Headhunters part 2

Hello, did you miss me? I hope I didn't take too long, but I happened to move to another state, and there were some problems with the internet and electricity, but now that everything has stabilized I bring you this chapter, so enjoy.

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*Clink*

*Thud*-

*Crack*

*Static*

[Restoring system...]

The lights were broken.

What illuminated the destroyed room were the electric sparks coming out of the damaged cables.

The door that led to the room was broken down, and thrown away, there was a depression in the room, the original crater nowhere to be seen.

The chair had its backrest, the helmet, and all the locks destroyed, the legs were crushed against the floor.

And the one who is the center of it all was standing, with blood covering his face and body, and with part of his shirt torn.

"...What happened...?... Where am I? Where's-" I looked around, unable to recognize my surroundings.

Arthur was disoriented, the restrictions on the neural synapses were revoked, but it took a few seconds to remember everything.

"...! Oh, the experiment! It was dangerous... but it's a... success?... Sebas! What happened?" I wiped the traces of my tears and the blood from my face.

"S-s-sir, i-it's go-OO-Good to see-ee-e you baAkck." Sebas' voice came through the broken screen, which tried to detach itself from the wall and failed due to the damage.

"A-As you c-c-can s-see S-Sir, the roo-OOm was de-stroyed while in ind-duc-ced sleep, sha-King part of the in-ternal structure of th-the b-base, a proto-OCOL was issu-ED for the evac-UuU-ation acc-cording to sched-ule." Sebas makes the report even though the explosion damaged the voice system.

"Your voice is a little damaged. Sorry Sebas, let me fix it a little." I approached the broken door, from where's Sebas voice was coming out in a cracked screen on the right side of the door.

Arthur dismantled part of the television, but besides the damaged speaker, it doesn't seem like the entire electronic device itself will last for long, even if the emergency battery present in the device lasts at least 1 hour.

"I adjusted your voice and speaker system a bit, but the integrity of this device will last around 15 minutes. How are the integrity of the other screens in the base?" I closed the screen with a crude improvisation that will buy some time before the device stops working completely.

"The other devices are currently without power due to a problem with the backup power. Some are damaged but nothing significant. The backup power will be activated soon due to the power cut I made, Sir." Sebas returned with the normal voice of an elderly butler.

"Power cut? Sebas, do you happen to- !" I notice Ravi, Servus, and Iron, lying down with some cuts and bruises.

I approach them and touch their heads one by one, all of them reacting to my touch.

"*Whines*... Don't go, I have... to save him..." Ravi whimpers as he feels my touch moving away.

"No... I can't leave you..." Servus, despite not making a sound, I can hear his voice, as if he were talking in his sleep.

"Master..." Amid Iron's breathing, his voice rang out.

"Yes sir, I cut the power when I confirmed that the requirement was met. But if I may say, if it weren't for your order I would have cut it before reaching 50%." Sebas' voice sounded regretful.

"... Thank you for following them despite the situation Sebas..." I sit on the floor in front of the three of them.

"Sir, if I may ask, why? Why do you try so hard to become strong? As if you were desperately running after power. Why, master?" Sebas begs for an answer.

"*Sigh*... You know, Sebas, I wasn't so desperate before, being able to survive was my initial goal, but... as time went by, precious people became part of my life..." The power came back on, and only the light from the chandelier on the table turned on, the other bulbs exploded.

"And at some point, I was afraid, afraid of not having enough strength to protect them... afraid that my actions could affect them in some way... I failed to distance myself and recently to strengthen them, I was selfish, I used a plan as an excuse to strengthen them so they could protect themselves." Sebas listens silently.

"But I realized that I was wrong to force something to happen, I leaned on the excuse that it was the best... Sebas, I love my family, Ravi, Iron, Servus, Neo Soos, Stanley, Pa, Ma, McGucket, Dipper, all the citizens of this city, and Mabel... I became desperate in achieving absolute strength so that I can protect them regardless of the situation, even if all my plans go up in smoke..."

"...Bill Cipher... he is a cunning, powerful enemy that can be unpredictable, he treats everyone like puppets or mere chess pawns... I know two ways to defeat him definitively, one unconfirmed, and one when he materializes in our dimension. But in the worst-case scenario, there is only one way... Do you understand now, Sebas? I was desperate, always preparing to fight him, no matter what came." I took a weight off my shoulders by telling Sebas everything. 

