Ford looked ready to have a heart attack.
"Sixer?" Stan asked his brother.
"We need to evacuate Gravity Falls as quickly as possible."
"Ford, explain. Now!" Stan urged him.
"That's a dimensional rift, a large one, and I don't imagine it's a stable one." Ford paused to catch his breath to force his thoughts into some order. "This Toffee, he's an enemy of the Queen, correct? He seemed to have some sort of grudge. Then what better way to attack the Queen than destroy her Kingdom?" Ford looked up, "Gravity Falls has a weirdness magnetism field. It draws the strange to it and happens to sit on a weak spot in reality."
"Ford, explain it so someone without five doctorates can understand."
"Toffee has opened a way to Mewni. If it stays open, it will drag Mewni here! An entire kingdom is about to fall from the sky!"
Everyone present went silent.
"It's likely only possible because Gravity Falls is built on a weak spot in reality. I imagine otherwise natural forces wouldn't allow for such a large unstable rift."
"Can you close it?" Stan asked.
Ford shook his head, "Gravity and other forces are tugging everything, trying to keep everything stable, but that is not enough time. It would take me days to build something to close the rift. Omnitraxus and Hekapoo might manage to do something if they were at full power, but… this is the end."
Angie, who had been close by, spoke up, "What about Mewni?"
Ford could only say, "I don't know. It's likely the residents there are being pulled in as well. We have no way to reach them, and we can only hope they are evacuating."
"What about the kids?" Rafael asked.
Wendy spoke up, "I know the area better than anyone else. I know every good spot someone could hide in. I'll find them!"
Ford looked at her directly, "The moment you do, get them and get as far away as you can!"
"We need to get everyone out of here!" Stan told the others, "I'll go to the mayor and get him to evacuate!"
"I'll come too!" Soos began, but Stan stopped him. "Soos, stay with them. Help get them out and-"He paused, glancing over at Melody, and whispered, "You need to make sure she stays safe too. What kind of husband would you be if you didn't keep your wife happy and safe?"
Soos wanted to say something but could only nod.
Ford added, "Me and McGucket will stay behind. If we work with the old portal tech, we might be able to lessen the effects. Not stop, but it will buy more time for people to escape."
Stan yelled, "Don't stay behind!"
"It's a calculated risk, Stanley. I won't stay longer than I have to. Everybody needs to get going, and I have no idea how much time we have or how far away we will be safe. Warn everyone, and you get as far can as you go."
Wendy didn't stay any longer, and she grabbed the keys for the golf cart and took off to find the others.
Angie and Rafel went inside to get the others but found Hekapoo and Marco missing.
0000
Moon felt something tug her towards the right, something strange like a magnet pulling on metal. It was weak, but she could feel the whole of Mewni being dragged by force.
"Tick-tock Moon." Toffee mocked, "My finger, your Kingdom doesn't have much time left. Neither does your daughter."
Moon gulped. Her family and her Kingdom were all in the clutches of this man, all held together by something she honestly couldn't understand. What other option did she have?
She hoped her mother would understand, and she tossed him the finger.
Toffee smiled, connecting his finger where it had been missing. The skin attached, and the grey-green skin grew from it, soon spreading across Ludo's body and shifting and growing. In a moment, Toffee's body regrew suit and all. Toffee looked at Moon with a sly smirk on his face.
Then he threw up, Ludo shaken and confused, fell to the ground covered in spittle. In his recovered hand, Toffee held the gem from the wand.
"Where's Star!? Where's my daughter?!"
Toffee crushed the gem and let its remains fall to the ground. He tugged his lapels and said, "I don't recall promising I'd return her. She's gone."
He turned around and walked away.
Moon had only felt this kind of pain and grief once before. Her eyes watered, and she felt the black veins on her arms grow, and her diamond cheek marks turned black. Moon rushed towards Toffee. Moon threw wild punches that Toffee easily deflected.
Moon pulled out the wand and clutched it tightly, "I call the darkness on to me. From the deepest depth of Earth and Sea. From Ancient Evils unawoken. Break the one that can't be broken. To blackest night, I pledge my soul. And crush my heart to burning coal. To Summon forth the deadly power. To see my hated foe devoured!"
