when noticed her.

"Genki." Danielle smiled as the family matriarch walked over to her oldest daughter's bed. "We don't know what happened. One moment Kuki was fine, the next she was-"

"It's all right, Danielle." Genki patted Danielle on the shoulder. "It's something I knew would happen one day."

"Huh?"

"My daughter's Semblance is rare for it is always active, always alerting her to some form of danger no matter the size or significant. She can unconsciously sense and evade any form of danger to her." Genki placed a hand on her daughter's forehead. "We feared one day her Semblance would overload from sensing something. Fortunately whatever is affecting her seems to have gone away. She just needs time to recover."

"But what would cause her Semblance to overload in the first place?" Danielle wondered.

"That, Danielle, is a very good question."

Xxx

Present Day

"Now where did that boy go?" Betty Gilligan sighed, looking around the mansion for her eldest son.

He had promised to come back after speaking with that girl he had called Nyx. A rather cute girl and Betty entertained the idea that her son had a possible crush on her but decided to wait until after the contest was over to ask him.

It would be rather nice of him to make friends with someone who had no interest in being a Hunter like his other close friends: Nigel Uno, Wallabee Beatles, Fanny Fulbright and Abigail Lincoln.

They were wonderful children but all that talk of planning to be Hunters made her worried for her oldest son. It was good he took after his father, wanting to design airships but being surrounded by children with the dream of being Hunters made her afraid he would change his mind and want to become a Hunter one day instead.

"I only hope he comes back soon."

Xxx

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-OW!"

Hoagie scrambled as soon as he hit solid ground.

Actually it felt very soft, like pillows.

"What in the world?" Hoagie reached up, pulling a blanket off of him and looked around. "Where am I?"

All around him he could see the land made out of nothing but…pillows, blankets and bedding? If that wasn't weird enough the entire sky was made of one whole sheet made with cloud print!

"Okay, this is weird even for me." Hoagie rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe I am just dreaming again."

"KLARION!"

Hoagie jumped at the sound of a very familiar voice. "Nyx? Nyx, is that you?"

It was indeed Nyx, looking very angry but when she saw him she suddenly looked very ashamed for some reason. "Hoagie, so you ended up here with me."

"Yeah, you pulled me into the closet and then we…" Hoagie looked around again. "Where are we?"

"We…" Nyx looked at the ground. "It's my fault we are here."

"Yeah well…" Hoagie rubbed the back of his head. "How did we get here?"

"Hoagie, it's a very long story." Nyx looked up, looking very sad now. "Starting with me being a gullible little girl and ending with me ending up a slave to a monster."

"A slave?" Hoagie asked, confused and afraid now. "Nyx, what are you talking about?"

Nyx walked over to a fluffy stump and sat down. "You've seen the Blind Eye and Bill Cipher, right?"

Hoagie had seen them indeed. "This has to do with them?"

"It has to do with a friend of Cipher or perhaps the closest thing to being a friend for someone like Bill." Nyx explained slowly. "He is similar enough to Bill and they are both what he likes to call Lords of Chaos."

"Who?"

"His name is Klarion the Witch-boy and a Lord of Chaos." Nyx stared up at Hoagie. "And I am his apprentice."

Xxx

"I almost cannot believe it."

If things were different Blue Diamond would have smiled in humor at Yellow Diamond's words, no matter how true they were. However she had not had reason to smile for thousands of years, only barely able continue her duties as a Diamond. Still though she understood Yellow's surprise and actually shared it.

White Diamond was requesting to speak with them.

In the five thousand years since the Rebellion on the Earth, White Diamond had completely isolated herself from her fellow Diamonds and the rest of Homeworld. Sure her court was still being managed by her most high ranked subjects but White herself remained a recluse, staying inside her ship and never allowing anyone to see her, not even her fellow Diamonds and essentially decided to act as if the entire debacle with Earth and the loss of the youngest Diamond never happened. This made things especially hard for Blue and Yellow who struggled to keep Homeworld running in the wake of Pink's shattering, the Rebellion and ensuring their other colonies were still producing Gems to maintain the Empire.

White's Pearl was the one to carry out her orders and despite the fact that Pearls were considered nothing but servants no one would dare to disrespect the Pearl of White Diamond. So Blue and Yellow immediately headed to the throne room and took their seats, awaiting the arrival of the older Diamond. The throne room had four colored thrones positioned like the original Diamond Authority symbol where White, Yellow, Blue, and Pink Diamond would sit with little singing statues next to Yellow's and Blue's thrones, light pink curtain to represent the Diamonds, a door next to the curtain, a red carpet with four white lines and columns with crisscross and an upside down tetrahedron on the bottom.

"Blue and Yellow." The curtains parted, revealing White Diamond herself in all her shining glory. "Thank the stars you have come."

Blue and Yellow watched as White strolled slowly towards her throne with that terrifying empty smile on her face and sat down on her throne.

"I am sure you are all curious about my sudden request of meeting you." White started. "It is because I have new regarding Pink's planet."

Both Blue and Yellow listened closely, especially since White Diamond was speaking of the very planet Pink was shattered on.

Xxx

"They should be around here."

Monty had led the group towards a tree fort made of sticks and branches in the middle of the forest.

"Who goes there?!" A voice shouted from behind the stick made wall.

Ed smiled happily at the voice. "Eddy!"

A head peeked from behind the sticks. "Ed?"

Ed rushed forward, pulling his friend into a hug and happily spun around. "Hello!"

"Ed!" Eddy shouted, struggling to break free.

"Hello!"

"Ed!"

"Hello!"

"ED!"

"Hello!"

Eddy finally had enough and kicked Ed off of him. "Knock it off, Ed! Do you have any idea where we are?"

"On another planet and in an alternate universe?" Ed asked, dropping Eddy. "Nice clothes."

