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.

97. The Rising Grasp: Part 3

Graupner hadn't finished. His voice, emanating from each of the television nearby, stated, "Her capture is vital to the Rising Grasp. Make no mistake, we will have her by the end of the day. And each hour we do not, I will personally see any building, any one random building in Chicago, in this city… get burned to ashes," he warned.

Agent Trigger gulped and Agent Powers scowled.

Graupner spoke more. "You stay out of the Rising Grasps way, and I stand no threat to you. But I will find the quickest, most available path to her because of my desperation. I am very, very dangerous when I'm desperate. Know this: the sooner I have her, the less... desperate I get. So... your move, Chicago."

All the televisions lost that signal. Returning to their news, which regardless of the station had returned to a 'Please Stand By' image, the televisions buzzed noisily.

Soos couldn't find the word. "He... he-"

"Made a declaration," Ford announced with a scowl, "Bold. Not only that, he intents to turn all of the city against us. He really does just continue growing crueler with each encounter!"

"Now what?" Dipper turned to them, "I doubt we can even leave the lobby without getting swarmed by people who just want to catch Wendy."

"What!?" Mabel gasped. "No way! People are much better than that. They'll absolutely understand that Wendy is the real victim here, and not try getting at her no matter-"

"Hey!" a person shouted, and rushed at Wendy from across the lobby, "What are you doing? Turn yourself into them!"

"Wow," Mabel stared at the approaching man, who wore a disheveled business suit and tangled hair. "You disappoint me, humanity's representative."

Agent Trigger stepped before the man, his palm out. "This doesn't concern you, sir."

"Like hell it does!" he snapped back, "The terrorists said they'd burn down buildings the longer we wait!"

"And the sooner we give into terrorists," Agent Powers replied, approaching the man with his menacing height, "The sooner they ask for something else with the same threat. Then it happens again. And again. No. This is America," he said, "We do not. Abide. Terrorist. Demands."

The man, trembling before the two agents, turned and ran. The Guardsman sighed, and turned to the agents once more. "He'll probably go tell them where we are, and that you're protecting us."

"Wait," Agent Trigger did a double take, and looked to his superior, "Are we?"

Agent Ford scowled. "At this point, I cannot see a better action to take than getting this young lady out of the city as soon as possible while the national guard takes action against their primary forces."

Zander scoffed, "These guys will be gone before much of the armed forces arrive. They use magic, not conventional means of warfare. Even if they rely on some technology, they will have much superior quality from their lack of numerical advantage," he reminded them all. "Your best bet was always to help us, as I said earlier."

Mabel let out a small squeal. After several looked to her, she shrugged, "What? I like team-ups! What's better than one team of super-badass people? A bunch set on the same goals! Super-heroes!"

Dipper looked back to the agents, failing to resist a smile. "So, we're allies?"

Agent Powers shook his head. "It seems that way." He then turned to Agent Triggers. "Get the rest of the unit together, and tell them to release the Elementalists. We need to get them to their vehicles and escort them to city limits ASAP. Understood?" Agent Triggers nodded, and rushed off. Agent Powers turned back to the Guardsman, "Don't think this means we're just forgetting about your refusal for cooperation."

Zander laughed a short, bitter scoff from behind the mask. "I can only hope that when this is all over, everyone will have forgotten me."

"Zan- uh- Guardsman," Mabel asked, "What next? We blast our way out of here?"

He turned to her, cloak whipping in his wake. "We get you five out of here," he said, looking to the survivors of Gravity Falls. "The paths and I are going to take you five to your cars, and then we'll try to divert the attention in a different direction; southwards. You guys need to keep heading west, as fast as you can."

"Like in Florida!" Mabel barked, and then paused, "And also in Pittsburg. And almost, sorta, by Niagara-"

"Yes, now let's move," The Guardsman ordered, pointing them to the door.

Dipper was first to move, sensing the desperation in the cloaked figures voice. He felt the footfalls of the others behind him; his sister, Soos, Wendy, and the younger Grunkle Ford all ran as well. To his side he saw the gang of the Paths, the young man named Drew, the shaved head of Darren, aka Rushtar, the redhead named Maureen, the tall woman named Rin, and the muscular man named Nadan: they all took to running after the gang. Movement was everywhere as the United States agents also took to the doors. All at once the combative occupants of the hotel lobby emptied into the streets.

Through the glass doors was a world at unease. The many people of Chicago danced around one another along the sidewalks, looking at the many electronic screens. Dipper quickly looked to all of them; most seemed on, but were playing nothing. Had Graupner gotten to the electronic billboards as well? Cars had even stopped in the street, people shouting at one another about the announcement.

"Where did you park again?" Maureen of the Paths asked as the martial artists met alongside the gang.

"That way," Ford pointed, "In the public garage around the corner."

"That's not too far," Drew muttered, the start of a smile displayed across his lips.

Dipper glanced around. People who saw them at once noticed Wendy. They were muttering to each other, a hundred minds all focused on their group. Dipper gulped, and worried aloud, "It might be harder to get there than we think."

The agents appeared around them, walking from the hotel to the front of the sidewalk. Dark shades for sunglasses, they scanned around. "They've noticed the girl," Trigger announced, pressing his fingers to his ear.

"I'm right here," Agent Powers remarked, looking at him with a glare, "And it is confirmed, our anonymity is compromised," he added as people started to march closer, brows furrowed in a focused intent. The agent turned to Dipper and Mabel, "Stay close to us." He then lifted out a hand and started to call out. "Official government business! Scatter and return to your homes!"

"Yeah! Scatter!" Trigger mimed his superior, walking out as well. The gang followed them, eyeing the scared inhabitants of the city.

Wendy swallowed audibly. "They're all watching me, man," she said to her companions.

"Yeah, probably," Soos shrugged. Wendy swatted his stomach, "I mean- uh- no! They just know me 'cus I host Fixin' it, With Soos!"

Mabel laughed. "It'll be okay!" Mabel declared with a smile, "We're really inconspicuous, "she said proudly. Mabel looked to the redhead, and her smile was challenged: the smile twisted into a nervous grimace. "Are you... nervous?" she asked. Wendy let out a rapid series of nods. "Wow, are you…scared?" Mabel asked, her eyes growing wider.

Dipper clenched his jaw, "It will be okay. Wendy," he also looked back to her, "It's going to be okay."

Wendy was trembling. "I'm just saying," she shuddered, "I've felt what it's like to die, and then this is… kind of similar," she said, her bright green eyes wide as she looked around.

Dipper was a good debater. He had more than his fair share of comebacks in case she had retorted with something bleak. What she said left him stunned. Even Mabel twisted her lips tightly and just looked at her brother, sharing a concerned glance. Then Soos laughed.

"Yeah, but you weren't with us back then," he said, patting her shoulder. Wendy's lips did a quick fall, and then she gave him a watery smile.

"Thanks, Soos," she weakly said.

He chuckled, "not a problem, bro-"

"Hey!" Another person was marching straight for the two agents, his eyes fixed on Wendy.

"Sir, keep back!" Agent Trigger warned, "Official united states business."

The man shook his head and shouted further. "Those crazy cult nutjobs are going to start killing people, and you're just walking around downtown?! What if they blow up a bus of kids because of her! Turn her in!"

"SIR!" Powers shouted, pushing him back. The man toppled on the sidewalk edge, falling against a closed car that had paused at a red light. As he pushed, he then whipped his hand behind his jacket. The gang stepped back as the agent withdrew a pistol, and held at the aggressor. "Stay away from the young lady!"

Another figure on the sidewalk shouted, and ran at him. "You can't push people like that!" He ran up to powers, and tried delivering a haymaker of a punch. The rigid looking man ducked back, avoiding the punch, and was able to slap the butt of the weapon against the man's back-shoulder, stunning the person.

Wendy breathed in sharply, holding her arms as her pupils dilated. More people were shouting. The Guardsman rapidly looked around. Dipper followed suit, and was horrified by what he saw. No less than a mob was starting to run at them. From all sides people were a moment or two from rushing at them.

The Guardsman roared, "Protect the survivors!" as he lowered his stance, and withdrew his weapon – the shimmering long spike of a spear.

Dipper held out his arms just in time to push back against a taller man who was trying to push past him. This guy looked like he belonged as a bus operator, and clawed at Wendy, who hyperventilated behind Dipper. That sound of fear, of the terror in the redhead, it changed him. Dipper pushed the man with all his strength, and then swung his fist as hard as he could against the man before him. The man, easily forty of fifty years of age spun around and collapsed. Yet another took his place, and Dipper found himself struggling more.

"Here!" The youngest member of the paths come up beside him, and kicked at the newest mob-member and their legs, knocking them to a kneel, just so Dipper could give him a push aside.

"Thanks!" Dipper said with a grin.

"No proble-" Drew said, but was interrupted by a fist colliding with his mouth. A woman punched him hard across the lips, and tried her luck at getting at Wendy.

Next to him, Dipper saw the Guardsman holding out his spear, holding back four full adults with one arm, and keeping another who had slipped under the spear at bay with his other arm. Dipper and Mabel simultaneously jabbed the woman who had decked Drew in the face, and she stumbled back, only to be replaced by another.

The guardsman yelled, "They're scared, stop hurting them!" as he pushed back all five with one hefty shove.

"Easy for you to say!" Dipper yelled, as he shoved back another person. "Not so easy for us to not hurt people when we can't just hold five people back at once!"

Ford yelped, pushing two people back with as much effort as he could. "This is seriously irrational of you! Think about what you're doing! You're all letting the terrorists know that they can expect you to comply with their demands!" Someone was able to reach out and push his face with his hand, and Ford whined, his glasses askew, "And this is very unsanitary!"

A gunshot tore the air. Trigger held his gun high, scaring those closets to him. "Back! I order you to get back-" he roared, but to little avail. Someone immediately tackled him to the ground, the gun vanishing into the mess of footsteps.

It was going nowhere. These random, terrified people were easy enough to push back, or knock aside, at least one at a time. Dipper noticed that the crowd was growing. More people were rushing to them. He yelled out, "We need to get away! Or do something!"

"Got any ideas?!" Mabel barked as she leapt into the air, kicking two people simultaneously. They fell back as she landed and caught another charging person, only for Mabel to yelp, "Gah! Let go, my hair, my HAIR!" she screeched as someone had pinned a large lock of her hair to her shoulder.

"Dipper," the Guardsman looked back quickly to him.

His mind raced. Dipper's mind raced to action. He looked ahead of himself, seeing the two figures about to meet him in this mob scene of tug-of-war. He knew all eyes were on Wendy. They needed to get away. They needed… a distraction. But the gun wasn't enough.