Sebas, who remained silent the whole time, saw the enormous weight his master carried.

*Sparking* 

The computer burned out, leaving the room in silence.

Ravi, Servus, and Iron sat down, listening to everything from the beginning.

Ravi was thoughtful and silent for a while before he started to speak.

"Father... I've always believed in your strength since that day, I still remember how you defeated the bear with a single blow while asking me to open my eyes. Before that moment I was always considered the weakest and smallest of the pack's cubs, but you, father, showed me that I could be stronger and that I didn't need to accept something that was imposed on me by others."

Servus continued after Ravi finished speaking.

"As for me, you took care of me since I hatched, teaching me everything I needed to know for my survival and independence. You helped me in my recovery and made me who I am today. I should thank my mother for attacking you that day, don't you? *Hisss*" Servus tried to cheer up his father a little, who carried him here.

Iron continued, with regret in his voice.

"Master, even though we started as enemies, you welcomed me here in this place. I was exiled from my pack because of my inexperience in bringing a predator that had followed me, causing the death of some, including my parents. I thought I would walk alone for the rest of my life and die trying to survive, my penance." Iron revealed the pain he carried with him.

Iron, Ravi, and Servus lowered their heads, expressing the deepest gratitude that even when they lowered their heads, it seemed not to be enough.

"We are eternally grateful to you, Arthur."

Arthur was not expecting to hear their stories, their points of view and thoughts, he was moved.

"You..." I heard the sound of the locked door opening slowly and opening only halfway.

A robot employee came out of the door, avoiding the debris, with a plate cover in his right hand.

"You know, Sir, I cannot, much less have the right to stop you from following this path that you follow so diligently, but you can count on us, we will always be by your side. We will support you with all our strength."

"Sebas' voice sounded through the robot as he arrived at his side.

"Something that everyone here has in common is that you saved each one of them, my lord. So don't be afraid to share some of the weight you carry..."

Sebas places his robotic hand on Arthur's left shoulder.

Arthur, who was already feeling emotional, couldn't hold back his tears.

'Guys...'

Sebas uncovers the plate cover, revealing a glass of water.

"I brought some water, I couldn't bring anything better due to the lack of time and the recent stabilization of the energy, but it's good for hydrating the body."

Sebas hands the glass to Arthur, who wipes his tears before taking it.

"Thank you Sebas, Ravi, Iron, and Servus..."

I drink the water and stand up.

"Let's go! We have a long job rebuilding this place today." I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Everyone was happy that Arthur was back to normal and agreed, starting to remove the debris.

Neo appeared first.

'Did something happen while I was unconscious? Other than... the destruction.'

Neo noticed the atmosphere that was present, where everyone was "lighter", making the best decision not to interfere.

.

.

.

At the Mystery Shack, the scene where the "murder" occurred was being investigated by true professionals, Dipper and Mabel.

"Wax Stan has lost his head, and it's up to us to find it."

Dipper looked at the crime scene, making some notes.

*Flash*

While Mabel took pictures.

"Who could it be? There were a lot of people at the grand opening, but they weren't unhappy with the event. Could it be an old feud with Stan?"

Dipper wrote on another sheet of paper from the pad, tore it out, and stuck it on the empty suspect board.

[Stan's old enemy]

"Considering how Stan does things... The murderer could have been anyone."

Mabel aimed the camera to take a picture of Dipper.

*Flash*

"Yeah! Even us!"

"Mabel!"

Mabel shrugs and turns the camera back to the crime scene.

Dipper picks up the diary, flipping through its pages.

"In this town, anything is possible, ghosts, a group of gnomes, zombies... It could be months before we find our first clue."

"Months?! By then Arthur will find out what happened to Wax Stan... Wahhhh."

Mabel lets go of the camera and kneels next to Wax Stan, but she sees a clue next to where she was.

"...ahhhhh, Oh, look, a clue."

Dipper moves closer to take a closer look.

"Footprints in the shag carpet."

Mabel pulls out the camera.

"That's weird. They've got a hole in them."

*Flash*

"And they're leading to... *Gasp* The murder weapon."

Dipper picks up the axe, holding it up.

