A/N: Aaaaaaand we're back, ladies and gents! A big thank-you to all my viewers, reviewers, favouriters and followers: you give me the strength to continue!

Anyway, without further ado, the latest chapter. Feel free to furnish you with any theories you might have on, along with any critiques of those typos that continuously creep up on me. Read, review, and above all, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Gravity Falls is still not mine.

Soos blinked. "Dude," he said flatly, "Am I seeing double?"

"If you're seeing the same things I'm seeing, Soos, double vision's the least of your worries. Right now, I'm wondering if I'm having a stroke. Can anyone else smell burnt toast, or is that just another symptom?"

"We're in the middle of breakfast, Stanley. You're fine. Granted, the toaster is currently on fire, so we should probably get that looked at sooner or later… once we've finished looking at this duplicate, of course…"

In the end, nobody was sure who ended up arriving downstairs first. Somehow, Mabel2 had managed to hype Mabel up with enough adrenaline to not only get changed in record time, but to send herself sliding along the banister with a jubilant scream of "I'VE GOT A CLOOOOOOOOOONE!" somehow managing to keep pace with her doppelganger's wild gallop down the stairs.

Needless to say, the two of them had caused quite a stir when they'd staggered to a halt in the middle of the kitchen with Waddles following. For the next few minutes, the two of them had been giggling like maniacs and totally oblivious to the stunned stares of all present, but in the end, the pause had finally been broken by an avalanche of questions from the audience.

"What happened?"

"Who's this?"

"Who's who?"

"But… how?!"

"And she was just there when you woke up?"

"The copier hasn't been used, then?"

"You didn't see any weird eggs or cocoons in the vicinity?"

"She can drink stuff without melting, right?"

Of course, everyone had their particular reactions: Grunkle Stan looked on with a mixture of bemusement and world-weary sarcasm; Grunkle Ford dug out one of the many mysterious gadgets he kept in his coat pockets and went to work on analysing the Mabel clone; and Soos had simply stared in utter bamboozlement – until he took up the fire extinguisher and went to work on the burning toaster.

Through it all, Mabel2 blitzed around the kitchen, serving up a sumptuous breakfast of maple sauce-drenched pancakes and mega-shots of juice for her original counterpart. When she wasn't busy with this, she was busy saying hello to the rest of the family, exchanging hugs and high-fives with the kind of enthusiasm that only the real Mabel could have possessed.

In between mouthfuls of pancake, Mabel could only observe the antics of her clone with a mixture of amusement and pride. However she'd been created, the double definitely had the wild energy and the explosive affection down pat. From the looks of things, she also had all of Mabel's memories, for she even managed to perfectly replicate the elaborate fistbump that she and Soos had devised at the start of fishing season. It was all such a joy to watch in action, it was almost enough to make her forget the sense of tiredness bearing down on her.

Meanwhile, Grunkle Ford was still studying Mabel2, albeit with some difficulty: busy as she was, she barely stood still long enough to be examined, and Ford was forced to follow her awkwardly around the kitchen while trying to keep her in range of his scanning device. It was even trickier than it sounded, for judging by the disappointed bleeps and bloops from the device in Ford's hand, Mabel2 kept dancing out of the way every time he tried to perform a scan on her.

After no less than five false starts, Ford finally announced, "Well, I think we can safely say that Mabel2 is most definitely not made of paper."

"I'll drink to that!" said Mabel2, pouring herself a glass of Mabel Juice and guzzling it with gusto.

"Other than that, there's not much I can figure out without further testing: diagnostic scans confirm that Mabel2 is a perfect genetic copy of the original Mabel, but I still can't tell how she was created. I'd suggest she was grown rather than timescooped, which might explain the lack of braces, but there's no sign of how all her memories were replicated as well. Tell me, Mabel2, do you remember anything from before you arrived here?"

"Nope! I just woke up in the corridor right outside Mabel's room, and there I was!"

"And that's it?" asked Stan. "No flying saucers, no weird machines, no giant hamster cages owned by sketchy businessmen? Nothing like that?"

"Sorry."

"Jeez, Dipper is gonna have a field day with this when he wakes up."

"What about you, Mabel?" Ford asked. "Has anyone had access to your blood at any point in the summer?"

"Nope."

"Have you been to any hospitals or medical clinics since you arrived in Roadkill County?"

"Only once or twice; we had to take Dipper to the hospital after what Bill did to him at the puppet show, but that's about it."

"You weren't given any weird blood tests while you were there? You weren't in the presence of machinery that looked like it wouldn't belong in a human hospital?"

"Double nope."

"You haven't seen any strange people checking your belongings for DNA samples?"

