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Chapter 3

Trust No One

"Mmm…"

…

"Mmmmmh…"

…

"Mmmh… Mmmmmhhh…"

"Mabel, it's just a tic-tac-toe, they're not asking you to give the answer to life, the universe and everything."

"I know! Let me just think about it a little more - an unappreciated genius is at work here!"

Dipper simply sighed and shrugged his sister's shenanigans off. Let her try to beat the schemes as much as she wanted… he had already tried to do so himself plenty of times along with Tulip, but no one of them had managed to defeat the invisible opponent that filled the squares once they wrote down their own symbol, invariably beating them every time.

He looked around, checking for a second time the contents of the train car they were in… even if there wasn't much to see in the first place. It was a mostly empty carriage, with wooden walls who had endured the test of time, apparently, and a few tables adding to the atmosphere. Tic-tac-toe schemes littered every possible surface available, ready to be tested by the next traveller who dared to challenge them.

Dipper's eyes finally fell on the redhead who had been accompanying him and Mabel up until that moment. Tulip was visibly annoyed, as could be seen by her vexed frown and the way she continued to touch the walls and tables compulsively, looking for a secret switch or whatever element that could help them move forward.

They had managed to solve the riddles of five cars before ending up in the Tic-Tac-Toe one. Mabel and Dipper had been expecting the worst while travelling through the train at first, with the triangle responsible for their presence there in the first place and all, but the tests contained inside the various train cars had proved to be mostly easy for their combined minds. Tulip had simply watched in awe as the twins opened the way for the next car again and again without a hitch: she was shocked by the fact they weren't dazed at all by the strange puzzles they had to solve, but both twins had shrugged it off.

A few words about a couple of their adventures in Gravity Falls did the trick to convince her… if anything, she was now doubting of the mysteries of the town back in Oregon rather than their skills.

"Why won't you give me something to work with? Anything?" Tulip grumbled to herself. Dipper had noticed that the girl had the habit to express her thoughts out-loud, even without directly referring to the funny four-legged robot who was currently waving at him from the girl's backpack.

That was not, however, the only thing he noticed regarding Tulip. He didn't fail to make a mental note of how she had the peculiar habit of giving a glance to her right hand and sighing immediately after. The curiosity was killing him now... he just had to take a little peek…

"Hello!" Glad-One tweeted when he saw Dipper attempting to approach them without being heard. "Did Miss Mabel have some luck with the tic-tac-toes?"

Tulip turned around to look at the kid with her eyes narrowed… and the right hand closed. "Yeah, Dipper, how about that?"

Dipper grinned awkwardly. "I... we, ahem… hehe… she's a little stubborn… but don't worry! We're absolutely on the best track, you have nothing to worry about… especially not about me stalk- I mean, not about us not doing our part, right? Hehe…"

Tulip raised an eyebrow, but she eventually decided to discard questioning the boy. "Right. Keep looking or trying to win those tic-tac-toes or whatever… and do not disturb me!"

"Absolutely, Ma'am!" Dipper immediately answered, but Tulip had already turned around. He wasn't sure whether Tulip was acting grumpy because she was annoyed by them, or simply because of her current distress with the schemes. He couldn't really help making hypothesises… without the journal, his mind simply had to find something else to think about.

Something else was bothering her, apparently. It was probably linked to the two of them, but not as Dipper and Mabel Pines. It had something to do with the fact that they were in the train. Maybe-

"I WON! I WON!" Mabel's yell almost cracked the side windows of the car and made Tulip and Dipper scream in surprise.

"MABEL!" they both called, but Mabel wasn't going to feel dejected right now. "Oh, gimme a break you two. I know we agreed not to startle each other out, but I just beat one of these!"

She looked at the tic-tac-toe scheme she had managed to win and gloated in the glory of victory. "You weren't expecting my secret move, weren't you, huh? In your face, evil tic-tac-toer!"

Right below the solved scheme, the drawing of a sad face appeared. A second later, the latch for the next car was heard opening.

"Well, thank you, Mabel," Tulip said without interest. "Less partying and more moving."

She immediately went for the door without any other words and quickly made her way to the next car. "Miss Tulip, don't you think we could stop for a while? Maybe we could talk a little with our new friends… I'm sure they're nice, and it'd be a shame if-"

"Now, first, they're not our friends," Tulip interrupted coldly. "And second, they are good at solving the puzzles, and that's why we're travelling together. End of the story."

