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.

101. Time Trouble: Part 2

Not twenty feet from a bush that hid two teenagers and a twelve-year old, the being who had just looked like Melissa Corduroy glared up at the floating blue and silver triangle. Her dark eyes rebelled against the cold power that levitated before her. Knuckles on her hips, the woman of deer-like features snapped, "You haven't answered my question."

The blue and silver thing replied, "Yes, yes. We are experiencing interference."

"You have told me of such interference before," 'Melissa Corduroy' told the demon before her, "That cult of mind-erasers."

"Oh no, not on my behalf," Kelly explained.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Men?" she asked.

"Several."

The antlered head tilted, and the woman previously assumed to be Melissa Corduroy cracked her neck loudly. Venomously, she told the demon, "This is not a problem. They will die."

Kelly wiggled her parasol before the woman's face, "Ah, ah, ahh. Hold your man-hating guts there, my little faun."

The woman growled, "I am also not-"

Kelly rolled her eyes, "My goodness, so sensitive today! But two of those coming to interfere with our agreement are not of age."

The woman's eyes softened. She looked away from the triangle, cradling her arms. "Children?" she asked, and shook her head. "I can't. I won't. You need to deal with them."

Kelly zoomed herself to be in front of the creature again. Using the parasol like some frilly index finger, she prodded the collarbone of the deer-like creature. Kelly snapped, "Get over yourself. They're barely teenagers anymore. Fifteen, almost sixteen. One masculine, the other feminine. Their blood will not be so horrendous to spill."

As the deer woman shook her head, clearly disinterested with the aspect of turning children into corpses, three figures in a bush consoled a very upset twelve-year old.

Mabel, reaching an arm onto Wendy's back, massaged her young friend. "Aw, dear," Mabel cooed gently, as quietly as she could.

Next to her, Dipper grumbled at his sister, "Poor choice of words." Dipper also had his hand out on Wendy. His hand laid down onto her shoulder, holding it steady as Wendy fought to contain her sounds. Weeping while hidden around was not an easy thing to accomplish. Still, with two older strangers watching her, and a creature beyond explanation just twenty feet away, Wendy was under some amount of pressure to keep it together.

Dipper leaned down, forgetting of his wants to record the new creature, and asked Wendy, "Do you want to leave?"

Mabel encouraged this, "We totally can. We already got the weirdness info! Mom isn't your mom after all! Unless you were secretly a deer-person yourself," Mabel added, giving the young Wendy a quick up and down.

Wendy shook her head, stifling a small hiccup. The green-eyed tween looked up to Dipper, messy and hurt. She asked him, "So… is my mom still..?"

On that note, Dipper had no idea how to say it gently enough to not hurt her. Truthfully, Dipper had an idea as to what was going on, or at least, what was going on with Wendy's mother. A part of his mind, always a skeptic, had believed that the woman walking around hadn't been Melissa Corduroy. A darker part of his mind had known that if she hadn't been Melissa Corduroy, the mother was still dead. How it all connected to Wendy, Dipper wasn't sure. The darker aspects of theory weren't helping; at the present, Dipper needed other thoughts. He strained his mind, quickly and thoroughly. Wendy needed comfort. What would someone with much more social skill say? He looked to his sister, and scanned her. In the split second that it took for her to look back at him, Dipper got it.

With a squeeze of his hand, Dipper said, "Don't think about that right now. You're safe, and we know something is going on. That means we can stay safe, and stay ahead of the danger."

With a resolute sniffle, Wendy nodded, and wiped her nose. "I… guess so," she mumbled.

"Besides," Mabel added, "We're still here! We've got your back, thick and thin, sista."

Wendy eyed 'Mary', and her frown wiggled into a confused smile. Looking back to Dipper, Wendy said, "Sorry about earlier."

"No big deal," Dipper shrugged, "People get sad. It happens."

"No," Wendy shook her head, "Earlier-earlier. Back at the park. You tried talking to me."

With a firm nod, Dipper acknowledged, "Ah, well, to your credit, I'd probably be suspicious too."

"I just can't believe it," Wendy frowned, her eyes starting to shimmer, "That mom, or whatever that thing is out there, this whole time," she sniffled, "Wasn't mom. She was so nice to me. Why isn't anything about my life freakin' normal?" she asked, choking up.

"Aww, Wendy," Mabel patted her back, trying to give some small comforts to the young lady.

Wendy seemed determined to be upset with herself. "I mean, what was I thinking?" she snapped, "Dad is weird. Brothers are weird. Tambry is weird. I'm weird! Everything about my life sucks, and is weird! Why would mom coming back, the most normal, nicest person, not make me think bad things are happening!?" she grumbled, and clawed at her face with her fingernails.

Mabel muttered under her breath, "It's something to work on, that's for sure."

Dipper, restraining a hand to swat Mabel, took Wendy's hand with his own. She trembled, and looked up to him. With a heavy sigh, Dipper told her, "You can't be this hard on yourself. We all want to believe things – if they aren't hurting us, especially. If the truth comes out, though, it's now our job to figure out what to do next."

Mabel smirked, "Nice one, oh wise wizard."

"Enchanter," Dipper winked at his sister.

Wendy, very quietly, muttered, "I'll say."

Not entirely sure he heard correctly, Dipper asked, "What?" A little red in the cheeks, Wendy shook her head. Not done with his assurances, Dipper said, "And look. Weird happens. I'm weird. Mary is weird."

"So weird," Mabel promised.

After Wendy let out a small giggle, Dipper continued, "There's a bit of weird in all of us. It keeps things interesting. I'm sorry that your family's type of weird drives you crazy, Wendy. You'll find your own way of making it work. Trust me," Dipper leaned in brimming with confidence, "I think you're a whole lot cooler than you think you are."

As if Wendy had never heard the word before, she stammered, red in the face, "C-Cool?"

Dipper grinned. "Oh yeah. Coolest person around."

Mabel chimed in, "So cool it makes ice hot!"

As Dipper and Wendy both eyed Mabel, Wendy looked back to Dipper, eyes sparkling like they saw stars. She wiped away at her nose and eyes, and beamed at him. "T-thanks, Mason," she told him, "I… I think, well, you're officially the coolest person I know."

"That means a lot coming from you," Dipper told the younger version of the girl he had crushed on for summers. Wendy giggled, and pounced forward in a big hug.

As if a kettle upon a stove, Mabel squealed. She held her hands to her mouth, eyes wide. It had not been a 'talking in hushed voices' kind of squeal. It had been a Mabel is giddy, or Mabel sees Waddles, or 'Mabel-is-giddy-because-Waddles-and-Mina-are-playing' kind of squeal. Regardless to the kind of occasion, Mabel went ahead and was really dang loud.

From the water, a voice cried out, "And speak of the not-devils!"

Fast as the wind, there was a rush of footsteps. The bush before them parted, and the image of the creature that Melissa Corduroy had been was seen parting them. She gasped, looking down upon the three.

"Wendy!" she cried out. As a flower might for the darkness of night, the image of the creature folded in on itself. The antlers of the deer-like woman receded. The fur fell away. Her eyes sparkled with light again. The sundress bloomed off her body once more. If they hadn't seen both transformations, they might have never guessed that some sort of shapeshifter was standing before them.

The twins stood up, pulling Wendy up as they did. Dipper, quicker to move than he had realized, was between the woman and Wendy. He growled, "Stay away from her!"

"You bad women!" Mabel cried out, holding Wendy behind her.

Before the Deer woman could speak, Kelly zoomed into the face of Dipper. "Oh, my stars and– and trees! If it isn't my favorite time-travelers!" Kelly Yore announced. She reached out and patted Dipper's hair. "How are you doing, kids? I suppose your great-uncles little spell worked, did it? Humph. Well, either way – It's been a while since you and I caught up! You're looking… younger?" she asked, her eye scanning Mabel and Dipper.

Quick to catch onto the familiarity with which Kelly Yore used, Dipper asked, "We've met?"

Kelly suddenly didn't seem so sure. She was scratching the area under her eye, seeming uncertain with what she was seeing. She eyed them. "Hm. Or at least I thought so. Wait…" her triangular, blue body flashed. It showed a black-painted sail-rigged ship with black, tattered sails. The twins were aboard, along with several other individuals. The twins, however, looked well older- Dipper sported scraggly facial hair and Mabel looked, well, built.

Kelly hummed. "Younger? Younger!" she snapped her fingers, and the image flashed away, and she was blue once more. She chuckled, "Oh, oh dear me. Too earlier to be saying that sort of thing! I don't want to go on and spoil the surprises for you two! Anyway," she then leaned on her parasol, like it was imbedded into the air firmly before her, "What's brought you two here? Can't you see that I am trying to help young Misses Corduroy reunite with her long-lost mother?"

Mabel shook her head, and declared, "Stopping your plans? Duh!"

Kelly jolted in place. She seemed genuinely shocked. "What!? Why!?"

Dipper, pointing an accusatory finger at the demon, snapped, "Don't play with us. Soos told us everything that you've done before."

Kelly squinted her eye at Dipper. "Look here, trees, I know that Stanford Pines, adorable mutation he is, has a reason to hate my guts. He should hate his brother, but I can't fault someone for being blind for family. I know I am. But why do you hate me all of a sudden?"

"Hate?" Dipper repeated, "I don't. All I know is that Soos said to watch out for you. Kelly Yore, if that is your real name," he added.

Steaming slightly, she told Dipper, "It is."

"If you really can see into the past," he told the demon before him, "You'd already know how much I trust Soos. His judgement of character is forgiving. If he tells me that you're bad news, then you're actually downright dangerous."

Kelly's placid attitude was tightening by the moment. Her eye trembled, glaring at Dipper as he delivered a scathing review of her entire existence. Then, much as the twins had seen with Bill Cipher, Kelly Yore smiled with her eyelid.

"Oh, ohhh, little trees," she told Dipper, "You think I am dangerous? Oh, please. You surround yourself with danger! Stanford goes about, punching holes in reality, while his brother just punches holes! Stanley steals and connives against his own family, and those around him! Your sister," pointed at Mabel, "Plays with literal fire!"

"Hey!" Mabel snapped back, "Punches away fire, thank you."

Kelly scoffed. "Memories abhor semantics. And I abhor interlopers!" she then snapped her fingers, and the woman behind her stood to attention. Kelly ordered, "Apprehend these twins!"

Mabel roared, "Cheese it!" and lifted Corduroy up by the arms. The twins were off like a shot, dashing back into the woods.

Dipper had but a moment to look over his shoulders. The blue triangle floated in her space, watching the twins and Wendy dart away. Behind her, the woman who had reverted to her human features crouched. Dipper, passing around a tree, then realized she wasn't crouching; she was assuming sprinters kneel. He gulped, and turned back to his sister.

"We'll have company in a second!" Dipper cried.

Mabel, mid-run while carrying Wendy, cackled. "What? You think impersonator mom has the stuff to keep up with us? We've been running all summer!"

Wendy, held to the air like precious cargo, asked, "You've been running all summer?"

Mabel quickly told her, "We'll tell you when you're older."

Despite Wendy's very confused glance to him, Dipper smirked. Then, like rumbling thunder, he heard her coming. Dipper dared look over his shoulder. He wondered how far back she was, if they had more time to hide. Maybe he could set up some sort of plan.

It was not the pounding footsteps he thought he head. She was trotting after the twins, on all fours. At one tree, she leapt up, and kicked off with enough force that the entire tree buckled, and the woman was above the twins.

Melissa Corduroy reached down for her supposed daughter, and tried getting a hand onto the redhead's arm. Wendy shrieked, and Mabel put on the breaks, skidding to a stop. The soaring woman flew ahead, landing past a bush ahead of them.

"That way!" Dipper pointed, pulling his sister along, with Wendy. He could see a long, narrow view that led right back towards town.

