Inside the cavernous hole and beneath the quaking ground that was the surface of Gravity Falls, three figures slid down a steep slope of loose earth. The flickering and dust-pattered sunlight flooded from above. The light brought stark realization to their surroundings: a massive hole clawed from hand, or at least wolf-plant paw.
"Look at these," Dipper Pines pointed, indicating a large incision of earth to their far sides. "It was just ripping apart rock like paper."
"Guy was mad, and wanted out of all this good tilled earth," Mabel suggested, sliding past him as she surfed down the silt.
"It's not tilled," Dipper pointed out with a sigh.
"We can discuss the conditions of soil later," Arline said loudly, her choice bouncing around as she too slid past Dipper.
"Right, yeah," he nodded and followed, neither as graceful nor hasty as the two fighters.
Twenty feet below his original spot, Dipper slipped next to Mabel and Arline, peering into the first section of the massive tunnel. As was with the hole behind them, the tunnel was at an angle, and carved out by claws. Carving from the rock were dying pieces of plant and vine- evidence of the passing golem. Not that they needed to know that; the pounding footsteps and shrieks of battle still echoed to them.
"C'mon," Dipper urged them, passing by his sister with a passionate haste. "I think they'll be able to beat it on the surface, but we should still find what's waiting for us."
"Lead the way," Arline said, glancing behind them once.
Mabel followed, keeping in pace with her brother. "I'm worried," she said with a worried look to the vanishing entrance, the surroundings growing darker, "About Zander."
"What?" Arline asked, one eyebrow raised higher than the other as she looked to her student with disbelief. "We're traveling underground to find the enemy of town, and you're worried about the rock-star?"
"Prettiest rock-star," Mabel corrected her, "And yeah. He... he didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd skip out on something this important."
Arline seemed dismayed by Mabel's concern. "Yeah, sure," Arline shrugged.
"Mabel's got a point," Dipper agreed, but continued walking forward with a pointed angel, "He always was interested with this sort of thing. Now he's not here. Then again," Dipper slowed, taking a short second to think, "He... he did also miss Graupner's attack on-"
"Dipper!" Mabel gasped and slapped his shoulder, "You don't really think that he's involved with any of this evil, no-good, rotten, bad stuff?"
Dipper glanced at her, a frown adorned; descriptive Mabel, at her best. "I mean, I don't want to think so, but-"
Arline cut in, "Let's just keep going," nearly pushing Mabel along.
"Uh," Dipper glanced at her. Arline's postured was that of a woman on the warpath. She would not be questioned. "Sure," Dipper nodded and looked to his sister, expecting an explanation. A roll of the eyes, 'ohh, she's like that sometimes', or a shrug, 'just deal with it'. Mabel stared back, a wide-eye surprise. She was equally surprised with Arline's pushiness.
Not wanting to misbehave around their master and trainer, Mable and Dipper continued down the tunnel. As before, a buzzing in the back of Dipper's mind grew, thinking about how Arline had been acting lately. Dipper had dealt with that kind of behavior before, the twins had dealt with it before. It had been with Grunkle Ford. The cut-ins to their talk, the refusal to look them in the eye when talking... Dipper knew it well. What it was, Dipper couldn't say. Arline had hidden something once before; could she be hiding something again?
Before Dipper could say something, Arline was really pushing ahead, her march uncompromising. There was something about her walking away so pointedly that rubbed him the wrong way. Something about it made him think of yesterday, with Yuki. The thought of betrayal lingering in his mind, Dipper dashed after her. Then he spotted, far down the path, a source of light.
"There," he pointed ahead.
"Florescent light," Arline guessed as the three slowed to stop.
Mabel hummed, "Nerd-light."
Dipper pondered, "Probably means we're about to walk right into a secret, dangerous, underground laboratory."
"Or a mythical subway station- lost to time and space!" Mabel added.
"Uh, no, probably not," Dipper told her with a grimace.
Arline declared, "Whatever it is, we're finding out," and marched on ahead.
The twins followed in her footsteps, having the coming lights grow brighter and brighter until they found themselves stepping in glass shards and torn metal sheets imbedded into the loose earth. Something in this path had broken into fragments. The three paused, staring at the wreckage of what could have only been a former wall. They realized that they were looking from the outside in. Leaning forward, they all peaked inside the room.
Dipper was about to speak, until Arline pulled both twins back. Resisting for a moment, Dipper pulled her hand away from his mouth. "What gives?" he quietly demanded.
Arline gave them a curt nod back to the destroyed wall. Dipper and Mabel peeked back inside, and spot the trouble immediately. Several men in suits stood watch. They all wore sunglasses, suits and ties, and most importantly, armed with pistols. Before pulling back into the tunnel, the twins finally had a quick glance about.
The guarded room was a large antechamber, nearly sixty feet tall and covered with electronic panels. Half of the panels, especially those closest to the twins, had been smashed and shattered. Rows of consoles and keyboards lined the walls, a dazzling array of technology that stunned Dipper and outright bemused Mabel. In the center was the remains of some kind of cylinder glass chamber. In the ceiling and floor large, amber panels of cracked glass shone with refracting orange and red light.
"Okay, great, we found a lab," Dipper grumbled as he pulled back into the tunnel.
"But no dorks to work it," Mabel tacked on with a scoff, "Just a bunch of sweat-freaks with guns."
"Sweat-freaks?" Dipper asked as Arline snorted.
Mabel looked to Arline. Arline had a small smirk. "It's what I call people who work out to look busy or 'cool'," Arline explained, "Guess Mabel liked it."
"Uh, sure, okay," Dipper shook his head and looked back inside again. On some of the paneling, he saw a sentence glide across the screen. "Look," Dipper pointed to the monitor from the shadows. "Operation Search and Destroy is under way."
"Search and destroy," Arline hummed to herself, "Search for what?!"
"I don't know," Dipper gulped.
"Duh," Mabel rolled her eyes, "The portal?"
"What- they know about the portal, but not where it is?" Dipper asked Mabel, who shrugged. "Yeah right," Dipper shook his head, "Having a harder time believing that."
"Well then, mister too-smarty-tarty-pants," Mabel said, rocking her head side to side, "What do you think they're looking for?"
Dipper said nothing, but turned back to the monitors. "I don't know, but we will soon. We need to look at those computers."
"Yeah?" Arline asked, and glanced past time. "Well, we need a distraction then."
"Leave that to me," Mabel said. Without another word, she cracked her knuckles, stretched her neck, and then casually began to walk inside.
"Mabel–" Dipper started, but Arline held a hand to his shoulder. Her eyes were serious, but confident. His fear for his twin sister eased slightly, and the two turned and at first watched.
"Excuse me, Gentlemen," Mabel asked as she turned around the shattered glass casing, "Which direction to the ladies room?"
