I started to make this and the next chapter a single installment, but it wouldve been too long. So now they're basically two parts. But on the bright side, that means you guys get a double update!

Drop a review! They fill my writer soul with energy!

Chapter Five: The Fourth Journal

The hooded figure approached the tree quietly, looking over both shoulders to make sure no one followed them.

The near full moon cast a gray light over the forest, creating a long shadow of the figure's cloak in the grass. There were no other shapes or shadows next to the array of surrounding trees, the sounds of crickets and other creatures filled the night, meaning nobody else was around. Once everything snapped to silence, that was the sign of a predator.

The figure reached in their cloak and pulled out a small gun, performing a routine they'd done a hundred times. Flicking a switch on the back of the hilt, the gun switched to gravity mode. With perfect aim, they pointed the gun towards a large branch just above their heads, squeezing the trigger.

A green ring burst from the end of the barrel, crossing the distance from the gun to the branch in half a second. The G-Force within the blast pushed the branch upward, activating the entrance sequence.

The figure holstered the gun while the tree sunk into the ground. When it reached the top, stairs jutted from the side of the newly formed circle, making a spiral towards the bottom.

They took one last glance around the woods and went down the steps leading to the tree trunk and finally, a familiar fallout shelter.

Over the months, the figure and their partner got rid of the unnecessary items. Empty lockers, old rusty tools, and out of date canned food were all gone, replaced with new essentials and weapons.

From the corner of the room, their partner's voice could be heard, "Oh, you're back. How did it go?"

They rounded a line of metal shelves to see an old wooden table covered with sketched blueprints, dimly lit by a lantern. The figure's partner had removed their cloak and hung it on the back of a chair, now staring absentmindedly at the sheets of paper with their hands folded.

"It went well. He's using the sword."

The other figure perked up, "Has he found the journal yet?"

"Not yet."

"Seriously? It's been over a week since you planted it! This is taking forever!"

The figure sat down across from the other, trying to calm them, "He hasn't had the chance. Other...things have come up. Long shifts at the Mystery Shack and Pacifica Northwest to name a few."

"What does she have to do with this?"

"She requested his help with werewolves. It's the reason I gave up the sword in the first place. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because he knows it's from me. A few more instances like that and his trust will be as good as ours."

"I think once he finds the journal, we should reveal ourselves to him. This plan is going way too slow!"

"We need to have patience. If we reveal ourselves that soon, it'll only make things worse. We have to bide our time so this goes without a hitch."

"Is it true that Stan and Ford are back?"

That caught the figure off guard, "How did you know that?"

"I was in town earlier. I saw Stan's car."

"In town? You can't be going into town without notifying me! It puts us at extreme risk!"

"Don't worry, I made sure to be careful. Now tell me if it's true."

"It's true. They're back."

The other figure groaned, "All the more reason we should speed this up! Those two are dangerous!"

"Just listen!" The figure shouted, closing their eyes and doing their best to put on a soothing voice, "Listen. I know how badly you want this to work. It will, you just have to trust me when I say that this is going to take a little longer than we thought. But once he finds that journal, it will kickstart everything. I'm telling you; time will fly after that and before you know it, what rightfully belongs to us will be ours."

The figure watched the effect their reassurance had, their partner's tight features loosening as they processed.

"Okay. You're right. I just wish finding that journal could happen sooner rather than later."

"Oh I wouldn't worry. I've got a good feeling about tomorrow..."

The evening after their Grunkles' return, things around the Shack fell into a comfortable groove. Dipper sat at the counter with Wendy, watching reruns of Ghost Harassers on a small TV she installed for slacking off, while the redhead herself read a magazine about axes.

Candy and Grenda stopped by around noon to hang out with Mabel, and the girls had been locked upstairs ever since.

Soos gave Melody the day off for some rest since she'd been working nearly every day for the past week and a half, and decided to crash in his Abuelita's room (with her permission, of course.)

All the meanwhile, Ford had reclaimed his old spot in the basement behind the vending machine, working on some unknown project, while Soos and Stan were currently outside with tourists.

So basically, it was a normal day. Like old times.

