Hello readers and fellow writers! This chapter was quite fun to write (thought probably isn't that well written :P). I just wanted to say thank you to the two reviewers who made my day with there fantastical comments! Williedbadger618 and Hungarian Uzumaki, I'm looking at you two ;)


After walking into their bedroom with new, pristine white bandages, Mabel gave Dipper's arms a once over before nodding in approval. They both said their customary "goodnights" to each other before they promptly turned in for the night.

Dipper lay there for what felt like forever, his mind working in overtime as the whispers refused to let him sleep and urged him to find a solution for his problem. Hours later, he couldn't lay still anymore and got out of bed. He trudged to his desk and silently flipped open the Journal before starting to scan the pages that contained the incomplete blueprints. Tirelessly he researched as he read and reread the Journal, making notes for whatever he thought could be the flaw that afflicted his machine. Throughout the night he worked, occasionally glancing at Mabel, making sure that neither she nor her prized pig, Waddles, had woken up. Though he knew he was in a great need of sleep, the voices in his head would always wake him whenever his eyelids started to close. Suddenly and without warning, an intense bout of nausea overtook Dipper. Desperately trying not to retch, he quickly and quietly made his way to the restroom.

After carefully closing the door and making sure to lock it, he knelt over the toilet and immediately vomited. He continued to vomit until the nausea seemed to lessen a bit. Carefully, he stood up and stumbled to the sink. After rinsing his face thoroughly, Dipper looked up at the mirror. Bagged, bloodshot eyes stared back at him. His face was clammy and a sickly pale color. As he felt another wave of nausea overtake him, he fell to the floor and curled up into a ball. He couldn't vomit even if he wanted to, the contents of his stomach had already been emptied. Dipper glanced up at the ceiling, hoping that the pain would go away. The whispers had other plans though. An intense headache started to pound within Dipper's skull as he lay there on the floor. Pain started to wrack all throughout his body, like a thousand knives being stabbed and twisted into his very being. Eventually, the pain was too much for him and he started to convulse, trying his hardest not to cry out in agony. Dipper could not keep completely quiet though. He gasped and sobbed as the unknown force continued to torment him until, almost mercifully, he blacked out.

Instantly after Dipper fainted, his eyes opened again, yet they weren't Dipper's eyes, but the eyes of something ancient looking through Dipper. Grinning maniacally, he stood up jerkily and unwrapped his recently administered bandages to reveal the strange and still raw wounds. Gleefully, he reached for Grunkle Stan's razor and held it almost gently to his skin before beginning to draw...


When Dipper regained his consciousness, he still lay on the bathroom floor. The voices still whispered to him, but they didn't torture him as they did the night before. He winced as he noticed that the bandages on his arms were undone and that there were new markings covering his already slashed limbs. After cleaning the cuts yet again with another round of antiseptic wipes, he neatly wrapped new bandages around his arms and glanced at the clock on the wall. Six in the morning. Dipper thought as he disposed of the old bandages, hopefully nobody else is up yet. Dipper quietly peeked into his and Mabel's room and found the afore mentioned occupant still laying in her bed, oblivious to the horrors that occurred night before. Slowly, he closed the door and quietly crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. Yawning heavily, he poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat at the table before starting to fill the bowl with milk.

"What are you doing, up so early?" a gravelly voice spontaneously spoke behind him.

Yelping, Dipper dropped the jug of milk and quickly whirled around to see who had spoken.

"Yeesh kid, relax, its just me," Grunkle Stan yawned, scratching himself amiably. Once his body was properly itch free, he watched curiously as Dipper set the milk carton upright with trembling hands, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Muttering quietly, Dipper quickly ate his cereal before setting his bowl into the sink and rushing out of the kitchen. Sighing, Stan jumped as Mabel made her usual noisy and glittery entrance as she plopped down into a seat and, like her brother, poured a bowl of cereal for herself. For a while, Stan and Mabel sat at the table quietly, contently munching on there respective breakfasts. Mabel was the first to break the silence when she asked, "Is it just me or has Dipper been acting a bit... strange, recently?"

