Chapter 10: Versus Mabel Revisited I
'Gideon and Mabel have escaped Catherine's wrath and are now face to face with the evil clone! What will happen now?'
Previously
Seeing her evil double, Mabel narrows her eyes angrily at the girl.
"Catherine!" Mabel growls. "You've got some nerve showing your face around here after the trouble you caused!"
"Well, it's good to see you too dear sister!" Catherine snidely greets. "I'll admit I didn't think I'd see you alive again, but it's good that you are because I want the satisfaction of destroying you myself!"
"Back off Catherine!" Dipper sternly says to the clone as he steps in front of Mabel. "You've done enough damage! You are not coming anywhere near Mabel!"
"No Dipper, this is my fight and it's about time we settled this for good!" Mabel says, coming from behind her twin. "If it's a standoff, she wants, it's a standoff she gets!"
"I'm happy to hear you say that!" Catherine says rubbing her hands together. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"
Currently
A daggers of death staring contest has begun between the two girls and if looks could kill, it would be an equal KO!
"I'm taking you down Catherine!" Mabel hisses, continuing to stare daggers at Catherine. "Your reign of terror ends today!"
"There is one problem with that dear sister!" Catherine replies, her tone of voice equally full of hatred as the classic version. "My power outweighs you by one million. One hit from me you'll be right where your uncle is, but to level the playing field, I'll refrain from using my power to destroy you considering how much weaker than me you are!"
"What did you do to Stan?!" Mabel demands an answer.
"As much as I would like you ruin that surprise, you'll find out soon enough!" Catherine replies with a smirk. "When you join him!"
"Catherine, I order you to halt!" Gideon speaks up, now jumping in front of Mabel, his body blocking her from Catherine's view. "Don't you dare hurt her! It's not Mabel you want, it's me!"
"Oh yes, the habitual liar!" Catherine replies, a twisted smile appearing. "Just how long did you think you can keep up your lie? Didn't you think I would find out eventually? When I heard everything you said to her, do you not know how badly I was hurt by that?! I believed you and I trusted you! I felt my heart RIP when I found out everything you told me was a complete lie! But since you are anxious for me to put an end to you, once I am done with her, you're next! In the meantime, let me give you a little taste of what is to come!"
Catherine's eyes now glow an emerald as she points her left palm in Gideon's direction. His puffy snow white hair now changes to numerous snakes, that which resembles mythological medusa's hair. Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy take notice and begins backing away from him. Not feeling the 'taste' that Catherine promised, the southerner smirks.
"You know, to be this all powerful being, you certainly are full of hot air!" Gideon snaps to the copy. "All of you Pines are all the same!"
"Um, I believe she's anything but that Gideon!" Mabel manages to speak as the boy turns to her.
"What do you mean dumpling?" Gideon asks.
His question is soon answered by one of his hair snakes biting him on the ear, causing him to yelp in pain. Reaching to the top of his head, he now feels what Catherine has done.
"My Hair!" Gideon screams, anther snake now biting him on the wrist. "What have you done to my perfect hair?!"
"Awe, that's nasty." Wendy mumbles to herself.
Another snake bites him on the neck, which causes the boy to run far from the group, fall to the ground, and roll around as if he is trying to put out a fire.
"You will pay for this!" Gideon screams as he continues rolling around on the ground.
"Now that that pest has been taken care of, it's time you and I settled this!" Catherine says, now turning her attention back to Mabel. "I've been looking forward to this for a while now and nothing is going to stand in my way of finally destroying you and becoming the real Mabel Pines!"
"The feeling is more than mutual!" Mabel sneers, balling up her hands into fists. "And there is only one Mabel Pines in this town and that is me!
Now lunging towards the clone, Mabel swings her right fist towards Catherine. Narrowly dodging the punch, Catherine grabs her wrist with both girls vanishing from the area. Dipper and Wendy begins frantically looking around the area to find where the girls might have gone.
"Ok, where did they go?" Dipper asks as he continues looking around for them. Turning around, Wendy now spots the two girls on the ledge of the water tower that can be seen from the shack.
"Found them!" Wendy announces, now pointing in the direction where the girls are fighting. Dipper now turns in the direction where Wendy is pointing and gasps.
"Is Catherine insane?" Dipper screams. "Mabel can get hurt up there! Mabel, call off the fight and get down before you get seriously injured! This isn't worth it! We can find another way to destroy Catherine! Just get down from there!"
