When people ask me 'How was your summer' or 'What did you do this summer', I'll be honest, I don't know what to tell them. The closest I have to say is 'I had the privilege to have the most exciting summer of my life with my grand uncle in Oregon'. Now, I now what you might be thinking- 'How is that exciting? Sounds like any other boring family trip', right? Well, you'd be wrong. I was lucky; lucky just being there this summer, seeing things that no one else has seen in their lives, fighting for truth and justice, and even falling in love."

The author of this written paragraph, a teenage boy with brown eyes, sat in front of his computer in his room. Leaning back from reading it for the fourth time, he snorted quietly. With a deflated sigh, he shook his head. Something about what he saw clearly rubbed him the wrong way.

"It sounds conceited," Dipper Pines, the less than proud writer groaned as he instantly deleted the entire paragraph without hesitation. Staring at the now blank white screen before him, he placed his chin upon a hand, and laid his arm against the desk. "Just when I thought that sixth grade was demeaning," he mumbled, "seventh comes in for the wind up: aaand it's more stupid 'how was your summer' work."

Dipper Pines was a boy of thirteen. He wasn't exactly tall for his age, but he wouldn't let people talk him down from being at least of average height. He was right in the middle of standard young teen image, but lacked any physical finesse, making up for it in willpower and sharp intellect. His brown curly hair tucked under his hat, a blue and white baseball cap he got while at his stay with his uncle sat atop his head. Emblazoned upon the front of the rather cheaply made cap was a single blue pine tree.

The young Pine had not been home from school for a even a full hour when he decided he would begin writing his assignment from the day. Habit prompted him to begin the work as soon as possible, and despite being a 'lame topic', he found himself slaving away before a monitor light lit keyboard in his dark room.

Summer had come and gone. What he could only describe as the greatest time of his entire twelve years of life were over. Battles against zombies, assisting mermen escape pools, and a conspiracy for the ages wrapped tightly in family drama tied together intriguingly to become his fondest memories yet. Fondest, assuming he could ever let down the consistent trauma and terror that each of those golden memories carried. Now, back in his home town, life was grey and flat by a long shot comparison. He even wondered if the normal people in Piedmont had secrets at all, let alone conspiracies. This life was totally dull, and he felt each hour pass turn him towards lethargy.

As he dazed about the weeks before, a sudden shout from below in his home shook the floor. He turned and looked to the door, where he knew a hallway connected to an overlook to the living room and staircase. Dipper frowned worriedly, thinking as to what topic the shouts from below could be. He shook his head.

"It... isn't my business," he repeated to himself for the third time that evening. He turned from his computer, seeing a single framed picture on the desk. There, looking at him was his own face, a wrinkled and large nosed old man with faded grey hair with a fishing cap, and, of course-

"DIPPERSAUCE!" a girl shouted as she nearly kicked in the door, splashing light into the room.

Dipper blinked and turned to the injection of chaos to his personal abode. "Mabel?" he asked.

"Yes, lord of dark bedrooms, Dipper the sullen," Mabel snickered as she skipped into his room and leapt onto his bed. She wore her favorite purple sweater, stitched with a shooting star and rainbow tail tracing behind it.

Dipper grumbled as she climbed onto his bed and rolled about. "Hey, don't-" he started.

"Don't what?" she grinned, and kicked her shoes off on his bed. She was almost identical the twin of Dipper Pines. Barely a millimeter taller than her brother, she was endlessly energetic and bouncy, incapable of the following the phrase 'calm down'. Where Dipper owned sense of respect for the cerebral, she was a proud owner of a pig, and somehow, a member of the united states congress- at least according to the eighth and a half president.

"C'mon, Mabel," Dipper groaned," your feet sweat like twice as much as mine do."

"All the fun I make creates fun-residue. Your bed could use some!" she told him as her braces shined from the light from the hallway, smiling cheekily at her brother. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer. "What are you doing on the computer already?" she asked, "Don't you want to... like, search for a gnome or something? I think our neighbor's garden gnomes are spies. Maybe they're connected with Jeff... agents of stealth, in our neighbors backyards..." Mabel added in a serious undertone, looking at the blinds-covered window.

"I have homework," Dipper told her with authority.

"Whaaat?" she exclaimed, flipping herself to be upside down, dangling off his bed, "since when do you get homework the first day of class?"

"Since now; since seventh grade. You do too you know," he turned in his chair to remind her," and you won't be able to get me to write this one for you."

"Boo!" she stuck out her tongue at him, and quickly fell off the bed and flat onto the floor. "Your carpet smells like pain."

"It would, since you jammed into it, nose-first. Mabel," Dipper fully faced her in his chair," come on, you need to do your work too." Mabel rolled around on his carpet, seeming to ignore his words. After a few rolls back and forth, Dipper asked," and... what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"

"Enough static to singe your hair?" she asked, stopping briefly to plead innocent.

"I doubt you're going to zap anything. Probably can't generate enough for even a small discharge," Dipper said as he laid the trap. Mabel was only too eager to prove him wrong. On cue, Mabel poked her cheek and winced as she was quickly zapped from the inside of her mouth.

"OW! Dang braces," she rubber her cheek as Dipper laughed at her. "C'mon! Its boring here," Mabel rolled her eyes, trying to get Dipper to change his stance.

"It's boring out there too," Dipper told her," this isn't like Gravity Falls. We're in a normal town with normal people now. I think the most exciting thing is one of our neighbors speaks Portuguese. What... what is there to do out there that's exciting, exactly?"

"We can stare at squirrels!" Mabel told him," Make them feel like they're being watched."

"And why would that be a good idea?" Dipper asked after a moment to stare at her.

"It's only fair we return the favor," Mabel muttered, danger lurking in her every word. Dipper spun away from her, not enthused about her ideas of fun. "Oh, c'mon bro!" she pleaded.

"Why are you so desperate? Just do your work; it'll get itself done quickly if you just set yourself to it. And don't say you can't, I know you can!" Dipper said from facing his now blank document.

"I... I can't focus," She admitted.

"Why not?" Dipper asked in frustration.

"It's loud downstairs," Mabel quietly said. The tone and volume shook Dipper to the core: one of trepidation. He knew that voice too well, and spun quickly to look at her. She was looking to the still ajar door, her eyes sad and distant in her thoughts.

"What... what is it?" Dipper asked gently, getting off his chair and coming to sit next to her.

"They're being loud again... I heard what they're talking about, Dip," Mabel said, positively dead in her voice.

"You- but- they...it's not our business, right?" Dipper stated aloud. He watched his sister almost cringe, and looked away from the door, and spin away from her twin brother. "Hey, it can't be that bad, right?" Mabel had turned entirely away from her brother, wrapping her arms around her legs, and tucking herself deep in her sweater. Dipper was truly concerned with her now, and first got up to close the door. Once it sealed shut, he walked to have his back against the bed frame, and slid down to face Mabel.

"What did you hear?" he asked her gently.

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just leave the house and go make our own adventures, okay? Let's go find something stupid to make fun of!" Mabel asked desperately. Dipper shook his head. "Why not?!"

"This isn't like we can just run to Grunkle Stan for help. This is home, and it'll wait for us here, whatever it is. Even if its... not... great. Mabel," Dipper tried again, stronger, but still maintaining his tenderness," what did you hear?"

A rumble of voices, familiar to the two of them shook the floor. Dipper gasped and glanced at the door, shocked at the escalation growing below.

"I..." Mabel said, her voice mildly shaking," I think mom and dad are going to break up."

Dipper heard her and could not comprehend an appropriate response. He was one of the better thinkers of his year in school, and all the evidence that he had accumulated pointed to Mabel's thought. Their mom and dad, since the moment they came to pick them up at the bus stop, had an air of strain hovering over them. Dipper had discounted the tension for the sake of not having seen them for three months. They could have just been tired...

Then the arguments began. They were subtle at first, but grew stronger and more personal each time. Dipper, in the two weeks they had been back, had locked himself in his room to avoid the dangers of arguments below. Mabel had tried, forever the optimist, weathering the storm. Dipper wasn't sure anymore if their parents got along that much. He even wondered if they had been shipped to Grunkle Stans' for the pure reason to avoid possible problems and seeing the parents argue through the summer. He almost wanted to ask Stan if he knew anything about this.

Another burst of sound echoed to their position, in the dark room. Mabel whimpered sadly as she lowered her head slowly. Dipper looked to his sister, unsure of what to say.

"You... I think you may be right," Dipper could only manage.

"They can't!" Mabel looked up, tears in her eyes as she shouted at her brother. "This is supposed to be a happy family!"

"Mabel, quiet down! They could hear-" Dipper tried saying quickly, but she slammed her fist against the floor.

"What's going to happen to us if mom and dad split, huh!?" She demanded to her brother, who was agape without a clue.

"I don't know anything about that! I never wanted to know anything about divorce law!" Dipper said with more strength and volume. "I don't know."

"This isn't FAIR!" Mabel stood up, and charged for the door. "We should be coming back home to a happy family!"

"Wait, MABEL!" Dipper called after her as she stormed out while crying uncontrollably. He sat there, alone on his carpet and at a loss to thought. His fears, collecting with the thoughts of his sisters pain, left a gaping hole in his chest that he couldn't avoid anymore. His life here, home, his family, it could change for the worse. It was changing for the worse.

"Hey," a quiet and soft voice belonging to his father asked through a crack in the door, just out of sight, "you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're just doing great dad, thanks," Dipper called back, sarcasm dripping through his trembling voice.

"Uh... okay, just... we can talk with you if, you, er, you want to," his father asked from outside.

"Let them be," Dippers mother called, slightly further away than his father from the door, perhaps standing upon the stairs.

"I'm fine," Dipper stood up, and firmly closed the door, "I'm just going to go to sleep. Goodnight."

This was entirely a lie. Dipper knew that he, and his twin sister, would be laying in bed all night, dreading the coming days. He leaned back against his pillow, shaking his head, blaming himself. Maybe, had he just gone with Mabel to do something silly outdoors, they could have held this off a bit longer, and this life he knew wouldn't be crashing around him. He could have had that security, maybe, of a bit more comfort.

As his eyes welled up he, he muttered, "That's just a lie too."

Two years and eight months pass...

A lone teenager walked down a peaceful street in Citrus Heights. A hand held to his ear and a bounce in his step, he was excited for the coming weeks ahead and he spoke animatedly into his phone while his other hand swept through his curly brown hair.

"And he was really excited about my fictional work too," Dipper Pines, age fifteen told his mother on the phone.

"Really? About time someone noticed your talent for mystery and paranormal stories," his mom replied.

"I mean, I guess I just had to go back and edit a few crazy things out to make the story more believable," Dipper rolled his eyes, "but he was shocked I hadn't taken it to a publisher yet."

"Mister Dugood said that?" his mom asked, "I did have a good feeling about him at the parent teacher conference this year."

"Yeah, so I'll be home in a bit, so I'll talk to you more about it then, okay?" Dipper asked.

"Of course! Great job with school this year. Stay safe!" His mom hung up, and he flipped his phone away with a sigh.

"Work of fiction. Huh," he puffed in a jabbing spout of breath, "I guess that's all I can relate to anyone, at least about that kind of stuff," Dipper sighed as he passed under a blooming orange tree, its wonderfully sweet scents all but ignored by Dipper Pines. He had, after all, moved here more than two years ago with his mother, and the scent was little to anything more than part of the scenery.

"Who cares," Dipper shrugged off the idea of his past romances with the unknown from his mind, "Mom, you may think you fooled your son about the gift, but I know too well your late night purchase a few weeks ago. It HAS to be today!"

"Yeah! Today!" an elderly man cheered back, pointing his walking stick into the air. "Carpe Diem, suckers!"

"Exactly, Mister Himmerfield," Dipper gave the man two pointers with his fingers as he crossed the street, "today, I get my first car!"

"Yeah! Automated transportation!" Mr. Himmerfield cheered back.

"No more walking for this guy!" Dipper did a little turn about, leaning against a white picket fence in his eternal glory of knowing his coming present from his mother. "Sweet, sweet gasoline, road laws, and pedestrian rights!"

"I'm legally blind!" Mr. Himmerfield shouted with as much enthusiasm as he vanished down the street. "I have to walk forever! Forever!"

"... yeah! Uh... right," Dipper watched his audience support haunch away slowly. He turned away from the strange old man who lived in his neighborhood, and continued towards his home. His book bag jumping about his back as he jogged, he rounded a fence to the front walkway to his house, and there was his mom.

She had shoulder length thick brown hair and big brown eyes which struggled to contain her excitement. Dipper contained himself, walking as casually as he could until she whipped towards the garage and pushed a small button in her hand. The doors raised, revealing a new shining car; even more recent aa model than Dipper had expected. He dropped his book bag to the earth and fell to his knees.

"To the powers that be, you have made this day," he roared to the heavens," AWESOME!"

"The powers that be are happy to appease," Dippers mom came over and pulled her son to his feet and gave him a strong hug.

"Mom!" Dipper struggled to be released, and she did so after a moment, letting her son charge to his new car.

"It's a Crescendo- a bit older of a car than I would have liked to gotten you- but the safety rating is a great," Dippers mother realized he was smiling at her with a satisfied, yet cocky, grin. "You must have known, didn't you?" she asked as he carefully looked over the surface of the black car, capable of sitting five. It had fewer curves and more flat surfaces, but it held the grace of an older car but with the functionality of a new model.

"You're not good a hiding things," Dipper reminded her, "what exactly did you expect when I saw you hurrying to cover this with a dirty rag when I came home last week? A Bison was under there?"

"Psh, I had you fooled," she denied his achievement to notice such things, "and remember- technically this belongs to the family until you're of age. Right?"

"No joyrides without your consent, gotcha," Dipper turned his head just barely to speak to her, as his eyes were busy drinking in as much of the car as possible.

"Maybe you should call your dad, let him know that you can come see him whenever you'd like?" his mom suggested after a moment of him inspecting the car through the windows.

"Nah, it'll be a surprise," Dipper sighed as he watched himself bend and reflect in the curves of the windows, "oh my god, thank you so much mom!"

"Well, keep those grades up! Top of the class in, everything?" She smiled as she shook her head, "I only wish I had gotten such a brain when I was your age."

"No, seriously," Dipper turned, and charged into a hug with his mom, "thank you so much!" She gasped at his collision and laughed. A phone then rang from inside the house.

"Well, you enjoy this first of many steps towards adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it," his mom said as she stepped away and entered the house," I'll see who is calling. Maybe they'll care you can drive now?" she chuckled.

"Someone older, I bet, if they're calling landline," Dipper guessed. As the front door closed behind his mother, he did consider calling his dad. He hadn't spoken to him for a long time, long enough to wonder what Mabel was up to.

The thought of his sister brought a wave of shame to his gut. The two had an unspoken falling out, coupled by distance and the introduction of high-school. Dipper knew his sister wasn't nearly as competent as he was with academics, and worried if she was struggling. The thought passed that maybe he should call. Maybe better, drive down to Piedmont to say hi to the two, and more importantly, brag his new ride. It was too good of a thought.

His reality check crushed his dreams. The trip was long enough away, and he wasn't sure he was comfortable to drive alone on the highways. He had done it before, sure, but to travel to his dads and Mabels at the same time made him feel nervous. He would just send them an excited email later, maybe.

Dipper heard the door creak open, and he turned to his mother. Her excitement had all been drained from her face. He knew immediately that whatever she had to say wasn't good news.

"Mom? What's up?" he asked, the nervous look in her eyes infecting him.

"It's... your Grand Uncle, Stan?" she started, "he just passed away."