The black veins extended to her shoulders, but nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
Moon started to sob.
"Are you finished-?" Toffee stopped, and he saw someone.
A girl with blonde hair and a dark blue dress glared at them. In his mind, Toffee felt he'd seen her before.
Moon watched the girl and knew she was glaring hateful daggers.
"That's how they got a foothold, that-"She snarled, "Using that spell would always be, but now in the state of universe-You! The protectors of magic should know better than anyone why not to call upon their power-"She turned around ins utter disgust, "That family, the caster, and the spell maker cannot be trusted." She grabbed the key around her neck, and as the sound of a lock turning filled the air, she vanished, more than content to leave this Kingdom to its fate.
Toffee was left unsettled by the girl when someone grabbed him. Ludo held him, desperate, "Tell me! Tell me! Did I have any part to play in this?"
Toffee looked down on him with the closes thing to pity he could muster, "No."
Toffee walked away, Ludo and Moon broken.
0000
"Hello"
Buff Frog found himself looking up at someone in chains. "Are you King River?"
"Ah, yes,"
"I'm Buff Frog, and I'm friends with your daughter. She sometimes babysits my tadpoles."
Buff Frog found himself before a fellow father and started to look around. He quickly found a hammer and used it to free River.
"We have to get going. Toffee is doing a thing."
"I noticed," He motioned to the sky.
"We need to leave. Whatever Toffee is doing, I don't think Mewni will stand after this."
River said, "They trapped my people in the dungeons. If we don't get them out- help me save them."
"Yes, I'll help." Buff Frog forced a smile. River had just lost his daughter and didn't know it, and Buff Frog could at least help lessen the losses. After all, it was the right thing to do, and he owed it to the girl they lost. She'd do it if she could.
The fathers rushed to the dungeons to save the people of Mewni.
0000
Stan drove like a maniac in his old car. He skids to a stop as the confused town folks on confused. Stan jumped out and looked at the Mayor.
"Mayor Tyler! I don't have time to explain, but things are bad. We have to get everyone out of town."
"Okay,"
"Just like that?"
"Yeah, last year you and your family saved us all. If you say we got to leave town, it's got to be for a good reason."
Stan was confused. He wasn't used to people respecting and trusting him.
Tyler yelled out to everyone present and the guards, "Okay, everyone stay together. Spread the words, and call the police and firefighters to get everyone going. Make sure we don't leave anyone behind, and everyone makes sure your family and neighbors are accounted for. If you have room in your cars help those who don't. If you need a ride, we will help."
0000
As The Diazes and Soos and Melody helped drag the Commission into their cars, Ford and McGucket worked on a machine.
They frantically put machine parts together. "Okay, this will be a miracle, but I might be able to lessen the rifts effect. If I tap into the weirdness field around Gravity Falls, it might slow down universal forces."
"Won't it have a shift effect on anything weird? It might trap the weird folks here."
Ford sighed, "It would slow down the chaos. It could extend minutes to hours."
"If you work, someone like you isn't going to travel fast."
Ford looked at his six fingers. Even if his hands were normal, he was weird enough that he'd get pulled to Gravity Falls. "I have faith, my family out there. They will get everyone else out. Those kids didn't run away for fun and had to have a plan in mind. If anyone can manage it, it will be them."
McGucket wasn't one for blind faith, but he saw what those kids could do and agreed to follow the plan. He could at least try to think of some way to tweak the results, and maybe there was something they could do.
0000
Hekapoo's mind was fuzzy, but she knew she needed to find Seraph before it was too late. She was carrying a still sleeping Marco, she could move in quick bursts of high speed, but everything seemed off.
"Come on, Muscles! I need some help here! You think Seraph is sleeping during this disaster!"
0000
"Honey, you can do better. I don't know what you see in him."
"I know. He is so not my type."
Seraph heard through her sleep, the voice nudging her awake.
Seraph blinked as she tried to get her mind focused.
Seraph lay across a light blue unicorn.
Pacifica was sitting on the unicorn Celestabellebethabelle.
Pacifica was the only one who knew how to ride horses and insisted she should be the one to ride the unicorn and make sure Seraph didn't fall off.
