Gravity Falls: Once More

by Absolute Rift

Four years after their faithful summer of weird, Dipper and Mabel finally return to the legendary town of Gravity Falls. Despite having new adventures and mysteries to take on, they are still tailed by the challenges that come with navigating teenage life. With friends and enemies, both new and old, the Pines must prepare themselves for whatever awaits them. (S1 done, S2 ongoing)

31. Back to the Bunker: Part 2

As Dipper, Derrick, Soos, and Wendy made their way down the staircase, the increasing depth led to a decline in natural luminosity. Upon reaching the bottom, the four found themselves staring out into pitch-black darkness. While they felt they had completed walking down the bunker's stairs, there wasn't a single light to guide them the rest of the way through.

"Woah. This is freaky," Derrick said as he squinted his eyes through the dark room.

"I'm getting chills, dudes," Soos said, getting a slight shiver down his spine as he took in the atmosphere.

"Yeesh. Did someone forget to install a lamp?" Wendy asked.

"Does anyone have a light on them?" Dipper asked.

"Allow me!" McGucket's voice suddenly intruded from the darkness behind the four.

At that moment, a flick was heard and there was an electrical startup noise. Soon after, a bunch of ceiling lights lit up and illuminated the entire room, diminishing the darkness and allowing everyone to finally see their surroundings.

Looking around the bunker, those who hadn't been there in ages were able to quickly make out the familiarity of the space. Many of the same parts of the room that they remembered remained, except they were far less dusty and dirty than they were before. Things like the weapon cabinet, prepared future supplies, bed, and food storage all appeared much more polished and clean if not entirely replaced. There were also several new signs and warning plates hung from the walls.

And with the greater, repaired illumination, the place gave less of an intimidating vibe compared to last time.

"Woah. Check it out, dude," Soos said in awe as he looked around.

Dipper took a few steps forward to get a closer look at the whole room. "It's so much more... organized."

Wendy ran her finger across one of the shelves, only to find it perfectly clean upon pulling away. "And not nearly as dusty."

"Yep! As I said, I've been down here several times over the years," McGucket said while walking beside Ford. "Part of the point of my visits was to clean this ol' place up. Place hadn't been used for about thirty years! Need to give 'er some polish, ya know?"

Ford smiled as he glanced around the room. "I must say that I do like the adjustments you've made to the layout. It allows for greater mobility while keeping everything more conveniently within reach. Very innate indeed."

"I told ya, Ford. I've worked hard to build this place around both of our ideas," McGucket said, patting him on the back.

"Well, to be fair, a layout change is a bit minuscule for that type of claim. But again, I'm not going to be the judge of things I don't already know. This is a change that I do appreciate, however."

"That's all I need to hear," McGucket said with a smile. "Now, c'mon. Let's go find that Destabilizer."

As the two walked over to the weapon cabinet, Dipper kept exploring the bunker, his mind going down memory lane on each object he recognized. The last time he had been there, the mission was to locate the author of the journals before learning it was his great-uncle. Back then, they didn't spend long in the first part of the bunker and quickly progressed throughout the rest of it. Now, he was taking his time to look around and see what it offered, and while the idea was pretty basic, it still felt like he was going through a whole new experience.

For someone like Derrick, the bunker was a whole new concept to him that he was unraveling as he went along. Dipper noticed him and was able to tell by his expression that he wasn't bored or unfazed by where they were or what they were doing, which said a lot for someone like him.

"So what do you think so far?" Dipper asked as he stepped up beside him.

"This is all pretty cool. Not gonna lie," Derrick said with a nod. "I mean, just check this place out. It's like a bomb shelter."

"Well, it kind of is that. It's like a mix between that and a research station."

"And this is where you guys got attacked by the Shapeshifter?" Derrick asked while walking over to another wall upon noticing a sign that piqued his interest.

"Not this room specifically, but yeah, we did get attacked down here," Dipper said in a somewhat unnerved tone in response to Derrick yet again mentioning the Shifter.

He turned away from Derrick for a moment and glanced over at the corner where Soos and Wendy stood. There, they were searching shelves and glancing around at different tools and weapons laid out among them.

Soos leaned in from behind one of the shelves and picked up an old, opened metal can for Baron Num Nums High Flyin' Beans. The label had an old-timey picture of a man beside his dog, both of them wearing pilot goggles.

He turned to Wendy and held it out for her to see. "Check it out. Guess McGucket didn't clean everything up. Heh."

Wendy looked at the can, her eyes immediately drawing toward the label. As she looked at it, she began to remember the man in the picture as the initial form that the Shapeshifter had taken when they had first encountered it. The so-called author at the time.

The moment she came to the realization, it was as if the man from the picture leaped out from the can and jumped right out at her. She gasped fearfully and flinched, her entire backside ramming into the metal shelf behind her, causing her to wince in pain.

Soos stepped back worriedly, unsure of what just happened. "Wendy? You alright, dude?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine…" she quickly assured him as she reached over her shoulder and rubbed a spot on her back where she had hit herself. She glanced away to the side. "Just... throw that can out, man."

"But, don't you wanna dare me to lick the inside? Or maybe it'd be funny if I went and put it-"

"I said, toss it, Soos," she repeated sternly, giving him a warning glare.

Despite not being sure what he had done wrong, Soos grew immediately intimidated by her suddenly serious tone and decided to follow through, promptly tossing the can right over his shoulder without another word. Wendy acknowledged this and turned away, gripping her arm as she went to check out the rest of the bunker to clear her head.

Dipper witnessed the entire exchange and looked on remorsefully at Wendy and her persisting fear of the Shifter. It was a perfectly rational fear for her to have, but he partially blamed himself for her even having it. He was the one who invited her along for the first bunker adventure. Had she not come along, she wouldn't have ever encountered the Shifter and never would've had to endure the fear of it.

Then again, had she not come along, then the whole adventure with just him, Mabel, and Soos could've gone a lot differently.

Ford claimed there was nothing to be worried about, but even then, the memories still haunted Wendy. There may not have been a physical threat, but there was a mental image. If something as simple as a bean can was able to startle her, then Dipper feared to imagine how she'd react if the actual Shifter were to return.

"Look, Derrick, since the last time we were down here, Wendy gets kind of... uncomfortable being reminded of the Shapeshifter," Dipper explained to him with his eyes fixated on Wendy. "I mean, you remember what she said last night. And I'm responsible for bringing her on that adventure. I don't want this one to be another terrible experience she has to sit through. So, maybe you could do me a favor and not bring it up so she doesn't-"

Dipper cut himself off as he turned his head back to Derrick. His eyes bulged as he spotted him taking a metal sign down from a wall that read "In case of emergency, break glass".

"Dude! What are you doing?!" Dipper whispered as he quickly walked over to him in panic.

"Taking this sign," Derrick said casually. "Remember all those times in school when I used to joke around about how funny it would be if someone put an 'In case of emergency, break glass' sign next to a window? That way, when there's an emergency, someone breaks the window, and then we'd have a bunch of kids running out of school through the window. Yeah, well, I'm not gonna do that. But I'm gonna put this next to my window. So that way when there's an emergency, I have an excuse to jump out my window." He jokingly elbowed him in the arm a few times with an amused look on his face as if he was being clever. "Huh? Huh?"

"What the...?! No!" Dipper dismissed as he swiped the sign away from Derrick. "Dude, you can't be taking signs from here! This bunker is half-owned by my great-uncle! Plus, this is an emergency sign! You can't take something when it's needed down here!"

"Dipper! What're you doing with that sign?" Ford's voice suddenly called out from behind.

Startled by the sudden intrusion of his great-uncle's voice, Dipper turned around to see him standing right behind him. He then glanced over at Derrick, who just awkwardly stood to the side. He looked back and forth between himself holding the sign and Ford, realizing he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Wait, Great Uncle Ford! I can explain!"

Ford sighed somewhat disappointedly as he picked the sign up from Dipper's hands, walking back over to the wall it originally belonged to. "Look, Dipper, I understand you're excited to be getting hands-on in the field again, and I know that you've been down here once before, but there are still things that you shouldn't mess with down here." He then hung the sign back up where Derrick had taken it down. "Sure, it's just a sign. No real harm. But please try not to make such an injudicious choice as to take things down from where they're meant to be. They're there for a reason."

"B-but, I was telling Derrick-"

"I'm not mad, my boy," Ford cut off as he put a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "I just want you to be more careful. Feel free to look around and such, but don't have poor judgment. Especially not down here, where one mistake could be your last."

With his point made, Ford walked back over to where Fiddleford stood over by the weapon cabinet and immediately got back to talking with him.

Dipper stood in place tensely, feeling a sense of shame from his great-uncle catching him in the act of a crime that he hadn't committed. This shame quickly transformed into frustration, as he clenched his fists tightly before turning back to Derrick.

"What's wrong with you?! Why would you do something so stupid down here?" Dipper scolded in a low enough volume to not draw attention from anyone else.

"It was just a sign, man!" Derrick said, backing up a bit.

"I told Ford that if I brought you guys along, there wouldn't be any trouble! Yet here you are, causing trouble only for it to get pinned on me! And you didn't even fess up!"

"At least he knows you! If he had caught me, it probably would've been worse because he'd see it as some kid, that he doesn't know, touching his stuff!"

"Then, you know why it's a problem! So, stop causing the problem! Be better then!"

Finished with his venting, Dipper turned around and walked away. Derrick stood in place, feeling somewhat confused inside. Back in Piedmont, he and Dipper never had these kinds of arguments. Since he met him in Gravity Falls earlier that summer, he felt like his friend was an entirely different person toward him.

