This chapter is short, sorry about that. I'm having something of a falling out with lately. No matter how many new emails I start up they end up not liking it, even if I DO their "safe list" crap or whatevers. Currently, I seem back in their good graces but who knows how long that will last. Start the fic.

4

3

2

Dipper walked back into the room slightly annoyed.

"Okay, I just got off the phone. Apparently, this has happened before with other people, and they were only ever to find one possible way out."

"Wait; this has happened before? And nobody told us? We're their only agents. Why didn't they tell us?"

"Allegedly? Because we didn't ask."

Pacifica shook her head in disappointment. "Of course."

"Well don't keep us in suspense; what's the answer Knucklehead?!"

"It's a little on the nose but we need to challenge him to a game of chess."

"That's kind of cliché." Pacifica noted.

"So cliché even I knew about it! That's nothing new ya, Dingbat! The Grim Reaper's been playing so long he probably knows every strategy there is about it! Playing him in chess would practically be pointless!"

"Well, there's nothing anywhere that says it has to be chess you challenge him to. We could always…"

"I can't believe you! I call you for help in my darkest hour and your answer is something like tic-tac-toe?!"

"Well, it doesn't have to be tic-tac-toe either. We could do a whole Globnar thing and…"

"Globnar?! Are you even listening to yourself?! That's not even a word!"

"Wait, I thought me and Mabel told you abou…"

"I don't believe this! I expected a strategy from you, and you give me utter nonsense!"

"Hey now!" Pacifica interjected. "Dipper, might or might not be as smart as you but we've gone throu-"

"He couldn't be as smart as me because he was never as smart as me! His career change made certain of that!"

"Oh yeah, Smart Guy?! Well explain this to me: How would Grunkle Stan destroying the journals before your portal accident NOT protect the world from Bill?!"

"I don't think I should have to take that from the guy who nearly died at the hands of the Jersey Devil! A stupid beast me and my knuckleheaded brother delt with when we were kids!"

"I already told you! What you guys faced was his stinking PET!"

"Dipper…"

"What Pacific…Oh right! He did end merging with it, so I guess it was 'sort of' him?"

"Nonsense! Complete nonsense!"

"It wasn't nonsense, it happened! You can't keep treating me like this! I'm your Great Nephew for pity's sake!"

Ford stormed over to Dipper.

"Maybe I wouldn't treat like this if you just did what I told you! You squandered your potential by becoming a detective! You're nothing but the biggest disappointment in my life!"

Ford swung his cane again, but this time Dipper caught it.

"THAT'S IT!"

Dipper snatched the cane out of Ford's grasp. Ford quickly lost his balance and Dipper capitalized on it, pinning the scientist down bending his arm behind his back.

"Don't think…...*GRUNT! * I'm going to go easy on you… *GRUNT! * just because you're family!"

"I don't enjoy this, you stupid old man!" Dipper dryly spat.

"OKAY, ENOUGH!" shouted Pacifica. "You both need a time out, RIGHT NOW!"

"Wha- Even me?" asked Dipper.

"Yes! Mr. I'm-Going-To-Arm-Bend-The-Elderly! You and me, need to talk outside, right now!"

"Well, I…"

"I don't want to hear it, Mr. Pines! You. Called. US for help! And if you want to receive it then you are going to have to… Stop. Hitting. Dipper!"

Without another word Pacifica ushered Dipper outside.

"Can you believe him?!" asked Dipper.

"I can't believe either of you!" she snapped.

"What? Me too?"

"Yeah!"

"But he's the one smacking me and stuff!"

"Yes, and you're not acting too much better! You're not going to fix anything this way!"

"But…"

"Trust me, Dipper. I know a thing or two about dysfunctional families. And I know you're feeling upset with him; not just at his behavior with you but with his disapproval of your career choice."

Dipper pouted and crossed his arms, not unlike how Grunkle Stan would regarding Waddles. "He's a big wrinkly faced jerk!"

"And… Your childhood hero too. The author of your journals. Your Great Uncle."

Dipper gave some kind of grunt in acknowledgement.

"Family? Family, who might not have much time left? Especially if we fail?"

Dipper unfolded his arms and looked at her with almost pleading eyes.

"Dipper, if today really is your last day with him, do you want it filled with harsh arguments and nasty insults? Ask yourself: How do you want to remember him?"

Dipper rubbed his arm projecting an atmosphere of insecurity. "But…It takes two to listen and he doesn't seem interested in anything I have to say. And he's being SO mean and judgmental it's almost impossible to NOT retaliate!"

Pacifica just smiled unwaveringly at his protest.

"It's like what the smartest man I've ever met once told me, just because your family is rotten doesn't mean you have to be just like them. It wasn't too late for me, and I know it isn't too late for you or him! You don't have to prove you're better than him because you already are; I've seen it in you each and every day I've been with you."

