After their confrontation with Wendy's friends at the cemetery, Dipper and Mabel made their way over to Thompson's house.
He was the only one who wasn't present at the cemetery who had involvement in what happened at Wendy's college when she got caught. And apparently, he knew what happened the most. Considering the fact that Robbie, Tambry, Lee, and Nate all went out to hide from the police instead of looking out for one another, it sounded as though Thompson was the only one who cared enough to stay behind.
Of course, neither of them knew that exactly either. But Dipper had a good idea of that being the case when he considered Thompson's crush on Wendy, which he had learned about the previous weekend. For years, he had been the punching bag of their friend group, but he cared enough to spend time getting into shape and cleaning himself up to appeal more to her. Despite this, his good-natured attempts still ended in failure to some extent, such as getting Wendy flowers that she was actually allergic to.
Dipper felt for Thompson, as he had his own share of shortcomings when it came to his former crush on Wendy. Though, the difference was those shortcomings came during the span of a single summer, whereas Thompon's spanned since the fifth grade. Now, he's past his first year of college and still can't catch a break. Looking back at how angry he had gotten when he thought Wendy had fallen for him, Dipper couldn't say he didn't understand his frustration.
All this in mind, Dipper expected he would know the best about Wendy's situation and what had happened that night. The basic summary that Lee and Nate had given didn't seem to provide enough insight into what really went on.
Sure, it was a prank gone wrong, but it still felt like there was a piece of the puzzle missing. A detail left out that would explain more why this event was so difficult for Wendy to talk about. If it was as simple as a prank gone wrong, then why wouldn't she have just said so in the first place? What made it such a sensitive topic for her?
That was what he hoped Thompson would be able to tell. Though, Mabel didn't quite understand how he'd be any more help than the rest of Wendy's friends.
"You sure about this, Dipper?" she asked as they began to approach Thompson's front door. "I mean, not that I don't like Thompson or anything, but if he's still anything like the way I remember him, I can't say I see how he might be able to help."
"Well, I have a good feeling that he will," Dipper assured upon stepping up to the door.
He knocked a few times and backed away to await an answer. After a moment, they heard the sound of the door unlocking before it opened up. There, a middle-aged woman with a somewhat heavy build and a beehive hairdo stood before them with a lollipop in her mouth.
She analyzed them for a moment. "Friends of Thaliard?"
Dipper and Mabel glanced at one another for a moment in confusion. "Uh...?"
"No, we're looking for Thompson," Mabel clarified.
"Read the mailbox, sweetie. We're all Thompsons here."
Mabel was redirected back to the mailbox at the front of the house, soon recognizing the name Thompson printed on it.
"Oh…" she realized.
"Anyway, I'm just gonna assume you two are here for Thaliard," the woman said before turning back inside. "THALLY! YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT DEAD!"
"Tell them not today, Mom!" Thompson's voice called back from inside.
"NO! YOU NEED THE COMPANY! YOU HAVEN'T LEFT THAT ROOM OF YOURS ALL WEEK!"
"Mommmm!"
"I'M NOT GOING TO ARGUE, THALLY!"
"Ugggghhhh!"
Mrs. Thompson then turned back to the twins. "Come inside."
Dipper and Mabel quietly accepted her invite and stepped into the house, both of them still processing the fact that Thompson's real name was apparently Thaliard. Looking around the house, they saw that it appeared fairly normal, though there looked to be some dirty clothes lying around the floor and furniture, which immediately gave off the impression that the family generally wasn't that clean.
"Thally's in his room," Mrs. Thompson told the two as she walked out of the room, gesturing down a hallway she passed as she made her way into the kitchen.
Dipper and Mabel looked at one another again before making their way down the hallway of note. As they walked down the hall, the scent of pizza began to strengthen. Eventually, they reached an open door at the end of the hall. Popping their heads inside, they were greeted by a dark and messy room.
The blinds were closed and the curtains were shut. Throughout the room, there were a bunch of dirty, unorganized clothes, as well as empty bags of snacks and empty pizza boxes. On the bed, Thompson himself lay wearing a dirty olive tank top and striped boxers.
He looked miserable; completely beaten and depressed. His stubble clearly hadn't been shaved or cleaned up in a while either, adding to his messy appearance. For Dipper, at least, this was a shock to see because he looked completely cleaned up at the party over the weekend. However, he still maintained his more muscular build, which was the only real surprise for Mabel, who was only just seeing him again for the first time compared to Dipper.
"Thompson?" Dipper questioned, slowly walking over to him on his bed. He also watched the floor to ensure he didn't accidentally step on a slice of pizza or whatever other mysterious substances plagued the floor. "Thompson, man? Are you alright?"
"Huh? You two?" Thompson questioned as he looked up at him and Mabel. Not quite who he expected when his mom said that his 'friends' were over.
"Thompson! Buddy!" Mabel tried to happily greet him but found herself growing disgusted by his mess of a room, nearly stepping on his dirty underwear. Still, she tried to suppress those feelings in favor of keeping a positive attitude. "Long time no see! You're looking... great!"
"Yeah, good one," he said with an eye roll. "What are you two doing here?"
"We, uh... came to check on you," Dipper came up with on the fly.
"Why would you two assume I needed to be checked up on? And why would you even check on me? I don't know you guys like that!"
"Thompson, Thompson, Thompson..." Mabel shook her head. "I think you underestimate the value of all of our short-term interactions from four years ago."
"W-what…?" Thompson asked, confused. However, he wasn't mentally active enough to really want to think over what she was talking about and just laid back down in bed dejectedly. "You know what... never mind."
"God, what happened to you, man?" Dipper asked. "You were at the party at the Shack on Saturday and you looked great. But now…"
"...you look like you've been eating ice cream and pizza all weekend and throwing it up all over yourself," Mabel continued, which Dipper couldn't really object to.
Thompson sighed. "It's been tough being me this past week. Or maybe my whole life…"
"Did you get out of a bad breakup?" Mabel asked. "I mean, ice cream and pizza is usually the first thing I turn to when I'm heartbroken."
"No, but with what's coming up, I might as well be dumped."
Dipper looked on sympathetically. "Wendy moving soon has got you down, huh?"
Thompson stared at him for a moment before looking down. "Yeah, it's been rough."
"Wait a sec… you're like this is because Wendy's leaving?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Thompson's eyes bulged nervously. "Uhhhh, yeah! She's been a great friend for years, so, of course I'm upset about it! It sucks, yo!"
Dipper glanced over at Mabel for a second before stepping toward Thompson. "Look, man, you don't need to hide the fact that you like Wendy."
Mabel's eyes bulged in slight surprise as she learned this. At the same time, Thompson began to grow red-faced at the accusation.
"W-what?! Me? Liking Wendy? That's crazy, man! She's been my friend since we were kids!"
"Dude, I already know about it," Dipper pressed. "I've known ever since the party."
Thompson narrowed his eyes skeptically. "And h-how did you find out?"
Dipper caught his skeptical glance and was only then reminded of the circumstances behind what had happened at that party.
Oh, right... The knockout gas and the whole pretending everyone fell asleep shtick...
"Uh... I mean, it was just obvious!" he nervously said. "I saw the way you looked at her when you tried giving her those flowers! How nervous you were and stuff…"
With this explanation, Thompson rested his head on his hand as he sighed again, physically showing his acceptance of Dipper's call-out.
"You don't know how it feels when you've been in love with a girl for as long as I've been, only to watch that same girl jump in and out of relationships with other guys, including some that I knew. I mean, I get why she'd never look at me like that before. I was never the most attractive or... the most confident guy she knew. That's why I decided to finally work on myself during high school. But to put so much effort into improving myself for as long as I did only to find out she'd be moving away in a few months... it really hit hard."