Right as the three cleared over a fallen log, the air was filled with a muffled, ripping sound. The large bush the shape-shifting woman landed behind was torn out of the earth. The woman held it aloft with one hand. Eyes wide and slowly darkening, the impersonator shook herself, and tossed the bush aside. Perhaps unable to pass it up, the woman took a quick bite of the closest leaves to her, and then snarled.

Dipper, once again checking over his shoulder, told Mabel, "She's gonna come at us again! Go!"

Huffing a bit, Mabel cried out, "You try running for your life carrying a pre-teen!"

"Hey!" Wendy snapped, "I can run on my own! Put me down!"

"So you can get scooped up by crazy deer-momma?" Mabel asked, "Sorry sista! Not on my watch!"

Thu-thump, thu-thump!

The woman behind them was, again trotting at terrible speeds in chase. She stayed high in the trees, leaping from one to the other with incredible force. The old, ancient trees of the Gravity Falls forests barely held together at the creature that leapt from one to another, quickly catching up. If they could get to town, at least then the woman couldn't act with such abilities without drawing suspicion! They were getting close! Fifty feet away now, maybe even forty.

Then she was already past them. She was leaping ahead. With one final jump, the woman fell from her height. She landed fifteen feet ahead of the twins. Skidding to a halt, the three watched the woman hold out her hand.

With a terrible authority that made even threats by Manly Dan seem tame, the woman told the twins, "Let go of my daughter."

Mabel snapped back, "She isn't yours!"

Wendy squirmed. She pried herself free from Mabel, and stood her ground against the woman she had seen as a mother until recently. "What are you!?" she demanded.

Melissa Corduroy's tense body posture did not evaporate at the accusation. She instead shook her head, and told her, "Wendy, sweetheart, they are trying to confuse you. These things you're seeing – it's something they've done to you!"

Heat flaring around his neck, Dipper growled, "Liar."

"Quiet, boy," the woman snarled, "You stand close to the line of manhood; a dangerous thing. That I let you live depends on what you and your sister do with my daughter."

With a roar, Wendy declared, "My mom isn't some weird deer-lady!"

The woman let her hand drop. The twins could see that, either a clever act or not, the woman looked pierced by Wendy's accusation. She cupped her hand to her chest, and shook her head. "No, sweetheart," she told the young woman, daring to take a step forward. Mabel also took a step forward, and lowered herself in a wide stance.

"Come any closer, lady," Mabel warned her, "And I'll be forced to cook some venison."

Dipper winced. "Ew," he managed.

With a glance to her brother, Mabel admitted, "It wasn't my hottest, okay? I'm worried for Wendy, cut me some slack."

The woman before Mabel stayed still. Thought she stayed her ground, she seemed to only focus on Wendy. Her eyes were soft, having lost their edge since Wendy cried out. "Wendy," she softly told her, "I can explain everything. I do not want to hurt you. I want what you want."

Dipper asked for Wendy, who was starting to creep behind the twins, "And what is that, exactly?"

The woman looked to the twins. Some of the softness in her eyes sharpened, but she did not look immediately hostile. Maybe this was something they could talk about, after all. She opened her mouth–

"S-Stop right there!"

There was a loud 'zap'. Melissa Corduroy was enveloped in a crackling, soft-blue aura. It covered her, and she froze in place. All at once, she was reverted to her true form. Her antlers had returned, and her deer-like features had been restored. Her eyes darted around, but all other features seemed entirely locked in place.

Coming out from the side of the path were four figures. Blendin' led the charge, holding out a fairly retro-looking ray-gun of sorts. Coming up right behind him was Soos, Stan, and Ford.

"Guys!" Mabel cried out.

"Sup!" Soos waved, rushing out to the twins.

Dipper sighed, and told them, "Great timing. We were about to get cornered."

As Ford approached Melissa, Stan leaned on a nearby tree, telling Dipper, "We noticed, kiddo. Gizmo over here detected some time-stuff, or whatever."

Wendy, poking her head out from behind Dipper, asked, "Wait, is that Mister Mystery?"

Soos excitedly proclaimed, "Oh, you bet it is, Wendy! He's only the coolest, and nicest boss!"

Wendy eyed the man who spoke to her. "You look kinda like the guy who works for him. What are you, his older brother, or something?"

Soos chuckled. "Hah, no way, I'm-" Several voices cleared their throats at once. Soos looked around to the twins and Ford and Blendin', who all gave him a heated stare. Soos slowly said, "I'm… uh… shocked that you got it right on the first try. Yeah. I'm related to Soos, yup. And older."

Wendy looked so impressed. "Wow. Everyone around here has something going on."

Mabel snickered, "You have no idea," while looking to Stanley.

Catching Dipper's eye, Ford had approached the frozen woman. As he did, Blendin' insisted, "D-Don't touch her! You could break the stasis-field, and l-let her free!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Ford happily assured the time-traveler, and looked to the woman before him. Though the deer-creature was unable to move, there was some sort of recognition when she looked to Ford. Her eyes bore into his own, and Ford nodded. "Yes, it's me," he told her, "Long time no see."

"Wait," Dipper marched closer, and looked to Ford, "You know her?"

Ford shrugged. "I was a researcher. It was my job to find the weird and unusual. This lovely person is one such case. A perfect specimen," examining the antlers coming from her head, "The legends of Deer-woman are varied, and I was never quite able to speak to one."

Dipper cheered. "Haha! I knew it!"

Stan groaned, "Right, right, nerd-talk later. Let's move little kid here out of sight before something else happens."

Blendin' seemed perturbed. He rounded on Stan, and told him, "M-My stasis ray can't be undone that easily! Only someone capable of time-manipulation, or someone using this stasis-ray-gun, can free her for the next hour! She's under time-arrest!" Blendin' happily declared.

As if cursed to speak his own doom, while Blendin' gloated the aura around the woman faded away. Those before her watched as a blue and silver triangle rose up from behind the deer-woman. In one outstretched hand of Kelly, the aura that had previously surrounded Melissa was collected; like she had amassed it into a condensed ball. "Tsk-tsk," Kelly Yore scolded them, "It's rude to hold a lady still against her will. How would you like it?" she asked.

Melissa Corduroy, having immediately reverted to her human like appearance, shot a hand out for Ford's neck. Eyes bulging, Ford gagged for air as he was lifted off his feet.

Melissa, a deadly poison in her words, told Ford, "Specimen, am I?"

Stan rushed to his brother's aid. "Let go of him, or I'll mount your head on a plaque!" He rushed forward, leaping up to throw a punch at the woman's face. Perhaps against his expectations, the woman's other hand reached over and grasped Stans neck while mid-air. With a loud 'gack', Stan started to kick in the air, seeking leverage from his situation.

The powerful woman, lifting two adult humans into the air, sneered. "You men," she said with searing, hateful words, "Deserve death. You two die toda–"

Cutting right in, Mabel screamed, "Left hook!" and dived for the woman's face as well. Smaller, agile, and fast, Mabel's fist struck true. The woman dropped her captives and stumbled backwards, tripping over a fallen log.

Kelly, watching her minion thrown to the brambles, yelled, "Oh, c'mon! What kind of woodland spirit are you? Getting thrown around by children!?"

As he rose and massaged his throat, Stan said with a grin, "She sure punches like a Pines!"

"Proudly!" Mabel cheered.

Dipper, along with young Wendy and Soos, rushed to the other three. "Let's go!" he pleaded, as he pulled Ford and Stan back to their feet with the others. "We can't wait and see if Mabel's hands are considered magical for the purposes of damage reduction!"

Ford cackled. Stan scorned his brother, "He sounds worse than you."

Mabel, again proudly, declared, "They most certainly are magical. Magnanimously-"

"Later, please?" Dipper cut in, eager to begin their flight.

As the others all rushed past her, Kelly roared, "No! No! I did not begin this deal to have it ruined by some greedy, interloping, unappreciative cretins!" She then pointed her finger past them, From the tip of her finger, a blast of electric-like power shot forth. It struck a tree. The tree, at first seemingly unharmed, then had deep, critical damage appeared. Chunks of bark and trunk just faded away, as if some invisible woodsman chopped away at it. The tree was unable to stand on its own, and then started to collapse, right for the group.

As they screamed, diving out of the way, Soos called "Dawgs, What the heck was that?!"

Clambering back to his feet, Dipper asked, "What? You don't know? You're the one with the most experience with her!"

"She didn't auto-rot trees last time," Soos told them, back on their feet, as more blasts of energy raced past them.

"They're not rotting!" Ford pointed out, "They're being altered!"

Dipper gasped, and watched as another tree that was hit change. This time, much as Soos proclaimed, it began to rapidly rot away, and suddenly could no longer sustain its own weight. He shouted, "She is changing things! She's changing things to slow us down!"

As the tidal wave of destroyed lumber crashed down around them, creating a deathly jungle-gym to rush through, the seven arrived at the edge of town. Kelly's beams of light hadn't abated, for her wrath was ongoing. As the four stalled at the street to avoid a large eighteen-wheeler truck pass, Kelly fired at a nearby fire-hydrant. It exploded, rusted to uselessness in a moment.

The one caught in the blast was, to his chagrin, Blendin'. Rocked off his feet by a massive, terrible gout of water, the time-traveled was thrown to a building. With a squeal of terror, he slammed into the brick wall, and was held in place by the water current.

Mabel yelled, "Oh no! Blortin'!"

"Okay," Dipper eyed his sister, "Are you just being wrong on purpose now?"

Chuckling, she admitted, "Hehe, yeah."

From the edge of the woods, maybe thirty feet behind them, someone landed and huffed. As the twins looked behind them, Melissa was rushing at them. Dipper had wondered when she would arrived, and already had a reaction planned. With as much diction as he could rush out, Dipper yelled, "Accurro Animus, Tonitrui et Fulgur, Adtonitus arbitror!"

The woman, looking just like the spitting image of Melissa Corduroy, slowed. His sister, readying a punch against Melissa, greatly slowed. The others all were slowly spinning to see who had come behind them. Melissa was, to Dipper's trouble, still fast enough that he hadn't much time to think of what to do. With the extra time to think, he realized her destination; Wendy.

He stepped between her and the young girl. He then, taking a moment, lowered his stance, and readied himself to fight. She put the breaks in her approach, eyes locked with Dippers. If she would move one way, Dipper could match. He would be a counter to her motions. He could perfectly stall her. The way she looked at him was a warning. Dipper saw the realization in her eyes; he was dangerous. One part proud, one part alarmed, Dipper saw the hesitation in her eyes die as she went from viewing him as a teenager, to seeing him as a man.

Taking a step back, Melissa then opened her mouth and screamed.

To Dipper, it was a terrible, long, drawn out breath. To everyone else, they heard Melissa cry out, "HELP! They're kidnapping my daughter!"

Dipper, still under the effects of his spell, reeled about. There were dozens of townsfolk who were in eyeshot, let alone able to hear her. Many of them, in Dipper's view, slowly went from a shocked look, to angry, to furious. He could already see, down the street, as Sheriff Blurbs and Deputy Durland, calling into their radio for backup.

Melissa had called the entire town against them.

Even with their strength, Dipper's magic, or any amount of communication, he had one of two options to make: They could stand their grounds, or run with Wendy. If they fled, they needed to run into the woods, and then would have the entire town, along with all authorities, after them. If they stood their grounds, they'd not just have the deer-woman against them, but the entirety of the town bearing down upon them. Sure, between magic, might, and mischief, they could hold off, but could they win? The dawning fear hit Dipper deeper as he realized that neither answer he had was going to end well. He looked back to Melissa, and saw past her as Kelly floated in the trees, just out of sight from the townsfolk.

Then, from just under his gaze, he spotted someone take a slowed down, running step past him. Wendy had already taken the initiative. Before Dipper could say a thing, even with his hasted mind, before he could communicate anything at all, Wendy had already come to a conclusion.

