From the corner of her eye, Pacifica sees Gideon pass the guard and get out of the party room. A huge feeling of relief goes through her, however she quickly puts her focus back on the singing competition. She needs to keep this going for as long as possible, as Mabel is totally absorbed in it and has no suspicion as to what's going on. Pacifica glances over at Dipper for a second, who has now crossed his arms and is narrowing his eyes at her. Though she panics a little inside, she continues to sing and avoid eye contact.
"There's explosions in the sky, and the neighborhood is fried,
"But you don't have to join them in all of the fuss..."
She can feel Dipper's gaze become more and more intense. Unintentionally, Pacifica leaves her gaze on him for too long, where their eyes meet. As if he is shocked with electricity, Dipper's eyes grow wide. He then quickly runs up to the stage, where she is about to finish the last of her part of the duet.
"Act like nothing's going wrong,
"And just keep playing my song
"Until there's nothing left around here but us."
It is then Mabel's turn to start singing, where she takes Pacifica's place as Pacifica takes a few steps back. She takes a deep breath of air, about to let out all she's got until suddenly, Dipper rushes on stage and snatches the microphone from Mabel.
"And I know," Dipper sings, pushing his twin away, "something's gonna happen tonight,
"All the stars around us start taking flight,
"But there's something that invites me to stay..."
He glances over his shoulder and glares at Pacifica, his eyes icy cold. Pacifica shivers, the unsuspecting crowd cheering Dipper on.
"Cause I'm drawn,
"To the rhythm the music they play,
"And we're all gonna die anyway,
"So enjoy it while you can, come what may..."
He makes eye contact with Mabel, who is shaking with pure fury, the spotlight being stolen from her.
"Mabel, she's a distraction!
"Of pure satisfaction,
"There's a war going on in the other room,
"but in here we all won,
"'Cause nobody here is slowing the traction..."
Using the song to clue her in, Mabel realizes what is going on and she lets out a gasp. Powerless to do anything, as Robbie and the rest of the people are too distracted by Dipper's singing, Pacifica sees Mabel jump off stage and head off into the same hallway Gideon went. Pacifica's heartbeat grows louder, hoping that Gideon has somewhat of a far lead to find the copier before Mabel can catch up to him. She hopes that Bill will be able to do something to protect him, because right now, she is stuck here in this stupid competition.
Soon enough, Dipper's part of the duet is getting close to being over, where Pacifica will have to come back in. She once again makes eye contact with him, where she clutches her fists and gets ready to sing again. The least she can do is to keep Dipper away from Gideon, and with the twins separated, at least there is a better chance at overpowering them.
"And it's not in here either."
After checking the last room in the house part of the Mystery Shack, Gideon lets out a heavy, tired sigh. He can feel his eyelids grow heavy, his exhaustion finally catching up to him after a long day of makeovers, infiltrating, and the show he had preformed earlier that day. He has looked through every room on the first floor, being as quiet as he could while still be on high alert. Bill went ahead to search upstairs and the attraction part of the building, but Gideon has yet to hear a word from him.
A part of him wonders if there really is a cloning copier machine, and that they risked their lives for nothing. They never saw this 'moving disembodied hand,' and it could have been very likely Mabel was showing Dipper something disturbing on CopywriteTube. Anything is possible, but real or not, Gideon knows he is running out of time and has to find something fast.
"Kid, I found the magic cloning copier!"
To snap him out of his tired daze, Bill's ghostly voice echoes through Gideon's mind.
"It's in the basement near the staircase, in the entry hall!"
Taking his word right away, Gideon dashes out of the hallway and into the entry hall. There, he can see a staircase going upwards, and in the far back, there is another door. He approaches it, opening it to see another fleet of stairs heading to a dark, warm basement. A chill goes down Gideon's spine, fearing that the moment he goes down there he will be ambushed by Mabel clones. His heart pounds in his chest, to where he slowly puts his right foot on the step.
"Not so fast, little guy!"
With his worse fear coming to life, he quickly turns around to come face to face with Mabel. The real Mabel, as no amount of cloning could copy the unstable look in her dark eyes. She grins.