The episode Dipper was on came to a close, the credits popping up in white text on the screen. Dipper stretched his arms, realizing he hadn't moved a muscle in over thirty minutes. Something about Ghost Harassers just drew him in to the point where he forgot he was even a human being.

"Hit me." He said, feeling a piece of popcorn land on his tongue the second he opened his mouth. Wendy hadn't missed once.

She looked up from her magazine neutrally, "Haven't you already watched that?"

"Yeah, but the last time I saw it was at home. I missed it, and I don't really have anything to do today, so why not?"

"I get it, man. Tambry, Robbie and Thompson all got jobs recently, so I've been pretty bored too."

Dipper knit his eyebrows, starting to laugh, "Wait, Robbie got a job? Where?"

"Well, I say job, but really he joined this band. Apparently, they've got a couple of gigs lined up."

Personally, Dipper never liked Robbie, but he nodded his head amicably. He'd been a thirteen-year-old for a while now, and that meant putting petty rivalries aside. Besides, he was over Wendy, so the cause of their feud didn't exist anymore.

"You gonna start the next episode?" Wendy asked, putting down her magazine, "I'll watch it with you. I'm getting tired of reading these things."

"Eh, I've already watched five. I should probably get up and do something." Dipper grinned, "You wanna go on an adventure?"

Wendy matched his grin, "Yes! I was wondering when you guys would let me tag along on a mystery!"

"We should probably ask Grunkle Stan and Soos too, though. I'd hate to leave them out."

Dipper swiveled around and looked out the window to see Stan and Soos both presenting the classic 'rock that looks like a face' to new tourists.

"And here we have a town favorite," Soos said loudly, "The rock that looks like a face!"

"Is it a face?" One guy asked.

"Uh, no, no, it's just a rock."

"But it has a face!"

Stan groaned, "Great, here we go again. For the last time people, it's a rock that looks like a face! It's not an actual face!"

Soos's face scrunched, "But sir, if it looks like a face, then isn't it technically a face? Just not a human one?"

At that, the crowd murmured their agreement, while Stan just slapped a hand to his forehead.

"They look busy." Dipper said.

"Maybe you should ask Ford. Mysteries are sort of his thing, right?"

"Of course, but...well, I don't know."

Wendy leaned on her knees, pursing her lips, "What's wrong, man? I thought you and Ford were tight. I figured you'd love to go monster chasing together."

Dipper scratched his neck, feeling guilty just talking about it. "I would, and we are, it's just...look, last summer, Grunkle Ford wanted me to be his apprentice, and I sort of took the offer."

Wendy's jaw fell, "Woah. But that means you and Mabel-"

"-Yeah. She'd go back home and I'd stay here with him, figuring out the mysteries of Gravity Falls together. I wouldn't even have to go to school or worry about my future. Grunkle Ford would teach me whatever I needed to know."

"Wow. That...sounds like everything you'd want. I'm not surprised you took it."

"Yeah, but Mabel overheard our conversation and she was devastated. And then whenever those two guys read out our memories in that fanfasy world, I realized how we've always been there for each other, and that it shouldn't change."

Wendy nodded slowly, "That must've been hard. Gotta say, I really respect that, dude. You chose your sister over your dream."

"I had to. Staying with Grunkle Ford and learning everything he knows would've been amazing, but without Mabel...all of it would've meant nothing. It wouldn't have been fun anymore; it would've felt more like work."

Wendy smiled, then stood up, patting Dipper on the shoulder, "You're the man, Dipper. I mean it. I'm sure Ford doesn't have any hard feelings."

"Thanks. But speaking of, I should go check on Mabel and tell her what we're up to."

"Got it. I'll wait on you."

Dipper bounced up the stairs towards their room, hearing the laughter and hooting before he even opened the door. When he did, he saw the result of Mabel, Candy, and Grenda's afternoon.

The girls had taken every cushion and pillow in the Shack and piled them at the center of the room, forming a soft mountain of fabric. Candy sat on her knees on one side, and Grenda sat on Mabel's bed on the other, with his sister hanging off the wooden rafter twelve feet off the ground by one arm. The three girls froze at the sight of Dipper, looking nervously between each other.

"Hello, Dipper." Candy greeted.

"We're doing something dangerous!" Grenda yelled.

"Uh...what the heck's going on here?"

