Gravity Falls: Forever Autumn - Chapter IX

Chapter IX: Revelation

Principal Lonnighan stood in the middle of the chamber, hands behind his back. He was flanked by five members of the Cult of Bill – Dipper recognised them as the two men from his vision and the three who had ambushed him when he got off the bus. Harry stood in front of his father, his arms crossed. Apart from the Lonnighans, all were armed. In the middle of the room, there was an old, leather book on a stone tablet – the words ‘CHILD OF DESTINY’ were engraved below. The word ‘CHILD’ seemed off-centre.

“Lonnighan,” growled Dipper.

“I believe I asked you to call me sir, Mr. Pines,” said Lonnighan.

“There’s a lot of things I wanna call you right now,” growled Dipper, “Where’s Grunkle Stan?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself, boy?” replied Lonnighan.

He motioned to the cultists, who stepped aside. Grunkle Stan was slouched in the back left-hand corner. He was bound by ropes and was clearly unconscious.

“Grunkle Stan!” exclaimed Dipper.

He ran towards him, but was grabbed mid-stride by Harry.

“Hold it, Pines,” he sneered, “We’re gonna make a trade.”

Harry shoved Dipper back. He was caught by Wendy.

“The deal is quite simple, Mr. Pines,” said Lonnighan, “This book can only be read by a ‘Child of Destiny’. After interrogation, it has become clear to us that dear old Stanford doesn’t fit our description. This narrows our options to three possibilities. Angus?”

The man who had led the attempt to capture Stan and Wendy stepped forward.

“The way we see it,” he said, “It’s either Gideon, your sister or you.”

“Why them?” demanded Wendy, “Why not Candy, or Grenda, or Pacifica Northwest?”

“They haven’t had the same interaction with the supernatural that Gideon and the Pines have,” replied Angus, “That, and we really don’t wanna mess with the Northwests.”

“They’re, like, stupidly rich, you know?” added the tall man.

“Yeah,” nodded Angus, “Plus, your family and Gideon are known possessors of the journals. We in the Cult of Bill don’t believe in coincidences.”

“Indeed,” said Lonnighan, “So here’s your choice, Mr. Pines – open the book and translate it, or we will kill your great uncle.”

The tall man pulled a pistol from his jacket, aiming it at Stan’s head.

“Cowards,” spat Wendy.

“Perhaps,” shrugged Lonnighan, “But it really doesn’t matter so long as it works, doesn’t it?”

“Dipper...”

Stan winced and opened his eyes.

“Don’t let ‘em have it,” he wheezed.

“D-Dad, are you sure we need to do this?” asked Harry, “I mean, I can get Pines to read the thing, we don’t need the guns...”

“I’m afraid we do, Harold,” snapped Lonnighan, “Now, what will it be, Mr. Pines? All you need to do is touch it – the book will do the rest.”

Dipper looked from the book on the pedetal to Stan. He sighed.

“I’m sorry, Grunkle Stan,” he said.

He stepped forward, walking over to the pedestal. He reached out, but paused before touching the cover.

“Wait a minute,” he said, “Haven’t we been in here longer than five minutes?”

“What do you mean, boy?” demanded Lonnighan, “Just open the book!”

“No, I’m pretty sure we have,” nodded Dipper, “You know what that means, Wendy?”

“Pretty sure I do, Dipper,” replied Wendy, crossing her arms.

“Would you care to enlighten the rest of us to your little in-joke?” growled Lonnighan.

“Well, Principal Lonnighan,” shrugged Dipper, “You’ll know it when you see it.”

Down in the depths of the tunnel, there came a sound – soft at first, but it got louder and louder. It sounded like footsteps.

“What in the name of...” muttered Angus.

“Get away from Mr. Pines!”

Soos burst out of the tunnel, barrelling shoulder-first into Angus and sending him crashing hard into the stone wall.

The tall man turned, jaw dropping. He raised his gun – suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him in a headlock.

“First rule of kidnapping, punk,” Stan snarled, “Learn how to tie someone up properly.”

He hurled the tall man to the side and turned around – he found himself looking straight into the barrel of the gunman’s rifle.