"Dude, what happened?" he asked, grabbing Dipper's attention back. "Since I got here, it seems like every time we hang out, I'm the guy who gets the short end of the stick. Back home, we've always been cool! Here though? It feels like I hardly matter sometimes."

"That's because this isn't home, Derrick," Dipper said as he turned back to him. "You treat this whole town like a guest house that you can take from and drag your muddy shoes around in. And that's not cool everywhere you go. You can't just bring your shticks here from Piedmont and expect everyone to be cool with it."

Derrick narrowed his eyes. "So, what? I'm treated the way I am because I'm different?"

Dipper sighed. "You're not getting it. I was different too when I first came here. But that whole summer... changed me. I let it happen. And if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have befriended or even met so many amazing people, including you. I feel like... this summer can change you too. But you gotta be willing to let it."

Dipper walked away from him to join Wendy and Soos in checking out the bunker. As he was left alone, Derrick watched the three and their interactions, mentally comparing them to the interactions he had with them, which were very minuscule and uninteresting in comparison.

Truthfully, for most of the summer so far, he had been feeling left out. The thing was, he knew he was troublesome. He stole, he lied, and when it came to people he didn't like, he had the tendency to talk more with his fists than talking things out like Dipper usually did. But apparently, the standards were different for a town like Gravity Falls.

And according to Dipper's word, he hadn't reached that standard yet.

---

Deep in the woods, Mabel and Ryland continued to walk along, with Ryland leading her to the spot of their date. Mabel still had no idea where or what the date even was, and had even asked him where they were heading earlier in their walk. However, he had just smiled and told her it was a surprise. At that point, there wasn't even much of a path to follow anymore, and they were just strolling through natural terrain to get there.

She wasn't sure what to expect from the idea of going so far into the forest, and it gave her subtle recollections of her dates with "Norman". But with Ryland, she had no reason to feel unsafe. She had been around him enough to know that he had to be a trustworthy guy with no unreal motives or a reason to be considered a threat. He wasn't a vampire or a puppet kisser or an evil child. He was a normal high school teen like her and they were going on a normal date.

And with her feelings for him out in the wind, she now felt a sense of relief being around him. She no longer felt nearly as uptight or unsteady as she was back at the party or other past times when they had spoken. Sure, the mentality of wanting to impress him and not make a fool of herself in front of him still stuck, but she wasn't anxious. In fact, she wished she had always been as collected around him as she was at that moment. Now, she internally cringed every time she thought about nearly any of their past exchanges and how easily flustered she got.

Aside from being a little nervous, she had confidence in herself and where things would go. Getting the feelings out had always been the hardest part of any relationship for her. A date was nothing in comparison. If she could get past one measly date with Ryland, they'd be set for the rest of the summer, granted they weren't to run into any issues.

"So, how much farther is this place?" Mabel asked.

"Actually, we're pretty much there," Ryland said.

"Pretty much?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked around, unable to see any remarkable spot within the dark woods where they could possibly be having their date. "Okay, help me out here, but I'm not exactly seeing anything other than darkness and trees here."

Ryland chuckled as he walked up to a bush and stopped. "Well, that's because this isn't the spot."

He then put his hands into the bush and pulled it open wide enough for them to walk through. He held his arm in the opening he made and stood back, offering for her to go ahead. Curiously, she walked through, taking a few steps forward before stopping as her eyes were immediately met by a wondrous sight.

"This is."

They looked around to see a large clear section within the forest. The darkness had cut off as there was a large clearing that allowed the sun to puncture from above as opposed to being overshadowed by trees. A river flowed right through the middle of the clearing, followed by a flowing waterfall coming down a rocky wall. Piles of rocks lay on the outside of the river, but behind, there was flat green grass. The golden sunlight brought a layer of vibrancy to the many surrounding colors.

"Oh. My. God," Mabel marveled at the sight.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ryland said, stepping up right beside her. "I actually found this place because of a bike accident." He pointed up to a rocky ledge beside the waterfall. "My front tire burst, and I lost control. It led to me falling right down onto that ledge and flipping down into the river. I was in so much pain, and I even fractured my wrist, but once I pulled myself back up, I just looked around and got lost in the sight."

"Ryland… This is so sweet," Mabel said as she looked around wondrously. "I've never seen this part of the woods before, yet I'm already in love with its magic!"

"Well, couldn't have thought of a better place to set up a picnic, ya know?"

"A picnic date? You really did take the time to plan this all out, didn't you?"

"Maybe..." Ryland teased with a smirk. "Just you wait. If you're already loving the view, then I'm sure you'll love- WOAH, WHAT?!"

Ryland immediately stopped in place as he looked over near the edge of the river and saw a group of five gnomes around a picnic basket. They sat around, eating out of glass containers, and stuffing themselves.

"Ah, the presidential life. Ain't it great, boys?" Jeff the Gnome said as he laid his back against the basket relaxingly. "Hey, Steve. Can you pass your president another one of those grapes? I can't get enough of that tang!"

"Shmebulock!" Shmebulock said as he brought a can of soda over to Jeff.

"No, Shmebulock! I already said I've had enough soda!" Jeff said, pushing the can back away.

"Shmebulock!"

Jeff tapped his chin. "Hmm... yeah, you're right. It's free food! Why let it go to waste?"

"What the hell?!" Ryland distraughtly questioned as he and Mabel ran up to the basket. "Gnomes eating out of my picnic basket?!"

"Jeff?!" Mabel questioned once her eyes laid upon the gnome, her fists clenching aggravatedly.

Upon noticing Mabel, Jeff immediately sprung back up to his feet as he looked on at her flirtatiously. "Well, look who it is! Mabel Pines! Still looking as stunning as ever!"

"Ew! That can only ever be creepy coming from you!" Mabel said disgustedly.

Jeff's eyes then glanced over at Ryland and scanned his appearance. "And, uh, I see we also have the blonde guy that still needs a haircut."

"First of all, it's a stylistic choice," Ryland defended as he flicked his long blonde hair back. "Second, YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE EATING OUT OF THE PICNIC BASKET I SET UP!"

"Jeff, what the heck?!" Mabel questioned angrily.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up a sec!" Jeff said, holding his hands up defensively. "Look, maybe you're the one who set it up, but my buddies and I here just stumbled upon this basket in the middle of the woods! It was unattended, so, of course, we raided it! We're gnomes! Scavengers! This is what we do! That makes this your problem, buddy! Not ours!"

"Wait, hang on…" Ryland said as he looked down on the ground and noticed a bunch of green stems in a pile. He picked them up in his hand and immediately recognized them. "What happened to the flowers?!"

"Oh... uh… Shmebulock?" Jeff called as he slowly turned to the side.

At that moment, Shmebulock spat out a wet wad of chewed-up daisy tops into his hands. He then stepped forward and offered the wad to Ryland, to which he and Mabel simply stared on in utter revulsion.

"He... ate the flowers..." Ryland said, his mouth hanging agape in disgust.

Mabel gasped admiringly. "You got me flowers?"

"I had gotten you flowers."

"Well, again. Your problem, not ours," Jeff repeated. "If you didn't want us to eat from it, you shouldn't have made it so easy to get to!"

"AH! God dammit! He's got a point!" Ryland angrily admitted.

"They're just gnomes," Mabel said before cracking her knuckles. "We could just teach them a lesson..."

Jeff groaned. "Oh, c'mon! Are you seriously gonna beat us up just for going about our own business? How were we supposed to know this belonged to you?"

"Don't stress it, Mabel. It is my fault after all," Ryland told her, looking down at the basket dejectedly.

"Haha! That's right!" Jeff laughed victoriously. "But don't see yourself too short, blondie. Lucky for you, we didn't finish everything you had in there."

Ryland picked up the basket and put a hand inside, searching around. His eyes lit up in surprise as he found himself pulling out a large, covered dish from the inside.

"Hey, they didn't even take a bite out of the main meal!" Ryland said happily as he turned his head back to Mabel.

"Oh, yeah. Not that thing," Jeff said as he looked at the dish in disgust. "Bleh! It smelled so bad that Jason's eyeballs started burning."

"I still think I need to go to a hospital," Jason replied from the side, where he sat with a large white bandage wrapped around his eyes that also prevented him from being able to see anything.

Ryland gave a slightly offended look as he took the cover off the dish, exposing the top of a finely baked soufflé. He gave it a brief whiff. "It smells pretty good to me."

"UGHHH!" the gnomes groaned in disgust as they pinched their noses shut.

"C'mon fellas, lunchtime's over!" Jeff said while holding his nose, gesturing for the gnomes to move. "We'll come back when they and their vile excuse for food leave our territory!"

The gnomes began to scurry off, with Jeff, Steve, Carson, and Shmebulock immediately jumping into the bushes. However, a blinded Jason began scurrying off in the other direction, leading to him falling straight into the river.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jeff said as he poked his head back through the bushes in Jason's direction. "Wrong way, Jason!"

In response, Jason immediately climbed back out of the river and ran in the correct direction. Soon, he jumped into the same bushes that the other gnomes had gone through and the five disappeared from Mabel and Ryland's sights.

Ryland frowned, still slightly offended by the gnomes' harsh reactions to the dish. "My mom made this soufflé."

"Aw, don't listen to those guys. I'm sure it's as great for eating as it is for repelling annoying gnomes!" Mabel said with a nudge to his elbow.

