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Pacifica Northwest was known to be an easily annoyed person, more than once acting grumpy for no logical reason. However, this time, she wasn't sulking due to a bizarre desire of her not being fulfilled on the spot, or for people not giving her the respect she demanded.In fact, she had not done any of that for quite a long time already... ever since Weirdmageddon at least, maybe even earlier than that. Her reasons were way more serious mere luxury shortage, and definitely more troubling on the long run.Starting the day with the nth argument with her parents didn't exactly do any good to her mood, after all.Pacifica grunted as she opened the double-hinged door and marched into the garden with an offended gait. She was wearing one of her most 'casual' attires, where 'casual' stood for clothes that weren't supposed to be worn in a nobles' party but still had prices that crossed the three-digits mark: Pacifica had just taken the first set piece that he could put her hands on in her wardrobe and then stormed out of the walls of the mansion to find solace in the silence of the front yard's garden.She didn't plan to leave the house, of course... not yet, since she and her parents were supposed to find another place to settle in as soon as possible. Things were happening a bit too fast for her to follow, and Preston and Priscilla had yet to explain to her what exactly they had in mind to do after the mansion's keys were going to be given to the new owner.Just another source of arguments between her and them...Sighing, Pacifica walked aimlessly away from the central fountain. She could no more ignore the heaviness that had been bothering her... she needed a place where she could be alone and think for a moment, away from the servants and, most notably, away from her parents.Gosh... why were they so stubborn? Since the incident with the lumberjack wraith, they had started to act more and more like she had turned into a peasant of sorts that needed to be re-educated. They were easily angered and stricter with her than usual... granted, they had always been expecting the best from their daughter's behaviour, but that was the in the past. Right now, it felt like they were literally trying to make her life a living nightmare!How couldn't they understand her current feelings on the entire situation? Pacifica didn't want to leave her way of life, she liked it! ...probably. That wasn't the point! She was still trying to process the events that had happened in the last few weeks: recognizing the legacy of her family, living through the near-total destruction the town that could've led to a worldwide catastrophe, and more!The frantic events certainly didn't help her in putting order to her problems. Not to mention the fact she was supposed to leave her home anyday now... but her parents acted like they didn't realize what their daughter was going through. So here they were, pushing her to the limit, putting her patience to the test day after day after day.'Who needs them, anyway?' she thought angrily to herself, stomping on a wild flower which had dared to sprout on her path. 'I can do what I want, I can decide for myself!'A bold resolution, indeed. Or maybe, just a random thought that she already knew she couldn't act upon. Pacifica's frown slowly shifted into a saddened face as she continued to pace around the garden, being careful to avoid encounters with the gardeners. The relative darkness of the early morning helped in that regard.Who was she kidding? With or without her parents, she couldn't wrap her mind about her conflicted feelings. It did feel good to act a little out of her persona for once... but was that just a one-time fun break? Was she really willing to be a little less of a... jerk? According to the twins, that is.Did she want to be more than the nth heir of the Northwest legacy? Or was it just... an oddity?Heck... the only few people that she could have had a talk with about this subject were gone. The Pines family, in particular the two kids that had hated her wits for almost the entirety of summer, save for apparently forgiving her later on. Mabel, with her annoying yet charmingly positive personality, and Dipper, who turned out to be the one boy that had dared to listen to her ramblings about her family's secret and how she felt about it.Both gone, well far away from Gravity Falls. And keeping in contact via chat messages could only go so far.She had no real friends in town, nor people to talk to. The Mystery Shack was still a place where she wasn't welcomed: Pacifica had not failed to notice how the part-time redheaded cashier had kept a suspicious eye on her that one time she had visited the place after the departure of the Pineses. She even had the impression that the new owner of the place, who had clearly made an effort to make her feel like she was at home, was acting it all up during her visit... maybe he really did want to give her a warm welcome, but he couldn't do it naturally. Even if she were desperate enough to start a conversation with the old woman who she imagined was the owner's mother, what