"And no matter how hard I try,
I can't escape these things inside.
I know. (I know…)
When all the pieces fall apart,
you will be the only one who knows. (who knows…)"
"Let Me Go," by Three Doors Down
Chapter 9 – The True Reality
Unlike their past travels, Wendy and Dipper were not greeted with a blinding light as they flew through the portal.
Instead, they faced an eternal darkness; complete and infinite black without any light or sound. The only thing that they could sense was that they were still in each other's arms.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed before their eyes. And then another. Shortly after, both teens began to hear a warped mumbling fighting its way through the dusk. As time passed, the muttering began clearer and louder. Finally, actual words came into reality:
"NO, LEAVE THEM ALONE! THEY LOOK 'A-DOR-A-BLE!' HEY-"
A huge, ear-shattering *THUD* exploded throughout the dark. With that, Wendy and Dipper's eyes shot open.
They were greeted with a fuzzy outlook of the world in front of them. As they regained focus, the adolescents could make out dim lights hanging overhead. They turned to see row upon row of arcade cabinets encircling them. In shock, they looked at each other, an arm still wrapped around one another, sitting on the older picnic table in the center of the room. Huge smiles started to grow across their faces.
"Dipper…" Wendy whispered, her emerald eyes shining down brightly at her younger companion.
"Wendy…" Dipper returned, his grin widening upon seeing Wendy's dimpled, freckled smirk.
"WE'RE HOME!" the two teens cheered loudly. They embraced one another and laughed out loud!
"We did it!" Wendy exclaimed, looking down at "her little hero." Her face lit up upon another realization, "…and you're back to normal!"
Dipper looked around his figure to see that his trademark pine cap, as well as his vest, orange tee, and short pants had returned. He glanced up at his not-so-secret crush and seen that the pink "princess" outfit that the last gaming world had outfitted her with was gone as well.
"You, too!" Dipper pointed. "Although…"
He ran a finger quickly through the front side of Wendy's thick, flowing red hair. "…I will admit; I will miss those cute braids you had…"
Wendy blushed at Dipper's compliment, playfully slapping the teen's hand away. "Shaddup, you little dork…"
Both teens continued to giggle excessively, until they were interrupted by a familiar voice,
"Uh, EXCUSE ME! WHAT exactly is going on HERE?!"
The celebrating teens turned to see the annoyed face of the goth, Robbie V, his fist resting against the wooden table.
"ROBBIE!" Wendy shrieked, fearfully jumping back. Dipper stood valiantly in front of his lanky teenage crush.
"WHOA! What's with you two?" He pointed at Dipper, "And YOU! Just WHAT did you think YOU were doing with MY GIRL?"
Wendy reached over Dipper and swatted the older teen's hand away from Dipper's face,
"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Wendy returned with a pointed finger of her own, "You've got a LOT of nerve, especially after everything you've done!" Dipper nodded along (happily) with Wendy's protest.
The expression on Robbie's face swiftly changed from angry to confused. He raised his hands up, "Babe, what are you talking about? Look, I'm sorry for being away, but I needed to help my "gram" out for a few days…"
Wendy raised her brow, "What?"
"Y'know. My gram lives on the mountainside, just right outside of town. I didn't call 'cause you can't get any reception out there…"
Wendy looked down at the little teen by her side, staring at his gothic nemesis, staying on guard for her sake.
"Robbie…" she questioned. "You have no memory, at all, of what happened with Dipper?"
"What about him?!" he challenged. "I haven't seen the kid in about a week!"
Growing doubts began to swirl in Wendy's mind. To her, something wasn't adding up. Dipper, however, stood defiantly against his rival's claims. He remembered the pain and worry that Robbie caused him in the gaming world. There was NO way it wasn't real.
"If that's true, show Wendy your phone. Even if you couldn't get through, it would still have the calls on record."
Robbie let out a "PBBFF." "As if I have it with me right now. Like I said, I have been away from civilization for a few days. It's at home charging…"
All of a sudden, Robbie's persona changed back to one of anger and outrage.
"Hey, wait a second. Why am I explaining myself to YOU?!" Robbie once more pointed straight at Dipper. "I don't have to show you or anyone else anything!" He leaned closer to the newly christened thirteen year-old. "All I know is that I walk into this place, and the first thing I see is you snuggling with my girlfriend!"
Wendy tried to object, "Now, wait a minute…"
Robbie cracked his knuckles. "What exactly should we do about that?!
Dipper hopped onto the table's end, bringing himself face to face with his gothic nemesis,
"Dipper, don't!" pleaded Wendy. He could feel her tiny hand being placed on his shoulder.
