Dipper POV
After working for a day or two and pretending I was oblivious to Bill's trickery, I was able to formulate a plan. It was as clever as possible, simply find a loophole in whatever Mabel did. She was able to find a sock puppet to inhabit temporarily. We were in Soos's break room, where the body switching carpet used to be.
"Pine- I mean, Dippy! Do- do I call you that?" Mabill said, rushing into the room. He rushed into the room, clutching a backpack, obviously with the books.
"Dipper," I said, "what is it, 'Mabel'?" I asked, as naturally as possible. He cackled.
"I'm going to see Grunk's portal! Be right back!" He laughed. I bit my lip. Wendy got up from the couch. Grunkle Stan cursed gently under his breath. Mabel slowly came out of the closet. Soos munched on some Panther Puffs.
"He's going in. We are, too," I muttered.
. . .
After racing to the gift shop, we saw the vending machine door ajar. The elevator was whipping down. It was a dangerous jump, but we couldn't wait to stop Bill. I grabbed my packed emergency backpack from behind the counter. Soos grabbed his tool-belt and kit, slipping that into a knapsack. Wendy grabbed some batteries, a flashlight and a couple emergency flip-phones.
I quietly leaped across the short length. The lantern was gone, so I grabbed a pipe on the far wall and slowly inched down. Stan stayed up, to make our little disappearance look like a quick visit somewhere else. Soos slid down after me. Wendy followed, latching on by her leather belt, being extra careful. Stan closed the door to the bunker, and we were blanketed in darkness. I continued at the same pace. Soos stopped us, and pulled a flashlight from his belt. Flicking it on, he put it in his belt, facing down, so I could see below me. Nothing but wires and piping. Past that, only darkness. Wendy also turned on a flashlight. We were all bathed in a greenish glow, and we all remained perfectly silent, except for the occasional grunt and squeak from hitting something.
Gears grinded below me. I whipped my head down. I saw the metal rope pulling the elevator moving. Looking up, I could see the top of the shaft, bathed in the yellow light peeking through from behind the vending machine. It was close, no space for one, let alone four humans, at the natural stopping place at the top of the shaft.
"Crud," I muttered. The elevator slowly rolled into sight. I slid down until my feet were firm on it. We were about twenty minutes from uncomfortableness, and thirty from death by squish.
Soos landed. Wendy hopped down at the same time. Clicking on a flashlight each, we all scanned the top for a control panel. Soos checked the walls and the ceiling we were slowly closing in on.
Fifteen minutes.
I saw a small trap door, obviously leading to inside the elevator. It had a padlock with a four-letter word code. I called out. Wendy came to my side, but Soos remained scanning the walls, for an easier route.
Ten minutes to uncomfortableness. Twenty to death.
Surprisingly calm, I pulled the President's key from my pack and jammed it into the lock. Nothing. We need a code. I pulled out my cryptology book.
"Drat," I murmured, "It says here there are 450 thousand words that have four letters, not including names or proper nouns! We don't have that much time!"
Five minutes.
Thinking, I sat back. Wendy began trying words, to no prevail.
Think, Dipper, think! What would Stan put as his code? I wracked my brain. What would a self-centered con-man with no empathy for other human or non-human creatures feelings?
One minute.
Something clicked. With a yelp, I pushed her away. Soos turned. I put in the code. The lock clicked. I felt the ceiling pushing on me.
"Get in! Soos first, because he'll get squished first! Then Wendy, then me. I'm last, I'm the smallest!" I cried, flipping open the little door.
Soos got in with a surprising amount of ease. Wendy followed. My back was being pushed down.b I started to go in. The ceiling forced me onto my stomach, and I had to squirm to the door. My abdomen hung over the edge. Soos and Wendy reached and grabbed my hands, pulling me into the rickety old metal cage.
My legs were stuck, too tight between the ceiling and the elevator. My friends tugged and tugged. My legs began to hurt from the extreme pressure. Grunting, I slid myself forward with all my might, slamming me into the elevator. The trap door closed.
Gasping for breath and groaning, we all sat, tired and uncomfortable. Soos got his act together first and pressed the down button. Slowly getting up, I rubbed my legs and groaned.
"So… What was the code, anyway?" Wendy asked, taking off her flannel and tying it around her waist. Her white tank was a little dirty and torn.
"Think about it- old man who only loves himself and has no empathy whatsoever for other beings- what was the code?" I said. Wendy looked slightly towards the ground, then began to laugh.
"Of course! The code was "STAN"!" She exclaimed. We high-fived, but the elevator ended with a klunk at the bottom. The metal gate slid open with a creak, but we continued to inch forward. Bill stood before the powered portal, debris and other loose things being sucked it.
"Once these journals get sucked in, Pine Tree'll be done for once and for all" He cackled. He went to toss the books.
"Not so fast!" I called, "We've figured out your tricks! You stop now or Mabel will shut it off forever!"
"Not too hasty, Dippy! What about good ol' Grandpa Stanley?" he cackled. I ran forward, but he tossed all three books towards the portal, and they were sucked away. Tackling him to the ground, he squirmed free of my grip and leaped away, unluckily towards the portal. Cackling at first, he realized he was being sucked away. Yelling and grabbing at anything to pull himself down, he was soon spiralling into the depths of the mysterious portal.
"We have to get in!" Wendy yelled over the loud humming of the machine. I nodded. She stealthily leapt forward, dodging flying debris. Soon she was beside me.
Soos scooted behind her, getting hit multiple times by flying objects. He finally reached my side. We linked arms. I could feel Mabel next to me. Breathing heavily, we all leaped. The portal sucked us in.
. . .
I felt myself spreading apart, particle by particle. I still felt myself attached to my friends, but I felt so spread out, like a million little pieces, not one. I spiraled, twisted, flattened, grew, squished, and swirled. I felt the dizziness of nausea and buckled over, but nothing happened. Time seemed to disappear. My eyes and mouth were clenched shut. I realized I hadn't breathed in minutes, but I didn't feel the aching need for oxygen. I tensely began to peel open my eyelids and mouth. I went to take a breath. No air. Nothing filled my mouth but a strange warm sensation. What I saw frightened me.
I saw everything and nothing. When I looked, it all seemed gray, but image flashed in my mind. The past, the future, the present. It was so loud in my brain it felt like it was being displayed before me. Children playing. Bombs crashing. Eyes watching. Lakes drying. Dinosaurs. Aliens. Planets. Rocks. Stars. Black holes. I was seasick and disoriented. Looking to my left, I saw Soos, eyes half closed, wiggling everywhere. My right, Wendy's eyes looked forward fiercely. She panted heavily.
"Soos? Wendy?" I called. The sound didn't seem to travel, but Wendy looked over to me. Soos let go and began to drift. She pulled me in close. The extreme knowledge hurt. The simple affection was consoling and familiar. She had obviously seen what I had seen. Soos was drifting back. His eyes were open and fierce, like Wendy's. I assumed I was like that too. He wrapped his arms around the both of us. I felt like a unit, together as one. A bright light flashed before my eyes, and I felt a firm force beneath me.
We all let go of each other. Wendy rolled onto her back and looked despairingly at the grey sky. I buckled over and puked. Soos was nauseated and disoriented. Looking up, I wiped my face with my arm. It was Gravity Falls… but something was off.
"Where are the people?" Soos whispered. It was gloomy. Then I knew