could she really do? Effectively, Pacifica was a stranger to all of them.Downtown things weren't better. She didn't receive looks full of contempt by everyone, of course, but trust wasn't what Pacifica was seeing in the people around her. From who wanted to impress her and maybe get a chance at a little tip or a place in her inner circle, to who continued to look at her with envy or poorly hidden despise... and all the levels in between. Only one feature was shared by every inhabitant: she could not consider any of them as a friend she could have a sincere talk with. Maybe that was one of the reasons she had decided to cut off any link with the few kids of her age that she used to call 'friends'.'More like slaves...' Pacifica thought, grimacing at the memories associated with the thought. Her trek into the garden brought her to a tree-free clearing, where she decided to abandon the tiled path and made a few steps into the grass—forget about the 'keep off the grass' rule, she was playing no Red Alert.She sat down, ignoring the dew slightly wetting her clothes and the thought of the possible muddy filth below, and stared at the sky. It was actually pretty dark to be early in the morning: in the Northwest Mansion the day had always started sooner than most homes and Pacifica wasn't one to fight old-time lifestyle habits, even when the approaching fall season meant the days had begun to shorten.Nonetheless, the brim of the sun could already be seen glimpsing over the horizon, and the sky was brightening in parallel. Pacifica looked up and squeezed her eyes in a pitiful attempt to look for a few stars, the last ones of the night. She didn't really want to find one... she just wanted to distract herself, if only for a moment, so that she could breathe and calm herself down. Even if that meant looking for stars when there was already too much sunlight to do so.Therefore, Pacifica was rather surprised to see a star suddenly appear right in the sky section she was checking. Was that a shooting star? Maybe that was a sign that luck was coming back to her in the future? She stood back up to get a better look.Unfortunately, the star continued to get bigger very fast, too fast for Pacifica to realize what was going on. In the blink of an eye, a green-coloured cylinder suddenly appeared, stretching from the atmosphere all the way down to the terrain of the garden, engulfing Pacifica and the four square-meters around her.A moment later, just as fast as it had appeared, the mysterious conduct disappeared, as if it was never here. However, the event did lead to something: Pacifica had disappeared along with the column of light. Of the blonde girl nothing was left but an area of burnt grass right where she was standing.Pacifica started to gasp frantically like a saltwater fish that had accidentally jumped over a boat, gripping on her chest.
'What the heck?!'
It was hard for her to understand what she was feeling right now. It was like she had just woken up from a slumber that had lasted for years during which she had not breathed in a single gust of air. Her heart was beating hard, and soon she even felt sweat coming down her forehead. Too occupied with her protesting lungs, she didn't even realize at first where she was.'What did just happen?!'"Ooooh, so that is your new master plan, Peepers?!"The voice successfully made the girl dedicate a thought to her surroundings. It didn't take her long to realize she was no more in the front garden of the mansion... or even Gravity Falls.Was there a place on Earth that looked like an alien spaceship? Because this one sure looked like one. The stylish metal with black and red colours, the technological-looking control panels... she would've bought it as one for sure. She didn't even need to see the giant machine parts that were surrounding her, with various muzzles and tubes directed towards her current position... in forethought, she would've preferred not to have those pointed at her.What really sold her the idea of the spaceship, though, was the presence of two figures arguing nearby. And she was pretty sure that on Earth there was nothing like a short humanoid being with just a giant eyeball for a head and a talking green-eyed skeleton with a cloak that made him look like a rockstar."Sir, this was just a test! I assure you that my new teleportation technology will make us beat the other villains before they can even have the chance to blink, as soon as it goes out of beta phase!" the eyeball said quickly."Boring! I don't have time for your tech conundrums, Peepers!" the skeleton replied, "I have work to do! Return when you have something actually interesting for me!" The alien even made a 'whoosh' sign with his hand as to show how little he cared about his interlocutor's words. Pacifica slowly walked down, unsure about the intentions of the two strangers, who had yet to notice her, but enough willing to learn about what was going on to move away from the uncomfortable centre of what she guessed was a teleport machine... she wasn't staying where she was with all those things aimed at her, period."Ah, yeah? Let me guess, maybe something that'll