The Return to Gravity Falls

by EZB

Mabel and Dipper return to Gravity Falls three years after their life-altering summer vacation spent with their Grunkle Stan, to find that Gravity Falls never stops being, well, weird. As the twins encounter old friends and reconnect with the supernatural inhabitants of Gravity Falls, new dangers lurk just outside of the knowledge of Uncle Stanfords old journals.

62. Winds of Change: Part 2

Amidst the wind passing through their hair, across their face, through their clothing, warnings came to the three atop the bike. Warnings of something to come. Something dangerous; something terrifying. That danger, regardless, was Dipper and Mabel Pine's destination, along with Arline Hirsch.

"You feel that, Mabel?" Dipper asked as she turned the corner, where a near dozen or more signs indicated the 'World Famous Mystery Manor'.

Mabel nodded.

Arline, looking to the twins, asked, "Feel what?"

Mabel glanced at her master in the gently trembling mirror of her bike. "Just... stuff," she tried explaining.

She needn't say any more; the confirmation that she too felt inside her mind was enough to drive Dipper quiet. As their lives had taught them, they had many differences in opinions and feelings that separated them. They were, after all, very different people. At times, and in this particular case, this flipped into the polarity- they shared feelings. A strong sense of retribution, a fondness for family and good company, and, more so trained than anything else, a sense of danger.

Mabel felt sick to her stomach from the dread she felt in her gut. It overwhelmed her as waves of pain may have, driving her senses into an overload. She wanted the wind to stop, and the cold tingling her skin to cease. Maybe she could explain the pain in her heart. Maybe then she could talk to Dipper, and understand it more rationally, something she admitted to not being the best at. Maybe...

... Maybe this time, there was more than cause for this feeling.

Before them, the hills of the woods lifted and fell as the bike coursed over pebble and dirt. Before long, they were nearing the building, the rooftops in sight.

"Mabel," Arline reached over Dipper and patted the girl's shoulder, "You can wind down the engine."

"Huh?" Mabel glanced over her shoulder.

"You're shaking the entire bike," Arline called.

Dipper, his eyes wide, said with a loud gulp, "She's not doing that."

Mabel stared forward, frowned, and slid the bike to a stop, right before the last of the many winding hills came to an end. Halted and waiting, the three gave pause and let their senses speak to them. Vibrations. Shaking. Trembling of earth too consistent and level to be a mere earthquake.

"Oh no," Dipper gasped.

"Well!?" Arline shouted, shocking the twins into relief. "Get us moving!"

Mabel nodded and once again powered the bike into a roaring start. No sooner had she crested over the last incline than she spotted something against the ground and cried out. "Wendy!" Mabel shouted as she swerved to the side, giving the girl a wide berth.

Against the earth, Wendy Corduroy was sunk against the rock tendrils that rose up like a rib-cage, holding her down and pinning her in, what the twins could only imagine, was a painful vice-grip. Dipper was off the bike the instant he saw her. He nearly fell flat on his face as the bike was still moving at a considerable speed. Arline too leapt off, to a much higher standard of grace.

"Wendy," Dipper breathed to her as Wendy's eyes flittered to him and Arline. Mabel quickly parked the bike and raced over, abandoning the bike to fall on it's side, surely scratching some of the nice pink paint off with a loud crunch.

"Hold here!" Arline told Dipper as she reached her hands down and placed them against Wendy's neck. Dipper did as she was told and held Wendy in place. Arline, lifting her hands up above the red-head, she shouted with a short cry. Punching down, she snapped away the thick, layered stone that had wrapped around her. As Mabel slid next to her, Wendy coughed and stretched her mouth.

"Blah!" Wendy spat to the side, avoiding the trio, "That was just not cool!" she groaned, "I looked freaking awesome for a bit too," she told them with a shake of her head, "But that old fart-"

"Steindorf is here?" Arline asked urgently, her eyes widening. Wendy quieted, shocked at the rawness of Arline's voice. Still, the red-head nodded. Arline bared her teeth. "Then... the shaking is the portal," Arline gasped, standing up and putting her hands to her head.

To Wendy, Dipper said, "Let's get you up!" and also readied himself for a punch against the stone. With a similar shout, Dipper launched his fist out. With a dull thud, he cringed and held his hand closer. "C'mon! It looked so easy!" he grumbled, holding his fist.

"I think you cracked it, actually," Wendy pointed out. Dipper paused, studying her with a hidden appreciation. "You got this," she said to him as Mabel laughed at Dipper's expression. She and Dipper struck out in unison, breaking the sides of the pincers holding down Wendy.

"And the warrior princess is saved!" Mabel said, dusting her hands off.

Wendy smirked at Mabel, telling her, "I'm pretty sure, at this point, that's you."

"Nah! I have the heart of the lover, not the fighter," Mabel said, putting the back of her hand against her forehead, "For I would gladly take a friend over a foe!" Wendy chuckled at Mabel until she felt Dipper's stares, and she turned.

"You're... okay?" Dipper asked.

"I've been better," she grumbled, and turned to a patch of dirt some dozen feet away. The twins turned and saw as well; her broken axe. "Man... my dad would kill me if he knew I broke his favorite axe," Wendy mumbled, her eyes darkening, "If he could kill me."

"We can discuss more fun stuff like that later," Mabel said, her voice a tad higher than normal as Dipper's face took a darker look as he listened to Wendy, "And deal with the now. Right?"

"Right," Wendy nodded and started to stand. She suddenly gasped and whipped around. "They're inside!" she shouted and rushed with a burst of distance that startled Arline, who had taken a few steps closer to the Manor. Wendy race in first, and her eyes darted quickly to the ceiling. "Soos!" she shouted.

As the trio traced her inside, they stood at the door, stunned. Soos was seemingly sunken into the wooden ceiling, like it had become a liquid and drank him until only part of his face, notably his nose and eyes, and his considerably stomach were visible. Dipper's eyes settled first on the broken open secret door past Soos, and then on his friend, where worry found their way into his gaze.

"Soos!" Mabel cried out, and leapt up, trying to reach at him. Her efforts went fruitless, until Dipper stepped under Soos, and nodded for Mabel. "Right," Mabel said, quickly grasping his indication. She ran at her brother, who bent forward, his hands grasped together. With a small budge up, Mabel was lifted by her brother as she jumped. Outstretched, she managed to reach upwards and grasp onto one of the boards that had melded over Soos's body. "Aha! Got it!" she cried. Her fingers locked in place, Mabel gave herself a jerk, trying to pull the wood off him. "Uh," she mumbled, looking down, "So, I admit I wasn't expecting it to hold my weight."

"Soos's patch-job for you," Wendy said with a shake of her head, "He did repair the ceiling in here earlier this summer."

Dipper reached up and pushed his hands under Mabel's feet, giving her support. "Try pulling it down now," he suggested.

"Sure!" Mabel nodded. With her brother giving her weight to her movement, she pulled and swung herself about, trying to tear at the wood further.

The ground trembled violently. As a minor earthquake would, Dipper found his own footing difficult, and swayed. Mabel teetered off of him and collapsed onto his body, crashing down onto her brother. Wendy and Arline both found objects to cling onto; namely the cashier counter.

As the trembling started, it ended as quickly. The four gave a long pause, looking to one another. Silently they scanned for significant changes or damage to one another. When they could find none, they moved again. The twins stood back up as Wendy ran back outside.

"Where are you going?" Dipper called to her.

"We need to get to the portal!" Arline shouted to them, turning to the still opened secret door. As she ran over, the twins still struggled to stand and help Soos up. "We can get him after we stop the Sorcerer!"

"Soos can help us!" Dipper grunted as he lifted Mabel up with his strength, holding her by the legs.

"Not to harp on Soos," Arline retorted, "But we need fighters. Soos is a little too nice to go on beating on people."

"You'd think that," Mabel said, reaching it and pulling on another board across Soos's body. "He's a pile of power ready to pounce."

Arline winced and turned, looking down the stairs. The earth and building still trembled. "I'm going down. Meet me by the elevator when you-"

"How long did you know about the portal?" Dipper asked.

Arline turned, looking back to him. "Huh?" she asked. The twins stared at her, a penalizing glare that shook the martial artist. "Uh... since Summerween. Stop looking at me like that, you guys are bugging me out."

"You were going to tell us?" Mabel asked as she once again hung off of Soos's containment, straining at her own pull.

"As soon as I had the chance and it was relevant," Arline sighed. "Look, after Stan and I had our little, uh, differences put aside, he showed me it. He said that if anyone would come looking for something dangerous, he said it would be that," she pointed down the stairs, "The portal. I... I knew there was also the stone of conservation, so I just kept it in the back of my mind," she admitted.

"Here!"

A voice behind the twins had them almost topple again. Dipper twisted at the hip as Mabel spun her arms. Wendy had rushed in, the head of her broken axe in her hands. "This ought to do it!" she said, and looked to Mabel, holding the sharpened object in her hands up to her. "Go for it!" she with gusto.

Mabel nodded to Dipper, who stood aside. Knowing Mabel, the fall would be messy and possibly damaging to the floor. She turned herself again as a monkey, hanging off the one plank of wood, facing Soos. "You ready, buddy?" she asked the handyman. Rooted to the spot, Soos's eye nodded for his head. "And a-one, and a-two, and a-"

Mabel punched out against the side of the board with the axehead in her hand. Wood splintered and split with her might, breaking free one side of Soos. As his weight and own gravitational forces settled in, Soos quickly fell out and past Mabel, who landed next to him gently. Soos's landing was more akin to a boulder- with a loud thud against wood.

"Ahh, thanks hambone," Soos grinned, giving Mabel a pat on the arm, "I was starting to understand why trees always seem to act so cranky."

"I know, right?" Wendy asked, her eyes widening in empathy, "I always thought they were just being grouchy, but now-"

"On the topic at hand, please?" Arline called out, disrupting the quick reunion between the four.

"Yeah!" Soos turned to Arline, "Let's get down there an- WAIT!" he bellowed, and rushed aside, heading towards the hallway.

"Dang it, Soos!" Arline shouted, watching him go.

"He'll only take a second," Mabel assured Arline.

"I'll be back in a minute," Soos declared quickly, popping his head inside the room once as he spun from the hallway to his friends, and then back out again. Arline grumbled and looked to the three.

"Coming?" she demanded.

"We'll wait for Soos," Dipper announced, and the two ladies nodded.

"Okay, I'm heading down," Arline sighed, nearly bouncing in place with her own nervous energy, "Catch up with me as soon as you can."

"Don't kill Omir without us!" Wendy called as Arline flew down the stairs.

"Kill," Mabel laughed as Dipper raced to the hallway exit, "No one is going to die."

Wendy chortled. "What? I'm totally okay with having at least one bad-guy die today."

"But what if we just have him make amends for his wrong doings," Mabel suggested as she and Wendy slowly followed after Dipper, who had paused at the corner of the hallway entrance to wait for them, "You know, punch him a few times, make fun of him for being a jerk, and then we can all be friends afterwards and have this all blow over. Sound cool?"

Wendy paused, giving the idea thought. "Fine. I get to punch him a lot though. He really got some nasty hits on me," Wendy scowled as she and Mabel made it to Dipper, who turned to the right, following Soos.

"Soos?" Dipper called out. Wendy and Mabel peered around the brother, watching as Soos slowly entered Yuki's room, his eyes glued ahead.

Soos made no reply. His mouth had fallen open, his eyes peeled wide as he stared ahead. Fear washed over the trio as Soos continued to act as if his three friends were not twenty feet away calling to him. Dipper and Mabel rushed first, quickly followed by Wendy as they too were magnetically pulled to whatever Soos stared at.

The twins rounded the doorway and found the door swung open. That was, however, not the only thing that was different.

Yuki's position had changed. He now lay on his side. Across his body, bandages had become loose and not as form fitting. Remnants of healing aids stuck together, giving the room a sharp scent.

What caused the three new onlookers to be as stunned as Soos was that the exposed section of Yuki's face. He was smiling. Around him, on the areas of skin that had been left mildly unexposed, tiny flakes of what appeared to be ashes had fallen to the bedcovers.

"Those scars should never be able to heal," Wendy repeated the memory from Arline.

"That's impossible," Dipper noted, "he... he's getting better?"