Mabel looked like a deer in headlights, "Well, we don't have a trampoline, so we figured this was the next best idea. Please don't tell Grunkle Stan! We took his recliner cushion!"

"Yeah, I won't say anything. I just wanted to let you know Wendy, Grunkle Ford and I are going out."

"Going out where?"

"The woods, probably. I don't know. We're bored, so we figured we could find some creature or monster out there."

"Oh, nice." Mabel let go of the rafter and fell in the cushion pile, sinking until she popped out at the bottom, rolling like a ball to Dipper's feet. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure. Four o' clock I think?"

Mabel clapped and turned to Candy and Grenda, "Alright girls, play date over! I've gotta go!"

Dipper watched, completely lost as Mabel skipped happily across the room, threw on a pink rainbow sweater over her t-shirt and hopped in her shoes. What could be so important that Mabel has to end her playdate early?

"Where are you going?"

Mabel winked, "Oh, I've just got a little business to attend to, that's all. Have fun on your adventure, bro-bro!"

Before he could ask another question, Mabel zipped out of the attic and flew down the stairs, the door slamming behind her within seconds of leaving. Dipper shook his head, utterly confused.

"Do you guys know what she's up to?"

Candy and Grenda glanced at each other, then back at Dipper and shrugged. "No clue."

The whole thing seemed suspicious. He didn't buy that Mabel wouldn't go off on her own mission abruptly and not tell her best friends the details. Something was going on here.

Something that he didn't have the patience for. Besides, if it was so important that Mabel had to go by herself, then it was probably best not to question, because Mabel rarely does such a thing.

"Alright then, see you guys later."

Candy and Grenda waved at him before he left the room. Following Mabel's trail, he found Wendy waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened with Mabel?" She chuckled, "She just came through here at a hundred miles an hour."

"Who knows. Let's go get Grunkle Ford."

He and Wendy made their way from the stairs to the other side of the room where the vending machine sat. Dipper pressed a series of buttons with his index finger and cracked the code, causing the machine to slide left and open the way towards the basement. When they reached the bottom, they didn't have to search far for Ford. He was dressed in a thick, furry artic coat, hunched over at the desk in front of the glass pane to the old portal room, fiddling with something in a cylindrical container.

The closer they got, the lower the temperature dropped. Wendy shivered, and Dipper's teeth began to chatter.

"G-Grunkle Ford?"

"Hmm?" The old monster hunter turned around, pulling down the scarf that covered his neck and mouth, "Ah, Dipper, Wendy, what brings you down here?"

As he stepped away from the container, Dipper got a better look at it. The tube was about two feet tall, filled with water and chips of ice. Inside, sat a reptilian animal with its eyes closed.

Dipper pointed, "What's that?"

"That? Oh, it's a baby dragon Stan and I found on a glacier in the artic. The poor creature's mother had been fatally wounded by predators, so I decided to raise it myself. Cool temperatures are essential in this stage of their lives, but as they get older, they can adapt to warmer weather. I plan on releasing it in the lake once it's big enough."

"But won't it be dangerous?" Dipper asked. "It could attack fishermen, right?"

Ford waved a dismissive hand, "This species of dragon are harmless as long as they're fed. It will eat the fish and balance out the ecosystem."

Wendy looked like she'd just seen an alien, "Wait a second, you're telling me that's a real dragon? Dragons are real?"

Ford nodded, "Oh yes. They're nearly extinct though, and only a few species remain worldwide, with most of them residing in Russia. Tragic, really, how few of them there are left."

Wendy processed that information with furrowed eyebrows, then a second later, just accepted the weirdness. "Yeah, can't say that anything surprises me anymore."

Dipper stepped closer to the container to admire the creature. "You said predators wounded the mother? What's strong enough to hurt a full-grown dragon?"

Ford walked over and bent down next to Dipper, "This species is rather small compared to most, growing a maximum length of twenty feet, give or take. Up in the artic ocean, Stan and I discovered an entire colony of sea monsters and killer squids. A group of them are enough to kill a dragon and eat the baby, but luckily I was there to stop both from dying."

"What did you use to fight them?"

Ford smiled, quickly retreating to the other end of the room, opening a locker and pulling out a large flamethrower among a row of weapons. "This. Monsters that like the cold hate the heat, so I figured why not fight ice with fire? Works great."