Dipper was able to meet one of these newcomers with a brilliant twist. He caught one arm and re-directed its own into the other charging fellow. They collapsed into a mess just out of his reach, and gave him a moment to think. Wendy, he coiled ideas in his mind like war-strategy, they know what she looks like. He used the closest image of her they had. What can we do? He asked himself. Dipper saw the fighters of the paths, their own attempts to shove back the mob. A flash of red hair caught his eye, and he gasped.

"Wendy!" he said, turning quickly, "Give your shirt to Maureen!" he said.

"Huh!?" the two ladies exclaimed, looking to him.

"Maureen," he said, turning to her, "Put it on as discreetly as possible, and when I say so, run away, covering your head!" he then turned to Zander, "When I shout, have all the paths follow her! Get away as fast as possible!"

The Guardsman looked to him, and nodded.

Dipper looked back to Wendy, who had taken off both her jacket and her green plaid shirt, and handed it to Maureen. Dipper leaned to the Paths member, "Remember – its important you look like you're trying to hide your red hair!" She nodded, putting her arms into the sleeves as fast as she could. "Ready?" he asked, and the woman nodded. "GO!" he shouted.

The lithe, petite woman darted away, diving under the arms and torsos of many people. Dipper smiled, and then pointed, and yelled, "LOOK! She's getting away!"

The collective mob turned their heads and spied Maureen, who had taken the jacket and pulled it over her head, only showing a glimpse of the red hair. The fighting had stopped, but no one had left. Dipper felt a cold chill go up his back. Was the mob smarter than he thought? Should the plan fail, all he had done is compromise the line of defense.

Then Zander stepped up, and shouted, "Protect her!"

Rushing past the mob was the other members of the paths. Bruised, battered, or even bloodied in one case, the collective troupe of the Paths chased after the speedy woman with a disguise. That sold it to the onlookers. More than enough people suddenly turned and chased after her, going in the opposite direction of the gang's destination.

"Wait!" Agent trigger stood up, scuffed and dirty, "We're tasked with defending you!" he shouted after the mob and the disguised woman.

Agent Powers walked to him, eyeing him. "That's the disguised one, you idiot."

"Oh. Oh," Agent Trigger nodded slowly, and looked around, growing red in the face, "I, uh, knew that, sir. Just selling the show."

"But dude, there's no one left," Soos stated, looking around to the vanished crowd, "There's no one-"

Bright red in the cheeks, Agent Trigger yelled at Soos, "I'm just SELLING to the crowd!"

Powers turned to the Guardsman, who met the agent head on. "Get your people out of the city. It's a danger to the city, its people, and you all. That is a direct order from a united states agent."

The Guardsman nodded, "I'm not an American, but sure, why not," he said, and waved for the gang to follow. They started walking away, crossing the street.

Trigger gawked at him as he walked away. "He's not even an American!?" he called after them.

"You're not?" Mabel asked, stepping up to him as the gang got closer.

"Duh," Dipper told her, appearing on the Guardsman's other side, "If the orb was over four hundred years old, and the United States was founded in-"

She groaned, pushing his face away, "I forgot, gimme a break," she snapped at him, pulling her fingers through her hair as she tried straightening out a clump of now very knotted hair. "This is the worst," she growled, ending up yanking hair from her very scalp.

Soos spoke up, putting a hand on Dipper, "Is everyone okay? Are you okay dawg?" Dipper nodded.

"I'm okay," Ford replied, adjusting his glasses to fit evenly on his face. "Maybe in need of a bit of hand-sanitizer."

Mabel grumbled, combing her hair with her fingers, "Aside from a bad hair-day."

Soos looked to Wendy. She was even more pale than before, and looked to the ground as she walked with them away from the scene of the mob. Dipper dared a look at her, and felt his own heart sink. She looked more defeated than ever before.

"Wendy?" Soos asked.

"I've been… better," she tried.

Ahead of them, Zander opened the door for the garage. As they stepped inside, he lowered his mask and laid against the concrete wall of the very crude, basic stairs leading up. The five stopped, looking at him, save for Wendy, who stared at the ground.

"You can't give in," Zander suddenly said. His eyes up at the ceiling.

"Huh?" Dipper asked him.

"Wendy," Zander turned to look at her, and she turned and looked at the other wall. "Stop thinking about it."

Mabel blinked, and looked between them. "What do you mean?" Mabel asked. "Wendy, we're all in this together, and we totally have this. Are you okay?"

Wendy said nothing, holding her arm in her grip. "I'm… yes," she said, and continued to climb the stairs, ahead of the others. The twins shared another look, and then followed suit with the others. Zander was last to push off the wall, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. Wendy called back, "I'll feel better once I'm out of this city. I don't like big crowds focusing on me like that."

"I think that is a concise way of putting it," Ford declared, "this whole battle against the people is really just making matters worse."

"They're scared," Zander said, stepping up behind them all. "Scared people do things they often come to regret. It isn't the first time, and I am certain it won't be the last."

"I just hope your people are okay," Soos replied, scratching his shoulder.

Zander sighed. "They will be fine," he told them. Dipper suddenly felt heavy. He had been the one to come up with the plan. He could have just endangered them all. He turned, feeling a sickly heat cross his neck. Zander smiled at Dipper, shaking his head, "it was a great idea, Dipper. Don't start apologizing for ending a terrible situation."

"But they're being chased," he quietly retorted, "Or maybe even-"

Zander cackled. "Caught? They used to sprint three miles a day! And besides, better run than be cornered if you can help it," Zander shrugged, "At least as long as you have the strength to stand and can afford to not hurt someone, run."

They arrived upon the third level of the garage. The door swung open from Wendy, and the five behind her marched out. Their cars were fortunately close by. Trailing behind the fervent redhead, the gang marched in a hurry. As she made it to Mabel's poor, scratched up bike, she paused, looking away. Her brow furrowed and she studied the far side of the garage.

With a rushing step, Zander was suddenly moving past all of them, and got to the back of Dippers car. He was casting his look around. Then he placed his mask on with a quick gesture. "Get in, hurry," he warned them quietly.

"What?" Mabel turned, and looked around. Soos had every intent to follow orders, and rushed to the El-Diablo. Ford had only just walked past Zander, looking around. As Dipper turned around, on the opposite side of Zander as his sister, he felt something: that eerie feeling of being watched. Mabel asked Zander out of the side of her mouth, "What is it?" in a whisper.

He withdrew that same dark, nebulous spear, and stepped forward. "Get in the cars!" he snapped.

Wendy pointed and shouted, "There!"

Dressed in black cloaks they ran out into the open. Rushing out from behind a number of parked cars across the lot, Cultists of the Rising grasp leapt out and attacked from range. Holding something akin to a rifle, they fired their weapon. This weapon of theirs was immediately unleashed, and much to Dippers shock, blasted a bright beam of green light. He ducked and wove behind Zander. The Guardsman wove that staff of his through the air, striking out the beams from their intended targets, which seemed harmless to Zanders spear.

"The heck!?" Mabel yelled, diving behind Dippers car, "They have LASERS?!"

"No!" Ford gasped as he crawled to the driver side of the El-Diablo, "That's not a laser produced by focused light, at least from anything entirely mechanical!"

"Magical ones," Zander growled, "Magical laser rifles." He stood his ground, fending off the attacks with lightning speed reflexes. Shouting over his shoulder, he said, "Get moving! I'll catch up with you later!"

Dipper looked to him once, and then the now approaching cultists, still taking their turns to blast short-bursts of laser at the Guardsman. He didn't need another invitation, but paused as he noticed his sister's reluctance to retreat. "Mabel!" he called. His voice must have stirred her, as she had been watching Zander with a nervous look. She whipped around, and the two dived into his car. Dipper quickly got the car running.

The Guardsman darted forward, still deflecting those energy blasts as he could. One shot past him, and the twins yelled, the beam cutting a sizzling hole through both the front and rear window. "Damn!" Dipper yelled, and put the car in reverse. Tires screeching as he spun it around, Dipper strained to turn around for a quick exit. He saw the downward angled exit, and steered the car as fast as he could, slamming on the gas pedal.

Next to him, his sister mumbled. "Please be okay," Mabel said, looking over her seat back, out the back window. She was trying her best to watch Zander.

"He's faced worse, right?" Dipper asked as he heard the El-Diablo take to a sudden reversal, and skidding tire to chase after them. As Wendy also took to the road, Dipper saw behind her Zander finally getting into the number of the cultists. He was truly a monster to fight against, as he remembered. Nothing seemed able to stop him, even these men with magical weapons. None could land a hit on him as he ducked and wove around each danger like it was nothing. "See? He's fine," he told his sister as she finally turned around, and faced forward, "Everything is-"

Mabel yelled and pointed forward, "DIPPER!"

He looked ahead. A cultist, with one of those weapons, had run out and stood before the car, and raised its rifle. Dipper swerved to the side, earning his right side mirror a clean death via laser. As the metal, plastic, and mirror melted away, Dipper yelled and sped past the maniac. The crazy person pivoted, firing again at the car, which luckily missed. Ford and Soos sped past him too, and the maniac turned his attention to the expensive dragster. He had a clean shot at the El Diablo.

Then Wendy snuck up on him with the bike. Spinning it around him, she grasped the rifle with one hand, and then as she twisted. In a big circle she spun, until – WHACK. The rifle whipped about and slammed onto the back of his head in the same motion. He fell and crumpled aside. Wendy drove after the cars, now armed with a strange, bulky weapon.

Mabel snorted as she looked back at the scene. "I swear we're all just trying to be as cool as her." In the mirror, Wendy looked to the weapon for a moment, only then to discard it to the side. "Doesn't even need the magic gun," Mabel cooed.

"Yeah," Dipper said with an airy breath.

His sister poked the side of his head. "Daydream later!" she reminded him. He flinched, but navigated his way through the three levels of a concrete parking garage. Avoiding a few panicked pedestrians here or there, Dipper saw the token dispenser and slowed to a stop. Mabel looked at him with wide eyes as he inserted the paystub. "Really?!" she demanded.

"What?" he asked, and then looked at his hands on the steering wheel. He groaned, "Oh my god, why am I like this?!" he asked himself, and slammed the gas pedal with his foot. The car lurched forward, splintering the old gate bar into pieces.

"Have a nice day," the voice called after them.

Dipper and Mabel, Soos and Ford, and finally Wendy drove out of the garage as fast as they could. Back into the inner-city traffic, they made only marginal progress to getting out. The same street the mob brawl had taken place on was near a standstill as police forces were trying to navigate people around several crashed cars.

"Jeez," Mabel hissed as they passed a flipped car, "It's like Apocalypse Later out there, she said as she scanned around, the air from the laser-cut window blowing their hair about.

"That movie took place in a jungle, Mabes," Dipper reminded her as he took a turn towards the highway.

