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.

63. Halloween 2015 Extravaganza

Beyond the terms of dreams and demons, past the veil of nightmares and... other scary things... There is place of sheer darkness so great and endless that those who wonder cannot be told are 'lost', as they have nowhere to go. This realm, this place, is not a hell. Nor, however, is it a peace. It is an in-between.

A purgatory.

And it's really foggy. Like, super foggy.

Wait... who wrote that? That's so unprofes- OH! It's still on?! SHOOT!

...Ahem.

Out from this mist that lingers against the ground, a gentle swish of cloth heralds the coming of three.

These three are feared, respected, and loved all as one. They bring the coming, the now, and the to be wherever they go. Grand is their title, for none others have it. Except their cousins, and there's a ton of those. Not all of them are quite as spooky as these three though, so... they're cooler.

C'mon, that part wasn't even scary. Ugh.

Oh! Here we go. They step in unison. Of separating heights and bodies these three come closer, stepping from the void of darkness, rebelling shadows and peeling from the empty of the blackness. Only a few feet from one another, they finally come to a halt. Dark hood concealing their bodies and faces, they stand together, silently.

"Okay dudes, I'm so excited about this Halloween! This year's candy stockpile is going to be better than the last!"

... Almost silently.

The middle figure, the tallest of the three by half a foot rose his hands and removed the hood of the long cloak with a quick toss backwards. Instantly, the head and face of Soos appeared, giving his short hair a gentle rub as he looked between his compatriots.

"We're talking crazy levels of cool! Parties, and pranks, and a new episode of Fixin' It With Soos! Starring me!" Soos turned a thumb to himself, "Soos!"

These apparitions, and their grand powers take the forms of those they please... this is how it seems that Soos is a spirit... but not really... Soos? Yeah. That.

"Oh?" The furthest to the left of the three asked, as a young woman's voice floated out, "We can start being normal again?" A young teenager revealed herself as she too lowered her hood, shaking her head side to side as she freed her hair onto her back.

Seriously? Mabel! Put that hood back on!

Mabel blew a raspberry. "Now way! You're just jealous that you couldn't be part of the three ghost identities, so you bartered for," Mabel quoted with her fingers, "the 'Creepy narrator'!"

"And to be fair, he is kind of creepy," Soos admitted, and looked to the far left.

Mabel too turned her gaze and followed it with Soos. Sitting off to the side, on a small table with a lamp over a large script of paper, Dipper stood on a chair, a microphone in his hand. He scowled at them, his eyes boring through the darkness and to them.

... Maybe if you'd- GAH!

Dipper gnashed his teeth and dropped the Microphone, "Maybe if you'd let me actually have a part as some spirit, I wouldn't have wanted to be the narrator so badly!"

"Sorry Dipper," the final hooded figure said firmly, holding his posture despite speaking clearly, "There were only three spirits in the original Charles Dickens story, and only three in this reiteration. Otherwise, I'd would gladly have had you join us."

The teenager pouted, and his gaze faltered. "Well... fine," he cleared his throat, and popped off the seat, "Since this is going so well, I'm just going to go... chill with the others now..." Dipper popped off the seat, dragging his loose papers along with him as he parted the mist, mumbling under his breath bitter retorts he would not say.

Dipper stormed past only a small desk in, what appeared to be the corner of a very large stage, passing a lanky man with messy hair, who was feverishly typed on a computer. As Dipper passed, he glanced up, giving an uncertain stare. To the three would be specters he lifted his shoulders quickly in a shrug.

"Go on," the writing man encouraged.

"As you say, inconspicuous Author-like-person," Soos nodded.

"Well, since I'm the only person who's still under the hood," the third voice stated, and lifted a six-fingered hand to the brim. Removing it, graying hair was finally visible, as Stanford Pines announced, "Welcome to the first 'Return to Gravity Falls Halloween Extravaganza'!"

"Yeah!" Mabel roared, puffing out her chest and beating it like a gorilla.

"Tonight, or today, or whenever you guys are going to be reading this," Soos shrugged as he followed up, "On Halloween, we decided that we're going to be taking a moment to celebrate the darker aspects of this kind of story. And what better way to do it-"

"Then by having the three honorary spirits of Summerween," Mabel topped it off, "Come in and tell the tales!"

"Also, it's probably worth mentioning that the story took quite the dramatic turn during the last one, so we'll be, uh," Stanford scratched his neck, "Working on the next part of the real story. The canon story as I'm told to call it," Stanford glanced to the writer on the desk, who nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Which is, ironically, not canon to the real story," Soos admitted, "So, really, we've established our own Alternate Universe of sorts."

"We should have a name for it!" Mabel decided, hopping on her feet, "like 'Awesome-Falls'!"

"Or 'Grown-Falls'," Soos added.

"I personally like the touch of 'Continue-Falls'," Stan pointed out. The Writer cleared his throat. The three 'spirits' all looked to him, and the man wove his arm in the air. "Ah, but regardless what we want it to be called, we're not here to discuss it. We're here..."

"To haunt you," Mabel said, grinning devilishly.

"The readers, that is," Soos nodded as he smiled pleasantly.

Mabel smirked, "As we had with Stanly-"

"Who did much worse at dealing with three spirits haunting them than you did, already," Stanford grinned.

In the distance, perhaps some thick wall, someone with a gruff voice shouted, "I heard that, you petty poltergeist!"

"-We now have with you," Mabel finished.

"So, we're going to tell you three haunting stories," Soos explained, the fog at their feet and legs swirling in rapid, rising columns, "Each carrying with them a piece of the past," he pointed to Mabel, "The present," he pointed to himself, "And the future, "he nodded to Stanford. "So, uh... Mabel!" Soos spun to the female twin, "Go!"

"Okay... I had to really put some thought into what kind of story I should frighten your pants off with," Mabel said, wringing her hands together with excitement, "But... I think I've got a pro to compete with," she shrugged at Stanford, who bowed at her compliment, "So I'm going to stick with something else. A story people have been wanting to know for some time, amirite? Mister inconspicuous writer fellow in the shadows?" she asked, calling to the darkened desk.

"Yup," the man said, nodding as he continued to type away.

"So, without further ado," Mabel bowed, and grasped the ends of her cloak, "Let me tell you the story of a certain red-head..." she withdrew her hands, and the mist billowed out, covering the very air itself.

"Not the End."

---

"Chug!"

"Chug!"

"Chug!"

Wendy Corduroy obliged. The apple cider had no chance as, against two football players, she allowed her throat to open and nearly drown herself in five cups of apple cider in the time it took two older, physically larger, brutish sportsman to drink... one.

"BAM!" she shouted, and slammed the five plastic cups on the ground, splashing the floor with traces of her vanished drink. Around her, the crowd of heavily dressed, make-up, and otherwise festive teenagers cheered and hollered. The two boys across from her, easily a year or two older than her, stared and grumbled; their honor was compromised.

"Don't worry about it, dudes," Wendy said, brushing her long, red hair from her face, "Taking on a Corduroy on anything short of rocket science is a gambit. Besides, "she pointed to the empty cups they had dropped, "You're not far behind."

"Whatever," one grumbled before pushing themselves away from the main table. The other one sighed, and glanced to Wendy before following his comrade with a drooped head.

Wendy could only shrug, and turn to the onlookers. "Anyone else?"

It had been two hours since Tambry's party had started. With great anticipation, Wendy had suited up as best she could- a fantastic outfit of orange and black- long skirt and pants with what she could only describe as 'badass black jacket'. Did she rock the jacket? Heck yes, she did.

With her own friends present, Wendy was in comfort zone. They were the unspoken rulers and law-bearers of the party. Dozens of people had come, friends, rivals, enemies; all would come to Tambry's party. If she invited you, you found out. Either through her or her one of her contacts. After all, she had every single person in Gravity Falls High down in her phone, including the janitors.

Wendy naturally showed. She was never one to shy away from people who wanted to have fun, especially when she got her own kicks out of it. Halloween was as good a holiday as others, and when it came down to finding excuses to run from her maniac family and her dads own... insane ways of celebrating the holiday, this was among the better ones. So, with minor make-up and great get-up, she sauntered to Tambry's home, and rocked out.

Wiping away the remnants of juice on her chin, Wendy side-stepped to the kitchen, where many found themselves with food and drink. Wendy had brought her own water, as she knew her schoolmates had a habit of altering the contents of the drinks present. Nothing sinister, certainly, but her instincts, along with her dad's upbringing, taught her to be prepared.

Giving a pat on the back two a couple of cute freshman chatting, Wendy made it to the main table.

"Mmm, vampire's blood," she murmured to herself.

Her voice and words stirred memories in her mind. It had only been two months since the Summer ended. The summer where so much changed. Her world. Her friends. Herself. The first summer Wendy really understood that the stories of nightmares coming to life were no exaggeration.

After all, of the things she had actually met, vampires were among the tamer things. She looked around, and spotted someone dressed as an old-school housewife with dressed up hair, instantly calling to her as Ma Duskerton. Wendy shuddered.

"Just... chill," she reminded herself, taking a long breath, "Things are different now," she said, and closed her eyes.

Wendy hated to admit it, be ever since the twins had come and gone, that lie never worked any more. Things were not different.

An exclamation of annoyance caught her ear. Wendy blinked her eyes open and smiled as someone came to her. "Tambry," Wendy smiled. That smile was short lived, however, as the highly dressed teenager, looking like a member of the Adams Family, rushed over, and slammed her fists into the table, glaring at the fruit punch. "Uh... did the table kill your family?"

Tambry growled, staring intently at the mixture. After a moment, she looked to the red-head. "Did anyone spike it yet?"

"Pssh, no idea," Wendy shrugged. Tambry scowled, reached under the table, withdrew a bottle of clear liquid, and began to pour. "Hey! Whoa!" Wendy gasped, pulling Tambry's hand away from the red liquid. The damage was done. There was plenty of the acrid smell in the air to tell Wendy nothing could be done to save the punch. "What gives?" she asked Tambry.

"I need it," the tan skinned girl growled. With a look around her, she took a swig of the bottle in her hand.

"Oh my god, Tambry," Wendy gasped, taking the bottle away, "The heck are you doing?! That looks like really strong stuff!"

"Yeah, that's right," Tambry shrugged.

"What – why – how–" Wendy sighed, calming her actions as she placed the bottle back under the table, "What is going on? Let's start there."

Tambry stared at her taller friend. Her lip curled, and her noise sniffed. She gulped as she crossed her arms. "Uh. Robbie and I broke up."

A ice cold wave raced down Wendy's spine. "What?!"

Tambry, her sullen demeanor now even lower than usual, explaned. "We got into a fight. He was stupid, and I'm not interested in someone that stupid," Tambry sniffled, wiping a hand across her higher cheekbones, wiping some of her make-up off.

"But," Wendy felt a hand along her scalp, "You two have been dating so well together! Like... scarily well," Wendy gasped, taking the information slowly, shock of the topic having stunned her abilities.

Tambry nodded, her faced screwed up. She took a whole plastic cup, drowned it in the fruit-punch, and chugged quickly. "Oh, you know what," she pointed up, tossing the still half-filled cup aside to the floor, spilling red around, "I'm updating our status."

"No!" Wendy begged. "Tambry, that's official for you!"

"Maybe he'll get it then!" Tambry snarled, and whipped out her phone. Wendy was fast, and the upset girl had her own phone snatched from her fingers. "WENDY!" she snapped, her dark eyes flashing, "Give it back!"

"Not until you calm down and tell me what happened!" Wendy warned Tambry, holding the phone above her head, out of reach to anyone else in the room. Tambry took the promise as a challenge, and attempted to climb Wendy, who merely placed out her hand and held the angered girl back.

"Just– give– Now– I–" Tambry spluttered as she continued to dance for her device. "Fine!" she gasped, and stepped back, sighing. "He... we talked about the future and stuff."

"Okay..." Wendy nodded, but rooted her hand into the air, "Continue..."

