Trudging through the wind and the rain on a slow journey back to the Mystery Shack, Mabel was lost in her own thoughts as she struggled to find a way out of the predicament she'd been placed in. Most citizens had vacated the streets of town in the face of the dour weather, letting her contemplate things without being disturbed.

"I need to get Mermando back and keep those government goons from spying on my family anymore!" She thought to herself again, trying to reaffirm her mission statement in the face of all the difficulties she had imagined while trying to plan. "But they're gonna be the only ones who know where Mermando is stashed at, so if I just managed to memory wipe them with the old memory gun I wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Maybe I could wipe them, then find a way to review the memories later? Dipper probably has the equipment to do that somewhere around the Shack, though I've got no idea how to actually operate it..." As this thought settled in, Mabel came to a stop as a new idea came over her.

"Dipper..." She thought to herself, facial expression making it clear she didn't know what to do at the moment. "All they want is the photocopier and the rug, I don't think he and Ford are using those for anything. They won't even know they're gone. Maybe... maybe it'd be best if I just do this." The thought sent a shiver down Mabel's spine, but the longer she pressed the idea, the more appealing it was. "If I do that, I can save Mermando, then the offer of the mind wipe and hopefully next time this happens, Dipper won't be lone warrioring around another dimension and we can bring these men in black down together! Yeah, the twin power way! Just like in the old days!"

Outwardly, Mabel's expression briefly spiked with happiness as she looked up to the stormy sky with an eager grin on her face, before abruptly being struck by a fit of anger that she vented by kicking the pole of a nearby street light over and over again. By the time she was done her foot felt sore but she didn't care "Stupid, stupid, STUPID! That's how I ended up like this in the first place!" She yelled out aloud, casting a despairing look towards the sky, raindrops staining her face. "Always running away from my problems, always helping the bad guy, always demanding Dipper bail me out! That's how I lost him in the first place!"

Her anger burned up and out quickly enough though, leaving Mabel to look at the ground while breathing heavily for a few seconds, before straightening out her posture with a determined look on her face. "No, I'm going to defeat this enemy myself! I'll save Mermando and protect my family, and I won't force Dipper to sacrifice for me this time!" Taking a deep breath, she let her challenge sink in, this time smiling genuinely despite the enormity of what lay before her. However, after a few more moments, a small crease appeared on her brow.

"Although... let's not go nuts here Mabes." She said after a moment of thought. "Just because I'm going to stand up and face my problems this time doesn't mean I can't do it without any help. I just need to make sure if anyone sacrifices something here, it's me. After all, I'm fighting a government conspiracy here, charging off alone would just be stupid." Mabel reasoned out while pulling out her cell phone and looking for a specific contact. "Besides, Grunkle Stan would be upset with me for weeks if I didn't invite him to come kick the crap out of someone threatening the family..."

A short distance away but well hidden below ground, a trio of adults stood around the slid back wooden panel of fine desk, listening in on Mabel's introspection. "What a beautiful little speech." Agent Ferris remarked sentimentally while leaning on the desk by an elbow. The hearing end of the listening device consisted of a simple speaker hidden under the wooden panel, three light bulbs that indicated technical status (all currently green) and a metal imprint in the shape of a hand. "Shame she had try and subvert the mission less than five minutes in. Millennials, am I right?"

Powers and Trigger were standing on the other side of the desk, their normally stiff expressions betraying a small amount of concern. "Sir, she's just emotional at the moment. I suggest we wait until she stabilizes before taking any sort of action. She might still change her mind." Powers spoke up.

"Noted Agent Powers." Ferris responded. "No worries, nothing severe in mind, just a little... push in the right direction. Besides, we can't have her leaking details to her great uncle, can we?" He explained, before placing his hand into the imprint below the wooden panel.

Back on the streets of Gravity Falls, Mabel had sheltered herself against a building while her phone rang, waiting for Grunkle Stan to pick up. She wasn't upset or concerned by the delay though. Stan was probably just having trouble remembering where he put his own smart phone or was trying to remember how to answer it. The girl giggled a little as she thought about it: Stan hadn't been as quick to embrace modern communications technology as Ford had, but he couldn't turn his twin brother down when he insisted the two of them get matching cells, "So the whole family can stay in touch easier!" He later explained begrudgingly.

However, as Mabel was humming a little ditty, waiting for the phone to pick up, she felt something catch in her throat. The impromptu song stopped as the thing became solid somehow. Mabel wasn't choking, she could still breath, but it didn't feel like she was throwing up or coughing either. She just had a lump in her throat that she couldn't get down. In fact, it seemed like it was rising instead of sitting still or going down.

It didn't actually hurt until the mass hit Mabel's larynx. Then, it hurt a great deal.