"I sense a little anxiety in those words…" Sad-One remarked.

"Ugh! Okay, I'm not what you'd call cool," Tulip finally confessed. They had already entered the next car and waited right to the side of the door for the twins to tumble over the floor, like they usually did since they still had a little difficulty in handling the outside catwalks.

"I'm… I don't know, it's that there's these two siblings here which are the closest to my own situation that I've ever met here, and I'm still close to nothing about figuring out what's the deal with the train! With this!" She gestured to the infamous bright-green number.

One-One moved a little and his body appeared right on the side of Tulip's head. "Maybe you're just giving it more thought than needed, Miss Tulip. They might simply not be able to help us."

"They are as lost as we are, even if a different way. How could they?" Sad-One added.

"I know. It's… I look at them, and I can only think that it's another way this stupid train is laughing behind my back while keeping me in the dark. I'd probably even have preferred another stunt of the monster, robot… or whatever that was. At least that gave me something-"

"What monster?"

Tulip nearly lost her equilibrium. "Ack!" she yelped as she staggered around. Dipper and Mabel had finally managed to pass the catwalk without throwing themselves inside the next car, and in doing so they had come in without alerting Tulip of their presence.

"Yeah, how about that?" Dipper repeated his sister's words, mimicking Tulip's own words and tone from before. Tulip suddenly felt a hint of nervousness inside her.

He could tell them, she had no reason to continue hiding the little knowledge she hadn't shared with them yet. But, even so… Tulip wasn't sure about it. She had no way to predict how they would react to her happenings in Corginia and the two digits on her palm.

"Uhh… yeah, a monster, those are pretty nasty, and the last one was a nightmare!" Tulip cautiously selected her words. That wasn't a lie, really… well, technically the 'beast', as Atticus called it, was the first ever being she could identify as a 'monster' since the beginning of her travel more than one week before.

She had to add a little effect to her speech, though!

"Well, don't worry! Me and Dipper had to deal with all kinds of magic creatures as well!" Mabel said happily. Her brother remained in silence, studying the redhead as she chuckled, or forced herself to do so. It wasn't clear what she did of the two.

"Hehe… very good… I think I am going to take a look around!" Tulip said quickly before retreating to the other side of the car. This train wagon wasn't much different from the previous one: instead of tables filled with tic-tac-toes, though, this one was devoid of any addition sans for a circular, miniature-kiosk-looking wooden structure in the centre. There were gaps on every side of the octagon, but they were sealed by wooden bars.

Mabel brought a finger to her chin. "Thinking about it, that's the only Gravity Falls feature type we've yet to encounter here. Maybe-"

"Please, quit trying to jinx it and have us attacked by horrendous beings… and listen," Dipper interrupted. "Mabel, something isn't right with Tulip."

"What? She's a little grouchy, that's true, but I'd be grouchy too if I had to talk to nothing but a tiny robot for days! Even if I probably wouldn't, I love that thing!" she said. Just as she said that she waved at One-One, who was peeking from Tulip's backpack away from them. Once the bot saw who was trying to say hi to him, he sank into the fabric and closed himself in…

…only to later reopen it and wave back. "How can you not love it?" Mabel wondered.

Dipper shook his head. "Mabel, think about it. It's been bugging me… she's evasive of any questions concerning her, she seems to be always on the edge whenever we're around, and she keeps looking at her hand! Something's fishy, and if I ever learned something during the last month, it was to not to believe everything you see."

"Maybe she still has to get used to us. Why would she want to hide something to us, anyway?" Mabel asked.

"Bill, Mabel. Don't you forget why we're here," Dipper said.

Mabel found herself unable to argue with that statement. She shuddered at the thought that Bill was probably keeping them under his sight right now, ready to strike at any time. "But… if that's so, then what we can do?"

"We must discover what's going on with her," Dipper whispered, clutching her sister with one arm and using the other to point at Tulip, who was examining the next door. "Starting with understanding what she's so interested in on that palm of hers."

