Disclaimers: I do not own Gravity Falls
Author's Notes: Here we are again with another update! This chapter will cover Episodes Game of Flags and Girls' Day Out!
With all that said, thanks for reading and please review.
(Back with Mabel)
It felt strange to be doing something so…normal.
Mabel took a deep breath as she walked up to the school. With all the craziness that her life had endured recently it was weird to be doing something so mundane. That wasn't to say that she wasn't looking forward to it. Sure, the adventures of the supernatural was exciting, but it was nice to unwind and do something less life threatening. Like today's task for example, Saturday School! It was a program at her school for tutoring students who were failing or falling behind in class.
Mabel knew no one liked Saturday School, in fact that was why she was here. Miss Skullnick had asked her for her help. Saturday School was Principal Wong's pride and joy, she made the program for the students. She understood that sometimes life got in the way, and that even the most problemed students deserved a second chance to excel. However, said problem students did little to take advantage of the situation. Finally, Miss Skullnick called Mabel into her office and asked her what she thought they should do.
"Why me?" Mabel had asked.
"We've talked to the students in attendance and their parents." Miss Skullnick answered. "They all pretty much said the same thing. "Saturday School takes away from their weekend, their fun! So Principal Wong thinks making Saturday School more fun will breed results."
"Well, it couldn't hurt to try." Mabel agreed. "Still, I'm surprised Principal Wong would suggest it at all."
"If it were up to me I'd let them suffer." Miss Skullnick revealed. "Most of the students in attendance are lazy. They're behind because they skip school too often, they use a "sick" day to go to the mall, get their nails done or play video games." She shakes her head.
"But Miss Skullnick, some of the kids are actually sick." Mabel reasoned. "Like Janna she got the chicken pox -"
Miss Ordonia is not my concern; she like so few actually takes the program serious." Miss Skullnick assured her. "It's Students like her that keep the program afloat, however, the school board is trying to cut expenses." She explained. "And some believe it's a waste of money to keep the lights on every Saturday for a bunch of ungrateful students."
Mabel nodded. "So Principal Wong is desperate."
"Very." Miss Skullnick agreed. "She despises failure, and to lose funding for one of her projects…" She trailed off.
Mabel didn't need her to finish, Principal Wong may run a tight ship, but she wasn't against trying new things. If making Saturday school more enjoyable saved her program than she was willing to do it.
"She feels a fellow student will be able to appeal to the group." Miss Skullnick went on. "All you need to do it talk to the students and see if you can appeal to their interest while still getting their work done."
Mabel took another deep breath as she walked through the doors of Gravity Falls High. She knew she wasn't the most popular student in school. Still, she felt her time with Bill and his friends had made her more confident. Besides, she now understood that the judgment of the A-listers didn't matter, five years from now no one would care who the popular kids were. Or what kind of clothes you wear or whether or not your interests were "Cool". Yes, she was much more confident now, besides Candy and Grenda would be here to help.
Miss Skullnick had been reluctant to agree at first, saying this wasn't an excuse to hang out with friends. However, Mabel reasoned that the students needed help with several different things and multiple helpers would get things done faster. In the end Miss Skullnick saw things her way, she even praised her for her quick thinking.
Mabel smiles as she sees her friends waiting for her at the library doors. Saturday school was held here because of its large size. Also, many students may need a book or two off the shelf depending on the assignments. "Hey guys." She exclaimed as she joined them. "Are you ready to mold minds with fun?!"
"Hi Mabel." Candy looks nervous.
"What's wrong?" Mabel asked.
"It's Pacifica." Grenda growled.
"What did she do this time?" Mabel asked rolling her eyes. Pacifica Northwest had been making her life worse since Bill crashed her party. Even though it was her best party ever according to their classmates. Heck it was so cool that kids who usually bullied Dipper, like the football team had stopped. Now of course everything was up in the air, thanks to Bill going full demon a couple of weeks ago. Mrs. Wong had convinced everyone that it was all one big prank, but Mina Loveberry still had a huge group backing up her claims that Bill was a menace.
So, the "I love Bill Cipher" club had dwindled a bit, but no one bullied Dipper. This was out of fear that his new, possibly demon best friend might eat them.
Pacifica, however, didn't believe Mina and thought it was just one big stupid prank for attention. Bill was always trying to steal the spotlight from her, and she was glad it had backfired.
"Nothing yet." Candy answered.
"Than what's the problem?" Mabel asked.
"Didn't you see the list of students Miss Skullnick gave us?" Grenda asked. "Pacifica is on it!"