"UGRRAGHH!" Mabel choked, spat, screamed and squelched as she coughed up the mass against her will. Her upper throat and mouth felt like they'd been ripped to shreds, and while tears of pain had blinded her eyes she could still see the pile of spit up material was bright red. Mabel had vomited plenty of times in her life, but never before had it come up red. She coughed one more time and felt a fresh slash of pain impact her throat before slumping against the building wall, exhausted and trying to catch her breath.

"...bel? Mabel? Is that you pumpkin?" Abruptly came a familiar, crusty old voice. Mabel broke through the haze that had clouded her vision and looked to her side where she'd dropped her phone. Grunkle Stan had finally picked up! In a spurt of energy, Mabel threw her hand towards the fallen phone, but stopped when a metal glint caught her eye, and after a moment, she realized it was coming from her pile of vomit. "Why is my throw up shiny?" She asked in her head, still a little dazed. Never having been reluctant to poke around her own upchuck before, Mabel turned her attention to the fresh pile, and felt a chill go down her spine as she recognized the contents.

Besides mashed up, stomach processed bolus tinted by blood, the nearby vomit pile had a small number of gleaming razor blades buried in it.

The sudden, sharp splash of fear Mabel felt was enough to sober her out of her daze almost instantly, though a new layer of confusion had replaced. "That's not possible, I haven't eaten in almost three hours. This... this has to be some kind of supernatural attack, no doubt. And the only people who could possibly want to do that..."

In an instant, Mabel snatched up her phone again, holding it close to her face and speaking a little louder than most people would need to. "Hey Grunkle Stan, sorry if I interrupted anything, I think I butt dialed you by accident! Is everything good at the Shack!?" She spoke, putting on her most vibrant and cheerful tone of voice.

"...Yeah, everything's fine here." Stan answered back, still sounding a little worried. "Are you sure you're alright sweetie? It's getting stormy out there. If you need a lift, I could come get you."

"Oh, no, no thanks, but that sure is sweet of you to offer Grunkle Stan!" Mabel thanked through the phone. "I found the most adorable umbrella while I was out today and absolutely want to give it the walk through the rain it was made for! Let it feel validated in its career choices, you know?"

A small chuckle came through the phone as Stan's tone lightened. "Alright pumpkin, I'll see when you come home. Love you Mabel."

"...I love you too Grunkle Stan." Mabel responded with sincerity and a slightly less energetic tone before hanging up, pocketing her phone, and looking at the vomit pile again. With a sigh, she muttered aloud "Well, no choice but to just get the stuff now I suppose." before talking off back into the streets. A short walk away and down below, Ferris leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face while Powers and Trigger looked outright uncomfortable despite their efforts to hide it.

"What a quick learner she is."

The rest of the walk back to the Shack was an enlightening one, giving Mabel plenty of time to think this whole thing through. Her early walk down the streets was weak and a little stumbling in places, as the nausea of vomiting and the metallic tasting pain of her cut mouth threatened to bowl her over, but by the time she was stepping between trees Mabel's head was held high and her expression was determined. "I can't let this slow me down. If Dipper could survive so many adventures without going to the hospital, than so can I!""

Slipping inside the Shack so as to avoid the tourist groups, Mabel was nearing the stairs, halfway through the living quarters when she ran into Grunkle Stan. "Hey kid." He greeted casually, before catching a second glance at her. "Cute umbrella." He remarked sarcastically, causing Mabel to realize that the umbrella given to her by the black ops government super spy looked exactly like an umbrella owned by a black ops government super spy: Extremely plain, colored black and unremarkable. Smiling nervously for a second, Mabel knew she needed a response.

"Oh you really think so? I KNEW it wasn't just me that could appreciate this guy!" Mabel responded, sounding for all the world like she was sincere in this opinion. "I think this umbrella has inner cuteness, you know? Just needs a, a woman's touch to get it to come out and blossom under the rain, like a lovely flower that has had as much to drink as it can and is ready to bloom!

Despite being too cynical to truly appreciate an umbrella like this, Stan did end up smiling at Mabel's enthusiasm. Even if he didn't really like the things she did in the name of art, he did like how they made her smile. "Okay pumpkin, you do you and make him the most dashing umbrella around!" The old man spoke with a hearty laugh.

"That's the plan!" Mabel exclaimed, before putting a crooked finger to her chin and examining it closely. "In fact, I can see exactly what this umbrella needs. It needs..." She began to explain excitedly, before her voice abruptly dropped to dark and sinister to utter the word "Glowsticks." Then, just as quickly, she was bright and happy again. "Grunkle Stan, could you go to town and pick me up some glowsticks?"