"That's the point!" Mabel cried out in exasperation. Dipper's eyes widened as he saw ahead. The brakes were slammed, and his car skidded to a halt. As the two buckled in their sudden stop, Mabel snapped, "What – what is it?" she asked, and he pointed ahead. Roaring off the merge ramp to get onto the highway was a familiar, dreaded sight. Cars of black pain, now with the icon of the Rising Grasp across its front, drove down the ramp straight at them.

"How do people in America even get their driver's license these days?!" Mabel shouted as Dipper spun the car around as fast as possible. As he spun about, Mabel stuck her head out the window and roared at the oncoming cars, "Wrong way, jerk-offs!"

As Dipper spun around, he noticed that both the El Diablo and Wendy atop the bike had as well started to turn away from the highway safely.

Dipper blinked and swallowed hard as he drove through a red light, causing oncoming traffic to screech to a halt. "I don't know this city well enough," he mumbled. Mabel turned to him, and he repeated, "Mabel! Can you check on your phone and see if there's any other ways onto the highway that leads us west?"

"Ew! I'm not good at this sorta stuff!" She cried.

Dipper scowled at her, "Would you rather drive?"

She paused, considering the option. She glanced ahead, and grinned. "I got a plan," she said, and looked to her brother.

"You have a plan?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's great!" she told him. "When I say go, put on that auto-gas thingy-"

"The what?" he gasped.

"That thingy!" she pointed to the cruise control, "And at the same time, lean as far back with your seat as you can and roll into the rear seats."

"What?!" Dipper dared to glare at her. She gave a strong smile that, despite his fear, gave him hope. He looked back to the road, and gave her plan a quick thought. He realized what she wanted to do, which was kind of crazy. But the result meant that she would drive and he would be free to… well, he felt the weight of the journal in his hands. If he was free, he could retaliate.

"Okay, I'm getting ready," he said, and he readied himself mentally to let go of the car all at once.

"Okay," she said, and waited. Ahead of them was a turn. "Steady," she said, and looked behind them. The El Diablo was speeding up to catch them along with the bike. Far behind them by a block or two, the Rising Grasp's cars had swerved into the roads. "It's all about this next turn," she told him, and watched the coming dead end.

It was left or right now, and Dipper felt in his head to turn left. He was ready, and saw the streets ahead, though crowded, were still moving. He had a summer of crazy-insane driving practice to swerve through the cars, and took several deep breaths before arriving to the turn. Then he twisted the wheel with a wide turn and applied the break. The turn led them down a road with relatively sparse of cars, and he felt Mabel tense.

"Go!" she shouted.

Dipper hit the cruise control, and then dropped the backside of his seat back, almost pushing himself to the back of the car, and no sooner had his legs left the seat than he felt his sister take his place. He rolled about, suddenly aware that he hadn't calculated how best to get out of the awkward, balled up state in the back seats. Mabel cranked back up the seat, and Dipper heard her chuckle.

"Now we drive like a Mabel drives," she said, and in the mirror, he saw her wicked grin. She looked back to him, and laughed, "You doing okay?" she asked as she turned back.

Dipper scowled at her, lying on his back with his feet in the air. "Just keep driving, I have to multi-task," he told her. Mabel looked ahead, and swore under her breath. Dipper looked to her as he was able to sit up fully. "What?" he asked. She nodded, and he shared the same swear, yet got a light slap across his face from his sister.

A black helicopter had just flown in between the buildings, and was low enough to the ground that nearby pedestrians fled the uplifted and blasted winds it caused. It shared the symbol with the swarm of cars chasing them: the icon of the Rising Grasp.

Dipper started chewing on his lip as he took out the journal and flipped out his phone again. Using both his left and right hand, he typed in 'Chicago maps' on his search engine, and then scanned the book for assistance. On the phone he found a very mundane map, and ignored it, hoping to find another soon. On the other side of him he saw a spell he had used in Pittsburg. He immediately discarded the idea though, as he remembered how detrimental the end result was. Used on himself or Mabel, it was too risky to use.

"Dipper," Mabel said with a concerned tone, her eyes glued ahead.

"Working!" he told her heatedly.

The Helicopter was spinning about, and as Dipper dared a look ahead, he saw him. The twins saw once again their enemy, the leader of the Rising Grasps, Graupner Kinley, was aboard the helicopter, standing by a slid-open panel door. His evil red eye glared back at them, and the helicopter moved in closer. It was weird to say that he seemed happy to see them.

Dipper pushed his brain faster. He needed a quick result, instead of a multi-step action. He found on his phone another map, and he gasped. "Here!" he said, and tossed it to the front-passenger seat.

"I can't see it!" Mabel called back.

Her brother wanted to answer with a reassurance, but he knew he couldn't spend that time. He had seconds to come up with an answer for what to do. He flipped the journal again, and saw his lightning spell. Though effective, he was in a city, and that bolt of lightning had more range than he really knew how to handle. Yet, on that same page, he spotted a spell he hadn't considered until now. It was so mundane and relatively harmless, except in this case.

He rolled down the closest window to him, and pushed his head outside. Lucky the strap of his hat was tight enough, but he still squinted in the rushing winds past him. Then he held out his hand and closed his eyes. He cleared his thoughts, thinking back to his training with Mabel. "Light, find the light," he told himself. After a moment to focus, he spoke the incantation.

"Agitata Ventis," he said, looking at the approaching helicopter several blocks away. He imagined the air around them growing difficult, and spoke again, "iratus flatus," he spoke again, and turned his hand from knuckles up to palm up, trying to visualize holding the atmosphere itself. Then with his eyes tightly closed, he felt the weight of the spell, and tried throwing his hand into the air as he called out, "Disperges Ea!"

Dipper threw his hand towards the sky. At once, a wide draft of air lifted across the street. Anything light that was unsecured was blasted skywards. Mabel's hair darted around the cars interior as some of that wind jutted inside. Even Dipper felt the need to pull himself inside. The chopper suffered the worst. As its blade pushed air downward to give itself the lift, suddenly there was another gust of wind to push against this energy. The helicopter swerved. It narrowly avoided the side of a building as it jostled and tossed about, trying to stabilize. Finally, the helicopter was forced to lift further away, leaving the sides of the buildings and out of harms reach.

"Yes!" Dipper roared, and pulled himself to the front passenger seat, collecting his phone. "Whoo!" he shook his shoulders, and looked over to Mabel. A chuckle had to be suppressed as he looked to his sister: her hair was an absolute mess. "S-sorry," he tried saying, pursing his lips as she scowled at him.

"For which?" she snapped, looking back to the road, "Using magic, or getting my hair all knotted?"

He gave her a strong look, and sighed. "The hair," he decided.

She rolled her eyes but said nothing else. There was a crashing sound behind them, and Dipper twisted to see what had happened. As Mabel eyed the rear-view mirror, Dipper saw the cars far behind them. The driving goons of the Rising Grasp had crashed through a civilian car, spilling glass and pieces of metal and plastic into the road.

"They're still on us," Dipper remarked. He pulled his phone to his face, and checked the map. He saw a possible path as he quickly scanned the image. "So," he looked to his sister. "The route that takes us due west is back there," he groaned, "But maybe we can take alleys?"

"That'll be easier for Wendy than us," she added, "Beside that girl being only just a bit cooler than me," Mabel told him with a solemn nod, "My bike has all the speed and agility to get around back-alley junk. But if we go into an alley and your car can't fit through garbage-

Knock, knock.

The two paused, and slowly looked to Dipper's window, where the gentle tap against glass had come from. Holding onto the side of the car, black cape billowing behind him, was the Guardsman. His silver mask was on, giving them only an idea as to what he was thinking or feeling. Dipper looked to the door, and pushed the button, lowering the window.

"Hey," the Guardsman said, "You come here often?"

Dipper scowled as Mabel burst out laughing. The male twin gave the mask a look, and then asked, "Do you want to come inside?"

"Sure," the Guardsman whipped up and tucked his feet through the back-window and slipped into the car like he was liquid. Landing on the backseats, he looked between the twins. "So, status update – our friends at Fopib are getting a caravan together. They're going to try to clear a path back on the highway for you. But you'll need to get there, along with everyone else," he told them.

Mabel snickered. "Fopib," she repeated.

"What about those guys behind us now?" Dipper asked. Zander and him turned to see the six-car chase behind Wendy and Ford with Soos. "They're not just going to stop because we have the government on our side."

Zander smiled, and said, "I got that covered."

As they passed by another block, Dipper watched as a large, very beaten bus swerved out from the block by the enemy. It was the Paths! The larger vehicle slammed into the front car, sending it veering into a light post and sprawling into a flip. It then turned away, and like a charm, the remaining five cars followed it.

"Dang, they're good at that," Dipper admitted with a grin.

Zander sighed. "We're an adaptive bunch." He then put a hand on Mabel's shoulder, and told her, "Turn at the next block to the left. We're going to loop back around towards the exit as soon as possible.

Mabel tried to reply, surely, but all she managed was a garbled 'mmhmm,' as her shoulders tensed and her face reddened. Dipper gave her an incredulous look, but said nothing. Even in the face of danger, she couldn't handle him nearby, let alone touching her.

Zander looked behind him. "Do Soos, Ford, and Wendy know to follow you?" he asked.

"As far as we know, yeah," Dipper admitted, looking over his shoulder to the broken window. Finally, it settled in, and he groaned. "Mom is going to kill me when she sees what happened to the car."

Zander laughed, and pulled the mask above his face, looking at Dipper. "When this is all over, I'll get you a new one."

"Y-you- what?!" Dipper stammered.

"I am a multi-millionaire," Zander reminded him, "I didn't pretend to perform as a Rockstar for years. Do you think that card I gave you was, what, magic?""

Mabel chuckled, "Yeah, Dipper!" she exclaimed, receiving a scathing look from her brother. Her smile faded. In the air was the sound of a buzzing, radio quality voice. "Wait," she started, "Anyone else hear that annoying sound?"

"Yeah," Dipper nodded, and look to his car, noticing the radio was off.

"It's not us," Zander said, his brow furrowed. He turned and looked behind him. The twins both did the same.

With a blast of concrete, glass, and an overturned car, a huge, reinforced, garbage removal truck pummeled through the corner of a building like it was sand. Atop the garbage truck was a man strapped down by various cords and bungies, and holding before his face was a large speakerphone.

"Rejoice!" the man called, wearing a strange metal set of armor, covered in dust from the broken building behind them, "For the world has come into its new age! Magic has returned – o' glorious leader, man of flesh and spirit, guide these unworthy sinners to this new day!" A dozen other men and woman on its sides cheered out with him, brandishing metal pipes and other blunt weapons.

"Them again!?" Mabel roared, noticing how the garage truck just plowed through each car in its way.

"The heck?" Dipper snapped, "I dumped those losers in a pond!"

Zander shrugged. "I guess they can swim."

The annoying preaching continued. "Know this – fools who would call your lord and master enemy- today you shall meet a most terrible end! An end worthy of warning and remembrance!" the man atop the war-truck roared ahead.