“Goodnight,” snarled the gunman, “You old fa-aaargh!”

Wendy had grabbed him by the collar from behind – she turned him around and twisted the gun out of his hands before punching him across the face.

The fifth cultist – a short man – ambled over, a baseball bat raised over his shoulders. Dipper lunged at him, jumping onto his back and biting into his shoulder. The man yelped – Dipper used the momentary distraction to snatch his bat and smack him in the face.

As the short man crashed to the ground, Dipper jumped off and swung around, throwing the bat at the female cultist. She was knocked back, slamming her head into the wall. Dipper pumped his fist as his opponent slumped to the ground.

“Impressive, Pines, but not good enough!”

Harry tackled Dipper, shoving him towards the book. Grabbing hold of Dipper’s arm, he forced it onto the cover. There was a blast of golden light – Dipper heard a scream which he would later realise was his own. Voices rang in his head.

“...Cain and Abel? That’s a bit biblical, isn’t it Stanley?”

“That’s what Bill said, Fiddleford. Two twins destined to fight each other.”

“You think he meant you and Stanford?”

“I suspect it, Fiddleford...but I have my doubts. You see, Bill said that if he wins...this Cain and Abel thing won’t happen...”

“Was this before, after or during the part where he was grilling my hands?”

“McGucket, do you have to keep bringing that up?”

“Yes! It still freaking smarts!”

 “Don’t be a wimp, Fiddleford. Look, how about we deal with Bill first and then consider the possibility that my brother might turn evil.”

“Agreed...”

Dipper found himself on the floor, his vision swimming. Stan was leaning over him, hand under his head.

“Kid, you alright?” asked Stan, “Come on, I don’t wanna have to explain this to your parents...”

Behind Stan, Lonnighan picked up the book. He turned to Dipper and sneered.

“Thank you, Mr. Pines,” he said, “We’ll be seeing you.”

He ran from the chamber, Harry following him.

“Why’d he take the book?” muttered Dipper, “He...he can’t even read it.”

“He can now,” said Stan, grimly, “Your touch translated it.”

“Oh,” said Dipper, “That’s...that’s bad...”

Everything went dark.

 

Dipper woke up on a mattress on the floor of the Shack’s living room, his head splitting. The only light was the muted television – clearly, it was late.

He groaned and tried to sit up. Waddles lay at the end of the mattress, snoring softly. Above them, Wendy was slumped on the couch, quietly dozing in front of an old rerun of Duck-Tective. He could hear crickets outside.

He glanced at his watch. It was 10.03pm.

“Ugh,” he groaned, shaking his head.

Wendy stirred and opened her eyes. She yawned.

“Feeling any better, Dip?” she asked.

“Where’s everybody else? How did I get here?” asked Dipper, “Last thing I remember was Lonnighan taking the book...”

“We carried you home, man,” explained Wendy, “Soos is out trying to pick up Lonnighan’s trail, since he’s got the only working wheels at the moment. I haven’t seen Stan in a while, but I reckon he’s down in the lab.”

“Shouldn’t you be home by now?” quizzed Dipper.

“I told dad I was at Tambry’s,” shrugged Wendy, “I’m not going anywhere until you’re back on your feet.”

Dipper smiled and laid back.

“You know, I missed having friends,” he said.

“You still have Mabel, don’t you?” reminded Wendy.

“Yeah, but she has her own friends,” replied Dipper, “She’s...she’s better with people then I am.”

He sighed.

“It’s lonely, you know?” he said.

“I get you,” nodded Wendy, “But you know what? You’ll always have me. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m open.”

Dipper nodded and gave her a small smile.

“I think I’m gonna go find Stan,” he said.

“Gotcha,” nodded Wendy, “I’ll hold down the fort up here.”

Dipper got to his feet and walked out of the room.

It wasn’t hard to get back into the lab – Stan had left the door open behind him, which didn’t strike Dipper as particularly in character. He eventually found his Grunkle at the desk in the surveillance room, skimming through Journal 1 and occasionally glancing forlornly at the portal. He seemed very low.

“Grunkle Stan?” said Dipper.

Stan grunted.

“Did you know about this Child of Destiny stuff before all this?” asked Dipper.