"And… is that why you've been upset with me?"

Pacifica lovingly rolled her eyes.

"Listen Dipper, my feelings for you are… unchanged. This is you at your worst, and like the saying goes 'If you can't love someone at their worst, then you don't deserve them at their best'. Sure, I might not be happy with how you've acted today but I still expect to crawl into the bed we share together at the end of the night. I think it was a very good-natured giant collection of moths that once told you, if you are better than someone then be better. Show him the way."

A humored grin grew on Dipper's face. "I…really don't deserve you."

Pacifica held her chin up high. "I know, Nerd. Now if you excuse me, I need to go talk to that craaaaazy Great Uncle of yours."

"What about me?"

"You stay here and think out what you're going to say. You're good at that. Remember, be the difference you want to see."

Pacifica wheeled herself back inside and found Ford leaning over some notes.

He actually looked a little surprised to see her.

"Oh. What are you doing here?"

"It's an officer of the law thing, I heard Dipper's side of your fight. Now I'd like to hear yours."

"And exactly what was his side of the story?"

"That he was your student, and you didn't approve of his career change."

"He wasn't just my apprentice or my student; he was my ward! My heir! He was going to be my legacy, what I leave behind when I leave this world! I was already old when he was twelve but now…. Even if I do survive this, I probably won't have much time left anyways."

"…. I'm sorry, but I think you're starting to drift. The FIGHT is what I'm here to talk about."

"Okay… Let me expand upon what I've said…"

Flashback

As I've already stated, I was already an old man when Dipper was twelve.

Ford arched his back, forcing it back into position.

I knew I wasn't going to last forever, so I started to turn my attention towards my legacy. What I was going to leave behind when I was gone.

Dipper entered through the front door and Ford greeted him with a hug.

Dipper seemed like the obvious choice.

Ford and Dipper cleaned some test tubes together.

For a time, life was ideal.

The scene changed to where Dipper and Ford were just playing DD&D together.

But as time went on…

Dipper ran into the lab holding armfuls of paperwork and a delighted grin on his face. He dumped all of them on the desk and looked to Ford.

I found Dipper away from the lab for longer and longer periods of time.

Ford started to go over some of the paperwork only for Dipper to run back out the door once again.

Finally, the curiosity got the better of me and I confronted him with it.

Dipper quietly snuck into the Ford's lab only to find the man himself waiting for him.

Turns out he had taken Criminal Justice as his minor. It was a grain of salt but sneaking out to solve college mysteries while ignoring lab work?

Ford waved his hand over to the lab table where some of the lab equipment was uncleaned and a notebook was opened to reveal blank pages.

Well, let's just say things started piling up.

Dipper sunk his head in between his shoulders offering a sheepish grin.

Then he did the unthinkable. He switched majors! In Criminal Justice I wouldn't have been able to help him! He was drifting away!

Dipper showed Ford his papers of his transfer of majors. Ford threw it into the air in anger.

He went from a younger version of myself to…. I don't even know who! Definitely not something I would have done! So, we argued.

Both Pines men were shouting while pointing accusatory fingers at each other.

Insults were hurled, names were thrown, and things were said. Things that could never be taken back. And then he did the one thing I thought he would never do… He walked out on me.

Dipper threw his arms up in the air in anger and walked out Ford's door.

End Flashback

"With him choosing the path of a detective instead of a scientist, I am a man without a legacy. Leaving nothing behind for the world to remember."

"You've already added to the periodic table of elements! Isn't that enough of a legacy?"

"That's… not the kind of legacy I'm talking about. I gave him every opportunity that was denied me, and he threw it away!"

"…You can't live through your Great Nephew. There're no do overs, Dipper chose his own path and blazed his trail."

"It isn't just about that either! He wasn't supposed to…"

"Supposed to what?"

"He wasn't supposed to change majors like that. He wasn't supposed to just..."

"Just what?"

Ford sadly hung his head.

"Leave me behind. Like I did to Stanley."

"…"

"It was bad enough when Fiddleford died, ever worse with Stanley, but losing Dipper's admiration? It was like losing a piece of myself. In some ways it was all I had left, they only thing that numbed the pain."

"You're not the only one who lost your brother and Fiddleford. Dipper lost them too; you were his hero and now you greet him with a blow from a cane."

"…. It's his own fault! He should have just listened to me! It was supposed to be us forever, but he left me behind like a jerk!"

Ford had his back to her as he crossed in arms in anger, so he didn't see the glare Pacifica sent him.

"You know something? Your brother was right."

"About what?"

"Between the two of you, he isn't always the bad twin."

Ford turned to Pacifica with a look of shock.