help you 'impress' Lord Dominator?" Peepers said, rolling his eyes—scratch that, his eye.Surprisingly, the skeleton nodded. The lovesick face he suddenly wore was almost comical given he was a skeleton, of all things. "Of course! Why do you even ask, Peepers? Seriously, I don't even know if you ever listen to me, sometimes... how rude is that?"Peepers was exasperated, as Pacifica could see from the facepalm. Deciding that these two guys couldn't be really a threat to her given how silly their discussion was, she decided to attempt to catch their attention."Uhh... excuse me?"When the two of them suddenly turned towards her, she immediately regretted her decision. Too bad she couldn't even think of a secondary plan as Peepers immediately drew out his red blaster and shot a round at her, scoring a perfect headshot and knocking her unconscious.The blonde heir of the Northwest lineage, a family of 'noble' men and women notable for their pride and less for their consideration of lesser people, was woken up by a bump on her head. And when she opened her eyes, instead of finding herself in her 'royal' bed with the butler by her side ready to serve, Pacifica saw the ceiling of one of the spaceship's corridors. She also distinctively felt two hands gripping on her arms, literally dragging her on the floor.As the memories of her encounter with the talking skeleton and eyeball-alien-thing returned to her, she couldn't help but panic. "Hey! HEY!" she shouted, "What's going on? Where are you going? Where are we going?!"She turned around the best she could, as her two captors were not letting her have the space nor the freedom needed to stand on her own legs, to glare at them. One of the two rotated his head to look at her, and for once Pacifica regretted saying those words as a huge, angry eye looked her up and down."Shut it, or I'll make sure to let you have another nap... you understand?" the eyeball said, raising a laser gun with his free hand. Pacifica gulped, swallowing down every lesson her parents had taught her, and nodded.Her survival instincts were better than that.Soon, the two watchdogs reached their destination, going through a door that slid up once they were in front of it and pulling Pacifica along with them. When they finally let go of her, Pacifica yelped and retracted her legs: the travel had not done well to the skin over her shins.The watchdogs were not moved by the sight, though. "Move it, prisoner," one of them said, agitating his laser gun. "Keep moving and get in your cell."Pacifica struggled to her feet and looked around. There was no denying it at this point: they had brought her in a prison, where the various cells were closed by energy bars that didn't look safe to touch at all. There was no other occupant in this section, but she had no doubt that any type of stay here was not supposed to be comfy, with or without multiple 'guests'.As it dawned on her, she looked at the watchdogs pleadingly. "Wait! Please, just tell me what's going on! I didn't do anything wrong!"The watchdogs started to talk at the same time."No one told you that you can ask—""Commander Peepers didn't share that idea, I belie—"The two of them looked at each other. Then, one of them facepalmed, while the other uttered a simple 'woops'."Ugh... listen, prisoner, I'm not going to get on Peepers' nerves, or worse Hater's, so all I can tell you is that your presence in the Skullship is not welcome," the first watchdog said in resignation. "So, have an advice: keep your mouth shut and hope for the best.""But... I didn't come here because I wanted to! I was minding my own business in my garden when a light appeared out of nowhere, and next thing I know, I am in this... place!""Hater only knows what Commander Peepers has been up to," the second watchdog replied. "If I know anything about him, he's going to pay you a visit soon if what you said is true.""Are you going to tell her about our secret plan, maybe, just in case?" the first watchdog said sarcastically."What one, attempt #247 to destroy Wander? Or the ones about conquering Dominator's heart?"The watchdog didn't even reply. He sighed before turning towards Pacifica again. "We're wasting time. If Peepers will really come here, I can only hope you answer wisely to his questions, prisoner. All you can do is shut it and hope for the best. Now move!"Before Pacifica could complain even more, the muzzle of the laser gun was suddenly moved in front of her face, almost touching her nose. With no other choice left, Pacifica could do nothing but turn back and move into the open cell: as soon as she stepped into it, the energy bars turned on behind her, trapping her inside.The watchdogs did not say their goodbyes and left her without a word. With a sudden urge to try one last time, Pacifica rushed to the cell wall and shouted, "You can't leave me here! I don't even know why I am here of all places! Don't you know who I am?! I am..."Oh yes, she was Pacifica Northwest. And she was also sure that on an alien spaceship that was most likely lightyears away from Earth, no one was going to care.Until then, Pacifica had kept a serious demeanour, even