Hello! Welcome back, I hope you all took a nice break and drank some water, slept, or ate some food. Or all three. See, I told y'all that this part would be updated not long after I posted the last one. I was supposed to update it before I went to work at noon today but I totally forgot. Then I went home and built a shelf I got from a furniture store. As I was building it, I was like "wasn't I supposed to be doing something?" After that, it hit me that I hadn't posted this part yet 🤦‍♀️

So, sorry this is out later than I intended. After this, we have one more act (that will most likely be split in two parts again because dang your girl can write) to go and then this story is over. Will I post more from this AU? Probably, if inspiration shall strike 😂

Without further ado, let's jump right back into where we left off, shall we?

~.~.~.~

"Paz!"

Pacifica skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over her own feet. She glanced behind her just in time to see Robbie jogging up to her.

With rushed air, Pacifica asked if he had a charger in his lab for a video camera while he rushed to tell her something she didn't quite catch.

"Huh?" They both regarded each other in sync, but Pacifica was the first to break out of her haze.

"Do you have a charger in your lab for a video camera?" She asked again with clear and concise wording.

Robbie stared quizzically back at her. "Um, yeah, I'm almost certain I do. Where in hell did you find that?"

Pacifica looked down at the camera then back up to Robbie's face. "I found it in the cathedral, hidden away so no one could find it."

"Great hiding place, then, seeing as you found it."

"Anyways, unfortunately it's out of battery, but I feel as though we can't just ignore this camera." Pacifica shook her head, holding the camera even tighter against her chest. "I have a hunch that Dipper was the one who put this camera in place."

"Heh, that makes sense." Robbie shook his head, amused. "Alright, if you want, I can take that to my lab and keep an eye on it till it finishes charging up." He held out his hands, waiting patiently.

Pacifica must've hesitated for a minute too long, because Robbie's determined expression faltered. "You can trust me, Paz. Besides, Scarlett found something pretty interesting herself. I think you should take a look at. . .whatever they are."

Pacifica set her jaw and willed herself to hurry with her own decision. "Alright, I'll go check it out."

"Just. . ." He placed his free hand on her shoulder. "Just be. . .a bit more gentle with her, okay? She's more upset about Cody's death than she's letting on." His face said he wanted to tell her more, but he knew it wasn't his place.

"I will." She nodded. "I'm trusting you with this camera. If anything happens to it, we are all doomed."

Robbie paled instantly, so maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase it, considering Pacifica didn't even know what the camera's contents entailed, but she just had a good feeling that the camera was important. After all, Dipper left it. Regardless of her phrasing, Robbie gave her a firm nod before running off in the direction of his lab.

"Wait! You didn't tell me where Scarlett was!" Pacifica shouted after him, but he was long gone. Groaning at her own stupidity for not asking sooner, Pacifica tried to think of a place that Scarlett would have insisted on investigating. The one place that Scarlett would've thought held any evidence—

Oh. She knew where Scarlett was.

Pacifica made a run for it, desperately trying to get there fast enough but it was very likely that Scarlett had already seen what she was looking for. Her feet carried her swiftly to the dormitories, sprinting up the stairs to the one room that Scarlett would've wanted to be in.

Dipper's bedroom.

Pacifica already knew that the door was going to be unlocked. After all, she herself had witnessed Scarlett get into her own bedroom via picking the lock. Once she was inside the bedroom, she stopped suddenly to see what laid before her.

Scarlett was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by scrap pieces of paper, the whiteboard, and —of course— the flashback lights.

"This was how he knew so much." Scarlett muttered, kicking the closest flashback light. Not hard enough that Pacifica feared for its safety, but it definitely wasn't a light kick either. "He had. . .these ridiculous contraptions."

Pacifica didn't know how to respond. On one hand, she wanted to ask if Scarlett had seen them, and what her thoughts on them were. But on the other, Scarlett would probably get beyond furious that Pacifica knew what they were and never told anyone.

Unluckily for her, Pacifica didn't have to answer, seeing as Scarlett chuckled sardonically at her silence. "You knew about them. Of course you did."

"Scarlett," Pacifica tried.

"And you never thought to mention them to the rest of us?" She whirled around, a look of wounded pride on her face. That she thought Pacifica trusted her enough to tell her important things such as the flashback lights. Betrayal.

"He asked me not to." Pacifica replied truthfully. "And I agreed not to tell anyone. Not because I didn't want you guys to know, but because I didn't want to cause any further confusion!" She ran her hands through her hair, "hell, I still don't even know what they mean! Dipper stopped showing them to me after the third trial!"

Scarlett flinched, most likely due to the mere mention of the third trial. Absentmindedly, she fiddled with the white stripe of hair.

"I dunno what they were trying to show him, but I wasn't going to mention them because I didn't want to betray his trust, and I didn't want to freak everyone else out." Pacifica lowered her voice to a more reasonable level, calming herself down. "I did what I thought was best, I'm sorry if you don't think I did."

Scarlett didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually she exhaled roughly. "You probably dunno what they mean because you haven't seen all of them."

"Have you?" She asked.

Scarlett shook her head. "I tried out the first one, but it made me sick."

Pacifica glanced at the floor, seeing six flashback lights laying in order on the floor in a semicircle. Six? Pacifica did the math in her head. According to Dipper, he received one when he first arrived, and then one after each trial. But Dipper had only survived until after the fourth trial. That meant there should've only been five. . .right?

Unless, despite Dipper being dead, the mastermind still delivered one to his bedroom like clockwork. What good was it to leave another one? Was Cipher really that bored that they didn't even care anymore?

". . .show me them, Scarlett." Pacifica wouldn't be proud to admit that her voice wavered slightly. Scarlett knew what they meant by now, right? Why was Pacifica hesitant to piece them together like she had been before?