"If you say so…" Mabel said uneasily. She was beginning to get used to the way of things here: solving random puzzles and cuddling a frightened robot once in a while. Yet, she knew that her brother wasn't just being apprehensive… he had a point, and with Bill's involvement they couldn't let their guard down.

Dipper noticed the uncertainty in her tone. "Hey, we got this. Remember, we're still trying to figure out how to get back to the shack. Heck, they might even wake us up any moment now!"

"Are you sure about that?" Stan said. His face was very clear in showing how reluctant he was to trust the handyman's words.

"One-hundred percent sure, Mr. Pines! My grandma has full knowledge of the art of caring and she's always told me: if they sleep long, let them sleep longer!"

"They've been there for three hours now. They never take naps this long, not even after staying up late at night the day before, and I know they did," Stan argued.

"Oh, if I ever learned something from school, it was that biology is the weirdest science of them all!"

"How does that even have to do with the kids, Soos?"

"Well, they are biology machines. But regardless, trust me on this one, Mr. Pines. You did just check them out and they were all well and good, weren't they?"

"I guess…" Stan had to admit it. He was probably imagining things, and the kids were simply tired. He looked through the door of the twins' bedroom, which had been left ajar, and out of their window, glancing at the rising moon. "At this point, we'll wait for them to wake up on their own tomorrow."

"Or maybe not," Mabel replied.

"Yeah, probably not… but still! Remember, we're not doing this out of spite for her... if she's not involved, that is. We must discover why Bill got us here, and whether he's prepared something for us or not, before he shows up himself… and we can't take any chances, Mabel. Understood?"

Mabel nodded. "I still believe she's okay, though…"

"That's what we have to make sure of," Dipper explained. He finally let his sister go and gave a glance around himself. "Now, about this train car, where could-"

"BEHOLD!"

Mabel and Dipper yelped in surprise as the shout was followed right after by the sudden opening of the kiosk in the centre of the car. The wood boards fell down in invisible holes, revealing a cylinder-based shelf completely full of random goods of all types, materials and sizes.

Tulip turned around in surprise as well, just in time to see the obvious responsible of the event springing up from below the ledge.

An old man was looking at her. He owned an absurdly long, grey-coloured beard and a very funny hat who looked all like the one of a powerful wizard. His vest was far different though, being it more linkable to the one of a carnival mask, multiple colours combined to make the most disturbing view possible for the eyes.

"The Riddle Custody! Ran by the one and only, the Riddle-Maker!" the apparent shopkeeper uttered. "We sell mysteries, questions and tests for your average adventurer for terrific prices! Come now and make use of the sales, only for a limited time!"

Tulip didn't seem to be too much surprised by the weird appearance of the old man. She leaned sideward a little to check Dipper and Mabel out, and found out they were staring wide eyed at the shopkeeper.

"Oh, right, they didn't know the cars could be inhabited," she stated, not really talking to anyone.

"Oooh, a souvenir store! Maybe we can buy some presents for the twins!" Glad-One proposed.

"I'm sure they'd love a present that will make them remember of this beautiful experience…" Sad-One muttered sarcastically.

"For once, I agree with you… one of your halves, at least," Tulip said. She walked over to the shelf and rested her arms on the wood as the shopkeeper immediately rushed to serve her. "My, what a nice Miss I see here! How can I help you?"

"Sorry, Mister," Tulip cut it short. "We really don't have something to pay you, and even if we had, we're just passing by. Would you perhaps know the way to unlock the door for the next train car?"

"Would I? Maybe… maybe…" the Riddle-Maker said to himself, scratching his wrinkled chin.

"Let me guess… a riddle?" Tulip said, unimpressed.

"Oh, a fresh mind I see!" the old man seemed amused. "Let me talk at once, or you might find yourself pounced!"

"And the horrendous trail of non-existent rhymes starts. Boy, am I thrilled…" Tulip groaned and prepared herself for the approaching riddle.

She didn't have the chance to hear out the Riddle-Maker, though, as someone broke into their conversation.

"Uuh… pardon?"

Tulip brought a hand to her front. "Not now, Dipper!" she said with annoyance, "Let me talk with him!"

