The time had come for America. A day where the sky would rain with fire and the world below it would scream and shout as they could only stand and watch. Or shoot another firework up too; that was something they could do instead.
The American Holiday of Independence, or the fourth of July, had come. The grand time to launch explosives into the sky, at relatives or hated ones, and awe at the colors and sounds, or scream as you realize that your home is one fire: that time had come upon the American people. Even the small town of Gravity Falls would be celebrating their freedoms.
Even with the coming of such celebrations, the tasks and workings of the 'World-Famous' Mystery Manor continued. If anything, inside the building, it was even busier.
"That'll be fifteen dollars," A tall redhead said to the last in a long line of shoppers. "Enjoy your day, and like, go shoot some fireworks."
The visitors chuckled and laughed, leaving with hefty bags. Wendy Corduroy leaned forward, waiting now for the next in the room to hurry up and buy something. So, with a check in the hallway for her boss and current house-master, Wendy slid over the most recent newspaper.
'Reconstruction of Bargains-Depot Finally Under Way: Northwest Involvement Hurrying Project'.
Wendy frowned and scanned the rest of the page. It had only been a few days since their last encounter with the crazy and unusual, and Wendy had taken back to her old hobby of reading into the news as much as she could. Without the gossip leads from Tambry, who still believed her to be a ghost, Wendy had to rely on her own wits.
"Hmm," she hummed as she glanced down on a small article, advertising a job for 'low skill needed, high pay given'. Little to nothing was said about the specifics of the actual task, but Wendy squinted as she looked closer. No normal job asked to show up at the bus station at seven fifty, right in the middle of bus routines.
"Wendy."
She darted her head back up. Yuki was walking to her from outside, closing the door behind him.
"Hey dude, wassup?" she asked.
"Have you seen Dipper or Stan? I wish to speak to them," Yuki said as he glanced to her newspaper.
"Stan's on a tour. Don't know about Dipper," Wendy said with a look around, "Wasn't he and Mabel doing something today?"
"Oh? I was not made aware of this," Yuki shrugged. Wendy nodded and glanced around. The number of tourists today was at a peaceful level.
Wendy, perhaps eager to build some more friendship with Yuki, decided quickly to help out. "Well, I'll go find Dipper. You stay and people-manage," Wendy said, sliding off from her seat and around the counter. Yuki gulped. "Oh c'mon," Wendy chuckled, "Just remind them what they're buying, how much it costs, and then take their money and add it into the register."
"Uh... yes... of course..." Yuki nodded as he passed her, and nervously took to his seat.
Wendy's brisk walk took her out of the gift shop in little time. She already was in the hall as she sped up the stairs. The door to her left, leading into the twins room was empty. "Knock, knock," she said, wrapping on the already open door. To her surprise, no one was present. More importantly, she noticed Dipper's collective of studies was missing, along with one of Mabel's bags.
Giving herself a thought on the matter, Wendy turned back and headed down the stairs. Listening carefully, she made out the sound of flipping pages and scribbling notes over the dulled chorus of Stan distantly chatting about his 'so-called creatures'. Down the stairs, twice to the right, and she looked into the living room.
"Dude?" she called out. From past the sofa she had taken as her place of rest, as she couldn't actually sleep, the un-capped head of Dipper poked up.
"Wendy!" he cried out, "Hey! What's up?"
"Dude, what're you up to over there?" she asked him, walking towards him.
"Studying stuff," Dipper shrugged, and turned back to what he was doing.
Liar, Wendy thought as she grinned. You'd be more likely to give me the full run-down of your entire project than just shrug it off. She approached and jumped onto the couch, belly-flopping with a loud groan of springs. Dipper glanced behind him and scrambled. "Yeah right, dude. What's up?" she asked, resting her head just above his, on the couch arm.
Dipper glanced back to her, and shifted gently to the side. Wendy peered into not just one, but all three of Fords journals, plus his own.
"Whoa," Wendy gasped as she saw all the open pages. Dipper had a note pad next to him, with many crossed out paragraphs of notes. "What're you looking for? Something important."
"Yeah," Dipper nodded as he turned away, and leaned into the middle page, "Grunkle Stan finally got the other two out for me."
"It's still weird to think we've got them, you know?" Wendy said as she leaned in closer. The first journal was flipped to a page on the human soul. The second journal was flipped open to curses, and the third to the undead. Wendy sighed. "Dipper, I told you this probably isn't something you're going to be able to solve."
"Won't stop me," Dipper said, his voice unfocused as he wrote down something from the human souls page.
"Robbie has been trying to figure out how to break this for almost three years dude," Wendy sighed, "It's not something that you should-"
"I'm not Robbie," he replied quickly, "These aren't ancient, old, unused notes. These are Fords discoveries. If there's someone who could have solved this, it was him," he explained, "I just need to cross-reference enough notes to... oh, come on," Dipper growled, and suddenly crossed out his most recent notes, "Every time I think I'm getting closer, something contradicts itself!"
"Buddy," Wendy moved closer, patting his hair, "Take a break. Just a nap or something."
"Right. Like I could nap knowing that you can't even rest," Dipper growled.
Wendy scoffed. "Okay, so, you're just going to stay up forever until you die and can't help anyone?" Wendy asked him teasingly. Dipper grumbled. She put a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon dude. You look exhausted."
Stan's voice called from behind. "Wendy, you left Yuki in charge of the cash register, right?" he asked, a group passing by him. Stan spotted Dipper as he looked towards them, and he groaned. "Holy crud, kid. Take a break already."