As the two adversaries stared each other down, another acquainted voice broken through the tension,
"Wait, Dipper! "
Dipper looked past Robbie to see his equally-pint-sized twin sister, Mabel frowning at him, holding a plate containing a crushed chocolate cake. His crushed chocolate birthday cake! The same one that Wendy painstakingly crafted just for him, despite her lack of culinary skills. He sighed to himself, "I didn't even get a chance to taste it…"
"He's right about one thing, Dipper…" Mabel reassured, her braces lightly reflecting off the dank lighting. "When we found you guys, you both were sound asleep on the bench, wrapped in each other's arms! Her dark brown eyes began to beam, "IT WAS SOOOOOO CUTE!"
Robbie yelled down at the preppy teen, "Cute nothing!" He turned back to Dipper and Wendy. "How about instead of grilling me with all these questions, you answer a few. What happened here?"
As Dipper was beginning to explain, Wendy spoke up, "This was supposed to be a surprise party for Dipper's birthday…"
"Oh! Well, in that case…"
Robbie delivered a hard blow to Dipper's shoulder, nearly knocking him off the bench, "Happy Birthday, junior!"
Infuriated, Wendy raised a fist to retaliate, when Robbie pointed out, holding his hands up in defense. "Hey, I was within my legal rights. You can't hold 'Birthday Punches' against me"
Wendy raised her finger, ready to object, when she quickly lowered it. He did have a loophole.
"Wait!" Robbie noted. "That means, it's also…"
He looked down at the teenage girl next to him. Mabel held the ruined cake in one hand, using the free one to point at her bright purple sweater. The words, "BIRTHDAY GRRL!" were written in silver glitter.
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!" Wendy admitted. "Happy Birthday, short stuff!"
Mabel flashed a metal-filled grin. "Thanks." She hinted at the teenager with a wink, "Did everything go as planned?"
"Yep…" Wendy prided, using her thumb to raise her hat from her brow. She returned the wink. "Pretty much; at least until…"
Wendy stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed the object that Mabel carried in her arms.
"Hey, wait…is that? Dipper's cake!" Wendy became livid! "Who wrecked that cake?!"
Mabel pointed at Robbie, "You can thank "genius" here for that!" She turned to Dipper.
"I wasn't trying to be nosy or anything, but I wanted to see how everything was coming. I didn't hear from either of you, so I figured that things were going smoothly..." Mabel explained in a suave voice, moving her hand along in a straight line. Wendy giggled silently at the silliness of the slightly older Pines twin. Mabel continued on,
"I bumped into Robbie on the way here. He asked me if I had seen Wendy. I fibbed and came straight here…" She glared at the taller teenager next to her. "I didn't know that I was being followed…"
Robbie shot back, "Well, sorry, kid. It's not my fault you're a horrible liar. I figured that one freak usually leads to another, and with that freak, I'd eventually find Wendy."
Mabel pointed up at the mocking teenager, "Shut your pie hole!" Mabel turned back to Dipper and Wendy, and resumed her normally-sweet voice,
"Anyways, I found you two adorably fast asleep together…"
Dipper looked behind him to see Wendy's eyes beaming straight at him, making him smile a tiny bit.
"…and I figured that you guys just tired yourselves out. That's when Robbie came. He started banging on the table to wake you up. I told him to leave you alone, but he didn't listen! Eventually, his banging knocked over this guy…"
Mabel lifted the cake sightly, to indicate to what she was speaking of.
"It's okay though! I caught it on the first bounce!"
Robbie looked up from Mabel to look Wendy in the eye, shrugging his shoulders.
"So what?! It's just a cake!"
Almost immediately, Wendy gave a swift blow to Robbie's shoulder, making the gothic teenager cry out in anguish. Dipper had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud.
"You jerk!" Wendy chastised. "Do you know how long it took me to make that thing for Dipper? Or how many times I had to start over?
Robbie whispered under his breath, "Not my fault you're a terrible cook…"
Mabel and Dipper gasped (he from under covered mouth) while Wendy raised her eyebrow (and fist) to Robbie, "What was that?"
He scrambled to save himself, "Uh…I was saying that the reason I came to find you was that Nate and the rest of the guys were "un-grounded" today. I actually have a show later today, and figured that we can all hang out. After all, I need "my girl" in the front row for good luck…"
Robbie reached out for Wendy's hand, "Let's get out of here. What do you say?"
Wendy bit her lip. She was starting to have her doubts. She remembered perfectly what had just happened with Dipper; of what crazy worlds they had experienced, and more importantly, how Dipper and herself grew much closer. Then again, Wendy just had two people tell her that she and her young cohort had not traveled through time and space, but somehow simply managed to simply drift safely into slumber.