"Yeah," Ryland nodded as he began warming back up to the date despite the circumstances. He sat down in the grass beside the basket. "At the very least, we still have the main course to get through. If anything, once we're done, we can just clean up and go to Hermanos Brothers or something. Not how I wanted this to go, but-"

"Oh, don't be silly!" Mabel dismissed as she sat down in the grass across from him. "We don't need food to have a good first date! I mean, I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I'm sure this won't be enough to fill either of us, but that's not what matters! You clearly put a lot of effort and planning into all this, and we shouldn't let such a view on a perfectly sunny day go to waste! And honestly, I'm happy as long as we're spending time together."

Ryland smiled warmly at her. "Me too."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Jeff's voice suddenly interrupted as he and the other gnomes popped back out of the bushes. "What is going on here? Why are you two sitting now? Why aren't you leaving? What is this?"

"It's called a date, genius," Mabel said with an eye roll.

"A d-d-d-d-d-d-dah-dah-date?!" Jeff questioned, flabbergasted as he looked back and forth between the two. "You two... are on a date?"

"Gee, I don't know. I mean, two young teens, having a picnic together, alone outside in a fairly romantic spot in the middle of the woods..." Ryland answered sarcastically.

"...would've had some flowers too if your buddy didn't eat them…" Mabel added on.

"Shmebulock..." Shmebulock said while looking down guiltily.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit shocked," Jeff said as he walked back up to them. "A date, huh? Interesting…"

"Interesting, how?" Mabel asked, crossing her arms skeptically at him.

"Well, I mean, you know our history, Mabel," Jeff reminded, straightening out his hat on his head. "The good ol' days of Mabel and Norman. You remember."

"I wish I didn't."

"Yeah. Good times they were," Jeff said as he leaned against the picnic basket between the two, continuing to look over at Mabel as if Ryland wasn't there. "I remember all the dates we went on. Throwing frisbees, making flower necklaces, frolicking through the cemetery... YAAAAAHHH!"

Mabel had grabbed ahold of Ryland's soufflé and held it directly under Jeff's nose as he spoke, giving him enough time to inhale and catch the scent. As the smell got to him, he began running away, screaming as he and the other gnomes jumped back into the bushes.

She stood up to watch the gnomes take off and get out of their sight again, holding a no-nonsense face as she did. As soon as she was assured they were gone, she sat back down and smiled at Ryland.

"So, a soufflé, huh?" Mabel said while taking a plastic fork from the picnic basket. "I've always wanted to try Canadian food!"

"It's French," Ryland corrected.

"Oh. Even better!"

"Hang on, don't you speak some French?" Ryland realized.

"Keyword: some." She took a forkful of the soufflé and put it in her mouth. "Mmmm. Magnifique!" There was a pause as she chewed. "That's all I got today."

"Pfft…" Ryland chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell this is gonna be great."

The two broke out laughing together, which didn't go unseen by Jeff and his gnomes, who continued to stalk the two through the bushes. The more he saw the two enjoying themselves, the more jealous he got.

"She really likes this blondie, huh?" Jeff said as he stepped away from the bushes and thought.

"Maybe we could call up the rest of the colony, push the blonde into the river, and take Mabel for ourselves," Steve suggested.

"No!" Jeff refused. "That was the way of the hierarchy! We're a democracy now! As president of our colony, I say no more kidnapping!"

"How're you gonna get her then?" Carson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The old-fashioned way, boys. We're gonna win her over by appealing to her heart!" Jeff said confidently. "We're gonna outrank that blondie to the point where she'd rather be with us than with him! Instead of being vicious and demanding like before, we're going to be sweet, caring, and thoughtful!"

"UGGGGHH!" all the other gnomes groaned in unison.

"I hate democracy!" Jason shouted as he shook his head.

"Shmebulock!" Shmebulock said angrily.

"Yeah, well, your president doesn't care what any of you think!" Jeff told them bluntly. "We're doing things this way, and trust me, by the end of the day, Mabel Pines will be mine."

---

Dipper had begun to walk over to the corner where Wendy stood in the bunker. She was looking over a set of large blades and axes that were hung up along the side of the wall. She ran a finger along the wood of one of the handles, examining it.

"Hey," he said as he approached her with a concerned smile. He cleared his throat. "You, uh, doing alright?"

"Yeah, man. I'm doing great," she nodded assuringly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm just making sure you're not like... I don't know... uncomfortable being down here or anything," he said while rubbing his neck awkwardly.

She shrugged. "Eh, I'll admit it's a little unnerving. But I'm sticking my neck through it."

"Are you sure? Because I'm telling you: if you ever feel like any of this is too much for you, you can drop out at any time."

"C'mon, dude. I'm not made of glass. If I wanted to drop out, I'd have done so by now. With or without your approval," she told him bluntly.

"Oh, well... alright…"

"The fact is- I'm still here. And I don't have a real reason to turn back just yet," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "So, just trust me when I say that I'm good. I can go through with this, alright?"

Dipper gave her a sort of hesitant, yet accepting smile. "Alright."

"Are you sure you left it here?" McGucket's voice was suddenly heard from across the room.

"I'm positive, F," Ford nodded as he walked over to the center of the bunker and looked around. "I didn't go very far in when I dropped it off. I just opened the bunker up and safely placed the Destabilizer to the side in this room. You had to have placed it somewhere else around here during one of your visits throughout the years."

McGucket tapped his chin as he thought it over. "It would have had to have been in the weapons closet if I had, though. But it clearly wasn't there."

Ford turned his head to the different corners of the room where everyone stood. "Has anyone else had any luck in locating the Quantum Destabilizer?"

"No, but I totally found another one of those old-timey SMEZ dispensers," Soos said as he took out a SMEZ dispenser from his pocket for everyone to see. "It looks like you can strike treasure twice in the same hole."

He went on to dispense a piece of the SMEZ's candy into his mouth, chewing on it with great satisfaction despite the dusty taste. However, McGucket soon walked over to him and snatched the dispenser right from his hands.

"Ah, I keep misplacin' these ol' things down here," he said before stuffing the dispenser into his pocket.

"Aw," Soos said dejectedly. "Once you get past the dust, it's actually got a fruity flavor."

"Maybe that's it, F," Ford said while walking back over to McGucket. "Maybe you accidentally misplaced the Quantum Destabilizer elsewhere in the bunker. Do you suppose that could be what happened?"

McGucket stroked his beard amidst his thinking, but simply ended up frowning. "Aww, banjos and bumpersnazzles! I got nothin'! I'm tryin' my darndest to remember, but I just can't!"

Ford put an understanding hand on McGucket's shoulder. "It's okay, old friend. Maybe your memory just isn't as stable as it may seem."

"I just don't know how I could forget somethin' like this!" McGucket continued. "I remember just about everythin' else about my visits down here! How could I not remember where I put a dang death ray?"

"So if we're certain we've checked everywhere in this room, that means it's in one of the other rooms then?" Dipper asked.

"That's the only other possibility," Ford nodded. "Though, I can say that wasn't part of the initial plan."

"But, I'm guessing we have no choice..." Wendy said with a face of reluctance.

"Whatever it takes to destroy Bill and save Stan," Dipper said.

"I suppose we should get a move on then," McGucket said as he walked over to a round metal door that protruded from the wall marked with the words 'Caution: Stay Out'.

He put his cane to the side and placed his hands on the valve in the center before giving it a good turn using all his strength. There was a metallic noise as he turned, signifying that the door had been opened. He reached back for his cane with one hand and pulled the door open with the other, unveiling a circular metal tunnel into the next room.

Dipper leaned forward unenthusiastically. "Oh, great. This room."

"Which room is next?" Derrick asked.

"The security room," Ford answered, also somewhat unnerved.

Despite the fears of those who remembered the room, one by one, they had begun crawling through the tunnel. The fear was mostly generated by the close calls they had in the room from the last experience, nearly getting crushed by a bunch of blocks that were slowly pushed out from the walls. The idea of having to get through that to get into the next room wasn't particularly thrilling, no matter how exhilarating it might've been to some.

"So, just cause I still feel a little bit in the dark here…" Derrick began as he crawled through the tunnel behind everyone else. "What exactly is this security room and why does that sound incredibly ominous?"

"The security room is built to be passed right before entering the lab," McGucket explained ahead. "I based the design off an old game called Soviet Blocks."

"Oh, dude! I've played that before at the arcade!" Soos pitched in. "I can see now that you are a true man of culture. Very clever craftsmanship indeed."

"The room is designed in a way where the middle piece is a trigger for all the pieces of the room to extrude into a puzzle trap," Ford explained further. "There's a passcode one must activate to get into the next room. If you don't know it, the walls will end up slowly crushing and flattening your entire body."

Derrick's eyes were wide as he now understood the dread of his peers. "That's... hardcore…"

"Actually, Ford. I should probably let you know that I made some adjustments to the room too," McGucket informed.

"Did you now?" Ford asked, growing a little weary.

"No worries! I've improved it!" McGucket assured. "Instead of one little trigger in the center of the room, I've designed multiple triggers! And they're hidden instead of being outlined by symbols!"

"Wait, what?!" Ford asked, appalled. "Fiddleford, that sounds insane! How are any of us supposed to know the triggers?"

"That's the point!" McGucket nodded. "Those who know which ones are the triggers can walk up to the door without activating the trap! Those who don't can set off the trap, and then they gotta deal with entering the security code to get to the door! This is just so that way we lower the risk of death for any of the times we normally try to enter the lab!"

"Walk up to the door without activating the trap?" Ford asked as McGucket explained. "F, isn't the point of a security room to be-"

"And here we are!" McGucket cut off as he finally reached the end of the tunnel, crawling out and back onto his feet on a platform outside.