"I don't know if getting on the highway is a good idea with them around," Dipper admitted.

"Agreed," Zander said, and slid his mask over his face.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Mabel asked, as he opened the car door.

The masked face turned back to them. "Don't worry about me," he told them, "Just keep driving towards the highway. I'll catch up in a bit," he told them, and then rolled out of the car.

The twins gasped. He was already up on his feet, and had turned, looking at the coming truck. The El Diablo sped past him. He was now walking towards that truck. The bike with Wendy sped past him.

"Behold!" the preacher roared, "The enemy crushed beneath our advance! DEATH COMES!" he screamed as Zander stopped, now only a few hundred feet in front of the racing war-truck.

Zander leant down, and extended his arm to the side. An uncoiling object slid into his hand and took to become his spear. The wartruck was nearly upon him! Mabel screamed as she looked away, but Dipper gasped. The Guardsman leapt, so high into the air that he was above the wartruck by ten feet. As the man spun in mid-air, he threw his spear behind him, and it ledged itself into the concrete only ten feet in front of the wartruck. Surely it would easily run over such a weapon?

The truck slammed into the strange spear, and all at once it caved in on the front. Those unsecured flew ahead, flying to the street in a messy crash. The inertia of the garbage truck had it shoot its back wheels up, at a forty-five-degree angle as it came to an absolute and sudden stop. The truck then slammed back down to earth, smoking at the front and entirely motionless.

Dipper stared; his eyes wide as they had ever been. Mabel dared a look in the rear-view. "Wha- what did I miss?" she asked.

"I don't want to say it," Dipper grumbled, and turned to face forward.

Mabel looked in the mirror. Witnessing the crushed front of the truck, she then grinned. "I bet he was really cool again," she remarked to her brother with a smug grin.

"Whatever," Dipper scowled. His phone rang. Checking the number, he saw Wendy was calling a conference call. Dipper lifted the phone up and put it one speaker. "We're here," he told the phone.

Wendy spoke quickly and loudly, competing with the sounds of rushing wind, "So, I think I finally get what you guys have been saying about me all this time, cus that was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!" she hollered.

"I too would like to say," Ford added, "That what our ally accomplished was, uh, pretty darn cool."

"Yeah!" Soos added, "No amount of Angry Alfred nonsense stops Zander!"

"Darn tootin'," Mabel nodded, a wide grin spread across her cheeks. Dipper rolled his eyes and fought the urge to add his own smarmy remark. Mabel spotted something ahead, and looked to her brother, "Look!" she pointed, "Freedom!"

Dipper peered ahead, and lifted the phone to his mouth, "Okay, the exit is coming up! Zander said that the secret agents are waiting for us on the highway, and are going to help us get out of the area."

"Copy that," Wendy replied, "I'll try to behave around them, I swear."

"Indeed," Ford added, "We're already in a tight spot. We shouldn't refuse any allies, especially in this problematic situation."

"Okay," Dipper said, "Once we're on the highway, we try to stay together. After we're out of the city, we'll reconvene and come up with next steps: probably a place to rest without being caught." A round of confirmations replied to him. "Okay. Let's get outta here," Dipper said, and hung up on the conversation.

"You know," Mabel said, giving him a look out of the corner of her eyes, "Sometimes you sound pretty cool."

"Really?" he asked, his eyes wide and a smile growing.

She grinned. "Sound," she repeated. Dipper shoved her shoulder, and she let out a 'whomp!'. They finally found the exit to the highway again. With an excited gasp, Mabel pointed to the ramp, "Look who was waiting for us! Our royal escort!"

Ahead, half way up the ramp, was not just five other dark-tinted and expensive looking cars, but a terribly damaged and beaten-up looking bus: the vehicle of the paths. Dipper sighed, a wash of cool relief calming his burning nerves. The moment his car, and the other two, had passed the stationary guard, the bus spluttered along. The array of government cars all began to peel from their station. A small armada of cars was soon on the highway, which Dipper noticed with a shock was empty.

To the twin's shock, the lead government car sped up next to them. On the left side of Dippers car they approached, and then their window fell down. Agent Trigger, the younger looking of the two heads of the operation pulled out a small cardboard piece with an AM radio station tune on it.

"The heck?" Mabel asked. Dipper on the other hand quickly turned to his radio, and tuned it to the AM setting, and adjusted the dial to the suggested tune. After a series of quickly fading stations, they head Agent Powers voice through their car.

"Give us a thumbs up the moment you can hear us. I will continue to repeat this message until Agent Trigger has confirmed a thumbs up from you," he said.

Dipper leaned past his sister, and held out a thumbs up towards the window, clearly within sight. The young secret agent nodded, and pulled himself back into the car.

"Give us a-" Agent powers halted his message, and his companion was lightly heard speaking. "Good. Listen up kids," he explained, "The terrorists known as the Rising Grasp are ruthless. Where ever they show up, they are perfectly happy with collateral. Therefore, it is our objective to pull their focus as far away from any condensed populace as possible."

"Sounds good," Mabel said to the radio. Dipper sighed and shook his head. Mabel looked to him briefly. "What? Oh… he can't hear me, can he?" she asked, growing red in the cheeks.

The radio started chatting again. "We have a check point twenty miles outside Chicago. We'll lead you there and get you more-"

A loud, ear-splitting blast came from far behind them. Green light illuminated the day as a fireball of green flame struck down and engulfed one of the black-tinted cars behind the gang. Mabel gasped, her embarrassment all gone as she turned with her brother. The assaulted car spun to the side of the road and crashed, flipping onto its side as flame spilled around it.

"Damn!" the voice on the radio called out, and it fussed about as Dipper craned his head out the open window next to him, "Jeff! Turn the damn transmitter off! No, that button! No, that OTHER–"

A sound sounding eerily like La Cucaracha started blaring on the radio as Dipper craned his head out of the car. In his quick look back, he saw him; about two-hundred feet behind them and fifty feet up was the same black helicopter. Graupner was above them, his hateful face stretched in a horrible grimace as he turned his attention to yet another agent car, and hurled another streak of green fire. The fire hit the car and it immediately exploded, spinning to a stop as it cast sparks in all directions. The bus of the paths swerved, slowing down as it narrowly avoided the crashed car.

Mabel had reached forward and turned the radio off herself, and Dipper was frantically pulling forward his book. "Crud, crud, crud!" he hissed, flipping open pages. "What was the phrase?!" he asked himself, flipping pages of the journal in search for a particular spell.

"Really," Mabel asked through gritted teeth, "Wasn't one crazy spell enough for-" she yelped as gunfire tore through the air. Next to them, the car belonging to the two lead agents slowed and fell back. As it did, Agent Triggers had leaned out his own window, and fired upon the helicopter with a particularly big looking handgun.

"Do you have a better idea?" Dipper asked her genuinely, his head lowered as gunfire tore through the air. "Bullets aren't going to stop him," he said. "Zander- ugh-" he groaned as he caught himself admitting it, "He's right: military people only have normal weapons. If he's anything close to what Wendy is, that's not enough."

Mabel craned her head around to check. There was another gout of green flame, and another car flew to the side, this time knocked clean from the highway. She cried out in frustration, bouncing in her seat. "Sorry Zander," she cringed, and looked to her brother, "Blast the heck out of him!" she told him.

He gave her a quick look, but otherwise got to reading. "I didn't need your permission," he mumbled, and started flipping pages. "What the heck was that lightning spell?" he growled, scanning the pages for the bookmark he placed. "C'mon!" he hastened his flipping of pages when another green flare took the lives of more people.

"Hurry, Dipper!" Mabel asked, looking to him as the helicopter gained speed, now almost upon Wendy.

"There!" He said, turning to a page, where on a picture it showed a man with lightning coursing around a human body, and a small, scribbled section reading 'Suck it, Edison!'. He saw the words, and pushed himself half-way through the window, and looked behind them all. There was now only one car remaining, belonging to Agent Trigger and Powers. The younger of the two agents could be seen, out his window and firing repeatedly with a pistol at the helicopter.

Dipper twisted himself around and looked directly through the hole in the rear window. He closed his eyes, focusing. You have to feel a light in your head, that reminded pulsed through him, and he opened his eyes and said the incantation. "Adripio Adtonitus!" Dipper felt the energy course through his hand, arm, shoulder. Lightning was at his beckon heed and call. He pushed his first two digits forward with a directed blast. "Suck this," he calmly said, as a long blast of lightning soared free.

It was not the only spell cast. Illuminating the highway just as a jut of green flame burst out, Dippers spell struck the helicopter roof and rotors just as a gout of green flame was launched down. It narrowly missed the secret agent car, but the back wheel was seared and melted instantly. It spun around and crashed through the divider of the road, spilling out in one piece on the other side of the empty highway.

Less a pleasant end could be said for the helicopter that Graupner rode. It took a horizontal fall, flying past not just Wendy, or the El Diablo, but landed with a spark-flying, metal scraping screech in front of Mabel and Dipper. Mabel cried out, and spun the wheel rapidly, narrowly avoiding the still crashing vehicle. Dipper turned forward again just in time to see the form of a black-cloaked man spill out of the wreckage, standing up as they drove past.

"Oh crap," Dipper mumbled as he saw a building of flame just behind them.

Graupner threw the fire right at them. Dipper made the split-second decision to try to counter-attack, throwing two more of his digits forward, perhaps nullifying the green fire making a bee-line for him and his sister. The spells interacted, much to Dipper's terror, with a bang.

The resulting explosion tossed his beloved car into the air.

Mabel and Dipper were airborne. The sky was below them, and the gravitational pull made them want to look away. The highway flew below and past them, until it all ended with a sickening crunch. The roof of the car caved in by several inches. Dipper unceremoniously fell onto said roof, feeling the frictional heat of the highway scrape away his cars roof bit by bit. Sparks and shards of glass flew around as the vehicle slid to a stop.

"Dipper," Mabel turned, falling from her seat as she unbuckled herself.

He was so winded all he could mouth was her name. He was numb, a sensation that he was starting to accustom to. He crawled to her as quickly as possible. Outside, the sounds of screeching tires and yelling echoed past the now smoldering air. They had to leave. Mabel finally undid the seatbelt and fell, catching herself with a handstand.

Dipper coughed. "We- we- we need to move," he said, trying to peer past the shattered window. He could only see the crackling flames of the highway.

Mabel nodded, and with a mighty kick, shoved out the broken door on the driver side. She crawled out as fast a she could, and once she was out, turned to help Dipper climb out. They stood up and saw the mess. Further down the highway was Ford, running towards them faster than the twins had ever seen him move. A bike had just slipped past him, but diving off the bike was Wendy: looking like she was late for her most important event in her life.

The flames cackled and roared behind the twins. About a hundred feet from their car, a figure parted the wall of flames, stepping out from them. A menacing red light flickered in his eye. Graupner stepped out, a ball of spiraling green fire within his fingers. The twins just stood up as he hollered.