The numbness that took over his body had Dipper nearly fall against his brand new car. His mother made to help him, but he slid to a seat against the wheel of his brand new ride. Static filled his ears and his skin prickled with uncertainty. He couldn't have heard what she just said. He had heard it...

"What... what do you mean he passed away? Did he move away from Gravity Falls?" he asked her, yet not looking at her.

"He died last night," his mother said sadly, sitting down in front of him, as he breathed deeply.

His mind raced out of control. The energy he held to minutes previously now battled the horrible pit of feeling that pierce him like a bolt of lightning. He... was gone? The unstoppable, unflinching, miser and con man, loving Grunkle Stan died. Dipper couldn't begin to understand how he was supposed to feel about this news. He supposed in his head that he aught to feel sad, but it was as the ability to be sad, to act sad, was not physically possible.

"Someone by the name of Northwest sent a message to us- you, that you are mentioned in the will of your Grand Uncle," she tried explaining, very aware of the incredible stress she had unleashed onto her once celebrating son.

"I..." Dipper searched his brain for anything to do, say, act on. It was his strongest, most reliable feature. Yet it failed him, here and now. In desperation, he looked elsewhere in his being, and found in his heart and gut a joint answer. Raising his head from the mild slant he had adopted, he looked his mother in the eye. "I'm going to Gravity Falls," he told her.

"But, don't you have a summer job lined up at Pizza-Asteroids?" His mom asked as he stood up, and started to walk inside.

"I'll let them know this came up. Mom, this is important," he told her as he turned towards the hallway leading to his room. Entering his space, he began grabbing his necessary ingredients for travel- extra clothing, washing supplies, toothpaste.

"Well... I'm not going to stop you," his mom sighed and he gave her a look.

"Really?"

"I agree with you. I think this is important. I'll even get some money for you from the kitchen," she said and she turned away towards the other side of the house.

It only took Dipper a quick few minutes to find enough for him to say he was ready to pack. He lifted his bag up, and spotted a mirror in his room. It showed the scruff signs of a chin with stubble, and his thick brown hair without his hat, as wearing them was banned at his school. With one last turn back to his dresser, he reached up and brought down to his head an old baseball cap he hadn't worn in quite some time.

"Ugh, a little tight," he groaned, and undid the back strap a little, and it slid on easier," there."

With his hat atop his head and two suitcases in his hands, he made for his new car. Outside, his mom waited, looking worriedly as she observed him approach the trunk of the car. She popped it open for him with a click of a button from the electronic keys, and Dipper calmly placed his suitcases inside. With a long sigh, he closed the trunk, and turned to his mom. The final clearing before he departed had to come from her.

"Here," she said, and held out they keys for him. He gave them only one glance, and took them from her.

"Mom... thanks," he said with a faint smile.

"Just be careful," she warned him, "You were just twelve when you were there, so things may have changed from how you remember them."

"They already have," he said strongly, as he walked to the driver side, and opened the door. The feeling of taking the steering wheel was more than enough for him to shake any second thoughts or doubts from his mind. He stepped in and closed the door. It would not open until he reached Gravity Falls, all the way in Oregon. "Mabel, you better show up."

A front door in a house slammed open in a Sacramento suburbs, revealing a young woman with curly brown hair, and marvelously straight teeth. "Dad! I have returned from my glorious campaign against my ancient rival; school!" Mabel Pines called out as she entered her home. She quickly dropped her school bag to the floor, and strode to the couch in the living room. The fifteen year old wore one of her trademarked loose fitting sweaters. Her long brown hair tried up in a lose fitting ponytail, she strode into her home with absolute and total ease.

"How was the last day?" and older male voice, belonging to her dad, called from the kitchen.

"No one survived my onslaught," she grimly said.

"Right. I guess that means you think you did well?" her dad asked with a hint of caution. Mabel laughed manically and turned on the television. She picked briefly at her teeth, showing the bright and metal-less chompers. "You can worry a parent sometimes, you know that."

"Worry? Why worry when you can conquer the world," she said as she channel surfed. Her long brown hair fell to the mid of her back, and was currently half covering her face. She pouted at the lack of good television, finding nothing but news on missing archaeologists and bands of rising popularity. "Where's all the great cartoons?" she grumbled.

"So, you're not going to tell me about your grade card?" Mister Pines said as he walked into the room, wringing off water from his hands with a hand towel. He had short brown hair and a thoughtful look about his eyes, like he was always in concentration or deep thought.

"I don't wanna, that's boring. But I had a great time with my SENSEI!" she bellowed triumphantly, beating her chest like a gorilla while making accompanying sounds.

"Miss Hirsh and you had a good practice?" Mabels dad asked as he sat down next to her, stole the remote, and put on the news, which was addressing the stocks of a company called 'Steindorf and Co'.

"She thinks I'm improving fast, or whatever," Mabel blew off her accreditation easily, "and we've established that I'm probably fire and air of the paths, so I can begin my focuses soon, but you know that's just because we're like super tight. Martial arts master and pupil- don't even come between," she admitted as blasé as she could manage.

"You know, I was a little weirded out with your interest, but I have to admit," he defended her, "it's sensible. I like the idea of you learning a style of self-defense that works towards who you are."

"Pshwa, self defense," she snickered," it's just going to help me defeat my greatest foe yet, Bethany Mills, and her waaaay too dark hair."

"That girl giving you trouble still?" her dad asked with a quick look of concern.

"Yeah right, emo girls don't fight, they just speak badly of you in," she dropped her tone to be more menacing and fatigued, "darker tones to appease our master of darkness." Her father laughed with her, and she nearly fell off the couch.

"Hey, I think it' time I showed you something. Get up kiddo," her dad told her as he stood up.

"If its another crazy computer gizmo, I'm going to fall asleep on it," Mabel warned her father, but was interested when he turned to the back door, leading to their backyard," wait... what's that lumpy thingy under the stained sheets?"

Her father turned and placed his hands against her shoulders, silently telling her to remain still. Instantly, the possibilities of what awaited underneath the large sheet, probably an animal of some sort she was wishing of. Since Waddles got too big and was sent to a petting Zoo to appease the hearts of similar girls like Mabel, she had longed for another pet. Her father grasped the sheets and tugged strongly. A burst of light caught her eyes, and she blinked.

"A... bike?" she asked with uncertainty.

"It's the Insurgent, from a few years back. I knew you wouldn't want a car, so might as well go with one of these bad boys, and since you already have that little license, or at least one fake enough to convince me you actually passed the test. So, what do you think?"

"It's cool! So, does that mean you're trading your old car for this bike? I didn't know you were into pink. I really like the color, though," Mabel said with fascination. Her dad gave her a strong look and confident smile, and shook his head. The clockwork of Mabel's mind clicked suddenly, and her thoughts finally understood what was happening. Her mouth dropped open like a brick falling from a ledge.

"I think you got it," her dad chuckled.

"I-I-I- It's mine!?" she starting hopping in place.

"Yup. As long as you promise me you won't go and tell your mom about it. Or get pulled over, because I'm not sure you're legally supposed to be riding these until you're eighteen. So-"

Mabel tackled her father in the midriff, knocking the wind out of him, and began to chant a combination of "Thank you!" and "I love it!" in such a fury that words began to mix and switch around and she eventually became unintelligible. Her father laughed and tried prying her off. She quieted down, and held on tighter.

"Mabel, I think you're cutting off blood from my legs," her dad told her after a moment.

"Not. Letting. Go. You have to earn hugs for what you gave me," she said sternly. A phone rang in the house.

"Mabel, I need to get that, it could be work," her dad told her, but she refused to let go. After an attempt to shake her off with a quick jump, he did several hoola-hoops using her, and she slid off and landed near her new bike. "Don't go anywhere with it!" he scolded her as she hungrily approached the bike.

"You ask the impossible, sir," she greedily said as she approached the shining and well conditioned bike. Her ultimate excitement reflected back to her as she stared the chrome and pink metal that covered the back. Its seat and handles gave it the air of motor-bikes of old, more for an upright position than leaning forward or back. She knew exactly what her next purchase would be- matching pink sunglasses, to give the 'bad girl' vibe.

"Oh you and me," she said, pulling the bike close to her face, "we are going to be close friends. Like, maybe soul mates. But you have to contribute to this relationship too, you know. I won't just... let you..." she stared into the shininess of the bike, and almost began to drool, "you are perfect."

"Mabel," a voice called from the door.

"One second," she replied in a hushed voice, "this moment should last forever."

"It's, um, it's about Uncle Stan," Mister Pines said.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel spun and stood up from the bike, excitement floating through her even more. Her mood was quickly and coldly drenched by the look her father had across his face. He seemed deflated, even more than he was in comparison to his daughter. "Dad?" she asked quietly.

"Uh, he's... Mabel, last night, in his sleep, he passed away," her dad began, struggling for words, "and your name has been mentioned in the will, so the 'Northwests' are calling you for a copy of his will."

"Wait... Grunkle Stan is dead?" she asked. Her father nodded, sadness creeping on his face. Mabel considered the possibility for a moment, that the man she had spent an entire summer with may have actually left her behind. Then she snorted. "Yeah right!" Mabel laughed aloud, stunning her father.

"Mabel?" he asked, his mouth agape.

"If I know good 'ol Grunkle Stan, he's probably just tired of lifting boxes and cleaning the windows on his own, and this is some sort of stunt to get me to come back and help him out," Mabel reasoned aloud.

"Mabel!" her dad almost shouted, "this is serious! The local authorities confirmed it. He's really gone."

"But... nah," Mabel blew off the idea again. However, as she rejected the idea for a second time, a clever response came time mind. "I think I need to go prove that he's alive."

"You- what?!" Mister Pines blustered as Mabel charged so fast into the house it was like a blur, and returned with a half-filled backpack.

"I just have to make sure I pack my extra sweaters, cus it can get cold, even up in-" Mabel ran back inside for a moment, and reappeared with art supplies, and began to cram them inside her large backpack, "and beside, maybe now that I'm fifteen, he will have to pay me if I do help out with-" she ran inside again after shoving the art stuff away, and then re-emerged with more clothing piles, more befitting that of a martial artists robes, "because let's just face it, he may be an old geezer, but he has no sense of-"

"MABEL!" her dad finally burst out, stunning her daughter to a freeze. He breathed heavily for a moment, staring at her incredulously. That tone hadn't been heard for quite some time. Mabel knew she had to try once more.

"Dad," she pleaded quietly, "let me go to him. I know he's not gone."

"How can you be sure? Being dead isn't exactly something you can just disprove," her dad argued. She shrugged.

"And besides," Mabel stood up with the overstuffed and barely closed backpack, "I know Dipper will be there."

"... you think so?" he asked her with a tad more ease than before.

"I know it. One of those nutty twin-things, right?" she grinned at her dad. He shook his head, giving the impression he was not entirely cool with the idea of letting his daughter go alone for a long trip. Something in his defiance relented, and he sighed.

"I couldn't stop you, short from locking you up and tying you down," he warned her as he extended his hand with they keys and dropped them into her own outstretched hands.

"Like that would stop me," she smiled and hugged her father, "it would only slow me down."

"Well, get going before I smarten up and actually do tie you down and stop you," her dad said with a tired grin. With a wide beaming smile, she nodded at him. She leapt for the bike, and landed gracefully. A moment later, after pulling out her standard sunglasses from her backpack, she checked herself in the mirrors.

"Certified badass," she nodded with a straight face and started the engines. Sadly, before her father could get the fence gate open for her to exit, she put the gas on, and in a split second, crashed through the wooden pallets, crashing half the fence. Dogs barked from the distance as she hit the ground, rolling about and avoiding any real harm. Getting up and dusting herself off, she briefly looked back to the damage to the fence she caused. With a hiss like grimace, she realized she had utterly destroyed it.

"... Mabel," her father growled, furthering her haste onto the temporarily crashed bike.

"I'll fix it when I come back!" she shouted as she soared off onto the street, nearly hitting a parked car as she sped. Her dad was seen in the mirror of her bike, and she watched him watch her until she turned down a new street. Scouting ahead, she spotted signs for the highway from the suburbia she lived in.

"Gravity Falls, here I..." she stopped her bike for a split moment, sliding to a halt. Fortune favored her, as the street was empty aside from her. She rummaged through her backpack for one object, and without ever looking inside, pulled out an older photo of herself and her brother, Dipper, goofing at the camera. If there had been any doubt in her heart, seeing their smiling faces from almost three years ago pierced the veil. She was ready.

"...Here we come," she grinned confidently, and sped on out with a wild swerve. No sooner had she done so than she accidentally ran over a tin trash can as she sped away. "SORRY!" she called back to the owner of the trash can, who huffed out and cursed at her while she vanished down the street.

Crickets chirped gently in the faint breeze that glided through the woods. The sun had long since fallen and the sky was dotted with bright stars and hints of vast cosmic colors. The serenity of it all was mildly interrupted by the crunching and crackling of dirt and gravel as a black car drove down the back-woods path towards a solitary building. The black car found itself stopped before the building in the woods.

Seven hours, twenty two minutes since leaving his neighborhood, the door to a newly acquired Crescendo opened and out stepped Dipper Pines. He closed the door behind him as he looked up. It had been three years since he had seen it for his own eyes. The great memories nearly danced before him, figments of imagination from good times long ago. Star and moon light bounced off his car but it was the lights of the building before him caught his attention.

"The Mystery Shack," he whispered as he stared at the structure.

The wooden building was crudely built from an odd assortment of planks of wood and logs, placed half-hazard in the vague shape of a two-level house. A plethora of signs, ranging from the hardly intact main sign "Mystery Shack" to 'gifts' and 'world famous' dotted the roof and walls. Just by the back of the gravel parking lot stood the tall Native-American inspired, but plastic, totem pole.

He tilted his head to the side as he approached the building. In his mind, as he imagined coming to the shack, he would realize that it was much smaller than he remembered. If anything, it now seemed even bigger. He was certain that Grunkle Stan had, at some point, added several additions to the shack. It almost seemed like something more of a large home than a shack built on twigs and branches as he had remembered it.

His feet scrapped the gravel beneath him as he walked forward, passing a sign that had been left facing down in the grass. A quick click of his keys in his hands had the car beep weakly in response. The front door was certainly smaller than he remembered, and with a good grip, he opened the it slowly.

Once Dipper stepped inside and flicked on the lights, he realized that the inside of the gift shop hadn't changed in the slightest. Tons of cheap, low-grade merchandise were displayed all around him on shelves and tables. He even spotted several newer items, including postcards and posters, which he read while picking them up 'I uncovered the truths of the mystery shack!'.

"Only for ten and twenty bucks. Grunkle Stan," Dipper smiled and shook his head sadly as he put down the stack of still-sealed postcards.

It was the mention of his uncle that stirred his emotions. Since he had left, he had kept his feelings on a tight lock-down. Seven hours stuck in a car with bottled thoughts of a mentor he cared deeply for wasn't a combo he had enjoyed for one minute on the trip here. He turned against the counter and leaned against it.

"Was this always this short?" he asked, realizing that the height of the counter was also much smaller than he had remembered, going to just above his belly button. He sighed, and removed his cap, and placed it behind him as he let his head relax. Wearing a hat for such a long trip came up as slightly constrictive to his forehead. He gave it a quick rub, allowing his hair to brush past his strange birth mark; a near perfect replica of the big dipper constellation.

"I'm sure you'd just be sending me to my room in case you needed me to patch up the roof or something in the morning," Dipper quietly said out loud, considering the situation had his great uncle still been there. "Always was like-"

A creek of the floorboards had Dipper turn his head around. His heart raced, wondering the source of the sound. Had he heard that sound anywhere else in the world, he would have probably been less nervous; but this was Gravity Falls. Monsters and creatures of the unknown, paradoxes and time slip streams, and brilliantly intellectual yet insane madmen- all dominated this land.