"Mom!" Wendy shouted and ran into the woman's midriff, "Stop!"

Without another option available, Dipper grasped his sister's hand, and pulled. "Now!" he hissed, and made for the closest alley that interconnected between other buildings. To his great relief, the others took to running. He could hear them all, asking about Wendy, and about Blendin', but there was no time to waste; they needed to leave the situation as fast as possible.

As Dipper, Mabel, Soos, Ford, and Stan zipped into a dark alley, they found themselves the quickest, most complete locations for hiding. That sadly meant diving into every available trash dumpster and garbage bin they could. As the last one to hide, Soos, dived under a pile of cardboard, a cluster of concerned citizens rushed to the edge of the alley.

One cried out, "Where did they go? I don't see 'em."

"Try the next one!" another shouted.

As the group rushed, a thin man with boots and short-shorts followed, chanting, "Get 'em! Get 'em!"

Now alone, Dipper and Mabel revealed themselves from inside an industrial trash bin. Covered in filth and looking exhausted, Dipper told them all as he rubbed his face, "This town never changes."

"Nope!" Mabel agreed, "Tyler is still doing his thing! Gotta love the enthusiasm."

"Yeah," Soos agreed as he pulled himself free from the cardboard, "Like, so nice to hear him doing that after what happened in Gravity falls."

Quick to pull himself out from his own metal trash bin, Stan asked, "What happened in Gravity Falls?"

As Dipper took deep, stabilizing breaths, deeply impacted by the power of the spell, Mabel looked around. Soos had clapped a hand to his mouth, realizing what he had implied. Ford too looked winded, but uncertain as to what to say. Mabel looked to her brother again, who was recovering from his spell. She said, "Grunkle Stan, we can't really tell you. It might make your brain go, well… whaaaa?" she suggested.

Stan stared at her. "Thanks, sweety. That was very helpful."

Dipper managed to blurt out, "Timelines, Grunkle Stan."

"Sure, sure, timelines. But you all are acting like something real nasty happened," Stan pointed out. Ford crinkled his nose, and looked away from his brother. Catching onto it, Stan barked, "Oh holy Moses! Did I die!? What the heck are you all freaking out about!"

Ford grumbled, "Stan! We can't risk any more alterations to the timeline! Unless you suddenly forgot everything we tell you, this is already a breach in safety! Remember what Mister Blandin' told us."

"Right," Stan grumbled, "Hard to forget. He's only the most impossibly boring and annoying person I know." As those around him seemed crestfallen, Stan rubbed his nose, and barked, "Okay! Look, fine! No more asking about future me. I'll ask about now me! What's the plan?" he demanded from Dipper.

Getting breath back in his body, Dipper asked, "Plan?"

"Yeah!" Stan barked, "You came up with the plans so far. C'mon, kiddo. What's our next move?"

"Uh," Dipper thought hard about what to do. Without the spell of haste aiding his thoughts and movements, it was a terrible process of coming to no conclusions. They had gotten Wendy, and then lost Wendy to get away from certain imprisonment. They had lost their time-traveler, who, as Dipper peered out the alley, was being escorted into a police cruiser. Wendy was being escorted away by her 'mother', and the teen looked terrified. Dipper scowled and clawed at his face. What did they need to do next?

Ford stepped over to Dipper, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Start by walking us through what you've learned," he suggested.

"Oh. Okay," Dipper nodded, "Biggest discovery is that, obviously, it's not Melissa Corduroy. It's a deer-lady."

Mabel added, "Who is still very pretty in her natural form."

"And," Dipper eyed Ford, "Who apparently you have met?"

"Eh," Ford shrugged, "Close calls with her in my time. Never got into my journals – ran into the Leprecorn right before finally meeting her. Let me tell you, any thought I had to record her was entirely taken over by how much I despised that thing's encounter."

With a mental note to fear the Leprecorn, Dipper continued. "She's working with Kelly, for some reason. Don't really know why, but Kelly is clearly the boss between the two of them. Also, the Deer-lady said something about a cult of mind-erasers, and Kelly said that it wasn't on her behalf. That makes me think that Kelly changed something here to make it so she's got the ability to influence the Society of the Blind eye!"

"The what?" Ford snapped.

"Of the what?" Stan snapped.

Soos explained, "They're a club that like to erase people's minds when they notice something weird. They got this whole 'no one can know' thing. Problem is, after Mister McGucket left without instructions–"

"Fiddleford!?" The Stan twins yelped.

"Soos!" Dipper hissed.

"Oh," Soos clapped a hand to his mouth, "Dangit."

Trying to ignore the headache growing in his head, Dipper told them, "As far as we heard, Kelly doesn't like that we're here. She's calling us interlopers. I think if we can ruin her plans enough, maybe get the Deer-lady out of the equation–"

"Then we can get Kelly to back off!" Mabel cried.

"Great," Stan grumbled, "Sure. The lot of us convince a powerhouse, supernatural, man-hating being to just give up because we want her to."

Ford grumbled, "It does sound like a long shot."

Dipper looked to Ford, frowning. The time-misplaced man's glasses caught some of the light beyond the alley, and they flashed with a blue hue. The blue caught a memory in Dipper's mind, and he let out a breath of realization. "Long shot. Shot," he said, and thought back to an encounter, long ago. It had been deep in chambers under the local museum, with himself, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy. They had battled them, and barely come out on top. He could see it now, the item they needed. Dipper snapped his fingers loudly, and declared, "We need the mind-eraser."

Ford massaged his ear and blinked. Double take concluded, he asked, "Wait, do you mean the memory-gun?"

Mabel eyed her brother. "I thought we were avoiding changing the timelines," she said, "Isn't there a chance they'll see us use their, like, holy relic?"

"Yeah," Dipper nodded, "But as long as we get it, Mabel, and then use it on people who saw us get and use it–"

"The it wouldn't matter, because they wouldn't remember!" she finished for him.

"Wow," Stan chuckled, and nudged his brother, "Is that what young us looked like, back home?"

Ford snickered, "Yes, Stan. I started by making plans, and you were a girl."

"Hey!" Stan poked his brother's head, "She punches better than you, and she's, what, thirteen?"

"Fifteen," Mabel happily corrected.

"Only slightly less impressive," Stan admitted.

With a snicker between his brother, Ford looked back to Dipper, and smiled. "That sounds like the best plan of action for now. If the memory gun," then Ford mumbled under his breath quickly, "that Fiddleford swore he destroyed," he resumed his typical volume, "Is still intact, then we can use it to erase any minds that have learned too much!"

"Or," Dipper smirked, "Use it to remove the memory of someone making a deal with a demon."

"You'd use it on Wendy?!" Mabel gasped.

"No," Dipper groaned, "Wendy, at this point, doesn't remember anything. We need to use it on the Deer-Lady!" As Mabel nodded her head and gave a small 'oh', Dipper turned to the others. "Mabel, Soos, and I know how to get into the Cult of the Blind eye secret base. If we go get the memory gun, can you two get Blandin'?" Dipper asked.

With a harsh laugh, Stan asked, "What? Just spring him out of jail, fresh from being caught? You clearly get how incompetent the cops around here are, but that doesn't mean we can go back! They'll be looking for us!"

"Kidnappers, delinquents, and all that noise," Ford grumbled.

"And besides," Soos told Dipper, stepping closer to Stan, "I'd prefer to stay with Mister Pines and Mister Pines brother. Just for now, you know?" he said, with a hint of pleading in his voice as he looked to Dipper.

"Okay, okay," Dipper frowned, "Plan as follows. You three – stay low, in the shadows, don't get spotted. You need to keep tabs on the Corduroys. In case the Deer-Lady already does something crazy, you three should be somewhat nearby. Mabel and I will infiltrate the society, and get the memory gun. When we have it, we'll meet up by the Corduroy cabin. Any questions?"

"Nope!" Mabel spouted eagerly.

"Got it, bro!" Soos declared.

Stan smirked. "None, at least for now. Maybe later."

Ford patted Dipper's shoulder once more. "Atta boy," he said, and turned to his brother.

Headache subsiding with the flood of Dopamine that rushed through his brain, Dipper failed to fight back a smile. Mabel gently nudged his shoulder, some silent amount of congratulation for the credit. Dipper gulped away the pride, and said to everyone, "Okay. Operation time trouble part three is a go. Best of luck!"

"Tootles!" Mabel shouted, as she and Dipper charged down the dark alley, away from their sight.

Considering that, for the twins, the hideout of the Society of the Blind eye was a place to go when they needed a safe place, getting back to its location wasn't all too difficult. Avoiding any law-enforcement while they rushed across town, the twins approached and entered the Gravity Falls History Museum. Once inside, Dipper and Mabel approached the ocular room.

"Okay, remember," Dipper said as he pushed in the stone eye upon the wall, "They do a special salute. You remember?"

The secret door behind the fireplace sliding open, Mabel cheered, "Ayup!", and then slapped her right eye with the back of her hand, and wove it away. "Ow," she winced, slightly bruising herself.

"Heh, close enough," Dipper granted. They descended down the steps. To Dipper's surprise, there were far less hanging curtains. One or two, at the most. When they arrived at one of the hallways, Dipper looked to the ceiling, noticing only a single vacuum tube. "Looks like the Society was still putting things together when we dealt with them. Look at all of this."

"Yeah," Mabel said, and groaned, rubbing her fingers across one of the maroon curtains, "They're also using a more faded burgundy for their color. That's just not fun. Why aren't they using that red and crimson we saw before?"

"Really? We're critiquing to Society of the Blind Eye, on all things, their use of color?"

"Well," Mabel puffed up, hands at her hips, "It was a look! Don't blame me for thinking they had a memorable villainous outfit!"

"Mabel, they probably just haven't changed color yet, for one reason or another," Dipper said, pulling his sister away from a curtain. "Let's just go before we get-"

Stepping out of an archway before them were two cloaked figures. Dipper clenched his mouth shut and rooted himself to the spot. One of the robed individuals pointed at the twins. "Hey! What is going on? What are you doing down here!?"

"We're, uh," Dipper cleared his throat, checking with his nervous sister before saying, "New recruits! See?" he then placed the back of his hand before his left eye, and saluted.

"Oh!" the two before Dipper and Mabel awed, "Wow! That's clever! Is that our new salute? That makes so much more sense than just covering our eyes and bowing. Less headbutting that way."

Wincing at the consideration that he may have been the source of the salute, Dipper added, "Yeah, we're just new members. You know. No robes yet."

Mabel mumbled, "Which should be red and crimson, not burgundy and dark amber."

The two hooded figures, who were trying out the new salute, turned back to the twins. "Hm. That is somewhat suspicious that you don't have your robes with you. We're supposed to carry them with us all the time."

The other added, "Yeah. I also don't remember your initiative ceremony. What memory did you give up?"

Despite Dipper's moment of freezing up, Mabel sprung to action. She declared, "Well, duh! Only I remember it! See, I got rid of a memory about a man who was actually, like, not even human. He was three gnomes in a trench coat!"

"Woah!" One cried out.

"That does sound like something people might want to forget," the other said.

Mabel snickered, and leaned over to the hooded two, "And him? His secret was soo terrible, so embarrassing, that everyone involved had to erase their minds. So, you kinda erased that memory!"

The two shuddered, and then focused towards Dipper. One approached, and put a hand on his shoulder, saying, "I pity the older you, that remembered that awful thing, which you forgot."

"Haha," Dipper forced a trembling laugh, "Yeah. I would too, but I don't really know what she's talking about, so… yeah."

The cultist nodded. "Hm, that tracks. Well, unsee you later!" The two then passed the twins, not another word said to them.

Mabel waved, and shouted, "Unsee ya later!"

Grabbing her hand, Dipper rushed ahead. "C'mon! Let's not get any more delays, please?"

"Sure!" Mabel chirped.