Scarlett nodded. "Just, we shouldn't do them all in one go. . .it sucked for me to do just one. . ."

"Scarlett, we might not have enough time to figure them all out." Pacifica stated boldly. "It might suck, but I need to know what Dipper figured out. . ."

Scarlett nodded once more. "Okay, but, we have to be careful, alright?"

Pacifica nodded and picked up the flashback light labelled '1'. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's figure this shit out." Scarlett replied just before Pacifica flipped the switch and aimed the beam back at them.

A car had pulled up to a lonely manor. Three passengers exited the vehicle and stepped into the light. The sky was grey, and everything looked like it was in black and white.

"I told you not to say anything." The older male turned toward the younger one who just hung his head. "Speaking and trying to get out of this situation is fruitless."

The younger boy turned his head up defiantly, "I have scoured the legal forms from back to front nearly ten times in the car ride back alone. They have no reason to accept me. This will be endangerment of a minor, a federal offense on par with abuse of a minor."

The older man didn't falter at all. "I've spoken with every legal team within the city limits. They will not hear any case, nor will any trial take place."

"It's an automatic stay, then?" The younger boy demanded. "Because you have given them evidence? Evidence of what kind? Or was it a bribe?"

"I've spoken to the person in charge, they see no reason to not accept you. Matter of fact, they want you. And now is the perfect time, seeing as I will legally have no control over you by next winter."

"There's no reason for any of it at all. Other than to serve your massive ego!"

"Like I've said, I've spoken with the person in charge, and they happen to have wonderful plans for you."

"If my fate is sealed right here and right now, at least leave her out of it! Only one of us needs to go."

"Correction, only one of you needed to go. But, as of my last discussion, there is something more interesting planned for the both of you."

The same young boy stood at the entrance of a massive garden, staring down the same figure he had before. Dark eyes narrowed as he spoke bitterly. "I don't want to be you."

The obscured figure slapped him across the face without a second thought. "Seems you have forgotten how to respect your father!" The figure stalked away, anger radiating with each step he took.

Out of the corner of the frame, a girl who was slightly faded out but had quite the resemblance to Mabel Gleeful, had stepped into the light. She reached a hand out and whispered something to the young boy, who only shrugged her off.

"It'll be okay." She promised. "Besides, it's their mistake. Two Gleefuls in one game?" She laughed lightly, hoping to convey humour. "They won't know what hit them."

The boy didn't seem to share in her humour. "I'm not so sure about that, Mabel."

"Oh please," she moved a bit closer. "I can see the gears turning in your head; you're forming a plan, aren't you?"

This time, the boy smirked. "Yes. I am."

"He's serious?" A girl with light hair asked. "I thought you said that you would be able to get out of this situation!"

"How can I run a fair trial if he bribed the judge himself?" The young boy clenched his fists. "There is nothing that can be done, it is already arranged. I just wish he would've left her out of it."

"She's going too?!"

"Or so my father said. Our age, apparently, doesn't matter and will be lied about at every turn."

"I can't let you do this alone!"

"I don't have a choice!"

"I'm going with you."

"Y-you can't! For goodness sake, this is life or death, I don't want you involved with something like this."

"And what if you die? What am I supposed to do? I don't want to be here without you. You promised that no matter what happened, you would be by my side. . .and I by yours."

"I'm begging you, do not get involved in this mess!"

"I'm sorry. . .but you won't be able to change my mind. We're gonna do this, win this, together. I promise."

"Here. This is the list of participants. That is about all I can show you without ruining everything. I can't get in trouble. . .you have no idea what they'll do to me if they find out I've been talking to you."

"Relax, J. I haven't told a soul about these meetings. I'm just doing what I have to do to stop all this from happening again."

"This won't work, Participant #6. And, I'm sorry, but there is nothing else I can do to help you."

"You put a bug in their system so they wouldn't be able to hear or record this conversation. Something tells me you can put one more. One that is much more crucial."

"And what do you suppose that will accomplish?"

"All I am asking is for a trigger word. If this is going to go exactly like I've been told, I need this in there in case things go horribly wrong. This isn't just for me, it's for every one of the participants."

"And what, exactly, will this trigger word do?"

"Fix their memories."

"Fix. . . .heh, fix their memories?"

"You told me that all of our memories will be wiped before we begin. Every participant will know a little about themselves, their background, and even their parents. Except for me. I'm not sure if the trigger word will even be useful, I am quite good at figuring out puzzles. Like I said before, I want it in there in case something goes horribly wrong."

"Alright, alright. I'll do it. Just give me the trigger word, and I'll get this done in a jiffy."

"Heh, we're really doing this. Aren't we?"

"I told you, you shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. I couldn't bear to see what becomes of you."

". . .I'm a little scared. I just found out that they're going to erase our memories! I'm not going to remember who you are when it all starts!"

"I. . .I know, sweetheart."

"I'm gonna forget everything we've gone through, what happens if I never remember? I can't lose you. . .I thought that by going along with you, at least I wouldn't lose you right away. . .but now. . ."

"Sweetheart, listen to me. . .I. . .I instructed a close friend to insert a trigger word."

"W-what?"

"Once the participants hear this specific trigger word, they should get their missing memories back. You will remember me, just as I will remember you."

"I love you."

"And I love you."

"So, you must be his son, huh?"

"You would be correct in that assumption. Now, what is it that you want?"

"Whoa-hoh! Relaaaaaax, kid. No need to be so tense, after all, you are gonna come to understand that I am not the enemy here."

"You would be the enemy, I've read the file I was given from back to front. I've seen what you do. Do not take me for some naive child."

"Heh, he said you might be a little bit of trouble, but I've dealt with worse. I'm sure you've been watching, right? After all, you're supposed to be a smart kid. Watching strategies, and even searching far and wide for secret loopholes to use. Have I got that right?"

". . ."