"Why didn't you just ask her out after you got yourself all spiffed up then?" Mabel asked.
"She just got kicked outta college! You think she wants to start going out with a guy when she's got that to deal with?" He slumped forward dejectedly. "Plus... it's not that easy. I've been the punching bag of our group since we were kids. Doing things I was dared to do just to keep everyone together. No matter how much I try to change, that'll always be a part of me. And that'll always be the side she'll see of me."
Dipper and Mabel had sympathy for Thompson, but they also felt guilty. Particularly Dipper, who remembered being one who used Thompson as said punching bag in order to propel his own status in Wendy's friend group. After his earlier talk with them, however, he could only reflect on what a mistake that was. Trying to fit in with a bunch of jerks and picking on the one person who was actually a really nice guy at heart.
The goals of a twelve-year-old, Dipper guiltily thought. I used to pick on a man who's been picked on all his life just to fit in and look cool…
"To think I could've also been the one to save her from getting caught and expelled too…" Thompson brought up, stuffing his face in his hands.
Dipper looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know... I mean, do you guys even know the story?"
"Ehhh," Mabel said, turning her hand neutrally.
"I mean, a general idea, I guess," Dipper added.
"We heard from Lee and Nate that she got caught on a fence? And that's how security got them."
"Ugh! I told them what happened, yet they can't even tell the story right!" Thompson said as he pulled on his hair angrily.
"Wait, so that wasn't true?" Dipper asked, starting to get a bit heated as well. "I knew something seemed off about that story! Wendy, of all people, wouldn't get stopped because she got caught on a fence! That just wouldn't happen to her!"
"Well, she did get caught on the fence…" Thompson clarified. "But I mean that she got caught by security. She didn't get stuck on the fence and then get caught."
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "I don't see how that makes a big difference."
"Because they didn't tell you what I really saw," Thompson told him, mentally visualizing the event. "I had just finished going over the fence. The open woods were right on the other side. And this was late at night too, so the woods were even darker. I remember everyone else had already run off ahead. I was about to follow, but I looked behind me and saw that Wendy was still climbing the fence, so I stayed back to try and make sure she made it. But then, she climbed to the top of the fence and just... froze."
"She... froze?" Dipper repeated.
"We talking scared frozen or literally turned to ice frozen?" Mabel asked, which garnered odd looks from the other two. "What? This is Gravity Falls! I gotta ask from both sides!"
"Scared frozen…" Thompson clarified. "Her legs were hanging off of both sides of the fence and she just sat there completely still, looking off into the woods with this... almost terrified look on her face. Then, she asks me to look behind and tell her if I see what she sees. But, this is all in the middle of an intense escape, so I'm just confused at that point. I considered just pulling her leg down the other side so we could keep running, but instead, I looked behind like she asked. And somewhere in the trees, I see some blue flash for like a second. It was really quick, but, I thought I saw someone... watching us before running off. At that point, I heard Wendy yelling, and when I turned back around, she was being pulled down from the fence by security, and there was nothing I could do to help at that point."
Dipper and Mabel processed this new explanation for a moment, seeing how it only deepened the way that Lee and Nate described the incident. Instead of getting stuck on the fence, Wendy saw something shocking enough for her to freeze on top of the fence. However, evidenced by Thompson's own eyes, that something was someone.
"So, someone was watching you two in the woods?" Dipper asked.
"I don't know what they were doing exactly, but I do know that I saw someone," Thompson assured.
"Maybe it was just one of the others? Like Robbie or Tambry or someone?" Mabel suggested.
"All of them had already run off so far ahead, and even when I caught up with them, they said no one went back. Not that I trust their word anymore, but I don't think it was any of them. Especially based on the look on Wendy's face. She was totally freaked out."
"Did you ever ask her what she saw?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah, I have. Many times. But she never wants to talk about it."
"Maybe that's what makes Wendy so uncomfortable about telling us about what happened," Mabel said to Dipper. "Thompson already knows what happened to get her expelled. He was there. But she didn't even want to tell him what she saw."
"Maybe…" Dipper nodded at the strong possibility as he turned back to Thompson. "When did all of this happen again?"
"April 23rd."
"And you have no idea at all who this person might've been?"
"Not really," Thompson said, scratching his head. "Again, it was dark so I could barely even see them either. It looked like they might've been wearing white. They just disappeared after that though. Kind of like a ghost or something."
"A ghost?" Mabel asked, eyes widening.
A sudden thought entered Dipper's mind. "Wait... the ghost that haunted the old Northwest mansion... I remember finding out sometime later that it might've been a Corduroy. Of course, that ghost was more blue than white, but a ghost's a ghost."
"What are you thinking?" Mabel asked.
"It's just a theory, but if it is a ghost as Thompson implies, then maybe Wendy might've seen something of an ancestor or family member that might've been familiar enough to shock her," Dipper suggested.
"Why would they haunt Wendy though?" Mabel asked.
"I don't know... but as Thompson said, it seemed more like she was just being watched. Perhaps a Corduroy family spectator watching their future generation without the intention of being caught or something? Though, that does beg the question of why a ghost would even reveal itself like that..."
"Who knows, man?" Thompson asked as he glumly plopped back in his bed. "Whether it was some dumb ghost or some weird town stalker or whatever, it isn't gonna change the fact that she's leaving. And it won't change the fact that I could've done something to stop it, but didn't."
Mabel looked on sympathetically at Thompson for a moment before walking up to him and placing a hand on his arm, rubbing it comfortingly as she smiled. "It's okay, Thompson. In the end, you're a good guy and an even greater friend. You shouldn't beat yourself over this."
"She's right, man. You are a great guy," Dipper nodded in agreement. "Of everyone in your friend group, you're the only one who cared enough to stay back for Wendy. If anything, you deserve to be recognized for that alone."
Thompson's eyes glanced over at him for a moment. He simply replied with a thankful smile, feeling unable to come up with the right words to thank him otherwise. It got the point across though, as both twins smiled back at him.
He then sighed and looked away again. "I just hope she's okay. I know that even before getting expelled, she's been having issues with her family; especially her dad. Hopefully, she's not doing anything to get her into even more trouble."
"KEEP DRIVING, KID! WE'VE ALMOST LOST THEM!"
In the middle of an open town road, Wendy drove with Stan beside her as they were attempting to flee a pursuing police car. In Stan's hands was a large framed painting of a pug in a tuxedo sitting in a chair playing poker. At the same time, the back seat of the car held a bunch of other objects and items thrown around that appeared to have also been obtained through illegal means.
Wendy skillfully drove around every corner they passed while maintaining her fast speed to assure the cops wouldn't catch up. Stan continuously looked back and forth between the view ahead and the rearview mirror. As he looked ahead again, he recognized the street they were about to pass and realized an opportunity for them to take.
"Turn right on this street coming up!"
"Way ahead of you!" Wendy said as she leaned in on the wheel, eyes focused ahead.
As they made contact with the mentioned street, Wendy made a hard right as planned. As they turned, she put full force on the accelerator, picking up fast speed on the long, empty road. The pursuing police had been about ten seconds behind her prior and still hadn't pulled onto the same street yet, but she knew she had limited time before they would. So, after a moment of speedily driving, she stomped on the brakes, which violently threw their bodies forward. Immediately after braking, Wendy put the car in reverse and quickly, but cautiously, backed the vehicle into a dark alleyway.
