[Nearly Two Years Earlier]

Under the full moon of a Saturday night, the usually empty high school parking lot was being traversed by several young students who were making their way toward the school entrance. Several walked together in groups or pairs, their many voices of casual chatter and banter filling the quiet of night until they stepped foot indoors. Some students even lingered outside waiting around or even posing for pictures or selfies outside, making use of the full moon while it was out. And just about all of them wore some variation of formal wear, such as suits or dresses.

Of course, only one occasion could bring so many students to school on a Saturday night in the middle of September, and that was the Homecoming dance. And right off the bat of a home game victory the night before? Anyone who shared any dose of school pride was riding a wave at that moment.

That wave carried an excited vibe throughout campus as many recently arriving students made their way toward the school gymnasium, where all the partying was happening. Through the halls leading up to it were purple and white banners, signs, and balloons. Loud, muffled music thumped from behind the closed gymnasium doors.

Soon, even a wave of laughter seemed to ensue inside the dance. From behind closed doors, it was muffled, but still loud enough to be distinctly heard by any students lingering around in any of the halls connected to the gym.

Following the laughter was what sounded like the squeak of hard footsteps running across the recently waxed floors. They grew progressively louder as though someone was making their way straight for the—

SLAM!

The gymnasium double doors flung open, and all the sound and music became unmuffled as they echoed through the immediate hallway. Running out from the gym was Dipper, who led an aggressive shoulder charge straight through the doors while his hands gripped the sides of his black dress trousers, holding them up at his waistline as he sprinted as fast as he could away from the dance in a visible panic. The few boys and girls who hung around in the hallway immediately turned their attention to him as he passed by as fast as he could, some just barely managing to catch him holding up his pants. The idea clicked in their heads and thus, the snickering spread.

Despite Dipper's best efforts to get away, the laughter followed him from afar. His hands reached for the front of his belt. He undid the strap for a moment only to pull it further through the buckle to tighten it as hard as he could around his waist before closing it again, keeping his pants up on their own once more. With his hands free again, he panted harder and more anxiously as he ramped up speed further down the hallway.

Back at the double doors, several students stood just inside, distantly watching from where they stood while continuing to point and laugh at Dipper from afar. Emerging from the crowded dance, Mabel popped out in her sparkly pink Homecoming dress and ran up between the doors in desperation. She stopped in place as she looked ahead for her brother, who was already too far to easily catch up to.

"Dipper! Wait!" she called to him while reaching a hand out.

At the end of the hallway, the loud slam of him charging through another set of heavy school double doors reverbed back. With the turn of a corner, he was out of sight and clear of the dance.

Remorsefully, Mabel lowered her arm as she stared down the hallway he had run down. Some snickers continued but ultimately, the laughter began to fade as people seemed to move on and return their attention to the dance itself.

Most people, that was.

"Bahahaha!" laughed a taller, large boy in a baby blue suit who walked right up to the double doors beside Mabel. "Man, did you see the look on his face? Who woulda thought your brother could be any more of a loser?"

"Oh, shut up, Trevor!" Mabel immediately scolded, turning to him with her fists clenched tightly. "The only loser around here is you for never growing out of being a big bully!"

"Hey, I wasn't even the one who pantsed him!" Trevor said defensively with an unbothered smirk. "He should've known better than to mess with Dante's ex-girl."

Mabel wanted to deck the smirk right off his face right then and there. But she knew it wouldn't be any use. Trevor was right, he hadn't really done anything this time anyway. He was just an annoying bystander rather than the actual perpetrator. Dante was the real jerk in this situation for what he did to her brother, but wherever he had gone now, she hadn't an immediate clue.

Trevor continued to snicker again as he began to stroll back inside the gym. "The class nerd really thought he had a shot with Angie freakin' Michaels. What a joke!"

Ignoring Trevor's jerky remarks about her brother, Mabel continued to stare down the end of the hallway where he had run off. The thought to follow after him was clearest to her, but given the lead he had at that point, he could've been anywhere in the school by now, if he had even stuck around campus.

It was times like these when she wished he had a cellphone, so she could at least contact him that way more immediately. But of course, annoyingly, he thought he was too good for one. Still, there were many spots she knew to check for him that she was ready to embark upon. That was the immediate plan in her head.

But soon, she took a glance back inside at the dance and the setting came back to her. Watching all of the other teens dancing and having a good time under the glowing purple party lights. Remembering her friends were still inside. Even the guy she had asked as her date was still probably waiting on her too after she had asked for a moment to check on Dipper. A whole night that continued to wait on her.

Hesitation was the main feeling now. But as she mentally juggled her options, she realized what needed to be done and turned to head back inside the gym.

Comforting her brother was important, of course, but tonight, there was something else she had to do first.

SLAM!

Dipper rushed out a final set of double doors that led him outside through the back of the school. He rushed down a set of stone steps from the door only to stop right before the bottom. With a quick scan of his surroundings, it looked like he was finally alone and clear of any other students or even any faculty on campus. With that in mind, he grabbed onto his knees and caught his breath, panting hard and fast as his heart felt like it was about to explode.

He sat down upon one of the stone steps, leaning forward as he rested his arms on his knees. His breathing and heart rate began to slowly relax while he simply stared ahead. His eyes wandered up above to the only working lamppost illuminating that particular corner outside of the school. For a good moment there, not a clear thought was capable of running through his head with his anxiety so high. But now that he was relaxing, every possible thought began to catch up to him all at once in his mind.

Thus, his slow panting soon turned into short, shallow breaths as his eyes started to well with tears. His lip quivered with attempted resistance but it didn't hold. He ducked his head down, tucking his face into his folded arms that rested upon his kneecaps, and quietly sobbed away.

How the night went so wrong so fast escaped him. He thought he was long past dealing with this type of thing. There was even the thought just before the dance that maybe his luck was finally turning around.

After all, Angie Michaels - one of the coolest and certainly most popular girls in his grade - actually accepted being his date for Homecoming. Reaching out of his comfort zone just to ask out a girl was something he always struggled with, especially when the answer was typically an embarrassing variation of a "no". But to receive an actual "yes", and from a cheerleader at that - which was unheard of for reputable nerds like him - it filled him with a confidence he hadn't known since his last summer in Gravity Falls.

Sure, she had just gotten out of a known relationship very recently and was likely not in any place emotionally to properly move on just yet, but she still said yes!

…And she was a cheerleader!

…That's still a win, right?

Ultimately, a single thought had passed through his mind: Imagine the looks on everyone's faces, including Trevor's, when they see Dipper Pines strolling up to Homecoming, holding hands with the beautiful Angie Michaels. They would never look at him the same again.

However, all of that confidence blew up in his face the moment he went to pick her up. One look at her in her golden dress and all of the smooth pickup lines he studied and rehearsed online had escaped from his brain. The car ride wasn't much better and was filled with much awkward silence. At the same time, what good conversations can you have with your date while sitting in the backseat of your mom's minivan? Especially while she played and sang along to her old Top 40 Hits CD the whole time (although, resisting the urge to sing along to Disco Girl with her for once was painful in itself too). Angie herself seemed rather unimpressed the whole time, but at least tried to play nice, which gave him enough motivation to at least continue trying.

By the time they even got to the dance, the vibes got a bit better. He remembered his sister's advice and tried to be courteous wherever possible, opening the car door for her and offering his hand to help her out. Though, of course, she was put off by how sweaty his palms were. It was clear holding hands wasn't gonna happen, but they opted for linking arms as they walked inside.

As anticipated, eyes definitely went their way. Dipper was unused to this type of attention. In his head, he imagined he would stroll in with a suave and carefree smirk that paid no mind to anyone or their opinionated stares. Instead, he passed by every student with an uncomfortably sheepish grin while Angie continued to look unthrilled.

Dipper recalled murmurs and whispering from some of those he passed. Mostly unintelligible to him, but some louder remarks were thrown their way that didn't feel so great.

"Yo, Angie, did you lose a bet?" he recalled from one of the jocks.

Still though, he tried his hardest not to let them get to him. Perhaps it was just jealousy. Angie was a well-known stunner, there was no denying that, and most guys in his grade would be hard-pressed not to agree. So he tried to brush off the negative comments as nothing more than sour envy. Perhaps they just needed to accept that ol' Dipper Pines actually had more game than they thought

Once inside the gymnasium, he started to loosen up a bit more. The fact that he had made it to the dance with her and nothing had fully gone wrong yet was worth celebrating. So he figured, why not get a picture taken to immortalize this occasion?

They stood in line behind all the other couples and groups waiting for their pictures to be formally snapped in front of a basic Homecoming backdrop. Still though, up to that point, the two hadn't said much in the way of actual conversation. Dipper knew he was a largely inoffensive date thus far, but he didn't want to stay a boring one. But what did they even have in common? Chemistry class, maybe? It's a start, at least.

The moment after was still as vivid as could be. He had cleared his throat before nervously turning to her while in line.

"So, uhhh… how about that chem test, huh?" he had awkwardly prompted her.

"Yo, Dipstick!" an angry voice had called out to him.

Before he knew it, his dress pants were suddenly tugged all the way down to his ankles, exposing his black and purple striped boxers. There were gasps from everyone who witnessed in the near vicinity, including Angie, who cupped her mouth in shock.

Dipper was too stunned to move. His eyes glanced to the side, spotting a familiar tall and beefy guy standing up straight again as he stared him down.

Dante, quarterback of the school football team, and Angie Michaels' well known ex-boyfriend, had just pantsed him in front of her and the rest of the dance.

"That's what you get for swiping my girl," Dante said to him before walking off and clearing the scene.

In an instant, he was the center of attention to every person in the immediate vicinity at the dance. The shock quickly devolved into great amusement as just about every surrounding student burst into collective laughter, many pointing fingers his way.

Still in a state of shock, he didn't immediately react. He remembered looking to his right where Angie stood, and just watching her storm off as well. Whether from embarrassment for him or anger with Dante wasn't directly clear to him, but he figured it had to have been a mix of both. Still, she had left him on his own rather than sticking up for him. Left him to be the laughingstock of the night.