"From your silence, I will assume yes. Listen here, kid, this is just the way the world works. I didn't ask for this, but I roll with it because it's better than being in it. No way do I wanna do that again, woohoo, that was boring."

"And this will be less boring to you, somehow?"

"Of course it will be. After all, we've got a new set-up."

"What do you mean?"

"For spoiler reasons, I refuse to go into too much detail, but I will say this. Actually, I can say as much as I want, you won't remember anything about it anyways. Ah-hahahahaha."

"Spit it out, already."

"Puhuhuhuhu, we're gonna turn the hero into the villain. Hahahaha, oh! The look on your face is priceless! You've already figured it out, but it doesn't matter. After all, they're waiting for you just outside this door, say buh-bye to your memories!"

"Mark my words, I will end this. It's in my blood to win."

"Ooooh, you will end this, but not in the way you expect."

It was silent in the room for a solid two minutes. Pacifica blinked rapidly, trying to get over the massive headache that pounded against her skull with such force she was nearly certain her brain would fly out.

"What. . .what the fuck was all that?" Scarlett panted, eyes wide and wild. "This is. . ."

"A game." Pacifica murmured, finishing the sentence for her. "I'm not sure why, but according to Dipper's memories the world wants it this way."

"But Dipper wanted nothing to do with this." Scarlett leaned against the wall. "Do they make sense? Because I'm gonna admit that I don't entirely get all of it. And what's this about a trigger word?"

"You didn't hear it either? I thought I missed it somehow." Pacifica groaned, rubbing her temples.

Scarlett frowned. "Okay, give me a few minutes, I'm gonna jot down the gist of everything that we just saw. Who knows, it might be useful soon. So, if you have anywhere else you wanna search, go for it."

Pacifica nodded, "okay, but please be careful, Scarlett. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about all of this." She rubbed her arm and glanced toward the monitor and the security camera in the corner of Dipper's bedroom. Both had been covered with pieces of fabric that Pacifica could only assume he retrieved from the warehouse. "Cipher's been a bit too quiet."

"As much as I optimistically want to believe that they have no idea what we're actually doing, I'm getting that feeling, too." Scarlett was ransacking Dipper's desk drawer, trying to find a piece of paper. "Cody said. . .Cody said that Dipper knew what he was doing. Do you really believe that, Paz?"

Pacifica halted by the door, fingers just barely grasping the handle. "I have to believe that he did what was best. Not just for himself, but for us as well. Otherwise, I won't be able to work through this."

Scarlett sighed. "Get going, we probably don't have much time."

~.~.~.~

Running down the hall, Pacifica was starting to feel a little dizzy. Must've been due to the flashback lights. She remembered sadly to what felt like an eternity ago, watching the two side by side with Dipper.

Dipper, if those flashback lights were correct, he was already working on a way to end the killing game before he was even subjected to it. Hero into the villain, huh? What exactly did that person mean by it? Dipper would've known, wouldn't he?

She had to store that in the back of her mind for now, along with the other inaccuracies from the night of the cathedral. If she and Scarlett were right, they probably didn't have much time left. Alright. She needed to find a place that would help her out. She needed to sit down and think all of these questions out, figure out what they all meant.

With Scarlett on flashback light duty, that left Pacifica to try and puzzle out the other one. As she slowed her pace down to a walk, she found herself in an area of the school which she never visited. After all, there was nothing up there that would serve any purpose.

Still, she looked down the hall and found a singular door. One that was certainly not there before. Pacifica narrowed her eyes, staring dead-centre at the door before it. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, that looked like an Ultimate Lab.

The door was wooden, made of dark oak. It looked unnatural compared to the slate-grey colouring of the rest of the hallway. If it was an Ultimate Lab, then who did it belong to? She had got her own near the beginning, so did Lee. Robbie had one already, and so did Scarlett and Will.

The closer she got to it, she noticed an intricate design on the middle of the door, a balanced scale. It wasn't massive, but it was certainly an eye-catcher. Carved to perfection, and smooth to the touch.

"I need to get in here." Pacifica muttered to herself, trying to find out where the handle of the door was. She pushed against the door, hoping that it would open because there was no handle in sight.

"Oooh, tough break, huh?"

Pacifica whirled around and found Cipher haughtily checking their stick fingers. "Where does this door lead?" She demanded, taking a step toward them.

"Oh, I'm sure you know what it is, so the answer to your question should be obvious, right?" Cipher rolled their eye. "After all, you're the smart one, right? Well, the only smart one left."

"It leads to an Ultimate Lab, like I thought?" She posed it as a question, hoping that Cipher would answer without thinking too much.

"Correction, it led to an Ultimate Lab." Cipher commented. "Jeez, you really can't do anything on your own, huh?"

"Who's lab is it?" Pacifica ignored their obvious attempt at provocation.

"Well, if it isn't opening, that means it belongs to a dead student." Cipher stepped forward and poked at the door. "Too bad, I'm sure there was something crazy in there, too."

Pacifica took one glance back at the door, a horrible feeling sinking in her stomach. If whatever was behind the door led to some sort of clue, she needed to get in there, pronto. "And how would a person enter another person's lab?"

"Hah! Didn't you hear what I just said, brainiac?!" Cipher cackled. "Because the student is dead, the door will not open! There's nothing anyone can do about it, capiche?"

Pacifica ignored the rest of their sentence after they insulted her, keeping her gaze fixated on the shut door. There had to be a way to get into it, without the use of a doorknob, even with the student being dead. She hardly believed that a doorknob would magically appear out of thin air, and there was no place for one on the door.

Not a single slot that would give way to placing one in there. But, then how would the person open the door? Cipher couldn't have planned for the person to die, so there had to be a specific way to open it that only the student would know of.