Despite her brother calling out to her, the girl doesn't hear him as the fight between her and Catherine rages on. Dodging a punch from Catherine, Mabel kneels and trips the girl with the copy landing on her back. Seeing an opportunity for dominance, Mabel lands onto top of Catherine so her body is weighing heavily on the clone's.
"This is for my torment with Gideon!" Mabel screams punching Catherine with her right hook.
"This is for pretending to be me and hurting my brother!" Mabel screams once more, punching Catherine with her left hook. "And this is for-"
Mabel's sentence is abruptly cut off by Catherine kicking her in the gut with her right heeled foot, knocking the girl on her back onto the tower's ledge. Getting to her feet, Catherine touches the corner of her mouth and can feel it is moist. Bringing her hand into her view, she notices that there is black ink on her hand.
"You little witch!" Catherine hisses, narrowing her emerald eyes at the classic version. "Look what you did to me!"
Getting to her feet, Mabel lunges at the clone and upon contact, knocks her back down on the ledge once more.
"You'll have more than a busted lip when I'm done with you!" Mabel shouts, socking Catherine with a left hook once more.
"That's it! I've been far too lenient with you!" Catherine sneers, now pushing Mabel off of her. "This ends now!"
Using her newly found power combined with the amulet's power, Catherine summons objects from the ground, the garden sheers she used to chase her and Gideon back to the shack and a crow bar. Grabbing the crow bar, Catherine swings it in Mabel's direction with Mabel dodging it and grabbing the end of it.
"So the all mighty Catherine has to resort to weapons to fight her battles?" Mabel taunts. "I thought you were better than that!"
"Why don't you turn around and find out!" Catherine advises.
Turning around behind her, Mabel notices the garden sheers rapidly coming in her direction as they open and close. Dodging them just in time, the sheers fly over her head with Catherine also dodging the sheers. Standing back up, Mabel is met with a punch in the jaw by Catherine's left hook and knocked back to the ledge. Just as she is about to get up, Catherine slams her heeled foot down on Mabel's chest.
"Now what were you saying about me resorting to weapons to fight my battles?" Catherine evilly grins as she adds pressure to Mabel's chest with her foot, causing the girl to flinch in pain. "What's the matter Mabel? Cat got your tongue?"
Summoning what strength she can muster, Mabel grabs Catherine's foot and pushes the girl off of her, making the clone loose her grip on the crow bar as it falls below them. Getting to her knees, Mabel grips her chest as she turns to Catherine.
"I just want to know one thing." Mabel begins as she pants heavily. "Why are you doing this? Why did you side with Gideon and try to replace me? Why are you so angry with me? I treated you just like a real sister should when I created you!"
"For starters, you destroyed me!" Catherine replies.
"Because you tried to kill me!" Mabel yells, now getting to her feet despite the pain surging through her chest. "And behind that, you sent my brother to the hospital! Who wouldn't kill you for that?!"
"And you don't deserve to be the real Mabel Pines!" Catherine screams. "The world would be better off without you! I know I will make a way better Mabel than you!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" Mabel asks, her frustration reaching its breaking point. "You are me! You have my voice, my hair, my entire….me! You can't make a better me! It's impossible!"
"Well for the time I did take your place, I did enjoy living your life." Catherine admits. "Despite your tacky clothes and that horrible lumpy mattress. How can you sleep on that thing night after night?"
"My uncle isn't the most accommodating person on the planet." Mabel agrees. "I've been asking for a replacement for the longest time, but you know how he is."
"Tell me about it." Catherine nods. "Oh I almost forgot him. You did ask me what happened to that loud mouth uncle of yours and let me just say, I took the pleasure of silencing him! How dare he bark orders at me like I am his lap dog! No one tells Catherine what to do and gets away with it!"
Feeling her anger returning and quickly reaching its boiling point, a growl escapes from Mabel's throat.
"And not just your uncle, I had to put your brother in his place because he got too nosy for his own good!" Catherine reveals, her twisted smile returning. "But do you want to know the fun part about all of this? They all saw their sweet and lovable Mabel Pines turn against them and was none the wiser about who was really behind it all! Consider your reputation flushed down the drain! I consider it some of my best work!"
If a temper can be measured on a thermometer, the tip would have exploded with as much anger as Mabel is experiencing! Without blinking, Mabel leaps from her area on the ledge and lunges towards Catherine only for the girl to vanish from her spot. Mabel now lands on the area of the ledge where Catherine was standing with the clone appearing behind her. Just as Mabel is about to get up, Catherine slams her right heeled foot into Mabel's back, forcing her back down.
