Dipper, Mabel and Stan stepped into the living room of the Mystery Shack. The scent of smoke was faint, but still lingered in the air.

The light of the sunset reflected off of an object on the carpet. Mabel bent down to pick it up. It was Gideon's journal. Volume two.

"I can't believe it," Dipper said. He looked down at his copy. "I never thought I'd get this close to finding all of the journals."

"There's only one left."

"Yeah," Dipper agreed. He paused and frowned. "How did you know that?"

Mabel froze. She turned to look at Stan.

"Okay. . . so. . . I don't know where to start. . . " Stan began. "I'm not exactly sure what all happened these past few days, but it's made realize that you two aren't kids anymore." He glanced at an old photo of Dipper and Mabel that hung on the wall. "You've grown up-"

"-Aww, Stan! You're gonna make me cry!" Mabel fanned her face while her bottom lip quivered

"Mabel, that's not the point I'm trying to make," he said impatiently. He fiddled with the clasp on his watch. "I haven't been entirely honest with you. You've proven to me on more than one occasion that you're fully capable of handling this."

Stan looked down and turned away. "And I know that I can't hide it forever."

He walked out of the room. The twins shared nervous looks before following behind.

Stan stopped at the vending machine and began typing on the keypad.

Dipper rocked back and forth on his crutches. "Is it necessary to stop this conversation for a snac-"

The vending machine swung open from the wall to reveal a doorway. Stan stepped inside and took a lantern that hung from a hook in the corner. He looked over his shoulder to see the twins with their jaws dropped open. His old eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Follow me. And don't let the vending machine hit you on the way in," he joked.

The twins took a moment to fully process what was happening before finally following Stan down the passage.

Dipper followed behind. Due to his cast, he was at a slight disadvantage. He narrowly made it inside before the vending machine close behind him. It hit him in his lower back, almost knocking him over.

"Stan? Are you sure this is safe?"

"Eh. . .probably."

Dipper glanced at the door before setting his crutches down again and moving himself along the floor. The sound of the crutches echoed in the air.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring."

"Trust me," Stan replied. "I've been going down here on a regular basis for thirty years and I haven't died. Yet."

"What's this for?" Mabel asked. "And why have you been going down here for thirty years?"

"Please save all comments and questions for the end of the tour."

The light from the lanterned washed over a pair of elevator doors. Stan pressed a button and the doors slid open. After everyone was inside, Stan pressed another button and the elevator began to creak before slowly descending into the floor below. The doors reopened, revealing yet another hallway. Stan continued with the twins following closely behind. They were careful not to stray from the light of the lantern.

Once they arrived at an opening, Stan flipped a lightswitch on the side of the wall. The room instantly came alive. Machines powered up with a low growl. Rows of buttons began lighting up. Monitors mounted on the ceiling began flickering before playing security footage from the outside of the Shack.

Dipper's mouth dropped open. "What is this place?"

Stan placed the lantern on a desk that faced a pane of glass that looked into another room on the other side. He stared past the glass before turning on another switch. Lights inside the room illuminated a giant, triangular machine.

Dipper and Mabel walked closer to get a better look.

"This is all going to sound insane," Stan took a seat on an old office chair ",but you've got to believe me."

"I don't know. Dipper and I have seen some pretty wack stuff," Mabel said while nudging her brother with her elbow.

"Yeah," Dipper agreed. "Whatever it is, we can handle it."

Stan glanced at the machine, then back at the twins.

"I have a brother," he began.

Mabel's mouth popped open as she exclaimed "a what?!"

"I have a twin brother. His name is Ford, as in Stanford."

"Stanford isn't your real name?" Dipper asked.

Stan shook his head. "I'm Stanley."

"We used to be close until we had this big fight-" he took in a shaky breath "-and parted ways. Years passed before I heard from him again. When I did, he had been staying here, in Gravity Falls. He had always been obsessed with the paranormal and cryptids and whatnot."

"That sounds familiar," Mabel said in hopes of lightening the mood. It didn't work.

"The reason why he was staying here was because he wanted to study the weird creatures he had seen around the woods, and wanted to take a scientific approach. When he wrote to me, he said he needed help. When I got here, he told me someone was out to get him. . . stalking him or something."

Stan's eyebrows had knitted together, like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

"He said he needed to hide his work. He gave me one of his journals and told me to take it and hide it somewhere on the other side of the world-"

"-the journals?" Dipper gasped. "Your brother was the author?"

Stan nodded. "I was angry. I didn't understand why he wanted me to leave after we had been apart for so long. I didn't know what to do, so I lashed out. We started fighting. It was all happening so fast, I didn't realize we had accidentally turned on that machine."

His eyes began to well up with tears. He blinked them away before continuing.

"He fell into the portal. The only thing he left behind was this."

Stan picked up the first journal and handed it to Dipper.

"I've been trying to fix the machine ever since. Now that we've got all three journals, I might just have a chance at getting it to work. The problem is that it's been so long. . . I have no idea what I'm doing. He could be dead for all I know."

"Have you had any successful test runs or anything?" Dipper asked.

Stan looked down. "No." He wove his fingers together and bounced his knee up and down.

"There's still one last thing I haven't told you. You see. . . I. . .I was so desperate to get him back. I didn't have any options left. . ."

Dipper and Mabel leaned closer in anticipation.

"Yesterday wasn't the first time I've met Bill Cipher."

Mabel began to cry. Her voice wavered as she spoke. "Stan-"

"-I know. I was an idiot," he mumbled. "But I haven't seen him in a long time. I think he's finally done using me."

"But just because he's left me alone, doesn't mean he's gone forever."

Stan reached into his pocket and withdrew his chain. He handed it towards the twins. Mabel took it and inspected it.

"It shields it's wearer against Bill. As far as I know, it's the only one of its kind."

"We can't take this," Mabel said. She moved it back to him. Stan pushed her hand back.

"Keep it. You need it more than I do."

"But we can't just sit back and let you take on all of this on your own!" Mabel argued. "There has to be another way."

"What can we do to help?" Dipper asked.

Stan looked taken aback. "Oh. I thought you'd need a while to take all of this in. I wanted to give you the option of helping me. I don't want to drag you into something this dangerous."

He swept a hand across the room. "It's okay if it's too much."

"No." Mabel stood up. "We're helping you. We've already been through heck together." She paused. "Excuse my language."

Dipper stood alongside his sister. "We're family, and not just any family. We're the Pines. We're crazy and dumb enough to accomplish anything. No matter what it takes."

Mabel offered a hand to Stan. "So what next?"

He grinned, holding onto Mabel's hand. "Looks like we've got a portal to fix."

• • •

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