Pacifica studied the layout of the door. The only thing catching her attention was the design carved into it. Something about the scale. She took a step back, and eyed the scale from a different angle. She placed her ear closest to the door itself, feeling the cold wood on the shell of her ear, and stared at it.

Right in the middle of the scale's stand, the one piece holding it all together seemed to be popping out of the door. Very three dimensional, but if you were to look at it head-on, you wouldn't notice it. A black button.

"Damn." Pacifica murmured, trying to trick Cipher into leaving. "Can you at least tell me who the lab belonged to?"

Cipher pondered the thought for a moment. "Hmm. . .well, I suppose it hardly matters anymore, right?" They asked, but they didn't seem to be talking to Pacifica. "It belonged to the Ultimate Who-Freaking-Knows; Dipper."

Dipper's lab. His talent. She would finally learn what it was. Could there really be a bigger clue in there?

Steeling her nerves, Pacifica looked back at Cipher. "I will find out what you're hiding in there, I can promise you that."

"Then, if going in there is already destined to happen, I simply must ask; will it really give you the hope you're looking for? I can't say it's right to see it that way. And I'm sure you know why."

They disappeared before Pacifica could think to ask them what they meant. Did. . .it sounded like Cipher almost gave me permission to get in here.

Shaking off the layer of doubt she felt, Pacifica reached forward and pushed the tiny button, hoping that the door would open because of it. It was the only way it made sense.

Sure enough, her logic was right on the money. The door made a ca-shunk noise, as if the inner mechanisms of the door were unlocking themselves, and the door slowly opened outward.

Pacifica took a step into the darkness that was the lab before the door behind her shut tightly. Letting out a yelp of terror, Pacifica turned back toward the shut door and pounded on it. She was trapped? Was it all a lie?

Before her panic could truly consume her, the lights in the lab flickered on, illuminating the lab in the darkness. Taking a deep breath, Pacifica slowly turned around to see what was in Dipper's lab.

A trial room?! Pacifica freaked out and backed away to the door. There was no way, because if Dipper's lab was a trial room. . .wait.

Pacifica took a closer look at the scene before her. It wasn't a trial room, but a courtroom. She wrinkled her nose and took another step closer to the first podium in the room. There was a tablet sitting in the middle of it, embedded into the podium that switched on upon her entry. There, a single question was posed.

Defence or prosecution?

She halted, and took another look at the room itself.

There was an empty jury box closer to the judge's desk, two tinier desks beside the judge's desk with wooden chairs pulled slightly outward as if there had been a trial running just before Pacifica entered the room.

She had to smile, just a tiny smile. Ultimate Lawyer, of course.

A little ways away from the judge's desk, on opposite sides of each other, were two other podiums that were a little longer. One for a defence attorney, one for a prosecuting attorney, and both didn't match the colours of the rest of the desks.

While the judge's desk, the jury box, and the two other desks near the judge's were grey, the defence's podium was marble and pure as snow. The prosecution's was as black as night, smooth to the touch, as if carved from obsidian. She found that rather odd, like they were meant to be represented as one or the other, but it shouldn't have been that way. They were meant to work together to reach the truth.

Other than that, the room was pretty much empty. There wasn't really a huge secret hiding away in the lab, after all. Despite herself, Pacifica stared back down at the podium, and answered the question.

Defence.

Almost immediately a whirring sound blared throughout the room, and Pacifica watched simply as figures appeared in their respective seats. Projections, but it was still creepy, like there were ghosts hiding away in the academy. Thinking about ghosts unfortunately led to her thinking about her dead friends. Everyone's lives lost to the killing game.

A 'bleep' sound from the podium forced her eyes back to it, where it posed another question for her.

Type of trial?
-Criminal
-Civil
-Violation of federal laws
-Sweetheart

Pacifica paused over reading them all, stopping dead at the last choice. Sweetheart? What the hell kind of trial was that? Was that the kind of trial where someone was accused of murdering a loved one? She thought back to her government class and recalled types of trials and she never remembered seeing one listed like that?

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she pressed that.

Sweetheart selected, please proceed to the defence bench.

Well that sucked. She was hoping to get a little more information out of that machine, but it didn't seem to want to provide her with anything more. Oh well, she still walked over to the defence's bench. As soon as she took her seat, the projection standing behind the prosecutor's bench buzzed with life, and took on a familiar appearance of someone she knew.

"Clever, I knew you'd figure it out." The projection of Dipper said.

Pacifica found herself speechless.

"Or perhaps you haven't figured it out and were simply curious enough to select that option provided to you. One of many tricks I had installed here. Of course, Cipher most likely found out about a few of them, but seeing as this message is still being played, they didn't find this one. I'm pleased with the Ultimate Programmer's work."

"Dipper," she tried, even though she knew it was nothing more than a simple projection with voice files.

"Or. . .maybe this isn't me who's seeing this. . .which means I succeeded, in a way. I can only guess who is seeing this, but it must be someone who grew suspicious of me, or someone who cared about me. It has to be you, isn't it?"

Someone joined in the killing game to be with Dipper, Pacifica knew that as much, so he must've been talking to her, whoever she was. The girl he loved.

"In that regard, I will apologise for how our relationship in the game has played out, I can't imagine what it would've been like. Regardless, I suppose I should get this message out quickly, I dunno how much time I have left. By now you must know that there is an audience out there watching this game, they follow it religiously like a reality show, and there has to be a way out of it. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but from what I've heard, this game is supposed to be different from the rest of them."

Hero to villain. That was what he had to be referring to.

"For every game, they typically follow the same plot. After watching a variety of past games, there are typically only two survivors. Kind of difficult to run a trial with only two people, huh? Anyways, if I have succeeded, the game should crumble in on itself, seeing as they didn't achieve what they wanted. If I haven't. . .and I'm the person who is viewing this message. . ." The projection trailed off, casting his head to the side. "You have to die."

