An update? What bizarre world is this!?

Hello everyone, I'm not dead, and neither is this story. I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to get this chapter out, (let's not talk about how long exactly.) but I am back now and hopefully I'll be posting more regularly.

Gideon Rises

The sun rose over the small town of Gravity Falls, creating a picturesque sight as its citizens went about their day. But even still, he couldn't help but feel that something was off about today. The sound of Gideon's laughter confirmed his suspicions, but that knowledge gave him no comfort as he watched the wrecking ball crash into what he had come to think of as home…

Dipper shot up in his bed, barely choking back a scream. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized everything was ok and turned to his sister. "I just had a horrible dream that Gideon stole the deed to the Mystery Shack, and kicked us out, and... we all had to move in with Soos' grandma?" He paused slightly as he finished, finally noticing that his surroundings weren't familiar.

"That was no dream, dude," Soos said from his seat in his grandmother's living room. Dipper responded to the gentle reminder by screaming his head off, waking everyone else up in the process.

"Shh. Por favor." The soft admonishment came from Soos' grandmother, who sat quietly in her armchair.

Dipper quickly shut his mouth and settled back into his bed. "Uh, sorry, Abuelita."

"Oh, Soos, your grandma is so adorable!" Mabel giggled from her spot next to the armchair. "And her skin is old lady soft." She continued as she reached out to touch Abuelita's arm.

"Mabel quit being creepy! The news is finally on." Stan snapped as he eagerly waited for any word of the Mystery Shack.

Luckily, it seemed that Gideon's recent acquisition was the only news worth reporting. "In a movement that has all of Gravity Falls buzzing, child psychic Gideon Gleeful has taken surprise ownership of the Mystery Shack," Sandra Jimenez stated as a picture Gideon playing with flashed on the screen. "previously belonging to area shyster, Stanford Pines." The file photo of Stan was much less flattering, featuring him in a red devil costume on a background of flames.

"That picture's taken out of context," Stan muttered as the family continued to watch.

The camera focused back on Shandra as she turned to Gideon. "Now that you have the shack, what exactly are you planning to do with it?"

"I have a big announcement to make today, and I'd like to cordially invite all the good people of Gravity Falls to join me." Gideon said gleefully. "Free admission to anyone who wears their Gideon pins! It's my face!"

Dipper sighed as the news went to commercial. "I just can't believe Gideon beat us. Normally I'm able to save the day. This is all my fault."

"Okay, first of all, we normally save the day," Mikey said with an eye roll, before slinging his arm over Dipper's shoulders and continuing much more cheerily. "And secondly, we're not beat yet, we'll teach Gideon a lesson soon enough."

"Yeah Dipper," Mabel chimed in. "I'll defeat Gideon with my grappling hook!"

"Mabel, no offense, but that grappling hook has literally never helped us once." Dipper said as he watched Mabel pose proudly.

"Oh yeah?" Mabel countered. "Jelly grab!" She yelled as she fired the grappling hook at a glass jar of jelly, which, to no one's surprise, shattered and splattered jelly over the walls.

"I vacuum the walls now." Abuelita said quietly as she grabbed the hand vacuum and started to try to clean the jelly.

"So you lost the Shack. Look on the bright side, dudes!" Soos said happily as he sat down in front of a toy race track. "Now you get to live here with me, Soos! Hey, anyone want to play race cars? They're out of batteries but we can make pretend." Soos choked as he coughed up two pieces of cereal. "Would that be a new low if I ate that?" Soos asked before laughing to himself. "I'm just kidding, I'm totally eating it!"

Stan turned away as quickly as he could. "We gotta get the Shack back."

8

"Hello, Gravity Falls!" Gideon greeted the crowd as he stepped onto the stage.

"Gideon is the psychic-est." Lazy Susan raved form her place at the front of the crowd. "He guessed the secret ingredient to my coffee omelet!"

"Somehow he knew about my horrifying secret birthmark!" Toby Determined said as he nodded his agreement.

"I love that child psychic so much!" Manly Dan cried as he grabbed Blubs and Durland in a massive bear hug.

"You're chokin' me!" Blubs managed to croak out as he lightly tapped the giant man's arm.

Durland was faring much worse as his face began to turn purple. "Grandma, is that you?"

And in the back of the crowd, a quintet wearing dark trench coats, silently strode in, keeping careful watch to make sure they weren't spotted. "We're in." Dipper said as they stopped at the back of the crowd.

"Just gonna say it, I don't know what we're doing here, but I'm loving these fake mustaches." Mabel said as she played with the only fake mustache anyone had, her own.

"If anyone asks, I'm not Soos." Soos as he pointed to the same hat he wore every day, which now a piece of paper taped to it which read "Not Soos."

The noise of the crowd began to die down as Gideon stepped forward."Ladies and gentlemen! Today I am delighted to announce my plans for the former Mystery Shack. I give you... Gideonland!" Gideon said as he slid a sheet off a table to reveal a scale model theme park, complete with a giant statue of Gideon.

"What‽" The Pines family said together. They knew that Gideon had some plan for the Shack, but turning it into his own theme park was worse than anything they expected.

"We're gonna turn this dirty ol' shack into three square miles of Gideon-tertainment." Gideon continued before gesturing just off stage where his father stood. "And introducin' our new mascot, Lil' Gideon Jr.!" Bud pulled another sheet to the side and revealed Waddles dressed up in a Gideon costume. "Boom, he's a pig!" Gideon said to cheers from the crowd.

Mabel gasped at the sight of what they had done to her best friend. "Waddles! You monster!" She said as she glared up at Gideon.

"Alright, that's it!" Stan yelled as he pulled off the disguise and charged through the crowd and onto the stage. "Listen up, people. Gideon's a fraud!" Stan told the crowd as he pushed Gideon away from the podium. "This kid broke in and stole my property!"

"He's just trying to take over the town!" Mikey yelled his agreement.

Mabel was quick to chime in. "Arrest him, officers!"

"Yeah!"

"Such accusations!" Gideon said with the most shocked look he could muster. "Mr. Pines, I recall you gave the property to me. Look, here's the deed right here."

