#taufic

MIRABASSI – RENZETTI – TAUFIC | Arriva #AGRESTE

#MirabassiRenzettiTaufic @gmirabassi #cristinarenzetti #Taufic #Agreste @EGEA_Music Agreste è il secondo lavoro del trio Mirabassi – Renzetti – Taufic. Dopo l’esperienza di Correnteza, dedicata alla musica sofisticata e raffinatissima di Jobim, il percorso dei tre prosegue risalendo il fiume verso l’entroterra, avendo come guida la suggestione potente della traduzione portoghese del termine:…

I’M BACK TAU LET’S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!

---

1. The Comedian

“Dipper! We have much to discuss!”

Soos smiled as he watched Dipper fade into the circle nonchalantly. Fluffy brown hair and a wilting suit greeted Soos and his childlike greeting. Tired (powerful, golden) eyes stared at him from inside the circle. “Hey, Soos.”

“So Mr. Pines told me that you and Mabel are comin’ up Gravity Falls this weekend! Are you excited?”

Something froze in Dipper’s face. But as soon as the expression came, it was replaced with a forced smile. “Yeah, Mabel's really excited to be coming to school here. She's got a lot of friends in her grade.”

Soos, to his enduring credit, did not question the unusual circumstances of the twins moving towns and schools in the middle of high school. Or the fact that Dipper only talked about Mabel's prospects. He knew that the discussion about the process of the move to the Falls had been riddled with the awkwardness of Mark and Anna’s lack of understanding of this new world they lived in. “Cool! So anyway-”

Dipper cut him off mid-sentence. “I'd love to stay and chat, but I can't be here for long unless we make a-” his mouth puckered- “deal.”

“Oh yeah, almost forgot.” Soos grabbed a couple bags of chips out from a stash he had under the counter. He tossed them at Dipper in the circle. “How much time?”

Dipper stared at the bags and made an executive decision. “I'd say something like 45 minutes.”

(If it weren't Soos, the chips would be worth way less. But. The Family Exception was still intact, and Soos was as good as a Pines.)

“I actually need some help from you, dood.”

Dipper smiled. “What this time?”

Soos gave Dipper a faux serious face. “It's really serious, dood.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Wanna go under the porch and stick money into the cracks and see Stan’s reaction?”

“Was that even a question? Also, I'm putting a bucket of ice water above the door. It's always good to be prepared.”

“I’ve heard mayonnaise is better.”

“Don’t push it, old man.”

2. The Electrician

Splintering but soft cedar wood adorned the carved door of Soos’ second home, a rickety old weather vane creaking softly as the luminous suns of other galaxies beamed into focus. It was a breezy midnight, emerald evergreens rustling unsurely as the wind roped and snatched at the pine trees decorating the remote shack. He wasn’t positive why Stan had asked him to come to the house, but he said it was something about an electricity error. Soos observed this to be true, the usual golden glow of the lantern in the front of the house was absent from view.

A precocious gale grabbed at Soos’ skin, goosebumps rising to greet the eerie morning. With the change of wind Soos was reminded of just how cold autumns in Oregon were. He reached to knock a third time (having misplaced the pair of keys Mr. Pines gave him) when the door abruptly swung open. With his weight placed in the balls of his feet, Soos nearly fell over by the surprise of his handhold removed. After readjusting his balance, Soos took one look at Mr. Pines at the front door and had to do a double take.

Stan looked like a wreck; his shirt untucked,  buttons undone, and tie untied around his neck. His burgundy fez was practically defying gravity at the corner of his scalp. Soos supposed the only thing holding it up was the friction of unruly, greasy hair. He looked more wrinkly than he should, even for an older man, and his mouth was downturned into an unrelenting frown. His brow was furrowed and his posture bent with the labor of hardship.

He looked like a father.

With an arm bent casually on the frame, Mr. Pines scratched his head and greeted Soos bluntly: “Hey Soos. Electricity’s off.”

Soos pointed up at the forlorn lantern. “I noticed.”

“I’ll help you fix it, but could you get a move on? I was in the middle of something,” Stan said gruffly, ushering Soos into the house.

Soos had a suspicion that Stan wasn’t the one in the house who cared if the electricity was back on or not. But he complied.

“Sure thing, Mr. Pines.”

Soos meandered into the house, a hard feat; with six cardboard boxes stacked up at the entrance. “Don’t mind those, it’s just the kids’ stuff.” Stan mumbled something under his breath that sounded like, “I told them that people were gonna have a hard time getting in, but did they listen? “Noooo Grunkle Stan, we don’t wanna….”

Soos had almost forgot Dipper and Mabel were at the house, and had arrived three days prior. He was fixing a floorboard upstairs when the twins got to the Shack (their new home), and only saw a flash of Mabel’s sweater before she disappeared into her room and closed the door. She chattered for a bit, to who he assumed was Dipper, and then exited the room when Mr. Pines yelled to them down for dinner. She shrieked “Coming!” and was about to plummet down the stairs until Soos called out to her across the hallway.