His mood instantly taking a turn for the cranky, Grunkle Stan at first responded "Kid, what do you think I am, so kind of hippie delivery man!? I'm not going out to get just glowsticks!" He said firmly, crossing his arms and looking away from Mabel. "Nope, not going to do it! I was a transporter for glowsticks once but even if they're actually loaded with real... glowstick... juice? I'm NOT doing that again! I nearly got thirty years for that one!" However, Stan soon made a critical mistake, briefly letting one eye open and taking a short look at Mabel, and this was the act that sealed his doom. She was looking pouty now, a cross between miserable and adorable that could soften the hearts of even the most bitter. After trying to resist for a bit longer, Stan finally gave in, throwing his arms over his head and going "Okay, okay! I'll go get some glowsticks! Just put that face away Mabel, it should count as a lethal weapons!"

"Thanks so much Grunkle Stan! You're the best!" Mabel replied, stepping forward to give her great uncle a hug as thanks. "Oh wow." She thought to herself while removing her arms after an appropriate amount of time. "I never realized how tall I've gotten since I was last here."

"Yeah yeah, I got some shopping I need to do anyway." Grunkle Stan rationalized away as he left the room. "Don't cause trouble while I'm out!"

"Don't worry Grunkle Stan, I wont!" Mabel replied cheerfully, but as soon as the door closed the girl let out a breath she hadn't know she was holding. "Right, now there's no one in my way." She muttered before taking off up the stairs. Moving swiftly through the house, Mabel was able to locate the two objects easily enough, they'd been right where they'd been left, all those years ago, but as she walked up to the copier with the rug rolled up over her shoulders, the girl let out a sudden sigh of realization.

"Oh, right, I don't think I can move that by myself." She said aloud, with something of a theatrical gesture to her tone. Letting the rug fall to the floor, Mabel stood around and paced for about half a minute, looking to put a plan together. Thinking about the various boxes and carrying supplied down in the basement, the girl abruptly looked straight at the copier and then slapped herself on the forehead. "DUH!"

The light of the photocopier going off several times could be seen through the bottom of the room's door if anyone else had been on the second floor, and the sound of the old machine churning with life bounced around the walls of the closed room. Mabel laid down across the scanning bed of the device, giggling each time the magic light passed over her. Paper sheets bearing her likeness were spat out by the machine, and the ink recreations of the twin seemed to vibrate with energy before pulling themselves into the third dimension by their own energetic arms, rapidly stepping free and bouncing around the room.

"Hello Mabel!"

"Oh high Mabel!"

"Mabel here!"

"Mabel, Mabel, good to see you, and you as well Mabel."

"Such a pleasure Mabel!"

"Oh it's been too long Mabel!"

"Hi I'm Miss Mabel look at me!"

"Mabel! Good to see you! I'd offer you a cup of coffee, but, well, you know..."

"MABELS!"

The last shout came from the original, rising up from being flat on her back and turning off the machine, leaving the final count of Mabels in the room, paper plus flesh, at seven! Sitting above them on the beaten up old copier, the original Mabel had captured the attention of all her clones with the shout and a raise of both arms over her head, resulting in the whole crowd waiting in silence to hear what was to be said next.

Across town, Ferris was rubbing his head in annoyance at what he'd just heard. "This is gonna be a mess to listen to properly. Still, points for creativity." He remarked dryly before rolling his eyes. "Well, nothing we can do now. Make the call."

"We all know what we need to do, correct?" Mabel was asking her clones, each of whom shouted a different affirmative yell. All feel silent however, when Stan's business phone abruptly began to ring. All eyes in the room where watching the old piece of technology ring on and on. "I know I shouldn't just pick up Grunkle Stan's phone..." The original thought to herself while climbing off the printer. "But this is too much of a coincidence."

"Hello? ...Yes, I understand. There may be some delay because of the rain... I understand... Got it, I can make both deliveries right now. I understand, goodbye."

Hanging up the phone, Mabel turned around to all her clones with a more determined and serious look on her face now. "Welp, that was the boss. It's time for us to move out girls!" Despite their own trepidation, the various clones took on a look a grim but eager and determined confidence going forward, though the original Mabel looked a little unsure all of a sudden. "Although... moving this thing is going to require a lot of coordination, and I'm pretty sure we'd get nowhere just shouting 'Mabel, do this!' or 'Mabel, look out!' at each other all day. As much as I hate to say it, I think we're gonna have to take a page from Dipper's book... and get organized."

A collective groan rose from the crowd of clones, but original Mabel met it with a coy smile.

"...The Mabel freaking way!" She exclaimed jubilantly. "FASHION PARTY TIME!"

Everyone inside the secret government base was looking a little awkward as their high tech surveillance device was overloaded with the sounds of over half a dozen teenage girls running towards the upstairs bedroom and squealing in excitement the entire time. "Sir, I'm beginning to have doubts about the operation." Agent Powers said in a straight tone of voice.

"Shut up Powers." Ferris responded petulantly. "She will capitulate to us, sooner or later. It's all in her psyche profile."