"Stand still," he yelled to them, reeling back with his right arm, preparing to cast his spell, "I don't want Wendy too scorched for the road-"

A blaring sound forced the Warlock to twist around. Crashing through the broken helicopter was the bus of the paths, having just arrived with a loud car horn blare. The warlock had just enough time to throw his fire at the front of the bus, yet was hit by it all the same.

The vehicle twisted on its front left corner; the side most hit by the fireball. The undead man flew aside as he was struck, tossed into more wreckage, and gone from sight. The large windowed vehicle continued to twist and slow, tilting on its right side in the change of direction until it came to a slow stop, and then fell on its entire right side.

The twins rushed forward. Even worse case scenario and the Warlock was back on his feet already, Dipper had once more shot with his magic to fire at him, maybe enough to momentarily stun him. Crawling out of the wreckage was a tall woman, who's black hair glistened with some dark red. She was lifting out a young man, slumped at his shoulders in her arms.

As they arrived, she spoke to them, "Get him to a car," Rin told them. Dipper and Mabel held their arms open to the collapsed, unconscious Drew. They started lifting him away, dragging his feet across the ground as Rin helped out several others. The shortest of the adult path members, Maureen, climbed herself out with a spectacular agility. The other two had yet to come out with Rin.

"Here!" Ford took the young man from Dipper and Mabel, and found Soos just behind him. The two quickly carried him back to the El Diablo.

With a loud groan, Rushtar and Nadan climbed out with Rin. Like the tall woman, Rushtar had a series of cuts across his scalp, and bled lightly. He looked around, and shook his head. "Boss is going to be mad that we wrecked it."

"Same," Dipper groaned, looking behind to see his poor car, entirely totaled.

Someone landed just next to him, almost slamming themselves into them. He turned, and saw wide green eyes looking into his own. Her hands grabbed his shoulders as Wendy peered into Dippers face. "You okay?" Wendy asked.

Feeling very hot in the cheeks, he nodded. "I feel like that is going to hurt a lot more when my heart isn't racing a million beats a minute," Dipper admitted.

She sighed, and then grinned at him. "I have that effect one people."

Dipper wanted to laugh, or just smile. Yet something pulled his focus away. From the crackling embers, an angry voice rose. "Damn you, Paths," the tone, like venomous acid ate at the air.

The four awake members spun around, widening their stances as they faced their enemy. Fifty feet behind the bus, standing in the ash and rising fires, the form of Graupner stood up. His arm had been broken horribly in the crash with the bus, but with a resounding snap, his right hand twisted his left back into place. Dipper almost gagged, and Mabel shuddered. If there had been any doubts in Mabel's mind of Graupner's status as undead, they were quelled.

"This whole summer you've been a pain in my ass," Graupner said, and held his hand above his head, "But I'm done playing with you. You're not getting away today!" From above him, he snapped his fingers, and a spark of energy cast itself behind him. "Super Cornubus, Milites Vocat!"

A shimmer circle rose behind him. The circle, sparking at its sides like some mototized machine, magically widened. An image of a different place than Chicago took hold inside that circle. Tall, ice-capped mountains, towering forests, and a concrete base as cold as the mountain stood before them. Then dozens of cultists ran forward from the circle, jumping over the flame, and running at the gang.

"Get to cover!" Nadan yelled, pulling the twins behind the bus to avoid several more of those similar laser-like attacks. The cultists were very armed. The others took cover.

"They're going to totally overwhelm us," Maureen noted, looking back to Ford, Soos, and Drew.

"And they have guns. Like, almost all of them," Rushtar grumbled. "I'm all for taking one or two of them if they're armed, I think that'd be fair. But, we're down our mobility-"

"And they have these new weapons," Dipper growled, "I might be able to take a few out at once," he admitted, "But then I'm probably no longer helpful," he scorned himself, looking to the smallest trace of electricity coursing around his hand, more of a static discharge than a current.

Nadan peeked around the side of the still scorching bus, and whipped his head back. Right where he had been, a blast of light seared past, and burnt a small hole on the concrete. He leaned closer to the others and shook his head. "I'm not getting a good feeling from this fight," he told the other path members.

Maureen and Rushtar's gaze fell. Run squinted her eyes, but nodded. The woman looked to the twins and Wendy. "When we fight, get to your friends," she told them.

Coming to understand what he insinuated, Dipper shook his head. "No," he told them.

"We aren't just running away!" Mabel hissed, "That's A, really wimpy, and B, really wi- did I say that one?" she asked her brother, who nodded. Mabel yelled, "And also other reasons!"

"We've all got this, haven't we?" Dipper asked around. The tired members of the paths gave him a long, weary look. "Just think for a moment. We need to have a plan of action." He looked to Wendy and the others, "We can just-"

Wendy grabbed him and threw him aside, shouting, "Move!" she said.

A cultist had snuck around to the side, and jumped out. A blast of light struck past where Dipper had just stood. Mabel dived at the man, knocking away the magical weapon, and then landing at his feet, grasping it and wrenching him up. The cultists fell and hit the ground, stunned for air. "Hooyaaah!" Mabel roared, jumping back up and kicking the man across the face, rending them immobile.

Nadan roared, "They're here!"

Other robed cultist arrived, holding what appeared to be metal baton-like weapons. The paths had only a few moments before they were descended upon by the wave of cultists summed by their enemy.

"Dipper!" Mabel shouted, ducking away from a woman that had just jumped at her.

He rushed past Wendy, and grabbed the attackers arm as she prepared to swing one of those clubs. He pivoted, and she was thrown, face first, into the roof of the toppled bus. She groaned, but Dipper turned and punched out, jabbing her in the face. That cultist toppled over quickly.

Another dived at him, this time from the roof. Wendy made to intercept. "Oh no you do not!" she growled, catching the much larger man than her, and she threw him back over the buss with a terrible roar. In the man's flight, he dropped one of those batons, which Wendy picked up, and gave a smirk. "Neato," she grinned, watching sparks fly from its end.

Another man, larger and wider than the others, stepped out and made to grab Mabel, who ducked away and stepped back. "C'mere big and goofy!" she laughed, ducking between swings with one of those clubs.

Dipper waited a moment, and then stepped into the swing of one arm, catching it, and holding it stead. "Gotcha!" he sneered, and Wendy leapt up. She brought the club down onto the man's head. Dipper cringed as he felt a course of lightning pass from the club, through the man, and then through him. He let go involuntarily, feeling his muscles spasm and his mind go blank.

As the tall man fell to the ground, Mabel turned, grimacing. "You okay?"

"Dipper?" Wendy checked on Dipper, who was trying to stabilize his head.

"I-I'm good," he mumbled, and felt a pulse of energy on his right hand. He checked it, and found that the last coil of lightning he had yet used was… stronger? He smiled, and looked to the paths. The four were dealing with the fight well, but he could sense the fatigue setting in. The smallest, Maureen, was seamless as she ducked and dodged around every attack, but then he saw both Rin and Rushtar take a hit from those zap-sticks.

At once Dipper decided what to do. "I'm going to give us cover!" he told them, "And then we need to get to Soos and Ford!"

Mabel stated, "Right, just fit all twenty of us-"

"Ten total," Dipper corrected.

"Inside one car and a bike," She said, "A getaway is a getaway," she sighed. Another cultists lunged at her, and she turned to punch him out of the air.

"Okay!" Dipper called to the paths, "Get read to make a run for it! I'm going to take care of Graupner!"

"Fine by me!" Rushtar said, panting heavily, and then punching a cultist away without even looking at him.

Dipper sighed. He had to be quick, precise. If he missed, not only was he going to be fatigued, but then he'd have a clear shot for Graupner to burn him again. His arms tensed as he remembered the pain of the blackfire across his arms. This time he was ready. He had his own magic to throw back at Graupner. He had to do it. He was going to be the hero now. He was going to knock Graupner off the pedestal. He checked past the window, making sure that the warlock was exactly where he was when he last saw him.

He rushed back several steps, and saw the clear shot. He stepped forward, holding his hand forward, ready to strike!

Graupner said one word, "Fall."

Dipper rocked side to side. Everything was heavy, his vision was blurring. Dipper felt the weight of the world suddenly inside him, pulling him to the ground, his eyelids falling too. He blinked, what had just happened? His hand struggled to stay up; his vision darkening. With resounding effort, he cast out the last bit of his magic. His magic streaked out-

Narrowly missing Graupner's face by an inch.

The warlock's laughter filled his ears. Dipper heard voices, footfalls running to him. He forced himself to look up, numbed and incredibly heavy. For some reason, he suddenly needed to sleep. Two women, who he thought he recognized, were in his face, asking him questions. He tried asking what was happening, but all he thought he heard himself say was a mumble.

SLAP!

"Ow!" Dipper cried out, suddenly feeling awake, and not stuck in the dream of his own body. Mabel had just given him a full crashing hand across his cheek, and Wendy winced at the impact.

"Dipper!" Mabel cried, "What happened?!"

He couldn't answer, he didn't understand. That horrible laughter filled the air. The two ladies at his side turned, their eyes focusing on the person atop the pile of burning rubble. The portal behind him closed. Even as a dozen goons fought the Paths, who were taking a serious beating, Graupner held out his hands.

"Face it!" the Warlock cried, "This is it for you! You only have two cars, and too many people to get in them!" he laughed at them, holding his stomach as the scene before the Warlock cracked him up too terribly to keep it together, "I've finally won! I've won!" he cheered, punching at the sky as hard as he could.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Mabel growled, holding her hands out, making fists. Dipper stepped next to her, following suite. He felt the winded nature of the spell taking its toll, but he had to try. He had to do something.

"Yeah," Dipper added, "You don't win until we're done."

Graupner hooted in delight, and wiped away tears from his face. "Okay, okay. If that's the way you'd like it to be," he held out his hand and snapped his fingers. The goons around the paths stopped, and ran back to their master. Some twenty figures now stood around him. The paths all stepped away, panting and bleeding. It looked like it was a miracle they could still stand up, let alone walk towards the twins.

Graupner snarled, "Send my regards to everyone you've failed, yeah?" he said, and held his hands above, a fireball growing in a size they had yet seen. It was the size of the bus itself.

"Wait!"

Graupner paused. The twins, the paths, Ford and Soos, they all looked to her: Wendy. She looked sick, like she might vomit at any moment. Still, she took a step forward.

"I'll go," she said, and looked back the twins, "Don't hurt them."

"No!" Mabel gasped.

"If you go with him," Dipper quickly started.

Wendy held out a hand. "I'm not letting else anyone die for me," she declared.

The pause lasted only for a moment. Graupner chuckled. She turned back to him, still holding the fireball over his head. "I think that's…" he considered, and then grinned. Such a cruel excitement flooded his face that those looking at him could have considered him akin to a shark, "Not enough."

