Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the central hall of the Blind Eye, Dipper and Mabel were bathed in the cool orange light generated by the Obelisk. Candy was prepared for the worst, as staring them down was Old Man McGucket, examining them with an aggressive look.

“Woah, cool arm Fiddleford!” Mabel’s standard enthusiasm cut through the tension, even with such a high stakes situation.

McGucket’s stern look didn’t change though, even as he looked down at the arm. “Yeah, it was built by my ex-research assistant.” He made sure to stress the ‘ex’ part, which made Candy frown.

“I had to leave! You were doing wrong!” Her fists started clenching. “I saw what you did to those poor creatures! That huntsman is sinister!”

“You don’t understand Candy, the fate of all their lives depends on this! I couldn’t just let them roam free!”

“Why not, they are innocent! Now they suffer in your basement, forced into tiny cages! You don’t have the right to hide so much away, the prison, this rock thing,” she gestured at the Obelisk. “We will stop you!”

“Bold words girl. I’d like to see you try.” He raised his mechanical arm, and a blue circle of light started glowing in his palm, charging up to release a shot.

“Woah woah woah! Everybody calm down!” Dipper placed himself between the two former partners, hoping to defuse the tense stand-off. “Candy, I know he’s keeping things from us, but fighting isn’t going to get us any closer to saving those creatures.” He turned to McGucket. “You’d better explain things fast, old man. Otherwise I’ll let both Candy and my sister loose on you. Be warned, Mabel can probably beat you up so hard you’ll wish you could erase the memory.”

Mabel shoved her brother aside. “I’m not gonna fight him Dip! We can do this like mature responsible adults.” Everyone in the room was silent. “Ok, maybe that’s going a little too far for me, but you know what I mean. This doesn’t have to get ugly. Fiddleford, why don’t you start by telling us what you’re using the Obelisk here for?”

“Isn’t it obvious!” Dipper incredulously stated before McGucket could reply. “He’s using it to amplify the radiation, he wants it to spread!”

“I’m not amplifying anything boy!” McGucket irritatedly replied. “You Pines twins are mighty meddlesome folks, you know. Always sticking your noses where they don’t rightly belong. Sometimes you should look afore you leap. This here tri-fold mineral manipulator-majig is a lodestone. It’s a magnet for the rift pollution, drawing it all to this one point. How else was I s’posed to keep all the radiation in one place?”

“Wait, you wanted to stop the spread?! Now I’m seriously confused, you’re the one plotting secret plans out of sight and kidnapping creatures for sport!”

“Sport!?”

“And what about this?” Dipper strode over the memory gun chest. “I should have known you’d be tempted to rebuild it, you’ve probably been taking care of anyone who tried to interfere in your plans.” He opened the chest and reached inside. “Well it stops now, I’m gonna deal with this… wait… there’s nothing here!” He ran his hand over the chest, but only found the empty frame and cushion, with no device present. “Wait, you aren’t using the memory gun? I don’t understand.”

“Now listen here you young whippersnapper!” McGucket angrily poked Dipper’s hoodie with his brass arm. “You think I’m just a crazy old nutjob what ate garbage and married a racoon? You still think I’m the same madman you first met? The dangerous lunatic who wants to take revenge on the world? You don’t know anything!”

“Then tell us, please,” Mabel implored, honestly wanting to hear his side of the story. Candy nodded, agreeing with Mabel’s sentiment.

McGucket sighed. “I just wanted to make things right, to correct the damage I caused. I thought I’d done that 5 years ago, but we can’t escape our pasts. Back in February I started detecting abnormal portal activity.” Mabel and Dipper exchanged a quick glance at the mention of the date.

“It was a massive flare up of interdimensional fluctuations, travelling along a network of breaches in reality. The flare didn’t last long, there was a lot of build-up, but it all fizzled away after a few days. That was mighty strange, but I didn’t dwell on it. Least until we started recording cases of folks getting struck down with strange illnesses.”

The twins knew that by ‘folks’ he was talking about the magical beings that resided within the town’s weirdness field, drawn to it subconsciously. The terrible toll of the radiation must be currently acting as a counterweight. The vast array of organisms that usually felt attracted to staying in the town were forced to contend with the negative consequences of the radiation field.

“So, you started ‘collecting’ the affected creatures?” Dipper asked.

“Yes, at first it was simply for studying. I had to know what was causing the disease. I discovered that it was the same kind of energy that I’d detected back in February, which is also the same kind that was generated every time me and Stanford operated our portal. I’m responsible for this, so I took it upon myself to try and save as many creatures as I could. I captured them, yes, but not to experiment on them. To keep them safe from further radiation exposure, and to have a large sample so I could work on a cure. Unfortunately, my research didn’t turn up much - I’m an engineer, not a biologist. So, I built this Obelisk instead, to halt the spread. It was all I could do while I worked on a way to remove the radiation entirely.”

McGucket felt a hand on his arm, and saw it was Mabel’s. “It’s not your fault Fiddleford. You’re not the one who started up all this rift junk. That was me and Dipper’s way of dealing with the Alignment.”

“Huh? The what now?”

“I’d love to tell you everything, but for now you just need to know that me and Dip… kinda… made another portal,” she guiltily said.

“You what?!” McGucket looked on the edge of mania at the very idea of somebody replicating his work.

“It was for a good cause,” she said with a grimace.

“After everything you kids went through, what me and Stanford went through, why in the hootenanny heck would you-“

“It was the only way, McGucket.” Dipper cut him off, not wanting to get bogged down in explaining all that happened back in February with the Ursus event. “Simple story is, we had to build a portal to draw in something that came through from another dimension. We didn’t have another choice. But trust us, it’s destroyed now. I made sure there were no lasting after-effects, I really did. We checked out each and every major rift point.”

McGucket stroked his white beard with his non-robot arm. “Hmm, a massive cosmic event on that scale, funnelled through the same portal network… the harmonic resonance would mean that the it’d be compressed into a more diffuse nature… Gravity Falls would be a nexus for the release matrix…”

“Ah, of course!” Candy nodded her head. “The energy could have built up like a blocked pipe, then all come flooding out at the weakest point!”

Mabel waved a hand between the two excited scientists. “Uh, guys, what are you saying? It’s all just sciencey mumbo jumbo to me.”

Candy looked at her old friend, trying to simplify things for the twin’s sake. “When you activated your second portal, it essentially re-opened the old wounds from the first portal here in your Shack. The tears in reality started leaking out the dimensional energy you trapped inside yours, polluting the town as the radiation we’ve been detecting.”

Dipper slapped his forehead. “Oh man, Paz was right. We always have to clean up our messes. Why can things never have a clean break? I’d better check on her actually, it’s been a while since she messaged. Want to make sure she got out of the manor alright.” Dipper pulled out his phone and rang Pacifica.

McGucket nodded to himself. “The manor? So that’s why Miss Pacifica was paying us an impromptu visitin’. Shoulda known she had her own angle, you two’ve been rubbing off on her. Maybe we can catch her on our way home, the only reason I was out here was to check on the Obelisk. This old Blind Eye hall is certainly a useful place to have legal ownership of. Lotsa nice handy chambers for big side projects.”

“Let’s be off then! Man, I’m so glad you weren’t evil!” Mabel cheerily said. Dipper was still trying his phone, so absent-mindedly trailed out behind his sister.

“Wait,” Candy interrupted. “You’re still not off the hook McGucket! What about that hunter!? You still hired him, he’s a brute!”

“I told ya Chiu, it’s for the best! Those creatures would be dying out there in the wild, it’s the only way to keep them safe!”

“Did you even tell him why you’re making him catch all those creatures? Because I’m pretty sure he’s of the opinion that you’re going to let him deal with them as soon as you have no use for them. A man with a goofy name like ‘Morbid’ seems the type for that.”

“Wait, am I hearing this right?” Dipper spluttered. “You hired Morbid the Huntsman!?”

“Why? Is he bad or summint?” McGucket obliviously said.

“Oh, he’s the worst!” Mabel exclaimed.

“Dangit! That’s what I get for hiring an amateur! Knew I shoulda actually got someone decent at their job! Darn corner cutters.”

“No no, he’s not bad bad! He’s just bad. Well, what he does is bad, but he doesn’t do it badly.”

“Eh?”

“What Mabel is trying to say,” Dipper said while focusing on his phone, “is that Morbid the Huntsman is a despicable anti-‘freak’ butcher, who delights in killing or torturing anything vaguely outside the norm. Him being in a place like the Falls is probably his dream come true! Some of the creatures he brought in for you that Pacifica chronicled aren’t even native to here, like the Were-Coyote or the Rosettas. Did you just send him to pick up every single report of a creature on the western seaboard? He’s a menace to everyone who deals with him.”

“Told you so McGucket.” Candy triumphantly crossed her arms.

McGucket waved an arm. “Yeah well, it’s not like I’ll need him much longer, hopefully I can refocus all efforts onto the radiation itself now I know it’s conclusively the cause. There has to be some way to cleanse the whole region of the pollution.”

“Let’s not dilly dally then guys! Mabel’ll lead the way! Candy, I can’t wait to show you the Hyper-Coyote, it’s so rad. Plus Paz, you gotta catch up with her-“

“Mabel, can you quiet down a bit.” Dipper shushed her as the call finally connected. “Ah, Pacifica, finally, me’n Mabel are heading back, we’ll-“

“Hi there Dipper, how’s things with you? Cause I’m doing fabulously with this new necklace of mine.”

Dipper nearly dropped the phone in shock and his face paled. “A-Andromeda?” He swallowed. “If you’ve done anything to Paz, I’ll-“

“Hush now, I’m talking. Pacifica’s mine, so is our old pal Morbid. Soon, so will every little captive in McGucket’s manor. Then I’m gonna use this portal ‘problem’ to make myself unstoppable. Ta ta bro.” The phone clicked as the call went dead.

“Guys, we’ve got a new problem. A big one.”

Giving a rundown of who Andromeda was once again was getting on Dipper’s nerves, but he had to fill in Candy and McGucket on where things stood. It’s was especially annoying since neither of them knew anything about the copier and had only a basic knowledge of the electron carpet. Getting them up to speed on the Ursus stone was also something of a trial, since its history went back a lot further than just what Andromeda was concerned with.

Mabel took most of the job of explaining the stone’s origin, since Dipper was getting pretty stressed. The fragile trust he’d started to build with the paper clone had been shattered, and now Pacifica’s life was in danger. Furthermore, Morbid was now a wildcard, wandering around doing who knew what. Andromeda’s end goal was still unclear; she had the Ursus stone, but her plans seemed to go beyond simply taking over Mabel’s body this time.

While trying to explain about the Ursus stone for the hundredth time, McGucket finally grasped something. “That’s it! I’ve got me one a them head thoughts! Empaths have control over emotional fields, they can read and manipulate those same fields. That’s what gives yer clone those powers, right. So, it stands to reason that with a boost, such as that funky future-majigger, she could gain control over the radiation fields saturating the town!”

“Could that really work? She wants to absorb the energy before she tries to hop into my head?” Mabel was recalling the time just before the Alignment, when thanks to the amplification of the Obelisk she’d had immense telekinesis powers. If Andromeda gained a similar level of power, one she could use constantly, there’d be nothing on Earth that could stand in her way.

“It’s a plausible hypothesis,” Candy said. “If she can draw enough of that dimensional energy into herself, using the stone as a medium to filter out the harmful effects, then she could potentially harness it offensively. Or it might just burn up her brain.”

“She’s made of paper, I think that’ll keep her stable.” Dipper was only half interested in the discussion, still thinking about Pacifica. “I have a plan. McGucket, can you shut off this Obelisk?”

The old man slowly nodded. “Yes, I can neutralise the grounding couples, that’ll defocus the centralising magna pull. But why, Dipper?”

“Because as of right now, this place is Andromeda’s number one target. All of the radiation is pooling here, just like it did at the Mojave Obelisk. If we remove it from the equation, she’ll be forced to go to the original radiation source. Am I right in thinking that the Shack basement is the location with the most holes in reality?”

Both McGucket and Candy nodded. Mabel understood too. “Right Dip, it has my Unicorn shielding, that’ll make it harder for her to get in if we’re trying to defend it. Ok, so Fids and Candy are gonna do that, what about us two?”

“Andromeda will be biding her time, gaining forces and power. That gives us a little time to prepare. I want you to run by the manor, let Tate McGucket know what’s going on, see if he has any weapons or equipment we can use. If you get there before Andromeda, round up any of the magical people who wanna help. Then head back to the Shack, let Soos and Melody know we’re expecting a fight. Get it set up in defence mode, barricades, covering fire opportunities, anything that can keep it a safe place. Hopefully by morning we’ll have a solid cordon around the basement.”

“And you?”

“I’m gonna save Pacifica.” Mabel nodded, knowing full well that anything she might say to try and dissuade him would fall on deaf ears. “We’ve all got our missions now. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?”

“Oh no Dipper, no! Never say that, you’ll jinx us! What next, you’ll say, ‘at least it isn’t raining’?!” She rolled her eyes at him, then made to head off to the manor when McGucket called after her.

“Hold a mo Mabel, I wanna have a look see at that rocket armour that got busted. It might be a good idea to give ourselves every advantage.”

Dipper headed off through the curtain, poking his head out to say goodbye. “Candy, thanks for all you’re doing to help. I hope you and McGucket can… well, sort things out.” Candy nodded, grateful for his sympathy. “Bye guys, I’m gonna go get Paz. No way am I gonna let that creep of a clone take her from us. First I’m gonna swing by the Shack. If I’m going to have to face Andromeda with the stone, then I’m going to need some backup.”

On the main street of Gravity Falls, the streetlights showed two very similar looking girls making their way across town. Both had blonde hair, each cut differently. The one with longer hair stretching below her waist was dragging the other girl, whose hair didn’t pass her shoulders.

The two of them stopped outside the austere Northwest house on the edge of town. “Here we are Ciffy, time to stop running away from your fears. Face ‘em like a true adventurer.” Andromeda held onto Pacifica’s shoulders and pushed her through the outer gate and along the lawn to the front door.

“Please, don’t do this.” Pacifica tried to move left or right, or even to stop entirely, but her body wouldn’t obey her commands. The only thing she was allowed to do by Andromeda’s powers was walk forwards.