“Sup, dood?” He said with open arms.

Naturally, Mabel came barreling towards his embrace at the speed of light. “Ohmigosh Soos! I missed you so much!”

Soos laughed. “We’re like, roommates now! ‘Cept Stan only lets me sleep in the break room on Saturdays. Something about ‘being an adult now’ and ‘just get married already…’”

Mabel snorted and jokingly punched his arm. “Soos, you are just too funny! How’s Melody?”

He beamed. “She’s doing great! Hey there, Dipper!”

Soos directed his question to the left of Mabel, praying that he was standing (floating) there. He always did this after the incident that racked the world the summer of 2012, and had left Dipper invisible and slightly demonic. Soos believed that he was there, not only because he had utmost faith in Mabel, but also due to the fact that Dipper had a presence. After that fateful event during the summer, during the couple days where the town was convinced Dipper had died, he would often feel the hairs on the back of his necks stand up randomly. Upon checking the thermostat, he one time watched the temperature drop by a couple degrees and then shoot back up again. Soos, at the time, had passed off these events as unrelated and insignificant occurrences. But in hindsight, he was almost sure an intangible Dipper was hovering past him, screaming for recognition.

Mabel smiled. “Dipper says he’s doing okie-dokie.”

Soos was about to say something else to Dipper, when he was interrupted by Mabel conversing with the air. “Dipper, there’s no way I’m repeating th- Can you stop interrupting me? Thanks. What? Oh yeah, I’ll tell him.” Mabel shifted her gaze back to Soos. “Dipper says that he’ll tell you where your missing screwdriver is if you give him a piece of candy.”

Soos grinned. “Sure thing dood! I’ve been looking for that all day.” Soos grabbed a skittles packet out of his pocket. He tossed it to Mabel, who handed it to thin air. Soos tried not to gape as the packet disappeared out of the air, but internally he shrugged and thought to himself: Honestly? I’ve seen weirder.

Soos was shaken out of his memory by the whine of floorboards coming from the upstairs. Stan grumbled.

Soos peered up at the peeling ceiling. “What woke them up?”

Stan gave Soos a frighteningly soulful gaze. “They’ve been awake the whole night, apparently. I woke up to every single lightbulb in the house breaking.”

“How did that happen?”

Stan didn’t answer his question. “I'm going to grab some spare light bulbs in the basement.” He typed in the code to the vending machine and ventured downstairs.

The house went quiet for a moment, and Soos heard whispers from the top of the stairs. He only caught snippets of what assumed was the twins talking.

“Dipper…”

“All my fault…”

“It's not a big deal….a goober…”

“.....is Mabel.”

“No one cares…. Soos will fix it…. Stan called…”

He only heard something else, something that could only be described as a sniffle. The house tremored with the sob, and settled down until nothing more remained.

The house plunged into darkness, and Soos was left to stare at the glass on the floor. It glimmered like the eyes of a crying child.

Soos went to the front hall closet and grabbed the broom. Broken parts had no place in his home.

3. The Contortionist

Soos was in his break room, and the walls were screaming.

They thrummed in and out, ebbing and flowing. Soos had tried the door when the earthquake-like effects had begun, but his efforts were useless. It didn't seem to be locked, almost like the actual door was glued to the frame. He felt the wood, hoping to force it open, and yelped when a piece of it splintered off and jammed itself into his finger. From under the door, an incredibly bright light shone.

And there was screaming. Anguished screaming.

All of a sudden, the walls were pressing in.

His heart in his throat, he could only do so much as whimper as the walls caved in-

-He woke in cold sweat.

Justadreamjustadreamjustadreamjustadream

Soos didn’t think he was going to sleep in the break room anymore. It didn’t really seem like a game, suddenly.

He returned to sleeping, however, and found that the rest of his dreams that night were padded with fluff and grass.

And strange-looking sheep, for some reason.

4. The Thrill Seeker

Mabel was sad.

Some days the sun was shining, and some days it rained. But when it was too hot to bear in the dead of summer, it suddenly became fun when she declared to race around the house to see who could find the fans fastest, and then it wasn't so bad anymore. In the middle of winter, the miserably frigid air indicated a game to see who could make the most snowballs, and you would feel yourself warm from the inside. With Mabel, the blah stratus clouds of a lazy Sunday became sugar-spun silver and thunder the burp of a god. The world could be raining around them, and Mabel would play games to see who could catch a souvenir of their broken sky. They said love was a weakness, but her positivity ignited everyone into action against the evil.