She glanced towards Robbie's outstretched hand and quickly looked down at her own hand placed on Dipper's shoulder. Her emerald green eyes met his sadden brown ones. Slowly, Wendy removed her hand from Dipper, and started to head forward. She was stopped abruptly by Dipper, tightly clutching the hand that had just left him.
"Wait…" he whispered to her. "My Wendy…wait, please…"
Wendy turned back towards Dipper, returning his melancholy look. "Dipper…what if they're right? What if it was all a dream?"
Robbie and Mabel looked at the two whispering teenagers, and then at each other in total confusion, as if they were being left out of some sort of inside joke.
"No way!" Dipper argued. "I mean, let's check the security tapes. Surely, one of them had to capture everything that went down!"
Robbie scoffed at the small teen's claim. "Like this place could afford a camera system. Look around, kid! This place is lucky enough to get new games in, yet alone a closed circuit."
Dipper raised his head. Robbie was right! There wasn't a single camera extending from the ceiling.
"Oh…well…" Dipper turned to Wendy once more. "What about the contest we had earlier? All of the high scores you and I set? If we dreamt everything, then they wouldn't be there, right?"
"Uh…Dipper?" Mabel stammered, pointing to the cabinets behind him. Dipper and Wendy spun to see that every arcade game had a blank screen. It appeared as if all the games had lost power somehow. Dipper thought to himself, "It must have happened when Rumble took over the Arcade right after Wendy's abduction." A moment later, the fact struck Dipper harder upon a realization. With the power drained from the machines, all of the high scores were erased. All of the memories created that day through his and Wendy's competitive and somewhat flirtatious rivalry were now lost forever. Furthermore, another piece of evidence had once again slipped through his fingers.
Dipper stuttered, trying to come up with something (anything) that he could use to prove his claims.
"But he…I mean…wait a minute, just…"
Dipper was silenced as he felt Wendy squeeze his hand. He looked deep in the redhead's bright green eyes.
"Dipper, do you trust me?"
Dipper turned his head, sighed, and returned to look Wendy in the face. He gave her the same answer she had given him upon being asked the same thing earlier:
"I think you already know the answer to that…"
She offered a dimpled-filled smile at the worried boy,
"Then, trust me, okay?" Dipper felt the girl squeeze his hand even tighter. "Everything will be alright…"
"C'mon, Wendy, girl! We're gonna be late!"
A huge frown spread across Dipper's face as he felt Wendy's hand wiggle free from his. He watched in disbelief as Wendy accepted the gothic hand extended out to her. As Wendy was pulled towards, Dipper noticed that Robbie's attention was not on the tall ginger heading by his side, but on Dipper himself. As the two rivals stared each other down once more, Robbie mouthed a message to Dipper, just right outside of Wendy's point of view:
"Until next time, kid…next time."
Dipper narrowed his eyes at the threatening goth. He thought to himself, "He's lying…he knows exactly what happened. I can't prove it, but deep down, I know…"
Robbie put an arm around Wendy, and together, the two teens began to head out. Biting his lip, Dipper called out one last time,
"Wendy?"
The girl stopped in her tracks and glanced towards the beckoning adolescent, still standing on the table.
"Thank you…for today. The birthday surprise; the cake; just everything…"
Wendy grinned at the obviously troubled boy and gave a quick wink, "Anytime, Dip. Hey, maybe next year, we'll get you guys out here in time for my birthday. Then, we'll see what kinds of trouble we can get into…"
Dipper looked down, his heart growing heavier, yet not wanting to beat around the bush, "Wendy, you won't forget everything we talked about, right? After all…"
Dipper looked up with open eyes to see that Wendy had disappeared with Robbie before he finished his sentence.
"…you promised…" the boy sighed to himself.
Defeated, Dipper hopped off the table, only to be greeted by a silent, yet bugged-eye twin sister. He looked at her, somewhat annoyed,
"WHAT?!"
The other newly-christen teen placed her hands on her brother's shoulders and shook him gently,
"WHAT! JUST! HAPPENED?!"
Dipper sighed, and sat down on the table bench. Without looking up, he began to recall the entire tale to his twin, from Wendy and him vying each other for top scores at the Arcade, to her being snatched by Rumble McSkirmish, to his own adventures in various game worlds, to their reunion (and the promises made to one another), until the finale where they teamed up to vanquish their most dangerous foe.
Dipper heaved after telling his incredible tale. He looked up to see that Mabel stayed as she was previously: bright-eyed with a big, goofy grin on her face. She gently set the half-ruined cake on the table, and proceeded to slap her brother on the back, nearly knocking him off his seat!