“What are you worried about, they’re your parents after all. You only rejected everything they ever instilled in you, abandoned them for a month, and ran out on them today - I’m sure they won’t take their anger out on you… much.” Andromeda laughed haughtily. “I’m not a total monster, here, keep your journal and Dipper’s dumb magic pendant. Your folks will probably wanna confiscate those to keep you in line.”

They reached the door, and Pacifica felt her arm start to rise. In a cruel gesture, Andromeda was going to make her knock on the door herself. “Stop it, I’m begging you, I’ll do anything you want but go in there.”

“Nah, this is therapeutic for you. Remember the night before I was born, you had to get over your fear of sketching faces by just doing it. Same here, just go in there and see what happens. I’m sure Preston and Priscilla won’t be too harsh.”

Pacifica’s face scrunched up, but she resisted crying. “You weren’t there. In the hospital.”

“Hospital?”

“In Spring break. That’s why I left them. Mason was hurt because of me, and my parents showed up to take me home. But I said no. I shouted, I demanded they listened to me. And for one of the first times in my life, they did. One month they said, one month to see how harsh the world really is. Coming back to them was the ultimate defeat, not because I failed. No, it was because they assumed I’d fail from the very start and did nothing to change themselves to face the fact I might not wanna be like them. So if you send me through that door now, after I explicitly betrayed them… that’s my life over.”

Andromeda hesitated. Deep down in her jumbled mind, she had conflicting thoughts about Pacifica. While her resentment for Mabel ran deep due their overriding personalities being so similar, she had much less malice towards Pacifica.

Eventually though, Pacifica felt her arm moving closer to the door again. “Five minutes before I was born, Mabel was thinking about the past. Obsessing would be a more apt description. She wanted to look inside and find herself. Instead, you helped her find that Oracle and then me. The frame of mind Mabel was in was copied and baked into my very being. I’m stuck with a mind that’s not sure whether it’s coming or going, whether I know who I am or if I’m just a blend of two other people. So I don’t care that your past was rough, or that you’re gonna miss what you had. It’s time for the future to have its way with you. My future’s just getting started.”

Andromeda headed back up the path and turned away. “You bitch,” Pacifica choked out. Andromeda just waved without turning. Pacifica’s hand knocked on the door three times, that same old compulsion her parents had taught her, to always do it three times to be polite. To her surprise though the door was unlocked and swung inwards.

It wasn’t like her parents to leave themselves unprotected. They must have left it like that, for her. The strange obligation from the Ursus stone prevented her from leaving willingly yet, she’d have to face them first before it would let her.

The house was unlit, and there was no-one in the entry hall. She checked over the sitting room and kitchen, but her parents weren’t there. She called out tentatively. “Mom? Dad?” There was a noise from upstairs, the floorboards creaking. She knew which room they were in now, of course they’d be waiting there.

Like a trained animal, she headed upstairs. The one light in the house that was on shone out around the edges of her bedroom door. She rested her head on the door and whispered quietly to herself before daring to enter. “I love you Mason, Mabel too. I will not be the old me.” She rubbed a finger on her old lucky hair tie bookmark attached to her journal. “One step at a time.”

Inside her bright room she saw her mother sitting on her bed. Her father was perched on her desk chair, fingers steepled and brow set. They were expecting excuses or forgiveness. This was to be a ‘serious’ discussion in which she would likely end up confined to the house, later to be sent off to some far off boarding school for troublesome kids.

Pacifica decided that she was done playing by their rules. She wasn’t gonna raise her voice or cry or sink to their level. She was gonna be the one to set the tone of this encounter. “Hey guys, how’s it hangin’?” She couldn’t help but grin at their already outraged faces. “If you’re wondering where I’ve been, I was out cataloguing rare fauna in my journal.” She opened it to the page that she’d written the list of caged creatures on, then tossed it loosely onto the bed. “Have a read, if you do you might find out about the things I actually care about.”

Her father spluttered out a response. “I will not tolerate this flippancy-“

“Is this gonna take long? I have more important things to do than rehashing the same arguments we had last time. Cleary you haven’t matured enough since then to make any difference in what we talk about.”

“You’re still wearing it; I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you.” Priscilla was looking at her neck. Pacifica glanced down at her pendant, then her eyes flicked back up to face her mother.

“Yeah, it was a birthday present from my boyfriend. Oh, I’m sorry, does that offend your delicate sensibilities?” She was enjoying how insulted they were getting over her dripping sarcasm. “Anyway, I’m going to go home now, this place doesn’t feel welcoming anymore.” She made for the door, but her father quickly shut it before she could leave.

“Pacifica Elise Northwest! You will know your place!” He tightly gripped her arm, in the same way he’d done back in the hospital. This time, Pacifica was prepared. In a move that slightly surprised even herself, she twisted her father’s arm back, then flipped him over onto his back. Mabel had given her a short training session in martial arts a few weeks ago, and with all her recent adventuring experience the grab had triggered an automatic reflex. This was a move inherited from Stan, called the ‘grabby tourist body-slam’.

“No, know your place, Dad! I’m sick and tired of being ‘lesser’ than you. Christ, real families don’t make their kids obey the command of a bell for starters! Who’s in control now, huh?” It felt cathartic for a moment, but she shook her head, then gave her father the space to stand up. “It doesn’t even feel satisfying. I don’t wanna flip the script and rule over you. The one thing I always wanted was two people who actually cared about me.”

“We do care, darling.” Her mother put her hand on her shoulder and Pacifica let it rest as she heard what she had to say. “We want to make sure you’re not throwing your life away for a pair of hooligans, who can’t provide a fraction of what we can. They’ve already led you to ruin, making you talk back to the ones who raised you, giving you mad ideas of running off into the blue and getting lost in the wilderness. Come back to us Pacifica, we can be whole again, and you can live a life of comfort.”

Pacifica shrugged the hand off her shoulder. “Are you basically bribing me?! I don’t want money, all that ever did for you two was turn into a bunch of stuck-up jerks who treat their daughter like property. And here I thought the twins’ bickering would give me a migraine, I think listening to you two’s excuses is gonna give me a brain tumour.”

“But why Pacifica, what do you even see in them! The girl, Maple, she’s clearly mentally stunted or something, she acts like a child half the time and has absolutely no sense of presentation or class.”

Her father got up off the floor, rubbing his wrist. “And the boy, the one you so blindly follow. He’s fanatically obsessed with chasing fairy stories; he’s spread that same obsession to you. Now you’ll want to waste away your life on a fantasy, ignoring what’s really important in life over some juvenile infatuation. I will not have my daughter discard our family name over such a poor choice.”

Pacifica gritted her teeth. “Ugh, don’t you know anything! I don’t care if they’re poor or don’t act like stuffy Victorian dukes or whatever. They actually care about what I want, and I care about them. Mabel’s weird and acts like nobody else, and that makes her special. She’ll make sure you’re alright even if you treat her like dirt, she wants to make everyone as happy as she always feels. And Mason, he’s so insightful sometimes, he’s a genius in the right field. He likes how good I am at solving puzzles or how confident I am, and he has the warmest little laugh when he’s really happy that find so adorable. But you don’t care about any of those things.”

She stopped herself and sighed. “No, you know what? I don’t have to justify any of this to you.” Grabbing the journal off the bed, she turned her back on both of her parents. “If you wanna know the real me, you’ll let me leave right now. Do that, prove to me you give a damn, then maybe next time we can have a proper discussion.”

She stormed out of the bedroom and down back to the main hall. Not looking back, she could already hear her parents scrabbling out after her down the stairs. “Stop!” She simply increased her speed, heading straight for the front door. “You take one step outside of this house, and we’ll make your life hell. Their lives too.” Pacifica’s heart stopped in her chest.

Her mother, in a more commanding voice than she’d ever heard before, spoke up. “We still have power and influence. Legally, you are still our daughter. You may have turned 18, but without a job or education, we can make things very difficult for you. Do you think the government will care about your ‘feelings’?”

“We can make it so we have full control, over everything. And if the Pines twins interfere… well, their father works in computing I believe.” A chill ran down her spine. They’d not been sitting idly by for the last month after all. Had their entire goal been merely to find all about the Pines family, to gather intelligence on how to bring them down? “We know they cannot support another person living with them, it’s just not financially viable, especially if the primary breadwinner were to receive an unfortunate early retirement.”

Threats against herself, Pacifica was used to, and could handle well enough. After pleading, her parents’ next recourse was normally to use the idea of directly punishing her to make her stay in line. By now, after so many years of the same routine it felt practically blasé to have them try to bully her. But to have them go after the Pines, who’d done nothing but open their door to her in her time of need, it made her feel sick. She couldn’t bear the idea of ruin being brought down on them simply because of her own actions.

“So if I don’t do what you say, you’ll make them suffer?”

Preston carried on. “We can have them investigated. Of course, they may not find anything out of line, but if someone in government were to find out about all of the twins’ ‘excursions’… well, I think all parties would find that information very… troublesome.”

“All the lies and risks they take behind their backs; any sane parent would want their children to be protected. It could result in a lot of messy consequences for the family.”

The idea of blowing the twin’s Mystery Hunting cover made her feel almost as bad as them losing money. All because of her. Because she was being ‘uppity’ and wouldn’t follow her betters. Her mother and father had finally found themselves a leverage to use against her. They would use the very same desires that drew her away from them in the first place to police her actions now. She’d lose them no matter what option she chose.

She turned around slowly to face the two people who’d done the most to make her life miserable. With head lowered, she let out a single tear. “You’re monsters,” she whispered under her breath.

“Oh Pacifica, you’ll thank us in the end. You’ll see. We’re doing this for the greater good.”

“Greater good my ass!” A voice called from the front of the house. Pacifica’s head rose and her heart leapt in her chest. That voice was probably the one she most wanted to hear right now. “You two Northwests really are dicks, you know that right?”

“Mason!” She twirled round, seeing him standing silhouetted against the night in the open doorway. She looked back at her parents, who both still had assertive stern expressions. “I… they… I don’t want to hurt you or Mabel, or your parents! I’m the one who should take the punishment for my actions.”

“What actions, Paz? Wanting to live like a normal person? You shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for that.” He took her hand, and the couple stood side-by-side, a confident presence against the Northwests. He conspiratorially leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Paz, things are gonna get worse before they get better. But trust me, I know what I’m doing. You have a keen eye, don’t forget to use it.”

She regarded him quizzically, but he turned to face her parents. “I didn’t get a chance to say this last time you showed up, but there’s a difference between giving someone ‘everything’ and letting them do ‘anything’. You buttered Paz up with money and luxury for so long, but it never made her feel like less of a slave.”

The two Northwests regarded him with disdain. “We can destroy your life, boy," Preston said. "I’m sure your own parents would love to know where you are right now.”

Mason just shrugged. “Like that matters more than keeping Pacifica away from you.”

“Do you have dreams of college, Mr Pines? A bright future where you steal our daughter away? That can never happen while you defy us,“ Priscilla said, becoming noticeably more desperate.

“Oh, Mr and Mrs Moneybags getting so worried over one dumb teen. How insecure do you have to be to see your daughter being really happy for the first time in her life and then decide to attack anyone she really cares about?”

Preston started shouting in his face. “We’ll do it! We will!! You leave with her and that’ll be the end of your happy little monster seeking hobby. Your sister wants to get into art school, well we’ll block her applications. You father wants a promotion, he’ll be fired instead. Your uncles can be investigated for crimes against the government, that decrepit Shack closed down! Only devastation awaits those who defy the Northwests!”

“Wow, I’m so devastated to hear that.” Preston lashed a fist out in a wide arc, aiming for Mason’s face. He just caught the fist causally and held it out, surprising Pacifica with a newfound strength. “I may have weak noodle arms Mr Northwest, but at least I can consider myself more of a real man than you.”

Pacifica linked her arm around his. “Come on Mason, let’s leave these two losers behind. I’ve had enough of trying to reason with brick walls.” The couple turned on their heels.

The whole room shook, and Mason and Pacifica had to cover their ears as a booming voice rang out. “NO! THIS ISN'T THE WAY I WANTED THINGS TO GO!” The door, which was still swinging open loosely, blasted off its hinges, forcing Mason to jump back. Striding into the house was Andromeda, whose blind rage looked like it was enough to outclass the entire Northwest family’s collected aggression.

Pacifica tried to drag Mason back inside. “Get away! She has mind control stuff!”

“Don’t worry Paz, I’m not afraid of her.” He stood between her and the doorway.

From the back of the hallway, neither Northwest was saying anything, stunned into silence by the appearance of a second Pacifica. She clenched her fists and focused on Mason. “YOU! GET OUT NOW! You’re messing everything up!”

“No, no-one’s controlling Pacifica after tonight! Not you, not her parents, not even me! If she wants to leave, she’ll leave!”

“I’ve had it with your ‘holier-than-thou’ spiel Dipper! You can’t help interfering where you don’t belong! Well that’s gonna stop right now!” As she said the last word, she shot out a hand. Her fist morphed and elongated as it travelled through the air. The clone lost her fingers, they all blended together into a single long blade of paper skin.

Before anyone could react, she charged at Mason, plunging the arm dagger right into his chest. Pacifica gasped and all Mason could do was weakly grunt. Blood poured out of his chest, staining his shirt and hoodie.

Andromeda retracted the blade, shifting her hand back to normal and regarding her brother with only a mild curiosity. “NO!” Pacifica screamed as Mason fell backwards, a primal noise of pure anguish. She rushed over to his side, but it was too late. His eyes stared up the ceiling, lifeless.

“Human beings, so fragile really.” Pacifica ignored the clone, crying tears of agony as Mason laid dead on the floor of the hall. “Oh well, guess I was wrong after all. You really have changed. A more secure prison would do better to keep you out of the way.”

Andromeda put both arms out in a T-shape, palms open wide, then smashed them together in front of herself. The floor around Pacifica shuddered and the walls splintered. Not caring about any of that, she let herself be surrounded by a perfect sphere made of the hallway of her old home.

