Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story
Part Thirteen: Doubt
"Mabel! Pacifica! Courtney!" Wendy shouted up the flight of stairs that led to the second floor of the Pines home. "Yes Mom!" her auburn locked daughter Mabel replied. "Can you guys come down here?!" the mother of two asked. "Yeah! Be right down!" Pacifica responded. "Look… Whatever this is… We're in it together. Got it?" the brunette reassured her twin. "Yup! I've got your back from the womb to the tomb!" the ginger girl agreed as the trio of teens headed downstairs. Wendy and Dipper sat on the dark leather sofa in the living room; the chestnut haired man clutching a scrapbook that the girls had never seen before. "So… What's this all about?" Pacifica asked as she plopped down on the couch; her sister and cousin following suit. "Okay. S-So remember that time we went to visit Aunt Mabel and Aunt Pacifica?" Wendy began as her voice trembled with trepidation. "Mom, we go to see them all the time. You're gonna have to be more specific…" Mabel replied as she swept back a piece of her copper colored hair. "Well… I-It was the first time that we went to see them and I told you dudes how they passed…" the alabaster skinned mother clarified as she reached for a glass of clear liquid on the table in front of her. As hard as this subject was going to be to talk about, she had wished that it was a glass full of something a bit more intoxicating than water. "Oh… Yeah. We, like, know all about that… How Aunt Mabel and Aunt Pacifica went to the bank to get some money for a trip to the mall and they got caught up in that robbery" Mabel began with a questioning look on her slender face before continuing with her thought. "H-How you were the only cop in town that day and responded… T-That the guy holding up the bank shot you and killed them both… Yeah, we know…" she concluded.
Wendy turned to Dipper and grasped her husband's hand as she prepared to tell them about the movie. "Well… We were in Vancouver… And, this is super funny; I kept getting mistaken for an actress… Like, a ton of times. It honestly got a bit annoying…" she began as all three girls stared at her with a look of disbelief. "Yeah, and I'm Queen Meghan…" Courtney replied. "I-It's true! Let her explain" Dipper interjected in defense of his wife. "Turns out that the reason I kept getting mistaken for the actress was because she's going to be playing the role of none other than Officer Gwendolyn Corduroy in an upcoming feature film" the freckled woman continued. A skeptical look came over the face of Pacifica, as she thought it may be some sort of joke that had fallen completely flat. "So… Let me get this straight. They're making a movie about you? I-Is that right?" Mabel inquired as she leaned in a bit. "Y-Yeah…" was all that the thirty-six year old reply with; the thought of her being portrayed by an A-List actress in a major motion picture sounded outlandish even to her. And she had been on the set! "It's about the life of Aunt Pacifica mostly… But yeah, your mom is a character in it. T-The part where the robbery takes place" Dipper added. He could tell that his wife needed a little help in delivering the news and tried as best as he could to assist her without completely taking over the conversation.
