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MYSTERY SHACK
11:57 AM
23/7/17
SUNDAY
"Listen to this, Mabel. Mabel?" Dipper looked up from the magazine he was reading. "You're... sticking gummy worms up your nose. Is this a bad time?"
"Hardly! Into my nose, into my nose!"
He cleared his throat. "Okay then. Well, listen to this! So the police are investigating this case about a missing person, and they traced him to a cornfield when the trail just stopped. They searched the area, and they found substances of extraterrestrial origin!"
"They searched a cornfield?" Mabel giggled. "Did they find any of your jokes? Zing!"
"Mabel, you're missing the point! Extraterrestrial origin! Aliens!" Jumping up from the couch, Dipper began to pace around the porch. "This could be the first documented case of an actual abduction! But it doesn't make sense; why would aliens be abducting humans? What could they possibly want with us?"
"Into my nose, into my- oh no, sour gummy worm! Nooo!"
"They have to be a technologically superior species to be capable of space travel, so it can't be for that... huh..." Dipper stepped over his sister writing in pain on the floor, clicking his pen. "I need to ask Great Uncle Stanford once he gets back. He used to explore that alien ship; I could ask him if he'd seen any stasis tubes, or surgery tables... yeah! That's a good idea, right Mabel?"
"Ughhhhhh..." Mabel slowly shook her head. "Sour gummies... There weren't supposed to be sour gummies..."
He sighed, making for the door. "I'll get you a tissue."
"You're the best, Dipping sauce!"
After Dipper left, the sting began to subside. Mabel sat up and spotted the magazine her brother had been reading, opened to the page about the alien abduction. She giggled at Dipper's messy additions scribbled down in red pen.
"Haha, aliens."
"Are you my dad?"
"Huh?" Mabel turned around to see a small child. A small blue child, with something blue on her cheek. "Oh my gosh, you're adorable."
The child frowned. "I am not adorable. My name is Aquamarine."
"Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Mabel and- aww, and you have a little bow on your head too!" Mabel blinked. "Did you want to get into the Mystery Shack? It's closed today; Stan's out on-"
"No. I do not want to get into that building. I need to find my dad."
"Oh no, are you lost? Where did you last see your dad?"
To her surprise, Aquamarine did not immediately respond. Instead she groaned and began massaging her temples, a gesture that looked rather strange on a small child.
At least, Mabel thought she was a small child at first. The bright blue skin was making her have second thoughts... and what was that on her cheek? Was this like a gnome situation? Please, don't let this be a gnome situation.
"Oh my stars, it's your dad again." Aquamarine spoke in the most fed up of tones. "I don't know why this is so difficult for you humans. I'm not looking for your dad, I'm looking for my dad! Who is your dad, anyway?"
"My dad? He's in California, but-"
Her head shot up. "And what is so special about your dad that all humans know of him?"
"Uhh... Well, he's a really great dad, but I'm like 99% sure he's not famous. I mean, everyone has a dad, so-"
Aquamarine's eyes widened in understanding. "So 'your dad' isn't actually a specific person?"
"Well, duh!" Mabel snorted, and a gummy worm fell out of her nose. "I don't know anyone weird enough to name their kid that."
"Name their kid'? What is 'name their kid'?"
Mabel raised an eyebrow; at first this little girl's questions were adorable, but now it was kind of creepy. Maybe it was Aquamarine's intense stare, or her demanding tone, or maybe it was the way she parroted back common phrases like she was saying them for the first time. Her eyes darted from the magazine talking about alien abduction to the startling blue skin colour of the little girl, and she took a step backward.
"Well... uh..."
"Come on, spit it out!" Aquamarine clapped her white-gloved hands. "I don't have all day, you know!"
Mabel kept inching towards the door. "You know what? Haha, funny story, I left... cookies, in the oven! This has been a great talk and I'd love to stay but, you know, the house is probably burning down and I should go now bye!"
"Stop right there!" Before she could make it through the door, she was suddenly surrounded by a blue light and left thrashing in the air. Aquamarine flicked the little blue wand in her hand, and Mabel was brought closer.
So this wasn't a gnome thing, this was more like a Gideon thing.
Great. Just great.
"It's become obvious to me that you organics and your little language quirks are simply too convoluted for me to bother with; I have better things to do, places to get back to." She paced around Mabel with a deep scowl, one hand behind her back. It was amazing how little she resembled the adorable child Mabel had first taken her for. "So from now on, you'll be my guide. Maybe then I can finally be done with this Gem-forsaken mission. Topaz!"
"Guide?" Mabel did not like the sound of that. "No way! Put me down, you buttface!"
"I order you to be quiet!" Aquamarine twisted her head towards the forest. "Topaz! What's taking you so long?"
While her back was turned, a little creak from the door caught Mabel's attention. It was Dipper! Her brother dashed for the couch, grabbed the baseball bat stored in the cushions and charged right at Aquamarine, knocking her right off the porch.
"Woo! Home run, Dipper!" Mabel cheered, but then the blue light dissipated around her and she fell on her face. "I'm okay!"
Dipper reached out a hand, and she took it. "That's a relief. Here's your tissue, by the way."
"You're the best, bro bro!"
"Thanks, but..." He motioned to Aquamarine, who was sitting up with a groan. She raised her wand, only to see it break apart in her hands. "Who is that? What do they want with you?"
"Who am I?" Aquamarine stood up, backing away and stabbing a finger at Dipper. "Oh, you'll be sorry that you didn't know. Topaz! Get over here now!"
There came a rustling sound from the woods. Birds squawked and took to the skies. A large shadow appeared in the bushes, and then it stepped into the light.
Dipper and Mabel took one look at Topaz, and linked hands.
"There you are, Topaz!" Aquamarine sprouted wings and flew - rather quickly, one might notice - up onto her shoulder. "What took you so long? While you were dawdling, that human with the stick came over and assaulted me!"
Dipper quailed under Topaz's glare. He dropped the bat. "Mabel, what do we do?"
"Uh, uh... I dunno! Grunkle Stan and Soos aren't here!"
"That's a giant alien! How are they supposed to be any help?!"
"I dunno!"
Meanwhile, Aquamarine was flying again, motioning to Dipper and Mabel. "You know the drill, Topaz. And this time, try to be a little faster, okay?"
Topaz began running towards the twins, faster than any human, and Dipper panicked. "Get to the vending machine! Maybe that'll hold them!"
They turned and made a dash for it, but Topaz got them before they could even make it inside. All of a sudden they were surrounded in a yellow light, and it was moving them, and they were getting farther away - they strained and strained to keep holding hands, but they were torn apart - and then it solidified.
Now, Mabel found herself sticking out sideways from Topaz's thigh. She shook her hair out of her face, and looked around. "Dipper? Dipper!"
"Mmph!" There he was, on Topaz's chest! His mouth had been absorbed by her body, and his hat was laying discarded on the floor. His eyes were wide as saucers, and his one free hand was furiously beating on Topaz, to no avail.
"Dipper!" Mabel stretched out her hands, but she couldn't quite reach him.
"Aww, look at that." Aquamarine was peering down at them from the top of Topaz's head. "Not so strong without that stick of yours, are you?"
"Mmmph!"
"Topaz, take them back to the ship." She grinned down at the twins, and Mabel wondered how she had ever mistaken her for a child. "I'll deal with them there."
Dipper and Mabel exchanged glances as Topaz began to move. This wasn't like the gnome situation, or like a fight with Gideon. This wasn't like anything they'd ever come up against before.
This was new, and it was terrifying.