Mabel's eyes widen and she dug the list out of her binder. She hadn't even bothered to check; she was too afraid it would psych her out. She scans the paper and yelp, right there in the middle of the second row was the name Pacifica Northwest! "Of course, she's here." Mabel tried her best not to let this deter her. It wasn't easy, "Why is she here?"
"Pacifica skips classes to do more important things like go to lunch with her parents and the spa with her mom." Candy whispered. "She never makes up the work."
Mabel is about to say something when Miss Skullnick walks up.
"You Girls ready?" She asked.
Mabel puts on her best smile. "You know it, I got tons of fun ideas for making learning fun." She pulled out a paper with colorful drawings and words.
Miss Skullnick looks at the other two girls and nods. "It's okay to be nervous, I know there are a few difficult ones in here today. I'll be poking my head in from time to time so let me know if anyone gives you any trouble."
The girls nod as Miss Skullnick leads them in.
"We got this girl." Mabel assures them.
"Yeah!" Her friends agree, they were still nervous about Pacifica, but they knew they could handle anything together!
(Back with Dipper...)
He still couldn't believe he was here. Dipper looked around Gravity Falls Park in obvious admiration. Usually, the place was flooded with dogs and their owners or families trying to tire out their screaming kids.
Now the park was busy with a new kind of festivity. A family Reunion, okay that wasn't exactly new; the park hosted several a year. However, this was the first royal from another dimension family reunion that the town had ever seen. He watched as several servants came through a dimensional portal and started setting up tables and chairs with canopies to block out the sun. The set up was extensive with over fifty chairs. "Wow Bill this is amazing; I had no idea your family was so big."
Bill smiles, he's extra giddy today which is surprising since a family reunion means his father will be attending. Of course, his father had become more lenient since Dipper revealed to him just how much pressure he was putting on his son. Still, there was a lot of tension in the air, even without the two being at odds. Toffee and Tad were still out there, and the Magic High Commission was really putting pressure on the King to bring his brother and his accomplice to justice.
Which was why Bill was surprised that his father hadn't postponed the event. Even more surprising he allowed Dipper to tag along.
"I still can't believe he let you come." Bill was practically squealing. "He never lets me invite friends to these things."
Dipper wanted to say "Well yeah look at them, they're called the Henchmaniacs for heaven's sake. Of course, the king doesn't want a bunch of troublemakers at a formal event." But he held his tongue, after all they weren't just Bill's friends but his too. Sure, they were loud and got into way too much trouble, but they were also good friends that always had your back. "So, I know I'm going to regret asking, but why are you so excited?" He asked. "I mean something formal and stuffy as a reunion, well it doesn't seem like your style."
"Usually you would be correct." Bill agreed. "But today everything changes, because today I'm getting a spot at the Adult table."
"What now?" Dipper asked.
"The table where all the adults sit." Bill said proudly. "I've been stuck at the boring kids table my whole life." He pointed to a little kid's table with balloons and chairs. "My dad says my chaotic tendencies are quote on quote childish." Bill rolled his eyes as he made the air quotes with his fingers. "But I have my powers now…well half, but I'm showing excellent control. And I was able to dip deep down a lot faster than my dad, plus he let you come." He reasoned. "So, I figure it all means I'm finally going to get to sit with the adults."
Dipper smiled; he couldn't say he understood why the adults table was so important. Still, it was great to see Bill in such a good mood. The last few weeks had been rough, and it was nice to look forward to a calm relaxing lunch with family and friends.
Moments later guest start arriving from the portal, being led by Bill's parents.
Luisa smiles as she sees them, Bill tries to contain his excitement as she and Hannibal make their way towards them.
"Bill sweety." Luisa hugs her son tightly. "I've miss you so much." She tells him.
"Missed you too mom." Bill hugs her back, usually he would be annoyed but with Tad's power growing he was secretly getting nervous. His parents were out there none stop looking for him and in harm's way. Worse still, Tad was once again back with Toffee, and the last time they went up against the Septarian was a disaster. Dipper was almost crushed to death and Bill lost half of his power to his uncle. Bill shook the thoughts away, today was supposed to be a day to ignore all that stuff and enjoy some catching up with his extended family. So, he pushes all negative thoughts away and gives his best smile.
"Mason, you're looking well." Hannibal offer a hand which Dipper shook, respectively.
"Thank you, you too your Highness." He said.
"Oh, none of that now." Luisa said giving Dipper a hug. "This is a family event, no formalities."
Dipper returns the gesture feeling as awkward as ever.
"Father." Bill gives Hannibal a respective acknowledgment.