Everyone else soon crawled out from the tunnel as well and stepped out onto the platform. However, as they did this, a quick glance at the new security room was all they needed to fill themselves with absolute horror.

What some remembered as a smaller room designed to fit a few people had now been expanded into a drastically larger room. The surrounding walls had been expanded outward, giving for a lot more floor room. The same block pattern among the floor and walls had been retained, except with obviously more blocks. There didn't appear to be any symbols on the floor, however, and so as McGucket said, it was impossible to tell what was a trigger and what wasn't.

The gang stood on a set of blocks right beside the door that was outlined, which seemed to imply a section where one could step onto after coming from the tunnel without triggering anything. Directly across the room was a similar outline marked next to an open doorway into the observation deck. The blocks in between both outlines appeared to be the zone where the trap could actually be activated.

"Mother of…" Ford said to himself as he looked around in shock.

"Hey, Fidds? When you were making this, did the word 'overkill' ever come to mind?" Wendy asked as she continued to look on at the newly designed trap in horror.

"Oh, I get it!" Soos said. "You based this new design off of the harder difficulties of Soviet Blocks, eh? It does take a fast brain to get past those."

"Anyway, as you can see, the door into the next room is already open," McGucket pointed out. "All we gotta do now is get to the other side without setting off the trap."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Dipper asked as he cautiously looked at the blocks on the ground.

"Simple! We just gotta step on the ones that don't trigger it!" McGucket said. "Now I'm gonna need y'all fellers to line up behind me. There are quite a few of us here and I think our best way across without any risk is if y'all follow my steps across slowly. This means every step that I leave behind on a block, the person behind is going to take that step. We watch every step slowly and carefully without making any wrong moves and we're golden!"

"Fiddleford, wait!" Ford halted. "I'm not sure this is a good idea. I mean, do you even remember which blocks are the ones that won't set off the trap? I don't mean to be critical, but you've already proven once today that your memory may not be the most reliable. Going across this trap could be asking for even more trouble than it's worth."

"Look, I know I couldn't remember where I might've placed the Destabilizer, but I've been down here and across this trap enough times to where it's stuck to the back of my head. I know it might be hard to trust me, but I'm asking you to just this one time. I'm confident that if y'all follow my steps, there won't be any risk."

Ford sighed, remaining hesitant. He's had his own close calls with the security room before and the idea of getting trapped in a revamped version that he wasn't as familiar with unsettled him. He hated that his trust in Fiddleford's memory had lessened up to the point where he wasn't sure whether they should even continue. Not that they had gotten far, but he had hoped for a general experience that was slightly less frustrating than what it actually was.

Nonetheless, Fiddleford was his friend, and a trusted one despite his flawed memory. And they had to locate the Quantum Destabilizer for Stan, or else they would have to go back to the drawing board for different ideas on how to get rid of Bill, which he'd rather not do as long as they already had a solid idea in their hands.

"Alright," Ford accepted as he turned to the others. "Everybody, get in line behind Fiddleford."

Some reluctant looks were exchanged, but everyone did just as followed and began to get in line. Ford took place right behind McGucket, followed by Dipper, Wendy, Soos, and lastly, Derrick.

"Alright, y'all," McGucket announced before making his first step. "Watch the feet of the person in front of ya and just follow where they stand. We'll try to get through this as quickly as possible while also being as careful as possible."

"We are so going to die," Derrick said to himself under his breath, having little-to-no hope for the building situation.

"Easy does it," McGucket said as he began walking slowly across the blocks beyond the outline.

As they all walked, Ford failed to see how what they were doing could be taken as any sort of improvement to the room. The additional concept to him seemed more like a gimmick that could easily be bypassed should they be dealing with someone with floating or flight traits. A person who could hover above the ground could easily hover to the open door on the other side of the room and do whatever they pleased. The idea seemed to just bypass the entire concept behind the security room, which should be treated like a key or passcode to get into a building rather than giving one the choice to go around it.

For all the things he wanted to say at that moment, he knew to voice his criticisms once they weren't at risk of activating the room. Still, he wondered how Fiddleford came up with these ideas and how he viewed them as "improvements". Could it be his old age? Was he becoming too feeble for the demanding tasks that came with handling an underground lab and bomb shelter? There had to have been some appropriate reasoning for the changes he made.

As the six slowly walked along, however, Soos came to a sudden stop on two safe blocks. Not expecting his sudden freeze, Derrick found himself bumping straight into Soos' back, to which he had to quickly rebalance himself on the safe blocks that he stood on before, preventing himself from falling backward and setting the room off.

"Uh, Soos, is it?" Derrick asked. "You gotta keep moving, man."

Dipper turned his head back to Soos and gave him a weird look. Soos himself also held an odd expression, as his mouth hung open slightly and his face scrunched up.

"Soos, are you okay?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

Wendy then turned her head back to Soos as he stood right behind her. As she caught a glance at his face, her eyes bulged. She immediately recognized that face.

"Aw, crap! He's gonna sneeze!" she shouted.

"Wait, what?" Ford asked as he and McGucket both turned their heads back to look over at Soos.

"AaaaaAAAAaaaa…" Soos began to wail as he felt his itching nose starting to get the better of him. It was clear that a big one was coming and coming from a sizable guy like him, it was gonna be near-impossible not to make any sudden movements.

"Soos, no! Don't!" Dipper tried to tell him.

"Hold it in, Soos!" Wendy shouted at him. "If you sneeze and trip, we're screwed!"

"I'm... trying... dudes…!" Soos said as he tried to plug his nose up with his fingers. "Trying... so... hard!"

"Quick! Somebody say something absurd!" Ford suggested. "Maybe it can trick his brain into dropping the sneeze as he tries to process what you say!"

"Uh... something absurd!" Derrick repeated. "Maybe it can trick his brain into dropping the sneeze... oh, wow, I'm an idiot."

"AaaaaAAAAAA…!"

"Uh... Soos, I've been stealing candy from the vending machine at work, and I have a key to the Mystery Shack that you don't know about!" Wendy hastily confessed.

"Soos, gaming consoles are better than gaming PCs!" Dipper also stated bluntly.

"AAAAAAAA... woah, woah, woah!" Soos said, his urge to sneeze immediately disappearing. "First of all, no, they are not!" He shook his head at Dipper before turning to Wendy and raising an eyebrow. "And second, do you really?"

"Pfft! Of course not, man!" Wendy brushed aside with an innocent smile. "Was just saying something crazy to help get your mind off the sneeze! And you see? It worked!"

"Oh, yeah! It did work!" Soos realized as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Phew! Thanks, guys! Man, how bad would that have been if I had fallen back and set off the trap-"

Splat.

Everyone's eyes immediately glanced from Soos right down below to the floor beside him, where his lunch bag packed by Melody sat on an empty block after falling from his back pocket. Everyone's eyes bulged in horror as they soon turned back up to Soos, who stood motionless.

After a brief silence of shock, everyone had come to realize that nothing had actually been triggered by the bag. Eyes glanced around, waiting for something to happen. But as time continued to go by, the room remained motionless.

"Wow, talk about two close calls in a row," Soos humorously broke the silence as he leaned down to pick up his lunch bag. "What a cartoonish thing that would've been if that had triggered the room, huh?"

As soon as he stuffed his lunch back into his pocket, without any warning, his nose betrayed him again.

"AAAACHOOOOOOOO!" Soos sneezed suddenly and violently, sending him flying back a few steps into Derrick and falling on top of him backward onto the floor.

"NO!" Ford shouted, reaching his hand out desperately.

It was already too late, as the near-immediate impact of the bodies slamming against the ground had triggered more than enough blocks. At that moment, the door leading into the tunnel behind them had automatically shut and tightened, as well as the door leading into the observation room.

"Oops," Soos said as he lay on the ground, realizing his mistake.

"Get off of me!" Derrick demanded from under Soos' crushing weight.

"Ah! Sorry, dude!" Soos said as he immediately jumped back to his feet and helped Derrick back up.

The entire room suddenly shook, which threw everyone off balance for a moment. Knowing what was about to happen next, everyone looked around fearfully.

"That did it," McGucket said simply.

Random blocks in the walls, floor, and ceiling began to glow red, unveiling various symbols and images. Right after, various blocks began to stick out and slowly protrude into the room.

"Great Uncle Ford...? McGucket…?" Dipper called out, hoping either of them had the solution to the situation.

Ford patted himself down, expecting to find his journal to find the security code. However, he quickly remembered he no longer had the journals in his possession.

"Oh no! I don't remember the code!" Ford exclaimed anxiously. "I had written the code down in my journal! I don't have my journal anymore!"

"Calm down, Ford!" McGucket said. "Don't worry! I redid the code too!"

"You what?!" Ford questioned aggravatedly.

"It's fine! I remember it!" McGucket said as he turned his head toward the others. "Everybody listen up! We clearly don't have a lot of time here, so we need to move quick! There are five symbols throughout this room that we need to find and push in order to get outta here! The images we need to find are a taco, a monkey, a banjo, a fedora, and a soldier riding a dolphin!"

Ford stared at McGucket in silence for a second. "Wait, what the f-"

"Find those and we should be good to go!" McGucket cut off.

"FIDDLEFORD!" Ford shouted, placing both his hands on his shoulders while giving him a stern look. "WHY would you change a code using abstract ciphers and symbols into a code that uses random images that make no sense and have no correlation whatsoever?!"

"It's just easier to remember this way," McGucket casually said with an innocent shrug.

