I'm back!

This chapter took a while, I know - I'm not a fan of the original episode, but it didn't make sense not to include it from a story perspective. I ended up going in a different direction than the episode itself did. I hope you enjoy!

"This just in - the mayor is dead!"

Mina blinked at the television, which had just been showing a rerun of Tigerfist. "Oh. That's… news?" Around her, everyone shifted from their lazy positions, paying more attention.

"Raised by bears in the wilderness, mayor Eustace Huckabone Befufftlefumper was best known for raising the water tower, possibly starting world war one, and putting town menace Gideon Gleeful behind bars, in actual adult prison. A memorial statue is already being carved in the deceased mayor's honor."

The reporter sniffed, putting her hand to her mouth as her coworker comforted her. "I'm sorry. It's just been so long since we've had real news. I'm just so happy…"

"There will be a town hall meeting this afternoon to discuss replacing him," her coworker announced.

"Think we should go to that?" Izuku suggested. "It could be interesting. Especially in a town like this."

"Maybe I could run," Stan, who was watching from the doorway, mused.

"You sure you want to deal with all that paperwork?" Ochako teased.

Stan grimaced at the image. "On second thought, no thanks. That stuff is pure evil."

"It would still be a good thing to keep track of how this election is going," Shouto decided. "Just in case some new wacky laws start popping up because the new mayor is another weirdo."

Mina smiled. "We can all go together!" She leaned towards the kitchen. "Hey, Ford! Do you want to come with us?"

"I'm a bit busy at the moment!" Ford's muffled voice responded.

"Yeah, but it's important! And you can learn more about the current town while we're at it!"

"...I suppose so." Mina and Izuku cheered. Stan sighed.

The group of them sat down in the small town hall, which was filled to the brim with people, most of whom Shouto recognized by now, even if he didn't know all of them by name. It was wild, how familiar they'd become with the people of Gravity Falls in just a couple months - but then again, Shouto was used to living in a city of millions. Maybe it was weird for a small down.

Sheriff Blubs took the stage and raised his hands to calm the chatter around them. "Alright, calm down, calm down! We're here to choose a mayor for the first time in almost a century." Deputy Durland fetched an old scroll from the side of the stage and handed it to the sheriff, who opened it, coughing at the dust that was released. "According to the town charter, a worthy candidate is defined as anyone who can cast a shadow, count to ten, and throw their hat into the provided ring." Durland brought out a hoola-hoop and presented it to the crowd at the front of the stage.

"Those are some pretty low qualifications," Ochako noted. "What if the best possible candidate doesn't have a hat?"

Shouto shrugged. "Has there ever been an actual "best candidate" for any election?"

Mina snorted. "That's pretty pessimistic, Shou." He nodded mildly in acknowledgement of her words.

As soon as Durland set the hoop down, a straw hat was thrown into the ring. Everyone turned to see who had thrown it.

There, sitting a few rows away from them, was Bud Gleeful, wearing his usual attire, save for a red, white, and blue tie Shouto had never seen before.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ford stiffen.

"Now, I do believe I fulfill all of the requirements," Bud noted cheerfully.

"Bud Gleeful?" Ochako noted doubtfully.

"He looks good, considering we threw his son in jail," Mina tried optimistically.

Stan leaned back in his seat. "Ah, that was a good day."

"We also busted the cult he was a part of," Izuku noted. "Although I guess he wouldn't remember that one." They watched Bud head up to the front of the stage and stand behind the podium.

"Now I know our family's had its fair share of whoopsie-daisies in the past, but I'd like to make up for it by formally announcing my candidacy for mayor of Gravity Falls! Any questions?"

Toby Determined stood up. "Yes, are you still in contact with Lil' Gideon?"

"Aw, that's such a great question, Toby! For that, I'm giving you fifty percent off a used car!"

Toby's eyes went wide with joy. "Fifty percent? Fifty percent!?"

"In fact," Bud added, "Everyone, look under your seats. You get half off a used car, and you get half off a used car!"

Along with everyone else, Shouto reached under his seat and pulled out a manilla envelope. Inside was, in fact, a coupon for fifty percent off a used car at Bud Gleeful's store. He turned to his friends, frowning. "He dodged the question about being in contact with Gideon."

Ochako narrowed her eyes at the man behind the podium. "I dunno about you, but I have a bad feeling about this guy being in charge of Gravity Falls."

"Agreed," Izuku said quietly. Shouto didn't blame him - out of all of them, he had to deal with the worst of Gideon.