All three teenage girls sat on the leather sofa in a stunned silence. They still thought it may be some sort of elaborate prank and that any second Justin Kerprank would jump out from behind a potted plant despite there not being one in the house. "Huh… So, you guys aren't screwing with us?" Courtney spoke up. "No. Not at all" Dipper reassured his niece in a calm and firm tone. "Then who is playing you guys?" a still unsure Pacifica asked. "Y-Your mother is being played by Jamie LeCroix..." he began. "No way! Shut up!" Mabel shouted before covering up her mouth with both of her hands; aware that telling her father to shut up might not have been the most respectful thing to say. "Yup… Here's a photo of us standing next to each other…" Wendy said as she pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture of the two redheads standing side by side; large smiles plastered on their faces. Wendy was decked out in her classic look of flannel and jeans, while Jamie was wearing the uniform of the Gravity Falls Police Department. "That's so cool!" Courtney exclaimed. "Tell me about it…" her Aunt replied. "What about you Dad?" Pacifica inquired. "Well, the guy who plays me is Ritter North… The actor fro-" Dipper began before a loud squeal filled the room. "It Wasn't Me! I LOVE that show!" Courtney erupted. "Well, if you ask me, he's a little too handsome to be playing you at that age… Sorry, not sorry… But you were, like, a total geek… A cute geek, but a geek nonetheless…" Wendy said as she watched the expression on her husband's face change to one of anger for a fleeting second before a smirk formed on it. "Oh yeah! Well, if I was a geek, then you were a freak when you were in high school!" Dipper shot back. "ME?! Okay... Sure thing buddy…" the ginger woman replied with sarcasm dripping heavily from her voice. "I mean, you guys hung out in Nate's garage and tried to form a band… You went through that whole phase where you thought you were some rebellious badass because you wore your grandpa's army jacket from Korea and smoked some wee-" he began to explain before his wife cut him off. "MASON!" she shouted as the three teens took in the lighthearted argument forming in front of them. "Sorry…" the thirty-three year old man sheepishly apologized. "Anyway… Your Aunt Mabel is played by Oliva Colt and your Aunt Pacifica is played by Dove Hosterman" the redhead continued as she tried to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Okay… So… They're making a movie about Aunt Pacifica's life… That's pretty cool…" Mabel said as she started to get up from the sofa. "That's not all…" Wendy said in a sullen tone. A look of confusion formed on the face of her daughter and she sat back down. "I wanted to tell you guys something… I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me… And some of them are true" the ginger woman continued as tears formed in her eyes. "Like what, mom?" Mabel asked; a look of concern forming on her face. "I did everything I could to save them… B-But at the time, I didn't think that. I felt so damn guilty that they died… It replayed over and over in my mind. I-I couldn't take it… I-I… I tried to blow my brains out the night it happened… I took my gun… A-And I tried to end it all… I just wanted it all to go away, man…" the now openly weeping woman admitted. "Whoah… Mom… I-I'm so sorry…" Pacifica said as she scooched closer on the couch and wrapped her arms around her t-shirt clad mother. Courtney looked on in shock as she had just witnessed her aunt admitting to the fact that she had become suicidal after losing her dear friends that day. She always saw her Aunt Wendy as a chill woman who didn't let anything rattle her. The teen's allusion of who the ginger woman was had been completely shattered in an instant. "A-And I just completely shut out the world for the better part of a few weeks… About the only time I left my bedroom was to use the restroom…" Dipper added as he tried to give his wife a chance to calm down.
"You guys know the next part… Where I decided it was a good idea to get drunk off my ass and slash my arm…" Wendy said with hesitation as she rubbed her tattoo covered scar. This was once again news to Courtney, who had always assumed it was from some sort of accident. "Mom… I-I know that it took a lot of courage to tell us about that. I don't think any less of you… I mean, I couldn't imagine what it must have been like" Mabel said as she looked into the emerald colored eyes of her mother. "Y-Yeah… You went through a lot of stuff that nobody has had to deal with… I'm not sure if I could have done any better than you did back then…" Pacifica agreed with her twin as they continued to hug their mom. "A-Aunt Wendy?" Courtney asked with trepidation. "Yes, honey…" the thirty-six year old replied to her niece. "M-My Dad said that you and Pacifica were 'frenemies'… I-Is that true?" the redheaded teen girl inquired. The mother of two mulled the question over for a moment before busting out in laughter. "Dude… Yeah! We totally were! The funny thing is that it didn't even have anything to do with the fact that we both had a crush on your Uncle either! You see, the Northwests and the Corduroys had a feud that went back over one hundred and fifty years. My Great, Great, Grandfather Archibald Corduroy and his team of lumberjacks were hired to build Northwest Manor. It was agreed upon that following the completion of the job that there would be a celebration for the whole town to recognize the hard work and sacrifice of the workers. Needless to say, the Northwest family reneged on their promise and shut out the lumberjacks. Due to the deforestation caused by the construction, a great mudslide ravaged the town and killed a good number of people, including my ancestor" the auburn haired woman explained as the girls looked on with amazement. Dipper knew the whole tale by heart and had even confronted the spirit of Archibald Corduroy on a fateful night back in the summer of 2012. "So, anyway, Pacifica started working at the Mystery Shack with me. We had a conversation where we pretty much agreed to disagree about both the fact that her family pretty much murdered my relative and the fact that we both had a crush on Dipper…" the freckled woman concluded.