if hints of desperation could be caught here and there. But now that she was alone, trapped and with apparent no way out, the realization of how bad her current situation was hit her. Her lips quivered as she moved backwards, away from the energy bars that were almost blinding her, until she hit the backwall. Then, she slid down and mechanically hugged her scraped knees.She tried to fight back tears, since she had nothing to do but pay heed to the eyeball soldier's warning of keeping the volume low, but she couldn't. Soon, the silence in the prison was broken by her soft, muffled cries, but no one came to silence her.Just when she thought the day couldn't get worse... here she was. Stupid girl... if only she had had the courage to have a definitive discussion with her parents instead of escaping from her problems.She knew it for sure now: no matter how hard she tried, she was not going to get it right. Letting people in at one party was not going to fix everything, and she should've been able to know that. But she ignored it, thinking that with time everything would settle by itself... and now she was away from home with no visible option to go back.Her crying was stopped by a bitter laugh she couldn't help letting out. Heh, no wonder people back in town had yet to treat her any different since the end of summer.Pacifica was so lost in her bleak thoughts that she did not hear the slide door of the prison open. She did not hear the steps coming towards her cell, and she did not notice the two beings stopping by, looking at her pitiful state.Eventually though, one of them finally spoke up."Hey there, little one... need some help?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Pacifica's weeping came to an abrupt stop, a yelp dying in her throat as she scrambled away from the two odd creatures only to realize she was already leaning on the wall behind her. When her heart ceased to try and leap out of her chest she finally realized that the two aliens were not the same as the talking eyeballs that apparently manned the spaceship.She was still sure that it was aliens, though.Beyond the energy bars of her cell there was a light blue creature that stood on its hind legs, exhibiting a considerable height compared to the young girl. It was wearing a pair of reins and a saddle on its back, a fact that made Pacifica think it was a mount of some sorts. The 'perfect' trusty steed for the other alien that was looking at her with wide, sympathetic eyes: a somewhat humanoid orange furry-ball with an oversized green hat marked with a yellow star but no additional clothing piece beyond it sans for a couple of shoes.Pacifica did not dare to speak, too dazed by the sight of the two strangers to even think of opening her mouth. It was, therefore, the same voice that had spoken before that broke the ice. "Oh, don't you worry, we aren't here to hurt you!" the shorter creature said cheerfully, "We're here to help you!"The girl simply looked at the alien fearfully, unable to fully believe his words.The 'mount' alien sighed. "He's not lying, you know," she said, startling Pacifica even more since she didn't expect the correspondent for an Earth horse to be able to talk. "Listen, I don't know what happened to you, or why are you even here on Hater's ship, kid, but we're not here under his orders if that's what you're thinking about. Technically he doesn't even know we're here...""We were going to try and set up an amazing surprise for him, in fact!" the other alien suddenly interjected.The taller creature nodded. "Yeah, kind of... Anyway, what I wanted to say is that me and Wander are not your enemies. We'll get you out of here before you even realize it—it's standard procedure for us, really."In other circumstances, Pacifica would have probably started to shout at them, asking them how they were even expecting her to trust them. But her day had stopped to be one where she could be picky with her chances since the moment she had been taken away from her planet, and she couldn't just refuse the offer when the alternative was facing the commander of the eyeballs."Y-You will?" she stammered."Of course, we will!" Wander replied. His voice literally oozed with honesty. "Right, Sylvia?"Sylvia smiled as her long tail started to move behind her. She swiped at something that Pacifica couldn't see beside the cell, then electrical noises started to buzz all around herself. The energy bars flickered, and, just as predicted, they disappeared before the girl could realize what was going on."Ptsh. Hater may be trying new ways to hold people prisoners, but if this is the best he could do, then he should really get these cell quarters checked every now and then, if he ever wants to not let people escape that easily," the blue creature commented. "Now that I think about it, it's best if he keeps not doing that."When Wander walked into the cell, Pacifica couldn't help but tense up. But the alien kept his sincere smile, and simply offered his hand to her. "Come on, there! Let's get you out," he reassured, agitating his hand as if he wanted to catch her attention. "You'll be back home in no time."Pacifica