PART 1:
The Manor has been a rush of chaos since the morning, Stan climbing over the building like a monkey while hanging decorations, the twins running around like crazy getting their costumes together. Just as Stan is finished with the decorations, the twins rush out, both wearing robes, Dipper's hair slicked back and Mabel with a beard, the latter impatient to get to the party.
Stan tells the twins that he tricked out a costume so he could cause different scares for different groups, Arline coming over and taking a shot at him. She asks the twins about their Jedi costumes, Dipper explaining that they wanted to do something Yuki could be a part of, the Alien coming out of the Manor in his Xabvri space suit. Dipper says that they are all three space people, Dipper Anakin Skywalker and Mabel Obi-Wan Kenobi from the prequel movies.
As Stan recovers from the shock that there were more Star Wars movies than the three originals, evidently never having gotten caught up, Yuki asks Arline what her costume is. Arline says it's crazy but doesn't elaborate, her and Stan quickly making a bet on who can scare more people. If Stan wins, Arline tells him why she's really in town. If Arline wins, Stan explains why he's been such a jerk to her since her arrival. The two shake on the deal as Yuki and the twins head out.
Yuki thanks the twins for taking him with them, the three of them talking about everything from their costumes to who is going to be there. Soos is even going to be the D.J, Melody also coming to town. Arriving at Zander's place, Mabel is talking a mile a minute as she wonders about Zander's costume. They walk to the door, Dipper having bad memories of the last time they were at Gideon's place and it looked like there were live zombies around.
Knocking on the door, Pacifica opens it, half business-woman, half werewolf. She grabs Yuki, intending to show him around and immerse him in Summerween culture. Zander comes out of the kitchen dressed as Dracula and tells her to watch the door a little longer, then she and Yuki can dance or whatever. He takes Yuki and the twins on a tour of his house before leading them outside.
He leads them to where Soos the zombie is playing music, a blood-splattered and one-armed Melody by his side. After reunions and introductions, Melody leaves to get food as Zander goes to relieve Pacifica of door duty. Pacifica arrives, complaining about Zander making her do everything. Confused, she explains about her parents kicking her out, shocking Yuki and Mabel, Dipper knowing that it happened three years ago. This shocks Yuki even more, but Pacifica offers to teach him how to dance and leads him away.
The twins note that Pacifica has a thing for Yuki, Dipper saying he doesn't have a problem with it. He notices Wendy's friends dancing, but Wendy is nowhere in sight. Zander appears, the twins asking if he has seen Wendy, which he hasn't. He jokes that she might be staying away because she saw him picking out food, telling Mabel he doesn't cook and Pacifica had to handle all the food decisions.
Zander suggests the twins go find Wendy and personally invite her to the party, Mabel thinking it's a good idea, but Dipper gets weird about it all. Zander tells them to go, saying he has good instincts about people, and he knows Wendy is cool. Mabel, not wanting Dipper to be a lump during the party, drags him away as the wind starts to pick up.
Back at the Manor, Stan is watching out the window as a group of six kids walk up the driveway. Making sure the toilet paper he is using as fake skin is in place, he opens door. The toilet paper peels off, revealing that Stan painted his face to look like muscles underneath. The trick scares four of the six kids, the other two staying behind, having seen the trick on the internet.
Grumbling about the internet ruining everything, something drops down behind the kids. Arline is sweating and holding her chest, complaining about being hot. She bursts into flames, the two remaining kids running away. She extinguishes the flames around her body, trading insults with Arline before leaping back onto the roof.
Stan heads inside and begins preparing his fake skin again as another group of kids, slightly older than the first group, shows up. Grumbling about not being ready as he looks out the window, Arline jumps down, repeating the process like last time. As impressed as Stan is, the kids think something is actually wrong, debating if they should call the police instead of running.
Stan rushes out with his toilet paper skin half on, taking advantage of Arline's fire to pretend his skin is melting off. He tells the kids whatever it is that is messing with them is contagious and the kids all run away screaming. Arline puts herself out and Stan removes the fake skin, telling her she has no chance of beating him. Her only response is to leap back onto the roof, their competition continuing.