The four gasped and turned, reaching for their pistols before they said anything else. Arline took her cue and rushed forward, leaving Dipper to catch up.
The moment the closest to Mabel removed the pistol from the holster, Mabel leapt back. She cleared a five-foot gap from them. Mabel hadn't been worried for being shot, truthfully a danger she was in, but instead to clear the way for someone else. Arline's heel came zooming from the left, smashing the face of the closest to Mabel aside. A single moment of whip-lash, and the guard collapsed.
One of the other guards cried out, "Stop her!"
While the three focused on the Arline, Dipper and Mabel moved in as well.
From the side, Dipper struck out at the knee of the closest guard to him, a tall and broad-shouldered blond man. He cried out as the sole of Dipper's foot collided with his knee-cap, and his entire leg buckled. Exactly what Dipper had wanted; he kicked his own his knee up, driving it into the man's face. Only the man was ready. He blocked the knee with his own arm, and pushed Dipper aside, causing the teen to teeter for balance.
Mabel on the other hand had chosen a different tactic- dive-bomb. She screamed like a warrior princess and lunged, going airborne over ten feet. Her smaller weight and size were less of an impact to her target, but it gave her a chance to climb onto the man. She started to pull on his ears, hair, nose- anything to get him off-balance. Reaching an index finger and middle finger into his nostrils and a hand on his jaw, she yanked back and forced the man to stumble. It certainly was an original style.
Dipper ducked under from a jab. The man, even on one knee, could fight. Another hook was dodged by the apt male twin. Then the man grasped for his pistol, and Dipper spun, kicking him in the arm. Already twisted at a poor angle, the heel connected with the arm, and a loud, sickening pop loudly snapped from the shoulder. The security guard screamed. Fury driven in his eyes, he dived for Dipper, who stepped back.
Mabel was slammed against one of the terminals with a loud clatter. The man she was attacking was attempting to slam her into solid surfaces, thought still very much at her mercy. Broken and dislodged buttons from a keyboard fell aside. Mabel heard their clatter and peered down on at them, only aware lightly that her back was sore. "Ohh! Those would make great necklaces!" she said off-handedly, now in a chokehold with the guard, hanging off his neck with her arms firmly locked around his throat.
Dipper, reading the next attack coming at him, shouted at Mabel, "Now's not the time to think about that stuff!" as he side-stepped the lunge, then counter-attacking by punching the guard's face with his own jab.
"But think about it Dipper!" Mabel protested, slammed into the wall again, "Ow! We could have one say – OW – one saying 'Raiders of The Lost Twin', and – ow!" Mabel winced at the last impact, the man throwing his entire weight into the screen, which cracked down the middle. Mabel shook her head, and then smiled with her usual grin, "And the other could say 'The Temple of Boom'!"
"The temple of Boom'?" Dipper repeated, catching the retaliatory fist, and slamming it down to the ground. "That's lame," Dipper rolled his eyes, and kicked up.
"You try thinking of something while doing – ow – doing this!" Mabel scolded him as her grappler slowly began to fall to the ground, his eyes bloodshot and far-sighted. "Nighty night stupid-head," she gently told her target as he fell to the floor. As he collapsed, she rolled off of him, and stood. "Got it Dipper?" she asked, as Dipper made one final punch.
"Ha!" Dipper roared, striking out with a solid and direct punch. The man's head twisted back, and fell, unconscious. "Yeah, I'm good," he said after taking a long breath and standing up.
From aside, an amused voice told them, "You two took your time." Arline had moved over to one of the remaining functional keyboards, and was busy typing away.
"What – you were done the entire time?" Dipper asked, befuddled.
"Yeah."
"And you didn't help?"
"Well, duh, no," Mabel shrugged, walking past Dipper towards her master, "She's got to let us newbies get a shot, right?"
"But this isn't training," Dipper pointed out, marching over with indignity, "We could have died!"
Arline rolled her eyes, and looked to Dipper. "What good is training if all you do is keep training," Arline asked him. At this, he huffed, calming down. She rewarded him a small smile. "You two had it. Those four had no chance once they panicked, which they did the instant they lost one to me."
Dipper, approaching, bumbled for words. "Well... you could have... still..." Dipper grumbled. He was both annoyed with her ability to quickly wrap up a fight, but also bemused that she had let the twins take care of potentially deadly assailants without helping. As he looked to her, eyes sparkled in the humming light, showing him pride in his work. Deciding to let it slide, as it was comforting to think of someone like her seeing him accomplished, Dipper asked, "Well, what have you found?"
"Ugh, nothing," Arline admitted, and indicated the screen, "It's asking for a password. This entire system is logged by a unique network and a system I've never seen before," she admitted, and pointed. "'O.S.C.T.'... I don't know what that means."
"Neither have I," Dipper said as he scratched his chin, "It must be some sort of development brand."
Mabel groaned. "Oh no! I never thought I'd hear my master talking as much nerd as my brother!" Mabel spun away, hands to her ears. Arline snorted while Dipper scowled at his sister.
"Password," Dipper turned back and stared at the password selection. "Just a password. That makes things easier, I guess. No username to worry about... try 'power'," Dipper suggested.
Arline turned from him, and typed in the five-letter word. Pressing enter however, the system popped up an error message. She tapped the desk-like platform, irritated. "Dang it. Three attempts before the terminal shuts down," Arline looked back to the two of them, "Any other ideas?"
"Uh... Search And Destroy?" Dipper tried. Arline typed away, and the results were the same. Dipper frowned, squeezing his mind for more ideas. "Maybe... oh! I got an idea! Try two-eight-zero-seven-two-zero-one-five!"
"Huh?" Arline and Mabel both asked.
"Today's date?" Dipper suggested.
"If you're European, maybe," Mabel snickered. Arline grinned, but punched in the numbers. Dipper crossed his fingers, and watched her punch the enter button.
The screen went black.
"Damn it!" Arline grumbled and pushed herself away from the screen. "Locked up."
"The others are working though," Dipper said, moving to another. "Mabel-"
"I'll just keep guard while you two do nerdy stuff on the computers," she said, and moved towards the door which the four guards had stood by. "Excuse me, gentlemen," she proclaimed, stepping over their quite unconscious bodies.
"That, uh, works too," Dipper muttered as Arline passed by him towards another terminal.
Mabel leaning against the wall by the door, Dipper and Arline were able to work without interruption. However, the problem the two quickly encountered was a lack of ideas. Dipper had been forward with his information, but none of it was working. Of all the things they could try, none of them seemed to work. Blackfire, dragon, portals; none worked. They tried again on another panel. Werewolf, arcana, and warlock. Still there was no answer. One by one, each terminal turned off, leaving them locked out by more and more of the computers that did work. They were running out of chances to get information.