remained immobile as Wander patiently waited for her to make a decision. The problem was, she didn't know what to decide.Could she really trust these strangers? Her first encounter with aliens inside this spaceship hadn't exactly been a pleasant one, and she kind of wasn't in the mood to socialize with more of them. Yet, she couldn't just ignore the fact that Wander and Sylvia were far different from the eyeball creatures or even the green-eyed skeleton man she had met earlier.Sylvia was studying her with a raised eyebrow, while Wander continued to keep that annoying smile on his face, reminding her of Mabel Pines a little too much for comfort.That thought made her recall that she was no longer home, trapped in an alien spaceship most likely very far away from Earth. Right now, the two strangers were her best bet at getting out of here... and frankly, if they were trying to deceive her, they were being pretty good at it. She had spent quite a few time judging people back in Gravity Falls, and even if it had become an unpleasant memory recently the experience meant she'd learned how to discern lies from sincerity.Wander wasn't simply being sincere... he was literally overflowing with positivity and friendliness.Eventually, Pacifica closed her eyes and let out a long breath, trying to relax herself. Then, she looked up to the ever beaming furry-ball and timidly took his hand. 'I might as well give it a shot...'"Uhh... thank you, I guess..." Pacifica said slowly, unsure how to properly congratulate the alien as he helped her stand up."No problemo!" Wander exclaimed, and a moment later Pacifica was being pulled away from the cell and lifted from the ground. Before she could even yelp, she found herself sitting over Sylvia, right behind Wander."So, Wander, do we stick to the plan with the sneaking around and surprising Hater?" Sylvia asked, rotating her head to look at him. When she leaned over a little to glance at Pacifica, the girl immediately looked away. "I dunno, buddy, the girl doesn't exactly look like she'd be thrilled to join us.""As much as I'd like to stick around for a while, you're right, she doesn't look very comfortable and it'd be disrespectful for us to ignore that," Wander answered. He whirled around and patted Pacifica's shoulder. "Don't you worry, Hater's such a busy fellow that I'm sure he won't protest if we delay a surprise visit to him for a short while!"Pacifica, confused by his words, nodded mechanically, unaware of what Wander even meant.Sylvia grinned before looking forward, flexing her legs and tightening her fists. "Fast route it is, then. Buckle up, kid."Two watchdogs patrolled a hallway, laser rifles at hand and ready to fire. Yet, they were much more focused in chatting with each other than actually keeping their eyes peeled."Have you heard the news? Commander Peepers is out for blood, again.""Yeah, I've been told the latest plan he proposed to Lord Hater didn't work out well, a bit because the boss is still focused on Dominator too much to care, and a little because of a malfunction of the new gizmo he was working on.""Malfuction? That's new... what about it?"They were so concentrated in their discussion that they did not hear the footsteps coming from the nearby wall, getting closer and closer."I'm not sure, but apparently his teleport-thingy has got some kind of weird pink-skinned alien into the skullship. That wasn't how he intended it to work, so he's not exactly in a 'good mood' because of it.""I wouldn't want to be the poor guy who was teleported in then. It's already hard enough to not get blasted while being on the same side as Peepers sometimes, and—wait a minute. Did you hear that?""Y-Yeah. It sounds like there's someone who's—"The wall beside the patrolling watchdogs exploded. The two guards screamed and ducked as a blue shadowy form leaped over them and landed in the centre of the hallway."S-Sylvia and Wander!" the watchdogs uttered. Then, their training finally kicked in and they immediately opened fire, but Sylvia was already moving."Shoot, after running for two minutes straight without interruption, I was beginning to hope I'd be able to sprint it out without a hitch," Sylvia huffed."Oh well! I'm sure the exit is not that far!" Wander said, "Though I hope Hater is still going to show up, just so I can say 'hello'!""What is wrong with you two?!"Sylvia came to an abrupt halt, immediately massaging her ears, while Wander tried his best not to fall off the saddle. They did not expect that shrill of a cry from their passenger."Kid, lower down your voice or something! I understand you're scared, but you almost destroyed my eardrums!"Pacifica Northwest was not going to be ordered around that easily. "No, I'm done letting things happen around me! First, you act like this is all standard procedure, then you pull me into a marathon throughout this spaceship without telling me why are we running and letting those eyeball things shoot at us, and now you even go around and say you hope to see more of those bad guys show up? What is wrong with you people?! I'm going to sue the money out of you both!"Wander and Sylvia exchanged a confused