"So… Baron, this will be your new room!" the Senator said as he opened the door to a bedroom; the plain white walls helping to create a sterile environment. "Thank you father!" the ten year old said in a grateful tone as he began to explore the room. Still holding hands with his fourteen year old daughter, the elected official opened a door across the hallway from Baron's room. "Daddy! I love it!" Ariel shouted as she jumped up and down. "Thank you darlin'…" the white haired man replied as he left the room and walked back down the hallway. "I take it that they like their accommodations?" Amber asked her boss. "Yeah! They loved them, actually. I-I know I don't say it nearly enough, but thank you for everything you do for me…" the somewhat portly man said in a rare moment of sincerity. "Thank you, sir!" the tall blonde woman replied; her usually reserved tone abandoned for one of joy. "Gideon… Call me Gideon from now on…" the Senator said as he stood mere inches from the sharply dressed woman who served as his chief of staff. The slightly younger Amber leaned in and soon the two began to kiss. A red hot passion filled the two as they abandoned their previously professional relationship. After a moment, Gideon broke the lip lock and stepped back a few paces. "A-Amber… I-I had no idea…" he stuttered as the usually cold and calculating man tried to make sense of the situation. "I-I'm sorry Gideon… I-I just felt li-" she began before the lips of the legislator reconnected to hers. Amber pushed Gideon up against the wall of the narrow hallway as she gave in to her inner most desires.
Dr. Jennifer McGucket shut down her computer and unplugged the headphones that had been pumping her the EDM music she listened to while working. She wanted nothing more than to just crank the music up loud in the laboratory and lose herself in the tones and her work, but unlike her personal lab, the Gleeful residence above would likely be disturbed by such a thing. The door that led to the basement opened and she exited her subterranean workplace. The bright sunlight that filled the hallway was a stark contrast to the fluorescent lighting that illuminated her laboratory. Turning a corner, she spied a couple deep in the throes of lust; her heart sinking as she realized that it was her very own crush making out with another woman. Walking past them in a hurry, she felt the tears that had filled her sapphire eyes begin to run down her reddened cheeks. Her trembling hands struggled to turn the door knob that would lead her away from this hurt she felt; the betrayal in her heart. "W-Way to go Jen! Y-You done fucked this one up just like everything else in your fucking life…" the disheartened young woman said as she took a long sip from her cup of vodka and cola. Fishing her car keys out of her purse, the blonde scientist unlocked the two door subcompact. Taking a seat inside the car, she slumped over the steering wheel and began to weep uncontrollably. If it were up to her, Jennifer would have kept this up for the next few hours, but the sound of her phone ringing shook her from her dispair.