Eddy was wearing the same clothing as Monty and Bonnibel were and he looked very unhappy. "The point is we got abducted by aliens!"

"Cool."

"No, Ed! Not cool!" Eddy shouted as more came out from behind the fort.

"Ed, is that you?" Nazz asked, dressed exactly like everyone else besides the Elementals along with Johnny and Rolf. "Whoa, dude. We've been looking for you." Nazz stopped when she saw Nigel and Abby. "Hey, I remember you two. We met at the tournament."

"Hat-Wearing Abby and Sunglass Nigel." Rolf remarked. "And they along with foolhardy Ed-boy are dressed quite fancy, no?"

Nazz giggled a bit. "Yeah, I just noticed. Nice duds, Ed."

Johnny was staring at Abby with a dazed smile, making her feel uncomfortable. "I want to write you a poem and I hate writing."

"Uh…No thanks." Abby stepped back. "Poetry's not really my thing."

"So why do you three get the fancy duds and we get the loincloths?" Eddy complained.

"It is because they were the ones the Gems wanted all along." Bonnibel answered, earning everyone's attention. "I don't suppose you know the story of the Elementals?"

"The Elementals? Sure, I've heard of it." Nazz answered.

"So has Rolf." Rolf nodded.

"What's a story got to do with this?" Eddy asked impatiently.

"Everything." Bonnibel answered softly. "What do you know of it?"

"Well," Nazz cleared her throat as everyone sat down. "In ancient times there were four beings who were the first to wield magic known as the Elementals. They each ruled as the elemental Kings and Queens over the Four Realms and were named after the four elements they controlled: Fire, Ice, Slime and Candy. These beings could create and destroy by altering matter and energy. They lived in separate realms but would meet every millennium or when there was an emergency."

Nazz took a moment to take a breath while Eddy cut in impatiently. "Fancy. What's the point?"

"Let her finish." Bonnibel requested.

"Right, where was I?" Nazz said before continuing. "Anyways the Elementals were charged with ensuring life always found a way to survive and protecting that life from any form of danger. However eventually a destructive evil arrived, impacting the world and destroying the Elementals before they could do anything. Thus the story of the Elementals came to an end."

'I wish that was completely true.' Nigel thought, remembering Evergreen's actions during that time.

"So now that we all heard this fancy story how about telling us what it has to do with this?" Eddy asked finally.

"What if I were to tell you the story is true?" Bonnibel asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Eddy, Johnny and Nazz started laughing and Ed followed soon after. Nigel and Abby shared a look but said nothing.

"You got to be kidding me." Eddy wiped an imaginary tear away and looked at Bonnibel. "…What, you're serious?"

"Very and from your reaction I can safely say you do not believe me." Bonnibel answered.

"Well, yeah. Why would we?" Nazz asked. "The Elementals are just a myth. A bedtime story for kids."

"If they were not real I would not exist." Bonnibel retorted, spreading her arms out. "Do I not look odd to you all?"

"Well…" Nazz rubbed the back of her head.

"I figured you were just an alien who ended up here with the rest of us." Eddy shrugged.

"Bubblegum lady has different answer, yes?" Rolf commented.

"Indeed I do." Bonnibel lowered her arms. "The Elementals are real. Four being capable of great power and magic without the use of Dust or technology and three of them are right here among us."

Rolf looked at Ed. "Yes, Rolf sensed a great power coming from foolhardy Ed-boy."

"What?" Eddy looked over at Ed. "No way. No way in the life and times of sweet Danny."

"The Elementals have existed since the beginning of the world and through each era their power is passed onto a new host. Each successor is chosen based on the season they are born in. The Ice Elemental born in the season of winter, Fire in the season of summer, Candy in the season of spring and Slime in the season of fall."

"I was born mid-December, close to Christmas." Nigel spoke.

"I was born in May, right in the middle of spring." Abby was next.

"And Ed was born in September." Nazz caught on.

Bonnibel nodded. "That's right. The original Elementals are long gone but their powers pass themselves down to new hosts and that's why we are all here. Long ago the Gems, that is the name of the aliens who abducted us came to Earth to try and colonize it at the expense of the population. The Elementals at the time obviously were against this and fought against them."

"How do you know so much about these Gems?" Nigel asked.

"My people learned about the Gems when they arrived and though we did our best to stay out of the fighting we observed what happened. The attempt to colonize the Earth was halted when a small band of Gems turned on their own kind along with the Hunters of that era and even the Grimm who were drawn to many battles as the war spread. After a thousand years of fighting the Gem Empire was finally driven off the Earth." Bonnibel explained.

"Cool." Ed grinned.

"That does sound pretty awesome." Nazz admitted.

"Right on!" Jonny pulled Plank out of his vest. "Isn't that awesome, buddy?"

"…That hunk of wood was with you this whole time?" Eddy asked.

"So, evil Gems came to Earth and heroic Elementals stopped them. Why come after them now? Vengeance?" Rolf asked, getting back to the main topic.

"I am not entirely sure what they want." Bonnibel admitted.

"They want to use us to make them strong again." Nigel answered. "The Elementals stopped them once but their leader named White Diamond thinks we can make them unstoppable."

"White Diamond?" Bonnibel perked up. "She's behind this?"

"You know her?" Abby asked.

"I know of her. She's one of the four matriarch rulers of the Gem race: the Diamond Authority." Bonnibel replied. "White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond and Pink Diamond."

"There's only three of them now. Apparently the one called Pink Diamond was, for the lack of a better word killed during the war on Earth." Nigel pointed out.

"I see. Still, it makes sense now. The Diamonds would not have forgotten the Elementals even after all this time." Bonnibel stated. "They would not allow a power formidable enough to resist them to remain out in the open."

A shadow fell over them. "No, they would not."