Mabel let out a single, abrupt sob. Her eyes welled up. Grabbing onto her brother's numb shoulder, she shook him. "Pacifica is going to be soo happy!" she managed to slid out from her tightening throat.

"But how!?" Dipper barked out, stepping before the three, blocking Yuki's view, "How did this happen!? Yuki said himself that he was sure it would take a hundred years for his body to heal!"

"Maybe he was wrong?" Mabel stifled another sob with a hiccup.

"No," Soos quietly admitted, "it was Mister Steindorf." The three turned and rounded on him. "When I got locked up on the ceiling, Steindorf and Stan talked. Stan didn't want us to be hurt anymore, you see? He – he looked so scared and frightened. Then Mister Steindorf walked away, over this way, and started talking like he had done something. I... I needed to know-"

"The Sorcerer healed Yuki?" Wendy gasped. "Why?" Mabel gave a shy smile to him. "Don't you start-"

"Maybe he isn't all that bad," Mabel shrugged.

Dipper begged, "Don't get sympathetic with him."

"I'm not! I promise!" Mabel assured them, looking around as she wiped away tears from her eyes, "I still want to beat him up for good measure – so he gets that you can't do these kind of jerkish things to people. But maybe killing him is too... extreme?"

"Tell that to your master," Wendy said.

Mabel pursed her lips. "Well... I guess if we can't all get alo-"

The ground again shook. Violently trembling in place, the Manor swayed left and right, the basis of all support giving away with the movement of the earth. The quarto shouted, grabbing the walls, or each other in the twin's case, and holding for best support. The trembling shuffled Yuki in place, who's smile remained static on his face. As he shook, small bits of ash fell away from his form, giving occasional glances into new, very light skin.

The shaking again stopped, and the four looked to one another. A cry from far behind them caught their ears. "I think now is a great time to head downstairs, guys!" Arline's voice carried to them.

"Yuki's okay," Dipper decided for the group, "Even if he's not healed, Omir only goes after people who get in his way. Yuki isn't even a threat, as far as we know," Dipper shrugged with the prospect of the unknown.

"Right. Let's go save the day!" Mabel cheered as she lead the charge. Wendy and Dipper hastened afterwards.

"To Mister Pines!" Soos bellowed, and followed suit

Down the hall and to the left the four went. Out into the gift shop, and down the steps of the secret stairway they went. Wendy's eyes began to dart around- of the four in the group, she had seen these walls the least. As her footsteps echoed with the others, the twins spotted Arline.

By the closed doors that would open to the elevator, they currently remained shut. Behind them, no elevator was present. She was facing the four, a sweat-covered, furrowed glare about her. As they made it to the last step, she turned, her hands against the metal grates.

"The elevator is below," she grumbled. "I can't call it up – been trying this entire time!" she turned to Soos, breathing heavily in her anger. "Got an idea, big guy?"

"Sure do!" Soos stated, and stepped forward. He looked to closed metal box to its left, and opened the lid. "Let's see... uh..." Soos quickly poked his finger against four of the ten buttons, each time displaying a strange shapes. After he did, nothing happened. "Hmm... how about squiggle, knot, pony-tail, and sheep-face?" he said.

"What?" Arline asked, turning to the twins, "What the heck is he talking about?"

"Those are constellations," Dipper quietly said as Soos worked his attempts, "Made by our other Grunkle – Ford. They act as key codes."

"Stan's brother, right?" Arline asked. The twins, and Wendy, all nodded grimly. "Huh, 'Kay. Got it. Soos," she turned to the handyman, "How's it coming?"

"Along. I think. I believe I am making significant progress," Soos said, punching in another two codes with no success.

The ground tremble, and loose dust and rock in the elevator shaft scattered and fell into the darkness. "We could hurry it up!" Dipper hissed as he looked down the shaft, "I'm not really sure we want to be taking this long!"

"Soos!" Wendy cried out.

"Almost got it!" Soos said, holding a shielding hand towards the four. "Uh... wrinkled paper, mad river-"

Arline shoved over Soos in a huff. As Soos staggered, rubbing his insulted arm, Arline gave her own tries. Rapidly punching in combinations. "C'mon!" she roared. With a third attempt gaining nothing, she punched the wall, leaving a large dent in the metal casing. "Forget this- we're going down my way!" she said. "We break this down!" she pointed to the metal grates.

"Oh! That's soo much easier," Soos said, and gently excused himself past Arline, and quickly lowered his body and grabbed at certain holes with his fingers. "And a-one, and a-two," he mumbled, and lifted.

"He does that too," Mabel quietly chuckled to Dipper.

Soos stood up straight, breaking apart the two-piece sliding grate with easy. Lifting the light load, he turned and let it fall to the wall next to them with a clatter. As he dusted his hands, he turned to their stares and opened mouths in shock. "What?" he shrugged, "I'm a handyman. Also means I can break stuff easily too. Pretty useful if I need to scrap stuff, y'know?"

"Well, now that we got the doors open," Wendy said, leaning over the edge, "Anyone got an idea how to get down the, uh, bottomless pit here?"

"That's certainly not bottomless," Mabel said to Wendy, "I would know."

"I know this," Arline said, and without a moment hesitation, leapt out to the cable of the elevator box. With her arms and legs wrapped around the thick metal, she gave them all a quick look. They stared in awe at her as she grinned. "Coming?" she asked, and then soared downwards, forwards the source of the localized earthquakes.

Mabel smirked. "Well, that looks dangerous, and reckless, and absolutely something that mom and dad would never let us do," Mabel shrugged, and turned to Dipper, "So sorry bro, I'll go first so that-"

Dipper leapt out, reaching for the metal wires. As he did, his momentum carried him out and forward, and Dipper hollered as he spun around the cable, descending down.

"Meet you down below, Mabel!" Dipper called up, leaving his stunned sister agape.

"So, my brother has once again been taken away by a Doppelganger," Mabel sighed, her shocked gape of a smile shrinking into a clever grin, "Should have seen it coming."

"Or maybe you two are growing up a bit?" Soos suggested. Wendy rolled her eyes, and patted Mabel's face.

"You first, Druid extraordinaire," she said with a wink.

Mabel's face beamed, and she too leapt off, and spun in large circles as she hooted and cheered. " Magnanimously Magnificent Masterfully Malleably Mendable Mabel the fourth, esquire, coming through!"

Above Mabel, two more rattles of wire told her the coming of Soos and Wendy. The air in the elevator shaft was stuffy and smelled of burnt dust; leaving an acrid taste on the twin's pallets as the air rushed by them. Below, they passed the first hidden door that led, according to Dipper (as he was the only other person who had been inside there) to Stanford's secret library. Below that, they spotted the resting elevator.

Arline had already landed atop the hollow construct, watching the four to follow after her. One by one they landed, and Arline ushered them closer. She stood by a lift-able hatch, and held her finger over her mouth. Through the walls, a constant din of soft rumbling echoed out into the air, yet Arline spoke quietly.

"I go first. I'll check out the bottom. Once I wave you, come in. Clear?" she asked the four. They nodded. "Right." Arline took a quick breath, lifted the hatch and dropped in. As quiet as a shadow, she fell to the ground and looked around. Her eyes focused on something quickly, and she gasped.

"What is it?" Dipper asked.

"Stay up there," she said, not as quiet as twins had anticipated. Her voice also had trembled.

"Master," Mabel asked, "What is it?"

"Stay up there, just for a second longer," Arline asked, glancing up to them, "I need to check it first."

"Why? What do you see?" Dipper demanded, craning his head to the side, nearly butting Soos and Mabel out of the way to get a better look. He couldn't see through the entire laboratory, but he could see far enough. Half way down and past the lights of the now active equipment, something lay crumbled on the floor, lying against a wall. A something wearing a suit, and had small trickles of blood running from it.

"Dipper, stay up-"

Arline's words were ignored. Dipper leapt out, rolling onto the floor and raced forward. He saw the glass, the scorch marks, the blood. He finally saw Grunkle Stan's full visage, lying against the wall. Cuts bedded themselves through his clothing and against his shoulders and arms, and his face was limp.

"No," Dipper mumbled, not hearing the patter and rush of footsteps next to him. He reached forward, placing a hand across Stan's neck. He gasped- there was still a pulse. "He's alive," he sighed, and turned, seeing a pale Mabel and Arline.

"He came through the window?" Mabel asked, realizing the floor was covered in thick glass shards. "Is it too mainstream to walk through doors now?" She did however turn, and gasp. "Oh. That may be why he took the window." As the four came to her, they all gasped. "Yeah, that exactly."

Omir Steindorf, the Sorcerer self-proclaimed, stood before the portal. It shimmered with flashing lights, causing the ground the tremble and buckle under enormous bursts of power. From behind the Sorcerer, something produced a powerful beam of rainbow-like light, showering the portal's activated surface with an unending barrage of colors.

As one color would strike the portal, it would fill the entirety of the circle inside, bathing the room in that shade of light. Before the light could fill entirely, a new color would take its place at the center, spreading outwards. Some colors moved faster; others slower. To the observers, it was only a grand magical effect.

"He's tinkering with the portal, using the stone," Arline quietly announced.

Wendy, creeping low behind the wall of the broken window pane, added, "For his master plan, or whatever."

"So, Stan's here," Dipper shoved a thumb over his shoulder, "and Omir is there," he pointed ahead with the same hand, "and we're here," he pointed to the floor they stood on. "What's our new plan?" he finally asked, "Because I'll be honest: I thought just getting us here would be enough."

"Yeah," Mabel nodded, "That sometimes is enough."

"Not today," Arline gritted her teeth, "We're in this to the end now. I wanted to see if my master would show up," she shook her head, "But we can't wait that long. He's doing..." she paused, her eyes glazing over in thought, "I don't know what he's doing. With or without him, this is our task, our job to stop Steindorf, or at least do our most trying." She put out her hand between the other four. "Together?" she asked.

Wendy grinned savagely. "Couldn't have said it better myself." She put her hand atop Arline's.

"I'm in," Soos nodded, and put hand out as well.

"Let's do this," Dipper nodded somberly and looked to his sister as he put out his hand.

Mabel too extended her hand, wrapping it around her brother's with a small squeeze. "Together," she said.

"On three," Arline quietly stated, "We rush out and gang up on him. He can only fight so many sides off at once."

The twins, Soos, and Wendy nodded.

"One... two... three!" Arline said.

Dipper and Mabel rushed out first.

The light of the huge room was possibly overwhelming to the normal senses. Waves of light and sound chorused together as a symphony of power, struggling over the constantly cackling power of the stone, held in hand by Omir himself. Despite following the twins in path, Arline made it out past them in a blinding flash of speed. She leapt up, her fists covered with fire.

A cackle of yellow light burst forward, forming a wall between the group of five and Omir. In the split second it took to materialize, Arline slammed her fist into it, attempting to pass through. While the light shivered and certainly trembled, it did not fall. Arline kicked back, away from it, and landed next to the twins and their two friends.

"People need to understand," Omir sighed, slowly turning as he left the stone in place, hovering now behind him, "That I changed my senses long ago. It takes much, much more than line of sight and clever footing to get a jump on me."

"I bet you couldn't handle a jump-scare," Mabel pouted.

Omir glanced at her, his eyebrow cocked in a slight raise. he turned away from her after a moment, to Arline. "You really must give up this foolish act of opposing me. You're still injured because of me," he said, looking to her folded arm.

"I'm still able though," she gritted her teeth as she spoke.

"Also, thanks to my generosity," Omir reminded her.

"Dude," Soos told Omir loudly, "Look, just chill out and stop this. Whatever you're doing, it's not good."

"Yeah man," Wendy also chimed in, "This whole super-villain crud has got to stop. I mean, it's not like you're just walking out of here after all of this."

Steindorf chuckled. "What makes you say that?"

"Because we won't let you," Dipper growled.

Omir looked to the four, and glanced to Arline. With a smile he shook his head. "Please, please tell me you haven't been feeding them lies! The kind you tell them that make them think they stand any chance against me," he told them. The twins' eyes darkened, glaring at Omir. Wendy's face grew red hot and she gritted her teeth.

Soos merely shrugged. "I'm more of a moral support kind of guy anyway," Soos said, "But I already got a punch on you once." The four turned to Soos. "I did!" Soos declared, "I got angry and knocked him to the ground."