Removing it from her purse, she saw that it was her trusted mentor Stanford Pines returning her call from earlier. "H-Hello?" she sniffled into the speaker. "Jenny, is everything alright?" the elderly man asked in his still booming voice. "I-I finished the project I-I was working on…" the young woman replied as she once again snorted the snot back into her nose. "I know something is troubling you… What is it?" Stanford inquired; a hint of concern lacing his usually calm tone. "I-It's dumb... Just stupid woman stuff…" she dismissed. "Whatever it is has you upset… So it's far from dumb…" the mentor replied. "Okay. Well… I-I came across my boss, the Senator, making out with another woman…" she began as fresh tears filled her eyes on a muggy afternoon; the warmth of her breath beginning to steam up the windows of the tiny automobile. "I see… And I take it that you had feelings for him?" the man of science asked. "Well… Yeah. I-I've wanted to tell him how I feel for a while now, but I didn't want to have it become a distraction to the project that I'm working on" she explained. "To be fair, that is what a responsible researcher does… They put the integrity of their work above all else…" the grey haired man reassured the emotionally unstable woman. "Yeah! B-But I think that I may have waited too long… I'm a woman of science though! Logic should always trump emotion…" she commented. "Listen… I learned a long time ago from a very wise person that sometimes you have to listen to your heart, even when your mind is telling you that it's a bad idea…" Ford told her. "Look, I know you're trying to comfort me and all, but we both know that's bullshit… A real scienti-" she began before being cut off. "Listen to me! I learned that lesson way too late in life, but you're still young enough to change… You know who gave me that advice?" Stanford asked his apprentice. "No…" Jennifer sniffled. "My late niece Mabel. S-She was more intelligent than I could have ever hoped to be because she saw the grand scheme of things… That the meaning of life is to live it and not overthink things too much… A-And she didn't even need to summon an immortal interdimensional dream demon to show her that" the octogenarian pointed out in a crestfallen voice.
Jennifer mulled over the elderly man's advice as she held her phone away from her face. "Jennifer? A-Are you still there?" Stanford asked in a concerned tone. "Yeah… You know what? She really was smarter than both of us… Maybe if this works out, or even if it doesn't, I'll go thank her for it…" the blonde woman said as a smile formed on her face. "I think she'd like that…" Ford said as he ended the call. Getting out of her small car, she headed back towards the unassuming two story home. Opening the front door, she saw that Amber had already resumed her work; save for a few less buttons fastened on her blouse and slightly more messy hair than before. "Amber" the lab coat clad woman acknowledged as she walked past. "Dr. McGucket" she replied while looking down at a tablet. Seeing the door to the Senator's office cracked open, she opened it to find the white haired man adjusting his sky blue tie. "Dr. McGucket… D-Did you come up with an explanation for our predicament?" he asked; checking his appearance in a full length mirror that hung on the inside of a closet door. "I-I'm still working on that… B-But I do have to inform you of something else, sir…" she said while nervously adjusting her thick framed glasses. "Look, unless it has to do with that, I frankly don't have the ti-" he began before the blonde woman planted her lips on the shorter man. "Man alive, what has gotten into these women around here today?" the legislator asked himself as he returned the kiss. She pushed him up against the wall, knocking a framed picture off of it. Most of the staff for the Senator had gone home for the day, but being the workaholic that she was, Amber had stuck around to work on the travel itinerary for him for next month. The sound of a thud and shattering glass took her laser-focused attention away from her tablet and she soon headed towards the unusual noise. Gideon grabbed the scientist by her hips and spun her around toward his large oak desk; her lower back colliding with the edge of it. Letting out a small whimper of pain, she ignored it as the throes of passion quickly overrode it. Amber opened the door to find the Senator deep in a make out session with Jennifer.
Gideon had heard the door open and turned his head to see his chief of staff standing in the door way; mouth agape with shock as she observed what they were doing. Practically shoving Dr. McGucket off of him, he looked the sharply dressed woman in her chestnut colored eyes. "A-Amber… I-I" he stuttered as the look on her face changed to one of pure rage. "I-I should have known! Y-You're just like the rest of them! Well, guess what?! You can kiss your dreams of becoming President goodbye Mr. Gleeful! I-I'm going to tell them all what y-you've been doing with the taxpayer's money! U-Using it to clone yourself some kids t-to try and steal a damn book from some teenagers! T-That you've had some people silenced for threatening to speak out before… Y-You just made a big mistake! I-I QUIT!" she shouted before throwing her tablet to the ground; the electronic device shattering at her feet. "AMBER! Please! W-We can talk about it!" he pleaded as Jennifer wondered what she had gotten herself into. "It's too late for that! When you wake up, it'll be all over the news! I promise you that!" she shouted while storming off. The sound of the front door slamming shut confirmed that the woman had indeed left the premises. "Jennifer… I-I'm sorry about that. A-As far as what just happened… We have a lot to talk about… A-And I promise we will, but right now I need to take care of some business. B-But I think we might have just found a solution that will work out well for all involved" Gideon finished as he picked his phone off the desk. "O-Okay Sena-" she began before being cut off. "Gideon… Call me Gideon from now on… Now, if you'll excuse me…" he interrupted while shooing her out of the room.