"C'mon!" Dipper angrily kicked at his last failed attempt. "There has to be something we're missing here! A passcode or..." Dipper, having been looking towards Arline saw Mabel in the reflection of the closest de-activated terminal. Still lying by her, but now tied up by the female twins doing, were the security guards. Dipper turned, scratching his chin. "I wonder..."
"I got guard duty bro," Mabel said as he came walking over. "Go do your computer hacking fun – hey, are you even listening?" Mabel added as Dipper leaned down next to the closest tied up guard, and began to frisk him. "Well, I mean, I guess he could have a wallet on him," Mabel shrugged.
"Not for his money," Dipper glanced at his sister quickly, a shake of his head to deter her thoughts. "Yes!" he gasped and ripped out a small note of paper. "Here we go," Dipper rushed to the closest computer, and read aloud the password he found. "H-A-D-D-I-Y-A," Dipper punched each letter, and pressed enter. Dipper slapped the desk and shouted, "Yes!"
The computer whirred to life, and faded to a new dark blue. Four folders opened, two of which, to Dipper's disgust, also asked for Passwords.
"You got in!" Arline called, rushing over.
"Yeah, with this," Dipper held up the paper for Arline, still facing the screen.
Arline looked at the paper, and then frowned. "Haddiya?" she muttered.
"What a lovely name," Mabel said, smiling gently.
"I don't think it is a name," Dipper said as he opened the first folder he spotted.
"It is," Arline said.
Dipper paused for a moment. "Oh. Uh-"
Arline leaned over next to him, looking at the screen. "It's, uh, probably coincidental," Arline said, putting the slip of paper on the terminal panel next to Dipper, "But I knew someone who had a friend named Haddiya. Old flame, something like that."
"Really? Was she nice?" Mabel asked.
"Haddiya is not a girls name-" Dipper shook his head.
"It is, actually," Arline nudged Dipper. He blushed. Tired of lodging his foot into his mouth, Dipper stayed quiet about the topic of names. He chose to, instead, opening more folders with dates and number tags. Arline told Mabel, "I never met her. I was just told she was really something."
"Who? Oh! I bet it was your master!" Mabel guessed with a wink. Arline, without a hint of a joke, nodded. Mabel gasped. "Oh! Wow! That's so cool!"
"Look at this," Dipper asked them. The two ladies turned and leant to the screen, staring at the list of small files. "I've been popping into them, scanning them for what they are. They're all orders. Product orders shipments."
"What kind?" Arline quickly asked. Dipper answered by opening one of the files. Arline read aloud, "Molecular Chemistry glassworks?"
"Hundreds of them," Dipper sighed, "Mabel and I found a note yesterday that kind of gave us that hint though."
"Some sort of freaky research project is going on down here?" Arline asked the two.
Mabel pouted, glaring at the screen. "We guess? I mean, how did a giant plant-puppy just go shooting out of the earth?" Mabel asked pointedly. Arline nodded and glanced back to Dipper.
Dipper squinted at the documents. "There aren't any prices or bills to these," Dipper added with a frown, "That's also weird."
"So, what? They stole from someone?" Mabel asked.
"Whoever this O.S.C.T. is," Dipper shrugged, "That logo is everywhere on these orders."
"O.S.C.T." Arline repeated, and nudged Dipper, "Lemme see a logo." Dipper obliged, and enlarged the photo. An icon of a featureless, side-facing human with four stars around it came into view. Arline's breath left her body. "No way," she quietly said.
"Do you recognize that?" Dipper turned to her.
Arline looked like she had seen her first ghost. She was pale, staring at the icon. There was no doubt about it, she recognized it. After a moment, she turned herself away from the image, and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I sure do," she told them, hugging her own arms.
Mabel approached her side, putting a hand to her shoulder, "Master? You… don't look cool with that."
Arline bitterly laughed. "Good call," she told them, and explained, "That is the logo belonging to Omir Steindorf senior, the founder of Steindorf and Co. That was his private little research division."
Dipper's eyes shot wide. "Wait, like the Omir Steindorf that we just-"
"No," Arline shook her head, "His dad. The original. He died a few years ago, old age. His son, the guy we met," she reiterated, "is the one– err, was the one in charge. Omir Steindorf and Company Technologies," she elaborated like she was uttering a dark curse.
Dipper looked from her back to the screen. Now that he looked at the icon, it did bare some resemblance to the perished billionaire. Dipper asked aloud, "So, Warlock has been using the company?" Lightning bolted into Dipper's mind. "Maybe that's why Omir junior wanted to catch him himself!" Dipper shouted.
"Yeah!" Mabel cheered, "That makes sense! If Warlock got captured, and they found his company stuff just lying around, he could be in trouble! He wanted to stop the guy stealing stuff from him himself!"
Arline frowned. "Probably. I never knew him before now, but I heard about his dad," Arline scowled, "and I guess the apple fell far from the tree." When the twins leaned to look at her, she added, "He was the kind of person the Warlock would have actually liked."
Dipper turned back to the icon. "What did they make? OSCT?" Dipper asked.
Arline, quite displeased at the icon, nearly spat out a single word, "Weapons."
"Oh. Great," Mabel grumbled.
Dipper scanned over the other documents as he asked, "You're sure they made, you know, weapons and stuff?"
Arline had never looked so grim and certain in her life. "Deadly sure. I… well, someone I knew had to deal with some of this stuff in the past," Arline crossed her arms together, "a long, long time ago."
Dipper and Mabel looked to the martial artist, their curiosity eating away at their need for tact. They desperately wanted to know what she meant. She had connections to people who had connections to old corporate America? They watched her, hoping that maybe she'd offer them a small hook. After a moment, Arline closed her eyes, looking tired and worn. Dipper felt it necessary to look back to the screen.
If they had been getting weapons from the Steindorf & Co, but not paying for anything, Dipper was certain he knew what that meant. Graupner had been stealing from the company in advance. All the evidence presented itself clearly. It explained Warlock's attack on the Business Convention. If Mister Steindorf had come looking for the answer for his lost merchandise, then Graupner would have attempted to scaring him away, attacking him, or outright killing the old man. Which, as Dipper realized, the latter had come true. Warlock had killed the man he stole from to keep his operation alive.
There it was again, the idea that someone had died in Dipper's protection. He felt miserable as he saw that moment of Omir Steindorf, holding onto the ledge of the crumbling earth, begging for help. All in a moment, Dipper wiped away a tear from his eyes.
"Look here," Dipper said, clearing his throat. He minimized the folder filled with more orders ranging from light bulbs, to miles of copper, to digging equipment, and opened the only other one not locked, which opened to only a few folders. "Video files."
"Perfect," Mabel rubbed her hands together. "Now we get to the bottom of this."
Dipper double clicked on the first file. A video enlarged, with none other than their least favorite Warlock on the screen. The three visibly tensed when they saw him. He was directly looking at the camera, with a busy crew of people behind him, carrying in crates.
