Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. I admit, I was nervous about writing this as this is going to touch a pretty sensitive issue. I hope it works out.
Anyway, before we begin, I have an announcement to make. After this chapter, I will be taking a break from this fanfic to focus on starting another fanfic. Around Christmas and New Year's, I'll be posting the first two chapters of a whole new fanfic. I'll return to Marvel Falls right after that.
I hope you enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
Kamala rode in the backseat while her father was driving and her mother was in the passenger's seat. Kamala tapped her fingers on the car seat impatiently waiting for the car to reach its destination.
"I still can't believe you're taking us to your workplace." Muneeba told her husband.
"Well, I finally got my office straightened out, and with everyone having a free day today, I figured this was the best time to show the place to my family." Yusuf said. He then leaned in to whisper to Kamala. "And don't tell Kamala this, but I'm hoping this will help steer her to a responsible career in the future."
"I'm right here, Abu." Kamala said from a foot away from him. "How much longer anyway?"
"It usually doesn't take this long." Yusuf said. "Today's traffic is a little… Wait a minute. What is going on?"
The Khan family stepped out of their car to get a better look at the surrounding area. Their eyes were fixed as the streets were full of covered wagons, people were dressed in old-timey clothes, and farmland animals were accompanying families all over.
"Uh, Ommi, Abu, what's going on?" Kamala asked.
"I don't know." Muneeba said.
"Hey, Kamala!"
Kamala turned her head and smiled seeing her squirrely friend run over to greet her.
"Oh, Doreen, so good to see a normal face." Kamala said.
"So you must be Kamala's new friend." Muneeba said.
"Yep. You can call me Doreen, Mrs. Khan."
"That's nice." Yusuf said. "Now, what's going on around here? Why does it look like the first Thanksgiving came way too late?"
"Oh, that's right. You guys are new." Doreen said. "Well, allow me to introduce you all to Pioneer Day!"
"Pio-what-what?" Kamala asked.
"Pioneer Day. Every year, the citizens of Gravity Falls celebrate the day the town was founded by dressing up like it's 1863. They're so dedicated, they really get into character. I'm not as dedicated, but Tippy-Toe on the other hand…" She pulled out her squirrel companion who was wearing a bonnet. "You gotta admit, she looks adorable."
"Well, that sounds fun." Kamala said.
"So what about the bank?" Yusuf asked.
"The bank? Sorry, but that's closed for the holiday." Doreen informed.
"Dang it." Yusuf said. "Well, might as well head on home."
"Uh, Abu, is it all right if I stay and explore the town for the holiday?" Kamala asked.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" Muneeba asked nervously. "If everyone's acting like it's the 1800s, things might get… intense."
"I'll be fine." Kamala said. "Don't worry. I'll be with Doreen."
"Well… if you're sure." Muneeba said. "All right, Yusuf. Let's head back home."
Yusuf sighed. "Be back before it gets dark, Kamala." He and Muneeba returned to the car and drove off.
"So what's there to do around here?" Kamala asked her friend.
"Oh, all sorts of stuff." Doreen said showing Kamala around the street. "Candle dipping, gold panning, woodpecker marriages."
"Woodpecker marriages?" Kamala asked.
"Yeah, Gravity Falls was known for being the first and only town to legalize human-woodpecker marriage."
"That sounds creepy." Kamala said before noticing the large crowd gathered around the town square. "What's going on over there?"
"Oh, nuts! I forgot about the opening ceremony!" Doreen gasped. She grabbed Kamala's arm and ran to the crowd as fast as she could. When they reached the crowd, they looked over the people to find Pacifica Northwest standing at a stage.
"Is that the rich brat from the party the other night?" Kamala asked.
"Yeah." Doreen answered. "This is one of the many days of the year where the Northwest family gets extra stuck-up just because their ancestor found Gravity Falls. Still, it's better than their annual dinner party at their mansion."
"So now that the silly head is out of the way," Pacifica said, "Who here has the real Pioneer Day spirit?"