At the same time, the cop car came speeding around the corner onto the same street. However, Wendy and Stan had managed to back into the alley just in time for them not to be seen.
Soon, the car came to a stop in the middle of the street. Blubs and Durland promptly stood out and glanced around.
"DANG IT! WE LOST 'EM AGAIN!" Blubs shouted angrily, slamming his fist down on the top of the cruiser.
"That's the eleventh time today!" Durland added.
Blubs put his hands over his tearful eyes out of frustration. "How do we keep letting this happen, Durly?! How do we keep letting them get away? Are we getting too old for this sorta thing? Is this a job for us anymore? Maybe we should just give up…"
"Hey, hey! That's no way to talk!" Durland tried to reassure him as he walked over and moved his hands away from his face, looking at him in the eyes. "I know what'll cheer you up! How about we go out for comfort ice cream?"
The offer immediately seemed to perk Blubs up a bit, prompting a smile out of him as he put a hand on Durland's shoulder. "You know me so well!"
The two cops excitedly ran back into their sides of the cruiser, slamming the doors shut as they sat down before speeding off straight down the road and past the alleyway where Wendy and Stan continued to lurk. There, they silently waited for a moment as they stared ahead, assuring that they were in the clear.
"Phew!" the two simultaneously sighed with relief as they slumped back in their car seats.
"We lost them…" Stan panted exhaustedly.
"Yeah…" Wendy said through her own panting. "We got away…"
The two then let out one final deep breath as they finally settled down, letting a moment of silence overcome them.
"YEEEEAAAAHHHH!" the two suddenly shouted jubilantly.
"WOO! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Wendy cheered.
"YOU DID IT AGAIN, KID!" Stan praised. "Eleventh time today!"
"And I can push through eleven more if I want to!"
"Damn right!" Stan nodded in agreement, turning the stolen painting in his hands around to look at it.
"Woo! I just can't believe we actually stole priceless art!"
"Huh? Priceless?" Stan questioned, raising a confused eyebrow. "This ain't priceless! We robbed the local Gravity Falls Cheapskate Museum. Everything there is worthless!"
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, but they had this nice painting that I knew about and wanted, so it's worth something to me," Stan explained while looking fondly at the painting. "We ain't making a dime off this though."
"Bor-ing! What's the point of going around stealing stuff if none of it is actually worth anything?" Wendy asked, her former excitement now completely erased.
"Hang on! We stole plenty of stuff that has value!" Stan said as he dove a hand in the backseat, scavenging through some of the other stolen items. "Like this antique quarter collection! Or how about this old, vintage watch thing? Or Mayor Tyler's miniature Statue of Liberty made entirely of bottle caps!" He then raised an eyebrow as he looked back at said item. "Wait... why did he have this?"
"Man, if this is the type of criminal you used to be, I'm going to feel even sadder than I usually am for you," Wendy said, shaking her head disappointedly.
"Hang on. Are you trying to say I'm out of the game?"
"You tried to steal a robot badger a few years ago, so yeah, I'm starting to wonder why I didn't see this coming."
Stan narrowed his eyes at her. "Alright, kid... you want a real heist? Then, I'll give you a real heist! I'll show you the kind of work that Stan Pines REALLY used to get done back in the day!"
Those words were enough to get her excited again. "So what're we hitting then? A bank? Are we going to do a local one for cash or clear an outside depository of all of their gold?"
"Yeesh, kid! Turn it down a notch, would ya?" Stan said while gesturing for her to calm down. "No, we're not doing a bank! You're not ready for that level yet! We need to do something simpler."
"Ughhh!"
"Hey, I said simpler. Not invaluable. I know a place where we can score a good take..."
"Where?"
Conveniently enough, Stan looked ahead through the windshield and spotted the location of interest right ahead of them outside of the alley. He pointed it out to Wendy.
"The Gravity Falls Local Jewel Store…"
Wendy's eyebrows raised interestedly. "I'm listening…"
"Now, we could clear out the whole place of their jewels and make a few hundred thousand or so. But, cleaning out that joint all on my own at my age while you're just in the car waiting for me will take too long," Stan explained. "However, that store has one thing worth more than the whole damn store- a rare, hand-crafted diamond necklace."
"Woah…" Wendy awed. "This town actually has something of value?"
"It's been in one little case in the back of the store for ages. That's because it's too expensive for any of the normal townsfolk to afford. The only people that could ever afford it were the Northwests, but they were already loaded enough to have about fifty of those, so what did they care? Anyway, if we target that diamond, sell it, and split the take, you can consider most of your lifetime expenses paid."
"Even enough to cover all of my college funds and student loans?" Wendy questioned enthusiastically at the thought.
"And plenty more to spend! That is if you even decide to go through with finishing college when you're that loaded," Stan mentioned as he kicked back in his seat relaxingly.
That made Wendy think for a moment. "Wow... I really could drop out of college," she realized as she thought it over. "Then I could stay in Gravity Falls... but maybe that's taking things too far. I mean, you finished college, didn't you?"
"Kid, I never even finished high school."
Wendy's eyes widened. "What?"
"My dad kicked me out during my senior year, and at that point, I was already failing pretty much all of my classes. With nothing to support myself, I just took to the streets on my own and started doing my own thing. Started a bunch of businesses all over the world, went to jail all over the world, but eventually, it all led me to where I am today."
"Wait, so your dad did kick you out?"
"My dad and I always had a complicated relationship," Stan shrugged at the thought, though felt a bit melancholy as he mentioned it. "Sometimes I loved him, but most of the time he made it really hard to do so."
"Huh…"
"Yeah, so that's that," Stan said as he looked forward and laid back in his seat again. "I mean, you know how it is. The stress from parents wanting you to go to college, wanting you to be successful, and so forth. Maybe I'd be doing better if I finished school, but I can't say that I'm not happy with where I currently am. Life's not perfect, of course. But overall, if I were to die tomorrow, I'd say I'm pretty satisfied with where I ended up. A man of my own. Living in a future designed by himself instead of one his parents wanted him to design."
Wendy stared at him for a moment. "So, you're... really happy?"
Stan looked over at her and gave a slight nod. "As can be."
It felt somewhat odd for Wendy to suddenly find out how she related so heavily to Stan. Whilst it clearly sounded like he had gone through far more and far worse than she did, it still felt like they shared similar grievances in regard to their fathers. That while she did love her dad, she was at a point in time where it felt harder to do so.
And she did love him, but she couldn't help but let her recent frustrations with him break into her mind and ruin her perception of him. And thinking of those frustrations led to her thinking of the even older troubles that she had endured from him. All the other stressful times she had suffered because of him. It all just made her want to get away.
Perhaps Stan's influence wasn't the best for her to be accepting when she had been in such a damaged and emotionally vulnerable state of mind as of late. But she didn't care. She had just helped him get away from the cops after their eleventh consecutive robbery that day. And while the robberies themselves hadn't yet been large-scale in any sense, it didn't mean she wasn't loving the thrill of doing them. To her, doing bad things and getting away with them felt like the old days. The pre-college days. The good days.
Except, this time, she was doing them with someone who she felt really understood her. Who would've thought that it would be her old, crumby boss from the Mystery Shack?
Not her. Not in a thousand years.
But she had no issue with it. Regardless of his bad influence, Stan felt like a better father figure to her at that moment than her own dad had been over the past month. If he said they were hitting a jewel store, then she was down to hit a jewel store.
"So... what're we waiting for?" she asked with a ready smile. "Let's hit that sucka!"
"Not right this second. We're still in broad daylight," Stan told her. "We may have been hitting small stores, museums, markets, and such, but a jewel store is different. This is a job that can't have ANY mistakes. And our best shot at that is at night."