He pushed himself off the counter and approached the open door he had come through, where he was sure he had heard the sound. The dark night of the woods awaited, and he poked his head quickly out.

"Hello?" he called. A quick look back and forth revealed no one around. He started to pull himself back inside and close the door, but only then spotted something behind his car. He let the door hang open a second longer to look at what appeared to be a motorcycle parked just behind his new ride.

His vision was obscured instantly and a shriek filled his ears. Something clinging from above the door and underneath the overhang swung down and tackled him. He screamed and desperately covered his face as he was thrown back inside. He landed in the middle of the gift shop, and began to claw away from the black figure who was crawling hastily towards him.

"Wait-" he tried, but only found a pair of hands grabbing his face and tugging it closer.

"DIPPER!" a girls voice shouted as she rubbed her own face against his as she embraced him tight enough for him to hear his bones creak.

"M-m-m-" he attempted to breath, but was unable to until the girl broke free with a loud 'ouch!' and started rubbing her face.

"Your face is spiky!" Mabel Pines declared in awe as she soothed her stubble-burned face.

"Mabel?" Dipper asked quietly as he watched his twin from the floor.

"That's one thing dad got right," she pulled out a small notebook from a pocket, a pencil, and scratched something off the list, "has grown slight facial hair."

"MABEL!" Dipper shouted and charged at her. She lost grip of her pencil and notebook as he collided with her, his hug pulling her up from the floor.

"You guessed correctly!" she happily stated as Dipper finally let go after a moment.

"You- you're here!" Dipper exclaimed as he gave her a quick look up and down, "I can't... I'm so- wow!"

"Right?!" Mabel grinned and smacked his shoulder," the boys can't keep themselves off me!"

"Right- wait, what?" Dipper shook his head as he replied.

"Little Mabel grew up into a strutting boy magnet," she confidently announced, turning around, trying to physically explain her apparent sex-appeal, "all the wows you can possibly hear when I walk the hallways- so wow is right!"

"Uh... okay?" Dipper said, "I guess your ego grew as much as you did."

"Shush!" she hissed and flicked his forehead with her finger, "you dare to question my prowess!?"

"Mabel, your first real date turned out to be a group of five gnomes trying to impersonate a grungy teen," Dipper reminded her. Mabels response was to blow a raspberry and repeatedly smack his face with her hands limply. "C'mon Mabel, cut it out!" She lowered her hands while laughing at him, and he grinned.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" she asked him with a small smile. Dipper's own grin faltered slightly. "What?" she asked, clearly noticing his subtly change.

"Nothing," he waved it off, trying to put back on a more confident smile of his own, "you know, I'm just glad to see you again."

"Aww you," she punched his shoulder once again, and he let out a small 'ow', "making a sister feel appreciated."

"Right," Dipper smiled again, desperate to bury his growing guilt of having not seen her in almost a year. He instead focused on the joy of finally being with her again, and gave her hair a rub. There was a sound from behind Dipper, and he spun around as Mabel looked past him.

"Oh, hey dudes," a brown haired, big bellied and tall man was peeking out from behind the hall that lead deeper into the house, "if you're going to go out to grab something, can you bring back some nachos? Kinda vibe-ing the nachos right now. Okay? Sweet," and the man vanished behind the wall, into the hallway

"Soos?" Mabel called out. A quiet moment was proceeded with heavy stomps in rapid succession. Soos, the handyman of the Mystery Shack re-appeared before them, in a robe that was just barely too small for his size. He stared at them, and rubbed at his eyes.

"Okay. So I'm dreaming. Right?" Soos said as he approached them.

"No, Soos, you're awake," Dipper grinned at the man still easily a head taller than him.

"Oh yeah? Well apparitions of my grown up friends, present to me evidence that you are really here and that I am not having a wonderfully nostalgic dream," Soos ordered the two of them with crossed arms. Mabel instantly obliged and stepped forward. Giving him a long, dark look, she reached up and tickled his armpits. "OH- OH-" Soos started laughing heatedly.

"And here," Mabel added, going for the other arm, and Soos roared with laughter, holding his stomach as he did. A moment passed and he wiped away a tear.

"Okay, so I see you, I can feel you," Soos leaned forward, and poked Dipper and Mabel gently on top their head, "and you two can feel me, right?"

"Yup," Dipper nodded.

"It's like we're connected," Mabel smirked at her comment as Soos's finger prodded her scalp.

"Okay. So, either this is the most realistic dream I have ever had, or you two are really here again and... DUDES!" Soos's mind gave into the concept of his old friends being fragments of imagination, and swept them into a lifting hug. Squeezing tightly, he cried, "oh my god, am I happy to see the two of you!"

"You too Soos!" Dipper smiled as he and his sister hugged back.

"Wow, I mean," Soos eventually lowered them to the ground, "wow. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure I was ever going to be seeing you guys again. Sooo glad I was wrong, you know?"

"Yeah! So, how do we look?" Mabel asked as she grabbed Dipper and hugged him to the side.

"This is just great! Like, even better than when Montana Jeffreys stopped in town! I mean look at you two," he said, giving each a quick 'up and down', "almost mature. Boy, that's kind of scary to think," Soos scratched his exposed brown hair, "since I knew you when you were up to my stomach I think."

"Highschool does that to you," Dipper said as he poked his sister to release him. It was in the moment, as the three of them looked to one another, that they all subconsciously came to the same conclusion: the only reason they were seeing each other again was the fact that Stan was gone. Soos lost a bit of the light in his face, and his smile grew slightly sadder.

"Well, if you two want, the building still has the old attic room you two can stay in until the situation is figured out," he placed a hand on either of their shoulders, "I'm staying here until everything is settled out. You need help carrying anything in?"

"Uh, no, but you're welcome to come out with us in case a werewolf or something tries to eat us," Dipper told him as he started to turn around. Mabel held him by the shoulder, and he faced her, "what?"

"Hah, guys, you know he's not gone, right?" Mabel asked aloud to the two.

"Wait, what?" Soos asked her, his eyes wide with shock.

"What?" Dipper also repeated, "what are you talking about Mabel? The cops pronounced him dead yesterday."

"Or did they?" Mabel asked the two of them, pulling them closer to her by the shoulders, "I have a theory: what if this is a huge stunt by Grunkle Stan to get us all back together? He'd want us to work on the shack while he was lazy all summer!"

"Woah... that is way too conspirical for me to handle," Soos said with wide eyes.

"Wait," Dipper pushed himself from the group debate, "we can't just discount the police because of a theory. We need evidence to make that kind of assumption. And the evidence states that Grunkle Stan died."

"He wouldn't die!" Mabel waved her hand aside in emphases of discarding the idea, "he'd just go to sleep and wake up even crankier! Blaargh!" she mimicked an angry old man yelling at them.

"Sounds like him," Soos nodded with his hand holding his chin.

"Guys," Dipper growled, but Mabel continued.

"And maybe he just wanted to make sure that we all still cared enough for one another, so he decided he would-"

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted at his sister. Her smile fell away as he glared at her. "This isn't one of our fun memories, okay? This is real life, right now, and our Great Uncle died, and we need to respect that fact!" Dipper breathed heavily and he turned away and walked out. "I'm going to get my stuff, and then go to bed," he called back as he stomped away.

"I guess I'm not the only one who's torn up about this," Soos said with a deep sigh, "c'mon bud," he patted Mabel's shoulder, "let's get your stuff upstairs."

"Yeah, let's go," Mabel nodded lightly as she followed her old friend.

The night passed by in a stew of uncomfortable quietness. Dipper had remained quiet since his little snap at Mabel and Soos. He chose to grunt or occasionally provide a 'sure' or 'yeah' rather than speak in full sentences. Mabel continued to keep herself hopeful. It wasn't until Dipper had gone to bed without saying a word that she lay on her own bed, across the room, and stared at the ceiling, worry etched in her face. Her strive to find Stanley Pines alive and well seemed to have dimmed by her brothers unflinching believe of his demise. She stared for hours at that same ceiling, until an untold point at night, she too fell asleep.

"Mabel, get up," a voice called to Mabel, deep inside her slumber.

"Not now. School is over dad, I can finally sleep in today," she groaned back, shifting in her sleep.

"Mabel, we're at the shack," Dipper's voice called her to consciousness, and her eyes darted open. Quickly sitting up from her bed, she looked to her brother.

"Morning stupid," she informed him, her hair messy and disorganized. Dipper sighed as he turned from her. He was already up and held a towel over his shoulder, with a small bag of bathroom things.

"Get up already. We need to go to town today," Dipper reminded, "we need to receive copies of the will."

"Who's Will?"

"Grunkle Stans last will and testimony?" Dipper sighed.

"Ohhh, that kind of will," Mabel gave a confirming headshake and yawn as Dipper left for the bathrooms to change.

It was nearly eleven when the two of them were ready, mostly due to Mabel being unable to find all her needed articles of clothing and hygienic material. At eleven fifteen the two stepped out of the doors, Dipper already in a sour mood.

"We're going to be late for this meeting, and this is important," Dipper scolded his sister, "you really think finding the right flavored tooth paste made a difference today?"

"The flavor can determine your senses for the rest of the day! It's like super-important!" she told him with a wiggle of her arms above her head.

"It took you twenty minutes for one flavor of toothpaste?" Dipper asked.

"I have a lot of flavors, bro, okay?" she stuck her tongue out and walked past him, "and looking for Parchment-Fresh was very important!" Dipper only then remembered what she had apparently drove here with.

"So... who's bike did you borrow?" Dipper asked, trying to mask his curiosity.

"Psh, one of my boyfriends, you know how it is," Mabel waved a hand as she put on her new pair of sunglasses with pink rims that matched the motorcycle.

"One... of your boyfriends?" Dipper asked, one of his eyebrows popping up quickly. Mabel spotted the reaction and instantly cracked up, leaning on the bike for support as she laughed at him. "What?!" he demanded.

"Just, your face!" Mabel tried to impersonate her brother, with bright eyes, raised eyebrows and an exaggerated o-shaped mouth, "Bwop!" but could only for a single moment before continuing her snickering.

"Right, because you're dating someone who prefers to ride around in a pink sparkling motorcycle?" Dipper pointed out, stalling Mabel's laughter.

"I... like men who aren't afraid of their color identity," Mabel defended and laughed a bit more.

"Oh, laugh it up, because your pink bike from your 'boyfriend'," he added a finger quotation for boyfriend, "can't even compete with mine."

"You have a boyfriend?" Mabel laughed even harder and Dipper went red in the face.

"NO! A ride, I got a ride!" he exclaimed angrily. She only laughed harder, and Dipper then realized her insinuations," MABEL! I got a mode of transportation! Okay?!"

"Yeah, you got a motorcycle?" Mabel sneered at him as he leaned against the black car, only to then realized that he was referring to the car. "Wait, that's yours?" she asked in awe.

"Oh Yeah! Full surround radio, reclining seats, air conditioning, some nice leather seats... well, I think its leather," he added as he peered inside, "it feels like leather... maybe its-"

"Oh look-et me!" said Mabel as she ran around to the driver side of the car and jumped inside the unlocked vehicle.

"Mabel! Be careful with it!" he shouted as he opened the passenger door to follow her.

"Oh, soo important, I need a black car with a bunch of gears, ohhh," Mabel wove her hands around the car, and began to turn the wheel around as she 'drove', and adopted an estranged rough voice, "I need to be on time for my appointment of stuffy old men who wear stupid suits! Woosh! That pedestrian means nothing to a true businessman! What-ho!"

"You sound a little jealous," Dipper said as it was his turn to smile cheekily at his sister.

"Ah man, I don't know," Mabel earnestly said as she leaned back with his driver seat, "would I like the car that is going to be stuffy old man-mobile, or," she leapt back out and ran to her bike, "awesome girl power five thousand!?"

"I'll take the black car," Dipper said easily.

"Be that way, loser," Mabel stuck her tongue out, "at least I ride," she dipped her glasses under her eyes, "in style, baby."

"Hey guys," Soos' voice called from the front door, and the two turned, "you both heading out?"

"Yup! Going to solve the mystery of the disappeared Stanley!" Mabel gave Soos a thumbs up. Dipper gave her an angry and disapproving stare, which unaffected her smile.

"We're heading out, yeah," Dipper nodded as he walked to the driver side door.

"Okay. Just so you two know, the funeral is going to be held today at two. The place is just outside of town by the old Valentino place, but it's not that far. So I guess I'll see you two there. I'll be dressed nicely, just, cus, you know," Soos trailed off, and waved to them goodbye, before walking backwards into the shack. The two watched him retreat into the shadows awkwardly, and gave each other one more look before entering their transportation.

The trip into town was mostly uneventful, with the exception of Mabel trying to speed along side Dipper while making as many faces at him as she could. This nearly lead to her falling off the road and into a deep stream, but she recovered and decided it would be better just to follow him. They finally arrived to the Gravity Falls law firm, an owned associates of the family of Northwests. Dipper scolded Mabel for a moment for her brash actions earlier, and they entered the building.

For Mabel it was horrendously boring. A member of Northwest and Associates sat them down and spoke about the contents of the will, and how they both would end up owning a copy for their needs. Mabel stuck pencils under her bracelet and stabbed at Dipper, spun her chair as many times she could in one push of her feet, and tried folding her copy into a origami piece. Dipper, at the first moment they could take their copies and leave, grasped the opportunity and his sisters arm firmly.

"You really just... couldn't resist folding your copy into a ball, could you?" Dipper demanded of his twin as they left, almost an hour later.

"It was an armadillo," she proclaimed, holding up the fully formed armadillo origami, "and it's adorable."

"Did you catch a thing she was trying to tell you?" Dipper questioned as she began to rock the paper figure in her arms.

"Words. Words about things and stuff."

"We own the Mystery Shack as soon as we're seventeen," Dipper told her as she snuggled the origami with her cheek, wincing with each paper point she pressed against her skin, "which means we would have land here that would be split between us. We need to take careful of these!" Dipper told her, holding the paper up.

"It's not really ours, though," Mabel reminded him, using the armadillo to speak for her as she held it out, "because this is all one big trick by Grunkle Stan."

Dipper stared at her origami piece, and then her and shook his head. He took her own paper from her, which she didn't even notice as she was too busy playing with her little adorable armadillo. He slid the two copies into a folder, placed them into his backpack, and he laid it on the backseat, and stepped to the drivers door.

"Mabel, we need to go," he called to her as he waited for her to snap away from playing with paper.

"Aww, he doesn't like you, mister widdle desert animal surbiber, but I do. Your capacity to ball up for survival and cuteness is not lost on me," she said in a baby-voice.

"Mabel, we need to go to the funeral," Dipper tried again. This time, she turned to face him, angered at his reminder, "and we need to get dressed for it. Come on, lets get back to the shack."

Mabel complied with her brothers request, and the two of them sped home to change into more formal attire. On this return, Mabel was quicker to ready herself than Dipper gave her credit for, and they left to the Gravity Falls Funeral Home on time. Dipper had a dark button up and black pants with belt, and as he stepped out, he tossed his cap on his seat before closing the door.

Mabel was less appropriate for a funeral, as she claimed this wouldn't be a proper funeral anyway, since Stan was actually alive. She wore a slightly poofy dark violet skirt that fell just past her knees, and a navy sweater with a single sewn image of a wooden crate in the center with a big yellow question mark above it. She grinned as she put shooting star earrings as soon as her bike was off and parked.

"Mabel, really?" Dipper asked as he watched her check the earrings.

"You're right," she nodded her head, and then reached into the same small pouch aside her seat and pulled out a rose pink headband with a small ribbon at the top. "Much better," she nodded, checking the floppiness of the ribbon.