Next to Izuku, Soos shrugged. "I don't know, dude. It's not like we have a lot of good options. Everyone in town is a tad strange. Except, ironically, Tad Strange." He motioned to a man in a white shirt, tie, and dress pants, who was smiling placidly at the scene around him.

"This man isn't just "not a good option", he's a bad option," Ford hissed. They turned to see him staring intently at Bud. "I know that tie - that's a mind control device. I made it during my days at Backupsmore - I don't know how someone got their hands on it."

All of them froze.

"The Gleefuls temporarily took over the shack a little while back," Shouto informed him. "Gideon clearly didn't find the basement, but if the tie was anywhere else in the shack…"

"Can you track where he's being mind controlled from?" Izuku asked quietly.

"Once we're back home, sure," Ford agreed. "Who is this "Gideon" anyways? And why was he looking for the basement?"

Ochako winced. "We'll… tell you later."

Bud clearly wasn't done. "Well, since everyone's happy, I'll just take the oath of office right now, sound good, gavel up-" He raised the gavel on the podium.

"Hold it right there!" Everyone gasped as Stan stood. "Come on, people! Are we really going to let Bud Gleeful become mayor? After everything he let Gideon do to us?"

"Oh Stanford, no offense, but you're just some two-bit con artist-" Bud tried.

"And you dodged the question about being in contact with Gideon!" Stan shot back, prompting more gasps. He turned to the crowd. "Are we really going to let Gleeful win? Or are we going to have a real election?"

His statement was met with cheers.

Tyler was the first to act. With a "Get in there, hat!" He tossed his baseball cap into the ring, which was followed by about a dozen other hats.

Stan sat back down, grinning. "Ah, it's nice to have the townsfolk on my side instead of Gleeful's. Such a nice change from earlier this summer."

"And when we get home, we can track the tie he's wearing," Shouto said. "Pretty sure there's only one person who could have the controller."

As they were making their way out, everyone chanting for the elections to start, Bud suddenly passed them, grabbing Stan's shirt as he went. "I was going to let bygones be bygones, Stanford, but you just made a powerful enemy. I'll win either way. And I really doubt you'll like the Gravity Falls you wake up in."

Ford narrowed his eyes, grabbing Bud's arm and twisting it off Stan. "Touch him again, and you won't like how you wake up tomorrow," he hissed. Stan blinked at his twin, surprised.

Izuku stepped forwards. "You'd better go," he said firmly. "And remember that we're only your enemies since you made us your enemies." Next to him, Ochako glared, and Mina crossed her arms. Shouto moved himself slightly in front of Stan, and Soos stood at the man's side.

Realizing he was heavily outnumbered, and that he'd just made quite a few people angry in a town that found violence rather amusing, Bud hastily backed off. "Of course, of course!" He smirked and walked past. "We'll just see how the election goes, then. Too bad you didn't enter, Stanford, you might've had a chance. Oh, then again, knowing you… no, you wouldn't have."

There was a moment of silence where they all watched him leave.

Durland lit a canon and fired it, as Blubs laughed. "Let the madness begin!"

"I traced the signal," Ford announced, as the Mystery Crew made their way to the basement. "It's coming from inside the Gravity Falls Prison."

"So it is Gideon," Izuku confirmed grimly. Just the thought sent his stomach churning. After everything Gideon had done to hurt his friends, how he'd been helpless when the gideonbot had grabbed him… he understood a spoiled kid not having an understanding of what friendship was and becoming possessive as a result, especially considering Izuku doubted he'd had any real friends before, that didn't excuse everything he had done.

Especially this. Izuku didn't know how complicit Bud was, but mind control… that was one power Gideon really shouldn't have.

"He must have snuck the controller into prison with him," Shouto agreed. "As long as he can control his father, we'll have a problem on our hands."

"So, what do we do, then?" Ochako wondered. "We need to get the controller away from him, right? Do you think there's someone we can ask who could check him for it?"

Mina shook her head. "Wouldn't they have found it by now, if that was the case?"

"But what other options do we have?" Ochako's voice rose slightly. "What can we do? Break into prison and steal it back?"

There was a long pause as they all let those words sink in. And, to Izuku's surprise, the others were considering it just as much as he was.

Shouto shrugged. "We did already fight and escape government agents," he pointed out. "What's breaking into a prison to ensure a prisoner can't escape compared to that. And if Gideon can control someone from the outside, I'll bet he's looking to use that to escape. Especially with his father running for mayor, who could pardon him."