"Tonight then?"
Stan thought for a brief moment, contemplating whether it would give them enough planning time. He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Until then, we plan and prepare…"
A little while after visiting Thompson, the twins had made their way through the woods and over to the Corduroy cabin. They made their way toward the front door, stepping onto the front porch as Dipper walked ahead of Mabel, who looked somewhat confused as she looked around.
"So, what're we doing at Wendy's house again?" she asked.
"Well, if we're potentially dealing with a Corduroy ghost, I feel like maybe it'd be a good idea to investigate the Corduroy family history," Dipper said as he walked right up to the door and knocked on it three times. "It could give some insight into who we might be dealing with. Maybe Manly Dan could provide us with some info."
Mabel gave him a reluctant look. "Dipper, I was with you in the beginning when we were just asking Wendy's friends for answers on what had happened with her expulsion, but this is starting to feel like we're snooping too far into Wendy's business."
"Mabel, Wendy could be getting haunted by a ghost! Whoever she might've seen that night obviously left her in a state of shock. If this involves any case of Gravity Falls weirdness, then we need to try and do something about it! For her sake!"
"Yeah, but... is this really a good time for us to be doing so? With what she's going through right now in her life? Wouldn't you rather just wait until she properly tells us what's going on herself? Maybe she already has an answer for all of this."
Before Dipper could give her a reply, their attention drew back toward the front door, which they heard being unlocked. The two looked up and watched as the door opened and Manly Dan stood before them. He glanced back and forth between the two with his usual humorless eyes.
"Ah, Mr. Corduroy!" Dipper greeted. "Uh... how are you doing this fine summer afternoon?"
"My TV wasn't working so I punched a hole in it!" Dan replied with upfront anger. His reply left Dipper unsure how to respond and resulted in him simply staring back at him silently.
"Our Grunkle once threw our TV out the window because he couldn't find the remote," Mabel casually mentioned.
"A man with class, I see," Dan nodded at her.
"Anyway…" Dipper intervened. "We came here because we were wondering if maybe we could learn a bit of your... background!"
Dan thought for a moment before looking over his shoulder at his house. He scanned it for a second before looking back at Dipper with a raised eyebrow. "It's my house."
Yet again, Dipper was caught off guard by his reply. "That's... not what I-"
"What Dipper is trying to say is that he wants you to talk about yourself! A lot!" Mabel cut off and cleared up.
"That's an incredibly odd and specific reason to come over to my house," Dan told them candidly. "However, I do like talking about myself…"
"Who doesn't?" Mabel asked with a smile.
"Come inside then!" Dan accepted. "Also, don't mind the holes in the walls. There was a mosquito flying around earlier. I got it good though…"
He stood with a clenched fist and a vengeful look for a moment as he thought about the mosquito, to which Dipper and Mabel glanced over at one another in slight concern. However, eventually, he turned around and kept walking back into the cabin, leaving the twins at the open front door.
"This is the guy who was lecturing Wendy about being responsible yesterday?" Dipper questioned aloud once Dan was out of sight.
"You know, we can still back out of this like it's none of our business…" Mabel suggested. "...Wendy would never find out that we were snooping around in her and her family's personal lives…"
"We're not snooping, Mabel!" Dipper said defensively. "We're just... trying to get to the bottom of a mystery here."
"Doesn't solving mysteries usually mean having to snoop around in other people's business?"
"We're not snooping! Stop saying that!" Dipper demanded with growing annoyance. "And since when did you become the snooping police, anyway? You're the one always trying to play matchmaker when no one wants you to!"
"Hey, I'm an experienced matchmaker with a reputable background!" Mabel defended. "It's family drama that I know not to snoop in!"
"You used to sit our parents down and have mock therapy sessions with them when they argued."
"Used to! And besides, that was OUR family drama. It's other people's family drama that I don't like getting too deeply involved in."
"Look, trust me, Mabel. If you just work with me here, we might be able to find an answer to all of this by the end of the day. At that point, we can either do something about it or move on with our lives. Hopefully, it's the latter."
He then walked into the cabin himself, leaving his reluctant sister at the door. While she still wasn't sure about the idea of getting deeply involved in Wendy's family drama, she knew Dipper was too stubborn about figuring things out. Whether she liked it or not, she had to stick by his side, especially in case she needed to pull him out should he cross a line.
"...and so let that be a lesson to you kids- NEVER play the knife game with an axe!" Manly Dan told the twins before chugging down his root beer.
As he drank away, Dipper and Mabel sat in silence with their mouths hung open and mortified eyes as they took in Dan's story and reenactment of said story. While it wasn't the type of story they had come for, it definitely gave a large amount of insight into his personal life. They couldn't say it was the type of insight they wanted, however.
"Anyway, yeah. That's the story," Dan said as he slammed his wooden mug back down on the coffee table, smashing it to pieces. However, he gave no regard to his actions. "I have a similar one about losing a bet to an elk. But I'm not sure you kids are old enough to handle it." He thought for a moment. "Actually, how old are you two again?"
"Uh... why don't we just skip that story?" Dipper suggested.
"AW C'MON! It's one of my best!"
"J-just for now!" Dipper stuttered, somewhat intimidated as he didn't want to risk angering someone as unstable as Manly Dan was. "I mean, you already told one big and... amazing story. Why don't we just cut it back for a little bit and talk about some other things?"
"You came here to talk about ME and now you wanna talk about OTHER THINGS?!" Dan questioned, growing slightly irritated. "I don't get your deal, kid!"
"No, no!" Dipper shook his head frantically. "I mean, things like... like…"
"Woah! Look at that!" Mabel suddenly cut off as her eyes were drawn across the room.
She quickly jumped up from her seat and ran over to a set of wooden display cabinets and shelves organized behind Manly Dan's chair. Among each of the shelves were sets of various photographs of different people. Looking from left to right on the shelves, the pictures appeared to become newer and less vintage, signifying how much more recently they were taken.
"Are these pictures of your family, Mr. Corduroy?" she asked wondrously.
As his own attention turned toward the photo gallery, Dan gave a proud smile. "Haha! Yep! That's the Corduroy family gallery. Full of centuries of Corduroy family history."
"Yeah! That's something we could talk about!" Dipper nervously said as he walked up to the shelves himself, hoping that Dan's attention had been completely averted from their tense exchange a moment ago.
"All of these shelves are handcrafted by Corduroy generations," Dan explained as he ran his hand along the wood of one of the shelves. "You'll find our ancestors to the left, and closer to the right, you'll find us."
Mabel stared at each of the pictures in awe, admiring the history and legacy of the Corduroys as she went along. The Corduroys were clearly built upon family, as there seemed to be just as many family portraits as there were individual portraits. Along with photos, there were also various awards showcasing the achievements done by different members. From various lumberjacking trophies to awards won from toughness competitions, which seemed to imply how much strength played into the family.
As Mabel continued walking right, she eventually came across the second to last shelf, which showcased most of Manly Dan's photos and awards. However, among his shelves, she spotted Wendy's photos and achievements too.
"Hey! There's Wendy's diploma!" she pointed out as she spotted it. She then let out a gasp as she saw the picture right beside it. "And her graduation photo!"
She grabbed the framed photo and looked at it. Wendy stood in the middle of her family members in her green cap and gown, holding her diploma out to the camera. Her face showed a joyful, yet relaxed smile, which was enough of a testament to her happiness. To the twins, it felt somewhat odd to see her that way though, as she looked happier in that one picture than they had seen her since they arrived in Gravity Falls earlier that month. She looked practically stress-free, which seemed likely if the circumstances were compared.
