Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Part Ten: Head On Collison
The sun rose on Gravity Falls, Oregon and the forest began to stir once more. Grendy Chiu had spent the night tossing and turning in her sleeping bag as she wondered if she had made the right choice the previous evening. On one hand, she was relieved that her feelings for Mateo had not only finally been shared with the somewhat portly teen, but reciprocated by him as well. On the other hand, she had also caught feelings for Courtney Corduroy and wanted to explore their relationship further after the impromptu kiss earlier that weekend had sparked something hidden deep inside her. While she was unsure of how to date two people simultaneously, Grendy knew that she would try her best to make sure that both of her admirers would receive equal amounts of attention and love from her while she figured out her feelings about them. Surprisingly, her friends took the news well; except for Pacifica Pines, whose sarcastic comments stung the mahogany haired teen. The cool morning air filled the tent and soon the sounds of the teeming wilderness began to act as an alarm clock for the young woman. Opening her hazel eyes, Grendy sat up in the blue tent and looked around at the still slumbering Mabel, Pacifica and Alessandra. A second tent housed Mateo and Lucas, while Tambry had opted to sleep in her minivan with the driver's seat reclined; the soft cloth providing much more support for her tender lower back than the rough ground could. Having fractured two of her lumbar vertebrae in a car accident, the injury still caused her occasional pain from time to time, even years later. "Psst… Court…" the lanky fifteen year old whispered to the redhead situated next to her; careful to try and not wake up the other girls. A slight mumble was heard from her before she rolled over and resumed her rest. "Courtney…" Grendy again said, this time in a slightly louder tone. The fourteen year old rolled back over and let out a small snore; slightly frustrating her newly minted girlfriend a bit. Suddenly, a crazy idea popped into mind of Grendy. Leaning over, she planted her supple lips onto those of the resting girl. Courtney shot up at the sensation and proceeded to head-butt the slightly older girl.
"FUCK!" Grendy exclaimed as she grasped her aching nose. "SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE?!" Courtney replied as she ran a finger over her lower lip, feeling a deep gash in it. "HUH? WHA?" Mabel asked with confusion as she tried to shake her grogginess. Rubbing her eyes, she saw both Grendy and Courtney's faces covered in blood. "OHMYGOD!" the auburn haired teen shouted as she wondered what had happened. "Ugh… This better be damn good… I was dreaming about Justin Towers Jr…" Pacifica grumbled as she too began to wake up. The sight of two bloodied girls and her nearly hysterical twin sister left a lot of questions for her to ask. "PAZ! Get Aunt Tambers! Stat!" her sister barked at her. "What the fuck happened?" she asked while grabbing for a pair of blue cotton shorts to put on. "I-I don't know!" the dumbfounded ginger girl replied. "Also… Not that I'm dumb or anything, but what's stat mean?" Pacifica asked as she stood up and stepped over Alessandra, who by some small miracle had managed to remain fast asleep amid all the commotion. "Paz!" Mabel chastised her while pointing to the opening of the tent. "Alright! Alright! Geez!" the brunette mumbled as she sprinted from the structure to go and get some help. "I-I think it's broken! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Grendy said with an angry tone as she tilted her head back to try and stop the bleeding. Instead, she began to taste the blood that trickled down her throat. "H-How bad is it Mabes?!" Courtney inquired as she pulled her hands away from her face for a moment; her petite digits covered in dark red blood. Taking a glance at the wound, she saw that it was pretty deep and would likely require stitches to close. "Ehh…" was all the thirteen year old girl replied with; unsure if she should reveal just how bad it was to her cousin.