"No, and I'm pretty sure I'd remember that."

"You haven't experienced any unexplained symptoms in the last few days? Headaches, bruises, puncture wounds or anything like that?"

Mabel thought for a moment, recalling how tired she'd felt when she'd awoken – and how tired she still felt. "I… I did feel a little off this morning," she said, tentatively.

"In what way?"

"Well, just… really, really tired. Maybe I'm coming down with the flu or something, but I just feel like I've been up all night with no Mabel Juice and no sugar."

Ford's brow wrinkled in consternation. "Hmm. If that's a sign of cloning in action, it's not one I'm familiar with. I mean, timescooping results in chronic disorientation and nausea, biological cloning would leave needle marks, most forms of magical cloning require extensive samples of hair and blood, digital cloning would necessitate saliva sampling along with a digital incorporator and a synthetic body, hard-light holograms need a direct brain interface intense enough to leave bruises around the temples… and all in all, I'm reasonably sure I've never heard of a cloning method with no symptoms apart from tiredness."

"Dude, what if this is something to do with Bill?" said Soos.

But Ford only shook his head. "In the last few days, there's been no unusual activity from the statue or any of the other artefacts he left behind. Whatever created this clone, it wasn't Cipher. That said, I won't know the truth behind the cloning process until I've performed some in-depth blood testing on both the clone and the original-"

"Sorry, Grunkle Ford!" said Mabel2 loudly. "But Mabel and me have some serious us-time to get on with! We'll be back for the tests once we've had some fun!"

And with that, she grabbed Mabel by the sleeve, yanked her out of her seat and began dragging her towards the open door with Waddles in hot pursuit.

"But where are you going?"

"Into town! I've got to introduce myself to a lot of people – but don't worry, though! I'll be on my best behaviour, I swear: Mabel and me are gonna be everyone's best friend by the end of the day! Isn't that right, Mabes?"

"Absolutely, Mabes2!" Mabel laughed.

She was officially having the time of her life now: as tired as she was, even she couldn't ignore the rush of adrenaline flooding her veins – the sense that nothing could possibly stop her. She'd felt this way before on many of her art projects and grand adventures, but this was far purer and much more exhilarating than ever before. Was this the way Dipper felt when he was tagging along with her? If so, it was almost as good as being her old exuberant self.

"You see? I don't know about you, but I think we could all use a lot more fun in our lives, and today's the perfect day to go out and get it!" Mabel2 was talking at a mile a minute now – Mabel's own classic method of escaping conversations before anyone had time to say 'no.'

"That sound good? Okay, buh-byyyyyyyyyee!"

"Wait just a-"

But the two of them were already out the door, laughing hysterically as they sprinted away.

"Well," said Stan. "That could have gone much better."

Ford sighed deeply. "So much for taking samples," he grumbled. "At least we know that Mabel's personality's been replicated as well."

"Maybe. Either that or Mabel2's faking it."

"What do you mean? Why would she fake the original's personality?"

"I don't know. Maybe 2's not even a clone at all."

"You think maybe the Shapeshifter's escaped, then?" asked Soos.

Ford shook his head. "If that was Shifty, he would have been able to copy Mabel's braces. Besides, if he'd really broken out of the Bunker, the Shapeshifter would probably have killed all of us and gone bounding off into the wilderness in search of new shapes to mimic."

"Alright then," Stan plunged on. "Maybe she's from a parallel universe, like the ones you told me about the other day. Maybe Mabel2's from another dimension, fell through a hole in reality or something like that. I mean, that's possible, right?"

"Uh, no. Interdimensional physics tend to react very badly to different versions of the same person interacting even on the most cursory level."

"Badly?"

"According to the parallel version of Fiddleford I met during my travels, a single meeting between alternate selves would be enough to destroy the entire universe the encounter took place in; there are exceptions of course, loopholes and quirks of physics that can potentially allow different versions of the same person to interact – sometimes dozens of them at once – but none of those unique conditions exist in this reality at this time. Suffice it to say that if Mabel had met her other self this morning, we would have all ceased to exist prior to breakfast."

An awkward pause settled over the kitchen, broken only by the sound of Soos frantically prodding himself in the chest just to make sure he was still there.

"No," Ford continued, oblivious to the existential terror he'd unwittingly inspired. "The scans I've made so far all confirm that Mabel2 is definitely a clone… but I still can't work out how she was created – and why."

"And if she's any danger to Mabel," said Stan.

"I hate to say it, but the thought had crossed my mind."

Soos looked blankly from Stan to Ford in bewilderment. "How could Mabel2 be dangerous, Mr Pines?" he asked. "Like you said, she's a perfect copy of Mabel. If she's really a Mabel clone, she wouldn't hurt anyone, just like the real deal!"