"I wanted to talk about the future too. See if we could really... do this together. Well, I was wrong," she spat, her brow furrowed tightly, "He just wants to be some dumb traveling musician with a band! Some stupid band called 'Crashing Carter'!"

"Oh, I've heard of-" Wendy stalled her thought, remembering who was in front of her, "Right. So, uh, how's that work for you then? I guess... not good?" she asked.

"I know I don't want to be dragged around by some music band!" Tambry shouted.

A call from across the house had Tambry spin around. Wendy blinked. She knew that voice, and groaned. "Oh no," she said, watching Tambry's body movement. "No, he didn't... not right after-"

"Tambry!"

Bursting through the door in a huff was Robbie Valentino. Sweating across his face and long nose and sporting a large skeleton-jacket, he stared at his ex-girlfriend. "Wait, Ta- Oh, Wendy, thank god," he sighed, and stepped into the room, "I need you-"

"MINE!"

Tambry leapt up as Wendy's distractions led her to miss Tambry's movement. She quickly snatched back her phone, and then furiously typed away. To Robbie, Tambry snarled, "Get lost."

"Wait, Tam," Robbie pleaded, walking over to her, "I'm just here to talk."

"We did that already. I've made up my mind!" Tambry snapped, and held up the image of a social website. "See that, Robbie?!" she snapped, "That status of 'In Relationship'?"

Robbie's already pale face went white. "You... wait, you're that-" Robbie asked, his voice going hoarse. "Tambry, we can talk about this!"

Wendy looked between the two of them. For the first time ever, she understood why it was girls (who were not her) were considered angry when upset. Tambry leaned towards Robbie, a predatory and vicious glare in her eye as she provided enough reason for him to pull back and gulp. The teenager boy stepped back, his hands at his side and open, passive and surrendering.

"I don't want to talk about this now!" Tambry shouted, her voice echoing around the house. More than a few heads turned into the kitchen. Wendy's head warmed slightly as she found herself accidentally in the middle of a couple's fight.

"Okay, so, uh," Wendy stepped between them, "Maybe we can chill out for a sec, huh?" she asked between them. "Look, Tambry, he just wants to talk. He doesn't have to do it now, but-"

"No, she's gotta-" Robbie called out.

Wendy gritted her teeth as she spun, glaring at Robbie, "Not helping."

"See!?" Tambry shouted, "Always wants his way!"

"I just want to be a rock-star!" Robbie cried out, as a burst of exasperation blew out from him, "Why can't you understand that? You can't even listen to me without trying to make me the bad guy!" he shouted.

Nearly half the party was watching now. Tears fell from Tambry's eyes, and she scrambled for her phone in her hands.

"Tambry," Wendy turned and watched her.

Eventually Tambry jabbed her hand into the screen, and closed the phone, and tossed it into a pocket. Staring at Robbie with her tear-soaked face, she said nothing. The moment was long and quiet as many phones began to buzz. Wendy knew already what everyone at the party had gotten as an update.

Status: Single.

Robbie's eyes shimmered, yet he said nothing.

Tambry turned and stormed away, her shorter hair swaying dangerously behind her. Parting through the fearful crowd with ease, the tanned woman made a quick depart, leaving Wendy and Robbie to be the center of attention.

"Dang it," Wendy sighed.

The bundle of energy, rush of excitement, that force of power... Gone.

She was out now. Time to jump the ship before things got worse. She wasn't the only person with that idea: more than half the party quickly began to disperse, leaving the still lively house for the dark, colder night.

"Wendy?"

As she left, Nate and Lee, flanked by Thompson, easily spotted the red-head and approached.

With a heavy sigh, Wendy explained. "Tambry and Robbie just had a huge blow-out in the middle of the party. People are not into the freak-out are bailing," she said, hands deep in her pockets.

"So, the status... That wasn't some hack?" Nate asked.

"Or prank?" Lee inquired.

"Or mistake?" Thompson added.

"This is Tambry," Wendy commented, shaking her head, "She'd sooner forget her phone at home than accidentally upload something.

"Dude," Lee whispered.

"Hardcore," Nate nodded, worriedly looking to his friends.

"Yeah. Listen guys," Wendy gave the night sky a quick look, "I'm going to go hang by the cemetery for kicks. You want to chill, you're welcome to, but... I'd let the couple deal with themselves for now. They gotta fix this one on their own, ya know?" she shrugged.

"Yeah. Hey," Thompson looked to his two neighboring friends, "Let's go to my parents, grab soda, and meet up with Wendy?"

"Yeah!" Nate grinned.

"Totally doing that," Lee agreed.

"Okay you guys," Wendy smiled and waved to them, walking towards the shadows, "See you in a bit."

Passing into the darkness and away from the growing gossip she wished to avoid, Wendy stalked against the lining of shadow and light. Nearby the edge of the street, she traced the edge of the sidewalk.

Grass underfoot and dark sky above, Wendy sighed. There was a distant hope that maybe, just maybe, life one day wouldn't be this complicated. Then again, she remembered where she lived. In Gravity Falls. Nothing here, absolutely nothing, was simple.

Except the people.

Wendy chuckled as she gave the thought of the townsfolk living here still after the near collapse of gravity two months ago. They all had just shrugged, like she had, and continued with their lives. She even remembered how little she felt herself effected. It had been, after all, just twenty-five feet into the air.

The voice of the twins echoed in her mind. She remembered the masses of her neighbors, her friends, her family, marching on the Mystery Shack. She remembered the plan she had enacted with the twins. They had a single goal, three months ago: stop Bill Cipher and Stan two.

The weight of her phone rested in her pocket. Wendy gave it a pat, and the momentary thought passed in her mind. Dipper, being the courageous gentlemen, had given her a phone number. That number, in turn, ended up being his parents. It had been an awkward phone call at first, but a great joke about it afterwards. Since the start of September though, she had not followed up. She missed the guy.

"Maybe tonight, buddy," she gave the phone a second thought. "Nah. It's your favorite holiday. Go have fun," she sighed, and strode onwards.

Her feet found purchase along the sidewalk finally, and she strode at a brisk pace. The graveyard would not probably be empty, but it would be quieter. Unless she ran into more real ghosts again. Then it would change her opinion on her plans for the evening.

A loud car horn honked behind her.

"Wendy!"

Wendy blinked and spun around. In his own van, Robbie had come driving to catch up.

"Oh boy," Wendy sighed, and kept walking, facing away.

"Wendy, wait, you gotta help me here!" he called to her, lowering the passenger window, "Come in! The seat's like half cleaned."

"Dude, I'm not getting in between you and Tambry," she called, and rushed forward.

"I'm not asking for that either," he assured her, "I just need some pointers!"

"Robbie, seriously," Wendy glanced to him, "You stalking me with your van isn't winning any brownie points with my help."

"Well, c'mon," he begged, his car steadily following, "I'm not going to kidnap you or anything! You just know girls more than me, right?" he asked, "You know, being one."

"I'm your ex," she reminded him.

"And mine and Tambry's friend!" Robbie retorted.

Wendy stifled her voice. Her honest streak bit at her. He wasn't wrong at least. "Look, dude," Wendy sighed, approaching the van close, but not stepping into the street, "I want you two to be happy, I do, okay?"

"Then talk to her for me!" Robbie stated.

"No way!" Wendy growled, "That stuff is all in your and her hands. Me getting involved only makes things worse. Imagine how she'd feel if she thought you were coming to your ex for help!"

"Well, uh," Robbie gulped, "You were just a, uh, fling, though," he slowly said.

Wendys' eyes iced over as she stared at him. Even if she, more or less, agreed with him, his admittance in it drove the lid and nails into the coffin and then dumped the coffin into the ground and hastily buried it five feet under. With a scowl, she walked away saying, "You're own your own."

"No, wait, Wendy-"

At the corner of the street, Wendy turned down the side, ignoring Robbie's voice. She did turn though, spinning around as something much shriller and more boisterous caught her attention.

At first, it was the loud honk of a horn.

Then came the loud crash of steel and shattering of glass.

Screams. Some from her, others mixed along.

A dull, heavy pain passed through Wendy's body. She wasn't standing anymore, but she never remembered sitting down or moving. All she knew was very quickly she was no longer walking down the street.

She couldn't breathe. Something heavy and flat pressed against her body, crushed her slowly as the massive weight of the object meshed her form with the grass next to the sidewalk.

Just as searing pain bore into her lungs, and yet she was unable to scream, a loud, powerfully manly voice screamed. Her name was being called. She was being summoned, called. It made no difference- she couldn't move.

She felt so heavy.

Everything was dark.

So dark.

So heavy...

With a jolt, Wendy shot up from lying down, her arms at her side.

A sheet covered her, and her eyes were blurry.

Had... had it just been a dream?

Wendy shuddered. Something was wrong. If she had been dreaming, why was she lying on... metal? Why was only her thin, plastic-like sheet across her body? Why... was she entirely nude underneath it? With a gasp, she realized someone stood next to her.

Small violet lights shimmered and fell as sparkling stars, dying in the space between her, and Robbie Valentino, who panted heavily as he closed what appeared to be a heavily worn, ancient book.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" she roared, holding up the sheet to her body.

"Shh! Whoa – It worked! Uh – chill!" Robbie spluttered, a rush of color in his face as he deliberately turned away from her. She noticed a tremendous amount of scratches on him, a more bruises than she had ever seen on him before.

"Wait," Wendy's eyes focused her vision sharpening, "Robbie... I'm in a hospital, right?" she asked. The glowing lights, now totally left of Robbie, left a dismissed look in the boy's appearance. He seemed... more than just scared. "Robbie," she slowly said, now realizing that next to her table was a serious of very, very nasty looking sharp implements.

"Wendy, just keep it cool," Robbie begged, "C'mon, just-"

Wendy leapt off the metal bar, which fell away from her with a loud crash. Robbie stepped away as Wendy hastily wrapped everything of the thin sheet around her, trying her best to keep the private bits hidden. Robbie ran to her, and she stepped back. Fear and panic drove into her like it had never before. Meeting ghosts for the first time wasn't anything compared to waking up in...

"A morgue!?" Wendy gasped, looking past Robbie to a large white-screen with many x-rays of what Wendy could quickly tell was... her body. "I'm in a morgue!?"

"W-wait, Wendy!" Robbie raced to her, dropping the heavy book as he did.

It was too much. Wendy blinked and ducked under him. With nothing but the wrappings around her. In a blur, she was out of the room, and running down a hallway. Dim florescent lights illuminated as she passed underneath them, and then she faded into darkness.

She ran past a janitor, mopping the floor. He stared at her until she got closer, at which he dropped the mop and ran, his eyes wide with fear. Wendy never noticed the wet puddle on the smooth floors until her foot struck slick surface. She slipped straight up into the air, and landed with a resounding and terrible crack.

A moment of pain seemed... faster than expected. She knew she would be in pain, but she could still see and move. Maybe she had only gotten a bad bruise from the trip. Either way, she had to keep moving. Wendy needed to move! Run!

Out the back doors and into the woods, Wendy soon realize she really was, with no doubt, in the Gravity Falls Morgue.

The woods were a blur of color and motion. Running through them, striking tree and branch, cutting into her skin and toes with rocks and twigs, Wendy ran with her life on the line. Nothing slowed her down. Adrenaline surged through her body with endless bounty- more so than ever before. She couldn't stop, let alone slow down.

This has to be the dream, she thought to herself, I'm out cold because something bad happened, and now I'm dreaming! What is going on!?

Despite her best efforts to calm down, her choice of running made it only worse. The night in Gravity Falls was scary enough know what was out there- but now she was in the middle of the woods, rushing through trees. No protection, no hint of direction, and no clothes brought Wendy's already state of panic into an absolute pandemonium.

Yet the cold of the air never caused her shiver. Her feet never ached from jumping off rocks as her hands never cried when they grabbed the rough barks of trees. Her lungs always stayed warm. Her eyes never watered. She was fine, even though her mind screamed that everything was wrong.