The sharpest knife was her sadness, and it clawed at Soos’ heartstrings. “What's got you down? Talk to Soos. According to Wendy, I'm like, a genius at this kind of thing.”

Mabel sighed. “It's not a big deal! It's just, well… you know those annoying bird-faeries?” Soos nodded solemnly. “I left the window open for them, because I saw a small colony of poor little ones struggling to make a nest.”

Soos closed his eyes profoundly. “Mabel, you are a saint.”

Mabel smiled sadly. “Yeah, yeah. Well anyways, they took my knitting needles, which was fine, I didn't really need that pair anyways. I had a better pair, pink bedazzled ones! And then they took those to make their nests, which was a little disappointing, but I could always make another glitter pair, so I didn't really mind. But today I woke up and twenty of my best sweaters were-” She sniffed- “stolen! I thought Dipper or Stan might've moved them or pranked me or something, but when I walked outside today the dumb birds had a mansion- nest!!”

“It's ok to be sad, Mabel! I know how hard you worked on those.”

Mabel sighed. “And it wasn't even that that made me sad. I had some gifts in there for holidays and upcoming birthdays and stuff. I know I'm being selfish to be so upset about something so silly, but,” she paused. “I really, really liked those sweaters. They were really authentic, you know?”

Soos let out a deep sigh. “I know how the ruining of hard work can be discouraging. It is important to remember that the value is in like, experience and stuff.”

Mabel gaped. “You’re so wise, Soos!”

Soos was on a roll. “One time I went to the store, and I put the interesting divider in my pile. But the lady working there just glared at me and put it besides my stuff. She does the same thing every single time! It would make such a cool sword. I'm on a conquest to buy it, and nothing will stand in my way!” He punched a fist in the air.

Mabel stood with a determined gaze and grabbed Soos’ shirt collar. “Do you want that super cool sword thing?”

Soos looked Mabel in the eye. “More than anything else in the world.”

Mabel punched her fist in the air. “To the GROCERY STORE!!”

***

They came rushing in later, disheveled and sweating. Mabel had a squirrel in her hair and Soos’ shirt was ripped. But the heroes prevailed; Soos was clutching three or so of the dividers. Mabel slammed the door behind her. Through heavy breaths, she unenthusiastically high fived Soos and walked sluggishly towards the living room. The hard labor of their quest warranted rest, hence Mabel then tossing her sapped limbs onto the ragged couch.

They heard the unmistakable voice of Deputy Durland cawing from outside. “You can run, but you can't hide!” A bell jingled outside to combat the unmistakable sound of sirens growing louder and louder. Mabel opened the door, screamed, “The only thing you cops hide from is your feelings!” And promptly proceeded to slam the door into the faces of the expectant police people.

Dipper floated in. “Mab- what the hell.” He was about to do the meme-esque-back-out-slowly-this-trecherous-situation-does-not-involve-me retreat when Mabel interjected with a show-and-tell attitude. “Hey Dipper! Wanna see what we stole?”

Dipper stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Stealing is illegal, Mabel.”

“Well, duh! But it was for the greater good. Look what we got!” Mabel ripped the dividers and stuck them in front of his face.

“Agh Mabel, get th-those out of my face.” Dipper pushed the things away from himself. Mabel glanced towards the door. “We should lock that.”

“They can't search the house without a warrant.” Dipper said, deadpan.

Mabel raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure that Durland actually knows how to read, let alone is actually aware of fancy-schmancy amendments.”

“Well anyways, why did you need those? I could've gotten them for you.” Dipper squinted. “Are those the dividers they use in grocery stores?”

“Yes, they are. And we decided to get them because it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.”

Mabel high-fived Soos while he put his hands to his face. “Mabel. So profound!”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “Mabel's not the profound one, Ralph Waldo Em-”

“Blah blah blah, sorry Dipper,  I don't speak nerd! But we have an extra sword thing if you want it.” She held the third one out for him to see.

“Come on dood, Mabel and I were gonna duel with them!” Soos gave Dipper an expectant expression.

Dipper tried to condescendingly raise an eyebrow, but failed miserably. Mabel noticed and snorted, before breaking down in peals of laughter. She punched Soos’ arm. “You better spoof up your video editing, we’re gonna need to make a compilation of this. Or better yet, a gag reel to that catchy voice-cracking remix you have buried somewhere.”

Soos cocked his head. “Why, exactly?”

Mabel (expertly) wiggled her eyebrows. “Blackmail.”

Dipper (clearly) did not like to be made fun of. To spite his sibling, he exalted an, “En gardé!” He snatched one of their swords out of Mabel's hands and floated away with his pilfered weapon.

Mabel put her weapon at the ready, and handed hers to Soos. “No fair! You have the advantage! I’m calling foul on that, mister! Put your feet on the floor and hands in the air!”

Soos chased after them, armed with his divider. “Surrender our property!”