"I can give it a shot." Kamala said. She walked through the crowd and headed up the stage.
"And here, we have…" Pacifica started to introduce herself before stopping herself. "Um… What's your name again, hon?"
"Kamala. Kamala Khan."
"Well, Ms. Khan, it's my honor and your special privilege that I hereby…"
"Pacifica, no!" a man's voice yelled from behind. The girls turned there attention to Preston Northwest, who stood from his chair with his wife, Priscilla. "Let's not celebrate this girl."
"What? Why?" Kamala asked.
"Darling, I'm sorry to break it to you," Priscilla said, "But there's just no place for someone like you to be celebrated."
"Someone like me?" Kamala asked taking a second to infer. When she did, she glared toward the Northwest family. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, let's be honest." Preston said. "How many Muslims do you find in 1863?"
"Dude, that is SO not cool!" Kamala cried out.
"Sorry if you don't like it, but that's the way this whole thing works." Preston said. "Now, shoo before we call the constable."
"On what charge?!" Kamala asked loudly.
"Being you."
Kamala gritted her teeth before stomping off the stage. Pacifica kept her eyes locked on Kamala in pity, but didn't go after her. Doreen, however, ran from the crowd to follow her friend. There was one more face in the crowd who felt sorry for Kamala and decided to follow: Dante.
Kamala kept her head lowered walking with Doreen behind her. They both walked up to the statue of Nathaniel Northwest. There, they found their young friends, Dipper and Mabel, sitting on the steps. Mabel was eating a bunch of butterscotch candies with a glum expression on her face.
"Hey, guys." Kamala said sitting next to Mabel. "Pioneer Day blues too."
"Yeah." Mabel repeated.
"Pacifica gave Mabel a hard time over being silly." Dipper said.
"Well, everyone seems to have a problem with me just because I'm Muslim." Kamala said.
"Sorry about that, Kamala." Doreen said.
Kamala sighed. "It's all right. Actually, this was one of my family's fears when we decided to move to a small town like this. I don't think there's even any other Muslims in Gravity Falls other than my family. This town doesn't even have a mosque."
"What's that?" Mabel asked.
"It's a Muslim place of worship." Kamala said. "We had one in Jersey City, and my parents made me attend it every week."
"Sounds serious," Mabel said, "Which is, you know, the opposite of me."
"Excuse me! Kamala!"
Kamala's head was raised up and she was surprised to see Dante approaching her.
"Dante. It's you. I… Well, I wanted to apologize for running off like that at the party yesterday." Kamala said.
"I don't care about that." Dante said. "Right now, I just want to say sorry for what those Northwest people said to you. I didn't think they'd act like that. Then again, they're Northwest, so I should have expected it. They kinda treated me the same way just because my family's from Colombia."
"This is nuts." Doreen said. "Just because we're not like the others, the Northwest family thinks they can treat us like garbage."
"Why do they think they can get away with that just because they're related to the town founder?" Dipper asked. "Someone needs to take them down a peg."
"Well, unless you know a way for someone else to be the town's founder, there's really nothing you can do about it." Dante said.
Dipper gasped. "Wait a minute! I feel like I read something about the founder in the journal." He reached into his jacket and pulled out his journal which he skimmed through.
"Journal?" Doreen asked. "What's this about?"
"Well, Dipper found this old journal in the woods which talks about the biggest mysteries in Gravity Falls." Kamala said. "We don't know who wrote it or what happened to them, but they were usually spot on when it comes to a lot of stuff."
"Here it is!" Dipper said before reading the book in a gruff voice. "'In my investigations…' Should I do the voice?"
"Please, don't." Kamala said.
"All right. I'll read it like normal. 'In my investigations, I recently made a discovery. Nathaniel Northwest may not be the founder of Gravity Falls. I believe the proof of this secret is buried somewhere on the enclosed document. If only I could crack the code.'"