He knew Mabel was around there somewhere. The guy she had asked had picked her up before he had gone to pick up Angie. But he didn't remember seeing her face anywhere back there. Maybe she hadn't realized what happened or was too busy dancing or making out with her date somewhere to notice. Not that he could blame her in any case, but he figured then and there that no one was coming to save him this time. And so, he pulled his pants back up as he made an immediate run for the exit, all while the sound of laughter followed.

And that laughter continued to echo in his head as he cried. For all the trauma he may have endured from his time battling weirdness in Gravity Falls, social trauma still hit like no other. The thought of how he was possibly supposed to move on from this or even show his face around school again after tonight was inconceivable. This was it. This was the end.

He lifted his face out of his arms and wiped his tears off with the sleeves of his white dress shirt. Suddenly, however, a shadow came over him. His vision was blurry from the tears, but as he looked up, he spotted an outstretched hand offering a tissue for him. Following the arm of the hand, he recognized the striped hoodie all the way up to the face of the boy who wore it.

He sniffled. "...D-Derrick…?"

"It's not a dirty tissue. I promise," Derrick assured as he continued to hold it out for him.

Dipper hesitated for a moment, but soon reached up and took the tissue. "Thanks," he said gratefully before blowing his nose into it. With a fold and a wipe, he looked up at Derrick again, but more questionably. "What are you doing here? You said you weren't going to the dance."

"And I didn't go. I was lurking outside the dance."

Dipper looked back down at the ground pensively. "You knew something was going to happen to me tonight, didn't you?"

"Dude, I literally warned you not to ask her out to the dance. And then I warned you again not to take her when she said yes."

"I know!" Dipper admitted with a regretful facepalm. "I just… I got too excited! I mean, she's a cheerleader who was recently single, and she actually talked to me!"

"To copy your chem homework answers from the night before."

"Okay, well, at least she was nice about it! Nicer than others at least…"

"Dipper, you know I'm always in your corner when it comes to you asking girls out. But like I said, Angie Michaels is bad business even without having to worry about her ex. Her football quarterback ex…"

"Yeah… Dante wasn't cool about it at all," Dipper said with a sigh. "You were right, man. This might be the worst night of my life. Everyone in there saw what happened. My life is over."

"Please. Your life will survive one bad school dance," Derrick said reassuringly. "Besides, I'm sure people will forget by tomorrow."

At that moment, the two heard laughter coming from a pair of teen boys who were passing by on the sidewalk. One of them held a phone up in front of himself for the other to see.

"Oh, man! Check out this video someone posted of Dante pantsing some guy at the dance!" the boy said as he played the video.

"No way! I love watching videos of others' misfortunes!" the boy's friend snickered.

Suddenly, the boy's phone was snatched from the side. The two turned to see Derrick standing with it in hand. Right as he had their attention, he chucked the phone straight over his shoulder while carelessly staring at the two, who watched as the phone broke apart completely upon crashing down against the concrete street.

"Hey! What's your problem, man?! I just bought that phone!" the boy angrily asked as he got in Derrick's face.

"Why don't you buy some zit cream instead, Liam? Your acne-ridden face hurts my eyes!" Derrick berated while getting back in the boy's face, much to his sudden fear. "Now beat it!"

Liam and his friend didn't waste time getting away after that. Not even bothering to go pick up after the phone, the two simply fast-walked away while glancing back at Derrick to ensure he wasn't following.

While appreciative of the gesture, Dipper continued to sit glumly to the side on the steps. "You didn't have to do that, man."

"And they didn't have to watch that video either. Now they won't."

"Doesn't matter," Dipper dismissed. "A video's still going around. I'm gonna hear about this for the rest of the school year. Maybe even the rest of high school, knowing my luck."

"I could go around chucking more phones if you want."

Dipper let out a light chuckle at the thought. "Don't, man. You'll probably get expelled for that."

"I'm surprised I haven't been yet, honestly."

Dipper sighed again. "You know… before I started high school, I used to think things were gonna be different. But as it turned out, it's just been more of the same. Only with more acne and raging hormones."

"Yeah, that's about right," Derrick agreed as he walked back over to Dipper and sat on one of the steps above him. "And people say that high school is supposed to be the best years of our young lives."

"I know Mabel's said that before."

"I don't think your sister's mind exists on this plane of reality."

"Dude, I've already told you- don't talk about her like that," Dipper defended. "Besides, I can't even blame her. Compared to me, she's been having the time of her life since we started last year."

"Yeah, well, maybe that's 'cause she fits in more with this stupid social hierarchy these people have deluded themselves into believing in," Derrick said somewhat bitterly.

"And that's exactly right. I don't fit in. I guess that's another reason why I miss Gravity Falls so much. Because over there, it felt like I was actually somebody. Here… I'm nobody."

"A lot of people are nobodies, man. High school likes to trick us into thinking some people are worth more than others based on stuff like… what sport they play, what person they're dating, how hard you can slap-box the gym coach - but none of those things actually matter. We're no less people than most here, even if they want us to think otherwise."

"Hmph. You know, you might be a good sociology teacher or something one day."

"I was actually thinking about that too!" Derrick nodded. "But then I got hungry, so now I'm thinking about food instead." He stood up from the steps and ran down to the bottom before looking back at Dipper. "You wanna bounce?"

"I don't really have money on me for food right now."

"Who said we were buying anything?"

"Oh, are we cracking open vending machines again?" Dipper asked, standing up as well.

"We could, but I was actually thinking we raid my dad's snack stash back at my place."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Snack stash? Your dad's? Raid? Are you crazy?! He'll kill you!"

Derrick smirked. "He would… if he was actually home."

SLAM!

The front door to Derrick's dad's house swung open violently upon Derrick himself kicking it inward. He casually strolled inside while Dipper stood behind outside, taken aback by the kick.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked with a look.

"Who cares? No one's home. Not like I woke anyone," Derrick shrugged off as he continued inside.

Dipper knew his point had been missed but was in no mood to debate morals. As such, he followed inside, stopping to close the door more gently than it had been opened. From there, he caught up with Derrick in his father's kitchen.

He had been to Derrick's place before, though they often didn't hang out or meet up there, mostly due to Derrick's insistence. But it was a modest little house within an admittedly less reputable neighborhood in Piedmont. The exterior was dull in color and covered in overgrowth, likely due to a neglect of landscaping along with many of the other houses on the block. The interior was fairly standard, albeit dated in many respects, but otherwise nothing worth noting outside of some dimmed-out yellow lights. All that mattered, according to Derrick, was they still had television and internet. And knowing him, it wasn't hard to imagine why having those two things was considered vital.

Of course, Derrick's more-than-rocky relationship with his dad was not at all unknown to Dipper. It was a subject that had come up a handful of times since the two had become friends, though never because Dipper sought it out. Rather instead, Derrick would casually mention his lack of respect for his father at random points when he had been recently frustrated by him. It wasn't regular, but it had happened often enough to where Dipper was able to paint enough of an image of the kind of person Derrick's dad was.

And he mostly had to paint that image considering he had only ever seen him once, and very briefly. Near the end of Freshman Year, Derrick got sent to the principal's office for starting a fight with another kid at school. Not the first time that Derrick had been sent to the principal's office, but it was the first time that Dipper had seen Derrick's dad come to school to pick him up. His outfit when coming to the school was particularly casual, with a sloppy gray tank top and shorts. He had short brown hair, thick eyebrows, and a long, bushy, and unkempt brown beard. He was kind of a big guy too, and in somewhat of an intimidating way. He didn't remember him looking particularly unkind as Derrick had always built him up to be, but he did look very drained and out of it, almost like he had gone several nights without sleeping. Whether or not something like that was the case or if he just naturally looked like that was never made clear to him, Derrick had said before that his dad doesn't sleep easy.

It was odd though that in the two years he had known Derrick so far, that was the one time he had ever seen his dad. He still hadn't properly met him or even been introduced to him. Every time he had ever gone over to Derrick's, his dad wasn't ever home for one reason or another. With everything Derrick had said about him, it certainly wasn't anything he was in a rush to do, but he still found it kind of strange considering how many times Derrick had met both of his parents.

"You didn't tell me your dad was going away for the weekend," Dipper said, glancing around the living room.

"Neither did he," Derrick said. "I woke up, saw he wasn't here, then found a note in the kitchen. He's out of town with his girlfriend. Won't be back till Sunday night."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "He just… left you a note? He didn't even tell you himself?"

Derrick shrugged. "Not the first time it's happened."

He then bent down in front of a cabinet in the kitchen. As Dipper peeked over at him, he noticed that the cabinet had a chain and lock around it, for whatever reason that remained unknown to him at that moment.

Derrick dug a hand into his back pocket and pulled out a slightly bigger-than-normal paper clip. It took him little-to-no effort to pull and twist it into a makeshift pick that he inserted into the cabinet lock. With some twists and wedging, a click was heard rather quickly as the top of the lock popped open. He pulled it out of the chain links and tossed it carelessly to the side before reaching for the cabinet handle and pulling it open.

As Dipper stood on the side, Derrick offered him a clear view of what was inside - a whole supply of popular junk food brands. There were many different types of M&Ns, Jay's Potato Chips, Acclaimed Wayne cookies, Chipackerz, Cheese Boodles, Burrito Bites, and so many more snacks packed and stashed within. A total junk food gold mine.

Dipper's mouth hung open in awe at the sight. "Holy… and he just keeps this stash locked up for himself?"

"Yeah, he's a dick. Anyway, have at it."

Derrick grabbed a bag of BBQ Jay's and tossed it into Dipper's hands. He then turned to the fridge, opened it, and snagged two cans of Pitt Cola before kicking it shut again. He tossed one of the cans into Dipper's open hand before walking over toward the living room.

"Oh, and get comfortable. We have a long night ahead," Derrick continued.