Omir commented before others could speak, "A mistake that you learned your lesson for, surely."

Soos shrugged, "Meh. I still kind of want to punch you."

Omir narrowed his eyes at him. "It makes no difference," Omir declared, "This wall will not break to the likes of you. Now stand still and quiet and let me work or leave."

"I don't think so," Arline growled.

With her free hand pulled far back, she again punched forward. Her fist left a steaming trail through the air as her fire burned and then shrunk to the size of a small ball. Before her fist she slammed it into the wall. Colliding with the yellow energy, the fireball exploded past the barrier, and into the opposite side of the room. As stained glass from a broken church, the pale-yellow light crumbled and fell to the floor, splintering into shards that dissolved from reality.

No words were needed- the barrier had been breached. The twins rushed forward as Omir stared in shock at Arline. By the time he looked to the twins, he only had a brief second to react.

Sadly, that was all he ever needed.

Omir whipped his staff in both hands, knocking both twins aside with a flourished twirl. They fell past him and across the floor, sliding on the rock. Wendy made a jump at him, attempting her own version of a flying kick. Omir snapped at her with the end of his staff, pulling her foot down.

The precision hit and power would certainly have broken a knee for anyone, but the Wraith paid no attention. She merely landed, and swung out with her fist. Omir twisted his staff again, parrying her fist and twisting her aside.

Soos landed in on the action just in time. He too made a charge, grabbing out at Omir. The Wizard stepped aside, and left his foot out, tripping Soos. Now it was Arline, who patiently watched the wizard.

"Like I said," Omir told her, "You shouldn't get up their-"

A rock slammed into the back of Omir's head with a crack. Groaning as he stumbled a step forward, the Sorcerer whipped around to Wendy, who had tossed the rock.

"Sorry, tough guy," she said as she threw another, which this time he blocked with a whirl of his staff, "Thought you would like to know what stone against the back of your head felt like!"

Omir was distracted, and Arline took flight. She too leapt forward, driving her foot at him. Omir saw and reacted as best he could; flicking out his staff as a block. The force behind Arline's strike was too much. He was driven back, sliding in place across dirt and stone. He was further away from the Starkissed stone now.

Soos, still on the ground, grabbed at Omir's legs as they slid up to him. Wrapped tightly around the struggling Sorcerer, Soos head-butted the closest leg to him as best he could, doing little damage and more annoying the magic-user. As he did so, pulling his attention down, the twins struck out at him.

Simultaneously, they ran forward and punched into his back. As their strength collided with the back of the ancient Sorcerer, he staggered forward, groaning from the impact. It wasn't much, but it was starting to overwhelm him. He fell, breaking from Soos's grip. His staff clattered aside as he reached out to catch himself instinctively. Omir caught himself, snarling into the earth as his dark skin flushed with dark crimson.

"They hit me," he realized aloud, and pushed himself forward with a flip up. "They actually hit me." With a stomp of his foot, a wave of magic raced through the floor- pure in type and intent. The ground itself rippled outwards, knocking Soos and Wendy Airborne. The twins and Arline both leapt up over the attack in time, but Omir had already reached for his staff.

What he hadn't anticipated was Wendy's reach. As the staff darted at it's owner, Wendy reached out and grasped it. She was far from strong enough to hold it for her own, but just strong enough to hang on. With the added momentum of the fling via magic staff, she soared at Omir, who was unaware of her coming.

Wendy drove her fist straight into his face, knocking the man off his feet as he reached out for the staff. In the air, the Sorcerer lost his great sense of surrounding, and was unable to see Arline leap high up once again and twist herself, turning herself into a deadly arc that would end up crossing his head. Her heel connected with his skull, and he slammed into the ground with a loud bang.

The martial arists landed on the ground with a softer landing, catching herself with one hand as Wendy fell over next to her, clattering to the ground loudly. The dust hadn't settled from Steindorfs landing before Arline shouted at the twins, "Get the stone!"

"Right!" Dipper nodded as Mabel saluted to her master.

"No!" Omir roared, punching the ground with his fist. His hand buried deep into the earth, and horrible crackling emanated out. From under their feet, rock hands grabbed both the twin's feet, tripping them against the ground.

Arline tried to stand as well, but more hands had reached out, pulling on her injured arm and legs, tying her to the ground. Wendy too found herself immobilized by the force of magical stone-hands, and fought bitterly to find release. Soos, on the other hand, slowly stood up, breaking his way free of the stone, rising up and facing the bruised ego of the Sorcerer.

"I take it back," Omir growled, "You're all much more capable than I gave you credit for."

Soos stalled, his position slacking. "Aw... thanks dude. You know, that kind of means something considering-"

Omir lifted his hand, and with two fingers, created a burst of wind that lifted Soos off his feet and slammed him into the rocky wall, some twenty feet away.

"But I'm done. You all, all of you," Omir growled, staring at Arline in particular with hateful eyes, "Need to stop. You're interrupting a man who controls the fabric of that portal. I'd advise against it."

"You're a bully!" Mabel yelled. Omir whipped around to Mabel. "Yeah, that's right!" she shouted again, pinned to face the ceiling by the hands, "A big, stupid, mean bully! You give people things they want when its easy for you, but when things are hard you just punch people out of the way!"

The stoic face of the Sorcerer flinched. He retorted to Mabel, "And what makes us any different?"

Mabel growled, "I don't hurt people, even after they've stood in my way! You would have hurt my master! You were going to kill her, even when she stood no chance of fighting you!" Mabel roared, "You're just a big, scared, bully who thinks they are never wrong!"

"Yeah!" Arline shouted, catching the eye of Steindorf. She yelled at him, "They never killed anyone to get what they wanted!" Arline shouted.

"Would they, though?" Omir quietly asked, and turned to Dipper. "Would you?"

Dipper's gaze, similarly stained to the ceiling like Mabel, felt his confidence falter. There had been a dark, horrible gut instinct two days ago to really end it with Graupner. Not to stop and break, but to kill him. That thick, vicious feeling had left an impression onto Dipper since then- lingering like a black cloud in the recesses of his mind.

Omir slowly nodded. "Yes. See?" he pointed to Dipper, "You're not so high and mighty, are you?" Omir turned to Arline, "And you. How many men and women have you broken for the sake of your master – the same kind of master which tasks you with impossible goals? All of you," Omir looked around, and lingered on Soos, "Maybe not him," he shrugged when looking at Soos, "Are just as bad as me."

"Shut up!" Arline shouted, and with a roar, her body began to emanate fire and ash. "I didn't come here to listen to you tell me what being a good person means!" she shouted, spit flying from her mouth as the fire began to crack away the stone around her, falling to shards. "You killed my family to save your own skin!" she shouted, standing up, sweat and dirt covering her face, "I don't care if it was an accident, I don't care what you wanted to do to fix it! I'm not going to let you tell anyone else that they're as bad as you!"

The fire around Arline inverted. Flame shot towards her and fell against her palms as two tiny balls of light. She closed her fists quickly, and the same vision of heat that she had used once appeared. Heat itself- trembling the air around her like an aura of rippling power, floated around her, rising and carrying her long hair up.

"You've tried that once," Omir reminded her, extending his hand out for his staff.

Arline raced the staff. She blasted forward, her body leaned inward as she made the rush count. Each step tore rock beneath her as the force of each step's impact ripped earth itself.

Omir clutched the staff just as she threw her first punch. Once again, he held out his staff, now in both hands, and blocked her powerful strike with his own. The impact visibly shook the air, knocking wind and steam away from the two.

"But that got you nothing," Omir told her.

"It got me ideas," she said. She then reached out with her still extended hand and grasped the staff. The Sorcerer gasped as quickly the white staff began to glow with heat, searing the hands of the Sorcerer until he lifted them away and stepped back. Arline took the moment to revel in her victory, holding the staff for her own.

"A short loss," Omir shrugged, and then thrust his hands forward. The staff, still in control of the powerful spell-caster, threw itself against Arline, launching backwards. She instinctively let go, flipping backwards as the still intact weapon rattled aside.

Sliding to a stop, Arline slid her hand against the ground, giving herself more leverage to hold herself steady. Her super-heated fingers clawed into the earth, tearing lines through rock itself. A snarl on her face, she again ran at the man, who already called back his staff.

"Always running right at me," Omir sighed, and began to absentmindedly twirl his staff, "This never works."

"It's why I always try something new!" Arline shouted, darting left and right with further bursts of speed, leaving trails of water vapor- the sweat burning off her body. Omir watched with preparation; his fingers wrapped around the staff. Arline paused one moment, her speed too fast to maintain, and Omir snapped out with an end of his weapon. Arline ducked back entirely, bending at the waist to create a ninety-degree angle. At the same time, she kicked up and pushed herself upwards, knocking the staff into the air and going back for the Sorcerer.

His hand met her throat as she stood up.

"Try harder," Omir told her, his strength powerful enough to lift her into the air.

"How... 'bout... this!?" Arline chewed out her words, and then shoved her closed fist forward, opening it.

The stone remnants when she had slid back were pressed with a sizzle into Omir's face. Heated to the point of near glowing, the stone and dirt scorched at the face of the one-old looking man, and the he howled, dropping her instantly. As he fell back, holding his face and screaming, Arline stood above him.

"How about that one?" she asked with a grin.

"No more games!"

Omir showed an eye, revealing his now semi-scarred face. The hand he threw forward was a blur, and Arline was pelted like an arrow upwards. She shouted, flying high and out of control until her back struck the ceiling. With a heavy, crumbling whack, she hit her back against the rocky cavern above, and clenched her teeth together and her eyelids shut.

Omir then turned his hands downward and slammed them against them against the earth.

Arline followed with a crashing landing. She twitched and gasped, her injured arm moved out from it's sleeve, showing the still closing and now re-injured wound over her shoulder. As she attempted to roll onto her knees, hands reached out from the floor made of stone, wrapping her legs and hands down.

"I've seen enough of you, and your tricks," Omir sighed, his face scowling as he glared at Arline with a deep-seated rage that only his constant temperament could contain. "I'm done with– with you all looking at me with this disgust!" he shouted, spinning to look at the contained others, "I've done this all for the benefit of many, and you all can't look past your own petty scratches, cuts, bruises, and broken feelings to understand that!"

"Easy for you to say! We're not the ones with our fingers over a trigger!" Dipper shouted.

"A trigger that is harmless to you when applied properly," Omir barked back at Dipper. When his voice echoed around, slowly being eaten by the trembling of the portal, he sighed. As he felt his fingers over his face, examining his new wounds, he added, "I promise you. Stand still, and I'll prove it to you-"

"RIGHT HOOK!"

Stanley Pines, emerging from behind the Warlock himself, struck out with a powerful and top-heavy punch that literally lifted the Sorcerer off his feet. Twisting in mid-air, the Sorcerer landed heavily, sliding a few feet away as half his face swelled.

"No one... tells my family... they're as low as you!" Stan breathed, some of the trickles of blood still running down his body.

"Oh my god," Dipper said as Stan walked over, kneeling to the twins, "Grunkle Stan, that was amazing!"

"Yeah! You totally 'Stan'd' him!" Mabel said, "Sneak attack and an important empowering message in the same instance! Combo-wombo!"

"Thanks. Had some time to think about what to say while I was resting, but hearing him talk like that had that one spring to mind," Stan grunted with a grin, pulling along the stone hands with effort, slowly breaking them free. The moment Dipper and Mabel felt the ability to struggle back, Stan stood, and raced to Arline. "Look at you," he said to her as he kneeled down, "actually protecting my family in front of me. Finally seeing it in action. Huh. Nice."

"Charm me later," Arline rolled her eyes, "Get me and everyone up first."

"Fine by me," Stan said as he lifted up, just freeing Arline's mobile side. Stan raced to Soos and Wendy's side, mere feet from one another. As they found themselves rising, the twins on their feet, a shadow loomed over them all.

Omir, bleeding from the mouth, clutching a hand to his face, had walked over to the stone, still floating in mid-air. Reaching over it, the same kind of rainbow light flickered into his hands, and he shivered. The bruises, cuts, and trickle of blood faded from him. His scars receded and he breathed easily.

"... Oh c'mon," Mabel groaned as Omir sighed, closing his eyes and standing before them, perfectly healthy, "He can do that to himself!?"

