Chapter 11: To Snag A Shooting Star!

'Bill and Catherine have managed to shatter Mabel's mind with their nightmare, Bill is still on the hunt for '1', and Gideon has found Catherine's hideout! The stakes have surely gone up!'

Previously

Gravity Falls (Catherine's Cabin)

A purple mist appears in the middle of the room, it quickly disappearing to reveal Catherine. Dusting off her dress, the clone walks to her desk to her crystal ball, but before she can pick it up, the front door to her cabin flies open to reveal Gideon!

"You!" Gideon shouts to the clone, her whipping around to him.

Mystery Shack (Attic)

Dipper now appears back in the chair next to Mabel's bedside unconscious. His eyes now flutter open with him quickly sitting up. Looking ahead of him, Dipper notices the mess Mabel's bed has become with the covers hanging off of the bed, her pillow is on the floor along with her bed toy, and she huddled in the corner of the bed by the headboard with her hands on her head while stammering to herself. Her eyes are rapidly darting from side to side while shivering as if she is freezing cold.

"Mabel?" Dipper speaks, the girl now focusing her wide paranoid vision on him. "Mabel, speak to me!"

"Dipper, she's come back and she brought him!" Mabel finally speaks. "They are after me! They want to kill me and next they are coming after you! She's come back! Dipper, you can't let her hurt me! You can't!"

Tears now stream out of the girl's frightened eyes as she now curls into a ball on her bed, breaking out into a full blown sob.

"I don't want her to hurt me anymore Dipper!" Mabel speaks to him through her sobs. "She nearly killed me once!"

Seeing how shattered his sister has become and watching her cry in the ball she has formed, the feeling of guilt hits him once more at not being able to save her from Catherine and Bill. While traveling into the girl's mind so to stop Bill and Catherine from doing this to her, all they did was slip through his fingers, especially Catherine so what was the point if he couldn't prevent this? Getting to his feet, Dipper climbs on Mabel's bed and to her, gently pulling her to him despite her being resistant in him trying to comfort her. Wrapping his arms around her, Dipper feels Mabel grip onto his shirt she cries into his shoulder.

"I'm going to make them pay for this, that I promise you Mabel!" Dipper gently speaks to her. "I let them get away once, but I refuse to let them get away a second time! They are going to pay dearly for doing this to you!"

Dipper begins rocking back and forth on the bed with Mabel, his mind racing a mile a minute on how to put an end to Bill and Catherine's terror in reality. Searching his mind for the perfect plan, an idea now hits him, one that makes the boy shudder to his very core. He is going to find a way to stop them, even if it means teaming up with one person he despises the most to do it!

Currently

"So I finally found your little hideout!" Gideon barks as he slams the door of the cabin behind him as his angry gaze remains locked with Catherine's calm gaze. "If I had of known you were hiding out here sooner, I would have burned down the place!"

"If you would have known sooner, I wouldn't have even let you get that far!" Catherine speaks in a dangerously calm voice as she takes a small step away from her desk, Journal 2 still sitting wide open on the desk next to her crystal ball.

"You wanna bet?!" Gideon fumes. "It is because of you and that demon that I haven't gotten ANY rest in I don't know how long! Well one thing is for sure, I'm here to put a stop to you both if it's the last thing I do! You hear me?! You're finished!"

Smirking at the fuming albino, Catherine crosses her arms across her chest and closes her eyes while inwardly laughing at Gideon's burning temper.

"And you think this is funny?! Well I'll show you JUST how funny I can be!" Gideon snaps, his vision now shifting to the right of the clone so to locate an object heavy enough to strike Catherine with, but instead, spots his open journal on the desk next to her crystal ball. His eyes widening, Gideon whips his attention back to Catherine who now has her eyes open with her arms still crossed.

"My journal! So I wasn't dreaming that you got your grimy mitts on it after all!" Gideon flares, his chubby face now the same color as a tomato! "When I get my journal back, you're going to pay for stealing it from me and making me lose my precious sleep! Do you know how many nights I missed dreaming about Mabel?! It's been that long!"

Making a mad dash for the desk so to retrieve his journal, Gideon is suddenly frozen in place as a majestic purple mist now surrounds him and lifts him into the air, Catherine holding out her right hand that is surrounded in the majestic purple mist as she telepathically holds the chubby boy in the air. Turning him so that their gazes catch, Gideon notices a flash of majestic purple occur in the clone's eyes and in her amulet as her smirk widens. Spotting the amulet around her neck, Gideon gasps at the sight of it.