"Like, I know, on paper, there is no reason I should even consider it, but…." Pacifica shook her head, "Ugh, he's brave and smart and stupidly loyal and willing to give people who don't deserve it a second chance. And… he can be cute sometimes. His eyes sparkle when he gets into his nerd stuff, and his voice gets all passionate."
"Oh, girl, you got it bad."
"I know," Pacifica facepalmed.
"I guess every relationship has a reacher and settler."
"I wouldn't say I was settling-"
"Oh, you def got it bad."
"ASK HIM OUT!" Seraph yelled out, still not 100% sure what was happening.
"You're awake." Mabel and Dipper ran over to their side, and they had been leading a crazy group of supernatural beings and a few people they found along the way.
"What happened?" Seraph asked only to get a general look-up sign.
"Oh."
A golf cart shot out of the forest and skid to a stop. "There you are!" Wendy jumped out and quickly hugged the twins. Seraph vaguely noticed an annoyed looked from Pacifica.
"We got trouble. We got to leave as soon as we can." Wendy informed them. Then she saw Seraph. "Is she okay?"
Mabel shrugged, "The sky got even weirder, and she screamed and got passed out."
Wendy went over to check on Seraph and looked into her eyes. "Okay, Seraph, look at me." She held a hand, "How many fingers do you see?"
"I see-"Her mind was still fuzzy as everything. She was unaccustomed to withstanding these sorts of magical and dimensional forces.
"I see an angel." Seraph looked at the redhead girl's green eyes and saw a lot of sparkles. "I like angels, Abuelita? Grandpa? They're angels. Am I an angel?" She looked back at Wendy. "Hey, pretty-pretty angel."
Wendy blinked, "Okay, she's not okay."
"Then why the demon! Pretty demon!"
"Also yelling a lot, but that did help me find you guys." Wendy shook her head, "Look, stuff is going down. Your uncles say we got to clear out the town."
"Can't let that happen!"
The Henchmaniacs jumped out of the forest.
8-Ball looked at the assembled group, "Our new boss promised us our freedom and some fun. We got out of a collapsing dimension, and now we can get some revenge."
0000
River and Buff Frog were freeing the prisoners and rushing them out of the city as fast as possible.
"Follow me!" Buff Frog lead them to the forest.
The citizens were less than thrilled to follow a monster. River just barked, "Do as he says! Mewni might be lost, but it does not mean your lives have to be! He knows the best path through the forest and safety."
Buff tried to move on though he found himself slow, much slower than he should be moving. It was almost like something was pulling him back.
On the other side, Toffee was home free, just a few more feet, and he would get to live his life peacefully. He was getting ahead of himself and had to find his people and move them to act as he once had, and they would need to do some cleanup.
As he moved past the border, he crashed into an invisible barrier.
"What?" He tried to push past it again and met with failure. He tried again and again.
"How is this happening?"
He knew about the weirdness magnet effect, but why would it work on him? The answer was relatively simple. It drew things weird via Earth standards. An immortal lizard man in a suit from another dimension was peculiar, and while Toffee certainly thought he was normal by his standards, he was not normal by any standards. He merged with magic and corrupted it, rebuilt his own body, possessed a Kappa, and made deals with creatures from other dimensions. The magnetic effects worked strongest on the stranger the thing was, and Toffee was far stranger than anything on Mewni.
Toffee looked at the bottom of where the barrier was. At his footprints, he hadn't noticed it, but they weren't going as far. He looked down, and ever so slightly, he was being dragged back. He searched his pockets, and he couldn't find them.
"Ludo." He growled and started to run back.
Soon everything would be cinders, and he needed a pair of scissors to escape. He knew what would happen to those morons he tricked, and he wouldn't end up like them.
0000
The fight started pretty quickly as the supernatural creature jumped against the Henchmaniacs.
The unicorn's light shining right blinded Kryptos in its eye. Pacifica is using the chance to jump and kick him down. Brenda and Candy quickly tackled the amorphous shape. Xanthan was soon in a grappling match by a couple of minotaurs. Paci-fire was forced to catch the ax that Wendy tried to hit her with.