The words the projection spoke hung heavy around Pacifica's neck. Even before. . .Dipper knew he had to die.

"If you die, the game won't have the outcome that Cipher wants. I understand that it might be a little difficult to take, one does not toss out the idea of their own demise so lightly, but I must implore you to understand where I'm coming from. Where we are coming from, I suppose. Plain and simply, the producers change the mastermind every ten years, they typically pick a winner from one of the previous games, because they understand how the game works. But this game is different."

Because they wanted to turn the hero into the villain? So, did that mean. . .

"I bet you've already figured it out; we were supposed to be the hero of this killing game season, and it was set up for us to become the mastermind once this game concluded. The real mastermind would've roped you to their side by the finale, having you betray the rest of the participants. They isolated you on purpose. They gave you your memories back willingly, so you would understand your purpose. Luckily, I had a spy on the inside, who tampered with the memories, making it so you would understand that you couldn't give in to their game. So, you. . .if you're still alive, please orchestrate your death."

The projection looked so sad, which hurt Pacifica deeply. Of course he would be sad! He had to get this far only to die! But Dipper figured it all out before he even saw this message, just like his past self intended of him.

"Pacifica?" The projection suddenly questioned, startling Pacifica halfway out of her skin. "I imagine she's here, of course she is, she never wanted to leave our side. . .she's brave like that."

Never wanted to. . .it hit her like a punch to the stomach. She. . .she was the girl in Dipper's flashback lights. The reason she felt such a major pull to him in the first place was because she knew him from before. Because she loved him. . .

"Pacifica, if my future self is already dead, he left a trail for you to follow. You must know that by now, seeing as you clicked on the 'sweetheart' icon. If we're lucky, you've already begun to piece everything together. Cipher is more willing than ever to conclude this game, prompt them into running another trial. . .and you along with everyone else who is still alive will be able to end this game. I have complete faith in you. Keep this message to yourself, if you look in the hidden compartment underneath the defence's desk, you will find a tape of this entire recording. Use it if you must, but keep it to yourself until absolutely necessary. There is a traitor among you."

A traitor? How?

"Someone who is working with the mastermind as their partner. Usually that's how it goes in these games. Had Cipher achieved the ending they wanted, Mabel would've been mine. I'm not sure who they are, they kept that from me completely, but I know they still exist. They were told to not make themselves too noticeable, or suspicious. I'm running out of time, so please, survive. Beat the game, expose the truth, I love you with all my heart, Pazazzie. I'm sorry our story ends here. Goodbye, sweetheart."

As soon as he spoke his final word, the projection immediately disappeared, leaving Pacifica to slump against the desk for support, as she tried to process all the information without collapsing.

There was a traitor, Dipper was supposed to join the mastermind, Dipper died in order to ruin the mastermind's plot, and he loved her. He loved her, before the game, and he still found a way to be with her.

Tears fell from her eyes as she realised that it was too late for them. He was dead, and she would never get to be with him again. But it had to be that way for the game to end.

"You're such an idiot, Dipper." Pacifica murmured, smiling through her tears.

~.~.~.~

Only a few minutes later, Pacifica pulled herself away from Dipper's Ultimate Lab, taking the tape of the projection's conversation as evidence, just as she was instructed. By now, Scarlett should've still been working on the transcription of Dipper's flashback lights, but the camera should've been fully charged.

There is a traitor among you.

Pacifica skidded to a halt. There was a traitor, Dipper had confirmed that for her. And she left the video camera with someone else. She didn't want to doubt the people who had proven to help her, proven to be her friends, but what if one of them was acting?

She jogged all the way back to Robbie's lab, where he said he was keeping an eye on it. She couldn't trust them? Robbie seemed pretty eager to hold onto that camera for her. . .

She burst into his lab, breathlessly, expecting to see a shattered video camera on the floor as he stared back at her. But Pacifica was met with an entirely different sight.

Just Robbie, sitting on a stool, watching the camera hardly even blinking. Upon her arrival, he twisted himself around to give her a look. "Hey? You alright, Paz?"

The camera was safe, thank goodness. Pacifica felt bad that she had even doubted Robbie in the first place, but she needed to still be cautious. "Sorry, I. . .I just came from Dipper's lab."

Robbie immediately hopped off the stool, taking the camera with him. "You what? You got into Dipper's lab? I thought they wouldn't open if the person was dead?"

"So did I." Pacifica admitted. "But there was an opening, so I took my chance as soon as Cipher left."

"Wait, backtrack there," Robbie held up his hands, still clutching the camera, "Cipher saw you trying to break into Dipper's lab?"

Right. Pacifica had completely forgotten about the fact that Cipher probably figured out what she was doing. She hoped she didn't ruin it for everyone else. But wait, if what Dipper was saying was true, then Cipher wouldn't care about the game anymore. They wanted it over more than anyone else.

"Not really, but they didn't even care.." Which was absolutely true, they didn't care. "I'm not sure as to why" —liar— "but it's as Cody said before; they don't care about this game anymore."

Robbie pondered that for a moment. "Then, pardon this image, why haven't they just killed the rest of us? If they're no longer interested, why haven't they either killed us or let us go? That just doesn't make any sense."

"It's probably because Cipher can't actually harm someone severely unless they're breaking a rule." Pacifica explained. "And seeing as Cipher didn't technically see me break into Dipper's lab. . .and they haven't seen the rest of you guys doing anything against the rules, they can't kill us."

That, and it would be such an unsatisfactory ending for the audience watching them. Were they watching them now? Who were they even cheering for? Did they have favourites? It was a weird thing to think about.

Robbie bit his lip and nodded. "Anyways, the camera should be charged now."

"Did you watch it already?" Pacifica asked.

"What? No." He shook his head, "I figured it was something we should watch together. And while I don't want to interrupt everyone's investigations. . .something tells me that whatever is on this camera is important."