"Well, that's all the proof I need to see." Blind said with hardly a glance at the deed.

"I love you, Lil' Gideon!" Durland hooted eagerly. "Sing them funny songs!"

Gideon smiled smugly at the Pines as he snapped his fingers. That was the signal for a pair of guards to "escort" them of the premises. "Hey!" Mabel yelled as the first grabbed her by the arm.

Mikey's angry charge was stopped short as the other guard yanked him back by the shoulders. "Let her go!" He cried as the guards used their free hands to deal with the others.

"Now get off my property, old man!" Gideon said with a nasty smile as he slapped one of the pins on Stan.

"I'll show you who's the old man!" Stan yelled before flinching back as a horrible noise assaulted his ears. "Ow, my hearing aid! Ow!"

"Thanks for visiting Gideonland, friends!" Gideon yelled cheerfully as the bodyguards dragged them through the gate. "Don't come back, I don't care for y'all."

Fortunately, the hired muscle left them alone once they were outside the fence, and they turned to watch as Gideon continued to butter up the crowd. "Don't worry, guys. We'll get the shack back somehow." Dipper said, though his voice lacked his usual confidence.

"We better." Wendy said as she walked out of the woods and leaned next to them. "If I can't work at the Shack, my dad's gonna force me to move upstate to work at my cousin's logging camp."

Dipper gaped at her. "What? You're leaving town? But we need you here!" He said desperately.

"Yeah, especially Dipper because of his giant crush on…" Soos started before noticing the burning glare that Dipper was sending him. "...you... calyptus trees! The kid loves eucalyptus trees!" Soos said quickly, laughing nervously to himself. "Saved it!"

Mikey rolled his eyes at the horrible save, which didn't go unnoticed by Wendy. She winked at him as they shared a slight smirk.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of bad music as something made its way through the underbrush. "Oh man, guys. Don't look now." Wendy said as she turned to mount her bike.

"Take me back, Wendy!" Robbie yelled as he walked into the open while carrying a boombox over his head. "My arms are too skinny to keep holding this boombox forever!"

"I was never here." Wendy told them as she rode her bike away.

She wasn't quite quick enough to prevent Robbie from seeing her. He did his best to chase her, calling after her the whole time. "Have you been getting my texts? Do I need to send you more texts? Wendy!"

At Soos' house, any trace of hope seemed to have left as everyone fretted over what to do. "This is not good. I cannot feed such a big family." Abuelita said from her chair as she watched the many new additions to her house attempt to figure out a plan.

"Where are we gonna stay?" Mabel asked worriedly as she looked through her luggage. "Where am I gonna put all my sweaters?"

"What's Stan gonna tell Mom and Dad?" Dipper asked, looking down at his hands.

"Look, guys, I know this is bad right now, but I know there's some way to get the Shack back," Mikey said, doing his best to comfort his siblings. "We just can't give up."

"Mr. Pines will figure something out. He always does." Soos agreed with a nod.

In the kitchen, Stan did his best to reassure their parents. "Don't worry, your kids are fine. Where're we staying? Uh, I put 'em up in this amazing four-star hotel!" Stan said as he watched a cockroach catch fire after touching an exposed wire. "What, uh, sure we got plenty to eat." Stan said as he looked through the near-empty refrigerator. "Relax, if I thought I couldn't take care of these kids, I'd send them back right away. Uh huh, you too." Stan finished, breathing a sigh of relief as he placed the phone down.

"Grunkle Stan, can we order pizza?" Mabel yelled from the living room to sounds of agreement from everyone else. Stan only sighed as he checked his empty pockets again.

Gideon sat at a desk in the room he had claimed as his home, looking through his Journal for any more clues. His intense concentration was broken by the sound of Waddles attempting to escape through the window. "You!" Gideon snapped as he turned to the pig and blew into a dog whistle. "Back to your corner!" Waddles obeyed as quickly as he could, shivering and eyeing Gideon warily.

"I've been meaning to ask you, boy." Bud said as he walked into the room carrying his sad clown painting. "Shouldn't you be celebratin' Gideonland instead of stickin' your head in that there book all day?"

"Father, have I ever told you the true nature of this book?" Gideon asked as he admired the Journal. "It was written many years ago by a brilliant unknown author who learned secrets too powerful for one man. He hid his journals where he thought no one would ever find 'em." Gideon continued while he looked through the Journal. "Because he knew that if the journals were ever bought together, they would unleash a gateway to unimaginable power. Codes and maps had led me to believe that the other book is buried somewhere on this very property, and I intend to find it!"

"So that's why you wanted the Mystery Shack." Bud said thoughtfully once his son had finished.

"That's right, father," Gideon said as he grabbed a shovel. "it's time to begin the search for the other journal!"

"Go red car!" Mabel cheered on the immobile race cars that she, her brothers and Soos sat around.

"Go other red car!" Soos said as he stared raptly at the toy track.

"This would be a lot more fun with batteries." Dipper said offhandedly.

"Or if they moved at all." Mikey agreed. In response, Soos tapped one of the cars and sent about halfway around the track before it gently nudged the other one. "Riveting." Mikey said with a huff as he flopped onto his back.

He was the first to see Stan walk into the room, and sat up when he saw the expression on his grunkle's face. "Kids, we've got to talk." Stan started nervously, looking down at his niece and nephews. "Look I've been thinking and... I can't take care of you anymore. I don't have a house or a job. The plan is, you're goin' home. Your bus leaves tomorrow, here are your tickets." Stan said this all as rapidly as he could and quickly shoved the tickets into their hands.

"But Grunkle Stan, you can't give up!" Dipper protested, standing up from his place on the floor.

"Yeah dude, look at these faces!" Soos quickly agreed as he nudged Mabel. "Be cuter Mabel! Your summer depends on it!"

"Look, I lost, okay?" Stan said with a deep set frown. "The best thing is for you to be with your parents. Sorry kids, Gideon won. Summer's over." Stan finished with a sigh before walking from the room.

"Mr. Pines!" Soos yelled as he stood up and chased after his now former boss. "RECONSIDER!"

