Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story

Part Twenty-Seven: Level Of Concern

Ranger Wendy Pines began to get ready for her day while her husband continued to process what the auburn haired woman had disclosed to him. Not only were a pair of interdimensional killers on the loose in Gravity Falls, but one of them had possessed the body of a girl that biologically was his niece. "Mase, you okay?" Wendy asked as she placed a hand on the upper back of her lover. "I-It's just a lot to take in... you know?" he replied. "Totally. I couldn't even begin to imagine what's going on inside of you right now" Wendy said as she looked her lover in the eye. She could tell he was conflicted about how to feel. One the one hand, he must be ecstatic that his sister got to have one part of the future she imagined for herself come to fruition. On the other hand, how much was this child actually Mabel's? She certainly hadn't consented to it and although it shared half of her DNA, it hadn't been raised by the sprightly woman. Wendy took a seat beside the man she loved with all her being and simply leaned against him. "Hey Wen, thanks" Dipper said as he wrapped his arm around the uniform clad woman. "For what?" she replied with genuine curiosity. "For telling me the truth. It would have just been easier if you had either not told me about the dream at all or lied about what actually happened in it, but you didn't" he explained. "Of course not. How could I?" she said. "That's why I'm so lucky to have you. I can always count on you to give it to me straight... Even if it isn't exactly what I want to hear" Dipper said. After watching her husband crawl back into bed and fall asleep once more, she continued on with her daily routine.

Tambry Bennett had awoken to her phone ringing on the nightstand beside her. Much to her relief, her husband Nate continued to sleep soundly; his loud snores seemingly competing with the electronic device to see which could be noisier. "H-Hello?" she answered in a groggy voice. "Get a cameraman and go to 214 Poplar Avenue by five-thirty..." the male voice on the other side of the line said before the call ended. "214 Poplar Avenue? Why does that address seem so familiar?" she thought to herself while typing the location into her phone. "Oh... That's why... Wonder what kinda shit he's gotten into now?" the mother of two said to herself as it showed the residence belonging to none other than Senator Gleeful. Glancing over to her alarm clock, she saw that she little more than an hour to get ready and arrive at the home of the sitting Senator. Letting out a sigh, she got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to begin her day. As she waited for the water to warm up in the shower, she stared into the mirror and took a good look at herself. Only a couple years from turning forty, the signs of time had gradually begun to appear on the mocha skinned woman's face. Still, she thought that she looked fairly well despite the stressful events she had endured in her life. Seeing the steam begin to fill the room, she was shaken from her moment of vanity. "Who the hell was that? How'd they even get my number and why would they want me there? Am I stupid for just taking some rando's word that I should go there?" she asked herself while she let the warm water cascade over her. She could only hope that this wouldn't turn into yet another wild goose chase.

Wendy headed downstairs and turned on the large flat screen television that hung above their fireplace. Keeping the volume low so that the other members of her family could continue to sleep, she walked to the kitchen. After pouring herself a glass of water, she sat down on the sofa and was immediately greeted by the ominous music that signaled breaking news on Action News One. "Action News One: Daybreak starts now with a breaking news alert..." a male voice narrated. "And that breaking news is out of the Poplar Woods section of Gravity Falls, where numerous state and local agencies have assembled outside of Senator Gideon Gleeful" Jackie Maynard, the morning co-anchor for Action One News began. "Tambry Bennett is live on what is a very active scene with the latest..." Joel Wilson, Jackie's co-anchor continued before handing things off to the purple haired woman. "Good morning Joel and Jackie. I'm at the home of Senator Gideon Gleeful, where CBI, ODJ and GFPD officials arrived just a short while ago" Tambry began as Wendy slowly sipped from her glass. "It appears as though heavily armed law enforcement are now approaching the front door of the Gleeful residence. I'm also receiving word that others have converged on the offices of Senator Gleeful on Northwest Avenue. Their intentions are currently unknown, although a source of mine has speculated that this may be related to an investigation into misappropriated presidential campaign funds" Tambry continued to narrate as the uniformed officers continued to move about in the background.

"Holy shit..." Wendy said to herself as she tied her boots. She wanted to stay and watch how all of this unfolded, but knew that she had to leave for work. Turning off the television, she grabbed her green coat and locked the door behind her. On the drive to Greasy's diner for breakfast, all she could think about was how Dipper reacted to the news that he had a niece. Part of her wondered if she should have just kept it to herself for the time being, but another realized that she couldn't betray the man she loved like that. Sure, it was painful for him to hear, but at least he would know that she was being completely honest with him. Turning on the radio of her trusty sport utility vehicle, a rock song from her senior year of high school came on and she began to sing along. It helped ease her mind and soon she found herself turning into the seemingly perpetually muddy parking lot of the dive. Her boots sunk into the soft earth beneath her as she trudged towards the front door. "Ugh! They could really stand to put some gravel or something down..." she commented to herself. The sound of a bell ringing greeted her as she opened the door and made her way to the counter.