"I think we need to take it to an expert." Mabel suggests.

"A specialist? Not a cop or Arthur..."

Dipper and Mabel were silent for a while, wondering who it could be. With both remembering and speaking at the same time

"Soos!"

They ran to Soos who was in the gift shop and handed him the axe.

"So what do you think?" Dipper.

"Soos, we found a clue about the killer. So what do you think?"

Soos looked closely at the axe, shook it, and licked it before giving his verdict.

"In my opinion, this is an ax."

Mabel had a sudden understanding regarding the clue.

"Wait a minute... The lumberjack!"

Dipper listens to Mabel, but can't quite grasp where she's going with it.

"But what reason would he have to rip off Stan's wax head?"

Mabel developed her initial thought, before starting to speak.

"Maybe he doesn't have motives, and he's not an enemy of Stan either. But he's a professional in the field, and..."

"He might know someone who uses that axe." They both finish, with Dipper understanding what Mabel meant.

"Oh, you mean Manly Dan? He hangs out at this crazy-intense biker joint downtown."

"Then that's where we're going!" Mabel points in some random direction, deciding the next destination.

"Dude, this is awesome. You two are like the mystery twins."

Soos rests the axe on his shoulder.

''Don't call us that'' Dipper takes the axe from Soos and goes upstairs to get his backpack."

"That's a real shame, dude. Well, let's get back to business."

Soos takes the katana he got as a gift from under the counter.

"I won't be caught off guard this time, dude." Soos narrowed his eyes.

A mother places a surprise box on the counter for her son.

"Excuse me, I'd like to buy this."

"Oh sure, here's your change. Enjoy!" Soos waves the katana in his hand.

"Where is Arthur, I haven't seen him today. Is he sick? Or maybe... trying to surprise me? Today I'll surprise him."

Soos rolls backward, putting his back to the wall.

"...One with the environment."

Soos shuffles his feet to reduce the sound of his footsteps, leaving the gift shop.

.

.

.

Dipper and Mabel leave the Mystery Shack, heading to their destination, but are quickly interrupted by Stan, who is pulling a coffin out of the trunk.

"Ugh, Hey gimme a hand with this coffin, will ya? I'm doing a memorial service for Wax Stan. Something small, but classy." Stan finished pulling the coffin out of the trunk.

"Sorry, Gunkle Stan, but we're in the middle of the investigation to find the killer." Dipper.

Mabel grabs the axe from Dipper's backpack.

"We have an ax! Ree! Ree! Ree!"

"Seems like the kind of thing a responsible parent wouldn't want you doing. Good thing I'm an uncle. Avenge me, kids! Avenge me!!!"

Stan placed one of his feet on the coffin and raised his fist high as he yelled.

"Okay... We're going." Dipper quickly leaves the place with Mabel.

"Well, let's get back to prepping for the funeral." Stan closes the trunk.

.

.

In an alley next to the bar.

"This is the place." Dipper and Mabel hide behind a trash can in the alley next to the bar

Dipper sees a security guard at the door of the bar.

"Okay, got the fake I.D.'S?"

Mabel hands the IDs she made to Dipper.

"Here goes nothing."

Dipper saw the IDs and walked towards the bar with Mabel.

"Sorry, but we don't serve minors." Tats checked the miner's ID out of protocol, already intending to deny him entry.

"Dagnabbit!" The miner spat on the ground angrily and left the place grumbling.

"We're here to ask Manley Dan some questions about-" Tats interrupted Mabel, signaling that it wasn't necessary, and just opened the door.

"Arthur told us to let you in, come on in." Tats pointed inside.

They both entered the establishment.

"Fold."

"Check."

"All-in."

"You're bluffing, bullshit!"

"Oh yeah?! Bet then!"

"All-in! Four of a Kind! Show your hand!" The guy slammed the table.

"Tsk." He threw his hand on the table, a Full House, losing the game.

"Today's drink is on me!"

"WOAH!!" The whole bar shook with the statement.

"Your-." The loser approached the winner.

"Want to fight?"

"Guys, you know the rules." A third person separated the two.

"Yeah..." They both nodded, heads down, and apologized to each other.

Dipper and Mabel, who were in the middle of it all, had mixed reactions.