"Day one of the new stage of my assignment. I've finally managed to procure the needed materials to continue looking for that stupid energy source. I think I can find it this time. No more distractions after today," The Warlock grinned, playing with a small coin he had on a necklace, tied around his neck.
"That's the-" Mabel pointed, but was shushed by her twin. "Tulpa," she whispered grumpily.
The Warlock had continued, "If we can set up a base without being discovered, I should be able to perform the experiment. Just... ugh," he rolled his eyes and glanced around him, "a few loose ends have to be tied up. Kids poking their way around up top."
He then reached forward, and the video feed turned off. However, before Dipper could try playing another, the next video turned on; a playlist of sorts. This time, Graupner Kinley looked disheveled and upset.
"It's been two weeks since the last report, and those damn kids are still... Gah!" he shot up from his seat and paced around, pulling his hair, "They're just fifteen! Fifteen! How hard is it to kill two fifteen-year-olds!?"
Dipper and Mabel grinned, and shared a mutual fist-bump.
Heatedly, the Warlock continued, "I didn't want to wait so long, but at this point, I need to start considering asking him for help. He says he's happy that I realized that he can reach out for me, or whatever. Pfft, whatever. He'll be arriving soon, and I'm sure he'll realize the state of the mission, and from that point, he'll drop this stupid curse already. I mean, I haven't 'killed anyone'. Yet..."
Graupner then looked down, to a book in his hands, and Dipper gasped. He saw a book that looked ancient and worn, covered in runic sigils. Dipper shouted, "The book Cardinal tried to get! He did have it!" he shouted and pointed to the screen. "That son of a-"
The Warlock cut off Dipper, "I've got my own plans coming up. I've learned a lot from boss, sure. He's given me a few things, sure. But I'm starting to think that maybe I could dabble in something else, some of my own ideas," he said and grinned, flipping up to a page, "I've got some good ideas for backups, insurance. I just need a few things." Behind him, a large crashing sound of glass echoed, and he grimaced. "Damn it. Next week I'll update."
The video ended. The next began, and this time someone else spoke on the screen, and the twins gasped.
"Aint this a fancy piece of good-'ol technobably-machiney?" an old man with a massive beard asked. "What do I tell them again? Oh right!"
"McGucket?" the twins gasped.
"You know him, right?" Arline asked.
"No way," Mabel shook her head, "He's not involved with these baddies. Right? Dipper?" she asked. Dipper's face had gone a dangerous pink, but he glared ahead, his jaw glued shut.
"Well, second month dangling on the incubation chamber for 'project destroy' – love that fancy name – and the alpha stage! All these new-fangled devices are sure neat to work with," McGucket danced before the screen, holding up a crude paper with a blueprint on it of mostly stick-figures and the town of Gravity Falls. "Once I'm done setting up the greenhouse for the Kinley Kiddo, I'll be able to work on the fun bit: operation search! And then they'll make it legal in the entire US for men to marry raccoons! Or... no, that's just me," McGucket added, crestfallen.
"Weird," Arline shuddered.
"Not at all, Man and Raccoon deserve to be as one," the voice of McGucket said. Three did a double take to the screen, which had started playing another tape, of a mundane looking worker complaining about their back and feet. Dipper was first to spin around, followed quickly by Arline. Old Man McGucket was standing behind them, his unfocused eyes looking at both Mabel and Arline. "Well, howdy-doodle, friends!" he said with a wave.
Arline was ready to throw down. "Howdy-doodle this!" Arline shouted, and made to punch at McGucket.
Mabel roared, "Wait!" and dived before the attack while Dipper held back Arline's fist of fury. McGucket flinched, holding his legs and his bandaged arm up, as he pushed away his precious hat from the danger. Mabel reminded Arline, "We still don't know what he's doing here!"
Arline, held more back by Dipper's presence than his strength, grumbled, "He's working with the enemy, Mabel."
McGucket, confused (as he typically was), promised with a twangy squeal, "I swear I don't know Eminem!"
"I said enemy," Arline growled.
"Who?" McGucket asked, lowering is one foot to the ground.
Dipper, shaken free from Arline, stepped over to the mind-altered man. "McGucket, what are you doing here?"
"I'm working!" McGucket cheerfully declared. Arline motioned to start closer, but he continued, "Me and a lot of good folk need some new jobs all of a sudden! Not sure why, but, that's the way it all comes together, right? Right? I actually don't know. Is that right?"
Dipper frowned. "What do you mean? Why do you need jobs?" Dipper asked. "You've never cared about working in Gravity Falls."
"Yeah! Odd thing, huh?" McGucket chuckled, "Just the beginning of Summer, I was perfectly happy without a lick 'o job of any kind. But then this man walked up to me, all angry and mopey, like he done and got a coyote stuck down his overalls. Not that he wore overalls, mind you. He said some awfully compelling words, and it done just dawned on me that I needed to make money! I mean, I always got along by hunting for scraps 'round town b'fore, but, like I say, compelling words! Funny stuff!"
Dipper asked slowly, ensuring his wording was correct, "Let me get this straight, an angry man walked up to you, said something 'compelling' and you just said 'I need to work'?"
"Ayup!" McGucket laughed, about to jig. Then he paused, adding, "You know, on reflection, that is a tad tootin' strange."
Mabel mumbled, "Except tad strange, who wasn't tootin'."
Dipper looked around to Arline. "Does that sound sort of like hypnotism?" he asked.
The martial artist furrowed her brow as she thought. "Sure, could be. If this guy hasn't needed to work up until now, just around the time Kinley showed up, that sure could be some sort of magical compulsion."
"So, Warlock could have some sort of hypnotism he's been working on," Dipper mumbled. He took in a sharp breath. "That's why… that's why he wasn't just rampantly destroying all of Gravity Falls! He needed people to be healthy for his work!" Dipper gasped. "What good was laborers and other people if they just got hurt?"
Mabel let out a sad moan, and put a soft hand on McGucket's shoulder. "Are you working with that mean guy? Wears a hoodie around like he's in the Equation?" Mabel asked.
McGucket blinked, one eye at a time. "Who?" he asked. Before the twins could elaborate, he jolted. "Oh! You mean the kid!" McGucket chuckled, "Well, he aint in charge anyway!"
"He's not!?" Dipper and Mabel gasped.
Arline's jaw tensed and her lips twitched. "He's not," she repeated, her voice dropping. It seemed that she had suspected this already.
"Nope! He's got that rich boss that's helping him!" McGucket told them
At that, Arline's nostrils flared. She clenched her fists so tightly that the leather strained, threatening to snap. The twins watched her furious stare harden. She looked livid.
McGucket wasn't done explaining. "And besides, I got the other friends from town to help out!" McGucket said, pointing to the screen behind them.