"I hate it when they heal," Dipper growled, "Always makes things difficult."

"Struggle as you like," Omir mentioned, his hand reaching over the stone as the light continued to play and dance around his fingers, "I have a source of magic that, to you, could be nearly limitless. I'd be..."

Omir paused, his eyes widening.

The room's trembling had stopped. No longer did the rays of changing light pour into the portal. Instead, the portal showed a black, starry background. Like a touch of the void of outer space itself, yet the stars swayed and bounced around one another like specs of dust colliding. The Sorcerer, standing half way to the portal sighed heavily, his posture dropping it's tightened and hardened muscles relaxed. The portal had changed.

"It's done... a reality portal. Now," he gently said, leaving the stone to levitate behind him, marching towards the portal.

"Stop him!" Arline roared.

Omir flicked his hand behind him, and a similar flash of golden light appeared, dividing the group off from Omir. Their hands pressed up against the arcane barrier, pressed into the existing, near two-dimensional wall of transparent pale-yellow light. He ignored them, pounding their fists against the wall, stepping slowly to the portal.

His eyes widened as he reached out. "I call on you, Haddiya," he spoke aloud, his words authoritative. Merely inches from the portal, he stared into the void as the buffered sounds of fists striking against magical wall echoed behind him. "I call onto you, greatest of the Magi, Guardians of Magic and Arcane, researcher of the stars and earth, she who brought unity through peace. Hear your pupil," he begged the portal as the cracks in the wall behind him spread, "Hear me!"

"Get him!" Stan shouted as part of the wall gave way, nearest Mabel.

"No! The stone!" Arline shouted.

Mabel ducked inside the tiny fissure into the wall. Omir hadn't turned to see her, nor apparently heard her scuffles as she dove under across the rock.

Her fingers wrapped around the stone, and she tugged. It fell from its position, sinking gently into her hands.

The starry eclipse of the portal shivered. Omir spun about, seeing Mabel, her hands and fingers wrapped around the stone. "You will not stop me!" he shouted, and extended his hand. The stone darted out from Mabel's grasp, and soared into Omirs. "This day, I rescue my love!"

Omir then clutched the stone in his hand, and squeezed it against the portal.

"COME TO ME!" Omir bellowed.

Air came to a standstill. The humming of the portal slowed and faded. The distant stars and their blurry light slowly came to a standstill. The six behind Omir, including Mabel, all watched as a grey aura began to creep out from the portal, encapsulating everything in it's touch.

"Uh-oh," Dipper quickly said.

"Did it work!?" Omir demanded, looking to the portal. "Haddiya, speak to me! Mistress Haddiya!"

As the grey light passed over Mabel, the hair on her neck stood up. She had felt this feeling before. A weight fell over her eyes, and yet she was sure she was still fully awake. Her mind fought against a reality that... couldn't be. Not anymore.

Omir stepped away from the portal. "Come now! Let me see you!"

As the six watched, now along with Omir Steindorf, the stars of the portal began to align. They formed, at first, many various shapes. Simple in design, and always in motion and morphing. A square to a circle, a star to a tree, a tear drop into a flame. The constellations buzzed around one another until a solid shape appeared.

A circle. Should the portal have been a clock, at eleven, a circle appeared. It grew in size until it took up the entire region of its placement. The stars of the shape faded as color and true line appeared. A stone- of shimmering black color that bleeded rainbow out from under it's edges came into perfect view.

The stars danced again. An intricate form appeared, resembling that of a humanoid figure. Slowly, as with the stone, the figure grew and took on more features. Bulky articles of clothing appeared, until the twins instantly recognized what they were looking at- Yuki's astronaut gear. This form took to the ten position

More shapes appeared, one by one. A long thin scarf, one worn by none other than Zander Maximillion with color eerily similar to the stone rested at eight; a bow tie placed on the neck of Omir Steindorf rested on seven; a broken pair of Stanley's old glasses rested at five; a fist striking out with fire driven by a fist clearly resembling Mabel's own hand rested at four; A skull, appearing to have the face of Graupner Kinley, but missing an eye; instead replaced with a glowing stone, took three; crossed hands with bandages Dipper remembered having around his own hands took two; and Wendy's now shattered axe took twelve.

When the final image, the broken axe, appeared and solidified, the countless stars buzzed. As they trembled, they began to race into solid, rigid placement, starting to form lines. As their buzzing grew, the group winced, holding their ears.

All except for Dipper and Mabel. They knew that sound. It wasn't a buzz.

It was laughter.

Omir Steindorf gulped. "Ha-Haddiya?" he asked, stepping away from the portal as three lines of light slowly appeared in the portal. He frowned. "No... I know this voice," he murmured.

The blackness of the void instantly switched places with the light of the triangle, filling in one while emptying the other. Three black lines stood still, until two stick-like hands, two legs, and a bow-tie appeared about the icon. Slowly a single eye opened.

"FREEDOM, BABY!"

Bill Cipher popped out of the portal, leaving behind a white, colorless void from where he came.

"Aww, man is it good to be free from that stupid anti-dimension! Being in the source blew," Bill Cipher said as he floated over a dumb-struck Omir Steindorf, "Phew! Finally, being able to explore again, even in the mindscape, aww, what a relief!"

"That voice!" Omir gasped, pointing to the triangle, "You! The one from my dream!"

"BILL!" Dipper roared, and rushed after Bill.

"Oh! Pine-Tree! Buddy!" Bill extended his arms, letting Dipper race right through him with a punch. Dipper instead tripped and fell over, allowing the two-dimensional demon to whirl about, eying him from above. "Ahh, it's good to see you, you know, not just from a loan from a cursed board game, that is. What was that, seven trillion years ago? I don't know – the place I came from didn't have an aspect of time, so I lost track of things."

"You're just trying to trick us!" Dipper said, turning and pointing to the levitating object.

Mabel shouted, "We locked your stupid dimension permanently, so your trick won't work this time!" Bill inverted himself, morphing his way through his form to face her. "Ew," Mabel shuddered.

"And Shooting star! Oh! OH!" Bill looked around, spotting Stan, Wendy, and Soos, "Stanley Pines! And Red! Big-guy! Oh wow, it's almost a family reunion! Well, missing one particularly good servant, but," Bill shrugged, summoning his walking cane in his hand as he did, spinning it through the air, "Oh well. Sometimes we leave good stuff behind. And..." Bill's eye fixed on Arline, who flinched at his stare, "hmm. You're new around here. Arline Hirsh, huh? Well that rings a bell. HAH! I'm going to call you, for now on, Bells."

"Muse!"

Bill spun around, and stared at the Sorcerer. "Oh! Snappy!" Bill raced forward in the blink of an eye, wrapping his noodle arms around Omir's head, "You did so well! Ah, I can't believe it worked as well as it did!"

"W-what are you saying!?" Omir said, stepping under and away from Bill, backing himself towards the others, "You- you said that if I crafted a reality portal from a dimensional one, I could bring back Haddiya!"

"Oh, so that's how you interpreted, is it?" Bill asked, rolling his one eye, and then laughing. "Ahh, you can't see it, you know, no mouth at all," Bill pointed to his 'face', "But I'm grinning at you. With sarcasm. And Pity. But mostly sarcasm!"

"Explain yourself!" Omir roared. "Where is Haddiya!"

"Dead!" Bill chuckled.

Omir's face dropped several shades paler. "But... but the spell-"

"Was used to bring back from the void," Bill specified, "Not the afterlife," he said slowly, "Your own precious golden soul," Bill reminded him. Omir blinked, his head trembling left and right. Bill leered. "You don't get it, do you?" Bill zoomed up into the Sorcerer, his huge eye up against Omir's face. "I. Tricked. You."

Bill zoomed away, cackling, leaving behind a lightly trembling man, who despite his youthful appearance, seemed suddenly much older.

"I tricked you with the oldest one in the book! Just get a guy who's desperate enough to do what you say to do what you want! As long as you lie about what they're getting! How perfect is that! More perfect than kittens with spikes! AWW EVEN MORE THAN THAT!" Bill roared with laughed, spinning around in circles as he laughed. "MORE LIKE SPIKES MADE OF KITTEN MEAT!"

Omir's strength was draining from him quickly. He managed to mutter, "You mean... all this time–"

"Yes!" Bill zoomed into his face again, "You were working your stupid, short-sighted, human, three-dimensional butt off to just free me from my imprisonment, and not your neat-o girly woman!"

Bill cackled. "Each one of those steps got me a smidgy-widgy closer to being freed again!" Bill exclaimed, floating high above, "A prophecy made by none other than myself to the requirements to free me! And look! I'm totally open, and in the nude! Watch out world," Bill shouted, puffing out his chest, "BILL'S BACK!"

"Not on our watch!" Dipper shouted.

"Yeah! We sent your smug mug into that hell or whatever you call it!" Stan barked, "We can send you back!"

Bill eyed them. "Oh, you know, I may have been intimidated if I knew what that feeling was," Bill admitted, "But instead, I'll settle for 'gloating'. So... Nya-nya-nya-nyaaa-nyaaaa," Bill waved his hands around, provoking the ground.

Mabel smirked, eager for action. "You escape and you think we'll let you? Dummy."

"Actually, what I expect you to do," Bill said, and snapped his fingers. The stone next to Omir vanished with a loud pop. As the Sorcerer gasped, he looked up, and the stone was floating above Bill's outstretched hand, "Is fall into the same void that you all sent me to and remain there while I work my way back into changing this universe back into a better reality than what it is now. And for that, you guys won't be needing this," Bill said, and chucked the stone over his shoulder, passing through the portal.

"No!" Omir roared, rushing to grasp it. The black orb vanished from sight, unable to be seen from the bright white light that filled the circle.

"And to think," Bill chuckled, "I wanted to kick you people out of town to let Snappy here do his thing! Who would have thought that it was only by you getting in his way that I could find the right moment to sneak in! Hah! Oh, I love convenient coincidences," Bill sighed happily.

"You used me," Omir growled, turning back to Bill, who never turned, but rotated his eye to face the direction of Omir, "Why!? You could have worked with me! Instead, you USED ME!"

"Oh, Snappy," Bill whipped around, coddling the cheeks of the Sorcerer, "I only work with people I can make deals with. And I couldn't, "he cleared his throat and quoted his next word, "officially make deals while in that void. So, instead, I used you. After all, you forgot the most important rule of using power," Bill said, his voice drawn out as he chastised Omir, "Trust... no one."

Dipper told him, "You will be stopped."

Bill rounded on Dipper, very close to him. "I made the mistake of under-estimating you all before," Bill said, turning to the teens and others, "This time, I'm going to be double, triple, quadruple sure that I get my way. So... to put it bluntly in your tongue," Bill expanded to the size of a truck and said in a horribly distorted voice, "COME AT ME, BRO."

The six behind Omir stepped back, taken at the sight of the huge animated geometric shape. Finally, he squeezed back to his normal size, and cracked his 'knuckles' in his fingers.

"Well, I'm off to go find new deals to exploit and people to sucker," Bill said, adjusting his tie and hat once before crossing his legs together and slowly levitating upwards. "Hope you all enjoy your inevitable stay in the void yourself! And Remember:" he said, slowly floating higher and higher towards the portal, where the circle of images rose to meet with him, covering his form entirely. As they met, the images began to flash and change between others- so fast and rapidly that the human eye could not follow.

"Life is unquantifiable, risk is existence, break lots of rules, BYYYEEEE!"

Bill flashed with a glow, piercingly bright white light and all else averted their eyes.

The seven people inside the test chamber opened their eyes instantly. The dimmed and muted color had left, leaving them in their cave with proper light. However, the stone in the cave was gone.

"He took the stone," Omir mumbled.

Arline turned her gaze back to the Sorcerer, and snarled. Taking her first step, she made to lunge at him.

The portal then trembled. Streaking out from the still pure white existence were bolts of energy. Shaped and twisted like lightning, they constantly crushing dirt and rock as they reached out and ate away at stone for short moments. Those bolts of energy then would evaporate into nothingness. All but Omir backed up, including Arline, who slid to a stop, watching the cascades of energy and power.

Wendy, her eyes nervously looking at the damage caused by the bolts of energy, asked, "Someone want to explain what that's supposed to be?"

"Looks like the portal is having a tantrum?" Mabel suggested.