Andromeda flicked her wrist, sending the clumsily made orb flying out of the open door, carrying Pacifica and the body of Mason with it. She gave one last look at the two people who, in the very deepest recesses of her mind, she thought of as Mom and Dad. She had a grin like a cracked mirror and said one thing before heading out after the orb. “She’s mine now.”

The light of day revealed a forest blanketed by ceaseless rain. At this time of year Oregon was usually sunny and warm, but on the rare occasions when it rained, it poured. Now the root-covered paths through the forest had turned into a thick sloshing mud.

The grey sky above was bright, but down in the forest it was still as dimly lit as ever. The cool air had a different vibe to the usual atmosphere of Gravity Falls, more pregnant with anticipation, tingling as if in wait for what was about to come.

For the first time in her short life - counting only the two months since she’d been created - Andromeda was able to step outside while it was raining. While normally a single drop would cause an intense pain and begin breaking down the bonds of her paper body, now the rain was harmlessly cascading away from her. The Ursus stone granted her this ability, to move the water with her mind so that she remained permanently dry. The only thing she had to worry about now were puddles of still water.

That, and Mabel Pines. Andromeda could already sense her approaching, the emotions coming from her were strong and determined. Mabel was going to find her and face her down, even though she knew the risks. Andromeda had already dealt with Dipper, whose intelligence made him the greatest threat to her plans, and Pacifica’s orb had been sent off to float aimlessly around the woods. Now only Mabel was left to deal with.

She found a dry log to sit on and wait. Her fur boots were coated in mud, and she reflected how it must be Pacifica’s influence that made her care about that. Her mind was still a mess of thoughts from both girls. Was her desire for power some latent desire of Pacifica’s, a chance to right the wrongs of her childhood? Or was it Mabel’s fear of the future making her choose a decisive course to set things right?

At least her powers would soon see an end to that dilemma. While she couldn’t yet display the same raw fury that Mabel had demonstrated during the Alignment, her powers were more far-reaching. Already she could feel the union of her mind with numerous others across the valley.

At last Mabel came around the trees and stood her ground opposite. Andromeda regarded her coolly. “It’s not like you to walk blindly into danger, my dear precious Mabel.” Mabel didn’t reply initially and there was odd sensation she could detect. Not the expected fear at this encounter, instead more a pensive worry.

Andromeda turned her eye to Mabel’s appearance. She was wearing an oddly bulky sweater; it was Pacifica’s favourite, the yellow llama wool one. She’d applied heavy black lipstick and eyeshadow beneath her glasses for some reason but made no other effort to appear ‘goth’. Her hair was tucked into the sweater, and she had the turtleneck up tight over her chin.

“Hi there Andry.” Mabel’s bubbly voice at least sounded much the same as usual, though tinged with a layer of trepidation. “See you’ve been stealing things. Stan really is a bad influence, Pacifica’s right.” She pointed at the purple stone hanging around her neck.

“What can I say. Finders keepers. I’m doing much more with this than you could ever imagine. Mm, it feels good to sense you, there’s a familiarity to your mental patterns. I can tell how you’re feeling, anticipation for what’s coming next, tension regarding how I might act, anxiety over the fate of Pacifica. It’s all so much clearer now.”

“You started out with vague feelings, then defined emotions. Next you’ll be up to reading thoughts just like… like, uh, I did. Probably an example of the ambient energy enhancing your synaptic connections, so they can more easily translate the external stimuli coming from the collective consciousnesses surrounding you.”

“Huh, what?” That seemed oddly smart for something Mabel would say.

“Oh, uh, something Dipper told me. He’s pretty clever, remember. And he’s gonna help me stop you.”

Andromeda smirked at this naïve confidence. “Oh, I don’t think so.” Mabel instinctively took a step back, knowing something was wrong. “Your friend and your brother won’t be doing anything more to meddle in my plans. Pacifica’s stuck in a nice little orb with the tattered remains of her lost future. And your brother…”

“He’ll fight you, every step of the way through your nasty little plan.”

“YOUR BROTHER IS DEAD!” Andromeda rose off the log and stretched out her hand. Mabel couldn’t react before thick roots from beneath the mud wrapped around her arms. Like great muddy tentacles they constricted around Mabel, ensnaring her fully in Andromeda’s trap.

Andromeda knew that a reaction to her words was coming, and bizarrely managed to pre-empt it with her powers. She sensed the realisation of her words’ meaning moments before seeing Mabel’s mouth open in shock. “Yes Mabel, I killed him. Stabbed through the heart. I don’t regret it, not one bit.”

This was a lie, as both components that made up her mind were clearly filled with an overwhelming love for Dipper. But she squashed those thoughts, they were leftovers from before she’d been made, clinging on like parasites in her brain. Her new thoughts were more important, her plan would override everything else.

“I don’t believe you!” Mabel was straining against her restraints, but it was no use. “Why would you hurt him, you’re supposed to be like me!” A few tears rolled onto her cheeks. “I thought you could change… so did he.”

Andromeda’s eyes narrowed. “I have changed. I’m not like you anymore, I’m more powerful, and I know who I am now. I’ve found my new purpose. As soon as Morbid returns with my brothers and sisters, we’re all gonna have a grand old time.”

“What are you waiting for then? You’ve got me, you’ve won. Get it over with.”

Andromeda blinked a few times. “Get what over with?”

“You know… take over my body.”

Andromeda gave Mabel a side-eyed glance. Surely it couldn’t be this easy? What could she lose by accepting though? “Alright. I was gonna wait around and hoard some more of this sweet radiation. But I guess I’ll just have to settle with what I’ve got. Finally getting my hands on you is worth more than all the power I could have.” The Ursus necklace began to light up her face with its violet flames increasing in intensity. Andromeda couldn’t yet see clearly into people’s minds but moving her entire being into Mabel’s would suffice. Once inside, it would be trivial to take control. As her mind began slipping out towards the other girl, she offered one last little condolence. “Any last words?”

Mabel nodded, then closed her eyes in readiness. “Look before you leap.”

As she felt herself zoom towards Mabel, the last image she saw were her black lips turning ever-so slightly upwards into a smile.

Hours had passed, but Pacifica still felt like her soul had been torn out and shredded. In the tight darkness of her wooden orb prison she hadn’t stopped crying since Mason had been stabbed. It had all happened so fast back at the house. All her preparation and skills, all those ways she’d been getting better at Mystery Hunting in the last month, it had all been for nothing when it really mattered.

Mason, the first person who’d ever stood up for her, defended her, and shown her what true friendship and love were, was dead. She’d never had to deal with this kind of loss before in her life. Her grandparents had died when she was very young, and they weren’t the types to bond with her much anyway. Once when she’d been 7, a beloved pet peacock of hers had died. That had been a tragedy for a few hours. Her parents had simply bought her a new bird the next day.

Those were both nothing compared to how she was feeling now. Her heart felt like it was straining against her chest, beating erratically due to the stress it was going through. Her eyes were beginning to sting from the raw emotion flooding out. She could barely form a coherent thought, with the image of Mason toppling over bleeding still seared into her vision.

One stray thought did occur to her through the haze though. How in the world could she ever explain to Mabel what had happened? Thinking of breaking the news to her and seeing how she took the loss of her twin was almost as bad as the feeling of sheer emptiness she felt herself.

A wild impulse suddenly overtook her reasoning. Maybe Mason was merely unconscious, shock from the stabbing rather than blood loss. Like when he’d been knocked out by the Were-Coyote, maybe she could still save him. She lightly brushed his hair out of his face, trying to peer down at it through the blackness. The orb she was in let no light penetrate, so she had to operate on touch alone.

She touched his cheek, feeling no warmth coming from him. He was practically frigid at this point. His skin also felt coarse, like it had been dry for too long. There was no movement beneath the skin, none of the slight tremors a person made all the time without consciously realising. She placed her hand above his mouth, hoping to feel some tiny hint of breath coming in or out. Nothing.

A small mewling whine came from her throat. She wasn’t nearly ready to let him go, not now, maybe not ever. Without him, she was nothing, a pawn of people who wanted to use her. She’d never see his dorky grin, hear him tell her about some mystical artefact, nor feel his tender warmth in a hug or kiss.

Her fingers brushed his forehead, feeling the spots of his birthmark. It made her think of the first time he’d shown it to her, how he’d overreacted over somehow offending her with it. He’d acted so silly, a rare look behind his normally composed façade. Only later did she come to truly cherish his birthmark, and how he considered her ‘worthy’ enough to see it. He’d even got over his habit of covering it up with a hat thanks to her.

A new stream of tears came even stronger. After all they’d been through as a couple, death was one adventure she’d never be ready to face. She closed her eyes and gave into the wave of loss. One tear rolled down off her chin and splashed onto Mason’s birthmark.

The silence of the orb was broken by a tiny noise, like the sizzle of a hotdog on a barbecue grill. Pacifica eyes shot open as she became immediately alert. In the dark her hearing had fewer distractions, so she traced the source of the sound. It quickly faded away, but not before she realised it was coming from below herself. From Mason.

She wiped her face clear of tears, barely able to hold out the smallest hope that this sound indicated something. She fumbled her hand over his face again, looking for anything that might have caused the small change in her silent prison. Nothing by the mouth or the eyes. Her hand moved up to the birthmark… but didn’t find anything there.

She rubbed her hand back and forth over his forehead, feeling nothing but a smooth surface. It was as if the birthmark had been simply removed, magicked away like it was never there. This wasn’t right. Suddenly everything felt suspect. She turned her attention to one part of the body she hadn’t dared to examine. She dipped a very hesitant finger in the now dry blood which caked Mason’s chest. She pulled the finger up to her nose and sniffed.

It wasn’t blood. There was no tang like iron, and she knew that if felt wrong to the touch as well. She had to be sure. Gulping before daring to do it, she stuck her tongue out and licked a small sample of the fluid. It was a taste she knew. Simple tomato ketchup.

Her eyes widened with the realisation that this had all been faked. Mason’s stabbing hadn’t caused blood to gush out, it was a just a dummy condiment to make him appear to have been killed. She reached under his hoodie and found a small plastic bag that had been pierced by Andromeda’s blade hand. There was still a small pool of ketchup that hadn’t flowed out collected in the bottom.

Her hand moved over the chest, finding the incision that the blade had made in Mason’s chest. She was confused, it went right in there, a clean, almost medically precise, wound. Why would he need fake blood for a real stabbing?

She remembered the birthmark and licked another one of her fingers. Taking a guess, she stroked it down Mason’s cheek. The sound of sizzling returned, and she could feel the skin bubbling as she moved over it. The roughness of his skin, the way his birthmark had vanished, the lack of blood, now it all added up.

This wasn’t Mason at all. It was a paper clone.

She gasped, overcome with a mad elation. All the feelings of loss and fear were wiped away like the fake birthmark, replaced with a new determination. If Mason had faked his death, he’d done it for a reason.

It seemed that this clone was still ‘dead’, Andromeda’s magic stab must have done something to end his life, though Pacifica could scarcely understand the mechanics of how a living paper being could even feel pain. She should have noticed all of this sooner. Though she’d held his hand back at the house and felt the paper skin, she’d been too caught up in the heightened emotions to notice. Arguing with her parents and them Mason’s sudden return had been enough to make her not pay attention.

She remembered what he’d told her, about having a keen eye. He’d trusted her to identify that he wasn’t the real Mason. For whatever reason, her pendant hadn’t made any movement in his presence. She supposed it hadn’t done anything around Quattro or Andromeda either, these paper clones must not register strongly enough on whatever ‘weirdness metric’ Mason had enchanted it to detect.

If Mason had planned this clone’s death, then it was possible he knew she’d end up trapped like this. She patted down his body, finding a small lump in his hoodie pocket. She reached inside, and instead of finding his journal or camera, there was only a small silver ball with a speaker. She pressed the button on the side of the small device, then hastily dropped it when it started blaring out a piercing screech.

The orb she was in vibrated like crazy, the structure falling apart. After a few seconds of the deafening attack, the orb completely broke and she fell a small way into some mud. The screeching metal ball was ineffectual now its noise was dispersed outside.

Pacifica looked around, seeing the drizzle of rain through the trees. She was glad that her hair had been cut recently, before when it soaked up the rain it would annoyingly weigh her down. It was so refreshing to be out in the cool air after the uncomfortably tight heat of her prison, and she gratefully let the raindrops fall on her face. Any tears she had left were soon forgotten under the relief of the water from above.

Beside her, the clone of Mason had fallen into the mud, and was swiftly melting away under the rain. She didn’t know whether she should mourn the fallen clone, surely he was just as alive as Quattro or Andromeda. But there wasn’t time to dawdle. She gathered up her journal, which thankfully hadn’t fallen in too much mud, then started trying to get her bearings. It was then that she noticed the bushes and grass around her begin to twitch.

Andromeda raced through the surface layers of Mabel’s consciousness, passing through random discarded memories of little things, like random smells from years ago, or that one catchy tv show jingle she could never quite get out of her head. She was more interested in the deeper core memories, once inside she could supplant them, transferring her own consciousness over Mabel’s. Her old paper body would be left an empty shell, and she’d finally be flesh and blood.

The memories around began to become more structured; she saw brief flashes of the past like the day Mabel won Waddles, or seeing herself floating in front of the portal, or finding Journal 3 in the woods, or kissing Pacifica for the first time in the club-

Andromeda knew something was wrong. These memories didn’t match either Mabel’s, Pacifica’s, or her own limited experiences. In fact, there was a strong resemblance to someone else’s memories. Her body manifested as an avatar as herself to ease navigation, and she tried to breach to the mind core.

All around, a simple world began to form, the mental mindscape of who she was inhabiting. At first it was a void, but it wasn’t pitch black like the realm of the Ursus. It was a rough light brown texture, almost like sepia. She touched a hand out at the surroundings, and felt a land of parchment, similar in fact to the way her own skin felt, but much older and rougher.

She looked down, seeing that she was standing on a black platform. There were other black shapes appearing against the brown background, as if they were being sketched from the air. Which, she supposed when she realised what they were, was accurate. She peered over the edge of her platform, seeing a long black stand sticking out beneath. She was standing on a giant letter T, floating in a world of words.

“You like it? Makes sense to order my brain the way I order my thoughts down on paper. Welcome to Journal world.” The voice came from the air, but across the page another avatar appeared. This one was dressed in a flannel hoodie.

