Dipper hadn't slept much in the three days since Stan had explained the truth about the books and the twins' family. It was partially because he didn't want to have anymore nightmares about the future, but mostly because he wanted to find out more about the town by reading book one. So far, it wasn't much help. In fact, it seemed like it hardly contained any secrets about the town at all. However, it was relatively interesting. Book one was a lot less like a journal than three, it was mostly just factual. Regardless of the fact that psychic abilities had recently become relevant in his life, Dipper found that book three actually interested him more. It seemed like book three had more modern significance than book one. There were plenty of monsters in Gravity Falls, that was a sure thing, and Dipper wanted to find out as much as he could about each of them in case it could help him in the future. Knowing facts about psychic abilities didn't seem as important in comparison.
While reading about the different abilities, Dipper hoped that his visions were his only psychic ability. In a way, he kind of wished that he was normal. Even if his abilities could help people, sometimes it seemed like it would be better not to know the future. Knowing your future tends to make you want to change it, and Dipper had experienced that before. Granted it had been with a different tense, the past, but he figured the rule still applied.
The past few days, while he was supposed to be helping in the gift shop, Dipper had gotten into the habit of reading at the Shack. He had even borrowed a magazine from Wendy so he could read one of the books behind the magazine cover without being questioned. Then, not only could he read about the town's secrets all day, but he could spend some time with Wendy too. It was hardly 'quality time', since Dipper was focused on reading and Wendy was busy slacking off at work. Nonetheless, he still loved being around her. Compared to everything else going on in his life, Wendy seemed so normal. He always found her laidback attitude to be extremely comforting. She seemed to know that Dipper wasn't actually reading a magazine about Indie Rock hits and the latest Hipster trends, but she didn't bother to ask him about it. She figured that it wasn't really any of her business what her younger friend was into reading, but she was kind of flattered that he'd pretend to have a similar interest as her.
Dipper was tempted to talk to Wendy about some of the things that had gone on recently, like maybe telling her about the whole situation with the vampire or something just to start a conversation. He thought she would probably believe him, since she had seen the ghosts in the haunted convenience store after all. But at the same time, he figured she hadn't really given much thought to what had happened that night at Dusk2Dawn, and he didn't want to change her view on the town or himself. As long as she wasn't in danger, he thought it would be best for her to think that both he and the town were pretty normal.
Today was no different than any of the previous days. Except for the fact that as Dipper and Wendy both sat behind the counter reading, Wendy's boyfriend decided to come to the Shack to pay her a visit.
"Hey babe." Robbie said as he strutted into the gift shop, sporting a new pair of super-tight jeans.
Wendy looked up from her magazine and Dipper could immediately see the change in her emotions. A little glimmer appeared in her bright green eyes, and she suddenly stood up from where she was reclining behind the register. Just from the way Wendy looked at Robbie you could tell he was something special to her, though Dipper had no clue why. He constantly found himself wishing Wendy would look at him the way she looked at Robbie.
"Hey Robbie." The red haired teen leaned across the counter to give her boyfriend a quick kiss.
Dipper couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, especially since the kissing couple was only about two feet away from him. He pretended to focus on his magazine, but it was like a horrible train wreck that he just couldn't look away from.
After one of the two finally backed away from the kiss, Robbie smiled at Wendy and ran his hand through his shaggy, jet-black bangs.
"So, you wanna hang out after you're done with work?" He asked, suddenly seeming a bit less confident of himself, as he constantly did when he was around Wendy. Even though they were dating now, he always seemed to feel as if he was risking rejection when asking Wendy to hang out with him.
She just shrugged, the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth despite her attempt to appear indifferent. "Sure, why not. I don't think I have any plans." She told him.
Robbie grinned victoriously. Suddenly, his attention turned to Dipper. He looked at the magazine the younger boy was 'reading' and raised an eyebrow.
"You're into indie rock bands?" The teen asked.