"Lets just get inside already," Dipper growled as he stepped to the door. Mabel followed suit as they stepped through the doors. Gravity Falls new Funeral home was not remotely close to the word spacious. The main room for the ceremony had enough seats for maybe twenty people total, most of which was being taken by various long bench pews.

"Oh man," Dipper said after stepping inside, and looking ahead.

"What Dip?" Mabel asked, almost running into him. He lifted his hand and pointed ahead. A tall and skinny man with graying hair and sullen eyes awaited them, standing behind the coffin.

"Ah, the mourning party is here," he said in a faint and morbidly deep voice, "please, take your seat. We will begin once others have shown."

"Uh... I'm not sure others will show, sir," Dipper stated politely, and took a seat.

"Yeah! I mean, who shows up to a funeral when the person isn't even dead?" Mabel snorted as she made to sit next to her brother. The tall figure blinked slowly and then lowered himself to stare at the casket in concern. Her comment however made Dipper squint his face up, and he took a step away from her. "Hey-"

"Let's just wait until someone else shows up," Dipper said to the floor.

Mabel stared at her brother. Since coming here, the most common reactions from her brother had been cold and harsh towards her. She wanted more than anything to let him know she wasn't trying to get on his nerves, or be a jerk about this, but that she remained confident about this feeling of hers. She reached over and touched his shoulder.

"What happened to us?" she asked him when he turned to look at her.

"I... what do you mean?" Dipper asked with a quick look away from her.

"We're not the same," Mabel told him sadly, "it's like... we've been away for so long, I don't even know if I feel like we're twins anymore, you know?"

"We're still related, Mabel," he said strongly, yet didn't turn to face her.

"I... I said twins," she repeated. Dipper leaned back and let out a tensed growl.

"I just want this to be over with," Dipper said aloud, "I want this to be done with so I can go home and pretend that this never happened. Then I can live in denial that Grunkle Stan is up here still ripping off tourists left and right and is always wondering what us crazy kids are up to. Okay? So... just let me sit for-"

Mabel stood up from her seat. Her quick action had Dipper turn and watch her step walk and sit him down on the other side of the main aisle. When she sat, she turned away and crossed her legs.

"What?" he called to her.

"So, you wish you didn't get the chance to see me, did you?" Mabel asked away from him, and Dipper stood up to her.

"That's not what I said," he repeated, his neck too stiff to turn towards her.

"We haven't spoken to one another for so long, Dipper!" Mabel turned to her standing brother, anger shining through her, "and all you can think about is going home!"

"Can you blame me!?" he waved a hand to the closed casket. As he did, the caretaker peeked inside, and closed the lid.

"It's okay, he's still here," the grim looking man stated in his same bored deep voice.

"You could at least act like it's nice to see each other!" Mabel said, completely ignoring the caretaker, who shrugged and took his place behind the casket.

"I never said it wasn't!"

"You-"

"Hey!" a voice shouted as the doors slammed open, and Soos entered the front doors. "Sorry I'm late!" he peered the scene as the twins glared at one another, "oh, you guys totally beat me in the fancy attire, you know that?" he said, admitting to his outfit, which was his exact same one from earlier, with a single black bow-tie attached to the rim of his t-shirt.

"It's okay, Soos," Dipper said as he turned with a weak smile to his old friend, "I don't think there is any real formal attire," he added with a strong look at his sister, who returned the glare.

"Well good," a familiar voice called from behind Soos, catching the attentions of both twins, "because I would have felt, like, soo bad if there was."

In the moment it took to recognize the voice, a young woman stepped out from Soos' shadow. "Wendy!" the twins shouted.

"Sup dudes," Wendy Corduroy waved a hand as she stepped past Soos. Mabel rushed forward and slammed into the tall girl with a squeezing hug. "Wow, I was missed that much, huh?"

"It's great to see you again, Wendy," Dipper said as he approached her, extending an arm with a wide smile.

"Psh, get over here," she laughed at him, and with a quick clutch of his arm, and Dipper was tossed against Wendy and Mabel in a larger hug.

The two stepped away from their hug, and got a good look at Wendy. She seemed surprisingly the same, unlike how Soos did. This surprised Dipper considering the age difference between the handyman and the student employee. Her green eyes shone with appreciation as she looked between the two. Her outfit was scarily similar to how the twins remembered, with blue jeans, a green plaid shirt and white undershirt, with her lumberjack hat covering the top of her long bright red hair

"Holy crud you two got taller!" she said, putting a hand atop their heads, which were now an inch or two shorter than hers. "Neither of you are the cute pre-teens that I remembered!"

"I wasn't cute," Dipper said with a huffy grin, but Mabel smacked his shoulder.

"You sneezed like kittens," she told him.

"Do you still?" Wendy demanded, and Dipper's face went pink. "Oh man, that's great!" she laughed with Mabel, "well dude, at least you're starting to look your part."

"H-huh?" Dipper asked, going from pink to red.

"You've gotten all mature looking," she said with a clap against his shoulder, "do you have some chin-hair there?" She winked as she walked past him, and Dipper was left scratching his chin and feeling a light fluttering in his stomach.

"I will assume that since the count of individuals present has doubled," the caretaker stated aloud, "that we can proceed with the ceremony?" The four took their seats, with Dipper and Mabel still sitting apart. "Very good." He approached a podium just behind the casket as cleared his throat, and Wendy and Soos both lowered their hats.

"Dearly... gathered," he began," we are... gathered for the joint gathering of Stanley Pines, who has left this town before his time was mostly up, and we wish to remember him before he left before his time was mostly up," the man said dully. The twins realized this was probably the worst funeral speaker that had ever spoken in the history of speakers. "And we are, of course, pleased to see the attendance of so many who cared for dear Stan."

"This is so touching," Soos said as he wiped away a single free tear running down his face.

"The secrets that Stan Pines held in his..." the man held up a printed of page from the internet about the Mystery Shack," 'world famous Mystery Shack', was a key factor in the town of Gravity Falls seeing many visitors during the summer. With this, the town, however entirely not present, thanks him."

The Caretaker then took a step to the side. "I would now welcome any of the members of the family to say a passionate word or two, but as seeing there are only two, I suppose anyone who wishes may speak. You have the podium," the man took several steps back, tipped on a wire and hit the ground, yet bounced back up without a single bit of recognition to his falling.

"Eh," Dipper said, but straightened his shirt and stood up, and walked over to the podium. Once there, he adjusted the microphone, and looked to the three, and then to the casket before him.

"Well, I'm not going to pretend Grunkle Stan was perfect. He was far from it, really," Dipper started, rubbing the back of his head, "and, uh, we all know that he was kind of a jerk sometimes. But I remember more than the times he was a jerk the times he was truly a good man. Where he decided he would stop being mean and help those around him; not because it got him a buck, but because it made everyone feel better."

"So true!" Soos bawled and blew his nose into an already tear-soaked handkerchief.

"This is the man who helped myself and Mabel really discover a lot about who we are, and what we want from life," Dipper said, a meaningful glance at his sister, who finally decided to give him the satisfaction of looking back, "and for that, and his endless support, even when he shouldn't have... like the time we fell into the bottomless pit-"

"Say what?" Wendy asked.

"Or the time he let us do our own crime scene investigation for a wax figurine which led us to fight off a horde of cursed celebrity figures, or the time he helped us break into a mini-golf course late at night-"

"Dude," Wendy leaned up to be behind Mabel, "I missed out on all that?"

"But that's what made him so great," Dipper continued," it wasn't about what was legal or safe, it was about what we, as kids and growing teens, needed. So, Grunkle Stan," Dipper turned and his lips trembled for a moment, and he barely managed to quietly say in shaking final words, "thanks for everything."

Soos shot up and applauded as hard as he could. "Yeah! That!" he cried, clapped while sobbing. Mabel and Wendy also stood and applauded as Dipper took his seat, and put his face into his hands.

"Well, I guess I'm next," Mabel said with a confident grin, and approached the podium, "wish me luck!"

"Good luck," Wendy said as the teenager approached and turned to face the three.

"Well, thank you all for coming here today. You know, I had a worrying thought that no one would show up for this event, but we all killed that idea, didn't we!?" Mabel raised her eyebrows and winked around like a bad stand up comedian. Wendy's mouth fell open, and Dipper's eyes twitched horribly as he stared at her. She snickered, "Ha! Gettit?"

"That was hilarious," Soos chuckled, "and in a totally insensitive, yet clever, way. You go girl!"

"Insensitive? Please," Mabel pulled the microphone away from the stand, which broke off a plate of wood, and then the entire podium crashed to the ground, splitting apart. "Oh. Uh, whoops- but anyway, I'm not being insensitive, guys! I'm just here to break the news!"

"Mabel, don't do it," Dipper asked aloud, begging her to stop.

"Guys, be prepared to feel amazement, as," Mabel moved towards the casket, and prepped to push the lid open, "I show you the truth!"

"MABEL!" Dipper shot up.

"TA-DAH!" Mabel announced as a proud roar, tossing the lid of the coffin off, and displayed the contents. Dipper's face lost all of its color, and Wendy appeared to be in total shock as the lid came crashing down to the side. Soos stared while nodding his head.

"Yeah, he looks dead all right," Soos said as he looked inside the coffin.

Mabel turned slowly to the unmoving body, and stared at it. There he was, Grunkle Stan, stiff, pale, his arms across his chest with his hat and glasses removed. He looked exactly the same since they last saw him, with his grey five o-clock shadow on his chin and cheeks. Large nose sat proudly on his unreadable face. As Mabel watched, a creeping feeling unsettled her, and she chuckled to ward it off. "C'mon Grunkle Stan, don't leave me hanging," Mabel whispered to him. There was no response. No shift. Nothing at all came from the man she somehow knew was... not dead. "Okay, the joke is over now, Grunkle Stan, old buddy," she said out loud, harder and more deliberate than before.

"Mabel," Dipper said, walking past her, and reaching for the lid, "lets put this back on."

"But- but he's not," Mabel pointed to the body, "he's just being... a jerk!" she shouted, and turned towards the casket and nearly clutched Grunkle Stans arms, "you're not actually dead! I know it! You big liar-faced jerk!"

"Mabel!?" Wendy shot up as Dipper ran to his sister.

"Woah!" Soos called out as well. "No one freak out, its just a body!"

"Mabel, calm down!" Dipper shouted as he approached her, trying to put a hand on her shoulders, but she shook them off and suddenly ran down the aisle, past Wendy and Soos. They both cried out as Mabel flew by, and ran out through the doors. "Damn it!"

Without another word to Wendy or Soos, Dipper charged after his sister. The sun light struck him harshly and his hand rose above his head to shield himself from the light. He heard the sounds of running steps against dirt, and he saw a skirt fade behind several trees. He ran after her, and as the light became filtered in the pines and leaves of the forest above him, Dipper climbed the small hill, and he found her. She had seated herself facing a stream of water sitting behind a large tree trunk, and held her legs within her arms.

"Mabel?" he asked her from where he was.

"I'm just an idiot, aren't I?" Mabel asked with a trembling voice from her spot.

"I... I wouldn't say you're an idiot," Dipper said as he stepped closer.

"He really is gone, isn't he?" she asked aloud. Dipper couldn't bring himself to say it again. His lack of response had Mabel sniffle. "I couldn't see it even when he was right there," she said, looking up to the canopy of the forest, "that he's really gone. I just felt, with every bone in my body, that he wasn't dead, that he isn't dead. No matter who or what told me the opposite, I knew it. I'm so dumb."

"You know..." Dipper sat down next to her, and looked to the small stream of water, "I kind of felt the same way."

"You- you did?" Mabel looked to her brother and shoved him down before shouting, "well, why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I didn't want to be hurt again!" Dipper desperately explained. Mabel looked to him for a long moment, and then back to the water, "I... one day, I just sort of felt like he was fine, and all it took was a phone call telling me he died, with the backing of the cops here and I... I didn't know what to think, you know? What do you do when your gut tells you one thing but all the evidence of the world tells you the other?" he said in a strained breath.

"Humph," Mabel pouted, resting her head on her arms. He watched her with sad eyes as she suffered exactly as he had. That was enough for him at least let her in on his own feelings.

"If I accepted that he was dead, I figured maybe I could get past that pain quicker. I... didn't know how'd far you really go, thinking that he was still sticking around," Dipper sadly admitted, "and I didn't want to see you get hurt."

"I don't think you can help me avoid this one, bro," Mabel admitted. The two sat there, staring at the stream together, the water trickling down rocks and pebbles, splashing gently as time passed. Mabels head turned and found itself resting on her brothers shoulder, who in turn let his own head rest against her.

"I've really missed you," Dipper said quietly.

"Me too," Mabel responded.

"Guys?" a voice called from the parking lot of the funeral home. The two craned their heads around to see Wendy, followed by Soos, coming after them through the woods. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

"I think so," Dipper shrugged, "just as well as we can be I guess."

"That sounds right," Mabel said as she stood up, brushing pine needles off her legs and skirt.

"You two totally don't have to go in there if you don't want to," Wendy told them strongly, "if it's too much for you."

"How about it, Mabes?" Dipper asked his sister, who grinned and nodded, "we got it."

"Oh good, because I don't like that caretaker standing by Mister Pines one bit. Kind of looks like a skinny vampire, like he actually sleeps here in the left over coffins or something," Soos admitted, "and I totally didn't want to go back in there alone."

The four left the edge of the woods and re-entered the parking lot of the Funeral Home. As Dipper exited, he noticed only three vehicles. "Hey, Wendy," Dipper asked as he and Mabel exited with their arms wrapped around their shoulders, "how did you get here? I don't see your... uh, car? Bike?"

"Oh, Soos picked me up, man," Wendy told him.

"Yeah, spotted her walking over, and decided I'd offer the lift. It's dangerous to be walking around the woods alone, you know," Soos told Wendy, who rolled her eyes.

"I can handle myself, you know that," she told her co-worker.

"True, but you know who else could handle himself? Gandhi," Soos said with certainty, "and you know what happened to him? He's dead."

The others laughed as the approached the funeral home once again. The caretaker stood outside, his arms folded behind his back as he glared at the four as they made their return. "If we may conclude the services before sundown, please," the tall man stepped backwards inside as he faced them.

"Told ya," Soos whispered to the others, "really creepy."

"Now, since my podium and the coffin has both been destroyed by your actions," the caretaker told them, "I will permit you only to speak from this distance to the body of Mister Pines. No closer, understood?"

"Of course sir," Dipper nodded, and looked past him towards the coffin, and noticed a single touch from the scene missing, "sir, did you move something back there?"

"Excuse me?" the man asked in a rising voice. Dipper looked around, unsure if he had said something offensive. "Are you questioning my buildings conditions?" the caretaker snapped.

Dipper pointed past the man towards the coffin. "Uh... no," he said, "where did you move Grunkle Stan's body?"

The four looked around him and the tall man spun, and all were shocked to find that, indeed, Stanley Pines had vanished. The caretaker moved closer to the casket, uncertain as to what to do or say, and then he rounded on the others.

"Which of you did this!?" he demanded as he towered over the others. Soos yelped, and quickly ran for the bathroom as he grabbed a crucifix from the wall. the caretaker rounded on the three who stayed put. "I... I will not stand for this ridiculousness anymore! I want to know who put you up to this sordid prank!"

"Sir, this isn't any kind of prank!" Dipper exclaimed.

"Yeah, we didn't move anything!" Mabel also added.

"Then explain that!" he pointed to the coffin once again, and the three were agape without an answer. The caretakers eyes bulged, and his breathing grew faster as he wildly stared at the three. "I'll... I'll make you all-!" he roared.

"Back, undead fiend!"

