Little Dipper

Prize

Stan, Mabel and Ford had been allowed to set up for their attack. It would be more fun, he'd said. Dipper had run off to find Tad Strange, with Bill's coat in hand. He'd be okay, he had Bill's indestructible coat. She needed to focus on saving Gideon.

"Weapons ready?" Ford asked over the radio.

"Yep. Sure this will work?" Mabel asked.

"It should. Blendin got these from Time Baby." Stan remarked.

"So...aside from conjuring up chains from thin air, what powers does this guy have?" Mabel asked, watching the demon warily as he toyed with a chain whip. Behind him, Gideon's chain prison was glowing an ominous dark-red color. If she looked closely, she could see hints of Gideon's blue power as he tried to fight his own way out.

"No idea." Ford admitted. "Best one who could tell us that is Bill or Tad, and they're both not here right now."

"So, we're going in blind?" Stan asked.

"Maybe we should throw water on him, just in case." Mabel said teasingly.

"..." Ford awkwardly coughed. "Let's, uh, avoid doing that."

"Yeah, he might multiply." Stan commented.

"Oh, goodness no." Ford shuddered.

"Better avoid feeding him after midnight, too." Stan remarked.

"What if he breaks the clock?" Mabel asked.

"Then don't feed him until sunrise." Stan said firmly.

"...I'm not following." Ford admitted.

"If we live through this, we'll show you." Stan promised.

"That should be more than enough time to prepare." Pacifier spoke up. "Let's get started." He swung his chain whip to the side and then towards them, the chain getting longer and bigger. It slammed into the buildings they were hiding in and cut them messily in half.

"Whoa!" Stan cried, hanging onto his gun as his building fell.

"Oh, damn!" Ford jumped out of the building before he was crushed

"Holy shiiiiiiiit!" Mabel screamed, clinging to her weapon for dear life as she got slid down and out the side.

The buildings all crashed together, and then there was silence in the wreckage before Stan finally spoke up. "...'Holy shit'? Mabel?"

"...Don't tell Bill." Mabel said, blushing furiously in embarrassment. "That was a really terrible move just now! So much for fair!"

"He said 'fun', not 'fair'. Different F-word." Stan helped her up.

"Fuck..." Ford groaned, holding his leg. "That's gonna be a problem."

"You okay?" Stan asked.

"I must've twisted it. Looks like I'm going to have to stay put." Ford looked out past the wreckage around them at Pacifier, who was looking around to see if they survived the attack. "If someone doesn't go out there soon, he'll call himself the victor."

Mabel nodded firmly and walked out, gun in hand. "That was dirty!"

"Ah, you survived! Just you?" Pacifier asked.

"No, we all did." Mabel shook her head. "And that was still dirty!"

"You were taking too long." Pacifier chuckled. "You're lucky I didn't just assume you'd given up and left with my prize."

"Gideon is not a 'prize'! He's a person and my boyfriend!" Mabel stomped her foot.

"Oh-hoooo. Well, you'll just have to try harder or else I just might steal him away." Pacifier swung his whip again and Mabel had to roll to the side to dodge. Once upright again, she fired a shot and it hit Pacifier in the shoulder. "Mm, not bad. You'll need a stronger shot, though. That's a Time Cop gun, isn't it? Don't be afraid to turn it up as high as you can."

"Fine." Mabel turned the dial on the gun, increasing the power level.

–

Gideon couldn't see outside his prison. He couldn't hear outside it, either. Still, he could use his magic, and he could sense the minds of the battlers. Mabel was furious, desperate and determined. Pacifier was amused, relaxed, and...something that Gideon didn't want to think about right now. Ugh, fine. Turned on. By him. It was weird.

He looked at his wrists, bound in the chains, and shifted his arms to test them. They wouldn't budge. Okay, let's try focusing on them. The chains around his wrists shifted slightly, glowing blue. Good. He could use this.

Gideon had never been one to sit idly by while others did the work for him. From a young age, he had been put to work performing, keeping the peace between the supernatural creatures of Gravity Falls, hiding said creatures from the humans, and gathering as much information from his visions as he could so he could warn people. So, being stuck in a giant ball of chains was just a little irritating.

He was no damsel in distress, no prize to be won. He wasn't going to sit in a cage and wait to be rescued. He was Gideon Charles Gleeful, the most powerful wizard in Gravity Falls at just the age of ten years old. No perverted alien from another dimension was going to change that. He shifted his wrists in the slightly-loosened chains and grabbed onto the chains that kept his arms suspended and focused on making them move.

'Control your breathing.' He thought. 'Focus...you can get out of this.' He tightened his grip on the chains. 'Think about getting out...and getting them out. That binding spell Stanley used...I wonder if there's a banishment spell as well? Bill might not manage to beat his old friend. He was clearly affected by whatever he experienced in there. Ah, I'm getting distracted. Focus on the task at hand, Gideon.'

The chains around him started to rattle and loosen around each other, letting in a bit of light from outside. Good. He just needed to keep this up. He could hear them fighting now, laser gunfire and the smack of Pacifier's chain whip striking the ground. 'Just a little more...' He thought.

He heard Mabel cry out in pain and felt rage boil his blood. How he wanted to tear a hole into Pacifier, but he knew he had a bigger priority. If he succeeded, then Pacifier wouldn't even be a problem. He managed to slip his hands free and then clapped his hands together, chanting quietly. Then, as soon as he finished chanting, a barrier formed around him and knocked the remaining chains away, freeing him entirely.

"Gideon!" Mabel cried in surprise, holding her arm.

"Mabel, are you alright?" Gideon asked, floating over to her.

"Huh. This is...unexpected." Pacifier commented, watching Gideon land and pull Mabel into the barrier. "You...broke yourself out."

"So, who won?" Mabel asked.

"Uh...no one won. He freed himself." Pacifier grinned widely. "That is amazing, I want him even more now!"

"No!" Mabel held Gideon tightly.

"Mabel, get inside with the others, they have first aid. " Gideon carried Mabel to Stan and handed her over. "Please make sure she's alright, Stanford."

"I will." Stan nodded.

"No, I can still fight!" Mabel insisted. "He's going to hurt you again!"

"Nah." Pacifier chuckled. "I'm eager to see what his next trick is. Go on, boy."

Gideon eyed him warily. "Stanley, I'm going to need your help with something." He placed a hand on Ford's shoulder.

"What? What do—whoa!" Ford yelped as he was lifted into the air by Gideon's powers."Okay, where are we going?"

"You're going to show me where you found that binding spell you screwed up." Gideon said, flying off with him.

"Come back soon, baby!" Pacifier called after him.

"Really? You never call anyone 'baby'." Keyhole said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Stan quickly took Mabel into the museum. "I need first aid!" He called.