A faded red truck sped through streets of Gravity Falls. It wove in and out of lanes and occasionally rolled across the sidewalks that separated the street from the buildings. Pedestrians scattered away to avoid collision. The car passed multiple red lights, causing surrounding vehicles to blow their horns angrily.

"We're not going to be any help to Wendy and Pacifica if we die on the way," Dipper said. He kept a tight grip on the handle attached near the top of the window of the passenger seat while Mabel gripped onto his shoulder to keep herself balanced.

"If there was any time to be breaking the law, that time would be now," Stan responded.

"Ironic coming from a guy who breaks the law on a regular basis," Mabel remarked.

Stan scanned the streets ahead of him. He turned the wheel. The car veered to the left. The street ahead of them was a dead end.

"What're you doing?!" Dipper screamed.

Stan hunched over and gripped the wheel tighter. "It's a short cut."

Mabel held onto her brother and closed her eyes when the truck hit the end of the street and hurdled into the trees. Twigs and branches began thumping against the windshield. Stan turned on the windshield wipers but doing so didn't make much of a difference.

The car finally broke free of the woods and skidded to a halt, sending up plumes of dust into the air. They had arrived a few yards away from the wall that surrounded the Mystery Shack.

Dipper opened the passenger door to stare at the scene. Small figures were crawling up the wood in swarms. The bakru were slowly unraveling to lash out at the intruders. It was complete and utter chaos. He scanned the area while squinting to try to make out what the creatures were until he recognized the red, pointy hats.

"Are you seeing this?"

Mabel crawled over her brother, jumped out of the truck and darted across the lawn. She ran through the battlefield while carefully trying to avoid stepping on any of the gnomes. She stopped when she found Jeff.

"What's going on?"

He turned to her. He bared his teeth and began to take a swing at her with his wooden sword. When he recognized her, he dropped his weapon to his side, smiled and greeted her with a wave. "Oh. It's just you."

"What's going on?" she repeated.

"Your friend recruited us to help save Bendy."

"You mean Wendy."

"Yeah. Her!"

"Who asked for your help?"

"That uh. . ." Jeff snapped his fingers as he tried to conjure up a name. "What's his name? Zeus?"

"Soos."

"Yep!"

"What the heck?!" Stan exclaimed as he stepped out of the truck. He flinched and stumbled backward when a small group of gnomes began to approach him in a menacing manner.

"The old man's with us."

The gnomes shrugged, nodded, and followed behind Jeff to rejoin the others in the fight against the bakru.

"It's Soos!" Mabel said to Stan. "He got the gnomes to help!"

"Really? Where is he?"

"I have no idea," she said. Her eyes scanned the wooden wall. It was beginning to unravel as the bakru began disassemble to fight back at the gnomes.

"I think he made it inside."

• • •

The smoke had thickened in the air. The fire was growing and inching towards the cage. A flame caught on to one of the vines. The cage emitted a high-pitched hissing sound before loosening. The wooden bars of the cage began to expand and droop like rubber.

After observing this, Wendy scratched at the binding on her wrist until the vines finally snapped. She exhaled in relief and rubbed her sore wrists. pushed against the binding and the vine finally snapped. She smiled down at her freed hands and wiggled her fingers. After freeing her ankles, she made a point with her elbow and slammed it against the wood, sending pieces of the cage flying outward.

Wendy crawled out of the cage, picked up the axe from the floor and began chopping away the vines that had ensnared Pacifica. The energy that it took to hack at the vines combined with the smoke began to make her light-headed.

Finally, Pacifica's hand reached upward. Wendy pulled her out. As soon as Pacifica was standing up, Wendy began dragging her along towards the wall where the door had been covered by the bakru.

Once they were standing a foot or two away from the wall, the face of a bakru emerged and let out a deep growl.

Wendy slung her axe over her shoulder and hit the creature with all her might. The blade chopped off its hand. It fell to the floor with a thud and twitched before remaining lifeless.

The bakru hissed. It's arm reformed another hand that took hold of her axe and began to pull it away.

"Stay back!" Pacifica yelled.

She pushed Wendy to the side, lifted a burning book over her head and threw it at the monster's face.

The flames ate at the bakru's nose and slowly began to consume the other creatures. They screeched, then morphed back into their original forms to reveal the door. They pushed it open and scampered away from the girls, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

"Nice job," Wendy breathed.

"Thanks."

The sound of the fire crackling behind them increased, reminding Wendy of the little amount of time they had before the fire consumed the entire house.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!"

The two ran down the hallway side by side. The Shack was now vacant of all bakru. All of the creatures had retreated outside, either to defend the Shack or to escape the fire.

They had almost reached the front door when Wendy fell over from the impact of someone slamming against her.