A tin bucket filled with freezing water and a large crucifix slammed into the tall man's head. He collapsed to the floor instantly, soaking his clothes in cold water that quickly spilled from the bucket. He still breathed, but his tongue lolled out and his eyes were no longer straight.

"Soos!?" Dipper called.

"Uh... just wanted to be sure it wasn't a vampire, you know," Soos said from across the room by the bathroom where he had just hurled the bucket, "holy water and a crucifix?"

"Nice shot!" Mabel congratulated her friend.

"I don't think the holy stuff is what got him down, to be honest," Wendy said out loud, "that was the bucket's job mostly."

The four moved the tall man to the side, and then turned back. The casket was still empty, and what was more, there were no signs of a struggle or markings that indicated he was dragged away.

"Okay guys," Dipper said out loud, facing his allies in a very quick turn of leadership, "we need to figure this out. Each of us needs to look inside one of the rooms, and scan around for any kind of evidence to suggest where Grunkle Stan went. Wendy, check outside around the building," he pointed to the tall redhead, "Mabel, check the office," Mabel saluted as Dipper pointed to her, "and Soos, stay here and guard this guy while I look through the other smaller rooms."

"You got it bud," Soos nodded, and then gave the unconscious man a scrutinizing stare. The other three began scanning the rooms. Minutes passed as they scanned every shelf, every corner, under the bed and desk, under the seats, in the bathroom stalls, under trees, and even on the roof, and yet they found nothing. Finally they came back, and Soos was now guarding the conscious, frightened, still soaked tall man caretaker, who was staring at Soos with fear.

"What do you all want? Money? I have only a little," he admitted fearfully to the four as they loomed over him.

"Whose blood have you drained?" Soos asked quickly, poking the man in his head with a glove of garlic he somehow procured. "Come quietly and there won't be any need for biblical passages."

"Blood? E-excuse me?!" the caretaker said as he winced with each poke.

"Soos, hold on," Dipper said, stepping closer, "who else is here?"

"There should only be me! You! Us!" the man cried out. As soon as he had, there was a rustling outside, and the four turned towards the door. Wendy was first out, bolting for the door like her life depended on it. When she arrived outside, she scanned around as Soos and Dipper gave chase.

"I... I don't see anything," Dipper stated as he breathed quickly.

"I could have sworn we heard some sort of footsteps," Soos admitted.

"We did," Wendy told them firmly, her face screwed up as she tried peering through the trees, "but I checked everywhere outside, and there was no one here man!"

"Hey guys!" Mabel called from inside, and the three turned. She was bent below the casket platform, and was reaching under a wrapping of small curtains. When she stood up, she held up something very peculiar in both hands.

"Well," Dipper said with a quick sigh and rubbed the side of his head, "I think we have ourselves a mystery. Haven't been back for a full day and we're about to get into another mystery, aren't we?"

"Yup!" Mabel said happily, holding in one hand a faint almost transparent white string, and in the other what appeared to be a small solid cylinder of a faint blue color that was transparent, yet hummed a cool white light as she waved it around. "Look guys! I'm a Jedi! VRHHMMM VRHHMMM!" she shouted as she swung the object around with her hand.

The four returned to the mystery shack hastily after their discovery of the two objects. The only delay they had was with Soos, who decided that to ensure 'no hard feelings', would offer the caretaker a big bag of garlic and onion flavored nacho chips. It was then the caretaker screamed for them to leave before the authorities got involved, and they took their cue to leave.

The group were collected in the gift shop. Dipper and Soos stared at the blue cylinder and string on the counter while Wendy leaned against the wall, going though a mental list of who would do this, and who could. Mabel was busy drawing a crude sketch of the funeral home.

"Boy... dudes, I have no idea," Soos admitted after a while of staring. "That sort of thing isn't like anything I've really seen before."

"It kind of looks like a battery, doesn't it?" Wendy said, looking down from the ceiling to observe the object.

"Yeah, but for what? And what kind of battery emits light?" Dipper scratched his cap that rested on his head. I kind of wish they all did that, so you can tell when their charged or whatever, as long as it didn't drain the battery itself-"

"Stay on target, bro," Mabel snorted, "maybe its an alien tube used for mini-men transport!" Mabel guessed from the floor, where she continued to doodle the building happily.

"Aliens? I'd prefer faeries. At least you can squash them if you can catch them," Soos admitted, "but Aliens have all that crazy technology."

"Let's not jump to any conclusions yet," Dipper called aloud.

"Yeah," Wendy agreed, "besides, we already have, like, a hundred people who would want to potentially mess around with Stan when he was alive. Why add someone to the list now?"

"Exactly," Dipper pointed to Wendy, and then held up the two objects, "and all we have is a glowing transparent battery and a white piece of string. Mabel, you got that map yet?"

"Yup!" she stood up from the floor and placed the large paper down. The map itself was, for the most part, correct. Of the funeral home it was made, but many exaggerations had been added, such as the rainbow-unicorn stampede behind the building, and the hovering smiley faces that were added everywhere.

"A unique design!" Soos commented with a nod of approval.

"I like to consider myself a potential interior-exterior designer," Mabel grinned as she spun two colored pencils between her fingers.

"So, let's get this started: Mabel and I ran out here, by these woods," Dipper pointed, "and you two eventually followed, having the Caretaker stand by the door waiting for us. This means that there was an approximate," he counted with his fingers as he looked up, thinking, "five minute window while we were outside, and the caretaker wasn't looking, for someone to hide away the body-"

"Or steal it. We can't rule out theft here," Wendy added.

"Right, or stole him. Which, if Mabel, you got this right," Dipper gave his twin a uncertain look, "there were only two doors that could have been used. We had the caretaker at the front door, and since he didn't seem like he knew what was going on, I think we can rule out for now he was involved with this."

"Sounds good," Soos stated.

"Which unless Grunkle Stan decided to get up and walk out himself, means whoever took the body used the door here, by the emergency exit," Dipper pointed to the main ceremony hall, where a small red mark by a door and a frowny face labeled the emergency door, "and the alarm wasn't activated."

"So whoever did this has a little background into trespassing," Wendy stated aloud. Mabel suddenly gasped.

"Guys, we're forgetting something really important!" she exclaimed and pointed to the office and bathrooms, "there are open windows in all these rooms."

"Those windows weren't that big," Dipper argued.

"You really think one person was able to carry out Grunkle Stan, and not make a sound?" Mabel argued with a knowing look to the others, "he was a big guy."

"If it wasn't one person, then who?" Soos asked.

"Not who... what," Dipper reached instinctively under his vest for a book that wasn't there, and groaned, "right. They're locked away somewhere here."

"One second dude," Soos grinned and left the counter, retrieving a set of keys from his pocket as he walked away.

"Is there anything we can rule out, at least?" Wendy tried.

"Sure. Gobblewonker!" Mabel proclaimed.

"Technically true, but really far from on target," Dipper commented, and faced the drawing, "it's hard to say. Probably anything brutish or big bodied, so giant creatures are less likely. So it would have to be human sized or smaller or lighter."

"What, no big bellied dwarves?" Mabel poked her brother in the gut.

"If they were heavy enough, wouldn't their footsteps have echoed or creaked the wooden floors?" Dipper asked to his sister.

"It was carpeted in some areas," Wendy pointed out. Dipper sighed, frustrated with their multitude of unclear leads. He was totally uncertain of how to approach this one. Mabel leaned closer to her picture, and added a series of lines protruding around the center of the casket.

"To emphasize missing person," she admitted with smile.

"Got it!" Soos called as he stepped inside, holding the fabled and mysterious Journal - the third.

"Awesome!" Dipper grabbed the journal from his friend, and placed it down, immediately opening it up. "Okay, lets put a limit on the size of creature that can fit inside without being noticed," Dipper said around, "maybe like... a hundred pounds?" The others nodded and he began to flip pages.

"Gnomes?" Soos pointed, "they're small and light-weighted. They wouldn't be spotted if they were being sneaky."

"And they can cluster together to do evil-nasty-deeds," Mabel agreed, pointing to the page, "aaaand they don't like us. Just some bad past with those boogers."

"Definitely true, but they wouldn't have much incentive to steal uncle Stan, would they?" Dipper replied, staring at the page of gnome facts, "why wouldn't they just come for us when we were in the woods?"

"So... four out of ten on the possible suspect rating?" Soos asked, holding a sharpie up to map.

"You can added it here on the stalls," Mabel pointed to the bathrooms, "that way the happy faces know which stalls they are looking for."

"What about ghosts?" Dipper asked, passing a single page on ghosts.

"Yeah, right," Wendy laughed.

"Why not?" Dipper asked her, and she gave him a look.

"It's a funeral home, not a crime scene. Don't people have to die inside the place to haunt them?" She pointed out.

"I... uh, it does state," flipping pages of the ghost sections', "here that 'while hauntings do tend to stay within the area of ones death, cases of ghostly activity have been recorded outside of an expected region'. So, it could be something supernatural like an undead," Dipper read aloud. Wendy looked displeased, but said nothing.

"If it was a ghost though, wouldn't it be Mister Pines?" Soos asked.

"Pfft, I'm just going to take this one over," Mabel said, pulling the book to her and whipping pages ahead until she stopped, nodded, and held it for the others to see, "I think we can agree this puts our other suspects at the bottom of the list."

"Faeries? Really?" Dipper asked his sister as they looked at the page together. Displayed as a sketch was a tiny person, no larger than a small mouse, with tall ears and tiny wings.

"Well, Dipper, look at your evidence," she pointed to the two objects, "we have a pretty glowy thingy. Faeries like sparkles, like me, and I like that thing, so I think that whatever that battery thing is could have come from a faerie."

"Your logic is sound," Soos nodded.

"And as for that," Mabel grabbed the string and began to analyze it, feeling it between her fingers, and then rubbing it on her face.

"Is... there any purpose for doing that?" Dipper asked his sister, who then sniffed it.

"Woah, I feel like all intellectual now," she stated, holding it away, "it smells funky, slash smart, slash dusty."

"What does that even-" Dipper started, but Mabel quickly shoved one end of the string into his nose, and he nearly gagged, "Eugh!" he coughed and wiped his nose, but stalled, "wait... she's not kidding, I recognize that smell!"

"Let me try," Soos asked, and was handed the string. After a sniff, he nodded, "hmm... bookworm. That's what I get," And Soos took one end, and quickly bit off a chunk. The others stared at him as he chewed, eyes wide in amazement as his willingness to eat seemingly anything. "Hmm," Soos mused, "it is really sweet though. Kind of makes me... oh, right, sorry dudes," he apologized with a chuckle, noticing their looks.

"It tastes sweet!?" Mabel demanded and ripped some off for herself with a bite, nearly ripping it in half.

"Guys!" Dipper took the rest away, cupping it protectively in his hnads, "we need this!"

"It's like what I've always imagined real brain food tastes like... sweet, but with a scent of hard studying," Mabel pondered as she chewed.

Dipper took a look at the string in his hand, and moved it to his gaze. At close proximity, he could actually see that the tiny filaments that entwined together to make the string, and with a sudden realization Dipper noticed that they were melting.

"What melts when in contact with saliva, is sweet, and has strong scents?" Dipper asked to himself.

"Candy?" Wendy proposed quickly. Dipper turned to her, and then looked to the string. "You really think its some bad joke candy, like those nasty tasting jelly blocks?"

"This isn't a jelly block," Dipper proclaimed, excitement flooding through him, "but I think I know where we can find out what it really is. They do say Faeries like sweet things... Isn't there a candy store in town?" he asked to Soos and Wendy.

"Yup. On main street- been open here forever! Maybe if we find out what this is, we can discover who's been using it!" Soos proclaimed. Dipper quickly got up and made for the door.

"Yeah! Part two of the new mystery twin investigation- codename: Sticky Smart!" Mabel cheered as she followed her brother. The twins had made it to the door when they realized their footsteps were alone. "You guys don't want to tag along?" Mabel spun quickly after she peeked over her shoulder.

"Well, it may be a smart idea to stay here too," Soos stated thoughtfully, "especially if this person has Mister Pines. They could come looking for his stuff!"

"Dudes, you two got it," Wendy told them leaning her back against the cash register, "just remember- don't do anything stupid, without telling us later, okay?"

Dipper looked between the two of them, and slid open his phone from his pocket.

"Wait, you have a cell phone?" Mabel asked Dipper with awe. "Mom spoils you!"

"I had, like, four clubs. I needed to update her on stuff I was doing, in case my schedule changed," Dipper told her as he stepped up to the others, "Soos, you have your phone still right?"

"Yup!" Soos stated and held out his phone for inspection, a contraption of older times barely kept alive by an assortment of duct tape, and the essence of hope.

"Here's my number," Dipper showed them the properties of the phone and the number listed to both Wendy and Soos, "text me and I'll make sure we can stay in contact."

"Gotcha buddy!" Soos nodded as he typed one button at a time, as Wendy casually flipped out her own phone and was able to easily punch in the number twice as fast as Soos could. After a moment, Dipper got two messages: one from Soos reading 'heya dude :)', and the other reading 'ur a dorkface :-p' from a particular redhead.

"Nice," Dipper smiled at the two and closed his phone, "we'll let you know what we uncover."

"Stay safe, you two," Soos told them as he watched them leave, worry flickering in his eyes.

"If you end up having to beat anyone up, punch them once for me, okay?" Wendy shouted after them as they ran to their rides and drove off, spilling gravel into the air.

Within half an hour, the twins had made considerably no progress towards their mission. Their first stop had been to the police station, where they were greeted less than warmly. Being related to Stanley Pines put them in the books as trouble-makers, which turned to be detrimental to their goal for help. When they came to the station, announcing the body of their Grand Uncle had been stolen, the attending officer scoffed at them, claiming it was no longer their problem. Mabel had to drag a infuriated Dipper from the officer in question.

With little to no help from the authorities, they turned their attention to the strange flossy-material. They made their way towards the candy store, and found themselves interrogating an old pudgy man, a red face and balding hair. Dipper was quick to begin interrogating the shopkeeper, who immediately was uncomfortable with the sudden and direct accusations Dipper made with the string. Mabel was quite the useful counter to Dipper's forwardness, as she constantly proclaimed the shop-keeper as Santa, and even managed to buy an entire filled-to-the-brim bag of candy. As Dipper spoke, Mabel had more and more candy that, eventually having eaten five jumbo sized gummy koalas and a bag of sugar-sand.

"I think I see the particles of air now," was the first thing Mabel said as she stepped out of the shop with her brother, "they just keep bumping into each other and away, except they can't, because another little guy smashes into them too- it just keeps going and going and going..."

"Uh... you're not going to finish your bag, are you?" Dipper asked with concern, looking to the bag Mabel held at her side, still filled with different candy. Her reply was to reach inside and slap into her open mouth a handful of gummy-snakes and Dipper looked to his sister with worry. "If you get sick, its on you."

"So what boring thing did you find out while... I think I can see into space," Mabel whispered as she suddenly stared up into the sky, and began to smile. Dipper sighed as he watched her gasp and her eyes dilated as she then bent down at looked at the ground.

"It's sugar-floss. It's not really meant to be eaten, but it's great for air-fresheners. You dye it with scents, and they are supposed to just stay fresh forever," Dipper explained, sniffing what remained of the sugar-floss. "No idea why this one smells like... I don't know from what, but I know this smell! Like... clean something! New... something!"

"GIMME," Mabel rumbled and snatched the floss from her brother.

"Hey!" he shouted as she tossed her candy into the open window of his car, and got onto her bike, and he stepped to her, "are you sure you should be on a bike at all?"