Then, all at once, she burst out from the edge of the woods, nearly stumbling into a street, and tripping off the sidewalk she passed over. The grass let her land softer than she imagined. Though she remembered stubbing that toe on a full sprint. The fact that she felt nothing wrong with the toe meant bad for her. Gingerly, she raised her foot as she turned to the night, and looked to her foot.

The toe... was fine.

"What?" she asked, and slowly stood up. With that impact causing her to fall forward, Wendy knew that her toe should be toast. Cracked, broken, splintered- anything could have happened. Yet, standing slowly onto it, she found no ill-effect. She was fine.

"Weird," she gulped, and turned about, finding her surroundings.

To her shock, she instantly knew where she was: the Cemetery.

Yet... it couldn't be, at the same time. Today, on Halloween, the Valentinos decorated the tall walls that etched the outer reaches of the masses of graves.

To her eyes, no decorations were present. A few pumpkins did stand freely before her: Jack-o-lanterns unlit and rotting.

She stumbled forward, ignoring the climb in terrain as she rushed up the hill and entered the graveyard. Something drew her here. Her mind calmed for some odd reason. Though she knew it was strange, Wendy wanted to be here. It was... natural for some strange feeling.

She turned a corner, her mind and body playing against her. She was not entirely sure she was guiding her own steps anymore, as she slowly lingered towards graves she knew well. She was moving towards her mother's own resting place. She could even see the lights her father put up every halloween...

But there were far more than needed.

Then she remembered.

And there was a new tombstone.

Wendy stalled as she finally saw the name on the tombstone.

Her knees buckled.

Falling to the ground, her mind reeled to understand.

She saw her own name carved into the stone next to her mother's.

"No," her voice was a harsh, hoarse whisper. "How?" she begged, touching and feeling her own arms as, for the first time since waking up, she felt cold.

Heavy breaths and steps behind her were ignored. A single figure approached, out of breath. Robbie stepped next to her, holding his stomach.

"I... you... needed... to... slow down," he managed to say, sweat falling from his temple.

"Robbie, I'm dead?" she asked him. Despite his pained look on his face, Robbie stalled, looking to her with a deep empathy. Slowly, he nodded and sat down. "Oh my god. I'm a ghost now," she gulped.

"Not exactly," he muttered, and held out a satchel around his shoulder. Reaching in for it, he lifted out clothing- hers. "Here. What I managed to grab."

Wendy looked to his hand. It was the clothes she had remembered wearing to the party. Yet it was dirty. Horribly dirty. Grass stains, splashes of mud, and... crimson spilled across the surface of torn fabric. "Robbie," she whimpered, "What happened to me?"

His own voice broke as he spoke. "I... tailed you a little close, and... and your dad – he – hit the side – pushing me – I couldn't get..."

Wendy's throat seized. "M–my dad? Wait," she spun to face him fully, no longer caring about the only partially opaque wrap around her, "You said he hit you?!"

"My van," Robbie added.

Wendy froze. A grand, horrible reminder began to wash over her. The pain, the suffocation, the darkness: It had all been real.

"I was run over," she whispered, the words dragging out from her mouth as a trail of agony. She clutched her ribs and stomach, aware that the last things she felt was a horrible sense of washing pain, central to her core. She saw Robbie nod, and tears fell from her eyes. "Oh my god," she sighed, looking to the night sky, "People think I'm dead!?" she demanded.

Robbie gulped again. Loud enough to turn Wendy, he stared and gave his next word a serious thought before giving it aloud. "You are dead."

"I'm not," Wendy quickly rebutted, "How can I be? Look?" she pointed to herself, "Dead people don't act, move, or behave like me. You said it yourself – I'm no ghost!"

Robbie nodded. "I wasn't going to let me let you die. I... I found an old book," he shrugged, "Hidden in the back of the library- the kind of book with... crazy stuff in it. You know, not that I read any of that-"

"Robbie," Wendy growled.

"Sorry," he cleared his throat, getting back on topic. "So... I brought you back."

"How?"

"Magic!" he exclaimed, "There was this spell, one that revived people as a, uh, something scary sounding honestly. But I couldn't get everything right," he admitted with a scratch of his head, "I... so I did my best," he shrugged.

"I'm... not dead?" Wendy asked, a smile on her face, "You brought me back to life?" Warmth began to spread through her body again. "Oh man. Oh man!" she laughed, and Robbie stared at her with fear, "This is going to make the best story ever! People thought I was dead for... how long? I mean, gravestone here must mean-"

"A week," Robbie said.

"Oh dang," Wendy hissed, "I missed a week of school too. I wonder if that means I can get away with any crime now," she chuckled, "Can't blame a dead girl."

Robbie's smile was weak, and quickly faltered. "It's not, uh, really like that. When I cast that spell thing, uh, it never fully... revived you."

"Huh?"

"Well, I know you were running," Robbie took a long sigh, and lifted up his hands to her, showing streaks of blood across his skin, "You missed a few things."

"Oh dude, what happened to you?!" she asked, "You got shredded!"

"It's... not my blood," he told her. Wendy froze. Watching his hands slowly, she saw how easily he dragged his fingers across, showing no wounds underneath the hands that would explain the trails of crimson. "It was your blood," he quietly said.

Wendy glanced down, looking to her own body. No scratches or cuts remained. "But I'm... fine..." her mind screamed otherwise. The evidence inside her skull began to pile. She remembered the crack on her head, the burning whip-like cuts in the woods she had ignored, and the horrible stub her toe had received. It all made sense- she had been harmed, and then it did nothing to her. "What am I now?" she managed with rattling words.

"I think they're called 'wraiths'," Robbie shrugged.

"Think!?" She spat.

"Look, the spell wasn't complete, so they said something called a 'wraith' is what happens if you don't complete the spell, and you're-"

"What does that even mean!?" she demanded.

"It means had I done the real spell, you'd be under my control!" Robbie shouted, "The real spell was supposed to raise you as a servant to me forever!"

"A... no... then... I'm not revived... I'm undead?" she slowly came to realize. Robbie said nothing. His face had gone white. "Oh my god," she muttered, "I'm not human anymore."

"You are!" Robbie argued.

"I..." Wendy stood up, snatched the clothes from the boy now below her, "I..."

What could she do? If she had been dead for a week, and was a monster, who could she go to? Her dad? Her brothers? Friends?! In this town, people were now on guard for the weird and mysterious. She, as horrible as it was to accept it, was now part of that spectrum of weird and mysterious.

"I can't go home," she declared.

Robbie stood. "Let's talk this out first," he tried with her, "Maybe, uh, you can chill in my parents basement-"

"No way," she firmly stated.

"Look, it only smells a little like formaldehyde," he shrugged.

"No."

"Okay, fine," Robbie nodded, stepping back, "So, then, what are you going to do dude? I mean, you kind of need to, you know, be somewhere?"

Wendy spun about, looking at the cemetery. "I should be here technically. Dead."

"Look, just because they got your tombstone ready for you doesn't mean you were buried, smart one," Robbie angrily lashed out. "You're still upright. You can go home."

"As a monster?!" she shouted, stepping into him. "I'm sure that'd go great at the door. 'Oh, hey guys, I'm back, don't mind me, just an undead monster who's come back to live with you'," Wendy recited the scene in her mind, ignoring the last bits where her father chased her out with his hand axes.

"Then..." Robbie swallowed, "I'll figure out a cure."

Wendy stared. "You... you really think you can?"

"It's just a spell, right?" he shrugged, a grin coming to his face, "No biggie. I'm not an expert or anything, but I got that far, so I can find out how to go the rest of the way," he decided. "Yeah. I'll figure it out!"

"Well... okay," Wendy nodded, "I'll... help."

"How?" he asked, "You don't want people to come see you now."

"Bring your research to me," she told him, "And I'll help out," she said, grasping her clothes tightly to her chest, "I'll go steal my clothes from my dad's. He won't know I'm home at least..." she said, dreading the possibility that she could run into her family, wearing thin white sheets and bloodied clothing, "...I hope."

"Well... alright, sure man," Robbie nodded, "I'll get started on that," he told her. "Uh... you sure you don't want to hang out in a coffin at my parents place or whatever?"

Wendy laughed. "I think I'll be okay. I got a dozen secret spots in the woods I use for stuff. I'll just chill by those until I'm cured, and then rise from the dead like any other great religious figure and be chill."

Robbie snorted, holding his gut as he restrained from laughing. Wendy also allowed a smile. There was hope, it seemed. Robbie's eyes twinkled with anticipation, and he stood up as well, and patted Wendy's shoulder. "Tomorrow, here, same time."

"Sure, thing man," Wendy grinned. Robbie nodded, and strode past her, moving towards the darkened home on the distant hill, deeper in the cemetery. Wendy's mind called to her another name, and she suddenly spun around, and shouted, "Hey!" Robbie whipped around. "Did you and... Tambry ever... you know?" Robbie's eyes darkened. His face grew stern, and his hands squeezed themselves tightly. "Ohh..."

"That's... yeah..." he managed to blunder out.

"Sorry man," Wendy said, trying to pocket her hands. "Dang it, right, no sleeves."

Robbie nodded, that positive energy sinking away. "Tomorrow?" he asked her.

Wendy looked up, and managed to give him a small grin. "Tomorrow."

His own nod was short and curt, and he turned once again, leaving her to the darkness of the graves. She turned and found herself by a large, tall grave, and quickly removed her wispy trails of sheet and applied her clothes, albeit torn and mostly ruined.

While walking from the exit of the cemetery and back into the woods, Wendy smiled to herself. She was lucky. She wasn't a corpse now. Her end wasn't last week. There was more to it. She had more to do, more time! She could see her friends soon again! Make fun of her dad, tease him about this, and not worry so much.

Yet, in the deep recesses of her mind, there was a worry. Something un-explainable. Something sad.

However, without evidence to understand the fear, She shrugged it off. With one last sigh, she said, "Huh. Death...it's really not the end," and stepped into the woods, fading into shadows.

---

"Aww, dude!" Soos wailed, holding an arm to his face.

"I know," Mabel sighed, "But as the representative of the past, I gotta tell it upright. I really, really wanted there to be a dozen more scenes with sparkles and glitter..."

"Still," Stanford said, patting Soos's shoulders, "While this is a sad beginning, and we know it continues to be... sad for a while more," Soos let out a long cry, and covered his face, and Stanford fought to continue, "We all know her life does improve. She does find her friends. She finds you Soos, and my brother, to console in," Stanford explained.

"So... so I guess that's not too bad," Soos sniffled.

"Yeah! I mean, half of the sad stories I start with have good endings!" Mabel smiled, her warm cheeks and eyes granting Soos the strength to remember peace.

"True, hambone," Soos wiped tears from his eyes, "True. So, I guess, uh, it's my turn?" he asked the two on either side.

"Yeah, fluff-god!" Mabel grinned.

"I would think so," Stanford nodded.

"Well, alrighty then!" Soos clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly, "It is my pleasure then to bump up the fun factor to a higher number! Like eight or something!"

"Out of eight?" Mabel asked.

"Eh, maybe. Probably on a ten scale, but who knows, it was just a guess," Soos admitted. "So, this story, which is totally original in every way," Soos slowly said, glancing over to the writer at the table, who looked back to him.

The writer guessed aloud, "I don't think you're allowed to say that, Soos."

"Oh. Well, uh," Soos scratched his head, "It was 'heavily inspired' from another work. Is that better?" he asked the writer, who nodded. "Aw sweet! This one never happened in canon, so buckle up friends and bone-friends! Time to get into territory this story barely covered- the actual time of the show!"

"Whoa!" Mabel gasped, "Is that even possible?!"

"No idea," Soos admitted, "But here's to trying dudes! So, the name of my story is..." and he too lifted his jacket, but instead of fog, bats raced out, squeaking as they fluttered their leathering wings.

"Monstrous Mistakes!"

