PART 1:
In the penthouse of an apartment building in L.A. Alvis Leuthar is drinking, more than content with the temporary base of operations he was able to convince Graupner to set up. Although he considers being employed for Graupner easy, he is unable to hide his nerves when an angry Graupner comes in and asks him for an update.
He reports that liquidizing the company assets was a success and three of the five ransoms have been paid so far, advising Graupner to be patient when he demands to cut a finger off of the hold-outs. He also says that they have the security forces lined up, making Graupner happy that there will be more people to help him track down the twins. Graupner snaps his fingers and conjures 30 or so books on magic, ordering Alvis to learn them word for word as he leaves, intent on exploiting a family.
Back in the hotel room in Boring, Oregon, Mabel is updating Zander on what happened in Spoons over the phone. After Zander admits he wasn't expecting two species to return so quickly, Dipper asks him where the next Starkissed is located. Zander says he can't send them somewhere else yet, directing them to turn on an old T.V. to a news report he is watching.
The news reporters are discussing the whys and hows of the Steindorf and Co. company dissolving in the three days since Omir disappeared. Dipper is happy at first, but Soos and Zander tell him Graupner liquidized everything and got an unsafe amount of money out of it. Dipper questions why he didn't keep the company intact to keep making money, Zander reminding him that Graupner is impatient among other things.
Zander admits that he has no idea what Graupner's plans are, the Warlock's ideas and goals different than Omir's. His best guess is turning the company into something else for personal reasons, but until anything is known for sure, he wants the group to stay off the radar in case Graupner decides to come after them. Wendy tries to refuse, saying the room stinks, but Zander tells her he knows smells don't bother her, both that and taste starting to disappear.
Realizing he just said too much, Zander apologizes and hangs up as Wendy heads onto the balcony. Dipper follows her, sitting next to her with their legs through the railing. Wendy explains that she started loosing her taste in March, having had occasionally tried eating food despite the pains it caused. Normally still able to taste whatever she ate, after she took the pizza and ate it all, the pains were there but the taste wasn't.
Sitting in silence for several seconds while this information is digested, a buzzing from Dipper's pocket pulls him away. Walking through the door with Wendy trailing behind him, Dipper answers his mom's phone call, putting it on speaker so Mabel can talk as well. They apologize for the town keeping them too busy to call, their mom asking which town they are talking about.
The temperature in the room drops as she says the name Gravity Falls doesn't ring a bell, the twins knowing for a fact she should have at least heard about it. The temperature drops even more when she informs them she doesn't remember anything about Grunkle Stan. Dipper covers the phone with his hand, the four of them having a rushed debate about the meaning behind the twins' mom not knowing about the town but the four of them remembering it perfectly, including a comment about the town being removed from reality possibly meaning Soos/Wendy would have never been born.
The twins' mom speaks up again, asking the twins to come home for a bit, some people having come by looking for the two of them. Dipper asks if the guys showed any government badges or anything, his mom reporting that they didn't, but they did mention Gravity Falls when they came by. His mind working quickly, Dipper realizes the men must be Graupner's goons, he and Mabel yelling at their mom to stay put and stay away from them as much as possible, promising to come down and get her somewhere safe.
Agreeing to inform Zander after they collect the twins' mom, the four drive to the home in Citrus Heights, parking a few blocks away. Mabel climbs a tree to scout out the home while Soos and Wendy take in the town. Spotting the backyard, Mabel sees that they are too late- one of Graupner's goons is standing guard outside, and a black van is parked in front of the house. Reporting what she saw, Dipper comments that they can't just run in and storm the place, but Wendy mentions they might be able to.
With his eyes on the lookout for the twins, the guard posted at the backdoor is confused when a red-head girl bursts through the bushes. Pulling out his taser, he tells the girl to get lost before firing at her, the current only effecting Wendy for a second or so before she wrestles the guard to the ground, knocking him out in the process.