"What does that mean?" Wendy whipped at Dipper. He shrunk away, focusing intently on one spot on the page. "What do you mean?" she demanded of Stan.
"He's been at that for days like this," Stan rolled his eyes. Wendy glared to Dipper. Despite Dipper withering form, Stan asked him, "Did you say you'd be going with your sister to the Northwests?"
"What?" Wendy asked. "The Northwests? Mabel's hanging with Pacifica and her family?"
"Heh, I don't really know. Something about setting up a party," Stan said. He turned to the hallway. "Yuki!"
"Ah, Stan," Yuki rushed to him, "I meant to ask you. I wish to take a second job."
"What?" Stan chuckled, "With what?"
"I believe my services could be of use in town," Yuki stated, "And I cannot remain in this building forever. I do not wish to be a burden to you and your life. Besides, I spoke to Soos on the matter – it is harder for humans, but for myself it would be easier. If he can work outside of here, so can I."
"Yuki," Stan groaned, shaking his head.
Yuki insisted, adding, "I would only take smaller, less-important professions. Things that will take minimal effort and risk. That way I am always capable of working here, but will not-"
"Look, Yuki," Stan told him directly, "I don't know if you're ready for that yet."
"But I was able to manage a cash register for nearly three minutes without duress," Yuki whined, "That is surely proof I am ready for the commercial world of humans."
Stan massaged his forehead. "Okay, fine," Stan grumbled, "I'll give it some thought. But unless something crazy happens about this, you're not getting to do anything like that until the end of summer, you hear?" Stan told him. Yuki grimaced and nodded. "Besides, Soos is a mule. He can do pretty much anything and find a way to be happy."
"You bet!" Soos said as he walked by, giving them a thumbs up.
"Stanley," Yuki spoke to him again, "I will surely live another five times my current span of life. In your years, that is nearly three hundred and fifty cycles around the sun."
"Ugh, don't remind me of your near immortality," Stan said.
"But, surely–"
"I said I'd think of it! Go help Soos with the gift shop," he pointed past him. Yuki sighed, but followed orders.
"He's got a point, Grunkle Stan," Dipper added, "He can't stay here forever."
Stanley Pines, in a display that was not usual regarding Yuki, chuckled. "He's just acting like a teenager, for once. He wants to leave and be a big, impressive adult," Stan shook his head, "But he doesn't know enough. I'll let him on his own one day, but not before he's ready. Now," Stan put his hands on his hip and glared at Dipper, "take a break and go do fourth of July stuff with Mabel!"
"I'm busy," Dipper retorted.
"Ugh! Just like my brother," Stan rolled his eyes and stormed away.
As Stan rumbled off, Wendy turned back to Dipper, a knowing plea in her eyes. "C'mon dude, take a break," Wendy asked Dipper. He sighed. She suggested, "Just for an hour or something. Have fun, you know?" Dipper looked to her and smiled. Wendy snickered, "See? You can do it."
"If Soos was free and Mabel still here, I think we could try another game Strongholds and Serpents," Dipper suggested.
"One that isn't cursed, please?" Wendy asked. Dipper firmly nodded. Leaving his books on the floor where they were, he and Wendy entered the shop. "Why don't you pop on by to Mabel?" she added, "She's real good at having fun."
"Oh! I could also attend," Yuki stated from the counter with Soos, who was busy helping a customer purchase shirts, "I received an invitation to this party. We could attend later."
"Maybe later," Dipper said.
As Yuki nodded, satisfied with Dipper's answer, Wendy poked him gently on the shoulder. "C'mon man. Mabel's great at making fun," Wendy said. She then turned to Yuki, "Hey dude, check this out later," she said, pointing to the newspaper ads, "There are ads for jobs right now."
"Ah, thank you Wendy, I shall," Yuki nodded as he took it from Wendy, and began to pour over the paper.
"Look, Wendy," Dipper said as she turned back to him, wearing a confident grin, "We can manage here. I'll probably pop by later to see what the talk is all about, but I can have more fun than Mabel can dream of on my own here."
"I'M HAVING SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN DIPPER!" With a mad cackle, Mabel ran from the back Northwest balcony and darted around, streamers trailing behind like tails to a comet.
This would be easily the largest party set-up in Mabel Pines history. The Northwests, particularly Pacifica, had enlisted her into a detailed job: set up for a party. Not just any party, though. Pacifica had explained it in detail, "Since Omir has been breathing down their back, they've actually... kind of become human."
Which meant they would be hosting their first ever public fourth of July celebrations at their manor. Overlooking massive gardens and large hedge maze of the back yard, the porcelain-colored balcony would serve as the primary area of the party. Mabel had only just begun her extensive decorating, but she had already turned to snooty, high-society local into a colorful bomb of delight.
"Grenda, Candy, remember to leave just enough leeway for the arched streamers," Mabel whipped around after wrapping an outdoor lamp with her streamer, "That way people know it's okay to relax and be themselves!"
"You got it!" Grenda replied, lifting Candy up.
Candy, hoisted into the air like a doll, gladly told her friend, "I'm so glad Mabel has not lost her personal touch."
Mabel whipped around to another. "Master!" she cried, this time turning to face a second level of the balcony, which was directly connected to the manor. Above, Arline was lowering a large sign. Mabel corrected her, "The sign should be as straight as possible!"
Arline eyed her, and then looked to the sign. "We weren't going to follow theme with 'Celebrating our Independence'? Keep it a little loose?" she asked from above.