---

For a town that seemingly always had something to do, this was a day of... nothing. Cursed, horrible, blasphemous nothing. Dipper and Mabel, twins of twelve, sat in the living room, desperately trying their hardest to find a show worth watching.

"METAL COOK- INTERNATIONAL!" The television screamed at them, "And the special ingredient of tonight's episode? TOE-NAILS!"

"Pass," Dipper grumbled.

"But I love the Nomming channel," Mabel complained, yet did nothing to stop the change.

"And we now return to Politically Incorrect Cartoon," the television said as catchy, overly triumphant themes played.

"No!" Mabel shouted, and stole the remote in a leap.

"C'mon," Dipper scowled, "Mom and dad aren't here to tell us not to watch it! Stan won't care."

"I don't like the way they draw it. It looks dumb," she declared, and changed the channel.

"Hey dudes," a voice from the hallway called to them. The twins, ignoring the rapidly changing channels, as Mabel had forgotten to lift her thumb from the button, faced Wendy as she stepped into view, her eyes closed as she yawned, "Please tell me there's a mystery today we can get behind. Something. Anything."

"No customers today?" Mabel asked as Dipper shook his head.

"Try 'there's not a soul out' today," she grumbled. "Soos is the same- he's so bored he's actually considered breaking things deliberately just so he can fix them."

In the distance, a loud crash of metal and springs called from the kitchen. "Oh no!" a voice called out, "Looks like the toaster broke! Time to fix it up! And it tooootally wasn't my fault the toaster fell straight to the floor in, anyway! Ha-ha!"

"See?!" Wendy said, "Going stir crazy in here!"

"I know," Dipper nodded, "I'd say let's just go into the woods and find stuff, but that's never worked well."

"Aww, no curses or ancient secrets today?" Mabel asked her brother, craning her head to peer directly behind her. He shook his head slowly. "Well, maybe we can make something!"

"Effort?" Wendy asked, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the wall. "No way... gosh, I can't believe this, but I think Stan coming back to the building would be an improvement."

The twins sighed and silently agreed. Their grand-Uncle had vanished an hour ago, after hearing word that someone was doing a yard sale, and the someone supposedly had freaky stuff. Freaky enough stuff for Stan Pines to add to his collection was strange enough, but as usual, the old man threw caution to the wind and departed, rushing to his car and driving away.

The front door slammed and a voice cackled with excitement.

"And suddenly I regret my words," Wendy sighed.

Rushing into the living room was Stan Pines, fedora atop his head, and a box in his grip. "HA! Good! I needed you all here to brag to! SOOS!" he shouted.

"Ahh!" a second crash in the distance heralded the coming of Soos, who after a pause appeared next to Wendy in the doorway. "Yes, Mister Pines? I was, in no way, destroying any of your possessions purposefully."

"Hah! Even if you did, that doesn't matter! It turns out," Stan grinned to the group, "That yard sale I went to – the one I was going to totally rob when the old fart wasn't looking?"

"Yeah, we know Stan. It's the only thing that's actually happened today," Dipper grumbled.

"Except when I farted so loudly, I lifted off the bed upstairs," Mabel declared.

"Well," Stan continued, reaching into the box in his hands, "Turns out the old coot on the other side of town, this crazy looking guy in bathrobes with a long beard, had some crazy stuff on him!"

Lowering the box to the ground, Stan reached inside and lifted a large, thick belt with gold and jewels encrusted along it's edges. Shining and gaudy, the four watched as Stan chuckled, placing it around his midriff.

"Now, watch in amazement," he said, and reached to one of the crystals and poked it.

The four gasped as Stan's visage instantly changed. No longer was Stan Pines the human standing before them. Instead, a large lizard-like human blinked at them. A hissing smile stunned the twins.

Soos cried out. "Bring back mister pines, you beast!" he declared, and threw a wrench at Stan. Spinning to the handiman just in time to duck under the attack, the snake-pines hissed and pressed the button again.

"Soos!" Stan yelled, "That was still me! This belt," he pointed, "Makes people look different!"

"Oh. Well. Good thing I missed you, and instead hit the mounted moose antlers," Soos sighed, "That could have been bad."

"Turns out," Stan looked to the twins, "That old fogey was a wizard this whole time! Some 'fearsome' and 'ancient' foe," Stan quoted with sarcasm, "Who happens to have a great curveball."

"Huh?" Dipper asked.

"When I stole the book, he started tossing heavy books at me with deadly accuracy," Stan admitted, lifting his shirt and jacket to reveal dozens of thick bruises along his body. The four groaned and looked away, trying to avoid the aged, hairy body altogether. "See? He's got an eye for book-throwing," Stan nodded as he lowered his shirt, mistaking their groans for empathy towards his damages.

"So, what are we going to do with it?" Dipper asked.

"Are we going to use it as leverage to make those in the town fear our name, as we become true shape-shifters, bending the populace to our wills!?" Mabel asked.

"Dude, sis, what?" Dipper blinked at her.

"What?" Mabel shrugged, "It could work."

"The plan is that one of you two," Stan pointed to the twins, "Waits while I do a tour with that belt on. When I get nearby, you do the thingy I did," he reminded them, pointing to the gem, "And look like some freaky monster, which then I prompt the groups to give me even more money!" he said, rubbing his hands together.

"Wow," Dipper said, stepping off the seat and inspecting the belt up-close, "You're finally stepping up to real scares instead of fake ones. I'm impressed."

"Yeah, yeah, say whatever you'd like," Stan sighed, and groaned, "oO, dang it, there goes the adrenaline. Ow. Those bruises hurt," he groaned, and quickly removed the belt, holding it out to Dipper, "Take this and go put it away in one of the rooms by the displays. I'm going to take a long shower and remind myself why I do these things."

"And why is that?" Dipper asked.

"I don't know right now, Dipper!" Stan barked at him, "That's why I'm going to take a shower, so I can remember!"

"Or at least lie to yourself until you do believe it," Mabel shrugged.

Stan pointed to her proudly. "That's my girl for ya."

As he vanished around the corner, the four stared at the belt. In their hands was a device of absolute magical, powerful, arcane energy.

"A belt of changing forms," Dipper mused, holding it out for all to see, "We should be careful with this..." Giving the four a quick glance around, he grinned, "Or we can do what we want and see what this thing will do!"

The four all rushed out, Dipper with the belt in hand, as they raced to the gift shop. Wendy flipped the open sign to closed, and they all stood around the belt.

"Okay... who wants to go first?" Dipper asked.

"Me!" Mabel screamed, and snatched the belt from his hands.

"Careful!" Dipper shouted, "It could affect you in ways we don't quite understand!"

"Meh, I'll live. As a thingy!" Mabel said, and placed the belt on. "Boop!" she declared as she jabbed her finger against the same gem Stan had. Instantly Mabel changed: two triangluar ears protruded from her head of the same color as her hair, a long, thin, furred tail popped out from the base of her spin, and the same light brown fur spread throughout her body as her eyes took on yellow hints. "What am I!?" she demanded of the others, trying to better see herself.

"Some sort of cat thing," Wendy shrugged.

Mabel fell to her knees, and screamed. "Yeessssss! This is the greatest day of my life!"

"Well, glad you enjoyed it, my turn," Dipper grumbled, poking Mabel.

"Hey, I'll scratch you if you poke me," Mabel warned him as she stood up. With the same 'Boop', she de-activated the belt, and handed it to Dipper. "Bleh! I think some of the fur is still in my throat. I understand now why cats hate those furballs. Ugh."

"Okay," Dipper sighed as she placed the belt on, "Here goes nothing... and-" he pressed the gem tentatively.

Dipper blinked, but not that the others could tell. They all gasped and stared at his face, their eyes wide with shock. He looked down to his hands, and gasped. He couldn't see them. "I'm invisible!?" he declared, "Oh my god this is the coolest! I can sneak around and no one would notice me!"

"If you were naked," Soos pointed out.

"Oh. Right. Well, that theory and fantasy is blown," Dipper sighed, playing with his hands, which was much harder to do without actual vision on them.

"Dipper, make a fart sound," Mabel begged.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Uhh..." Dipper tentatively blew a raspberry. Mabel clutched her stomach and fell backwards, laughing harder than she had in the past week.

"That's the greatest! Cats! Invisible farts! Bwahahahahaha!"

"Okay, that was fun," Dipper grinned, and in turn removed the belt, returning to his standard visual self. "You guys next?" he asked, presenting it to Soos and Wendy.

One by one, they all had their chances to try it on. Soos became a Rhino-man. Wendy grew wings and talons. Mabel grew a second head and had a back and forth with the second head (to the other's terror... excepting Soos, who thought it was great). Dipper had tentacles for arms and legs.

More and more they wanted to use it. The forms changed each time, seemingly random and entirely up to fate to decide. Soon they were placing bets on who would turn into what next. It was a game of many losses and few victories. The energy around the belt, their excitement, grew and grew. The twins loved this thing- it was the ultimate party trick.

"Okay, wait," Dipper said, de-activating the button from his form, close to a tiny yeti, "I think I got it. I'm going to be a-"

"Hey, my turn," Mabel growled, and reached out for the belt.

"Mabel, hold on, it'll just take a second, "Dipper pulled back, his hands firmly locked onto the magical object.

"You had your turn, doofus. My turn! I want to be a giraffe woman!" Mabel shouted, and lunged for the belt. Dipper clutched onto the worn magical device tightly as she clutched onto it, and fell to the floor.

"Let go Mabel!" Dipper shouted, pulling her across the floor, "I said I'd be quick!"

"Well, it's not going quickly, is it?!" she barked.

"You're not letting me go!" Dipper shouted.

"Guys!" Wendy stepped in, pulling on Mabel, lifting her up and tugging.

"Hold on there," Soos said, pulling on Dipper, "Can't we fight after we have fun? Not in-between?" he begged.

"MINE!"

"MINE!"

The twins pulled and tugged. With a gasp, the grip from Dipper slipped, and Mabel fell back and onto Wendy, who also fell. As with her brother, the grip on the belt slipped, and the golden, multi-colored belt-piece soared into the air.

Four faces froze in shock and fear as it slammed into the ground, and every single gem fell out of it's socket, scattering to the ground like grains of sand. The belt hummed and buzzed, sparkling with energy as it rattled against the wooden floor.

Then a large poot of steam emerged from it, and it remained still.

"Oh... that's it?" Soos asked, frozen with the others, "Uh, so... well, that's not bad."

A wave of energy blasted out from Soos. Shimmering, golden, bright sparkling magic soared out, blinding the four as it easily passed through everyone and everything in its way, seemingly harmless.

Dipper hit the ground as Soos stumbled back. His head was in pain- heavier than it felt normally. His eyes swam as he tried opening them. There was certainly movement before him, but it was only just enough for him to try harder.

"Mabel?" Dipper asked, seeing the brown hair sway up and down.

"Dipper-" her voice choked.

The male twin gasped as he spotted the difference. Mabel had lost her legs, and gained one long, large, scaled fish-tail. He turned and faced her, and realized she was clawing at her neck, where a set of gills were now present.

"Oh no! Mabel!" Dipper tries standing, and fell over on his face. He growled and bent down to lift his legs, and found, instead, a quad of deer legs. He yelped and spun around to his lower half- now entirely that of a deer. "I-I-I'm a-"

"Dip!" Mabel gasped.

"Right!" Dipper spun about, facing his sister, still drowning in air. Using his thin arms as support, he slowly stood on his toe-less hoofs, realizing the effort that deer had to stand on their own. Two more legs than usual, Dipper stood and began to hastily wobble his way towards the bathroom. He tripped, and slipped down the floor with a loud crash. "Dang it!" he growled, "uh, Soos! Wendy! Mabel needs help, and-"

A flash of red color darted past Dipper as a figure pelted over him, panting, and disappeared down the hallway. Not five seconds later, a red and rust colored, fur-covered, pointed eared, long canine-snouted, Wendy lapped back, holding a bucket of water in her maw.

"Oh my god, Wendy?" Dipper asked, looking over her.