It had been surprisingly easy to fool the paper clone. Despite literally having all of Mabel’s memories, she’d completely missed all the signs that seemed obvious from Dipper’s point of view. The slightly different facial structure. The fact that he was considerably taller. She hadn’t even noticed the lack of purple in his hair. Or for that matter, the obvious birthmark beneath it on his forehead.

But a heavy layer of makeup, Mabel’s glasses, Paz’s bulky sweater to hide his gender, and a whole lot of luck had done the trick. A little bit of McGucket’s refined voice changing serum had completed the deception. For all the superiority Andromeda had felt before about tricking him by pretending to be Pacifica, she’d never even suspected he’d pull the same twist on her.

Andromeda gritted her teeth and spat out her words. “Dipper. Fancy seeing you here. You’re looking well for a corpse.”

“If you’re looking to take over a mind today, then I’m sorry. I have a lot more mental resilience than Mabel. Ford has taught me a lot about guarding my mind over the years. Build up proxy mind states to shield the long-term memory, focus on a well-known environment for maximum fortitude. Worked pretty well to regulate my emotions so you didn’t even suspect a thing out there in the real world too. You fell for the classic Cipher-Trap.”

Andromeda lunged forwards and jumped onto the next letter on their line. “Aghh! What does it take to kill you? I’m starting to see why Gideon and Bill Cipher hated you so much.”

“Careful ‘Andry’, comparing yourself to those guys isn’t a good look for you. Whatever happened to ‘I just wanna be like everyone else’?”

“I’m not like anyone else! Not with this!” She clasped a hand around the fiery purple stone hanging around her neck. “I’m becoming a god thanks to this!”

Dipper dismissed her with a wave. “Oh, that. That’s nothing. That hunk of rock’s just a mundane bit of future tech. It’s the wielder who makes it special. You might be able to ‘sense’ all those feelings, but you can’t understand a single one. Why Andromeda, why bother with all this acting tough and hurting people? That’s not gonna make you happy.”

Dipper’s few tears before being mentally attacked had actually been genuine (partly, in addition to a lot of furious blinking). He really had hoped for the best after talking with Andromeda, that she could see the error of her ways and try to repent.

A few of the giant ink letters floated up past Dipper and Andromeda’s line of text. “Looks like things here are starting to slip away. Guess it was only a matter of time. Last chance before we separate then. Either surrender now, hand over the stone, and I’ll consider trying to help you find a way to fix your brain. Or-”

“Never! I’m gonna absorb every last ounce of excess energy in the dumb hick town, then I’m gonna take back my body from Mabel, and with all the built-up power I’ll get whatever I want out of life! And next time I’ll make sure you’re really dead!”

“Or, as I was going to say, I’ll have to deal with you. The hard way. I already did that with my new copy, so you know I’m not playing around, clone.” He used the same scornful tone that she always used when referring to normal humans. If she was gonna casually dismiss his entire way of life, he might as well play by the same rules.

More of the inky blackness started turning into clouds and floating away, and the parchment surrounding them began to tear slowly. “Bye bye Andromeda. I hope you see the light before the end.”

“Why don’t you go fu-!“

Dipper woke up with a start, lying in the dirt. He got to his feet and shrugged off the heavy yellow sweater. Beneath, he was just wearing his normal clothes. He carefully removed Mabel’s glasses, not wanting to risk damaging them (he feared Mabel’s wrath if that ever came to pass), then wiped as much of the black lipstick as he could off onto the back of his hand. It was good to not have to play the part of his sister anymore.

He saw Andromeda lying on the ground, still asleep. There was a perfect dry patch surrounding her body where the stone had moved the rain away. Her mind was likely taking some time to return from his journal-scape.

She was completely at his mercy right now, though it was only a matter of time. He couldn’t remove the Ursus stone, even standing over her he could feel the searing heat emanating from it. But he could just end her here and now. The stone might be forcing the small raindrops away, but there were plenty of puddles around to try dunking her in. Or he could just use violence, tear off some of her paper limbs or maybe he could… he could...

Try as he might, he just couldn’t muster up the will to hurt this girl. He knew that were their positions reversed she’d have no hesitation in mercilessly ending his life. He wasn’t that kind of person though. It was especially hard to consider such an act when Andromeda looked so much like someone he loved so deeply.

Sighing, he turned and left the sleeping clone behind, heading back to the Shack to await the results of Phase 2 of the plan.

The mud was starting to come up to Pacifica’s neck as she was dragged down by the tangled roots and leaves. Andromeda was nowhere to be seen, but her influence must be extending throughout the woods of Gravity Falls. She wondered if the townsfolk, ignorant of this new threat, were also being victimised by their garden shrubs.

She knew she didn’t have long left, once her head was under the mud she’d be swiftly out of breath. She tried to once again break free, ending up just exerting a bunch of energy and slipping slightly further down in the sloppy morass. She felt gross all over her body, encrusted mud covering all over her clothes and exposed arms.

She perked up, hearing a noise, like a plane’s engine, getting closer and closer. She braced herself for whatever was coming her way. Her whole body was suddenly jerked out of the mud pool as she felt a pair of hands lift her off from under her shoulders.

Now she was hurtling through the woods at intense speed. She looked up at her rescuer and couldn’t have been happier to see a hooded, goggles-wearing Mabel grinning down at her. “Mabel! You’re flying!” She craned her neck back, glimpsing the firey exhaust coming from her ankles. “Mason finished them! This is awesome!”

“Nice to see you too! Hold on, this is gonna get a little bumpy.” Mabel released one arm, forcing her friend to clutch onto the remaining one with all her force. She strained to focus on the scanner goggles, which showed a simple outline the trees, acting as a basic HUD for this low-altitude flight. McGucket’s repairs to the leg jets were decent, though they would intermittently cut out. Without the arm jets, she was relying on her grappling hook to orient herself through the trees. Her mental state felt more like her usual parkouring style, lots of quick reactions and fast manoeuvring.

She fired out a line to their left, then pulled hard, orienting the two girls away from an incoming tree. “So, saved ya again Pacifica, you’re really slacking in that department!”

“Seriously Mabel? I’ll trash talk you when we aren’t fleeing for our lives from an insane melded copy of ourselves!” She had to shout somewhat over the noise of the wind and the rockets. “Besides, I was about to get myself out of that situation!”

“Oh, sure sure,” Mabel sarcastically replied.

“How’d you even find me?”

“We tracked Andromeda. Dipper used his, say it with me now:”

“Anomalous energy scanner”

“-scanner, right. Man, that dumb thing’s always getting us in trouble. With all the energy Andromeda’s soaking up, she shows up like a walking Obelisk on all the readouts.”

“How is your brother? He tell you all about the plan to kill his clone and make Andromeda think he was dead?”

“Yuh-huh, he’s gonna prank her so good. Uh oh, speaking of Andromeda.” Mabel bent her legs forwards, slowing their flight, then moved to a stationary standing position. Andromeda was standing in front of them, glaring and sticking her arm out. Splinters of bark from the nearest trees began shooting out like tiny wooden bullets.

Mabel’s head craned upwards and the rockets followed suit, giving them the height to avoid Andromeda’s attacks. Unfortunately, Andromeda lifted her body telekinetically, forming a weird sphere of dry air amongst all the falling water. Mabel angled herself forwards again, while Pacifica clung to her and grimaced. “This would definitely be ‘seatbelts on’ time if I was a plane!”

Something hit one of her boosters, and the pair started falling towards the earth. Mabel flared her wrist out behind them. Luckily the hook hit a tree, but their momentum caused the girls to spin around it as the rope wrapped itself around the trunk.

“Woah woah woah!” They both screamed, before colliding face first with each other and landing in the undergrowth in a mass of limbs.

Mabel pulled herself up out of the bushes and pulled in her line. Rather than finding Pacifica grumbling about the rough landing, she was instead laughing hysterically. “When can we- ha, when can we go on that ride again?” She got to her feet shakily but was still grinning.

“How about right now!” Mabel pointed back the way they’d come. Andromeda wasn’t there, but instead something was running madly towards them. Pacifica saw that it was some sort of giant lizard, with a large crest on its back. Incredibly, Mabel recognised the creature. It was a Pyrosaur, creatures that travelled between dimensions by combusting their bodies under the influence of the moon.

The two girls broke into a run across the uneven ground. The Pyrosaur wasn’t normally a chasing predator, they preferred to lie in wait for prey and ambush. But a new command was overriding the creature’s natural instincts, and it had decently speedy gait.

Afraid of being cooked to a crisp, Mabel turned, knowing they couldn’t outrun the beast. “Mabel, what are you doing, we’ve gotta keep moving!”

“Gimme a sec Paz.” Mabel held out her left arm and closed one eye. Meticulously, she lined up her hand with the crest on the approaching creature. “Hope the mechanism doesn’t stick.” Mabel stuck out her tongue, then a second later, Pacifica heard a massive bang as a shot fired out from her wrist gauntlet. Their pursuer collapsed and snorted out one last little candle-sized flame. “Yes! Bullseye!”

“You didn’t kill it, did you?!”

Mabel reset her gauntlet to the grapple setting. “Don’t worry, it’s just a tranq dart, the bang was from the propulsion system. Oh no.” Ahead of them, swarming through the trees were multiple creatures, all as possessed as the first Pyrosaur. There was one of the Rosettas, a burly Manotaur, and even the emaciated unicorn Radianamajestica. Mabel grabbed Pacifica’s wrist and the two of them broke back into a run. “I can’t shoot all of them! We’ve gotta get back to the Shack!” As they ran, more creatures came upon them. Above, an eye-bat swooped down, and Pacifica waved it off. Jumping after them from branch to branch through the trees were a pack of Cycloptopuses.

Without any warning, all the creatures following them halted in their tracks. Pacifica looked back, confused. “Why are they stopping?” Mabel pulled her away before she could find out the answer, and the two girls made their way back to safety without encountering any further resistance.

The army had finally arrived around Andromeda. Their gathered ranks came from the basement of McGucket’s manor, liberated by Morbid the Huntsman at long last. He’d of course been horrified by his own actions, unable to resist freeing the creatures he’d spent so long tracking and catching.

Now he found himself helping the domineering girl to her feet. “You just let those girls go? Why? They’re your enemies, you should have dealt with them while you had the chance!”

“I need more time! My powers aren’t refined enough yet. I’ve already failed to take over one mind, I can’t go in unprepared again. The army will secure our success.” She looked around with pride at the motley crew of various species she’d assembled. Their bodies were still suffering from the radiation, but with every passing second her own form was taking more and more of it in. When she reached her apotheosis, everything else in the Falls would be cured as a side effect. Her purple tinged Kochab lined up at the front of the horde, it was her most powerful and loyal monster.

Morbid found himself still able to roll his eyes despite the rest of his body being immobile. “Ugh, you want to use these ‘things’ to help you? At least some of them will end up as cannon fodder. I shoulda increased protection on McGucket’s manor, the man’s too soft.”

Andromeda sidled over and took his cheeks in her hand. It was a move that showed just how much power she had over this pitiful man. “I know what you’re thinking, you dolt. But McGucket was never gonna let you kill them. He was trying to cure these beings, not slaughter them. You were just the idiot muscle to bring them in. Now you’re my idiot muscle. Look on the bright side though, I hate the Pines twins just as much as you. Our next stop will be the densest point of the energy leakage. Which just so happens to be their home in that Shack that’s falling apart.”

Morbid thought about this for a moment, then found that his neck muscles also still worked of his own accord and nodded. “When do we start?”

By the time the girls had trudged back to the shack, the intensity of rain had increased. It was still relatively bright outside, but darker clouds were moving in from the south. Both of them felt miserable, soaked to the skin and exhausted. Neither had slept since arriving in Gravity Falls, and when they finally reached the Shack’s clearing they both gave a sigh of relief.

Dipper came out onto the porch to greet them. He and Pacifica embraced without a word; though she was drenched and muddy he savoured the moment. “Pacifica, I’m so glad you’re alright. You’re not hurt at all, are you?”

“I’m fine Mace. Come here.” She kissed him deeply, as if it were the last chance she ever had. “That’s for being thankful that you’re not dead.” Dipper smiled back, but his look was replaced with utter shock as he felt Pacifica’s palm slap him across the face. “And that’s for making me think you were dead in the first place! What were you thinking, dummy!? Never do that to me again.” She hugged him tightly as he rubbed his deservedly sore cheek.

“Ok, I know, it was a bit of a dick-move using the clone like that.” Pacifica glared up at him. “But, in my defence, I had to convince Andromeda I was dead, or we couldn’t have distracted her for Phase 2 of the rescue. She’d have sussed me out and Mabel wouldn’t have found you.”

She nuzzled her face into his chest. “Fine, just don’t go making any more paper yous, ok. We all know how easily it can backfire.”

“I promise.” He lifted his head and looked over at Mabel, who was sitting on the sofa and rinsing out her socks. “You doing alright sis?”

“I’m ok, glad to be back home. Though these rockets will need fixing again, they got hit by a magic flying splinter.”

“I’m sure McGucket and Candy will be able to help. They’re inside, with the others. We’d better get in there and clean you two up, we have a lot to discuss and prepare. Andromeda will be coming here soon, the radiation source is in the basement.”

The girls both looked happy to be warm and dry, so eagerly headed inside. Dipper took one last look out at the torrent of rain. From the other side of the valley came a deep rumble of thunder. “Storm’s coming alright.”

“By the way Dip, you’re looking fabulous!” Mabel had stuck her head around the door. “What next, are you gonna get a tattoo?! Zing!” Her laughter faded as she ran up the stairs. Dipper put a hand to his face, realising that he still had the eyeshadow and most of the lipstick on. Grunting, he headed inside to wash himself clean.

As Pacifica exited the shower, the sound of water hitting the roof of the Shack made it seem as if she hadn’t left. She sat on Mason’s bed, waiting for her hair to dry. The triangular shaped window was blurred by the rain washing across it. Though the weather outside was getting worse and worse, the group had a window of peace right now. After the chaos of last night, a quiet moment to rest was all anyone wanted. The trio needed to recover from their tussles with Andromeda and everyone needed time to digest the new information they’d discovered.