The twins arrive at Wendy's house, the only building not decorated for the holiday. There is even a sign that prohibits trick-or-treaters. Dipper pulls out his phone, intending to call Wendy, but finds that there is no signal by the house. Not wanting to make Manly Dan mad, especially after what happened with the Phoenix, Mabel insists they knock on the door, despite the sign and the clothes they are wearing.
Dan opens the door and tells them to leave. Dipper says they aren't trick-or-treaters, they just want to know if Wendy is home, a weird look passing over Dan's face. He sarcastically calls them funny, then tells them they have two minutes to leave before his oldest son comes out, stopping the threat of endangerment by ax. He explains that his dad gets cranky today, but doesn't elaborate. Mabel asks where Wendy is, her brother realizing something before giving them directions to her hangout, telling them not to mention Wendy around his dad.
The door closes and the twins start walking, Dipper wondering if Wendy's secret has been about something that happened between her and her family and friends. Mabel tells him not to worry about it tonight, just to let her tell them in her own time. Dipper agrees to leave it alone for the night, excited that he might be able to dance with her. Passing a bent stop sign, Dipper denies his feeling for Wendy, saying the disappeared after he found out about her secret keeping. Mabel remembers what happened the last time they were in town and how hard it was for her to regain his trust after Ford came through the Portal.
Dipper stopping pulls her out of her thoughts, the two of them realizing they have arrived at the Gravity Falls Graveyard. Dipper prays Wendy isn't a goth before they enter the cemetery. Mabel calls out Wendy's name, but Dipper covers her mouth, feeling like someone is watching him. Mabel says maybe Wendy herself is watching them, and the two continue looking around, Dipper still on edge.
Mabel stops walking and calls Dipper over, standing in front of a grave. the name is Melissa Corduroy, the date 1966 to 2001. The twins evidently never knew Wendy's mother was dead, Mabel saying a prayer thanking Melissa for giving them Wendy. Watching his sister, his eyes focus on the next grave over, candles surrounding it. Stopping his sister's prayer, Dipper points to the next grave, labeled with the numbers 1997 to 2012.
Rustling surrounds the twins, Mabel ready to fight as Dipper flips through the Journal. He says maybe it's ghosts or ghouls or zombies, but evidence or Mabel's feelings always refute these. Dipper says that she's never hurt and doesn't need sleep, Mabel saying that maybe everything is a prank. A new voice says it isn't, the twins turning to see Wendy walking towards them. Stepping into the light of the candles, they see that Wendy looks completely and utterly exhausted as she stares at the name on the tombstone: Wendy Corduroy.
PART 2:
Back at the Manor, Stan is exhausted from having to scare 38 groups of kids all night, Arline running on fumes as well. The two still have enough energy to trade barbs with each other, saying they still have more left to come. Stan doesn't want to admit it, but his hurt body is grateful for Arline being there, Stan not sure he would have been able to handle everyone on his own.
Stan looks out the window to see the last group of the night, five kids lead by the two boys from three years ago. Hearing them discussing his usual routine as they walk up, he decides to let Arline take the lead on this one, not concerned with winning the bet in this instance as much as scaring the two boys in any way possible, even if it means using Arline's fire abilities to his advantage.
The kids knock, Stan not answering, waiting for Arline to show up. The kids knock again and yell for Stan to open the door, Arline's fire show nowhere in sight. His entire plan hinging on Arline's flames, Stan debates if he would be able to scare the kids. Realizing that he wouldn't, but not wanting to leave the door unanswered for the first time in his life, Stan admits defeat and grabs a bucket of candy.
The two boys tell Stan to get on with his trick, but Stan just tells them to take the candy and get lost. Suspicious that Stan isn't trying anything, one of the boys reaches his hand out, but before he can grab the candy, a figure drops down from the roof. The figure is a scary jester, the two boys thinking Stan's trick finally happened. Stan says he's a makeup guy, not a weird costume guy, wavering the confidence of the leaders.