Dipper glanced up from his 'magazine' and nodded slowly. "Uh…Wendy let me borrow this magazine, and then I checked out some music and loved it. So, yeah, I am." He said with a shrug.
Robbie squinted as he looked at the cover of the magazine, and suddenly gave Dipper an even more suspicious look than before. "You know, I think I own that magazine too. And I don't remember it being that thick. Mind if I check it out?"
"Robbie, c'mon, let the kid read. Don't bug him. Maybe I just have the collector's edition of the magazine or something?" Wendy suggested, giving Dipper a knowing look.
Ignoring his girlfriend's comment, Robbie tried to grab the magazine from the younger boy. As he did, the magazine's cover fell off the book Dipper was actually reading, book three. Dipper wasn't exactly sure what he expected Robbie's response to be, but it certainly wasn't this. The dark haired boy's face turned even paler than normal, and he had an expression that was an odd mix of confusion and shock.
"What the-" Robbie said breathlessly. He looked very serious all of a sudden, as if something urgent was happening. "Wendy, be right back. I just uh- need to ask Doctor Funtimes here a question real quick."
Wendy looked a bit worried, but she just dismissed the two of them with a wave of her hand and went back to lounging behind the register as Robbie dragged a very confused Dipper out the door.
Meanwhile, inside the Mystery Shack Mabel was watching the 'Why You Ackin' So Cray-Cray?' show with her pet pig, Waddles. She was lying upside down on the couch, absentmindedly running her hands through her long, curly hair. Instead of enjoying the show as she normally did, it was sort of bumming her out. This particular episode of 'Why You Ackin' So Cray-Cray?" seemed to be mainly about relationship advice. Usually, she would have loved to watch something like this, but at the moment she just wasn't in the mood. Mabel changed the channel, only to find that a cheesy romance movie was on. She had tuned in just in time to see the seemingly-perfect couple kiss and get their fairytale ending. With a sigh, Mabel turned off the television and sat upright. She grabbed Waddles and pulled him onto her lap, cuddling him tightly.
"I just want a nice love life with a normal boyfriend." She whined. The young girl sat in silence for a while, burying her face in Waddles' short pinkish fur. A loud knock on the back door broke the silence, taking Mabel by surprise. She jolted up, setting Waddles back on the ground a bit roughly. "Coming!" She announced. She rushed toward the door, hoping that maybe it was one of her friends stopping by to visit her. She really needed some girl time right now. Even though much more important things than her fail of a date had occurred in the past few days, Mabel just couldn't seem to get her mind off it.
Sadly, her visitor wasn't Candy, nor was it Grenda. And it wasn't a cute, normal seeming boy either. It was none other than Gideon Gleeful, one of her sworn enemies. Mabel didn't necessarily hate anyone, but she strongly disliked some of Gideon's actions in the past, and she hadn't been particularly fond of him since.
"Mabel! How nice to see you! You're lookin' well this morning." The short, chubby boy practically sang. He seemed entirely too cheerful.
"Ack! Gideon?!" Mabel sputtered, nearly cringing in disgust. The brunette looked about ready to slam the door in Gideon's face. He knew he would have to redeem himself quickly.
"Now, Mabel, how 'bout we let bygones be bygones and forget about the unfortunate misunderstandings of our past?" He suggested.
"You tried to kill my brother, you shrunk both of us, and you're a tiny psycho." Mabel stated matter-of-factly.
Gideon smiled nervously. "Well I just came here to check up on ya, Mabel. A little birdy told me you had a recent heartbreak, so I wanted to make sure you were alright." He whispered, a slight blush creeping onto his pale, freckled face. He expected Mabel to have some pity for him after this line, and hoped to woo her with his charm and adorableness as he so often did to others, but he didn't quite get the reaction he was anticipating.
"I'm fine. I have Waddles to keep me company." Mabel grumbled.
As if on cue, her loyal pig appeared by her side, curiously sniffing at Gideon's shoes.