The person on the video feed changed. Now it was one of the bouncers of the local bars. He was stiffly saying what he had done during the day. Then the video change happened again; this time one of the Corduroy boys, talking about how he helped lift crates down into the ground. More and more people saying how happy they were to receive cash and funds for their goals.
Arline softly stated, "He's got half the town under his thumb."
"Yeah! Plenty a good folk here," McGucket proudly said.
"Really? Then what's with this?" Dipper demanded, "And what's operation 'search and destroy'?"
"Oh! Well that's not one operation, but two!" McGucket held up four fingers, two on each hand.
"Oh. It's two," Dipper slapped a hand to his face. "Great. So... the golem on the surface is just trying to destroy... but not search?"
"Oh, the anthropomorphic artificially grown Vicious-Vinous?" McGucket asked.
"Uh... big and scary?" Mabel asked, and pointed to the shattered glass case, "Used to live in that?"
"That'd be the one," McGucket slapped his knee, and paused, "You know, it was a little odd they needed an alpha-version of that size though."
The three interlopers exchanged looks. For a supposedly hypnotized man, McGucket was happily forthcoming about his involvement. Mabel leaned over to him, and adjusted his hat gently. She asked him, "Say, Fiddelford – hypothetically–"
"I love them fried!" McGucket cried out.
Mabel, unphased, continued, "Would you try to hurt us if you found out our job was to come down here and beat up the guy who told you compelling things, and then made you all work down here?"
McGucket shook his head with a big smile. "Not at all! Help yourself out to the brawlin'!"
Arline sighed, relaxing her muscles. "Great. So, since you're not going to try stopping us, try helping us," she told him. "If big and scary is the 'destroy' part of these two operations, what is 'search'?" Arline questioned, "We are on a schedule."
"Oh! Well, I can show you!" McGucket said, and waved them to follow and turned towards the door he came through, still slightly ajar. Exchanging stern looks of worry, the three did follow, stepping over the tied-up security guards. "Pardon me, gents!" McGucket politely said as he stepped on the bodies.
"They're just sleeping," Mabel told him with a grin.
The metal door slid aside quickly, and the hallway before came into view. Carved out of the deep rock and dirt of the earth and supported by various large pinewood beams, the hallway spanned in two directions. McGucket quickly turned towards the left, where several other men and women all walked by casually.
"Mornin', Paula!" McGucket waved to a wide-set woman with large, dark hair.
"Fiddleford," the woman said in a voice like a growl. She wore a dirtied, pink top and equally dusty high-worn brown pants. As the twins and Arline passed her, she grumbled something under her breath.
"The heck?" Arline asked as they passed by the woman. "How many people knew about these things?" she demanded.
McGucket stalled, looking back to Arline with one eye, "Huh? Well, half the town I reckon'," McGucket shrugged.
"Half the town," Dipper groaned, "Half the town knew about this."
"We should have just asked for directions," Mabel said with a shake of her head.
Dipper reasoned, "Assuming they were allowed to tell anyone outside of here."
"Ah! In here," McGucket said as he turned down a doorway. Another metal door stood before them, but McGucket approached and it slid aside. "Come on inside! This here part is off-limits, but I like the shade of the curtains, and the pictures are really nice!"
The three stepped in, and all gasped.
Before them, on a massive wall, was an enormous collection of string, pins, an pictures. Dipper had seen this kind of wall before- he had made webs like this; one massive string-theory. Two large green curtains hung from the top- tide to the sides of the tall walls to either side.
"It's... it's a string theory," Dipper said, walking closer like he were in a daze. "Look! Mabel! Us!" he pointed to a picture of the twins at the Northwest Talent Show. "Connected to..." Dipper followed the black line to a picture of the Mystery Manor; or of the Mystery Shack, before it became the Manor. Each of the employees, including to Dipper annoyance, Yuki, were connected by their own black string and pictures. Dipper spotted Wendy, who was connected to her family and friends. There were annotations along all the edges of the pictures.
"Wait, 'Investigate the Corduroy Girl. Is clearly hiding a secret worth keeping her entire friends and family away from'- someone else was onto Wendy?!" Dipper gasped, clawing at his hat.
Mabel pointed, "Lookie – 'The Pine Twins are a danger. With the arrival of the student of the Paths'," Mabel read aloud, and turned to Arline, "They mean you! 'We should consider them, until later arrangements are made, a threat and should be kept at a safe distance'. Oh Dipper! People are becoming scared of us! That means we're growing up!" Mabel puffed her chest and put her hands to her hips. "I'm big and scarrry!"
"Knock it off," Arline patted the back of Mabel's head with a gentle swat, "This is serious."
"Oh, right, "Mabel cleared her throat, and then frowned severely, "Super seriousss."
"And here!" Dipper pointed to the Mystery Manor, "It says 'even though little outside evidence suggests it, I have reason to believe that there are secrets hiding inside the Manor'. There's an edit – 'the rest of the town checks out clean. Next experiment will be focused on the shack and surrounding woodlands'."
"What?!" Mabel leaned over, and read the message for herself. "The heck does that mean?"
"I dunno," McGucket poked his head between the twins, his eyes crooked, "I never officially been in the room before. I just like staring at the curtains from a distance, and saw this scary wall of pictures!" He then shuddered and backed away, "It's like they're all watching me."
"That means the Mystery Manor is in danger," Dipper said, turning to his sister. He'd need to call Grunkle Stan, and let him know. For the moment, Stan and the Mystery Manor would be safe. After all, the threat was in town, where... everyone else... was...
Dipper's eyes finally put the pieces together. "Wait a minute. Mabel, I know what's going on," Dipper gasped, his face feeling frigid as sweat began to build on his hands. "This operation, operation destroy, is a huge distraction!"
"Great," Arline grumbled and leaned closer to the pictures.
"For what?" Mabel asked. Dipper had only to look at her a tad longer, and then her mind came to the same conclusion. "The Mystery Manor."
"What I don't know is why?!" Dipper asked aloud, angered with their similar conclusion, "Why make such a big fuss? If someone wanted to attack the Manor without anyone knowing, all they'd have to do is attack the Manor itself! It's in the woods, off the beaten path! No one ever really knows what's going on in the woods!"
"I don't know," Arline piped up, "But I can tell you what they're looking for."
The twins turned. A line connected to the Manor, and then connected to the woods. There, a line connected to a picture of a black stone. As Arline's finger rested on it, it dropped, and she gulped.
"I was afraid of that," she said with a shudder. The twins looked to her, and then the stone. They had seen that object before.
From behind them, McGucket nervously asked, "Uh, maybe we can get a hiking?" A commotion from outside the hallway echoed into the room. The three were incapable of hearing him, or the commotion; their attention was laser-focused onto the picture.
"The heart of the forest?" Dipper asked.