While impatiently waiting for her hair to dry (and thankful once again for it being shorter), she found her journal. Writing about what had happened at her house, with Mason’s clone, would be helpful. Though she’d recovered well in the moment after finding out the truth, now she had time to think she was troubled by what she’d seen. She hadn’t taken the loss well, breaking down and practically giving up all hope. Now she had Mason back, she never wanted to let him go.

That made her think. Was that how he’d been seeing her lately? With the immediacy of her departure weighing him down, he’d become more protective over her. Somehow he’d managed to get over it after her birthday. Maybe she could find a way to do the same about this?

She worried most about Andromeda, about what she’d do now, having been tricked so blatantly. Would she try to finish the job with Mason? She wasn’t sure. The clone’s mental state was uncertain to anyone, probably even to herself.

Mabel had found the discarded ‘basketball puppy’ sweater Andromeda had abandoned when she’d slipped past Soos. It had given her an odd melancholy sensation; it felt like Andromeda had come so close to joining them, only to cruelly reject their offered hand. The sweater was just the biggest symbol of that.

Soos of course had apologised profusely to Pacifica for letting Andromeda escape, but she brushed his apology off. He wasn’t responsible for that, they all knew Andromeda was crafty, even ignoring her manipulation powers.

Now the others were gathered in the Shack living room, coming up with solutions to the imminent threat. Pacifica would join them shortly, as soon as the journal entry was done. Another nagging thought was the fate of her parents. Andromeda seemed uninterested in the town itself, there had been no reports of attacks from any of the townsfolk. But that’s not why Pacifica was thinking about her parents. Their threats still stood; even if they survived the coming crisis it would still loom over the trio.

She’d just have to hope their reach wasn’t as wide as they’d claimed.

“Alright, I call to session the first meeting of the gathered ‘Anti Andromeda Assessment And Attack Association’. That’s Mabel’s title by the way.” Dipper addressed the small group they’d brought together in the living room to deal with their impending doom. Tate McGucket had brought over as much research from the manor as he could, and his father and Candy had been sat at the table poring over their options. Soos and Melody had closed the tourist attraction side of the Shack, making sure there weren’t any bystanders caught in the fray. The Mystery Trio had joined them after cleaning up and were now smooshed together on the old armchair.

“Yeah, go AAAAAA! Mabel wooped.

“Um, thanks. Anyway, we all know why we’re here. We have the skills and knowledge to defend this location and figure out some way to stop Andromeda. Anyone wanna start?”

There was an apprehensive silence hanging over the air. The distant low rumble of the storm was the only sound in the room. Nobody really had a clear plan for defending themselves. Soos had used some old crates to barricade the doors, but beyond that their supplies were limited. The twins had left almost all of their Mystery Hunting equipment back in Piedmont, having not comprehended the true scope of the endeavour.

Mabel fired off a shot from her gauntlet and wheeled back a can of Pitt Cola from across the room. She slurped it noisily, glancing around at everyone’s uneasy faces. “Awkward.”

“Doods, I think our number one priority should be keeping the Shack protected.” Soos had half a mind on keeping his home and place of work as safe from harm as possible, regardless of the portal or rifts. Melody was also in no condition to fight, being near the end of her term, so would need to be kept safe too.

While the response from the scientist table was to keep focusing on their research, Tate McGucket grunted. “And how’re we s’posed to do that? We ain’t got hardly anything to fight with.” The two men glared at each other, an enmity starting to brew due to the heightened tension.

“We have my axe and crossbow, that’s something.” Pacifica had retrieved her ‘adventure pack’ from the Hyper-Coyote, glad to have a space to keep her journal after lugging it around under her arm all day.

“My gauntlet’s not gonna be much use though,” Mabel said. “Tranq darts aren’t gonna cut it for most of the creatures, their skins are too thick, and getting clear shots’ll be tough in the chaos of battle. Though, I’m not sure I wanna use real bullets or anything. It may be self-defence, but aren’t we trying to save these guys?”

“In all seriousness Mabel, we might have to do whatever it takes to keep this place safe. And that includes… killing,” Pacifica said solemnly.

“Woah, hold on, battle? Let’s not get carried away guys, our aim with this planning meeting is to try and avoid any kind of confrontation.” Dipper also knew that he’d be worse than useless in any combat situations, having neither any weapons training nor physical strength. “The Shack’s shielding won’t keep us totally safe; we already know Andromeda can pass through it trivially. We should try and use our time now to shore up defences and look into ways of neutralising the threat.”

Candy looked up from the notes. “But with what you’ve reported, it seems the clone’s powers are reaching their fruition. She will soon have the powers of a god.”

Pacifica shrugged. “So what, the twins here have beaten a bunch of gods before, ain’t no biggie.” She paused after saying that sentence to reflect on how utterly bizarre it actually was, and how casually she’d said it. “The point is, she’s not unbeatable. She must have some kind of weakness, a flaw in her system.”

Mabel piped up. “Ooh, like that time I had that groty wart right between my thigh and my-“

“Ah chchch!” Dipper silenced her. “Mabel, nobody wants to hear about that. It was unpleasant enough having to deal with you at the time. Andromeda’s weakness is more likely to be something mental, regarding her powers or her weird personality condition.”

“Couldn’t we just talk to her, try and come to an arrangement?” Melody said. “I mean, if she’s half of each of you girls, surely she won’t wanna fight either.”

“I’m sorry Mrs Ramirez, but Mason and I already tried that. She’s not gonna be swayed by us any time soon. More likely she wants us all dead.” Pacifica left that sour note hanging for a moment.

Melody sighed and took Soos’ hand. “Alright then, you kids always seem to know best. I just hope this all works out.”

“We’ll do our best Mel, you can count on it.” Mabel sympathetically smiled. “So, weaknesses. Our clone friend is undoubtedly screwed in the head and coming to knock down our door. Like Dipper said, maybe we can use her empath powers against her, could we overwhelm her with emotion, or find some way to fix her brain so she no longer wants to fight?”

“I may have something for that.” McGucket spoke for the first time. “I’ve been thinking on it, and it’s the only practical solution I can see. A last resort.” From within the folds of his bushy beard came a small stubby gun. The handle was silver, and the barrel was a simple glass tube. Candy regarded the device with a solemn look, and Dipper looked at it curiously.

“What is it then? Some kind of energy weapon? Concentrated Di-Hydrogen Monoxide projector? A dimension cannon?!” He was getting rather too eager at contemplating all the many possibilities that this device could be.

McGucket, with no hint of levity or jokiness simply stared down at the gun. “It’s called the Memory Re-alignment Emitter. MRE.” He read out the initials of the acronym slowly in a way that chilled Dipper to his core. MRE… memory…

“Mr E? What, is that like ‘mystery’? Weird name.” Mabel cocked her head to one side goofily, and Dipper could only roll his eyes

“No Mabel, I know exactly what this thing is. It’s a memory gun.” Mabel’s excitement for this new toy disappeared rapidly.

“Oh no no no! You didn’t, Fiddleford! Tell me you didn’t rebuild it!” McGucket said nothing, remaining focused on the gun. “Ohmigosh, I have to- it can’t be-“ Rambling and beginning to hyperventilate, Mabel jumped off the armchair and started backing away in fear of the device. “Keep that thing away from me!”

Pacifica got up and tried to calm her down, grabbing her arms. “It’s ok Mabel, it’s ok! He’s not gonna use it on you, you’re safe, we’re all safe.”

“I know what that thing did! What it did to my Grunkle! What it did to him!” She pointed accusingly at McGucket, who forlornly tucked the gun back into his beard.

“I never said I wouldn’t rebuild it… I’m sorry.”

“I helped him work on it, it wasn’t meant for a bad purpose,” Candy defended. “It was a precautionary measure, first in case of ‘you-know-who’ potentially returning, but also for other applications. A selective memory eraser could, in time, be an asset to several psychological fields.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Dipper was staring into the space the shining new device had been a few seconds before. Internally he was conflicted. Half of him wanted to just go out there and blast Andromeda clean of everything, that would be the easiest thing to do. The other half knew that erasing her would in some ways be tantamount to killing her, memory being the most important component of a person’s personality - and that Mabel would never go along with it in a million years.

“Yeah man, like, you turned totally coocoo after using that mind gun.” Soos seemed to be in ‘Camp Mabel’ when it came to using the gun.

McGucket gave a small nod but didn’t waver. “I understand where you’re comin’ from, I do. I know the risks more than anyone. 35 years ago me’n Stanford built this portal, now look where it’s led us. Still cleaning up the same mess. Ironically Andromeda’s indirectly solving my biggest problem. If only she weren’t turning the excess radiation energy into fuel to power her maniacal vendetta against you folks.”

Mabel removed her glasses and rubbed at her eyes. “But we can’t just wipe her like an old videotape! We have to be better than that.” She suddenly strode over to McGucket and thrust out her hand. “Give it to me.”

“Beggin’ yer pardon missy?”

“Give me the memory gun!”

McGucket fished it back out, then Mabel roughly grabbed it off him. “Mabel!” Dipper indignantly exclaimed. She ignored his shock and examined the new device. It was a lot more compact than the original. She couldn’t find any way of selecting which memories in particular could be deleted. It must be an ‘all-or-nothing’ version.

“I’m keeping this from now on. If anyone’s going to have to make a decision about Andromeda, it’s going to be me. I’m the one with the most experience dealing with… this kind of thing.” She turned over her wrist and clipped the gun to her forearm gauntlet. It sat next to the grapple launcher and projectile tube, the gun’s handle sticking out to the side slightly inelegantly. “In the meantime, we need to come up with another plan.”

Mabel sat back down on the armchair, clearly the discussion around using the MRE was over as far as she was concerned. Dipper decided to focus on their secondary problem, rather than upset the hornet’s nest. “McGucket, uh, you said earlier that Andromeda was like a vacuum, absorbing the radiation.”

“Well yeah, ever since she got that time stone doohickey, she’s been sucking up the radiation like a sponge in a moonshine still! I’ve been detecting a noticeable drop in the ambient levels over the past few hours, but there’s a massive singular spike wherever the girl goes. If she loses focus over that stone there’s two ways things could go. One, the collected energy gets polarised and shunts itself back through the rifts, solving the problem lickety split!”

“And the other?”

“The radiation spills out all at once like a dam bursting, killing everything in its path,” Candy said with an air of melodrama. “Sorry, not very cheery.”

Dipper rested his head on a hand. “Great, that’s really great. Might as well try and wait for her to absorb as much as possible, either way we should try and make it a ‘clean’ process. Though that will make her tougher.”

“You guys think about it,” Mabel said, heading out of the room. “I’m gonna go… get some air.”

Dipper and Pacifica made a stocktake of the Ford’s old basement supplies. Most of the weapons he’d stashed were either too old and falling apart, or were too large scale for this kind of threat. A fat lot of good a Quantum Destabiliser would do against an army of flesh and blood creatures. Using the copier to make a bunch of clones was out of the question. Not even mentioning the ethical ramifications, they just wouldn’t last a minute out there due to the rainstorm. And the electron carpet would just make things more complicated than ever.

Upstairs, Candy and McGucket were squirreling away, trying to build whatever they could before the army arrived. Soos and Tate had got into a small fight over how to properly build barricades inside the Shack, but Melody had calmed them down.

Tired and stressed, the couple sat at the kitchen table and munched on snacks while they waited. Dipper perused Journal 4, taking note of as many weaknesses as he could that would be useful for the coming battle.

Pacifica had tried the same with her own journal, but comparatively fewer of the creatures she’d chronicled would be involved anyway. “So,” she said over a mouthful. “Is this it? Just you, me, Mabel, and the others against the ‘forces of darkness’ or whatever?”

“Looks like it Paz. We don’t have time to get anyone else. Most of the townsfolk won’t want any part of this, they went through enough 5 years ago. The magical denizens are all either part of Andromeda’s army or in hiding. Nowhere in the woods, hell, nowhere in the whole valley is safe for them.”

“We must have some other backup, surely?” She yelled across the Shack, “Candy, what’s Grenda up to? We could do with her brute strength, girl’s a machine when it comes to weightlifting.”

“Grenda is in Austria right now, visiting Marius,” came Candy’s shouted reply.

“Oh… ok, that’s useless. Come on, there must be somebody we can call?” Pacifica’s voice rose, “Your Great Uncles, they’d be great…” then fell again. “But they’re hundreds of miles away on that boat. Dammit, I keep thinking cause you and Mabel are here that it’s summer.”

“Hey, we could always call your parents, we could do with some extra cannon fodder to go on the front lines.”

“Not funny Mace.” Her lip started to quiver. “Ok, a little funny, but still. Any other bright ideas? Cause I’m all out of them. We don’t have time to turn the Shack into a mecha or summon help from a spirit realm. It’s up to us.”

Dipper stared out the window and the drops sliding down the glass. “I wish Wendy was here,” he said absent-mindedly. “Uh, I mean for defence purposes, she’s good in a fight.”

“Hey, I’ve seen the way Quattro is, you don’t have to hide it from me. I know what it’s like to look at someone and never believe you can have a chance to be together. I thought for years that my parents would stop us ever becoming something more.”

They linked hands under the table. “Thanks for understanding Paz.”

“Yeah, I’m awesome and forgiving like that. Just don’t ever make googoo eyes at her while I’m around, or I’ll be fully justified in killing you.” She winked at him.

“For sure. If we make it out of today alive, that is.”

Up on the roof, Mabel was sitting in the rain. She liked the smells that came up after a good rainstorm, that odd smell of dust being blown up in the air, the way it made the pine scent ever more noticeable. Her hair was getting frizzy from all the water though.

She’d found her streamlined turquoise sweater, better to keep herself warm in the rain. She’d also donned a bright pair of yellow welly boots, but her rocket greaves were sat nearby just in case she needed to jump quickly into action. The others down below were trying their best to prepare for the worst, or to find some last desperate hope that could save them.