The last year had been a weird one for the folks of Gravity Falls. While it wasn't intentional, they had gotten bolder and braver and would not allow themselves to get caught by these guys again.
Dipper found himself staring at the fight. Mabel moved over to help get Seraph up; she'd fallen off when the rumble started. Paci-fire used her power to burn the ax and then conjured up some flames to toss to Wendy, but the fire shot back, hitting her.
Mabel held up Seraph, who had her hand outstretched.
"Heeeey, Pretty Angel!"
"Uh, okay, thanks." Wendy hadn't expected that.
The problem with this fight was the maniacs were stronger and better. They had only lost their foot in the battle because they expected the others to cower like the first time, and that wasn't going to last, as they quickly started to get their heads in the game.
The ground shook, and the rift above them began to get bigger.
0000
In his Basement lab, Ford and Mcgucket worked as fast as they could.
"We have to do it now!" Ford yelled, "I thought we had more time, but it's about up."
"I'm not sure it's going to work. The science is untested and-"
"It's better than nothing."
Both men activated the device and hoped for the best.
0000
As depressed as he was, Ludo saw Moon through her tears, trying to rebuild the crystal.
"What are you doing?"
"If I can just get the pieces together, maybe…."
Ludo remembered her kind words, and he could only imagine how it hurt to lose a daughter. A daughter that had tried to help him.
He made his way over and picked up a piece, "Here, I think this one goes with that one."
Toffee arrived just then when the ground started to shake.
And with a pair of flashes of light, those two vanished.
Toffee stared dumbfounded before he, too, vanished.
0000
The fight continued, and the Henchmaniacs managed to turn things when a few of them vanished in flashes of light. Then a few of the creatures disappeared, and some were suddenly replaced by others, who then switched.
"What?" Seraph vanished in a flash of light.
Mabel looked around, hoping something she could understand had happened. That was when Teeth tried to chomp on Mabel, but in a flash of light, Hekapoo arrived, punching up with enough force to crack a tooth and force him back.
Hekapoo, still holding Marco, looked at the group, "Where is my daughter?"
0000
Star had been tossed by Toffee and threw her away and let her sink into the goo. It was black, and in a small way, it was welcoming. But Star saw a spark of something bright and golden and swam to it. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she burst out and gasped for a full lung.
"Hello, Star."
Star looked on to see Glossaryck hovering by a pot cooking something.
"I hope you're hungry."
"Glossaryck?"
"Take your time. We got that in spades." He waved his hand over the pot, showing scenes over Gravity Falls. "I go for less than a day, and everything falls apart."
The pot showed scenes of Marco waking up just in time to pull out his sword to defend Hekapoo, and they both started to fight against the maniacs.
"Forgive me if I'm being a bit selfish but… the whole thing with Marco and Hekapoo. I have a granddaughter?"
"Seraph! She's in danger! They all are! Magic is all gone."
"Yeah, just about. Honestly not sure how things will work out now. I usually have some sense, but free will and everything does muddle things up. But the whole Seraph thing was out of left field. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention to Hekapoo and her dimension. Things that I never foresaw happened. So I don't even know how magic fading away will affect them. Hekapoo is running off Marco as if he were a battery. I don't even know where to start with Seraph."
"Magic can't be gone."
"Well, it's about to be."
"No, I get it. I'm not here to eat your dumb magic soup while Toffee is doing who knows what?!"
"Star-"
"My mom probably thinks I'm dead."
"Star."
"Maybe I am dead."
"Star! Look at me. This is where we are now. And this soup is not magic anymore. It's just… soup. So stop being foolish and eat the soup."
Star saw a golden glimmer deep in the pot. "No. I get what you're doing."
"Mm-hmm. What am I doing?"
"This is just another one of your games. You're going out of your way to make me get to this on my own. Oh, you didn't think I'd catch on. Glossaryck, because you think I'm a skimmer. But I am a dipper."
"Star, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting us out of here." She held out her hand.
"Star! No! It's boiling!"
"Dip…. Down!" Star dipped her hand into the stew, and they started to burn.
"Ow!"
