Beverly Hillbilly

At that moment, all the sounds in the background slowly faded away. The sirens ceased to screech. The intercom became silent. The breath of the Gremloblin perished. The weakening hum of the portal died.

And then there was nothing.

Nothing….

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

As the reality of the situation sunk in, an emotion I hadn't felt in a very long time washed over me. It completely drowned all reason in my mind and caused the world to spin.

It was….. despair.

Abysmal despair.

Without turning around, I slashed at the hand that gripped my ankles, completely severing off all of the fingers. Now free, I dashed towards the spot where Mabel had disappeared.

The portal was closed by now and the area around the portal was barren, but I still frantically searched around, hoping that somehow, someway, she didn't go into the portal. That my eyes had played tricks on me.

But my last shred of hope was vanquished after a few minutes of fruitless searching.

I fell to my knees as tears started to fall. Staining the spot where she last stood.

She was gone. Truly….gone….

"Dipper, what happened!?"

Great Uncle Ford came running into the lab from the elevator. He took a quick glance at the fallen Gremloblin, but soon focused his gaze upon me.

"What happened, Dipper?"

"We have to start the Portal back up!!"I clasped his shoulders with trembling hands.

"What?"

"We have to start the Portal back up! Mabel's in there!!"

"How did that happen!?"

"She looked into the eyes of the Gremloblin and fumbled onto the lever. Great Uncle Ford, We have to save her!!"

"Calm down, calm down. We will save her."

"Then let's hurry! We have to go after her!"

I started to run towards the control panel for the portal, but I was quickly stopped by a hand.

"Great Uncle Ford, let me go!"

"Hold on, Dipper. You can't open the portal twice in one day. If you do, it'll break the space-conversion stabilizer and send you to a random location."

"But...But.. Mabel!"

"I know, Dipper. But you'll have to wait. There's no point in rushing ahead if instead of taking steps forward, you end up taking leaps back. We'll start it up in exactly 24 hours. In the meantime, we can use this as an opportunity to prepare you for the trip."

"You're not coming with me!?"

"No, Dipper. Someone has to stay on this end to make sure the portal is working properly. If not, you won't have a way home."

"Can't you have McGucket to do it?"

"He doesn't know how the portal works as well as I do. He gave up on it before it was even finished, yet alone the changes we've made. I'm the only one who can do this. If any problems come up, I want to be here to deal with them as needed."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't find anything to say. He made complete sense. But could I really do it alone?

"Come, Dipper. We're headed to McGucket's."

Before I had enough time to think of a valid argument, he pulled me into the elevator.

*******************

The drive to McGucket's was relatively quiet. I was still shaken and panicked. And although Great Uncle Ford hid it well, I could tell he was tense. His hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly and shook slightly.

We drove up the twisting hill to McGucket's mansion and stopped at the gate. 5 years ago, McGucket bought the Northwest Mansion from Pacifica's parents. In the lawn, he's changed the bushes from spelling "NW" to "FH". He also added a couple old and broken cars onto the lawn. I guess it was his way of making it 'feel like home'. But other than that, nothing has changed. McGucket even continues to throw the yearly party for the townspeople.

We buzzed the box on the outside and a voice answered, "Welllllll, wellllll! Now who could it be visiting crazy ol' me today?"

"Open up. It's me. Ford!"

"Hmmmmm. How do I know it's you? What's the secret password?"

"You know it's me. Now open up."

"Password?"

"There is no password, Fiddleford. Now open up!"

"Sweet Raindiddely! That's correct! Come on inside!"

The gates to the manor opened and Great Uncle Ford visibly sighed. I guess dealing with McGucket these days are getting frustrating for him. But the man's genius was undeniable.

We drove into the manor and stopped at the stairs leading in. Exiting the car, we were met by McGucket. He had a small frame in brown overalls and wore a old brown hat. He had a great white beard that reached the ground. He kept a bandage on it because and I quote, "It got hurt from hitting the ground so much." He kept a cast on his arm at all times "in case it ever got injured." He was a weird little man. But I guess that's normal in this town.

"McGucket. We need equipment for a journey."

"What kind of journey?"

"The long and dangerous kind."

"Well I have just the things. Follow me." He waved us inside.

He walked funny from keeping his knees bent in an odd position -- not to mention the whole no shoes thing. He quickly led us through the lobby. It was as huge and grand as it had ever been. I'm still surprised how well kept the house is. I'd expected possums to have moved in by the third week. We quickly passed through and headed deeper into the house. We reached a staircase and headed down. It was narrow and had walls on both sides.

"...167, 168, 169!"

We stopped halfway and McGucket placed his hand on the right wall. A blue light flashed and a secret door slid open.

"That cost me a pretty penny!"

He said to us….again. We heard him say that every time he opened the door to his lab. And I'll admit, it is a pretty cool lab, but after a while you start to think if he could come up with something better to say.

We made our way inside.