Robbie Corduroy had hoped that, discovering the Mystery Museum closed off and dark, his parents wouldn't say anything about going into work.

Yesterday, he had walked over in the morning, only to find the doors shut and the lights off. This meant one of two things — either the Pines had failed and were captives of the Order, or they had succeeded and were sleeping off their adventures. Robbie hoped it was the latter. Either way, the Museum wasn't open today, and he had the day off from work.

He'd headed back home, plopping back onto his bed. His parents weren't home; they hadn't been when he'd woken up. He was used to this — as the town's only graveyard managers and morticians and funeral directors, they often got called away at odd hours to do various things. Robbie had no idea what those things were, which he personally saw as a great accomplishment. With how much they loved to talk, it took skill to be ignorant of his parents' lives.

Well. . . He glanced out the window, the dark corridors of the Order appearing in his mind's eye. Not completely ignorant.

He stayed in his room all morning, hoping his parents wouldn't find him here when he was technically supposed to be at work. That didn't last long, though — soon enough, his dad appeared in the doorway.

Gregory Corduroy said something, but Robbie couldn't hear it over the rock he was currently blasting into his ears. And he was okay with that.

Dad sighed and mimed taking out the earbuds. Robbie rolled his eyes, but he sat up and followed the unspoken request. "What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Why, so I can spy on the Pines?" Robbie asked. His dad opened his mouth to respond, but Robbie cut him off. "I went over this morning for my shift, but it wasn't open. So I came back here."

Dad came over and sat backwards on a desk chair across the room. The chair tilted as he leaned on it. "Not so you can spy," he said. "So you can earn money. Not everything has some ulterior motive."

"Sure," Robbie said. "Well, here's the answer to your question: Yes, I'm supposed to be at work, but nothing's exactly normal right now, so I'm here instead. We good?"

Dad frowned as he thought that over. "What do you mean, nothing's exactly normal?" he finally said. "I mean, you're right, but how would you know. . . ?" He trailed off, realization dawning in his eyes. "Did you give them the password, son?"

Robbie lay back down on his bed and rolled onto his side, pulling a pillow over his head. "So what if I did?"

"No wonder you wanted to leave that tour so quickly," Dad said after a moment of silence. "You didn't actually want a tour at all, did you?"

Robbie sat up. "Of course not," he said acerbically. "Who'd want a tour of your and Mom's freak show?"

Dad closed his eyes and took a long breath. "I know you don't like the Order, Robbie," he began.

"That's putting it mildly," Robbie muttered.

"But helping the Pines? I'm sure they seem nice, Robs, but you don't understand the danger they pose! They're planning to destroy the town!"

Robbie scoffed. "Yeah, right! Have you ever met the Pines? Mr. Pines is a grumpy old codger, Melody's a sweet lady who wouldn't harm a fly, and the twins are these adorable goofballs. Forgive me for not thinking that they could destroy anything."

"That's a front," Dad said. He took a deep breath, the sign that he was about to tell a story. "Thirty-six years ago, Stanford Pines came to town to research the paranormal."

"Then why didn't you just wipe his memory and send him packing?" Robbie interrupted. "That's what you do, right?"

"Because he's like you," Dad said. "All the Pines are. Which makes them even more dangerous."

"So I'm dangerous?"

Dad threw up his hands. "Maybe, if you're going to go around helping the Pines!"

"Maybe the Pines deserve help!" Robbie shot back.

Dad stared at him, and there appeared to be actual fear in his eyes. "No." He sounded horrified. "No, son, you're being deceived. I'm. . . I'm sorry, I didn't think Stanford would. . . I should never have let you work there. . . ."

"No, you're being deceived!" Robbie shot back. He didn't actually know who was in charge of the Order, but whoever they were, his parents had fallen for their lies hook, line, and sinker.

Dad rubbed at his eyes, and Robbie could guess what he was thinking. He was probably wishing that Gideon could wipe Robbie, or that Robbie would blindly follow the Order's ideas, or maybe that Robbie didn't even exist. Well I'm sorry, Dad, for making your life so hard. I'm sorry I can see how stupid the Order is when you can't.