"Uh-oh!" A black hard reached out from the darkness and grabbed a shocked Glossaryck, "Wh-"There was a strange flash of light, and Glossaryck was gone. Star ignored it and reached from the golden speck grabbing it in her hands. Inside, a millhorse grew, and the orb expanded, flooding the room with light—the light-consuming Star.
0000
The machine was rapidly starting to fail, and as the spark shot out, both scientists had to run. They both fled outside as things exploded.
There were several frantic flashes of light.
"Oh no, the machine was acting as a quantum teleportation shuffling device, anything that would have been affected by the laws of weirdness magnetism. Everything is snapping back, and all the energy has formed a sinkhole here. Before everything settles, everyone is coming here, at least once the energy dies down."
Seraph dropped in front of them, "Ow? Wasn't I in the middle of a forest?"
A flash of light and a lizard man in a suit appeared next to them. He had been teleported across Gravity Falls, and it looked like it had finally stopped. He focused his eyes and noticed Seraph; the horns told him exactly who she was.
"You must be Hekapoo's daughter, and we haven't met. I'm Toffee."
That snapped Seraph out of her haze; she'd learned to fear the names of anyone who scared her mother.
Ford raised his blaster. "I will not let you hurt her."
Toffee fixed his tie, "That's all up to her, and I have no interest in harming her." He glanced at the sky, "I just need a pair of scissors."
Random creatures were teleported around them, most too scared and confused to get involved.
Seraph put over her jacket pocket and shook her head.
"I think you have your answer," Ford told him.
Toffee just grinned his smile, and before Ford even processed it, Toffee closed the gap. Toffee pulled the gun away, hurled it out, and, with a whip of his tail, tossed McGucket and Ford away. The lizard grabbed Seraph by the neck and dug into her pockets.
"It didn't have to be so hard."
Seraph's eyes flashed bright red flames.
0000
Marco used his sword to break off the tooth, with Hekapoo delivering another punch knocking back the tooth monster.
Then it vanished.
"What is going on?!" Marco yelled, confused.
Flames erupted into a torrent of fire in the sky.
"Seraph," Hekapoo gasped. "It's her. I can feel it."
"That's the shack," Wendy confirmed.
Hekapoo pulled out her scissors, but she and Marco vanished in a flash of light.
Dipper noticed the scissors Hekapoo dropped and picked them up. "How do they work this? He slashed at the air, a portal forming."
0000
Ludo had been moving around for a while and finally stopped as he flashed onto the Shack's roof.
"Fire?"
The roof was scorched.
Seraph, exhausted, crawled away as Toffee hissed. The flames had scorched off his arms and cauterized the wounds. He grunted in pain as he bit down on his stumps, letting fresh wounds form. It would be easier to heal from that. Bones and skin grew, and new hands formed.
"You didn't have to make it so difficult," Toffee finished healing and moved to Seraph when Ford jumped on his back.
Moon nearby was tossed in a flash falling on a minotaur. "Excuse me."
She glanced around, seeing Seraph crawling from her mother's killer.
"Not again." Moon dropped the broken wand and rushed to the lizard man. Moon jumped to attack Toffee when in a flash of light, 8-Ball appeared, catching her. "Hey, boss? What should I do with her?"
"Kill her. You'd be doing her a favor."
"Do it, and I'll crush your skull." Ford hissed, "Maybe you heal from that. How about memories from brain damage? I'm sure it won't be a pleasant experience."
Toffee wrapped his tail around Ford's neck and pulled him away, "Don't make a threat you can't carry out."
As more maniacs appeared, Toffee just told them, "Kill them all. The party is about to end, and we need to leave. Bring me the girl."
A portal formed next to Toffee as he said that and a fist collided with his face as Wendy rushed out. Dipper, Mabel, and their human friends rushed out.
Wendy barked, "Get her out of here."
Another portal formed, and Hekapoo and Marco rushed out. Hekapoo might have dropped her scissors, but Marco just had to turn his sword back.
"Get away from our daughter."
Seraph watched as chaos unfolded before her, people fighting Toffee or at least trying as his henchmen started to fight everyone.
She felt powerless, her family was fighting for her, but she couldn't do anything. Her flames had already proven to be useless against the lizard.