Down a hallway, and into a massive chamber the twins arrived. There was a growing, disorganized collection of glass and steel memory tubes, in piles by candle-lit stone pillars. Their eyes turned and focused on a wooden chest by the end of a row of pillars. It was old, and reinforced – something the twins had seen many years ago.

"There it is!" Dipper pointed, and the two rushed for the chest. They arrived to the hinged lid, and Dipper eagerly swung it open. "What?!" he cried.

Though there was a padded pillow, with an impression for an object roughly the size and shape of the memory-gun, there was no object present.

"It's not here!?" Mabel cried, and looked around.

"Oh no," Dipper mumbled, pulling out the pillow to check under it. No memory-gun. "Oh no!" Dipper cried again, "If it's not here, then… Mabel, that means–"

"They're already planning on using it!" Mabel cried. The two stood and looked around. In the flickering, dancing shadows from the myriad candles around them, they could make no outlines of figures lying in wait. The place was quiet. The only two they had run into were, as far as the twins could tell, the sole inhabitants at the moment. Mabel then added, frowning, "But no one is here."

Memory racing to scan everything he had ever learned of the Society of the Blind eye, "Wait, Mabel, Blind Ivan once said that their purpose was to 'help' people in town, by zapping them and erasing their minds to keep them happy and ignorant. They kidnapped Lazy Susan that one time, but what if they couldn't kidnap someone?"

Her eyes widened and she whipped around to face him. "They'd go out and erase the minds in the wilds!"

"Exactly. Mabel, they must have already been tipped off about what happened – they could be trying to erase anyone's mind now!"

"Or," Mabel shook her head, "The minds of an entire family."

"Of course!" Dipper clapped his hands together, "Wendy! If her and her family's memories are erased, then they would keep behaving like nothing bad happened! The Deer-lady could continue acting part of mom. Then Kelly's plan continues!"

Mabel declared, "Sounds like Kelly Yore knows how to set things up, huh?"

"Not well enough," Dipper scoffed, "Not while we can still stop her from changing things, and ruining the future! Let's go!"

Rushing out the Museum post-haste, the twins only were briefly seen by their prior two society members, who were practicing their new salute. "No, like this," one said, while the other merely slapped their right eye with the back of their hand. Now out and back into the sun, the twins turned their attention back towards the Corduroy cabin.

Across the town once more, the twins flew through the shadows. Time had, since they arrived, been working against them. Now more than ever, the twins felt the burden of time's passing. Every second was a step closer the Society got to the Corduroys. Every street that they couldn't immediately rush across was a moment Kelly had to plan. Every heartbeat felt like a pulse too late.

Hiding in the shadows of the police station, they came around a corner and saw the Corduroy cabin. There was, marching inside the front door, a whole parade of society members.

Like ice was poured down his pine, Dipper trembled and shouted, "No!"

"Move it!" Mabel cried aloud. As she and Dipper rushed across the street, she waved at the tree lines, hoping that, just maybe, Stan, Ford, or Soos would spot her. "Charge!" she shouted, "Engage the hostiles! Do the thingies!"

Across the street, Dipper sprinted. He felt the air in his lungs tearing at his blood, demanding he slow. Like so many times this summer, he couldn't afford to be slow now. He needed speed, he needed to be clever. But, perhaps now, he needed to be bold. The society of the blind eye was, for the most part, just regular joes who could get the jump on others. That meant they weren't used to other people standing up to them. That meant, if Dipper did something impressive, they would surely be shaken.

Dipper saw the front door. Knowing who surely made it, he made a split-second, Mabel-like decision. The door was not the way he was going inside.

The window shattered as Dipper leapt through it, breaking it apart as he flew into a crowded living room.

Glass landing with splintering ruckus around him, Dipper looked around. The living room was easily half the size of the entire cabin. There was a couch across the room, which currently was surrounded by seven hooded figures, who had recoiled at his appearance. On the couch was Manly dan, his frightened sons, and Wendy. Standing aside the couch was a stunned Melissa Corduroy, the Deer-Lady.

Dipper, feeling no injury from the glass he exploded through, declared, "No one loses their memories today!"

Next to him, the front door was broken in, as Mabel kicked the door off it's hinges. She shouted, "Unless we say so!"

Wendy, her eyes alight, cried out, "Mason! Mary! They're going to do something to my family!"

Melissa moved around the hooded figures to Wendy. "No, dear, I've told you, you're confused. These are bad people! They want to hurt us, our family! These, uh, friends," Melissa indicated to the cult around her, "Are here to help us. They can protect you, your minds."

With a prominent voice, a tall, lanky figure in a burgandy robe focused onto the twins. "And who might be so bold as to stop," the figure dropped his hood, revealing a heavily tattooed, bald head, and scarred right eye, "The Society of the Blind Eye!?"

From the other side of the house, the backdoor burst, broken off it's hinges. Manly Dan hummed, and admitted, "So this is what it's like when it's someone else. I'm starting to see why that gets on people's nerves."

From the backdoor, Soos had appeared, his chest heaving. He pointed at Blind Ivan, "I do, memory man!" Soos cried, and then reached behind himself, and threw an entire possum at the bald man.

As the angered, confused beast scrambled and scratched Blind-Ivan's face, the leader collapsed, crying aloud desperately to free himself. Melissa shouted, "No!" and spun to Manly Dan, "Daniel, stop them!" she pointed to the twins, "They're the ones who tried kidnapping Wendy!"

Manly Dan immediately looked like he was twenty degrees hotter than before. His skin was bright red, matching his hair. His eyes were bloodshot. As he slowly stood up, His entire body bulged dangerously, his muscles tightened and flexed.

"No!" Wendy cried, "Dad! They're trying to help me! Not hurt me!" She would have cried out more, but Melissa walked over, and held her in her arms, keeping her still.

"Yeah!" Mabel cried, "Listen to your adorable daughter!"

Manly Dan twisted his head to the side, and several cracking vertebrae resonated through the room. He growled, "When it comes to my family, I'll do anything for them."

Dipper sighed, "Yeah, trust us, we know the lengths you'll go."

Unable to pull his face free from the possum, Blind Ivan cried aloud, "Don't just stand there! Apprehend these interlopers! Stop them!"

Mabel, as fierce as Manly Dan, roared, "Bring it! You can erase the memory, but you can't erase the burn!" she said, and leapt in, and swiped out with a kick.

With a loud groan, the first to fall was none other than Toby Determined. Lifted clean off his feet, the man flew through another window, back out into the day.

His southern twang similar to that of Kelly's, Bud Gleeful's voice cried out, "Oh gosh! They can fight! Zap 'em, Ivan!"

"I am currently busy!" Ivan groaned on the ground, still fending off the enraged marsupial.

As Soos rushed in, and wrapped his arms around Manly Dan, the other members of the Society of the Blind eye went for the twins. Though not as fierce as Mabel, Dipper was ready. Compared to the two weeks on the road he had undergone, facing members of the Society of the Blind eye was nothing. Zombies, ghosts, devils, heck, people with guns; all of them made this struggle feel like a breeze.

The first to rush to Dipper was maybe an inch or two taller than him, if even that. With a quick spin and toss, Dipper hurled a woman with tan skin back out the window. He whirled back and kicked out as Bud Gleeful's cloaked form had rushed for him. One jab from the cultist dodged, and another caught, Dipper had a moment to look at his sister.

She was cackling like a madwoman. The largest and tallest of the cultists had his entire robes spun around, twisting him up like some tangled mummy. Mabel, using the strands for leverage, punched out at one member, and then kicked out at the other. She had the others down, easily.

Dipper, holding the fist of the large man tightly, shouted, "This is for almost ruining my first summer here!"

"Your what?" Bud asked, before Dipper leapt and spun, uppercutting the man hard enough to knock him backwards.

As bud fell, Dipper could see the chaos sprouting around them. Behind the stumbling Bud Gleeful, Soos was holding onto Manly Dan for dear life. Manly Dan tried his best to reach over his shoulder, but found it a difficult task due to the thickness of his limbs. Dan roared, "FACE ME LIKE A MAAAN!"

"No way, dawg," Soos shouted, "I'm gonna stay right here and inconvenience you until you stop, dude!"

From the backdoor, Ford arrived, followed shortly by Stan. Mister Mystery cackled, "Hey, now this is more like it!" One of the hooded cultists stumbled over to Stan, and he swung out with a fist. The cultist flew away from the punch. "Haha! Yeah! Much more my speed!"

Ford grumbled, "Of course you'd enjoy a brawl more than espionage."

"Stealth rolls are for chumps!" Stan bellowed.

From the floor, Bud Gleeful looked over. He saw, to his horror, two Stanford Pines standing in the doorway. "My word!" He turned to his robed comrades, "Friends!" Bud exclaimed as he stood up, "Stanford Pines has made a young clone of himself, and is helping the time-travelers! Now we gotta reason to beat him up!" he roared.

The cultists, hearing the command, spun away from the twins, and rushed at the other twins. Ford cried out, and lifted a pair of fists pugilist style, while Stan merely bellowed back at the oncoming group.

A dark, looming voice growled. "Which means I have you two," Manly Dan said, walking away from the cultists, Soos still holding onto his back.

"Hey guys!" Soos smiled at the twins, "Found out his weak spot! It's, like, totally his back! I'm just gonna chill here and slow him down over time, you know?"

Mabel winked at him, "You do that!"

Dipper, less enthusiastic, lowered himself again as he told Soos, "Thanks for the help."

Soos chuckled, and said, "You're welcome, Pterodactyl bro!"

"Now," Manly Dan growled, his fist meeting his other palm, to better crack his knuckles, "I'll try not to break everything. I don't like hurting girls when I can."

"I'm not a girl," Dipper scowled.

Mabel muttered, "Only that one time."

Manly Dan swung out with his tree-sized arm. All the alarms in Dipper's mind roared to life as he saw the fist come from the side. That fist had broken telephone poles like it was nothing. That was the hand that could fell a fully-grown redwood in less than a minute, with only a handaxe. The only thing Dipper knew was to avoid the attack. Fortunately, he realized something about Manly Dan as he swung; he was very slow.

Though each swing of his fist made the air groan like some massive maul rushed through it, the twins had trained with far faster people in their time. Arline Hirsh, though certainly powerful, was a fraction of Manly Dans physical strength, but easily was many times faster and quick to act than the massive lumberjack. Mabel and Dipper each ducked, then stepped back from the hefty swings.

Then they tried to reply in kind. After the third hit, both Dipper and Mabel swung back out. Considering how far Manly Dan had leaned forward, trying to smash both of the teens to the ground, he was just asking to be a training dummy. Sadly enough, he took each of their rapid-fire strikes like he was meant to. Durable as he was strong, Dan barely noticed a heel digging into his neck.

Mabel, stumbling back from her flurry of blows, grumbled, "Okay, so, he's not magical, I think, but this isn't working!"

Frowning in anticipation, Dipper nodded. He looked around, and saw outside; people were watching the brawl in the home. He wondered if any would interfere, or call the cops. Then he saw the police station. He looked to Dan, who looked mighty upset that he hadn't won yet. Dipper strung together a new plan. "Mabel, other than taking names and kicking butt, what is your best skill?"

She blinked, and ducked under a swing from Manly Dan. "You want me to knit him a sweater? Right now?"

Slapping himself in the face as he dodged an attack, Dipper adjusted his question to, "In combat! Skill in combat!"

"Oh. Oh!" Mabel's own lightbulb flashed, and she grinned. She looked over the Manly Dan. With her loudest, shrillest voice, she cried out, "Aww! Big, boyish dan can't hit the little girls!"

A new vein appeared in Daniel Corduroys face. His jaw tightened to the point where his neck looked like it was made of grainy, red metal. Soos, atop him, gulped. "Ah, dudes, he's getting all sorts of big mad!" he warned them.

Dipper, quietly cheered, "Yes! Mabel, do it again!"