She winced and rubbed her aching head. When she opened her eyes, she saw Soos laying on the ground across from her. His eyes lit up with pure euphoria.

"Wendy!"

He leapt towards her and scooped her into a hug. Wendy's shoulders tensed from the surprise. She smiled and hugged him back.

Pacifica coughed to gain their attention. "Sorry to put this reunion on hold, but we have a burning building to escape from at the moment."

"Oh yeah." Soos stood and pulled Wendy up with him. He tugged at her arm, but she didn't move.

"We have to get the journal," she said. "I never got it back from Gideon!"

"That's the least of our worries right now," Pacifica said. "Let's go."

"I can't." Wendy spoke louder this time.

A beam that rested between two supporting walls began to slant. The crackling sounds grew louder. Everything moved in slow motion as Wendy dove backward. The beam crashed to the floor, separating her from Soos and Pacifica.

"I have to go," Wendy shouted over the roar of the flames. "I'll be okay!"

"No!" Soos screamed.

His yelling became muffled the deeper Wendy wove through the hallways. The further she walked, the thicker the smoke became.

Wendy felt a dry sensation from the back of her throat the more she inhaled the air. She lifted the neck of her shirt over her nose before continuing.

The door to the gift shop was wide open. On the floor rested the journal. It was lying open with its pages fluttering, causing Wendy to infer that someone must have dropped it while trying to escape.

She ran into the room and picked up. She tucked it into the front pocket of her overalls, then began searching for the quickest exit. Her eyes focused on the door that led outside. Before she began to leave, she saw the fire extinguisher that was mounted on the wall behind the cash register.

Her heart pounded faster once she grasped that she had a shot at saving the Mystery Shack.

Wendy looked back and forth from the door to the extinguisher. She turned and headed for the latter. She dragged a stool with her and crawled on top. Wendy pried it from the wall. It's weight dragged her down. Her upper arms quivered as she stepped down from the stool and left the room.

Luckily, the room she and Pacifica had been trapped in was only a few yards down the hallway. The fire had yet to spread from the room.

Wendy stopped at the doorway, held up the extinguisher and pulled the trigger. A stream of carbon dioxide blasted from the nozzle and began diminishing the fire. It hadn't grown too much since she had last been in the room. It wouldn't take much longer for her to put out the rest of the fire.

Just after she had put out the last of the flames, a thin shadow washed over the floor from behind.

"I've misplaced something of mine. Perhaps you know where it is."

Wendy turned to him. His face was covered in scratches and his clothes were tattered.

Before she had a chance to formulate a plan, Gideon lunged at her.
With nothing left to defend herself with, Wendy threw the extinguisher at him. It slammed against his chest. Gideon stumbled backward. He collapsed against the wall and sunk to the floor, unconscious.

Wendy stared at him in shock. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Anxiety vibrated in her headas she glanced back and forth at Gideon and the exit. She began to run towards the door, but stopped. She looked over her shoulder with an expression of both disgust and guilt.

She turned back towards Gideon, slung his arm around her shoulders and dragged him out of the room.

Wendy felt relief in her lungs as she absorbed the fresh air. She collapsed on her knees and carefully lowered Gideon on the ground next to her.

"Wendy!" Soos exclaimed. He rushed forward and dove into her arms. "You did it!"

Wendy shook her head. "No. We did it."

Her face broke into a wide smile. She laughed before standing and wrapping her arms around Pacifica. Pacifica grinned and returned the gesture with a tighter embrace.

"Paz!"

Pacifica's eyes welled up when she heard Dipper's voice. She whipped around with tears running down her cheeks.

Dipper had tried to run up to her, but nearly tripped over his crutches in the process. He resorted to an awkward cross between hopping and limping.

Just when Pacifica was about to reach him, he threw his crutches on the ground to hold her in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe."

"I'm so sorry for everything," Pacifica began. "I didn't mean what I said. That wasn't me. I-"

She was interrupted when Dipper pressed his lips against hers. Once he drew back, her mouth formed an o shape in surprise.

Dipper smiled. "I know."

Wendy watched the two from afar. She felt a sinking feeling, which melted away into admiration. At last, Envy had been silenced.

Across the lawn, Soos was shaking hands with Jeff. The gnome was holding onto a rope that was tied to Gompers' collar. Soos stared at the goat with trembling lips.

"Goodbye, Gompers. You were the best goat a kid could have." He patted Gompers on the head, in between the horns.

The goat stared at Soos with vacant eyes. It bleated before biting into the sleeve of Soos's t-shirt.

Soos tugged at the sleeve. "I'm sorry, Gompers. I made a promise!"

Jeff looked at Soos in dismay. He glanced at Gompers. His head dropped as he sighed.

"I can't do this."

He handed the end of the rope to Soos.