"Well, that sure sounds delightful!" Gideon whispered, seeming awestruck as he looked down at the pig that was now nibbling at one of his shoes. He glanced back up at Mabel and cleared his throat. "Mind if I come in for just a moment and have some refreshments? I'm rather parched from the trip over here."
Mabel groaned and rolled her eyes in irritation. She was not in the mood for this today. "Alright, fine, whatever. But I'm watching you, little man." She told him, opening the door a bit wider and stepping aside.
"Such a charmer, as always, Mabel." Gideon murmured, walking past her and giving her a huge smile.
He followed her into the kitchen like a puppy following its master, Waddles right beside him.
A bit hastily, Mabel set two glasses on the table and poured some lemonade into each. Almost immediately, Gideon took a huge sip.
"Well, this is some mighty fine lemonade! Would you mind getting me a couple ice cubes, my marshmallow?" He asked, giving Mabel an innocent smile.
Mabel grumbled something to herself, but nonetheless turned around to fulfill Gideon's request. "I'm not your marshmallow anymore, Gideon." She huffed, swinging the freezer door open angrily and nearly breaking its cheap hinges.
As she was attempting to get the ice out of the ice cube tray, Gideon quickly reached into a pocket inside his suit jacket and pulled out some sort of small, glass bottle. Glancing at Mabel every so often as he did, he unscrewed the lid and poured a pink liquid into the girl's drink. A small cloud of pink smoke rose from the glass as the fluid dissipated into the lemonade.
Only seconds later, Mabel was back, dropping a few ice cubes into Gideon's glass. "There." She muttered, sitting down across from him.
Gideon was smiling at her oddly, as if he was waiting for something.
"You're creeping me out more than you usually do." She told him, cautiously lifting her glass of lemonade to her lips. Just as she took the first sip, her eyes fluttered shut and her glass slipped from her hand, a miniature explosion of lemonade covering the table and dripping onto the floor. Mabel groaned and half slipped, half stumbled out of her chair and onto the ground. She hit the kitchen floor with a quiet thump. Gideon let out a surprised gasp, leaping up from his seat.
"Where did you find this?" Robbie demanded, lifting Dipper off the ground by the collar of his shirt and holding the book up to his face.
Dipper was trying his best not to look scared or intimidated, but in reality, he was freaking out. He had no clue what Robbie was even talking about, but the teen looked about ready to beat him to a pulp.
"I-I found it in the woods. Chill out. Why does it even matter?" The younger boy asked, almost pleadingly.
Robbie glared at him, but set him back down on the ground. "Because I have one just like it." He stated, crossing his arms.
"You have one of the books?!" Dipper asked in shock.
Robbie scoffed. "I was just going to say the same about you." He grumbled. Robbie flipped through the pages of the book, and his eyes widened, his face a mix of surprise and excitement. "Oh man, this is exactly what I need!"
"What are you even talking about? Just give my book back already." Dipper demanded, becoming impatient.
Robbie raised an eyebrow, sneering at the younger boy. "Ha! No way! If you want it so bad, you'll have to fight me for it." He announced smugly.
Dipper's mouth dropped. Somehow, Robbie always managed to become more and more of a jerk each time Dipper saw him. Their Cold War pact had resulted in tons of quiet insults and threats to each other behind Wendy's back so far. But they did their best to behave when their red haired love was around.
"Why would I fight you? You know how much Wendy hates fighting…Just give me the book-"
Robbie interrupted him with a cruel-sounding laugh. "Or I guess you could just go crying to my girlfriend instead, either way." He mocked.
All of a sudden, just after Robbie spoke, Dipper's vision started to blur. Everything began to gradually get dimmer.
"Whoa. Uh…are you alright, kid?" Robbie asked, seeming a bit worried. It was the last thing Dipper heard before everything went black.
When Dipper opened his eyes, Robbie was advancing toward him quickly and menacingly, his fist pulled back as if he was about to hit him. Since Dipper had hardly any experience fighting, he had no clue how to defend himself. He flinched, and just as Robbie's fist was about to make contact with his jaw, the door to the shack opened. Right after Robbie punched Dipper, he turned to find Wendy standing in the doorway, completely shocked and appalled.