(When Stan came in later after talking with the cops, he made them relinquish their weapons. As he walked away, he was heard grumbling, “If you guys are going to steal, at least steal something useful.”)

5. The Laughing Machine

Soos woke up to the smell of blood, a distinctly iron tang. The walls of the break room had actually not closed in, but Soos still felt his chest tighten at the thought of being in the break room for a second longer. He frenetically jiggled the handle, hoping it wasn't locked. To his relief, the door creaked open and he burst outside-

-only to find a scene straight out of a horror game.

Every light was flickering, and blood was on the walls at the consistency of Christmas decorations. Soos proceeded with extreme caution. “Doods?”

And then suddenly, a scream.

Soos ran.

Stan and Mabel sat next to a small (boyish) shadow of ebony sitting on the floor, (pouring and splashing and pulsing and screaming). Mabel was deadly calm, a somber stare issued in the tremoring phantom’s direction. She held his (Dipper’s, it had to be Dipper’s) hand in a tight grip, while Mr. Pines sat in a weary stool pulled up next to the pair of them. He was hunched, rubbing his temples in exhaustion. Soos didn’t mistake Stan for being unaware; his eyes had the same determined and serious weight as Mabel’s. And as for the demon(the child)?

His eyes were dead. That was the only possible way to describe those open, scarred orbs, unblinking with complete and utter terror. Occasionally, he would close his eyelids, as if attempting escape, attempting sleep, trying and clawing out of a prison of mental torture.

Poison gold poured out of his eyes, tributaries of teary angst and martyrdom;  he quivered and caved in on himself. The noise, the thousands of bees carving chalk-laden forks onto plates, bawling with the weight of an eternal, immortal burden. Wailing, screaming, yelling, shouting for an ally, a friend, a savior

(a handyman.)

The eyes snapped up. Golden. Predatory. Saddened. Decayed. And they were searching Soos’ being, his soul, and he was as exposed as a dissected frog on a lab table.

A voice echoed off the walls. The doom of power and the demon had a verdict.

I̬̣ ͔̟̜͖̕s͇̞̫̹̜̻a̙̱w͍̱̺ ̸̠̪y͍̝̤͔ͅò̮͈u ̠̼̺̲̝d̤͎͔͕i̻̞͖e̮̯̠, the demon (Dipper) said.

Soos scratched his head.

“Ok, so that’s cool and all, but like how does it happen? Is it like, gruesome? Or wait, please don’t tell me that it’s by eating too many burritos. I don’t want to prove Abuelita right! I really don’t want to suffocate, I seriously hope that isn’t it! Do I die a hero? That would be total badass. Do I-”

He stopped talking. Mabel, Stan, and Dipper all stared at him. Dipper’s eyes were lighter, and suddenly, the shadows the room was wreathed in disappeared. Dipper opened his mouth to breathe, and Soos feared for the worst.

The reaction threw him for a loop.

Dipper was laughing.

It’s finally here!! yay!! sorry for delays im incredibly slow and procrastinating is a serious issue

-------

“Just remember: The woods have eyes, and the eyes are in the woods.”

The Big Kids ran away, laughing and looking over their shoulders.

Little Tommie didn’t like them. They’d tell him scary stories of the neighborhood’s woods, how there were odd wendigos that crawled and lurked at nighttime, the ghosts that howled only when the clock struck midnight, and the werewolves that roamed when the full moon alerted their predatory instincts.

But this story was the worst of them all. Big Joe told Tommie of the screams they would hear at night from those woods, how demons tortured their human victims.

There was wailing and blood. Lots of blood, they said.

And worst of all, they told Tommie that the demons would suck you into their black-and-white world and mess with your mind and play with your head. They’d trick you and taunt you and ruin your soul so you were just about begging for death.

Because demons they said, liked to play with their food before they ate it.

With a jolt, his eyes snapped open with a force fit to jumpscare.

There was a sort of haunting chant in the air, whispering in his eardrums, scratching his soul, tempting his psyche.

The lure of closure was too priceless of a promise to not to be kept. So Thomas sat up, examining the environment around him.

First off, everything was black and white.

Crotchety shadows blurred around the corners of the hell, swaying and sweeping towards him. They were sentient, in some way; gnarled fingers outstretched. In front of him, there was only an endless wood of evergreens. They had somehow lost their luster. A pine tree’s usual homey thanksgiving was destroyed by the menacing plants ahead of him; which were like a dark facade of doom. And the worst was the painted -gray sky, that shifted precariously, unsure. The sun was never-setting, ever-setting; a dreadful reminder of Thomas’ own hopeless situation.

The air. Oh, the air.

It smelled like That One Time in The Basement- sulfur and doom and demons and death.

And faintly, the oxidized twang of blood.

Where am I?