"You have an amulet?!" Gideon questions in shock, his eyes glued to the piece of jewelry. "But how?"

"Your lovely journal of course!" Catherine begins, her smirk now falling with a dangerous expression replacing it as a glint of hysterics spark in her eyes. "And you have a lot of nerve trespassing on my property like this, but I was hoping we'd run into each other as I've been meaning to speak with you about your betrayal! You and my dear sister! You used me as your little puppet for your revenge by convincing me that Mabel hurt you, but yet, I come to find out that you LIED about that AND needing my help to get back at Mabel's family! I should rip you in half right now! Do you know how upset I was when I found out?! How much anger I felt because you betrayed my trust?!"

Seeing the dangerously hysterical look in the clone's vision, Gideon's temper begins to quickly simmer out knowing that being at the mercy of such a dangerous clone and upsetting her will only have deadly consequences! You know what they say, what goes up must come down!

"You have no idea just how much I was hurt at learning just how much of a snake you really were!" Catherine continues, the woman now cupping her right hand which results in Gideon feeling his throat beginning to close up on him with him quickly gripping his throat. "While I didn't care too much for what Mabel did to me, at least she was smart enough to see through your lies! But don't worry, I will deal with her soon enough, but for now I'm going to deal with YOU!"

"Catherine I can explain!" Gideon chokes out, his throat continuing to close up on him from Catherine's telepathic hold.

"There's nothing to explain!" Catherine hisses, the look of hysterics now fully surging through her vision as she closes her hand a little bit more, the tips of her long nails nearly touching the palms of her hand! "You betrayed me, stabbed me in the back, and after I trusted you and for that, you must be dealt with accordingly!"

Feeling his throat now dangerously close to shutting off, Gideon shakes his head in the 'no' position while waving his left hand out in front of him! Seeing that the boy is desperately gasping for air, a purple tint beginning to seep into his cheeks due to the lack of oxygen, Catherine sneers while deciding whether or not to let the boy speak or to end his life right then and right there! While she is incredibly upset at his betraying her, Catherine now decides to listen to him, thus opening her hand just a bit so to hear what he has to say while keeping the appendage cupped in the event the albino decides to try to pull one over on her and for that, she will put an end to him and fast!

"I've decided to spare you long enough to hear what you have to say, but I warn you, if it's nothing that I feel will be worth my time, I will make sure you forever rest in your peace!" Catherine viciously voices. "Now speak!"

"Catherine, I was going to tell you about the true meaning behind why I wanted you on my side!" Gideon quickly speaks up, his right hand now the only appendage around his throat. "I swear!"

"I heard your entire conversation with Mabel!" Catherine hisses, closing her hand just a smidgen with Gideon feeling his throat becoming dangerously close to shutting once more. "While I have to admit sending me in Mabel's place so to mock her image was a clever plan, the rest of it was foolishly flawed! Especially when I found out about your true intentions! So where in there were you planning on telling me the truth?!"

"I never got a chance to!" Gideon chokes, the tint of purple returning to his puffy cheeks. "Before I could, you attacked us!"

"You had plenty of time before I was destroyed by that traitor!" Catherine continues. "There was never an excuse why you couldn't open your mouth and speak at any time! You have no trouble stuffing anything else into that face of yours!"

"You're right Catherine!" Gideon bends. "Let-let me make it up to you! How-how about we work together to take the Pi-pines down?"

"I trusted you before when we were supposed be doing just that and you see how well that turned out!" Catherine rejects his proposal. "There is no way I'm going to trust you after what you did to me, let alone work with you!"

"Please Catherine, just let me make it up to you anyway that I can!" Gideon pleads with hopes that Catherine will accept his plea bargain and release him, the combination of heights and the quickly vanishing oxygen making the albino increasingly dizzy to the point of wanting to pass out any minute now! "I promise I won't disappoint you this time! Just name it and I'll do it! I promise!"

Taking in and thinking over the tiny dictator's plea while noticing the purple tint that his face is now clearly showing, Catherine opens her hand and drops it to her side with the boy now landing on the ground rather roughly! Gaining a smirk while approaching the albino, Catherine is now hovering over Gideon as he continues catching his breath from being telepathically choked. With her right hand's index finger and thumb, Catherine grips Gideon's chin and forces their visions to become locked, her long nails digging into his chin to the point of drawing blood.

"You say that you'll do anything I ask of you?" Catherine begins, her smirk widening much to Gideon's horror of not knowing what Catherine may have in mind for him. "Considering I've always been one to never pass up an opportunity to take advantage of such a situation and since you seem to really want to redeem yourself, here's what I have in mind for you."