"You guys are fighting?! You know how much I hate it when guys fight!" She yelled. Her voice was so full of disappointment that Dipper hung his head in shame even though he was the one who had gotten hit. "I expected better from my boys…" While Wendy spoke, everything started to fade out until Dipper found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness once again.
Gideon knelt down beside Mabel, his face even whiter than normal, nearly matching the color of his hair. The brunette girl was sprawled out on the floor awkwardly, obviously unconscious.
"She was supposed to fall in love with me, not fall on the floor!" Gideon bellowed, standing up and pacing around the kitchen. He fidgeted with the new amulet on his bolo tie for a moment as he struggled to figure out an explanation for what had happened. "Perhaps I just used a bit too much of the potion…But I followed the instructions perfectly! The book has never been wrong about anything before! Heck, I've never been wrong about anything before!" He let out a deep sigh and buried his face in his soft, chubby hands. "And what, exactly, am I supposed to do now?"
Little did he know that, despite how she appeared, Mabel actually was conscious. She hadn't even really taken a sip of the lemonade at all. She knew she might act silly sometimes, but she certainly wasn't stupid…in the unintelligent type of way, anyway. She could tell something was up with her drink, especially since she had heard Gideon pouring something into it as soon as she had turned her back. But, for some reason, she had expected that he was trying to poison her or something and was rather surprised to find out it was a love potion. She was under the impression that Gideon was over her already. Really, what sane person shrinks the girl they love down to the size of a gummy koala? For future reference, Mabel made a mental note to remind herself that Gideon obviously wasn't sane, and he was the exact type of person to do such a thing. As if she needed the reminder.
She continued to lie on the ground for a while. She wasn't exactly sure what she was hoping to gain from pretending to be knocked out, but so far it was working well enough. As long as she kept Gideon distracted long enough for Dipper to get home, that was all she cared about. Mabel had heard Gideon blabbering to himself about how he learned about the love potion from some type of book. She instantly guessed that maybe he had one of the missing books. That would actually explain a lot about the little psycho. Mabel tried to figure out a plan, but all she knew so far was that it would require the presence of her twin. Without him, she was pretty much doomed no matter what. Gideon had a new jade amulet on his bolo tie, and it seemed just about as magical as his last one. If she 'regained consciousness' suddenly and tried to escape, he'd be able to use the amulet's magic on her once again. And this time, her twin wouldn't even be there to help her out. Just then, an idea came to her.
Mabel let her eyes flutter open, and she let out a quiet groan of pain. Falling to the floor actually had hurt a bit. She couldn't fake that, she wasn't a very good actress. And, actually, it seemed near impossible to pretend to pass out with elegance.
When Gideon heard her, he rushed back to her side. "Mabel! What happened?!" He asked, trying to sound as if he had nothing to do with the situation.
A huge fake smile was plastered across Mabel's face as soon as she saw him. She sat up quickly. "Hello, pretty!" She cooed, patting Gideon's head and ignoring his question. "Oh my, you have such soft hair!" Mabel giggled a bit and forced herself to blush. She continued to run her hands through his hair, smiling at him expectantly.
Gideon stared at her in shock, unsure of how to react.
"Excuse me for just one moment, darlin'." He told her with a polite smile. He turned his back to her, and let out a quiet squeal. "It worked! My goodness, it actually worked!"
Behind him, Mabel's face was full of disgust. But as he turned back in her direction, she gave him a sweet smile and fluttered her eyelashes.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?" She asked, playing with her hair flirtatiously.
Everything started to fade back in again, yet Dipper felt no pain in his jaw. Robbie wasn't even anywhere near him, but he was looking at him wide-eyed and anxiously. Everything was just as it had been before Dipper had blacked out the first time. "Whoa." He whispered.
"What the heck?!" Robbie asked, looking more confused than anything.