"That helped," Wendy muttered.

The bolts of white energy grew more and more frequent, snatching outwards in violent breaks from their constant containment.

"I don't know, but I'm finding out!" Stan shouted, and he whirled around, rushing for the still open door to the observation lab.

All but the Sorcerer left. "All my work," Omir Steindorf said, standing before the portal, his eyes lazily open as he stared into the white abyss, "All my years... and I was led to be a fool."

Arline, turning back to glare once at the older man, rushed after the others. "How do we turn it off?!" Arline turned to the others, no longer interested in Omir, with the state of things as it were.

"We know how to turn it off," Dipper said, and pointed to an entirely ignored set of command consoles, "But that was assuming they had ever properly turned it on! Nothing was ever activated, so any equipment in here is just useless!"

"Don't say that," Soos begged, "There's got to be something in here we can use to tame this wild apparition of pure, undiluted power," he added, eyeing the portal as it crackled and roared.

"What did he mean?" Mabel said. The others turned to Mabel, their eyes scanning for more clues to her intent. "Bill? When he said," she raised her pitch several notes higher than normal, "Enjoy your inevitable stay in the void yourself!"

"He... he doesn't mean that we're going to where he was, does he?" Dipper repeated. "It's not like we're jumping into that portal any time soon!"

"I got info!" Grunkle Stan called from the lab, and he ran out, holding a pair of old, stained, recently printed statistics in crude, raw data, "Uhh," Stan read through it again, his eyes looping through various printed numbers and data values, "So the portal is, uh, at a level of power so high that it can't be recorded, and the type of energy: quantum based," stan added with a roll of his eyes, "Like I know what that means, has been shifted to something else."

"Reality portal," Dipper chimed in, "It's what jerk-head over there said, "Dipper grunted, heaving a thumb behind him.

Stan clawed at his chin. "Well, that's great and all, but that also means we've got problems!" Stan barked, "The portal had a self-maintaining de-activation clause if things got too rough for it to handle – but that's only if it knows what's going on! It can't record the energy inside the portal, so it can't shut down!"

"Then how do we do that!?" Arline barked, "Because I'm getting an inkling that we shouldn't let this thing run for too much longer–"

A huge bolt of energy exploded out, nearly missing the crew gathered around Stan. The twins yelled and held onto one another, watching as the beam of power chiseled away at the stone and rock like a hot knife along butter. As it had quickly appeared, it quickly vanished.

"You could say that!" Stan shouted, his forehead sweating profusely, "Those laser-things? The ones that almost killed us there? They're eating away at what they hit for a reason! The doesn't have the energy to keep itself sustained, and without any way of shutting it down, it's finding its own source of fuel!"

"What, rock?" Mabel asked.

"Reality!" Stan shouted, "It's literally chewing at existence as a means to power itself up constantly!" Stan stepped forward, holding the papers to his side. The shadows of Omir, still staring into the growing danger of the portal blocked out Stan as he stepped into the darkness. His head fell, and his voice cracked. "At this rate, I... I think we're in for something bad."

"Stan, what do we do?" Arline begged of him, running over and hold his arms, pulling him to look at her, "Help me help us all! What do we do to stop the worst-case scenario?"

Stan asked her, "What, You mean the end of the world as we know it?"

No one breathed for a moment. Even Arline's flushed face went light as she stared at the old man.

Stan sighed. "Yeah... not to break it to you guys, but based on how this thing works, It'll keep eating everything it can until it just cancels itself out and fades into nothingness... the world is a huge pool of energy, and... I... I think we're about to see the end."

Stan's grip on the paper was not strong enough. The wind, now growing faster and more consistent, tore the pages away and whipping them towards the walls. The group watched as the papers met with one of the bursts of energy, and the paper sizzled into many small pieces, eventually being swallowed by the white void.

"Stan," Arline sighed, "You're more than that."

"Huh?" he asked, looking to her.

"C'mon. You're more stubborn than just letting the end come," she reminded him, "You're the kind of person who'll fight tooth and nail to get what you want! Right, scare-master?" she added, her voice softening as she reminded him of his greatest title.

Stan's eyes flickered up to her, driving his worried, fragile soul against hers. Where he saw confidence, she saw uncertainness. Stan tore away from her, shaking his head. "I..." he stalled, looking down at the shoes of those also present. Rising his head, he found the twins, and his employees, nervously watching him. As he stared at each of them, he adjusted his stance, pulling himself upright.

"Alright," he said, turning about to look to Arline. "I'll do my thing. You do yours." Arline merely nodded, and then marched towards the group. Stan piped up, "Okay, you four get out of here and to town! Get as many people as you can away from this building before anything bad happens!"

Mabel, watching Stan carefully, asked, "Grunkle Stan, you're coming, right?"

"When you get to safety, keep going!" Stan barked over Mabel as Arline lead the way to the doors, "I want you all so far away from here that I have to call you over phone line and be charged at least fifty dollars for it! And you're not coming back until I do!" Stan shouted, ushering them all towards the elevator.

Dipper demanded of Stan, "But you're going to be okay?"

"Stan," Arline asked quietly, "You need to find a way to stop this. Without..." she glanced over her shoulder, where the four nervously watched her, "Playing the martyr."

"Hah! Like heck I'd do that!" Stan laughed, patting the woman's shoulders, "It's more like I'm going to pretend to be the hero long enough-"

The ground shook as a blast of energy streaked its way through the entire lab across from the shattered glass, and cut a deep, harsh line into the walls around the electrical equipment. Dirt and sparks of charred earth exploded around them. Grunkle Stan spun, holding an arm across his face to avoid the debris while monitoring the damage. As usual, the blast of energy was short lived.

"Anyway," Stan said, shaking himself for a moment as he turned to face the stunned group, and he looked at Arline with a forced smile, "I'll be around just long enough to play hero, and then, you know..." he said, his smile staying firmly placed, even as his eye's lost a type of shine. Dipper and Mabel could see it, and the employees could see it. Arline stared at him, her own eyes boring into his own, reading his intent as best she could.

Arline swallowed down fear. "Right," she nodded, her face furrowing.

Mabel shouted, "He's going to stay behind!" She tried pulling herself around Arline.

"Arline, get them to safety!" Stan shouted, and spun around.

"No! We're helping!" Dipper also shouted. Arline's arm held out and grasped Mabel, pushing her back. "You can't stop us!" Dipper shouted at Stan as Mabel fought against Arline's grasp.

"Stop you!?" Stan laughed, and looked to them, "Not my job!" he said, and looked to Arline. "You're the one who's ultimately going to protect them, right?" he asked, his words cracking as he stared at them from a distance, his lips trembling.

"No," Soos quietly muttered, "You... you're getting out too, Mister Pines."

Stan grinned as he looked at Soos, and with a sigh, he lifted something from his pocket. With a quick toss, he threw a small, jingling chain of metal at Soos. "Hold onto her while I'm fixing this, got it?" he asked Soos. Soos looked down, along with Wendy, to the palm of his hand. Resting with a small jingle, was a set of keys to an old, well-kept red car up on the surface. Soos gasped, clutching it tight, as his eyes watered. Stan told Soos with voice that he had used sparingly to the man he trusted so deeply, "Keep it together, tough guy." His own smile fading as he gulped. Stanley Pines declared to Jesus Alzamirano Ramirez, "My last real order to you, as boss, is to protect my kids until I'm back," Stan said with finality.

Tears streamed down Soos's eyes.

Wendy blurted out, "Mister Pines, you can't just expect us to-"

Stan shook his head. "Her too, Soos. And, most of all," Stan turned from Soos, walking towards one of the control panels, "Protect yourself. For me."

"R-R-R-Right, M-Mister P-Pines!" Soos saluted, and with one fell swoop, lifted both Wendy and Dipper with his arms, crying the entire time, and pulled them into the elevator.

"Soos! Let me down!" Dipper shouted, struggling against the huge man's impressive strength.

"C'mon dude, this isn't cool!" Wendy shouted, pulling and clawing at escape as best she could.

"Master," Mabel begged, "He's going to be stupid! He's going to actually play hero!" Mabel pointed to Stan, "We can't just leave him!"

"I know," Arline quietly said.

"You... you do?" Mabel asked, stepping back to watched Arline. The three struggling stopped their fuss, and watched the two. Arline smiled so greatly, her eyes nearly closed as she took in one long breath and spoke to Mabel. Arline reached to her, cupping her face in her hands.

"Mabel, my best friend. You've made me prouder than you can possibly know, Mabel. I wish I had always been the teacher you deserved, instead of just me," Arline said.

Mabel felt tears run down her cheeks, but she did not cry. She frowned at Arline. "Why are you saying this?" she asked.

Arline shrugged. "Well, see, you're not wrong. He can't be left alone."

Stan whipped his head to her. "Don't you dare!" he shouted.

"Sorry, Stan," Arline turned half way, glancing to him.

Then she snapped out her hand and struck Mabel in the stomach.

As the pupil reeled down, clutching her gut, the wind knocked out of her. Arline grasped her shoulders, turned her, and nearly hurled her into the elevator. Mabel stumbled into Soos, who fell and instantly collapsed with Dipper and Wendy. Arline calmly stepped forward, and, her eyes never leaving the four, she pressed the button for 'up'.

"Goodbye, guys. Love you," she said, as the doors closed.

"Master!" Mabel shouted, tears running down her face. "Don't leave-"

But the elevator was gone. Leaving behind the bottom floor, the four feel the pull of lurching ascension. Mabel stood quickly, her hands against the closed internal grate. All she could do is look down, her mouth and eyes wide open. With every ounce of breath in her body, Mabel shouted a name down below: "ARLINE!"

Moments passed after Mabel's cries went unanswered, and the doors slid open again. Mabel quickly spun around and shoved a finger into the button that would lower the elevator down. Nothing happened- no buzzer, or shake of wires... nothing.

"Go down!" Mabel roared, punching the terminal, "We have to go help them too!"

"Mister Pines cut off the elevator controls," Soos stated, and walked past them, his eyes somber. His pace was quickened and his stance deliberately forward. As he exited, he turned, facing the others. "We need to go, dudes."

"How could you possibly know if he cut the controls?" Wendy demanded, "It could just be an old-"

"I don't!" Soos said, actually cutting into Wendy's words with his booming voice, "But he gave me one last job, and I'm going to do it!" Soos declared angrily, several tears running down his flushed face. Taking a moment from stunning the gang before him, Soos closed his eyes, and held the brim of his cap with his hand. In that same hand, the keys dangled before him, drawing out his gaze to them. He nodded to the keys and faced the three once more. "Pack whatever you can, and then we need to get people out of town dudes."

Wendy glanced to the twins. Receiving a shrug and nod from Dipper, she trudged forward, her pace growing faster as the rumbling down below grew. Dipper put his hands onto Mabel gently, wrapping his fingers around her shoulders.

"C'mon," he told her.

"We... we need to find Waddles," Mabel sniffed as she stepped out of the elevator.

"Let's hurry then," Dipper agreed as Soos turned and raced up the steps, "We don't really know how much time we have."

---

Arline Hirsh stared at the closed elevator. Her eyes were heavy as she watched the cables inside jostle and clang together, fighting off the over-powering roar of wind and magical discharge from the laboratory chamber. Her eyes remained closed, her mind fighting the horrible realization to what she had chosen. She was down here, now.

From behind her, Stan Pines barked out, "You can still go!"

This shook her from her trance. She spun, approaching him. "Like hell am I going to let you go down without help."

"You have a job, remember?" Stan pointedly said.

Arline grumbled, shaking her head. "You gave Soos that job. I'm more help to you here."

Stan pointed at her, angrily squinting, "Look here, punk-"

"Stan!" Arline yelled, punching one of the glass cases by the displays, her teeth exposed as she snarled, "I'm not in the mood to explain to you how I've trained to know how energy works, okay? But I can. I've been able to read types of energies for years, and this type?" she nudged her head to the massive portal, "This 'reality' portal? I'm familiar to it."

"...So?" Stan asked.

"I can help delay the-" she let a closed hand open up slowly, "-boom."

Stan's eyes studied her, looking for doubts in her gaze that were not there. "You have a life still," he told her, his voice darkly quiet, "There's more you can do with yours."

"I could say the same about you," she shrugged.