"This place is-" Dipper had a little trouble walking between them.

"Exciting." Mabel completes Dipper's sentence with her take on the place.

"All right, let's just try to blend in, okay? I'm going to find Manly Dan." Dipper points to the back of the bar.

Mabel climbs onto the stool next to her, where a customer is sitting next to her.

"You got it, Dippy. Hey, there, fellow restaurant patron! Bap!" Mabel pats the arm of the bearded customer who was holding a can of soda in his hand.

"Uh, hello?" The customer greets back, not used to interacting.

"My name is Mabel, and yours?"

"Mine is Bats."

.

Dipper comes across a large line at the back of the bar, and several people surrounding something.

'Where could he be?' Dipper tries to search through everyone there, but due to his height, it proves to be quite difficult.

"Manly Dan, have you gotten stronger since last time?" A robotic voice sounded at the front of the line.

Dipper, upon hearing the name, pushed his way through the crowd and saw an arm wrestling machine and Manly Dan, in a "duel".

"Argh!" Manly had some veins popping out on his arm and forehead.

*Pssst* Smoke began to come out of the machine and the robotic body.

"Manly Dan! Manly Dan! Manly Dan!" The crowd cheered for Manly's victory over the machine.

"Get him, Get him."

"Ugh, AAHHHH!!" Manly, in a rush of adrenaline, had his performance improved exponentially, surpassing the machine.

Oil began to pour out of the machine, trying to stop Manly's arm from advancing, which, even slowly, proved to be unstoppable.

A perpetual silence fell when there was only 1 inch left for victory.

*Thump*

"WINNER! WINNER! CONGRATULATIONS!!" The sound came from the machine, with some lights and the number 167 appearing on a television next to it.

"Woohoo!"

"TODAY IS A PARTY! Who was paying for the drinks again?"

"Phew." Manly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Your strength has increased since last time." The Robot raised his hand, which was crushed and his wrist bent.

"GoOd gagAME..." The voice became a little distorted before turning off.

[Out of service...]

Dipper was impressed with the machine's demonstration but knew he needed to concentrate. He shook his head to regain focus.

"Manly Dan, I have a few questions for you. Have you seen this axe before? Maybe it belongs to another lumberjack or something?" Dipper takes the axe out of his backpack.

"No, I've never seen that axe, and this axe, besides being small, is left-handed. And as you can see, I only use my right hand!! RIGHT?!!" Manly Dan raised his fist in the air.

"YEAHH!" Everyone raised their mugs in agreement.

"Boy, Manly is the only lumberjack in this town. He wouldn't need any help even if they paid him. Hahahaah!"

"A tip, thanks, Mister and Manly." Dipper puts the axe away and looks for Mabel.

"Hahaha, I feel sorry for whoever's going to be the one to pay today!" A bald man with a red headband and a nice mustache, turned his mug over while laughing.

"Mabel! Mabel!? Where are you?" Dipper was sneaking through the crowd looking for his sister.

"1,2,3,4, Oh, your wife is an excellent cook. And yours will truly love you, oh my god." Mabel was playing Cootie Catcher with the bikers.

"Yes!"

"I won the lottery, high five!"

*Clap*

"Mabel! I found you, big break in the case!" Dipper calls after her.

"Okay, see you later guys!" Mabel waves to the bikers.

"Come back again!"

"Next time we'll bring candy!"

*Slam*

"The axe is left-handed, I also found out that Manly Dan is the only lumberjack in town. Which brings us back to the starting point, whose axe is this? Is there something I'm forgetting?" Dipper stops walking and turns around.

"Um, oh, the footprints." Mabel adds.

Dipper takes out his notebook and writes down the clues he has.

"Okay, so we need to find a suspect who is left-handed, has a boot with a hole in it, and is a possible old enemy of Stan's or something like that."

"We're on fire with this case! Pazow! Pazow!" Mabel threw her hands in the air.

"Let's go, we've got a long day filtering all the guests..."

Dipper and Mabel give a fist bump.

.

.

.

"Phew, there were a lot of guests, we finally got to the last one... Toby Determined. Where does it all fit in..." Dipper finishes the sentence hesitantly.

"Something wrong?" Mabel noticed that Dipper was not confident.