"Okay, this is ridiculous." Mikey said as he glared at the ticket in his hand. "I think we need to go have a chat with Gideon."

"Yeah!" Mabel agreed as she shot up from her seat. "He may have the upper hand, but we have something he doesn't." She said with a knowing smirk.

"The Journal!" Dipper crowed as he pulled it from his vest.

At the same time, Mabel had pulled her own tool from her sweater. "A grappling hoo... oh. The Journal... Journal!" She corrected herself with a wide smile.

The triplets lurked outside the fence that now surrounded the Mystery Shack, eyeing Gideon's security warily. "Alright, the bus to take us out of Gravity Falls comes at sundown. If we wanna stay in town we've got to get past those guards, make it through the fence, and get Gideon to hand over that deed." Dipper said as he tried to think of a plan.

"Leave that to Mabel." His sister said confidently as she aimed the grappling hook at a branch on the other side of the fence. "Wa-chaw!"

"Ah!" Dipper yelled as the hook ricocheted off the branch and into his head. "Now will you admit the grappling hook is useless‽" He asked angrily as the rubbed the rapidly forming knot on his head.

"Nope!" Mabel assured him cheerily as she reloaded the grappling hook.

"Okay." Dipper sighed with a roll of his eyes as he pulled the Journal out. "What can we use to defeat Gideon?" He asked himself as he started to flip through the pages.

"You know, I could just sneak in there and have a 'talk' with Gideon by myself." Mikey said as he leaned over Dipper's shoulder.

"But what if you get caught?" Mabel immediately protested against the idea of her brother going in alone.

"Mabel's right, Gideon could just have you arrested the second he saw you." Dipper said with a firm shake of his head. "No. There has to be something in the journal. Let's see… Barf Fairy?"

"Yeah!" Mabel cheered eagerly.

"Nope. Butternut Squash with a Human Face and Emotions?" Dipper asked as he continued to flip through the pages.

"Yeah!"

"Nope." Dipper rejected the idea again as he flipped the page. "Pixies? Maybe…" He said thoughtfully before he was interrupted by Mikey flipping the pages randomly.

"Definitely not." Mikey said firmly when his brother turned to glare at him. Dipper muttered something under his breath before returning to the Journal.

"Whoa, what's this?" Mabel stopped him as he came upon a page covered in strange designs and several ciphers.

"I've stared at this page for hours." Dipper started to explain as he began to intently study the page again. "It seems like a blueprint to build some kind of strange futuristic super-weapon…"

"BORING!" Mabel yelled once she realized it had nothing to do with their situation. "To defeat those guards we need some kind of army."

"... Wait a minute! An army!" Dipper exclaimed excitedly. "Mabel, that's it! The gnomes!"

"Are you sure? We aren't exactly on the best of terms with them." Mikey said with a raised eyebrow as Mabel nervously pulled at the collar of her sweater.

"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Dipper asked as he headed into the woods.

"I think this is their hiding spot." Dipper said as the trio walked into a large clearing.

"I wonder what Gnomes do out here all alone in the forest?" Mabel asked half to herself as they looked for any signs of the small men.

Her question was almost immediately answered in the worst possible way as they rounded a tree. "Do do do…" Jeff sang to himself as he bathed himself in a bathtub full of squirrels. He let out a startled yelp when he saw the Pines. "This... this is normal. This is normal for gnomes." He said slowly as he scrubbed his armpit with the squirrel he held in his hand. "Scrub scrub."

"For some reason, I doubt that." Mikey said to himself with a grimace as he and his siblings tried to bleach the memory from their minds.

"Well, well, well. Look who came crawlin' back. Take five, Chris." Jeff said as the siblings stepped forward, the squirrel he had been holding scurrying away. "You guys keep doin' what you're doin'. So, changed your mind about marryin' me, did ya, Mabel?"

"Ew, hardly." Mabel said, newly disgusted by the idea. "We need your help. And seriously, ew!"

"You want our help? After you left me at the altar? No dice!" Jeff raged.

"Actually, Jeff, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." Mikey stepped in, successfully keeping his own anger at the audacity of the gnome in check. "What if we could get you a new queen?"

"Yeah, one even more beautiful than me." Mabel agreed.

Dipper smiled as he finished laying the bait. "Her name's Gideon, and she has lovely white hair."

"Whoa. Mature woman, huh?" The gnome asked with a raised eyebrow before smirking and calling into the woods. "Hey Shmebulock, get my cologne!"

"Shmebulock!" Shmebulock said triumphantly as he quickly walked out of the woods holding the bottle.

"Is Shmebulock all you can say?" Jeff asked with a huff of annoyance.

The other gnome paused to consider before nodding gravely. "Shmebulock…"

By the time Shmebulock answered, Jeff had forgotten the question and was smiling at the triplets. "It's a deal!" He said cheerily, shaking hands with the trio.

In Greasy's Diner, Stan moped at the counter, moping over the defeat that forced him to send the triplets home. "Waiter, give me a glass of the strongest most expired apple cider you've got." Stan said without looking up.

"Sure thing, Mr. Pines." Soos said as he filled up a glass and set it before his former boss.

"Soos?" Stan asked as his head shot up. "What are you doing here?"

"Since the Mystery Shack shut down, I've had to take on a bunch of part-time jobs." Soos explained as he cleaned out a glass. "Gravedigger, bus driver, really awesome cook…" He trailed as he turned to look into the kitchen. "Hey, is the kitchen supposed to have that much fire in it?" Soon asked as he stared at the sea of fire that filled the kitchen. To Stan's relief, he didn't have to answer for Soos to grab a fire extinguisher.

Stan let out another sigh as Soos fought the fire. "You're a good man-child, Soos, but it's not lookin' good. This whole town loves Gideon and hates me. If only they knew how evil he really was!"

Soos smiled sadly before placing a hand on Stan's shoulder. "Hey, I'm here for you, dude."

"The entire lower half of your body is on fire." Stan said in a mixture of irritation and disbelief as he stared at Soos.