"Awww! She looks so happy here!" Mabel acknowledged as the three looked at the photo. "With her dad and her brothers…"
As she scanned the photo, her eyes fell upon an unfamiliar older woman who stood beside Wendy.
"...but who's that? Is that... her mom?"
Dan's heart dropped as she made that observation. "What? No! That's not her mother! Are you insane?" he yelled at her, aggressively swiping the photo away from her hands. "That's her Auntie Dolly!"
His reaction made Mabel feel very suddenly guilty. "Oh, I'm... sorry. I didn't know."
"You BETTER be sor-"
He cut himself off, suddenly realizing what he was doing. He then let out a sigh from his own guilt.
"No, it's fine…"
Dipper looked at Manly Dan and watched as he suddenly grew very sorrowful. "Mr. Corduroy, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Dan nodded sadly. "I just... It always gets to me when I'm reminded of Valora."
Dipper and Mabel glanced at one another for a moment before looking back at Manly Dan. "Valora?"
Dan sighed as he walked over to the shelf displaying his things and leaned down to the bottom, where there was a drawer. He put his hand on the knob and pulled it open. From inside, he pulled out a framed photo, handing it over to the twins. "My one and only wife- Valora Corduroy."
Mabel took the photo in her hands and held it out for her and Dipper to see. The picture displayed a portrait of a middle-aged woman with long, chestnut brown hair. She had jade eyes, a freckled face, and a perfectly white smile. Her outfit was as Corduroy as one could get, wearing a red flannel, ripped jeans, and brown boots. Her body was slender but fit, and her arms were visibly toned. On top of her physical appearance, there was something about her expression that gave off a very relaxed vibe. One very reminiscent of the one Wendy typically used to give off four years ago.
"She's beautiful…" Mabel said in awe.
"Yeah, she was…" Dan agreed gloomily.
Was.
"What... happened to her?" Dipper asked. "If you don't mind me asking…"
"Dipper…" Mabel nudged him with narrowed eyes.
"No, it's fine," Dan said with a sigh. "Sometimes, it helps to talk about it. Help me come to terms with what had happened even after all these years."
Dipper and Mabel looked a bit unsure for a moment but remained quiet as they tuned in, giving Dan their full attention.
"Anyway, thirteen years ago, Valora and I were out camping with the kids. A common weekend activity of ours…"
[13 Years Ago]
In the middle of the open Gravity Falls woods in the late afternoon, the Corduroy family had a campsite settled. They had a basic tent setup, a camping table, and a work-in-progress fireplace being prepared in the middle.
Marcus and Kevin were running around in circles around the campsite, playing tag with one another and giggling loudly. Dan sat at the camping table, cradling a sleeping infant Gus in his arms. However, he was growing irritated by his other two boys' constant loud giggling.
"WOULD YOU BOYS KNOCK IT OFF?!" Dan shouted at the boys, who suddenly stopped at the booming voice of their father. "YOU'RE GOING TO WAKE YOUR LITTLE BROTHER UP!"
However, Dan's failure to realize his own volume ended up waking Gus himself, causing him to start crying crankily. Humored by their father's absentmindedness, Marcus and Kevin broke out laughing mockingly at him, who just grew even more infuriated.
"BOOOOYYYS!" he yelled angrily at the two as they just ran off.
"Our youngest boy, Gus, had just been born a few weeks before. And at that point in time, none of the kids had grown older than six. So, as a good husband and caring father, I put myself in charge of watching over the kids for most of the trip, whereas Valora would handle most of the labor that came with setting up a campsite."
Not too far outside of the campsite, Valora stood at a tree stump with an axe in hand. On top of the stump sat a thick log of wood. With one clean, effortless swing down the middle, she divided the log into two even pieces. She picked up both pieces and threw them into a sack, which was already filled with a bunch of other log pieces.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she pocketed the axe. Then, she picked up the large sack of wood pieces and carried it over her shoulder as she began to make her way back to the campsite; all while she had a resting smile on her face.
"Thankfully, nothing was ever too difficult for Valora. She was smart, brave, skillful, and courageous. She had the qualities of a great leader and an even greater mother."
As Valora returned to the campsite, she threw the sack of firewood down beside the fireplace. Relaxing for a moment, she spotted her son, Marcus, making his way toward her with a closed bear trap held in his hands.
"Hey, mom?" Marcus called for as he appeared to be struggling to open up the bear trap over his head. "How do I put this bear trap around my head like that one guy did in that horror movie? I want to pull a prank on Kevin!"
Valora's eyes bulged uneasily. "Woah there!" she shouted as she ran over to him and snatched the bear trap from his hands. "Marcus, don't play with this stuff. Okay, kid? I didn't spend nine months conceiving you just to watch you decapitate yourself for a prank."
Marcus looked down guiltily. "Sorry, Mom…"
"Haha! You almost died!" laughed Kevin, who walked up beside his mother. Valora, however, gave him a moderate smack on the back of his head. "Ow!"
"Be nice to your older brother, Kevin," she warned him.
"Haha!" Marcus laughed. "You got hit by-"
Valora crossed her arms and gave Marcus a stern glare, which intimidated him enough to cut himself off.
"...I mean…" Marcus retracted before suddenly turning to Kevin and wrapping a brotherly arm around him, which was returned. The two then looked up at their mother with innocent smiles. "...love ya, bro!"
Valora gave a satisfied smile. "That's better," she nodded before turning away and walking off. "Now stay that way or else neither of you is eating bear for dinner tonight."
Marcus and Kevin processed this warning with wide eyes, neither of them wishing to miss out on having bear for dinner that night. However, neither of them could stand the idea of having to stick so closely together in order to not have to skip out. But, their craving for bear meat was stronger than their desire to be apart, and so the two boys simply groaned as they held their arms around one another.
"Valora loved all her kids. But there was no denying the fact that her connection with Wendy was different, and it wasn't hard to see why. They were the only two women living in a household dominated by us men, so they found a very different bond in one another."
Along the edge of the campsite, Wendy sat away from the rest of her family beside a tree. There, she held a pocket knife in her hands, which she dug into the bark of the tree, carving little images.
Valora made her way over to her and smiled. "There she is! I've been looking for you, Little Red."
Wendy glanced up at her for a moment before turning back to her carvings. "Hey, Mom."
"What are you doing all the way over here by yourself?" Valora asked her, kneeling down next to her. She immediately made note of her carvings. "Oh, I see. Whatchu' carving this time?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, c'mon, you can tell me. Tell me! Tell me!" Valora chanted in a mock deep voice while throwing her fists up and down. However, as she looked on at her daughter, she noticed that she didn't appear particularly amused and actually seemed somewhat unnerved. Her playful attitude then turned into concern. "Kiddo, are you alright?"
Wendy sighed. "I didn't tell you or Dad, but I had a bad dream last night."
"Really? About what?"
"I don't know," Wendy shrugged. "There was this little yellow triangle guy with a top hat and a funny voice."
Valora looked at the carvings and spotted a little triangle with arms and legs etched into the bark. She pointed at it. "Is that supposed to be him?"
Wendy gave a subtle nod. "He said he knew who I was and that I'm going to lose someone that I really care about soon. He also called me an ice bag. Whatever that means."
Valora smiled as she rubbed the top of her daughter's head. "Man, it sounds like we might need to cut you off of those late-night chocolate hazelnuts."
"But Mom, I'm serious," Wendy said as she pushed her hand away. "It was really freaky. What if I really will lose someone I care about? Like Dad, or the boys, or... you?"
