Little Dipper

The Real F

"This place is creepy every time we come here, even without you on the loose." Bill commented as they entered the bunker. "So, where is this laptop?"

"It should be in the viewing room." Shifty said, looking around the room. "Looks like it's been a bit damaged since my being..."

"Put in cryo?" Bill offered helpfully.

"That works." Shifty nodded.

"Maybe F had a freak-out when he left The Author." Dipper theorized.

"That guy? Freaking out?" Bill looked thoughtful. "Eh, maybe."

"Look, a laptop!" Dipper ran over to a dusty laptop sitting on the desk. "Found it!"

Bill picked it up. "Yes!" He booted it up and a password screen came on. "Wow, it's still got power?"

"What's the password?" Dipper looked at Shifty.

Shifty shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, let's ask F if he remembers." Bill grinned.

Shifty hopped on his feet a bit. "Should I change form? He might not like this one. Last time I took it, I put him in a closet."

"Something you learned from your father, for sure." Bill said dryly as he turned off the machine and gathered it up in his arms. "Let's go find F, then."

–

It wasn't hard to find McGucket. He was chasing off vandals from his home in the dump and holding his raccoon protectively. "Hey, McGucket!" Bill called out.

"Hm? Oh, if it isn't Bill and Dipper! And..." he stared at Shifty, "have we met?"

"Uh, yes." Shifty nodded. "You don't remember me?"

"Can't say as I do. Welp, come on in and I'll fix you a pot o' something!" He walked back in.

"Something sounds nice." Dipper said as they walked in.

Inside the place was an organized mess. McGucket set the raccoon down on a ratty old cat bed and went to an old gas stove. "You know, it's amazing the kind of things people throw away that just need a little bit of fix-up. People these days just don't appreciate a good session of fixing what's broken."

"Speaking of old stuff, we found something in an old bunker." Bill set the laptop down on a massively-repaired table. "I think it's yours."

"Hm?" McGucket walked over to examine it. "Oh...it does seem...familiar." He opened it up and pushed the button to turn it on. "Yes...it's familiar. I can't fathom how, though."

"You...don't remember?" Bill asked.

"Well, no. I can't recall most of my life, to be honest. Anything before about twenty years ago is...foggy. A lot of it is a complete blank." He looked at the password screen. "I don't know the password."

"Darn." Bill sighed. "I was hoping you would know it. I'm hoping it has information about my friend here." He gestured to Shifty. "He's a shapeshifter, hatched from an egg The Author found. You worked with him, do you remember?"

"Ehhh...uhh....no." McGucket shook his head. "I don't recall anything have to do with an 'Author'."

"Well, what DO you remember?" Bill asked.

"The first thing I remember clearly is coming out of the museum. And there's a newspaper article about it, too!" He shrugged. "We can try that?"

"Check out the museum?" Bill looked at Dipper. "What do you think?"

"I think that Mr. McGucket shouldn't be living in the dump since he's patched things up with his son." Dipper looked around.

"Oh, I chose this on my own! It's comfortable! And I get to fix up old things people throw away!" McGucket grinned.

"Are we going to the museum?" Bill asked. "I can't go without you."

"Oh! Right. Yes, let's do that." Dipper nodded.

McGucket chuckled and went to turn off the water. "Let's go, then!"

–

"You're going to check out the museum?" Mabel asked on the phone.

"Yeah! Mr. McGucket said that he lost his memories, so maybe the Blind Eye guys are in there!"

"The blind...what? You mean those kidnappers? Hold on, let me clock out. Don't go in without me! I'll meet you outside the museum!" Mabel hung up.

Dipper looked at Bill. "Mabel says to wait for her."

"Sounds good to me." Bill nodded. "We'll wait here, then."

"It sure is nice of you to try to find out more about this child." McGucket said, looking at Shifty. "You sure do look familiar, though."

"I should. I look like you used to." Shifty explained.

"Ohhhh!" McGucket nodded. "THAT makes sense! Can you change form?"

"It's kind of in my name." Shifty shrugged and looked around before changing into Dipper and then the cat form before changing back. "See?"

"Wow!" McGucket smiled. "You sure are talented, aren't you?"

"How is Shooting Star getting here?" Bill asked, looking around.

–

"We're here!" Mabel climbed out of Stan's car with Gideon and Stan. "Stan said that he just HAD to see what was going on!"

"And Gideon?" Bill asked.

"You might need backup, in case the kidnappers get violent." Gideon said, glancing to the side.

"So, people have been losing memories in here?" Stan asked.

"It's the only lead we have." Bill shrugged.

"What got you on this, anyway?" Stan asked.

"When the fangirl got kidnapped, I saw a symbol on their hoods. That symbol is in the Journal!" Dipper pulled it out of his backpack and turned the pages to it. "See?"

"Gideon, do you know anything about this?" Stan gestured to it. "You're the supernatural expert."

"You think this is supernatural?" Gideon asked.

"They're erasing memories somehow. Magic?" Stan shrugged.

"A lot of pages around this one are ripped out." Dipper said, looking at it.

"Well, let's go in." Bill headed for the doors.

"I think I remember something! Come on!" McGucket headed in ahead of them.

"This could be a bad idea. Shouldn't we call the police?" Gideon asked, hesitating at the doors as they all went in.

"What are you acting so scared for? You faced Rico!" Bill called back.

Gideon sighed and followed him in. "Rico wasn't my father." He mumbled, too far back for anyone to hear him.