Meanwhile, the impromptu fashion show had reached its peak, the room's wardrobe totally ransacked so each Mabel clone could assemble a personalized outfit and develop their own unique identity from it. Clothes were tossed to and fro, pillaged from suitcases and other storage sources before being rapidly traded between the identical occupants of the room as all them tried to piece together something compelling, something to mark them as unique! The activity hit a fever pitch when a Mabel that had slipped away abruptly ran back into the room lugging a full trash bag behind her. "Check it girls, I raided Pacifica's wardrobe!" She yelled out, eliciting a host of cheers and whoops from all present.

"Oooh! Oooh! Gimme some of that!"

"Dibs on her purple jacket!"

"I want her tryhard sunglasses!"

"...Crap. Of course her top doesn't fit me."

The activity gradually began to die down from that point, and when the Mabel in charge had confirmed everyone had decided on an outfit, she shushed the crowd and began the show. All of them were ready to step on stage (Dipper's old bed) and tell the world just who they were!

The first one to jump up was a Mabel wearing a completely blue ensemble, with a custom sweater stylized after the ocean, dark blue jeans and even light blue socks. "Hello there world, my name is Mablue, and I'm depressed about the direction my life has taken!" She shouted to the crowd with familiarly Mabel cheer and enthusiasm, resulting in the entire audience of Mabel's applauding her. Right after the newly christened Mablue stepped down into the audience, a new member stepped out and took the stage for herself.

The appearance of this next Mabel resulted in the crowd quieting to a murmur however, as she was clad in the classic shooting star print sweater. Like many of Mabel's old classics from that first summer, the growing girl had held onto it and refitted it several times to keep up with her changing body in an attempt to hang on to the memories of her adventures in Gravity Falls, but unlike all the others, Mabel had always been reluctant to wear this one again. "I would like to be known as Shooting Star for this mission..." the clone explained, drawing a gasp from everyone present. "...Because I am going to TAKE THAT NICKNAME BACK FROM BILL CIPHER!" This caused the crowd to warm to her right away, providing a round of applause that was more formal and proud than the previously wild cheering.

"Alright everybody, I think it's time we all shine a little brighter!" Said the next Mabel clone as she jumped onto the bed. "Turn that frown upside down, and let the voice of love take you higher!" She declared in rhyme while pointing to the sky, clad in a bright yellow sweater with a smiling cartoon sun on the front and a pair of yellow shorts below it. The crowd provided a much more wild round of applause for this getup and the sunny attitude the Mabel wearing it brought with, and while she was taking a bow, the clone remarked "We'll get through this with the power of our positive thinking, and reignite the sunshine of our lives! You know, like that weird movie where they reignite the sun. Oh, and call me Sunshine!"

A steady chorus of playful boos and jeers rose up from the crowd as the next clone in line walked up to the bed, moving with an exaggerated strut and seeming to soak up all the negative attention. This Mabel had gotten the lion's share of the last minute addition to the fashion show, and was wearing Pacifica Northwest's purple jacket, a matching skirt with black leggings underneath, and was hiding her eyes between a pair of the blond's large and dark sunglasses, while below them her mouth stayed flat in a "I'm too cool for you" expression outside of the occasional lip smack. "Hello there, all you dirty peasants." She began with a put on and haughty tone of voice, performing a hair flip, less practiced that Pacifica's but still impressive, while up on stage and that only made the crowd of Mabels boo her even more. "You can refer to me as Northwabel, and I'm here to steal all your brothers away from you with my sultry charms and unusually quick to develop body!"

Still, it was obvious everyone was still having fun and didn't have any genuine disdain for the Mabel clone leaving the stage, and that paper girl in turn and enjoyed the reaction she had gotten and was quick to join her sisters in greeting the next one up: She'd forgone the usual sweater attire to wear a hot pink zip up hoodie under a life vest, a pair of Mystery Shack brand sunglasses, and a matching pink skirt with knee high socks. "Here I am, the pretty soldier of love, Mabel Pines!" She announced while striking a pose. "Working together I know we can rescue Mermando from the clutches of the government! For quick reference though, you can call me Mailor!"

The last of the six clones who ended up jumping on the bed to show off their new look was a paper Mabel that had taken the entire outfit that her original had made not too long ago in emulation of Grunkle Ford's field coat, in an effort to join Dipper on his adventures. The woolen rainbow trench coat, mustard slacks and question mark undershirt were as searing to the eyes as ever, but Mabel wore it with a confidence that was appreciated by the audience. "And I'm super special science Mabel!" She announced proudly, throwing a few air punches before reaching into a coat pocket and pulling out an incredibly obscure and specialized mechanical tool, which she squinted at in confusion for a moment before tossing it away and looking back to the crowd. "And if I can't cook up a super science solution to all our problems, I'll let my fists do the talking!"