Mabel waved a hand dismissively. "Nah. People got pride in their country. We got to keep it straight or else they'll think we're Russian spies," Mabel told her.
Arline chuckled. "Da. Will do, comrade," Arline said and did as Mabel told, ensuring the sign was straight.
"Yes! Yes!" Mabel cheered twice as she looked around. "This is going perfectly!"
Descending the stairs nearby Mabel, a blond teenager told her, "Good, because otherwise we'd so get kicked out." Pacifica had arrived, wearing her best lilac sun dress.
Mabel cheerfully nodded. She noted the dress, and quizzically eyed the blond. "Pacifica, aren't we all going to be getting into red, white, and blue?" Mabel asked her, "Look – I came prepared! See?" she pointed to her sweater, which was the image of Waddles the pig, saluting to the distant horizon over a billowing American flag.
Pacifica looked away, bothered. "Later. Not really my color scheme," Pacifica chuckled. She glanced around, spotting the two friends, and then Arline. "You brought the fire-woman?" Pacifica asked.
"Oh, Arline is my martial arts master, Pacifica. She loves nearly everything I do, including a good party," Mabel declared proudly. "Which is why she came and helped us set up!" Mabel grinned.
Behind Pacifica, coming down the stairs, another voice called out, "To our compliments, might we add." Pacifica pointedly looked away and walked past Mabel as the two Parents Northwest, Preston and Priscilla, walked up to Mabel. Preston haughtily added, "We were, of course, naturally inclined to believe that asking anyone but the highest paid designer to set up a party was a ludicrous one," The father said, his moustache trimmed perfectly.
"But not only are these... above adequate," Priscilla added, "You're able to keep in pace with the rest of our staff. Good job," she added.
"Awww, gosh you two," Mabel squealed, pushing her cheeks in with both hands on her face, "You're making a teenage girl blush without flirting!"
"Now if you'll excuse us, we have more important things to attend than the public party of the year. Good day," Preston Northwest nodded to her, grasping his hand around his wife's shoulder. Leaving Mabel and Pacifica at the base of the stairs, they ascended just as one of their many attendants rushed to follow them.
"Don't just think they're saying that because they're like that," Pacifica said from behind Mabel, overlooking the gardens where peacocks idly walked around freely. "They wanted to hire some crazy French designer to come in for this. They picked you instead after I told them we should make it public."
Mabel jogged in place, her hands balled up into small fists. "That's so freakin' cool!" she managed to grit out past her toothy smile.
"How's this look?"
A call from Grenda had the girls both look over. Mabel grinned and nodded, but Pacifica pursed her lips and scowled. "Please tell me you two have something more appropriate the wear other than those clothes?" she haughtily asked.
"I thought this was the fourth of July?" Candy asked, being lifted down by her friend.
"Yeah," Pacifica scolded, "And as assistant designers to a northwest held party, you have to look like you're not living off dirt," Pointing to their wear, "looking like you just grabbed a flag and wrapped it around your torso may work for the guests, but you have a reputation to uphold – mine. Go inside and change clothes; the attendants will see to you."
Glaring at Pacifica, the two quietly walked up the stairs. Grenda began to huff small, threatening words as she and Candy marched away. Mabel marched over to Pacifica, and turned her about. "Pacifica, what was that about?" Mabel asked, getting close to a demand.
"Nothing," Pacifica said, worming her way out of Mabel's grasp.
"You shouted at my friends," Mabel said.
"I didn't shout," Pacifica denied.
Mabel stared at her. "Do you still not think that they're your friends?" she asked after a moment.
Pacifica laughed. "Them? My friends?" she shook her head as she looked away. "Mabel, I still need to uphold an appearance while in school. Sure, I can be friends with you – you're not a local," she said quickly, her eyes focusing more and more on the vast sky, "But no, of course I can't pick who I can be friends with. That would be against living in the code of high-society-"
Mabel pushed her head to be directly in front of Pacifica, who gasped and leant back. Mabel studied her face, and examined her eyes. Mabel narrowed her eyes, coming to a decision.
"You had a fight with your parents again, I think," she told Pacifica. The blond scowled, turned away and crossed her arms. Mabel sighed, "Thought so," she said, watching Arline as she spoke, "They're sometimes crazy, huh?"
"Sometimes?" Pacifica spluttered, "Try twenty-four-seven."
"You want to talk about it?" Mabel asked.
"No," Pacifica sighed.
"Well, okay, but can you at least not shout at my friends anymore?" Mabel asked kindly. Pacifica shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes!" Mabel cheered and hugged Pacifica, lifting the girl up in her grasp.
"Gah! Let me down Mabel!" Pacifica yelped, but was spun around. As she shrieked and cried out, Mabel laughed. A moment later, Pacifica finally giggled.
"See? See!? You can still have fun," Mabel said, and lowered her friend to the ground.
"Mmhmm," Pacifica shook her head, unwilling to surrender anything to Mabel quite yet.
"Who's having fun without me?"
The girl's head's turned so quick, it was a miracle bone and spin didn't snap. They both knew exactly whose voice that belonged to.
Mabel cried out, "Zander!"
Walking down the steps, dressed in a stylish but appropriate shirt and tie, Zander Maximillion grinned and approached the two. Mabel ran first, leaving Pacifica to snort and shake her head. Zander grinned and lifted his hand for Mabel, who quickly high-fived it.
"You're helping the party too?" Mabel asked of him, hopping on the balls of feet while praying he would stay.