The jester, whose voice Stan recognizes to be Arline, claps her hands and surrounds the group of kids in a ring of fire. She then conjures a serpent made out of flame, sending it towards the terrified kids. Stan jumps in front of them, the serpent appearing to enter his body, and he tells the kids to run when they can, tearing the fake skin off his face before he charges at Arline. Arline releases the kids from the fire circle and engulfs herself and Stan in flame as the kids run away screaming.
Putting the fires out, the two of them collapse on the couch on the porch, exhausted. They each tell the other that they are great at scaring people, Arline saying that Stan technically wins. Stan tells her not to worry about the deal, but she tells him anyway, starting with the truth that she is in town to stop Graupner. She tells him about her Master, the Master of the Paths, coming out of nowhere and telling her that Graupner is after something big and important in town, Stan staring at the ground that has the Portal underneath it.
Stan apologizes to Arline for painting her as a villain when he knew she wasn't. He admits that he was jealous of her and is worried about the twins growing up without him. Arline tells him the twins are his family and no one will be more important to them than him, the two agreeing to at least be pleasant around each other, Stan realizing that he can trust her. He tells her to come inside with him so she can see something important, Stan making sure no one is around before turning off the porch light as they go inside.
Back in the cemetery, the twins stare at Wendy looking at her own tombstone, worried they are going to die. Wendy just tells them to leave, saying she's still herself and won't hurt them if she can help it. Dipper starts trying to guess what she is, zombie being the closest guest but still not accurate. Wendy says she is a wraith, Dipper flipping through the Journal and finding nothing on what she is. Wendy says she's never met another wraith before, the creature an ancient curse or something. Dipper asks her what happened, Wendy finally telling them how she died and became what she is.
She says that the Halloween after the twins left was rough, Robbie and Tambry not sharing the same ideas about their future, and the two of them broke up. Robbie crashed Tambry's Halloween party to try and get her back, but the party was ruined and Wendy started walking home down the road the twins took to the cemetery. She says that Robbie drove up next to her to try and get her to talk to Tambry for him, but she refused. Passing the intersection where the bent stop sign is, Robbie's van was hit by her dad's truck. Robbie broke a leg but was unhurt, but Wendy was trapped and killed before her father could rescue her.
Gathering herself, Wendy says the next thing she remembers is waking up in the morgue with Robbie beside her. Robbie told her that people wanted to examine her body, but her dad wanted to see her, so everyone had to hold him back, giving Robbie the chance to sneak in and attempt a spell he found in an old book in the library. She says that the spell was meant to bind her to Robbie in some way, but he didn't say that part, leaving her free to do what she wants but still technically dead, meaning she can't eat or drink or sleep, even though she wants to.
Wendy says that her father's freak-out was the headline of the newspapers, not her death, only her family and friends knowing for sure, although none of whom were told about her being a wraith. She was not able to stay in town in case people who knew she was dead saw her, or normal townsfolk who somehow found out saw her, or normal townsfolk saw her and told someone who thinks she is dead. During the next year, she wandered around Oregon, getting as far as Portland before coming back to town at the start of Summer. She went to the Shack, neither Soos or Stan having heard about her death, giving her a place to be for three months even if she is alone for the rest of the year.
She says that the twins were the two people she could be near without worrying about them knowing about her death, but now that is gone as well. She calls herself a monster and barks at the twins to leave, the twins scared enough to obey, running out of the cemetery and leaving her behind. Stopping eventually, Dipper insists that they have to do something, but doesn't know what they can do, undead the most dangerous of the creatures they have encountered, and now their best friend is one of them.
Mabel says maybe they should let it go, admitting that she is scared of things like ghosts and other undead after being possessed three years ago. Dipper says Wendy isn't a monster, she's just cursed. He realizes that that's all Wendy is- cursed. She had plenty of chances to hurt them but she didn't- it's still Wendy even if she's not alive. Dipper says that Wendy is scared and lost, and they need to change that, but he doesn't know how. Luckily, Mabel does.