Dipper pulled out a folded up paper which was taped to the pages. He unfolded it revealing a mess of symbols and a large triangle at the center which was also full of symbols.
"So somebody tried to cover up the truth about who really found Gravity Falls?" Kamala asked. "Who? And why?"
"I don't know," Dipper said, "But if this is true, it means Pacifica's whole family is a fraud. This could be a major conspiracy."
"Really?" Mabel asked.
"I gotta investigate this." Dipper said.
"Not without me, you're not." Kamala said. "If this is going to discredit those small-minded Northwests, then I'm in."
"Conspiracies are serious," Mabel said, "Then if I can help crack this code, nobody could call me silly again."
"Oh, this is gonna be fun." Doreen said.
"Wow." Dante said. "A group of kids solving a mystery. All we need now is an animal mascot." As if on cue, Tippy-Toe popped out of Doreen's pocket. "I swear, I was only joking."
The kids quickly made their way to the library unaware that Sheriff Blubs was listening in on their conversation and making an urgent call.
"All right, everyone." Dipper said as he sat at a book-covered table with the others. "If we can prove that Nathaniel Northwest wasn't the real founder of Gravity Falls, it'll finally put the Northwests in their place."
"And solving a mystery will prove that I'm not silly. I'm serious." Mabel said before using her tongue to scoop up every butterscotch candy from their wrappers.
"I found the slides of different ciphers you asked for, Dipper." Dante said.
"Perfect. Now, let's see what we're working with." Dipper took the slides and put them through a projector observing them one by one. "It's not Egyptian. It's not numerology. It's not… Wait! Of course!"
"Alchemist symbols?" Doreen asked looking at the projected slide. "What are you picking up from that?"
"The triangle is the alchemist's symbol for flame. Lighting the parchment on fire will reveal the secret message."
"Whoa. Hold on." Kamala said. "Maybe there's some kind of secret message that can only be revealed by fire light."
"Oh, yeah. That makes more sense." Dipper chuckled nervously before picking up a candle. "Let's see what we're… Mabel!"
"Mwop! I made a hat!" Mabel said after folding the encoded document into a hat. Once she realized what she did, she regretted it. "Ugh! I just did something silly again!"
"Hold on." Doreen said removing the paper hat from Mabel's head. "Mabel, you folded it into a map."
"She what?" Kamala asked looking at the hat. "She's right. There's an X on a building too."
"And I was gonna burn it." Dipper realized.
"I know that building." Dante said looking at the hat. "This map leads to the museum."
"Then that's our next destination." Dipper said.
"Shh. Look." Doreen whispered pointing at the front of the library. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland approached the librarian.
"We're on the lookout for five kids who might be reading." Blubs said.
"We're hunting them down for secret reasons. Woo!" Durland exclaimed ringing his bell.
"Looks like someone wants to keep the cover-up." Kamala whispered. "Let's go."
After sneaking past the cops, the kids headed over to the Gravity Falls Museum of History. They stood in front of the building looking up at the monument.
"You realize what this means, guys." Dipper said with a serious expression. "We're gonna have to break in."
Immediately after walking through the front door, they were greeted by the worker who gave them free Pioneer Day passes and balloons.
"We're in." Dipper said not dropping his serious look.
"What are we gonna do next?" Mabel asked exploring the museum with her friends. "Steal Thomas Jefferson's rib cage?"
"Ew! No." Dipper said. "According to the map, the next clue about the real town founder should be right… here!"
Dipper stopped in front of a triangle-shaped wall decoration that had a messy and chaotic pattern.
"We have to figure this one out quick." Dante said. "Those cops were pretty close to catching us."
"I wouldn't worry about it." Kamala said. "If these guys are anything like the cobs in my comic books, then it would take a stupid mistake for them to catch us."
"I don't think the one with the bell can read." Doreen said.
"So what is this thing anyway?" Dipper asked looking back at the artwork.