"Trust me, I'd make a way better Mabel then you can ever imagine!" Catherine hisses, pressing her foot into Mabel's back. "Since my mission wasn't completed the first time, trust me when I say, I won't fail twice!"
Back on the ground, Dipper is becoming more and more anxious as he watches the two girls fight.
"I can't take this anymore!" Dipper finally voices. "We have to stop that fight before Mabel gets killed by Catherine!"
"What can we do?" Wendy questions. "If we try to break it up, we may get hurt in the process considering there is no telling how powerful Catherine is!"
Turning from the water tower, Dipper now turns to Gideon, who has gotten to his feet and is dusting himself off as his hair has converted back to normal. Approaching him, Dipper grabs the southerner by the collar and brings him into his view. This surprises the southerner to see the city boy this furious and with him to boot!
"You have to call Catherine off now!" Dipper demands. "It's because of you that those two are up there fighting! Call her off before she kills my sister!"
"Why me?" Gideon asks in a stammer.
"Because it was your bright idea to make a copy of Mabel!" Dipper continues fuming. "How could you act so desperate to the point of bringing back the most dangerous clone known to this town?! This is all of your fault and now you have to call off YOUR clone NOW!"
"I don't have to listen to you!" Gideon replies, now forcing Dipper off of him. "This isn't my fault, it's yours!"
"Me?!" Dipper asks in defense. "How is this my fault?!"
"If you hadn't come between me and my marshmella, none of this would have happened!" Gideon retorts. "You just couldn't stand us being together so you turned her against me! If you hadn't done that, me and Mabel would be living happily ever after right now!"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I had nothing to do with that?!" Dipper snaps. "Mabel made up her own mind to have nothing to do with you! She does has her own mind you know!"
"You showed up at the club when Mabel was to meet me that night and told me she wasn't going to show up!" Gideon argues back.
"That because she wasn't!" Dipper yells back.
"Guys break it up!" Wendy jumps in, separating the two. "Did either of you forget that we have a fight to break up? I don't know how much Mabel can take from Catherine so we have to think of something and fast before Catherine seriously injures her!"
"This is Gideon's fault so it will be him who breaks it up!" Dipper says, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "If it weren't for him, Catherine wouldn't even be here and have his amulet!"
"Dipper did tell me you had something to do with Catherine's return!" Wendy says, folding her arms across her chest. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
Seeing the flustered teen, Gideon begins sweating lightly.
"I might have used Stanford's copier to make a copy of my beloved." Gideon nervously replies to Wendy. "But I had no idea that she had a clone and that I brought her back until after I met her!"
"But you are responsible for her taking Mabel's place at the shack!" Dipper quips back. "And look what your little creation did to me!"
Pulling his hair up on the left side of his head, Gideon now spots the bruise that Catherine gave Dipper.
"Ouch." Gideon mumbles.
"So since it was you who brought her back and convinced her to live as my sister while she tried to knock off my uncle and I, then it should be you who calls Catherine off, thus ending this fight!" Dipper urges. "My sister could get killed by her and it will be your fault if she does! If you love her as much as you say you do, you'll do everything in your power to save her!"
Taking in Dipper's words, the southerner now turns to where the girls are fighting and notices Mabel is struggling to stand, despite Catherine's heel on her back. Turning back to Dipper and Wendy, Gideon sighs.
"Fine, I'm in, but she won't listen to me." Gideon voices. "When I tried communicating with her before, she ignored me! She didn't even listen to Mabel!"
"Then we have to find another way to get her attention!" Dipper calmly replies. "I have a plan in mind, but you have to trust me and follow me to the letter if you want to save Mabel!"
"I'm in." Gideon nods. "I don't want my Mabel seriously hurt."
"You should have thought about that before you let Catherine off her leash!" Dipper comments.
"I'm in too!" Wendy chimes in.
"Ok, here's what I'm thinking." Dipper begins. "Catherine is a copy of Mabel, which means she is made of paper. Paper can be seriously weakened by water, so if we can get her distracted enough, we can dissolve her using the water from the tower. Then I can shrink her remains using the size altering crystal therefore, being done with her for good!"
"That's a great plan Dipper!" Wendy agrees. "I can get the extra fireman's hose my dad has when he helps with the emergency fires around town. It attaches perfectly with the nozzle attached to the tower!"
"And I know where to get the crystal." Dipper replies.
"What do you want me to do?" Gideon asks.
"You come with me." Dipper instructs. "I want to keep my eye on you! Now once we all have what we need, we'll meet back here."
"Dipper, there is a problem." Wendy speaks up. "I just remembered that the nozzle attached to the tower is on the backside of it. How are we going to get the hose attached without her seeing one of us?"