"YEAH, DIPPER!" she cheered. Mabel crossed her arms, and threw her head back laughing. "My plan worked out way better than I thought!"
She looked down to see her twin still down in the dumps, his head remaining lowered.
"But, Mabel, it wasn't real. I mean, Wendy believes that it was all just a dream…"
He jumped off the bench and began to nervously pace. Mabel's eyes followed her nerve-wrecked sibling. He twirled around with arms open,
"I just don't get it, Mabel! It felt so real! Every scratch, scrape, and blow!"
Dipper's thoughts quickly shifted to those moments when he grew closer to Wendy. He continued to explain, closing his eyes, "I could sense the warmth from every hug…every kiss…"
Dipper could hear a giant gasp coming from behind him. He looked to see Mabel with her tiny hands pressed against her puffy cheeks. He thought to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that last part aloud…"
Unable to keep it in any longer, the tiny pistol finally exploded!
"O! M! G! You two…actually kissed?!"
Mabel let out a happy squeal, and began to dance around the room, cheering her slightly younger brother's name. She quickly ran back to Dipper's front, exclaiming, "I can't believe it!"
Wendy's words came back to haunt Dipper, "Yeah, actually, Wendy may have said something along those lines…"
"What's that, Dipper?"
"Umm…never mind…but still, Mabel, no one thinks it was real…except for me…"
As Dipper groaned, lowering his head, his twin placed a compassionate hand on his shoulder.
"I believe you, Dipper…"
A small smile began to show on his disturbed face. Mabel continued, "Besides, stranger things have happened in this town!"
Dipper exhaled, once again, at the semi-supportive answer, "Thanks, Mabel."
A thought crossed Mabel's mind. She put her tiny hand up to her chin. Suddenly, lighting struck the hyper-active teen. She raced over to her brother's side.
"You know, Dipper. Your story reminds me of something I read in your journal; that big book with the number three on it?"
Dipper lowered his eyes, "I thought I said to NOT to mess with the book?!"
Mabel waved away at her brother's worry, "Oh, you say a LOT of things!"
The young girl was oblivious to her brother staring daggers at her.
"Anyways," Mabel started again, "I remember seeing a section about dreams…"
Dipper's ears began to perk up a bit.
"…it said that some cultures believe that the dreamscape IS the real world, or as they put it, "the true reality…"
Dipper was intrigued. "True reality?" he questioned.
"Oh, yeah!" Mabel went onwards. "They say that this world, the awaking world, is really the sphere of illusions; of false hopes and lost imaginings…"
All of a sudden, a beep came from behind Mabel, interrupting her theory.
"Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It's finished! It's finished!"
"What is, Mabel?"
Without answering, Mabel pulled out her instant camera, and waited as a picture slid out the bottom. She carefully grabbed the photo from the bottom and began to shake it repeatedly. After a few seconds, Mabel flipped the photograph around, its image bringing a blushed smile to her face.
With tremendous energy, Mabel sprinted over to her depressed twin. She held the snapshot under his hanged head, and with hidden glee, watched as life returned to the boy's face.
The photo Mabel flaunted was that of Dipper and Wendy. Sitting slumbering on the wooden bench, the two unconscious teenagers were posed leaning against one another, the edges of their trademark hats touching slightly. A thin, yet calm smile graced each of their blushing faces. Wendy, towering over her admirer, wrapped her arm behind the shorten teen to which he had done the same. It was as if Wendy was looking over her partner in crime; protecting him. Dipper's head rested itself against Wendy's shoulder blade, looking up with closed eyes in admiration at the girl he held dear to his heart. The scene portrayed was amazingly peaceful, with a sense of serenity to it. To Dipper, it was perfect.
"Oh…Mabel…"
Dipper had to fight to stop his eyes from watering. He didn't want to cry in front of Mabel; she would NEVER let him live it down.
Readied, he looked up at his sister with grateful eyes, "Thank you so much…"
Once more, Mabel shooed away his wild emotions. She pointed to the picture,
"I think, Dipper, for whatever happened to you guys today, it was completely real. It may not be considered "real" here and now, but in some reality out there, everything did happen the way you said it did. You and Wendy did grow closer…"
She raised the image once more, "THIS is your proof, Dipper! That it did happen somewhere, and maybe can STILL happen even here!"
Dipper reached for the photo, "Mabel, I'll treasure this always…" only to have it yanked out of his reach. Mabel skipped away, clutching the precious valuable. "Nuh-uh! This isn't for you…"
Dipper gave a confused look to his twin sister.
"Remember, silly?" she taunted. "Make every moment a "scrapbookortunity!" This little gem will go nicely next to the infamous pic of you and Mermando!"