"There never could be a better time. Dipper," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "the time is nigh. Now we charge FORTH!" she shouted as she turned the bike on, and sped forward, nearly hitting her brother and spinning onto the sidewalk before riding back onto the street. Dipper yelped as he dodged her advance and ran to get into his car. She was already down the street when he was able to start after her.

What followed for a few minutes was among the stranger things Dipper and Mabel had done. At the center of each cross or end of a street, Mabel would halt for a moment, hold the string to her face, sniff, and wave her head around. She combed the air like a bloodhound for the same scent that the two seemed to know, yet could not define.

It was by the last street when Dipper was beginning to lose faith in his sister's nose. They had made their way through the entire town, lead by a single string, and the will of his twin sister. No sooner had Dipper been ready to pull over and try waving her down to try looking elsewhere when she stopped suddenly. She turned left and right, sniffing the air, and finally spotted something. Dipper drove slowly up to her side, and looked to her pointing finger.

"A truck?" Dipper asked as he stared to a shipping truck parked by the road, "not exactly what I imagined for the smell-"

"Nooo," Mabel put a finger to his lips as she looked in the direction, "smell harder... you see, it lives behind the truck," she said in deep, wise words.

It was the only kind of luck the two could have; a gust of wind came by and that same scent hit Dippers nostrils. He gasped and realized he was looking past the truck to the building behind it; a library.

"Books! Fresh, newly opened books! That's what the smell is!" Dipper grinned wildly as he and his sister nodded slowly with deep gratification. "Find a parking spot and then we should pop inside!"

"I think I can do that," Mabel nodded with an open slightly crooked mouth, and her eyes zoomed out of focus.

"Mabel?" Dipper asked with uncertainty," are you... okay?"

Mabel was, for lack of a better word, sort of okay. The world buzzed and zoomed in and out of focus around her as lights, that would normally be found to be perfectly normal, were spectacular bursts of color that shook her to the core. Even as a man approached her on the opposite sidewalk, the hideous proportions of the man's face erupted like tsunami's of sight. Her hand twitched at the sight of Toby Determined, one of the local reporters, and her biked sputtered forward for a moment.

"Woah... uh, just take it slow-" Dipper started, but then Mabel screeched and her hand slid forward. The bike roared ahead and slammed into a stop-sign, and she flew off into the short and unsuspecting and very ugly man, who shrieked as she flew at him. "MABEL!" Dipper yelled got out and ran over to her as quickly as he could.

"I'm good!" Mabel stood up, and walked over a stunned and discombobulated Toby Determined, who was groaning on the ground, his eyes unfocused and spinning.

"Dang... uh," Dipper said after looking around, "I'll just help you here... and uh, maybe you should get some ice? Maybe?" Dipper asked as he lifted up the shorter man and gently lifted him to the side to rest against the building. The ugly reporter's bulbous eyes became unfocused and closed, and he began to snore as he rested against the building.

After checking the status of her bike, which was miraculously fine despite hitting the stop sign, the two entered the library. Like many of the buildings in gravity falls, it was surprisingly large on the inside. Mabel took a deep whiff of the string and then of the air around her. As she let go the air with a sign, she looked to her brother and nodded.

"This smells exactly the same," she told him.

"Great... but why would someone want to dye string to smell like a library?" Dipper asked as he peered around.

"Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind them. The two turned and found a woman with glasses that truly threw her proportions horribly. Her eyes bugged out like crazy, giving her an insect like stare.

"Wow!" Mabel gasped and stared at her, "your glasses are amazing."

"Mabel," Dipper elbowed her gut.

"You think so?" the middle aged woman asked, adjusting her thick glasses, "I tend to think it makes me scary looking. Kids won't come in anymore unless I put these away."

"They make you magnanimous," Mabel told her with a grin. The woman smiled gently, her raven black hair with silver streaks shining in the light above her. "Hey," Mabel added, "what does this smell like to you?" Mabel asked her suddenly, and held the string to the woman. She looked to it, and gave it a quick sniff.

"Why, it is lovely," the librarian stated.

"What does it make you think of?" Dipper asked quickly, not wanting to miss the chance at getting something close to a professional opinion.

"Like a freshly opened novel, or perhaps a sixth edition textbook, or maybe a new popular magazine," the woman began to list, a happy smile as she dreamt about that smell.

"Well, thanks Miss Eye-sore," Mabel said with a thumbs up. Dipper quickly smacked the back of her head. "Ow! Hey!"

"She didn't mean any disrespect miss..." Dipper than read the name-tag on her librarian outfit: Isoar, "oh."

"I beg your pardon?" Miss Isoar asked. Dipper shook his head awkwardly to the librarian, and found a cross Mabel staring at him.

"My bad- ouch!" Dipper barked as she gave him a hard flick upside his nose. Mabel turned from the desk and marched into the shop- Dipper followed, massaging his harmed nose. As they peered down the shelves of books, posters flickered past them, ranging from "Mystery Shack Re-Opening," to "The Life of a Treasure Hunter" and other odd advertisements.

"I think I saw that one somewhere else in town," Dipper pointed to the treasure hunter advertisement.

"Dipper, come here," Mabel stated with a trailing voice. Dipper turned from the small poster, and walked to his sister, who was standing in a reading clearing, with several worn couches and love seats. "Do you feel something?" she asked him.

As he stepped closer he looked around. There was something off about where they were. Suddenly one of his hairs fell out from under his hat, and gently swayed back and forth before him. He pulled gently at it, and then stared at his sister. Her hair was also swaying gently back and forth.

"It's drafty," Dipper realized, "why would it be drafty here?"

"Well, duh," Mabel poked a tongue at her brother, "there is a secret passage somewhere."

"In a public library? I think it's more likely that the building just sucks at air flow design than... but..." Dipper found Mabel giving him a look, and he cut out his own second guessing, and decided to look around, "lets try finding the source of the wind."

"Yeah!" Mabel exclaimed as the two took to different shelves, and began to feel around the books and the air between aisles. "Hey Dip?" Mabel asked as they moved down one together.

"Yeah?"

"So... when we figure out... whatever this turns out to be," Mabel started," what do you think we should do?"

Dipper turned to face her from the other side of an aisle, looking at her with uncertainty. In his mind, he knew the answer that comforted him the most, but wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her. Yet he had no better answer than the single truth.

"I guess we'll bury Grunkle Stan, and go home," Dipper said simply as he turned away, looking as deliberately as he could towards other books around him.

Mabel stared at him as he did, and leaned back against another shelf, not interested in the search anymore. She had been anticipating that answer, and hearing it didn't do any job of making her feel better. She missed her brother more than she had ever realized, and now, watching from across the bookshelf, she saw a part of herself that she had been missing for two years.

Her mind considered the idea of even throwing off the investigation. If they were to keep looking for Stan, maybe she could get him to stay around a bit longer, and she could enjoy her own twin brothers company. Yet her guilt overrode this thought. She wanted this business with Grunkle Stan over; it wouldn't be fair to let his body just sit around if they had the chance to save it and give it a proper rest. Yet she could feel herself still argue that. Deep inside, her darn stubbornness told her as long as she felt like he was still around, he was.

"Yeah, I guess so," Mabel finally said as she turned from the shelf and continued looking. Minutes passed in silence; Dipper checked the rows of books while Mabel scanned the side shelves, staring at each cover with scrutiny. Suddenly Mabel got a tiny gust of wind in her eyeball and she gasped.

"What is it?" Dipper called from a distant row, yet very capable of hearing her.

"I think I was just blinded to the truth!" Mabel sneered as she realized that the particular set of shelves she was staring at was its own individual unit. Dipper trotted over quickly and with one look to the shelf he nodded his head. All the books were fresh and new, and in fact, the title of this arrangement was 'Fresh Arrivals'.

"That could be it," he stated. Then, as he felt his hands around the sides of the unit, he found something. His fingers felt a detached fabric of some sort, and tugged at it. A long pale string came undone and soon fluttered in the newly strengthened breeze. "It is definitely here."

"Step back!" Mabel declared, pushing Dipper away with a bold hand. She placed herself directly before the shelf, and with a commanding boom roared, "OPEN SESAME!"

"I do love that quote," the Librarian called from the front of the store, followed by a strong and harsh 'shh'. The bookshelf remained motionless. Dipper and Mabel exchanged looks, and approached the wood. Little to no indication of change was present, and Mabel tried tugging it to her.

"If this thing does move, it's locked down real tight," she told her brother, who nodded.

"Maybe its not a auditory command, but a puzzle," he guessed, and looked around to the books. He spotted one particularly outstanding and grinned. "Ah, a big mistake to choose such a well known classic," he said as he reached for e dark black covered book, "Dracula." He retrieved the book, and pulled it from its resting spot. Nothing followed. Dipper's hand fell from its pose, and he angrily put it back. "Maybe... this one," he pulled out a book with a cover of men in futuristic suits of armor and weapons. Still nothing.

Dipper continued ripping books off the shelf and putting them back for minutes before he angrily paced back and forth, wondering if there was something he was missing. As he paced, mumbling to himself, Mabel leaned closer. Just behind the shelf she swore she heard something. A ticking sound, like Clockwork.

"Maybe it's a multi-lock system," Dipper guessed aloud.

His heart raced at the idea of a bomb, but none of the books had any kind of triggering system, so he wondered what the source of that ticking sound was. Dipper growled and scraped his scalp in frustration when she spotted a single book, so boring sounding and dull that it caused her to groan.

"But there would be more than one region of draft if there was... did we miss one?" Dipper continued.

"Standard Dusting Procedures," she gagged as she read the spine cover. Without a hint of regard for the book, she clutched it and yanked it down. With a quick click, the ticking sound stopped.

"Dipper," Mabel called to her brother.

"Huh?" he asked, brought out of his train of thought.

"I... just removed his book. Wanna bet something happens when I put it back?" Mabel grinned, wiggling the book in mid air. Dipper took her jest the wrong way, and angrily snatched the book from her hand.

"I'm working on it," he hissed at her and then he placed it back hurriedly. He turned to continue his pacing when a very loud scrape of metal emanated from behind the wall. Dipper stalled in his steps, and the two of them watched as the bookshelf slid back into the wall, and descended into the ground. Before them was a rough and rugged tunnel of wooden boards and exposed earth around them that lead down, illuminated by construction lanterns.

"Cue draft," Mabel gleamed cockily as the wind fell out, passing the two. The dull scent of dug earth billowed past as well.

"Here," Dipper pointed to the floor, where a layer of white floss-like string lay, "maybe it was to mask the smell of... whatever this is," Dipper wondered as he examined the string below him.

"Wanna find out what 'it' is?" Mabel grinned at her brother, who returned a worried look. Mabel took the first step inside, and Dipper, after hearing the cranks and cogs that operated the door starting to turn to life once more, rushed inside with his sister. The shelf closed behind them with a snap, and they both spotted an obvious lever that would operate the mechanism.

"Wow, this brings back some memories," Mabel excitedly said as she led the way, peering ahead in the tunnels. Dipper checked his phone, and sighed.

"No signal. We're totally cut off from the surface down here," he announced to Mabel, who just shrugged.

"We got out of worse stuff than this without a cell phone," she reminded him. Dipper checked his phone once more, and slid it away, hurrying after his sister. The cave was slowly more and more exposed rock and dirt than boards and panels. Eventually, they came to a new entrance. There, a set of metal tracks lead them one of two ways.

"We're in the mines now," Dipper said quietly, uncertain of what could await as he looked both ways.

"Lets go to the right," Mabel declared.

"Wait," Dipper held her back for a moment, "maybe we should head back. Get Soos or Wendy to come down here. For all we know, this could be what we're looking for, and if we don't have backup, we could-"

"Dipper," Mabel turned to face him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "trust me. Trust us, okay?"

Dipper gave her a look, and then peered down the long winded path ahead. His heart skipped a beat at the idea of harm befalling himself, or more importantly, his sister. Yet her eyes shone with that same brilliant strength they had her entire life, and he sighed with a smirk.

"Lead the way, lady adventurer," Dipper told her, and she stood straight, saluted, did a one hundred eighty degree turn, and marched ahead.

The two walked for what could have been an hour, watching the path of the tracks lead through curves and waves in the earth. Their footsteps echoed as they watched ahead for any signs of life, sounds of movement, or strange smells. It wasn't until Mabel spotted an end to their present curvature that the two stopped.

Ahead was a massive chamber, easily hundreds of feet across that spiraled downwards. Two separate tracks, one that started from the opposite side of the chamber and the one they currently stood atop of, circled downwards to the center, much tighter and far more confined than the massive space at the top. Hanging from the ceiling were ropes and support chains that were still connected to vital areas of support, or hung loose and swayed slowly around.

"This place is soo cool," Mabel tried restraining her excitement.

"Don't pop a blood vessel yet," Dipper said, peering around, "I... I think there's stuff at the bottom, look," he pointed to what appeared to be a collection of tables, several chairs and some large cages. They began the careful walk down one of the two spiraling tracks into the pit. Their footsteps echoed louder and louder as they approached the bottom, all the while they took in the majestic view.

"Look," Dipper pointed to where Mabel was about to step. A single page of the poster they had seen earlier about treasure hunters had made it down here, but then ahead of that was a spilled selection of pages.

"What are they?" Mabel asked as she approached.

"It's some sort of research," Dipper said aloud, "look here, 'Gravity Falls, despite having little to no historical significance, has had an impact on paranormal researchers in recent times', and this one says, 'the evidence of supernatural is only deterred slightly by the sleepy-town feel of delightful men and women, from running grocery stores to gift shops'."

"Who could care about Gravity Falls?" Mabel asked with a crooked eyebrow, "do you think this has something to do with the government?"

"They wouldn't care to hide down here," Dipper thought aloud. Suddenly, from the depths of the pit, a voice called to them.

"Hey, Hey! You up there! I know you can hear me!"

The grip on the papers Dipper had dissolved instantly, and the papers fell aside, some spilling down below. Dipper and Mabel didn't even need to look at each other; for they knew that voice perfectly well.

"Oh, look, papers. It's nice you think I'm capable enough to saw my way out of metal cages with pieces of paper, but you've got the wrong genius. Get down here and help an old man out!"

The two ran faster than they had in all of their lives, barreling down the tracks with reckless disregard. Their footsteps thundered around the walls as they gasped for air. Their feet had minds of their own, desperation carrying to them levels of energy unprecedented in their lives. It was impossible, too wonderful to believe, that waiting for them down below, trapped in a large metal cage was him.

"Grunkle Stan!" The two screamed as they ran to him.

"K-KIDS!?" Grunkle Stan's eyes bulged out of his head as he saw them just barely above. They raced down and, stopping just short of slamming into the metal bars, reached through the cage and embraced their uncle. "What in Moses' holy name are you two doing here?!"

"We... we," Dipper couldn't get out, holding his Uncle tightly. The man sported the same grey five o-clock shadow he earlier, but his hair grey hair was more disheveled than usual. Large nose and ears gave proportions to his face and as he let go of them through the cages, they could make out the large muscle mass he still held in his arms and shoulders.

"You're safe!" Mabel declared as she looked at her uncle through the bars.

"Eh, safe isn't the word I'd use to describe our situation; but hey! Look at his nice suit I got for free!" he stepped back and spun, displaying the black suit from the funeral, "suckers gave me a suit for some reason! HA!"

"Grunkle Stan, you died!" Dipper looked at his grand Uncle, confusion wrapping his entire being. "You... you're supposed to be dead!"

"No he isn't! Otherwise he wouldn't be here," Mabel told her brother. Grunkle Stan only then looked to the two and his eyes widened.

"Look, you two need to go hide yourselves, okay? This isn't a safe place!" he ordered aloud as his eyes darted around in fear.

"Why?" Mabel asked. Dipper did a quick look around as they spoke, and only then realized that the cage wasn't the only object sitting around the bottom of the mine. A desk, dozens of large and small crates, and a large overturned wooden wardrobe all stood silently around them.