Dipper's eyes sparkled, "That's so cool..."

Ford laughed, placing the flamethrower back where it belonged, "It was quite the experience. Now, what did you two need?"

Dipper hesitated and glanced at Wendy, who gave him an encouraging nod, "Well, you see...we were gonna go out in the woods to see if we could find anything interesting and we wondered if you wanted to go."

Ford started to respond, but Dipper blurted, "But you're busy with the baby dragon and all, so we'll just leave!"

"Wait, wait!" Ford grabbed him by the shoulder, "I'd love to go with you two."

Dipper was surprised. Last summer, Grunkle Ford had been so caught up in his work that Dipper never would've expected him to drop everything for an impulsive stroll in the forest. But then again, he did drop everything to play Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons one time, so it wasn't entirely out of character.

"Really?"

"Of course, boy! The artic ocean was magnificent, but nothing beats Gravity Falls! I've been itching to do more research here!" Ford patted Dipper's shoulder and smiled warmly, "Besides...I missed doing it with my partner, you know?"

The comment should've made Dipper jump up and down, squealing like a little girl, but it only shriveled his chest to the size of an old raisin. Ford still considered him his partner after almost an entire year, even though he let him down.

"Yeah, me too, Grunkle Ford."

Ford removed his hand and put his arms out beside him excitedly, "Besides, there's new subjects to study! I saw a group of strange looking bats last night that caught my eye. And I hear you've been recreating my old journals, Dipper, perhaps we should bring them with us just in case we need to write anything down."

"I'll go grab them. But hey, what about the dragon? Is it gonna be okay?"

"Oh yes. As long as the temperature remains level, she'll be fine."

"Alright then," Wendy said, "Let's get out of here already. I've been dying to do something sketchy since the summer started."

Pacifica's head rolled forward, snapping her from sleep once again.

She just got off her long shift at the diner and wanted nothing more than to soak in a nice bath and take a nap, leaving all her stress and troubles outside of the house. With her parents so focused on chopping every tree down around their property, they wouldn't pay any attention to her, so she might actually be able to get away with it for the day.

Their butler, Lars, always picked her up from work and took her home. She liked Lars. He didn't say much, but he was always nice and understanding to Pacifica. If she needed something, she could count on him to be there for her, far more so than her own mother and father, which said a lot.

The gate to the Northwest property opened on Lars' signal, pressing a button on the key fob for the car. He drove in slowly, and Pacifica found the sound of the engine soothing, so she rested her head on the cushion behind her, about to drift off again.

"Miss Pacifica," Lars said, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but it appears someone is waiting for you on the front porch."

Immediately, her mind went to Dipper, and her chest filled with hope. Had he come by to make up?

"Who is it?"

"It's a young girl, miss. Your age. Is she a friend of yours?"

Hearing that, Pacifica rolled her eyes and sunk back down in her seat. Not Dipper, but his annoying sister.

"Sort of."

The car came to an easy halt. Lars left the vehicle and came around to open Pacifica's door for her. She thanked him and immediately looked to the front porch, confirming that the young girl was in fact, Mabel. Sitting on a rocking chair clutching her sweater, smiling from ear to ear. The golf cart Dipper usually drove was parked neatly, parallel to the steps.

Pacifica approached her with an impassive expression, "Looks like we're one loser short. Where's your brother?"

Mabel wasn't even phased by the verbal jab, "Off with Grunkle Ford and Wendy doing some monster hunting."

Wendy? Pacifica racked her brain to place the name with the face. Wasn't that the older redhead? Why was Dipper hanging out with her?

Ugh, who cares?! That idiot can hang out with whoever he wants. Why do you care all of a sudden?

"Okay, so why are you here and not with him? I figured you two were peas in a pod."

"I came by to see you! You and Dipper may not be on the best of terms, but that doesn't mean we can't have a girls' day!"

Pacifica snorted, "A girls' day? Us? Are you joking?"

Mabel shook her head vigorously, completely amped up like a chihuahua on a sugar rush. Pacifica had no idea where this girl got all of that energy from, but if she had even a fifth of the supply, she might be able to work at the diner double time.