"EASIER TO REMEMBER?!" Ford shouted.

"Is now really a good time to be arguing over this?!" Wendy asked as she visibly searched the room for the images McGucket had mentioned.

"She's right," McGucket nodded. "Ford, I understand you're not pleased with my decision-makin' with this bunker, but right now, we need to find these buttons, or else we're all gonna get crushed!"

Ford held his frustrated glare upon McGucket for a moment, still remaining completely flabbergasted at his reasoning for the design changes. Though he was willing to brush them aside for the sake of their own well-being at that moment. Trying to keep the images that were mentioned in mind, everyone looked around at the various glowing blocks that shifted throughout the room.

Soos glanced down at the floor and his eyes immediately caught sight of a glowing red taco among one of the blocks in the wall. He quickly jumped over to it and pressed it in with his hand.

"Got the taco, dudes!"

Not too long after, Dipper noticed the picture of the monkey right beside him and pressed it in.

"Got the... uh... monkey…" he said, somewhat put off by the image.

"Banjo activated!" Ford said just as he found the banjo on a ceiling block and jumped up to press it in.

Derrick then ran over to a wall where he pushed in the fedora on a block. "I got the fedora! By internet standards, does that make me an asshole?"

"That's it! All that's left is the soldier riding a dolphin!" McGucket said as he looked around. "If I remember correctly, it should be... THERE!"

He pointed up at a corner across the room on a wall near the ceiling where the glowing red soldier riding a dolphin image was among a block. Many blocks were moving around it, with one block close to covering it up and preventing access to it.

"I got it!" Wendy said as she sprinted her way to the corner of the room.

"Careful, Wendy!" Dipper called out worriedly to her, looking ahead at the tightening space she was jumping into.

She kept her eyes focused on the image, making sure that despite the many glowing blocks surrounding it, she knew which one she was aiming for. She began hopping on top of the blocks as they rose from the ground, making sure she would be able to reach for the elevated block. However, at that point, a slowly ascending block had gotten too close to the ceiling to allow for her full body to reach through and push the button.

Realizing she had no other choice, she simply jumped forward into the narrow space, barely managing to latch on. Her legs hung out from the space as she held on as tightly as she could to the rising block. One quick look above told her that she had a very limited amount of time to hit the image before she was crushed.

She glanced back into the space and at the image. She continued to try and propel herself further in so she could reach an arm out for it.

Everyone else stood back and witnessed her attempt, growing very anxious as the block continued to get closer and closer to crushing her against the ceiling.

"She's gonna get crushed!" Dipper shouted, beginning to panic. "McGucket, is there no other way around this?"

"I'm afraid not," he shook his head anxiously. "If she can't reach that last button, then we're all gonna get crushified... I mean... crushed."

"Not on my watch!" Ford shouted with a look of determination. He proceeded to stick his wrist out, aiming Meridian at the wall where the door to the next room was. "Stand back, everyone!"

At that moment, he fired out a tiny pellet that flew its way toward the surface of the wall. Upon impact, it exploded, which caused the room to shake. But the explosion had no impact, and all the blocks continued to move around normally and without any notable impact on the door. The shaking of the room caught everyone off balance yet again for a moment, including Wendy, who fell back slightly on her progress of climbing up.

"Not a scratch!" Ford realized as he looked at the explosion's aftermath.

"Have you forgotten? This trap is designed to be inescapable! No small explosion like that is gonna tear through reinforced steel!" McGucket reminded.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" Wendy called out to Ford as she tried to climb back up into the button's space, giving him a distasteful look. "I don't know about you, but I kind of don't wanna die here!"

"Apologies!" Ford called back with a guilty smile.

Dipper glanced back at Wendy and began to shake nervously. The gap between her and the ceiling was so tight now that he was unsure she'd even have a chance at getting herself out if she didn't push the button within the next few seconds.

"C'mon, Wendy..." Soos said nervously as he took off his hat and wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead. "You got this, dawg."

Wendy could feel the bill of her hat beginning to touch the ceiling. She tilted her head to the side to allow for a little more space as she stretched her arm out as far as she possibly could for the button.

"C'mon... c'mon!"

She tried to push her entire body just a little bit more forward to get even closer to the button. At that point, with her body so far in and the ceiling already making contact with the side of her head, she slowly began to accept her fate as she ran out of breathing room. It was either her or everybody, and she had already come far enough.

"WENDY!" Dipper cried out desperately, his eyes watering up.

The tips of her fingers finally made contact with the button and she started to feel her entire body feel the pressure of getting pushed against the ceiling. With the slightest bit of force she had left in her to give, she pressed the image in and shut her eyes tightly in preparation for the end.

BZZZ!

A buzzer suddenly blared through the room. At the same time, every single moving block came to an immediate stop. Everyone except McGucket stood frozen for a moment, trying to process their surroundings.

Wendy opened one of her tearful eyes in confusion, still unable to move due to her being jammed between the ceiling and the block below. The tight pressure was incredibly uncomfortable and painful to her skull, and she wondered why she wasn't dead yet.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A sound similar to a large truck backing up blared just as every single block in the room started to retract backward from where they initially protruded. Blocks began to return back into their spaces within the walls, floor, and ceiling. At the same time, both the door from the previous room and the door into the observation deck had reopened.

McGucket smiled. "Ya see? Now there's an improvement! Now the blocks retract when all the buttons are pressed! If this were the ol' bunker, your friend would be as flat as pancake!"

"Fiddleford, I go back to my earlier statement. This is insane," Ford said simply, nearly at a loss for words.

He no longer had the mental capability at that moment to scold his friend for his design choices. He didn't want to argue anymore. He just wanted to find the Quantum Destabilizer and get out of there.

The sudden retracting allowed Wendy to slip out of her space, sending her flat on her bottom on another block that began to slowly descend back into the floor.

"WENDY!" Dipper shouted as he and everybody else ran up to her sinking block. Just as the block completed retracting into the floor, he hugged her tightly. "Thank God! I thought you were screwed back there for a second!"

He pulled away and looked at her, his gleeful smile for her survival disappearing as soon as he saw the scarred look drawn across her face. She stared straight forward, not even at him or anyone else. Aside from blinking, she made no effort to move either, not even hugging him back.

"W-Wendy?" Dipper stuttered worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I dunno, dude," Soos chimed in as he looked on at her. "To me, that face looks like the exact opposite of okay."

Ford gestured for Dipper to step aside before kneeling in front of her and looking at her for himself. He raised a concerned eyebrow as he looked on at who he knew to be Manly Dan's daughter, fearing for whatever the situation had brought her. Waving a hand in front of her face, he asked, "Wendy? Can you hear us?"

It took a moment, but she shook her head quickly, knocking herself out of her daze. She gently pushed his hand away from her face.

"I-I'm... I'm good…" she told him before standing back up on her feet. "I just... I need to catch my breath..."

Without looking at anyone else, she made her way onto the observation deck by herself, leaving the others to watch her in concern.

"Poor girl. That whole experience seems to have done a number on her," Ford said as he shook his head sympathetically. "It's going to be hell having to explain things to Dan should it come to that."

"Dammit! This is all my fault," Dipper said as he tugged down on the ears of his hat guiltily. "She was already scared enough coming back here in the first place! I invited her along again, and now she's gonna have this place scarred in her mind forever! God, she's so gonna hate me..."

"Don't be like that, dude," Soos told him. "I'm sure Wendy thinks you mean well inviting her along. She wouldn't pin this on you."

"And with all these changes to the bunker, I think it's safe to say that most of us didn't know what we were getting into here," Ford added as he gave McGucket a quick glance. "Therefore, you shouldn't pin this on yourself either."

McGucket had caught Ford's glance and let out a guilty sigh. "I'm sorry, Stanford. Maybe I did go too far with some of these ideas after all. I guess despite how much my memory has come back, I still haven't entirely gotten rid of the crazy Ol' Man McGucket inside me, letting it bleed into my own work. And that'll probably be a part of me that'll always stick no matter what."

Ford looked on at McGucket and noticed the guilty sincerity in his eyes. Despite his former frustrations, he found it impossible for him to scold McGucket for incompetency after all the things he knew he had been through. His mind had gone to a terrible place years ago, and while it had been getting significantly better, that didn't change the fact that at one point, it had been heavily damaged.

Damage that he still faulted himself for.

"Look, Fiddleford, you already know I'm not too pleased with a majority of these redesigns," Ford said before smiling. "But now that I'm here, I do think that we should work together again to make this place into something that's truly sufficient and convenient for the both of us."

McGucket smiled, grateful that he wasn't mad. "I think so too."

After a brief moment, he looked around the room and came to a quick realization of where they still stood.

"Uh, I don't mean to sound ungrateful about the current matters, but we should all be getting a move on now," he said as he gestured for the doorway with his cane. "This room only shuts off for a few minutes after all the buttons are pressed. The last thing we wanna do is reactivate this thing."

"Good point," Ford agreed with a nod.

"C'mon, y'all. Let's find that gun," McGucket said as he led Ford and the others out of the security room and onto the observation deck. As he walked out, he immediately began making his way across the deck over to the door leading into the decontamination chamber. "I'll admit, I haven't been tinkerin' much here on the deck. If there's any place I could've put that weapon, it's gotta be somewhere out in the lab. Perhaps, I had taken it out there for chemical testing and such like we used to do with all our weapons. I don't remember doing so with this one, but it'd be the most plausible location if it wasn't up in the cache."