The twins and Soos come up behind her just as another guard comes outside. Soos headbutts the man and chucks him over his shoulder, but the other guards are alerted to their presence, and it becomes a madhouse as the twins lead Soos and Wendy through the home, looking for their mom and fighting at the same time. Seeing half a dozen more guards running through the front yard, Dipper continues the search for his mom while Soos and the girls take over the fighting.
Dipper runs into his mom's bedroom, wrenching the door open to see her tied up on the bed, her eyes on something out of sight. Dipper ducks just in time to avoid a bat aimed at his head, the guard thrown off balance enough for Dipper to begins untying his mom. Almost done, the guard grabs Dipper and hurls him into a wall, possible breaking his nose in the process. The guard stands over Dipper, but Dipper's mom steps in, breaking a vase over the guard's head and sending him to the ground.
She grabs a tennis racket and the two enter the main part of the house, where the fighting is just about wrapped up. She knocks a man into the stove with the tennis racket as Mabel takes out the last guard, the two hugging tightly. Wendy and Soos introduce themselves to the twins' mom, Delilah glancing at an embarrassed Dipper upon recognizing Wendy's name. The five head back outside and run towards the vehicles, determined to get out of town quickly. Delilah and the twins get into Dipper's car, Wendy taking over Mabel's bike so the twins can explain to their mom about the weirdness she now believes in.
PART 2:
At a truck stop a few hours later, Delilah is having trouble processing the fact that the twins' stories have all been real, especially all the dangerous stuff. Her fears are not abated by the twins' nonchalant attitudes towards everything, Dipper's scar from his first meeting with the Warlock something he now takes pride in.
Soos and Wendy leave to get snacks as the twins catch their mom up on the existence of Gravity Falls and their Grunkle's and them sending Ford and Bill into an anti-dimension the latter has escaped from. Delilah questions why goons were sent after her, the twins asking if she heard who the goons were working for. She tells them the goons were making fun of their boss for having a stutter, confirming who sent them.
The twins tell their mom about the Warlock and Graupner being apprenticed to Omir Steindorf. Delilah mentions the liquidation of Steindorf and Co. and effortlessly points out the number of ways that was illegal. The twins point out that their dad, Jenson, is more than likely Graupner's next target, Delilah insisting she comes with them to help save her ex-husband instead of going to safety herself.
Unable to argue with their mother, the twins agree, and the five begin planning what they will do when they arrive. The brainstorming is interrupted by Dipper's phone ringing, a furious Zander on the other line. He tells them his crew was able to follow their G.P.S. signals to California, and now that he is sure Graupner knows where they are, he tells them to get back to Oregon A.S.A.P.
Mabel tells him they did great in the fight, Zander informing everyone that Graupner knows that. He says that he has people keeping an eye on Graupner's moves, and they discovered that, since the twins rescued their mom, Graupner has hired mercenaries to go after them. Zander again tells them to get out of state, but Dipper refuses to leave his dad in harms way just because Zander says it's dangerous. Slapping the phone shut, the five of them get back in the cars, planning to stop a few blocks away from Jenson's place.
With their Mom asleep in the back, the twins are able to question if people in the Pines family split up like their parents did and like what happened with Ford and Grunkle Stan. The conversation stops when Delilah wakes up, asking for information on the 'Grunkles' the twins keep mentioning. The twins tell her about their father's twin uncles, and we finally get the full story about what happened three years ago: While Ford was in the Portal, he made a deal with Bill that allowed Bill to use him as an agent even after he was brought back. Ford wasn't able to fight Bill, so the twins had to throw him back through the Portal, saving Stan's life in the process.
At a bus stop a few blocks from his childhood home, Dipper tells Wendy and Mabel to go in front the front while he and Soos stand guard at the corner and Delilah watches from the cars. Mabel leads Wendy past the still broken fence and up towards the door, both having a bed feeling about everything. A red light on the wall begins moving towards them, Wendy having just enough time to kick the door down before she gets shot.