"What!?" she snapped, "you- you said-"

"Besides!" Graupner laughed, as he held the fire back a moment before, "This fire won't kill the likes of you, Cordur-"

With a high-pitched whistle, a long, sharp object pierced through the fireball from behind Graupner. In an arch, it stuck into the ground by Wendy. It was dark, with lights like the night sky within its body. Gruapner blinked and looked to his own spell, which boiled and twisted; the magic containing the spell found a sudden leak in its composure. "Uh-oh," he managed.

The spell ruptured, blasting apart the rubble even further and knocking the bus on its side again, now entirely on the roof. Those standing near it stepped away, shielding their faces from the heavy light of the spell's explosion. All but Wendy recoiled with the fiery explosion. Before, the spear had landed with a figure attached. Standing up like a growing dark silhouette, a masked figure in a dark cloak faced her, pulling out his spear from the ground.

With a voice as gentle as a breeze but as firm as the earth, the Guardsman told her, "You're not giving yourself up for this." He looked up past her, to the recovering six behind her. "Get out of here, all of you. Ford!" the Guardsman called out. Ford, along with Soos, poked their heads out from behind the El Diablo, "You have that repair spell, don't you? The one used on the elevator."

"Uh, I, Yes?" Ford nodded as he yelled back.

The Guardsman of the paths pointed to Dippers car, "Get to it," he commanded.

"M-Master?" Rin asked, "magic? Really?"

"Desperate times," he shrugged, and he turned back to Wendy, "Wendy," he said, kneeling to look up to her, "Your curse is a weapon to him. You giving yourself up isn't how you save them."

The redhead stared, and looked past him. On the scorched rubble, figures were staring to stand back up already. She sniffled, her lip trembling. "But-"

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Protect those you love. That's the most useful way a wraith stays sane," he told her. Then he handed her the spear. "Hold onto this for me," he said, dropping it into her hands. The redheads' eyes widened as the strange weapon then rolled into a tight ball, and looked like a rock; a glowing rock that looked dark and nebulous. "Don't lose it, and don't worry about it getting back to me in a hurry. I'll come get it later," he told her, and then stood up fully. "Now, get out of here. I'm going to fix this mistake of mine," he told the others, and turned to face the now rising Graupner Kinley.

Feeling the weight of his exhaustion catching up with him, Dipper asked the cloaked figure, "Y-you're fighting him?" Dipper asked,

"Yup," he told them, and looked back again to his disciples, "You have a job to do," he said, and started marching forward, "Defend the survivors, at least until I'm done with this," he shouted over his head.

Mabel cried out, "G-Guardsman!" she shouted, and he turned, the mask concealing his expression. "Don't go getting hurt, okay?" she asked him resisting the urge to chew her lip with worry. The mask nodded curtly, and turned back to his opponent.

From behind the stunned twins, a voice called out. Soos ran over, and started pulling the twins. "C'mon dawgs!" he told them, "We've got some fixing to do!"

Dipper turned and ran with him to his car. "But Ford should be able to-"

Ford cut him off midway. "Repair the car? Dipper, I'm not certain how much time we have before we need to flee again. Not only that, but the more I use this magic, the more-"

"Exhausted you'll become," Dipper sighed and completed his train of thought, "Okay. Can I help then?" he asked through tired breaths. Ford opened his mouth, watching Dipper with a concerned frown, but the twin cut him to it, "Just tell me what to say," he snapped, "I'm not being a useless hand here!"

Ford stared, which lead him to a wide grin. "A Pines through and through. Okay!" he clapped his hands together, and turned to the collected paths, "Those of you who can lift heavy objects, help Soos stabilize Dippers car!" he pointed, "And listen to him, he'll be leading the non-magical repairs!"

"This way, dawgs," Soos beamed with a wide smile as he rushed to the side of a car and started pushing. Nadan and Rin both marched over, and the three of them started to shove.

"We'll watch out," Maureen told Ford and the twins, indicating herself and Rushtar, who was panting heavily and wiping away the blood from his face. "Make sure no one gets the drop on you."

Ford smiled, and told her, "I appreciate it."

Mabel stepped closer, wiping sweat from her face. "I can help too!" she told him.

Ford grinned back, "I know, and I need you to help Dipper and I. The spell only repairs things if you know what how the mechanics work. The Diablo is my age, but this one is a new model," he told her, "I need you to read us how it works, or find the blueprints?"

"What!?" she barked, "But I'm not the dork of the twins," she complained.

Dipper rounded on her, and heatedly asked her, "Would you rather learn this magic?"

She pursed her lips, and held out her hand. "Your phone," she asked Dipper. He sighed, and tossed it to her, "Okay, time to put that B minus research grade to use," she mumbled, and started typing into the phone.

Ford sighed, and looked to Wendy. Her eyes were glued past the gang, staring at Zander. Ford looked to Dipper, who shook his head firmly. "Very well," Ford told Dipper, "There is a modular spell I found, simple, easy to remember, and powerful as long as you know how it works."

"So, you know elevators work?" Dipper asked him, trying to suppress a grin.

Ford scoffed, "Naturally. I couldn't get a contractor by my house to build a private elevator, could I?" Ford said with a grin. Dipper closed his eyes. He was nodding with a realization that, perhaps, his Grunkle was pretty cool. Ford cleared his throat, a small pink hue in his cheek as he spoke further, "Now, the spell: fractis fulcitetur. It will only work on things that, again, you know the functions to."

"Okay," Dipper said, and looked to the car. "Let's get going," he admitted as his poor car was flipped onto its wheels.

Then he saw it, past the gang preparing to fast-fix the car, the lone, dark figure. The Guardsman, Zander Maximillion, stepped past the bus, and stopped before the edge of the pile of debris. Their enemy, Graupner Kinley, stared down at his challenge. A trembling scowl across his face betraying his fuming anger.

"So," Graupner said, clenching his fist as a nerve in his temple pulsed, "You're, what, going to fight me and my loyal servants alone?" he asked, a sneer replacing his scowl. The Guardsman shrugged. Graupner spluttered. "W-what? A shrug!?" he demanded.

"Did you expect something else?" the Guardsman asked.

"YES!" Graupner roared, embers and flames erupting from his palms. "I…" he started, the red gem in his eye emitting a strong flash of red, "Am the next greatest power in this world. I can take anyone down, scorch an army with a flick of my hand, and command others to fall with a word! You can give me the fear and respect I deserve."

The guardsman nodded, and stretched his head from side to side. "Sounds spooky," he admitted, and cracked his knuckles.

"And you, yoouu," the Warlock snarled, "Don't even have your weapon."

The Guardsman nodded again. He lowered his hands, and took a step to the side, widening his stance. "I won't be needing it with you," he declared.

Fury erupted from the Warlock. Just like at Niagara falls, flame jutted out from Graupner, but into the sky, washing the highway with a flash of heat. He panted, and clenched his hands together, another fireball being brewed. "I'm going to show you what happens when you piss me off!"

"Hah," The Guardsman scoffed, and bent his knees. "You're just… a bad apple."

The cloaked figure rocketed forward. So fast and so hard he flew into the air, a bee-line for the enemy, that the concrete behind him cracked and buckled. Graupner flinched backwards as there was a man in his face. More specifically, colliding into his face was a fist.

The impact from the Guardsman's punch sent the Warlock spinning backwards. He limply flew about, crashing into various debris; a ragdoll against the terrible force of the Guardsman. No sooner had the Gaurdsman taken a stop, landing right where the Warlock had been, then the cultists around him screamed.

"He DARED!" one shouted, and lunged at him, a baton-weapon in his hands. He swung, and the guardsman easily leaned away, and gently kicked him in the rear, causing the said cultists to tumble back down the scorching pile of rubble.

"Yup!" the Guardsman declared, "I do dare."

Other Cultists began to fire upon him.

Dipper was blessed to have a brain and focus strong enough to multi-task. The glass in his car was already repaired, but the internal engine was fairly ruined. Mabel read instructions as how it was built, and between Ford and Dipper, physical parts were being re-made from their melted and ruined versions. Deeper into the car, Soos lead the task-force to repair what was broken but repairable.

"How do you know all about this?" Nadan asked Soos after orchestrating a complete detachment of the steering wheel from the car, and began to re-tighten and realign it.

"Uhh," Soos paused, and finally he shrugged, "I just fix things, dawg." He turned to Run, who was struggling. "Righty-tighty!" he kindly reminded her.

"Ridiculous," Darren mumbled, "He's too smart for us." Soos went red, but said nothing as he continued to repair the wheel.

Mabel chimed in from the front. "Soos is the greatest at this!"

"Aw, c'mon hambone," Soos chuckled, wiping his brow.

Dipper then turned his focus, after repairing a small but particularly important part of the engine, to the fight. The guardsman was as terrifying an opponent as he had remembered back in Gravity Falls. Whatever Dipper thought he had learned from Mabel and Arline paled in comparison.

Rushtar was shaking his head. He, too, was partially watching the fight. "Why didn't we just start with the boss?" he asked. Maureen shook her head, saying nothing.

Zander easily danced around them, the cultists. Ducking from an attack, he then leapt high above another. Wrapping his arms, midleap, around the chin of a cultist, as he landed Zander whipped the head down to the floor. The person hit the ground and rolled away, out for the fight. Another rushed up, swinging those batons at him. Easily Zander weaved around each swipe, and eventually stopped back-pedaling and jabbed out. The fist impacted face, and the man stalled, falling backwards.

Another scorching blast of heat seared at the Guardsman. He rolled aside and rushed back upwards, looking to the source. Graupner's bloodshot, hate-filled eyes were fixated on the Guardsman.

He threw another blast of fire. "Just die," he commanded, but to no avail, as Zander ducked aside. "Die!" he roared again, throwing more fire. Zander leapt high above it, kicking aside a cultists as he did. Graupner roared, "DIE!" and used both hands, unleashing a wave of fire.

As the Guardsman landed from the last dodge, he stomped the ground with his heel. An entire piece of the highway split upwards, creating something of a wall with the shattered highway. The fire blasted past him, split apart by the stone. The moment he had felt the fire relent, Zander stepped forward, placed his foot on the concrete, and then kicked it forward. The stone flew, crushing metal and crisped plastic as it struck back at the Warlock.

The Warlock grinned. "Not this time!" he snarled, and lifted his hands up. The stone slowed down, held in the air by an unseen force, until it stopped just inches from his face. "Now witness the power," Graupner shouted, and slowly lifted the huge piece of stone above his head with this display of magic, "Of- wait," he looked ahead, and the Guardsman was gone. He wasn't where he had been. "Where..?" he murmured.

Behind the Warlock, a voice spoke. "Boo," Zander said to him.