"It's definitely worth checking out then," Ford said as he followed, glancing over his shoulder behind him at the others following. "Alright, everybody. One by one through the decontaminator now."

"Oh, boy! I loved this thing!" Soos shouted enthusiastically as he recalled the chamber, quickly running ahead of everyone else to go inside. "Me first!"

"Erm, I'm not sure I understand how you find enjoyment in this, but, uh, as you wish," Ford said as he shut the door with Soos inside. "Just pull on the cord hanging from the ceiling and-"

BEEP!

WSSHH!

"WOO-HOO-HOOOOO!" Soos cheered inside as the sounds of the chamber's showers and driers were heard taking effect.

"Seriously, I think that's a man worth studying one of these days," Ford said while glancing over at McGucket.

"We always got spare coolin' chambers for freezin' if needed," McGucket said with a shrug.

Dipper's attention was suddenly distracted as he looked around and realized Wendy wasn't standing along with them. Instead, he caught her sitting on the ground against a wall by one of the computers.

She had her knees upward and laid her arms on them while resting her head on top. Her eyes stared off to the side, not paying attention to what he or any of the other boys were doing. Her face didn't hold the same expression as it did immediately after her experience in the security room and instead held a more crestfallen one.

Ford told him not to blame himself, but it was hard not to as he continued to look at her in her current state. It was completely unlike any look he had ever seen from her before.

"Trust me, dude," Derrick said as he walked up beside him, catching him looking at her. "She'll be fine as long as you give her some room. I mean, that's all I had needed."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at this comment. "What do you mean that's all you…?"

He had turned to look at Derrick, but he didn't stick around. Instead, he had walked over to the decontamination chamber and stepped inside with Ford closing it right after him. He wasn't sure what to make of what he had said, but it didn't really lower his concern for Wendy.

After Derrick had gone through, Ford opened the chamber back up and glanced over at him. "Dipper? You coming?"

Dipper hesitated for a moment. "I'll... I'll be right there."

"Very well then," Ford accepted as he stepped inside the chamber himself, preparing to close the door behind him. "We won't go too far."

He shut the chamber door and initiated the decontamination process for himself, leaving Dipper alone on the observation deck with Wendy.

Dipper turned back over to her, fiddling with his hands awkwardly as he tried to come up with something to say. "Are you... coming with us?"

She sat silently and didn't look up at him. He was able to catch her eyes looking further down instead.

"I'll catch up," she softly replied.

He figured, and almost immediately regretted asking the question too.

She almost got crushed to death a few minutes ago, and you're asking her if she's ready to spring back into action again? What's wrong with you?!

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself back here?"

She didn't answer right away and continued to refuse eye contact, still staring off to the side. "I'll be fine, man. I just- Give me a minute, would you?"

Dipper stared at her guiltily as she just sat there, continuing to look away from him. He knew it was perfectly justified though, and let the guilt eat him up. Lowering his head, he turned away and walked over to the decontamination chamber, opening it up and stepping inside.

"I'm sorry…" he told her finally before shutting the chamber door behind him, leaving her alone.

There, she continued to just keep her head rested among her arms, staring over to the side as she continued to try and just process everything that had just happened.

---

Mabel's date with Ryland wasn't going too great. It wasn't because they were having problems with one another. They actually enjoyed each other's company quite well.

The company they didn't enjoy was Jeff's.

Throughout the date, Jeff and his gnomes had constantly returned in various different attempts to try and woo Mabel. However, she thought they came off more as pestering than endearing. Especially considering how dimwitted their attempts were.

Ryland had begun telling her a story as they ate his mother's soufflé. It was something about him and his brother growing up and she'd paid as close attention as possible as he told it. Even then, she couldn't help but gaze into his eyes, which naturally made her tune out the story.

What immediately snapped her out of it was noticing the sudden appearance of a giant gnome monster made of assimilated gnomes behind her view of Ryland. They both turned to look up at the monster, noticing Jeff at the very top of it. In the hand of the monster was a tree, which they offered to Mabel like a bouquet of flowers. Jeff had said it was to replace the ones that Shmebulock ate and claimed it was even better than the ones Ryland had brought.

Before either she or Ryland could say anything, a mother bird that had nested within the tree they held flew out and started to attack Jeff. This caused him to freak out and order the gnomes to run. In response, the gnome monster dropped the tree and ran off into the forest, with the bird continuing to attack Jeff as they did.

That wasn't the last of them, as they returned a little later. This time, without the form of the giant gnome monster. Instead, Jeff came with a small pack of gnomes, and he approached Mabel with a poem in hand that he claimed to have written himself-

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I promise this time,

I won't kidnap you.

Jeff stopped right after, as he became disgusted by the breadcrumbs that were all over his paper, much to Shmebulock's guilt. He started to berate him, but it didn't last long, as another bird started attacking Jeff because of the breadcrumbs. This resulted in him and the gnomes running off and retreating yet again, leaving Mabel still unimpressed.

They came back once again just a little while after though. This time, they quickly put together a set of cardboard boxes with a hole poked through. Once it was set up, they began to put on a puppet show, much to Mabel's further annoyance after her last experience with puppets.

The show went on for a little bit, with Jeff and his gnomes telling a convoluted story about a girl falling in love with a gnome. The story essentially went on to paint Jeff's character as some amazing, perfect gnome worthy of being loved by a human, but Mabel wasn't buying any of it for a second and only continued to grow more irritated the longer the show went on.

That was when Ryland had an idea and grabbed ahold of his soufflé dish, which was empty at that point except for a bunch of crumbs at the bottom. With a quick swipe, he pitched the crumbs from the dish into the cardboard stage the gnomes had set up, getting all over the gnomes inside, including Jeff.

Within a few seconds, Jeff and the other gnomes inside had quickly burst out from the cardboard in disgust and began to retreat once again. At the same time they retreated, they were attacked by a bunch of birds interested in the crumbs that were covered in. Mabel and Ryland simply laughed together as they watched the whole thing unfold, with Mabel giving him an admiring look for his clever thinking.

---

"I don't get it!" Jeff shouted frustratedly as his bird wounds were patched up by a gnome nurse inside a medical tree stump. "Why isn't anything we're doing working?"

"Maybe she's just not looking to go out with a gnome, Jeff," Steve said as he received bandages from another gnome nurse.

"But I'm the dang president!" Jeff exclaimed. "I got rid of the monarchy for her! Now I try to actually appeal to her heart and instead, she laughs when we get pecked by birds?!"

"Maybe we should just go back to the old-fashioned way and kidnap her," Carson suggested. "It worked a whole lot better than whatever we're trying to do now."

"Yeah, also, this presidential system sucks," Jason claimed, his eyes still bandaged up. "We need a queen! Bring back the monarchy!"

"Yeah!"

"Queen!"

"Kidnap the girl!"

"No more president!"

"Shmebulock!"

"NO KIDNAPPING!" Jeff barked at all his rebelling gnomes. "We're not going back to those ways! We are sticking to our guns, and we're going to win over Mabel the right way! The presidential way!"

"You mean, the stupid way?" Carson said out of annoyance.

"YOU'RE STUPID!" Jeff pointed angrily.

"NO, YOU'RE STUPID!" Carson pointed back.

"ALL OF YOU GUYS ARE STUPID!" Steve jumped in.

"SHMEBULOCK!" Shmebulock also chimed in.

"You watching this?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm watching!"

The gnomes shifted their attention from their intensifying argument to the voices they heard outside the stump coming from Ryland and Mabel. The gnomes glanced around at one another real quick before simultaneously agreeing to go check out what was happening.

They stepped out from the medical stump, cautiously keeping an eye out for any more birds. As they walked along, they put their heads through the bushes and looked around.

Soon, they spotted Mabel sitting along the rocks by the river, her feet dipping in the flowing water. She looked up above at the waterfall, where Ryland stood stripped down to his swimming trunks. He looked down from the waterfall, mentally measuring the height.

"Is that too high for you, tough guy?" Mabel called out to him teasingly.

"Nah!" Ryland shook his head. "More like not high enough!"

From the bushes, Jeff was met with an idea. He glanced around at his fellow gnomes and smiled. "Boys, I have a plan…"

---

Ryland glanced back at a set of rocks further up the river and noticed a slightly red patch on a rock that he recognized.

"Hey, I think I still see a blood stain from when I crashed here!"

"Woah, nice! Send me a picture of it!" Mabel called back up to him. "I wanna save it for my scrapbook!"

"I'll come back for it later," Ryland said as he walked back up to the edge of the waterfall, preparing himself. "For now… WOOHOOOO!"

He jumped from the top of the waterfall and dove down feet first into the river below.

SPLASH!

His body plunged through the water with his feet taking the main impact. Mabel giggled with amusement as droplets from the splash hit her despite shielding herself with her arms. Soon, she watched as Ryland's head emerged from the water with a wide, adrenaline-filled smile on his face as he looked back over at her.

"Told you I could do it!" he shouted as began swimming back over to her.

"I don't know... I didn't see a flip…" Mabel said, smiling daringly back at him.

"Right, well, if there's anything that I've learned about first dates, it's not to risk getting yourself killed." He climbed back onto land and shook his head, flicking some of the water out of his long hair. "The second date though? That's when all bets are off."

"Consider my expectations high. That jump, though? I'm not sure if I'd say the same…"

"Hey, if you think you can do better, then be my guest," he said while gesturing over to the waterfall.

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like to see that," Mabel said, giving him a playful smirk that made his face redden slightly. "But if there's anything that I've learned about first dates, it's not to risk ruining a good outfit. Second date though? Hmm..."

