Greetings, fellow living organisms! This originally was going to be a multi-chapter story, but I decided not to and I didn't want to accidentally copy Keleficent's story, either. So here it is! A one-shot that is probably terrible but I tried anyway! I hope you are still interested. Enjoy!
"Grunkle Stan…"
Mabel paused, trying to reconsider. Millions of things were racing through her mind. She didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't want to think anymore. There was more than enough evidence to show that Stan is bad, but why does she still trust him? He is family, he protected her and Dipper, so he's not all bad. Is he?
'5...4...3…'
Mabel internally sighed. She had to think of something quick. Either trust Stan or not. It's not that difficult. She brought her head down, facing the ground, closed her eyes, and said;
"... I trust you."
Eyes still closed, Mabel let go of the lever and put her hands up, as if showing her surrender. For some reason, the shouting became louder and more frequent. Specifically from Stan. This confused her. Isn't that what he wanted? To keep the portal going? Then why was he still yelling? Curious, Mabel opened her eyes to look at them once again.
She was only met with their terrified faces as they shouted more once they got her attention. Mabel furrowed her eyebrows, not being able to make out what they were saying, but one simple feeling of being pulled was all it took.
"GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!"
"MABEL!"
Mabel's eyes widened in realization and started reaching out to them, or at least something she could grab hold of. However, nothing was in her reach. Mabel started waving her arms frantically and she shouted out to them for help.
"DIPPER, GRUNKLE STAN, HELP!"
Mabel could feel the force getting stronger and reached her hand out to her family for one last time. Then, the counter reached 0 and there was a bright flash of light.
She let out one more cry for help before everything went quiet and everything was…well...white. But before she could question this, the fabric of reality seemed to have found the idea of physics again and she was sent hurling into an unknown area, screaming as she went.
This did not last long though, as she crashed straight into something...warm? And soft? Or was it someone? Moving her eyes upward, Mabel's eyes met an unfamiliar pair, staring right back at her with a mix of panic and something along the lines of confusion.
But before the stranger can do anything, Mabel screamed again and pushed herself away from the man, causing her to float away in the opposite direction. She watched as he stole one last glance at her and ran for cover behind a boulder-like object.
Once seeing that her only potential threat was gone, Mabel started to look around. The sky (If you could even call it that.) was mainly a reddish-orange color with a few other colors constantly shifting with it. There was few more rocks floating around aimlessly just like the one that man hid behind.
But before she could do anything else, a familiar cackle filled the air. Mabel froze. She knew that laugh anywhere. She turned around the best she she can in this anti-gravity atmosphere and was now face to face with Bill and few other monsters she didn't recognize.
Her pupils shrunk as she felt the fear, a feeling she'd grown to know so well in the past couple of days, rising in her gut.
"B-bill?" Mabel squeaked out.
Bill shrunk a bit in size and his eye curved upwards, as if he was smiling.
"Looks like I found myself a Shooting Star! What a pleasant surprise to see you in my dimension! Did Fez push you in, or was it someone else's fault?"
He circled around her as he continued.
"But let's talk business. Have you seen this man anywhere in this dimension?" Bill snapped his fingers, making a wanted poster appear in front of her. It looked just like the man she saw earlier, but this time, his face wasn't covered. Which strangely resembled to her Grunkle Stan.
Nonetheless, Mabel shook her head, mouth in a tight line. This was no time to question things. The answers would only lead to more questions, leaving things unsolved.
Bill looked at her skeptically for a moment as Mabel just looked right back at him, trying not to show any emotions. After what seemed forever, Bill floated backwards a bit, eye still on her, and grew to the size he previously was before. Then there was silence, save for the distant noise of static, which was strangely always playing in the background.
Suddenly, Bill raised his jet-black arm and snapped his fingers, catching his monster companions' attention. He pointed a single finger at Mabel and said;
"She's lying. Get her."
Instantly, all of the monsters lunged towards her and Mabel did the only reasonable thing to do in this situation: Scream and run (float). She launched off a nearby rock mass and started floating through all of the chaos, all the while moving her arms in a swimming motion to pick up speed.
Taking a chance, Mabel spared a glance behind her and smiled a bit. Somehow, she was losing them. Her joy did not last long, though, as she crashed into something more solid. A surge of pain went through her body on impact. Mabel lifted a shaky hand to touch her face to check if she had any injury.
She winced and quickly pulled her hand away to see it covered in blood. That explains the unnatural stinging in her cheeks, at least. Before she could inspect any more damage, a pair of gloved hands reached out from behind rock she crashed into and pulled her behind it.
Mabel's first emotion was panic as she was held into a tight grip with a hand over her mouth. She looked up to see who her captor was and, once again, saw the face of the man from before. She let out muffled scream and the stranger looked down at her and whispered, "Be quiet if you don't want to get caught."
Mabel didn't respond, but still listened. The two stayed silent as they watched Bill's henchmen pass their rock and were a safe distance away. The man released his grip on her as his coat buzzed. He took out a strange device and looked at it before putting it back in an inner coat pocket.
"Hey kid."
Mabel looked up from playing with her hands and shot him a curious but wary look. Humming to how that he had her attention. He was looking down at her with a small but comforting smile.
"Look, I'm going to get you out of here," the man said, kneeling down to her level, "No kid should go through this. And by that, I mean nobody."
Relaxing a little, Mabel smiled. He can't be that bad if he's willing to help her, right? Regardless of what she thought, though, Mabel still flinched when she saw him reach out to grab her again. He stopped half-way through and cleared his throat silently, looking away from her.
"Right," The man mumbled, as if remembering something, "Listen, kid, this may be a bit much to ask but…" He looked at her again, expression unreadable. He held out his hand to her. "...Can you trust me? Just for now."
Mabel looked at the stranger in front of her. She felt this strange sense of deja vu coming on. She didn't know who the man was, so why should give him her trust? For all she knew he could be out to harm her or be working with Bill.
She moved her eyes upwards, looking into the eyes of the mysterious stranger. She couldn't see his eyes behind the goggles, but she knew he was looking straight back.
Mabel never met the man in her life, but she could feel like, against all odds, she could trust him. He could protect her and keep her safe from these monsters. What's the harm in trusting one more person?
Mabel nodded and took his hand, "Alright, I trust you."