Pacifica couldn't even imagine what would be on the camera. But from where it was found, Pacifica had a feeling it had to do with Dipper's death. What was it that they missed? There were a few pieces of that mystery that weren't exactly fitting together, now were they? But who could she tell?

"We should—"

"Ahhhh! Paz, Robbie!" Lee shouted as he ran in. "Thank God I found you guys!" He was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Lee?" Robbie walked past Pacifica to grasp his friend's shaking shoulders. "Man, what's wrong? Did Cipher get to you?"

Lee immediately stopped shaking. "Cipher? What, no! I just. . .I went to the cathedral, y'see. And I think I found something we missed."

"Seems like we missed a lot, huh?" Robbie murmured softly, his eyes glancing to the corner of his eye so he met Pacifica's gaze. "Paz found something, too." He held up the camera. "There's footage on this camera, she found it right in front of the cremator."

Lee paled. "I found something else by the cremator." He beckoned them with a hand as he backed out of the room. "It's big, I'm not sure if it means anything, but I figured I should still show you guys."

"You couldn't bring it with you?" Robbie questioned as he followed Lee out of his lab, with Pacifica rushing to meet up with them.

"When I said it was big, I meant immovable." Lee called over his shoulder as he sped through the halls with a speed he'd never shown before. "I was looking for you guys, but we should definitely go get Scarlett and Will."

"No!" Pacifica yelled, startling both Robbie and Lee ahead of her. "If we all go, then Cipher might figure out that we're all collectively up to something."

"But you said it yourself; Cipher has shown that they don't really care what we do." Robbie commented, "why would they care now?"

It's because there's a traitor. Tell them. "Cipher hasn't seen any of us working together to find anything related to the game. They thought I was just being nosy. But they haven't seen the rest of you guys doing anything against the rules."

"Fair enough." Lee nodded. "But I'm sure the others will want to see this."

"The others are busy, I'm sure." Pacifica replied. "Scarlett is doing something important, you can trust me on that."

Robbie made a weird face. "Something to do with those giant flashlights she found in Dipper's room."

Pacifica didn't feel she had the time to explain. "Yes, that's it. I swear to you it'll make sense in just a little while."

"Well, what about Will?"

Will. Pacifica wasn't exactly sure where he wound up. Come to think of it, he was the only person she hadn't run into. He hadn't told anyone where he would be searching, so that would make him impossible to find. "Have you seen him?"

Lee shook his head, Robbie followed suit.

"We'll find him eventually, but I'm more nervous about the cathedral, and what we could've missed there, seeing as we already missed that hidden video camera." Pacifica jerked her thumb in the direction of the object Robbie was still clutching like it was his baby. "Just hurry and take us there. We can worry about telling the others afterwards, okay?"

As soon as the three of them made it to the cathedral, Pacifica's mind was alight with worry. Dipper was certain that there was a traitor among them, he knew so before the game, claiming to have watched many seasons. The person was still left alive, because Cipher would've gone out of their way to make sure they didn't die. That left Robbie, Lee, Scarlett, or Will.

Her stomach turned and twisted into knots just thinking about it. Robbie had proven helpful in the last few trials, and he even showed that she could trust him by keeping a watchful eye on the video camera (aka; potential evidence). He wasn't out there, no one had any reason to suspect him of any crime. Except briefly in the last trial. Unless it was a fake out; he was trying to gain Pacifica's trust so she wouldn't suspect him!

Ugh. Dipper would've known who it was, wouldn't he? Any luck, he would've known before he died.

There were too many variables. Pacifica didn't have any evidence that any of her friends were traitors. She needed solid, irrefutable evidence before she went around accusing everyone.

"See, I was a little freaked to come here by myself." Lee said as he walked through the broken doors. "But, I figured that Cipher would've cleaned up the murder scene after the trial."

"But he didn't." Pacifica finished for him. "I know, I went there as soon as we split up. It's. . .it's hard to look at."

Robbie rubbed the back of his neck. "Everything is exactly the way it was?"

Pacifica and Lee nodded.

"Strange, it's almost like Cipher wants us to find something." Robbie glanced down at the camera. "We have to be careful with what we found here, alright?"

"C'mon, it's right in the crematorium." Lee beckoned them again as he jogged down the stairs, wincing every once in a while. After he got to the door of the crematorium, he looked back at the two. "Alright, just step into the room, do not move any further."

Pacifica gave Robbie a confused look and hoped he understood where she was coming from. It was a little strange to be following directions from Lee of all people, but she had never seen him so focused and a little paranoid. Okay, she'd definitely seen him paranoid, but not so much focused.

She then wasted no time in stepping into the room, followed shortly by Lee and Robbie. They huddled at the entryway for a minute before the anticipation nearly killed Pacifica. "Okay, Lee? What did you find down here that was so big you couldn't bring it to us?"

Lee winced and laughed awkwardly. "Okay, well so, you know how we all said that this room had one entryway? Literally from the door we just went through?"

"Yes." Pacifica nodded. "I found that out for myself." Then it hit her what he was driving at. "Are you saying that there's another entrance?"

Lee nodded vigorously. "Exactly! There, to be exact." He walked slowly toward the wall next to the door. He slapped his hand on one area of the wall, creating the regular slapping against cement with your hand sound. Then, he moved just a few inches to the right and slapped his hand against it again. This time, it sounded hollow. "And if you put your face right here," he gestured for Pacifica to come closer. "You can feel the air current."

Pacifica stood exactly where he directed. Sure enough; there was an air current. Light, but still there. What the hell did that mean?

Robbie pushed his way through and stared at the wall. "Secret entryway?" He looked at Pacifica for confirmation.

"Secret entryway." She confirmed. "Lee, could you open it up?"