She panted before him, and lowered the bucket to his feet. "Boom," she said, her voice entirely un-obstructed by her new mouth, "Retrieved in record time. How's that?" she grinned, lying down in front of Dipper, her green eyes shining with excitement.

"Got the water, dawg!" Soos's voice stated.

"Thanks!" Dipper turned to Soos, and again gasped.

Soos's body was melting. Or at least, it was constantly melting and re-arranging itself to form him. his body had taken on the texture of mud, along with the color of clay. His hands, retaining form but seemingly in a state of falling apart, grasped the bucket and lowered it next to Mabel.

The now mermaid girl lifted herself up and chugged nearly half the bucket. "Oh, thank goodness," she gasped, and slowly drank handfuls of water, "Well... I can't breath air so good, guys," she admitted with a shy smile.

"You're telling me," Dipper sighed, trying to stand up again. His lets buckled, but finally he stood, able to feel all four points of pressure underneath him. He glanced behind himself, spotting his deer-backside, and the small white tail that flickered as he stared at it. "That'll take getting used to."

"Aww, Dipper," Mabel cooed as she drank more water, "You're adorable!"

"Shut up," he growled, "at least I can stand up."

"At least either of you have a stable form," Soos chuckled, slapping his hands together, where much of his muddy-body gently exploded away. "See? I think I just lost a quarter of a pound in weight."

"That's- Dipper started, but Wendy, on all fours, approached the nearest splash of mud, and began to sniff at it. "Wendy?" he asked. the wolf-woman extended her now long tongue and lapped the mud once. "EW!" Dipper gasped.

Wendy flinched, and looked up. "What?" she asked, and then quickly realized what she had done. "Aw! Eww! What the heck, instincts?!" she demanded, standing now on all fours, which seemed difficult for her, as her new legs bent at new angles. "Ahh, this is hard. Okay. Wait. Got it," she grinned, and stood up fully, an impressive six feet tall.

"So..." Dipper looked around. His sister, drinking water to survive, Soos, trying desperately to collect his dripping mud, and Wendy, who already lowered herself to scratch behind her ears with her foot. And then there was Dipper, who had become... half deer. "We're monsters," he announced.

"I'm going to guess... belt, bro-bro?" Mabel asked, dripping water along her face as she looked up to her brother from the floor.

"Looks like by breaking it, the power inside it exploded out," Dipper hypothesized, scratching his chin as he paced, his hoofs clopping against the wood loudly. "Man is that distracting, he growled as he looked down to his legs."

"You're adorable," Mabel chirped.

"So, everyone is more or less the same?" Soos asked. "I'm a tad more drippy than usual, but that isn't much different."

Wendy worriedly said, "Uh, I have the urge to chase things."

"C'mon, you can fight that urge though," Dipper chuckled, and tossed his hat across the room. Wendy watched it go with intent focus. "See? You don't even-" Wendy darted and leapt into the air, snapping jaws onto the hat with a snarl. "Oh," Dipper gasped, as Wendy galloped over to him.

"Dude," she said with a muffle, his hat still in her mouth, "Toss that again. Was soooo awesome."

"Even if I wanted to," Dipper started, "I'd need my hat back."

"No way!" Wendy yelped, "I caught it. It's mine."

"But... my hat," Dipper whimpered as Wendy turned around, the hat proudly stuck in her mouth. As she sat down against the cashier counter, scratching on her neck with her foot, Wendy began to absentmindedly chew on his cap.

A loud stomp and bang alerted the group. Wendy leapt to all fours, growling at the source. Dipper leapt into the air and darted behind Soos.

Marching into the room was a rock entity. Wings of stone and a yellow glare as a hulking figure wearing a black suit, red fedora, and a large, chick tail of similar cracked stone all attached to a figure with shockingly similar build to Grunkle Stan.

"Okay," the beast grumbled, holding a clawed hand to his face. "Who did what, because I know something happened that caused me to feel even more stiff than usual. And have wings and a tail," Grunkle Stan's voice grumbled from the creature. "To be fair, I was sure I always had horns here," Grunkle Stan lifted his stone, clawed hands up to his face, grasping the two protruding horns atop his forehead.

"So, uh," Dipper started, stepping out from Soos, "We may have... uh..."

"Who did it?" Grunkle Stan barked, his already naturally loud voice enhanced by his new features. The twins pointed to each other, Wendy shrugged, and Soos pointed to himself. Stan mentioned, "You're pointing to yourself, Soos."

Soos nodded. "I know. I'm speculating in my new form, it's impossible for me to really be hurt, since I'm always in a state of falling apart. So, I blame myself, for the betterment of us all," Soos explained.

Grunkle Stan sighed. "Okay. Just... let's see the damages. I've got a Faun and a Mermaid for grandkids, and a blob and werewolf for employees... this doesn't seem all that different than the usual," Stan grumbled. "On the other hand, I really, really want to be able to step into sun without becoming a solid rock. So, let's see the stupid belt."

Dipper quickly trotted over, lifting the fallen stones and belt over to Stan. The con-man glowered at the broken belt, muttering to himself. "Course it's some cheaply made magical item. Couldn't be actually worth anything, could it? Pfft."

Again and again, Stan tried re-inserting the stones into the sockets. Nothing came of it, as his frustration boiled and boiled.

"Dang claws!" he glared and stepped away. "Well, we're cursed forever. I can't do it."

"Let me try!" Mabel called from the floor. "Sparkles and gems are, like, my greatest soon-to-be craft.

Her brother quickly obliged, taking away the stones and belt from the angered gargoyle to the happy mermaid on the floor. Mabel worked quickly, figuring out which stone fit into each socket with little effort. Once, however, she had reached the exact location of all of the gems, placing them became an issue.

"I don't think I can do this without crazy cool tools," she said sadly. "Or magic. I wonder..." she peered at the belt, her eyes focusing. "OH! Wait! I know! If I sing, maybe it'll fix itself!" With that, Mabel cleared her throat, and began to sing at her best.

"Oh god," Stan growled and marched over, lifting the belt and gems as Mabel gave her best voice, "No more of that."

"So, what do we do? I'm not too keen on letting my dad see that I will have to shave more than he does," Wendy grumbled, lifting her arm up to see her fur in all places of her body, "Man, my friends would never let it drop."

"Well, easy," Dipper surmised, "We take it back."

"What?!" Stan barked, "Look, just because I have stone for skin now, and probably a rock-heart, doesn't mean the bruises from earlier hurt any less! I'm not taking that thing back to the loser old man!"

"But he was probably a powerful wizard!" Dipper reasoned, "He probably made that for some experiment. I we send it back to him, he could fix it, and reverse this curse!"

"Hehe, reverse the curse," Mabel grinned. "That's funny. Oh! Shoot! My magical song!" and she continued to sing.

Grunkle Stan glared at his niece, wincing at her singing. It was by no means anything horrible or shrill, but his gargoyle features seemed more grumpy than ever. "If it means we get her to stop singing, I'm all for it now."

"Okay. So, after the sun sets," Dipper decided, "We'll all go to this 'wizard'."

"Sure!" Mabel agreed. "Someone, uh, anyone- can you fill my bucket up again? It's getting a little low."

Wendy barked loudly, spun away, and was gone again.

"Aw, she's so cute when she tries to help out," Mabel said with a happy sigh.

Over the course of several hours, more facts had been discovered. One: the curse had spread a tad further than expected. Every single human in Gravity Falls had become a sort of monster- ranging from the simple to the extreme. Two: people were surprisingly okay with it, as it was everyone who was a seemingly frightening monster. Regardless, the five continued with their plans; especially when news came in that some of the monsters had a distinct edge on others. Pacifica Northwest had threatened to turn people into stone with her medusa-stare.

So as the sun set, one by one the five got into Soos's car and made it across town, spotting the new and colorful array of monster-inhabitants in the region. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland flew around the town in the air-, now conjoined dragons. Robbie skulked around town: a zombie with several missing features.

Across town to the outskirts, the five exited the car into the dirty and table-strew lawn of a supposed wizard. Exiting the car as carefully as he could, Dipper stumbled out and suddenly understood why Stan had been drawn to this place. The male twin stepped to the back, and opened the backdoor. In a wheelbarrow, Mabel sat in a tub of water.

"Soos, help me out here?" Dipper asked. With the help of the handyman, the two lowered the girl to the ground. "Thanks. Ready for a ride, Mabel?"

"You bet!" she beamed, splashing some water into her mouth.

All manners of items were on display- ranging from innocent and plain, to the unusual and bizarre. Stuffed animals with eyes that followed them, books that began to levitate as he grew closer, and to his shock, a crank mouth prank item that insulted him as he passed by all could be found.

"Hey, hey doe-face!" the teeth shouted at Dipper, "You got a nickname, right? Oh, I got it – Roadkill! BWAHAHAHA!"

"His jokes aren't nearly as good as mine," Mabel scowled as they passed by the amused item.

"I dunno, I could learn a thing or two from it," Stan mused, scratching his chin.

"Oh, look, a dog-woman!" the teeth spotted Wendy, who paused, walking on all fours, and glared at the teeth. "You know, I bet you're great at fetch! That is, until someone throws something into the kitchen – then you just get stuck in there, because it's where you belon- AAAH!"

Wendy snapped out, and with maw along it's side, shook her head side to side viciously. The teeth screamed in fear and pain until it was unleashed to the side, falling into the woods with a descending cry.

"Jerk," Wendy spat on the ground.

Grunkle Stan cleared his throat. "Okay," he said, glancing to the others, "just remember, this guy has a wicket aim. Books are like bullets to him. So, if you see one, just hit the deck."

"Don't worry mister Pines!" Soos declared, "I'm a natural shield! I've got you covered."

"Okay. Just stand back," Stan said, and adjusted his tie. "Okay. Here we go." Stan only had a chance to take one step out towards the front door when a book hurtled out from an open window and struck him in the face. "OW! JEESH!"

"Take cover!" Dipper shouted, and dived for the ground. Mabel watched as her brother, Soos, and Wendy all ducked down, leaving her alone inside her cart. She made an attempt- pressing her face against the bottom of her small pool, which barely covered the back of her head.

"I'm good," she bubbled up.

"Get off my lawn!"

Stan and the others looked up to the window in question. An old man with a large nose, very long grey bead and long hair leaned out, still completely human. Wearing frayed gray robes and brandishing a staff, he scowled at them.

"You already took my belt! Look what you got! Now, leave me be! I want nothing more to do with you!"

"Look, sir," Dipper stood up, stumbling onto his feet, "We know our Grunkle Stan is kind of a selfish thief."

"Hey!" Stan growled. "I'm at least accomplished!"

"But it's wrong to punish everyone because of his mistake," Dipper reasoned, "I understand that you're angry, okay?" he said to the wizard, who stared down at Dipper, "But please- reconsider?"

The Wizard slowly observed the five. With a heavy sigh, he gave Dipper a nod, and pulled back into the window. The front door, a large wooden door to a crooked looking house, slowly opened as the Wizard stepped out.

"Very well, I shall assist you in reversing your predicament," he announced.

"Awesome!" Wendy said, "Because I've realized that I might start licking myself to clean, and I'm not looking forward to that."

"But to reverse this curse, you must go on a dangerous quest," the Wizard said, holding his staff before him, "A perilous, deadly search for items that are needed for the breaking of this new spell. One, that surely, no mortal would ever undertake. I would advise you re-consider your-"

"Well, I'm not technically mortal anymore," Stan shrugged.

"You – what?" The wizard stuttered.

"Me neither," Soos nodded.

"But... well... three of you are still of flesh and blood," the Wizard point to the twins and Wendy.

"Eh. Werewolfs can mess you up man," Wendy warned, "I've got this."

"And I'm faster with two legs," Dipper added, grinning.

The Wizard, his eyes wide with shock, silently pointed to Mabel. She, in return, said, "My singing is now magical, since I'm a mermaid princess."