Dipper glanced between the bag of chips and the soda with slight confusion. "A long night of what?"

Instead of answering immediately, Derrick walked over to the living room television and pressed the power button. After a brief moment, the screen lit up and flashed a big, bright logo.

Bloodcraft: Overdeath

[ Press Play To Start ]

Derrick smirked as he glanced back at Dipper. "Guess who stole his game console back after getting grounded?"

Between the snack supply, the game, and an adult-free house on a Saturday night free of responsibilities, Dipper knew where Derrick's head was at and began to feel a sense of growing excitement for the evening. At the same time, some concern grew for many of the same reasons.

"Dude, with all the things you've said about your dad, he's totally gonna freak out if he finds out about any of this tomorrow night," Dipper warned.

"Blah-blah. Play and eat now. Worry later."

Dipper wasn't so sure Derrick should've been taking the situation as lightly as he seemed to be. But at the same time, perhaps the point of the evening was to drop all concerns about anything and everything and just retreat to a place of safety instead. Tonight, that place was an empty house except for his best friend, a large supply of snacks, their favorite video game, and no school tomorrow.

And after the evening he's had, Dipper couldn't ask for anything else.

He grinned. "In that case, I call dibs on your good controller!"

Derrick's eyes lit up. "Aw, what? Screw you! I broke a phone for you, and this is how you repay me?"

"I did say that you didn't have to do that."

"I'm wishing I hadn't now."

Dipper chuckled while Derrick fetched the game controllers. He then looked up at him earnestly. "But seriously, thanks, man. For all of this… for being there for me. If you hadn't shown up back there tonight… I don't know what I'd be doing right now. Maybe I would've tried to find Mabel, but at the same time, I wouldn't have wanted to bother her while she's enjoying the dance. At least she gets to have a night that isn't depressing."

"Dude, it's a school dance. They're all depressing."

"Hmph. Maybe you're right."

"I am right," Derrick affirmed. "Anyway, forget about the dance or Angie or your sister. No more being sentimental. You're in my house now… which means it's time to put your mind to what really matters, and that's killing endless hordes of zombie skeleton pirate miners!" He tossed a custom red controller over to Dipper while keeping the normal black one to himself. "And don't you think about sleeping until we beat my previous record."

"What's your record?"

"Round 134."

Dipper's eyes widened at the number but looked forward at the screen with acceptance as he gripped the controller. "Oh, man. It's gonna be a long night."

"That it is, my friend," Derrick nodded with a smirk. "Ready up."

The two took their places on opposite ends of the living room couch in front of the TV screen. Dipper then kicked off his black loafers and started to loosen his tie while munching on some BBQ-flavored chips from the Jay's bag he had just opened. He wiped his dirty fingers off with a nearby napkin before wielding the red controller in hand again, leaning forward readily in proper gaming position.

Derrick looked over at him and simply smiled. In his own mind, there was no need to dwell on feelings or emotional conversation. Dipper had a problem, and a problem needed a solution. A few snacks, sodas, and a night of gaming were usually all he needed to cheer himself up, and he was more than happy to share that same remedy with his friend. And at that moment, it looked like it was working.

Whatever was to happen on the Monday they returned to school would be its own problem, and that may have its own solution, whichever form that would be. But for tonight, he was just glad to see that despite the prior events of the night, Dipper was still capable of looking ahead.

Meanwhile, the night just made Dipper even more glad to have a friend like Derrick in his life who had his back no matter what, even during his worst moments. And sure, he could say the same about Mabel, but in recent years as they've grown up, there have undoubtedly been times when either she wasn't there or simply couldn't be there, for one reason or another like in tonight's case. But in those same moments, it was Derrick who was there instead.

And that was the biggest difference in his life back home since coming back from Gravity Falls: having another friend to count on, and someone he could trust endlessly.

[Present]

ClickClickClickClickClick.

MashMashMashMashMash.

ClickMashClickMashClick.

Upstairs at Derrick's grandpa's house, Dipper and Derrick both sat on their knees on the wooden floor directly in front of a small, old-school box television. Their eyes were wide with absolute non-blinking focus as they both rapidly tapped away on the buttons and triggers of their wielded controllers. The TV screen was divided into an upper and lower half, each displaying separate POVs of a first-person shooter, both in the process of gunning down hordes of virtual zombie-like entities.

"I'm running out of ammo, but I almost have enough points to purchase the dinosaur bazooka. Can you cover me for a second?" Derrick asked while button-mashing.

"You're running out of ammo? My flaming machete gun is almost completely depleted here," Dipper replied mid-button mash as well.

"Crap."

"And they're deploying harpoon-wielding zombie skeleton walruses!"

"What?! I thought those didn't spawn until Round 132!"

"This IS Round 132!"

"Is it?! Man, I haven't blinked in so long!"

"Me neither!"

"AAAGGHH! I can't hold them off!"

"Me neither!"

SLASH!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the two screamed in unison.

The screen suddenly displayed virtual blood splatters over both of their player POVs. A deep voice emerged from the speaker soon after.

"GAME OVER! YOU ARE DEAD!"

The boys helplessly stared at the screen with their mouths agape for a solid moment as they processed their loss. Once the moment passed, the two finally blinked their eyes again at the same time, only for them to both immediately groan and recoil at the agitating feeling of blinking their dried-up eyes.

"Aw, man, that does not feel right at all," Derrick said as he began rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?" Dipper asked while rapidly blinking his irritated eyes.

"I don't know, man. I don't know."

As his eyes slowly readjusted again, Dipper looked back at the screen again, which now displayed the post-game statistics.

"Damn, and we were getting close to beating your record again," Dipper said as he read the stats. "How do we always fumble on Round 132?"

"I told you that those walruses are no joke," Derrick said as he looked up at the screen too. "The only time I got past them was with the dino-zooka. Those dinosaurs love eating those walruses."

"This game's lore makes no sense."

"Yeeeeaahhh… Really fun though."

"Can't argue there."

Dipper then scrolled through the stats with his controller, reading through the screen with curiosity. His eyes then lit up with sudden interest.

"Hey, check this out," he pointed. "We can look at the local leaderboards for players in the area. Maybe we're the best Bloodcraft players in Gravity Falls."

"Oh, we have to be," Derrick said confidently. "There's no way anyone in this town has played this game more than us. If so, then… well, that's just sad, honestly."

Dipper scrolled his way over to the Local Leaderboards screen, which loaded a list of player gamertags from the vicinity, ranked from highest to lowest scores. The gamertag on Derrick's console was "iDerrYou2". The tag was actually his second account after his first one, "iDerrYou", got banned for poor sportsmanship due to cussing other players out in online multiplayer.

The two expected to see Derrick's tag at the very top of the local list, but they were immediately surprised to see that wasn't the case. The surprise only grew upon seeing what the top of the list actually looked like.

PLATINUMPAZ - Level 100 Deathslayer - Round 250

iDerrYou2 - Level 27 Deathslayer - Round 134

xXxTD3t3rmin3dxXx - Level 68 Deathslayer - Round 70

"No way…" Derrick said in disbelief as he stared at the top line of the list. "There are at least 250 rounds of this game?! WHAT?!"

"Geez… Who the heck is PLATINUMPAZ?" Dipper questioned. "You mean there's a max-rank living somewhere in this town? Yeesh. I do not wanna meet that guy. Or play against him for that matter."

"Well, it doesn't take skill to become a Level 100 Deathslayer. Either this guy paid for a ton of Deathpacks and sped up his progress with XP boosts, orrrrr… he just has way too much free time on his hands... Or both."

"Probably both."

At that moment, the door to Derrick's room opened up and Derrick's grandpa stepped inside. He slowly walked up to the two with his usual cheery smile while holding two plastic cups in hand.

"Hey, fellas," he greeted while holding out the cups to them. "Thought you two boys could use some refreshments."

"Oh, hey. Thanks, Grandpa," Derrick said as he accepted a cup.

"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Mendez," Dipper said, taking the other cup.

"Enjoy!" Mr. Mendez nodded.

As he turned back toward the door, the two boys each took sips from their cups. However, Dipper raised an eyebrow in confusion as he took a sip from his cup. He held it away from his face and looked inside, only to realize his cup was entirely empty. Glancing over at Derrick, this didn't seem to be the case for him, as he looked to be downing his drink with no issue.

"Um… Mr. Mendez?" he prompted. "There's, uh… nothing in my cup."

At the doorway, Mr. Mendez stopped to turn back toward him with an apparent look of surprise.

"Huh. Is that so?" he asked. "Oh well! We're all outta punch anyway. So, I'll leave you boys to it!"

From the doorway, Mr. Mendez turned right back around and continued on his merry way without looking back, leaving Dipper staring in his direction in utter confusion for a good moment. Even Derrick looked to be somewhat perplexed as he put his cup down.

"So is your granddad really that old and forgetful or does he just hate me?" Dipper asked.

Derrick tapped his chin curiously. "You know what? I'm not sure."

Dipper sighed as he set his controller down on the floor before standing back up on his feet. "Well, I guess I can just serve myself my own refreshments back at the Shack."

"Ah, c'mon! Pick it back up," Derrick insisted. "A few more matches can't hurt. They might fry your brain and kill your sanity a bit more, but that's an easy recovery."

"Actually, I think I've had enough brain-frying for one day," Dipper said as he reached for his backpack from the floor. "Besides, it's getting kind of late. We can just reserve the lost sanity for another time."

Realizing he was on his way out, Derrick set his own controller down and stood up from the floor as well. "You told me you brought your console to Gravity Falls, didn't you? Why don't you just set that up at your place so we can do online multiplayer?"

"I've been meaning to, but the only TV I can hook up to is in the living room. And half the time, Soos' grandma is hogging it, and the other half the time, Stan's hogging it."

Derrick shook his head. "Man… old people and TVs - an inseparable pair."

"Besides, it's not such a bad thing that I'm not wired up here like I am back home. Here, I get to go out, explore, uncover secrets, study weirdness…"

"…nearly get killed by mummies…"

Dipper shot him a look. "Okay, I already regret telling you about that."