Meanwhile, Pacifica had reached the minivan her Aunt Tambry was sleeping in. "AUNT TAMBRY! AUNT TAMBRY!" the teen girl shouted as she knocked on the glass window. The violet haired woman rolled over in the seat, opened her eyes and spied a frantic Pacifica pounding on the window. Fear filled her mind as she wondered what could be so urgent at such an early hour. "OH SHIT! T-The gnomes! They must have come back!" she thought to herself as she unlocked the door so her goddaughter could talk to her. "Aunt Tambry! Grendy and Courtney are hurt!" the brunette said as thirty-six year old practically jumped out of her seat at the news. "What happened?! H-How badly?!" the olive skinned woman shouted as she hastily grabbed a grey zip up hoodie from the passenger seat, slid on her shoes and exited the vehicle. "I-I don't know! All I heard was them shouting and then Mabel told me to go and get you!" the somewhat scared teen informed her. Tambry lifted up the rear hatch of the silver van and removed a small red duffle bag from it that contained medical supplies. The pair sprinted back towards the tent, where they hoped the situation had calmed down a bit; Tambry hoping to herself that it was just an exaggeration and not a true emergency. Thinking on her feet, Mabel had taken the t-shirt she had worn the previous day and torn the sleeves off of it. "Here! Stuff these in your nose and keep your head tilted back!" the young woman instructed her friend; recalling the training she had received from her Grandpa on one of their camping trips a few years ago. Wadding the pieces of fabric up, she did just as her younger pal said and shoved them into her nasal openings. Taking the rest of the shirt, she tore off another piece of it and handed it to Courtney. "Press this against your lip!" she ordered her older cousin. The rest of the now destroyed garment was used to help clean up the girls, who looked like they had just gone twelve rounds in a boxing ring.
Tambry poked her head into the tent and spied Mabel with her back to them; Courtney and Grendy sitting up against the blue wall of the temporary structure. "What happened?" the very curious adult asked. "W-Well… I was trying to wake Courtney up and she pretty much head-butted me in the nose…" the chestnut haired girl said in a nasally voice as tears filled her eyes. "I felt something on my face! I-I thought it was a spider or something!" Courtney shot back in a defensive tone. Taking a better look at the two girls, Tambry decided that it may be best to cut their trip short and go to the emergency room. "Alright… We've gotta get you two checked out. Everyone pack up and be ready as soon as you can… I'm going to wake the boys up…" Tambry said as she crawled backwards out of the tent. "Ow!" a small voice yelped in pain. Tambry had crawled over the legs of Alessandra, who had somehow managed to sleep through the ordeal up to that point. "OMG! I'm so sorry Allie! You okay sweetie?" the purple haired woman apologized to the ten year old. "Yeah, I'm okay Mrs. Bennet" the sandy haired girl replied; a thumbs up helping to reassure Tambry that she was telling the truth. "Ugh… I just knew something like this would happen… I'm all like, 'Yeah, you can totally leave your kids with me… They'll be fine, I promise'… A-And now I'm taking two of them to the fuckin' emergency room… Way to prove everyone right, dumbass!" she mumbled to herself as she approached the smaller green tent the boys slept in. Unzipping the door, she poked her head in to see her son and Mateo still fast asleep. Part of her didn't want to wake up the teen boys, but she knew that she had to get the pair of injured girls to the hospital as quickly as she could.
"Mateo… Lucas… Time to wake up, dudes…" she said in a soft voice. Lucas stirred at the sound of his mother's voice and his hazel eyes soon fluttered open. "Mornin' Mom…" the dark haired teen answered as he stretched his arms above his head and let out a large yawn. "Yo! Mateo! Wake up, man!" Lucas shouted as he shoved the still sleeping teenager. "Ow!" the portly sixteen year old yelped as he rolled over; wondering why he was waking up so early. "Guys, we have to pack up… Courtney and Grendy had a little accident and we've gotta take them to the ER…" the violet haired woman informed them. "What happened?! Are they gonna be okay?!" a concerned Mateo asked. "Y-Yeah! T-Totally! They just banged noggins, but I think it's a good idea to get them checked out…" Tambry reassured the sixteen year old; conveniently leaving out the fact that Grendy had broken her nose and Courtney had nearly bit through her lower lip. Mateo pointed his index finger and began to raise his hand before the olive skinned woman continued. "To answer your next question… Yes, we will grab some food at YumberJacks afterwards…" Tambry said. "You know me too well Mrs. B" the portly teen chuckled as he began to fold his clothes and place them into a duffle bag. "Pfft… Girls. Am I right?" the spiky haired Lucas scoffed as he rolled his clothes into a ball and shoved them into a backpack. "I dunno dude… I've hit my head, like, tons of times and it doesn't ever hurt any less… Plus, your Mom is just looking out for them, seeing as she's in charge and all…" Mateo pointed out as he packed away his sleeping bag. "I guess…" was all Lucas had to say as he exited the tent with his belongings.