glance, before Wander tried to calm the kid down. "Hey, listen, I know that around Hater things can get a little bit... heated, sometimes, but he's a good guy, I assure you! He just needs a little push to the right side, and the same could be said for his buddy Commander—"Alarms suddenly blared around them, as well as a thundering announcement. "Attention, watchdogs, Peepers here! Wander and Sylvia Zbornak are on the ship. Repeat: Wander and Sylvia are on the ship! This is not a drill! I want every single guard on this ship to go after them and—""What?!" a second voice interrupted. Sounds of microphones being moved were heard. "Wander is here?!""Sir, not now! I was gonna explain—!""Let me put my hands on that freak and I'm gonna BLAST HIM TO—!"There were noises of energy being released, then the announcement message went static. While Pacifica didn't like what she heard, that didn't stop her from narrowing her eyes while looking at her two companions.Wander awkwardly scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but Sylvia simply groaned. "Look, I get it, you don't like getting into the action like this, and I sometimes wonder about Wander's consideration of Hater as well, but if you start to get cranky we won't leave this place anytime soon."Pacifica, Wander and Sylvia suddenly heard the noises of an approaching army, roaring footsteps and war-cries."So, before Hater manages to stand by his long-awaited dream of frying both me and Wander, and possibly you in the process, can you trust us on this one? I promise, we'll explain everything if you want explanations, but that'll have to wait after we leave the skullship, and doing it fast is the best way at the moment."Pacifica frowned and crossed her hands, but the footsteps were getting louder, and eventually she grumpily nodded. "Okay, fine, but try not to waste time fooling around...""Suits me," Sylvia said before sprinting forward once again, Pacifica grabbing on the nearest object she could hold on to support herself. Unfortunately, though, that object had to be Wander himself, but for once the fear had the best of her pride and she didn't let go.Wander didn't seem to mind. In fact, he glanced at Pacifica more than once while riding Sylvia, his instincts telling him that this wasn't just a random kid Hater had captured... and that maybe there was more bothering her than just the brief emprisonment experience.Plus, kidnapping random kids wasn't Hater's style. He preferred to conquer entire planets and enslave entire races, after all!Wander's thoughts were stopped by the red laser beams going over them. Sylvia swerved in a random direction before a round could hit any of them, Wander waving at the incoming watchdogs while Pacifica screamed, then she changed direction once they reached an intersection."The hangar bay is our best bet at the moment," Sylvia said while running. "If we're lucky we should be able to get out in an orbble and vanish before they realize what we want to do and close it down. It should be nearby!""...I won't even ask what any of that means," Pacifica grumbled."Good, because we don't have time for a life lesson, kid. Hang on!" Sylvia shouted as the three of them barged into the hangar bay. There were watchdogs everywhere, all on high alert, but they did not immediately attack the fugitives. Instead, the various eyeballs turned together towards the intruders with surprised faces, as if they were not expecting them to show up that soon.Sylvia did not waste time though, and she rushed into the crowd, slamming through watchdogs as if they were bowling pins. When the soldiers finally got a hold of themselves and started shooting, Sylvia was moving so fast that friendly fire started to become a serious problem. The chaos was just what Sylvia needed."Almost there!" she said, as Wander tightened the hold on the reins and Pacifica tried to imagine it was all a dream in order to not pass out. "The hangar is still open, we can make it! Wander, get ready with that—""Not so fast!" a thundering voice boomed throughout the area, making even the watchdogs cease fire. The 'opening' of the bay started to close as Commander Peepers, from the central platform of the hangar, leaned from the edge and glared at Wander and Sylvia.Much to Sylvia's annoyance, Wander forced her to stop for a moment and turn around... to wave at Peepers. "Hello, Peepers! How's the day going?""Incredibly bad! You have no idea—wait, you're trying to distract me! I'm not falling for your mind games, Wander!""Actually, I just wanted to know how you were doing!""ENOUGH! This time, you got no way out of this! You will no longer hassle Lord Hater in his—wait a second..."While Wander was being his usual annoying self and Sylvia bore his gaze with her usual defiant behaviour, Peepers had just noticed that there was someone else with the couple. He tilted his head, trying to pin point the features who whoever it was. Blonde hair... purple dress...His one eye widened to the point that his hat fell off."YOU!" he roared. Pacifica had hoped to be just a witness of the discussion, but of course destiny had other plans for her as she looked