"I'll think of something, but we have to gather what we need now if we want Mabel alive!" Dipper commands.
Wendy and Gideon nod to Dipper with the boy turning to the tower to see that Mabel is at Catherine's mercy.
"Hang in there Mabel." Dipper mentally says to himself. "We will get you out of this!"
Everyone now rushes off to gather what they need.
Gravity Falls Memorial Hospital (Room 4321)
Having helped reposition Stan in his room, Robbie is sitting at the man's bedside staring at his cellphone in anticipation of Wendy's phone call.
"Come on Wendy, what are you doing?" Robbie mumbles to himself as he continues staring at his phone's caller ID's panel. "I need to know what is going on and if you are alright!"
Stan, whom has gotten himself in seating position, turns to the boy.
"What are you doing?" Stan asks, noticing Robbie staring anxiously at his cell phone.
"Waiting for a phone call." Robbie blandly answers.
"Here's an idea genius, try calling someone to get me out of here!" Stan suggests. "The longer I'm here, the less money I'm making!"
"Aren't you supposed to be here for overnight or whatever?" Robbie asks, now turning to vision to the man.
"Doctors only say that so they can keep bleeding you dry with each passing minute!" Stan argues. "I only have a bump on the head, not dying. So call someone to get me out of here!"
Sighing, Robbie goes to his speed dial list and finds Wendy's number. Tapping the touch screen, the other ends begins ringing. After a minute, Wendy's end picks up.
"Hello?" Wendy answers, her voice sounding if she is out of breath.
"Wendy, good I caught you!" Robbie begins. "What is going on out there and are you alright?!"
"I'm fine." Wendy answers. "I'm just picking something up from my dad's supplies."
"Why?" Robbie asks in confusion.
"I can't really explain it right now, but I'll tell you later." Wendy replies. "I'll call you back when I get the chance!"
With that, Wendy's end hangs up. Pulling his phone away from his ear, Robbie notices the screen says: Call End!
"Why didn't you let me talk to her?" Stan asks, his voice evident with anger. "I want to get out of here!"
"The doctor said you have to stay here." Robbie repeats. "Even Wendy said you are to stay put."
"That's what you think!" Stan fumes as he up completely and throws the covers back. "I'm busting out of here and today and if you got sense like I know you do, you won't try to stop me!"
Pulling the IV out of his arm and the oxygen tubes out of his nose, Stan gets out of bed and begins searching for his clothes.
"Where are my clothes?" Stan asks, now turning to Robbie.
"I can't let you leave!" Robbie insists. "You heard what the doctor and Wendy both said, you have to stay here!"
"I'll make you a deal." Stan begins. "If you help me bust out of here, I'll let you back in the shack to see Wendy during her shift and I won't even give you a time limit!"
Hearing's Stan's offer, Robbie perks up. Ever since being banned from the shack, the only time he can see Wendy is during her breaks and/or after her shifts. To be able to see her on the job once more is too good of an offer to pass up!
"Deal!" Robbie quickly agrees.
"Now help me find my clothes so we can get out of here!" Stan reiterates. "I feel like I'm dying each minute I'm here."
The two now begins searching around the room for the older man's clothes.
Gravity Falls Water Tower
Having given the fight all she has, Mabel is on her knees as she catches her breath with Catherine standing over her, her breath already caught.
"Ready to give up yet?" Catherine taunts, now kicking Mabel in her ribs and knocking her on her side.
"Never!" Mabel manages to speak through the pain as she struggles to get to her feet. "I'm not letting you win!"
"It seems I already have!" Catherine continues. "I can't wait until I'm rid of you for good and take your place! Come to think about it, your life isn't so bad after all so I think I will just keep it!"
"After what you put me through with Gideon, I'm not letting you take my place if my life depends on it!" Mabel declares, now getting to her feet and leaning against the water tower. "Do you have any idea how close he was to killing me because of you? Do you know that he forced himself on me? Do you have any idea all of what I had to endure because of you?!"
"Not my life, not my problem!" Catherine cackles. "And I think you and Gideon make a cute couple! After all, aren't you looking for your prince charming so you can have your epic summer romance? So if anything, I did you a favor so you should be thanking me!"
Hearing Catherine taunt her dream brings Mabel's temper to a bubbling point. It's one thing to insult her clothing, but to insult her family and her lifelong dream is unacceptable!
"Now you've gone too far!" Mabel hisses. "You won't get away with that!"
Despite how painful it is to breath, Mabel draws in a sharp breath as she begins approaching Catherine.