He stood up, wincing at how his feet sank into the unusual quicksand-like ground.

Oh stars, this was screwed up.

He did a 360, and upon doing so conveniently realized that the Rainbow Basher was behind him. Beat up, yes. But intact, and hopefully usable.

He opened the now R-V like car, courtesy of Tyrone, and stepped inside.

Everything was the same as how he left it. Chips on the floor, blankets strewn on the woollen couch. The tatter in the chair over there. Tyrone’s room left mysteriously ajar; Brad’s, suspiciously closed. The peeling wallpaper. The messy kitchen space.

Everything exactly the same. Yet everything so different.

“Aw come on, Thomas, I thought you said those chips were for me!”

“Maria. It’s only one bag. I have like, five more in the pantry space.”

“You better. A promise is a promise. Eddy, is the game ready to play yet?”

“Maria, it wasn’t ready the time you asked three seconds ago. It wasn’t ready six seconds ago. And it won’t be ready when you ask again in five seconds.” Eddy screwed up his forehead in concentration. “Can someone else help me with this?”

“Is it ready now?” Maria quipped.

“Very funny. But really. Brad? A little help maybe?”

“Eh..” Brad made a so-so gesture with his hand. “I don’t think I will. Consider the awful gaming system you’ve got here. Like seriously. That thing is obsolete.”

It was kind of obsolete. The box it came in was huge-3 inches wide- and the holo technology was so bad it might have been made in the same time the game took place. The 5D effects were awful too; you could only barely feel the virtual objects you put in your hand, and the weight approximation was off. Also, the expanding screen kept getting jammed, and the holographic effects were just plain awful.

“If only Tyrone were here, he could help boot up the system.” Eddy sighed. “And it’s not like any of you will help me or anything.”

“I think he’s off doing business,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, if business is murdering people.” Brad said

“That’s the only type of business I’m ever going to be interested in.” Maria said slyly.

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, you’re normal. On other occasions, I’m genuinely concerned for your mental health.”

“Guys!” Eduardo practically screamed. “I got it to work!”

The screen expanded slowly, until the crew was surrounded by the holographs. The lights were turned off, and everyone put on their gloves and headsets for the ultimate experience.

Warning: Apocalypse Averted contains some violent images, flashing lights, gore, and suspense.

If these things will be detrimental to your health or wellbeing, we recommend only one thing.

Quit while you’re ahead.

-----

ELISHA WOKE UP, BANGING HER HEAD ON THE HEADBOARD.

She swore angrily, but almost felt as if something was horribly, awfully wrong.

She went back to sleep, shivering.

-----

EDUARDO WOKE UP, SURROUNDED BY A HERD OF GNOMES.

Actually, Eddy wasn’t entirely sure what a group of gnomes was even called. What was the scientific term for a group of gnomes? A herd of gnomes? A pack of gnomes? A cluster of gnomes? A family of-

Ah! Gnomes!

Ok so, well, they were everywhere in this cavern, or their lair. (But lair sounded too sinister for gnomes. But they had chased his friends by literally forming into a giant monster. Lair it was!) And by everywhere he meant, well, everywhere. The identical, miniscule creatures covered every inch of the cave, breathing in his face and staring at him.

This was weird. He was uncomfortable.

“Uh, hi?” he said, voice cracking slightly. “Why did you guys kidnap me?”

The gnome who was standing on one’s head, jumped down and introduced himself. His eyes were bright and welcoming. And almost, kind of loving? “I’m Jeff. Well, my name is actually Jeff with a bunch of juniors coming after it, but yeah. You can call me Jeff!”

Eduardo narrowed his eyes. “You still haven’t told me why you kidnapped me.”

The head gnome-Jeff’s expression quickly darkened. “Oh, all in due time, my love! For now, we must protect you from harm!”

Eddy’s eyes widened. “What kind of harm?”

“Well, right now we’re on the outskirts of our hometown, Gravity Falls. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before, no? Well, anyway, the place was kind of attacked by rainbows. We like rainbows, yes, but the creatures of the woods warned us to stay away! Their whispers, they warned very bad things.” Jeff paused. “Yes, very bad things indeed.”

Eddy grabbed the gnome and shook him. “Tell me what they said! I was just kidnapped by gnomes and my friends were taken by a spider-woman and one of my friends escaped but he went towards the town. Why? What else is dangerous around here?”

The gnome laughed nervously. “Well, the reason we took you is because we were leaving. We noticed the bad coming and left right away. I’m sure the spider-person did too. But what’s you’re name? We want to get to know you better before the ceremony begins!!”

“Wait, what ceremony? You aren’t even answering my question!”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “You first. You’re the hostage.”

He had a point. “I'm Eduardo, you can call me Eddy. Now answer my questions. Please. What am I doing here? What ceremony are we having? Will my friends be ok? And what's going on in Gravity Falls?”