Happy to oblige, she continued to annoy Dan. "You call yourself manly? How is being unable to catch some annoying girls-"

"Not a girl."

"-Supposed to be manly?" Mabel finished, despite Dipper's interruption.

"Yeah!" Dipper called out, "Bet you can't even tackle us!"

Behind Soos, still holding back Wendy, the Deer-Lady cried out, "Daniel! Don't fall for their games! They're trying to antagonize you!"

Manly Dan roared, "They're doing a really good JOB AT IT!"

He lowered himself forward. Dipper beamed as his tactic worked. Mabel, ever the talent for bothering the proud, had gotten under Manly Dan's ego. Then, as he had witnessed before at the playground, Dipper knew that the man wouldn't back away from a physical challenge. Something simple, like a tackle. As all the pieces fell into their places, Dipper easily side-stepped the charge that came from the red-headed titan. Manly Dan rushed towards the spot Mabel and Dipper had been standing at. When he hit his wall, he did not stop. Soos and Daniel Corduroy burst through the thick, hardy lumber walls. He charged through his lawn, across the street, and crashed into the brick walls that were the police station.

The smashed hole in the wall was a catastrophic injury to the building. As the entire old location of the Gravity Falls police station began to crumble, the twins cackled. At least for the time being, their biggest obstacle was dealt with.

Her eyes twinkling, Mabel smirked and congratulated, "Nice plan, brosopheles."

Feelings of accomplishment bringing up to stand tall, Dipper said, "Yeah! Let's get this-"

As he had turned, someone had rushed into their space. A towering woman with long red hair loomed above Dipper. Quick as lightning and dark as the night, the Deer-Lady had come to stand before Dipper; her eyes boring down into his own. Nothing but malice radiated out from her. With a flash of cold running in his blood, Dipper only could stumble back.

With a dismissive voice, the woman appearing as Melissa Corduroy growled, "Men."

"Wait!" Dipper held out his hands, open palmed.

Pieces of wood and broken window frame falling to the floor behind him, Dipper stepped back as the woman advanced. Even as Mabel made to flank her, the eyes of the deer-lady looked down at Dipper. She was sneering; unamused but curious to his plea. "Really? A man who actively endangers my family wants me to wait?"

Stammering at her words, Dipper repeated, "Endangers your family!?"

Mabel piped in, "Yeah! You're not their mom!"

Melissa roared, and lashed out at Mabel. Her foot lifted and struck out like a mighty piston. Mabel swerved to the side, watching as her long hair whipped about from the air pressure that was brought by the kick. Debris from the floor was tossed up from the mighty kick. She, the Deer-lady, was arguably as strong as Manly Dan, but even faster.

Dipper had no choice. He leapt into the air, and kicked out against the mythical creature. Though his foot planted on her back as firmly as he could, she barely budged. The woman looked over her shoulder to him, her features twisting to be less human and more animalistic. Like a dervish, she whirled around once, her hands curled into furious claws. Mabel ducked away, barely avoiding the attack. Dipper was not so prepared for the attack.

Long ago, he had felt the flash of hot as he had been cut on the face. He had been lucky then, with a master healer lurking just in the darkness, waiting to help him. There was, unfortunately, no such benefit this time. The curled, sharp finger nails scraped up across his chin and over his cheek, narrowly stopping before his eye as he reeled backwards. He yelled out, a hand rushing to his face.

"Mason!"

Two voices, shared in worried, cried out. Mabel was at his side, stepping between her brother and the stalled Deer-woman. The other voice came out around the woman, and rushed to Dipper's side.

Young Wendy looked up to him. His hand was covered in blood. "Dude! Are you okay?" she asked.

With a quick nod, trying to ignore the awful dizziness that accompanied such a wound, Dipper said, "Yeah, just a little blood. It's fine," he said. He looked back to the enemy before him, and added, "Not the worst thing that's happened to me by a long shot."

The image of Melissa Corduroy, which had previously gone more feral, slipped back to the demure, kind woman. Still tall, and breathing heavily, she looked to Wendy, her eyes wide and fearful. She looked behind herself, to the remaining members of the society of the blind eye. They were doing their best against the Stan twins, which wasn't saying much. On the ground, Blind Ivan was nearing the end of his battle with the possum.

The Deer-woman said to Wendy, "Sweetheart, I never wanted you to see of this."

Wendy cried out, tears in her eyes as she looked at the spitting image of her mother, "You are not my mom!"

"I know that!" Melissa cried out, holding a hand to her heart, "I know!"

Given the chance to speak again, Dipper asked, "Then why are you doing this!?"

"Yeah? What gives!?" Mabel demanded.

The woman shook her head at the twins. "Long have I watched these woods. I… know this family. I know their pain. I know their loss," she said, her eyes gluing onto Wendy, "And I can be the piece they need, just like they can be the piece I want."

"What?" Dipper stammered, "What piece?"

From the many pieces of broken glass, an unseen form moved through the air. Blue and silver in form, a mystical triangle that was the form of Kelly Yore watched their fight. The deer woman tensed her body, able to see the many eyes upon her. Through many reflections, a single eye carefully watched her. The voice of Kelly, disembodied, told her, "Care with what you say, now."

The vulnerable Deer-Lady grew furious. With a flash of rage towards Dipper, she snapped, "It doesn't matter! You'll never defeat Yore! You'll never defeat me! Now, either leave and don't come back, or die!"

"Or," A new voice, from behind Melissa declared, as Blind Ivan stood up, his memory gun charged, "We can just erase all your memories and recruit you into the Society! Say goodbye to your mind!"

Mabel, seeing the incoming attack, made to rush for Ivan. Dipper, still reeling on his feet, only just realized that the gun was aimed for him. He looked around, desperate for a piece of glass large enough to perhaps reflect the beam. He couldn't move, he could barely stay balanced on his feet.

As the light got bright, someone stepped between him and the danger. Young Wendy corduroy stepped in between the blast, arms wide open.

Dipper roared, "Wendy, no!"

The beam fired.

If what Blind Ivan had said was true, anyone touched by that beam lost their identity. Dipper knew at least one thing – Wendy knew who she was when they had met for the first time. He remembered how they had laughed about family drama, or siblings who drove you crazy. He remembered how she had stayed up late with him, watching, frankly, terrible horror films. He could see the times she stood her ground, tempered by her thousands of experiences to trust in herself. He saw in those memories the light of a person who had grown their entire life, ready for adventure. Everything screamed inside Dipper to not let this happen. He couldn't let Wendy sacrifice her future for him!

He tried to move forward, but was too late. The beam had made contact.

As the bright blue light from the weaponized memory-gun faded, Dipper saw another figure between him and Blind Ivan.

With a resounding blast of wind, the image of Kelly Yore appeared in the room. She screamed, "NOO! You incompetent fool! What have you done!?"

Wendy, trembling, asked, "Mom?"

The deer woman stumbled. She had stepped between Blind Ivan and Wendy. She had taken the blow. The woman, stumbling for a moment, turned away. She was unfocused in her eyes. Like they had seen her do before, her human form unfolded like a flower, and the being she was became revealed; antlers and all. Without another word, the woman known as Melissa Corduroy trotted into the woods, retreating away from the sounds of the log-cabin brawl.

Blind Ivan looked to his memory gun, and cleared his throat. "Oh! Uh," Ivan blinked as his grip on the memory gun almost slackened entirely, "Well, erm, oops. Just give me a moment to charge it again, if you wouldn't mind-"

Mabel rushed to his side, and kicked out with her foot. The gun spilled from his hand, sliding away. Her leg still in the air, Mabel kicked out again, sending the scrawny man spiraling aside.

"Cult leader down!" Mabel roared.

As some sort of cue, the other members of the society spun about. "Oh no! Our glorious leader is defeated!" one of them announced.

Stan Pines made sure to capitalize on the moment. Jab, hook, and cross, he took down the remaining members of the society. "Hah! Yeah!" he cheered, trying to ignore the many bruises and scrapes he had gained on his face. "Now that's how a Pines settle things!"

Ford, panting heavily, stated, "How it is… you're still in shape… being sixty-two… is beyond me."

Starting to take settling, heavy breaths, Stan told his younger twin, "Yeah, well, on my feet most days, running the shop, or tours."

"What shop?" Ford asked, and squinted at him, "You… have a shop?"

Before Stan could begin to explain that he had turned Stanfords beloved home into a tourist trap, Kelly Yore screeched. "You diluted, foolish, fragmented, tiny creatures! It took years to convince her to do join a human family! YEARS!"

"Yeah?" Dipper said, trying to wipe away the blood on his hand and face, "Deal with it."

"Yeah!" Wendy snapped at the demon, "You can deal with it, you floating preschooler's toy!"

Mabel chuckled. "Scorching," she told Wendy, who grinned back.

Kelly visibly shook. "Deal… with… it?" she repeated. "I do deal with it. All I ever do is deal with it. I am stuck with the was! You," she eyed Wendy, "I give you, Corduroy, your second chance, and look at what I get in return!" she grew larger, taking up a majority of the ceiling space, "SASS!"

Mabel shrugged. "You should be used to it. I mean, look at your brother."

"She has a brother?" Wendy asked.

Kelly, her blue fading into an uncomfortable pale-green, her eye becoming black and void-like, glared at them. She cackled. "You know what? How about I just alter a few more things! The society should have joined gym sessions! Martial arts! Self-defense, and always carry firearms!" She promised them, waving her arms before her face. Wispy trails of light followed her motions. She yelled, "I'll change so much about your past that you won't even recognize your home! Demon, you call me!? I'll show you demon-"

Zap. There was a flash of blue light, as an electric beam of blue light raced past the twins. Kelly, mid-rant, blinked, and then vanished with a gentle pop.

"Thank time-baby," a voice form outside said. Holding one of his many futuristic gizmos, a recently freed Blendin' stepped inside the building. "She was really getting on my time-nerves," he chuckled to his present allies, dusting off rubble from a collapsed police station.

Chuckling, Mabel nodded, "Nice! Maybe lay off the whole 'everything-time' stuff? But otherwise, nice."

Dipper quickly asked, "What did you do to her?"

Blendin explained, "I-I sent her to the time she should be!"

With a happy grin, Dipper told him, "Nice job Blendin'. You really did step up, like we asked."

Proudly, Blendin' proclaimed, "All part of being a member of the time anomaly removal crew!"

"Hehe," Mabel snickered, "What a tarc."

Defeated and without their prized weapon, the members of the Society of the Blind eye were corralled like lost cattle. The Corduroy boys, with Wendy's reassurance, were taken to the side. Even with Blind Ivan's threats of vengeance, the pines and friends felt little, if any, real danger. "You've yet felt the full wrath of the unseen! You will one day forget, and I'd wish you'd know that it was us! But, that's kind of our job to not let you know, you know? So…"

Now sporting a clean bandage on his face, Dipper stated, "Speaking of," and nodded to Stanford, who had the device. The cultists gasped.

Passing Mabel, who was scribbling down something on a series of notes, Ford orchestrated the memory gun expertly, inputting into the device 'the past eight hours'. Clearing his throat, Stanford said, "Well, time to clean up this mess!"

One by one, the members of the Society were wiped of the day's events. Even Toby Determined, who had been laying outside, had their last eight hours taken away. Frazzled and confused, Toby had been commanded by Dipper to stay behind, if just for a few more minutes. "Just wait around for a few minutes. We need to give you something in a bit," he told the reporter by day, cultist by night, tap dancer by every-other night.

Then it came to the family. They waited for a few minutes for Manly Dan to return. Still furious as he was, they struck him with the gun from a distance, as he tried to close in on the twins. Once he was pacified, and removed of the day's happenings, it came to the sons. Each lost their memories. Each were returned to their old lives.

Then, it finally came to Wendy.

"So," she gulped, looked at the gang before her, "I guess… I won't see you anymore? That's pretty lame, just saying."

Ford took a deep breath. "I am afraid so."