"Shh," Soos hushed Stan as he pat his back. "We're having a moment…"

Gideon muttered angrily as he slid again on the muddy ground outside the Mystery Shack. Normally, he wouldn't have come out himself, but he didn't dare send anyone else to look for the Journal. Getting mud on his suite was just a necessary danger. "Where are you, Journal?" He asked aloud as he drove the shovel into the earth again. "Where are you!"

"Boy, I hate to interrupt you, but you have some guests." Bud said with a nervous smile.

"What!" Gideon yelled as he threw his shovel down. Bud flinched away from the shovel and was quick to lead his son to the locked gate, where two of Gideon's bodyguards met them.

"Give us the deed to the shack, Gideon, or else." Dipper said as he glared at Gideon through the fence.

Gideon chuckled to himself and rolled his eyes at the never-ending audacity of the Pines family. "Am I supposed to say, Or else what?" He asked the livid siblings sarcastically.

"Yes, you are supposed to say that." Mabel said angrily before yelling as loud as she could. "Now!"

Gideon's confident smirk disappeared rapidly as his hired muscle fell to the ground with gnomes lodged in their backs, and his look of confusion quickly turned to terror as a wave of gnomes smashed through the fence. "You're surrounded by an unstoppable gnome army, now give us back our deed and get off our property!" Dipper yelled as he and Mabel approached the circle of gnome that surrounded Gideon and Mikey.

"Personally, I'd say the gnomes are the least of your problems." Mikey said matter-of-factly as he shook the younger boy by the collar.

"Let the marriage ceremony begin!" Jeff shouted happily as he moved towards Gideon.

"Okay, Okay! J...just let me…" Gideon stuttered out as he reached inside his jacket. He quickly grabbed the only thing that might get him out of this situation.

Most of the gnomes fell to their knees and clutched their ears as they tried to block out the horrible. "Stop! We'll do anything!" Jeff begged as he turned to Gideon. "How may we…"

He was cut off when Gideon urgently screamed as Mikey reeled back. "Stop them!"

The fight, if it could even be called that, was ended quickly as two gnomes rammed into Mikey and forced he and siblings to kneel in front of Gideon. Gideon took a moment to collect himself before turning back to the struggling mass of gnomes and children. "I have to admit, kids, I am impressed by your creativity! How did you ever…"

Gideon cut himself off as Dipper's struggling caused the Journal to fall out from underneath his vest. "Oh no!" Dipper yelped as he struggled to pick the book back up.

"No!" Gideon gasped as he stared at the familiar red binding. " Could it be? Is it?" He breathlessly whispered as he picked the Journal up. "Of course! It all makes sense! The one place I'd never think to look! You had it the whole time! And to think I actually considered you a threat!" Gideon taunted as he turned back towards the triplets.

"No! Give it back!" Dipper cried as he struggled to grab the Journal. Despite how hard he tried, he wasn't able to break free of the gnomes, and Gideon was easily able to sidestep him.

"Every victory you had was because of your precious book!" Gideon continued to taunt while Dipper struggled.

"Give it back or I'll…" Dipper attempted to threaten before he was cut off by a derisive laugh from Gideon.

"Or you'll what, boy? You'll what? Huh? Huh? No muscles. No brains. Face it! You're nothin' without this!" Gideon yelled at Dipper before turning back towards Gideonland. "Bye bye forever, y'all!" Gideon called back before whistling again, signaling the gnomes to cart the triplets into the forest.

Several minutes later, the gnomes had finally dropped the siblings and were fleeing into the forest. "Next time, do your own dirty work!" Jeff yelled at them before gesturing to a trio of squirrels. "Come on boys!" The squirrels jumped into Jeff's pants as he joined his subjects.

"Well, that's it. Guess the bus should be here soon." Dipper said as he stared at the ground.

"What‽" Mabel yelled. "Dipper, don't give up! You always have a plan!"

Mikey quickly supported his sister. "Yeah, besides it's not like that was a complete waste."

Dipper gave his brother a frustrated glare. "In what way was that not a complete waste?"

Mikey smirked as he pulled out a small silver key on a chain. "This was around Gideon's neck, I figure it must be important for something."

Dipper's eyes lit up for a split second before he scowled and returned his gaze to the ground. "So what? We don't know what that key goes to, how we'd get to whatever it is, or if it would even help us get the Shack back!"

Mikey frowned, stepped back from Dipper, and slipped the chain back into his pocket. Mabel didn't seem to get the hint though. "Come on Dipper! You have to have some sort of pl…"

"No!" Dipper cut her off sharply. "The journal always has a plan! Think about it, Gideon was right. The only courageous or cool things I've ever done have been because of that journal. Without it, I can't help any of us."

"There's gotta be something we can do." Mabel said as she slumped onto the grass next to Dipper.

"What can we do?" Dipper said sadly as he turned to face her.

Mikey sighed and turned to look back at the fence around Gideonland. "I do have one idea." His siblings' heads turned toward expectantly. "I don't think either of you will like it though…"

The triplets nervously watched as the doors of the bus opened in front of them. "Bus 52, departing Gravity Falls, all aboard." The driver announced. They entered the bus and slowly walked to the back.

"Sorry kids, it's for the best." Stan said from outside their window as the bus rolled away. Looking through the rear window, they watched as Stan, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda grew farther away.

They sat in silence until the bus stopped at a red light. "Okay, we have to go now." Mikey said as he pulled their window open.

"Wait." Dipper said as he grabbed Mikey's wrist. "This is stupid, we don't even have a real plan! We're gonna get caught and…"

"Look, Dipper," Mikey interrupted. "This is what we have to work with, and I'm not ready to give up yet, are you?" Dipper looked back at the driver before sighing and crawling through the open window and onto the sidewalk, quickly followed by his siblings.