Mabel wasn’t feeling that positive. She’d kept catching herself glancing at the new attachment poking out from beneath her arm, the glass tube that threatened her so much. She was starting to realise that there might not be an easy fix to this that didn’t involve ‘killing’ Andromeda. It made her stomach turn to even consider inflicting what was her worst fear onto someone with basically the same underlying mind. Andromeda was likely just as scared of that happening, only she didn’t expect it any time soon with the stone in her possession. She might be made of paper, but the gun would erase her like chalk off a board.

This wasn’t going to have a simple fix like with the Ursus. Someone would have to a pay a price.

She looked out at the drenching rain, now punctuated occasionally with flashes of lightning and the delayed ominous sounds of thunder. Mabel normally liked weather like this, it made her feel warm and snug when she was wrapped up inside, and could be a fun opportunity for splashing around in puddles and getting all messy. She imagined that Pacifica, queen of clean, would probably hate it herself. Andromeda must be having a weird time right now processing that split, not to mention her own unique aversion to water.

She was idly loading an explosive firecracker pellet into her gauntlet, when she heard another rumble of thunder. At the end of the thunder, as it was fading away, there was a second, much louder bang. For a moment, she’d thought she’d set off one of her new pellets, which were designed mainly to make a big distraction with their noise. But she counted, and all of them were still intact.

She got to her feet quickly and peered out across the shelf. She scanned the treeline for anything, and her eye caught one of the tallest pine trees. It was starting to fall over, as if uprooted from beneath. She braced herself, then heard another massive crash as it hit the ground. That had made the same sound as the ‘second thunderclap’. Something big was moving through the woods.

“Guys! Everybody!” She called down the ladder hatch leading to the gift shop. “They’re here! Action stations!” She hoped they’d heard the message, and swiftly pulled off the wellies and began clipping on her flame-coloured rockets.

Her attention was drawn back to the trees as whatever had been knocking them over finally stepped into the clearing. Mabel’s eyes widened at the sight of the creature. On two bulky legs, a Tyrannosaurus Rex stepped out of the woods, roaring with all its might. It towered above the Shack, practically at her eye level. Andromeda must have fully excavated it from the mines of amber beneath the town.

Without any hesitation, the dinosaur began running towards the shack. Despite its spindly arms, the legs were powerful, and it wasted no time crossing the clearing. Mabel frantically tried to finish snapping the last metal cylinder onto her leg before it attacked.

The T-Rex abruptly stopped its ferocious charge, and a wall of purple energy came into view in front of Mabel. Indecipherable alien runes floated over the surface of the massive glowing dome that encompassed the Shack. Her old unicorn-magic powered shield was still working perfectly after all these years.

“Ha, take that! When it comes to being a threat, you’re extinct!” She had to reconsider her words, as other creatures began emerging into the clearing. The T-Rex retreated, awaiting the rest of Andromeda’s troops.

Though she was still tensing herself up for the coming battle, she couldn’t help but be awed by the multitude of creatures laid out before her. Even after all those months searching for the supernatural back in Piedmont, she still got a giddy thrill seeing the wonders of Gravity Falls. Those same ‘wonders’ which were now appearing from all directions, encircling the Shack.

A pack of three unicorns, each one a different shimmering colour led the forces from the right side, which included the Rosetta parent and child, half a dozen Manotaurs, and the same Pyrosaur she’d knocked out with her dart earlier. From the left came a small unit of gnomes, the Were-Coyote, and the poor old Multi-Bear. More and more creatures came, encompassing some Mabel had never even seen before, like a serpent with six-heads, a creature like a giant millipede rolling in a curled up ball-form, or a tall dark creature with skinny limbs and bright yellow saucers for eyes.

Even some of the more strange and reclusive oddities of the town had turned out. A swarm of Soothsquitos flew up and around the Shack’s roof, giving minor aerial support. The Cycloptopus family Dipper had seen back in California were climbing down the trunks of the nearest trees on their suckers. Mabel even saw a baffling collection of logs, united into 4 legs by a glowing fire with eyes, which seemed to be struggling somewhat in the downpour.

All in total, there must have been over a hundred creatures surrounding them, leaving no chance of escape. Their enemies had come. The war was about to begin.

At the front of the column, some of the creatures began charging towards the shack. Once again, the shield appeared, and the attackers uselessly pounded against it. Mabel didn’t know how much damage it could take. It had stood up to the full might of Bill Cipher in his prime, but that had been only a few days after the magic had been applied, and it was specifically designed for him. There was every possibility that their protection could collapse, or that some creatures could slip through.

So she had to fight to protect her home. She took a deep breath, readying her body and mind. Rockets securely fastened to her shins, she stepped off the roof and blasted upwards. Her first move was to fire a line at the Mystery Shack sign. Her arc through the air was in a circle around the clearing.

The Soothsquitos hovering above scattered as she flew straight through their formation. Once they were dealt with, she broke the connection to the Shack and landed on the ground out the front of the gift shop. “Who wants some?!”

Most of the creatures were still standing someway back from the Shack, so she fired out a warning shot from her gauntlet. The firecrackers made a good display, exploding and causing several approachers to scatter. A unicorn rushed her from the side and she rolled to avoid being skewered on the horn. She fired another shot directly into the unicorn’s face, and the sparks from the blast blinded it.

Momentum carried it forwards though, and it knocked into Mabel. She fell into the wet dirt and grass, which was getting quickly churned up due to all the activity. She pushed herself up and stared forwards, straight into the dazzlingly yellow eyes of the Were-Coyote. Still sat on the ground, she shuffled back. The coyote knew she couldn’t outrun him, so slowly crept forwards, tongue wagging.

She heard a cry from above and the sound of shattering glass. She quickly angled her head up, as did the coyote. From the triangular attic window, Pacifica had jumped right through the glass. She did a forward flip through the air (a move Mabel had taught her during their parkour lessons), then landed right between Mabel and the beast, axe already in hand.

“You wanna mess with her, you go through me! Yahh!” Pacifica charged forwards with the axe, feeling much more prepared than the last time she’d fought the coyote. With one clean swing she knocked it off its feet, sending it sprawling away. “And good riddance! Mabel, on your left!”

Mabel ducked to avoid the swing of a Manotaur’s Warhammer, then kicked upwards into his gut. She touched backs with Pacifica, and the girls span around so that Pacifica deflect another hammer swing. A quick move of her own axe upwards unbalanced the Manotaur, and he was disarmed.

From inside the shack, more battle cries began calling out. Candy stormed out, wearing a pair of metal gauntlets. They were converted from old load lifters and had a large flat rectangle on the ends of each of her fists. She aimed at the baying crowds of attackers, then used the powered metal fists to deal out massive punches. Soos, power drill in hand, with toolbelt strapped on like a bandolier ran out into the fray. Tate McGucket followed him out, bearing a fishing rod high above his head.

Dipper came out last, standing on the porch and paling at the sight of the ranks of creatures bearing down on them. “Oh man, this would be so cool if it wasn’t so terrifying!”

Mabel manhandled him back through the door. “Stay inside Dipper! We’ll handle this! Ready guys? Mystery trio, scientists, Soos! Let’s show Andromeda what we’re made of!”

Everyone cried out and ran at the army. At first, their mere presence was enough to cause some of the creatures to turn and run, particularly the physically weaker lifeforms like the gnomes. Others quickly fled after the group started their retaliation, unwilling to stand up to the oncoming blows. Pacifica had a very satisfying time punting Cycloptopuses with her boots, sending them flying off out of the clearing.

But this brief flare-up of success was only temporary, and the stronger creatures quickly took the place of those that had run. Everyone had to dart out of the way to avoid a rush from the Rosettas, who weren’t going to be stopped by anything in their path. Separated, they had to fight multiple fires at once, trying to keep the perimeter of the Shack secure. They did have one advantage. While the army attacking them was being controlled by a single flawed mind, each of the defenders could work creatively as a team.

Mabel’s rockets gave her the height advantage, so she swooped over the battlefield, getting a tactical overview and spotting breakaways getting through their defences and taking them down with precision shots from her gauntlet, now loaded up with new armour piercing tipped tranquiliser darts Candy had made for her.

While Candy dealt with the tougher beasts - her gauntlets giving her ten times the normal punching strength - Tate and Soos worked together against the remaining forces. Pacifica worked as a sniper, eliminating the distant foes with her crossbow, and dealing with anything that came near with a swift slice from the axe.

It wasn’t a pretty fight, none of them relished hurting the controlled creatures. But they did what they had to, otherwise they’d have suffered worse. Already they were beginning to tire and take hits.

Mabel’s unassailable position was suddenly under threat when a bulky form flew towards her. She tried to dodge the claws reaching for her but didn’t act quick enough. She was pulled down to the ground by the Gremloblin. All the rain had made it a sight to behold, his water-fuelled mutation in full effect.

Pacifica had seen the crash and fired a bolt into the creature’s shoulder. It stuck in, but the Gremloblin didn’t seem to even notice. She broke into a run, then slid the last distance on the wet ground, swinging her axe at his leg and bringing him down into a kneel.

Mabel saw the chance to get close and did a double back-flip to cover the ground. On the way down from the second flip she planted her feet into a kick on the Gremloblin’s chest. The heavy-set beast just laughed the impact off and was barely hurt at all. He let out a chuckle but was blindsided when Mabel shot off backwards with her rocket boots. He fell back, bashing his fragile head and falling into a deep sleep.

Mabel landed next to Pacifica and helped her back up out of the mud. “Nice work sis, that’s another one down!”

Pacifica looked at the surrounding woods, which continued to spew forth relentless numbers of enemies. “One’s not going to matter much soon. We can’t keep this up!”

“We have to Paz! For the sake of all the things attacking us! If we don’t fight, they’ll be slaves forever! There’s no choice there.” She reloaded her gauntlet, preparing for another wave. This time, there was something different. The new beings emerging from the trees hung back, wary to enter the clearing. “They’re waiting for something.”

The ground shook, and the some of the trees on one side of the clearing began to fall. Mabel thought it was going to be another dinosaur, and she wasn’t sure how they were going to deal with it. The slender reptile-like neck stuck out of the trees and Pacifica raised her crossbow.

Mabel quickly tried to push her arm, so the shot went wide of the mark. “Wait, don’t shoot it!” Despite being aimed wrongly, the fired arrow still hit the body of the newly arrived creature. It made a plinking noise and bounced harmlessly off the metal body. “It’s on our side.”

“Gobby!” Candy was beside them, cheering on the new arrival. The Gobblewonker robot gave a loud roar, then started fighting with the nearby creatures.

“What is that thing, Mabel?!” Pacifica gasped.

“It’s an old friend,” she said with a wink. “Come on Paz, we’re going for a ride!” She shot up her grappling hook and pulled Pacifica and herself onto the Gobblewonker’s back. “Yee-hah! Ride ‘em cowboy!”

Pacifica got into the spirit of things. “Yeah, out of the way! The Pacifi-saurus Rex is coming through!” Charging onwards, they knocked the Rosetta pair over. The frightened rock creatures curled up into their ball forms and were rolled harmlessly out of range before their defensive dust clouds could kick in.

Their joyride halted and the girls bodies shuddered as the Gobblewonker suddenly stopped all movement. “Uh, what’s going on? It can’t be rusting in the rain, surely? It’s an aquatic robot!”

The machine they were sat on was suddenly blasted across the clearing. It came to lay on its side, and the two girls fell roughly off. Mabel peered round the side of the downed robot to see what had knocked them over.

A massive hole had been ripped out of the side of the Gobblewonker. She covered her nose to block an intense stench of rotting coming from within. The creature that had made the hole climbed out and stood up. Mabel gasped at the sight of the translucent purple beast.

Standing opposite them was Andromeda’s purple Kochab, the strongest being in her entire arsenal. The vibrations of its signature roar radiated out into the clearing, striking a deep fear into the Shack’s defenders. It looked directly at Mabel and Pacifica, then started pawing towards them. “Uh, Paz, I think we might be in trouble.”

In all the heat of the battle, nobody took any time to watch their flank. The group felt secure with the glowing shield covering the Shack. So there was no-one to notice when Andromeda and Morbid strolled casually into the Shack’s sitting room. The shield barely touched Andromeda; though she was a paper construct, that wasn’t weird enough for the shield to parse out and prevent from entering. It was no worse than stepping through a waterfall.

Inside the wooden structure the sounds of conflict were muted. They passed through the Shack, unopposed by anyone. Melody was up in the attic, the least likely place to be attacked, which left the rest of the place empty of any people. Except for the gift shop, that was.

Standing in front of the vending machine and its hidden door to the basement, McGucket squared his shoulders and examined the paper girl for the first time, along with his ex-employee.

Morbid and Andromeda made an odd pairing. The petite, elegant rich girl juxtaposed with the muscled, warn-down mercenary. Sophistication and savagery, side by side. Despite the many weapons he carried and the murderous look of intent in Morbid’s eyes, it was Andromeda who scared him more. There was a quiet dispassion to everything she was doing here, like it was beneath her.

To illustrate that point, she didn’t even look up at him, she studied her nails instead. “Thought they’d put someone in the way. McGucket, it would be you. I wonder, 35 years ago did you help Grunkle Ford build the carpet or copier? Are you another culprit in my conception?” She looked up from her perfectly manicured fingers. “Doesn’t matter now, you’re irrelevant.”

“I saw you once before girl, in the woods. I offered you help.”

“Ah right, a cure for that damn radiation poisoning. Yeah, that’s not a problem anymore, practically got all of that stuff running through my paper veins now. And, well, I don’t take too kindly to guys who back up their words with a mercenary holding a big gun.”

McGucket glanced pointedly at Morbid. “You’re one to talk missy.”

“Touché. What can I say, I’m a hypocrite.” She snapped her fingers and Morbid menacingly approached. “Deal with him.”

A wide grin broke out on the huntsman’s face. “You’re gonna regret hiring me old man. I should have just killed those monsters you made me catch the moment I brought them in, now look at me! Fighting beside them like some tree-hugging sissy. At least breaking every bone in your body can make up for that.” He cracked his knuckles, preparing to finally feel some satisfaction for the first time since he’d been possessed.

McGucket calmly lifted his mechanical arm. There was a low hum emanating from the palm, and a bright blue beam of light shot out. Morbid was blasted across the room, hitting the counter and rolling over behind the till.