"You say Dipper made a mistake becoming a detective and not a scientist, but I know that isn't true! I see it each and every day; he's out there stopping monsters, solving mysteries, and most important of all… helping people! Saving lives! You complain but if you actually bothered to talk to him about his job you'd find yourself to be very proud of him! You can never see it though, not unless you can put your anger aside! If I must give you any advice it would be this: What is really important to you; being remembered or how you're remembered?"

Pacifica said nothing else and wheeled herself back outside to Dipper.

"So?"

"Yeah, you're in the right. Doesn't make fight okay but…"

"You see my point of view?"

"Yes. That isn't going to make fighting solve anything though. He considered you his legacy…"

"…Well, I guess I was something of a no show for some of the inventions we were supposed to display."

"Yes! That's it! That little mental frame of 'Hey! Maybe I'm not entirely innocent in this!' Hold on to that when you you're talking to him!"

"…. You know, Tracey and Quattro are still technically twelve. Maybe they'd be interested in Ford taking them under his wing."

"Okay, love that you're open to giving him solutions; but you still gotta do the work and get that heal. Take it from, nothing good comes from family grudges. Now get in there and heal that bond! Oh wait! One thing first, come down here. Super important."

Dipper leaned down and Pacifica kissed him on the forehead.

"Awww! Sweetheart…"

"Now get in there and heal that bond with your eldest family member!"

Dipper took a breath and reached for the door… but then stopped. "What if…"

"Dipper?"

"What if he still doesn't approve of me? What if he still sticks his nose up at my career choice."

"If you open up and he's unchanged…. Then we'll forget it. I know your worth and so do you."

Dipper opened the door but what he saw on the other side made him lose all the color in his face.

There was the Grim Reaper standing across from Ford, a chessboard between the two of them.

"…ACK! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"The Grim Reaper showed up while you were talking to your girlfriend." explained Ford.

"I CAN SEE THAT! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Well, you weren't here so I challenged him to a game of chess, and he won."

"WHAT?! YOU PLAYED FOR YOU LIFE AND LOST ALREADY?!"

"Yes."

"WE WERE ONLY GONE FOR LIKE FIFTEEN MINUTES!"

"Dipper, his moves were so fast and sudden! I was helpless!"

"Then if you lost then…"

The silence in the room was soul shattering.

"Yes." Ford hung his head in shame. "This is goodbye, Dipper. I'm… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things that I said and… everything. I taught you as much as I could, now the only thing you have to learn left… is how to say goodbye."

Ford and the Grim Reaper started to walk towards the door.

With a sad sigh, Ford whispered under his breath. "I'm coming, Stanley."

He was about to try and scooch on by Dipper to get out the door when Dipper slammed some dice down on the table.

"Double or nothing! I put my soul on the line to save Ford's but this time we play MY game! A game of Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons!"

"Dipper, no! What're you doing?!"

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again! NOTHING IN THIS UNIVERSE IS GOING TO TAKE AWAY MY UNCLE!"

Pacifica also slams down a 38-sided dice. "MAKE IT TRIPLE!"

"What?!" Dipper turned to her shocked. "Pacifica?! I can't ask this of you!"

"I've faced every single other danger with you, for better or worse we're in this together!"

The Grim Reaper held up his staff and tapped the bottom of it on the ground three times.

Almost immediately they were all transported to a board game reality, much like what Probabilator had them in.

"That happened so fast!"

"It was almost instantaneous! ACK! MY EARS! They're pointy again!"

Ford and Dipper surveyed their surroundings. They were starting out in a swamp, ankles deep in the muck. Of course, it was still a dungeon. They could clearly see a stone arc covered in swampy vines. And even in the dim light they could see a damp wall on their right that went on forever. There were trees but they also had torches on them the likes you would find on a dungeon's wall.

Ford sighed wistfully. "Reminds me of when we took on Probabilator together. Should be like old times."

"…. Uh Ford? I don't think it's like the time with Probabilator."

"Why not?"

"Look at what I just found in my belt pouch."

Dipper held out a pair of 38-sided dice.

"We're going to need more than a centaurtaur to get out of this one."

Omake

Dipper and Ford spotted an ugly, balding, fat man with a greasy beard wearing a princess dress.

"Hey! It's me! Princess Unattainabelle!"

"Ford…" Dipper whimpered.

"I see her, Dipper."

"I think you want to come over here."

"Ford, she makes me so uncomfortable!"

"Just ignore her, Dipper."

"Come on, I got something to tell ya. I'm beckoning to you! I think you want to talk to meeeee. 🎵"

"This was not how I thought my last day on Earth would go."

I know this chapter is short, but I really tried with it. I hope it was as emotional as intended. Unattainabelle is intended as a joke (a trap lol) and that is how I wish for her to be perceived. Hope this chapter was up to snuff.