Stan glanced at Mabel in surprise as that question came completely out of the blue, yet, it mirrored his thoughts perfectly. "You're not the only one whose noticed," Stan said worriedly, "he's seemed overly paranoid in the past few weeks, like, just before you came in, Dipper began to panic for no reason just because I asked why he was up so early."

"Yeah," Mabel nodded thoughtfully, "he's always so jumpy and it is kinda suspicious that he somehow managed to get out of bed before I did."

"I think he might even have insomnia," Stan continued, "that would explain the bags under his eyes and why he's always getting up so early these days."

"And he spends an unhealthy lot of time in the woods," Mabel replied, "I remember he was trying to tell me about some kind of weird science mumbo jumbo about seeing 'A pattern in the universe' or something but I told him that he must have accidentally eaten some of those strange, glowing mushrooms again..."

"Who are we talking about?" Soos interrupted as he entered the kitchen carrying his tool box and donning his tool belt.

"Judging from what I heard," Wendy said as she followed Soos into the room, "I'd say you guys were talking about Dipper."

"We were discussing his recent strange behavior," Mabel answered the two while scraping the last of her cereal from the bottom of her bowl.

"He has been spending a lot of times in the woods," Soos said helpfully, "maybe that has something to do with it."

"He's probably just doing a lot of monster hunting," Wendy added, "you know how he gets when he is close to catching something exciting."

"But he's always told me whenever he is about to make an important discovery," Mabel protested, "we're the Mystery Twins! Whatever Dipper knows, I know!"

"Apparently not," Stan said, "though maybe you could convince Dipper to take you with him today when he goes exploring."

"He'll probably just run off again," Mabel grumbled, "I've already tried asking Dipper to take me with him."

"Take you where?" Dipper said, marching into the room right on cue. However, instead of his usual outfit, he had worn a pair of thick boots and his signature cap was replaced with a pair of welding goggles.

"Hey Bro Bro! We definitely weren't just talking about your strange habits of staying in the woods for almost an entire day and how I was going to go with you so that I could spy on you in order to see if you needed a psychologist or not!" Mabel blurted out quickly while smiling sweetly at the same time.

"What Mabel means to say," Grunkle Stan interjected, groaning internally at Mabel's inability to lie, "is that she is wondering if you would be so kind as to take her with you when you go exploring the woods today."

At the mention of the woods, Dipper visibly stiffened and started to sweat nervously.

"I-I was thinking that m-maybe I could go in alone a-again and have some t-time for m-myself." Dipper stuttered anxiously while rubbing his bandaged arms.

Mabel was about to protest but Stan stopped her, "Sure Dipper, go ahead and go have some fun!"

Dipper stared suspiciously at Stan for letting him off so easily before putting on his backpack and hurrying out the door.

After a brief moment of silence, an enraged Mabel started to rant at Stan, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT! HE WOULD HAVE LET ME GO WITH HIM, NOW DIPPER'S IN THE WOODS DOING WHO KNOWS WHAT WHILE WE SIT HERE AND SIP TEA!"

"Hold your horses kiddo," Stan said while gesturing reassuringly to Mabel, "I don't want you diving in there while he does some crazy hoockum that might get you both killed."

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I HAVE TO GO WITH HIM!" Mabel protested loudly, "SO THAT HE WON'T GET KILLED!"

"Mabel, I know that you're worried about your brother, but the reason that Columbia went so bad for me was cause I didn't plan out what I was going to do. Once you get your head straight, robbing a bank starts to become child's play." Noticing the other occupants of the room wearing slack jawed expressions, Stan quickly followed up, "Not that I would have anything to do with those recent robberies or anything..."

"But this is Dipper we're talking about," Mabel mumbled quietly, her anger transforming into anxiety. Ignoring Grunkle Stan's inadvertent confessions, "I don't want my brother doing something unbelievably stupid that could get himself killed just because of it."

"Uh, hambone," Soos said to Mabel while gazing out the windows, "would Dipper talking with a certain 'Pacifica Northwest' count as 'doing something unbelievably stupid that could get himself killed'?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well," Wendy said, looking over Soos's shoulder, "he's doing it right now..."

"WHAT?!"


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Until Next Time...