"I've got it! I finally got it!" Gideon cheered as he walked into the den of the Mystery Shack. As he walked to his desk, he realized that both of his parents and turned to them angrily. "Get out!" His mother and father rushed from the room, hoping to avoid his anger. Once he was sure they had left, he eagerly placed the journal on the desk. "It's finally mine! At last, I have journal number…" He paused as he looked down at the familiar six-fingered hand with its number inked in its center. "Three‽ There are THREE of them? But where is journal number one?" Gideon muttered to himself hitting the table angrily. "I must have all three for the power to be unlocked! But where could It…" He trailed off as the obvious struck him. "Dipper! He must know where it is! He gave me the third one and kept the first for himself!" Gideon ranted angrily, pulling out his hair as he realized where Dipper was right now. "I can't let him leave Gravity Falls!" Grabbing both of the journals, Gideon ran out and looked for the crazy old man he had hired to build his newest weapon. "You there!" Gideon yelled, spotting the man on the shoulder of the giant statue of himself. "Is it ready?"

"Is it?" McGucket asked excitedly before laughing wildly to himself long after any humor in that statement had died. When he finally finished, he scrutinized the robot intensely before looking back down at Gideon. "Eh, no."

"WHAT‽" Gideon screamed at the old man, causing him to flinch back and scurry over the robot's shoulder.

"Now calm down boy," Bud said quickly in an attempt to avert a real tantrum. "After the fire, we just couldn't afford all the parts you needed, it should be finished in just a few weeks."

Gideon couldn't contain his rage any longer. "You old FOOL! Do you realize what you've done?" He ranted as he stalked toward his father. "We need to catch the Pines now!" When Bud merely flinched back instead of doing anything to fix the situation, Gideon exploded again. "GO GET THE CAR! Now! Git, git!" Gideon continued to scream as his father ran to the carport.

Just beyond the fence of their property, Mikey smirked at his brother while Gideon loaded into the car and sped off. "I told you there would be an opportunity."

"That was dumb luck and you know it." Dipper complained as the three began to scale the fence.

"Sure." Mikey agreed as he jumped from the fence. "But I did have a plan, and it would've worked." Dipper opened his mouth to reply when Mikey started running for the Shack. Shaking his head with a small smile, he and Mabel quickly joined their brother. A few moments after they came to a stop next to him, Mikey had the door open and was holding it open for them. "Showtime."

88888888

Stan sighed as he settled in on the couch, finally allowing himself to feel his grief over having to send the triplets home. "Well Stan, this is it. Rock bottom. No friends, no family, stuck watching infomercials for whatever that is…" Stan muttered to himself as abuelita brushed and began vacuuming the curtains. "How did you do it, kid? Why are you always one step ahead?" Stan asked himself as he picked the Gideon pin that had been forced into his hands. "Maybe he really is psychic after…" His words were cut off by a scream as a grating shriek of interference cut through his thoughts. "My hearing aid! What keeps causing that?" Stan grunted angrily as he glared at the Gideon pin. The answer to all of his questions came to him at once. "Wait a minute! That's it! I know Gideon's weakness!"

Stan shot up out of the chair as Abuelita approached him with tea. "Would Mr. Pines like a…" Her question remained unasked as Stan grabbed and kissed her happily before running out the door. She stared after him for a moment before turning back to the kitchen. "I go vacuum my face." She said quietly before walking back into the kitchen.

Soos slammed on the brakes as the familiar car slid to a stop in front of him. He nervously stared as Bud and Gideon climbed out of the car, and did his to mentally prepare himself for whatever they wanted. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience," Bud said as Soos opened the doors for him. "But we have need for a few of your passen…"

"Out of the way!" Gideon shouted as he squeezed past his father and onto the bus. "Where are they?" He snapped at Soos.

"Where is who, dude?" Soos asked nervously. He'd already been fired from three jobs today, and he really didn't want another incident.

"The Pines, you idiot!" Gideon yelled while staring daggers at Soos.

"Oh," Soos said, relieved he could actually answer the question. "They're right back… there?" Soos finished uncertainly as he looked into the back and realized the bus was completely empty. Gideon stormed into the back, checking every seat as he passed, and screamed with rage after not finding single Pines there. "Oh man." Soos said under his breath. "Mr. Pines is gonna kill me."

Their inspection of the lower floors of the Mystery Shack hadn't given them anything useful, and they were all starting to worry about how much longer they had before Gideon would return.

"What are we even looking for, Mikey?" Dipper asked, the frustration clear in his voice.

"I don't know, the deed would be nice." Mikey said as he looked through a desk the Gleefuls had brought in. "Or anything to prove that Gideon is a liar." Finding nothing in the desk, he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the wall. "I can't believe we haven't found anything! And Gideon could be back any minute!"

"We still haven't checked the attic." Mabel broke in, hopefully.

Mikey nodded and headed for the stairs. "Right, let's be fast."

Dipper and Mabel followed him closely as he ran up the stairs until they came to another locked door, another door that Gideon's key didn't open. After picking the lock, the three of them slipped inside and began to search.

"Waddles!" Mabel shrieked gleefully as she stepped into the room and spotted the pig trying to hide in the corner. Waddles raced forward and jumped into her arms as Dipper and Mikey began to search the room.

Unfortunately, their search turned up nothing but a scale model of the Mystery Shack complete with crude carvings of themselves and Stan. "He must have kept the deed with him." Mabel said despondently as she slumped against the wall with Waddles.

"Or he keeps it wherever this key goes." Mikey said with a slight frown as he gripped the key and its chain. "We just have to keep searching."

Mabel sighed as she pulled Waddles closer. "But we've looked everywhere."

"Not everywhere." Dipper corrected, pointing out the window to the base of the statue. Mikey and Mabel quickly joined him at the window, and saw it, a small door leading into the statue.

The excitement they felt at finally getting back the deed died quickly at the sound of tires skidding across gravel. They crowded against the window as they heard the front door slam open and Gideon's yells reached their ears. "I'll get those Pines if it's the last thing I do!"

Gideon marched up the stairs to his new room, ready to start looking through the book for a way to find the triplets that had caused him such trouble. Stepping through the door, he watched as the pig ran away from the open window to its corner. Gideon glared at the window, sure it had been closed when he left. Walking to it he looked out making sure that the door in the statue was still closed. He cast his gaze around once more, before pulling his head inside and closing the window. Still, he decided, there was something strange going on.