"Yup, I gotcha." He said as his fingers found the right sides of the bricks. He then, very slowly, pulled it to the side, like a sliding door. "There's a secret way into the crematorium."

"Have you gone through it yet? Where does it lead?" Robbie asked, as he peered into the darkness.

"Ah. . .well, I was a little nervous to go by myself. It's dark and—" he cut himself off with a wide, "in short; no, I haven't."

"Should we go, then?" Robbie stepped forward into the tunnel, "this could be really important."

"The video." Pacifica protested. "We need to see that, too."

Robbie huffed lightly. "Don't you think we should wait for everyone else? It's like you said, I know we might not have a lot of time, so we can't waste it by trying to find everyone else to watch a video that we will have in our possession later. We might not have access to this tunnel in a bit, who knows. It looks like we weren't supposed to find this."

That was the end of that argument. Robbie led them down the tunnel, inching his way slowly down the wall as soon as the freakishly bright lights of the crematorium eventually faded. Hands on the wall, slowly sliding forward, he spoke up. "So, um, Lee? How did you find this?"

"Oh um. . .hehe it's kinda funny, y'see." Lee chuckled. "I decided that after I searched the classrooms, I should head back to the cathedral. Despite that Cody confirmed that was what happened, that he killed. . .um, Dipper." He hesitated, like he was trying to spare someone's feelings.

Pacifica resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It could have been considered kind, and she was certain that Lee only had the best intentions, she wasn't so fragile that hearing Dipper's name would break her. Right now, she was only focusing on getting to the end of the tunnel, and getting to the bottom of Dipper's death.

Dipper wanted to keep her away from whatever he had to do, right? If he wanted to keep her spotless, he wouldn't have called her to the cathedral to get involved with his plan. That meant that the letter he sent her was the piece of evidence that didn't add up in the story.

Pacifica halted in the tunnel, a chill sweeping through her body. Dipper didn't send her that letter.

"Sorry, Paz." Lee winced. "I know how much he meant to you."

For once, Pacifica was grateful for the darkness so the two boys couldn't see how much her face had paled. Someone had sent her there on purpose. Someone had supplied the gun for her. Someone tried to get her to kill.

"I-It's fine." She breathed out shakily. A traitor. Who was the traitor? Someone wanted to use her connection to Dipper to get her into the cathedral to kill someone. Most likely they wanted her to kill Dipper. "Keep going." She swallowed thickly, trying to regain her composure.

"Something felt like it didn't add up, y'know?" Lee continued, a little more artfully. "There was just a lot of confusion about that trial, so I wanted to check to see if we missed anything. By pure accident, I happened to trip and cling to the wall as soon as I saw that Dipper's body was still there. That was when I found the air current and the secret passageway."

"I, for one, am glad that you're clumsy." Robbie tossed over his shoulder. "This passage was hidden pretty well, I'm guessing that Cipher and the mastermind didn't want us to find this."

"You think this has something to do with the mastermind?" Pacifica asked, peering real hard in the darkness and just barely getting a glimpse of Robbie's figure. "I mean, it's true that we dunno where this leads. . ." She trailed off, not exactly knowing how to finish. If the secret passageway was meant for the mastermind's usage, why would it lead out to the cathedral? Or, was this for the traitor?

Or did someone else get into the cathedral that night?

"Quiet, I'm seeing a light at the end of this tunnel." Robbie suddenly hissed.

Pacifica followed silently, moving terribly slowly. In all honesty, she was way too nervous to figure out where the passage led. It could've only led to somewhere bad, right? Secret passageways never led to anything good. Just like how sudden silences mean only worse things to come.

The group stopped at a door. It was a heavy wooden door, with one single pull-chain light above the doorway. So that was the light they were seeing. Artificial, so it didn't lead outside, but it definitely felt like they were walking for awhile.

"Anything could be behind this door." Robbie whispered, leaning closer to try and listen. "But I'm not hearing anything."

"Well, we made it this far." Pacifica grunted, pushing forward. "Whether you guys want to, we have to go in and figure this out. Our friends are counting on us." Okay, maybe she was masking her fear in frustration, but at least her fear was masked, right?

"Let's go then."

Pacifica sucked in a breath, mentally prepared herself, then pushed at the door. It was certainly heavy, but it eventually gave way and swung outward into the room. She and the rest of her group tumbled into the room, somehow managing to stay on their feet as they blinked in the bright lights. It was definitely a strong transition, so that's probably why Pacifica had a difficult time believing what she was seeing.

This. . .this is an Ultimate Lab!

"What the hell?" Robbie murmured. "This. . ."

"It's a lab, but who's?" Lee asked, peering around the room with no overdramatic gestures, this time.

It was true, Pacifica had been into everyone's labs, because of pure curiosity when they first opened up. But she could hardly recall the one she was in, meaning it was either one she had never seen before, or someone's lab that had been open since they got there. It definitely wasn't one she hadn't seen before, because there was something overwhelmingly familiar, albeit distant, in her memory.

Without another word, she walked over to the desk on the opposite side of the room, staring at the papers that littered it. There was one pile she remembered vividly. She plucked up the first on the stack and reread what was written there.

She knew who's lab it was.

"Paz? What's that?" Lee asked, peering over her shoulder.

"This is a fun questionnaire to boost morale. It was made by someone who wanted to keep us together during tough times." Pacifica whispered. "The person who wrote them, and kept them is—"

"Will." Robbie gasped. "This is Will's lab. But why would it lead to Will's lab? Of all the places. . .why?"

A secret passageway that led from Will's lab to the cathedral. It didn't make sense. It made no sense at all! "I'm not sure." Pacifica shook her head, confused and looked back to the door they came through. "It's a bookcase?"

Robbie wrinkled his brow and stepped back toward the bookcase. "Hey, Paz? Someone has definitely come through here before us."