"Why do I have to be so weak?" She whispered to herself.
And then she heard something almost whispering in her head, "Because you're not complete. Not yet."
Seraph's attention was drawn to the side where a cracked black gem lay. The fragment pulled themselves together and pulled themselves into a wand. The wand started to hover, and someone familiar materialized in a flash of swirling light. In a flash of golden light, Star rose into the air. Star grew extra arms, her clothes changed into a yellow dress, and her eyes glowed.
"What? No!" Toffee yelled. A torrent of magical flames erupted from the wand incinerating Toffee. As the fire erupted, Toffee knew his plan to destroy magic had failed, and magic was flowing back through the universe.
The Henchmaniacs refused to lose another fight, and as Star, exhausted by the sudden burst of magic, landed on the ground, they moved to attack.
"No!"
Seraph was born of a magical being into a universe where magic was on the fritz. For the entirety of her life, Seraph worked with limited resources, with weight on, and for the first time, she had the weights removed and given a surplus.
"No!" Seraph screamed as she felt the rightful share of magic she was to inherit for the first time in her life.
The crowd before them grew silent as even those without magic sensed her changes. The Henchmaniacas turned to her feeling her as their next target.
"No! No."
Seraph's mind was blank except for the idea that she wouldn't stand for any of this. The air around her grew hot and raised her. Massive wings of fire formed behind her raising her higher beyond her enemy's reach as flames swirled around her. Above her head, a single flame hovered. Seraph felt her mind feel like it was going to crush under the weight of something she couldn't understand. Every sword, every knife, every scissors, everything sharp thing she'd ever seen flashed into her mind, along with blades that she was sure she'd never seen before, all materialized in vivid detail in her mind's eye. Feathers fell off her wings by the dozen, only to be replaced. Each feather that fell off only turned into one of the weapons. Soon even her enemies had to stop and marvel as hundreds of intricate weapons formed in the sky. Seraph raised her hand, and with a flick of her wrist, the weapons rained down.
The blades slashed at the Henchmaniacs, cutting and cauterizing as they fell. Hekapoo danced through the torrent of weapons and opened a portal to Nightmare Realm, where she sensed they were from. Instead of risking the sword, they jumped back to their world, preferring a collapsing dimension over the blades.
Seraph collapsed to the ground, and all her constructs vanished.
Hekapoo and Marco rushed to their daughter's side and held her, hearing her gently snore and the soft sensation of her heart.
"You think this is over! You think you won?" A boiling puddle that was Toffee yelled out. "I'm the one with the plan! I'm the one who knows how this all turns out!"
A blast of energy struck Toffee vaporizing him.
"Well, it turns out you're dead. Hey! Look! Look! What I did! All by myself!" Ludo stood there holding Ford discarded blaster.
"Well, that happened," Star said.
Above them, the rift closed, and the sky turned back to its usual blue coloring. A massive cosmic-colored hand above them seemed to will the rift close.
When magic was restored, Omni and the rest of the Commission had been too, and he had to get back to work.
0000
Stan and Soos were busy fixing up the damage to the Shack. It had only been one night, but as Stan put it, people weren't going to fleece themselves.
Stan grumbled, "You'd think those magic jerks would have stayed to help fix things up."
"They were very confused. They were like not alive at one moment, and then all that was going on. The skullman fixed the sky, and the buff one said something about prisons. I don't know what the goat man was saying."
Nearby, Melody started to put up some signs that had fallen.
Stan huffed, "Okay, I got something to say. Look, just say it to the girl. You like her, and she likes you, for reasons I can't put into words. But it works, the way she looks at you- she's going to say yes, so just ask her."
Soos smiled, "Thanks, dad. I- I mean-"
"Just go ask her."
Soos nodded and made his way to Melody.
"Dad, huh?" Stan smiled to himself.
0000
Hekapoo tapped her foot as she looked at Ford. "So-"
"So?"
"Don't, okay? So, I'm not taking you away. You and your family nearly got themselves killed to protect my kid."
Ford sighed in relief.