About two feet above the window, the Pines held awkwardly onto Mabel's grappling hook and breathed a sigh of relief when Gideon finally closed the window.

"Mabel, that was amazing!" Dipper said as the hook lowered them to the ground.

Mikey nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that was great thinking."

Mabel smiled as she brandished her grappling hook proudly. "I told you it would save us." Her smile faltered as she remembered the one problem she hadn't solved. "But we had to leave Waddles."

"We'll come back for him Mabel, don't worry." Mikey said, placing a hand on her shoulder before turning to face the metal door. "But first we need to find the deed."

Dipper and Mabel followed as their brother walked to the steel door. The key fit easily into the lock, and the door opened smoothly revealing, a dark room and a staircase that lead up into the belly of the statue. Their eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light as they stepped inside and quickly searched the small room. On one wall of the room, a bank of monitors sat silently and on the other was a small workbench, empty except for what appeared to be the arm sleeve of a homemade motion capture suit.

"What is all this?" Mikey muttered as he searched desperately for a hidden compartment that Gideon might have hidden the deed in.

"I don't know," Mabel said as she hugged herself against a sudden chill. "but it's crazy creepy."

The search lasted only a few minutes before they decided that any hidden secrets would have already been found in the cramped space. "It's not here," Mikey said with a heavy sigh." looks like Gideon won."

While Mikey scowled at the ground and Mabel did her best to hold back a sudden onslaught of tears, Dipper looked hard at the monitor bank. "Maybe he hasn't yet." Dipper started as he stepped up to the control panel. "I mean, these have to be used for something, right? Maybe whatever it is will convince everyone that Gideon really is evil!" Dipper's excitement mounted as he spoke, and it proved infectious as his siblings crowded around him newly filled with hope.

Unfortunately, that hope was quickly mixed with fear as a sickeningly sweet shout came from outside. "Oh, Pines! I know y'all are out here!"

"Are you sure you can find something?" Mikey asked quickly as he stepped towards the door.

"Of course, how hard could it be?" The nervous smile on Dipper's face did little to convince any of them, but they had to trust their brother.

Mikey gave him a short nod and turned to his sister. "Come on Mabel, we need to move."

"What?" Mabel half shouted. "We can't leave Dipper behind!"

"We're not leaving him behind." Mikey said as he grabbed her wrist. "We're his distraction." In the blink of an eye, Mikey had pulled his sister through the door and closed it behind them. Dipper turned towards the panel with an anxious determination.

Running out from under the shadow of the statue, Mikey ran towards the sound of Gideon's voice with Mabel following close behind, both doing their best to silence the voice screaming about what a stupid idea this was. Turning a corner, they skidded to a stop amidst piles of scrap metal, clearly intended for use in the statue. Just in front of them, Gideon stood calmly/ arm behind his back, his smile widening as they came into sight. "Ah, my marshmalla, and Michael! I knew you two were here, but where's Little Dipper? Too scared to come?"

Mikey glanced around warily. As far as he could tell Mabel and he had every advantage, but the way Gideon smirked set him on edge. Looked like it was time to do what he did best, lie through his teeth. "Sorry Dipper couldn't make it, he's busy hiding the deed somewhere safe." He did his best to keep his pose calm and confident, even if Gideon saw through the words of the lie it would help him on edge, and that was exactly what they needed right now.

Gideon's smile faltered for just a moment before he reached into his jacket. "Oh, Michael, Do you think I'm a fool? The deed to the Shack is right here." Gideon held up the rolled sheet of paper triumphantly. HIs smile fell much more permanently as a blue glow surrounded the paper.

On the other end of the small clearing, Mikey smirked as he felt the amulet pulse in his hand. Snatching the deed out of the air as it flew out of Gideon's hand, he smiled at the younger boy. "Just for the record, I do think you're a fool."

"Booyah!" Mabel cheered, bouncing with excitement. "Looks like we win, Gideon!"

Gideon's face changed from a look of pure rage to a nasty sneer as he chuckled softly to himself. "Oh, Mabel, I wouldn't be too sure about that." Gideon's quiet chuckle turned into a maniacal laugh as he pulled his arm from behind his back. The arm was covered in the other sleeve of the motion capture suit, and in its hand was a small remote control. The siblings jumped as, with a press of the button, two engines roared to life behind them. They watched in wide-eyed horror as a massive arm rose from the heaps of scrap around them and mimed Gideon's movements. Mabel was the only one who could hear Mikey's voice over the din of the engines and Gideons laughter. "Oh boy."

Dipper stared intently at the panel in front of him. He had seen panels like this before and had a vague idea of how to use one. Still, he was running off guesswork here, and that terrified him. Taking a steadying breath, Dipper reached for the largest button on the board. He tensed after pressing it, and let out a sigh of relief as a single monitor came to life in front of him. Now came the hard part. "PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD" was written in large letters on the monitor, and Dipper screwed his eyes as he tried to think through potential passwords. Knowing Gideon…

"WIDDLEGIDEON" appeared on the screen as he typed and disappeared just as quickly. "WELCOME, GIDEON" followed it, and Dipper held a small celebration in his head as he watched the monitors flicker to life. HIs jaw fell as revealed Gideon's secret.

"Yes!" Dipper cheered as a grin split his face. This was exactly what they needed to expose Gideon. His celebration came to an abrupt stop as the sound of engines starting sounded through the walls. Creeping to the door and opening it just slightly, he watched as Gideon confronted his siblings with a giant robotic arm. And next to the one attacking them, was another laying idly on the ground. Turning to the sleeve on the workbench, Dipper smiled as a plan began to form.

The arm came flying down, faster than either of the Pines had thought possible, directly at Mabel. Moving as quickly as he could, Mikey shoved her away, just in time to be snatched up in the massive hand himself. Mabel watched from the ground as her brother struggled to escape the mechanical grip and Gideon lifted him higher.

"You see?" Gideon cried gleefully "You can't defeat me, no one can!. Join me Mabel, and I'll rule this town with you as my queen."

"Never" Mabel screamed defiantly as she picked herself up off the ground.