Jennifer stood outside the office of her boss, Senator Gideon Gleeful; a thousand thoughts filling the mind of the scientist. "I wonder what he meant?" she quietly said to herself as she made her way out of the home. "W-What was all the commotion Mother?" Ariel asked with a worried look on her teenage face. "Nothing sweetheart… J-Just a person who didn't want to work for your Daddy anymore…" she fibbed. "Oh… Well they certainly didn't handle that gracefully, did they Mother?" the young woman replied. "N-Not all people can handle things with as much grace as a Gleeful can, dear…" she once again lied. "W-Where are you going?" Ariel asked as the worried look remained on her face. "I-I have to meet up with some old friends… I-I'll be back as soon as I can though. I promise…" she explained. "Okay! Have fun!" the girl cheerfully responded. "I will! You behave for your Father! He's been going through a lot today…" Jennifer replied. "I certainly will!" the blue eyed teen reassured her Mother. Dr. McGucket closed the front door and took a deep sigh. "Maybe being a Mom won't be such a bad thing…" she said to herself as she took out her car keys and walked through the muggy air of the mid-June afternoon.
Amber raced down Route 618 as a light mist had begun to fall; tears filling her brown eyes as she picked up her phone and placed a call. "Hello?" the feminine voice on the other side of the call replied. "Tambry… I-It's Amber" she began as a pair of headlights appeared further behind her on the road. "Hey! Haven't talked to you in a while… How's my favorite insider in the Gleeful administration doing?" the violet haired woman asked as she sat down at her dining room table and opened up her laptop. "Look… I-I just quit my job…" the blonde said in a crestfallen tone. "I-I'm sorry to hear that…" Tambry said. She was upset that her only major source of leaks inside the tight-lipped administration wouldn't be providing her with any more news, but felt for the woman nonetheless. "I-I plan to go out with a bang though! I-I've got a bombshell that will bring down his whole house of cards and ruin his run for President!" she cheerily informed the reporter. "F-For real?! You're not fucking with me?!" the olive skinned woman replied with shock. She had always hoped that her contact inside the Senator's inner circle would lead to a big story and was skeptical of the now unemployed woman. "YES! One hundred percent for real! I can't say much over the phone because that scientist bitch he keeps on staff might have this thing bugged, but suffice to say that misappropriated taxpayer money is the least of his worries…" she reassured Tambry. "Okay… Meet me at the usual spot and we'll talk…" the reporter replied in a calm tone as she tried to hide her excitement. "Okay… I gotta go… Some asshole is riding my ass and his lights are right in my eyes…" Amber said before ending the call. "YES! YES! YES! FUCK YEAH!" Tambry exclaimed as she leaped out of her seat and jumped up and down. If the story turned out to be true, this could be the big break that she had been waiting nearly two decades for.