With most of his breath caught and the horror in his eyes growing, Gideon nods his head at the clone, clearly eager to hang on to the clone's next words.

"But first let's get one thing straight!" Catherine poses a warning, her voice now changing to a dangerous hiss. "If after this that you even think of betraying me, you won't have to worry about my telepathic hold as I'll have something much worse in store for you! Now pay close attention because I'm only going to say this once!"

Dipper

Mabel is fast asleep with Dipper having comforted her enough to get her there, but her sleep isn't a restful one. As the boy holds the black light to the blank pages in the replica of '3' that Catherine left behind when she stole Dipper's real journal, the boy none the wiser about the swap, the younger pines is desperately searching for a cure for the nightmare Catherine and Bill have conjured for Mabel, the girl tossing and turning in her sleep while mumbling a number of inaudible things in a whisper. Despite his attention being on the book, Dipper has one eye on Mabel and one eye on the book.

"Come on! There has got to be something in here that can help cure demonic nightmares!" Dipper hisses in a whisper so not to wake Mabel from her slumber as he searches frantically through the fake journal. "If this book can list a cure for zomification, as well as raise zombies while giving instruction on how to shatter their skulls using music and even pointing out a secret bunker under the land, then it has to have something about curing nightmares created by demons!"

Continuing to search the blank pages with the black light shining on them, Dipper hits pay dirt with the black light now revealing the content he has been looking for so to help his sister!

"Haha! Yes! Finally!" Dipper speaks with victory as he begins reading over the instructions of the cure so to free Mabel from her nightmare. "Don't worry Mabel, I've found the cure and I'll have you fixed in no time flat!"

Turning to her, Dipper notices the girl thrashing wildly in her sleep from Bill and Catherine's nightmare, his victory smile now faltering at seeing his twin in so much despair. Just seeing the girl in such a vulnerable state tugs at Dipper's heart strings, his facial expression displaying just how upsetting it is seeing her like that. "Don't worry Mabel, I'm going to save you if it's the last thing I do!" Dipper promises. "I have the cure right in front of me and once I do what needs to be done, we're going to take down Bill and Catherine together!"

Turning back to the book, Dipper reads over how to cure a demonic nightmare, it stating that the boy has to team up with his worst enemy in order to find a cure for the nightmare that has been bestowed upon the victim. Making sure he is not misreading the instructions, Dipper reads over the instructions once more, particularly the area that states teaming up with his worst enemy in order to find a cure.

"Teaming up with my worst enemy?!" Dipper speaks in disbelief, his tone a bit louder. "How will teaming up with my enemy help Mabel?!"

Turning to her briefly, Dipper can see the mental pain his sister is in, his heart once more sinking in his chest for her. Closing his eyes briefly while releasing a defeated sigh, Dipper turns back to the book and opens them, his going over the entire instruction on how working with his enemy will save the victim from the nightmare.

"Ok, it says here that once I meet up with my enemy, I must tell them what is going on and from there, we will work together." Dipper reads aloud, a confused expression crossing his features. "Well it isn't much, but if it'll help Mabel, I'll do it."

With the girl facing him, Dipper gives the girl a peck on her forehead which is covered in sweat from her moving wildly about due to her unrest. Moving what strands of hair that are sticking to her forehead, Dipper gets to his feet, slips on his shoes and vest and makes his way out of the room with the fake journal in hand, not noticing the golden hand with the '3' in the center change to the evil eye that becomes surrounded by a purple mist.

Making his way down the rickety staircase to the first floor of the shack, Dipper enters the den with hopes that Stan would be awake so to get answers out of him about what he found in the journal. Having learned the bombshell secret that Stan knew all along about what secrets Gravity Falls held during what can be considered the temporary zombie apocalypse at the 'Shack is Back' party, the boy has been meaning to find out just what and how much he knows and with the old man having seen his journal, maybe he can be a help in finding out just what working with his enemy so to find a cure for Mabel would do, that is, if he weren't passed out cold in his chair currently.

Seeing that his great uncle is asleep, Dipper notices the old man shift in his chair while throwing his arms out in front of him as if pushing something away.

"No, no!" Stan grunts as he settles back in his chair. "No! Not for sale! Maybe, maybe tomorrow! One hundred dollars!"

"I asked once and I'll ask again." Dipper mumbles. "What is going on in that guy's head?"