"No, it's just... maybe, I feel like something's wrong. Tobey might be left-handed, he has a sneaker with a hole in it, and maybe his appearance is listed as Stan's "enemy". But there's something strange about this case, what reason would Toby have to do this? There's something we're forgetting." Dipper keeps walking in circles.

Mabel sits on the bench next to him.

"But Dipper, we've gathered all the evidence we could, what else could it be?"

"There's something we haven't checked yet... Mabel, do we have some kind of black light?" Dipper stops when he remembers something essential in a series or book about detectives.

"Like this one?" Mabel takes an ultraviolet flashlight from her pocket.

"Why do you have a black light flashlight in your pocket?"

"For this." Mabel shines the flashlight towards her face.

Several drawings of stars, cats, and hearts on her face and arms.

"So? Cool, huh? That way I'm prepared in case of a party." Mabel stands up and spins around.

"But why? - Forget it, I'm not even going to ask." Dipper takes the axe out of his backpack.

"It's a little hard to identify, we'd need a brush with special powder for better identification..." Dipper mumbles softly and tries to see the fingerprints.

Mabel takes off a blush with a trace of powder.

"It'll have to do."

Dipper takes the brush and runs it over the axe's shaft, revealing some fingerprints.

"No fingerprints, disregarding ours, and this one must be Soos'. But how come there are no fingerprints?" Dipper comes across yet another wall in his investigation.

"Hey, Dipper, it's late, maybe we should go home and rest a little. We'll be able to find an answer." Mabel puts her hand on Dipper's shoulder.

"You're right, we've been walking around all day looking for the suspect, we should rest a little." Dipper walks with Mabel toward home.

But his mind was full of mystery.

.

.

"Hey kids, you're just in time! The funeral's about to start. Me and Soos are just wrapping up putting the wax figures in their seats." Stan went to get the last wax figures before performing the funeral.

Dipper and Mabel sit in their seats and wait for the funeral to begin.

"*Sigh* In the end, we couldn't find the culprit." Dipper said a little dejected

"Hm... how about we look at it with different eyes? Boop" Mabel puts on a pair of glasses with spring-loaded eyes.

"This isn't funny."

"What's wrong Dipper? My eyes are a little loose?!" Mabel approaches Dipper with her glasses.

"That's enough Mabel, take off those glasses, they're weird." Dipper pushes Mabel back to her seat.

'Wait a minute, I ignored this before because I wanted to be a real detective, but this town has been weird since we got here... What could have no fingerprints, hold a grudge against Stan, and have a hole in its right foot?'

Dipper searched his memories of him and remembered that the wax figures had holes in their feet for mounting, which he noticed while helping set up the event earlier, along with the lack of fingerprints.

Only one clue was left to confirm.

'It can't be...' Dipper looks at all the wax figures differently.

"Did something happen Dipper?" Mabel puts away her glasses and suddenly notices Dipper looking everywhere.

"Maybe so, but I need to confirm."

Dipper sits back and waits for Stan, sweating nervously and growing more anxious.

Stan places the last wax figure against the wall and heads to the altar.

"Okay, now that everyone is in their places-"

"Grunkle Stan, how long have you had these wax figures and how long have they been locked away?" "Suddenly? Well, I don't know, maybe 10 years? It's been a while. Anyway, let's get to the point. *Cough*."

Dipper felt the tension rise, realizing that they were now surrounded by potentially animated wax figures.

"Kids and lifeless wax figures, thank you all for coming, except Soos, I couldn't find him to be here. Some people might say that it's wrong for a man to love a wax replica of himself."

"Wax Stan, I hope you're pickin' pockets in wax heaven.*Sniff* I'm sorry, I got glitter in my eye!" Stan runs for the exit and leaves the place.

"Mabel! We have to get out of here, now!" Dipper pulls Mabel from her seat and runs to the exit in a hurry.

"Dipper?!"

"Are you guys going somewhere?" Wax Sherlock Holmes blocks their path.

"Aaah!" They both screamed and hugged each other.

The wax figures stand up and surround the Pines brothers.

"Congratulations, my two amateur sleuths. It seems you have unearthed the truth! But we can't let you walk out of here with it in your hands, and now we're going to bury it with you." Sherlock removed Stan's wax head and placed it to the side.

Dipper and Mabel stood with their backs to each other.