Staring down at one of the bravest people he had ever know, Dipper frowned. There was something nagging his mind, like something he had to remember. As she looked up to him, something in those eyes hit Dipper differently.

What if she had become the person she was because of this? What if she had become a chill, not-as-moody teenager because she had experienced this as a kid? What if she had always really known about the weird stuff in the woods, and that there had been things going on? What if that was why she was as chill as she was?

He looked over to Ford. When the trying eyes of Dipper met Fords, Stanford Pines deflated. "My boy," Ford started, "It is safest if we–"

"Don't," Dipper told him.

"Pardon?"

A confidence not often filling his voice, Dipper re-stated, "I'm telling you not to."

"But–"

"Please," Dipper walked over to Ford, a hand atop the memory-gun, lower its aim to the ground "It's not just me not wanting to do this. I have a reason, I think."

The scientist cocked an eyebrow. "You think?" he repeated.

His voice stronger than yet before, Dipper said, "Trust me."

The frown evolved into a weakening expression. Ford muttered, "I…" and he began looking around the crew. Met with equal uncertainty, Stanford struggled with a response. He was so clearly tired, and beaten. He took a chance to nod, and then adjusted the device. "Okay. This could be risky, you know."

"Y-yeah!" Blendin' stepped over to Dipper, "What if she has learned things she shouldn't! What if this changes how she acted!"

Wendy, scowling at the sight of Blendin' demanded, "So what? I can handle weirdness, just like I can handle you, weirdo!"

Blendin' recoiled from the twelve-year old. "W-Weirdo!?"

Both sets of the twins laughed.

"Yeah, he kind of is, just a little," Mabel admitted.

Post-chuckle, Dipper took to addressing Wendy. He said, "Wendy. You've easily one of the bravest, strongest people I know. You will grow up to be someone people aspire to be, and want to know." Wendy's shoulders, tensed from snapping at Blendin', dropped when Dipper spoke to her. Her eyes shimmered. Dipper was not done, "But part of having this happen to you is knowing when, and who, to talk to. Trust me – telling anyone and everyone about your weird summer? It might backfire."

Wendy frowned. "What should I do? Just tell no one?"

"You should…" he eyed her, seeing that dorky young lady before her. With a heavy chuckle, he patted her head, "You should be cool. Trust yourself. You got it." With a red face, Wendy silently nodded. "Now, we have to go, Wendy."

"Will I see you again?" she asked.

Mabel snorted. "Yes. Definitely. Absolutely."

"Might be for a while, though," Dipper told her, "So don't wait out on us."

"Okay," she nodded, and then rushed over to Mabel and Dipper, wrapping her arms around them both. "Thank you," she said into them, before looking into their faces, "I know my family is messed up, and weird, but it helps knowing that there are people who also know what's up."

Mabel cooed, "Daww, you dorkisaurus rex!" and scooped Wendy up herself, lifting her into a big, bone-crushing hug.

Once let down, Wendy stepped away from them all, letting them file out of the house. She gave Blendin' a weird look, and was looking at Stanley with confusion. Perhaps uncertain to how they connect to her newly made friend, she watched as all but Dipper filed out. He lingered at the door, and waved back to her once.

"I'll see you around, Wendy."

"See you later, Mason!" Wendy waved.

Dipper smiled and left with his friends and family. Guided out of the crumbling log-cabin, and well out of ear-shot. Ford asked, "Are you certain that is the right call? Why not just play it safe and use Fiddlefords device?"

Dipper eyed the object in his hands. That weight he had felt before, when it was directed at Wendy, was gone. With it in hand, he extended it out to Ford. "I've got my reasons," Dipper declared, "I think I'm doing something correct. I think. Hard to tell."

Ford grumbled, "Not the most encouraging reassurances."

Mabel patted her brother's shoulder. "Trust us, Grunkle Ford. Wendy didn't get our names. Maybe the reason she's so cool is because she sort of knows about weird stuff going on already?"

Ford, taking the mind-eraser, asked, "Including the society?"

Dipper snorted. "Don't worry about that."

Maybe held out a pen, "I wrote this note that said to use new robes! Wendy won't recognize them at all next time she sees them."

Dipper then scowled, and added, "Unless they later erase her mind for some dumb reason."

"Cheer up, bro," Mabel squeezed his shoulder, "We did our best. The rest is history."

Blendin' snapped a finger at Mabel, smirking, "Now that's thinking like a member of the time anomaly removal crew!"

"Eugh, I'm not a tarc," Mabel shuddered.

With the device in hand, Ford slowly looked to his brother. Stan had watched the twins, Ford, and Soos from the side. Playing with the side of his arm, Stan had seemed the most out of place. He took a heavy sigh, and wiped his glasses. "I guess, uh," he muttered, "Same exception can't be made for me, can it?"

Swallowing away some unseen pain in his throat, Ford answered, "I am afraid not, Stanley."

Blendin' added, "You knowing everything that has happened could entirely change what you do in the future! The future is already compromised. D-Don't try mucking it up anymore!"

"Okay, okay," Stan rolled his eyes, desperate to keep Blendin' away, "Keep your time-underwear on, for crying out loud. Sheesh," And he focused on his younger twin. Holding his glasses to his side, Stan admitted, "I, uh, won't know you're okay?"

Pain wracked Ford's face. "I am afraid not, Stanley," Ford muttered.

"I'm great at keeping secrets!" Stan assured them, "C'mon! No one knows about the real me! Everyone around here thinks I'm you!"

"What?" Ford barked.

"Hah! See?" Stan chuckled, "Secrets! Mister Mystery, professional secret keeper."

"Conman extraordinaire," Dipper chuckled.

Mabel added, "And boxing champion."

Stan chuckled, eyeing Mabel and Dipper. "These two. I'm staring to like ya." He turned back to his brother, who looked ill. The warm smile on Stanley's face faded.

Ford pleaded, "Stan–"

"You've really made up your mind, huh?" Stan asked, a grumpier older man standing before Ford.

Ford nodded. "I– I hate that this is what needs to be done, Stanley," Ford gulped again, and rubbed his nose, "More than anything I wish I could leave you here understanding how much I have come to appreciate what you are doing."

"W-What?" Stan asked, his eyes widened.

"I didn't, apparently," Ford admitted, "It's confusing, but when you do rescue me, I won't appreciate it. I will… well, things won't be great for us, later. But Stan, I, as I am right now, can't fully express how thankful I am of how much you sacrifice to keep trying to save me. You spend half your life in one spot! I know how hard for you that must be!"

"Heh," Stan shrugged, "Once the money started coming in, the itch to roam sorta died away."

"Don't underplay it," Ford insisted, "You hate that. But you did it to try helping me. Me – the worst brother in the world."

"Hey!" Stan poked his brother's chest, "No one gets to call my brother the worst brother in the world, except me! No exceptions!"

With a feeble smile and watering eyes, Ford nodded. "Stan," Ford eyed his brother, and slowly reached out, "In case I never see you again…" and he wrapped his arms around Stanley.

Grunkle Stan's lip twitched. He buried his face into his brother's shoulders, returning the action tightly. Soos sniffled with Mabel. Dipper watched the two hug and it finally clicked.

The man who had come to the twins and their friends in Georgia, the man who had never quite earned Dipper's trust all this time, this was the man he had hoped the author had been. He finally saw Stanford Pines, and not the demon-puppet from three years ago. That was a man, free to act and believe what he wanted. What the man before Dipper wanted, it seemed, was his family. Though guilt washed inside Dipper like waves in his stomach, he felt relieved. It was settled finally: he could trust the man.

Blendin' gave a small, "Aww. That's nice. I like it when family get along. It's time-wholesome."

"Shush!" Mabel said, and jabbed the man's arm.

As Blendin' massaged his pained arm, the Stan twins ended their hug. The embrace parted, and Stan wiped his eyes. "You, uh, had some dusty shoulders there, bro."

Ford laughed, wiping at his own face. "Could say the same to you."

Ford stepped back, and primed the memory gun. Raising it up to Stan's face, the man out of time said to his brother, "I love you, Stanley."

The trigger was pulled, and the gun whirred. As it fired, Stanley chuckled, "Heh, you too, stupid brother."

The beam struck Stan Pines right between the eyes. Unseen, memories were stripped away, pulled right out his own brain. Ford held the gun up for a moment longer, even after the beam subsided. With a whirl away, a broken-hearted researcher handed the gun to Dipper with urgency. "Please, take it," he begged, "It doesn't feel right."

"Sure," Dipper took the memory gun from him.

Still upright, Stan Pines' eyes started to flutter. He muttered, "W-What is going on? Where am-"

Ford leapt aside, hiding behind a telephone booth. The twins looked to Soos, and nudged him. Mabel told their friend, "Go on, help him."

"Oh, right," Soos told them, and approached Stan.

Beginning to focus, Stan blinked. "Oh, uh, Soos? Wait, what's on your face? You got some lint there?"

"Oh, yeah, crazy, huh?" Soos chuckled, playing with the hairs on his chin.

"What's going on?" Stan barked, knuckles at his hips, "Why are we downtown? Was there a sale we missed? Auction?"

"Uh, no!" Soos declared, "We got tricked, dawg!"

Stan looked mortified. "W-What!? How!? I usually know when the other cons are in town? What the heck is going on!?"

"I dunno," Soos shrugged, and pointed down the road, "But I'd get back to the Mystery Mano – err – Shack quick, Mister Pines! What if someone was trying to steal our Sascrotch?"

As if he'd never heard of such a terrible crime, Stan bellowed, "NO! My fifteen-minute project!" and ran down the street like there was no tomorrow.

Soos waved after him, "I'll meet you there, Mister Pines!"

Once Mister Mystery had departed post-haste, the twins and Ford approached Soos and Blendin', who hadn't moved an inch. Mabel suddenly snapped her fingers. "So that's why you're called Blendin'," she said to the time-traveler.

Curious, he asked, "Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Because you blend in!" she exclaimed, and giggled, "I get it! Wow! Clever."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Nice. Glad you caught up, sis."

Blendin' deflated. "N-no, my mom ran out of names to give after all my time-brothers got cool names, so she rolled a time-randomizer and got Blending. G's are expensive when you make names, so she traded it in for an apostrophe. Cost less time-bucks."

"Wait," Dipper looked to the time-traveler, "Your name is 'Blendin', not Blend In? Like, your title?

"Uh, n-no."

"I… hate that," Dipper informed him, "Change your name. It sucks. And I would know – I traded my name to Dipper. That's saying something."

From behind Dipper and to the side of the group, a droning, nasally voice asked, "Excuse me." Toby Determined, still disheveled and beaten up, and walked over to Dipper, as he had been prompted to after having his mind erased. He asked, "What was I supposed to do, again?"

"Right," Dipper turned to him. Doing his best to emulate what he had asked of Wendy, Dipper acted chill. He held out the memory gun, "You, uh, dropped this? Said something about it being important?"

Toby's eyes, already large and bug-like, bulged out of his head dangerously. He whipped out, scooping the device into his hands. "Uh, ha-ha, yeah, that's not a memory device at all! It's just a toy for not-cultists!"

Dipper and Mabel stared at him. Mabel whispered to her brother, "I'm tempted to wipe his memory again and teach him a thing or two about subtly."

As Toby Determined ran away, clutching the device tightly in his hands, Dipper shook his head. "No, that would really alter the timeline. He was always as subtle as a cinder block to the face."

"Okay, well," Ford clapped his hands together, "Since we've dealt with the problems, and Kelly would be, as you said," he looked to Blendin', "Dealt with, we should return ourselves to the proper moment in time. Can you do that for us?"

"Oh, s-s-sure!" Blendin' nodded, and took out his tape-measurer device, "I just need to get the correct time set up before we go back."

"Nice," Mabel said, and took in a nice, long breath, "We stopped a time-demon, erased, like, a dozen minds, and maybe slightly altered the timeline here and there. That's a pretty good record for us!"