"You're not getting off free. No, because your portal has weakened the space in this area. So that's how you'll make up for all the damage. This place could have been a beautiful nexus point, so you will guard it instead. You will guard this place and watch out for everything that finds its way here. You don't always have to be here, but you got to stay on top of things."
"Uh, okay. That's fair. That's more than fair."
"I am being very merciful. Just be happy that the rest of the Commission didn't notice anything."
Ford smiled, he'd have to limit his trips, but he was also an old man who'd traveled for a long time. He wouldn't mind finding a place to call home.
0000
"Snacks!" Candy yelled.
"And drinks! Stay hydrated!" Brenda handed stuff to Seraph.
"You got our numbers and emails and everything, right?" Mabel asked.
Seraph nodded. She still looked exhausted. Her family decided to head home early.
"Make sure to message me when you get home!" Mabel insisted.
"Well, I got something for you too." Dipper opened up his journal. "It's not great, I'm still working on my drawing, but I think it came out pretty good. Just think of it as a unique souvenir."
Dipper pulled out a drawing of how Seraph looked when she conjured all those flame constructs.
"Ah, thanks." Seraph found herself staring at the page, and it still felt unreal for her. Before she could delve into that thought, she noticed something. In his journal, she noted some sketches of Pacifica in a lovely dress looking at some stars. Seraph smiled at herself, seeing that.
"Look!" Mabel yelled.
They looked at the window where Soos had gotten on his knee. Though they couldn't hear what he was saying, it seemed to make Melody happy.
0000
Angie and Rafael carried a handful of Shack merch that was part souvenirs and part bribes from Stan.
Hekapoo and Marco looked at their tired daughter.
"Are you sure you are okay?" Marco asked.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," Seraph told them.
Hekapoo crossed her arms, "You burned through more magic than you are used to. I've seen people do that before. Building your stamina is basic, but we never got that far with everything and the fritz. I've only managed to teach her some small spells. Maybe it's time to start teaching you some more magic."
Seraph smiled at the thought.
Seraph noticed, "Uh, I'll be right back; I need to do something."
Marco shrugged as he went to get the luggage.
Seraph went over to talk to Wendy, "So, me and my family are about to head out. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind trading phone numbers or something?"
"Okay, sure, I'll put it on your phone."
Seraph handed her the compact, and after a few seconds, Wendy handed it back.
Wendy added a smiling picture of herself and named the contact "Angel."
Seraph started to blush.
"Yeah, I've never had someone call me an angel. Kind of weird coming from someone who had wings."
"Yup." Seraph shuffled.
"Hm, how old are you? I don't think I got your age. I'm still confused by your dad and time stuff."
"Uh, I'm about to be 15."
"15?"
"I'm 16, just got my license, let me tell you, not as fun as I thought it would be. My dad is getting me to drive my brothers everywhere, and I guess that not something you got to worry about with those magic scissors."
"I guess not,"
"Cool, be sure to use them to visit sometime. We can hang out."
"Yeah, yeah, I'd like that."
Hekapoo watched the conversation from a distance and wondered why Wendy looked so familiar to her.
As Seraph returned, Ford stopped her, "I heard you had some weird dreams, and this might be of use." He gave her the dream catcher. "It's not actual magic; it's just something I've picked up, but who knows. Maybe it can have a Placebo effect."
"Not sure what that is, so okay. Mister Doctor Ford."
Ford wanted to correct her but chuckled, "Think nothing of it, have a good trip home." The six-fingered man smiled.
The strings on the dream catcher flicked with blue light for a split second in Seraph's hands as something was restored.
0000
As the Diaz drove out of town, they'd use the scissors, but a short drive seemed nice for now. Star looked out the window and thought. Her mom told her that her dad and Buff Frog had managed to keep everyone safe, though much damage was done because of Toffee. Glossaryck seemed dead since he didn't get restored with everyone else when magic returned. This all gave Star a lot to think about. As they left Gravity Falls, Star barely noticed a young girl in a blue and white dress sitting on a bench.
"The princess is certainly out, and the little light seems too reckless. Perhaps the little kitten would be a better fit."
"Hm, yeah, maybe. Do you need their permission or just Seraph's?" Nefi looked over her shoulder. "It's a cheat to get her to agree to something in a dream."