"That's not just the heart of the forest, as you call it," Arline gulped, and turned in a flash, "This is worse than I thought. Wait," she then halted her march, and clenched her hands together, "That means... he knew... all along!"
"Arline, what is going on!?" Dipper demanded. She turned to him, her mouth open, but Dipper cut her off. "Just cut to the truth this time. I know you're hiding something!"
"Dipper," Mabel put a hand to his shoulder, trying to push him back.
"No, Mabel, listen!" Dipper started, looking to his sister with fire in his eyes.
"Fellas!" McGucket called loudly, and yet still ignored, "Something is going on outside!"
"Mabel, Dipper," Arline said in a slow, calm voice that was not her natural tone, "I promise you that my mission has, is, and will continue to be to protect you two. And, by that nature, the people you care about, okay? This thing there," she pointed to he picture, "Isn't related to that mission. It never was. I… I'm not even sure I am allowed to tell you what it really is!" she declared, looking into their eyes with a plea. "C'mon, trust me here. Please."
Mabel looked upset, and turned to Dipper. Without a word, Dipper knew that Mabel wanted to trust her teacher. Dipper, despite himself wanting to say otherwise, also found that she meant what she said. Dipper nodded, but then asked, "Will you tell us?"
She closed her eyes. "I… maybe," she offered them. "The less people that know about it, the better. That's… not just some small little secret that I can throw around. If the wrong person finds out, well, look around you," she gestured to the tunnels.
The twins looked back to the massive string theory. Arline knew about the heart of the forest. The stone they had accidentally stolen two months ago. Shining a borealis of color past the obsidian coat, black as night and just as endless to peer into. Dipper blinked; he remembering how Wendy had reacted to it. She had feared it. Dipper focused back onto the picture, and stared at it.
What was that rock?
McGucket unleashed a loud, shrill whistle, and finally got the three's attention. "Something's happening, sure as rain!" McGucket pointed a thumb towards the door. Still open, the three could see men and women all from town rushing past, towards the right.
"What's going-" Dipper's question was answered instantly. Above them, loud sirens blared.
"Attention: All nonessential personnel are to evacuate. This is not a drill. I repeat, evacuate all nonessential personnel."
"Well, that means I'm out too!" McGucket told them, rubbing his hands together nervously, "You hooligans should leave too! They said they'd only do this in them emergencies."
Mabel, taking her darkest, grittiest voice, warned him, "We are the emergency."
McGucket smiled. "Oh. Well, good luck emergence-ing," McGucket nodded to them, and with a fearful scream, ran out the door, screaming, "RUN FOR YER LIVES!"
Left alone, Dipper asked to the ladies, "Great, now what?"
"Well, first; do either of you want anything on this?" Arline asked, nodding towards the string theory. Both twins looked, and then shook their head. Arline smirked, "Good," and she jabbed out her hand, a splash of flame jumping upon the string and pictures. The entire collection of notes started to scorch and burn. She carefully watched as the picture of the stone sizzled and melted. "Now, we go get some answers," Arline stated firmly, "Let's to see the boss."
"The mysterious helpers," Mabel said, as the twins watched the fires burn away at the pictures.
Dipper, feeling unease in the sight before him, breathed to calm himself. "Yeah. Now that we can rule out non-brainwashed people, maybe we can start narrowing down who would be in charge. I mean, we did see those sketchy ads in the paper last week, right?" Dipper asked.
Mabel went to open her mouth, and then her eyes shimmered. She looked ill. "Wait, Dipper," She quietly said, her voice almost drowned out by the crackling flames nearby, "Do… you think Yuki-"
"No," Dipper stated.
"But-"
He firmly shook his head. Maybe his sister could see through his façade, but Dipper didn't want to recognize the possibility that Yuki had been controlled, just like the others had. If Yuki had, indeed, been brainwashed like McGucket had, then Dipper had thrown him and hit a victim. That couldn't be right. Dipper wouldn't hurt someone who was already being hurt.
Arline glanced one more time at the pictures. She took a long breath, as the fires ate at the curtains, and the board and pictures ash.
"C'mon," Arline nodded for the door. The three made for the small hallway. Arline turned against the direction of the fleeing men and women. She saw something ahead and gasped. "INSIDE!" she threw the twins inside just in time.
A thunder of gunfire echoed past them. Shards of dirt and stone exploded by the walls the twins and Arline had just been by. Mabel screamed and Dipper yelled, thrown inside as Arline ducked against the wall.
Arline called over the echoing blasts of gunfire, "Everyone okay?!"
"Just terrified!" Mabel lifted her thumb.
"Ditto!" Dipper said, his fingers twitchy and shaking.
"Okay, so," Arline stretched her fingers, "Rules of engaging a firefight without weapons. One – you don't. It's bad, and someone is going to either die or walk away with severe injuries or worse," she called to the twins, and then whipped her two arms against one another, summoning a fire-ball again, "Two – if you have to, you play it smart. Remove their line of sight, and suddenly they're more like melee combatants... for the most part."
"Notes taken," Dipper nodded as he approached her, and pushed himself against the wall.
Mabel asked her brother, "So, what do, boss?" as she slapped herself against the wall as well.
Dipper hummed, and then turned to Arline. She grinned wickedly. "I throw two, and then listen to my orders very carefully." In her hands, two fireballs grew brighter and brighter. "After I throw, dive to the other side of the wall, and keep up with my pace. You understand?" she asked. The twins nodded. "Okay. Just for the record, in case something bad does happen; I'm really proud of the two of you," she told them.
Mabel's eyes shimmered. Dipper fought back his own feelings. There was too much to worry about to get emotional. Or, as he wiped at his eyes, that's what he swore he told himself.
Arline asked them quietly, "Ready?" Once more, the twins nodded. Arline looked to the incoming danger. "Okay..." she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
In what could have been the blink of an eye, Arline dove out. She turned, and threw two condensed balls of fire down the hall in the span of a single second. The resulting explosions tossed dirt and dust past them. She had returned fire, very literally.
Mabel and Dipper rushed out. They passed Arline just as the cloud thickened enough to act as a blanket to their attacker's vision. Through it all, they made it to the other side, and pushed themselves against the wall.
Through the thick dust, bullets ripped past the dust, leaving burning trails of screaming hot air. Mabel screamed and pushed Dipper against the wall as much as she could, wary of the trails of certain death rushing past them in the form of bullets.
All the while, Arline stood up, and began to walk calmly forward. The bullets missed her each time. Reaching into her pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a pair of goggles, and slipped them on. They looked scorched and burnt, but still functional. They almost looked like welder's goggles.
"Go!" Arline shouted, and dived forward, fire streaking behind her, trailing like a tail from both of her arms.
Dipper and Mabel followed orders and ran forward. Gunshots pierced the air to their left, giving them a taste for real warfare. Several bullets got scarily close to them, striking earth behind them. They shrieked, and the twins pierced the veil of dust and found Arline, once again, airborne.