"What's the matter Mabel?" Catherine laughs. "You look tired! Here, let me put you out of your misery! For good!"
Balling up her right hand into a fist, Catherine now swings it in Mabel's direction. Seeing the girl's fist coming at her, Mabel dodges it just in time and quickly grabs it. Having a firm hold on the clone's wrist, Mabel kicks Catherine in the stomach, bringing her to her knees. With Catherine down, Mabel elbows the girl in the back and knocks her to the ledge.
"That's for taunting my dream of having an epic summer romance!" Mabel hisses.
On the ground, everyone now gathers at the base of the water tower, Wendy with the hose that her father uses at the lake, Dipper with the shrink/growth device, and Gideon with them.
"Ok, so how are we going to get this thing hooked up?" Wendy questions.
"I'll get up there and hook it up." Dipper nods. "If Mabel can keep Catherine busy long enough, I can get up the ladder, attach it, and get back down without her seeing me."
"Do you think it will work?" Wendy wonders, worry evident in her tone.
"It's the only option we have if we want to save Mabel and this town from Catherine's wrath." Dipper replies with declaration. "She's done enough damage!"
"Be careful Dipper." Wendy wishes, now handing Dipper the hose.
Taking the hose from Wendy and placing the shrink/growth device in his vet pocket, Dipper rushes to the ladder of the tower. Looking up the ladder, Dipper notices the distance between the top of the ladder to the ground at his starting point. Taking a deep breath, the younger pines begins up the ladder with the hose wrapped around his right shoulder.
Back with the girls, Mabel and Catherine are in a power struggle as they are locked in hand to hand combat.
"It was a mistake creating you and an even bigger mistake calling you my sister!" Mabel voices, now blocking another punch from the clone. "This has gone on long enough and now this has to end!"
"For once we agree on something!" Catherine replies. "Let me be the first to volunteer!"
Vanishing from in front of Mabel, Catherine appears behind her and grabs a handful of Mabel's hair, slinging her face first into the body of the water tower. Dizzy from the face slam, Mabel falls to the ledge at Catherine's feet. Kneeling down, Catherine grabs her around the neck as Mabel looms close to the edge of the ledge.
"I can't tell you what a delight it will be to never see your face again!" Catherine hisses. "You'll be out of my way with your life up for the taking!"
Gripping Catherine's hand that is around her throat, Mabel begins trying to pry it off with something suddenly catching her eye. Turning her vision to the left, she now spots Dipper at the top of the ladder. Noticing that she is looking at him, Dipper places his finger to his lips, indicating that he needs her to stay quiet. Seeing Mabel's vision shifted, Catherine now turns in that direction and spots Dipper.
"You might want to think again!" Catherine growls.
Pointing her right palm in Dipper's direction, his grip is suddenly loosened from the ladder with him now falling back to the ground.
"DIPPER!" Mabel shouts.
Pushing Catherine off of her, Mabel quickly get to her feet. Just as she is about to run to the ladder to reach out to Dipper, Catherine grabs her back by the hair and slings her back to the ledge. Seeing Catherine about to bring her foot down on her once more, Mabel quickly gets to her feet. Stepping from in front of Catherine, Mabel steps to the side and feels her left foot now slip over the end of the ledge. Losing her balance, Mabel begins flailing her arms wildly to help her regain her balance to step back onto the ledge.
Smirking, Catherine steps in front of her. Bringing her hand to her mouth, Catherine now blows Mabel a kiss with Mabel feeling herself loose what little balance she managed to muster. Tipping over the edge, but reacting quickly, Mabel grabs onto the edge of the ledge with both hands, despite the ledge's wood splinters digging into her skin.
"You know what they say Mabel dear." Catherine begins as she kneels in front of Mabel. "Don't look down!"
Blocking out her words, Mabel looks down and notices the distance it is from the top to the bottom. Shutting her eyes tight, Mabel draws in a sharp breath.
Do we dare say that this is the end? Do we dare say that Catherine won and will become the real Mabel Pines? No! Mabel has a chance to come back and stronger than ever! While the battle has been an eventful one, it isn't over yet! Will Stan successfully bust out of the hospital with Robbie's help? And what will become of Dipper's plan? These questions answered and more in chapter 11! Next chapter: Versus Mabel part II with a surprising twist thrown into the mix! Stay tuned!
Special A/N: Due to a last minute opening in my schedule next week, I will be posting chapter 1 to Child of Destiny's Sequel, Prophecy's Light, next Tuesday!
Review Please!