"Hey, painting, be less stupid." Mabel said sitting at a bench. Despite how serious she was trying to be, she couldn't help but turn herself upside down. That's when she gasped upon realizing something. "It worked!"
Curious, the other kids joined Mabel and looked at the painting upside down. Suddenly, the artwork didn't look like a mess anymore. Instead, it looked like an angel pointing into the distance.
"It's not abstract, it's upside down!" Dipper realized.
Tippy-Toe chittered to Doreen who gasped. "Tippy-Toe said she saw that statue at the cemetery!"
"Then that's where we'll go." Dipper said.
On the way out of the museum, they ran past the policemen who gave chase. However, when they tried to go through the door at the same time, they got stuck.
The kids found the statue that matched exactly with the upside-down painting. It was perched in the middle of the gloomy, foggy graveyard.
"The statue must be pointing to the next clue." Dipper said.
"But there's nothing there except for the donut shop which was opened last week." Dante said. "So unless the real founder of Gravity Falls was a psychic who predicted chocolate eclairs, I think we should brainstorm a bit more."
Again, Mabel couldn't help but be silly in the situation. She climbed up the statue and placed her nostril around the angel's pointing finger. "Oh, gross! She's picking my nose! Haha!"
Suddenly, the statue's finger snapped and the grave it was perched over slid open. Everyone looked down and found a flight of stairs leading underground.
"Wow. Whoever set up all these clues has a crazy mind." Doreen said.
The kids walked down the stairs getting further away from the daylight.
"Now, we're getting into real conspiracy mode. I feel so serious." Mabel said before eating another butterscotch and tossing the wrapper behind her.
"Okay." Dipper said after finding a straight hallway. "Look out for booby traps."
Doreen chuckled. "You said 'traps'."
Just then, Kamala's foot stepped on a button that shot out a lot of darts from the wall. Everyone narrowly avoided getting shot as they ran through the hallway. At the end of the hall, they tripped and fell through a slide until they found themselves in an old, dark, furnished room full of books and secrets. Everyone was astonished at everything that they found.
"It's a treasure trove of historicy secrety things." Mabel said.
"Get a load of this stuff." Doreen said looking through a bunch of papers. "Abe Lincoln had an extra hand under his hat. Ben Franklin was a woman."
"Are all the mysteries like this?" Dante asked.
"No. This one is pretty mild." Kamala said. "I mean, I'm not even wearing my super…" She stopped herself from speaking. "Never mind."
"Jackpot." Dipper said pointing his flashlight at a manilla folder which read "THE NORTHWEST COVER-UP!" "Now, we'll find out who the real town founder was."
Everyone gathered around the document which Dipper opened. "'Let it be here recorded that Nathaniel Northwest, fabled founder of Gravity Falls, was, in fact, a fraud, as well as a waste-shoveling village idiot.' HAHAHA! Wow. Bad news for Pacifica. Wait 'til the papers hear about this. 'The true founder of Gravity Falls was Sir Lord, Quentin Trembley, III, Esquire.'"
"Who's Quentin Trembley?" Mabel asked.
All of a sudden, a bright light shined on the kids. When they turned, they were confronted by Blubs and Durland.
"That's none of your business!" Blubs answered. His partner rang the bell until he fell down with a back full of darts poking into him. "He got hit with quite a few of those darts."
"It's okay, Blubs." Durland said standing back up. "I'll be fine. Just a little drowsy."
"Stay strong, Durland." Blubs said before turning back to the kids. "I hate to do this, but Quentin Trembley's a matter of national security.
"What do you mean 'national security'?" Dipper asked.
"And who is Quentin Trmbley anyway?" Mabel asked.
"See for yourselves." Blubs said taking off his hat. He reached in and pulled out a roll of film.
"You just keep that in your hat everywhere you go?" Dante asked.
Blubs didn't answer. He just placed the film on a projector and played it. The black-and-white screen showed a government man standing in his office.