"Dipper, what now?"

"I don't know."

Abraham Lincoln stood between them, staring intently at Sherlock and the others, his expression reflecting a deep sense of duty and contemplation.

"Friends, I ask you to pause for a moment of reflection. Consider the consequences of your actions against these innocent children. As figures representing this great nation, we must stand to uphold the principles of justice and humanity that America embodies."

"Abraham Lincoln!" Dipper had forgotten about him and was hoping not to be an enemy anymore.

"Abraham Lincoln, are you going to defend them? After everything we've been through?!" Sherlock is angry at the betrayal.

He lifted his head with an imposing dignity and spoke: "I understand the gravity of what has occurred, and I do not intend to overlook the suffering and betrayal we have faced. But let us remember that true justice is not made of revenge or anger, but of principles and integrity. These young people are not to blame for the errors of the past or the circumstances surrounding us. What we seek here is an opportunity to redeem and correct our mistakes, not to perpetuate more pain and injustice As representatives. of the ideals that uphold this great nation, we must be examples of courage and compassion, even when facing our own demons. I ask that we all take a moment to reflect on the actions we wish to take. By the decisions we make but by the way, we choose to confront our challenges."

Lincoln paused, his voice full of a conviction that seemed to resonate with the weight of his entire history. He looked around, hoping that his words would find an echo in the hearts of all those present.

The wax figures, upon hearing her speech, began to reconsider whether their actions were justified.

What if they had been wrong all along?

Mabel remembered something and whispered to Dipper, who nodded upon hearing her plan.

Mabel left silently after pretending to be behind his brother's back.

*Crack*

Sherlock broke his pipe and glared at Abraham in fury.

"We've waited years for this day! To get our revenge, Abraham! You're lucky to be alive today... John Wilkes Booth, time to finish the job you failed at."

Sherlock notices the lack of response and turns to look for him.

"John Wilkes?"

Everyone turned to where John Wilkes should have been, only to see him melted. , leaving only his feet.

Mabel blinked and made a playful face when she saw what was left of John.

"Oops, maybe the coffee was a bit too hot for him?"

The wax figures were stunned by this unexpected development.

"Dipper, catch!"

Mabel tosses a decorative candle to Dipper, who catches it like a sword.

"Thanks, Mabel."

Sherlock took charge of the wax figures, dispelling their doubts with a single action.

*Shnk*

A wax Abraham Lincoln was split in half by the axe, his two halves falling to the floor with a dull thud.

Sherlock raised the axe after the act, pointing it at the twins.

"What are you waiting for? ATTACK!"

The wax figures rolled their eyes and began advancing toward the twins.

Dipper swung the decorative candle, cutting through the wax figure of Thomas Edison.

"Looks like I just unplugged your lights, Edison!"

"This situation has left me without ideas..."

The upper diagonal of Thomas fell to the floor making a mess.

*Splat*

Mabel cut off Coolio's wax head with the candle, which rolled down to her feet.

Seeing the head, she grabbed it by the hair and began to swing it like a flail, and hit the wax figures that were near her.

*Smack* x5

"Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow! What's up with that?"

"I thought you'd make a great weapon and I was right." Mabel shrugs.

Mabel swings it once more and throws it at Robin Hood who was preparing to shoot with his bow.

"Ouch!"

And at the same time.

"Interview this, Larry King!"

Dipper cuts off Larry King's neck with the decorative candle, and Larry's body touches where his head should be.

"My neck! My beautiful neck!"

Larry's body goes after his head and Groucho takes advantage of Dipper's distraction to pull out his weapon.

It didn't work out very well because his hand melted when it touched the hot part.

"Ahh!"

"The joke's on you, Groucho!"

Dipper cuts Groucho's waist.

"I've heard about a cutting remark, but this is ridiculous. Hey, why is there nothing in my hand?"

Whose upper part now slowly slides down until it falls to the floor.

*Splat*

"Arghhh!"

Genghis Khan runs and jumps towards Dipper who, upon hearing his voice, dodges it by jumping to the side, making him fall towards the fireplace, melting him.

"Ha! Genghis Khan, you fell harder than the... Ah, I don't know, Jin dynasty? Yeah, all right."

"You're full of puns today Dipper."