The dark haired son of Tambry spied the girls huddled around the tailgate of the minivan. "Let's see just how big of a wimp these girls are…" the confident teen thought to himself as a smirk formed on his face. His view was blocked by his mother's back, although he could hear both Grendy and Courtney's voices. They did sound a bit off, but he dismissed it as being that the girls had just woken up. For a moment, he was convinced that he was right. That the girls were just being drama queens and hamming up whatever injuries they may have suffered. That bravado was instantaneously shattered when the violet haired woman moved a bit to the side and he caught his first good look at the teenagers seated in the back of the van. "H-Holy shit!" he stuttered to himself as he gazed upon the battered faces of his acquaintances. Grendy looked to have taken the brunt of whatever had hurt them, as her nose now resembled the twisting mountain roads of their hometown; a pair of shiners adorning her face like poorly applied makeup. Courtney, while suffering from a swollen and split lip, seemed to be in much better spirits; her white camisole and pink cotton shorts peppered with blood stains. Almost turning on a proverbial dime, he rushed back to the tent to inform his best friend of just how wrong he had been. He thought of how to tell the portly teen that his girlfriend had been hurt far worse than he had been led to believe. "He's not gonna take this well…" the spikey raven haired boy commented to himself as he thought back to the last time he had to inform his friend of some bad news. Granted, it was just a television show Mateo enjoyed that had been canceled, but to him it had been as if he had lost a loved one. For weeks, he sulked around the Mystery Shack, mourning the loss of his favorite sci-fi program. The injury to his new love interest might just eclipse the loss of Professor Whatsit in the young man's mind, however.
Tambry picked up her phone; her hands trembling with fear as she scrolled through her contacts to find Grenda's number. "She's gonna be so pissed at me…" the olive skinned woman thought to herself as she pressed the button that would connect her to the somewhat intimidating woman. While she had interacted with the deep-voiced brunette over the years, she didn't consider her a dear friend. In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that Dipper and Wendy were mutual friends, she doubted that they would have even still talked with each other. Pressing send, the phone began to ring as a few nervous beads of sweat formed on her brow. Just how would she tell Grenda that her daughter had broken her nose? That she was heading to the emergency room? She was so lost in her own thoughts that she had forgotten that she placed the call in the first place. Finally, a husky voice responded. "Hello?" the trademark tone of Grenda inquired. "H-Hey… Grenda" Tambry began; the slightly older woman's voice trembling as she continued. "I-I don't know how to say this… So I'm just going to say it. Grendy broke her nose. S-She's doing okay, all things considered… B-But I'm taking her up to the emergency room right now… I'm so sorry…" Tambry explained as she continued to stumble over her words; her usual bravado replaced by a much less confident tone. "How'd it happen?" Grenda asked in a flat tone that worried the purple haired woman a bit. "S-She was trying to wake up Courtney and pretty much got head-butted in the ol' schnozzle…" Tambry nervously chuckled; hoping that Grenda would see the humor in it. "I broke mine for the first time while sledding when I was eight…" the deep voiced woman said somewhat proudly. "S-So you're not angry?!" the olive skinned woman replied with a bit of relief. "Nah! I'm surprised that it took this long for her to hurt herself… It kinda runs in our family. Besides, kids will be kids" the brunette admitted before continuing her thought. "Candy and I will meet you up at the hospital shortly…" she concluded. "Alright… That sounds good!" Tambry replied as she ended the call; letting out a deep sigh as she placed the phone back into her pocket.