"And you'd be wrong," Stan barked back. "I'm at the end, Arline."

She chuckled, her eyes shimmering. "Great, because what better way to go down than fighting to save as many good people as you possibly can?"

The fire between them danced and changed from a cold sear to a warming touch. With only a few words, they two finally understood one another. Stan sighed and nodded.

"You know," he started, grinning, "You're one heck of a girl."

"And you're one heck of a con-man," she smiled. When he opened his mouth, ready to argue, she added, "Fooled me into thinking you never cared for almost an entire month."

Stan could only smile. "Do what you gotta do," he told her, "I'm going to try breaking some of my brother's old codes – get electricity into the chamber and feed the portal with anything I've got. Maybe we can stifle it!"

"I'm for that," Arline nodded, and marched past him, cracking her neck with a slow twist. "Okay," she breathed, finding the door, where the horribly bright, white light poured in. She turned back to him once, and nodded. "Good luck," she muttered.

Stan went to work the moment she stepped out, racing to panels and adjusting certain power knobs to control the flow of energy. Where he could find a danger zone for out-put, he would ignore it. If there was a warning light, he'd manually turn it off, with a switch of a punch from his fist. He wouldn't stop pouring in as much energy into the supposedly de-activated portal as could.

Arline marched into the chamber, wind howling around her, he very steps faltered by the sheer ferocious energy that tore and blasted around her. Her clothes floated around her form as they were semi-levitated by the constant drafts of wind. As she did, her eyes squinted, dealing with the strength of the wind. Standing before the portal still was Omir Steindorf.

"Used... like a child," he muttered to himself.

Arline let her fate for the man before her fuel the power and strength resting in her body. He had done so much to her life. He had harmed so many people for this day, which now he had been robbed of. It was so perfectly ironic to her; to think that he, this entire time, had been blinded by something as wonderful like love. It was now her most blinding quality: hate. That gave her strength, surely. She gritted her teeth as she felt her temperature raise. He was down.

She could finally get him. He would die, and then he could be out of her life forever. She was finally going to kill Omir Steindorf.

She rose her fist to the air, and it began to smoke. Ashes, embers, it radiated from her.

"I am fire. I burn," she told herself, and prepared to strike at the back of his neck.

Then her mind flashed to something. That laugh. That big smile. Those days in the woods. The evenings spent, theorizing martial defense with Dipper. The times she had caught Wendy trying to spy on them, or the many times Soos had blatantly watched, his big eyes shining. She saw Yuki, proudly commented on their form. She remembered the scare-off. She saw the burns on Mabels hands. She saw the thirteen-year-old in her mind for the first time, who had run into her studio declaring, "I am here to destroy all evil and goths alike!"

Arline turned away from Omir. She put a hand to her face. She had only a moment to get it together. She wouldn't cry. There was a time and place for that, even if it had been in the past.

She eyed Omir Steindorf, who still hadn't seemed to notice her.

Arline, her fists balled up tight, walked past him.

"I am the phoenix, born of ash," she claimed loudly, holding out her arms as she proudly presented herself before the portal, "Made of fire, filled of wind. I am that which chases the sun, forever burning as I consume myself in my own power. I shall never extinguish. The wind that I forge carries me to great heights, and all before my wings will bask in heat or be scorched aside!"

"My name," she shouted, barely behind Omir, who slowly turned to face her, "is Arline Hirsh! The Student of the Master of the Paths of Humanity! Guardsman to time! I DO NOT BACK DOWN!"

Her body fully erupted into red, yellow, and orange as flames exploded from her as an aura of heat. Two large streaks of flame jutted from her back, fire in the shapes of wings. The air itself burned and ash of the earth below her began to swirl as currents she created from rising heat battled the constant pull and sway of the winds from the portal.

She walked closer to the portal, feeling the pull of power. The electrical strikes of energy grew closer and closer to her, attracted to the force she gave off. Like moths to a flame, they finally found her.

Unlike moths, they did not burn and fall, dead. They met her, and knocked her down, stunning her with bursts of electrical energy. Those bolts of energy were freezing to the touch. She gasped, holding herself as best she could against the near constant barrage of power. Her flames faltered. She stood back, trying to resist that siphoning cold.

It was too much for her. She couldn't stand. Her muscles in her back and legs were starting to give. From the output of energy in her body from sustaining fire around her without being burned to death, to the strikes of energy from the portal, Arline felt her life faltering. She was giving away all she could, feeling her heartbeat grow faint.

One knee gave, and she fell to a kneel, still burning. Another bolt of lightning slammed into her shoulder, coursing into her bones. She screamed, the fire traveling up the bolt of energy. The portal was feeding off of her, eating away at her life, bit by bit.

As she looked up, a huge buildup of energy swirled and spun around a single point. Arline saw the blast coming, but was sorely unable to do anything about it. She closed her eyes, ready to die for a cause.

A white rod shot out before her, knocking aside the blast as a deflection. The arcing energy ate into the side of the wall, destroying heavy rock and boulder alike. All Arline could do was tremble and shake as she followed the path of the rod.

Omir breathed heavily, holding his two hands along the edge of the staff.

"You could have killed me," he reminded her.

She glared up at him. "Still might."

He snorted. "So," he said, swallowing words as she slowly stood, "You're ready to die, is that correct? Righting my mistakes?"

"I've made it my life's goal to do that," she grunted.

Omir never flinched at her words, nor her vendetta. His eyes focused on her. Scorched, burnt, near death, and still standing against the end with pride. A smile cracked on his face, and he nodded.

With a gentleness that she had heard him use with Graupner, he told her softly, "Now I understand."

"What?"

"Why he chose you," he said.

Arline's heart fluttered a tiny amount more than usual. Omir turned away though, and lowered his staff to point at the center of the portal. As he did, a blast of his own lightning, blue and constant, broke out form the end and zapped alone the center.

Arline stepped next to him, and with her two hands forward, she thrust her palms out and blew a heavy stream of fire into the portal's flat face. Lightning and fire alike collided into the white, where only traces of their efforts could be seen. Small blue sparks and ashes alike flickered out from their destructive power.

Behind them, Stan watched, his eyes aghast with what he saw. With what they were giving, the two could actually... sate the hunger. They could slowly whittle down the build-up of drawing energy from the run-away portal.

Stan stood on his feet, desperately trying to match the best possible results he could with what little control he had. Every time the portal fluctuated, trying to grow larger to eat more 'reality', he would adjust more power to sate it. The more he did it, the occasional spike of power grew larger.

Finally, he saw it. The energy reading on the portal vanished. The three almost gasped as they were plunged into near darkness. Their eyes adjusted as the bright white light of the portal condensed into a small ball of light, no larger than the smallest pen-point. The martial artist and magic-user stalled their attack, both panting in place as they all stared at the small object, hovering perfectly in the center of the circle. Stan stared at it, praying more than anything else that it would fizzle out of existence. Taking a step away from the control panel, he reached out and grasped an old, shattered framed picture: Mabel and Dipper, age twelve, smiled up at him.

Readings on the portal sky-rocketed, and Stan barely had time to drop the frame. The ball of light exploded. Brighter light than the three had ever seen washed over them, leaving no hopes of shadow or doubt.

The last thing Stan ever did before being lost in the bright light was the picture fluttering from his hand.

---

Coming down the stairs, with hastily packed bags, Mabel and Dipper fell as half the building next to them exploded.

Toppling down the stairs, their suitcases spilling about as a humungous column of light exploded upwards. The entire section of the building dedicated to tours and scamming customers was eaten by a huge beacon of pure, unrelenting, vibrating, roaring, white light.

"My summer journal!" Mabel screamed as the newest of her books fell forward, pictures flying everywhere, skyward.

"We need to go!" Dipper shouted, racing up with her as they quickly ran away from the massive beam of light. Now only holding what they had on their backs, the twins ran out of the building.

"WADDLES!" Mabel screamed into the building. "WADDLES!"

Squeals of terror and panic met her cry. From the direction of Stan's room, a pink spotted pig ran out, avidly fleeing the huge source of light.

"C'mon big guy!" Mabel encouraged him to run by, stepping aside for him, allowing him to exit. To her encouragement, Waddles raced into Dipper's car, passing by Soos and Wendy to shuffle inside.

"What about Yuki?!" Dipper called as they made it to the front doors. Outside, Soos had already opened and readied the El Diablo roadster, Stan's personal car, for transportation of a harmed person. Back seats lowered, and anything dangerous left in the back trunk.

"We have to go back and get him!" Soos shouted. Helping the twins away and dodging the pig race by him, Soos made for the Manor.

The Column of Light expanded, eating away at more of the shack. Tearing wood and stone, metal and paint alike, the column of light, reaching into the clouds itself, destroyed everything it touched. The Dipper and Mabel screamed and Soos stumbled back as the majority of the building was evaporated.

Wendy roared, "C'MON!"

Wendy's call did not go unnoticed. Dipper ran to her as she slid into the passenger seat to his car, Soos into the driver of Stan's, and Mabel atop her bike. Three vehicles all on and ready to leave desperately flew drove down the swerving, winding path. Car after car after motorcycle made it up and down hills and around corners, avoiding many fleeing fauna. Birds in the skies squawked and chirped of danger as wind in the air began to whip about. The beam of energy grew stronger.

Soos turned the car towards the highway, which would lead towards the town. Dipper too turned the wheel, and in his reflection, he saw Mabel keeping pace, her face focused on survival. Dipper glanced back to the column of light in the sky once more.

All in Gravity Falls saw it; huge, unflinching and uncompromising light. It cast deep, dark shadows wherever it could not touch. Those fighting in town found themselves tied to the image before them now, stretching high into the heavens. Above them, penetrating the clouds with a power none before had witnessed, the energy faded once more, growing smaller and thinner, until the light vanished with a small, but hastened, condensation.

Pacifica, flying with Magenta, had a perfect view of it. She could probably see the Mystery Manor. Down below, The Corduroys, still beating up a gang of lycanropes, paused as they stared into the light. Candy and Grenda, along with Wendy's old friends, had paused from setting up a car to become a battering-ram. Their eyes beheld the lights. The Parents Northwests, still stunned at their daughter's dismissal of their family, looked up to the light.

McGucket lowered his glasses to stare at the light. Shandra Jimenez, from inside a building, pointed a camera at it, her muffled voice trying to narrate what she saw. Tallman harker, driving downtown without a care in the world, paused at a red light to look at the light. Miss Isoar, mid-way through hitting a Lycanrope with a large roll of magazines, let her eyes drink in the sight.

Everyone in Gravity Falls, the humans, the semi-humans, and non-humans, stared at that bright light. They were all, at once, united in their beholding of the stark white beam.

Then, all at once, the beam returned with a bang.

The earth lifted and shook as the light exploded. No longer a tall column, but an expanding wave of pure, white energy, the world around the light shredded every single thing it touched.

For the two cars, the literal lift of earth was fine; the cars only jostled slightly.

For the bike, not so much.

Mabel fell, striking the highway pavement with a rough twist. Spinning out of control next to her bike, her skin and clothing slowly tore and matted with the harsh texture of the road.

Dipper screamed, "MABEL!"

Dipper slammed on the breaks, watching Mabel at his distance.

"NO!" Wendy turned in her seat as Dipper did, watching as finally Mabel came to a stop. She wasn't moving. "Dipper, what-" Wendy asked.

Dipper took action before he knew what he was doing. His seatbelt came off in a flash, and he shoved the door open with a kick. The light of the rapidly expanding light struck his eyes. He had to shield his vision, but he could still see Mabel, barely stirring in the road. He turned, ignoring the continued panic cries from the pig. "Drive without me!" he roared to Wendy.

"What!?" she yelled.

He ignored Wendy's words after that. All he could hear was his heart. He ran back down the street as fast as he could, towards the danger, towards Mabel. She was trying her best to push herself up off the road, but her arms shook violently.

Behind him, Dipper heard the car door slam. He only needed to look back once to see Wendy go, racing off.

"C'mon, big girl, up!" Dipper told Mabel as he held pull her to a stand, "To your feet!"

"Dipper, I'm not-"

"Just hold on to me for now!" Dipper desperately told her. "Now I save you!" he shouted, clinging onto her arms and back as they walked over to the downed bike. The engine still buzzing, but bike kiltered over, Dipper shoved it back to it's side. The ground trembled ferociously now, and he looked behind him.