Mabel extends her hand, helping Dipper up.

"I'll never have another opportunity to make fun of historical figures. So... yeah."

Wax Richard Nixon approaches Dipper to catch him, and Dipper cuts him with the decorative candle, as usual.

"Dipper, dodge!"

Hearing his sister, Dipper saw the tip of the axe above Richard's head and rolled to the side, dodging Sherlock's axe that split wax Richard to attack Dipper by surprise.

*Chop*

"Phew, that was close."

As he wiped his forehead of sweat, he realized that the decorative candle had broken on the ground in his haste.

"It's about time we sorted this out."

Sherlock tried to pull the axe out of the ground, where it had gotten stuck. As he finally wrenched it free, he lost his balance slightly.

"Once your family is out of the way, we'll rule-!!"

Sherlock couldn't finish the sentence because this time, he was the one who was split in half by a sword, more specifically... a katana.

*Splat*

"Soos!!"

Both twins were happy to see Soos who saved the day by finishing off the wax Sherlock Holmes.

"Nobody messes with the Pines family—except me, dude! Dipper! Mabel! Are you guys alright?"

Soos sheathed his katana and hugged the twins who ran towards him with joy.

"Thanks to you, Soos!"

"Yeah, but how did you get here? And with a sword on top of that!"

Dipper thanked him but wanted to know how he got there at that exact time.

"Oh, it's a funny story, dude. But it turns out I was preparing for a surprise attack from Arthur."

"Why?"

This time they were both curious about what Arthur had to do with the situation.

"Well, you see, we've been sword fighting for ages. It started as just a fun game, but then it got intense with surprise attacks, and I kept losing. But not today! I figured Arthur might be hiding, so I decided to hide too, just to avoid getting caught off guard."

"And this is a gift from Arthur. What do you think, dude? Pretty cool, huh?"

Soos shows the sheathed Katana on which there were abstract designs that resembled the question mark.

"Wow, he made it himself?"

Mabel asks this time, increasingly amazed at the range of skills her boyfriend has.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either!"

"Oh guys, we better finish the job."

Dipper points to some broken heads and wax figures on the floor that were alive.

Soos, Dipper, and Mabel started throwing the remains of the wax figures into the fireplace, finishing the job.

The sun rose, showing them that everything was finally over.

"We managed to get Wax Stan's head back before Arthur came back, thanks to you Dipper who managed to solve the mystery in the end."

Dipper picked up Stan's wax head.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Mabel. You helped me with the whole puzzle."

"What about me, dude?"

"You too, Soos, thanks to you we're alive!"

Mabel laughed and hugged Soos' belly.

"Yeah!"

"Hot Belgian waffles! What happened to my parlor?!"

Stanley arrived after recovering from the glitter in his eyes and saw the parlor completely ruined with melted wax, broken floor, and chairs scattered across the floor.

Dipper quickly hid Wax Stan's head to surprise him.

"Your wax figures turned out to be evil, so we fought them to death!"

"I decapitated Larry King."

"And I split Sherlock Holmes in two."

"Ha ha! You kids and Soos, always with those wild imaginations."

"On the bright side, though, look what we found."

Dipper revealed Wax Stan's head and threw it to Grunkle Stan to catch, who was surprised to find his head back.

"My head! Ha ha! I missed this guy. You done good, kids! Line up for some affectionate noogying."

"I'm not so sure about that. Is there any other alternative?"

Dipper suggests upon hearing what he would do as a "reward".

Stan kneels, with a mischievous smile, wrapping an arm around the twins. Rubbing his knuckles on Dipper's head in an affectionate gesture.

"Ha ha! Noogy, noogy, noogy!"

"Hahaha!"

They both laugh at the gesture, despite their initial refusal, enjoying being a little closer to their Grunkle Stan.

"Can I join in too, Mr. Pines?"

"No."

*Siren wails*

The police siren blares and the car stops in front of the window, Sheriff Blubs opens the window and sticks his arm out of the car.

"Solve the case yet?"

"Look, don't sweat it, boy! Not every case is solvable, and Arthur is one of those rare ones, like a comet! Now, I'm gonna take a long, slow sip from my cup of coffee."

Blubs picks up his coffee cup and drinks it, very slowly, enjoying every sip.