The wizard fumed. "GAH!" The wizard clutched his hair, frustration buffering his voice. "I-you-this- no one has ever actually considered my proposal! Be scared! Flee!"

"We're really not the kind of people who do that, though," Dipper told him.

"Well... uh... then... you can't be helped," the Wizard announced, crossing his arms together in a pout.

"Wait, you said we could go on a quest to relieve this curse!" Mabel pointed to him. The Wizard scowled. "You lied!?" she gasped.

"A wizard never lies," the old man grumbled, "Nor does he fib. He says precisely what he means to!"

"Well, you can precisely tell us what we need to do, or this gargoyle is going to precisely claw out your face!" Grunkle Stan roared, his wings opening out in their impressive wingspan.

"Okay, okay, wait," the Wizard, clutching his staff tightly, "Look... let me see it?" he asked, indicating the belt. Stan let it out, and the Wizard tentatively approached it. "Hmm... yes..." With a flash of movement, he took each gem and shoved them into their sockets without a single problem.

"What!?" Mabel gasped, leaning out of her water, "That was amazing!"

"There," the wizard said, and pocketed the belt, "That will fix things."

"Will it?" Dipper asked, looking down to his lower half, "Because I'm still feeling kind of deer-ish."

"Cuuuute," Mabel grinned.

"It will take some time, but the spell will fade away," the Wizard grumbled, "As the stones are now in place, they will begin to charge up. After three hours or so, the spell will vanish, leaving you all in your predictable human forms."

"So... we just sit around and do nothing?" Soos asked.

"I don't know," the Wizard, "I don't have spells to cure boredom. Figure it out on your own," and without another word, he stepped inside, and slammed the door behind him. Stan, still the gargoyle, quickly reached out and snatched a large golden pocket watch. "Put it back," The booming voice of the wizard warned him.

Driving back to the Mystery Manor was a fast endeavor. Unloading Mabel was problematic, as spilling her water could be dangerous, but she remained helpful and supportive to their efforts. An hour after they started, the five had returned to the gift shop, exactly the same as before.

"Great," Stan sighed as they, "So we just wait for this spell to wear off, and then... what?" he asked.

"I dunno," Soos shrugged, "The fun of being a slime monster has kind of wore off now."

"Yeah," the three others agreed.

"And to make it worse," Wendy sighed, "There wasn't anything to do today anyway."

The five looked around, dumbstruck as to what to do.

"Well," Dipper wrung his hands together, "I got an idea."

Fifteen minutes later, the five sat around a large, drawn graph, dice on the floor and sheets lining the ground.

"Okay Soos," Dipper told Soos from behind a large board, "You convinced your boss that you're actually a normal human being. What do you do?" Dipper asked.

"I want to shake his hand and tell him he's got an awesome tie," Soos told Dipper.

"Right. Go ahead a roll for 'charisma'," Dipper said. Soos nodded and lifted the dice. Instantly, it sunk into his hand. "Oh... Uh..." Dipper stuttered, watching his die vanish from sight.

"Hmm. I wonder if they'll pop out of me when I turn back into a human. I hope so," Soos gulped.

Stan, glowering around, mentioned, "I want to roll for 'playing Strongholds and Serpents: Normal Life Edition' is dumb."

"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Mabel cried out.

"That's because you thought of it," Dipper sighed. "Well, Stan, your car is out of traffic now. You want to roll for parking?"

"Sure," Stan sighed, and took up the dice. As he tossed it to the ground, Wendy suddenly lashed out, biting the dice and darting off with it in her jaws as she snarled. Blinking, without his primary dice, Stan asked, "Uh... does that mean I crashed? Is my character dead?"

With that, Dipper groaned and fell forward, slamming his forehead into the ground.

---

"Well, Soos," Stan clapped the shoulders of the Handyman, "While your abilities at telling a, uh, cohesive story are-"

"Awesome!" Mabel declared.

"Yes, sure," Stanford cleared his throat, "I'm certainly glad you didn't get into the details of the game, as I would probably begin to wither and die with the many details you would inevitably miss."

Soos chuckled. "Sure thing! That's why they were playing 'Modern Life' edition," Soos reminded him, "That way, as monsters, they could enjoy the recollection of being mortal, and the boring lives that followed."

Stan stared at him, his point entirely missed. "Ah, yes. Sure. But, anyway," Stanford adjusted his stance, and then opened his arms out, "Now, it is my turn. As one of two masters of horror, I have already picked a story."

Soos clenched with excitement. "So, we got sentimental out of the way, friendly fun stuff," Soos counted off, "And now all that's left is just plain scary. Exciiiited," Soos said, standing next to Mabel as they both bounced in place, listening intently to Stanford.

Mabel told Soos, "It's like watching an ancient samurai slash a thrown apple into six sliced, knowing you can only throw the apple."

"Absolutely!" he agreed.

The darkness around the three swelled, growing in greatness as even the mist began to die away. As the light around them faded, slowly coming to only reveal Stanfords hooded head, he spoke.

"This is a story set in the times of Return to Gravity Falls, or Continue-Falls. The setting? The Mystery Mansion. Manor? Whatever. When? Just before Summerween. Uki-Dohth, the main character, is settling in for a night of patrol, as he has only just had his day of rest. Now, this night, something terrible comes. This story is called..."

"The Prowling Darkness."

---

The nights of Gravity Falls were not quiet. At least during the summer, which was all the recently-stranded Alien, Uki-Dohth, knew. He was certain that maybe during other times of the year, it was quieter in the woods. During the summer, it was a beautiful chorus of bird calls, insect chirps, wolf or coyote howls, and the occasional unknown screech.

Uki-Dohth, or Yuki as others affectingly referred to him as, was the official night watch of Gravity Falls. Alongside Soos, he was the tinkerer, upgrading appliances to better their value to the rest of the building one at a time. Yet, when all others had gone to bed, he would pace the halls, looking at the collections and items that laid about.

He would do so at a casual, peaceful gait. Sometimes a shadow would be cast against a certain Stanley-made object, and he would hurry past it, his fear eating away at his better mind. Yet he was at ease in the dark. It was quiet, and he could think. Really think. This was the time he was alone to his great thoughts- the complicated thoughts he always held in. Remembering the formulas that he had to keep a secret until humanity was ready for them, he would sit on the porch in the darkness, watching the stars wistfully.

Not this night.

One night, he was indoors all the time. A heavy rainstorm slammed into the walls, clattering against windows of glass and plastic alike. It was harder, at first, to adjust to the constant din. After all, he had more on his mind.

The twins had a recent adventure; one that found them an abandoned and burned down village in the woods. There, Dipper had uncovered something, or so they said. They weren't certain to what they had found, but Yuki had seen something in their grasp- the size of a large book, covered with old, fossilized dirt.

He hadn't put much else thought into it. Unless they called for his help, Yuki let his young friends do as they please. While emotionally they were relatively the same in age, his mental cognition was some seventy years senior to them, and ten to twenty to his boss and primary patron, Stanley.

So, pacing the halls he had before, Yuki walked around in the dark as he stared at the shadows and outlines of many displays of 'scary and unusual' monsters; all of which were fake.

Yuki's foot stopped as it squeaked. He blinked, looking down now. He saw water under his foot, and so he stepped back.

"Odd," he muttered, and leaned closer. After being in the dark for so many nights, his superior vision allowed him to see the trails of water on the ground. Yet... there was nothing else. At least at first. Dirt and mud also gently splashed around, forming a small trail.

Staring intently to the ground, he then realized he did hear something over the white noise of the rain hitting walls and roof: the actual rain itself striking ground. He turned down the hallway, and there, at the far end, the window was slightly ajar.

Squinting now as he thought, the Xabvri stepped closer, each one careful and well-placed. Why was the window cracked open? It had been a hot summer day, and the windows were sealed shut to maintain the cooling air. Why, when it rained now, would someone open it in the middle of the night? Yuki glanced into the gift shop, wondering if someone else was up, sneaking around.

"Hello?" he timidly called.

No reply came to him, nor no sound.

"Hm," he hummed, and quickly stepped over to the window, and with a small slam, shit it tightly. "Perhaps Wendy stayed longer today than I anticipated," he amused himself with a chuckle. "She should have said hello."

Then, turning away from the window, he heard something anew.

Slithering.

Yuki's body froze as he listened, his eyes wide.

It was not that of scale and hissing. Snakes were not uncommon in the summer, and Yuki had seen more than a few in the woods. The sounds did not correspond to the uninterrupted flow of sound- it was more abrasive and harsher to the ears. It reminded him of something being dragged with fabric...

Yuki stepped down the hallway, on edge. He had never, ever heard that sound before from inside the building. Or ever in his life. It was new. Strange.

Gulping away the tightness in his throat, he attempted reminding himself of his new physical strength; a feat he still constantly forgot about. Rounding the corner, and looking down the second hallway, he also remembered that there were more than enough monsters in Gravity Falls to not care about whether or not he was strong.

He was next to the stairs when he heard a doorway above close with a small snap.

Whatever it was, it was upstairs.

His heart raced- it was at the twins!

Yuki flashed up the stairs, passing over six at a time. Getting to the top, he stalled, looking around. More water led down towards the twin's room.

The door was already cracked open when he got to it. With no hesitation, he slammed it open.

"Friends!" he called into the room.

Instantly a reply came to him. "Dipper, go to sleep already," Mabel called, shifting in her sleep to further wrap her blankets around her. Waddles, at her feet, snorted and looked to Yuki from under the bed. He was trembling.

"Mabel," Yuki called.

"Oh," Mabel nearly jumped up, rubbing her eyes, "Yuki, "hey. What's going on? What time is it?"

"Past midnight," Yuki stepped into the room, aware of the shadows around him. "Why did you think me to be your brother?"

She snorted. "He's being stupid again. Doing more research than sleeping and looking into that book he just found. Says he can find out what it's about, or whatever."

After scanning her, and the bed across the room from her, Yuki said, "He's not come back to bed yet?"

Mabel rubbed her eyes, and looked to her right. Dipper's bed, as Yuki said, was entirely empty.

"Dip?" Mabel asked.

No answer.

"He left at nine to read in the storage room," she muttered, standing into big, fluffy, pink slippers. "Dipper?" she called out, running out of the room and into the storage room, "You need to come to bed already, you loser!"

Following Mabel, Yuki watched as she managed the door at the end of the upstairs hall open. Inside the storage room, only a single, flickering electric lamp stood up with the contents of the tome spilled open. Pages, old and worn and rotten were left open. Mabel stepped inside with Yuki, calling around.

"Dipper!" she said, "C'mon, where are you, dorkus?" she said, a tiny bit more worried than intended.

"What is this?" Yuki asked, stepping to the book.

"The only thing Dipper liked at the old burned down village," she stated. "Dipper!"

"What is it, exactly?" he asked, looking at it from a distance. A small tuft of thick hair mixed with water and mud- the same kind he had seen from earlier.

"I dunno- Dipper said it was important. "Dipper! C'mon!" she shouted now, her volume growing.

"Mabel," Yuki stood and faced her, leaving the book at his back, "I believe something odd is happening. I suspect more than just us are in this building."

"Of course! Grunkle Stan is still here," she said. She turned to the hallway, now shouting fully, "Dipper!"

Yuki swallowed. "No... I mean something else?" he tried to use the subtly he had seen Mabel and Dipper use before. Mabel's eyes focused on him. Confusion imbedded into her furrowed brow as she scanned him. Over several seconds, her eyes widened.

"What... what do you mean?"

Steps by the door shocked the two. Mabel spun about, her fists balled up and she presented a posture, ready to fight. At the end of the hallway, a figure emerged, hulking over, with large shoulders.

"What's all the ruckus up here for?" Stan barked, scratching his belly as he approached them, lighting a flashlight, "Sounded like you were all having a fight or something."

"What?" Yuki gasped.

"I'm, looking for Dipper," Mabel said hastily, "He's missing."

"Oh. Huh," Grunkle Stan looked around, acknowledging the space, "You're aware that you're standing in the wrong room? He sleeps in the same bedroom with you?"

