It's Been Thirty Years

Chapter 7: A Risky Solution

Mabel had started to tear up, "What...what are you going to do then?"

"I...I don't know."

The two hugged again.

----

Later that afternoon, Mabel sat on the old couch on the porch having another drink. She looked up at the trees as their branches blew in the warm summer breeze. After all these years, Gravity Falls was still the same place she had come to know and love during that first summer.

She had much on her mind at that moment. Mainly, her talk with Dipper at breakfast. What was she to do? She desperately wanted to help him, but at the same time, she knew there legally was nothing she could do. Dipper just could not exist in her timeline anymore.

"How can someone exist without even having a reason to exist at all?" she thought.

Options flooded through her head but none seemed to make any sense or risked blowing his cover. Even if barely anyone but her family and friends remembered him, she still couldn't stop anyone from being suspicious, looking up Dipper and realizing he was somehow still around despite being legally dead for 30 years. That and the fact he was still a kid. She may have understood Gravity Falls' weirdness, but not everyone did. She couldn't rewind the clocks after all.

It then hit her.

And idea that could not only give Dipper a second chance, but give her a chance to get her brother back.

Racing upstairs and avoiding Dipper who lay on the couch watching TV, she walked into the attic and found her old box from that summer long ago. In it, she found a map she had drawn and promised to leave in Gravity Falls.

Using it, she ran out into the woods to where the X was drawn on it. Sure enough, she found the place still undisturbed after all those decades.

Using a shovel, she dug until a dirt covered box came into view. Mabel grabbed it and inside found a small button. She pressed it and it began to blink. After a while, and in one big flash of blue light, her old friend Blendin Blandin appeared.

After Weirdmageddon had ended and as an apology to her for what had happened, Blendin had given Mabel a button which when pressed would allow her to reunite with him and he'd help her out with anything she needed. She had been sworn into secrecy about it. Not even Dipper knew. Realizing its power, Mabel had decided to keep it hidden and buried it one night in the forest, promising to return to use it if she ever needed to. The time had now come.

"Blendin?" she said.

"Mabel?" he replied, "You're...much older than I remember."

"You're still as old as you were when I last saw you," she replied.

"In my time, we have the ability to decide how much we age," he said, "Technically I'm in my late seventies right now but I chose to stay thirty!"

"Was it because you had hair thanks to me and Dipper giving you some in Globnar?"

"Yes," said Blendin in a shame filled tone, "Anyways, where is Dipper?"

"Well, he's been gone for thirty years and returned only a few days ago, still thirteen," said Mabel.

"How did that happen?"

"He was trapped in some sort of box like thing until he woke up and was able to escape from it. I think it was in a nearby clearing."

That was when Blendin answered every question Mabel had about what had happened.

"I...I think I know why," he said, "A while ago, the...the Time council created a program to preserve animals from the past. You...you see, by 207̃012, Earth is a barren wasteland where everyone lives high above in cities on top of cities. Like from that movie saga from this century that man child's love."

"Star Battles?" asked Mabel.

"Yes," said Blendin, "Spoiler alert, the franchise is still popular in the future."

"Whatever," said Mabel, "Dipper and my great uncle Ford seemed to really love it."

"Anyways," said Blendin, "In order to save several species of animals for our Time Zoos, the council created a thing called a time vault. It was basically a trap which would capture an animal as it passed by, put it to sleep, and stop it from aging until a Time Agent could arrive to pick it up."

"So, you're saying that Dipper was stuck I one of your time period's stupid machines?!" yelled Mabel.

"I'm afraid so."

"Then why did no one come for thirty years to save him?!"

"Well, as it turned out, some of the devices would fail to alert us of when they caught animals and due to budget cuts, they never tracked where each one was. So, we lost a few like how the countries of your time period lost nukes. I guess the battery of the one he was trapped in died after thirty years and allowed him to be set free."

Mabel facepalmed.

"I can't believe this," she said, "Well, now you have a bigger reason to help me out since I now know this is all your people's fault!"

"Yeah, I guess," said Blendin, "What do you want?"

"Can you reset the timeline for me? said Mabel, "Just back to when Dipper went missing so that he doesn't fall into that...thing."

"Time Containment Vault!" yelled Blendin, "TCV for short. And...and I don't know about that. It's against Time Rules. Probably the biggest offence...messing with time."

"Look Blendin, I don't care right now if Bill Cipher himself came out of nowhere to help me here," said Mabel, "But he's been dead for decades now and you're my last hope. Dipper can't exist in this time. But if we can stop him from ever going missing, we can stop all this from ever happening."

"But Mabel, what about-"

"No buts Blendin!" said Mabel, "You've broken time rules before! What's the difference this time? I need your help!'

"Look Mabel, I...I wanna help you and given what happened in the past, I owe you the favour. But...but what you're asking of me is very risky. Do you have any idea what this may do to your life?"

"I don't care about what it may do to me," she said, "I just want to save Dipper. If it means sacrificing a bit, so be it! Do you know what he's given up for me in the past?"

"Mabel, you...you're not thinking straight," replied Blendin, "This would affect more than just you."

Mabel paused.

"Look, I know explaining it to you may not help so I'll cut you a deal. New time technology now allows you to witness your past self without changing any outcome of the past. Let me take you back and show you just how much your life and other people's lives will change if you go through with this. If I can't convince you, then fine, I'll change the timeline for you."

Mabel thought for a second, "You sure you're not possessed by Bill again?"

Blendin took off his goggles, "Look Mabel, it's me. No Bill here. Let me show you what this may do to your life before you make up your mind for good."

Mabel sighed, but she knew that Blendin would only help if she went with him. As far as she was concerned, her mind was set on changing the timeline and she couldn't think of any reason why she'd do things differently.

"Okay, fine," she said, "Show me!"

Blendin sighed, "Hang on."

With the pull of his time tape, the two disappeared off into time itself.