"Rough night?" Alexa asked as she placed a plain white ceramic coffee mug in front of her well-known patron. "Yeah... PTSD induced nightmares never get old, that's for sure..." Wendy replied in a deadpan tone. "I'm sorry to hear that hun... But, I do have some good news. A fresh pot of coffee will be done in a minute or so and it's got your name on it..." the bubbly blonde informed her as she sprinted away to check on another customer. "Well, at least there's that..." the ginger woman remarked as she pulled out her phone to see what the latest was on the situation downtown. Much to her shock, the first image she lay eyes on was of Gideon being lead away in handcuffs by armed officials. "Well I'll be damned. It's about time" she said before looking up to see that her breakfast bagel sat before her and her mug was being filled with piping hot coffee. "About time for what?" the petite proprietor of the diner asked out of curiosity. "Looks like Senator Gleeful is going back to the big house..." the auburn haired woman said while letting out a bit of a smug chuckle. "Gleeful, huh? I wonder what's gonna happen to his kids? They're absolute sweethearts..." Alexa commented in a sullen tone. "Really?" Wendy asked; a little shocked that the offspring of such an underhanded man could be nice. Come to think of it though, both Mabel and Pacifica had mentioned in passing that Ariel had been pleasant to be around. She chalked that up to her late friend's portion of the teen girl's genetics. "Yeah. I hope they've got some family to stay with or something while this plays out" Alexa replied before once again leaving to attend to another customer.

Wendy was about to leave when the familiar ringtone she had assigned a certain reporter began to go off. "Wen! Have you seen the news?!" a very excitable Tambry shouted into her mobile device. "Sure have... What'd they get him on?" the ginger woman replied before taking a sip of her coffee. "Funny thing about that. Everyone thought it was about campaign funds, which it was, but it's how he spent those funds that is really odd..." Tambry added. "And just how would that be? Wouldn't have been by creating those kids of his in a lab, would it?" Wendy asked in a slightly hushed tone as she exited the diner. "H-How did you know?! I haven't even reported that yet because the alphabet soup of agencies strongly suggested that it would be in my best interests not to do so. I decided to play ball for the time being..." the thirty-six year old reporter asked in a shocked tone. "Let's just say that it came to me in a dream..." Wendy coyly answered. "C'mon Wendy... You know that you can't just leave me hanging like that. Dish, girl..." the persistent woman said to her best friend. "Well, you know how Bill Cipher could get into your mind and stuff?" Wendy asked. "Yeah... I remember some of you talking about that in one of those Weirdmageddon survivor support group meetings you dragged me to. I never had it happen to me, but it sounds like something that's all sorts of messed up. I-Is he back or something?!" Tambry replied; her voice trembling at the thought of the dream demon returning once more to Gravity Falls. "Don't worry, it wasn't him. It was the spirit of Ariel Gleeful. A demon jacked her body from her. Meet me at the station and I'll fill you in on the rest..." the freckled woman informed her. "I'll see you in a little bit then..." Tambry said before ending the call.

Wendy arrived at the ranger station and began her checklist for the day. Her subordinates were fairly self-sufficient and would often already be hard at work by the time she arrived each morning. This day was no different as they had already headed out to take care of the park. The door opened and Wendy turned to see Tambry walk in. Still dressed in a black pleated skirt, a white t-shirt and olive green army jacket, it appeared that she had come over direct from the scene. "So... You said that a demon has possessed the body of Ariel Gleeful?" the purple haired woman asked her best friend. "Jeez... You cut right to the chase, don't you? Not even a hello or anything? I see how it is..." Wendy replied in a teasing manner. "You're right... Sorry. It's just been one hell of a morning, you know?" the mocha skinned woman apologized as she took a seat on Wendy's desk. "It's cool... Just busting your chops" Wendy said while laughing. She loved to get others flustered and her best friend was no exception. "To answer your question though... Yeah. Ariel is currently in the mindscape and this demon is now in control of her body. This demon is different from Bill though. For one, it has a partner. Collectively, they're known as the Magic Killers. The other has inhabited Baron Gleeful's body. Apparently, Ford said that they're known throughout the multiverse and have destroyed countless worlds. They're like locusts that hop from one dimension to the next, consuming all the magic a world has before moving on. Unfortunately, it appears that we're next" Wendy said in a solemn tone.

