"See?" Star said, dusting off her skirt. "That wasn't so bad."

"You can say that again." Marco replied.

"Guys," Mabel's cheery voice echoed in. She ran towards them, with a joyful giggle. "That was incredible!"

"21, 20, 19, 18..." The robotic voice began to say. Stan abandoned his desk of levers to join the three. But, that wasn't before he took a break at the front of the door to look at Dipper. He was where gravity had left him, arms and legs outstretched and his face relaxed and staring blankly at the ceiling of nothingness.

Dipper could feel Stan's eyes on him, but he didn't even react. He sighed quietly and gently, wishing for the man to leave him alone in peace. If he stared hard enough, he could act like he was invisible. After what seemed like an eternity, Stan continued to walk out the door, leaving his nephew with his wish. The soft thunk of the door shutting reassured Dipper that he was by himself on the cold floor.

"13, 12, 11, 10..."

Dipper took the time to get lost in thought. Even though he wasn't so thrilled, he was pretty curious to who - or what - this portal would bring. He got up on his feet, dreading his entrance into the other room.

"7, 6, 5, 4..."

The door closed automatically behind Dipper. Everyone beholded behind their backs, as if Dipper's appearance was unexpected. He stayed isolated from the group at a respectable distance, while keeping his hands in his vest pockets. Inside the force field, the portal roared and grew more fierce.

"3, 2, 1."

In that split second, Dipper could have sworn he saw his uncle's face form a smile - a small smile. Then, white spread out wide along everything. Everyone in the basement couldn't bare the blinding light and turned away, tightly shutting their eyes. It seemed like it would never end. Finally, the machine settled down, the force field breaking away into nothing. With the force field's break down, came the collapse of the machine. The triangular machine came down to the ground with a crash. Some of the portal's energy continued to glow. Dipper hurried over in front of the rest of the group to get a better view. He was just in time to witness a dark form of a tall and strange man crossing over from the other side. The blue gleam illuminated from behind, making the man's appearance unsettling for Dipper. Even his presence sent shivers up his spine.

The boy stepped back, in a daze. Not paying attention to where he was going, he tripped and fell on his rear end. Before he did, he let out a gasp from fright. The bizarre - looking man wore goggles and a drawn out, gusting trench coat. He covered half of his face with a dull, colorless scarf. A thick shotgun could be easily seen being carried from his back. The man neared uncomfortably closer to Dipper in a solemn manner. He outstretched his hand, not even bothering to speak. Dipper suddenly tried to shield himself with his arm and yelped out loud. "Don't hurt me!" Mabel watched the man's movements. Sure, he did look creepy to the girl, but she knew by his gentle actions that he was only trying to help Dipper.

"Don't be alarmed." The man, ultimately, spoke up. His voice was low and a bit scratchy, however, it was difficult to tell considering it was muffled by his scarf. "I mean you no harm."

Dipper, after a moment of lengthy hesitation, accepted the man's hand, which had a glove on it. But, when the boy clasped his hand, he felt an extra, unnecessary finger. Though Dipper was aware of how silly it sounded, he couldn't help but ask himself. Does he have six fingers?

His incredible strength lifted Dipper back up on his feet. It all felt so surreal to him. Who was this guy?

The man in the trench coat proceeded to go around the basement. He finally ceased to scan up and down Stan. "Finally," Stan began with a hopeful grin. "We meet again...brother!" Maybe Stan was smiling, expecting the man to hug him, but the man in the trench coat remained unamused. Instead, as a response, the man raised his clenched fists and punched Stan across the face. Stan stumbled backwards, rubbing his bruised cheek. Marco and Star got into their fighting stances, preparing to defend themselves if they needed to.

"Brother?" Dipper thought.

At last, the man took off his disguise, revealing his true identity. Under the goggles, he wore square - shaped glasses and had a light, grey beard. He had matching grey hair with very noticeable sideburns. Not only that, he had a sizeable, orange nose, like Stan.

"What the heck was that for?" Stan demanded, angrily.

"What is wrong with you?!" The man yelled back. "You just don't listen, do you?" As he went on, he made aggressive hand gestures at Stan.

"I was saving you! And this is the thanks I get?" Stan argued. He approached the old man again, meaning to hit his so - called 'brother' back harder. Stan's attack didn't go as planned, however. His brother dodged his punch, tightly grabbing his wrist. He, then, took Stan's arm and forcefully pulled it behind his back, knocking him to the ground.

During their quarrel, Marco realized the portal's energy was decreasing. "Star! The portal! It's shutting down! We need to go!" Star followed Marco in a rush. Stan's brother looked up at the two pair of legs speeding passed him. He suddenly let go of Stan to chase the boy and the girl. "Hey, wait! Stop!" He commanded them. Star and Marco did as they were told. Marco was so close to the machine, he could practically feel the slight wind of its energy. He was so close...yet he did not go on. His heart sunk deeply. "Are you kids demented? You cannot pass through - you shouldn't!"

"We have to go home. This is our only chance." Star innocently stated, anxiously twirling her wand between the palm of her hands.

"Let them go." Stan's voice came in. He was in the process of getting up and straightening his back. "Trust me, they've been waiting for this since they got here."

His brother's face gloomingly gazed back at the kids. "I'm sorry." He breathed. "You cannot go back to your dimension. I cannot allow it."

"What?" Star and Marco said, harmonizing.

"My brother should have known better than to activate the machine. Besides, I can't risk your safety to bring you home."

"You don't seem to get it." Stan fired back. "Thirty years, I've been desperately trying to bring you back. I risked my own safety. They risked everything to get back home." Stan gestured to Star and Marco. His brother turned back to the kids on his left. The man in the trench coat's eyebrows raised and his mouth rested. Letting out a sigh, Stan thought he finally gotten through to him. Unfortunately, he knew he was wrong when he began to shake his head again. Stan huffed, rolling his eyes. "How typical of you." He said. "You sure haven't changed at all, have you? I guess even being stuck in a different dimension can't make you realize how stubborn you are."

"Please." Mabel piped in from the background. Dipper stood next to Mabel, his mind still trying to process everything at once. He watched it all unfold in front of his eyes. "The portal brought them here, it can bring them back."

Once again, Stan's brother responded with a puzzled face. "What in the world? Stanley, what are all these kids doing down here?"

Mabel drew nearer to the man in the trench coat. "Wait. Stanley?" As she spoke, she spun around to point to Stan. "But, your name is Stanford."

"What?" The man in the trench coat began, frustration rising in his tone of voice. He turned his attention from Mabel to his brother. "You took my name? What have you been doing all these years, ya' knucklehead?"

Marco's ears picked up the sound of the portal shutting completely down. It's last sign of life was the light that gave out, bringing darkness back to the basement. Its slowing, quieting hum gave a trembling frown to the boy, knowing he had just missed, yet, another chance to see his home again. He sighed and turned to Star. "Well, we tried."

"What now?"

"I don't know."