"And I'm the original!" Spoke up the Mabel in the green sweater decorated with a pot of gold on the front, turning the heads of all the Mabels in the room around to their own bed, which the leader had stood upon to address her paper followers. "Now, we're all clear on what we need to do, right?" She asked again, and again got a collection of affirmative nods. "Good! So, clone squad, you work together to load the photocopier into Soos' pickup truck and take it to here..." She indicated on a map of the town that had been pinned to the wall sometime during the confusion. "...while I'll take the guys' van to deliver the carpet here!"

On the other end of the wire, Agent Ferris opted to turn off the desk setup, transferring the feed over to an earpiece before closing the wooden hatch and standing up. "And there we go. Time to collect our prizes." He stated while reaching into another desk drawer and producing a pair of children's squirt guns. "You two will collect the photocopier. Dispose of all the clones after you've secured the object."

Both Agents accepted the unconventional weapons as soon as they were passed over the desk, but there was a notable nervous shake to their normally professional attitudes that Ferris easily picked up on. "You have permission to speak freely, agents." He remarked dryly.

Both hesitated for a quiet moment, but eventually Trigger broke the silence. "Sir, surely there's a better way to handle this? Mabel, she's... she's still just a child. Perhaps we should wait until Stanford returns and go straight for him? We'd probably get more out of him that way." He spoke, just a twing of uncertainty breaking through his professional tone.

"Oh, oh Trigger, don't be fooled so easily." Ferris responded chidingly. "She may not have the obvious markers of the secret world, like fishbait boy or the various monsters we fight, but she's a part of it. She's touched by the devil." He explained, while making his way to the elevator. "And that makes her fair game."

Back at the Mystery Shack, the leading Mabel dressed in the green sweater had gone to the fairly new backyard garage with the carpet rolled into a tube over her shoulder. The rain had let up sometime during the fashion show, though while the sky was clearing the ground was still incredibly wet. Initially enthusiastic, her mood deflated somewhere when the automatic door opened far enough to let her see there was no vehicle waiting for her. "Oh my god, did we get robbed!?" Mabel shouted in surprise at first glance, but quickly spotted a sticky note stuck by where the keys were normally kept. "Took the van to Hell. Sorry if you needed it. Probably not coming back. Love, Stanford." The girl read aloud, before crumpling the paper up and throwing it over her shoulder. "Typical." She remarked dryly.

Now wondering what to do, Mabel wandered out of the garage just in time to watch the clone squad haul away the copier from a distance. They had left through a back door to the Shack just in time to rush past Soos and a new crowd of tourists he was showing that rock that looks like a face.

"Hey Soos!"

"Hey Soos!"

"Hello Soos!"

"Hey Soos!"

"Good afternoon everybody! Hope you're enjoying the tour!"

"Hey Soos! We need to borrow your pickup truck by the way!"

"Haha, okay Mabels, just bring it back in one piece." The second Mister Mystery answered without missing a beat before turning back to his crowd of tourists, all of whom were struck senseless by the six identical teenage girls hauling a photocopier past them, the bizarre sight striking extra hard after their expectations had been appropriately lowered by the tacky taxidermy the tour had show off so far. "Ah, kids. What can you do?"

Smiling at this, the green sweater wearing Mabel cast her gaze to her only other option: The old golf cart that was still kept around the back of the Mystery Shack, remembering the role of played in her and Dipper's original adventure. However, when her eyes fell upon the place it was normally stashed away, nothing was waiting for her. Despite this absence, Mabel smiled even wider at this.

"Perfect." She muttered to herself, before turning the heads of the crowd of tourists one more time as she rushed past them, yelling "Girls, wait for me! Hi Soos, hi various tourists!"

A short amount of time later, Agent Powers and Agent Trigger were waiting in the back cabin of their department's van, the same one they'd kidnapped Mabel with earlier. They'd parked themselves into a quiet little alley where the vehicle could wait out of sight, observing the location the girl had been given over the phone on a laptop screen, courtesy of a hidden camera put inside the eye of a statue, which had the effect of making the old pioneer it depicted look like a cyborg from the future. In the isolated atmosphere, both could feel each other's tension. The squirt guns they'd been given for this mission managed to feel quite heavy concealed in their suits, a distinct feeling compared to how familiar and unobtrusive typical metal handguns had become in that socket after their years of service.

Trigger was simply standing as stock still as possible against the metal walls, attempting to not betray a trace of expression, while Powers was a little more mobile, pacing about a small amount. "I know you're feeling some doubts Trigger." The older agent eventually spoke up. "It's certainly a sharp turn, going from super villains to teenage girls, but it's all in the name of America." He consoled.