"Well, sure," Zander shrugged, "I mean, self-proclaimed party lover such as myself can't hear about a 'first' of any kind of party and not show up! I mean, we all only live once, right?" he flashed his grin, and Mabel felt more goose-bumps on her back. Too the brunettes shock, Pacifica walked right up next to him, and then slapped his arm. Zander feebly winced. "Ow. Hey, what gives?" Zander asked, nervously chuckling as Pacifica scowled at him.
"You totally were needed a few days ago!" Pacifica told him. Mabel took half a step back, studying the two of them. "Where have you been? I've tried calling you for days."
"Yeah, sorry," Zander grinned sheepishly. "I've found that just because you retire early, it doesn't mean you actually stop doing stuff."
"So, the famous Zander Maximillion," Arline's voice added, looking down at them from her perch, "Finds what to do in his retirement?"
"What do you mean?" Zander asked.
Arline cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing these days," she tried again.
"Oh!" Zander chuckled, "I guess, uh, garden and make music? I'd want to say cook, but I'm horrible at cooking. Haven't cooked in probably a millennia," he laughed.
"At your place?" Arline asked, her gaze focusing a little more on Zander, "But Pacifica was able to get into your house, where you were not. You weren't answering your phone," Arline added out loud.
"Master," Mabel turned to her. The questions seemed slightly more pointed than usual. Arline relented, waving an apologetic hand to her smitten student.
Zander seemed, as usual, unperturbed. "Nah, it's okay. I heard the about the commotion in town," Zander said worriedly, "The explosion. Crazy. No one was hurt, but still... that's pretty bad. Pacifica left some voicemails letting me know I missed something heavy."
"Oh, you know, nearly avoiding a special war between humans and the supernatural animals and things that live around here," Mable shrugged, "No biggie."
Zander blinked. "Oh! I missed out on... all of that?" he whined.
"Well, and me shooting a werewolf with that wolfsbane you planted," Pacifica added, "But that was mostly it."
"Man. Wrong time to visit some friends," Zander sighed and looked around, the light in his eyes shining again, "But I can help out now!" he rubbed his hands together, the excitement rushing through his eyes.
"Mister Maximillion," Preston Northwest called from the top of the stairs, looking down on the group, "Surely you'd rather enjoy a Champaign from our Franklin collection. We'd love to discuss fundraiser events with you."
"Yeah, sure, fundraiser or stuff," Zander waved his hand above his head, not turning about, "Book me for, uh, next thursday or something." Mister Northwest's glare fixed on the rock star, but he said nothing.
"Well," Arline spoke up, "As long as you're keeping up with us now, and not skipping out on the fun bits, we're glad to have you help."
"I live for fun," Zander said.
"Well, come on up, big guy; help me adjust the banister here," Arline nodded, and Zander patted the two girls shoulders.
Watching Zander climb back up the steps, Pacifica wondered to Mabel, "What was he doing that had him stay out of the loop like that?" Mabel looked back, and Pacifica detailed, "He's pretty good at staying up-to-date."
Mabel reminded her, "Said he was meeting friends, didn't he? Maybe he got to see his family or something."
"He doesn't talk to his family anymore," Pacifica quickly said. Mabel stared at her until she noticed. Pacifica added curtly, "He told me."
"What? He didn't tell me, but let you know something like that?" Mabel whined.
Pacifica rolled his eyes. "Look, he's not that mysterious or whatever. Just ask him something and he'll tell you. Besides," she looked back to the pair now fixing the banister, "He says they lived on a farm. He said he grew up closer to the east coast."
"What? He tells you everything. I'm stupidly jealous," Mabel moaned as she took a long look over Zander's body.
"Don't be. Being a Northwest gets you that sort of attention. But Zander's not like that. Too 'chill' to let anything like that get to him, or something," Pacifica said.
Mabel chuckled. "Hah, what else is new?"
BOOM.
Pacifica gasped as Mabel instantly whipped her head to the source of the loud explosion. It wasn't a hard thing to spot though.
Miles and miles away, up along the mid-reaches of the mountain range, a huge fireball of an explosion rippled out of the crust of the earth and into the sky. It left trails of black smoke, and trees burnt and singed around it. The ball of fire itself had ripped a dark, clean hole into the mountain, and was easily hundreds of feet wide.
Above the two girls, Zander guessed, "Volcano?!" his eyes wide as he took in the scene.
Ready for danger at a moment's notice, Arline jumped down and ran next to Mabel. "Doubt it. No serious volcanic activity in the region," she said, watching the blast of fire rise into the sky. She looked to her apprentice. "Mabel, what do you think? You and Dipper might know. Could it be him again?"
Mabel, also watching the explosion, weakly shook her head. "I don't-" Mabel started.
Out of the huge fireball, a smaller burning object hurtled through the sky. Heading straight for town and to the Mansion, the group outside stared in awe. It less hurtled and more glided. No; it was even more graceful than that. Something was flying.
Birds began to fly away overhead. Squeaks and cries of smaller woodland animals marked the advance of a monster in the sky. The roar of bears and the even the howl of wolves and bark of dogs all called to the arrival of... it. Mabel's mouth fell open. Burning in the sky, winged, and scary to everything- was this another phoenix? Awoken deep in the mountains of Gravity Falls?
No. It was solid. Burning, solid, and flying.
Then it took a dive straight for the manor. A horrible, bone-rattling, shrill roar rattled the air.