The wave had passed through town entirely.

It was just them.

Dipper roared, "MABEL, DON'T LET GO!"

Dipper, now riding atop the half-scarred bike, kicked off and raced forward. Her fingers dug into his skin, tearing at him painfully. He didn't care; he was alive as long as he felt the pain. The bike jolted against cracks in the highway, and he continued forward.

All he could do was focus on ahead. Just keep ahead. Stay ahead of the blast. Stay out of danger. Keep Mabel alive!

"Dipper," Mabel muttered, shaking her head.

"No, we got this!" Dipper said, and glanced into the mirror. There was a reason he felt more wind than before.

The blast was only a few hundred feet behind them now. He saw how it tore at the earth, blasting it apart like nothing, shredded like loose paper.

"No!" Dipper cried, turning back and leaning forward. Anything to get away.

This couldn't end now.

"Dipper," Mabel hugged him hard. "I need to say-"

"I... I know," Dipper said.

He no longer needed to look into the mirror. The light blazed all around him, a burning radiance of shock colorlessness. Under normal circumstance, the twins would have thought their backs were burning with the level of intense light. The roar of the blast behind them ate at their world as all they could see was the path of the highway before them.

The bike's back tire slowly began to lift.

All at once the light and din were gone.

Dipper, feeling light headed, asked aloud, "Huh?"

The twins both blinked, and Dipper slowed the bike down. Ahead of them, the two cars, one of red and the other of black, stopped and turned to the side of the road. Soos and Wendy were getting out. Dipper turned quickly, looking to Mabel.

"How bad are you feeling?" he quickly asked her. Her eyes met with him. There was pain, but she could look past it.

"Meh," she shrugged.

Dipper sighed and smiled. She would be fine. Then, his eyes adjusted.

Behind him...

Was the forest. And the road.

"Wait, what?" Dipper stood off the bike as Soos, Wendy, and Waddles all came running to them. Dipper's eyes scanned the highway, looking for the devastation he saw rushing their way. The cracked, eaten, ripped up streets were fine. The woods, the trees and leaves that had been blended into a perpetual smoothie of wood and splinters were swaying gently in the breeze.

"I... did we miss something?" Mabel asked, adjusting her seat on the bike to watch with her brother. As Soos and Wendy made it, Waddles nuzzled next to Mabel's leg, pressing his nose against her knee. "Aww, I'm okay for now, buddy," she quietly assured the pig.

"Did... did we imagine it?" Soos asked, asking the others.

"No, I know I saw that," Dipper told them, and most of all himself. "We ran for our lives!"

"But nothing changed," Mabel assured them, as Wendy passed by them.

Wendy curtly told them, "No." The three looked to Wendy. Her voice had shaken. Her posture was loose. Then she turned, her eyes wide. "Something is very, very wrong."

Exchanging looks, Dipper nodded. "We go back."

"But it could be dangerous!" Soos argued as Wendy rushed past them.

"You're coming with me, missy," Wendy told Mabel, helping her off the bike.

"Soos," Dipper grunted, "We don't know if it's dangerous. We don't even know if anything now actually happened. We... I need to know."

Soos let Wendy, Mabel, and Waddles pass by him, and gave a solemn nod to Dipper. "Okay dude. Let's go back and check."

One minute later, Dipper was on Mabel's bike, riding it solo, looking for the first signs of the streets leading into town. The now pleasant sun that beamed down on his face only reminded him of the light that had cascaded on his back. Had... had something been missed? Forgotten about? Did the destruction... never happen?

No... his senses hadn't lied to him. That horrible tearing sound, the shaking of earth itself, splintered and ripped like all of it was nothing... it had been real.

Yet no evidence presented itself to them now.

Dipper lead the way, growing frustrated. He was starting to suspect shock had settled into his brain. He could have sworn that they should have met one of the streets by now. Dipper glanced behind them, scanning the windows for suggestion. Wendy and Mabel silently were exchanging a conversation behind the window, looking to Dipper and the woods.

Dipper turned around and continued driving.

"The heck is going on?" Dipper growled to himself, looking around.

No signs for Gravity Falls.

No beaten up water tower.

No old lumberjack statue.

No Mystery Manor posters set up by Yuki.

Dipper's eyes scanned around, seeing the geography of the world around them, all familiar. The Pine trees were the same, the hills the same, the birds and animals... all normal. Simple. There was no road leading off the highway yet.

Appearing ahead was finally a turn of some sort. Dipper sighed, relieved to see something other than continuing road. "It's just stress, phew," he said to himself, turning the bike across the highway to approach the off-set.

To his surprise, he saw a building he had never seen before. A dirt and gravel parking lot lead to a small wooden building with various antenna and radio wires. Flashing before them as the angle of the sun passed by, a sign reading 'Sparkle Lake Park Ranger Station' confused Dipper further.

Finally in what Dipper assumed was a public parking spot, he hopped off the bike. Turning to the two other parked cars, he approached them quickly, his pace bleeding away his worry.

"Something is definitely wrong," Dipper agreed, looking to Wendy.

"Yeah," Mabel nodded, "I'm getting hee-bee jee-bee's just standing around here," she said, brushing her shoulders off, "And that's not the adrenaline for crashing my bike and probably hitting my head six or whatever times. Actually... I think I want to sit down some more? Cool," she sighed, and approached an outdoor bench, and sat down, leaning on her knees.

"You need help?" Dipper asked.

"No, I'm good," Mabel assured him. Waddles swayed over to her, propping up onto the bench as best he could. With his large flat nose, he sniffed at her, giving the girl little pig-nosed kisses.

"I do too," Soos said, "Something here isn't right... uh," Soos walked over and sat next to Mabel, "I need a second."

"Sure thing," Wendy nodded. She turned, and nudged dipper with her elbow. "Up to us to check this out."

"Yeah," Dipper nodded.

Ascending a small wooden staircase, the two entered a public office lobby of some sort. The interior reminded Dipper of the Gravity Falls police station, where wood and poorly chosen decor made a log-cabin like feel seem even more tacky. Dipper looked around, seeing various tourist signs.

"Well, it's good if that's still there," Dipper snickered, pointing to a sign in one of the broacher stacks, where a small picture of a bigfoot snuck in the backwoods. Wendy glanced over and snickered.

"Yeah," she said, and passed Dipper, approaching the stand.

A new voice, gruff and bored called to them. "Can I help you?"

Dipper turned his head. A tall ranger in a wide-brimmed hat stood behind the long counter, eyeing the two with what Dipper was certain was a suspicious glare. His face held a strong five o-clock shadow, and his beady black eyes watched them unfalteringly.

"Hi," Dipper approached him, rubbing his hands together, "Uhh... so, I'm, uh, going to sound really, really weird when I say this," he assured the officer, who never blinked or moved. "Right," Dipper sighed, "So, uh... has anything weird or... cataclysmic happened recently."

"...No."

"Oh, good," Dipper nodded and chuckled, "Because... I'll just cut to it," Dipper looked to Wendy, who was going through dozens of broachers in a rush, "We're trying to get to Gravity Falls. We think we missed... an exit?" Dipper tried, looking back out the window, sure that he should have passed it yet.

"Sure. Which state?" the officer replied.

Dipper snorted. "Here. Oregon. Really nearby. By Scuttlebutt lake?"

The officer took his turn to snort. "Never heard of it."

Dipper's heart stalled. "Sorry?"

"Scuttlebutt lake? Closest one 'round here is," and he pointed over Dipper's shoulder. Dipper turned, reading the sign for 'Sparkle Lake Park', "You're in the ranger station for the park, after all," the officer told him with an adjustment of his pants.

"Uh-" Dipper started.

Wendy stomped on over. "What's the date?" she demanded.

"July thirty first," the officer glanced to her, an eyebrow raising.

"Year?!" she barked.

"Two thousand fifteen," he took a step away from the counter.

"And you've never heard of Gravity Falls?" she demanded, leaning on the counter, closer to him.

"Wendy," Dipper gulped, eyeing the physical take of the ranger. The man was looking a little concerned for Wendy.

"That's impossible!" she said, "My family ships huge amounts of lumber out of state! Corduroy Mills!" she said, "Big shippers! You've heard of it!"

"I haven't ma'am, and I'd ask you to please lower your voice," he said, a tone of warning presented.

"Wait, what about the Mystery Manor," Dipper added, "Or- or the Duskhope concert? Uh, the Two Thousand Fifteen Business Convention?!"

The Park ranger eyed the two, his hands at his side, nervously inches away from his pistol. Then, after he looked to a window, he cracked a smile. "I get it," he nodded.

"Huh?" the two asked.

"This is a prank," he said, pointing to them as his tension lifted, "You're trying to pull something on me. Boyfriend, girlfriend- let's put a ranger on the edge and get 'em to laugh for a bit," he chuckled.

"This isn't a prank!" Wendy snapped. Dipper went to speak, but his mouth had suddenly gone slightly dry.

"Listen, Ma'am," the Ranger shook his head and grinned, "I know the history of this park. Part of the job, see? And this park has a long, unimportant history. The only thing out there in those woods? Bears. In the water? Beavers. Maybe a sasquatch out there, to the folk that believe that sorta thing, but-"

Dipper trembled and stepped out of the office, trailed quickly by Wendy. Worried words from the Ranger carried past them, yet it was as effective as a breeze to stopping them. Outside, the three pairs of eyes turned to them, watching them with a sudden burst of worry.

"What happened?!" Mabel demanded, forcing herself to stand with a painful groan. "Did you throw up or something?"

Wendy made to speak first, but her throat had gone dry. "I... we, uh, inside... there's no..."

"What's going on?" Soos begged. Dipper marched past them. He saw his reflection in the side of his car, bouncing off him, and from it he saw their gazes. He couldn't face them, but he would still say his mind.

Dipper finally managed to get it out of his mind and speak it aloud.

He told them, "Gravity Falls no longer exists."

The breath left Mabel and Soos.

"How?" Mabel quietly murmured. "It was an explosion."

"No," dipper turned to them, his eyes no longer focused, "It makes sense now: why there's no debris or ruin. It was a reality explosion. Grunkle Stan said it was a reality explosion that was coming that would consume the world, but it only got so far out."

"But nothing actually happened!" Mabel implied, holding her hand around, "See?! No carnage! Nothing!"

"Yes, it did," Dipper whispered. "If... if reality in an area ceased... anything that existed there may never have come to be. So... if a town; a history; a... people... were caught in an explosion that destroyed reality-"

"They'd never have existed to begin with?" Soos asked.

Dipper could only nod.

After a pause lasting a very long five seconds, the first one to act was Wendy. She held her head in her hands. Her voice started low, and she walked away, pacing back and forth as her eyes darted around.

"My family. My mom's resting spot. My friends," she said, each choice bringing her face further and further away from a balanced state of mind, "Everything I ever knew... is gone?"

Dipper couldn't say it again. Yet he didn't need to. Wendy fell to her rear, pulling at her hair. There was nothing that any of them could say to relieve her of that level of agony. Wendy cried, holding her shoulders as her tears fell to the dried gravel below her.

"Grunkle Stan," Mabel whimpered.

"Yuki," Dipper added, his own lip trembling.

"Our friends... master..." Mabel cried, limping up and over to Dipper, holding his middle as her own sobbing began. Dipper fought hard as she hugged his back, staring into the reflection of his car.

His mind raced.

His mind was numb.

He needed to act. He couldn't act.

"How do I fix this?" Dipper begged himself. In the reflection, no answer came to him. "How do we fix this!?" he demanded of himself, spit flying from his gritted mouth.

Someone with a deep, dark voice replied, "That is a much better way to ask that question."

Mabel's arms flew off Dipper as she whirled around. Soos and Wendy hastily gathered near her and Dipper. He never needed to turn, however. Approaching him in the reflection, leaving the woods nearby the parking lot, was a tall figure in a long, black cloak, wearing a scarred silver mask.

"Y-You?!" Wendy hiccupped.

"Who else?" the figure repeated.

"Guardsman," Dipper proclaimed, turning around to face the entity of shadow.

"But the town-" Mabel started.