"Don't you know it's rude to go snooping in someone's house? I mean, I'm glad you made it to the party, but seriously?!"
She moves closer to him, where Gideon is paralyzed with fear. He cannot just run straight into the dark basement blindly, he would only trap himself with either the clones that awaited him or Mabel locking him in. He can't run pass her, as he is nowhere stronger than her... Mabel's smile grows wider.
"Aw, you're scared of me, aren't you?" she asks with a sing-song tone of voice. "I would never hurt you, little guy! At least if it was my choice."
"'...Your choice?'"
His voice comes out very weak, but he can't help but notice the choice of words she used. Mabel nods her head.
"Yep! I actually really like you, but you and your friend really made my brother mad during that festival! So, an enemy of my brother is an enemy of mine! It is as simple as that."
She puts her hands onto Gideon's shoulders.
"And now to test out our clone army! Bye-bye, little guy!"
With a heavy shove, Mabel causes Gideon to lose his balance and he falls backwards, crashing down the stairs and eventually landing in the basement. He lands right on his stomach, his whole body in pain as he can hear Mabel's off pitch laugh in the distance. And then another laugh joins hers, sounding just like Mabel's, but coming from within the basement and not above.
And then there is another laugh, and another, and another, and another...
Tears of pain and fear are forming in his eyes, Gideon trying to stand back up.
"Gideon, you okay?! Gideon!"
Bill's worried voice tries to reach him, but there is no way for Gideon to reply to him. Though he can't see them, he knows the Mabel clones have circled him.
"Great job, girls!"
Turning on the light from above, Mabel comes down the stairs, where to Gideon's horror, there are fifteen faded out Mabels all around him. Gideon makes eye contact with each one of them, trying to stand his ground as they continue to snicker and giggle.
"So, do you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?" Mabel asks. "Like I said, I really don't wanna hurt you. So if you just surrender, and let's say, give me that journal you guys got, then we're all good!"
Moving past two of her clones, she skips over to Gideon's side.
"Soon all will be forgiven and we then can become friends! Whataya say, Lil Gideon? Can we do it the easy way? Please?"
She offers him her hand, indicating that the moment he gave her the journal, it would be all over. Gideon stares at her.
"I...don't have the journal, Mabel," he finally says. "And even if I did..."
He clutches his fists, seeing that in the far back, he spots an old copy machine.
"...I would never give it to ya! Those journals are dangerous, and the moment I can, I'll burn them before it can get into the hands of crazy people like you and your brother!"
After his outburst, he takes a step back, fearing that he might have pushed Mabel over the edge. But he has no choice, and maybe in a blind rage, he can get her and her clones to destroy the cloning machine. But to his surprise, Mabel just stares at him, her eyes wide as if she hasn't comprehended what he said.
"...I'm crazy, huh?" She gives a soft, broken laugh. "Not like I've heard that one before..."
She takes a few steps back.
"Well...can't say I tried. Girls, let's tie him up and then wait for Dipper-"
"Ahhhhhhhhhh! Make it stop!"
Out of nowhere, one of the Mabel clones is brought to her knees, screaming at the top of her lungs. Gideon, along with Mabel and the other clones, stare at her with wide eyes, as the distressed clone's eyes glow a very bright shade of blue. She sounds like she is agony, claiming that she is trapped and is desperate for a way out.
"...Maybelle? What's wrong?"
Mabel and the rest of her clones all come to the distressed clone's, Maybelle's, side, trying to calm her down and wake her up. Gideon watches them, a part of him debating whether he should try to help or not.
"Don't just stand there, kid!" Bill's voice suddenly chimes in. "This is your chance to destroy the machine! While she is distracted!"
Turning to the wall that casts Bill's shadow, Gideon's gaze moves between him and Maybelle.
"...Bill," he whispers with wide eyes, "what did you do?"
"I did what I had to, that's what I did!"
Flying towards the other end of the room, Bill shows Gideon where a hammer lays on a shelf.