"Nope! I even filled the golf cart with gas! Whaddya say? You wanna hit the town and have the best night of our lives?"

Immediately, the old side of her overpowered the new. She scoffed and walked up the steps, not looking at Mabel. "Pass. I've got better things to do."

While opening the door, Pacifica heard Mabel sigh and saw her get up slowly in her peripheral, "Okay. Sorry to bother you." She shuffled down the steps and walked to the golf cart, completely deflated like a rejected puppy.

The blonde stopped mid turn on the doorknob and cringed. No, she couldn't be like that anymore. Even if she didn't really want to, she should accept the offer because it would make Mabel happy. The new Pacifica did things like that, and that's who she wanted to be.

Pacifica let go of the doorknob, "Mabel, wait."

The Pines girl stopped just before the cart and looked at her with drooping eyebrows, making Pacifica feel horrible. She shouldn't take her anger at Dipper out on Mabel. She was only trying to make a gesture.

"On second thought...I guess I could make some time. Just let me get changed."

Seeing Mabel's face completely transform from gloom to pure joy was worth it to Pacifica, and proved to her that she'd done the right thing. It felt much better to embrace this new side of herself in the long run. She was starting to learn that making other people happy made her happy too.

"Oh this is gonna be so much fun! Take your time, Paz!"

"For the last time, stop calling me Paz!"

Dipper wasn't exactly thrilled when he found out Mabel took the golf cart for her own little mission. Now, he, Grunkle Ford, and Wendy got to trek the woods on foot. What fun.

He did have to admit though, while he still felt a bit guilty just being around Ford and not addressing what happened last summer, it was great to see the Author back in action. He left behind the artic coat and was now wearing his trademark tan trench coat, red turtleneck, black pants, and muddy black boots.

Dipper was constantly being reminded of why he admired the man in the first place. He saw the possibility of what he could become, and in some ways, hoped to become in Ford. As far as a paranormal investigator went, anyway. The way his eyes flickered from the trees to the grass, constantly analyzing the smallest of moves, every now and then scribbling something down in one of the journals, nodding and whispering to himself every time he made an observation. His mind was constantly moving, solving the puzzle before it even started.

"So..." Dipper started, "What was so strange about these bats you saw?"

"They have more limbs than normal," Ford explained, concentrated on something in Journal two, "Eight, I believe. They also didn't move like a bat would. Instead of flying, they...swung. Yes, swung. That's the best way to put it."

"So these could be spider-bat hybrids?"

"Could be. Hybrids are common anomalies in this town. There are many examples." Ford looked up from the journal and nodded back towards the Shack, "For instance, the jack-a-lope in the Mystery Shack."

Wendy's head darted around in shock, "Wait, that thing's real?"

"Well, knowing Stanley, his is probably just a jackrabbit with antlers glued to the head. But yes, the Jack-a-lope is a classic anomaly, mostly found in the East."

Wendy kicked at a fallen branch in her path and laughed, "Dude, is there anything you haven't seen?"

"Hmm...not really. Heh, that's a good question, Wendy! It makes me think!"

The three of them walked in silence for a few moments, the air turning cooler with time it seemed. Dipper looked up and saw that the sun wasn't all the way in the sky now. It had sunk drastically to the middle, between the peak and the horizon. Night was coming quickly, and it gave him an idea.

"Hey, if these things are part bat, and bats usually come out at night, don't you think-" Something caught the front of his shoe and he lost balance, tripping face first on the ground.

"Dipper!" Ford closed the journal, kneeling down to help him, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Dipper rubbed his throbbing nose, "Ah! Something in the dirt caught my shoe!"

Wendy looked ready to grab a stick and beat whatever it was to death, "Is it one of those spider bat things?"

Ford used his gloved hand to wipe off the dirt, pausing as it became clearer. "No. I think...it's a book of some kind." Using both hands now, he reached down and grabbed on tightly, pulling it out of the ground and blowing on it.

Dipper held his nose, but made sure he could see what was on the book. When he caught sight of the cover, his eyes went wide. It wasn't a book; it was a journal. One that looked exactly like Ford's, only it couldn't be, because this one had the number four engraved on the front, and as far as he knew, Grunkle Ford only wrote three.