"Wendy, c'mon, it was just a bad dream," Valora assured. "Yeah, sometimes they can be really wild, but that doesn't mean they'll actually happen. I'm not going anywhere. Neither is Dad nor the boys. We're here by your side and always will be."
Wendy looked unsure for a moment as she looked back at her. "Will you always be by my side?"
"Wha-?" Valora questioned, caught slightly off guard by the question. "Of course, kid! I'm your mom! What kinda question is that?"
"It's just... I love Dad, Marcus, and Kevin, but sometimes, they're a bit too crazy," Wendy admitted as she looked to the side, poking her finger around in the dirt. "Even Gus. And he's a baby!"
"Ugh, you said it, kid…" Valora nodded tiredly in agreement. Though she loved all her kids, she couldn't deny that taking care of the boys made her feel like she was aging faster.
"You're never too crazy. Also, you're not a boy… so…"
Valora chuckled. "I get it. A girl needs her mom to get away from all the crazy boys in her family. Don't worry, girl. No matter how much the boys may drive me insane, they'll never drive me away from you. I'll always be by your side."
Wendy smiled as she looked back up at her. "Promise?"
Valora warmly smiled back at Wendy as she used her fingers to lightly brush some of her red hair off of her face. "Promise."
The two smiled at one another for a good moment before Marcus was seen running over toward the two.
"Hey, Wendy! You wanna play Needle in the Bearskin with Kevin and me?" Marcus offered as he pointed behind him, where there was a large bear pelt lying on the ground that suddenly started to move around from the inside.
"It stinks in here!" Kevin shouted from inside the skin.
"We're making a deal! The first person to find the needle gets extra bear meat from every sibling's plate for dinner!" Marcus told her.
Wendy was obviously interested in the deal, but she still looked up to her mother for her approval. Valora looked back down at her and winked.
"Go get 'em, Little Red," she said as she rubbed the top of her daughter's head one more time.
Wendy smiled excitedly before turning back to Marcus. She cracked her knuckles as she gave him a daring glare. "Prepare to fork up your bear legs…"
She ran along with him over to the bearskin, leaving Valora behind to chuckle as she watched her kids play around. Dan soon walked over to her with Gus in hand, who he had managed to get back to sleep again.
"Ah, Needle in the Bearskin. What a classic," he remarked nostalgically. "I miss playing that with my dad."
"I'm sure, but now you're stuck playing Be A Responsible Dad," Valora replied.
"Hey, I'm doing a good job!" he defended. "Look here! I finally got Gus to sleep! And as for the others, I like to think I'm a great dad to them!"
"I'm with you. You could work on being more responsible though."
Dan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Dan, I caught Marcus trying to put his head in a beartrap because of what he saw in a horror movie," Valora mentioned, giving him a look of dissatisfaction.
"Oh, I know what movie he's referring to!" Dan proudly realized. "That's my boy! Already becoming a man of culture."
"What? No! Don't support this!" she told him disapprovingly. "Our kids shouldn't be trying to stick their heads in bear traps because of a stupid horror movie! They can really hurt themselves! And on top of that, I found out that Wendy had a bad dream last night about some weird top hat triangle that said she's going to lose someone she cares about. Like, what kind of films are you showing these kids, Dan?"
"Triangle?" Dan questioned, scratching his head. "I haven't shown her any movie about a triangle."
"Well, regardless, this isn't the type of worry that should be coming from a six-year-old. Whatever you might be showing them is giving them crazy ideas and fears that they shouldn't be having."
Dan shrugged. "So, what? Let them face their fears then."
"What?"
"To conquer a fear, you gotta face it, Valora. It's better than keeping them sheltered up all the time so they can grow scared."
"I'm not saying we keep them sheltered. I'm saying we gotta keep them safe," Valora said, narrowing her eyes.
"They're Corduroys, Valora!" Dan reminded her irritatedly. "This type of thing is in their blood!"
"God, I hate it when you use that as an excuse," Valora said, looking to the side and shaking her head annoyedly. "They're not just your kids, Dan. They're our kids. And it's up to the both of us to protect and provide for them rather than always keeping them exposed to dangers that could potentially get them killed!"
"You see it as exposing them to danger. I see it as toughening them out!"
"They're children!"
"The earlier they're toughened out, the less afraid they'll be when they're older! Why do you think they love those horror movies so much? Because they don't SCARE them!"
The tension of their argument was suddenly disrupted as Dan's voice caused Gus to awaken and begin crying again. The two looked down at him before looking back at one another. Valora then sighed as she reached out and took Gus from Dan's grasp. She patted him on the back, trying to get him to calm down again before giving Dan a look.
"We aren't talking about this again…"
She walked back toward the campsite with Gus, leaving Dan on his own. He looked on at her with an irritated look as she walked off, feeling himself growing tired of having the same discussion they had already had multiple times before.
However, when he looked over to the side, he noticed that Marcus, Kevin, and Wendy had all stopped playing in the bear hide and were looking over at him. It seemed as though they had just seen the argument between him and their mother and had paused their activity to listen to it. As soon as Dan had looked over at them, however, they all turned away and pretended to have been minding their own business.
However, Dan knew that they had heard everything.
"We had a disagreement about how to raise our children. Not that it had been the first time, but it was the spout that our arguments usually come from. Even though I wanted to toughen the kids out at a young age, the one thing I tried not to expose them to was their mom and dad fighting. I wasn't always good at that though."
When it came to dinner that night, there was very little that went on. Everyone ate bear except for Gus, who was being personally fed by Valora. Dan would have offered to help after all the work she had put into preparing the fireplace, but she gave him little more than a cold shoulder, which was a typical aftermath of their arguments.
Marcus and Kevin filled the silence on their own, talking about horror movies they had seen. Wendy, on the other hand, sat quietly with discomfort, knowing her parents weren't happy with one another at that moment. She didn't want to make it obvious and tried to avoid eye contact with both of them, only looking when their attention was drawn elsewhere.
By the end of dinner, she would just sigh and hope things got better by the next morning.
"Things were mostly quiet after dinner. We all turned in for bed not long after. Evening was mostly uneventful. That was before I woke up to a storm in the middle of the night…"
CRASH!
"AH!" Dan screamed as he was suddenly awoken in his tent by a thunderous noise. As he jolted up, he heard the sound of heavy rain beating against the tent from outside as the winds went wild.
His attention was suddenly drawn beside him, where he was able to see just enough through the darkness to tell that his wife no longer lay beside him. He glanced around the tent for her, but only saw their kids resting in their sleeping bags.
"Valora?"
He then looked straight ahead and only then noticed that the tent had actually been opened and rain was pouring inside. In response, he jumped up out of his blankets and rushed to close the tent. At the same time, he began to wonder why the tent was even open in the first place.
He glanced back at Valora's empty sleeping bag before turning back to the open zipper on the tent.
But... why would she...? Where would she...?
"Dad…?" Wendy asked as she sat up, half-awake.
"Wendy!" Dan said, somewhat startled by her awakening.
Wendy looked around and almost immediately noticed Valora's absence as well. "Where's Mom?"
"I... uh…" Dan stuttered, not sure how to answer. "I don't know."
"W-what?"
"Listen to me, Wendy," Dan said as he grabbed his coat from the side and put it on. "I need you to stay here with your brothers. Don't you or any of them leave this tent. You hear me?"
Wendy hesitated. "But, dad, what's hap-"
"You hear me?!"
"Yes!" she instantly accepted.
"I'll be right back," Dan said as he zipped the tent open and stepped out into the pouring rain. He quickly zipped the tent back up again, leaving his kids behind as he began searching for Valora.