And that… made a disturbing amount of sense.

"If you want to figure out how to disable the defenses, Fiddleford's your best bet," Ford offered. "And I'm sure Stan knows a thing or two about breaking and entering."

"Right." Mina laughed nervously. "All in favor of breaking in to prevent Gideon from breaking out?"

Four hands went up in the air. It was settled.

They needed to work fast, to get the controller away before the end of the elections. That left them with a week and a half to prepare, at the most. In the end, they decided to split up. Izuku and Ochako went to talk with Fiddleford, while Mina and Shouto spoke with Stan, who was more than willing to help them learn tools of the trade.

"You've got the hang of using those lockpicks," he said approvingly. "Now, tell me again the best way to figure out a passcode lock."

"Check which numbers are the most worn down," Shouto repeated dutifully.

"But it's better if you can watch someone input the code in real time," Mina added.

Stan nodded. "Good. Now about the patrol route for the prison, your best bet, timing wise, is around two to three in the morning. They usually put the newer guards on watch duty around then - some sort of newbie hazing, I think. And those newbie guards always get sleepy. Plenty of them doze off around then."

Neither questioned how Stan knew this, figuring it was better not to ask.

"Now, the next thing you need to know…"

"You want to break into a prison?"

There was a pause where Ochako exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Izuku. She hadn't known what to expect when they approached the old man, but for him to immediately guess what they wanted certainly wasn't it.

"Yeah, but…" Izuku trailed off. "How did you know?"

"You both got the looks of people who want to break into prison," McGucket informed them cheerfully. "Don't worry, I'll help ya out! 'Least I can do for you kids. And you got good judgement! I'm sure there's a reason you wanna go breakin' into someplace like that."

"Right… thanks." Ochako managed a smile. "That would be great."

"Alrighty then!" McGucket pulled out a computer from behind some metal scraps. "Let's get started!"

"So, we've got our plan?"

It was five days later, and the group of them were gathered in the attic, surrounded by maps and notes. Izuku was typing away on the laptop McGucket gave them, motioning to different parts of the prison layout, which Mina circled on the map they'd drawn.

"Based on everything Stan's told us, combined with the information we've gotten from staking out the prison a bit, the best place to enter is here." Mina tapped a small section on the roof of the jail. "Ochako can get us up there, as long as we can make sure no one notices the glow."

"We should bring some gear for that, just in case," Shouto agreed. "I'm sure the grappling hook will come in handy if we can't use Ochako's levitation. Once we're inside, the issue will be escaping notice until we can get to Gideon's cell.

"I can cut the cameras before we enter. Or run them on a loop," Izuku offered. He'd been practicing with McGucket these past few days, and found it was surprisingly easy to learn. "Actually, running them on a loop would be best. That way it'll be less likely for people to notice that something is wrong than if the cameras were cut entirely."

"Who knew you'd be so good at this?" Mina joked, punching Izuku's arm lightly. "Guess we've got a budding hacker on our hands."

Izuku blushed at the compliment, ducking away. "N-Not really! It just wasn't too hard to figure out once McGucket explained it to me."

"Yeah, 'cause you're a genius," Ochako added brightly. Izuku buried his face in his hands, tomato-red.

Shouto frowned at their plans. "We shouldn't waste anymore time. The campaigns have been ramping up, and Gleeful is doing well. We need to get this done as soon as possible."

Izuku nodded. "Tomorrow night, then. We'll be ready."

After sneaking past federal agents, avoiding the notice of some young prison guards who weren't on alert was easy. Ochako floated them up onto the roof as the nearest guards dozed slightly at their posts. That was issue #1 cleared.

Once on the roof, Izuku pulled out the laptop, newly painted in black. It might've been overkill, but since they'd all gotten black clothes for this mission, it felt fitting to complete the aesthetic. "And… cameras are running loops. We can head in." Mina gave him a thumbs up, and he grinned back at her.

Izuku pulled his hood up, and Ochako adjusted her mask, before they made their way over to the door on the roof, and Shouto picked the lock, before carefully opening it without making too much noise. The four of them slipped inside the prison.

Now came the tricky part. They wouldn't just need to worry about patrolling guards, but any prisoners that could wake up and make noise upon spotting them. Izuku could see most dozing away, but they made sure to stick to corners and shadows anyways, and duck beneath any windows the prisoners could see through.

"We need to take a right here - wait." Everyone froze, and in the silence, they could hear footsteps coming towards them. Izuku tucked himself into the corner, the others following suit, as two guards came closer and closer towards them.