"Have you been spying on me?"
"Me? No, never Alice."
"Aren't you the embodiment of lies, deception, dreams, and all falsities?"
"Hm, that's way too simplified. I'm all the stuff that goes against reality, but that doesn't mean it's unreal. Look at it magic wouldn't be possible if it weren't for me. I probably wouldn't have noticed anything if you didn't work to try and keep everyone from peeking in on the dreams you jumped in. Isn't it bad enough for them? The fates are failing on that girl already. If her future self let her parents use that tape measure on their own, it would have been no issue, but she slipped it on. It's not much direct action but enough to chafe time a paradox. Time will rain trouble onto her in one way or another, and if you're getting involved, I think I know what kind it is."
Alice growled, "Then why try to get in my way?"
Nefi shrugged, "I'm a scorpion. It's my nature to sting."
"Even if we all drown."
Nefi tapped her nose.
"And I won't be able to revisit her dreams, will I?" Alice sighed.
"Yeah, dream catchers aren't that magical, but now with magic surging again, these things can become active again."
"And you wouldn't have anything to do with it?"
"Me? Asibikaashi is in charge of those; you know she loves kids."
"And Ford didn't find sudden inspiration to give her that as a farewell gift in a dream."
"Who knows why he does anything?"
Alice got up and held out a key. "You are playing a dangerous game, little Quintessence."
Alice turned the key and the air behind her shattered like a broken mirror. "I have work to do, and I would stay out of it if I were you."
Nefi waved goodbye as she stepped through the doorway. There was a loud click as the door was locked, and it vanished.
Nefi sighed and burst into a bubble, floating away.
Nearby, Mayor Tyler and his bodyguards looked at the strange discussion. The Mayor sighed, "Never mind that," He shook his head, and they walked away.
Nearby a black car pulls into the parking lot of Greasy's Diner. A tall thin man in a vest and tie got out, and he went over to the other side and opened the door.
"Sir, wake up."
In the passenger seat was a young-looking man in a blue coat. He was half awake. "Uh?We there?"
"Yes, your appointment should be here at any moment."
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the other man took the bag out of the trunk.
The man in the coat jumped up and down. "Does gravity feel weird?"
"It is Gravity falls, it draws the weird as you said."
"Yeah, I'm not one to talk. It just feels weirder." He shook his head, not wanting to extend this trip longer than he needed to.
They made their way in and settled into a booth as Pacifica walked over and handed them a menu. "You ready to order?"
"Give us a minute, and we are waiting for someone."
Pacifica shrugged and walked away, taking out her phone.
It didn't take much longer as McGucket walked in, who quickly waved at them.
"Hello McGucket, do you have the thing?"
McGucket smiled and dropped a sack on the table. "Yup, it was a bit tricky, but I did manage to build a compact dimensional energy separator/container."
"And I got your new battery for you; I left you with some notes; I'd read them up. It might screw with power levels for your next device, and it should be good for a few centuries. I'd try not to drop it."
Mcgucket took the bag and examined the glowing device within.
"Now, how about lunch? I'll pay. Now, what's good here? Also, we should probably order now; the waitress is looking at her phone, and I think she's waiting for a call from her boyfriend or going to call. Either way, she's going to be distracted."
McGucket nodded in knowing agreement. "By the way, what did you need the dimensional tech for anyway?"
The man in the coat smiled, "I'm building a very complicated butterfly net."
0000
Rhombulous and Lekmet returned home to ensure all the crystals were intact even after magic died.
"Bah!" Lekmet cried out as he found one crystal shattered and candy wrappers around it.
"Oh...that's not good. That's not good at all," Rhombulus said as he realized what had happened. The one person they'd never wanted to escape had managed to escape, and the time couldn't have been worse for anyone.
If you like this story I suggest going to the original source here https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12364479/1/Like-Father-Like-Daughter?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=4pf7ygKuGopWjEuhI5WxBNTRg3JzMKNoUqNYyNTXM6k-1639571418-0-gaNycGzNCaU
And if you want more like this I suggest going to the original author of this story ADdude's home page https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2674558/ADdude