"Of course Agent Powers." Trigger replied professionally. After a quiet moment between the two however, Powers abruptly produced a screwdriver from his suit pocket and stabbed it into the wall of the van, puncturing and wiggling through the metal through sustained effort, and eventually drawing a wire out of the wall wrapped around the head of the screwdriver. With a sharp yank, he snapped the wire in two, officially putting the two off the record. "I don't like this Powers." Trigger confessed much more honestly, a smaller tone of emotion getting into his voice. "There were rough parts to the job before, back in the Bureau, but we always knew we were tracking down bad guys. Mob bosses, money launderers, serial killers, terrorists, drug kingpins... but some of the things Ferris has had us chase, well, they've committed no crimes! Their arrests wouldn't hold up in court if they were human."

"I understand your concern Trigger, believe me, I'm long past the point of questioning the legality of this whole operation. It's an evil, without a doubt, but to a degree... I still think it's a necessary evil." Powers explained. "For every teenager we're blackmailing or mermaid we're kidnapping, think of the good we've managed to do as well!" He argued, still keeping an understanding tone. "The human ranch operated by vampires that we shut down, the aircraft sabotaging gremlins that we kept from causing bombs to fall on civilians, the kidnapping fish hybrid village we stopped from abducting people... Our department needs to exist to protect the people of America from the things that go bump in the night!" Powers asserted, but then, his expression softened and more of his own uncertainties came through. "But, you're not wrong to have doubts. Everything about how this is run is suspect. There's seemingly no oversight, and no one but Ferris ever talks to anyone else about the operations we conduct, and I have no idea where our funding comes from. Ideally, I'd like to find someone we can report all this to who can launch an internal investigation. I don't trust Ferris."

Before either of them could continue, a knocking came from the back of the van. "Hey, men in black, open up! We've got the copy machine!" Came the distinct voice of Mabel Pines.

Both Agents looked surprised at this, and upon checking the camera feed saw no sign of the red pickup they'd been told to expect. The banging on the back door continued however, leading both Agents to exhale and draw their water pistols. "They must have recognized the van." Powers muttered as the two got into position.

"Yeah." Trigger answered with his usual stoic tone. However, after a moment, his voice cracked, and with a whisper, the man asked "Do you think these clones count as people?"

"There's only one entity in the universe that's qualified to decide that Trigger, and that's the United States Supreme Court." Powers answered, uncertainty managing to creep into his voice as well as he took aim with the brightly colored children's toy, working out exactly where Mabel must be standing. "And I pray to God we end up in front of it, someday and somehow."

The door swung open in the middle of a pounding knock.

Both fingers pulled back on the triggers.

Streams of water surged forward towards the target.

The water splashed harmlessly off the orange, pocket covered vest she was wearing.

The experienced agents, despite their years of training and hardening emotional trauma, couldn't help but freeze up momentarily as all their built up expectations and difficult struggles with their impending duty came crashing down on them. Instead of melting into a screaming, agonized pile of mush, the Mabel Pines standing in front of them, dressed in shorts and a short sleeved shirt under her vest (and had also kicked off her shoes and only had tall woolen socks on her feet oddly enough), was simply slightly damp and mildly annoyed looking, though the annoyance seemed like it could have come from the rolled up carpet she had been lugging around on her shoulders.

Flipping up the lowered bill of her Mystery Shack gift shop pine tree label hat, Mabel gave Powers, the agent closest to her, a wide grin that despite brimming with normal Mabel happiness, also concealed a faint edge of viciousness to it. "Thanks, that was refreshing!" She exclaimed, before swinging the rolled up carpet off her shoulders and clobbering Agent Powers over the head to it, letting the anomalous object clatter to the floor along with the man. When the rug unraveled itself on the floor of the van, the numerous bricks and one doorknob Mabel had loaded into it spilled out as well.

Trigger involuntarily took a step back as Mabel jumped into the van, then very intentionally took a step back and raised his hands up when the teenage girl produced a handgun from inside her vest after closing the door behind her. Trigger would have been struck by the absurdity of the fact that he was the one stuck with a water pistol while the teenage girl had him at gunpoint with a very real, very metallic firearm were he not rightfully scared for his life at the moment. Particularly after he got a look at her muzzle discipline.

"Where did you get a gun!?" He shouted in surprise, unable to help himself from asking the obvious question.

"Grunkle Stan doesn't do a particularly good job keeping his 'anti-ladder wielding maniac weapons' locked up." Mabel explained curtly. All the while, she was gesturing with the pistol a great deal, poking it in Trigger's general direction and holding it with her finger on the trigger the entire time. To the agent's greatest dismay, she had taken the safety off as well. "Now, up against the wall!"

"You're the real one, aren't you?" Trigger asked while complying with her demands. "The water didn't work on you because you're not a paper clone."