"I'm just messing," Derrick snickered. "But I get it. You were right about this place, Dip. If I hadn't already mentioned it before. This town really is something else."

Dipper smirked. "Yeah, I know it's done you some good."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I feel like you've kind of changed."

Derrick raised an eyebrow. "I have?"

"For the better, I mean," Dipper clarified. "I don't know, you just seem… happier. More relaxed. More so than back home at least."

"Eh," Derrick shrugged. "Probably because my dad's not around to be on my case about every little thing I do or every place I go. Heck, my granddad tends to not even notice I've left the house most of the time. So all things considered, yeah, I guess I am a bit more relaxed. But I wouldn't say I've necessarily 'changed'."

"Well, you've definitely been keeping out of trouble way more since you've gotten here. No fights or many of your usual swipe sprees back home or even earlier this summer when I first ran into you."

"Pfft, yeah. You really tackled me over a loaf of bread," Derrick vividly recalled.

"I mean, what you did was still wrong."

Derrick narrowed his eyes slightly at him. "Isn't that Uncle Stan of yours like a criminal mastermind or something too? I never hear about you busting his chops."

"First, 'criminal mastermind' might be giving him too much credit. And second, yeah, I mean… Stan's not exactly an ideal role model either, but… but-"

"It's a different story because he's actually family, right?"

"What? No. Not at all," Dipper was quick to deny. "The crimes Stan does are wrong too. I just…"

He sighed, struggling to think of how he was really trying to phrase what he wanted to say. In no way did he want it to seem like he approved of much of Stan's criminal history any more than he did Derrick's, especially since Stan was on a much higher tier of committed crimes. He wasn't much of a fan of that either, but telling Stan how wrong his actions were was much different than telling Derrick. One was way older, settled in his ways, and already had his life affected heavily by his actions, while the other one was younger and still had time to correct himself before his life was truly affected by his habits.

"I just don't wanna see you go to jail, man," Dipper directly admitted. "I mean, I've seen you have close calls before back home. You're, like… the closest I have to a brother, and other than Mabel, you're the only real friend I got back home. If I lose you because you decide to do something stupid… then I don't know what I'm going to do."

Derrick stared at him for a moment in slight surprise. At the same time, he tensed up a bit uncomfortably with how openly sincere and emotional the conversation had become. Still, Dipper's words had their weight and he knew it would be wrong to dismiss them.

"I gotcha, man," he nodded while rubbing the back of his neck. "I appreciate you looking out and well… caring so much, I guess. And since getting here, I've been trying to get my act together like you've been pushing me to. I know I haven't been perfect at doing so, but maybe you're right. Maybe I have changed a bit." He sighed. "I don't know if that'll carry over for long when I get back home though. I mean, remember, I was sent here as a punishment, not a vacation."

"Yeah…" Dipper said, thinking back to what he had been told when he first ran into Derrick again back at Tons. However, as he thought back to that day, another realization crossed his mind. "Also… you've still never told me what you even did to get sent here in the first place."

"I haven't?"

"No, you haven't."

Derrick stroked his chin as he thought back to that same day as well. "Huh. Well, it wasn't even a big deal. Just a fight between me and my dad. You know how it is. He said some stuff. I said some stuff back. Some of that stuff might've involved bad words. And so he just had enough and sent me here. Nothing too overdramatic."

Dipper looked on at him for a moment as he processed this explanation. His eyes glanced around as though he was expecting more, but Derrick continued to look at him as though that was all he had to say.

"Really?" he questioned. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"But from the way you first mentioned it, it always sounded like you had done something much worse. I mean, why would you not just tell me this in the first place?"

"I dunno," Derrick innocently shrugged. "Maybe I just didn't wanna talk about it. Now I am. You're welcome."

Dipper could only scoff while paying him an unamused glare following that response. "You're really annoying sometimes."

"I know. And that is never gonna change."

Dipper gave him a light and playful jab to the shoulder, which Derrick instantly returned, but slightly harder, which resulted in an exchange of humored laughs before they began walking out of the room. They headed down the stairs and made their way to the front door of the house. Derrick unlocked it for Dipper and opened it up, allowing him to walk outside while both of them met the sunlight for the first time in hours. Thankfully, it was setting and not as bright outside as it could've been, but both of their eyes still felt the difference.

"Like I told you, man - get that console set up so we can do Bloodcraft online next time," Derrick reminded him.

"How are you even able to do online multiplayer here?" Dipper asked curiously. "Your granddad just discovered TV channels the other day. How the heck would he have an internet connection?"

"He doesn't. I've been 'borrowing' the WiFi from the next-door neighbor."

"Dude…" Dipper said with a glare, already thinking back to their previous conversation.

"Chill out," Derrick said with an eye roll. "She's old too. She's probably not even using it. Would be a waste of an internet bill otherwise."

"I'm not gonna get into this right now."

"Me neither."

Riiiiiiing!

From inside the house came the familiar ringing of a landline telephone, which attracted both of their attentions for a quick moment.

"Derrick, boy, the ringy-thingy's ringin' again!" Mr. Mendez called out from back inside.

"Welp. That's my cue," Derrick said with a sigh. "I'll catch you around, Dip."

"See ya, Derrick," Dipper replied with a smile.

The two extended their fists for one another, bidding farewell with a final mutual fist-bump. Dipper then turned back around with his backpack and made his way toward Soos' pickup truck parked right outside the cottage beside the street curb. Derrick stood back at the doorway and casually watched for a brief moment before stepping back inside and shutting the door, making his way over to the ringing landline phone in the kitchen.

Dipper managed to return to the Mystery Shack right as the sun finished setting, clearing the sky of its remaining pink and yellow hues in exchange for another bright and starry night. Though, despite nights in Gravity Falls being cooler than the days, tonight felt more obviously like a summer night than usual. As he stepped out of Soos' pickup truck, he really felt the warmth under his layers the whole way up to the Shack's gift shop entrance. Opening the door, he just felt grateful to be immediately blasted by the Shack's working air-conditioning again as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Man, why do I wear a hoodie and jeans every day? It's summer, for crying out loud," he said to himself before looking ahead inside. His eyes suddenly bulged at the sight ahead of him as he jumped back in place, startled. "AAAAAHH!"

In the middle of the gift shop, Soos sat on a wooden stool, leaning his body forward as he held his chin up on top of his fist, looking as though he was thinking or pondering intensely. The real jumpscare though was the fact that, for some ungodly reason, he was stripped down to his tighty-whities.

He seemed remarkably less fazed than Dipper was though, as past Dipper's initial scream, he turned his head toward him with nothing more than his usual casual smile.

"Oh, 'sup Dip Dawg!" he greeted.

Remarkably, it was far from the first time Dipper had ever seen him like this, but out of respect (and just for his own sake), he held a hand up and partially shielded his eyes as he further addressed him.

"Umm… Soos, I know this is your house now and all, but why are you standing in the middle of the gift shop in your underwear?" he asked.

"He's my subject! Don't distract him!" Mabel's voice suddenly called out as she stuck her head out from behind a painting easel.

"You heard the lady. I'm her subject," Soos echoed before returning to his former 'thinking' pose on the stool.

Realizing he wasn't alone in the room with Soos, Dipper lowered his hand and glanced over behind his stool at Mabel's easel, where she sat behind, wearing a beret. Sitting on the floor beside her was Waddles, and standing right over her shoulder was Melody, who appeared to be very invested in whatever Mabel appeared to be working on at that moment. All while Soos remained frozen in his pose.

"The fact that this isn't even the weirdest thing I've walked in on," Dipper said to himself. "Mabel, what are you doing?"

"Making art, of course!" she casually replied, lifting a paintbrush for him to see from behind her easel.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Of Soos… naked?"

"He still has his underwear on," Mabel pointed out. "And Melody's cool with it! It's not that weird!"

"It's still pretty weird," Dipper said while giving her a look.

"Honestly, with all the other paintings she's done today, I was just curious to see if she could do this one too," Melody defended.

"Other paintings?" Dipper questioned.

"Hang on a sec, bro," Mabel told him as her brush strokes intensified. "I'm alllllmooooost doooooooone… There!" She rose from her seat excitedly as she put her brush down. "All finished, Soos! You can un-pose now!"

On cue, Soos loosened up from his thinking pose. "Phew! Can I put my pants on too? I've been chilly for, like… the last thirty minutes."

"You may!" Mabel nodded before grabbing the back of the easel and turning it around to present the front of the painting to everybody. "Well? What do you guys think?"

The painting spoke for itself. It was a very realistic painting of Soos in his underwear doing his thinking pose. But the colors were what stood out most. Instead of using realistic colors, Mabel swapped the palette around with brighter and more out-of-place colors like pinks, purples, yellows, and blues. But even with the color choice, the image was still a very clear and impressively realistic portrayal of Soos, which he and Melody realized with complete awe.

"Woah!" Soos said admiringly while putting his pants back on. "It's like looking in a mirror! A pretty handsome mirror!"

"I'll say!" Melody agreed with a quick eye-flutter. "It's amazing, Mabel!" She gasped as she turned to Soos. "Hun, maybe we could hang this up in the bedroom!"

Soos stroked his chin as he thought about it. "Hmm. I don't know how I feel about that idea… but it's growing on me…"

"I still don't see why he needed to be in his underwear for this," Dipper remarked as he continued to look at the painting somewhat uncomfortably.

"Sometimes art needs to be provocative to bring an emotion out of people," Mabel said. "What emotion are you feeling right now?"

"Confusion."

"You see? It's working!"

"And so what's this about other paintings?" Dipper reminded again.

"Oh, right!" Mabel realized before turning toward the door to the living room and cupping her hands around her mouth. "GRUNKLE STAN, GRUNKLE FORD, GET OUT HERE! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

Her sudden, unanticipated screams startled the other three. But they proved effective in their purpose, as within mere seconds, Stan and Ford came bursting through the living room door in a hurry, with Ford having his gun drawn and at the ready.

