Mabel crouched down in the fallen leaves. They were damp, and they clung to her knees with an earthy smell. There was a faint misty rain falling. It sank into Mabel's skin through her clothes and froze her all the way down to the fourteen year old's bones. It wasn't, she noted absently, a very pleasant fall day.
Tears streamed down her dirty face as she knelt on the ground. Her hands were covered in mud and blood from the ground. The moisture that trickled down her cheeks left clear tracks in the grime, her clothes had tears and gashes, her hair was tangled with sticks and leaves, and her eyes were dull, but at the moment she didn't care about how she looked.
There were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.
Mabel's fingers pressed into the ground as she glared at the offender. The girl slowly stood up. She squared her shoulders.
"You want me?" Mabel snarled. "Well, then you can come and get me!"
She charged, sprinting towards the man dressed in a black suit at full speed. The brunette bent her knees and pushed up off of the ground, rebounding off a tree and launching herself into her opponent like a sweater wearing missile.
Her muscles had grown tough from being attacked by monsters, so the puny human in front of her was no real threat. Or at least, that's what she had thought when the hitman had ambushed them in the forest.
Now, Mabel knew just how powerful this human was even without powers or magic. She wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating him twice.
Tugging out her grappling hook, Mabel pulled the trigger. The "pokey bits," as she often called them, fired out and hooked around one of the stronger branches above her head. The teenager swung over the head of her attacker and kicked out with one of her sneakers.
It caught the man in the head, and he made a silent face of pain. He stabbed up at her torso and legs with the knife that was clutched in his slightly bloody hand, but Mabel was already out of range.
"Nice try!" She taunted. But there was no glee or happiness in her voice. "Maybe next time, you'll actually hit me."
Mabel dropped to the ground, landing in a practiced crouch. She dove to the side and let herself bounce off of a large rock.
She closed her eyes right before she made impact on the man. There was a faint, odd feeling in her chest and ribs, before cool air hit a rip in her sweater.
The mute man was smashed into a tree, and there was an awful crunch sound. He let out a silent howl of agony, bright blue eyes wild with pain. Mabel hopped backwards and landed neatly in a big pile of wet leaves.
Her enemy growled in a way that almost made Mabel rethink her decision to label him human. But then, it hadn't really been her choice.
Suddenly, the man's mouth twisted into a sneer. He looked as if he had seen something hilarious that Mabel had yet to notice. He started to laugh silently, and blood started to dribble from his mouth.
He reached for his knife again, and Mabel tried to lunge. But instead she stumbled over her own feet. The teenager felt light headed, and her skin felt sticky. Pain ran through her body like fire, the source her heart, stomach, and lungs.
Mabel looked down, as saw what the hitman was laughing at.
Her chest was slashed open, and blood trickled down her body. Mabel felt lightheaded, but a twig snap made her look up.
The blade was sticking out of the man's heart. He had stabbed himself, even though they knew that he was only supposed to do that once his job was complete.
But his job had been to-oh. Oh.
Mabel smiled bitterly as her head spun. She let out a weak giggle. Blood stained her teeth, and the coppery taste filled her mouth and clogged her throat.
The brunette spat a glob of red out of her mouth and she turned to walk as far away from the man's body as she could. There was something else (or more accurately, someone) that she needed to see before she died. Yes, died. Mabel knew that it was coming, she just had to hold on for a little while longer.
But the girl didn't make it far before she collapsed.
Then she started to crawl across the ground, desperate to reach the other cold body that lay on the ground. the one belonging to her brother.
She reached out and grabbed Dipper's hand. Tears were making her vision blurry.
"You know," she began. "It's kinda crazy that we've survived demons, monsters, and fake psychics with magical amulets but a normal mob hitman is what gets us in the end."
There was no answer from the boy, not that Mabel was expecting one.
"It was kind of a stupid goober thing for you to do, y'know," Mabel continued in a voice that was thick from blood and tears. "Pushing me out of the way like that." She gave him a small bap on the shoulder. "I guess I kinda have to forgive you, though. It comes with… being twins."
A wave of exhaustion and sadness rolled over her.
Dipper was cold by now, so, so cold. Blood was still pouring from his heart, but there was no longer any pulse behind it. It pooled around them in a crimson puddle as Mabel's own life-force mingled and mixed with it.
One of her twin brother's hands was curled lightly into a fist from where he had shoved her away from the hitman's long knife, and Mabel smiled as an idea came to her.
She lifted up her own hand, clenching it loosely into a ball. Mabel bumped it lightly against Dipper's.
"Mystery twins. Always... " Mabel whispered as a cold cloud of darkness overtook her and she knew no more.