"If you're watching this, then you are one of the eight people in these United States with clearance to view this information. In fact, I myself will be shot as soon as the filming is complete. What? No? Whew! Well, that's a relief. Of all of America's secrets, the most embarrassing was that of Quentin Trembley, the eighth-and-a-half president of the United States."
"He was a president?" Kamala asked.
"Eighth-and-a-half?" Doreen asked. "What does that mean?"
"After winning the 1837 election in a literal landslide, Quentin Trembley quickly gained a reputation as America's silliest president. He waged war on pancakes, appointed six babies to the Supreme Court, and issued the Depantsipation Proclamation. His state of the union speech was even worse."
"The only thing we have to fear is gigantic, man-eating spiders!"
"Wow." Kamala said. "I knew Mabel was silly, but this guy's a professional."
"He was kicked out of office and escaped to an uncharted valley he named Gravity Falls after plummeting into it at high speed. Trembley's shameful term was erased from history and officially replaced by William Henry Harrison as president and local nobody Nathaniel Northwest as founder of Gravity Falls. The whereabouts of president Trembley's body are unknown." The film ended.
"Until now." Blubs said pointing at a man-sized block of orange substance. Inside was a man who matched the eighth-and-a-half president.
"Is that Quentin Trembley?" Dante asked.
"Yep." Blubs answered. "The fool thought he could live forever by encasing himself in a block of solid peanut brittle. Smooth move, Mr. President! Finding Trembley's body was our special mission. And now, thanks to you, it's complete."
"Who knew all we had to do was follow a little girl's trail of candy wrappers?" Durland asked holding up one of Mabel's used butterscotch wrappers.
"Oh, silly!" Mabel said smacking herself in the forehead.
"So what now?" Kamala asked. "You gonna take Trembley's body and let the Northwest family continue to mooch off of this lie and putting down everyone who is different?"
"Look, I feel bad for that, but we don't have a choice. Our orders came from Washington themselves. We're just doing our jobs." Blubs said. "And now that you know the truth, we can't let you go around talkin' about it."
"Does that mean…" Dipper gasped.
"Are you gonna kill us?" Mabel asked.
"You sick freaks!" Doreen shouted.
"Oh, no!" Durland yelled as well.
"No, no. Calm down." Blubs said. "We're just gonna escort you and all this stuff back to Washington. You ain't comin' back by the way."
"You can't do this." Kamala protested. "I mean, you seriously can't do this. There's five of us and only two of you. How do you plan on stopping us? Your partner is still woozy from the tranquilizer darts and, no offense, you're not exactly and Olympic athlete."
"Oh, yeah? Well, sticks and stones may break my bones," Blubs said before holding up a grenade, "But this thing will knock you right out!"
He threw the grenade at the kids' feet which exploded with smoke. The two policemen put on a set of masks while the kids quickly fell unconscious.
"You're always an Olympic in my eyes, Blubs." Durland complimented his partner.
Blubs chuckled. "You always know what to say."
When the kids woke up, the first thing they heard was the sound of a train whistle. A second later, they found themselves inside of a large, wooden crate with Quentin Trembley's encased body.
"Where are we?" Kamala asked.
"I think we're on a train." Dante groaned.
"Oh, man." Mabel said finally waking up. "I can't believe I left a trail of candy wrappers. This is all my fault. Pacifica had me pegged all along. I'm just a silly failure like that embarrassing President what's-his-name."
"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it." Kamala said. "We're all silly and different. You like playing with the littlest things. Dipper likes to jump onto the next big mystery. Doreen talks to squirrels. I love Captain Marvel comics. Dante… I'm just going to assume does something silly too, right?"
"Well… I do like watching kids cartoons." Dante said.
"That's not a silly thing to do these days." Dipper said.
"Tell that to my grandpa." Dante said.
"Thanks guys," Mabel said, "But at this point, it'll take a miracle to cheer me up." She reached over to the frozen peanut brittle and pulled piece off for her to eat.