"Son." Hannibal nods as well and then gives him a firm bear hug. It looks out of place but very much needed. "I know you're not one for hugs and neither am I but-" He's not sure how to finish.
"It's okay dad." Bill assures him. "He's got us all on edge." He added, not daring to speak his uncle's name. "I get it."
Hannibal nods and pulls away, looking relieved that the whole ordeal didn't make a scene.
"So how long are you staying?" Bill asked. Usually, he would be dying for his parents to leave so he could have fun. Now however, he just wants a little of their time. They've been so busy constantly throwing themselves into danger lately that Bill has seen very little of them. Hannibal doesn't even have time to lecture him. Which Bill was surprised to realize he missed; he just wished his parents would confide in him. If they stopped trying to hide how much danger he was in than he could help, but instead they kept keeping secrets. He hoped to show them today that he was ready to step into their world.
"Just a few hours I'm afraid." Luisa says sadly. "I know you wanted longer."
"A few hours is fine." Bill assured her. "I'm just glad everyone was able to come."
"Yes, we stressed it was much safer here." Hannibal agreed.
"You don't think he'd be dumb enough to show his face do you?" Dipper dared to ask.
"Let's hope not." Luisa sighs. Then she forces a smile as several more family members came to greet them.
Dipper shook hands with cousins, aunts, and uncles, he had no idea Queen Luisa had siblings, or that Bill had cousins. However, seeing how young they were in comparison it was obvious why. After all the formalities were over one of the servers informed them that lunch was ready.
Bill walks over to the adult table with confidence and sits down by his mother. He looks to his father in hopeful approval, but Hannibal sits down on the other side his mother like it's no big deal. 'Yes!' He was in! His father was acknowledging his maturity, well sort of. He wasn't not acknowledging so that was something he guessed. It was surely better than Hannibal publicly humiliating him by forcing him to go to the kids table.
Dipper sits on the other side of Bill giving him a subtle thumbs up. He looks around the table thoughtfully. From what he could tell, everyone here was on Luisa's side of the family. Which made sense, Hannibal's family contained Tad and Seth and that was it, and both were evil. Worse one was on the lamb with stolen powers, and one just might be on the verge of resurrection! For perhaps the ten thousandth time since his abduction Dipper was tempted to tell Hannibal why Toffee really kidnapped him.
He, Mable, and Bill had agreed not to tell the adults anything. It made sense at the time; they were keeping secrets from them. If Dipper had been forth coming Ford would have probably locked them all up in the bunker until the whole mess was figured out. Not only that, but they still wouldn't get any answers. With Buff Frog feeding them information every time his parents went out in search of Tad, and Toffee, they learned something new. Still he couldn't help the nagging feeling that all thses scrects would come back to huant them.
Manfred, the palace head butler clears his throat and announces. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Cipher-Johansen Annual Picnic, lunch is served."
Several servers around them present meals on silver platters to all the guests.
Dipper digs in while doing his best to fit in with the upper glass. Luisa wasn't born into royalty, but the Johansen family was still nobility.
A well-dressed member of her family looks at her knowingly. If Dipper remembered correctly this was Luisa's aunt Etheria. From what he could tell the older woman had a very negative view of her nephew in-law. "You know, Lord Mildrew is still single. Never too late to start over, dearie." She insisted.
Bill suppresses a growl, he loved his great aunt truly, and she adored him, but his father. She loathed him for reasons Bill couldn't understand. Her niece, Bill's mother married the king of the demon realm for crying out loud. You would think any royal family would be thrilled, but not Aunt Etheria. Still, he needed his father to see how mature he was, so he decided to take control of the conversation.
"Aunt Etheria, how are things at the estate?" Bill smiled confidently as everyone turned his way.
"Oh, it's quite wonderful darling." Etheria answered. "I raise Warnicorns." She says to Dipper sensing she needed to explain. "But not just any Warnicorns, retired war stallions." She bragged. "Like myself they fought in some of our Realm's most historical battles."
Dipper nods, Bill had given him an in-depth history lesson on all the members of his family just for this kind of occasion. "Yes, Bill told me, is it true you were one of the first women warriors in the royal army."
"Why yes I was." Etheria boasted. "I even taught Luisa most of her talents."
Dipper nods and tries to look extremely interested.
Bill steals a glance at his father, who looks openly grateful. He smiles and Hannibal gives him a curt nod. Yes! He was doing it, Hannibal was seeing him as a mature young adult, maybe this half thought out plan could work. If his father would just see him as an equal than there would be no need for secrets. He royally screwed up when Toffee kidnapped Dipper, Bill knows that. But now he was older, wiser, and ready to take a more active role as the heir to the throne.