Tambry took a minute to process just what Wendy had said to her. In the grand scheme of things, she had come out of Weirdmageddon relatively unscathed, but knew that was far from the case for many of Gravity Falls' residents. "There's a plan though, right? I mean, when it comes to this sort of things the Pines always seem to have a plan" the reporter asked in a worried voice. "I think so? Dipper and Ford have kept this a little close to the vest, but I'm pretty sure they're working on it as we speak" Wendy said in an effort to reassure her troubled best friend. In reality, both Dipper and Ford remained fast asleep while the sun continued to rise in the sky. "You wouldn't happen to know where Jennifer McGuckett is, would you?" Tambry asked as she tried to change the subject. "Not a clue. Paz isn't due to see her for another week or so to have her arm worked on. Why do you ask?" Wendy inquired. "The CBI wants to speak to her. She broke the law when she created those kids" the violet haired woman responded. It took every bit of her will power for Wendy to keep from revealing that Ariel shared half of her genetics with the late Mabel Ariel Pines. For now, she would withhold that information out of respect for her husband, who was still coming to grips with it himself. "Nah. Pacifica is due to see her next week to get her arm checked out though. Oh man, I hope she isn't in too much trouble. Pacifica really wanted her arm in tip-top shape for school" Wendy fibbed. She could only hope that Tambry would buy it.

"Alright. Well, if you do, please let them know. Using that kind of technology is illegal for a reason" Tambry said in a much more serious tone than usual. Wendy knew exactly why. In the mid twenty-twenties, several rich and influential people had tried to create designer children, only to be met with horrifying results. "Of course I will" Wendy reassured her bestie. "So, other than all of this junk, how are things going?" Tambry asked as she tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Alright I guess... Dipper is over the moon that Stan and Ford are back in town. The girls are pretty keyed up about it too. Now that they know all about Weirdmageddon, I'm sure that they'll be asking the two of them all sorts of questions. I just hope that Stan keeps it kid-friendly, you know?" the alabaster skinned woman said with a chuckle as she recalled just how the elderly man could be. "For real, that man has no filter..." Tambry agreed with her best friend. "Yeah, but sometimes that can be a good thing. At least you know where he stands on things..." Wendy replied. "That's true" the purple haired reporter agreed. As a journalist, she was used to having to sort through all sorts of lies to reach the truth. She welcomed the challenge, but there were sometimes where she wished that people could just be honest with her. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about then when talking to Wendy or any of the Pines family for that matter.

Pacifica Pines awoke to the smell of food cooking in the kitchen downstairs. After putting on a pair of plaid sleep pants, she walked across the hall to see if Mabel was still asleep. Knocking on the door, she didn't hear a response. Slowly opening the door, she looked in to see a horrifying sight. Her twin sister was convulsing on the bed and the silver haired teen sprinted over to help Mabel. "Mabes! Mabes! OH DAMN! OH DAMN!" she shouted to the redhead as she tried to remember what to do when someone had a seizure. "DAD! STANS!" the young woman shouted at the top of her lungs. She hoped that they would be able to hear her downstairs. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she dialed 911 and awaited a response. The sounds of footsteps rushing up the stairs reassured Pacifica that her cries for help had been heard. "Nine-One-One, what's your emergency?" a female voice on the other end of the line asked in a calm tone. "M-My sister is having a seizure! I-I'm not sure when it started..." she replied while trying to fight back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes. "Please be alright sis... Please..." she thought to herself on an early morning in Gravity Falls, Oregon.

Authors Note: For whatever reason, I had a hard time writing this chapter. I tried everything in my toolbox to try and get it written, but nothing seemed to work. If any of my readers have ever tried to write themselves, then they know just how infuriating writer's block can be. Ugh! So anyway, onto the story. It appears that Gideon is finally getting his comeuppance for all the evil he has perpetrated. Will Tambry be able to keep the secret of the Magic Killers to herself, or will her professional ambitions get in the way? Will Mabel Pines be alright? Answers to all of these questions and more in the next installment of Tales of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story. Until then, remember that I know lots of things. - iKLOT

My playlist for this chapter:

def rebel - "Dead Silence"

lovelytheband - "Loneliness For Love"

The 1975 - "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)"

X Ambassadors, & grandson - "Zen"

Starset - "Trials" (The chorus of this song reminded me of how Wendy and Mason have faced a bunch of tragedy and continue to persevere)

Starset - "Telekinetic" (The lyrics made me think of Ariel and how she's been taken over)

Shinedown - "State Of My Head" (The song Wendy listened to in her SUV)

Theory Of A Deadman - "World Keeps Spinning"

Nonpoint - "Bullet With A Name"

Oliver Tree - "Let Me Down"

M83/ Mai Lan - "Go"

White Reaper - "Real Long Time"

Bully - "Where To Start" (I picture Wendy listening to a bunch of female-led indie rock bands and maybe in an alternate AU being in one herself alongside Robbie, Tambry, Nate and Lee)

Major Lazer & Marcus Mumford - "Lay Your Head On Me"

twenty one pilots x MUTEMATH - "Heathens"

twenty one pilots- "Level Of Concern" (If this whole story were a television series, this would be the song that would be playing at the end of the episode)