Graupner shrieked and tried turning. Tried being the keyword; he spun and the Guardsman's fist collided with his face again. Not strong enough to sending him flying backwards, the Warlock stumbled backwards, clutching his nose. Concentration over his spell faltered, and the rock collapsed onto him with a ground-shaking thud.

The mask on Zander's face concealed the otherwise smug grin on the man's face. Still, he had little time to enjoy his victory of embarrassment. He ducked and wove around as several other cultists began to fire at him, using those odd laser blasters. He stepped over the boulder atop Graupner, and slid down the hill.

The rock that had collapsed began to sizzle. Then it exploded into a molten-shrapnel blast. Again, the Guardsman avoided harm, but he sighed and shook his head. Standing up with buckling knees, the Warlock stared at him. He was filthy, covered in ash, soot, and now his hair was covered in blood. The rock falling on him would surely have killed him. He was saved by the curse of his undeath.

"You're outplayed," The Gaurdsman told him, "Let it go."

"Am I?" the Warlock snarled.

Zander shook his head. "C'mon kid," he pleaded, "You're talented, and intelligent. Look at what you've been able to do without aid. Just let go of that anger," he asked him, "It's hard enough to live with being the undead, let alone when your heart is filled with hate."

Graupner blinked. He grimaced, and shook his head. "You don't know me. You're my enemy! If you really knew me," he lashed out, holding a ball of fire in his hand, "You'd understand why I can't let them complete this mission!"

"Magic isn't the only thing this world has to offer," the Guardsman told him, "And I do know you. Steindorf made a horrible mistake that night," he said. Graupner gasped, and shook his head in a feverish way. The Guardsman continued, "He meant well, but he wasn't a great father. Kept you spoiled rotten, sure. You never went hungry. But you never learnt a thing about consequence, did you?"

Graupner snarled, his spit flying through the air, "Shut up!"

The Guardsman, so quiet it was almost to himself, said, "But I was too slow. You could have been taken with your sister, to a better home then-."

"I- You- sis-" Graupner was trembling, "Shut up! No one knows about me!"

The guardsman shook his head, "I do," he took a gentle step forward. "Try to let go of that hate. Please," he asked, letting both his stance become at ease and letting his hands fall to his side.

Graupner spluttered. His eye darted from the enemy before him and then to his minions. They all looked to him expectantly. The man who commanded them was stunned, he was breathing heavily, but it seemed only to infuriate him further. He started shaking, clawing at his face, at his hair. Graupner stammered, "I've… I'm…" he blinked, and then looked back to the Guardsman. "I am the rising grasp," he told him, "And I'm… not stopping until I have a hold of what I must have."

The Guardsman shook his head. A heavy sigh fell out from his mask, muffled slightly. "Then I guess," he clenched both hands, the tension in the gloves cracking the knuckles alone, "I'm going to have to keep knocking you around until I knock some sense into you."

"Sure," Graupner snickered, and then lifted his hand, pointing at the Gaurdsman, "But will you be fast enough to save-" he then pointed at the collected crew at Dipper's car, and fire erupted from his hands. The flames caught everyone by surprise. Mabel dived in front of the flames; her eyes wide as she pulled her fist back in a readied punch.

But faster still was the Guardsman. He was there, a gust of wind heralding his arrival. He held out his hands, and the flames were, of all things, caught. A ball of fire scorching the pavement below, the Guardsman roared as his hands held the fire from their gloves, which began to peel away and evaporate in the heat.

The voice of Graupner cried out from behind the flames, past Zander, "FIRE!"

"Take cover!" the Guardsman shouted.

From the height of the pile of rubble, the rifle-armed cultists fired down upon them. Mabel ducked away, rolling underneath the car as quick as she could. The others dove and protected themselves, hiding behind debris and the car. All but Wendy and the Guardsman, who then lifted the fire above him, and threw it back at the Warlock. But in that moment, a blast struck him. There was a spray of silver-like material as the Guardsman reeled, stumbling back several steps. He had been hit across the face.

The Warlocks laughter filled the air. Mabel screamed from under the car, beside herself. "Zander!" she yelled.

Dipper gasped, and looked to the hit person. He was leaning over, holding his face. The mask had split- revealing a face otherwise held by his own hand. The leaning over figure straightened up, and lowered his hand. Half of the mask had been completely blasted into shattered pieces; crumbling remains of what was once there.

Several other gasps from inside the car or behind it announced that the Paths had finally seen the face of their master. "Y-You're-" Maureen gasped, looking at him.

Zander ripped off the mask with one hand, and then winked. "Good looking, I know," he laughed, and threw the mask aside, which crumbled into dust. He looked to them all, "Now you know my dreaded secret," he said with a heightened melodrama, "Why… you kept getting all those free tickets for my concerts in the mail!" he declared, and then chuckled. He turned around, reaching over his neck to undo the cloak. He said loudly, "I'll give you all a more detailed explanation later."

"Zander!" Mabel cried, and crawled out, but more blasts of those energy beams forced her to crawl back into hiding.

He glanced back to her, and gave her a thumbs up with his unburnt hands. "I got a plan," he told her.

Graupner Kinley had stopped mid-laugh, and stared at his opponent. "I'm sorry, you're actually a loser Rockstar that retired?" he asked. "The guardsman is… Zander Maximillion? What the hell kind of weirdo are you?"

Zander smirked, "Well, that about sums me up. Speaking of retired," he gritted his teeth, flashing those green eyes of his, "About time you do." With his cloak in hand, he suddenly spun it very fast, and it took to a tightened, spun length of fabric. He whipped it over to a fallen cultist, and it wrapped around one of those baton-stick weapons. His cloak like a whip, he ran forward, a blur of momentum.

"Ah!" Graupner blinked and stepped back, readying his fire-spell. The mid-air man whipped the cloak downward, and the baton slammed into the forehead of the Warlock with a mighty crack. The target, Kinley, fell instantly, smashed into the floor.

Back at the car, Ford shouted again, "He's covering for us! Let's hurry and finish before this gets worse!"

Dipper agreed, and stepped back to a point where he could hear Mabel and fix the car simultaneously. She poked her head out from under the lid of the car, only pausing to watch Zander's dance.

And dance he did. Dipper watched out of the corner of his eye as Zander, finally fully unmasked, fight the way that he had seen only the Guardsman fight. Using the length of his cloak as a sort of whip, he slammed the baton viciously into the cultists who dared to try to fight him. It was a terrible sight to behold in a beautiful sense; the man had clearly switched off any mercy left for his enemies. He would whip around, pulling the length of cloak until it was taught and twisting to follow him, and then he would step back, catching the length of fabric with his arm or foot, and kicking out the end like a fired projectile. Each time he was attacked, between entirely dodging the danger, he would also just wrap the cloak around the offending limb, and then… twist. A sickening crack would often follow such a counter-strike. The cloak was like a mobile, fabric, extension of Zander's body.

"The inside is good!" Soos suddenly shouted, catching Dipper's attention. Soos stepped out of the inside, along with Rin and Nadan, "Let me help with this bad boy," he smiled and leaned inside the magically repairing engine.

"We're getting out of here?" Rushtar asked, chuckling beside himself, "Honestly, I thought we were done for."

"There's a fair assessment," Ford admitted, "In fact," he looked around. "You and your comrade," Ford told Rusthar and Maureen, "Ought to get into the Diablo. Soos and I will get inside it in a bit, and then we're out of here!"

Mabel had crawled back out and stood up. "What about Zander?" she asked.

"What about the fact that he's the Guardsman?" Maureen asked. Rushtar poked the side of her head with a glare. "Oh- he- he'll be fine! Assuming this isn't some weird trick," she looked around to her comrades.

"Oh no," Dipper said, shaking his head with a dark look, "That's definitely him."

"Then we'll get to the red car!" Maureen shouted. She and Rushtar made a dash for it, running towards the El Diablo. They passed Wendy, who had stayed put, watching the fight with intensity.

"Wendy," Dipper turned to her, taking a break from his use of magical spellwork, "You should get… to… the bike," he tried. It was like she couldn't hear him. She stared at the man flickering from cultists to cultists, a whirlwind of destruction. Dipper reached out and touched her hand. She flinched and turned to him.

"Huh?" she asked,

"Maybe get to the bike?" he asked.

She looked to her hands, which still held that orb, but then she nodded, and ran ahead of him, towards the scraped up pink motorcycle.

Dipper sighed, and looked back to the fight. It was… incredible. What if that was what Mabel could ever do, one day, Dipper considered. They wouldn't have so much as obstacles in their life; it would be more like there were delays. Delays that she alone could take down with an untouchable whirlwind of combat.

Past the gang, Zander was easily toying with those Cultists still able to stand back up, and Zander clearly was losing patience. One attack after another he dove between, and each time he would attack back with his cloak turned whip. Finally, after juggling a fight between three of the said brainwashed people, he growled, and ducked down. With a high leap into the air, he disengaged from the fight entirely. Landing between the almost fixed car and the Rising Grasp, he re-attached his cloak to his shoulders, dropping the weapon like a dart past the cultists- right between Graupners eyes.

"Graupner, I'm really done playing around," Zander warned him, a firm tone in his voice.

"Playing!?" Graupner snapped as he stood up, knocked down after another the toss from Zander. "You think you're the one playing? You haven't even so much as left a real injury on me."

Zander's eyes squinted. "Your soldiers will tire."

The warlock sneered. "And I'll get more."

Zander stared, and finally a deep, solemn sigh fell from his lips. "So be it. That's three times," he held out three fingers, "That I've tried letting you back away. Flee. I had hoped," he admitted, hands going to his pockets, "That I could let you flee, so that we can end this our way and just deprive you of the magic you so happily abuse. I guess today things will be happening differently than I'd want."

"Yeah! Starting with your death!" Graupner roared, and barked an order, "Kill him!"

Zander spun aside, darting behind the ruined bus. As the blasts of energy soared past him, Dipper, Ford, Soos, and Mabel took cover. Ford tried desperately to continue his spell, along with Soos' aid to understand each part of the motor engine and electronic component. Dipper flinched and leapt down, going prone. There, alongside his sister, they stared at the man in black.

Zander looked to them. Those green eyes had lost some of the light he had before. He grimaced, and looked away. "Hey," he called to them, still not looking into their eyes, "Don't watch me, okay?" he asked them. They looked to each other, but said nothing. He finally managed to look them each in the eyes, "Understand that what I'm about to do isn't good," he pleaded.

He then turned, and reached his hands under the lid of the bus roof. With a mighty huff, the bus suddenly flipped onto its side.

The collective pulse of the fight stalled; the pause was felt. All eyes turned to Zander, who then reached to the bus's proper belly, and with both hands pulled up. The bus started to lift. Under his very feet, the concrete buckled as Zander slowly lifted the broken, shattered, burned vehicle past his shoulders, and above his head.

The Warlock was stunned, stammering. "W-wh-what the hell is this!?" he demanded.