"Talents that are wasted now." Etheria jabbed.
Oh no!
"Aunt Etheria please you promised." Luisa reminded her. "Our family has been through enough as of late."
"Yes it has." Etheria snapped. "And it's his side that is to blame." She snapped. "It's bad enough that his father is now a part of our family tree, but hey at least he's dead!"
Dipper winced as he sneaked a glance at Hannibal the king looks ready to pop a blood vessel, but as always he keeps his cool.
"We could live with that kind of blow, but now his dim wit of a brother-" Etheria continued.
Lusia stands abruptly. "Here now!" She snaps. "Still your tongue, you will not speak of my husband and more importantly your king in this way."
Etheria gives her niece a stern look. "Some King! He couldn't even get rid of all the Septarian properly! How do you think the kingdom will react when they discover one of Seth's supporters still lives!"
"Aunt Etheria!" Luisa yells, as Hannibal calmly stands. Dipper had to give the guy some credit, even he would have lost his cool by now.
"I know my family has made all your lives difficult as of late, but none of us have it as bad as-"
"As you?" Etheria cuts Hannibal off.
"No as William!" Hannibal snap takes Bill by surprise. "My son…my son has been through a lot since his heritage has taken effect." He looks to Bill as he continues. "I've just recently been enlightened on how hard all of this has been for him." His gaze shift to Dipper as he spoke. "He's under a lot of pressure, I haven't made that better, and the incident with his powers…" He shakes his head deciding not to go there. "That's why we insisted on keeping this event on the schedule, William needs a sense of normalcy for at least one day. Etheria don't do the for me, but please do it for him."
Etheria looks to Bill and her shoulders deflate. "You're right I'm sorry Bill sweetie, truly I just feel powerless, ranting makes me feel better." She shakes her head. "I should have realized how much worse it would make you. Could you ever forgive me?"
Bill has a tough time finding his voice for a second. "Of-of course." Everyone is looking at him, part of him wanted to throw a fit. To yell at her for potentially ruining the only family time he's had in weeks, but he stops short of blowing it. A child would make a scene like that, but Bill was mature now, and he knew there was more than one way to settle disputes in his family. "Come on now everyone there's no need for all this back and forth. We're all royalty, and there is a way we can settle this petty dispute like the civilized people we are." He looks to his father hopefully and Hannibal smiles.
"With flags!" Luisa declares as she waves a blue flag.
Dipper watches in bewilderment as everyone cheers in agreement, pulling out red and blue flags. Each of them chanting, "Flags, flags, flags!"
(Back with Mabel…)
Everything had started off surprisingly well, Miss Skullnick had introduced the students to Mabel and informed them of her purpose here today and went on her way.
"I'll check in, in about an hour." She told Mabel.
"We got this." Mabel assures her, ignoring Pacifica as she rolls her eyes.
"Okay guys we are here for you." Mabel says starting off.
"Yeah Mabel!" Janna cheers.
"Please like you could possibly make any of this fun." Pacifica whines.
Candy looks ready to snap, no doubt to point out that it was Pacifica's own fault she was here. But Mabel grabs here hand, stopping her. She shakes her head and takes a confident step forward. "Look I know it sucks, you have to do work on a Saturday, but the more you get done the quicker you will be done. You could finish today and have next Saturday all to yourself."
"But it's so boring!" Adam from the football team whines.
"I know I hate algebra too." She admits glancing at the textbook in front of him, but maybe you would focus better with some tunes." She pulls out some headphones. "Pick a playlist on your phone and let it motivate you."
We can do that?" Adam asked.
"This is about making learning fun, as long as work gets done you can do whatever you want." Mabel assures him.
"Sweet!" Adam pulls out his phone and uses the headphones to jam out as he works.
"What about me?" Tambry dared to ask. "I'm missing my show."
"What's your assignment?" Grenda sked.
"Creative writing." Tambry rolls her eyes.
"Do you have a prompt?" Candy asked.
"I have to convince the audience about an argument of my choosing.." Tambry complained "But I don't know what to argue. How can I write if I can't decide what to write about."
"How about your show?" Grenda suggested. "You like it, watch today's episode, and take some notes. Write about why it's a good show, convince your audience that they should be watching it."
Tambry's eyes light up. "Why didn't I think of that? Thanks." She pulls out her phone and starts watching, taking notes as instructed.