"For a second, I thought she had gone to the bathroom or something. At least, that's what I hoped. But I knew she had to have a better reason for being out there during a storm like that. So I told Wendy to stay to watch the boys while I quickly ran out to look for her."
"VALORA!" Dan called out as he walked through the dark woods. "VALORA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
He searched every inch of the surrounding woods that he could. The constant rain and evening darkness made his search all the more difficult, however. The heavy rain and thunder made it hard to hear any possible response, whereas the darkness made it hard to see almost anything. She could've called out to him for help moments ago and he wouldn't have known. He could've been walking around in circles and couldn't tell.
Regardless, he continued his search. But, the longer he went on without finding a trace of her, the more hopeless he grew.
"I spent hours looking around the forest; trudging through the muddy grass while calling her name. But I never heard or found a trace of her. I had no idea where she had gone or if she was coming back. No idea if she was dead or alive. I didn't know anything."
"VALORAAAAAA!" he cried out desperately into the woods one last time.
After hours of searching, he dropped to his knees weakly as his eyes welled up with desperate tears.
"And for the first time in my life… I felt weak."
[Present]
"In the morning, I searched the forest again, but I still found no trace of her. Police did searches, and investigations were done, and they still never found anything. No sign of her inside or outside of Gravity Falls. After months of searching, they just called it quits. Said she had disappeared. It was either that or some bogus explanation like getting eaten by a bear, which would never happen if you knew her."
"She just... disappeared?" Dipper asked, looking on in shock.
"But how is that possible?" Mabel asked.
"I don't know," Dan shrugged. "But none of it was easy to explain to the kids. They were all upset and confused, but Wendy was the most devastated."
"I can imagine…" Dipper said sympathetically.
"No, boy… you can't…" Dan tearfully denied as he shook his head. "The more Wendy grew, the more she reminded me of her mother. She's so much like Valora, it's uncanny. And it's why I'm harder on her. Because I can't risk losing Wendy the same way I lost Valora. I'm so proud of her and the woman she's become. But then she goes out and does these crazy things that get her into trouble. It reminds me that Valora was right about my parenting. Overexposing these kids to so much danger at a young age doesn't just toughen them out. It makes them feel invincible. Like they can do anything and get away with anything."
He then leaned over to his shelf and grabbed a picture of Wendy from when she was a child. He looked down at it nostalgically as he held it in his hands.
"So now that I'm trying to teach her to be responsible, she hates it. Because it's not how I raised her. That was the part Valora played when she was around. I didn't value that enough, and it took me too long to see that. It took me too long to appreciate her for trying to keep our kids level-headed when I wouldn't."
While Dan looked at the picture of Wendy, the twins glanced at one another with their sympathetic looks for him. While the two still didn't know the exact fate of Wendy's mom, now that they knew the basic story of what had happened to her, it began to make sense why she was never a frequent topic around any of the family. It was particularly understandable to them now when thinking back to the previous day when Wendy coldly compared her father's overwhelming nature to that of her more collected mother.
And Dan's reaction to that moment began to make much more sense as well.
"I don't believe it."
"C'mon, Dipper…"
"Mabel, do you really think out of all the things that could've happened to Wendy's mom, it was getting eaten by a bear?"
"She went into the woods. Bears live in the woods. A bear found her and ate her. Adds up to me."
"You can't possibly believe that in a town as weird as Gravity Falls, getting eaten by a bear is the most probable thing?" Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow.
Mabel sighed. "Look, Dipper, of course I don't believe that's what happened. I just don't think we need to keep investigating this anymore! First, you wanted to hunt down a possible ghost that could be haunting Wendy, and now you want to solve the mystery of her disappearing mom?"
"Well, if Wendy's mom is dead, then there could be a chance that she's the ghost!"
"And what do you plan to do if you're right?" Mabel asked before pressing her face together mockingly. "'Hey, Wendy! I snooped in your family history and found out your mom is dead and has been stalking you as a ghost! Let's kiss!'"
Dipper's face flushed red for a second. "W-what?! No! That's not... UGGHH!"
"Can you two quiet down?" Evan told the two from his computer. "I'm reading through hundreds of tiny lines of code here, and you two bickering isn't making it any easier to get to what you're looking for."
Dipper glanced back at Mabel for a moment before looking back at Evan apologetically. "Sorry, Evan."
After the twins' visit to the Corduroy cabin, Dipper had decided that they make their way over to the Reeds' residence for Evan's assistance. Since first meeting him from their day "babysitting" him, they had yet to come to him for his hacking abilities. But upon remembering that Evan had such skills, Dipper figured he could use them in helping them learn more about Valora Corduroy and her disappearance. That is if there was anything else to learn about.
He recalled Evan being able to hack into government files for info on anomalies. But what was saying that he couldn't also do the same for people too?
"What are you even doing right now?" Mabel asked as she looked over at all the complicated-looking programs that Evan appeared to be working with on his screen.
"Something very illegal."
"Awesome!" she said excitedly.
"Not really. I just broke through a government firewall. If I make any mistake that breaks my cover or exposes my location, I'll probably have about half an hour before the SWAT team is airlifted to my house."
"Geez, what kind of government firewall is that?" Dipper asked, somewhat unsettled by the extreme security measures.
"I'm trying to access a government network that holds private data and info on... well... everything, I guess."
"In the world?"
"Well, not this one," Evan told him. "This one is narrowed down locally to the Gravity Falls region. Every resident, every business, every landmark, and since its Gravity Falls, every monster sighting... all recorded in this system with as much private info as they can provide. Although, the monster sighting folder is actually the vaguest. All it has is classified photographs that were taken of supposed weirdness. But, they're all blurred and hard to identify. And they're not even edited. They're in their original condition. It's crazy. They can get all this detailed info on everything and everybody else in town, yet they can't even snap a decent photo of a gnome."
"So, it's worthless then?" Dipper asked.
"Not entirely. It did aid me a bit when I was first learning of the town's weirdness. And some of the photos have weird silhouettes I've never seen before. But overall, nothing too special. The real meat of these files is, again, all the personal info." He pulled up a file explorer program within the government database. "It's creepy how detailed some of this stuff is. Especially for the residents."
"Well, it's a good thing we're not residents then," Mabel said with a relieved smile. "We're technically just visitors. We don't live here."
"Actually, you two are in here as well," Evan said just as he located a file with the twins' names on it.
"Wait, what?!" Mabel questioned, running up with Dipper beside Evan to look at his screen.
"Seriously?!" Dipper asked as he began reading the contents of the file that Evan pulled up. "Dipper and Mabel Pines: Twins; Born August 31st, 1999; Age 16; Piedmont, California. What the hell?!"
"That's just basic info. You can find that sort of stuff on any personal record," Evan said as he scrolled down the file. "THIS is the creepy stuff."
"Occasionally likes to pour the milk before the cereal," Mabel read from her part of the file before letting out a shocked gasp. "How did they know?! I FEEL SO ASHAMED!"
"Worst Joke: the one about the mathematician that crossed the road," Dipper read from his part of the file.
Mabel snickered. "Yeah, I would call that your worst."
"Who the hell writes this stuff? This sounds like we're being stalked!" Dipper asked, disturbed.
"I'm not sure. I heard a rumor that government officials get tips from a gnome or something," Evan suggested. "But those guys are idiots."
"I'll say," Mabel agreed with an annoyed look, recalling her most recent engagement with the gnomes.
"Alright, look, as creepy as this is, we need to get back to the matter at hand," Dipper told him. "We need you to look up someone by the name of Valora Corduroy- a wife and mother in the Corduroy family who went missing about thirteen years ago."