Arline yelled, "Everybody get down!". Zander dived under a stone bench and covered his head and neck instantly. Mabel was so mesmerized with the flaming bomb diving straight for her that she never saw Arline tackling her to the hard, cold floor. It was hard to make out still, surrounding by fire.
Arline, just above Mabel, gasped. "Pacifica! Get inside!"
Mabel had to turn. Pacifica hadn't found a good spot to hide yet. She was glancing around, unable to find a place to dive behind, or under. She watched the burning object descend. The flames grew closer.
Preston Northwest roared, "Pacifica! Get inside!"
Mabel screamed as Pacifica did as her father told, and left the possible cover of the side of the stairs. The ambulatory fireball moved towards Pacifica, drawn to her movements.
"No!" Arline yelled out, "Don't run! Get down!" Arline screamed. "It's right behind you!"
Mabel tried to stand back up, but was held back by Arline. "No!" she shouted, trying to pull herself closer to Pacifica, to run and flatten her to the stairs. "Master, let me help!"
Pacifica screamed, and Mabel yelled. The ball of fire passed right over her head- going straight for Pacifica. Instantly as Pacifica's voice was drowned out by the whirl and rush of air and wind, the flames were snuffed out. Black, thick, vile smelling smoke billowed around, and all but Mabel seemed to hack and cough their lungs out. Instead, Mabel stared at something.
Through the faint light of the dissipating smoke, she saw a huge creature. Ribbed on it's back and large wings to it's side, the beast seemed to have got what it came for. In a flash, another monstrous roar filled the air, and the black smoke was pelted away with a gust. A skyward trail of smoke was all the indication that there had been a monster of some sort there. Fading screams belonging to a certain young lady told them who was missing.
Pacifica was gone.
"No! No!" Preston Northwest rushed down to the spot where he last saw his daughter. Only piles of soot remained.
"Oh my god," Zander gasped as he saw the man claw at the piles of black dust.
"Pacifica!" The voice of Pacifica's mother shouted into the sky, as the woman came running out, rushing past her husband. She nearly slammed into Mabel, who was quickly pulled aside by Arline. Landing against the railing harshly, the mother screamed as she reached out, her hand desperate to grasp her now gone daughter.
Mabel turned as well. She could see the plume of smoke flying back towards the mountains. Her eyes tracked it, wondering it's course.
"You!" Priscilla Northwest spun, her finger honed in towards Arline. "You're supposed to be a fire-kind of person! Pyrotechnics! Stunt extra!"
"What?!" Arline gasped. She stammered as the mother raced to her. The mother tried grabbing her by the collar and throwing her to a wall, but Arline remained planted. The wife northwest's strength was not impressive.
Priscilla snapped, "You could have saved her! Instead, you chose to duck and hide your precious little rug-rat!"
Arline immediately fired up, her eyes lighting up dangerously. "That's my apprentice you're speaking about," Arline warned her, reaching down and gently removing the hands from her clothes. "And what could I have done!?" she demanded.
"Jumped to my daughter and saved her! That would have been the clear thing to do!"
Preston Northwest marched over, "Now our dear Pacifica, in all her imperfected, conflicted ways," his lower lip trembling, "Has been spirited away by some demon!" Candy and Grenda raced past him, joining at Mabel's side.
"I doubt that was a demon," Arline muttered. A deadly glare from both parents had her clear her throat. "Look, you're the ones who told your daughter to run instead of get down! And if that thing was going to dive down and snatch someone anyway, it would have happened even if she was on the ground!"
"How dare you make excuses to me!" Preston Northwest shouted, and with a quick sweep, attempted to backhand her face. The resulting impact barely moved Arline, but the Northwest cringed and held his hand to his side. "And consider that a lawsuit!" he cried out at her.
"You slapped me," Arline pointed out, eying him with pity.
"And you're attempting to make excuses to us! The rich!?" he shouted to her, "That's our job to do to you!"
"Okay, calm down," Zander stepped up, moving in between the enraged parents and the martial artist, who seemed to be losing patience with the two.
"Calm down!?" the mother screamed.
"Our only daughter, the last heir to our family, was just spirited away by some monster!" the father roared. Zander nodded and tried not to smile, but it seemed muscle memory was stronger than his intention.
"I know, I know, but surely Arline would have done something if she could have..."
The adults conversing drifted out of Mabel's focus. She stared at the mountain where the black cloud of smoke had flown too. It wasn't far. A good run- maybe less if she got her bike around the mansion. If Pacifica was still alive, which didn't seem that far of a stretch, Mabel could get there. After all, Mabel was deceptively fast and Pacifica was deceptively tough.
"She got taken by some mega-smoke monster?" Grenda asked, putting a hand to her brow, craning at the horizon.
"And I thought Zander missed all the excitement," Candy sighed, "One break to get clothes, and we hear screaming and fire."
"Figures," Grenda grumbled. She turned to Mabel, who's eyes still were fixed ahead. Grenda snorted. "We're coming."
"Nope," Mabel shook her head.
"We can't let you go alone," Candy told her, a hand on Mabel's shoulder.
"And I can't let you guys come with me," Mabel said, stepping back and looking to the two of them.
"We have gone on scary and dangerous adventures with you before," Candy pointed out.
"Yeah! What gives?" Grenda asked.
Mabel crossed her arms. It was beyond weird to try turning away her friends for any reason. "It's different now. Big meanie warlock wouldn't even think to stop and let you guys leave if he thought you'd be helping me," Mabel told them. "I mean, fighting a werewolf is one thing – Dipper and I did that before without you guys. But you haven't seen what this guy will do to you."