"Apart from the time she took a spray can to Bill Cipher's eyeball? Also, didn't you tell me about the time Mabel blew sparkles in your eyes just so she and Dipper could access the portal?"

"Well yeah, dude… but that's different: they thought I was standing between them and saving the world at the time. Plus, Bill kinda had it coming."

"No arguments here, believe me," Ford chuckled. "But the trouble is, there's too many mysteries right now for us to get comfortable: we don't know where the clone came from, how she was created, who created her and why; we don't know how the clone obtained Mabel's DNA, we don't know if there were any unusual side-effects to the cloning process – we don't even know if Mabel2 is going to stay identical or start suffering genetic degradation. For all we know, she's going to be growing claws and fangs by the time the day's over."

"Or maybe she's using Mabel for something nasty," said Stan grimly. "If you ask me, this whole thing has 'scam' written all over it."

"What makes you say that?"

"It takes a scam artist to spot a scam artist. This girl says she can't remember anything before waking up in the corridor upstairs, but she was wearing Mabel's clothes: I've seen Mabel wearing that blue sweater and skirt before. You say the clone wouldn't have been able to copy her braces, right?"

"Yes, that's right: from the looks of things, only elements that were part of Mabel's biological makeup can be duplicated. But why do you ask?"

"Because if that's the case, whoever created Mabel2 wouldn't have been able to copy the clothing either. So, however she got into the Mystery Shack, she'd have needed to steal Mabel's clothes – and to do that, she'd have had to sneak into the attic, raid the wardrobe, sneak back out again, and pretend like nothing happened. Whatever the clone's really up to, she's already lied to Mabel, stolen from her without admitting to it or apologising, and now she's run off before we could start digging up dirt on her. So, not doing too well when it comes to trust."

Ford blinked. "Stanley," he said quietly, "Has anyone ever told you that you're brilliant?"

"No, but thanks anyway."

"But she hasn't hurt Mabel, dudes," Soos protested. "Like you said, she could have done that a long time ago if she really wanted to."

Ford took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And that's another thing I've got to find out: why this clone is here and what she really wants. Maybe she's just a runaway from a clone lab, like Many Times or whatever they were-"

"Sev'ral Timez."

"Right, right. Sev'ral Timez. If she's anything like them, escaped from an underground cloning laboratory, we can classify her as underhanded but otherwise harmless. However, it's just as likely that she's an imperfect remote-scan clone with just enough personality traits copied from the original to pass as the original but not all, in which case we should probably worry. Believe me, you'd be amazed at just how many ways that gaps in personality copies can be filled in by psychopathy."

"In the meantime, someone's got to keep an eye on the Mabels; even if 2 isn't dangerous, we're gonna need to find a way of making sure she comes back – I mean, if she's a runaway, maybe she'll try hightailing it outta there if she feels the heat closing in on her."

Soos immediately held up a volunteering hand. "I stand ready to help, dudes," he intoned solemnly.

It was all Stan could do to hide his sigh of relief. "Perfect," he said. "You drive around town and keep an eye out for the two Mabels; if you see them, don't try and catch them, just tail them nice and slow, and make sure they don't get into trouble. Only try the whole 'capture the clone' business unless you absolutely have to – if she looks like she isn't going to return to the Mystery Shack. Keep your phone on and your eyes open, Soos. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir, Mr Pines!"

Soos snapped a salute and hurried away, almost knocking the door off its hinges in his hurry to reach the parking lot.

And in the silence that followed, Stan asked, "Just what kind of samples did you need for your tests, Ford?"

"Oh, blood would have been the best option, but if all else fails, I could make do with hair strands, skin flakes, or even saliva."

"And do you have to worry about sample contamination or any of the usual crap that comes up with forensic evidence?"

"Not with the level of technology I'm working with."

At long last, a smile began inching across Stan's face. "Ford," he chuckled, "There's one other part of Mabel's personality that the clone's got nailed to a T."

"What's that?"

Grinning wildly, Stan held up the empty glass that Mabel2 had been drinking from, now sporting a slight smudge across the rim where her lips had touched it.

"In all the time I've known her, that girl has never bothered to rinse her plates…"

A/N: This chapter's soundtrack choice is Kate by Ben Folds Five.

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Gsv hlfmw gszg nzpvh blf uvvo zorev
Mld hvg blfi gilfyovw nrmwh zg vzhv
Zmw ml nliv jfvhgrlmh, ru blf kovzhv

Up next - a big day on the town! Theories and speculation are welcome!