Mabel and her friends share a smile, this was working! It all kicked off from there, the girls divided and conquered, helping their classmates if they got stuck and showing them how to make their assignment fun.
"Wow Mabel you're really good at this." Janna praised as Mabel showed her how to use her gothic persona to give her English project a personal flare. "Have you ever thought about being a teacher."
Mabel was going to say she had when Pacifica gives an audible umph!
Janna goes to snap but Mabel shakes her head.
"I've got this." She assures Janna, she had been hoping that Pacifica would just quietly paint her nails or something, but no luck there.
"Need help?" Candy mouthed from across the room, she was helping Adam work through a problem he got stuck on.
Mabel shakes her head, she faced monsters and two power hungry tyrants, she could handle Pacifica. She sits down beside the queen bee and tries a smile.
"I don't care." Pacifica snaps. "Just leave me alone."
"You do care." Mabel said evenly. "If you didn't you wouldn't be rolling your eyes and making such a fuss. Why can't you just let us be happy and have fun? Why are you always out to get us, and me?"
It was a fair question, one Mabel expected her to brush off.
"I'm under a lot of pressure." Pacifica said, surprising her. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." Mabel presses. "You don't have to talk here, if you want we can work somewhere else."
Pacifica looks ready to tell her off but stops. "I really need to pass this class, Skullnick gave me all the work I need to catch up on." She gestures to the ridiculously tall stack of papers beside her. "If I can finish it all before midterms I can still pass this class."
"That's three weeks." Mabel told her. "You've got the time, what's the deal."
"I hate math." Pacifica pouted, she even looked on the verge of tears. "My parents have spent hundreds of dollars on tutors, and it just won't click. I could finish this whole stack, but if the grades aren't good enough what's the point? I still won't pass."
Mabel looks thoughtful, but her delay on answering gives Pacifica the wrong idea.
"I knew it, you think I'm pathetic." Pacifica huffs.
"No, I get it, I'm not the best at math, I use to struggle a lot." Mabel admitted.
"How'd it finally click?" Pacifica asked.
"My brother Dipper, he taught me to use something I love to represent the numbers." Mabel explained. "My problem with math was it was so boring I couldn't be bothered to pay attention, all the letters and the equations you have to plug in just didn't make sense. Dipper showed me how to make it fun." She takes one of Pacifica's papers to show her. "You see I substitute the letters with animals and the numbers are for how many pounds of glitter."
Pacifica couldn't help the smile as she watched Mabel solve the problem with ease. "You're so weird." She shakes her head. "But if it works…" She trailed off. "That brother of yours is pretty smart."
Mabel smiles. "Yeah he is, and so are you, you just need to find a way that speaks to you."
"Can't you just do it for me." Pacifica asked hopefully.
"You can't have people do the work for you all your life." Mabel said the obvious.
Pacifica sighs and Mabel takes a chance.
"Pacifica if you don't mind me asking, why'd you missed all this work?"
"I tried to stay on top of it, but between the tutoring and the constant failed grades I got stressed. I went on a compulsive shopping spree and decided I like doing that more than math."
So, Candy had been right, still it gives Mabel an idea.
"Do you know how much your spending?"
"Well duh." Pacifica looks offended. "I may be rich, but I don't get the whole fortune at my disposal."
"So, you get a set budget, do you ever go over it?" Mabel asked.
"Never, my daddy would kill me." Pacifica says as if it was obvious.
"Ever use a calculator?" Mabel teased.
"And risk looking like a nerd never!" Pacifica looks offended.
"So, you buy what thousands of dollars' worth of clothes, include the sales tax and you never use a calculator, and you never go over budget?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah so?" Pacifica asked.
"Pacifica, that's it!" Mabel exclaimed. "You're doing complex math all the time; just pretend you're shopping!"
Pacifica blinks, once, twice and with a new look of determination she takes the pencil from Mabel and breezes through the next problem with ease. "I.. I did it!" She exclaimed.
"I knew you could, you just needed to look at it through a different lensed." Mabel exclaimed.
Pacifica makes a face. "This doesn't change anything you know that right. I'm still popular and you're not."
Mabel gives her a face. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Pacifica said as if it was obvious than adds. "But thanks, this…means a lot."
Mabel smiles. "Anytime, I mean it Pacifica."
Pacifica nods and gets back to her work and Mabel leaves her to it joining Candy and Grenda at the front of the room.
"Did that just happen?" Grenda asked.
"Mabel that was amazing!" Candy cheered.
"I knew I could get through to her." Mabel said. "I just had to remind myself that she's a person too and she just needs someone to care." She smiles turns out she had nothing to fear at all, everything worked out just fine.