"But we made a deal-"

"-don't worry about it, kid," Jeff said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You know what they say; there's plenty of goats in the ocean."

Soos laughed. "You're a good guy, Jeff. You'll find a queen in no time."

"Thanks." Jeff smiled. He tipped his hat. "It's been a pleasure workin' with ya!"

He turned to the rest of the gnomes and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Alright fellas. Let's roll out!"

And with that, the gnomes scampered back into the forest until the lawn was empty. No one would've known what had chaos had just happened minutes ago.

The reunion was suddenly put on pause. The group jerked their heads up when they heard the sound of a police siren. Blue and red lights flashed as the car rolled onto the property. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland emerged from the vehicle.

"We got a call about a break in," Blubs announced.

Everyone's heads turned to Gideon. He began to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He jumped.

"Ugh. You again," Blubs sighed. "Weren't you the same kid that ran that scam of a show a while back?"

"Pfft. . . what? Of course not," Gideon lied.

Durland took a pair of handcuffs from his belt and proceeded to cuff Gideon's arms behind his back.

"Thanks for the call," Blubs said to Stan.

Stan stared at Gideon with crossed arms and an amused smile. "Don't mention it."

After shoving Gideon into the back of the car, Blubs and Durland climbed back into the car and drove away. Gideon's eyes glared at them from the back of the window until the car was nothing more than a mere speck in the distance.

Just after the police car was gone, a truck rolled onto the dirt before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Who's that?" Soos asked.

Wendy took a step slightly behind Dipper and Pacifica in hopes that it would be enough to go unnoticed.

"It's my dad."

The door of the car swung open. A large pair of mud-stained hunting boots planted onto the ground and a head of ragged ginger hair appeared. The door slammed shut to reveal Dan Corduroy.

"Wendy!"

She stepped up from her hiding place with her back hunched and hands tucked into her pockets.

"Hi, dad."

"I've been looking all over town for ya' until I saw the smoke. What happened? Why didn't you call me?"

"My phone was dead."

Dan frowned. "Why is your face all dirty?" He walked closer to her, took one of her arms into his hand and stared at it. "What happened to your arms?"

"I-I-" she stuttered.

"There was a fire, sir," Dipper spoke up.
"Wendy came over to help."

Pacifica stood closer to him and gripped his arm tighter.

After a moment's pause, Dan spoke again "Stan, is that true?"

Stan nodded quickly while sharing a knowing glance with Dipper and Mabel.

"Yeah. She really saved our butts back there."

"I'm so sorry," Wendy said. "I-um went too deep into the woods and I got lost. I guess I was walking around in a circle, cause I eventually saw the fire, so I ended up back here."

Dan studied her eyes before pulling her into his chest and hugging her.

"There's no need to be sorry. I'm just happy you're okay."

Once he let go, Wendy stared back at him in disbelief. It was either pure luck or the power of a worried parent that blinded Dan from the lie they had just produced. Either way, she was in the clear.

"Let's get you home."

Wendy moved backward. "I just need a second."

"Okay, uh, I'll be in the car."

Once Dan had returned to his truck, she turned to the others.

"Well. . . today sure was weird, huh?"

"You could say that again," Stan agreed.

"But seriously," Dipper added ",you saved us and the Mystery Shack. You're amazing!"

"Pfft. Amazing is an understatement." Mabel slapped a hand on Wendy's shoulder. "You, my good sir, are absolutely radical."

"Thanks, guys," Wendy replied. She suddenly shrank back. Her eyes widened. "Wait- I forgot the journal! Gideon must've gotten away with it! We have to get it back! I can't believe I let him get awa-"

"-Wendy," Soos interrupted. He pointed at the front pocket of her overalls.

Wendy's face flushed crimson. She laughed as she withdrew it and held it up towards Dipper.

"I guess this belongs to you."

Dipper smiled and took it into his hand. He stared down at the golden hand in disbelief. "Absolutely amazing."

Wendy blushed and tucked her hands back into her pockets.

"I've gotta get going. My dads waiting on me. See you guys on Monday?"

"Don't worry about coming to work until next week," Stan said. "I think we all deserve a break."

Wendy began to speak, but Stan cut her off.

"But you're still welcome to visit anytime. Our door's always open."

"Thanks, Mister Pines."

"It's just Stan from now on. Got it?"

"Yes sir, mist- I mean, Stan."

After one last wave, Wendy finally began to head towards the truck. Soos rushed up from behind and gave her another hug.

"Bye, Wendy."

Wendy grinned and tousled his head, making his baseball cap lopsided.

"See you later."

She drew back, opened the door and plopped herself down into the passenger seat. The car backed up before driving down the dirt rode. Wendy stared after the group with her palms pressed against the glass. It didn't take long until she found herself daydreaming about returning to the Mystery Shack.