"If he's scary, all the better to go with you," Candy said.
"But-" Mabel groaned.
"C'mon Mabel," Grenda cracked her knuckles, "We're in."
"...Fiiine," Mabel sighed, shaking your head, "Just, please, don't get too hurt, right?"
"No problem."
"Like I even can get hurt."
"Mabel," Arline stepped over, leaving the trio of millionaires to talk amongst themselves for a moment. She had only to look at the three girls to know exactly what they were planning. She sighed. "Well, trying to stop you won't work, and the last thing I need to is hurt you while physically stopping you."
"Come with?" Mabel suggested with a toothy grin. Arline shook her head. Mabel frowned, asking, "What? Why not?"
"Because I'm the only one here who could actually do something in case this thing happens again," she explained angrily. "I don't want to be near those two terrible excuses for human beings, but we shouldn't have the Northwests all be burnt to a crisp," she muttered, gritting her teeth, and as a quiet after-statement, added, "And we shouldn't get Zander killed either."
"You're going to stay and protect our base?" Mabel asked.
Arline shrugged. "As best I can."
"Okay," Mabel said. She had only to smile to her master, Arline Hirsh. It was enough to calm the older woman, who's tense posture melted as she nodded. Mabel, the unstoppable force of whatever she put her mind to, readied herself. The young teen walked past Arline, and spoke aloud. "I'm going to go find Pacifica!" she declared, startling the parents. "Keep setting up the party! That way when we get back, we can add even more streamers! Oh! And some snacks!" From the sight of the shocked parents, Mabel spun about, to her friends, and made a dash for the railing.
"Let's go!" Mabel roared triumphantly.
Arline reached out however and stopped her, grabbing her and lifting her into the air for a moment. "That's a twenty-five-foot drop. Walk around like a normal person," she told her student.
"Awww, that's not even half as cool," Mabel whined.
"Fine. Sprint around the side," Arline rolled her eyes as she put down Mabel.
"That's acceptable! Come, my friends! Mystery Twin, detachment squad beta is a go!"
"Onward!" Candy cheered as she and Grenda followed Mabel with haste up the stairs. Only a moment or two later, they had raced nearly all the way around the mansion and vanished out of sight.
"Beta squad?" Zander asked aloud, scratching his head, "Did she just make that up, or are there really that many little groups of friends they can just send out at will?" To his question, Arline stared at him, half way to frowning. Wondering what he had said that brought her stares, he meagerly asked, "What?"
Fifteen minutes into the woods, and their energy was still peaking. Grenda, Mabel, and Candy all tumbled, jumped, and leapt from trees and boulders, their momentum ceasing to slow. It was an amazement to Mabel that they were able to not only keep up with her, but keep conversation along the way.
"So, what if the thing attacks us?" Grenda asked.
"Depends on how cute it is, and how much it looks like it'd hurt us," Mabel explained as she pushed her way off a log. Darting past the trio, more animals took flight.
Candy pointed out, "It seems like everything else is scared," Stopping for a moment to adjust her glasses while atop a boulder.
"Well, some animals are smarter than others," Mabel shrugged, "Deer think everyone is scary, but we'd never hurt a deer!"
"I dunno, venison is really tasty," Grenda suggested.
"Eww," Mabel groaned as she flipped over a bush.
In Mabel's path, someone screamed, "GAH!"
"Whoa!" Mabel gasped as she tucked her feet in, attempting to stop herself from stomping down on a red-capped tiny man.
"What the heck are you doing!?" Jeff the Gnome demanded, adjusting his hat as Mabel rolled to the ground ahead of him. "Don't run that way you idiot! Run that-" As Jeff pointed behind him, Grenda charged through the bush, and smashed him into the moss under her foot.
"Did I step on something?" she asked, checking her foot. Only a small red hat remained, as the gnome himself lay imbedded into the ground.
"Jeff," Mabel said as Candy caught up, avoiding a large moose fleeing around them. "The heck-a-doodles is going on?"
"Evacuation!" Jeff coughed as he pulled himself up. Grenda just peeled his tiny hat from her shoe when he raced over and snatched it from her fingers. "At least one of you isn't thick enough to step on a gnome."
"Why are you evacuating?" Mabel asked.
Jeff gasped. "Really? You didn't see or hear that thing?!" he pointed to the fire on the mountain. "That's it for most of us forest-dwelling types! We've got to wait until it stops flying around and burning everything!"
"What is flying around?" Mabel demanded, reaching down and lifting the gnome to her face and shaking him, "Tell me what you know, little mischievous man!"
"Ow! Ouch! Eek! Stop!" Jeff groaned, "Put me down or I'll have reason to be violent!"
"Indeed," another voice called. The three human girls turned their heads. A platoon of tiny winged humans was flying their way through the forest. The Fairies were also heading towards the fire.
It was the mother whom Mabel had accidentally scorner earlier the summer. "Jingle-Blossom," Mabel said, and tossed Jeff aside. He fell and hit his head against a log, and tumbled out of sight.
"Mabel," the mother said, wearing what could only be described as a very, very small fire-fighter uniform, with the suit wrapping around the wings. There was a kindness to her voice that brought immense joy to Mabel. Otherwise, the small creature asked the teenager, "What are you doing here? It's not safe for those who can't handle fire."
"Fairies handle fire?" Mabel asked, astounded. "I'd think it'd burn you."
"Which is why we have these suits?" Jingle-Blossom said, indicating her wear with her hands.
Mabel nodded. "Didn't know you were a fairy-firefighter."