Gideon smiled condescendingly as he shook his head slowly. "You'll see things my way eventually." He looked up at the robotic fist with a grin. "There might even be a place for you Michael, you were more competition than Stanford ever was."

Mikey glared as he shook his head. "Me work for you? In your dreams you little…" He was cut off as Gideon tightened his grip with a cruel smirk and forced a choked scream from Mikey's battered body. "You know," Mikey choked out as he struggled to regain his breath. "maybe we can work something out."

"I knew you'd come around." Gideon said with a grin. "Mabel?"

Mabel looked desperately for a way out. They had been so close to winning, so close to getting their home back. She looked up and watched her brother struggle against the steel fist that held him. She hoped Dipper came to help soon… and as if summoned by her wish the second arm, unnoticed in the piles of scrap, rose from its position and then swiftly grabbed for the equally stunned Gideon.

Gideon only barely managed to escape by dropping to the ground and rolling away, swinging Mikey wildly as the robotic arm tried, and failed, to mimic his movements. "Let him go, Gideon!" Dipper yelled as he stalked toward the fallen fraud.

"N...now, don't come any closer! Any more funny business and I'll crush him!" Gideon yelled as he regained his feet, eyeing the two, suddenly much more confident, Pines much more warily.

Mikey groaned as Gideon tightened his grip once again, and his siblings looked to him and then each other as they tried to think of a way through this standoff. Unknown to the others, Mikey's groan had been just as much from disappointment as pain. He had been inches away from the glowing stone in his pocket. With it, he was sure he could get out from this death grip, and that was all of Gideon's leverage gone. He just needed Gideon to loosen up, just a little, just for a second.

"Gideon," Mikey wheezed as he strained against the metallic grip. "How do you think is going to go if you actually kill me?" Gideon didn't reply, but the grimace that flashed across his face was enough answer for Mikey. "Look, we don't know why you want the Shack, and frankly I don't care. We just want our home back. We…" Mikey trailed off, scowling. "We could make a deal."

Gideon narrowed his eyes at the stony faces of Dipper and Mabel before he turned to look up at their other sibling. "Well Michael, what exactly did you have in mind?"

Dipper and Mabel shared a concerned glance and shuffled their feet nervously. They didn't like where this was going, making a deal with Gideon was the exact opposite of what they came here to do, but did they really have a choice? They looked up at their brother and he looked back. There was no slight shake of the head, no hidden message was sent or received, but they understood each other all the same. Mikey turned back to Gideon. "Just give us the deed. You can keep the journal, we'll even let you look for whatever you think is hidden here. We just need the Shack back."

Gideon narrowed his eyes, considering the offer. He turned to gauge the reaction of the other Pines, and as he did his grip loosened, almost imperceptibly but just enough. A strange green glow surrounded the robotic fist as Mikey wrapped his hand around the amulet, and the sound of grinding gears filled the air as he dropped to the ground.

"My amul…!" Gideon's indigent scream was cut short as a grappling hook knocked the wind from his lungs and sent him to the ground.

Mikey was also left breathless as he hit the ground but he quickly picked himself up. Gideon hung in the air one of the robotic arms holding him by the collar. Underneath him lay two red books. Picking them both up, Mikey handed Journal 3 to Dipper and quickly looked over the other. Identical in most respects, except for the large two in the middle of the six-fingered hand. Michael smirked harshly as he stepped closer to the white-haired boy. "So, Gideon, what are you gonna do without your little book?"

Gideon paled as he looked down at his captors. "You won't get away with this! I'll get you, I swear it!"

Ignoring Gideon's indignant ranting, the triplets were quite ready to run back to their grunkle and return his deed. Unfortunately, of a police siren and tires on gravel brought their plan to a stop. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland came running from the other side of the Shack, closely followed by a large crowd of townspeople, reporters, and Toby Determined. "Gideon!" Durland yelled as the two officers approached the suspended boy. "Oh, good heavens! What on earth happened here?"

"It was the Pines! They attacked me!"

Dipper and Mabel's first instinct was to protest, but the words died in their throat when they realized Gideon wasn't exactly wrong. A nervous look passed between them. The truth had never stopped Mikey though. "Officers, please. We were just horsing around, you know? Kids being kids."

The disarming smile on Mikey's face disappeared as Sheriff Blubs shook his head. "Sorry kids, but we trust Gideon. And nothing short of a miracle would ever change our…"

"Wait! Stop everything! I've got somethin' to say!" The frantic shouts could be heard from a familiar El Dorado that came to a stop by hitting the parked police car after narrowly avoiding the rest of the crowd. Stan climbed out of the car and rushed to stand beside his niblings and face the crowd. "You guys all think Gideon is so perfect and honest, 'Oh! I could never tell a lie! I'm Gideon!'" He mocked.

"He's more honest than you!"

"Yeah! And he's psychic too!"

Stan scowled at the protests from the crowd and shouted to make himself heard. "No, he's not! He's been using these pins as hidden cameras to spy on everyone, and my hearing aid picked up the interference." He tried to explain holding up the small pin.

A great collective scoff and rolling of the eyes came from the crowd. "I don't suppose you have any proof, do you?" Blubbs asked mockingly.

"Well, actually…" Dipper interrupted, stepping in front of the sheriff with a broad grin. "If you'll follow me, I think you'll find all the evidence you need."

A look passed between deputy and sheriff, broken as barely controlled snickers turned into belly laughs. The two men slapped knees and grasped sides, while the Pines glared, waiting for them to get control of themselves. "Oh, alright City Boy," Blubbs said as he caught his breath, Durland still choking back laughter behind him. "Why don't you show us this 'evidence.'"

Dipper, refusing to dignify the sheriff with a response, marched to the door in the robot's leg. The crowd followed closely behind, leaving Gideon to claw at the robotic grip holding him. When the crowd had gathered, Dipper swung the door open, bathing everyone the light of the screens. "So officers, is this enough evidence?" Dipper asked as the crowd stepped closer, a murmur of shock rolling through them. On every screen was a recording of some private moment of someone's life. From Lazy Susan cooking in the diner to Toby Determined in the hospital.