"Is currently lost," the Guardsman sighed, his deep voice resonant as he stopped just past the parked bike, standing before them in broad daylight, "Along with the stone of conservation, and any hope of stopping Omir Steindorf's plan. But no, I am still here. I was able to-"

"Escape," Dipper growled, passing by the others. "You!" he pointed to the guardsman, "We needed your help!" The tall figure peered down at Dipper, watching his movement with a serenity that Dipper found insulting. "Arline thought you were coming to help us! Save the town! Fight Omir!? Where were you!?" he shouted, leaning into the space of the figure.

The tall, masked thing said nothing. He adjusted his stance, and reached behind him. From his hand, he pulled out a piece of printed paper.

"That's... from the underground base for Graupner," Dipper realized quickly, spotting the sigil for 'Steindorf & Co'.

"Technically it was Omir's," the Guardsman stated, and held it to Dipper, "This paper full detailed the plan they had next. I stole it away from their little base the moment our little encounter ended.

Dipper furiously swiped the back of his hand forward, swatting away the paper. "I don't need your evidence! You abandoned us!" he shouted.

The Guardsman said, "Omir detailed that as soon as the charm placed on the stone had been removed, he planned on summoning you all to one location while he acted on another. By ensuring I was able to remove others, I could have... minimized casualties."

"Could have?" Mabel asked.

The Guardsman's gaze fell. "Others were... not so compliant with my attempts to get them to safety."

"But if you escaped," Dipper pointed to him, "Did anyone else?" The Guardsman slowly shook his head.

"No one you'd like to know," he said.

"But... but your job," Wendy stepped next to Dipper, poking at the creature, "Your existence was to protect the stone! Now it's gone! What the heck are you even doing here!?"

To Wendy's observation, the Guardsman hummed. "Well. My job now is to repair the damages Omir has caused," the Guardsman announced.

"How!?" Dipper spat. "The town was just destroyed- it was removed! From existence itself!"

"Yes, it was," the Guardsman nodded.

"There's nothing around that can do that kind of thing!" Dipper pointed out, "We don't have fancy alien technology that can reverse this anymore, we don't have the kinds of spells to combat that kind of power, and we... we can't do anything..."

Dipper trailed off; his furious energy driven to the brink of despair. How could anything else be done? Dipper felt the hopelessness when he and Mabel had been atop the alien ship, being told that the entire population of Gravity Falls had been wiped away from reality. But... unlike then, there was nothing left. No traces remained, no small inklings remained, breadcrumbs to follow.

"True."

The four stared at the Guardsman.

He reiterated, "Today... nothing can be done," he added, looking to each of them, "This day, you've lost. We've lost today."

Dipper's breath shot out from his body. He couldn't help it. To hear that from possibly the scariest and most confusing entity in his life was... it. There was nothing else that could be said.

"However..."

The four looked up to him, Dipper focusing on the being before him.

Slowly, deliberately, the being raised his hands to behind his mask, as one hand lowered the hood. Light finally struck the unseen visage that had always lurked out from sight. One, two straps were undone, and with a pop, the face was revealed. Soos's mouth dropped open. Wendy squinted and rubbed her eyes. Mabel's eyes shimmered. Dipper looked enraged, confused, and had a million new questions to ask the Guardsman.

"There will always be a new day," Zander Maximillion said, lowering the mask in his hands.

---

The Promise, by Globus

This is the part where I recap a few things that I want to point out in the chapter as a means to start the Author notes. Usually fun, silly, and nonsensical. But... how can I do that about an entire season? To answer your question, I can't. There's too much.

All of it, every moment of Twins, the Mystery Gang, the adventures, the feels- all of them were because you guys and girls made me want to write more. Every single week, I find the time to come up with more and more content for you to enjoy and read. I wouldn't have this drive to create unless I didn't know that hundreds of people were waiting each weekend to see what I had prepared. That touches me so profoundly, to think that hundreds of people read this, and that thousands have read it and will keep reading it...

I can't thank you all enough for having such an honor. I may give the sweat and typos, but you all are the beating heart that kept this story alive- keeps the story alive. So, with as little as I can manage, I can at least say this: Thank you so much.

First thanks go to the craziest friend I've made yet from this story- EquestrianIdiot2.0. The guy is a maniac of ideas who just keeps on pumping them out like a factory line. I don't know how he does it, but I'm greatly envious of his writing talent and more. Check out his stuff if you haven't already. Anyway, thanks man. You're awesome.

Second thanks have to go for you friends who review so consistently that I may as well call you my 'internet neighbor'. In order of... ALPHABET, I would like to thank as well: adventuremaker16, ApocryphaFreeze, Aqua burst 07, Bigmike33321, ChibiPandaYuki, , Cipher Decoder (WHY HAVN'T YOU MADE AN ACCOUNT!?), CPFTheAuthor, Dipper D. Pines (reading fanfiction about himself. Hmm.), DJS (WHO SHOULD GET AN ACCOUNT ALREADY SO I CAN TALK TO 'EM, GOSH!), Double-Tarts, dragoncreators, E350, Effervescent Dreamer, Extreme Light 9, Felipe666, Fenrir Wylde Razgriz, GlassSwan00, HufflepuffHeroine, Human6-246-581-385, Kuroi Kage X, Malica15, Mango Supreme, Montydragon, OMAC001, Paramillo, pepsicle, PFDroids5198, rawrxsushii, RGZ Archer (who I've not spoken to in a while, and that makes me sad.), RunFromTheDarkness, SirDippingS4uce, Storm101, TechnoFusion, TiPoLover 22, tlegg13, Tristrike, TweenisodeOrange, UltimatePhangirlZoe, Watcher In The Dark, Webb360, Whitemysticalwolf, and Wild card in the deck.

Without your constant love, positivity, and critical eye in a few cases, I wouldn't be at this still, desperately trying to make this something really worth reading.

Thirdly, to my mostly anonymous readers and one-time reviewers, I want to thank you all as well. The occasional burst of humor and insight you all give me is astounding. Just as my close friends above, I couldn't be doing this without your help and support. You all make me want to keep doing this.

And finally... who else could I thank, but the man himself, big A.H.

Alex Hirsch is a madman genius who will stop at nothing to make probably one of the best comedy central cartoons in a long while. It's his own work that has inspired mine, and brought me some great people to know over the inter-webs. I sometimes wonder if he peeks on here for ideas (SERIOUSLY. A few freakin' coincidences line up a bit too well! CONSPIRACY.) and his work leaves us all craving more.

So... thank you all. So, soooo much.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about my own terrible news- Hiatus.

Yes, that's right, a Hiatus is coming. For all of November, I'll be off RtGF. Why? Season three needs work. Aside from that, I really need a break guys. It's not easy writing 20 pages a week constantly with a full-time job and a social life, and my fingers are angry that I've not given them more rest. So until December 6th, expect nothing.

Oh, but what's that, I hear? October isn't over? There's still one week left for things? YOU BET THERE IS!

I'm taking yet another leaf out of Alex Hirsch's book and doing, what else, a non-canon Halloween Episode! YEAH! WHAT! UHH!

What is it based on? Good question. Up to you.

That's right, I'm taking a single commission. Until This Monday evening, anyone can Review and put up a suggestion. Theme, Idea, story, ANYTHING- as long as you also tell me why. I'm not looking for 'because lol', I want a legit reason. Try to keep it in the spirit of halloween- which means spook, or even scary and horror theme, but in the end, this is supposed to somehow take place in RtGF. No limits, just tell me what you want. :)

Oh! Almost forgot. Here you guys go on the previous vigenere codes. I knew those would give you guys the hardest time, so... yeah. Here you are.

Monster Politics: Guardsman. I Dream of Deals: Dreams. Broken Earth: Portal. (Also, that one Vigenere got split in half. Write it down as one- not two sentences. Sorry. :P)

There you go. For those of you who have enjoyed the extra tid-bits that have lead to this, I give you the keys of the past. Enjoy your new hindsight. :D

Well... write those reviews if you want your idea to be considered. May the best one win! 5 Weeks until we're back on canon story!

Remember.

There will always be a new day.

-EZB

---

Ranger Mathias Thornman had taken back to his lackadaisical post in the station. It had been a near hour since those strange kids had come running into his station, talking about the weirdest things. Whatever 'Gravity Falls' had been, he hadn't heard of it. He had double checked they left, scanning the building once to ensure they hadn't gone out of their way to set up any pesky traps. But, his mind assured, he would not be experiencing any nasty surprises any more.

Finally, back on his chair and his feet up on his desk, he just opened the next magazine in his 'to-read' list when the front door opened with a slam.

"Help! I NEED A FIGURE OF AUTHORITY!"

Startled with a bolt of energy, the Ranger nearly fell off his seat. He jostled his pants, hiking them up a few extra inches. Then he approached the counter again. Before him was a middle-aged man, wearing glasses and a long-coat in his hands suited for winter.

"What's the problem, sir?" Ranger Thornman stated, adjusting his hat, "Are you in danger? have you been hur-"

"I need to know where the town of Gravity Falls is!" the man shouted, slamming his hands onto the counter, "As well as my home!"

Immediately, all respect for this figure fell from the Ranger. "Ugh, this again," he grumbled, "So, I get it, it's a phase of pranks, is it?" the man stated.

The man recoiled at the rangers retort. "I... what on earth are you talking about? Pranks!?" the middle-aged man said, messy hair and large nose defining features, at least until he lifted his hands, balling them into fists. The Ranger quickly, to his shock, counter six fingers on each hand. "I'm not pranking you! I'm here with a very serious problem!"

"I suppose you're also going to ask me what the date is?" the Ranger guessed.

"Date? Well..." this paused the man, who glanced around. "My word... actually... yes. What is the exact, full, astrological date, if you could?" the man inquired.

The Ranger sighed. Same deal, different person. "July thirty first, two-thousand fifteen."

"MY GOD!" The man bellowed, taking a long step back, "More than thirty years?! How is this possible? What has happened?"

"Can... I actually help you with something?" the ranger snarled, "Or are you just going to start quoting 'Forward to the Past' at me?"

The man turned back to him, scanning the ranger. "I... no. No, thank you for your help, sir," the man said, baking away slowly. "I appreciate your help."

The ranger scolded him, "You tell your friends to cut this game out. We officers have important duties to attend to," the ranger pointed to him with a glare.

"Wait... others?" the man paused, listening intently.

"Yeah. A bunch of kids asking for 'Gravity Falls' and asking about dates. Look, I don't care, just leave me out of it, got it!?" he barked, and the man gasped.

"There are others?" the man said quietly to himself, holding one of his six-fingered hands to his chest. "My word... who..." he glanced up to the ranger, "Well, thanks for your time," he said and swung up the door next to him, "I'll... uhh... go bother someone else, right? Ha-ha."

With that, Stanford Pines slammed the door behind him.

"A pair of kids looking for Gravity Falls?" he repeated. "Curious. Now more questions that require answering. If only I knew where to start."

A flicker of shadow above him had the veteran scientist flinch. He glanced up, and falling from the sky were... pictures.

One fluttered in front of him, and he reached out. His eyes widened as his gaze fixated on a single figure on the gathering of kids and adults alike: An older man wearing a fedora, cracking a sly grin for the camera.

"It... can't be..." Stanford said. His gaze pierced and analyzed the picture, peering deeply into its hidden messages. He recognized the building in the background, barely underneath the various signs and posters littered atop it. He did not, however, understand or know any of the people along...

"Stanley," he muttered. With the picture in his hand, he slowly slid it down a pocket in his jacket. Looking to his left and right, the six-fingered man finally spotted a bus stop.

"I've got some answers to find, and some 'kids' to follow," he told himself, and marched over to the bus stop. He sat down on the wooden bench, and crossed his arms. He wrapped his fingers across his arm, and looked around. The road was pretty empty.

Stanford Pines, realizing his position, added quietly, "Once the bus arrives, of course."

---

(Not Vigenere)

Gsviv droo zodzbh yv z mvd wzb. Hvzhlm Gsivv droo yvtrm hsligob

-AND-

(Vigenere)

Ay ybz pihsd tung trvx aai we d jxvvjk nuame gms nrjws 'Nsr kkw wal bwco uhmr' nb tdwlee tf rwttsu, N kzod tlytk prm mo nsmkkagg lti'u oade vshf Vwtsbs hyuwx. Jhxh ydnx tuj gljyxsgnce dk iaey cw wzx rrawvz.