"We're here!" Stan announced. "We were watching Duck-tective!"

"What happened?! Is everyone alright?! Is anyone hurt?!" Ford questioned with urgency as his gun was pointed downward. However, his urgency was immediately halted the more he looked around the room. "Wait, why is Soos shirtless right now?"

"Art, dude," Soos casually replied with a thumbs-up.

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, what's going on here? I thought there was an emergency."

"There is an emergency! An art showcase emergency!" Mabel clarified. "Not some type of life-threatening danger type emergency like we're used to waaayyy more than we should be around here. Sorry for the confusion."

"Dammit, kid! You should know better than to needlessly startle two old men like that!" Stan rebuked. "We have hypertension, ya know!"

"You have hypertension," Ford corrected.

Stan transferred his stern glare from Mabel over to Ford. "Why can't you ever just take my side?"

"Boys, boys!" Mabel intervened. "Your elderly sibling banter is adorable, and I love it! But can I please steal your attention, along with everyone else's, and redirect it over to the museum?"

She then rushed over to her easel and picked up her painting of Soos before excitedly skipping her way through the red museum curtains while everybody else stood back in the gift shop. No one had any particular idea of what to expect, but regardless, they began following one-by-one behind into the museum.

"This better be worth missing out on Duck-tective," Stan remarked.

"I… somewhat agree," Ford admitted. "I have become way more invested in the series than I care to admit."

"Ha!" Stan guffawed. "You all hear that, people? We're finally making a normie out of this brainiac!"

As everyone walked into the museum, they all came to a quick stop as they looked around. They were all used to the immediate sight of all of the usual fake weirdness attractions, but at that moment, they all appeared to be gone and there seemed to be a good bit of empty space. At the same time, however, there were several other drapes, covers, and curtains around the walls and other areas of the room.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "What happened to all of the attractions?"

"Soos helped me move all of them to the floor room this morning," Mabel explained. "It's only temporary. I just needed all the room I could get."

"For what?" Dipper asked.

"For this!"

To the side of the room, Mabel pulled down on a golden rope, which immediately lifted up every single drape, cover, and curtain all at once. Underneath and behind all of them revealed several unique paintings and sculptures, turning the former weirdness museum into an entire art museum. Everybody looked around, completely wonderstruck by the sight of every piece.

"Woah… Mabel, is this all your artwork?" Dipper asked.

"That's right!" Mabel said with a proud nod as she hung up Soos' painting on a prepared empty space on a wall. "Take it all in! I've spent all day turning the Museum of Mystery… into the Museum of Mabel!" She gestured to the side at a series of paintings on the wall. "Check it out! A lot of them are some form of self-portrait. We have the Mabel-isa, Mabel Leading The People, The Girl With The Nacho Earring…"

The mentioned paintings were each a type of parody of other well-known and well-regarded famous art pieces, including the Mona Lisa, Liberty Leading The People, and The Girl With The Pearl Earring. The art styles of each original painting seemed to be near-perfectly replicated, but in the places of the original human portrayals were variations of Mabel herself, with elements of her silly personality illustrated in different ways across each piece.

The most apparent example was Mabel Leading The People, which had Mabel wearing sunglasses and waving a flag with Waddles' face on it while all the other originally portrayed humans were replaced with copies of herself with various exaggerated facial expressions while wearing different custom outfits of hers. The only exceptions were Xyler and Craz, who were painted with awestruck faces as they stared up at the main Mabel holding the flag.

"I can see where most of your inspiration lies," Dipper remarked while looking between the self-portraits.

"Aw, c'mon. It's not all self-indulgence," Mabel defended before pulling him to the side toward another wall of paintings. "As you can see, I've taken plenty of inspiration from around me - including the very people I love. And that includes you, bro!"

Dipper's eyes lit up a bit in surprise as he grew a flattered smile. "Really? You did a portrait of me?"

"Of course I did!" she nodded. "Check it out! You know that one painting of that iconic screaming guy? Well, I did my own take! And I called it - The Shriek!"

Dipper's smile faded slightly with her words and almost entirely disappeared upon looking up at the painting itself on the wall. As she described, the painting was her own parody of the famous painting, The Scream, but the person screaming was now a depiction of Dipper, including his red hoodie, curly brown hair, and his pine tree cap.

"You get it?" Mabel asked with an amused grin. "Because whenever you scream, it's more like a high-pitched shrieking kind of-"

"I get it," Dipper cut off, eyebrows lowering without amusement.

"And check this out!" Mabel said, skipping across the room to another wall with a set of paintings. "Ever heard of American Gothic? Well, how about Stan-ian Gothic!"

The next presented painting was Mabel's parody of the famous American Gothic, which once depicted a woman beside an elderly man wielding a pitchfork. Mabel's version, however, swapped the woman's head with Stan's, and the elderly man's head with Ford's, both of them looking about as grumpy as the original pair was depicted.

Still, despite the parody, Ford looked on at the painting with amazement, adjusting his glasses as he viewed the painting up close.

"My… and you've managed to perfectly nail the style of Grant Wood…" Ford said as he inspected the painting with growing astonishment.

"What do you know about art?" Stan questioned skeptically.

"I'll have you know that I studied multiple art and art history courses during my time at Backupsmore," Ford mentioned. "And while I've never quite labeled myself an artist, I've put lots of thought and care into all of my journal illustrations, and you should already know."

"Oh, yeeeaah. Those drawings were your work, huh?" Stan realized. "I might've appreciated them more if I hadn't spent so long just trying to figure out how to read all of your fancy-schmancy handwriting."

"It's cursive."

"My point still stands."

Ford rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Mabel. "Anyways, the piece is fantastic, Mabel. You've really outdone yourself here."

"Yeah, it looks great and all, but let's be real - between me and Ford, I'm clearly the one who wears the pants in this relationship," Stan mentioned while looking at his painted head attached to the original woman's figure.

Ford glanced at him. "You're not even wearing pants right now."

Stan looked down at that moment, suddenly remembering he was in his usual stay-at-home combination of his wife-beater and boxer briefs.

"Touché."

"And of course, I took the sculpting approach with some of my inspirations," Mabel continued as she walked toward a sculpture in the center of the room. "For example, instead of the Venus de Milo, we have the Venus de Melody!"

Gesturing in front of her, Mabel's parody of the Venus de Milo was now a wonderfully sculpted depiction of Melody in a goddess gown, though fully covered instead of topless like the original sculpture. What did stay faithful to the original was her missing arms.

"Man, I gotta admit- not that I want it, but I could totally rock the no-arms thing," Melody remarked while staring up at the sculpture admirably.

"I'll say," Soos agreed with a flirty glance her way that prompted a giggle out of her.

"So are all of these just parodies of actually famous art pieces?" Dipper asked.

"Not all of them! I have some originals!" Mabel claimed before gesturing over toward a corner of the room. "Like this hyperrealistic sculpture of Abuelita taking a nap in her chair!"

Looking over at the highlighted corner, Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Uhh… isn't that just the real Abuelita taking a nap in her chair?"

Mabel turned her head back to her point of interest, realizing immediately that Dipper was correct. Abuelita herself was right there, snoring away in her chair in front of her and everybody, seemingly undisturbed the entire time.

"Oh, yeah. I used her for reference," Mabel quickly remembered. "The real sculpture is actually over there."

She pointed across from her on the other side of the room, where a sculpture of Abuelita that looked identical to how she did at that very moment stood - sat within her chair, comfortably snoring away. The only real difference, outside of not being alive, was the lack of color, instead radiating a marble white.

"Wow," Stan awed.

"That's impressive," Melody nodded.

"You've truly captured her elderly elegance…" Soos admired.

Mabel then skipped over to the one wall she hadn't gone over. "And last, but certainly not least, we can't forget the most art-genic pig of all! I call this one - Waddles: A Moment In Time."

She gestured both of her hands beside her to the painting on the wall, which was a depiction of Waddles playing around in a mud pile, smiling happily with pure innocence. Nothing more, nothing less.

Waddles himself looked up at the painting and let out a light oink no different than any other casual oink of his.

"That's right, Waddles! It is you!" Mabel nodded as she bent down and stroked the top of his head. "And you look art-tastic!"

"Kind of a pretentious name, but hey, it's a great piece, Mabel!" Dipper praised. "Same with nearly all of these. I don't care for The Shriek though."

"Yeah, this might just be the first time this museum isn't a complete sham, but instead a display of actual talent!" Stan agreed.

"I can agree with that sentiment," Ford nodded. "I am incredibly impressed with your efforts, Mabel. To be able to create all of this stellar art in all these different styles in such a swift time - especially at your age - there's no overstating just how amazingly gifted you are."

"Fully agree, hambone!" Soos nodded along with Melody. "You're like the next Leonardo! Like… the artist guy. Not like the turtle with the sword… who, actually… I think got his name from the artist…" His eyes lit up. "Woah. Did I just make that connection in real time?"

"I'm just wondering though - what's the occasion for putting all of this together in the first place?" Dipper asked. "I mean, I haven't even seen you do anywhere near this much art all summer."

"I'm glad you asked! Remember that quick painting I made yesterday for Soos' Mystery Tour?" Mabel asked.

"Oh, you mean the hummingbird," Dipper suddenly remembered.

Mabel narrowed her eyes at him. "A sparrow. It was obviously a sparrow."

"Huh. I also thought it was a hummingbird," Soos mentioned.

"It wasn't. It was a sparrow," she repeated with a defensive attitude. "ANYWAYS… guess who just so happened to be here during the tour!"

"Well, clearly my guessing skills are off according to you, so why don't you just answer for me?" Dipper sassily replied.

Mabel excitedly shuffled her feet together as she looked on at him. "Pietro Pizzazz!"

Dipper's eyes widened. "Wait a sec… Pietro Pizzazz? The Pietro Pizzazz?"

"YES!" Mabel nodded giddily. "I couldn't believe it either!"