Ford held the journal and stared at it wordlessly, while Dipper and Wendy huddled on both sides of his shoulders.

"It's...a journal." He whispered.

"But I thought you only wrote three," Dipper said.

"I did. Look." Ford placed his hand on the one surrounding the four, showing that his sixth finger didn't cover a matching digit. The hand only had five fingers.

Wendy looked between the two, searching for an answer, "So what does this mean? There's someone else like you in Gravity Falls?"

"I'm not sure." Ford pulled out journal two, eyes darting between it and journal four. Dipper tried to think of possibilities. Who else could have written another journal? And when? Gideon, maybe? No, that didn't make sense, because Gideon only had journal two and not three, so why would he skip an entire number? Old Man McGucket? No, that didn't add up either. He worked with Ford, but he never had anything to do with the journals.

Not to mention, except for the five-fingered hand, the design and color were nearly identical. The only person who could've done this had to be someone that knew Ford. No way could they copy the symbol and design by coincidence.

Ford turned to him, "Dipper, you've been doing some of your own research here for the past few days...did you make this?"

"No. I mean, Mabel helped me recreate the old ones back home, but I never wrote a new one. The old ones haven't even been filled up yet." Dipper started to get a little worried, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching them. It couldn't have been an accident, them finding this here.

"What are we gonna do, Grunkle Ford?"

Ford slipped journal two back into his coat pocket, "Right now, we're going to look for the spider bat hybrid, and worry about this later. I'll try to decipher the handwriting and see if I can match it with anyone." He tried to put the fourth journal into his other pocket, but out of nowhere, a white string appeared from behind them and latched on to the book, yanking it away from Ford's grip.

"Hey!"

They watched as the journal got farther and farther away from them, dragged back towards a small creature standing on a tree branch in front of them. It was black, thin, possessing leathery wings on either side of its body, and eight legs on the side of its midsection.

"A spider bat!" Dipper shouted, "It's one of them!"

"And it's got the journal!" Ford roared, "Get it!"

The three of them broke out into a sprint, separating from each other and taking different, parallel trails to try and catch the hybrid creature. Dipper chased to the best of his ability, trying to outrun the thing so he could box it in and give Ford a chance to do something. He knew he was tall enough to reach that high, and he didn't have the gadgetry his Grunkle did, so for now, he had to play the support role.

"I'm gonna push it to you, Grunkle Ford!"

"No need!" Dipper didn't even see Ford unlatch the strap around his torso, he only heard the loud crack in the air as a bright, thin blue beam shot out from the barrel of a laser gun, blasting the stump of a tree to pieces, causing the rest of the tall plant to tumble over on their path.

It knocked the spider bat from its height advantage, and as soon as it fell on the ground, Ford pounced on it, wrapping his hand around its body and squeezing to make sure it couldn't escape. The giant bat hissed and writhed rebelliously, still connected to the journal by a web coming out of its lower end.

"Dipper, help me hold it down!" Ford ordered, "Wendy, grab the journal!"

Dipper used both hands to press down on its wings, which only made it freak out even more. The hissing got louder, and the spider bat opened its mouth wide to try and bite Dipper's arm with its fangs, but he managed to keep them clear. Meanwhile, Wendy struggled with the journal, unable to get it free no matter how hard she pulled.

"This thing's not getting loose, guys!"

Dipper avoided another bite attempt, "Use your axe!"

Wendy pulled it out of her belt loop, "Got it!" With a momentous downward strike, Wendy lined up the hit perfectly, pinning the web between the axe and the dirt, freeing the journal.

"Good," Ford praised, picking up the struggling spider bat in his hands, "Now, we can take this one back and study it."

Behind them, Dipper heard the rustling of the grass and leaves get louder, as if something big was getting closer. He turned carefully, gasping at what he saw.

"Guys..."

The spider bat's friends had apparently come to the rescue. From seemingly nowhere, an entire army of the creatures appeared, hanging off of the trees and crawling towards them on the ground. Thousands of red eyes stared at them, waiting for a move.

Ford noticed and kept calm, "Kids, get behind me. On my signal, run as fast as you can in the other direction."

Dipper tugged on his trench coat, "But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Just run and don't look back. Understand?"