Jeff held up his hands in a surrender, and all the other gnomes mimicked his action. “Whoa there friend, you need to slow down. But we can answer your questions… we’re willing to do anything for our future queen!”

Wait what?

“Queen?!?” Eddy sputtered. “But-”

“That's why we brought you here! You’re going to be the heir to the gnomian throne, and you will take my hand in marriage! The ceremony, it’s matrimony, of course! And your friends, well… there's a good chance they'll all be dead by tomorrow! As for Gravity Falls, the creatures were talking about some monster or something.”

Eduardo backed away as all the gnomes came increasingly closer to him.

Matrimony. Monster. Dead. Ceremony. Gnomes.

Oh, fuck.

----

MARIA WOKE UP IN A CAGE OF SILVER.

Brad was next to her, incased similarly.

She screamed.

---

THOMAS HAD FINALLY WOKE UP.

He'd realized, somewhat, what was happening. And how it probably had to do with Tyrone.

This was probably his payback for being friends with a demon.

He planned to explore sections of the forest carefully, by foot, to see if he could find anything to help him, such as an exit that might be missed if he had been driving too quickly. Then, he'd go back in the Rainbow Basher and then would drive the excavated distance. He was looking for

He advanced into the forest on foot, cautiously. He now had a flashlight to navigate the

increasingly dark woods. The flashlight suspiciously appeared on the ground when he was thinking about how handy it would be to have such a tool.

Suddenly, he realized that one tree coming up on his left was not like the others. It had retained its glistening sheen. It was colored too, for one thing.

He remembered the game that they played.

Where was he? Was he hallucinating?

It was worth a try.

Here went nothing.

He slammed on the center of the tree, and it made a hollow, metallic sort of clanging.

His suspicions were automatically confirmed.

He hit the tree once more, a squeaky door lurching open to reveal-

“-the journals! We finally found them!”

“About time. It’s not like we haven’t been looking for the past half hour.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “We agreed to not use cheats.”

Eduardo’s voice came from the other side of the virtual forest, his avatar looking adamant in the game. “Speaking of which, thanks for that marvelous idea Thomas!”

Eddy was playing as this old man character apparently called Stan Pines, who totally looked like a badass. It was either that or a fatter man called ‘Soos,’ who Eduardo quickly ‘noped’ his way out of being. He had this old suit on, that was clearly something a circus ringleader would wear in the 2000s. It was a conman sort of ensemble, complete with a cane and eyepatch, but it looked totally cool. It wasn’t like Thomas was going to tell him that, though.

“Oh, what’s that? You want me to join the Russian Mafia?”

“Harsh!”

Maria laughed. “Okay but Thomas, you looked like you’re going as Tyrone Evergreen, normal human boy for Halloween. With a trademark. Trademarks, Thomas!!!”

Thomas looked down at himself. “I seriously don’t think I look like Tyrone at all right now. For starters, I don’t think I can be taller than five foot two.”

Brad chimed in. “Yeah, but you look like his kid or something. Like the facial resemblance is kinda uncanny.”

In the background, Maria screamed, “Trademarks!”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Whatever you guys say. Well then, what are we gonna do with this journal Maria found?”

It had taken a really freaking long time to find the journal. Once the game had started, all of the characters had spawned in the middle of a deserted evergreen forest. Then, a prompt had appeared in the sky:

FIND JOURNAL 3!

They had looked everywhere; in the sky, they’d dug in the ground (which was possible and coded into this game, real talk; who were they gonna bury) and had explored every inch of the map. They’d passed a particularly peculiar tree once or twice in the woods. In a bout of utter frustration, Maria had slammed her fist into the tree. It made an odd noise on the inside that echoed and bounced around.

And that’s when a door had lurched open to reveal a dusty and peeling journal, with a inked-on ‘3’ inscribed onto an odd six-fingered and golden handprint.

Upon opening the journal, the gang had discovered in-depth descriptions of supernatural creatures, with specific and quality observations jotted down. It was a quality work, with drawings by a decent artist depicting the most miniscule of details jotted down.

“Well, I guess what we should do is, maybe read it?”

“What a genius idea, Captain Obvious! I couldn’t’ve ever thought of that myself!” said Brad in mock awe.

“Oi, will you shut up? I’m opening the damn thing now!” Thomas grumbled.

“Ooh, feisty.”

Thomas ignored Maria’s taunts and opened the book.

Pandora’s box was about to be trumped.

Thomas shook his head. There was no time to look back on the past; the priority was escape.

Thomas did it.

He took the book out of the tree, and opened the journal.

The second he did so, he didn’t even have time to read it.

A glowing ball appeared in front of his face, flitting to and fro.

And it spoke.

ELISHA DIDN’T HAVE THE FAINTEST IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON.