"Excellent work Mulder." Mabel responded with a snarky, unimpressed tone of voice. "You see, I figured you had to be listening to me SOMEHOW right after I chucked up razor blades as soon as I called Grunkle Stan for help, and when I got back to the Shack and started the fashion show, I figured it out!" She explained, sounding more proud of herself with every word. "See, I keep a meticulous count of my sweater collection including the ones that have gone missing, which at last count was four, but when I checked them again I found I was missing five whole sweaters. The original missing four were Wavvy Gravy, Smooth Sunday, Twin Match and St. Patrick's Day! But as I checked it over, suddenly Rainbow Road is missing and I'm wearing St. Patrick's Day! That being one I lost real recently at that!" Narrowing her eyes, she spat at Trigger accusingly "You stole one of my sweaters and wired it at some point, didn't you!?"

Despite his years of training and experience with holding a blank expression, the combined pressure of Mabel being completely correct and the gun she had in his face managed to make Trigger crack to a small degree. Small beads of sweat ran down his head as his mouth twitched into a frown. "That's... that's absurd." He tried to deny. "What would be the point of bugging one of your sweaters then not putting it back so you'd actually wear it?"

"So your boss could make sure I was wearing this one, in person!" Mabel accused, causing Trigger to visibly flinch. "I don't remember what happened, but something spaced me out while I was riding in that elevator with Ferris." She explained further, a tone of hurting and revulsion entering her tone the whole time.

Suddenly, realization spread on Trigger's face, and knowing the jig was up, he asked "That's why you put on that whole fashion show, isn't it? So you could slip off the St. Patrick's Day sweater and put it on a clone, letting you operate without us noticing."

"Actually, I did genuinely wanted to do the fashion show as a way to help my clones personalize themselves." Mabel explained with an offhand tone. "Sure it helped me to take the sweater off, slip away to clone myself one more time and put the sweater on her while I stole some of Dipper's clothes, but I would have done that anyway even if I didn't need to get rid of that sweater, which you shamelessly defiled by weaving a wire of mistrust and intrigue through its stitching of love!" By the end of her statement, Mabel was much more angry sounding. She narrowed her eyes, and with a glare, leveled a fresh question at the secret agent.

"Now, Ferris. He can do something with memory, can't he? He mentioned having memory wiped people to cover up Bill, and you guys clearly managed to recover from Ford brain wiping you somehow. Did he manage to steal the memory gun technology at some point?"

Still trapped by the gun and increasingly nervous as he waited for it to discharge accidentally, Trigger gulped before admitting "Ferris has many strange powers. He's a paranormal patriot." Then, managing to compose himself slightly, he spoke to Mabel in a stronger, more commanding tone. "What do you hope to achieve with this, anyways? You've assaulted and threatened federal agents by now, do you really think you'll get away with this?" He asked, voice getting harsher the longer he spoke. "What's your escape plan? You're still the same little girl who instigated a car crash to try and kill me with no concern for the fact yourself and your brother were in the exact same vehicle!"

"Shut up!" Mabel shouted in response, and Trigger's tongue caught in his throat as her exclamation caused the gun she had to bounce around in her hand in an unsafe manner, making him opt to choose his words carefully next time. "I don't need a plan when it comes to protecting my family from creeps like you! I just need to keep my head held high and power through life with my optimism and creativity!"

Silence reigned between the two after the outburst, as the girl didn't know what else to say and the agent was increasingly terrified of the gun pointed in his direction. When the silence was broken, it was only broken for one of them, as Trigger's earpiece buzzed to life, emitting a sound only he could hear. However, a faint buzzing could be heard coming from Powers' device, which had fallen out of his ear and onto the floor, cluing Mabel in that communication had been established.

"Agents, report. The original Mabel has just jumped out of the pickup truck driven by the clones and is heading in my direction. Prepare yourselves for contact."

It was Agent Ferris speaking in Trigger's ear, but Mabel silently gestured with the gun for him to not answer. With another nerve racking gesture, she ordered the man to take a few steps forward, with he did with noticeable reluctance. Then, with an incredibly wide grin, Mabel suddenly began shuffling her feet against the floor. Trigger only had a moment to stare confused at this before a flash hit his eyes and the world seemed to go unbalanced. He felt weak, there was a weight in his arms and his face... seemed to hurt? To make things worse, he seemed to be starting at himself, but swiftly realized he wasn't having any sort of cranial trauma induced out of body experience or hallucination.

"This is Agent Trigger." Mabel, now inhabiting the older man's body, spoke into her earpiece. Unfamiliar facial muscles stretched into a smile that anyone familiar with the agent would have described as unsettlingly out of character, and her voice was a borderline panto over-exaggeration of what a secret agent would sound like, but between it being spoken with Trigger's genuine body and the man's own history of sounding very strange, it seemed to not rouse any suspicion. "Agent Powers is moving into place to greet the clones. Do we... move to radio silence from here on out?"