Mabel holds back a laugh, waiting for Dipper to do the honors.

"Actually, the answer is yes. Looks like I'm the second comet you've seen, Sheriff."

Dipper shows Stan's head and teases the sheriff a little using what he said.

Blubs chokes on his coffee and spits it to the side.

"Aaaaaw!!" Being the wrong side, hitting Durland in the face who was also drinking coffee.

Durland, doubly surprised, spits in Blubs' face

"Ow! It burns! It burns!" Blubs step on the gas.

"My eyes!" Durland puts his hands over his eyes

"Hahahaha!"

The Pines family and Soos laugh at what just happened to the police officers in the car.

"They got scalded!" Stan mocks them, who then crashes the car.

*Crash*

"Grunkle Stan, should we throw the remaining wax figures away?"

Dipper didn't want to see another wax figure, not even if it had his own face.

"Um, I'll sell them. There were several people interested in buying them. This will make a lot of money." Stan saw that he had an opportunity to make good money in the short term and decided to take advantage of it.

"Can I keep mine?!" Mabel was quick to hear that she was going to sell them.

"Sure, why not?"

Stan didn't care much since there weren't many buyers for the Pines family statues.

"Mabel, how did you know about John Wilkes and the weakness of the wax men?"

"Those history lessons were worth it, even if I didn't learn much during all these years. But did Dipper forget what Arthur said in the interview? About them being weak to coffee and hot things."

"Oh..."

'Wait, wasn't it Arthur who said the wax figures were alive? Did he know or was it just a coincidence?...' Dipper makes a note in his head to write in his journal later, there are more and more mysteries about his friend.

"Soos, you and the kids are on cleanup duty. I'll handle the crucial job of taking a nap in the meantime." Stan walks towards his room.

"Yes, Mr. Pines! I'll do my best!" Soos immediately begins the process of cleaning the place.

"Do you think we got rid of all the living wax figures?"

Dipper walks with Mabel to get more cleaning tools.

"I am 99% sure that we did."

"Good enough for me."

Dipper and Mabel were unaware at that moment that Larry King was watching them through the ventilation duct.

"Ha ha ha!"

A day and a few hours passed, but Arthur failed to show up, or rather, he was prevented from showing up.

.

.

.

"Is this really necessary, Sebas?"

Arthur was lying in his comfortable bed... If he wasn't tied up and had a gun pointed at his head.

"Just a precaution in case you decide to recklessly leave your bed, sir."

Sebas' voice sounded from the camera that was watching him.

"Recklessly? But I need to help with the reconstruction, train, see how the ongoing projects are going, carry out new projects, and go to the Mystery Shack. So could you let me go?"

"Request denied, we don't know if there will be any rebound from the foolish experiment you performed. Regarding the reconstruction, the worker robots and gnomes are helping, under my supervision, while the others help with the removal of the debris."

"I've already apologized!"

"I'm doing this for your health. That's why I ask you to be patient while I conduct analyses of your condition. I would also like you to not make any movements or think about anything during this period. If you prefer, I can apply anesthetic in a controlled manner so that you sleep for the entire period."

Realizing that he would not win against Sebas regarding his concern, Arthur sighed in defeat.

"Then just turn off the lights, Sebas, you win."

"Thanks for your cooperation."

The lights slowly dimmed until they turned off completely.

__________________________________

The chapter is over, it took me a while to release it, didn't it? As I said, the changes have been finalized, new city and state, another school, night school, it took me a while to adapt, and the other time to play and read (I'm sorry, I'm human).

QUESTION!: When I log in to Inkstone, I get an error. To write the chapter, I have to quickly press another icon to exit the home screen because otherwise, the site gives an error (user not found) or something like that.

But here we are. I don't like writing short chapters and it takes me a while.

I tested a new type of writing in this chapter. What did you think? Better or worse? Or the same?

I bought Bill's book. What did you think of the book? I've been anxious ever since I heard the news. It's a shame I couldn't go to the event. I hope you fans were able to buy the book or meet the author in person.

I couldn't, but I already devoured mine, and I'm happy that one of my theories about Bill's life and death was right (half right).

For those who haven't read it or bought it, it's worth it! I've never been so happy with a purchase.

Enough talking about it, comment on the chapter. I always love to see your comments.

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