She vaguely remembered Thomas saying something about how, “they were going to limit their electronic use,” on their getaway (after she had witnessed him putting a game into his backpack!) but wasn’t really sure to what extent “no electronics” was put to use. So Thomas and his friends could possibly be chased by gnomes or attacked by a horde of imps, and she’d have absolutely no idea whatsoever.

She was invited to come on their trip, of course; her fiance wouldn’t ever have been so rude as to not, but she had politely declined. It was for the best, she supposed; while she was comfortable with Thomas’ group of college friends, this particular get-together was drawn on the lines of a reunion. She would have felt awkward and intrusive to accept his invitation.

And it wasn’t like she didn’t have anything to do, really! It’s just, well, August was an awfully boring month. And she would have called up her girlfriends to hang out, but Lilah was in Paris with her family, Jessica was also travelling, and Caren had to study for their M-CAT exam….

That was how Elisha found herself walking to the post office.

She could very well just request her post electronically, but she convinced herself it would be worth her while to get out of the house and stretch her legs a bit, take a stroll through town…

When she reached the small building, she came to the realization that she had never actually been inside before. Was there even anything inside besides the robots that did the transportation and packaging?

No time for doubts now. She was already here.

Hesitantly, she grabbed the brass door handle (how obsolete!) and walked inside the tiny building. She was immediately questioned by a small robot if she would like anything to be sent or wrapped. She declined.

Declining was something she was doing a lot of these days.

Observing her surroundings proved her wrong about the office. She found it to be more.. modern than expected. With its busy robots and elves at work in the office gave it a welcoming, workshop- like feel. She walked tentatively to wait in the line for her mail, marked by a small, rusty sign indicating where it was.

There was one other person in line, who had glanced at her when she walked in. She gave them a tentative smile before standing in line behind them.

But damnit. She felt awkward now. And why did they keep glancing back and staring at her? Did she have something on her face??

To break the ice (and stop the weird staring) she stuck her hand out and offered it to the waiting person. They stared at her hand as if they had never seen one before.

“Hi! I’m Elisha Mckenzie!”

Why did she say her full name, that was the stupidest thing she could’ve done, for all she knew this person could be a cultist-

“Ohh. Are you Thomas’ fiance?” Her cheeks flushed immediately when she realized the creepiness of her inquiry.

Elisha’s instincts were screaming. She was teetering between saying the more polite, How on earth do you know my name and my fiance? Or the blunt, What the actual fuck? None of these questions actually exited her mouth. Instead she said something along the lines of, “How- what- are-’

“Okay, look,” The girl hurriedly went on to explain her strange accusation, and Elisha didn’t care if she was interrupted, as long as she could hear her. “I’m friends- well, sort of friends, I mean- I knew Thomas from college, you know demonology? Anyway, I’mnotstalkingyouIpromise, just you know, Tyrone hangs out with me on date night and so I kinda know you? Indirectly, though?” There was a faint tinge of red on her cheeks from her bubbly explanation.

“Oh. Tyrone. That explains a lot. Sorry for jumping to conclusions. What’s your name?”

“I’m Elisabeth. Elisabeth Adams,” the girl said. Her hand flew up. Elisha thought that she would offer to shake it, but instead, her hand held a card.

“My card. In case you need something to be exorcised, killed or abolished. Helping with problematic demons is what I do. Or you know, when Tyrone gets particularly annoying.”

“Thanks, I’ll, uh, call you if I need you?”

The girl nodded, still a bit flustered. “Sure. See you around, I guess.”

Elisha walked out of the office, forgetting to take her mail. But she couldn’t help but feel but lighter than from before she stepped in.

She almost closed the door before opening it again to ask Elisabeth a question.

“Oh hey, just wondering, are you and Tyrone a thing? I mean, you said something about a ‘date night,’ so-”

Judging from the girl’s exhasparated expression, she could easily tell that the answer was no.

----

ELISABETH HAD PLENTY OF FRIENDS.

She was NOT lonely.

Still. After meeting that girl, she couldn't help but feel that she’d made a friend.

Maybe Elisha would call her later.

----

You have two options.

You aren’t going like them.

Fine. I'll tell you.

Your soul is being ripped from you. And well, me, because I own it. After this is done- I'm probably going to have a power fissure.

I’ll get to the point. Sorry.

I can take your life, in exchange for your soul to be returned to you. I’ll still own it, but your soul will be working and whole. You will reincarnate. You will live again.

But yes. You will die.

This is the only way.

I don't want it to be like this, either, Mabel!

Mabel is no one. Don't worry about who she is. I'm sorry I called you

I called you that… for reasons. They aren't important. My prime concern is saving your life.

Am I mad?

Oh, that's a funny question.

See you soon, Mizar.

