Something Amiss
Dipper glared at his sibling, arms outstretched and back pressed against the door. "No."
She laughed. "Too late! Come on in girls!"
The door burst open with a pair of cheers, throwing the poor boy to the floor. Dipper groaned and stood as Mabel and her friends jumped in place, shrieking.
"Sleepover! Sleepover! Sleepover!"
Huffing to himself, Dipper wandered to his bed. Knowing the girls, they'd be partying throughout the night. He reached for the journal atop his covers.
"Did you bring the carrot cards?"
Dipper paused, face scrunching, and swiveled to face his sister. "Carrot cards?"
"Yeah!" Mabel turned to Candy. "So? So? Did you–"
"I bring them," Candy rifled through her backpack and revealed a pack of cards. "See?"
Mabel swiped the cards and bounced over to Dipper. "Carrot cards!"
Dipper frowned and examined the case. "Uh, Mabel? That says tarot, not carrot. And it's pronounced tah-roh."
She bopped him on the nose. "Tomato, tomato! Now let's play!"
"Toh-may-toe, toh-mah—"
Ignoring him, Mabel grasped his arm and dragged him to her waiting friends. "C'mon bro-bro!"
He sighed and sat beside Candy. "Do you guys even know how to play?"
"We just pick a card at random!" Mabel plopped to his right and handed him the card case. "Here, you shuffle."
Dipper rolled his eyes but removed the cards from the case. As he did so, multiple thin pieces of paper slipped out of the case. He set it aside for later use and began shuffling.
Once finished, he returned the deck to his twin. She spread the cards haphazardly in the tween's circle and Dipper cringed.
"I just shuffled–"
"Now they're extra random!" She and her friends cheered.
Dipper pressed a fist against his cheek. As the girls shrieked, his gaze wandered to the sheet of paper. He unfolded the parchment and read the instructions.
"Huh," he muttered to himself. "So the cards aren't used for fortune-telling? Weird."
His gaze skimmed the rest of the provided background information. "Tarot cards help to learn about yourself. Types of readings...question readings...open readings?"
He flipped the page. "Open readings address–"
"Ha ha ha! Look, girls, I'm the—Fool?"
Dipper focused on his sibling. His gaze shifted from her pouting expression to the card in her hand, depicting an oddly dressed man atop a cliff with a dog at his side. He laughed with Candy and Grenda.
"Well Mabel," he lifted the other sheets and paged through them until he found the right description. "I guess that means your strongest traits are your childlike nature, ability to be in tune with the world, and, hah, your crazy wisdom I guess."
His twin stared at him for a moment before turning to her friends. They shrugged.
Mabel perked. "Well how about you Dipper?"
He blinked. "What?"
His sister returned the card to the messy pile and Candy mixed them again. "It's your turn!"
Dipper frowned. "No, I don't think—"
"Dip-per! Dip-per!" Mabel chanted, her friends joining in. "Dip-per! Dip-per!
Sighing to himself, DIpper snatched the card nearest to him and showed it to the others.
"Oooo!" Mabel trilled. "Your the magician!"
Dipper studied the face of the card. A man holding a wand stood in front of a messy table. He placed the card to the floor and picked up the explanation papers.
"The magician," his voice cracked and his cheeks flushed. "is, uh, the divine motive in humans, unification of the individual on multiple planes, and represents a high sense of thought." He paused. "Not sure about the unification part but okay. Why am I here again?"
Mabel bulldozed over him. "Grenda's turn! After Candy we'll go around again and see what else we get!"
Dipper groaned.
~(**)~
Finally. After narrowly deflecting his sister's attempt to maul him with make-up via a pillow fight, he managed to slip out of the attic and flee to Soos' new break room for the night. He cringed every time the girl's voices reached unbearable levels, but at least there weren't any owls in the room. Knowing his luck, the owl that tried to peck out his tongue would return for revenge. He sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillow.
Crash.
Dipper frowned. Shortly after the noise, a quiet whir drifted into the room
The familiar noise, coupled with the crash, sent a sense of unease up his spine. His stomach started to churn as he sat upright. He pushed the blanket off his lap and clambered to his feet.
Rubbing his arm, Dipper ventured out the door and down the hallway. He curved around the corner by the staircase and followed the noise. Several muted beeps drifted his way and steadily increased in volume as he neared the source. He paused in front of a worn out door.
Why was Stan in his office so late at night?
Curiosity sparking, Dipper grasped the knob and pushed his way into the room. A cold breeze brushed his face and he habitually placed a hand atop his head to keep the hat he usually wore in place. Eyes locked on the sight before him, he didn't notice he had already taken the hat off. His eyes widened.
Bippers.
So many Bippers.
Laughing Bippers, fighting Bippers, Bippers, Bippers, Bippers.
One particular Bipper, the one laying on the copy machine, caught his eye. "If it isn't Pine Tree! Ha ha ha ha! Meet my army!"
Dipper paled.
Note: I hope I didn't completely misunderstand tarot cards here.