"Yeah," Dipper said. He winced, feeling a stinging pain on his face, and put a hand to his recent injury. "That's going to sting for a while."

"Ah, c'mon Dip," Mabel patted his head gently, "You look really hardcore now. Like, once we get Wendy to help out, I'm sure you'll have the roguish scarring that every paranormal adventurer wished they had."

"You think so?" Dipper said, his eyes twinkling. He grinned, and said triumphantly, "Eat your hearts out, NPPP."

"O-Okay," Blendin' cried out, "I've got your correct time! August sixteenth, two-thousand and fifteen, ten fifty-six and sixteen seconds. That should be less than a moment after you all went back in time. Everyone stay nearby me. Touch my shoulder, or something. Don't get too close though, I'm sometimes a little claustrophobic, okay?"

"Sure thing, dawg," Soos said, and reached as far as he could to touch the arm of Blendin'.

As the twins and Ford also reached out to place a hand on the time-traveler, the man held out his device, and took a deep breath. "O-Okay, here goes nothing! Back to your present!"

Blendin' let go of the taught cord, and the device activated. In a bright flash of light, the five were gone from that place, that time. They were… nowhere. It was a world of white, humming energy. Blendin' looked around hurriedly as the other four winced, holding up their arms to the brightness of it all.

"Uh oh, uh oh!" Blendin' worried, and started to play with his device, "Something isn't right! Something is-"

A southern-twanged voice asked, "Interfering?"

Appearing like a looming mountain range, Kelly Yore appeared on, what the five could only imagine, was some sort of horizon. She grew larger, or closer, until she was the size of a skyscraper, her enormous eye glaring down at the five of them. They were ants to an otherwise wrathful, human-sized triangle.

"You thought that you'd be rid of me so easily?" she barked at them, "That I, Kelly Yore, demon of time, master of memory, would be so thwarted by the likes of you!?"

Blendin' looking around, timidly said, "Y-yes?"

Kelly rolled her eye, and pointed a finger at him. "Begone," she told him, as an electric bolt of energy struck him. Blendin' yelped, and just like that, he was gone.

Soos cried out, "Blendin' Blejamin Blandin'! No!"

"Oh, fret not, Soos," she wove a hand at him, "I merely sent him back to his own time. He can go bother a different person at a different time." She then turned her gaze to the others, "Now, for you all," she simmered, vapor rising off her form like boiling water.

"Do your worst!" Mabel cried, puffing out her chest, "I've been to the cretaceous period! I can take it!"

Kelly snorted. "Please, Stars, do not be so arrogant with me. I can send you so far back in time that there isn't an earth yet. Would you like to test me?"

As Mabel took a moment to reconsider, Dipper smirked. "You can't, unless we let you. No alterations to the past unless we ask you to do something about our past." To his reminder, Kelly scowled, her eyelid squinting down at his form. Dipper added, "Which reminds me, what do you want? Your deal with Wendy is ruined. You're not needed. You can just leave."

Soos nodded, his arms crossed. "Not to mention, Miss Yore, you really gotta learn to stop bullying people into making deals. Seems kinda manipulative, you know?"

Kelly Yore, massive, titanic being she was, sighed. She started to rapidly shrink. Smaller and smaller she became until she was the size of the demon they had seen in the past. Once she had stopped obscuring the entire horizon, the four before her realized that there was a fifth person behind Kelly. The person was laying, crumpled, on the ground.

"Wendy!" Dipper cried.

"In the flesh, and soon to be mind," Kelly grumbled, and snapped her fingers.

Like some terrible filter of their vision removed, the four found themselves back in the same wheat field that they had spotted Wendy collapsing in. The dark day had receded. They could smell the smoke from the fire, back at the camp-site. The last thing they noticed; the world was in grayscale. Nothing was moving. The only color they could see was upon themselves, or Kelly.

"Yes!" Mabel cheered, leaping into the air.

Ford beamed at them all. "Well done! Expert demonstrations in how to manage highly delicate situations!"

Dipper, now managing a sister who was using him as a springboard to help hop up and down, managed to say, "Thanks, Grunkle Ford."

Ford did a double take. "That almost sounded entirely sincere, Dipper."

With a roll of his eyes, Dipper added, "That's because it was, Grunkle Ford."

Lifted himself into the air like he was lighter than before, Stanford Pines looked like life had been injected into him. His eyes shimmered with pride, and he beamed at his grand-nephew. Entirely sincere himself, Ford stated, "Well… I'm happy. We starting to close the distance that my past self has caused."

Kelly Yore wove her parasol in the air briskly. "Yes, yes, as you were. Happy reunions and all. Now, please, do yourself a favor, Stanford," she glared at him, "Keep you and your brother out of my business for now on! No more deals for you, and your family!"

"Hah!" Ford grimaced, "Easily done. I'll have no interaction with you, should life be fair."

"Life often isn't," she warned him. Kelly wove her hand into the air behind her. The still body of Wendy suddenly jolted up, as Wendy took a long, raspy breath for air. Paying no mind to the seemingly resuscitated body, Kelly added, "I would go so far as to remind your brother how much he owes me, but seeing as he has been indisposed, I suppose you'll just have to use your imagination."

Hearing that, Ford frowned. Dipper did too, mirroring the scholarly researcher as they peered at the time-demon. Ford asked, "What does that mean?"

Kelly sneered, her eyelid narrowing spitefully. "Oh, who wants a deal now? Like I said, not that it matters. Your brother is gone. Unless you have some sort of reality hole-puncher, I'm afraid I'll just let you stew on what I could have possibly meant. Maybe it'll force you to realize how much everyone here has to thank me for!" she snapped.

"And so," she then floated high, and the world around them began to gain color once more, "I ask you all to remember – life is a blink of an eye, you can never remember everything that ever happened to you, try to remember turning off everything or you might cause fires, fareweeeeeell!"

With a resounding pop, the demon was gone. With her vanishing, the colors and sounds of the world all returned. They saw the wheat sway with the wind. They clouds floated across the blue sky. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as the days heat reached them again. It was all back to the way it had been.

"Double yes!" Mabel cried, and she rushed over to Wendy, "Rise and shine, warrior princess!"

Wendy, shaken and pale, looked around. Her eyes shimmered, and she trembled as she said, "G-Guys, I'm so sorry-"

Soos wove a hand off, "Ah, don't sweat it, dude. I think that's kinda how Miss Yore does things? Gets into your head and makes you want things."

With a chuckle, Ford stated, "Eloquently stated. She is just as manipulative as her brother, albeit believes she does so for the betterment of more than herself. A dangerous delusion."

Wrapping her arms around Wendy's shoulder, Mabel stated, "Which means we're just happy to see that you're okay, you dorkasaurus rex."

Wendy smirked, holding Mabel close. The green eyes flittered over to Dipper, and the two shared a look. Her eyes spotted the wound on his face, and her mouth fell open. She asked them, "You… just went into my past, didn't you?"

"Heck yeah we did!" Mabel cheered, "Got all retro, oh-nine style! Oh, and I told Dipper this, but now I can officially say that you were an adorable dork when you were twelve."

"Hah!" Wendy snorted, leaning down onto the ground, "I was the epitome of awkward."

"Nah," Soos shook his head, "You were pretty cool! Especially considering the whole your mom was a forest dwelling shape-shifter."

"Which, also," Mabel chuckled, "How come you never told us?"

Rolling her eyes, Wendy told them, "Look Mabes, I already have family drama that I tried to ignore. I'm sure your twelve-year old selves would have lost your mind knowing that, at some point, a shapeshifter tried impersonating my mom to get in with my family, but do you know how crazy that sounds?" she laughed, "Like, sure, it's us, and we're now used to crazy, but how would I just bring that up casually? That was my first big taste of crazy. I wasn't going to risk losing my coolest friends by telling them my mom came back from the dead, but was actually some deer person."

"Deer lady, actually," Ford corrected.

"Whatever, Stan two," Wendy chuckled.

Dipper quietly asked, "Is that why you were so ready to throw down that shapeshifter we ran into?"

Wendy looked back to him. It she had begun to brim with energy, her looking back to Dipper was some sort of dousing. She looked to his wound. Focused on it, she slowly nodded to him.

"Well," Ford clapped his hands together, "We have one demonic issue resolved, for the time being. We'll want to be on the lookout for her for now on. There is a good chance she may be involved with Graupner, or the Rising Grasp."

"Oh dude, no way," Soos shook his head, "She'd never go and try hurting us like that, would she?"

Dipper furrowed his brow. Shaking his head, he guessed, "I think it's not outside her capability. She's tried twice to interfere with our pasts. We didn't really figure out the why this time, since we never got past the actual change – getting a Deer Lady to impersonate Melissa Corduroy. But if I had to guess, it's got something to do with her connection to Bill."

"Which never is good," Ford declared.

"Speaking of good and never good," Mabel stood up from Wendy, and started to march away, "I'm hungry. We should, like order something to the motel room. Maybe the path-peeps will want something too?"

"Oh!" Soos hopped up, and rushed after her, "Maybe some nachos! I could totally use some nachos right now."

Ford following suit, the three began to walk. Dipper was eager to follow, he only wanted to wait until Wendy was ready. After all, it was surely a difficult thing to wrap her mind around. Even he –

"Mason."

Dipper's heart stalled. That voice had never said that name before. His feet scraped against the wheatfield earth, slowly turning him to face her. His eyes had widened at such a name, and they didn't stop when he saw her sitting down, staring at the earth.

Wendy had spoken so quietly, so softly, it had felt like a dream, a note of song along the wind. She turned her face to his own, and Dipper saw the green eyes of Corduroy look up to Dipper. It was the same way she had not ten minutes ago, or six years ago for her.

Dipper, or Mason Pines, was short on breath. He stumbled in his own stance. "W-Wendy, what did you say?"

"His name," Wendy stared at Dipper, a certain fear flooding in her eyes, "Was Mason."

Dipper couldn't help but stammer, his mouth was fritzing. "S-Sorry? His name? I… I don't understand. What about, uh, Mason?"

Pushing herself up from the ground, Wendy stood to her height. They were eye-to-eye. Certainly, Dipper already knew that they had just about gotten to each other's height, but this felt different. Something felt connected.

As if she couldn't believe herself, Wendy said to Dipper, "He was you."

Dipper, dry in the mouth, nodded. "Yeah. That's… my real name – the one I was born with, you know."

Wendy looked almost ill. It wasn't that she was going to get sick, they both knew her strange curse wouldn't allow her to feel such ways. There was a certain shock to her system that caused her to lose focus. She looked around, hoping for something to guide her. When her eyes beheld no such thing, she looked back to Dipper.

"The boy, Dipper," she said, her lips twitching with nerves, "That I told you about, remember?"

Dipper frowned. He looked from her, and scanned around. "What? What are you–"

"This summer," Wendy gulped, "Do you remember when you were feeling down? It was after your blowout with Mabel, before Yuki joined the crew. I told you something about me. About…"

As it was, Dipper Pines had a great memory for the important moments in life. The memory replayed quickly for Dipper. He nodded, saying, "Sure, yeah. I remember. You told me about the first crush you had. You said that he was–"

Dipper's heart could have exploded for all he knew. There was a sudden seize in his heart and chest. The world spun, and Dipper did everything he could to level himself. All the training with Mabel had paid off, for he breathed heavily, finding the strength in himself to stand. That realization struck him deeper than any before him had. This hit home hard, like finding out the author of the journals had been ford, or when Dipper and Mabel had discovered the Xabvri.

Dipper whispered, "A lot like me."

Wendy, looking almost like she'd cry, smiled. "It was Mason," she told Dipper.

There were few feelings that were both as fundamentally life changing and terrifically heavy as that. Dipper felt like he could float to the moon, and just as easily plummet back with the weight of what it all meant.

