All ten members of the Cipher Wheel are now inside Gravity Rises. Ideally, that would mean the end of Bill Cipher - but the demon has plans of his own. His downfall will not be so simple. Mabel can hardly hold on as she, her family, and her friends...
"We're almost there," Dipper said. He was looking at the window and bouncing in his seat. "We're almost there."
"I know, Dipper," said Mabel. She sounded annoyed. Which made sense. Dipper had been repeating himself for the past few minutes. But he couldn't help himself. He was just too excited.
Four months. Well, more like four and a half months. But still. Four months of recovery, of TV interviews, of therapy sessions, of makeup homework. . . Dipper still hadn't graduated middle school. And neither had Mabel or Gideon. But they were all on track to finish up over the summer, so they could all go to the same high school in the fall.
Anyway. Dipper wasn't going to think about makeup work. He was too busy thinking about going back to Gravity Rises.
He watched out the window as the scenery sped by. The morning sun led them onward. Trees lined the road like a welcoming committee.
They were almost there.
He sat back and grinned at Mabel. "I'm going to see Waddles again," he said happily. "I can't wait."
"I know," she said again. Oh, but he saw that little smile on her face. She was excited, too.
"I'm so excited to see Waddles," he said. Then he paused. "And Lee, and Ford, of course."
"Of course." Mabel rolled her eyes. But her little smile got bigger.
Dipper looked out the window again, waiting to see the town. And then — "There it is!" he shouted, jamming his finger against the window, pointing at the "Welcome to Gravity Rises" sign. "Mabel! We're here!"
"I see it!" said Mabel, all annoyance gone from her voice. She couldn't see the sign out her window, but she could probably see a few buildings.
"We're going straight to the Mystery Museum, right, Dad?" said Dipper.
"Yep," said Sam from the passenger's seat.
"This place is beautiful in the summer," said Camille.
"It was pretty in the winter, too," said Mabel, "but yeah. I like how sunny it is."
Dipper pressed his face against the window, trying to see everything. The town looked great: The roads and buildings had been repaired, with no evidence of the ridges that had been left after the township. People were out on the street, walking around or chatting with each other. Dipper didn't see any supernatural creatures, but that was okay. He would soon.
The Pines' car pulled into the Mystery Museum driveway — and Dipper jumped out before the car had come to a complete stop. "Come on!" he said to his family, jumping up and down as he waited for them to join him. "Let's go!"
Mabel, not wanting to get too hot, took off her navy blue knit hat: the one Dipper had made for her during the township. She wore it a lot, which made him happy. And speaking of happy — he grinned down at his shoes. They were just one pair of his vast collection, but these shoes Dipper had painted (with Mabel's help on the design) just for this visit. They were sunset orange, just like the color of Dipper's part of the Cipher Wheel. One shoe had a minotaur head on the side, and the other shoe had a peryton head and feathery wings. He couldn't wait for his family and friends to see them.
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