The two door subcompact Amber drove down Route 618 approached a bridge that crossed Hirsch Gorge; a large truck now following close behind. "What is this dude's fucking problem?" Amber asked herself as she struggled to see the road in front of her through the bright lights. The truck made contact with the tiny car as it began to traverse the half mile long bridge; pieces of the vehicle falling to the roadway below. "What the hell?!" the blonde said to herself as felt it hit again; this time almost lifting the rear end of the car off the road. Amber reached over to retrieve her phone from the passenger seat she had tossed it to after hanging up with Tambry; a panic filling her as she did so. For a third time, the truck hit her car, this time causing it swerve back and forth on the rain soaked road. Seeing the headlights begin to fade away, Amber thought that the threat was over; perhaps a drunk driver behind the wheel of the large automobile. Dialing 911, she heard the powerful engine of the truck rev up and the headlights once again began to grow in her rear-view mirror. This impact was much stronger than the previous three and caused the young woman to lose control of her car. Turning sideways, the car burst through the guardrail and plunged over the side. Amber covered her face with her arms as she knew she was about to meet her demise. The small vehicle fell nearly three hundred feet before making contact with the shallow riverbed below. The truck came to a stop just before the mangled guardrail and a muscle bound man exited it. Letting out a whistle of amazement, he looked over the edge to see the smoking ruin of the automobile. He removed his phone from his pocket and placed a call. "This is Killbone. It's done…" was all he muttered into the mobile device before hanging up. He checked the ram bar on the front of his truck for any damage before getting back into it and driving off into the early evening. "Excellent…" Gideon said as he spun his office chair around and began to laugh maniacally. "911, what is your emergency?" the operator on the other end of the line repeatedly asked as the sound of the speaker echoed in the otherwise quiet forest.
Author's Note: First of all, thank you for the views and reviews! As always, I am grateful for each and every one of them and encourage my readers to leave their feedback on the Shooting Star Falls AU. While I'm on that topic, I absolutely love the fanart that I've been seeing! Keep it up! So, when writing her character outline, I kept imagining Jennifer McGucket as sort of like a raver version of Abby from NCIS. As for her physical appearance, I kept thinking of Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harleen Quinzel from Suicide Squad. Just a bubbly blonde woman who you wouldn't necessarily think of as an intelligent person if you took her at face value. Wendy and Dipper revealed the fact that they would be portrayed in an upcoming film and I think the girls took it pretty well, especially Courtney, who didn't know nearly as much about the whole situation as her cousins. As far as the whole Gideon situation, I felt like I had to drive home the point that he will stop at nothing to gain that ultimate power he seeks and that nobody is indispensable to him if it furthers his cause. While the end of the original series had portrayed him as someone who was trying to change, the fact was that he was who he was and embraced it later on in his life. As to his motivations for becoming President of the Cascadian Republic, that will be revealed. Do you think that Gideon was being sincere when he entertained the idea of a relationship with Jennifer or do you think that he views her only as a pawn in his twisted game? What role will Ariel and Baron Gleeful play in all of this? What will Pacifica Pines do with the spellbook next? What will be the next move for Grendy in her complicated relationship with Courtney and Mateo? What has become of Amber? Answers to all these questions and more in the next installment of Tales Of The Ax & The Flame... Until then- iKLOT
My Playlist For This Chapter:
Joywave – "Doubt"
Sleater-Kinney – "A New Wave"
Dimmu Borgir – "Interdimensional Summit"
The Dandy Warhols – "Bohemian Like You"
Red – "Already Over"
Red Sun Rising – "Deathwish"
Parkway Drive – "I Hope You Rot" (The song that was playing while I wrote about Jennifer's discovery of Gideon and Amber)
Chimaira – "Power Trip"
Suicidal Tendencies – "Nothing To Lose"
The Official Shooting Star Falls AU Reading Order:
P1). Underage Discoveries On A Reckless Night: A Shooting Star Falls Prequel
1). A Shooting Star Falls
2). Echoes Of A Nearby Future: A Shooting Star Falls Story
3). Scarred Summer: A Shooting Star Falls Story
4). The Dark Days Of Candy Chiu: A Shooting Star Falls Story
5). Forever Memories: A Shooting Star Falls Story
6). Stable Times Or A Wild Ride?: A Shooting Star Falls Story
7). Grenda's Confession: A Shooting Star Falls Story
8). Birthday Weirdness In The Rose City: A Shooting Star Falls Story
9). The Gift Of Forever: A Shooting Star Falls Story
10). Life In Transit: A Shooting Star Falls Story
11). The Moment: A Shooting Star Falls Story
12). Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story