Dipper explained, perhaps to himself most of all, "I'm Mason. I just met you six years ago, and you… liked Mason," Dipper repeated. "Then, I met you three years ago-"

"And called yourself Dipper," Wendy told him, approaching him.

Dipper felt a pain in his throat. He wanted badly to know what to do or say. He felt so stupid. He felt frightened. How was this what he felt when something so perfectly beautiful was right before him, coming closer? He shouldn't feel this scared facing something like this!

In a desperate bit for sanity, he laughed. "I am Mason! Hah!" he slapped his cheek faintly, and winced, forgetting about the cut. "But," he said in the moment of madness, "How couldn't you tell? I mean, twelve-year-old me looks pretty similar to current day me. I didn't age that much since then!"

It was Wendy's turn to burst out laughing. "Yes, you did!" she declared, "Dipper, you grew easily a foot and a half, bulked out, and, look," she rubbed the back of her head, "I'm gonna feel stupid saying this, but Mason didn't wear a hat."

"Oh," Dipper realized, and looked up to his head. His shaggy, thick hair had completely gone about covering his forehead, obscuring his celestial birthmark. Without his blue cap still on, he must look exactly like she remembered from six years ago. He turned back to her, and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Sorry. I was gonna chew on it to help think when I was going to talk to you. Wait, you think I bulked out?"

Wendy had lights in her eyes as she looked to him. "You goof. All this time, I had hoped I'd run into Mason again," she told him.

A little stunned at her comment, and certainly red in the face, Dipper asked, "Really?"

"Well," She started to glow red in the cheeks herself, "Yeah? Look, Dipper," she sighed, "I don't know what we have, and I don't think I ever knew. When twelve-year-old you thought I coolest thing on the planet, it was cute. But that's all I thought of then – just cute memories. It made me think of Mason, and how I hoped I'd run into him. Like I was seeing myself in you, sorta. Honestly, I kept you at arms distance. After the whole accident with Robbie, and my dad," she explained, "I stopped thinking about all that stuff."

"All of it?" Dipper asked.

She tilted her head side to side, perhaps reevaluating her statement. "Maybe not everything," she admitted. "Then you and Mabel came back, after three years. When I saw you again, at Stan's funeral, I… I didn't know what to think when I saw you again. I thought you… you looked just like him," she said, and slapped her head, "Which, I mean, how stupid do I have to be, man?"

"Well, you were right," Dipper snorted, "I did look a lot like me."

Before Dipper, Wendy laid down, staring at the sky. "Can you imagine?" she asked him, "You begin to think you're going crazy, because of a curse. Then that cute kid you turned away once comes back to you, the spitting image of your first ever crush, only with a hat and no scar. I thought I was starting to actually go crazy," she admitted, her lips twisting in a grimace.

Keeping himself quiet, Dipper walked over to her, and laid down. He watched Wendy, and her eyes looked back to him. After a moment of each other just staring, their faces growing hotter by the second, Dipper managed to blurt out, "You thought I was cute?"

"I'm ninety percent sure I've told you that," Wendy pushed his shoulder, and they laughed.

"Maybe you did," Dipper guessed. He looked up to the clouds. "So, if I'm understanding everything correctly–"

"Best of luck," Wendy wished him.

"You liked Mason first," Dipper explained, "Then, three years later, I liked you. Now, three years after that–"

Wendy asked, "Who likes who?"

Dipper froze. The back of his head scraped against the earth as he slowly turned to Wendy. She too stared into his eyes. He was getting used to staring at her. She had been, since meeting her, an enigma. She had been too cool for him, and far too chill. She had become a literal mystery for this past summer, and then became closer than ever before. That smallest puzzle piece to her past made the world feel… right.

Dipper nudged himself closer. He could feel his own breath bouncing back from her face. Those green eyes, so delicate and powerful as the vast forests of the earth itself, waited for Dipper. They had waited for years.

Dipper tried answering, "I think… I think…" When his words failed him, he said with a growl in his throat, "The hell with what I think," and he rolled his eyes and leaned forward.

Once before had he felt those lips on his own. Last time it had been sudden, and followed with confusion. Not this time.

Together, now both caught up with the person they had wanted to be with for years, they deeply embraced each other in a long overdue kiss.

They both had felt the serenade of magic, the sting of lightning and electricity, and the tickle of the fantastic all before. There was something beyond those sensations being shared between them in that moment. It was like the sunrise, warming their soul and blinding them to the rest of the world. It was temporary, and yet could have been hours. It felt fuzzy and malleable like how clouds looked. All they knew, then and there, is that they had both wanted this. They had both sought this from each other without being on the same page.

Some say that there are recorded kisses in history, or fiction, that are rated the most passionate, the most pure. That said, rating is for suckers. Those two, laying together in a field of wheat, finally gave each other a kiss worth remembering. In some ways, it was a kiss that would haunt them, for how could they ever embrace in such a way that matched such meaningfulness and love?

"FINALLY!"

Wendy and Dipper screamed and shot upright, nearly on their feet.

Peering just past a cluster of wheat was, of course, Mabel.

"Yes!" she cheered, stepping through the long plants towards at the two of them, "I have been waiting for this to resolve, one way or another, for years! For three years!"

Dipper scowled at his twin. "How horrible for you. Wonder what that could be like?" he growled.

Mabel blew a raspberry at him. "C'mon, don't be salty!" she chuckled, "You two have both been a thorn in your sides like that for too long! But now that's over!" she cheered, leaping into the air, "It's official!"

Wendy stood up, pulling Dipper with her. "Mabel, chill girl," Wendy pleaded, "We've not said anything about, eh, titles."

"Who cares about titles?!" Mabel roared with laughter, "You two love each other!"

Wendy turned from red into a deep shade of maroon. Dipper, perhaps having considered such a reaction from Mabel if this fantasy of his had ever come true, was less affected. He nudged Wendy, giving her a supportive smile. He told her, "I know I do."

Wendy's hair nearly stood on end. Mabel launched herself into the air, holding a hand to her mouth as her eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. She cried out, "LOVE! LOOOVE!" And cackled into the sky maddeningly.

Wendy looked, perhaps for the first time in a very long time, ready to shove over Mabel. Instead, she focused her nervousness towards Dipper. Giving him her own smile, she said, "Yeah. Who could help themselves with a dork like you around? I couldn't."

Mabel leapt through the air and wrapped her arms around the two of them. As they both strained and buckled at Mabel's attack, she exclaimed, "I told you, Wendy! Wedding bells!"

"Okay," Wendy declared, and put Mabel down, "Hold your horses."

"Never," Mabel protested gleefully.

"Mabes," Dipper warned his sister.

"Fine, chilling," Mabel promised them, and withheld her antics by about ten percent. She still hopped on the spot, and beamed at the two of them. Tears were welling her eyes. "Guys," she told them, "I… I just really am so happy to see you two be happy!"

Dipper turned to Wendy, "Especially you," he told her.

From one twin to the other, Wendy Corduroy looked carefully. The older sister to one, the best friend and infatuation to another, Wendy's involvement with the Pines twins had come to a new level. She had always been a step closer to them than mere friend. Whatever that previous relation had been was now grown past. She was mingled into their lives now, one way or another.

With the sun above them, and the day shining bright around them, Wendy smiled. For the first time since they had seen her all summer, it was an ear-to-ear smile; no trace of fatigue, or sleepiness. She was happy. Just like she had been many years ago, when she had seen her family brought back together.

Wendy turned to the twins. "C'mon," she asked of them. With bold grin bearing a light and life that hadn't been seen in a long time, she prompted them, "We've got a world to save."

---

Ahh, back in the writers chair! Nothing quite like it! It hasn't been long since I last updated either, has it?

(Looks back to the last time he posted, more than a year ago.)

...Oh. (EZB swears.) But, hey, at least I finalized a certain ship that's been going steadier and steadier this whole story. Huh? HUH? Right?!

Okay, but yes, I vanished. At least I came prepared this time, in case I DO happen to skip out on town again. Oh yeah, I pre-wrote a few OTHER chapters too! Heck yeah, progress! We are going to get back on the road with the next update, coming the end of this week, and not next year!

Also, this coming summer is the 10 year mark of this stories original inception. Wow. I'm... old?

(EZB sees a few cups next to him, upon his worn, battered, taped up desk.) Ohh! I am thirsty after all that writing.

(A knight steps up to EZB, looking aged and dusty, almost like he's been waiting in a dusty old crypt for centuries.)

Keeper of the Grail: Choose wisely, old man.

HEY! (EZB grabs a random cup, and slurps it) I'm not that old. And I'll-

(EZB rapidly decays in a horrible display of godly power, until he crumbles into dust.)

Keeper of the Grail: He edited... poorly.

---

In places vast, but not in distance of space but in distance of time, a blast of electrical energy heralded the return of a particular time-traveler. Blendin' Blandin made his triumphant return to his time, our future; the year twenty snyeventy twelve.

Mid-sentence, he shouted, "D-Don't you point at me, you – oh. Oh, she's gone. W-Weird. And I was really going to g-get her good with my chip-snack joke. Dangit."

He took in a nice, long breath. It stung of chemicals, radiation, and other various tastes of dystopia. All was right with the world. Blendin' smiled. "That's right. I'm back. Everything is-"

Turning from the void of the stars before him on the orbital platform, he gagged on his breath and stalled. The massive space-born station was a burning wreck. Futurist people in various uniforms were running in circles, on fire, being attacked by what appeared to be animated masses of candy and gum, or just plain popping out of reality. There were spirals of color, creatures that defied rationality emerging from these portals, only to then dissolve into grey puddles of muck.

"-Horrible!" Blendin' cried out, falling to his knees.

Rushing by him, a passerby being constricted by a living wad of gum yelled, "You can time-say that again!"

The gum, squeezing the fleeing person, gently cooed, "I love you very much. Hug me." The passerby screamed in horror and leapt off the side of the platform, falling into space.

Blendin' looked around. There were more fissures of reality, more destruction. He whipped out his chrono-detector once more, and scanned. "Th-Things are worse than before!? HOW!? We stopped the demon!"

He reached out for a new device, and activated it. On a small screen facing him, the handheld device said, 'Arcane energies detected'. Blandin cried out, "Magic! It-It is magic!" Placing the device away, he pulled out another, and scanned the past. A blue ribbon of time displayed two red, flashing, icons. One was only a few days ahead of the point he had just been with the Pines, but one was several decades in the past.

Massaging his head frantically, Blendin' Blandin cried out, "Oh – Oh no. This is a hard choice! Go further back or try the next closest!" He looked around, seeing the fire spreading and the panic of his fellow futurists. "I… I might only have one more chance! Oh noooo!"

A human-sized lemon with legs and arms, and two distrusting eyes stepped up to Blendin'. It had a tightly pulled mouth, which spoke out in an awfully similar way to Blendin', "Hnnnng, someone talking to themselves, having a nervous breakdown. This is making me stressed! UNACCEPTABLE!"

Blendin' and the lemon-person howled in matched agony, a duet of ear-splitting awfulness. Blendin' took his chance. He gambled, and reached for his device, and slapped the end of his finger onto the most recent time-anomaly. The lemon-creature's mouth bared large, pointed teeth, and it made to lunge at Blandin. Teeth sank into Blandin' leg.

Howling from the attack, Blendin' look up at the collapsing orbital platform. He saw, looming over it, a figure. It was a shadow of a creature with two curling horns and glowing green eyes. Without it saying a word, Blendin' felt its malice. It was pleased with the destruction around it. It saw him, as it saw everyone else present, as vermin.

Shrieking in fear, less than pain, Blendin' reached for his time-traveling measuring tape. He pulled it taught, checking the time measurements, and then let it go. He was gone again, hoping beyond hope that maybe, just maybe, he could stop this all from happening.

Hopefully he picked the correct time and place to be.

---

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-And-

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