Dipper and Mabel stood at the other side of the kiosk. Their slightly shorter height compared to Tulip made it a little difficult for them to look over the counter, but that wasn't going to stop Dipper from talking. "We want to talk with him, too!" he retorted. "We need to know, Sir, if you know anything about interdimensional travel or if you've ever seen floating… triangles... uuh…"

The Riddle-Maker had waited five seconds once hearing first the voice of Dipper, after which he had bolted to the twins. He was not leaning over the counter, looking at them with his eyes like a policeman would have done to a thief caught red-handed.

"What are you doing here?" the Riddle-Maker said, his tone completely different now… full of hostility.

"Uh-what? How about you tell us why?" Dipper replied. "We've been trying to-"

"You're not allowed to leave your car. Did you forget about that?!"

"No, no, hold it for a sec. There's a little misunderstanding here, we-"

"You have no idea what you've put yourself into, brats! No model, no pass through! Turn back and return to your car!"

The Riddle-Maker was basically shouting know. He literally jumped over the counter, with Mabel and Dipper walking back, both scared by his reaction and holding each other's hands for comfort. "Return to your car!"

"STOP THIS INSTANT!"

Tulip marched in between the Riddle-Maker and the twins, One-One peeking from behind her. "What's the deal with all of this, 'Riddle-Maker'? What's with this permission to leave cars, with this 'model' you've just referenced?" she questioned.

The old man narrowed his eyes, he wasn't clearly going to return to his friendlier demeanour. "Questions are not something that will bring you forward in your quest, young lady."

"Questions are what I need an answer for! You're literally the first guy I end up meeting in one of the cars who seems to know a bit more than the rest about this train!"

"All you have to know, traveller, is that you must keep on… without the runawayshere," the geezer said, glaring at the twins who were huddled behind Tulip.

"Runaways? What in the name of…" Tulip was exasperated. "They're with me, okay? They're travellers just like me… what do them have that I do not?"

The Riddle-Maker made a step back and looked Tulip up and down. He tilted his head as he looked at One-One, who simply waved friendlily and obliviously to the tension, and he fired a last icy glare to the Pines. Then, he closed his eyes and looked down, all while the door for the next car was unlocked.

"Go," he simply said.

"Huh?"

"I said go… and don't try to return here," the Riddle-Maker repeated. Tulip scowled but she moved forward, passing him without deigning him of a last look. "Dipper, Mabel, come on, let's get moving."

The twins scurried behind her, making sure to keep their distance from the old man. The Riddle-Maker stood where he was, immobile, and he continued to do so even after the three of them let the door close itself.

"Geez… who the heck was that guy?" Dipper asked.

"An inhabitant of these train cars. There are more of them around the train… talking animals included. But this… I never saw anyone have such a behaviour before… he didn't like seeing you two at all."

"We did nothing wrong!" Mabel protested.

"It might not be something you've done willingly that angered him," Tulip mused. "One-One, he said something about a 'model' as thoughts?"

"My mind is as free as the free ocean!" Glad-One replied.

"If he ever was referring to us, Miss Tulip, that still wouldn't be something we could know for sure," Sad-One specified.

"Ugh, how surprising," she said, finally deciding to walk through the catwalk to open the successive door. "He was definitely hiding something, though…"

She turned her head for a moment, glancing at Dipper and Mabel, who now were a little less bold in their behaviour.

And I don't think I'm going to like it once we discover what it was.

Bill didn't like how the current state of events was evolving.

He was surprised to see Glowing Number at first. He had checked this dimension more than one time and, apart from the weird occupants of a few cars, he believed the train as a whole to be devoid of passengers. He, then, had decided to let her interact with the twins and see how it would play out.

He didn't like how Pine Tree and Shooting Star had somehow managed to stick to the traveller and the bot she carried with her. He didn't like how they solved the various tests waiting for them in the cars with ease, which he expected to be much more challenging for the two of them.

And he, most notably, didn't like how she was now helping them deal with the problems that arose from their very presence in the train.

The floating triangle was just a moment away from deciding to intervene himself when he noticed a change. His lone eye scanned quickly the dimension for the source of the disturbance, and in a few instants, he found what had caused it.

If he had had a mouth, he would have smiled.

AN: This chapter was cut a little, because I don't really want to add filler segments just to write longer chapters. Compared to most of my stories the plot is progressing a little slower than I'd have thought, I have to admit, but from the next chapter onwards things are going to get a bit more interesting and action-oriented. Stay tuned!