Andromeda rolled her eyes and exasperatedly shouted. “Why must I always do everything myself! Get out of my way old man!” With surprising strength, she lifted McGucket off the ground with one hand, clutching his brown overalls. McGucket squirmed but couldn’t loosen the iron grip she had. “I’m the only one I can rely on in life! Me! I don’t need anyone else! Not you, not Morbid, not the twins, not even my army, nobody! I will soon be… all I need.”

She tossed him aside like he was nothing. Kneeling over him, she grabbed a hold of his brass arm. “And just to make sure you won’t be any more trouble.” She yanked the arm clean off and threw it down with enough force to break the wooden floorboards.

“As for you!” A flick of her outstretched arm brought Morbid flying towards her telekinetically. His neck flew straight into her hand, and she pressed down with her fingers. “You’re nothing, a sicko, a blunt instrument.” She tightened the grip and he felt her well-kept nails stab him, drawing blood. “Don’t fail me again. Or maybe I’ll take your other eye. You’re only alive while I have a use for you. Now beg.”

She released him and he fell to the floor gasping for air. Andromeda lowered her arm, having barely seemed to expend any effort to hold him up. “Thank you, oh great one. Keeping me alive is a mercy I do not deserve!”

“That’s good. Now come on, heel. We’re ending this.” She turned, and rather than inputting the code to unlock it, she merely ripped the vending machine off its hinges.

Morbid got up, rubbing his neck and staring at his master with a glare like fire she didn’t care to notice. Grunting with disdain, he got to his feet and followed after her, hardly able to do anything else.

As they were about to descend into the earth, McGucket called out one last time. “Wait, please! That power wasn’t meant for any ordinary person to possess!”

“Well, good thing I’m the furthest thing from ordinary in this Shack then,” she said with an evil smirk. She ignored the Blind Eye symbol warning people away from using the elevator. In a few short moments, her eyes would be wide open.

The silver doors of the elevator slid open onto the underground control room. For Andromeda it was like wading through a warm treacle. There were a lot of very strong emotions tied to this place. Her new powers actually gave her the ability to see them, and ghostly traces from the past danced in the spaces they’d once played out in. A hunched over Stan working tirelessly at the controls. Dipper and Ford playing DD&D on the floor. Ford containing the rift that had resulted from his return.

That was what she wanted more of. Not only was this place the nexus for some of the strongest emotions she’d ever sensed, it was also the weakest point in space and time on the entire Earth. And was, most importantly, her birthplace.

The flowing emotions and abundant radiation she could feel in the control room suddenly weren’t enough. She wanted it all. She switched on the lights, seeing the illuminated stacked up crates in the portal room beyond. But there was also a person standing in there. Sighing deeply, she resigned herself to dealing with this one last hurdle and headed into the next room with Morbid trailing behind.

Standing by the old safety button than controlled the portal aperture with his back to them was Dipper. After his disguise the last time they’d met, he was now dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans, his attire as unchanged from the norm as her own purple jacket and dress.

He addressed them without turning as they approached. “This button doesn’t do anything anymore. The portal’s been inactive for years. But it’s a nice gesture, isn’t it? The handy little button to press that could fix everything. Close the portal, seal the dimensions, cleanse the town of radiation.” He turned and stared at Andromeda. “That’s your cue Andromeda. I know you can do it, you’ve pretty much finished absorbing the energy. Send it back where it came from. Save the town.”

She gave a curt laugh. “Really? That’s your big plan to stop me? Asking nicely and hoping? I expected more, Dip.”

He shrugged. “I’m only down here cause I’m no good in a fight. I can’t stop you getting the radiation straight from the source. So I’ll use my words instead. Although, I’m not holding out much hope after your reaction last time we met.”

“Scared I’m gonna stab you again? You were too much of a coward to face me openly in person.”

“You’re right. It was a cowardly move. I made that clone, a living thinking being, and maybe that was a mistake. He didn’t live a very long life before you killed him. I thought you’d have more sympathy for him, after all you’ve been through.”

“Enough moralising!” Andromeda impatiently signalled to Morbid to approach Dipper. “It tastes so good down here brother. In a few minutes, I’ll be full of the juicy energy, all ready to take my body back from Mabel. Then I can unleash my full power and rule over all the humans! They’ll see what it’s like to live in a cage, to scrounge for scraps on the street, or live every moment in fear!”

Morbid grabbed Dipper’s arms, then pulled him into a bear hug. He knew that struggling against the hunter’s strength would be pointless. “You know, I was sympathetic before. You wanted to steal Mabel’s body, but I could understand why you were doing it. This insane quest for tenuous power is crossing way over the line though. I offered you a peaceful resolution, try and remember that in the end.”

She ignored him and breathed deeply. The aroma of the energy, straight from the portal, felt so good to her. 35 years hadn’t dulled the sensations, which were so much purer than the ambient radiation she’d been feeding on up until now. Like a crystal clear glass of water after drinking nothing but dirty sewage. The radiation flowed in from all around, drawn back to its point of origin via the Ursus stone.

“Hey, Andry! Over here!” Her reverie was interrupted by the arrival of two more spectators to her victory. Mabel and Pacifica each aimed their respective weapons at Andromeda, Mabel her gauntlet and Pacifica her crossbow. “Let Dipper go and hand over the stone sis, we don’t wanna hurt you.”

Both girls writhed in pain as a force from beyond their control restrained them. Andromeda’s arm was extended out at them. She clenched her hand into a fist, causing Pacifica to drop the crossbow. With a flick, she lifted them both into the air. The pain began to subside, but they felt unable to move, hovering in the air as Mabel had done 5 years ago in this very room.

Andromeda slowly clapped. “Pacifica, so nice of you to come and watch my grand achievement. Thoughtful of you too, Mabel, to bring me your body on a platter - It’ll sure be nice to slip into something more comfortable once I’m done.”

Pacifica looked over at the similarly trapped Dipper. “Hey Mason. Sorry, we kinda let Andromeda slip by.”

“Not like I did much better at stopping her. Fine mess we’re all in now.”

Mabel gave a harsh laugh. “Ha, we’ve gotten out of worse scrapes Bro-Bro.”

Pacifica nodded. “Trust us Mason, we’re not totally lost. Mabel, call in our old friend.”

Mabel, freeing one arm from Andromeda’s spell, stuck two fingers in her mouth. At first, there was just the sound of awkward blowing, since Mabel had never been very good at whistling. Eventually she got it right and let out an almighty whistle.

The glass partition to the control room burst outwards, and the girls covered their faces from the shards of broken glass flying out. The Kochab, whose skin was now a soft golden tint, had leapt through into the portal room. Andromeda’s concentration was distracted, and the girls dropped and moved out of the way of the approaching creature, mindful of its unusual non-matter properties. Dipper and Morbid just watched from a distance, still both captives in their own ways.

“My Kocab! You can’t be using my Kochab!” Andromeda indignantly shouted.

“Her name is Kochy, and she can do what she wants!” Mabel pouted. “Didn’t take too much to convince her to go along with what I wanted; she recognised my thought patterns from before. You should know I spent months training my mind with the necklace.”

“Grr, I’ll show you true power!” Andromeda’s face curled up into an expression of pure rage. The girls stood back as the Kochab started turning purple again. Mabel focused all her concentration on Kochy. Pacifica watched the skin shimmer back and forth between gold and purple as the two of them battled for domination over who would get to influence the creature. Both Mabel and Andromeda looked exhausted, beginning to sweat and suffer over the effort.

All of a sudden, Dipper felt Morbid’s grip loosen. He was dropped like a dead weight, then Morbid lunged furiously at Andromeda’s neck. He grasped around and clutched the Ursus stone. It burnt his hand, but he suffered through the searing pain.

“WHAT ARE YOU FUCKING DOING?!” Andromeda screamed.

“What does it look like, I’m taking that damn stone! I quit!” As he pulled, the cloth band of the necklace snapped. Andromeda and Morbid each grabbed half of the necklace, pulling against each other with the stone suspended between them.

The stone started to shine brighter than the sun, purple and orange lights dancing and flickering around the basement. An indistinct glowing sphere of energy surrounded the two of them, preventing any of the trio from getting close enough to break the stalemate. Frozen to the spot, Andromeda and Morbid felt overcome by the stone’s energy. Neither wanted to give up the stone though, even as their bodies felt the overwhelming energies held within fluxing out through themselves.

Since everyone’s attention was diverted, Kochy reverted to her basic instruction, the one instilled by Mabel back at the circus to stay out of the way of any living creatures. Glowing golden forevermore, she charged out of the Shack the way she’d came, leaving the trio alone with the two enemies fighting over the stone.

“Give it over girl! With this I can finally rid the world of degenerate scum like you!”

“Never, it’s my birth-right! My triumph! I’ve not come so close to lose now!”

A reverberating hum came from the stone as it started to shake, and with all the energy coursing within it looked like it was going to explode. Dipper backed up to the old portal frame, trying to get as much distance as he could from the maelstrom.

Lit by the wavy glow, Pacifica found the crossbow and fired off a shot. It bounced back, repelled by the sphere of energy. “Mabel what do we do!?”

Mabel was already staring straight at the Ursus stone, considering her options. Her hook or tranquilisers wouldn’t break through the barrier. If she did nothing the whole Shack might be destroyed if the stone couldn’t handle the two contradictory masters, and the bottled up radiation would burst back out into the world. Or one of them might just end up claiming the stone, which could be even worse.

Making a snap decision, she raised her left arm and pointed her gauntlet right at the stone. “I’m sorry Andromeda. So sorry.” She pulled the trigger of the memory gun.

A concentrated blue-white beam of light shot out from her wrist, blasting through the energy wall and hitting the stone square on. Time slowed to a crawl. Both Andromeda and Morbid stared down at the stone, eyes wide open in shock as Mabel pumped more and more of the beam into it. A sphere of the blueish light began forming around the stone, before collapsing back in.

In the last moment, Andromeda saw a vision of seven eyes staring back at her. That would be the last thing she ever saw before the end.

For an instant, nothing happened. Then time sped up for a fraction as a second as the stone blew apart into dozens of tiny black splinters of rock. In slow-motion again, the fragments drifted across the room while Andromeda was thrown backwards. She was already unconscious before she hit the floor.

On the other side of the room, Morbid’s fate was much worse. He wasn’t so much blasted through the regular space of the shack, instead his body seemed to be moving through the walls of reality, which were paper-thin enough as it was down here. It looked as if hundreds of tiny tears had opened up all over his body. He let out a blood-curdling scream as his body broke apart and was dragged through the rips in reality. Even though the trio’s perception had slowed, he was gone in a heartbeat. All that was left was his eyepatch, fluttering down.

Time resumed its normal course and the blackened shards of the Ursus stone clattered across the room. Closest to the blast, Dipper was hit by some of the fragments, but they had lost any of the fantastic energy they’d once contained and hurt no worse than tiny pebbles. “That was insane! We’re all still good, Mabel, Paz?” He looked over, relieved to see they were fine.

“I’m not ok.” Dipper’s smile slowly faded as another voice came from behind one of the stacks of boxes. Andromeda sat upright and he tensed for another fight. She just looked around, confused. “I… where am I… who are you?”

Mabel, who’d felt like she’d had her arm lifted up for an eternity, lowered her gauntlet and breathed out. “Figured this might happen.” She untangled the MRE from her wrist. The barrel was still steaming slightly. She turned it over and a small microchip popped out of the butt of the gun. This was a replacement for the spools of electrical tape in the prototype that held the encoded memories. Everything that made Andromeda who she was, compressed into a few inches of silicon.

Mabel threw the gun away into the corner like it was a piece of nasty garbage, discarded along with all the other forbidden objects down in the basement, then handed the chip to Pacifica. “We have to choose now Paz. She’s our responsibility to deal with.”

“Choose, choose what?”

“What we tell her. With Stan we used reminders to bring back his lost memories. Little things he recognised that led to him remembering more. Or I bet McGucket could probably download her memories out of that chip. But I don’t think we should do that.”

Pacifica slowly nodded. “If she remembers everything, her old personality might return. She’d have the same problem of having two minds smushed together again.”

“Here’s what I wanna try.” Mabel looked over at the bemused paper clone sitting on the floor. Her head was cocked to the side, clearly lost about what was going on. “We can give her a fresh start, she’s a blank page now. We don’t have to bring back all the junk she went through, she can be happy. But the old Andry would basically be gone.”

“Old Andromeda, new Andromeda, I don’t think it matters. What’s important is her, that girl down there who’s probably a bit scared and alone right now. If we can give her a good life, then that’s a good enough end for me.”

Dipper came over and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “I’ll support whatever you two decide. I didn’t make Andromeda, you did. I won’t butt in and give my opinion if you don’t want it. You decide.”

Mabel nodded. “I’m with you Paz. First, what should we do with the chip?”

Pacifica clenched her fist around the fragile piece of circuitry. There was a small crunch, then she dropped the broken remains onto the floor. “I think that settles it.”

The trio gathered around the sitting girl, the same way the twins had done so with Stan 5 years ago. This time they weren’t here to jog her memories, the exact opposite in fact.

Andromeda looked at the nervous faces of the people staring down at her. “Hey, do I know you guys? You seem familiar.” The trio’s eyes all glanced away for a moment. “Could you help me out, I… I can’t seem to remember… well, anything!”

Mabel was the first to speak. “Hi there. We’re the Pines. We’re sort of your family, kinda. I’m Mabel, this is Pacifica and Dipper. You’re our cousin, Andromeda.”

“That’s a pretty name.” Like a child, she innocently smiled. Mabel took her hand and pulled her onto her feet. “Wow, your skin is so smooth!”

“How are you feeling Andromeda?” Pacifica asked. “You’ve… had a bit of an accident, but you’re safe now.”

Andromeda puffed out her cheeks, an inherited habit from Mabel that hadn’t been erased by the MRE’s beam. “I feel like I’ve just run a marathon.”

Dipper leaned over. “Probably her body’s natural reaction to the loss of all the radiation energy.” The girls nodded, but Andromeda didn’t seem to take any of it in. “You’ll be fine Ann, just stay away from water and you’ll be golden.”

Andromeda looked down at herself. Pacifica was glad she didn’t have a mirror; their identical appearance might have raised some awkward questions they hadn’t formulated answers to yet. “Are these really my clothes?”