The woman slammed down a hand-held fireball into the chest of the closest security guard. The resulting explosion threw the pistol from the man, and the man from Arline. Singed but not dead, the man flew backwards as a ragdoll, spinning against the ground over and over again. The four guards nearby the blast stumbled, and turned to where Arline had just been. She changed direction the moment the first one took his shot.
As Arline dove out of her cloud of smoke, Dipper and Mabel dove into the action.
Dipper made due with the distraction as best he could. A she had done once to a deranged hunter two months ago, he leapt up, mid sprint. He planted both heels into the face of the his foe. The impact had the man snap backwards and fall, allowing Dipper to recover. He got in a finishing blow against the man; a single punch across the face. Even in victory Dipper winced; these guys had thick skulls.
Mabel had more flourish ideas. Jumping over Dipper and then using the wall next to her as a diving board. She leapt into the air, and spun herself forward. The guard barely heard her warcry over the sounds of his attempt shots at Arline. He did however feel her powerful kick into his shoulder, dropping him to his knee with the impact. Still in mid-air, she kicked up and off of him, flying for another guard.
Arline had already dealt with one of the men by the time Mabel arrived, and the two tag-teamed magnificently. The man swung for Mabel, but Arline grabbed the arm mid thrust. She kicked the pit of his elbow with a loud crack. Mabel grabbed his other hand, holding the pistol, and with both hands, she grabbed him. Wrapping a leg around the arm and twisting with her body, she produced another loud pop. Elbow broken and arm dislocated, the man was done. He fell quickly, unable to fight, and instead screamed and whimper at the damage done to his arms.
Dipper turned to the knocked down guard, and rushed at him next. Disabling him would be the safest thing. The man in question, with a rich copper skin tone, had reached for his pistol. Dipper kicked it away, and then kicked the man's face.
Howling in pain, the man reached in his jacket. Dipper yelped and dived back as a streak of silver light swiped out and barely missed him. The man had drawn a large combat knife.
Then a fireball struck the side of his head.
Dipper covered himself as the ball of fire blasted the man back across the hallway and into the wall, where he slumped to the ground. Half his head was scorched, but he seemed alive.
Feeling a little like a second-hand fighter, Dipper insisted, "I was good, I had him!"
"Dipper," Mabel scolded, "She just saved you from a knife fight! You know what the number one rule for a knife fight is?" she told Dipper, stepping on the body of the guard between her and Dipper, "Don't get in one!"
"That's the same as the first rule of fire-fights," Dipper pointed out.
Arline insisted, "It's a good rule in general," as she put out the fire in her hands. "And we don't have time to wrap things up honorably. If they're sending armed guards after us, they don't care to capture us. That was shoot-on sight stuff back there. This is survival."
"Great. Trying to kill us with mythical creatures wasn't enough, now they're resorting to man-made weapons," Dipper shuddered.
"I hear more," Mabel pointed, and the three saw shadows coming down the hallway.
"Well, here we go you two," Arline growled, and with a flick of her arms, she summoned more fire, "Let's blast past these idiots."
The three raced forward yet again, met now six guards, and Arline threw the first punch, and lobbed fire at their enemy.
The three worked brilliantly together, meeting each other's short-comings, diving in and out of fights. Arline could instantly disable the enemy's vision, casting ash and clouds of smoke with her flames. If the coming assailants could see the three, by that point it was too late. Dipper and Mabel, smaller than the coming guards, were faster and could strike with precise, pin-point attacks.
It was not, however, an easy fight.
More than once Dipper and Mabel pulled one another out of danger. A bullet grazed across Dipper's cheek and nose, drawing blood. Mabel had been kicked in the stomach, and where a boot had nearly crashed down onto her gut, Dipper dived-bombed into the man, throwing him to the ground before punching him out.
The entire time the twins flashed around, struggling to use their highly trained techniques and skills to survive. All the while, Arline made the entire fight look like a dance. It only took her two to three seconds per guard to be put down and knocked aside. Her strength, as Dipper and Mabel already knew, was superb, but they had never seen her act that artfully before. Tested again and again, she could easily lift a man off the ground with a single foot, and while he rested in the air for a split second, she could kick out and toss him against a wall with a crash.
More and more guards came, each of them desperate to shoot the twins and Arline. None of them could reach them, even in their best moments. Dipper had been pinned to the ground at one point, and a boot slammed into his chest. Just as the man raised a gun to him, a fireball knocked the guard backwards.
Mabel had been lifted by one of the larger guards and pinned against a wall with a stranglehold. Arline had also been quick to save her pupil, tossing one of the already knocked out men at the guard.
Many times, the twins saw the face of death, almost met it personally. Each time they did, Arline was there to pull them back and into the fight for survival again. If it wasn't her, it was their sibling.
They had to keep going. This wasn't just about their survival. The monstrous golem above in town was still upright. They had to, as Pacifica had told them, find a machine to deactivate it.
Pushing themselves down the hallway of dirt and rock and stone, the three finally beat down what could have been the last of nearly fifty men. Granted, Dipper and Mabel both knew they had only been helping Arline, and she alone probably could have done all of that, but they were alive. Scarred, bruised, and filthy, but alive.
They stood, as the twins realized, above the same pit that Montana Jeffreys had used to stage his base. Only now, the chains above had been removed, and the hole reached further down. Someone had been busy excavating. More holes and tunnels had been added, leading off into different chambers and corridors.
Mabel gasped, and pointed ahead. "Look! Big crazy-looking machinery!" she cried out. Across the massive chamber sat, partially built into the earth itself, a huge mechanized computer. A radio antenna sat atop it, flickering with a single green light at the tip. "That must be what Yuki was talking about!"
"Let's get over there and-" Dipper started.
Arline yelled and, like a professional baseball pitcher, threw a fireball as hard as she could. The streaking sphere of orange and yellow flame struck the surface of the metal and exploded, tearing apart at the metal exoskeleton. Gears, wires, and glass rained down the side, falling into the large, gaping hole. The twins looked to Arline, who was breathing heavily.
She took a few quick, angered breaths. "There. No more messing around," she told them, and pushed some of her golden hair from her face.
A moment later, a large reverberate thud echoed through the earth. It was clue enough; the Golem had fallen.
"Problem one solved," Dipper grinned.
Mabel suggested, "Problem two?"
Arline answered, "We find the Warlock, and we end this."
Mabel pointed below them. "I'm thinking that way looks right, then," Mabel said. At the basin of the pit, two more hallways opened, presenting more places for them to enter and explore.
The three made their dash down the spiraling walkway of stone, moving closer and closer to the bottom, and hopefully to the answers they had been looking for all this time.