Finally, Dad spoke. "As I was saying," he said wearily, and Robbie mentally backtracked to the story his dad had begun earlier, "Stanford came to town to study the supernatural. But he was obsessed. He'd put his research over anything. Like right now — he's working on a project that will have disastrous effects, but he doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. Not even his own family."

"Mabel told me they were just taking back something you people had stolen," Robbie said. "That doesn't sound obsessive at all, it sounds fair."

"It was a Journal," Dad said. "A book written by Stanford over three decades ago. There are three total — this was the last one they needed to set their plans in motion. I suppose you could say we stole it. I wasn't in the Order at the time, so I don't know the exact circumstances, but I do know that it was for a good reason. Having all three Journals was too dangerous — having even one was too dangerous."

"Why?" Robbie asked, frustration leaking into his voice. His parents thought that everything was dangerous — that just because you didn't have experience interacting with supernatural creatures, you shouldn't interact with them at all.

"Because together, the Journals have instructions for a doomsday device."

Robbie rolled his eyes. "Wow, that's dramatic."

"Robbie, this is serious!" Dad said. "Now that they have all three, the Pines can turn on this machine that could destroy the town! If we don't stop them, we could get hurt. People could die!"

Robbie gave his dad a flat look, but Greg wasn't done. "And that's just the beginning. That's just during the process of turning it on. Once it's on, there will be an entrance to another world. Right in our town! Who knows what could come out of that?"

"I dunno," Robbie said. "Maybe an alien who can help us. . . achieve world peace? Cure cancer? The unknown isn't all bad, Dad."

Dad shook his head. "The risks are far too great to let the Pines succeed." He sighed. "I need you to go into work tomorrow, Robbie. See what you can find out. See if you can take one of the Journals — or better yet, all of them."

Robbie gave a scoff of disbelief. "What happened to 'not everything has some ulterior motive'?! I'm not spying on them! And I'm sure as heck not stealing from them. Plus, if they're really working on some doomsday device they're not going to open the Mystery Museum."

He wished that was enough to put the issue to rest. But despite his crushing logic, Robbie's parents still made him go. They told him to show up for his shift the next morning, knock on the door if the Museum was closed, and ask what was going on. As innocently as he could.

Now, as he trudged across the street to the Museum under the blinding winter sun, he scowled darkly to himself. "Oh, I won't be acting innocent," he muttered. "I'll be telling them exactly what you said."

And he would. Because he'd had nearly a full day to think over what his dad had said about the "doomsday device," and his mind had started to doubt the Pines. Was it possible that they really were planning to destroy the town? The twins would never do something like that, he knew, but the more he thought, the more he realized he didn't actually know Mr. Pines all that well. Maybe the old man was tricking the twins into helping him. Maybe he wanted to go into another world for scientific purposes, not matter what the cost.

Eventually, Robbie had decided he would just ask, straight up. Get both sides of the story and reconcile them into some semblance of the truth.

At the base of the porch, Robbie took a deep breath, steeling himself. Then he marched up the front steps and knocked firmly on the door.

Silence. For long enough that Robbie was close to just leaving and telling Mom and Dad that they wouldn't answer. But then he heard footsteps, and Dipper's face appeared in the diamond-shaped window set into the door. Robbie flashed him a smile.

"Dipper, don't open the door!"

That was Mr. Pines, yelling from somewhere else in the house. Robbie wasn't sure how to react to that, though he had to admit he felt a little hurt. Hadn't he just helped them?

Dipper, evidently, was thinking something similar. "I think we wanna let him in, Ford," he said, his voice muffled by the door. "It's Robbie."

Robbie grinned. Good on you, Dip.

There were faint clunking noises followed by heavy footfalls. Stanford Pines' grizzled face appeared in the window, scowling at Robbie. Then the elderly man turned away, and Robbie heard him say something, though he couldn't make out any words.

"What?" Dipper asked incredulously. "Grunkle Ford, it's Robbie!"