"You think I have any clue what just happened?" Dipper retorted. The younger boy sighed and shook his head. "Robbie, listen. Don't ask me how I know this, but Wendy will be coming out that door any moment. And if she even thinks we're fighting, just imagine how disappointed she'll be in both of us."
"Dude, are you on drugs or something?" Robbie asked him skeptically. "No, really, what is wrong with you?"
Just then, the door to the Mystery Shack opened. Wendy casually strolled over to the two of them, looking as carefree as ever.
"Hey guys. What are you two doing out here?" She asked, walking closer to Robbie and leaning against his shoulder affectionately. "Man, the Shack is totally empty today and I am soo bored." She groaned.
Robbie was staring at Dipper in silent stupefaction.
Wendy let go of him and gave him a questioning look, unsure of what was going on.
"Uh-Hey, Wendy. We're just…you know, hanging out." Dipper stammered, trying his best to seem normal.
Wendy smiled, looking impressed.
"Yeah, babe; me and Dipper are good pals. Just doin' some guy stuff outdoors, no big deal. You probably wouldn't understand." Robbie added with a shrug.
"Alright." Wendy said, ignoring Robbie's last cynical comment and nodding her approval. "It's really nice to see my boys getting along so well, as usual. You guys seem really close lately." She smiled brightly at the two of them.
Robbie had to use all his willpower to keep himself from laughing hysterically. If only Wendy knew about the Cold War going on every time she looked away.
"Well, I should probably get back to 'work' in case Stan decides to check up on me. You guys have fun out here in the parking lot or great outdoors or whatever you've decided to call it. I'll see you later, Robbie." She gave her boyfriend a quick hug and shuffled lazily back toward the Mystery Shack.
As soon as she was inside, Dipper let out a loud sigh of relief. "Can I have my book back now?" He pleaded.
Robbie took the book back out of his oversized hoodie pocket where he had been stashing it for the time being and shook his head. "There's no way you're getting out of this that easily, kid." He growled. "How did you know Wendy was going to come out of the Shack like three seconds before she did?"
Dipper looked at him as if he didn't understand the question. "It was just a lucky guess. I mean, really. When does Wendy ever really do her job?" The younger boy asked with a shrug.
"Alright, I see your point. But still, something is going on here." Robbie crossed his arms and glared at Dipper, his eyes full of suspicion.
"Hah. What? No way! I mean, metaphorically speaking, why would I just randomly have visions of the future? Who does that? Not me, that's for sure!" Dipper rambled, laughing nervously. As usual, especially when he was under pressure, he absolutely failed at lying.
"What?!" Robbie gasped. Obviously, he had concluded some things from Dipper's rambling. "You have one of the books, and you have visions? You've got to be kidding me." The teen shook his head. "Whatever, I'm gonna go before things get any weirder. I've got a lot of reading to do and, honestly, I'm not a big fan of reading." With that, Robbie turned to walk toward his van.
Dipper followed close behind him, though he had basically given up hope of getting his book back anytime soon.
"Wait, Robbie. Promise you won't tell anyone about all this, especially Wendy." He begged.
Robbie looked at him over his shoulder. "You think I'd tell her?" He asked with a quiet laugh. "Listen, smart guy, why do you think I want this book?"
"Because you're a big jerk who loves to condescend me?" Dipper replied under his breath.
Robbie shot him an icy glare. "Well, maybe that too. But, uh-if you haven't already figured it out, I'm…not human. Okay? So there." The older boy grumbled as he hopped into his van. He hoped this would shut Dipper up, but he had no such luck.
"Wait, what?!" Dipper gasped.
Robbie rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to explain the whole thing, especially to this kid.
"Listen, I have no shadow. That's pretty much a huge giveaway that something's not right about me. Plus, how do you think I barely got hurt from being attacked by a stinkin' video game character who threw me onto a metal jungle gym?" He snapped, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I just need this stupid book long enough to figure out what I am, alright?"
Dipper didn't even know how to respond. Pretty much all he knew at the moment was that this week was going to make him rethink absolutely everything.