Stan sighed heavily.

“I never really thought about it,” he replied, “I just wanted that portal working – nothing else.”

“Do you remember writing the Journals?” asked Dipper.

Stan massaged his temples.

“Only vaguely,” he replied, “It’s all a blur, like when you wake up after a – eh, you’ll know the feeling when you’re older.”

“Do you know what happens when it’s on for too...”

“Yes,” grunted Stan, “What’re you, the FBI?”

“Then why?” demanded Dipper, “Why do this?”

Stan reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a picture in a frame. He handed it to Dipper, whose eyes widened.

“That’s you!” he exclaimed, “And McGucket and...who’s the other guy?”

“Stanley Lachlan Pines,” replied Stan, “Your grandfather.”

“But dad told me grandpa died when he was a kid,” said Dipper.

“Of course he did!” scoffed Stan, “Do you think you’d have believed it if he said that your grandpa was trapped in a portal?”

“Before I came to Gravity Falls?” replied Dipper, “No.”

“Exactly,” nodded Stan, “I’ve been trying to get him back for thirty-odd years. I’ve had to relearn everything I had wiped from my memory, piece by piece.”

He sighed.

“I don’t care about the odds,” he said wearily, “I don’t care about the dangers. I just want my brother back.”

“Do you think you ever will?” asked Dipper.

Stan didn’t answer.

“You’ve gotta turn this thing off,” said Dipper, “They have the notebook, they have the prophecy, this is all they need!”

“Would you do that?” demanded Stan, “If it was Mabel stuck over there, would you do that?!”

“I...”

“Don’t answer that, kid!” shouted Stan, getting to his feet and towering over Dipper, “You don’t know! You don’t understand! So don’t lecture me about what I should and shouldn’t do with this portal!”

Dipper recoiled. There was a long silence.

Stan sighed heavily and knelt down, putting a hand on Dipper’s shoulder.

“Look, about today,” he said, “You ran five hundred miles away from home. You jumped into a portal into the unknown and took on a bunch of armed cultists.”

“Yeah, I know, kinda irresponsible,” sighed Dipper, “But I couldn’t...”

“Dipper, I am so proud of you right now.”

Dipper stared, his mind processing what his Grunkle had just said.

“Proud?”

“You’re fighting back,” replied Stan, “You’re being your own man. You’re standing up for what you think is right. Do you know how far you’ve come since you first got dumped on my porch, kid? Do you think that awkward, scrawny little kid would have the guts to stand up to Bill Cipher?”

Stan pulled Dipper into a hug.

“You’ve come a long way, Dipper,” he said, “A very long way.”

Dipper smiled and hugged back. They stayed that way for some time.

Eventually, Stan pulled out of the hug and stood up.

“We never tell your sister about that hug, right?” he said.

“Right,” nodded Dipper.

“Good,” said Stan, “Now head upstairs and get something in you, you’re skin and bone.”

“Do we have anything that isn’t brown meat?” asked Dipper.

“What do I look like? Uncle Pennybags?” snapped Stan, “Brown meat’s good for ya, kid! Rich in everything except price!”

Dipper chuckled to himself as he headed back to the elevator.

 

Dipper didn’t sleep much that night. He lay on the mattress, alternating between staring at the ceiling, watching muted late night TV and idly chatting with Wendy. Soos returned at about midnight, unsuccessful in his attempt to pick up Lonnighan’s trail, and retired to the break room.

Eventually, as the sun began to peek over the horizon, Dipper gave up and decided to attempt to make breakfast. Armed with limited knowledge on how the toaster and microwave worked, he managed to throw together soup and toast for himself, Soos, Wendy and Stan. Breakfast was quiet – the only real conversation was Stan telling Soos where he should go in his attempts to find the Cult of Bill.

At 7.30am, they heard a car pull up outside. Dipper glanced out the window to see a sleek-looking silver company car. A familiar man stepped out – Principal Lonnighan.

“Guys, I think we found him,” gulped Dipper.

“And that’s not all!”

The world outside turned grey as Bill materialised next to Lonnighan, arms crossed.

“Bring out Pine Tree!” demanded Bill, “We’ve got a little wager for him!”

 

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