"Volunteer most other days," the proud mother shrugged. "This is the first big forest fire in these woods in a long time. You three should probably get out quickly, or you may get caught in the blaze."
"Actually, we need to get to wherever... it went," Mabel declared.
"What?!" the fairy gasped. "Why in the name of our queen would you want to do that?"
"It took a friend of Mabel's," Grenda casually explained.
"Friend of ours," Mabel corrected her.
Looking sour, Grenda shrugged. "Not me, tell you what."
"Nor I," Candy added glumly.
Mabel pleaded with her friends, "C'mon, you guys."
Jingle-Blossom warned them, "I do not know if looking for this friend will be, ah, fruitful," as she pointed up and away. The three turned behind them as Jeff climbed out of the bushes, groaning angrily. A clearing in the canopy provided the visual. "The last we saw of the beast, it made its way to the cave which lies empty."
"Beast?" Grenda asked. "What kind of beast?"
The Fairy shuddered. "We can't speak of its name," Jingle-Blossom said quietly, "It is a legend to us magical folk: a long, lost animal with such power, and majesty, that matches the tales of gods themselves! To incite their anger is to tempt death, and to-"
"It's a freakin' dragon," Jeff told them, and then ran off.
"There have been dragons in Gravity Falls!?" Grenda gasped. She and Candy looked to one another, and began to excitedly giggle.
Mabel scratched her chin. "Man, Dipper and I have been missing out if we didn't find a dragon all this time," Mabel sighed. "There's been dragons just waiting around and we didn't notice?" Mabel asked of the fairy-firefighter, who stared at the three humans with her mouth agape.
"You realize that dragons are the scariest of scary animals, right?" she asked. "Top predators. Killers. Fire breathers, sky masters, and dominators or whatever lands they want to live in?"
Candy declared excitedly, "We should get one as a pet!"
Jingle-Blossom gasped. It seemed offensive to her that they would be excited at the prospect of a dragon. "Well, the fires won't be spreading that way now. We'll be handling the flames with our magic. Just... don't upset it and have it start any more fires, please?"
"No promises!" Mabel shouted as she and her friends spun around and charged off towards the indicated direction.
"I would have liked a promise!" Jingle-Blossom shouted after them, her shrill, tiny voice echoing around them.
Indeed, as they began to climb up the mountain through the woods, the heat of the semi-distant fire on the wind carried around them. It was certainly drier here than it was back by the Mystery Manor. The smell of smoke, and something like bad eggs, sat thick on the air.
"It's probably sulfur," Candy admitted after a few gags from Grenda.
"I hate chemistry," she muttered.
"Here, here," Mabel agreed, still leading the climb.
Their pace was slowed now. Going up-hill and with the wind blowing nauseating smells to around their faces was harder than anticipated. Not at a steady hike, the three coordinated their approach as the forest began to fade away. After a dozen well taken steps, the three were out in the open, only in the company of rocks. Behind them and to the right was the burning mountainside where the dragon had come from.
"Man, look at the flames," Mabel said, peering over with her hand as a visor.
"You think a dragon just woke up, and decided attack someone?" Grenda asked Mabel.
Mabel shook her head. "I mean, unless the old stories where dragons steal away princesses are true, no. And even if that story was true, Pacifica only wishes she was a real princess. She can't buy royalty. I think, at least," Mabel admitted. She shook her head, getting slightly off topic. "I think the bad-guys were trying to do something to the dragon, and maybe they made it mad."
"So, an angry dragon swoops down and grabs Pacifica?" Candy asked. Mabel shrugged, uncertain how to add in on their hypothesis. "I mean, if I wanted to eat someone, as a dragon, I think someone with less makeup and more meat would be a better meal."
"You always think of the best things, Candy," Mabel snickered as she continued to climb.
Grenda asked, morbidly hopeful, "So do we really think she's alive?"
"Of course!" Mabel declared. "A dragon isn't going to take any girl and just eat her; even Pacifica!"
"Why not?" Grenda asked, scowling at the 'bad news'.
"Because there's like a bajillion other more filling things than people around here," Mabel pointed to the woods.
Candy grinned and nodded. "I am glad our studies sometimes overlap, Mabel," Candy told her.
The rest of the climb drove itself into silence. The wind became colder, and the whistle it brought shrill. The smell of sulfur was joined by the distinct trace of burnt rock and ashes. It seemed like they could almost touch the clouds, and the world below them was so large and distant that a map could be drawn in their minds just by turning around and looking down.
Then their destination was presented: the opening to a natural cave.
"Okay, be really super-ninja-stealth-secret-agent-woman here, okay?" Mabel asked of the two of them.
"Uh, stealth and ninja aren't my strong points," Grenda pointed out worriedly.
"I have the other adjectives covered," Candy proudly stated.
"Okay you two," Mabel sighed, "Follow me. If we see fire, run to the nearest cover and drop low. Let's go."
Almost crouching as they walked into the massive opening to the rather spooky and smelly cave, the three could hear the rumble of wind hitting the edges of the cave. It was inconsistent, flowing and ebbing in peaks. The acrid smell though; that was constant.
Mabel felt the floor beneath fall away, and she instantly halted. The two behind her peeked around. With a point of her finger as their guide, Mabel directed them to look down.
In the dirt of the floor, a clawed footprint rested. The entire imprint was easily the size of Mabel.
Grenda gulped, and quietly realized, "This thing is huge."