The heartbroken boy stared with empty eyes at his sister. Truly, Mabel couldn't be that cruel? Could she?
Suddenly, another beep came out of Mabel's camera. For the second time, she collected the ejected print and waved it until it the imagery became solid. Mabel ran towards her downtrodden twin.
"Now, this, dear brother, is yours!"
Mabel carefully handed Dipper a copy of the same photo she had paraded in front of him only moments ago. Still in awe, Dipper took the memento without a second thought. He looked up at his grinning sister. Suddenly, a memory echoed through Dipper's mind. The two flashes that awakened both he and Wendy from the infinite blackness; it was Mabel all along, trying to preserve the precious sight before her eyes!
"Thanks again, Mabel…"
She displayed a proud thumbs-up, "Anytime, "Broseph."
Dipper rushed up and gave his sister a tight hug. She questioned him, "Awkward sibling hug?"
"Nope…" Dipper replied. "Just a regular one…"
"Happy B-Day, Dipper…"
"Happy Birthday, Mabel…"
He looked back up at his twin, and was quickly reminded of her own personal take on this day.
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot! Happy "Us" Day!"
She responded with a bright, metal-braced smile.
Dipper began to lead his sister towards the exit. "C'mon, Mabel! Let's get outta here! Besides, I have your gift waiting at home."
"REALLY?!" the girl leapt into the air with joy. "WHAT IS IT?!"
"Nope…" teased Dipper. "You're just going to have to wait…"
"Spoil-sport…" whined the elder twin.
With that, Dipper reached over to the wooden table and picked up the remnants of his fallen birthday cake. He carefully ran a finger through the frosting and stuck it in his mouth.
"Hmmm…" Dipper smiled. "Wendy DID do an excellent job on the cake. I'll have to let her know the next time I see her…whenever that is…
Dipper looked once more at the table where he and Wendy were found. He pondered Mabel's theory about his experiences. Suddenly, a quote from the famed Sci-Fi writer, Philip K. Dick, sprung into his mind:
"When two people dream the same dream, it ceases to be an illusion."
"Perhaps…" he pondered to himself. "Perhaps, Mabel is right. Maybe things will work out after all…"
Carrying the cake, Dipper walked side by side with Mabel. As they reached the exit, Dipper turned around to look at the surroundings one last time. He sighed to himself with a hope in his heart: "If anything could be (should be) considered to be true among any reality, may it be Wendy's pledge of being my one-and-only "gal pal."" Hopefully, she thought the same way, as Dipper remembered her offered reassurance of "Trust me…"
He heaved a heavy sigh, turned towards the smiling, braced teen awaiting him, and together, they finally exited the dank establishment.
"If only…"
Moments later, the pitter-patter of little feet could be heard resonating through the empty Arcade. Carrying a six pack of "Diet Pitt Peach Soda," Mabel Pines explored the abandoned hallways, looking for a particular arcade cabinet. A few moments later, she found the game she was seeking.
Mabel stood before the arcade unit labeled "Fight Fighters." She remembered the trouble that specific game had caused her family and friends. She thought to herself, "THIS ends here!"
She shook the soda cans in her hand violently. Standing on her tippy-toes, Mabel quickly popped the tops of the cans and watched in quiet awe as the contents splashed onto the machine! She jumped back as the machine began to emit electric sparks until suddenly, all that remained was a steaming mess, dripping with sticky peach flavored beverage.
"WHOP!" Mabel exclaimed loudly. "And that's the end of that chapter!"
Gleefully, Mabel took off like a bullet towards the exit. She stopped momentarily to throw her empty cans into the garbage pail at the Arcade's entrance. As Mabel walked out the building, towards her twin brother waiting outside (and curiously questioning her actions), she turned back and laughed,
"HA! Let's see him come back now!"
With that, the thirteen year-old skipped her way outside, the only thought left on her mind was what surprise Dipper had planned for her at the Mystery Shack…
Well, that's the end. Hope you guys and gals had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.
Thank you for all of the great reviews and support this last month and a half (especially those on FF; for some reason, not a lot of people liked the story on DA). However, I'm not done yet…and for this, I need your help.
I get a lot of questions asking about the various references and inspirations I used for the story. For this, I wish, within two weeks' time, to create a form of appendix, to provide a mind's eye view for each section.
Where do you come in? Have a question/complaint/compliment/etc about a certain part? Please, shoot me a comment in a review or PM or even on DeviantArt, and I'll try my best to answer it in said appendix. Want to ask a question for each chapter? Go on ahead…
Thanks again for reading through, and I look forward to your comments.
Until next time…