Mr. Pines said something else, and after a moment, Robbie heard Dipper run away from the door.

"What do you think, Mabel?" Mr. Pines raised his voice to ask her, so Robbie could hear the question. He couldn't, however, hear Mabel's response.

"It's risky," Mr. Pines said. "He could be here to sabotage us."

Robbie sighed. "I can hear you, you know," he called through the door.

Silence.

"Why are you here?" came Mr. Pines' response.

Robbie closed his eyes, trying to banish his suspicions. Of course the Pines would be wary. He took a deep breath and said, "I just want answers."

Dipper's telltale footsteps returned, and a few moments later, the door opened.

"Come in," Mr. Pines said. Then he held up a gun for Robbie to see. "But if you try anything, I'll stun you."

Robbie swallowed. "Noted."

He crossed the threshold into the Museum, but even as he did it, he worried. Wasn't this behavior proof that Mr. Pines was dangerous? Maybe he should turn tail and get out of here.

But he couldn't trust the story his dad had given him. He needed to hear their side.

Mr. Pines gestured to the couch, and Robbie sat. Dipper came over and jumped up onto the arm of the couch. "Sorry about Ford," he said. "He's just paranoid."

"Dip, this is a big deal." Mabel came shuffling into the living room from the kitchen. "We have to be safe." Then her eyes met Robbie's, and she flushed and looked away.

Robbie smiled at her. He found her shyness rather endearing, to tell the truth. She was a good kid.

Mr. Pines cleared his throat. "I'm going to need to ask you some questions, Robbie, just to be safe. Are you here to steal the Journals?"

"No," Robbie answered honestly. "My parents want me to, but I only have their word that you're doing bad things with them. And I don't exactly trust their judgment."

There was a sound of consternation from across the room, and Robbie glanced over to see Melody standing in the entry way. "Your parents are intelligent people, Robbie," she said. "I grew up with them — they graduated high school a couple years before I started, but in a town as small as this one, you pretty much know everybody. I remember looking up to them. They really do care about people. They've been deceived, yes, into using their caring nature for bad things — but don't mistake that for stupidity."

Robbie had to hold back an eye roll. Thank you, Melody, excuses are just what my parents need.

"Robbie," Mr. Pines said, "what do you mean, 'doing bad things with them'? What did they tell you?"

Though he had the urge to look away, Robbie forced himself to look Mr. Pines in the eye. "My dad said you were turning on some sort of 'doomsday device.'"

Mr. Pines raised an eyebrow. "Alliterative."

"Yeah, nobody's going to take it seriously with a name like that. But he said it could destroy the town, hurt people, possibly even kill people."

The Pines went quiet. None of them would meet his gaze. Robbie's heart sped up. That was not a good sign.

"It could," Mr. Pines said quietly. "We were hoping to warn people somehow so they can stay safe."

Robbie stared at him. "Or you could just. . . not turn it on."

"We have to," Mabel burst out. "I-it's dangerous, but—" She cut herself off, glancing to Mr. Pines.

Mr. Pines sighed. "Did your father explain what the device is?"

"Yeah. . . something about an entrance to another world."

Mr. Pines tilted his head in acknowledgement. "The device is a portal," he said. "Thirty years ago, we turned it on for the first time, and. . . my brother got stuck on the other side."

Robbie blinked. A brother? He'd never imagined Mr. Pines having. . . well, any family. At least, before the twins came to visit.

"We have to save him," Dipper added.

"But — it's been thirty years!" Robbie exclaimed. "Why are you just doing this now?"

Mr. Pines sighed. "Because I forgot about it."

Robbie looked away. Of course. He should've guessed the Order would do something like that. "Oh." Another thought surfaced in his mind. "My dad. . . said you were obsessed. That you'd put your research over anything, even your own family. But it sounds like. . . it sounds like this whole thing is for your family."

Mr. Pines nodded solemnly.

"Hey," Dipper said suddenly, "I have an idea! Why doesn't Robbie just warn everyone?"