up to see whoever Peepers was angry at and was terrified to discover that the watchdog commander was staring at her. "You, puny little pink-skinned brat! You were the cause of the failure of my latest machine today, in front of Lord Hater himself!"In the commotion, the accuse struck Pacifica more than she would've thought was possible, and she leaned beside Wander to glare back at Peepers. "Hey, for your information, it's not my fault if your weird stuff is scrap and fails to work, so you better work harder if you want to make a good impression in front of your boss. Also, my skin is fine!"Commander Peepers wasn't exactly content with the remark. He stomped on the edge of the platform, silencing the watchdogs that were already beginning to chuckle, then he threw the most angered-filled glare Pacifica had ever seen—even worse than her father and the lumberjack ghost from home combined. "How dare you disrespecting bug?! Watchdogs, get them! Get her!"Sylvia and Wander resumed the escape once the laser barrage returned. "Whoa, kid, nice comeback. I've not seen Peepers that angry in a long time," Sylvia commented, but Pacifica did not answer, preferring to close her eyes and shield her vision from the laser rounds passing beside her.Sylvia may have been right, but that was not going to help her if they were going to get toasted. "We've almost made it! Just a little longer!" Wander exclaimed excitedly, as Sylvia upped her speed."Don't let them escape, in the name of Hater!""WANDER!" a second voice roared, and Pacifica started to hear noises comparable to thunderclaps along with the laser rounds. 'Oh no, oh no, it's the end, I'm gonna die right here, I'm gonna—'"Wander, now!" Sylvia made a leap in the air and Pacifica heard a weird noise. Then, she felt her body weight suddenly leave her.Dazed and confused, Pacifica opened her eyes and found the vastness of space in front of her. The sight was so sudden that she yelled, "What the heck?!""Calm down, kid, it's not over yet," Sylvia said, much more calmly that Pacifica would have found appropriate."Calm down?! We're in outer space, w-why can I even breathe!?" she stuttered.Wander, who looked somewhat amused, simply took one of her wrists and guided her hand towards... a veil of sorts. Only when she finally touched it, Pacifica realized that they were floating in space, alright, but encased in a protective bubble.That was the best word she could use to describe the thing, at least.
'Where the heck did I get myself into?'
"THAT'S THEM!" Peeper's voice boomed, apparently ignoring the no-sound-in-space rule, and Pacifica turned around to see where the voice came from. Her blood ran cold when she saw the so-called skullship in its full glory... a spaceship shaped like a skull. Unsurprising, and rather lame actually... if not for its still impressive size compared to her and her saviours."Re-open the hangar, now! I want the entire fighter fleet on them!""THIS TIME WANDER, YOU'RE—wait a second, Peepers.""...Sir, now what?""I've had your engineers install a few additions to the ship, sensors and such. If what I see on this panel is correct... it means Dominator is homing in on a planet close by!""Sir, this is not the time—I thought you wanted to get Wander! For once that I agree with you, shouldn't we at least find out what that kid—!?""Nuh-uh! This is my chance to show her the kind of man I am, Peepers! You playing decetive can wait. Now, HEAD FOR THAT PLANET!"Sylvia, Wander and Pacifica simply waited in mid-space as they heard Commander Peepers complain uselessly while the skullship turned 180 degrees and sped off, away from them."Well, that was anticlimactic, but I'm not complaining," Sylvia said before letting out the gust of air she had been holding in. "Uff... that was still somewhat close.""I'm a bit disappointed, Sylvia," Wander said, looking at the place where the skullship used to be with a frown. "I didn't even get to at least say 'bye' to Hater...""With the rate we end up bumping into them, buddy, I'm sure you'll soon have another chance at it," Sylvia shrugged. "Now though, about our little guest here."Until that moment, Pacifica had been too distracted by the events unfolding, but when Wander and Sylvia started to look at her, she had to shake her head to clear her thoughts. "...what?" she managed to wheeze out."Boy, you sure look like you haven't travelled much around the galaxy," Wander said while passing a hand over his chin in thought."Of course, I did not! This... this," Pacifica gesticulated to the bubble, "this shouldn't even be possible! I don't need a science degree in physics to see that!""Looks like reality has other plans, kid," Sylvia said. "Though I still find it weird that you know nothing about space-travel. I thought it was standard-knowledge across the entire galaxy at this point.""But... I... I don't understand what you are talking about! What is this 'galaxy' you keep mentioning? Where are we even in this galaxy?!"Sylvia seemed genuinely surprised. "Kid... That's just the way we talk about our galaxy. Look around."Pacifica complied... and she was left speechless. Until that moment, her emotions had