"I guess we'll cross that line when we come to it," Ryland chuckled as he grabbed his shirt and put it back on.

"I guess so," Mabel nodded with a playfully sassy hair flip. "But, jokes aside, that really was impressive."

"Thanks," he said as he sat down beside her on the rocks. "I've fallen into this river twice, and that was the first time it was actually intentional!"

Mabel chuckled. "Well, it was sure bold of you for willing to try something that crazy."

"But was it bold enough?!"

The two both looked up at the waterfall and spotted Jeff and a few gnomes behind him. He stood wearing his own blue swim trunks, looking down at the two.

"Ugh! Not you again!" Mabel groaned annoyedly.

"Dude, seriously, this is starting to get old," Ryland called out to him with a tired look.

"Well, your face is getting old!" Jeff jeered.

"Oh yeah? Well... so's yours!" Ryland shot back. He glanced at Mabel with uncertainty. "Was that good?"

She shrugged. "Meh. Points for being cute at least."

"Ha! You hear that, gnome? I'm cute, and you're not!" Ryland called back out to Jeff.

"That one was better," Mabel nodded. "And factually correct!"

"Well, hardy-har-har! Real funny!" Jeff mocked, growing frustrated.

"Jeff, what's it gonna take for you to just leave me alone?" Mabel asked. "I'm never going to go out with you!"

"Mabel, I know our rocky past has left a stain on our relationship," Jeff began. "But I want you to know that I'm here to make things right! We want to please you and your heart, so we're not going to kidnap you!"

"Look, if we're being honest, I've been past the kidnapping stuff already," Mabel admitted. "The only 'stain' in our 'relationship' is the obvious fact that I'm human and... YOU'RE A BUNCH OF GNOMES!"

"We may be just a bunch of gnomes… but we're a bunch of gnomes with heart, pride, and skill!" Jeff declared while raising a fist in the air. "Which is why I'm challenging the blondie's dive!"

Ryland stared blankly at Jeff for a moment. "...what?"

"That's right!" Jeff nodded. "You wanted to see a flip, Mabel? Well, you're going to see a flip, alright! And that'll prove that we're the superior choice for a boyfriend!"

Mabel and Ryland just stared blankly at Jeff. Ryland had absolutely no idea how to feel and debated in his head whether or not he should truly feel challenged or not.

"I'm so sorry about all of this," Mabel said as she turned to Ryland, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Anyways, Mabel," Jeff said as he walked up to the edge of the waterfall, preparing to make his dive. "Let me show you how it's... d-d-done..."

One look straight down from the top of the waterfall was all it took to make Jeff feel uneasy. While mentally measuring the height, he nervously gulped and began to feel reluctant to go through with his plan.

"I can't do this," he said quietly as he stared straight down.

"What?" Carson asked from beside him, unable to hear.

"I said, I can't do this!" Jeff repeated anxiously. "This is way too high for a gnome! We need to rethink this!"

"You made all of us climb up here to give you support, and NOW you're telling us this was a bad idea?" Steve questioned, growing annoyed. "Which means we came up here for nothing?"

"Yeah, sure! Whatever!" Jeff nodded frantically as he began to shake. "Who cares if you came for nothing? I'm your president! You guys are supposed to do everything I command you to do anyway! So stop acting like a bunch of babies!"

"Grrrr… SHMEBULOCK!" Shmebulock shouted angrily as he walked up to Jeff.

With zero hesitation, he went ahead and shoved Jeff off the edge, sending him plummeting down the waterfall as he began to scream for his life.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

SPLAT!

Jeff landed flat on his front side on the water, barely leaving much of a splash. He floated along the river with his arms and legs spread out, appearing as though the fall had knocked him out.

"OHHH!" Mabel and Ryland simultaneously winced at Jeff's flat landing.

Back at the top of the waterfall, Carson, Jason, and Steve stood by giving disturbed looks to Shmebulock, who stood by the edge innocently.

"Look, Shmebulock, I thought about doing the same," Carson admitted as he and the other gnomes on standby looked over at him. "But here's the thing: I thought about it. I didn't actually do it. Whether we like it or not, the guy is still in charge. If he's dead, you'll have assassinated our first gnome president. What's going to happen to you then, huh? Think about it."

"Shmebulock…" Shmebulock moped dejectedly.

Mabel and Ryland continued to watch as Jeff's body floated along the river, eventually washing up on top of the rocks along the edge. Still, he lay there motionless, and it was unknown to them whether he was even conscious or not.

"Is he dead?" Ryland asked, actually feeling a certain level of concern as he looked on at the motionless body.

At that moment, however, another bird landed on Jeff and started pecking violently at his head.

"OW! OW! OW!" Jeff screamed painfully, suddenly jumping off the rocks and starting to run around in circles as the bird chased him.

"Nah, he's fine!" Mabel said with an amused smirk.

The two then burst out laughing as they watched Jeff get chased around by the bird. While they held some concern for him previously, knowing that he was still alive and appeared mostly alright mended that for them. The coincidental timing of the bird's return only added to their amusement.

But Jeff was far from amused. Just as he managed to shoo the bird away, he focused his attention back on the laughing couple. Seeing the amusement in Mabel's eyes already stung enough, but seeing Ryland laughing put him way over the line. So far over the line that he could feel his face burning with anger as he finally had enough of the nonsense. He tried to play nice, but it clearly wasn't working.

And now, he had finally run out of patience.

"THAT'S IT!" he shouted angrily, his voice loud enough to echo throughout the forest, garnering the attention of the gnomes up above as well as the attention of Mabel and Ryland. "I'm done playing nice! You think this is funny?! Well, we'll see who's laughing after this!" He turned back to the forest and cupped his hands around his mouth. "GNOMES OF THE FOREST... ASSEMBLE!"

His words echoed throughout the forest once again, garnering smiles from the gnomes at the top of the waterfall.

"Finally! Back in business!" Steve exclaimed happily as he and the other gnomes began to quickly make their way back down to him.

At the same time, several other gnomes from all parts of the forest began making their way through the bushes to meet him. Soon enough, hundreds of gnomes were seen assembling with Jeff to form the giant gnome monster once again, leaving Mabel and Ryland to watch in curiosity, but not so much fear.

"MABEL PINES!" Jeff shouted as he stood at the top of the newly assimilated gnome monster, standing right before the two.

"Oh, what now? Are you gonna try to pick me another tree?" Mabel asked with a mocking voice.

"Actually, this time, we're gonna pick YOU!"

"Pick me... a what?" Mabel asked, confused. Suddenly, the assimilated gnome leaned down and picked her up in its giant assimilated fist. "Hey! HEY!"

"Woah! What the hell?!" Ryland asked as he was also picked up by the giant gnome in the other fist. "What gives?!"

"I tried to appeal to your heart, Mabel. But you laughed in my face!" Jeff began as the monster lifted its hand up to him. "I tried to be sweet and prove to you that I, as a gnome, have changed!"

"And what is this proving? That you're still the same?" Mabel asked as she tried to struggle her way out of the giant gnome's hand while also feeling uncomfortable at the fact she was essentially covered in a bunch of little gnomes. "You said you weren't going to kidnap me this time! You even wrote it in your poem!"

"Ha! Jokes on you! I didn't even write that poem!" Jeff admitted. "I just ripped out a few pages from Shmebulock's poetry book collection! The guy's actually not a bad poet!"

"Shmebulock!" Shmebulock nodded from below with a smile.

"Am I supposed to be impressed here?" Mabel asked.

"I've been trying all day to impress you! But all you've done is push me away!"

"Look, man..." Ryland chimed in. "I don't know if you were listening earlier, but she's kind of on a date with me, so-"

"SHUT UP!"

"Okay."

"You see, Jeff? That's just what I mean!" Mabel said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Aside from the fact that dating a gnome would be a whole new low for me, you're just a jerk! A stubborn, selfish jerk! One who can't take a hint from a girl who doesn't want to go out with him! If you truly cared about appealing to me and my heart, you'd leave me alone and get it through that fat gnome head of yours that I will never, EVER be with you! But as you are right now, neither you nor any of your gnome friends know a thing about love and never will!"

Jeff took in her scolding and stared at her silently for a moment.

"Never, huh?" he asked. "Well, then... why learn something new when we could stick to what we already know best?" With a sinister grin, he pointed off in a direction within the forest. "TAKE THEM AWAY!"

"AAAAAAHHH!" the two screamed fearfully as the gnome monster started walking off through the forest with both of them in hand.

---

"Now I know the changes I've made to the bunker so far don't have the best reception," McGucket said as he walked alongside Ford and the others into the lab. "But here's a change that's objectively more intuitive." He stopped walking and pointed out a set of tubes installed to the side. "Behold! The updated coolin' chamber!"

Ford walked up to one of the cooling system tubes for closer examination, surprised to find himself actually impressed. "Intriguing. I actually do admire the new design you've given it. But what exactly did you update otherwise?"

"I've redesigned the workings of the liquid nitrogen vessels for more intricate freezing methods," McGucket explained. "The rewired connection allows for faster freezing over a longer time span, as well as an emergency procedure that uses water for freezing as a backup in case the nitrogen core goes on lockdown. As long as the wire is attached to any source of water, it'll begin a quick freezing process. Of course, the process isn't as reliable as liquid nitrogen, but it is an emergency procedure after all."

"Impressive. A very welcome modification, indeed, Fiddleford," Ford said with a smile as he looked around at the system, acknowledging a few of the already frozen tubes containing certain creatures. "I see you've also held onto some of the old specimens while I was gone."