Noticing that his uncle will be of no help to him at this time, Dipper makes his way out of the door and steps off of the porch, the thoughts of whom his worst enemy really is between Robbie and Gideon now running through his mind. Considering that Robbie used to be his rival for Wendy's affections while not really knowing about what secrets the town holds outside of the convenience store incident, there is only one other person that he can think of who fits the description of his worst enemy while knowing the secrets of the town besides him and that enemy's name being….

"Ugh! Gideon." Dipper spits, the boy's name leaving his mouth as if it were poison. "I thought the day would never come when I'd ever need his help for anything, but since this is for Mabel, I'll do it, even if I'm not fond of doing it!"

"What about my marshmella?" The southerner's voice speaks which both surprises and disgraces Dipper at hearing the boy's voice. Cursing under his breath, Dipper slowly turns to his left to see Gideon approaching him, him noticing the boy's skin being paler than usual.

"Hi Gideon." Dipper mumbles.

"Well hello to you too Dipper." Gideon happily replies, now stopping just short of a foot from him. "Listen, I know how we can track down Catherine and Bill and stop their reign of terror!"

"Yea, I was actually coming to see you about that." Dipper adds, his voice uneasy at still learning that he has to work with the boy in curing Mabel's nightmare per the journal's instructions. "Catherine and Bill conjured a nightmare that is now hurting Mabel and we have to work together to find a cure for her."

"Oh no! Not my marshmella!" Gideon practically shrieks. "Then we better get going to my house!"

"But aren't your parents asleep?" Dipper questions. "It is almost five thirty in the morning. We can't just go there, especially not this early!"

"Don't worry they're fast asleep and won't hear us." Gideon replies, now grabbing Dipper's arm and pulling him into the forest direction of his residence with the younger pines being confused at how eager the southerner is about working with him considering their history.

From the front window of her cabin, Catherine watches as Gideon pulls Dipper into the forest and that Dipper is carrying the jinxed journal with him, a smirk coming to her face.

"Now with him out of the way, it's time I paid my dear sister a visit." Catherine declares. "I know that she'll just be dying to see me, literally."

Raising her right hand, a purple mist now surrounds it with the clone phasing out of her cabin.

Bill

Reappearing in Stan's dreary dreamscape, Bill notices that he is back in the hallway of the dreamscape shack where he first ran into the younger Stan Pines.

"Ok, now to find this memory before I'm once again sidetracked." Bill speaks to himself as he turns around behind him. "Now if I were a memory hiding something very important, where would I be?"

Floating slowly down the hall, Bill is looking to his left and to his right for any extra doors that he might have overlooked before running into younger Stan. Continuing down the hall, a bright light up ahead now flashes which catches the demon's attention with him shifting his eye into a suspicious expression. Following the light, Bill now arrives at the area where the light is coming from, an open doorway that just formed in Stan's dreamscape, it being added to the rest of the memories in his mind. Shielding his eye from the light, the blinding spectrum now dies away to reveal a lit room with many monitors and gauges positioned around it, a desk with many switches and buttons on it, and ahead of the desk, a glass window that looks into the area where the portal sits, it being very active and providing a light of its own. Seeing the portal, Bill's eye widens at the sight of the gate to another world!

"Well well, it appears that the journal isn't the only thing you're hiding huh Stan?" Bill speaks to himself as he watches the old man in the area of the portal writing something down on a note pad while looking at the gateway occasionally. "This information will be most useful!"

With the man's back turned, Bill quietly floats into the room while observing the memory that just formed, the monitors and gauges around the room being of particular interest to him. Now turning his attention to the front of him, Bill spots journal '1' sitting on the desk right below the picture of the twins.

"Jackpot!" Bill mentally cheers!

Catherine

Still being haunted by the nightmare, Mabel is continuing to twist and turn in her bed while mumbling and occasionally screaming something inaudible, a purple mist now appearing in the room with it quickly disappearing to reveal Catherine. The clone turns to the classic version with a sickening grin appearing on her face, seeing that the nightmare she and Bill conjured is working to perfection. Walking over to her bed, Catherine leans down and places her right index finger on Mabel's forehead, the brunette's unrest coming a halt with her eyes flying wide open as they change from their chocolate brown color to a purplish black. As if Catherine were lifting the girl herself, Mabel now sits up into seating position which appears to please Catherine.

"Good you're awake." Catherine deviously speaks with Mabel's head turning in her direction. "Let's have a little chat shall we, sister?"

*Content update: In chapter 6 when Catherine stole Dipper's journal, I updated that she left a jinxed copy behind for him that he used to enter Mabel's dreamscape and used in this chapter for the cure to her nightmare. So when noticing my saying 'his' journal, I am referring to the copy Catherine left while she has his real journal. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused, but as always,

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