"Oh yes, it certainly is," Candy added, adjusting her glasses. During the adjustment, she looked up and then gasped. "Th-th-th-th-"
"There," Mabel finished for her.
The three darted to the closest boulder. Once hidden safely behind the thick rock, they all peeked around.
Resting in the shadows, the beast lay down. It's large chest growing and shrinking. They realized the wind they had heard was, in fact, its breathing. Scales lined all around it. Although Mabel couldn't get a clear reading on the size of the beast, she guessed an easy thirty feet long. The dragon's front arms also served as wings- with thin membrane folded to its side as it slept. While in the shadow, the only noticeable trait Mabel could make out was the long row of razor-sharp spines along it's back and the distinct pair of lightning-bolt shaped horns protruding from its shadowing skull.
"So, uh," Mabel stammered, watching the creature ahead of them, "This... this is the part my brain just goes blamp," Mabel told her friends, "I was kind of assuming that we'd just see an evil dragon thing and we'd fight it to get back Pacifica."
"If she's still alive," Candy reminded Mabel.
"Of course, I'm still alive!"
The three ladies yelped and slid to the back of the boulder. Mabel pushed past Grenda. Having just snuck over, Pacifica had just joined the three rescuers.
"You're alive!" Mabel gasped and quickly hugged her.
"For now," the blond grumbled. She turned to Mabel's friends, eyeing them. "Brought them as back up?"
"They came because they could help you," Mabel explained. Against Mabel's credit, Grenda and Candy rolled their eyes and looked away.
Pacifica snorted. "Sure. Fine, whatever. Let's get out of here, and then we can deal with giant dragon later," she suggested.
"Okay, back out of the cave," Mabel pointed.
"Easiest rescue ever," Grenda grinned, and bounced her first gently off Candy's.
Then Pacifica's phone rang. It was a cover of Sev'rel Times. "Gurl, gurl, gurl gurl guurl," the lyrics sang proud. Pacifica gasped and ripped it out from under her dress, desperate to shut it off. As the other three hissed at her to hurry, continuing to eye the stirring dragon, Pacifica did the only thing she thought she could do: she tossed the phone at a wall, where it shattered. She breathed frantically. The other three slowly came to stare at her.
"I can get a new one," she told the other three quietly. Sadly enough, her throw had disturbed nearby geographic structure. A stalactite split off from the ceiling and crashed onto the phone with a loud boom.
The dragon's head shot up, and looked around. In no time at all, it spotted the four. Bright yellow eyes with long black slits for pupils glared at Mabel. Mabel gulped. As it started to rise, Mabel realized her estimate for size was way, way off. It was easily fifty feet long, if not longer.
Then, the entire dragon burst into flames.
"Run!" Mabel roared.
The three only could get out of the cave before it caught up with them. Blasting past them and into the sky, the dragon's full appearance was laid bare.
Mabel had been far, far off in terms of size. It was over sixty feet long, and even wider with its wing span. Bright purple scales decorated its body. It had something of a strange body; with a long, thin tale and neck, but a thick, almost crocodilian snout and jaw. The fire subsided from around it's body, and the yellow eyes peered among the now stalled four girls. It locked onto Pacifica, and dived.
Mabel tried this time; she also jumped for the blond, but the gusts from the dragon slammed her and the two others to the ground. Pacifica screamed and shouted; she was in the talons of the dragon itself. It would not keep her there though. With only a quick and loud snort, the dragon tossed her high into the air, and then caught her on its back. Too scared to fall the great height, Pacifica screamed again and tightly gripped the neck of the beast.
"Mabel! Guys! Save me! Help!"
Mabel and her friends rose back up. The dragon swooped away from the cave, the same familiar shrill roar filling the air around them.
"Well, that wasn't very successful," Candy admitted as she dusted herself off.
"But man, what would I give to have a dragon like that," Grenda told Candy with a smile.
Mabel continued to watch the dragon fly. It wasn't flying to town again or to the mansion. A blue shimmer of light caught Mabel's attention as the reflection of the sun bounced into her eye.
"The lake," Mabel muttered, "It's going to the lake!" Mabel then started running down the slope. "C'mon guys! We can get there soon-ish!"
The two friends groaned, and followed suit with as little grace and concern as they could. Clearly, chasing after a screeching rich-girl blond was not on their top priorities.
And so the three brave knights continue on their quest to save the stolen away princess.
Yeah. That's pretty much what's going on here. Not only that, the specific design of my dragon, as a few of you may know, is not an original one. That is a hint for something very, very distant in the future. So distant it's not even part of the series.
What's that? A hint? Sure!
-Ollp fk 'SGGBW: Nlmhgilfh Mrtsgnziv'-
Ohhhh that's right. The hint is ciphered. But don't worry- it's an easy one to crack.
Also, this is the episode with the least amount of Dipper to be in it. Likewise, the most amount of Mabel! Sorry Dipper fans- he's doing research. Not nearly as fun as chasing down dragons. :p
Well, that's all I've got for this week! Come back next Sunday for the exciting conclusion! Hint again? The Warlock wants his pet back.
(A dragon crashes through the wall, and turns to EZB)
AHA! Not this time! (EZB grasps and lifts a powerful thick shield. As the dragon breathes fire at EZB, the shield protects him from burns.) See? your fire does nothing, lizard! Pfffffft!
(Another dragon flies in, glares at EZB, and then hurls a large blob of acid at EZB. The poor author is instantly enveloped. When the acid falls away, only a skeleton remains.)
Skeleton Remains of EZB: Shoot. Wasn't prepared this time.