(Back with Dipper)
Dipper looks around as everyone continues to cheer. What was going on?! He gives Bill a 'Please fill me in look.'
"It's about time!" One of Louisa's uncles, Stuart says. Everyone cheers and marches away. "I've been thinking about this all year!" He laughs.
"It's a Johansen tradition." Bill explained. "All we have to do is be the first to get our flag up there." He points to a hill, the highest point of the park.
"So, it's like King of the Hill. Oh, I rock that game." He stops as he realizes. "Wait, we don't have a flag."
"Seriously?" Bill gives him a look. "The power of imagination here." He reminds him and with a flick of his wrist he commands. "Flag of victory!"
Dipper gives him a dubious grin as a golden flag appears. "Flag of victory? Someone's a bit cocky."
"I have the strongest magic here, even with half of it gone." Bill explained.
"What does magic have to do with King of the Hill." Dipper asked.
"Oh, we use magic to fight off the competition." Bill says. "The winner gets to look down on everyone else for a whole year!"
So, it's like Mario cart meets King of the Hill." Dipper says. "You know this was a good idea, your family seems more relaxed."
"I know right, I dominated the adult table!" Bill exclaimed.
"Don't get this wrong." Dipper whispered as everyone gather at the starting line. "But why was that so important to you?"
"My father is under a lot of stress." Bill whispered. "I thought if we-if I showed him I could handle being responsible then I could lighten his load. There would be no need for secrecy, and we could take on Tad and Toffee together."
Dipper gives him a knowing smile. "You have matured, even if your dad still thinks you're not ready, you have."
Bill smiles, what did he ever do without this guy.
Manfred walks to the front of the group to kick off the game. "The game will commence when all participants are ready."
Everyone shouts their approval and Dipper looks back to see Hannibal sitting off to the side with Luisa.
"They're not playing?" Dipper asked.
Bill laughs, "Nah everyone complains when father wins, something about being the king and how its cheating." He waves at his parents who give him encouraging nods.
Luisa shouts her encouragement and cheers her son on. Usually, she joins in the festivities but decides to give her husband some company. "I'm sorry she upset you."
"Don't be I'm use it, Williams behavior however…" Hannibal trails off.
"I know he's grown so much as of late." Luisa admits. "I feel like we're missing it."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, and if you repeat in to Stanford I'll deny it." Hannibal smiles. "But I think he was right; Mason is a good influence."
Luisa smiles. "Yes he is, we're truly grateful that…" She trails off, not wanting to remind her husband that he almost…
"I was wrong, about a lot of things." Hannibal seems to read her mind.
"We're not going to be able to keep the truth from them are we?" Luisa says the obvious.
"We knew that the moment we sent William to Earth." Hannibal reminded her. "Stanley said as much."
"I know, but part of me wants to shelter them forever, these kids shouldn't have to live in a world where tyrants are trying to destroy everything they love." Luisa chokes back tears as Bill gives them a beaming thumbs up and looks away.
"It will be over soon." Hannibal swears gravely, "I'll make sure it does, I will die before Seth rises again!" Yes it was obvious what Toffee was really after, it didn't take a genius to figure that out.
Luisa only hoped they could stop him in time.
"Wow your family really doesn't like your dad do they?" Dipper blurted out without thinking as they turned their focus back on the game.
"Sometimes, it's only like this when Tad causes trouble." Bill explained. "They want someone to blame, the royal family has never lost their magic to the enemy before."
"Here's to another spirited game of Flags." Manfred continued. "Please let us not have a repeat of last year's unfortunateness."
"What happened last year?" Dipper asked.
"Just before he reached the peak, Uncle Lump got his body cut off." Bill whispered.
"What?!" Dipper exclaimed.
"Relax. He's fine. He's right over there." Bill assured him.
Dipper looks to see the uncle in question, he's cut to a lump and his head is sewn onto a horse's body and is holding a blue flag in his mouth. He neighs happily.
"I think he likes it better this way." Bill said.
"Isn't a horse body cheating?" Dipper asked.
Bill smiles wickedly. "Yes so is having the power of imagination, keep up Pine Tree."
Manfred clears his throat. "Ready, set, flags!" He declares.
Everyone bolts and Dipper follows Bill into the fray, he's still kind of freaked out about using magic since the whole abduction, but he doesn't need to worry.
"Here we go!" Bill screams and punches the ground screaming. "Avalanche of Chaos!" The ground suddenly begins to shake toppling their opponents over and giving them an early lead.