"Who the hell is Pietro Pizzazz?" Stan asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"He's this old Italian painter guy who used to have his own TV show ages ago," Dipper explained. "Mabel used to catch reruns of it on TV all the time when we were little. He also has a really strong accent and a kind of funny catchphrase whenever he approves of something."

"'Yes-yes! Good-good!'" Mabel mimicked with a pretend voice. "AAAH! I love him so much! His show was one of my biggest inspirations for getting into art growing up! He was so nice yesterday! And he smells like old person! But like… mixed with crayons and paint! Just like I always thought he did!"

Dipper paid her a funny look. "I… have no idea how to follow that up."

"I just couldn't believe it! He just so happened to stop by the Shack while on his way to host an art exhibition in Portland, and he took an immediate liking to my sparrow painting! Something about it having lots of latte di capra!"

"Lots of… goat milk?" Dipper mentally translated in his head.

"Is that what it means? I thought that it just meant personality. Huh…" Mabel said before pulling a check out from her pocket. "Either way, he gave me five hundred dollars for it."

Dipper's eyes bulged. "Wait… five hundr-?!"

"FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!" Stan questioned in shock as he instinctively swiped the check from Mabel's hands and examined it. "WHAT?! ALL FOR A CRUMBY PAINT- I mean… FOR AN OUTSTANDING WORK OF ART?!"

"Yeppp!" Mabel nodded. "Turns out he was looking to fit an entire collection of art just like mine into his exhibit. So he offered me big bucks to make him a whole collection, ready for him to pick up tomorrow afternoon!"

"That sounds agonizing, if not impractical," Dipper said.

"It wasn't that bad!" Mabel reassured. "I just spent all day downing Mabel Juice, grinding out art pieces, crying profusely numerous times while my fingers bled… Ya know. Typical artsy day."

"I am deeply concerned for your mental well-being," Dipper told her with a slight face of worry.

"Don't worry, bro! It'll all be worth it when Pietro comes in tomorrow and buys out all of them!" Mabel announced before casually picking her check back from Stan's hands. "This is my big break!"

Stan turned to Ford with the widest and proudest smile imaginable. "Can you believe this, Sixer? Our great-niece's art is actually worth something! And she didn't even have to die!"

"Incredible indeed!" Ford nodded, equally as proud as he turned back to her. "I've always known you to be an artistic person, Mabel, but seeing how far your skills have come in just four years is truly a sight to behold."

"Yeah, you're going to totally blow that art dude's mind tomorrow!" Soos confidently assured.

"Absolutely. But I'm sure you've gotta be drained from making all of these pieces today," Melody pointed out. "Maybe we should all turn in a bit early tonight so you can get the rest you need for your showcase tomorrow."

"I also believe that would be wise," Ford nodded as he began making his way back into the gift shop. "Come along, Stanley. Back to our quarters we go."

"Aghhh, but what about Duck-tective?" Stan whined. "We're missing the rest of the newest episode!"

"Mediocre continuations of children's cartoons can wait another day," Ford dismissed as he stepped out of the museum.

"Mediocre…" Stan grumbled mockingly as he followed him out. "Just when I was starting to believe this man had taste."

Soos turned back to the twins as he began walking toward the museum exit as well. "Welp. Guess we'll see you dudes tomorrow!"

"Uh, hun, shouldn't we get Abuelita to bed properly?" Melody reminded as she pointed toward Abuelita still in her chair in the room's corner.

"Nah, it's best not to bother her when she's in chair deep sleep. Believe me, I already learned my lesson a long time ago!" Soos told her before walking out through the museum curtains, leaving Melody to chew on his words for a moment.

"Hmph. Noted," she said to herself before turning back toward the twins and waving. "'Night, guys!"

"'Night, Melody!" Mabel called back to her with a wave as she left the museum to her, Dipper, and Waddles (and a sleeping Abuelita).

"Gotta say, I'm real proud of you, Mabel," Dipper said as he glanced around at all of the artwork again. "I always knew you had a knack for this art thing, but seeing all of these paintings and sculptures now - Ford's right. You really have come a long way."

"Awww, thanks, Dipper!" she said with a humble blush. "It's definitely something, isn't it? And then after tomorrow's showcase, we're gonna be rich!"

"Pfft… what do you mean 'we'? It's your art, your money."

"C'mon, you really think I'm gonna take such a massive payday and not share it amongst my dearest family and friends?" Mabel questioned.

"Actually, I kind of do think that," Dipper replied, only for him to receive a quick blow to the arm from her. "Ow! Kidding! I was just kidding!"

Mabel smirked at him before her eyes began to sparkle with new dreams. "But just think about it, Dipper. The amount of money I might be getting tomorrow could leave us both set for life!"

"I'd temper your expectations just a bit," he advised. "Five hundred for one painting is great, but I wouldn't call that an immediate stepping stone to 'for life' money."

"Maybe you're right, but still! This is such a huge opportunity for me as an artist! You know how long I've been honing in on my art and design skills these past few years! And now, it's finally getting my foot in the door! And I haven't even finished high school yet!"

"It's definitely impressive," he nodded with a smile.

"And who knows? If I continue at this rate, maybe I won't even need to go to college! Now, that'd be something, huh?"

Dipper's smile slowly faded as her words settled in with him. "You, uh, don't wanna go to college?"

Mabel sat on the floor, petting Waddles whilst not giving the question much thought. "Meh. It's not at the top of my to-do list of things to focus on post-high school. I mean, who needs more homework after graduation, am I right?"

Dipper glanced to the side with uncertainty. "That's one way to look at it, I guess."

This revelation of how she felt about college was previously unknown to him, and it filled him with conflicted thoughts and feelings of his own that he felt inclined to bring up. At the same time, he wasn't sure if now was even the best time to open that can of worms given what she had to look forward to just the next morning.

So, he figured to leave it for another time, perhaps. And hopefully, when the mood was good enough for both of them.

Mabel went back over to the golden rope and pulled down on the other end of it, lowering all of the drapes and curtains around the museum and covering all of her art so she could unveil it all again during tomorrow's showcase.

"Man, I am beat!" she exclaimed somewhat tiredly. "But at the same time, my body feels like I can run a mile. Is this what a Mabel Juice overdose feels like?"

Dipper chuckled as he physically urged her out of the museum. "C'mon. Let's try and get you some shut-eye for tomorrow. If anything, you can run around in circles to tire yourself out."

"I'm not convinced that'll work, but I can give it a try!" she accepted before sprinting her way out of the museum and straight through the living room. "Race you upstairs!"

"I'm not racing youuuu!" Dipper called out to her.

"I'll just win thennnn!" her now distant voice called back to him.

He couldn't help but let out another chuckle at her silliness before making his own way out of the museum and toward their room upstairs in a much more casual manner while Waddles followed alongside him. At that point, the museum was emptied of everybody except for Abuelita, who remained in deep sleep in her chair in the corner of the room, filling the silence with her snores.

The heavy anticipation for the showcase didn't leave Mabel once over the course of the passing night. Instead, it just grew even stronger as it followed her into the next morning. For her showcase outfit, she made sure to put on her own type of smart-casual, which included a blazer, a button-up underneath, jeans, and boots - all multi-colored and with little cohesion between one another, which she felt was fitting for attendance to her own art gallery.

However, despite the confidence that her outfit exuberated, her actual confidence was walking a thin tightrope.

As she awaited Pietro's arrival, she paced around the gift shop - back and forth and in various circles - all while Dipper, Ryland, and Waddles stood off to the side by the register counter, each of their eyes following her and watching as her anxiety ate her up from the inside out.

"…You okay, babe?" Ryland asked with noticeable concern.

"Mhmm! Mhmm!" Mabel quickly nodded dismissively as she continued pacing around.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Mhmm! Mhmm!"

Dipper sighed. "Mabel, you've been pacing around for like an hour nonstop. Would you just relax a bit?"

"You don't think I've TRIED to relax?!" she finally exploded while holding up her shaking hands. "All I want to do is relax! But the jitters won't stop jittering!"

"Look, I've seen you rehearse your presentation speech a few dozen times this morning," Dipper reminded. "Trust me, you couldn't be more ready for this guy!"

"But what if it's not good enough? What if it sounds too rehearsed?" she pondered unconfidently. "I'm usually so much better going off the cuff! Maybe I should ditch the flashcards and go off the cuff!"

"Alright, fine," Dipper accepted. "Pietro walks in right now. What's the first thing you say?"

With zero build-up, Mabel suddenly leaped in both of Dipper and Ryland's faces with a wide, freakish smile, startling both of them.

"HI AGAIN!" she greeted loudly while offering her hand to shake. "I'M MARBLE PINES! AND I AM TOTALLY NOT SWEATING PROFUSELY THROUGH EVERY PORE IN MY BODY RIGHT NOW!"

Her eye began twitching uncomfortably as she continued to extend her hand out to the boys, both of whom just stared at her silently with even more discomfort than her. The two glanced at one another for a brief second, both mentally exchanging the same thoughts before looking back at her.

"I'd stick to the flashcards," Dipper simply commented.

"Yeah, that was bad," Ryland put even more bluntly.

Mabel sighed, pulling her flashcards out from her blazer and shuffling through them quickly again for a quick mental refresher. She knew her written words like the back of her hand, but it still didn't put her at ease.

She sighed. "I just feel so much pressure to nail this showcase. I don't wanna blow what could be such a huge opportunity in front of Pietro Pizzazz of all people, even if he liked my art the other day."

Ryland gave her an encouraging smile as he walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, I get it. This is a big moment for you. It's okay to be nervous, but don't let that throw you off balance. You just gotta keep pedaling, and you'll make it through just fine."

Mabel raised an eyebrow. "Was that a biking metaph-?"

"It was a biking metaphor."

"Gotcha," she said before glancing back up at him with a warm smile. "Thanks, Ryland. I'm not riding a bike, but I'll try and keep my balance."

"That's all that matters," Ryland nodded with a warm smile back.