Evan effortlessly typed in the name and found her file in seconds. "Found her. Valora Corduroy. Pretty much exactly as you described her. Mother of four, married to Dan Corduroy, went missing in 2003."
"Anything else you can find on her disappearance?" Dipper asked.
Evan scrolled around her file and clicked on various other files, quickly skimming through whatever he came across for any valuable details and information. "There are police reports from her investigation, but none of them come across any evidence of her whereabouts. Everything just kind of reaches a dead end by the end of the year, which means they probably dropped the case by then. I'm not seeing very much other than that though."
Mabel turned to Dipper, who had his eyes focused on Evan's monitor, watching him scroll through the info. "Dipper, c'mon. Maybe this is a sign that there's nothing for us here. If something weird happened, then there were no witnesses around in the forest to see what. I mean, maybe she got beamed to another dimension and became a badass, crime-fighting dimension traveler! I mean, no police investigation could report coming across evidence for that!"
Dipper still shook his head in denial as he turned back and began pacing around the room. "No... there has to be something. If this has all of her personal information and history, there has to be something else in there somewhere. A lead of some sort…"
Evan kept scrolling for a little bit until his eyes fell upon a bit of text that stood out to him. His eyes lit up in slight shock. "Hold on... I just found something really weird. A set of dates. According to this, Valora went missing on March 23rd, 2003. However, there's another date here that says she was last seen on May 23rd…"
"She was last seen after the day of her disappearance?" Dipper questioned.
"This is so weird..." Evan said, growing unsettled the deeper into the file he read. "From the same day, May 23rd, there's also the coordinates for her last known location. It's in the woods, but it's not anywhere near the same area as the section where she had supposedly gone missing."
"How credible even is all this info?" Mabel asked, somewhat skeptical.
"From my experience, very. That's why I'm so weirded out by all of this right now. I'm not sure how any of this is possible. I mean, it just doesn't add up."
"Then we need to go and see this place for ourselves," Dipper said.
Mabel glared at him. "What?!"
"What? We need to go and check those coordinates out. It might lead us to another clue," Dipper explained.
"Dipper, it's getting late and you wanna go deep into the woods to find evidence of the whereabouts of a woman who we don't even know is even alive?"
Dipper thought over her question for a moment. "Yeah, pretty much," he casually nodded, which made Mabel slump forward annoyedly. He turned back to Evan and pointed at his screen. "Send me those coordinates, Evan."
The sun had already set and allowed for the evening darkness to take over by the time Dipper and Mabel began making their way through the woods. Dipper viewed the coordinates that Evan sent him on his phone. Along with the coordinates, Evan sent highlighted info from Valora's file in case he needed to read up on it again to aid in their mystery.
Mabel followed closely behind Dipper, though her hesitations and objection to their involvement still remained. However, at that point, she had long since accepted there was no use convincing Dipper to drop the mystery, even if she was admittedly curious about what had happened to Wendy's mom herself.
Dipper glanced down at his phone again, looking at their location. "Looks like we're coming up on those coordinates Evan sent."
Mabel looked around the surrounding trees and raised an eyebrow. "This place looks kind of familiar…"
"Yeah, I was beginning to think so too a little while back," Dipper agreed while looking around as well. "I'm not sure what it is though."
"I still don't understand. Evan said the police reports had no evidence about what happened to Wendy's mom. Yet, apparently, her last known location was found two months after her disappearance? Like, how did that never come up?"
"That's what I'm curious about too. How can they even track a last known location like that and make nothing of it?"
"That's why I'm unsure about any of this. I mean, Evan says the info is reliable, but I don't know. I feel like there's something off about everything."
"Well, either way, we're pretty much here already," Dipper said as he suddenly stopped walking and stood in place, looking around at their surroundings before glancing down at his phone again. "This is the exact spot of the coordinates he sent. You see anything notable?"
"No. But, I'm definitely feeling something familiar about this place." She began walking to the side of the woods to get a better look around.
"Yeah, but I don't understand why. I mean, have we been in this part of the woods before?"
As Mabel wandered into a nearby area in the woods, she spotted something that caught her eye. Her skin suddenly went cold and she began to realize why the area they were in was so familiar.
"Uh, Dipper? You might wanna look at this…"
Dipper quickly walked up next to her and looked ahead at what she pointed at. As he saw what she was referring to, he could feel a pit in his stomach grow. In the direction they faced and through the trees, they spotted a lone cabin in the middle of the woods. A cabin that they had already visited earlier that day.
"Hang on a second... that's the Corduroy cabin!" he realized as he looked back down at his phone. "These coordinates are located directly in the woods surrounding their house!"
"That makes even less sense! How could this be her last known location if she was pretty much right next to her house?"
Dipper began to glance through some of the info that Evan had sent them for any extra details that might help explain things. However, his eyes slowly grew wide once he came to a whole separate realization upon rereading something.
"Hold on, Mabel. I'm reading through some of the information Evan sent and I think there was a bit of miscommunication earlier when he said Valora was last seen on May 23rd."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we thought he meant May 23rd, 2003, about two months after the day she disappeared. But what Evan actually meant was May 23rd, 2016!"
Mabel's eyes widened, growing incredibly confused. "Wait, what?!"
"Apparently, Valora was seen at this spot last month," Dipper said as he stared at the date. "But, how the hell could anyone have made an observation like that? WHO could have observed that?"
"Wait... Thompson said that the night they vandalized their professor's room was on April 23rd. Valora disappeared March 23rd, 2003 and was last seen May 23rd, this year…"
"She disappeared on the 23rd, and she was last spotted on the 23rd... and the 23rd was when Wendy got busted at her college... because she SAW someone…"
Mabel's heart dropped. "Uh... Dipper?! What day is today?"
CLANK! CLANK!
U-shaped metallic bars had suddenly been shot out of nowhere, wrapping around each twin's throat with both ends of the bar piercing into the trees behind them, pinning them both. They both hung a few inches off the ground from their necks, choking as the bars tightly pressed against their throats. Instinctively, they placed their hands around the bars, trying to pry themselves free, but the bars were too far embedded into the tree that it wasn't possible with their strengths, and they were simply left to desperately hang and struggle.
"June... 23rd…" Dipper said through his choking.
At that moment, two bright lights suddenly flashed in front of them. As they looked up, they realized they came from the sides of a helmet being worn by a figure who began to approach them. The twins froze amidst their struggle to escape the metallic bars as they stared forward petrified.
As the figure stepped in front of them, they were able to have a clearer vision of it. The person wore a type of matte white armor that stretched out amongst the person's slender body; the joints were marked with black lines. The helmet was also matte white while also having a large, blue, V-shaped visor and lights that stuck out from the sides.
'It looked like they might've been wearing white…' Thompson's voice echoed in Dipper's head.
"No... way…" Dipper choked in utter disbelief.
The figure then pointed their right arm at the two, which triggered a futuristic laser cannon-like weapon to pop up and target them. Right after, the figure's helmet began to automatically disassemble into a bunch of nanobots, revealing her angry, scarred, freckled face and neck-length chestnut brown hair with a single white streak. The twins gasped.
"Man, you guys got a lot of explaining to do..." Valora said while aiming her laser cannon right at the two.
The twins stared at her with their mouths agape, having absolutely no idea how to respond or react. However, Mabel suddenly smiled as she looked over at Dipper.
"Ha! I was right! She DID turn into a badass!" she managed to shout out jubilantly through her choking. "Haha, we... are SO screwed!"
(Chapter updated as of March 17, 2024)