Hannibal can't help the surge of pride as he watches. "That's my boy."
"Keep up Pines." Bill yells, but he doesn't need to, the kid matches him step for step. Not surprising, this was nothing to them. They had faced monsters, Tad, and Toffee, they could handle a simple game like this.
Simple, Dipper laughed, it was chaos, magic flying everywhere. Of course, The Johansens weren't as powerful as the Cipher family, but being of noble blood they were of pure demonic heritage. Not as pure as Hannibal's family, but a close second. This meant their power was lethal as well, but not everyone in the family had magic either. Some were throwing homemade gas bombs and fighting each other with swords as they climbed.
"Okay don't think I need to tell you, but coolest family ever!" Dipper informs Bill of the obvious.
"Oh, I know." Bill says as they reach the base of the large Hill, it's larger now, more like a mountain, and Dipper looks to Bill as if to say. "Was this you're doing?"
Bill shrugs, "Not much of a challenge if it's one little hill." He confirmed as they began to scale the mountain with the others.
Dipper scoffs, he must have done it with the Avalanche spell. Bills powers were getting more skilled by the day. It was a lot easier to learn without so much chaos energy. He supposed that was one positive about Tad stealing half. Of course, it was also a negative, if it was this easier for a beginner like Bill to master new things, than nothing would stop Tad either!
Dipper pushes the worried thought away, he and Bill have been practicing hard since Bill learned to dip down. All in hopes of preparing him for Tad's return, they would be ready, right now was about letting off some steam and having some fun.
Dipper yelps as he slips suddenly, Bill reaches out for him on instinct, but just misses his hand.
Dipper manages to grab on to a ledge before slipping all the way down.
Bill's second uncle Heartrude holds out a hand to help. "Oh, here, my dear boy. Allow me to assist you."
Dipper nods and almost falls for it.
"Pine Tree!" Bill warns, but it's not needed, Dipper remembers the everyone cheats warning just in time. He veers back just as Heartrude lunges for him, the cheeky uncle slips, plums downward and into a bear trap.
"Oh! Well done my boy my troth, surely ate it on that one." Heartrude praised.
"Nice takedown." Bill praised as Dipper caught up.
"Hey I got skills." Dipper reasoned.
"And yet not enough game to score a girlfriend." Bill teased.
"Hey!" Dipper punches him in the shoulder...HARD! "We're dating...well sort of." He admitted.
"Careful we're going into the rain zone." Bill warns as they continue on.
Dipper looks up in amazement, the sky is halved, one with normal weather and the other with rain. Thunder rumbles as the rain begins to pour down on him. "Wait!" He exclaims remembering. "I cannot do wet socks."
"Flags doesn't care what you like!" Bill shouts as they jump over a body that comes rolling down. "We gotta keep moving."
They move further up the mountain where Etheria is in the lead followed by some of Bill's older cousins.
Etheria throws a handful of seeds which sprout into vines and drag the cousins underground, leaving two flowers in their place as Dipper and Bill run by.
Dipper slows down as something seems to come to him. "Wait a minute!" he exclaimed.
"Eyes on the prize, Pine Tree." Bill advised not letting up.
Further up the hill is a Johansen. He holds up his flag, which gets struck by lightning, and plunges it into the ground, laughing as the electric shock tears a path in the ground, sending large rocks downhill.
"Bill, we gotta go back!" Dipper exclaimed.
"We are never going back." Bill says as if it's obvious. They friends dodge large rocks as they try and scale the mountain. Another Johansen is hit by a rock and falls downhill.
"I think your family's really trying to hurt each other!" Dipper rasped.
"Yeah. Isn't it awesome?" Bill asked. Suddenly Lump's head comes rolling down the mountain.
"Not again, not again, not again!" The head cries as he rolls out of sight.
"And there's the repeat of last year. Adieu, Uncle Lump." Manfred narrates. "Who shall take the hill? I am beside myself with anticipation."
Meanwhile back on the hill, Bill and Dipper are trying to climb up a snowy path as they enter the winter section of the mountain.
Manfred continues as more people fall to their dooms. "And the herd of participants is being further culled. There is now only a handful vying for the top of the hill. So dreadfully exciting." He looks through opera glasses to see clearer. "We have, Lady Etheria and Lord Grunt leading the pack followed by…oh, my. The Prince Bill Cipher and his friend Mason."
"He's in the top three!" Luisa exclaims.
"Not bad." Hannibal praises. "But he'll have to be cunning to beat Etheria."
"She does have her ways." Luisa agrees.