The Pines all looked to Robbie expectantly.

"Um," he said, "I guess I could. But I don't even know what exactly I'd be warning them about — and won't the Order just wipe their memories?"

The entire room seemed to sigh at that.

"If they're so worried about people getting hurt," Dipper said, "then they have no excuse to keep people from protecting themselves, right?"

"Theoretically," said Mr. Pines. "I worry they may not see it that way, though. I'm afraid it's up to you, Robbie, to convince them not to. Tell your parents they were right, that I am obsessive, and that you couldn't find a way to stop me. Then beg them to let you warn people, since that's the only way to keep them safe. If they don't like that, you could always remind them that they can wipe everybody's memory afterwards."

The more Mr. Pines spoke, the less Robbie liked the plan. Tell his parents that they were right? Beg them? Remind them of their stupid memory wiping?

Melody, evidently, could read the disgust on his face. "I know," she said. "Submitting to your parents feels like swallowing fire ants when you're a teen. Even when they're not in a cult. But if you want to help out, you have to make them feel like the ones in power, so they'll do what's necessary for everyone's safety. Do you think you can do that?"

Robbie scowled. "Even after I humiliate myself, nobody is going to believe me. The Order has too much of a hold over their minds."

"That may be," Mr. Pines said. "You still have to try, though. And once the anomalies start, everyone will experience it firsthand. Then they'll believe you."

"Experience what?" Robbie asked.

So the Pines explained the gravitational anomalies. Robbie could see why his dad was worried — with gravity going crazy, all sorts of awful things could happen. And just because Mr. Pines hadn't experienced any dangerous gravity last time didn't mean it wasn't going to happen this time. Was the life of one man really worth putting so many people at risk?

"Essentially," Mr. Pines finished, "people should stay inside as often as possible and secure whatever they can so it won't fly around. And turn off their electricity — lights, water, heat, everything. Who knows what the disappearance of gravity could do to people's pipes?" He sighed. "The anomalies will only happen for eighteen hours, but it'll be a long eighteen hours."

"When?" Robbie asked.

"I don't know," Mr. Pines admitted. "Sometime in the next week. Tomorrow at the earliest. But we'll try to make it more like a couple days so you have time to get the word out."

Silence. Maybe the Pines really were obsessive — they were asking a lot of Robbie. Of everyone.

"You know," Robbie said, "for just getting threatened with a stun gun, I'd be really nice to help you out."

Mr. Pines sighed. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "Could you help us?"

Robbie thought the question over.

"Ford can really be a grump," Dipper said. "Try thinking of it as helping Stanley — that's what I do."

"Stanley?" Robbie looked to Mr. Pines. "Is that your brother?"

He nodded briefly.

Robbie was quiet for a moment. "My parents say I'm being tricked by you," he said.

"No," Mabel said immediately. "We wouldn't lie about family."

That sealed it: Robbie believed them. If it had been anyone else, it may not have worked, but Mabel was too innocent to deceive him. The sincerity in her eyes as she said it hit Robbie hard. Thinking about it logically, one man's life wasn't worth risking so many others. But emotionally, reuniting a family was worth whatever it took.

It kind of made Robbie wish his family was like that.

No, a voice in the back of his mind insisted. Your parents love you. Everything they do, even if it's misguided, is out of love.

The strength of the thought surprised him. But he supposed seeing that love in the Pines helped him see it in his own family, too.

"Okay," he said, looking around the room to Mr. Pines, Dipper, Mabel, and Melody. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll do my best to keep the town safe, and I'll try to get my parents in on it, too."

He looked Mr. Pines straight in the eye. "And you get your brother back."

To his surprise, Mr. Pines gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you."

After that, Mr. Pines gave him more specific instructions, and fifteen minutes later, Robbie was on the road back to his house to negotiate with his parents. His mind was going over everything he'd just learned, all he'd seen from the Pines. Something about Mr. Pines was different, but Robbie couldn't put his finger on it.

Hours later, Robbie realized what it was.

Today was the first time he'd ever seen Mr. Pines smile.