“What’s wrong with them? They always looked fine on me- I mean you,” Pacifica stammered.

“I don’t know, doesn’t feel right.”

“Ooh, I know what’ll you need! BRB!” Mabel ran out of the basement towards the lift.

Dipper whispered to Pacifica. “So what now? We can’t fill her in on everything, it might re-awaken the old mental connections.”

“We can give her bits and pieces though. She should learn about us at least. Here.” She pulled her journal out of her backpack and turned it to the first few pages. “This is a brief history of my friendship with these guys. Have a read, I guess it’ll tell you who we are.”

Andromeda ran a hand over the golden llama on the cover, admiring the quality of Mabel’s craftsmanship, then focused on the text. Pacifica and Dipper left her to quietly read, making sure she didn’t go beyond a certain point in the book. They noticed her stroking the paper, comparing it subtly to her own skin texture.

Mabel returned to the portal room, carrying a purple sweater. “Andromeda, I have something. This is yours.” She passed it over as Andromeda’s eyes went wide.

“For me? That’s so kind, thank you! No-one’s ever given me… well, anything before!”

“We’re here for you Andry, we’ll help you figure out who you are.”

The trio found themselves pulled into a group hug by the clone. “Thank you guys so much! I might not remember you, but you guys sure seem to care about me, that’s all that counts.” As the hug loosened, the trio smiled at one another. The process of teaching Andromeda everything she needed to know would be slow, but together they could try and give her a second chance at life, one without pain or heartache or fear.

Pacifica led her towards the elevator, but Dipper pulled Mabel over to one side. “Hey, what about the Ursus stone? I don’t know, do you want a moment, or…?”

Mabel picked up a small fragment of the rock, then flicked it away. “Nah, I’m fine bro. It can stay down here with all the other regrets.”

As they emerged back up to the surface, they saw the bright evening sunlight shining over the clearing. At the same moment the Ursus stone had exploded, a switch had turned in the attacking creatures’ minds. They were all free once again. Most didn’t stick around, either eager to find their way home or not wanting to tussle with the other gathered creatures or humans.

While Soos and Tate started work on the cleanup, Candy was checking over the battlefield to help any beings wounded in the fighting. McGucket had pulled himself onto the porch sofa, and as the trio approached from inside the Shack he showed them a handheld scanner. “Look at this. Registering zero traces of radiation.” He slapped his leg. “Yee-ha! You youngin’s did it!”

His expression turned to confusion as they led Andromeda outside. “She needs guidance," Dipper explained. "Andromeda’s lost everything. You know more than anyone what it’s like to have to start a life from scratch. Can you guide her, make sure she does alright?”

McGucket nodded. “I promise Dipper. Me’n Candy’ll keep her safe, from rain or shine, mind or matter. We’re not much for parents, but we can make sure her mind stays clean as a whistle! Hi there Andromeda! I’m Fiddleford!”

Andromeda chuckled. “Your voice is funny!” She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Fiddleford. I have a good feeling about you.” The old man smiled, happy to be able to repair his mistakes.

Mabel went over to Candy to share the good news and assist in clearing away the debris from the fight, while Pacifica and Dipper made a thorough scan of the region for any lingering radiation traces. Luckily it seemed that Andromeda had already absorbed practically all of it before the explosion, and that it had been entirely sent back through the rifts. A level of ambient radiation would eventually return and settle over the town, but now the worst of the after-effects of the Alignment was dealt with for good.

Once all that was done, the two of them sat down in the sitting room armchair. Linking hands, they sat together to rest after the strenuous toll the last two days had put on them. “What do we do about your parents then?”

Normally Pacifica would have chastised his lack of subtlety, but right now she had to admit it was pretty relevant to talk about. “Honestly? No clue. I have no idea how they’ll react after what happened last night. We can worry about that in the morning.” She nuzzled his chest, holding close to his body.

“And what about you, how are you reacting after all of that? Seeing me… dead… must have been hard to take.”

“I’m alright. At first it was hard to bear what had happened… what I thought had happened to you. I guess it’s like how you reacted when I got knocked out by the Spline.”

“You have been kinda reckless lately.”

“I know. It’s just, this stuff you do, it’s so exciting. Can you blame a gal for getting so invested?”

“Spose not. Now at least we both know how it feels to lose each other.”

“But hey, you’re safe now. We’re together.” She kissed him. “Plus, now that radiation’s dealt with, we should celebrate. Forget about all that bad stuff and enjoy ourselves. Although, what do you think happened to that Morbid guy, Mason?”

He shrugged. “Guess we’ll never know. Maybe he got pushed out of our dimension along with all the radiation? I doubt he’d endure the trip in any survivable state, but who knows. This is the Mystery Shack after all! What’s wrong with a little mystery?”

The next morning brought a dry day over the valley, with the rain having passed on for good. That was good for Andromeda, who was eager to explore the town that was entirely new to her. The trio took her with them as they headed for the Northwest house. She was delighted at seeing the quaint little town and happily waved at all of the townsfolk they passed. Those same townsfolk had known nothing of the great battle from the previous day, but then again, neither did Andromeda.

They told her to wait outside, trusting that she wouldn’t wander off, then headed into the house. Pacifica stepped into the entry way through the broken door, then hesitated before calling out.

From her side, Mabel prodded her to go on. “Well Paz, no time like the present. Don’t leave us in suspense, let’s get this over with! I can’t stand the waiting!” For once, Mabel’s impatience seemed to outweigh Pacifica’s own.

Dipper touched her arm. “Whatever happens next, we can help.” He smiled that reassuring smile that always made her heart light aflame.

She hugged them both, then found the strength to overcome her last final stumbling block of anxiety. “Mom? Dad?” There was a moment of silence as her words echoed around the house, and she feared for a moment that her parents had simply abandoned the place.

Then, quietly from the kitchen, a voice spoke. “We tried… So hard, to raise you in the way we thought was right.” Pacifica followed the voice. Her parents were sat at the kitchen table, neither of them staring at anything in particular. Her father spoke again. “Perhaps… perhaps our way was not the best for you.”

This quiet admission was enough to make Pacifica find a stool and join them in sitting. She wanted to pay full attention to whatever her parents said next. The twins lingered by the door, not wanting to intrude on this family matter. Noticing this, Pacifica waved them forwards. They had as much right to be a part of this conversation as anyone. The concept of her ‘family’ was about to become a lot more nebulous, after all.

Preston and Priscilla were both shocked by Dipper’s appearance, likely not expecting to see him walking around perfectly fine after the previous night. Priscilla’s eyes glanced away. “Last night. When that boy… when Mason was hurt…” Pacifica was mildly impressed by the fact she’d remembered his name. She could see the conflict behind her parents’ eyes. They really were making an effort. “Your reaction, the scream, the horror you felt. It was more emotion than you ever showed towards us.”

There was a sad honesty to the words. Even if the Northwests had deluded themselves into thinking they were on the right path, and had been genuinely cruel, Pacifica still felt a pang of sorrow at their sense of loss right now. “And then you went off. We saw you in that awful battle. It was as if you were at home there, fighting in the mud and dirt, doing whatever you could to save your friends. Is there any chance you could feel the same for us again sweetheart?”

Pacifica sighed. “Look, it’s too late for us to ever go back to the way things were. I don’t think I could stomach living here with you again after all that’s happened. I’m not sorry for wanting to leave. For all the worth you showered on me, you two still made me feel worthless. But maybe, if you really try, you can find some way to move on without me?”

Preston rested his forehead in one hand. “But how can we? We wasted our one chance to raise our only daughter properly.”

“Well, you may have missed out on raising me right. But there’s someone else who might just be in need of someone to look after her.”

As if on cue, Andromeda stepped into the room. Perhaps it was a last vestige of her empath powers, letting her sense the mood of the room and that now was the time to show herself. Whatever the case, the Northwests stared at the clone in utter bafflement. “It’s the girl from last night!” Priscilla said, with not small hint of fear. Andromeda studied the two adults to whom she had no affection or revulsion. They were simply strangers.

Calmly, Pacifica explained. “This is Andromeda. At the moment, she’s fresh, open to anything. She’s got friends, but she needs a normal life, somewhere she can just be a kid. Your second chance.” Her parents shared an uneasy glance. “Don’t worry, she’s fine now, no more…” She watched her words, trying to avoid triggering anything of Andromeda’s memories, “Well, she’s not a threat. Her mind is a blank.”

“You’d trust us to look after her, teach her right from wrong?" Preston was at a loss for words. "After everything you accused us of doing wrong? I don’t understand.”

A wry smile grew on Pacifica’s face. “It’s all on you now. You can be the parents I always longed for, actually cater to her needs, make her feel loved. Cause if you don’t, she’ll grow up resentful and bitter. It might just reawaken her memories. You both saw what the old Andromeda was like.” Bringing up the image of the paper blade had the desired effect, as her parents nodded seriously.

Her father slowly nodded. “Perhaps it is time to try something new. Our family’s never been big on ‘change’. But we’ve seen the alternative.”

“What do you say, my dear, Andromeda, was it? Would you like to stay with us?” Priscilla posed the question hopefully.

Andromeda looked at the two for a moment, then broke into a massive grin. Before the Northwests could react, they found themselves pulled into a suffocating bear hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve never had a real home before! If you two are anything like Pacifica, who’s been so kind to me, then I’m sure I’ll love living here!”

She broke the hug leaving the ruffled Northwests gasping for air. Andromeda was certainly going to be a handful. From the small smiles on each of their faces though, it seemed that it was a challenge they’d try their very hardest to achieve.

Pacifica smiled too at seeing the paper clone so happy and free of trouble, when her mother raised a pertinent point. “What about you Pacifica?”

It was a good question. With her parents potentially taking on a new role as guardians for Andromeda, they no doubt wondered where Pacifica expected to fit in. She’d already come up with an answer. “Goodbye, Preston and Priscilla. Good luck, and goodbye.” Simple and to the point, formality worthy of the Northwest reputation. Her parents both got the message, and didn’t protest as she got up, turned around, and left them behind.

Once back outside in the sunshine, Dipper took her hands in his, holding them tight. “Are you sure this is what you want Pacifica? If you have any doubts, you can let us know anytime.” She took one last look into the house. Rimmed with sunlight, the house glowed with life. Andromeda was excitedly explaining something to her new parents, who were actually smiling back, seeming keen to understand the girl.

With Andromeda’s appearance resembling her old one so much, it was like looking at a glimpse of a parallel life, one she was never allowed to have. People who listened to her point of view, attentive to her needs. A family where everyone was equal in their bond.

She turned away. Andromeda was starting her new life in there. Her own was out here, waiting to be discovered.

Pacifica shrugged and squeezed Dipper’s hands back. “It’s ok Mace. I made my choice, they’ve made theirs.” She wiped a single stray tear from her eye. She wasn’t even sure where it had come from, in her mind there was no apprehension anymore. She kissed him, savouring her newfound freedom. With a confident grin, she turned away from the building. “Hope your parents don’t mind me staying a little while longer in Piedmont.” She felt Mabel join in the embrace from behind. “Come on guys, let’s go home.”

Without sticking around to be sentimental, Pacifica strode out with them, into a free life.

And that was it. Even though it’s been a few weeks, I still haven’t seen my parents again. I don’t know if they’ll keep their promise to Andromeda and give her a good life, the kind they messed up with me. She’ll have McGucket and Candy to make sure that nothing goes wrong, though my parents know what’ll happen if they push Andromeda the wrong way. They don’t want a repeat of the way they raised me, or what they saw of Andromeda’s rage.

It’s strange, for so long they were the worst thing about my life. With them gone, I almost feel too free! I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

After that we spent another day in Gravity Falls making sure everything was ok. Me and Mabel did some repairs to the Mystery Shack for Mr and Mrs Ramirez, there had been some minor collisions with the outside that needed work. Mason, Candy, and McGucket made sure that the town was fully clean and took a census to check that all the creatures were back acting normal. Well, not normal. But you know what I mean.

We all worked to make sure Andromeda got bedded in smoothly. We showed her around the valley, taught her all about the Mystery Shack’s history, Mabel even knitted her some custom sweaters. She’s taking it all really well, already goofing around with Candy like Mabel always used to. She’s seemingly lost all the influences from my mind, it’s like she’s pure uncut Mabel now, just with a different set of experiences to build off of. It’s super nice seeing her happy after all she went through.

I feel similarly, our lives have both changed for the better. It’s like something Mabel told me. I’m different now, but I’ll carry the reminders with me forever. In my case, it’s my pendant and this journal.

The three of us headed off home the next day. Mabel and Candy promised to keep in touch more after this, least next time something cataclysmic goes on in town we’ll know about it right away. She and McGucket will keep an eye on Andromeda. It’s hardly the most conventional family, with a crazy old man, a super smart teenager, and two totally unprepared adults but it’s sure as hell nicer than my old one.

The twins agonised over departing, of course, they hated to leave their friends behind, just like at the end of summer. I didn’t mind though, I just wanted things to be back to the usual routine in Piedmont. That still sounds kinda strange, living in Piedmont but it’s basically my home now so I’d better get used to it.

It’s been nice these last few weeks. Without the horrible spectre of my parents it was even more enjoyable than before. I feel like I could I be good forever just being with Mabel and Mason. When I first started writing in this journal I thought that was an impossible dream. Yet here we are, moving forwards together.

Soon there’s the school prom, Mabel’s very excited for her date with ‘Mr Hottie’ Eli and I can’t wait to see Mace try and do a formal dance. After that, it’s only a few days before summer. That’s another reason why I wasn’t too sad to leave town, we’ll be back soon enough.

Summer. It used to mean so much to me. It was the island of freedom I had in-between the endless crushing boredom living alone was. That’s lessened somewhat now, living with the twins means I’m never gonna have a dull moment. They’ll get to see their uncles, of course, they’re coming back for summer too.

But for me, the season’s role will be reduced from now on. Why pine for summer when I have everything I could ever want already? Though the chance for adventure will certainly be higher, you can always count on that in Gravity Falls…

16-1-3-6-9-3-1 16-9-14-5-19 19-9-7-14-9-14-7 15-6-6