Dipper and Bill jump from rock to rock as they reach the lava pits as Heartrude catches up to them. He is stuck in the bear trap and being carried by a servant.
"You've been a stone in my poulaines for too long, my incorrigible little Nephew! You're about to abdicate the throne!" He tries to hit Bill with his flags, but he dodges and trips the servant, who drops Heartrude and stumbles on the edge of the rock. Dipper jumps, pushing the servant away from the lava and saving his life.
"Sorry if my heroism offends you." Dipper declares as he races after Bill. What was he doing? This game was getting way too out of control. "Bill, this game is changing you. It's not about who versus who or rivalries or whatever. It's about winning no matter what. And that's just not you." He has to scream to be heard over the shouting of family members around them.
"I DON'T CARE!" Bill yelled. "I need to show them I can do this; I'm strong, I don't need to be protected! I can help fix everything!"
"You're strong, brave and smart." Dipper argued. "It doesn't matter if they think so. Don't prove yourself their way, show them a better one."
Bill stops and looks his way, his face stern and determined, he looks ready to tell Dipper off when he notices all of his relatives are fighting one another. 'This isn't right.' He realizes. 'Our family is mid crisis we should be banding together not tearing each other apart.' He gives Dipper a nod. "How do we fix this?"
They're your family." Dipper says.
"None of them will stop until they win." Bill says and smiles. "That's it!" He declares. "Follow my lead." He jumps right in the fray and starts swiping his family's flags.
Dipper, always loyal follows his lead and together they capture all the flags.
"What is he doing?" Hannibal asked looking confused.
Luisa, however, smiles proudly. "Something I failed to do."
"My lady should I call it off?" Manfred asked.
"No I got this." Luisa assures him and jumps into action.
Hannibal lens back ready to watch his in-laws get schooled, and really they had it coming to them.
Meanwhile, Dipper and Bill are barely managing to stay in front of the stampede that is Bill's family.
"Get back here!"
Dipper winces as the gap closes, they weren't going to make it.
Suddenly they are all stopped by a blinding blue glow as snow falls all around them.
Mom?" Bill asked as the blue aura disappears, Luisa's eyes are glowing a fierce blue as she stands proud in front of her family.
"Are you alright, darling?" Luisa asked Bill as she reached out to cup his face.
"I'm alright, mom." He assures her. "I'm sorry I was just trying-"
"I know sweetie, and I'm very proud of what you were trying to do, but as the adults we shouldn't need help acting our age." Luisa said with a glare to her family.
The Johansen's look around, sheepishly.
"We are mid crisis, and we need to band together now more than ever." Luisa explains. "That is what Bill was trying to do by initiating flags and you all failed miserably."
"I may have gotten carried away myself." Bill admitted, seeing what Dipper was trying to tell him. "I just wanted to prove to all of you that I was ready to help with the adult things."
"Oh, don't be in a hurry to grow up love." Etheria warns him gently. "You can still be young and have fun all while taking on more responsibilities." She gives Luisa a knowing look.
"Yes perhaps we have been a bit over protective." Luisa admitted. "It's just we love you so much…" She trials off looking to Hannibal.
He nods as he flies over to them. "We can't promise we will stop completely; it is a parent's nature to protect after all."
"But we can try." Luisa cut in.
"I'm proud of how you handled today." Hannibal says to Bill. "We put this together to make you feel more at ease. To put a sense of normalcy back in your life, it's been a rough year and you've proved you're abel to take on more responsibility. You are shaping into a fine king to be."
"Thanks…father." Bill finds it hard to find his words.
"Now let's take these flags up together!" Lump declared.
The family laughs and together they take their flags up the mountain.
Bill smiles as he and Dipper plunges their makeshift flag into the ground as the sun begins to set on this perfectly normal day.
"So, what did you think of our little family reunion Mason?" Hannibal asked.
"Little?" Dipper laughed uneasily. "Well, it puts mine to shame."
"Nonsense I'm sure a Pines family reunion is quite the spectacle." Luisa teased.
"Well of course Stanley is there." Hannibal joked.
"Oh, come on, he can't be that bad." Bill said trying to stand up for Dipper's family.
"Oh no he is." Dipper said. "He once got us all arrested for counterfeiting." He revealed. "…on my birthday…."
"Okay Dipper wins, the Pines family is officially the worst." Bill joked.
The group laughs wishing this moment could last forever, knowing tomorrow would bring them back to the dark reality at hand.
But for now, Bill tries to live in a moment, knowing there are somethings he can't control. Maybe his father was right, he was maturing after all.
-To Be Continued