"Ha! Who's the fraud now?" Stan crowed gleefully as he crushed the little Gideon pin on the ground. The crowds shock quickly turned to anger as they followed his example.

Gideon giggled nervously as the furious crowd approached him. "Gideon, we gave you our trust…" Durland said quietly, nearly drowned out by Manly Dan's near roar next to him.

"You LIED to us!"

"Please, I... It's not what it looks like…" Gideon stuttered out as he renewed his struggle to free himself. "What are you gonna do with me?" He finally asked as it became abundantly clear that he was stuck.

"Tyler?" Durland as he turned to the teary-eyed enthusiasm enthusiast.

"Get 'im…" Tyler choked out, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Get 'im!"

Manly Dan grabbed the suspended child and with one harsh tug ripped the back off his suit and deposited him on the ground. "Lil' Gideon, you are under arrest for conspiracy, fraud, and breaking our hearts." Blubbs said before turning to his partner. "Durland, the tiny handcuffs."

Stan stepped forward, stopping the officers as they led Gideon to a patrol car. "Just one more thing." He said as he reached for his rival, stopping when he heard Mikey clear his throat.

"We already have the deed, Grunkle Stan." He said with a smirk, holding up the aforementioned document.

Stan let out a bark of laughter as he grabbed the deed and pulled the triplets into a one-armed hug. "Should've known you kids had things handled."

"Here you have it." Local reporter Sandra Jimenez announced as she stepped in front of the family. "Local hero Stanford Pines has just exposed Li'l Gideon as a fraud. Anything you have to say to the town, Stanford?"

There was only one thing that could be said. "The Mystery Shack is back, baby!"

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Only a few days had passed since reclaiming the Mystery Shack, and in that time the Pines had successfully settled back into their home. The roof had been repaired, the Mystery Shack was more popular than ever, and the triplets had talked long into the night about the secrets they'd been keeping. In the attic, Mabel was putting up the last of her posters while Dipper and Mikey relaxed on their beds at the end of a long day working at the Shack. "Hey, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel Greeted as their Grunkle peeked through the door.

"Uh, you kiddos settlin' back in okay?"

Mabel Jumped up from the bed. "Yep! All of my favorite moldy spots on the ceiling are still there! Even you, Daryl."

"Hey, Grunkle Stan, "Dipper started slowly, sitting up in bed. "We've been talking, And I think there's something we should finally tell you." Stan raised an eyebrow at the ominous words and sat down next to Dipper on the bed. Mikey and Mabel joined the pair, nodding their agreement. "This is a journal I found in the woods. It talks about all the crazy stuff that goes on in Gravity Falls." Dipper explained as he handed Journal 3 to Stan.

"Gideon had this one and seemed obsessed with getting ours." Mikey continued as he pulled Journal 2 from its hiding place and handed it to Stan.

"We don't know what it means, or who wrote them. But, after all, we've been through, maybe you should finally know about it." Dipper finished solemnly.

Stan silently flipped through the books, face expressionless, before closing them and turning to the kids." I'm glad you showed me this, kids…" The moment ended when Stan let out a deep belly laugh and stood up. "Now I know where you've been getting it all from! Spookums and monsters. This spooky book has been filling your head with crazy conspiracies!"

"But it's all real!"

"Grunkle Stan, we've seen all sorts of stuff from the Journals."

Stan chuckled and shook his head. "You gotta quit readin' this fantasy nonsense for your own good. Although some of these would make great attractions! Can't come up with this stuff! Mind if I borrow these?" Stan asked, walking out of the room without waiting for a response

"Wait, no! Grunkle Stan! I need it!" Dipper protested as Stan disappeared down the stairs.

"C'mon, Dipstick," Mikey said, slinging an arm around his brother's shoulder. "You did just fine without that book."

"Yeah, you didn't need the journal to find that evidence and beat Gideon, and you don't need it now."

"Whoa. Thanks, guys." Dipper said with a small smile, before frowning and turning back to the door. "I still want them back though."

"I'm sure we'll get them back. What would a boring old man like Stan want with those books anyway?" Mabel reassured him.

Before they could think on that any further, a cardboard box burst open and two streams of water soaked the triplets. "Soos-ed!" Soos yelled as he jumped out of the box and ran from the room. The triplets, dripping wet and laughing, followed him, all thoughts of the Journals forgotten for now.

Later that night, Stan Pines walked through the dark of the gift shop. He stopped at the vending machine, into the shadows to ensure that he was alone. A code was punched into the pad, and Stan was gone down a set of stairs let came to an end in front of an elevator. Another code was entered and Stan descended ever deeper. Stan stepped out, and into a space filled with the blinking lights and sound of computer terminals. Ignoring these, he continued forward, stopping at desk lit with a small lamp, and a picture of himself and the triplets they had taken on Family Fun Day. But stan didn't stop to look at it either, as he pulled out the two journals the children had given him. "After all these years." He said quietly as he pulled a third journal from a shelf on the desk. "Finally, I have them all." Stan opened each Journal to a page showing some schematic and arranged the books so that the complete picture sat before him.

Constantly looking back to the Journals, Stan busies himself flipping switches, pulling a lever, and pressing buttons, in a seemingly random order. With each action, the crackle of electricity or grinding of gears can be heard, and as he finishes his task he can see, in an empty clearing of the underground lab, a massive inverted triangle begin to light up. "It's working!" He yelled to himself, half in pride and half in shock as he ran to stand before the massive piece of technology.

Stan pushes a large lever that sits in front of the triangular structure, and it responds by fully awakening, symbols along its rim begin to glow, lightning crackles out from it, and in the center were a hole sits in its body a bright white light glows. "Here we go." Stan says to himself, staring proudly into the light as he feels the wind blowing in form the strange portal.

And so, Season One ends I hope you've enjoyed the fic thus far, and I'd like to reassure everyone that I have plans for this fic to go far past the end of season two. AS far as Season two gos, I have at least two wholly original chapter ideas, plus several chapters that take the original episode and twist it rather severely thanks to Michael's presence. There will be more Gorney, more Wendy and more Pacifica in Season two, so I hope you stick around for it.

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