"What, do you think I put myself in here? Maybe I LIKE being locked in a cage?" Grunkle Stan asked them incredulously.

"Wait... if you didn't put yourself there, then who did?" Dipper asked aloud.

"I bet it was mole-men," Mabel said with a serious stare to her brother.

"Close enough," A gruff and attractive male voice called from above. The twins whipped around.

Standing above them with two Great Dane dogs on either side was a strong and chiseled looking man. Dusty leather jacket and worn dress slacks were completed with his even dustier and trodden leather hat. He had perfect eyebrows, manly and strong but well kept and natural, while his dark eyes shone down at them. His squinted eyes narrowed down on the twins as they looked up, and realized he had a revolver pointed right for them.

"Ahhh... darn it," Grunkle Stan sighed.

"Neither of you two move. I could miss a shot, but these two," the man above stated, mentioning his dogs, "will keep chasing you."

"Who are you, you devilish rouge!?" Mabel called above as the man slowly descended down, his gun trained on the two of them, his hounds at his heel. "You don't appear to be a faerie!"

"Yeah, we were way off with that one," Dipper admitted.

"I'm surprised you haven't seen my face around here. I may be new, but I was certain a few people came to my talks in this town," the man admitted.

"You... you must be Montana Jeffreys!" Dipper exclaimed as he watched the man descend towards them.

"Who?" Mabel and Grunkle Stan demanded.

"Good one, kid," the tall and handsome man nodded, his strong dark eyes on the two of them, "I'm a treasure hunter who deals with extraordinary artifacts and creatures alike. I'm surprised you knew about me at all. No one these days seems to know my name anymore," Montana Jefferys added with a bitter note.

"Your posters were in town everywhere," Dipper informed him.

"Forgot about that," Montana growled. He whistled to his dogs, and they approached the twins, forcing them to back away from the cage. He reached over to a table and from a drawer, pulled out a large metal key. He walked over to Grunkle Stans cage, and while his gun was pointed Stan, he opened it up. "You two, inside," he nodded towards the cage. They obliged, but only after a quick look at the dogs, who stared at the two with sharp eyes. Montana closed the door with a bang and locked it up, and tossed they key on the table.

"Now, let's get to business," Montana said aloud, and turned to the dogs, "Diana, get the book bag."

"What do you want with us?" Dipper demanded, and the edges of the treasure hunter's lips quirked up slightly, portraying a man who's plans were all going smoothly.

"You'll know in a moment," he said as the dog named Diana trotted over with none other than Dipper's backpack.

"HEY!" Dipper exclaimed, "THATS MINE!"

"You shouldn't leave your windows open in the middle of a forest," Montana said cockily, patting the head of the dog, "you never know what can climb in and steal something."

"It was the dog that we heard earlier!" Mabel gasped as she recalled to the Funeral home, and the sound of someone hastily running around outside.

"Give it back!" Dipper exclaimed angrily.

"I don't care about the bag, kid," Montana admitted, as he reached inside and pulled out a simple folder.

"Wait... the will?" Dipper asked with a quick blink.

"Bingo," The Treasure Hunter nodded and tossed the backpack to the cage, where Dipper clutched it and pulled it inside, "the will of the mystery shack. I want that land."

"Oh great, another Gideon," Grunkle Stan slapped a hand onto his grey hair, "well you're getting the same answer that he did: heck no!"

"It's not under your legal ability to decide that, old man," Montana told Grunkle Stan strongly, "it's theirs."

"What!?" Stan shouted, clutching the bars, and then looking at his grand niece and nephew, "what happened while I was asleep?"

"Wasn't just asleep," Montana explained, going to sit on a rickety old wooden chair," I hit you with a strong tranquilizer. Strong enough, I think, to put you into a serious coma."

"Oh... that explains why my mouth was so dry... and why I woke up in the funeral home... what?" he demanded from his relatives, who stared at him, "I just thought that was a wild vivid dream!"

"The cops said you died!" Dipper told his Grunkle.

"Aren't there crazy cases where people are in such a state of near-death they're often mistake for being dead?" Mabel asked, and Dipper gave her a look. "What?"

"Either way, since the official records state that you died," Montana continued, "your authority to decide the ownership of the mystery shack no longer belongs to you. But to these two have the ability," he pointed a finger at the twins, "and they're going to sign off their names, and I'll put my name at the end."

"Dude... why do you care about the shack anyway?" Dipper demanded with confusion, "it's just a tourist trap!" Montana gave the three a nice, long look, his eyes distant and cold. He stood from his chair with a dramatic step to the side.

"Oh cool," Mabel said excitedly to the three, "he's going to monologue!"

"Ugh, great," Grunkle Stan groaned, "tell me anything important comes up, will ya? I'm just going to do more important things with my life," he said as he sat down, and began to pick his nose.

"I used to be a great adventurer," Montana began, "people looked up to me. I was the image of manly actions and journeys: scourging tombs yet uncovered, fighting cursed creatures, evening getting a dame here or there. But... people cared less and less for tomb raiding and catacomb exploring."

"I feel like I've heard of Tomb Raiding before, somewhere," Dipper said aside to his sister.

"All these movies about mystery and horror, about romance and love- people don't need someone like me anymore," Montana Jefferys said sadly, "I'm just a washed up old grave digger by society standards now," both the dogs came walking up to him, nudging him with their noses, "all I really have left are my dogs."

"But this... this town could be the big bounce back in my career," he then continued with fever, "the research from just about anywhere says that this town hides secrets left and right. Missing persons, paranormal sightings, mysticism and all manner of beastly critters roam the night. All I have to do is get a foothold in, one that no one would think twice about; like that shack, and I'll have a source to capture as much of these things and sell them. I'd finally live in retirement like I dreamed I could, happy and safe."

"Dude, not to burst your bubble, but capturing these things isn't a walk in the park," Dipper told him, "just try getting a Gremloblin into a cage. It's nasty business."

"I'll take my chances," the gruff man said to Dipper, standing up, and reaching for a pen and the will, "so... let's make a deal. You sign your name off and hand over all the land to me, and I let you all walk home without a scratch. How's that sound?"

Dipper stared at the pen. He quickly looked to Stan, who returned the stare with uncertainty. The shack was worth everything to Stanley Pines, and Stanley pines was worth worlds to Dipper and Mabel. They practically summoned an army the last time an invader presented itself to the Mystery Shack. But this man was determined; he nearly killed Grunkle Stan in the attempt to take the property away, and now he had them even worse- locked in a cage.

Dipper's finger tips reached forward and took the pen, and he looked cautiously to his sister. Her eyes went from the pen to Dipper, and he felt deep down that he knew what she was going to do before he saw it happen. She reached for the pen with a deliberate grab, and with a yell she roughly tossed it into the man's eyes with force.

"OW! DAMN IT!" The treasure hunter exclaimed, holding an arm to his injured face.

"You want to try forcing us to give up our home, huh!?" Mabel shouted at the mildly harmed man, "well you can forget about any deal, regardless how handsome you are, or nicely toned out your muscles are! You're just being a big thief! A big thief with a great jaw-line!"

The dogs looked up to their angered master. He breathed heavily and his eyes narrowed in anger as he glared at the three of them. His foot then came smashing down on the pen on the ground, and he tossed the papers at the table.

"Let's see who goes through this better, then! You think you can stay in here for long without food or drink? I guess we'll have to find out," he sneered as he turned from them, and started up the spiral, and was out of sight in no time. The dogs remained, watching him go with a sad look in their eyes.

"Great... now what?" Dipper turned to the other two, "so... anyone have an idea?"

"I would have suggested that we drag him by the neck here and hold him hostage until the dogs released us, but I think we settled for throwing a pen in his face," Grunkle Stan said with a huff. Mabel looked to the dogs with a suspicious eye, and slowly pulled out remains of the sugar string.

"Mabel?" Dipper asked quietly as she tried pulling her arms around the bars and tried sticking the string into the lock.

"Maybe it will-"

"Don't even try that," one of the dogs suddenly spoke aloud. Mabel dropped her string in shock and the three instantly pushed themselves up against the bars, and as close as they could get to the dog that spoke.

"Diana," the other dog said in a warning voice.

"You two... can understand us?" Grunkle Stan gasped.

"I think you mean you three can understand us," the dog named Diana commented.

"Hahaha," Dipper snickered," you know that's kinda... true, you know... dogs are usually the one who understand... I'm the only one who think that's funny?" the other two merely looked to him, "Okay," he shrugged and turned back to the dogs.

"You two can speak English perfectly," Mabel stared at them with huge sparkling eyes, "tell me what is your secret, and I will begin teaching all dogs- a new order of canine and mankind can begin!" she attempted to bargain with enthusiasm.

"Trust me," the other dog stepped forward, her eyes narrow with mistrust, "Montey has tried teaching other dogs. We're just freaks, that's all."

"You call him Montey?" Grunkle Stan laughed at the dogs, who glared at him. "Hysterical."

"Wait... so if you can speak, then you can help us?" Dipper tried reasoning with the two. The closest huffed in his face and turned around and walked away.

"Why should we? You'd only just go and report him to authorities and then what? We go running for our lives forever?" The closest dog snapped at them.

"Nadia," the dog named Diana spoke quietly, catching the other by shock, "maybe we should help them."

"Are you crazy!?" the dog Nadia barked.

"You... want to help us?" Grunkle Stan asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"No," Diana said strongly, "I want to help our master," she said to her companion dog.

"How would letting us go help him?" Dipper asked.

"He wasn't always this desperate," Diana said sadly, "once he explored these crazy places because it was fun. On one of those explorations he discovered us. We became family so quickly, it feels like yesterday."

"It could be, for all we know," Grunkle Stan intervened, "you know, how dog years work."

"But all he wants is money now. Because he thinks it will make us all feel better. But it never will," Diana strongly proclaimed, "money is just a curse. We can be happy just being us, in a small home together, watching television or eating bad food or making fun of the other dogs who can't speak to us. I just miss my family, my sister and I," Diana looked to the other dog, who finally let her guard down and whined sadly.

Dipper had listened to the dogs, his heart strangely full of understanding. He spared a single glance to his sister, who shared the same look at the same time. It was one of the great 'near-telepathic' moments twins could have, and they understood fully.

"Hey," Dipper called to the two," I... I can't promise you that letting us go will help him see the error of his ways, but you have to make the choice to change him!"

"What?" The dogs asked in shock.

"Yeah," Mabel called from behind the bars, "you're part of this family, you two and Montey? If you never stand up for how you feel, he may never know he's hurting you!"

"Yeah, listen to these two, they're good at feelings and stuff," Grunkle Stan leaned into the bars as well, trying to milk the scene for its worth.

"You need to make a choice for yourself, not just let your future be determined by someone because you love them," Mabel told them kindly.

"Please, help us," Dipper asked them. The dogs stared at the three. The dog Nadia, with a clear and heavy sigh, walked over to the desk, picked up the key and spat it down at their feet.

"You will have a few minutes to run. But once he spots you leaving, he'll sick us on you. We're giving you a head start, but once he says go..." Diana told them as Nadina turned away from the three as Dipper reached and grabbed the key, "we're going to come for you."

"Thanks for the warning!" Mabel thanked them with a huge smile. Dipper reached around and slid the key inside, unlocking the door.

"Before we go," Dipper said as he grasped his book bag and slammed the folder into the backpack, "he's not getting away with these."

"Good thinking," Grunkle Stan commended the two, "now let's run like we still have a life to live!" The three then took off, taking the opposite path, and began to climb the spiraling tracks upwards.

"Grunkle Stan, I just want to let you know," Dipper said between breaths, "how happy I am to see you still kicking!"

"Yeah! I knew you were still here!" Mabel added with a great wide smile.

"Great, glad you two miss me," Grunkle Stan told them and dared a smile, "but we need to put our effort to running here, not yapping away about feelings!"

A furious shout called from across the gaping hole. Looking up, and still running, the twins spotted from afar a stunned Montana Jeffreys. He had just whipped out his revolver and tried aiming at them. To the luck of the escapees the amount of hanging wires and chains made it difficult for him to get a clean shot. After an exasperated groan, the treasure hunter roared.

"SICK EM, GIRLS!" he shouted as he took a charge back into the tunnel, and ran out into the open, leaping off the side of the cliff magnificently. Still mid-air, he wrapped his hands around the thick metal chains, and began to swing from one chain to another. One by one he swung closer and closer to the Pines until he took his first shot.

"Sweet Moses!" Grunkle Stan shouted as the bullet missed them by mere feet. "RUN FOR IT!"

"We're almost at the top!" Mabel shouted to the other two. Down below, the dogs began to bark and their charge against the earth grew louder and louder. The Pine family members finally made it to the top, and launched themselves at the first tunnel they found.

"You have any idea where we're running to!?" Dipper asked Mabel, who was barely ahead of him.

"No idea!" she smiled as she continued ahead.

The sound of a landing far behind them and barking dogs caught their attention. A sharp whistle followed, and the pattering footsteps were catching up.

"At this rate we're ending up as actual dog-meat!" Grunkle Stan worried.

"We need to do something then!" Mabel shouted as they finally spotted, hundreds of yards behind them, the two dogs and their furious master in chase.

Dipper peered above them. Every so often, they passed under a support beam. It in turn was also supported by other beams. The wood in use was old and worn, some rotten, some breaking already. The idea popped into his head; a risky, life-threatening, crazy idea. Yet he smiled; smiled wider than he thought he ever would when his life was on the line. He was more excited and exhilarated than he had since... since he had last been to Gravity Falls.

"Grab a tool or something!" Dipper shouted as he spotted several abandoned pickaxes and shovels.

"I am not bringing a shovel to a gunfight!" Grunkle Stan commented as Dipper grabbed a sturdy looking pickax and ran at the first support column before him. Mabel followed suit, and Grunkle Stan did too, albeit reluctantly. "I guess something is better than nothing!"

"Hit them!" Dipper shouted as he spun in his step, and smashed the pickax as hard as he could against a particularly worn support beam. It buckled and shook, splintering where he struck it.

"WHAT!? ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Grunkle Stan shouted, but after watching Mabel took her brothers lead, he grinned wickedly, "but dang it, crazy enough that it's got to work!" he too smashed his chosen shovel into the column. His strength easily outweighed the other two, and the three began to break one support beam after another, each targeted by Dipper.

"One more aught to do it, then drop them and just run for it!" Dipper said as he picked the last column and hit it. No sooner had he smashed the column than the ceiling above began to tremble and quake. Mabel's strike caused further shaking, but Stans' roaring smash delivered the killing blow.

The entire mine shaft began to cave in, piece by piece. Dipper ran ahead, spotting the light at the end of the tunnel as he saw the wilderness of Oregon ahead. He looked back, and was astounded to see the dogs and their master in hot pursuit despite the falling ceiling.

It was getting worse- large chucks of earth were falling around them and it became harder and harder to avoid the falling rocks and boulders that they needed to miss. They were close, so very close to fresh air.

"GOTCHA!" Montana Jeffreys shouted as he dive-tackled Grunkle Stan. The older man fell, catching the other two, who then also collapsed. Dipper fell quickly, landing harshly on his face. Mabel fell against the side of a tree trunk, smacking her head hard enough for her to see triples of everything. Only Stan stood up quickly, but Montana stood faster, and had a gun pointed right for Stan. Dust billowed out past them, giving Stan a cover for charge for the standing man. Montana shot at his feet, keeping the older man still, able to peer past the billowing cloud of airborne dirt and debris.