"What makes you say that?" Pacifica walked over to where Robbie was crouching at the door.

Robbie pointed toward the floor, a series of scratches marking up the floor. "These scuff marks prove that we weren't the only ones who knew about this place. There's no way that we could've caused such marks on the floor by only opening the door once."

There is a traitor among you.

"So, someone used this door prior to us?" Lee questioned, standing right next to Robbie, staring down at the marks on the floor. "Do you think Will knew about this?"

"There's no way to tell, unless we ask him." Robbie muttered, but there was a look on his face that Pacifica found herself agreeing with. "But I don't think we should ask him about it now. For all we know, it could be completely unrelated to everything else."

"I agree with Robbie." Pacifica nodded, her eyes narrowing. "For now, we should keep this to ourselves."

"Why?" Lee exclaimed. "Will could have some information about this secret tunnel!"

"I speak only for myself here, but something tells me Paz is thinking the same thing." Robbie muttered, holding the camera tighter. "Someone here is working with the mastermind."

"You think someone is a traitor?" Lee demanded. "How?! You're implying that either Scarlett or Will is the traitor. But that can't be right! Will has been scared to stand up to the mastermind but is being brave with us right now!"

"I don't think the mastermind would've revealed Scarlett's true talent if they were working together." Robbie admitted. "It only made people suspicious of her, and it put a huge target on her back."

"So, what? You're saying the traitor is one of us?!" Lee shrieked, eyeing them both with a frightened look.

"I'm not saying anything like that! Paz, back me up?" Robbie turned and pleaded. "I didn't want to say anything about my suspicions because I knew how Lee would react, but I trust him."

"I'm. . .I'm not so sure about the whole traitor thing." Pacifica rubbed her arm as she lied to her friends. "But we should definitely keep our eyes peeled for any suspicious activity. Just, try not to drive yourselves crazy with fear."

That was certainly a bold statement coming from her. Pacifica was already freaking out about the conclusions her mind was handing to her. However, she knew that deep down she had to calm down until all the evidence was revealed.

She had to see what was on the video camera.

"Guys, there you are."

Pacifica snapped her head in the direction of the main door, not feeling a bit more relaxed when she saw Scarlett standing there with a wad of papers clenched in her hand.

"Scarlett, what's that?" Robbie asked, gesturing to the papers she held.

"It's a long story, but right now we have to get to the courtyard." Scarlett shook her head. "But right now, we have to get to the courtyard, Will is in trouble."

"What? Is he okay?"

"Just hurry and follow me!" She yelled as she darted out of the room again.

~.~.~.~

Upon their arrival in the courtyard, Pacifica figured out what Scarlett meant when she said that Will was in trouble. He was standing in the middle of the courtyard, shaking like a leaf in the wind, yet there was an odd determination in his stance. One that Pacifica knew pretty well after her time in the academy. Feigned bravery masking pure unbridled fear.

"Will!" Lee shouted as he jogged over to where Will was shaking.

"Great, now it's a party." Cipher yawned.

Pacifica hadn't seen Cipher's figure standing in front of Will before they had actually spoken. And now she truly knew why he was in trouble. But, wait? Was he really in trouble?

"Leave him alone, Cipher." Robbie stepped forward, hiding the camera behind his back in a most nonchalant manner. Pacifica was actually impressed by how smooth his motions were. She really hoped that he wasn't the traitor, because he was turning into quite the ally that she wanted on her side for the finale. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Oh? And you would know?" Cipher murmured. "I found Will trying to break into a restricted section of the school. As you all know very well, breaking into any room is strictly prohibited! This is why we have rules, you see."

"I thought you didn't care anymore!" Lee shouted, going up to stand beside Will. "If you don't care, why are you making a huge deal out of all of this?"

Right. Cipher didn't care. They proved it as much when they found Pacifica trying to break into Dipper's lab. So, what was the deal here? It was fine for her to do it, but not Will? Where was the lie?

"You said it hardly matters anymore, right?" Pacifica took a step forward, ready to do what she knew everyone else was scared of. "Leave Will alone then. And let's end this the proper way."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Cipher blinked once and held a confused expression on their face.

Pacifica took a deep breath and stood her ground firmly. This was it. She only had one chance to get this all right to save her friends, expose the traitor and mastermind, and do what Dipper said she alone could do; ruin the game for good.

There was no way Cipher wouldn't rise to the bait, after all, there was an audience watching them, right? It would be super unsatisfying if it ended in such a dull way. This had to be the way.

"The finale of course." Pacifica laughed lightly, trying to cover up her own discomfort. "One final class trial. Us against you. Isn't that how these games are typically run? I mean, not as direct, but I think we can skip right over the theatrics and get to the good part. Right?"

Cipher looked taken aback for a split second. "Well then, what would we even hold a trial for? If you know that much, you should know that there's always a reason to hold a trial. Not just because you wish to push past this, but rather something more interesting. So tell me, Pacifica, what is the reason as to why we would hold this trial?"

"Paz, what are you doing?" Scarlett hissed.

A reason we would hold a trial? I know the answer, don't I?

"We need to retry a past case." Pacifica stated firmly. "New evidence has popped up that needs to be looked into. I believe that someone was falsely convicted of a crime."

"P-Paz?" Will whispered. "What are you talking about? Who's case?"

"Yeah, seriously." Robbie moved closer to her. "Are you sure about this? We don't even know what is stored on the video camera."

Pacifica nodded once. "Of course I'm sure. Cipher? What do you say?"

Cipher pondered it for a moment, humming to themself as a minute passed. "If someone was wrongly convicted, don't you think I would've said something?"

"Not if you were working with them." Pacifica explained. "So, should we run things fairly? Seeing as rules still apply?"

"Alright. Fine." Cipher muttered. "What case are you talking about?"

"Our most recent one. We need to retry Dipper's murder case."