Mabel dives for cover in the house as more gunshots ring out, the neighborhood coming alive as Wendy continues to get hit, the bullets painful but unable to stop her. A voice from deeper in the house gets their attention, Jenson Pines stopping in the hallway just before entering the living room. Mabel quickly kind of explains everything as the back door opens. She and Wendy run towards the back, knocking out and armed mercenary who tried to get the jump on them.
Wendy takes the merc's gun and the girls head back to the living room, hiding with Jenson behind the sofa. Wendy looks outside and sees the gunman in the trees nearby, planning to shoot back at him to give Mabel and Jenson time to get out. Wendy steps out and begins firing, the sniper diving out of the tree as Mabel and her dad run outside, Wendy following behind. Soos pulls the gun out of the sniper's hands and knocks him out as Dipper reunites with his father.
The five start running, Soos introducing himself to his boss' nephew as the twins tell their dad they are going to get him and their mom out of state. Rounding the corner to the cars, the five see Delilah and Waddles running towards them, two mercs following behind her. After and awkward reunion, the six and pig try to run back towards Jenson's place, but more mercs come at them from all directions, surrounding them.
Dipper's escape plan is the zombie magic spell from three years ago, but it is not needed as a cloaked and hooded figure with a sparkly black spear in one hand and a silver mask on his face appears, knocking out one of the mercs. The others try to reorganize themselves to attack the Guardsman, but two dozen people come out of hiding and make quick work of them, a boy the twins' age with a guitar case failing to get the Guardsman to give him a high five.
Mabel starts fangirling, recognizing a red-haired woman and a bald man as Maureen the Menace and Mister Rushtar among the faces of other members of the Paths. The Guardsman introduces her as Arline's student before telling everyone to clean up the mess. As quickly as they showed up, the members of the Paths disappear, leaving no trace of the battle that was fought. Now alone, Zander pulls off his Guardsman mask, reprimanding Dipper for coming to Piedmont when Graupner was looking for him and Mabel.
Zander admits that Dipper doesn't have to like him, but they at least need to be partners, Dipper agreeing on this. Zander comments on the spell Dipper began, but Dipper brushes this off as Zander tells Wendy that what she is isn't her fault. The Guardsman tells the twins to say goodbye to their parents, planning on taking them somewhere safe in Wyoming while the twins move on to the next location in Nevada. The family says their goodbyes, Jenson and Delilah heading down the road as the twins and their friends go back to their cars to continue saving the world.
In an expensive hotel room, a furious Graupner knocks everything off a table as Alvis watches in silence. Graupner tells Alvis about the twins getting away before asking how the studying went. Alvis tells him he's read everything already, acing any question Graupner asks him. Graupner says they need more men next time, requesting over a hundred. Alvis suggests creating a cult to avoid having to pay mercs constantly, suggesting talking to someone who knows about cults. He picks up a book and turns it to a page with a triangle in a pentagram surrounded by a circle of symbols, the word DEMON present in the text around the image.
Cryptograms:
Qeb jxph lc x jxk, ybkq yv qfjb xka txomba yv mxfk
efabp pbzobqp xka zlsbop pzxop ql yxo qeb elmb lc dxfk.
Oba xka qlrde, yilka xka ptbbq, plrip qexq xob cbiilt
lkb hbbmp qeb pbzobq ql jbka cibpe xka plri jbiilt.
The mask of a man, bent by time and warped by pain
hides secrets and covers scars to bar the hope of gain.
Red and tough, blond and sweet, souls that are fellow
one keeps the secret to mend flesh and soul mellow.
Hliib, ollprmt uli Yroo? Sv dzh z gzw yfhb, yfg R xlfow uroo rm gsvm dsvm blf zhp zilfmw. Nb mznv? Dsb, rg'h dzh gsv kzhg. Gsv Wvnlm lu gsv Kzhg. Sorry, looking for Bill? He was a tad busy, but I could fill in then when you ask around. My name? Why, it's was the past. The Demon of the Past.