"No one... is going... anywhere," Montana told them dangerously between his hacking coughs," not until I-" A pained whimper came from behind Montana, and he instantly spun around as the dust dissipated. "No!" he gasped, and his gun fell from his hand. One of the dogs had her leg partially trapped under a large rock in the entrance to the cave. "Diana!"

"We have to get her out!" Nadia said to Montana in a desperate panic. Stan chuckled behind them, and he steadily walked over, and retrieved the revolver.

"Well, that solves a lot of problems in life now," he said, checking the gun. The old man stared at the gun and then the three before him, totally ignoring him in hopes of freeing the trapped dog.

"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked as he got up, brushing off dirt from his scraped chin.

"What should we do?" Mabel stood, rubbing the back of her head with each stroke causing her to wince.

"What should we do? Well, I'll tell ya, karma says we should leave these suckers here to their own fate, because they would have been willing to do the same to us!" Grunkle Stan growled aloud, hoping to catch the attention of the treasure hunter. Yet all that came to him in reply was the grunts of Montana desperately trying to lift the bolder and Nadia trying to push with her head as best she could. Grunkle Stan sighed and tossed the gun aside, rolled up his sleeves, and walked forward.

"Skooch over, tough guy," Grunkle Stan ordered Montana, who stared at his once captor in total shock. The old man, with his big muscular arms, found grips to the boulder and he too began to groan as the two tried lifting the rock. Mabel and Dipper also approached, and after a moment of struggle, the five lifted the rock off the leg of Diana, and they threw it aside.

"Diana!" Nadia rushed forward, desperately licking her face.

"Sis, stop it," Diana said in a strained voice, "you know that wont help-"

"I was so afraid," Nadia began to whine, nudging the head of her sister dog, "I didn't want to lose you." The pines took their steps back, and sat down all together and sighed simultaneously.

"Well, summer always starts off weird, but this sure took the cake," Grunkle Stan told the twins, who looked to him with watery smiles. After a moment, he finally grinned, and embraced them tightly, "and gosh-darn it, you make an old man happy, just being here! You two must have doubled in size since I last saw you!"

"Grunkle Stan, I need to know," Dipper looked to his Great Uncle, "how did you get out of the funeral home?"

"I walked out," Grunkle Stan told him easily.

"That's it?" Dipper replied sadly.

"As soon as I realized I got a free suit from anyone, I wasn't going to stick around to hear out the details. It was this chump and his dogs who were waiting for me," Grunkle Stan rolled his eyes, "otherwise I wouldn't have ruined this perfectly cheap-as-dirt suit!"

The three laughed as they continued to embrace. It was the loud steps of a boot-worn foot that caught their attention, and they broke apart. Montana had walked over to his gun, and lifted it up, checking up for dust.

"So, tough guy," Grunkle Stan said as he and the twins stood up, "what's it going to be?"

Montana Jeffrey looked at the three from the side of his vision, to his gun, and then turned to his two dogs, still lying down next to one another. He then chuckled, and with a turn of events that made Mabel smile wide as she could, Montana opened the cylinder of his revolver and dropped out the remaining four loaded bullets. He then tossed the empty gun to their feet.

"I don't need it anymore," Montana Jeffreys told them with the smallest smile, the sun setting behind him as he stood before the steep incline of a mountain face, "I retire."

"A wise choice, sir," Dipper said, stepping forward to lift the gun up, but it was snatched quickly by Grunkle Stan, "hey!"

"Not for you," Stan told his great nephew with a critical stare. Montana turned to his dogs, and with a quick swoop, lifted Diana from the ground.

"What will you do now, oh great devilish rogue?" Mabel asked Montana as he and Nadia walked down the hill.

"I don't really know," Montana stopped as he pondered, "but I don't care anymore. Anything that keeps us out of danger for now sounds good."

Dipper nodded with the other Pines in appreciation, and only then he realized something odd. He patted his pocket and reached inside. There he found the blue glowing object, and stepped forward.

"We... uh... Have you ever seen something like this before?" Dipper asked, holding it ahead for the man to inspect. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped down.

"Diana, I need to put you down for a second," Montana told his dog. Once she was safely on the ground, he reached inside a satchel he carried, and pulled out an identical one.

"There's more than one!?" Dipper gasped.

"More glowing..." Mabel awed as she watched them both.

"Found it a few months ago. Don't have even a clue on what it is or where it came from... but I see you two are kind of good at uncovering secrets," he flicked the small transparent blue battery at Dipper, "so keep it. Maybe you'll get to the bottom of things. Good luck."

With that, he lifted up his injured dog, and Montana Jeffreys, a last bastion of old time adventure glory, continued down the mountain, vanishing into the thick vegetation. The Pines watched him vanished, a slight smile on their face and the light of the sun cascaded down their faces from the dying afternoon.

"So... who was he exactly? Some sort of actor or something?" Grunkle Stan asked.

The walk back to town wasn't horribly long, but it took even longer to get back to the mystery shack than anticipated. By the time they returned to the library, Dipper's car had already begun to be towed- much in violation with the twenty minute parking limit the sign stated next to the now bent stop sign. It took a lot of schmoozing from Grunkle Stan to calm the tow truck driver to let the car be, and afterwards, the three made their drive back to the shack.

"Mister Pines!" Soos shouted as he spotted his employer stepping out from Dipper's car, "You're alive!"

"Don't try fooling me with that old 'I'm so happy my boss is alive' thing Soos," Grunkle Stan told the running handy man, "because it won't have any- OH GOD!" Soos had grabbed the elderly man and lifted him high into a bear-like, bone crushing hug. "A RAISE! YOU GET A RAISE! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Don't let him escape Soos!" Mabel called as she stepped down from her bike.

"I am soo happy you're still alive!" Soos said again tearfully, "does that means I still have a job!?"

"Yes, Soos, you do," Grunkle Stan nodded and sighed, stretching his back and rubbing it to attempt easing the pain.

"Welcome back, boss-o," Wendy waved from the door, grinning wildly, "glad to see I didn't have to go looking for another summer gig."

"Ha, like anyone else would hire your lazy butt," Stan mocked her, yet put a welcoming arm on her shoulder as he stepped inside. "Oh man, did I miss the smell of naivety and a good business opportunity."

"You never change," Mabel gave her Grunkle a quick punch on the arm, and he chuckled with her.

"You know..." Grunkle Stan said cleverly, turning to the twins, "now that everyone thinks I'm a ghost running around town, this place is probably going to become even more busy with people coming to check on my after-life status. I probably could use an extra hand, or maybe two. How about it you two?" Grunkle Stan pulled the two together, looking between them, "want to stick around your boring old Grunkle Stan one more summer? For old family times sake?"

Mabel's face exploded with light. Her eyes grew huge and grin couldn't possibly grow wider, and she looked to her brother, who also was totally into the idea. However as soon as the light had hit the two of their faces, Dippers began to fade, staring at his sister. He looked down, and stepped away from the hug.

"Sorry, Grunkle Stan," Dipper said, rubbing the back of his neck, "you know, I just... wanted to come up here and make sure that everything up here was... okay, I guess. You're alive, and that's great! But I have a summer job lined up that I shouldn't skip out on, you know?"

"Aw shucks," Grunkle Stan groaned, "so much for letting you guys into my new business plan then. Well, if you two need to be getting back, you should be leaving soon. Otherwise you'll get home past midnight. I don't think they allow teens on the street past twelve... or was it one in the morning? I don't know."

"Thanks Grunkle Stan," Dipper said with a sad smile, and he turned for the stairs.

"Uh..." Mabel looked to the others, who had already gone back to their activities working on the shack. She turned back towards the stairs ascended slowly. Dipper was quickly packed already, and was moving for the door.

"Hey... we should be going soon, like Grunkle Stan said," Dipper told her. He squeezed past her, avoiding eye contact, and she was left atop the stairs. She stared at her own things, and the now blank side of the room that she had for a day shared with her brother left a hole in her stomach. The mere thought of the twenty four hours that had just passed were unbelievable, and to think it was already over drove mad.

A minute later, she exited the door with her own packed things, as Dipper finished stuffing his suitcases inside the car trunk. He gave her a quick look, after which he then turned away. She approached her bike, unimpressed with its pink sparkly glory in thought of what getting back onto it and riding it home meant losing.

"You know... we should hang out this summer, now we can, you know, drive and stuff," Dipper told her from his car, turning to face her.

"Yeah," she nodded, half turning to look at him from only the corner of her eye.

"I... yeah," Dipper started a thought, but was unable to complete it, looking at his sister with the same defeated eyes she had. "You were right all along," Dipper told her finally, "and I can't even begin to think how stupid I really feel for not believing you."

"Oh, well, you know how those crazy feelings are," Mabel told her twin, mustering her best smile, "and those woman's intuitions."

"Yeah, proved me wrong," Dipper admitted with a chuckle, "serves me right for doubting you-"

"Well you two," Grunkle Stan approached them as they stared at one another, "you knuckleheads better be ready for that long drive. Also, since I'm not technically dead, you're going to have to wait longer than two years to get my shack from me, you two hear?!" he said strongly, and the two rolled their eyes and walked to their vehicles.

"See you guys," Dipper waved to Soos and Wendy who were waving back slowly, clearly disappointed at the twins' rapid departure. Dipper's car first made its exit, followed by Mabel. She gave them all one last sad look before turning and leaving.

"Man, was I looking forward to them hanging around," Soos admitted as he looked down, sitting on the porch with a thud.

"Yeah, dude," Wendy agreed, leaning against the side of the door, "this summer could have been awesome if they decided to stay here."

"They're older now," Grunkle Stan told them as he approached, "old enough to make choices on their own and live up to those choices. Sometimes, they may make a choice they won't end up liking in the long run."

"You're going to miss them aren't you?" Wendy asked him, and he stared at the drive way.

"I wouldn't be so sure on missing them yet," the old man said wisely.

Dipper drove his car down the empty highway past Gravity Falls. It would be another seven hours and twenty some minutes before he got home, and he desperately searched for a way to get comfortable.

A horrible tugging feeling pulled as his mind. Like a part of his brain was elastic, he felt like he was constantly looking back in the mirror. It didn't help that Mabel was still behind him, looking sullen and unhappy.

"I can't just shrug off this job," Dipper told himself, alone in his car. "College isn't cheap. I know mom doesn't have that kind of money anymore, so I need to save up! And dad doesn't have that kind of cash eirhter!" he said as he felt frustration and anger at himself building up. He lashed out, striking the wheel as he drove, and then sighed, staring ahead.

"Just... keep driving, and you'll get home," he told himself, as he turned on the radio. The first station that popped on was country, and the sad song immediately started singing about separation. Dipper groaned loudly and nearly head butted the wheel. He quickly reset himself, breathing sharply and steadying his hands back on the wheel.

A knock on his driver seat window startled him. He turned and found Mabel reaching over from her bike, waving at him with a grin. She reached back to her face, and struggled to pull off her sunglasses and look him in the eyes.

'Bye. I love you,' she mouthed to him.

His heart sank as she placed her sunglasses back on, and sped ahead, swerving slightly as she adjusted herself to be in the fast lane. Dipper watched her go, his chest tightening and yet entirely hollow at the same time.

"DAMN!" he screamed and he slammed his foot onto the break. His car screeched to a halt and slid slightly. He came to a halt so fast that his backpack came flying from his backseat and nearly hit him, instead catching his cap from his head and throwing it to the floor.

He looked ahead after taking a few slow breathes. Mabel had also stopped, turning to watch her brother. They were a good two hundred feet apart, but Dipper could tell exactly what she was thinking. She stared from a distance and made sure her brother was okay.

He noticed a humming from his backpack, and reached inside. The glowing cylinder resonated that same faint white light. He played with it for a moment, and the thought came to mind. It made him wonder what it really was.

"What the heck are you doing?" Dipper asked himself. He looked from the unknown object to his distant sister.

"When I come home, you've all gone, and there ain't no bed I can find-" the radio sang solemnly.

"Hate it," Dipper said firmly, spun the knob, and found an upbeat remix song about, to his surprise, revealing secrets, "much better." With a strong grip, he put his car in reverse, and he turned it, ready to get on the opposite side and face the direction he was just leaving.

"YES!" Mabel raced to catch up with her brother, and flew past him, shouting at the top of her lungs, "LAST ONE THERE HAS TO KISS THE GNOMES!"

Dipper grinned and his competitive nature slid into place.

"Not on my watch, sis!"

The two raced each other down the highway and through the entire town, laughing as they soared over pavement, concrete and finally gravel. There, still standing outside by the door in the late orange glow of the sun, was Stan.

"I was wondering how long you two were going to take to realize," Stan called as they jumped out and off their vehicles, " that you wanted to be here. Could see it etched into your faces." Dipper and Mabel ran to one another first for their first real hug in a very long time. After a moment, they turned to Stan, who was grinning at the two of them.

"So, I guess we're staying," Dipper said, trying to contain his smile, "do you need any help with the place?"

"Oh, your summer work not good enough huh?" Grunkle Stan joked with a nudge on Dippers shoulder, "don't worry you two. I have a huge plan to turn this building into something else. A renovation a year in the making!"

"I noticed you had new rooms and stuff. What gives, Grunklereeno?" Mabel asked.

"I'm going to turn this run down old shack into something real classy! A place that tourists can no longer even THINK to call a trap. It'd be a real destination!" Stan proclaimed as the S letter from 'Shack' fell off and crashed into the ground behind them.

"Classy isn't the first word that comes to mind, you know," Dipper admitted as they looked at the worn wooden building, "Especially when I think of the word 'shack'."

"HA! Exactly!" Stan pointed at the two of them, and reached down for a sign that had been face down the entire time. "Well, say farewell to this shack, and hello to," he held it up, and slammed it down into the earth, where it stuck, and read-

The Mystery Manor

Coming Soon!

Bring your whole family!

"Heh, I like that last bit. If they bring their kids," Stan grinned as he chuckled, "the little grubs will bleed them dry of cash for all the merchandise I can provide! Or wreck my gift shop... I may need to think this one through."

Somewhere, not too far from Gravity falls, a silhouetted figure sat- staring at a collection of screens in a darkly lit room. The dark room remained primarily lit by the multitude of screens collected by the dark figure. Before him a small holographic keyboard lay, and he clicked a single transparent button. A birds eye view then showed a scene- Montana Jeffreys passing off the blue object to Dipper Pines. The figure, sitting in front of the many other replaying cameras, leant forward to a microphone like object and spoke.

"Sire?" the voice called from the darkness was young sounding, fresh and willing to serve.

"Yes?" a deeper voice, gruff and commanding, replied.

"I've been monitoring the children who have located the charge. They now have uncovered two," the subordinate explained.

"Do they show any signs of discovering our location?" the deeper voice replied.

"No sir. They were preparing to leave the town, but have only just turned around, according to our trackers," the younger sounding man stated as he activated a new screen, which showed a black and blue screen of a map of Gravity Falls, where two blue beeping spheres resonated by a single building in the woods.

"Then we continue operations according to schedule," the 'boss' spoke.

"But we were nearly caught earlier today! If we were spotted, that could compromise our entire mission- we need to consider the models all running low on energy! And the charges in close proximity could bond in uniform-band width, which is extremely dangerous to-"

"Uki-Dohth!" the voice called back, having the person flinch.

"Yes, sir?"

"We are working on borrowed time as it is. At this point, we need to consider breaking our greatest laws if our procedures are to work. You of all people know the importance of success here, don't you?" the voice called back.

"...Yes, sir, I do," the younger sounding figure nodded as he looked to the town.

"Good. Continue with monitoring them all, and announce the next time an energy capsule is about to expire- we may not have such a speedy reaction time, "the boss's voice clicked, and the room fell silent. The figure stood, and slowly reached forward and touched his hand against the map.

"I'm so sorry, all of you."