prevented her from looking closely, but now that the blue alien had asked her to give another look she tried to be a bit more attentive, and she saw something she had never seen before.The space around them was far from being black with just a few stars around. Pacifica was no astronomer, nor did she ever find much interest in it, but that didn't prevent her from noticing the amount of stars and planets that were filling the emptiness around them. Bright dots of various sizes and colours, rings and asteroid formations, even fast-moving objects that were either comets or spaceships. It was breath-taking."Whoa..."Wander glanced at Sylvia for a moment before turning towards Pacifica, rotating his body on the saddle so he could face her fully. Pacifica was still watching the spectacle of the galaxy when he finally spoke. "So... where are you from, then?"Pacifica looked at Wander, wondering if this was really just a very long dream. Maybe that triangle demon was still alive, partly, and was using his last energies to have a little fun at her expenses.Yet... she couldn't just believe that everything that had happened up until then was just fruit of her imagination, triangle or not. "I... d-do you mean, the planet I come from?"Wander nodded, and Pacifica considered what to say. "Uh... Earth. It's called Earth.""Earth?" Sylvia's tone was something between perplexed and concerned. "I've never heard of a planet named like that before."Pacifica's heart slumped. "You... did not?""I've been travelling around with Wander to one edge of the galaxy to the other, kid, and while we didn't visit every place in it we heard about a good deal of them as well. This is the first time I ever hear of this name in my life... Wander, buddy?""I'm afraid I don't have much more to share than what you said, Sylvia," Wander said gravely. "And... I don't even remember planets named like that from before I came to explore this specfic galaxy! It's so weird, though... maybe we should check one of the info-points at the nearest space coaster station. The guys there should be able to tell us where it is, even if it's a very distant one!""We may as well go for it. Don't worry, kid," Sylvia said, smiling at Pacifica, "we'll find your planet in no time.""Yeah. Now that I think about it... we didn't even introduce ourselves properly!" Wander said with a gasp. "Sorry, with the running and escaping I haven't had the time to do so! I better start from scratch if you don't mind. My name's is Wander, and my friend right here is Sylvia!"Sylvia waved at Pacifica briefly before looking forward and starting to walk. The girl was able to feel the change of speed as the bubble gained speed."We've been travelling the galaxy for quite some time, meeting people and, you know, lending a hand where we can see some help would be welcomed. So, what is your name?"Pacifica was, unfortunately, too much distracted by the revelation about her planet to follow Wander's words. Sylvia had said that, across the galaxy, space travel was a widely known technology... and she was pretty sure that on Earth humanity was lucky to have reached the moon with actual astronauts, let alone the other planets of the solar system. The most immediate conclusion was very simple: this 'galaxy' and the Milky Way were not the same one.Pacifica frowned and tried to think it through. Sylvia and Wander were a bit weird, but they were also the only people around here that had helped her... and they had said that there was still a chance that such a theory was not true. As long as there was a way for her to go back home in one piece, she was not going to let that chance slip from her hands. Despite her current predicament with her parents, her home and lack of actual 'friends', she still wanted to go back to Gravity Falls, one way or another.And she definitely didn't need to think that such a return may have not been possible."Hey there?" Wander repeated, catching Pacifica's attention."Uh, sorry, I got carried away a little... I... I'm a little vexed, that's all.""I'm sure everything's will be all right, soon enough," Wander cheerfully stated. "I was just wondering about your name, little one. Can't let Sylvia just call you 'kid' all the time, anyway.""I might keep doing that. Besides, I've never seen someone like her before, but I'm pretty sure she's younger than either me or you."Another piece of information that was bad news for her. Pacifica lowered her head, hiding her face. "I... I need some time for myself, if you don't mind..." she finally blurted out.Wander's smile faltered for a moment. "Well, no worries, I won't bug you. Take all the time you need," he said before turning back to watch where they were heading to. Pacifica glanced at him for a moment and she thought about all the trouble he and Sylvia had gone through just to save her butt, and how they were still determined to help her go back home. Then, she passed a hand over her face, exasperated.
'Stupid aliens... them and their stupid friendliness...'
Before Wander could start a conversation with Sylvia, he heard the little one speaking behind him."Pacifica... my name is Pacifica Northwest."