Suddenly, the brittle block began to crack very quickly. Everyone stood back as it shattered and the body inside moved again. It was to their very own shock that the man was still alive and well.
"It is I, Quentin Trembley!" the president exclaimed before ripping his pants off.
"You're alive?" Kamala asked. "But how?"
"Peanut brittle really does have life-sustaining properties!" Mabel realized. "You're not silly, you're brilliant!"
"And so are you, dear girl," Quentin said, "For following my clues and freeing me from my delicious tomb."
"He's right." Dipper said. "Making maps into hats. Hanging upside-down. Your silliness solved the code that serious cops couldn't crack in a hundred years."
"But what about the nose-picking statue thing?" Dante asked. "I feel like anyone would have opened the tomb if they just switched it with their own hands instead of their nose."
"No time for that!" Quentin said. "We seem to be trapped in some sort of crate-shaped box."
"It's just a crate, my dude." Doreen said.
"Good thing I have the President's Key which can open any lock in America." Quentin reached into his jacket and pulled out a golden key. He approached the wall and repeatedly pressed the key to it without getting any results. "Wood! My age-old enemy."
"Perhaps I can help." Kamala said. "I have… abilities that can get us out of this. I just gotta…"
"HOT SOUP, COMING THROUGH!" Doreen yelled as she rushed to the wall. She rammed her shoulder to it and broke it down easily.
"Whoa! That was amazing!" Mabel exclaimed.
"Yeah. It's all in the shoulder." Doreen said tapping her shoulder. She then leaned in close to Kamala. "Sorry about that. But you've got enough people who know your secret already. Don't want you to add Dante and a president on that list."
"Good thinking." Kamala said. "I like Dante, but the fewer people who know about it, the better."
"Let's get out of here." Dipper instructed.
The kids and Quentin ran to the next train car where they immediately were seen by Deputy Durland who was collecting a bucket of ice. He and Blubs ran after them while they ran away from them. They found a ladder that lead to an emergency door leading to the train's roof. They ran across, but the cops were right behind them. They stopped at the end of the next car which was right behind a pile of logs.
"There is… no… escape." Blubs panted heavily.
"Are you okay?" Durland asked. "Can I get you anything?"
"Edwin Durland, you are a diamond in the rough. You got another knockout grenade?"
"Right here." Durland said holding up another grenade. He was ready to throw it when Dipper called out.
"Sheriff Blubs, do you really want to lock us all up in a government facility somewhere?!"
"I've got no choice! Our orders come from the very top!"
"Your 'very top' chased out a guy from office just for being himself!" Doreen informed.
"Wait a minute!" Dipper gasped. "Quentin, did you ever sign an official resignation?"
"No, sir! I ate a salamander and jumped out the window!"
"Then technically, you're still legally the President of the United States!" Dipper realized before turning to the cops. "You gotta answer to this guy now!"
"Huh?" both officers asked in surprise.
"As president of these… How many states are there now?"
"Fifty." Dante answered.
"Fifty United States, I hereby order you to pretend none of this ever happened! And go on a delightful vacation!" With a smile, Kamala reached up to Quentin's ear and whispered into it. "Oh. And if anyone ever disrespects this girl just because of her religion, you are free to pummel them with your clubs!"
"Hmm… I can get behind all that, especially the vacation." Blubs said. "Durland, what place have you always wanted to visit? One… two…"
"Silly Water Fun Slides in Grand Lakes, Michigan!" both cops cheered.
After returning to Gravity Falls, Blubs and Durland headed to their vacation leaving their former prisoners back in town. After watching the train disappear from sight, Quentin knelt down to address Mabel.
"You've done a great service to your country, Mabel. As thanks, I'd like to make you an official U.S. Congressman." He pulled a hat out of his jacket and placed it on Mabel's head.
"I'm legalizing everything."
"And Roderick…" Quentin said turning to Dipper.