Almost an hour later, the entire party at Zander's house has been moved to the graveyard. As Mabel and Zander help make sure everyone can get set up, Pacifica has Yuki attempt modern dancing, with mixed results. Yuki shrugs and tells Pacifica he's good at ballroom dancing, the two of them slow-dancing together. Melody tells Soos to play a slow song and other couples start copying them, Dipper sitting on a tombstone, admiring the results of his and Mabel's idea.
Someone grabs Dipper by the neck and pulls him down behind the tombstone. Wendy demands to know why he brought the entire party to the cemetery, accusing him of backstabbing her. Dipper says that it's her only chance, explaining that normal people think things like ghosts and spirits and whatever would appear on Summerween and Halloween. He tells Wendy that he and Mabel said ghosts would be in the graveyard, so if people saw Wendy, they would just think it's a ghost and no one would make a big deal out of anything. He asks her to trust him, miming zipping his lips, and the two of them stand up, Dipper realizing he and Wendy are the same height now.
Walking into the party together, Dipper promises not to draw attention to her. The two of them start slow dancing awkwardly, Dipper laughing at something. Wendy wears him down and he tells her about the dream he had three years ago during Stan's party about the two of them slow dancing and they were the same height and Soos was providing the music. Wendy laughs too, the two of them moving closer together when a sugar-high Mabel interrupts them, drawing attention their direction.
They try to recover, but it doesn't work, one person calling Wendy a ghost. Luckily, Zander comes in and saves it, saying how cool it is an actual ghost came to the party, everyone returning to their business. Wendy's friends show up and take her away as Zander congratulates the twins on being able to help Wendy. Mabel tells Dipper she's happy he was right, and the two of them go off to raid the candy table.
An hour later, a storm is coming in and the party is wrapping up as everyone leaves. Zander, Soos and Melody are packing up, giving the twins time to handle their thing. Dipper watches as Wendy says goodbye to her friends before walking up to her. She thanks Dipper for giving her the chance to see her friends again, even though she's not going to press her luck with it. She tells Dipper she's glad to have known him, Dipper stammering until Wendy gives him a "Shut Up" Kiss. She says that it was a goodnight and goodbye kiss before walking away, leaving a stunned Dipper staring after her. Resolving to lift the curse, mabel walks up to him and starts teasing him, the two of them chasing each other around the cemetery as a storm comes.
Zander steps out of the rain and into his house, happy his kitchen finally got some use as he takes off his costume. His ever-present smile fading as he walks upstairs, he walks to the end of the hallway. Turning a knob in the ceiling and hitting a button, the blank wall at the end of the hallway disappears, revealing a secret room, light flooding out. Tables are covered with 50+ year old newspapers reporting weird events from all over the country. Next to a passcode-locked dresser is a red curtain, which Zander pulls aside.
Behind the curtain is a map of town, String Theory everywhere. Ignoring the photo of the Warlock near the police station, Zander looks to Wendy's picture, tied to the Manor, and writes the word 'wraith' over the previous label of 'undead,' commenting that there is another. Zander follows Wendy's string to Stan's photo, labeled with the phrases 'lost brother,' 'knows more than he says,' and 'hiding something big.' Zander follows Stan's string to the Manor itself, the word Shack crossed out and labeled with 'location is too coincidental' and 'hides big secret, but what?' Zander follows the string to the woods around the Manor, then to an unmarked picture of a large glowing stone. The stone, just like everything else on the wall, leads to the center image of a triangle with one eye and thin arms and legs.
A crash of thunder distracts Zander, making him turn away from the wall. Barely audible is the sound of sirens in the distance. Zander grabs the curtain and covers the wall again before walking out of the room, turning the light out and closing the door behind him.
Cryptograms:
Mltbocri fp ilsb. Fq fp qeb lmbk pbx, ylrkaibpp xka abbm. Powerful is love. It is the open sea, boundless and deep.
Sdflilfdv khduw olhv lq wkh vwduv. Pacifica’s heart lies in the stars.
20-8-5 23-1-18-12-15-3-11 5-19-3-1-16-5-4. The Warlock escaped.