"Destroy the machine now and run for it!" he exclaims. "By the time you do that, Paz will be done with her song and you two can get the heck outta here!"
Gideon stands where he is, a part of him still in shock. Knowing that it will not only take away a power from the twins, but also put Maybelle out of her suffering, he ultimately runs up and grabs the hammer. He quickly moves next to the copier machine, and with all his strength to hit the machine. He hits the more delicate parts of it, causing huge dents and sparks to come out. It doesn't take long for Mabel and her clones to see what he is doing, all if them gasping in shock.
"No!" Mabel cries, tears in her eyes as she watches him destroy the machine.
After making sure it was damaged fairly good, Gideon waste no time rushing out of the basement and making it back to the party. After what Bill just did, there is no way he can look Mabel, Maybelle, or the other clones in the eye.
"We're a distraction,
"Of pure satisfaction!"
It is now the finale between Pacifica and Dipper's duet, both of them singing with all their strength as they continuously circle one another other. They glare at each other pure hate and determination, desperate to outdo the other as the crowd cheers louder and louder with Robbie's music increasing in intensity. In all truth, Pacifica is beyond exhausted. Her voice is hoarse and is completely out of breath, but this is her final moment in triumph and the last thing she can do to buy Gideon any remaining time he needs.
"I'm a distraction,
"And I'm ready for action
"So the world's gonna blow,
"Stop complaining and go,
"Just start watching the show, cause there's no more to know,
"Here we go!"
"I'm a distraction!" Pacifica sings, trying to finish the song off.
Dipper takes a step closer to her, narrowing his eyes.
"She's a distraction..."
"We're a distraction..."
"They're a distraction!"
With Robbie's last minute finish, the crowd goes wild while the music comes to a complete stop. Lowering their microphones, Pacifica and Dipper pant heavily. Immediately, Pacifica wants to run off and try to find Gideon, but the thought of moving her legs just a tad caused her great pain. Dipper seems to have similar thoughts, and before they can do anything, Robbie appears between them.
"That, dudes," he exclaims, "was the best sing-out I've ever seen! Let's give Gothica and Little Dipper over here another round of applause!"
The crowd cheers once again, some of the guys and girls declaring that they love 'Gothica' and 'Little Dipper.' It is a migraine to Pacifica, and she does not attempt to smile back at them.
"But unfortunately, we will have to choose a winner," Robbie continues. "Or do we, dudes?!"
"Gothica and Little Dipper! Gothica and Little Dipper!"
The chants are intense and loud, making Pacifica's tired head spin. She glances down towards the hallway, where at that moment, Gideon runs out like his life depends on it.
"Pacifica!" he yells, running through the crowd and towards the exit.
And in the distance, there is the screams of Mabel calling after Gideon and Dipper.
"'Pacifica?'"
Robbie gives a puzzled look, but before he has time to question it, Pacifica jumps off stage. The crowd gasps, but she ignores them as she pushes her way out of the crowd.
"Get back here!" Dipper shouts after her. "Soos, don't let them escape!"
Upon his name being called, the large man with the question mark shirt makes his way through the crowd, though not acting as aggressive as he should have been. Pacifica's eyes grow wide, her feet and legs hurting every time she forced them to carry her farther and faster. But somehow, she is able to prolong it, able to get back outside and race off towards the forest. She can see Gideon is ahead of her, and the two of them continue to run till their legs collapse on them.
Both Gideon and Pacifica fall to the ground, breathing heavily with their movements stiff. Pacifica feels light headed, blood rushing to her head while her her vision fades in and out.
No...no, she can't lose consciousness now! She fights to stay awake, calling out Gideon's name and hoping he will respond. But he does not, he doesn't move an inch from what Pacifica can see. Suddenly, she sees someone in the distance, someone with a long beard and tall hat.
Her eyes grow wide, recognizing Old Man McGucket's figure. She quickly tries to get back on her feet. But the moment she tries to sit up, her sight becomes blurrier and it becomes hard to breathe, forcing her back down again. All she can do is watch as McGucket gets closer and closer, where eventually, no matter how hard she tries, her world turns black.