"Funny," Mabel rolled her eyes, "But he's not there!"

"Really?" Stan hummed, backed up, and looked in the room. "Yeah. Just the pig. Not Dipper. Huh..."

"Stanley," Yuki quickly stepped forward, "I saw something earlier. I heard something strange earlier. Something was moving around the building that I had never heard of before. I cannot exactly identify it, but I know it not to be anything I have experienced yet."

"Okay. So, my grand-nephew disappeared in my own home. Okay," Stan cracked his neck, bending his head to one side, "I don't like that. No one kidnaps my family but me."

"Uh... that's quite... well," Yuki adjusted his stance, unnerved at Stanley's attempts at heroic banter. "Perhaps we ought to trace the steps of how this came to be."

"Huh?" the two asked.

"He was looking into the book last," Yuki pointed to the tome.

Mabel quickly raced for it, and lifted it. "Huh, there's this," she lifted a very old, singed tarot card with a snarling tiger on its face. "Angry kitty. Bad kitty."

Grunkle Stan demanded, "So, what – a card and book? What does that tell us?"

"Nothing, yet," Yuki turned to Mabel, "Can you read any of it?"

"Uh... kind of?" she asked, "like, I can say it. It's not English. Give it a try?"

"Why not," Yuki said, stepping closer.

"Uh... Coram Paesense, venit creaturae, venator properant," Mabel mumbled.

"Latin," Yuki gasped.

"I'm going to guess that's not good," Stan gulped.

"Next to Arabic and Mandarin, it is the most common language used in spells and curses," Yuki explained, "I have looked into such languages before. Latin is, personally, my favo-"

The light on the ground and in Stan's hand flickered. Yuki gasped, turning down the hallway. He heard it again. The slithering.

"Something is coming!" he gasped.

"The heck is going on with the flashlights!?" Stan shouted.

"Dipper, come on," Mabel pleaded, "Just come out! This isn't funny."

Yuki turned to Mabel. "I think there is more to this than his vanishing. Something stalks this building!"

"Nothing is inside my home!" Stan barked, "Except us!"

"What if he's right?" Mabel asked, "What if something got him? We'd-"

Her words were cut off as a drip suddenly fell and hit her nose. Mabel gasped, wiping away the liquid, and gasping. It wasn't water- it was warm. It smelled of rot. Yuki's eyes widened as he looked up as the other two did.

On the ceiling above them, a swirling black mist clung to the rafters, with two red and yellow eyes peering down on them. Before they could take a breath to scream, it descended and enveloped Mabel instantly, entirely. Her screams of panic were muffled, and her form instantly vanished.

"Mabel!" Yuki roared.

Stan bellowed, "GET OFF MY GRANDNIECE!"

The two rushed forward, into the black mist. As they did, they heard the soft clatter as something fell to the floor. They stopped, meeting the end of the mist and seeing the window. they were through it, and there was no Mabel. She was gone, and as they watched, the mist vanished.

"I... what... what is going on!?" Stan gasped, his breathing increasing in speed.

"I know not," Yuki admitted, "but we must find out!"

"But Mabel... she's gone!" he shouted.

"And Dipper," Yuki added, "perhaps by the same source."

"Thanks for staying positive, Yuki," Stan snarled.

"No, don't you see?" he said, "This is a clue!" he held up the book, "The book ties two disappearances together. If we can discover the intent of the force behind this, linking these together, we could discover the twins!"

Stan scratched his chin. "Okay, fine, so," Stan stepped next to him, "What's the next step, huh? I grab my guns?"

"Uh... Not an entirely bad idea, actually," Yuki shrugged.

Five minutes later, Stanley Pines had two shotguns over his shoulders and a semi-automatic hunting rifle in his hands. Yuki nervously spied the weapons, even as he poured over the contents of the book. Standing by the base of the stairs, the two faced one another as they swapped ideas.

"Dipper must have read the same page Mabel had," Yuki said summarizing to Stan, "This is a journal of a priest from many years ago. It speaks about a monster he defeated a high cost. It could no longer act on its own, but once summoned, it could find a target and devour it."

"Great, so it stole my two kids away," Stan said, loading rounds into the rifle, "How do we get it to show? I'm guessing that's how we get them back."

"Agreed. However, I am uncertain," Yuki admitted, "It is most likely a... this book," the alien muttered, "The priest wrote... here!" he pointed to a passage, "It was sealed away into an object he could hide away, never again to be found."

"What exactly did he seal away?" Stan demanded, finalizing his rifle being loaded.

"A thing so horrible," Yuki read a passage aloud, "That devils themselves would step aside in its wake."

"Great. So, we're dealing with a demon," Stan grumbled, "Well, beat one of those once. We just need to find out its plan, or weak spot, and exploit it!" Stan declared. "They act all tough and stuff, but once you show 'em how they're weak, they're in trouble. And by that, I mean I can kill them."

"Must we kill it?" Yuki asked. Stan turned, his gaze a tempered fury not to be mistaken. "I understand the circumstances," Yuki quickly admitted, "And you have more than right to wish harm to this being. But for all we know, it could be a misunderstanding!"

"What I know is that my grandkids are missing. That's enough for this," he patted the rifle, "And these two," he nodded to the two shotguns next to his back. "So. Let's bring him out so we can have a chat."

"I... am uncertain that is wise," Yuki quietly said, rubbing his hands together, "This entity made no noise; save for a rustle. We have not seen it take a physical form as of yet. We must consider more than just physical actions."

"If we had more time, maybe," Stan shouted, and reached out, grasping the book from Yuki, "Now, show me that passage."

"Stan, please, I must protest!" Yuki yelled, pleading for him to listen.

"Yuki!" Stan shouted back.

"Very... Very well!" Yuki cried out, and pointed to the same section.

"Okay... Coram Paesense, venit creaturae, venator properant!" Stan announced, reading out the latin passage as a command, versus Mabel's minor incantation.

As a reply, wind began to billow and swirl inside the building. The lights in the house flickered, turning on and off again. Stan raised his gun and leveled it with his arm. Yuki stepped away, his eyes scanning for a sign of the coming shadow.

He could hear it again. Something dragging across the floor, like fabric.

"There!" Yuki turned to the hallway. A shadow crept around the corner, and Stan made his action quick and deliberate. As fast as he could, he spun and fired. The shadow recoiled and the sound burst out louder.

"That was a freakin' cat!" Stan gasped, re-cocking the rifle.

"What?" Yuki gasped.

"That sound I just heard," Stan shouted as he spun around, "That was some big-cat hiss!"

"A big cat hiss?" Yuki asked.

Again, from a different direction, he heard the strange sound. Yuki turned about, grasping Stan's robe and pulling. "There!" Yuki shouted and pointed. As Stan whipped around, the shadow retreated.

"Dang!" Stan growled, looking around. "Heard you!"

"It... it can understand English?" Yuki muttered.

"Who cares?!" Stan grumbled. "Next time just pull me to face it if you see it!"

"I hear it before I see it," Yuki quietly said.

"Whatever!" Stan groaned, again scanning the halls around them.

From the distance of the shadows in the home, Yuki again heard noise. Yet Stan too heard the sound. They both turned and face the long distant hallway, where the black mist of shadow met them. Something hard and sharp drug across a wooden surface, making the sound of peeling, groaning wood.

Boom. Step.

Boom. Step.

Stan slowly raised his gun, as the eyes of red and yellow came out, a snarl from the darkness. "Yuki," Stan said, as a large black claw crashed down onto the wood directly before the darkness, "Whatever happens, run."

"I will not leave your side," Yuki stated, trembling at the sight of the coming being.

"Too bad," Stan said, and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm thinking this thing wants me. If you get in the way-"

Another claw emerged, slicing into the wooden floors, causing Yuki to jump.

"Stan, I am here to aid you!" Yuki shouted.

The shout was a mistake. The beast yowled loudly, and the mist lunged forward, the heavy patter of claws against wood heralding the charge of the monster. Stan, without a moment hesitation, grasped Yuki and threw him into his own room, and then closed the door.

"No!" Yuki shouted as he stumbled to the floor, "I can help! Stanley!"

Gunshots and a scream.

Silence.

Yuki trembled as he stood up, now hearing nothing. Yet his eyes did not betray him as the flickering of lights halted. Under the crack of the door, the same black mist simmered out as a vapor, and slowly dissipated.

Fear overtook Yuki. He heard nothing now. Saw nothing now.

So, with conviction and determination battling the immense fear, he strode forward and opened the door. As the wooden panel swung open, he heard the rattle of shells; emptied gunshot casings scattered to the floor. Discarded was also the book which had fallen to the ground, along with the tarot card.

In the wood around him, deep, dark claw marks imbedded along the wood. Yuki imagined that whatever had made them was easily the size of a bear, or even that of the animal Dipper referred to as 'Multi-bear'. Yuki had not seen such marks.

What could he do? The alien was now utterly alone. His friends had vanished; taken by a force of shadow and hunting. His keeper shoved him aside, keeping him safe as he attempted to take the monster on by himself. He... he could try calling Soos and Wendy. Yes! They could help with this matter!

Then again... it could endanger them as well.

No. Yuki could solve this on his own.

Looking down to the book, he lifted to the same page, and silently read.

Scanning the many pages as fast as he could, his trained eyes darted back and forth in search for more ties to the monster. Once and again, he found a name, one he had never heard of before. Eventually he even settled onto a method- one proposed to silence the creature if it was released.

It was bold, what the book suggested. A method of sealing it into a container- to be hidden separately from the book, so that no one in ear-shot could re-state the incantations, and accidentally free the monster. Yuki finally understood.

Dipper had released a monster from not the book, but from the card. The Tarot card, lifted to Yuki's face by his own grip, was that of a tiger.

While he was no expert on exorcisms, Yuki had a plan of action. It was foolhardier than anything else, but what else could he do? In the face of danger, and with the possibility of losing his friends and now extended family, he had no choice.

With a small, shuddering sigh, he re-stated what had been said, to his guess, three times before. " Coram Paesense, venit creaturae, venator properant."

The silence in the building was discouraging. Yuki glanced into the page again. He was certain he had said it correctly. "Ahem. Coram Paesense, venit creaturae, venator properant!" he said with enthusiasm. Still... nothing. "Come now! Approach!"

The sound he had been hearing before, that strange sound that reminded him of slithering cloth, once again began and grew closer. Lights began to flicker and tremble in the building. Yuki saw it coming, as he had before.

Across the hallway, the mist appeared, and the figure approached. In the shadows, the being drifted closer, eyes of yellow and red.

"Approach," Yuki demanded, "Rakshasa!"

Half way down the hallway, the mist departed, and a figure stood before him. Dressed in a tattered robes and loincloth, the figure was mostly humanoid. Striped orange fur covered the body, and the legs and feet were that of a large tiger, standing on it's hind legs. The arms and chest were heavily built with muscle. Hands with claws, like the bottom paws, and the face was a snarling visage of a tiger's own head.

"You utter my name, foreigner," the beast growled, stomping closer, his height one that spanned to the to ceiling.

"I have indeed, demon," Yuki gulped, standing his ground. The demon made it mere feet before the alien, glaring down at him.

"Who are you to not fear my hunt?" the monster questioned with high authority.

Yuki stole courage from his memory. He had already once bested a cat-creature. He told the being, "One who you have greedily taken more than deserved," Yuki replied.

The cat-monster snarled and chuckled, his hissing laughter driving into Yuki's mind a dark anger. "The prey, telling the predator what the limits are," the Rakshasa mused, "What dark days had come to this world if this has become the normal."

Yuki gulped, calming himself down. This cat reminded him a little too much of the Toldori; the feline species of warriors that closely worked with his own race. Just like the non-natives of this planet, this demon simply got on his nerves. Yuki glared up at the tall being, his jaw tightly locked. "Do not mistake my polite inclinations for passivity," he warned the cat.