"Actually, my name's…"
"You, dear boy, are on your way to unlocking the mysteries of this great land, so I'd like you to have my President's Key." He pulled out his key again and gave it to Dipper. "One more thing… Kamala was it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why did you ask me to tell those coppers to thrash anyone who disrespects your religion?"
"Well, these jerks in town refused to let me be accepted just because I come from a Muslim family." Kamala said. "They're pretty small-minded."
"If they're small-minded, why do you care what's on their minds at all?" Quentin asked. "Don't let them define you, my dear. They're no better than those jerks who chased me out of D.C. They don't matter."
Kamala smiled at that reassurance as she and the group returned to the town square. Once they made it, they stopped at a gathering of young girls who were spinning ribbons around a pole while being watched by Pacifica and her posse.
"Hey, Pacifica," Mabel said running over to her rival, "I uncovered a government conspiracy about the eighth-and-a-half president of the United States! Who's silly now?"
"Who is that idiot?" Pacifica asked pointing at Quentin, who was getting into a fist fight with an eagle.
"The eighth-and-a-half president of America." Mabel answered. "I know what you're thinking: 'How is he still alive?' Well, turns out you can hibernate in peanut brittle and it…"
Pacifica interrupted with her laughter. "Wow! You really are a sad, dumb little girl."
"You're calling her a little girl?" Kamala asked. "You're not exactly a senior citizen."
"Don't mind her words, daughter." Preston said showing up with his wife. "She's a Muslim."
At that moment, a black car drove by for the Northwest family to enter.
"Aren't you going to tell them about their ate-gray ampa-gray?" Dipper asked.
"You know what, Dipper? I've got nothing to prove." Mabel said putting on a sweater of a dog playing basketball. "I've learned that being silly is awesome."
"Me too." Kamala said. "Let them disrespect me. I'll just turn the other cheek." With the slightest of stealth, Kamala stretched out her foot to reach Preston Northwest right before he entered the car. She gave him a kick in the butt so hard, he hit his head on the car roof before she pulled it back. "Starting now."
"Well, I haven't learned anything." Dipper said before running to the car. It stopped just enough for him to speak to the rich girl through a slightly-open window. "Nathaniel Northwest didn't found Gravity Falls and your whole family is a sham. Deal with it." He slipped in the old documents he found for Pacifica to read on the drive back home.
"WHAT?!" Pacifica yelled out as she read the documents.
"Man, revenge is underrated." Dipper said. "That felt awesome."
After saying their goodbye to Quentin Trembley and watching him leave on a horse while riding backwards, the kids found Grunkle Stan who was trapped in a pillory. They listened to him talking about how he was locked up and how he was humiliated by Gideon and Pacifica.
"And then, Soos came by and talked to me for, like, an hour." Stan said.
"You've been through so much." Mabel said.
"So where's the key to the lock?" Dante asked.
"Last I saw, the idiot sheriff has it on him." Stan said.
"Oops." Doreen said with a nervous smile. "And we just sent him on vacation to Michigan."
"I'll handle this." Dipper said. He pulled out the President's Key and used it to free his grunkle.
"So what's with the top hat?" Stan asked.
"I'm a congressman." Mabel answered.
"Pardon me?"
"You are officially pardoned." Mabel said sharing a laugh with her friends.
"Oy. You are never gonna make sense, are you, kid?" Stan asked.
"No, I'm not, Grunkle Stan." Mabel said. "No, I'm not."
Stan looked over at Kamala and gave her a sympathetic look. "So… How are you doing, kid? I hear the Northwests really gave you a hard time this morning."
"Yeah." Kamala said calmly. "Don't worry, Mr. Pines. I'm okay now."
Stan sighed. "It's one of the many reasons I don't like this celebration. These yahoos want to hurt others just because they're different."
"Yeah, but I don't care about what they say." Kamala said. "Right now, I care about you guys. You don't judge me on how I look or what I believe. You're still my friends, and it's your words that really matter to me." She gathered everyone around her for a group hug.