"Did you hear what Dr. Muller had to deal with yesterday?" A voice rang out, growing steadily louder. "He says if he has to work with 'Lil Gideon one more time, he'll pack his bags and quit."

"Doesn't help that the other prisoners practically worship him," another voice responded. "Honestly, it's a little scary. He's just a kid, right? How did he even do that?"

Izuku couldn't see the other's faces, but he suspected they were feeling the same apprehension as he was.

Ochako extended her hand slightly, and Mina shifted in front of her to hide the glow. Somewhere, down the opposite corridor, there was a crash, like something heavy had fallen to the floor.

"You hear that?" One of the guards asked the other.

"Hard not to. We'd better check it out, just to be sure."

"Think the boss will notice we left our patrol route?"

"Nah. Shouldn't take too long."

The voices and footsteps slowly faded away, and Izuku let out a silent sigh. They continued on their way. Right, left, left again… and then they were at Gideon's prison room.

Izuku steadied his nerves. It was going to be fine.

Shouto picked the lock, and they all quickly moved inside.

As soon as he heard the door, Gideon's eyes started to open. Mina moved forwards, and slapped her hands on his mouth, while Ochako held his hands behind his back. Gideon's eyes shot open and he squirmed behind Mina's grip, trying in vain to call out.

"Hurry up and find it, you guys," Mina hissed. "He's licking me."

"Ochako and I can search the room," Izuku decided. "Shouto, can you search Gideon?"

"Sure." Shouto moved over to Mina and Gideon, and Izuku examined the cell. There wasn't much to say about it - it was pretty plain, save for the weird poster that showed a kitten hanging off of a tree branch.

"Is this a camera? Wait, it's two-ways - so you have been talking to him," Ochako noted, from her side of the room. "Not what we're looking for, but definitely something."

Out of curiosity, Izuku pulled the poster off the wall, wondering if anything was hidden behind it. And behind it-

That was the Cipher wheel.

Izuku's heart leaped into his chest for a moment, and behind him, he could hear Shouto's sharp intake of breath. Shaking slightly, he inhaled deeply and looked closer. It was the wheel, sure, but some of the symbols seemed to be out of place. Gideon must not remember it well enough - he'd made some mistakes while drawing it.

Still. Better safe than sorry. Izuku smeared the chalk on the wall until the wheel was completely gone, to Gideon's muffled complaints.

"Found it." They looked towards Shouto, who was holding a tie in his hand. "He hid the controller in his hair." He pulled out a torn page of one of the journals. "Along with this. It's a possession spell. In case things went wrong, I'm assuming."

Mina snorted. "No wonder they didn't find it. It's so unnaturally big."

"Let's get out of here then." There was a pause as they all looked at Gideon, who stared back, fury in his piggy eyes. He would scream as soon as Mina removed her hand, and they knew it.

Ochako walked over. "Sorry about this." She paused, looked at Izuku, then back to Gideon. "Actually, you know what? No, I'm not." With that, she knocked him out cold. Izuku replaced the poster exactly how he had found it. Ochako floated Gideon onto his bed, and the four of them left the cell, heading back towards the exit.

"In the end, the winner of this election not only won the popular vote by a slight margin but was the only candidate to fill out their paperwork: Tyler Cutebiker."

"He's not so bad," Mina noted cheerfully, as the Mystery Crew, along with Stan and Ford, gathered to watch the election results. "I mean, he's a little weird, sure, but like Soos said, who isn't? And I think he's one of the better ones."

"At least it wasn't Gleeful," Shouto agreed. They'd destroyed the mind controlling ties, and burned the page about possession, just in case. Shortly afterwards, Bud's campaign hit a downward spiral, and in the end, he was barely even in the running.

"We still need to worry about Gideon making a deal," Izuku murmured quietly. "We erased the wheel and took the chalk, but he can easily get more."

Ochako hummed in agreement, watching Shouto carefully. He seemed alright, but she couldn't help but notice the way he clutched his bandaged arms. "At this point, the best we can do is be on our guard, I think."

Mina gripped his shoulder, pulling him slightly closer. "Hey. If anything happens, we'll be ready."

Shouto nodded slowly. "Yeah. We will."

So the Mystery Crew does something ethically ambiguous because over the past few months, they've lost any and all trust in authority figures to help them, much less do a good job of it. I'm sure this won't cause any problems when they eventually return home. :)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to leave a review! Comments give me the motivation to write this story, after all.