The Rakshasa roared with laughter. "You're bold. Amusing. I'll sate your appetite, foreigner," the demon said, and held his hand out.

"What?" Yuki asked.

A light shimmered in the monster's hand. "You show bravery in holding your ground without fear," the demon commended him as an image appeared, "But your fate will follow theirs."

A tiny shimmering bubble formed from nothingness. Inside the bubble, the trio taken were all inside, locked to dark, stone walls by horrible, rusted chains. Screaming silently for aid, they all peered around helplessly.

"Friends!" Yuki gasped and reached out. His hand swiped through the bubble, which popped. He glared at the monster. "You... let them out!"

"Why?" the demon grinned, showing his fangs.

"Because... you are a being of hunting," Yuki reasoned, "Why imprison that which could run?"

"So, you would allow me to release my prey, just to enjoy the chase again?" the monster asked. Yuki shrugged. "No," the Rakshasa shook his head, "I am one who hungers for more than the satisfaction of my superiority. I... Will... Feast."

"Not on them," Yuki growled.

"Deny me my own hunt against you was bold," the monster stepped a slow gape closer, "And threatening me... daring. I wonder if letting you live to speak was a mistake, Foreigner."

His fists tightened. "Let my friends go, or else."

"Else, what? Little man?" the Rakshasa leaned down, his large, mane-covered head before Yuki's, the fetid breath of a monster pouring into Yuki's nostrils as he glared back. "What exactly will you do, tiny foreigner?"

Yuki snatched out his hand, grasping the whiskers of the demon. The cat yelped, flinching at the pain one hand caused as Yuki slowly pulled. The cat bent his body with the twist, unwilling to allow his whiskers to be so forcibly removed. "Or else I do THIS!" Yuki yelled, and punched out.

If the Rakshasa wanted to save his whiskers, that was the action that denied him. One side of all his whiskers were torn from him, remained in Yuki's dominant hand as his second, right hand, smashed into the nose of the demon, sending him flying into the railing of the stairs with a crash.

Landing amongst splintered wood, the demon leapt back to his feet, his nose running with dark, black liquid. His clawed hand felt his face, and the absence of whiskers along one side. Then he growled, focusing on the heavily breathing alien. "I bring my prizes home... but not you, you spiteful-" The demon was cut off as Yuki ran forward and again punched out.

The fist connected. The demon flew down the hallway with a rattling crash. His body bounced against the ground painfully, yet he eventually stood up again. Yuki was waiting for him, ready for another punch, which he drove into the beast's body.

Again, and again, and again Yuki slammed his fist, foot, head, elbow into the Rakshasa. Each time the demon flew back, crushing parts of the house and building with terrible impacts, before shakily standing back up.

Yuki was yelling, roaring; each of his fists driving more and more spit and blood to the floor as he wiped the ground with the demon. Yet, despite all his trouble and attempts, the monster was mostly un-phased. He would stand, breathing heavily, and glare at Yuki right before another punch would send him flying. Yet Yuki was running low on his steam. He was strong, but he had never had to punch something as much as this one demon.

After his weakest punch yet, which only threw the cat onto it's back some five feet backwards, Yuki stumbled backwards, catching his breath. The demon grumbled, clawing at the air.

"You're strong," he snarled, showing broken teeth in his mouth as he hissed, "But I am not a being who is defeated by a mere fist-fight."

"Maybe... you're... right," Yuki gasped for air, stepping backwards, his arms limp at his side. Each breath was a step backwards, leaving the demon to rise back up.

"You fool," the Rakshasa sneered, "All you've done is waste energy and time. I am a being beyond your mortal coils. Watch... as I take my time... slowly... carving you."

The demon took it's turn and lunged forward. A flash of hot white pain seared through Yuki as he was lifted up into the air, his blood splashed out. The tiger-man had clawed upwards, leaving four incisions across the chest and shoulders of the alien. He gasped and spun away, landing in a crumpled pile against Stan's bedroom door.

"Yes," the demon snickered as Yuki crawled up to shit, holding his chest while wincing, "You realize your mistake was never running, correct? To deny the hunter his chance to enjoy a hunt... was your true mistake."

"Perhaps it was," Yuki nodded, his head drooping.

"Now... I will enjoy your body as a feast," the demon cat stepped over, and grasped down, lifting Yuki to his face, pinning him against the walls as his claws dug into his skin, drawing blood against the deep, dark skin. "But not you first. First, you will watch as I slowly eat the others, one by one. Then, only when your despair and regret matches that of what I deserved from a true hunt... then shall I end your-"

Yuki snatched out his hand, grabbing the throat of the demon and squeezed. "Oh, shut up," he growled, and held up a Tarot card he had lifted off the floor when he sat down.

The eyes of the demon shot wide with fear for the first time.

"Vindex Vinctos," Yuki recited as the Tarot card shivered and sparkled with electricity, "Daemonium Devorabitur," the power of the Tarot card began to shimmer out with bright sparks of lightning, striking the arms and hands of the Rashaka, "pervinco pravus!"

The monster howled as the light shining out from the card reached out, grasping the monster with powerful chains made entirely of shimmering lightning. One by one, the tiger's limbs were collected and drawn into the face of the tarot card, as it struggled for release. The hand clutching Yuki was drawn away as it was pulled into the seemingly unrelenting power of the magic charm.

"I... WILL... HAVE... REVENGE!" the cat screamed as it's head slowly descended from view, swallowed by the light.

"Yeah right," Yuki scowled.

The light faded and the cat vanished.

As Yuki fell forward, three pairs of feet struck the ground before him, and three rears hit the ground with loud yelps and thuds.

Mabel yelled. "Aaah! Oh," Mabel gasped, looking around, "We're not cat-ptured anymore?"

Dipper seemed entirely upset with the situation. "Would you stop calling being kidnapped 'cat-ptured'!?" Dipper grumbled as he stood to his feet the quickest.

"You're all safe," Yuki quietly muttered, sitting against the wall.

"Yuki!" the twins shouted in unison, rushing to his side.

He insisted to them, "It is not as bad as it would seem."

"You liar!" Mabel growled, poking his unharmed shoulder.

"Yeah, got to agree with them on this one," Stan said, standing up and looking around to the damage done to his home, "I think I missed something while I was locked up. 'Cus half of the stuff in here was, uh, definitely not me."

"Dang," Dipper added as he turned around, eyeing the damage, "You really had a tussle out here."

"Heh," Yuki shrugged, "I needed to persuade the demon that I mistook my strength as an advantage. So, I punched it many times. Once I was weak enough, allowed it close, and... well, did as you would have done," he said to Dipper, "Deceived it and trapped it back into his card," he said, and lifted the tarot card.

"So," Dipper growled, taking the card gently from Yuki, "That son of a – well, it's in this thing!?" he demanded.

"Yes. I urge... we find a method to dispose of it. Forever," Yuki suggested.

"Sure. We can get to it tomorrow," Dipper nodded, and pocketed the card. "Yuki, will you be okay?"

"Yes," the alien nodded.

"Well, I'm going to pretend I'm Wendy and try patching you up!" Mabel declared, and marched off, heading towards the cashier counter in the gift shop. Stan walked over to the alien, and patted his shoulder.

"You know... I always wondered if I was just giving you a free ride with the night-watch job," he admitted.

"I will earn my keep, Stanley," Yuki declared.

Stan looked down to the alien, his tired eyes scanning the would-be-teenager. After a moment, he chuckled. "Yeah. 'Earning', huh?" he said, and patted the hatted head of Yuki. "That's funny. Goodnight," he said, and with that, Stanley opened his door to the room, and closed it behind him.

"Did... did he not approve of the damages I caused?" Yuki asked Dipper.

"Don't worry about it," Dipper shrugged. He yawned loudly and stretched his hands up. "Well, I think that's enough investigation and fearing for my life for one day. Yuki," Dipper extended a fist to him, "You did good."

With a weak smile, Yuki extended his own fist and bumped Dipper's. "Thank you," he muttered. Mabel rushed over, beginning to gingerly help Yuki remove the torn clothing that was still stained with blood. Groaning in the sharp pains that reminded the Alien of his fight, he aided Mabel as best he could.

One moment he was able to glance up the stairs as Dipper ascended upwards. He made eye contact with Dipper as he glanced down towards Yuki.

The Alien gulped as Dipper turned back away to his room.

He was sure it had been a trick of the shadows, but yellow and red were not the usual color of Dipper's eyes.

---

Mabel shouted, "Wait, that's where that ends?!"

"Ahh, I hate cliffhangers!" Soos pouted. "Except when it's me, actually on a cliff, you know, hanging on for dear life! Then it helps stretch out my back."

"You need to understand," Stanford stepped over to them, a hand on their shoulders, "The masterwork of a fearful story is never giving a conclusive ending. That way things can continue. Even if Yuki defeated the demon, which he did," Stanford admitted, "Letting the reader think that there could be more is how to define a possibility of coming back to the same fears that they may have felt."

"Well, it still stinks," Mabel grumbled. "I wanted to have Yuki be an undisputed winner of that fight!"

"He... totally was, though," Stanford told them, "The Rakshasa may have been indestructible, but his arrogance overburdened his cunning in the match against Yuki's strength and intelligence. Yuki would naturally win."

"Well, that's good to hear at least," Soos grinned, "At least it's an ending where most of us were happy."

Stanford looked to Soos. "Soos, you weren't in that story."

"I was, in spirit," Soos declared.

"Speaking of spirits," Mabel spoke out, catching their attention, "I think our times are up."

"Oh! Quite!" Stanford nodded. "Well, I guess it's time to be on our way! Back to the realm beyond reality and to other times of Halloween and Summerween!"

"Well, shall we dudes?" Soos asked.

"Let's rock it like a socket!" Mabel declared. Slowly, the three bodies began to fade into shadows, retreating into the fog.

Then the write came running up. "WAIT!" he shouted, holding up his pen and paper in protest.

The three paused as Mabel answered, "What?"

"You can't go just yet!" he shouted.

Ford frowned, and demanded, "Why on earth not!?"

"Because... because... IT'S TOO SOON!" The author shouted, stomping his foot onto the ground.

"That's the problem with one-day holidays!" Stanford called back as the three continued their retreat. "Once a year is a blip in the time of a life!"

"But... but the story isn't done!" The writer called to the spirits as they darted out of sight. "Guys! Wait?" he called, his lifted arms falling slowly to his side, a sinking realization coming to him that he was, finally, alone again.

"Dang it!" the writer spun around, scratching his scruffy facial hair, "They never gave this one a solid ending... but I need to wrap this up somehow... oh c'mon, what's a chapter like this one missing? Something that just works..."

The writer paused, and then looked up, realizing he was still being 'watched'.

"Oh. Right. So, uh, hi guys. Yeah. Uh... so I'm not used to being a character... one observed, at least," he admitted, scratching his head, "So, uh, I'll make this brief. Hopefully... maybe not."

"That Hiatus I spoke about last update is still on. Yeah, for the next four weeks, there won't be any more updates. I need some time to settle things with the coming chapters, and that's a lot of work. After all, season three will be the length of season one and two combined."

"Ugh," he glanced down to his clipboard, and checked a list, "Also, I'm considering taking this story to a new format. I, in case a few of you didn't know, am also an actor! Whoa, crazy, right? But I'm intending to begin translating this to audio-format one day. I may actually begin this coming month, or the months to follow. If you're interested at all, let me know! Or if you know others who also may be interested, let me know. Actors, editors, illustrators, editors, animators- anyone. Just hearing that you're interested would be awesome, honestly."

"So... uh... yeah. That's it for the full season one episodes!" he declared, clapping his hands once together. "And since this one has been a mix of dramatic and silly, I think it's fair I return to an old habit of mine. As usual, my exit. Talk to you guys later!"

EZB then pressed a button on his watch, and a giant jack-o-lantern fell from the sky and crushed him with a loud squash.

---

Rg xlfow szev yvvm dlihv. VAY xlfow szev yvvm 'tlfiw'!