As Mabel walked to the side to continue reviewing her flashcards, Dipper kept his eyes on Ryland for a moment with an odd look.

"So are biking metaphors, like, your thing orrr…?"

"I wish they weren't," Ryland said with a smile without even looking back at him.

The gift shop's main door soon opened up, immediately grabbing everyone's attention as Stan and Ford entered. Mabel pocketed her flashcards again as she ran up to them.

"Well?" she prompted.

"He's here," Ford confirmed, shutting the door behind him. "Soos and Melody are walking him over now."

"I recommended softening him up a bit before coming inside, but Ford wasn't having it," Stan mentioned while side-eyeing his brother.

"Stanley, we both know what happened the last time I let you 'soften up' an Italian man," Ford reminded.

Stan's eye widened at the reference. "Hey, don't pin that on me! How was I supposed to know his wife owned an antique knife shop?"

"Okay, can we maybe not do this right now?" Dipper intervened.

"Dipper's right," Ford nodded. "Everybody should take their places, put on their kindest smiles, and maintain professionalism as best we can in support of Mabel… and yes, that goes for you too, Stanley."

Stan shot him yet another look. "Keep at it with the petty jabs and I might not be so professional."

The gift shop door soon opened once again, prompting everyone inside to immediately tighten up and appear as welcoming and professional as possible. As the door widened all the way, Soos stepped inside wearing his Mr. Mystery getup and holding his 8-ball stick well in hand. He stood out of the way of the door for the man behind him to walk inside. Catching sight of the man, Mabel's heartbeat started rapidly increasing again.

Pietro Pizzazz was a thin and short man who looked to be somewhere in his 60s. He was bald with a thick, gray mustache that hung over his lips. Under his glasses, his eyes had a bit of a mean squint to them, exulting a strict vibe from him. His outfit was a conservative gray suit that was spiced up with a rainbow-colored scarf that hung around his neck.

He strolled into the Shack with a noticeable attitude, hands tucked into his blazer pockets as he glanced around the room with judgmental eyes and a pout. Melody followed right behind him, shutting the door behind her as she entered.

"And here we are again, Mr. Pizzazz," Soos said as he gestured around the room. "Welcome back to the Mystery-"

"Enough!" Pietro rudely cut off with a thick accent, much to Soos' surprise. "I tire of your theatrics. I didn't come back here for you! I came for the artsy girl to show me her work. Now where is she?!"

"Right here, Mr. Pizzazz!" Mabel called out.

Pietro's eyes turned to Mabel, who raised her hand at him from the center of the room as she giddily approached him. Though, while her excitement remained as high as could be, everyone else in the room was already thrown off by his response to Soos, who stood off to the side with a newfound downcast frown. Melody most particularly began to unkindly side-eye Pietro as she stroked Soos' arm comfortingly.

Mabel took a deep breath as she approached him, trying her best not to let her childhood excitement get the best of her. "And wow, let me just say, it's an honor to smell you- I mean, tell you about my collection!"

"Ahhh, there she is! My shining star!" Pietro greeted her with an enthusiastic smile. "Is it okay if I call you that?"

"Of course!" Mabel said, nodding vigorously. "It fills me with a lot less trauma than 'Shooting Star' these days, that's for sure!"

"Yes-yes! Good-good!" Pietro nodded with a thumbs-up.

Pietro's iconic catchphrase rang through Mabel's head, flashing several different episodes of his TV show that she remembered watching as a kid within her memory. Externally, she did everything in her power to maintain her cool. However, internally, she was a kid again, screeching from excitement.

"Unfortunately, I am on a tight schedule," Pietro mentioned as he checked his watch. "I have to be in Portland for my art exhibit in a few hours. Therefore, I'd like to see the collection right away… if you have it ready for me, that is."

"Of course she has it ready!" Dipper confirmed from off to the side. "Mabel spent the entire day yesterday working on the whole-"

"Taci, ragazzo! Can't you see that the artists are talking here?!" Pietro scolded him.

Dipper's eyes widened in surprise as he raised his hands up defensively. "Woah, what-"

Mabel quickly hopped in between the two with a nervous chuckle. "Hey, hey! That's my brother there, Mr. Pizzazz! He doesn't mean any disrespect!"

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "How could that have possibly been disrespectful?

"Never mind that," Mabel dismissed, shaking her head. "Back to business - I do have your collection more than ready to go. It'll be, as you always say... Unmatched! Unimaginable!"

"…And unbelievably fantastic-able!" Pietro joined her in finishing as the two excitedly pointed fingers at one another with extreme campiness.

Stan glanced back and forth between the two of them with a weirded-out expression. "I-I don't… What is this? What are they doing?"

"Oh-ho-ho! I knew I liked you for a reason, Mabel," Pietro praised. "You can never disappoint me! And I cannot wait any longer to see what you have put together for me!"

"Then wait no longer!" Mabel said as she gestured toward the museum. "Right this way to the Mabel-bonanza!"

"Yes-yes! Good-good!" he said again with a happy nod.

"Haha! I LOVE this guy!" Mabel exclaimed as she led him into the museum, leaving the others back in the gift shop to watch them from behind, none of them appearing nearly as enthusiastic.

"Yeah, well, I don't," Dipper said bluntly once she and Pietro were out of the room.

"Yeah, I didn't wanna say anything, but… the way he yelled at me back there wasn't very cool, dude," Soos said with a frown as he rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"I'll say," Melody nodded. "What the heck's that guy's deal? I thought Mabel said he was nice the other day."

"Nice to her maybe," Stan claimed, narrowing his eyes.

"His attitude is surely unprecedented, but we'll have to let it ride out for Mabel's sake. This is still a huge opportunity for her," Ford reminded.

"Yeah, you're right," Stan agreed. "Besides, she's good at killing folk like him with kindness anyway. I'm sure she's knocking his socks off with her art right now as we speak."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

With a startle, all faces immediately turned toward the museum entrance, where Mabel's horrific, ear-piercing scream suddenly emerged.

Dipper raised an eyebrow with growing worry. "That sounds… concerning."

"She's probably reacting to the mega paycheck she's getting!" Stan suggested. "We can't miss this!"

Everyone proceeded to rush for the museum entrance all at once, pushing through the red curtains together. They stopped in place as soon as they stepped inside.

"Are ya rich yet, sweetie?!" Stan asked with a wide grin.

His grin was immediately wiped away as he joined the others in a collective gasp upon processing the sight of the museum itself. Just ahead of them, Pietro Pizzazz stood in apparent confusion as he looked around the room. And just ahead of him, Mabel had fallen to her knees as she dragged her hands over her face in horror.

Beneath the raised drapes and curtains was essentially a massacre of all of Mabel's made art pieces from the day before. Paintings that once hung neatly on the walls now sat on the floor, ripped with their frames broken apart. The Venus de Melody sculpture had been tipped over onto the ground, breaking the torso clean off and shattering parts of the head. Meanwhile, the statue of Abuelita in her chair had somehow been completely shattered.

Ultimately, nothing remained intact. Every piece of Mabel's work had been, in some way, sabotaged. Some paintings were perhaps more salvageable than others, but there wasn't a single piece that appeared to have gotten away unscathed.

Mabel pulled herself back to her feet and began running around the room, inspecting the damages of each individual piece, much to her growing dismay.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" she screamed. "My Museum of Mabel! All of my hard work!"

"Oh my gosh…" Melody said, covering her mouth.

"What the hell happened here?" Dipper asked, taking a step further inside.

"I-I don't know," Mabel shook her head. "I walked in, I-I pulled the rope, and then I saw… this."

"Was it like this earlier?" Ryland asked.

"I didn't check it earlier."

"What? Why not?" Dipper asked in slight surprise.

"Because I didn't think I'd even HAVE to!" Mabel said defensively. "How should I have possibly expected anything like this to just happen to it overnight?"

From the side, Pietro raised a hand up. "I don't mean to interrupt… but… where is the collection you made me?"

Mabel glanced over at him before awkwardly gesturing around. "W-Well… this is the collection. Or at least, it was..."

"This?!" Pietro questioned with a look of disgust. "I can't use any of these in my exhibit!"

Mabel's eyes lit up somewhat hopefully. "B-But maybe you can! Look! I can salvage this!"

She ran over to a group of destroyed paintings by the wall, dove to her knees, and began pulling pieces and scraps apart from each damaged work. Within a few seconds, she forced a mix of the pieces together to create an uncanny amalgamation of some of her paintings, entirely mismatched with one another. Still, she held up her improv work proudly up to Pietro.

"How about this? A painting made from multiple paintings! Now, it's kind of like a surrealist piece! Picasso, am I right? Eh, eh?"

A second later, the improv painting fell back apart into all of the scraps and pieces that originally made it up. Mabel was left standing while holding nothing in her hands.

She gulped nervously. "Heheh… yes-yes, good-good?"

Pietro's face was a bright tomato red as he looked at her with glaring eyes and clenched fists. "No-no! Not good! Terribile! È una merda! Not goat milk AT ALL!"

He turned right around and pushed his way past the others standing by the museum curtains, exiting the museum in a steaming hurry.

Dipper could only raise an eyebrow at his last remark. "What does that even MEAN?"

"Wait, Pietro!" Mabel desperately called out as she chased right after him into the gift shop.

Pietro had his hand reaching for the gift shop door's handle before he turned to look back at Mabel as she approached him. From the museum, everyone else emerged again to witness the exchange.

"Look, I don't know what happened to all of my art! I swear it wasn't like this last night!" Mabel explained. "Please, if you'd give me another chance or even just some more time-"

"No! I have no more time to give!" Pietro snapped. "I stopped here with the hopes of picking up a last-minute addition to fill up my exhibit, and now I don't have that! You've disappointed me, Mabel! I shouldn't have expected a child to have a whole art collection ready for me in a day."

"Hey! I'll mind you to show my niece some respect!" Ford stepped up threateningly.

"Yeah, Pietro Pickass!" Stan jumped in as well. "Don't forget that she already made a painting that you bought the other day!"