Soon, the campsite was packed up and the troupe of teens piled into the minivan for their short journey to Gravity Falls Regional Medical Center. Mateo, who had thought the younger Lucas was greatly exaggerating about the girls' injuries, now sat in the back seat with Grendy in the middle and Courtney on the other side of their shared girlfriend. "Luh… I'm so sowy fo' wha' ah did… I-I wha jhust tryin' to do somen' I saw in a mohie. If I ha ehe idea tha it wa goin to ehd uh lite it did, I'd ave nehah ehen thaut about eht…" Grendy replied as she continued to tilt her head upwards in an attempt to keep the blood from running down her face. "It's alright… Like you said, how could you known that was going to go so spectacularly bad?" Courtney replied as she grasped the hand of her girlfriend. "I'm glad one of us understood her… I couldn't make heads or tails on that…" Mateo commented; Courtney's eyes staring at him with a bit of anger in them. "What does she see in this doofus…" the redhead thought to herself as she turned her attention back to her injured crush. "So… Other than this, did you kids have fun on the trip?" Tambry inquired from the driver's seat as she looked into the rearview mirror for a moment. "Yeah… Mateo and I found this little guy!" the twelve year old said as he reached into his backpack and removed a bright green snake from it. "AHHH!" Pacifica and Alessandra shouted in unison as they looked over and spied the reptile. "Aww! He's so cute!" Mabel gushed as she saw her sister begin to freak out. "LUCAS SCOTT BENNETT! I WANT THAT THING OUT OF MY VAN RIGHT NOW! The last thing I need is for one of you to get bit by a venomous snake!" Tambry exclaimed to her son as she pulled the vehicle over onto the shoulder of the road. "But Mom…" the preteen whined. "Actually, Mrs. B, that is a Gardner snake. It's pretty harmless as far as they go…" Courtney chimed in a matter-of-factly tone. While she could be a spoiled brat sometimes, at the end of the day she was still a Corduroy through and through. One of the ginger teen's greatest passions was studying animals and she hoped one day to become a veterinarian. "Ugh! Fine! Whatever! But so help me God… If that thing gets loose in the house, you're paying for animal control to come out and find it…" the violet haired woman relented as she put the vehicle back into drive and pulled back onto the road.
Sitting upon a hill that overlooked Gravity Falls, the glass clad exterior of the four story Gravity Falls Regional Medical Center could be seen from nearly anywhere in the small town. Tambry Bennett was quite familiar with the facility, as she had visited it many more times than she would have cared to if the choice were hers. She recalled the time that Wendy had gotten into a fight with an out of town girl who had drifted in from the coast. Her best friend had passed out in the expansive parking lot she now parked her minivan in nearly two decades later. Stepping out of the vehicle, thoughts ran through her mind of how she had been admitted to the campus after going in to full cardiac arrest following the attempted murder of both Wendy and Dipper on the eve of their pregnancy announcement. She even recalled the happiest moment of her life; the birth of her son Lucas occurring in a room on the third floor. Walking through the sliding doors of the emergency department, she took note of how different the reception area looked compared to the last time she had been there. Gone were the hard plastic row seating that were akin to bus seats; instead, soft clothed chairs now filled the hardwood floored waiting room. "You guys go chill over there… I've gotta get these two checked in" the olive skinned woman instructed her group of teens. Pacifica, Mabel, Mateo, Lucas and Alessandra followed Tamrby's orders and found a place to sit. A large eighty inch television was built into the wall and currently was showing highlights of the Seattle Navigators baseball game that had taken place the previous evening.