Don't worry about him. From him, they’ll be HELL TO PAY for what he’s do-

    I have to do it now

HE’S destRoyIng yoUR soUL

Please- stop this-

DON’t yoU GEt iT

YoU’Re KILLinG heR

AnD Me

G    Oo   D

By e

-S U  P   E    R     N      O       V        A-

-I'm so sorry

----

RADIO INTERCEPT FROM NASA DATABASE

ADMINISTRATOR: Jenkins, Dale

ASTRONAUT: Gray, Lucy

TIME: 23:01:04, 05, 06...

-Houston, we have a problem.

-That’s never a good sign. What seems to be the issue?

-And that’s not a very professional way to answer the space phone, Jenkins. Be careful there.

-Yeah, yeah. Well you don’t exactly seem like the type to have a real problem if you’re bothering to waste time ridiculing my professionalism.

-Fair enough.

-The, issue, Gray?

-Right. Not a huge matter. Just wanted to inform base that twin Mizar has gone nova. It’s not in our path. Just thought I should tell nasa. Wondering if hydrogen might possibly affect our reactors.

-...Did you just say that Mizar went nova?

-I know it’s weird. It happened all at once, too. Base should be getting hold of explosion in T minus three seconds.

-I guess that explains why Hode is practically screaming next to me. Satellite readings must’ve just come in. Will keep crew posted on effect of the rogue star to the shuttle.

-Roger tha-

-What the?

-What’s wrong? Are the gases problematic?

-Not to you.

-That sounds ominous. What’s going on down there?

-The gases...they’re moving..

-Where? Where are they moving?

-A little patch of Oregon..Hang on, checking Hode’s system…

-And?

-Oh come on.

-Hurry it up. The suspense is going to kill me faster than the lack of oxygen up here.

-Goddamnit. It’s in Gravity Freaking Falls… of all the places-

-What are they doing?

-I’m not sure exactly. But from Hode’s summarizing… Nothing good.

-What’s he saying?

-That the gases from the star’s explosion are mingling with magic. Of demonic origin. And forming a barrier around the falls. No one can get in or out.

-....

-The people. They’re trapped.

----

-MiCor5eva has joined-

MiCor5eva: Hi everybody!!!!!!!!!!!

Reidorread: The next time you use that many exclamation points in a sentence is the moment I will kill you.

MiCor5eva: That’s my little ray of sunshine.

Reidorread: Please just change your username before you get beat up. Please.

42frank24: Can I get an Amen?

___Dope___: nah son, MiCor for LIFE!

___Dope___: Hey MiCor, can I get a virtual high five pretty plz

MiCor5eva: *high-five*

___Dope___: So, let’s get on with like the real stuff

Reidorread: Not Twin Souls. Please.

___Dope___: No I’m being for real tho

___Dope___: Did u hear about that thing happening in Oregon

___Dope___: Like Mizar just eXPLODed!! And basically the gases are kinda heading for the falls lol

___Dope___: That town gets too much shit XD

Reidorread: lmao im there now

___Dope___: damn r u really???

Reidorread: It’s kinda sketchy, there’s this bubble headed right for us

Reidorread: IT’s like rainbow haha

Reidorread: Wait fuck

Reidorread: SHiT IM FUCKeD SomeOne THe THINGS SWALLOWINg PEOPLE SOMEONE HELp aklefhklsdahfas

MiCor5eva: Are you OK?

-Reidorread has left-

___Dope___: What just happened?

----

THOMAS WAS CHASING A HORDE OF GNOMES.

His story will be heard later. Of how this crazy thing happened.

There are several things that Thomas knows about what is going on:

Gnomes live in packs.

They have currently captured Eduardo.

Unfortunately, he does not know many things. And not knowing could be a fatal mistake.

The things he does not know:

He is on the barrier of Gravity Falls.

There is a unknown magic source in the epicenter of the city.

The magic is blooming. And it is forming a barrier.

This barrier ensures no one can enter.

Or leave.

Inside the bubble lies the mindscape of demonic origin.

It is still blooming.

He is headed right towards it.

He is now in the bubble’s grasp.

I'm a bit late for the ficathon, so I decided to transform my original one-shot into a three chaptered fic! Here's a sneak peak.

Thomas might have had a Phd in demonology, but that didn't mean that he was an expert on all things supernatural.  He knew a basic background on the creatures that parents told their children, "Don't stand in an open field alone, or  the slenderman will kidnap you, and don't summon demons, they are really dangerous."

He might've ignored that last one.

What Thomas was educated on certainly did not include Werespiders (arachid-weres? Spiderweres? Werearachne?) and their weaknesses. 

It was all Tyrone's fault anyway. If he didn't offer to go to this stupid tourist trap in the woods for "nostalogic purposes," Maria would never be missing. Eddy and Brad wouldn't be being held captive, and Tyrone might not have had a mental breakdown.