About half way down, the earth began to shake. The twins pushed themselves away from the edge, as did Arline. One of the two hallways was glowing bright blue, and the shaking grew hard and more frequent.
"What the heck is going on down there!?" Dipper shouted, holding onto Mabel's shoulder with one hand.
Arline's eyes shone with excitement and fury. "Our answers! Come on!" Arline shouted, and continued to run down the spiraling down walkway.
The closer they got to the bottom, the more the blue light and tremors began to fade, as if connected. The light eventually vanished, and the trembling earth eased. Dipper pondered what it was; perhaps some sort of massive, glowing, tunneling creature. It could be moving away from them, Dipper feared internally. Arline seemed to have the same fears, as her pace increased even faster.
They made it to the bottom, and as they turned away from the one dark tunnel and towards the other. It led into a large, open, circular excavation. Once they ran inside, the three slid to a stop. There was someone who had been sitting inside the room, by the ledge. That person had just clearly stood back up. It was a pale man, with pale blue eyes, and pale blond hair. A dark hoodie fell from his shoulder.
"...uh-oh," the man in the hallway gulped, clutching his black clothing closely.
Burning, fire-like anger welled inside Dipper. "Graupner," Dipper growled.
"Warlock!" Mabel yelled, widening her stance with a dramatic step.
"Our answers," Arline cracked her knuckles and began to step forward.
Graupner Kinley, the Warlock, looked filthy, but his fear and panic were now his most distinguished features. Stepping away from the tunnel to the side, he tried moving away from Arline. She, however, marked him and easily adjusted to his movements.
Sweat began to form on his face. "Uh, I'm not the person you want to talk to-"
Arline snapped, "Shut up," and before he had a chance to respond, she snapped and arm out, grasped his collar, and lifted him up to her, "Now, start talking! What are you really doing!?"
At first, the warlock gulped, and looked to the twins. Nearly a moment passed and he said nothing. Then of all things he could do, he grinned. Arline chuckled in reply. She then slammed her fist into his face, tossing him back.
As he crumbled to the ground, Graupner screamed, holding his hands to his forehead. His face looked almost blistered, where his skin was horribly raw and swollen. With wide, trembling eyes, Graupner looked up to Arline, who steadily approached, death in her gaze.
"Let's try this again," she calmly told him..
Graupner yelped, scrambling backwards, "Stay back!" Graupner warned, holding up a hand, "Or I'll cast magic!"
Dipper and Mabel held their advance. Arline, however, laughed. "Funny, I was just wandering why you hadn't done so yet," Arline asked him as she approached.
The twins looked at each other. Mabel added to her brother, "Yeah, he's more of a cast first, talk later, sort of guy."
Arline, now above the younger man, smirked, "So, something's not letting you use your neat little spells?" Arline asked. She slowly reached down, and grasped the collar of his shirt again. He whimpered as she then slowly lifted him up until he dangled into the air. Arline, smiling, calmly said, "Since you didn't understand last time, let's try again." She then screamed, "What are you doing here!?"
Graupner yelped and tried holding himself away from her.
Dipper, watching the scene play out, resolved his suspicions. "He really can't cast magic," Dipper said, stepping closer. "Something is preventing him from it."
Arline had glanced to Dipper, and now turned to stare intently at Graupner. "Let's hear it. Why is it you're incapable of using magic?"
After a strong shake from Arline, Graupner Kinley found his voice. He gulped painfully, and said, "Because I had to give it to my master, temporarily."
"You gave your magic away to your master," Arline paused at the last word. "Your master is who is helping you."
"He's been here for a while," Graupner proudly said, looking down his nose at Arline. She gave him another strong shake and he trembled.
"Not a partner, but a master?" Mabel asked.
"Who!?" Arline yelled at Graupner.
A new voice spoke in the shadows behind them, from where the three had come; one of confidence, strength, and calm. "If you could please lower him, there will be no need for violence."
Dipper and Mabel gasped. They knew that voice. As Arline turned and stared, still holding Graupner in her hands, a man stepped out, tall and well-dressed. A single, dark orange bow-tie was tucked tied around the collar of his shirt
"Now, ma'am, if you could please lower my poor boy, I would be very thankful," Omir Steindorf, quite alive and health, said with his smooth, dark voice, his eyes twinkling as he smiled gently.
Those of you who guessed/deduced, good job. To the guest who wrote 'OmarStienlock?', I would email you a cookie so you could print and eat it. You deserve it. In fact, you're more right than you even know NOW- after the initial review.
But how? Why? What? When?! All revealed next episode, and more. Which, for the few of you who did go back and decipher my little code from last update, you know what's coming next episode. *cue dramatic music*
-EZB
The town burned. Smoke rose from buildings that, in the combat of the massive creature, had taken serious damage. Gravity Falls was in serious ruins. It was not destroyed. It was more limping its way to fixing itself. To those who spied upon it from a distance, it was morbidly pretty. The glow of fires and the trails of smoke made the meadow seem like some sort of historical depiction.
Eyes belonging to one soul, running down the hill in a hurry, did not think such a sight was beauty. He had little time to admire such destruction, and saw it only for what it was: a terrible disaster.
He skidded nearby the hole in the earth, looking down, around. It was scary, thinking of what awaited him below. He knew that there were too many parties of those who were interested in him to keep things simple. He just wanted peace. But his deal had soured. What happened in town was anything but peace.
Yuki was ready to talk.
He stepped on the ledge, and felt the soft earth. All he had to do was lean forward, and he could plummet down, into the shadows.
Someone behind him said, in a dark, level voice, "You aught stay behind, Uki-dohth."
Yuki yelped, and turned.
Seeming to glide closer to him was a dark figure. Cloaked and hidden, the person approaching him was one Yuki had seen before. "You," Yuki pointed out, "You're the guardian of the forest." The hooded being nodded. Yuki squinted at him, asking, "Why are you here? This is no woodlands."
"No," the being stated, "But what is being used against town is twisted from these woods."
Yuki let out a small breath in realization. "You… are here to-"
The figure had come to stop by the hole in the earth. It seemed to peer down at the shadows. At Yuki's words, it twisted itself to face him. Yuki flinched, scared. The form looked down upon the young alien. It said, very plainly, "Know this, Yuki."
Yuki relaxed, looking up to the voice. It almost sounded friendly.
The guardsman told him, "You are no less a good person if you stay here. You need prove nothing."
Yuki slumped. "That is not how they see it."
"Perhaps not," the Guardsman replied, and stepped closer, reaching out with a gloved hand. As it placed the hand onto Yuki's shoulder, it said, "What awaits you, in the darkness, is danger." The Guardsman stepped away from him, and said over its shoulder, "Make your choice."
Without another word, the Guardsman leapt. It plummeted into the shadows, vanishing from sight, almost as if it had never been there. Yuki stared after him, thoughts racing behind those pink eyes.
What would he do?
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