Dipper nodded, forcing himself to swallow and clear out his now dry throat. The spider bat army wasn't budging. They all sat completely still, patient, salivating at the fangs.

"Run!" Ford shouted. Dipper wasn't ready for it, nearly falling over on himself as he scrambled to fall in line with Wendy, who was beating him.

She looked over her shoulder at him and thrust out her hand, "Come on! We've gotta go!"

Dipper forced himself to speed up a fraction at the cost of his breath, barely managing to clasp grips with Wendy, who was much faster, practically dragging him with her. They heard the sounds of Ford's laser gun being fired behind them, vibrating the ground with each trigger pull. The spider bats combined hissing and the collateral damage of Ford's lasers made it sound like pure chaos in the background. Dipper did his best to resist looking back.

"Where are we going?!"

"I don't know!" Wendy grabbed him suddenly, jerking him to a stop. "Dipper, watch out!"

He felt Wendy's entire body pivot and saw the axe leave her hand, colliding with a sneaking spider bat that tried to flank them. The throw was unlucky, but the wooden end managed to smack the spider bat in the wing, disorienting it.

"What are you doing?!" Ford shouted, his voice far, "Keep running!"

Dipper and Wendy's curiosity got the better of them. Instead of breaking back into a sprint, they wasted half a second catching Ford running towards them, the army of spider bats chasing him in a terrifying mesh of night black fur and blood red eyes. The creatures crawled together with horrifying speed, and Dipper was reminded of the gnomes at the beginning of last summer, how they worked together like a hive mind. This was similar.

Ford, while running, pulled out another gun from his trench coat and shot it blind behind him. From the barrel, a net unfurled and caught a tenth of the spider bats, creating a small gap between the group. But just as quickly as they'd been trapped, the spider bats worked together to gnaw their way out of the net with their teeth, regenerating the hole like a healed wound.

While Ford tried to reload, the spider bats must've gotten smart, because they decided to fire webs as a group, and with Ford not expecting it, he didn't stand a chance of escaping the line of fire. It only took a single shot to wrap him completely in white string, making a cocoon covering everything but his head.

"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper didn't think twice. He did the opposite of what he was told and ran to help him.

Wendy tried to stop him, "Dipper wait!"

He already felt bad for what happened last summer. Now, if Grunkle Ford got captured or worse because of his boredom, he would never forgive himself.

But the old man was still trying to keep him away, "Dipper, go back! Save yourself!"

Dipper ignored him, sliding on his knees in the dirt, hands already on the web trying to get it loosened somehow. "I'm not leaving you! I-I can figure something out!"

"No! Get out of here! I can get out myself, I just need time!"

Dipper tugged on the webbing again, but it was no use. Spider's silk is considered five times stronger than steel. No normal human, especially a thirteen-year-old boy had a chance at breaking this cocoon with pure strength.

The spider bats flew overhead, circling Dipper, and now Wendy, who stood beside him protectively over Ford. Dipper wished he had the silver tipped sword right now, or anything really to even the odds. He felt helpless. He hadn't prepared for this at all.

"Get away from him!" Dipper swatted at the bats every time one or two flew low to bite at them, but at this rate, with how many there were, it was only a matter of time.

Another one swooped by and shot a web from its rear, shooting it like a bullet right towards Dipper. In the split second his mind processed what was about to happen, he had no choice but to accept it. He couldn't move out of the way in time, and the web caught him, hugging him to the point where he could barely wriggle his fingers.

Then Wendy was next, going down after he did. The three of them had been subdued, and now completely outnumbered, sat at the mercy of an angered species.

Three spider bats shot webs on their cocoon and began dragging them deeper in the forest, the rest of the army following suit. Dipper tried again and again to squirm some space inside, but nothing budged. He looked at Ford, hoping he had some kind of answer or solution. He was the author after all. He had to have some kind of plan forming in that giant brain of his.

But judging by his worried expression, that wasn't the case.

Ford caught Dipper looking at him, "It's okay, Dipper. I think they're taking us back to their home, so we have about five minutes to come up with something."

"And if we don't?"

"Then...I suppose we're about to become lunch."

-x-

Thanks for reading! And remember, many cryptograms in the show can be solved by going three letters back. Wink wink.