"And that hummingbird will remain the most valuable thing she's ever drawn!" Pietro exclaimed before opening the door and storming out. "Buona giornata!"

"Buona giornata YOUR FACE!" Stan shouted as he ran up to the doorway and shook his fist in Pietro's direction. "Whatever that means! I hope it's rude!"

Mabel ran up to the doorway next to Stan and cupped her hands around her mouth. "IT WAS A SPARROW! UGHHH!" She slammed the door shut and huffed angrily for a moment before stuffing her face in her hands. "I can't believe this…"

"Ah, forget that jerk, Mabel," Dipper said as he put a comforting hand on her back. "I always had a bad feeling about him anyway."

"Yeah, I mean, his name is Pietro. Like, has anyone ever known a decent guy with that name?" Soos asked, eyes glancing around the room as though he expected a response from someone.

"I don't even care about him right now!" Mabel said, pulling away from her brother and making an immediate beeline back into the museum.

Everyone followed behind her again with concern, watching her scramble around the room again as she studied the damaged artwork with growing heartache.

"I just don't understand! All of the art was fine last night! How did this happen?!" She then scanned a specific wall and the floor beside it frantically. "AND WHERE'S MY PORTRAIT OF WADDLES?!"

"Was it not destroyed with the rest of these?" Ford asked, examining a piece of a portrait on the floor.

"I don't think so! It's the only painting I haven't found any part of! Not even the frame!" she said as she continued flipping over painting scraps. "That one was my favorite! Maybe if it's somehow still okay-"

There was suddenly a yawn in the room that cut her off. Her eyes glanced up from the ground before turning her head along with everyone else toward the corner of the room. There, Abuelita was mid-stretch in her chair as she appeared to awaken from her slumber.

A lightbulb went off in Soos' head. "Wait a second… Maybe Abuelita knows what happened here last night!"

Melody raised an eyebrow. "It kind of looks more like she slept through whatever happened."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask!" Soos said resolutely before running toward the corner. "Abuelita!"

After rubbing her eyes, Abuelita looked up at Soos with a warm, greeting smile. "Ah, buenos dias, m'ijo."

"Oh, uh, buenos dias, Abuelita," Soos kindly greeted back. "Abuelita, something destroyed all of Mabel's artwork here in the museum. Since you were here all night, you wouldn't happen to have seen what might've happened, would you?"

Abuelita's eyes widened as soon as she turned toward the museum. Between Soos' words and seeing the destroyed art for herself, the situation finally began to sit with her.

"Oh no…" she said sympathetically as she looked over at Mabel. "I am so sorry, mi sobrina, but I do not remember hearing or seeing anything. I was in deep sleep."

Mabel sighed sadly as she put her hands over her face once again. "Oh, man…"

Abuelita frowned at her reaction before turning back to her grandson remorsefully. "I am sorry, Soos."

"It's okay, Abuelita," Soos said. "At least you're well-rested now."

"Mmm… Yes, that was a good twenty-four-hour nap," Abuelita cozily nodded. "I think I will have another."

As if a switch had been flipped, Abuelita's neck rolled back into her chair as she went limp, knocking out immediately. Everyone else in the room was left watching her with dumbfounded faces as she simply snored away.

However, Dipper began to look upward as he noticed some wires going up the wall. Following the wires with his eyes, he quickly traced them back to a corner with an old, yet active surveillance camera hanging from the ceiling, pointing directly at the rest of the room.

"Wait a second! Look!" he prompted, pointing up at the camera for everyone else to see. "The museum has surveillance! We can grab the tape, rewind the footage to last night, and see what caused all of this!"

Everyone had made their way toward the Soos' office, formerly belonging to Stan. Though Soos had kept things mostly unmodified as far as the general layout went. And that included the hidden surveillance tape monitor.

With the flip of the jackalope head's antler, a portion of the wall flipped around, revealing a set of old-school monitors. Below them was a dusty tape slot, which Dipper inserted the museum camera's tape into. He picked up the player's remote from the side and stood back beside the others as they viewed the monitor, which displayed static upon the tape's insertion.

As Dipper pressed play on the remote, the footage began of the museum at an earlier point in the previous day, as Mabel was seen putting up one of her paintings on the wall. However, what became immediately apparent in the footage was a large amount of static that took over the playing footage at multiple random intervals during the replay, making the footage almost completely incomprehensible at points.

"Well, that's not ideal…" Dipper remarked as hope already started to fade from his eyes.

"Ryland, dude, I thought you said you fixed this camera at the beginning of the summer," Soos mentioned as he glanced at him.

Ryland touched his fingers together awkwardly. "I, uh… did the best I could."

"This is your best?" Stan questioned.

"Look, I might've stretched the truth about being a good handyman on my resume when I got hired," Ryland confessed. "My best handy work was building a crappy Eiffel Tower out of a few hundred popsicle sticks in the eighth grade. Fixing a whole security camera… Bit out of my wheelhouse…"

"It's fine! We'll work with it!" Mabel dismissed. "Fast forward to late last night!"

Dipper did as requested and pressed the fast-forward button on the remote, speeding up and pausing the footage numerous times, reading the time codes at each pause to see where he was. Eventually, he reached the evening after the point where everybody had turned in for the night. The next issue then presented itself- the drapes and curtains covered all of Mabel's work, and thus, blocked the camera's view of whatever might've happened to it on the other side. That was in addition to the prior static issue, which persisted throughout the footage going into the evening, making the night's events even harder to distinguish.

Still, Dipper knew not to fixate on any one part of the footage and continued doing quick fast-forwards every few seconds while scanning the parts of the footage that were legible for any signs of activity. But between the curtains and the static, it felt like they weren't getting anywhere.

"Agh. There's so much static spaced out through the footage," he mentioned as he continued his quick fast-forwards. "And because the curtains were down the whole night, it's hard to tell at which point anything might've happened to the art."

Soos was squinting as he eyeballed the footage bursts. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Wait a minute… I think I saw something! Go back! Or forward! Or the opposite of whichever direction you were just going!"

While giving him a funny look, Dipper rolled the footage back a bit more.

"There!" Soos pointed.

Dipper pressed play again immediately on Soos' call. However, as soon as the footage resumed, it became full of static once again, making everything unreadable.

"Soos, that's just more static. You can hardly tell what's going on," Ford mentioned, narrowing his eyes.

"I know what I saw!" Soos said confidently as he leaned closer to the monitor. "Wait for it…"

They waited a bit, following Soos' word. Luckily, the static started to clear up a bit again, returning the sight of the front of the curtains and drapes that shielded Mabel's art from view. However, suddenly, part of the curtain began to move, causing everyone to look on more attentively.

"What the…?" Dipper questioned.

Soos pointed a finger directly at the screen. "Look! You see?"

"What the hell is that?" Stan asked.

The curtain's movement was like a shuffling that seemed to emerge from the other side, almost like someone was behind it and trying to find their way out. It kept getting pushed around in the same position, swinging back and forth a good bit as the movement started to travel from one side of the curtain to the other. Whatever might've been happening on the other side was still impossible to tell from the camera angle, but at this point, they could at least tell that something was happening.

Everyone had various thoughts as they watched closely. Especially Mabel, who kept quiet as she continued to study parts of the footage herself.

Eventually, something finally started to emerge from behind the curtains. What looked to be a hand poked between the curtains and pulled one of them aside. Then, something that resembled a hooded head appeared to stick out before glancing left and right cautiously. Immediately after, the full figure, which looked to be nothing more out-of-the-ordinary than an average bipedal human, sprinted away from the scene and out of the camera's view.

The final detail, however, was that the person appeared to have had something large tucked under their arm that they carried away while running off-screen.

Mabel's eyes lit up as she gasped loudly. "That person had my painting of Waddles!" Without warning, she swiped the remote control from Dipper and rapidly spam-pressed the rewind button. "Go back! Go back!"

The footage was rolled back one more time until she resumed it once again. She let it play out, letting the curtain shuffling pass again along with the initial signs of the person's emergence into camera view. However, just as the person was about to break out into a sprint out of view, she paused.

GAAAASP!

Everyone collectively gasped at once as they processed the paused image on the monitor.

Sure enough, there it was. Captured perfectly in frame, Waddles: A Moment In Time could be seen tucked under the arm of the person emerging from behind the curtains.

But the real surprise came from a simple glance up at the person holding the painting. Beneath the hood of the culprit's striped hoodie was a familiar face that sent Dipper and Mabel into immediate shock while everyone else glanced between the two of them for a moment of confusion and concern.

"Wait a second… is that…?" Soos began.

"It sure looks like it," Stan nodded.

"W-What…?" Dipper questioned as he continued staring at the screen, shaking his head in continued disbelief. "No… It can't be…"

Mabel's mouth hung agape while she kept staring at the screen herself. As the situation settled in with her more and more, her eye began to twitch as all of her former sadness evolved into a seething rage that grew across her face.

Her eyebrows lowered, her teeth gritted, and her shaking hands clenched into trembling fists as she stared at her favorite creation in the hands of her least favorite person.

"…Derrick…"

This is my first episode written after The Book of Bill's release. Gonna use this note to talk about that real fast.

So this chapter took some extra time because I've been figuring out how to fit the book's newly established canon into this story since I'm desperate to keep this whole fic as canon-compliant as possible. Luckily, I wasn't affected too much by the book, but I did have to go back and readjust dialogue and such at points in Season 1 to follow that. Nothing too major I don't think, therefore no rereads are required, as the story remains the same and my longtime plans for Season 2 are generally unaffected by the book.

However, the book (and by extension, thisisnotawebsitedotcom) did introduce some lore and elements that kind of aid some of the stories I already planned to tell, so I'll be exploring those in greater detail when we get to them - one of which might be much sooner than expected.

Overall though, it's a great book! Love getting more official Gravity Falls content in 2024. I do hope for more in the future, even if it eventually makes all of my attempts at a canon-compliant story ultimately futile. Ah, well! All about the journey though, right?

- Absolute Rift