Jeff the gnome had arrived back at a stately home on the outskirts of Gravity Falls. Knocking on the door, he was greeted by a woman dressed in a black pencil skirt, a white button up blouse with a skinny black tie and a black blazer. Her blonde hair pulled back into a high and tight ponytail, she led the way to an office at the end of a long hallway. "Senator… You have a visitor…" the voice of the professional looking woman announced as a large brown leather office chair spun around. "Where?" the voice of a man inquired as he looked around the dimly lit room. Bookcases lined the office, along with an Oregon and Cascadian Republic flag. Kneeling down, the woman laid her hand flat and Jeff walked onto it. The elevator like ride took him to the top of a dark wooden desk. "Thank you Amber…" the voice once again said as the woman left the room. "B-Boss… We found it…" the miniature man with the pointy red hat began to explain. "Well, if y'all found it, then why isn't it here?" the voice of the shadow cloaked man inquired; a tone of anger overtaking it. "Well… We, uh, kinda got distracted… And, well…" the grey bearded man said as he dug his hands into his pockets. "Sounds like you failed to me. I don't tolerate failure in my administration" the voice sternly stated. "W-We know who has it though… P-Please give me another chance! I won't let you down again" Jeff pleaded. "Alright… Suppose I give you another chance... Who has it?" the man asked in a flat tone; beads of nervous sweat adorning the skin of the gnome. "Th-These girls… O-One's a brunette… The other is a redhead. Th-They looked alike… Maybe twins?" Jeff stuttered. "Twins… Why is it always twins?" the man commented to himself as he grabbed a handful of gummy bears from a glass dish and tossed them into his mouth. "Well… This has been swell, but I'm just gonna go now" the gnome said as he turned around and tried to figure out a way to get off the desk. "One more thing Jeff…" the voice called out; the one foot tall man turning around. "I said that don't tolerate failure…" he coldly stated as a blue flash came from the palm of his hand, instantly freezing the gnome. "I'll find that book… And then, I'll become the most powerful being in this universe! HaHaHaHa!" the man laughed maniacally as he spun his chair back around.
Author's Note: Sorry about how long this has taken, but I was kinda stuck on where to go as far as Mabel and Pacifica's story went. I now have it all planned out and trust me, it's awesome. The next chapter may take a little while as well, as I'm taking a vacation to Oregon and Washington for the next week. I plan on visiting Boring, which inspired Alex Hirsch to create Gravity Falls. I hear there may be a guy that makes deals in that town. If the offer is good, I might just shake on it with him. Who is the mysterious disembodied voice and why does he want the spellbook so badly? What will happen when Wendy and Dipper have a meeting with the writers of the movie? Answers to these questions and new ones to ponder over in the next installment of Tales Of The Flame & The Ax. -iKLOT
My Playlist For This Chapter:
Red Sun Rising – "Deathwish"
Demi Lovato – "Neon Lights"
Why Don't We – "Trust Fund Baby"
P!nk – "Beautiful Trauma"
Taylor Swift – "Delicate"
5 Seconds Of Summer – "Good Girls"
Macklemore/Kesha – "Good Old Days"
Vicetone – "Fix You"
The Offspring – "Hit That"
AJR! – "Burn The House Down"
Dirty Heads / The Unlikely Candidates – "Celebrate"
The Official Shooting Star Falls AU Reading Order:
Underage Discoveries On A Reckless Night: A Shooting Star Falls Prequel
A Shooting Star Falls
Echoes Of A Nearby Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Scarred Summer: A Shooting Star Falls Story
The Dark Days of Candy Chiu: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Forever Memories: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Stable Times Or A Wild Ride?: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Grenda's Confession: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Birthday Weirdness In The Rose City: A Shooting Star Falls Story
The Gift Of Forever: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Wendy & Dipper Vs The Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Life In Transit: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Pause The Moment: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Tales Of The Flame & The Axe: A Shooting Star Falls Story