On the other end of the line, Ferris looked at the car radio of his black sedan with a quizzical expression, the device having been modified to be able to receive input from the comms and bugs used by Project TWILIGHT. "Trigger sounds sort of weird." Pressing the button to talk, the leader of the project responded with "Affirmative. Report back as soon as the object is in your possession." Then, just as quickly, he adjusted the channel so he was only speaking to Powers. "Agent Powers, confirm status. Agent Powers?" Scowling at the lack of response, Ferris finally switched over to Mabel's wire, and upon hearing the sound of a car starting up very close by over the wire, decided to throw his keys in the ignition and fire up his own vehicle.

Between the weather and the time of day, the roads were fairly barren at this point in time, letting Ferris pull right out of the alley he'd backed his car into without him feeling like he needed to pay any special amount of attention to the road he was entering, too wrapped up in his thoughts of what Mabel might be up to. The answer, and a speeding, swerving pickup truck with a rusty brown paint job, hit him moments after because of this.

"Over and out." Mabel in Trigger's body responded curtly. Trigger in Mabel's body had just brandished the gun at his own form and was beginning to speak a command when the van abruptly came to life and jerked into motion, causing the unprepared agent in the unfamiliar body to fall flat on his now female face. Mabel, meanwhile, used the experienced muscles of her new body and her slight foreknowledge that this was going to happen at some point to stay on her feet with only a slight wobble. The agent contorted the girl's face into an involuntary look of surprise and regret as he watched the gun fall to the floor, almost in slow motion from his point of view, and instinctively closed his eyes in fear of the accidental discharge he was sure was going to occur. When an amplified bang noise didn't deafen everyone in the van, a very unnatural sound hit Trigger instead: Him laughing, as Mabel had let out a small giggle at the chain of events.

"You didn't need to worry." She spoke, briefly looking surprised at the reality of how masculine her voice was now, but continuing on without missing a beat. "It's not loaded."

"That's no excuse for waving a gun around so recklessly! You ALWAYS treat a firearm like it's loaded!" Trigger shouted, having the same momentary surprise at the new voice he spoke with. However, his expression stayed shocked longer, as he briefly looked over his shoulder toward's the driver's cabin, if this van divided the front and back with a solid wall. "Whose driving!?" He demanded to know, and was answered when Mabel clocked him in the face as soon as he turned her face back around to face his body.

From inside Trigger's body, Mabel cringed a little at watching her own form stumble backwards hurt, small leaks of blood coming out her own nose after she'd misjudged the agent's strength. However, to her satisfaction, her body had stumbled back far enough that it was no longer standing on the body swap carpet, and Mabel took her stolen body forward a few steps to ensure the federal agent couldn't simply step back forward and swap them back around. "Not looking forward to patching that up later..."

"The fake leader Mabel is driving of course!" The real but now bodyswapped Mabel explained to Trigger with another unnatural looking grin on his face. "I had to keep up the appearance of there still being six clones plus me, so I made one more and had her slip into the bugged sweater while I took the golf cart to get a head start on the pickup truck."

"Wait, how is she driving the van!? Powers has the keys!" Trigger demanded to know, struggling with questions while pointing to his still downed partner.

"Grunkle Stan taught me how to hot wire cars that first summer back, and I stayed in practice while living in California." Mabel explained back, enjoying the confused look this generated on her own face.

Trigger was silent for a few moments, feeling that the van was clearly moving and turning through traffic by now. "What happens next?" he asked, a small tone of fear and trepidation having crept into his tone. He was eyeing the discarded gun on the floor. It was closer to Mabel inside his body now, and he couldn't discard the nagging fear of it possibly of it actually being loaded and that it simply hadn't misfired upon being dropped due to sheer chance.

"Well, we're going to go back to your secret base and then you two are going to answer some questions. From there, not too sure." Mabel said with a shrug of her now broad shoulders. "Really depends on what you guys tell me."

Trigger blinked a few times. "Did you really plan all this out?" He asked, genuinely at a loss to the fact that he was now the one being kidnapped.

"Like any good art project, I had a general outline for all this I thought up while walking home, but from here on out it's gonna be heavy improv baby!" Mabel responded with a somewhat manic grin. "Just gotta press forward and go where your inspiration takes you! And of course, have enough cups to hide the ball under." After explaining this, she took the opportunity provided by passage over a bump to scoop the lost gun back up, causing Trigger to take a very visible gulp.

AUTHORS NOTES

Alright, everyone who has been hoping for a proper return to action for Mabel, I hope I have lived up to your expectations! This is meant to genuinely put Mabel back on track as a character, give her the sort of difficult, live changing adventures that made Dipper such a compelling character and show her changing by being willing to fight back and sacrifice against threats in order to help her family. I was also trying to show that she has the potential to be just as capable as her twin, but have it express itself in a more free form, improv sort of style, more think things up on the fly than create elaborate plans. I hope everyone has enjoyed!