Zander smirked. "Consider it a going away gift," he calmly said.

He then threw the bus as hard as he could with a roar. No less than seven of the fifteen or so Cultists were immediately crushed under the path of the thrown bus. Graupner roared as he threw out a quick spell. Psychically he split it in half as he made it way to him. As the bus parted, there was Zander, already in his face; having jumped from his spot some fifty feet away.

"It's done!" Ford roared. The hood of Dipper's car slammed shut. The twins, having been awestruck with the might of Zander stood quickly.

"Perfect!" Dipper saw his car already in working order. He wasn't sure what to feel. Danger from the battle ranging behind him, or the elation that his car was back. The manic energy manifested as he quickly hugged Ford, and then ran to his car door, leaving his stunned great-uncle behind. "Let's finally get out of here!" He said as he swung open the door. Mabel leapt over the hood, sliding to the passenger as Rin and Nadan opened their backseat doors and jumped in. Dipper hissed at Mabel, "Careful! New paint on the roof!"

"Oh ha-ha," she said, rolling her eyes. Ahead of them Ford was already running with Soos to their car. She looked behind Dipper, past the windows.

Zander was still dodging and counter-striking every person who dared to attack. Mabel gasped. Zander struck out against someone's neck, and the person reeled back, crumbling to the ground in a gasping seize. Graupner was summoning even more of these cultists, but each fell to Zander like an ant to a hungry spider. Mabel shook her head. "He's killing them," she whispered.

Dipper checked the rear-view. He saw it too. The carnage the Zander was brining. The twins saw in his face someone new to Zander. A pained expression somewhere between frustration and excitement. "We're leaving," he declared, and spun the keys to get the engine roaring, "The less time we're here, the less people have to die."

"Wise words," Nadan commented.

The car spluttered for a moment, regaining its life and ability to drive. Then, proudly, it roared down the highway, avoiding rubble and debris from the street. Then the Diablo flew after them. The bike was last. Dipper slowed down, catching the delay. Wendy was watching the fight. She paused, and with a quick wipe of her eyes with her arm, she got the engine roaring, and took to the highway herself. "Let's get the hell out of here," Dipper decided.

The caravan was gone.

Zander grinned as he looked behind himself quickly.

Graupner screamed, "NO!" also watching his targets slip away.

Zander leapt down away from the ruin and rubble. His eyes were upon the few standing cultists that he had yet managed to end. Kneeling down, he saw smearing on his hands. There was blood on his gloves, and across his face; none of it his. He sighed and stood up fully. No sweat glistened off his skin. No exhausted, panting breaths fell from his lips. He calmly stood up fully, looking away from his battered and retreating allies. Before him was the one-eyed warlock, glaring down upon him with such horrid intent.

Graupner Kinly's lips twitched as he snarled down at him. "You've ruined my plans too many times," he said with a trembling voice, "From the ambush with that Hirsch girl and the twins, to the attack in Florida, and all those stupid, annoying distractions-"

"C'mon kid," Zander shook his head, "You're really not going to give me the evil speech about 'how fed up you are', are you?" Zander laughed, "I mean, even your master didn't do that, and he and I fought for decades."

"SHUT! UP!" Graupner snapped, green fire erupting around him in gouts of heat, like pedals from a flower. Graupner stood up fully, looking down his nose at Zander. "You were left behind," He told him, "And now your time is up. The paths end here," Graupner began to smile, his face split with a thin, horrible, twisted grim.

Zander Maximillion shook his head. "The paths aren't something one holds like a title. It's the journey. You can't end the journey by killing me, or anyone," he warned Graupner, "it just goes onto someone else. On, and on, the story and walk of the path keeps and going, one step at a time," he explained, and looked behind him, to the now distant cars down the highway, "and all you've done is let me help them go further on their path." Zander turned to Graupner. "I promise you, kid," he said, a humor in his warning, "as long as the paths goes on… you'll never win."

The cultists all exchanged glances. One to another they shared a sudden uncertainty. Finally they all looked to their leader, who's hands had balled up into tight fists. The red light of his stone flashed, but the Warlock, self-proclaimed lich, laughed.

"Fine by me," he said, "just more excuses…. To kill everyone," he said, and snapped his fingers. Zander closed his eyes, his arms to his side; at ease. Across the terrified suburbs and nearby up-town region of the city, more of those energy beam like laser blasts could be heard. There was no sound of retaliation. No sound of a fight, just the sound of a firing squad.

---

And that concludes the 'Season 3 Mid-Finale'. Fifteen episodes in, and we're only half way done with the last leg of the story. Sorry to those who had waited for SO LONG to get to here. And by that, I'm apologizing for my long-held hiatus. Adulthood is a strange thing- we get a lot of privileges, but for them lose time. That is one thing that really has been given back to me during this global crisis: Time. That, and clarity. I want you guys to know how this all ends, and damn it all, I'm punching it out!

So, uh, yeah, dark endings. Yeesh. Wish I had 'but don't worry, it gets lighter later' up my sleeve, but sorry... This story is going to get steadily darker and darker until the end. After all, this is the story of teenagers facing mysteries and their enemies now are happy to kill anyone who stands in their way. I hope you are all okay with that. If not... well, season 1 was light hearted (mostly), and season two started really light? Same with three... hm... I'm sensing a pattern.

So, I can't say when the next chapter will be. Hopefully in 1-2 weeks? We'll be changing course to re-focus on two characters. For those who don't mind a spoiler, try the ciphers. Enjoy the info! :D

*A loud 'snap' echoes all around* What... was that? *EZB begins to fleck into dust, crumbling away* Oh no...

*Master Chief, main protagonist of the Halo series steps up to EZB, and lowers him down carefully* Master Chief: Easy there, kiddo.

I don't... feel so- *EZB entirely crumbles away, leaving the armored super-soldier a stoic moment to stare at the place the writer had been.*

Master Chief: *Stands up, and pulls out a assault rifle over his shoulder* Time to do what I do best. *he marches towards a sparkling portal* I'm going to finish this fight.

---

Standing before the burning wreckage of a crushed bus were the remaining dozen members of the Rising Grasp within the city of Chicago. They held their weapons out, still aimed at the motionless body in a black cloak. Nearly silhouetted by the crackling green flames behind them, it was hard to tell as a figure parted through the hungry fires. With a glowing red eye and a terrible evil stare to the body, Graupner Kinley marched ahead.

He passed the firing line of men and women. They were bleeding, scarred, injured, and yet they stood still. One felt for something in their pocket, and pulled out a buzzing phone.

"Sir," one said, "Mister Leuthar is calling," they said, holding a hand to its ear.

Graupner turned, his face illuminated with the verdant heat. "Give me the phone," he ordered with a cold tone. The one approached, offering to the undead man a cellphone. With a swipe of his hand, Graupner took it. "Yes?" he asked as he held it to his ear.

Speaking quickly was the sophisticated tone of Alvis Leuthar. "Sir, you must pull out of the city at once," he said.

"I'm in no rush," Graupner sneered, looking around at the wreckage of the vehicles around him.

"You should be. I have word that the national guard is closing in on your location. I cannot send more troops to back up your location. We've run our numbers too thin to act outside our secret bases," Alvis rapidly explained.

"Stop rambling," Graupner snapped, "They can't kill me. Why worry?"

"Because they can capture you."

Graupner grumbled, pacing for a moment. "I doubt they could. Not without, like, a ton of casualties."

Alvis sighed. "I have the stealth air pickup on route. Should only be a moment or two. Do you have the girl?" Alvis asked. Graupner grumbler louder, his grip on the phone tightening. Alvis repeated, "Uh... you do have the girl... Corduroy?"

"No!" Graupner yelled, "NO! There was a complication! A STUPID, ANNOYING, COMPLICATION!" he bellowed into the heavens, embers casting off his form like sparks from a live wire.

Alvis let out a heavier sigh. "I suppose then retreat is what we can afford. We'll have to try the other way to get her. Your flight is inbound."

Graupner tossed the phone behind him idly, and one of his grunts darted to catch it. Appearing as a dot in the sky and growing rapidly to hover above them was a piece of aerial technology and stealth masterwork. Its under-belly jets roared as it came to land just before the body of Zander, and a walkway emerged from the back-end of the ship.

"We're going," Graupner snarled, and started pacing forward. The remaining cultists rushed past him, cupping their weapons in their hands. Slowly they boarded the strange air ship, and awaited their master. He spied them, his glowing red stone shimmering with an unregistered loathing. Then he paused, looking to his left.

There was the body of the rockstar.

The Master of the Paths, who had given even Graupners Master, the great Sorcerer, Omir Steindord, a run for his money.

There lay the body of the Guardsman.

Zander Maximillion was shot dead, and Graupner couldn't even smile about it. There was some odd feeling looking at the body, like it wasn't a real victory. The man had died for what he wanted: to ruin his plans. Graupner snarled, and stepped over, and gave the body a swift kick to the side.

Then he paused.

There was no... something was missing. Graupner stood very still, staring at the corpse of Zander Maximillion. He saw the cloak which had been riddled with bullet holes. Still... why hadn't there been…?

"Master?" one of the grunts called out.

Graupner held out hand to the man, yet said nothing. He couldn't see the face. He couldn't see the blood, just the cloak covering it. Finally, he leaned over, and gazed through one of the holes of the cloak. His eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he saw. It was... impossible. How could there be- that he was-

Then he smiled. How could luck ever be so kind to him? If the enemy had thought their sacrifice meant his plan failed, Graupner was more excited than ever to prove them wrong. He wasn't even certain what he saw was true, but one spell would put his mind at ease.

The same grunt called again. "Sir?"

Graupner reached out with his hands towards the corpse as his face split into a terrible, evil grin. "Don't worry," he said as his hands pointed to Zander, "we're walking away with a prize after all." Then he said to the body, with a determined order, "Halt."

---

4-22-18-20-19-7 12-21 7-19-22 4-12-9-15-23 12-13 19-22-9 8-19-12-6-15-23-22-9-8, 19-12-4 24-26-13 26-13-2-12-13-22 13-12-7 21-22-22-15 7-19-22 23-22-8-18-9-22 7-12 20-12 25-26-24-16… '7-22-26-9-8 12-21 24-12-9-23-6-9-12-2' 24-12-14-18-13-20 6-11 13-22-3-7!

-And-

(Vigenere)

Z awm vz tfw. Ac kpw kyuaus, dxbm s jhxtzny ivijleuv wrgb kpw ebxru bwufzw ur. O gd ngi dmsvg lui ygj, cqnqam, sfrlpc bzqamy. Z ae nfcj lbus yejpcl, lpr hxznyti wx buk ked, lwv ksbnrejt uddml artz ko qdlz owerj. Jtwe raalr, jov; il sfmkv'g sgktwg. Kpw maj oj tzt jiem.