Derrick looked around at the bunker specimens, one of which included a burgundy-skinned creature with a green flannel and a face comprising a large mouth. There was a label attached to the tube that read "Mr. What's-His-Face".

"Does this guy even have a face?" Derrick asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know. To me, that looks like more teeth than face."

"I'm just glad that we don't have to see the Shapeshifter again," Dipper said as he looked around at the tubes, unable to find a sign of the Shifter in any sort of frozen form. Not even the last one he saw him as, that being himself back when he was twelve. "At the very least, we can thank McGucket for ridding us of him."

"Yup. Shifty's been long gone," McGucket nodded as he scratched his head. "At least, as far as I can remember. I don't ever recall seeing him turn up around here in any of my prior visits."

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're the one who got rid of him, weren't you?"

"I never claimed to have gotten rid of him," McGucket clarified. "I just said that he was gone. I haven't seen that ol' scare for over thirty years at this point."

"But... how can that be?" Dipper asked, growing confused. "When we were here four years ago, we froze him in one of these tubes after all the time he had been loose before. You never came down here, found him frozen, and then dealt with him?"

"Nope," McGucket shook his head. "I never found Shifty frozen at all. I just came down here four years ago and freed you when you were frozen in the chamber. Remember?"

Dipper's heart sank at that moment as he immediately recognized what McGucket may have been talking about. "W-what?"

"Wait... Dipper? You were trapped in the cooling chamber?" Ford asked.

"Dipper wasn't frozen," Soos chimed in. "McGucket's probably talking about the Shapeshifter when he shifted into Dipper after we fought him. That was right before he went all 'AHHHHHH' on Dipper before getting frozen."

There was a moment of silence before he realized what it all added up to.

"Oh... I just... I just figured that out... oh, we are so in trouble…"

"You mean…" Ford began, his eye twitching in horror as he turned to McGucket. "F, you freed the Shapeshifter?!"

"What?! I-I didn't know it was the Shapeshifter!" McGucket defended. "I thought it was Dipper! It looked just like him, and I thought he came down here and had an accident or somethin'!"

"Where did he go after you freed him?" Dipper asked, growing more and more paranoid by the minute.

"You... I mean... he just said he was gonna get outta here and go back home! He ran out of the lab, and I never saw him again!" McGucket claimed as he tried to remember the incident. "Well, I saw you again... but I didn't see the Shifter! Ah, I don't think I rightly know! But I didn't see him actually leave the bunker though!"

"So the Shapeshifter could be out of the bunker and loose in the world?" Soos asked, growing concerned.

"Or maybe he's still in here waiting after all these years to try and kill us!" Dipper fearfully suggested.

"Everybody calm down!" Ford shouted. "There's reason for concern, but let's not jump to any immediate conclusions! It's been four years after all. As long as we're here in the bunker, we need to keep a keen eye out for any signs of the Shifter's presence. That and the heavy importance of sticking together."

"Sticking together. Right," Dipper agreed.

Right at that moment though, there was a series of beeping sounds heard, as if buttons were being pressed. A glance to the side and Dipper spotted Derrick standing next to a large central control panel in the lab. He appeared to be looking down at it with a confused expression on his face and his hands outstretched.

"Derrick! What are you doing?!" Dipper called out as he walked right up to him.

"Nothing! I was just looking around!" Derrick defended, raising his hands innocently.

"What did I tell you? Don't touch anything around here!" Dipper angrily reminded him. "We need to be on the lookout for the Shapeshifter!"

"Dude, literally all I did was look around at this panel! Trust me! I didn't touch anything!"

At that moment, the power suddenly went out and all the lights in the laboratory went off. Within a second, the entire lab became pitch dark, followed by the sound of a generator shutting down. At the same time, there was a series of sequenced banging noises against a metallic surface that were unidentifiable but sounded close to those in the room.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Derrick said unenthusiastically at the sudden timing of the power outage.

"AH! TOTAL DARKNESS CONSUMES US ALL!" Soos screamed in panic through the dark.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" McGucket asked fearfully. "WHY DID EVERYONE VANISHIFY?!"

"Something must've happened to the power!" Ford realized. "Fiddleford, we still have a working emergency generator, correct?"

"Uh, yes!" McGucket replied. "There's a switch among one of these walls, but I can't see a thing!"

"Allow me," Ford said as he turned on Meridian's flashlight, emitting a spot of light that provided slight luminance to the room. Everyone turned their heads in the light's direction just as it turned on.

Now able to slightly see through the darkness, McGucket glanced around at the lab walls, searching for the switch to activate the emergency generator.

"Ah! There it is!"

He walked over to a switch with his cane, placing his hand on the lever and pulling it upward. As he flipped it, there was a startup whirring noise. The ceiling lights slowly began to turn on again, though emitting a red hue now. Machines began to function as normal and everybody in the room was soon able to see their surroundings again.

"Is everyone okay?" Ford asked, looking around at the others after turning off his wristwatch light.

Dipper cleared his throat. "Yeah. We're fine."

"I'm good!" Soos anxiously nodded. "Kinda freaked out, but I'm good!"

Dipper narrowed his eyes and turned back to Derrick angrily. "What's wrong with you, man? Didn't I just tell you not to touch anything?"

"What?!" Derrick questioned. "I told you I didn't touch anything! Again, I was just looking!"

"Well, something surely happened over here," Ford said as he walked past the two, crouching down beside the control panel. On the floor, he picked up a large wire with a sliced-off end, making note of the shape. "The lab's main power cable was cut. Manually done by the looks of it."

"I knew it!" Dipper exclaimed as he poked a finger in Derrick's chest. "I knew you were guilty!"

"WHAT?!" Derrick shouted. "WHY would I cut the freakin' power cable? Think, Dipper! What motivation could I POSSIBLY have to wanna do something like that?!"

"I'm sorry. Should I not blame the guy closest to the chopped wire?" Dipper questioned, giving Derrick a threatening look.

"Why, you…" Derrick said as he began to roll up his sleeve.

"Enough! Both of you!" Ford shouted, getting in the middle of the two. He glanced down at Dipper and gave him a slightly disturbed look. "Especially you, Dipper. I don't know what's made you so aggressive toward your own friend all of the sudden."

"And here I thought he was my friend..." Derrick said as he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Look, there's no time for this foolishness," Ford said as he dropped the cut wire. "This wire was freshly cut, which is what caused the outage. It clearly wasn't an accident. Unless this Derrick fellow isn't that type of boy you say he is, Dipper, then I have all the reason to believe that the five of us aren't alone in here. If the Shapeshifter has been set loose four years ago, then perhaps he really has stayed down here for all this time waiting for our return."

"Why would he do that though?" McGucket asked. "Why wouldn't he just leave? Especially after all the times that I've been down here?"

"Because he wants something." Ford patted the side of his coat, narrowing his eyes as he looked around. "And I have a feeling I know what…"

"Wait, if he did just cut that wire, doesn't that mean he could be anywhere in this room... watching us?" Soos asked Ford with a nervous whisper.

With this realization in mind, Ford quickly realized Soos had a point. If the Shifter was down there and had cut the wire, then it was definitely watching them at that moment. And if they were being watched, that meant he already had them cataloged as transformations of his own. Which meant if they didn't keep track of one another at that point, the Shifter could easily insert itself into their group and flank them.

"We need to move," Ford whispered as he aimed his wristwatch forward, the laser setting ready to fire at any point he needed to. "Group up and stick together. Nobody split up or go on their own."

"We should go back to the weapon cache!" McGucket quietly suggested. "Stock up on weapons so we're armed to fight back!"

"No. Too risky," Ford said. "Plus we don't wanna bring Wendy even more disturbance by bringing this past her. What we should do is push toward the chemical weapon testing station. If it's still set up similarly to how I remember, then there should be a set of weapons we can use there if needed. At the same time, it'll also be our chance to find the Quantum Destabilizer."

"What're we waiting for then?️" Dipper asked as he grouped up with everyone else. "We need to get moving before the Shifter finds us!"

"Fiddleford, lead the way," Ford told McGucket as he turned in the opposite direction, still aiming Meridian. "I have our backs."

McGucket nodded and started making his way in the direction of where he knew the chemical weapon testing station to be. He walked slowly, keeping little distance between himself and the others to follow Ford's idea of sticking together to minimize potential manipulation from the Shapeshifter.

As the five walked, there was an odd banging noise that continued to persist against a metallic surface. It hadn't been heard before the outage occurred, which made it stick out more as the group focused on their surroundings. It simply continued to echo throughout the lab, which brought a slight disturbance to some.

"Anyone else hear that?" Soos addressed.

"I hear it too. Odd, indeed," Ford nodded. "Any ideas, F?"

"I'm not entirely sure," McGucket admitted as he tried to process the sound. "It could just be the AC unit under the emergency generator power. It has been a while since the last time it was turned on."

"Yeah. I figured it was nothing to worry about," Dipper said as he looked backward in the direction of the lab.

Across the lab, he glanced over at a metal cabinet. He grinned sinisterly as his eyes blinked vertically, which went completely unnoticed by everyone else. He then turned back and continued following the others out of the lab.

But from the metal cabinet, however, were the metallic banging noises that were heard earlier. The cabinet doors shook each time there was a hit.

From the inside, the real Dipper Pines sat in a confined space. His hands and legs were tied up with rope and his mouth was taped shut. Encased in pure darkness, he continuously banged on the cabinet doors, hoping to grab someone's attention to warn them of what was happening and what was soon to come.

"MMMMM!"

---

(Chapter updated as of March 13, 2024)