"Trials Faced, Secrets Learned . . .Man Behind the Demon . . . Wishes to See it Burn . . .Which is Which? . . . Can you Decide? Who . . . has the Right to Live. . . and who should truly DIE?"
And so, I thus revealed in the last chapter that there is no triplet stuff; just a separate, third set of twins, one of which who's hand was forced by his captor years ago, and regrets it so very, very deeply. Poor buddy.
Chapter 14: . . .Which is Which? . .
They took turns, one person at a time approaching the carving before backing away again. It was easy to pinpoint who seemed to represent each symbol.
Dipper was the Pine Tree, Mabel was the Shooting Star, Stanford was the Crescent Spike, Stanley was the Glasses, Soos was the Question Mark, Wendy was the Ice Pack, and Fiddleford was the Stitched Heart.
As they grew a little bolder with touching the carving, Mabel made an accidental discovery. By pushing on her symbol, she could make that whole "slot" move back, like a reverse dresser drawer. It was difficult, however, so Ford offered to help. But when she moved aside so he could . . .it didn't even budge. In fact, the short ways she had pushed it in -a few inches- almost immediately moved back to it's original placement, jarring the mans fingers.
He yelped and cursed, "Fudge!?" as he shook his hand. It didn't take much to guess that one could only push open their own symbol; alone, and unaided. So, they all did so, doing it together on the count of three.
It took a minute for them to push them in all the way . . . but when they did, the entire thing flashed brightly yellow, and all of the symbols flashed once, in order. they all backed away, watching closely and tensely.
First the Eyed Star and Six-Fingered Hand flashed in unison, then the Glasses and Crescent-Spike in unison, next the Stitched Heart, the Question Mark, and Ice Pack, one after another, then the Llama, and, finally, the Shooting Star and Pine Tree in unison.
The entire flashed brightly once more, prompting them to shield their eyes; then, the entire engraved image faded away, stone and all, leaving a rough passage way to walk through.
"Jackpot!" exclaimed Wendy, shifting so she could high five Mabel.
"If we're going to go in there, we should use the buddy system." Fiddleford suggested, nervously edging back from the dark hole in the rock.
Lee nodded. "Okay. . . um, we should divide it up so that our skills line up in some way; so as to shore up the other person weaknesses."
Before they could, however, their was a fearful shout. "Dipper!?" Mabel screeched.
"Mabel?!" Dipper shouted back, pounding on some invisible barrier, having strayed into the tunnel.
"Dudes!" Soos exclaimed, rushing forward to try and help.
"What's happening?!" Wendy yelped, following after. She managed to stop Mabel from grabbing for her brother, fearing she'd get trapped, too, even as Dipper panicked and shouted.
"Dipper?! Why did you-?!" Grunkle Stanford started, but a dull rumbling cut them all off. It was coming from the tunnel.
Dipper sniffled a little, turning and pressing his back into the barrier, watching the tunnel in fear. "W-what was that?" he asked, sounding small and scared.
Mabel broke free from the others grasp and darted forwards, tackling her brother with a hug. She passed through the barrier to her brothers side, but from the way she was now leaning against it where she sat, hugging her twin, it was now blatantly obvious.
One way in, no way out.
Soos put on a determined face and stepped boldly into the tunnel, helping his two friends to their feet. Wendy grit her teeth and followed, picking up the lantern first.
She glanced back at the elder Mystery Trio. "Well?" this question prompted the stunned old-timers to follow them, albeit uneasily and tensely; but they still came.
Dipper got a light cuff over the head from Ford. "Next time, wait for everyone else before investigating spooky, magical, underground tunnels." he said gruffly, though his worry and relief were clear in his voice.
Dipper only nodded, holding his sisters hand tightly.
"So, now what?" Wendy asked, shining the lantern-light further down the tunnel. There was a very faint light ahead; either because it was a long ways off, or because it was simply very dim.
"We stay together, as a group. If we take Him head-on, then we'll stand a much better chance than if we're alone." Soos replied instantly.
"Yeah! Nothing can beat us as we long as we remain positive and work together!" Mabel chimed in.
"We need a plan, some way to go at him . . . some angle he won't see or expect." Dipper added, albeit quietly, glancing at the walls and shadows suspiciously.
Somehow, the youth had taken charge, while the elders watched and listened; both to them and their surroundings, in hopes that they could spot any threat before it approached.
"Hm . . .remember the Sock Opera?" Mabel asked.
There were collective nods and "Yeah"s from the group; other than Fiddleford and Stanley, whom, obviously, hadn't attended.
Mabel quickly explained how Bill, while possessing Dipper (or "Bipper", as she'd called him) had acted when she fell inside the cake prop and nearly handed over the journal.
"He said something about 'who would give up all they've worked at just for some stupid sibling'; he seemed really surprised when I answered that my bro-bro here would. He seemed really confused and surprised; then all I had to do was yank him into the cake with me and then we fought on the stage." she finished.
"That . . .explains a lot. No wonder you were acting so weird that day, Dipper." Wendy commented, gently punching his shoulder.
"So, he's unfamiliar with how human bonds work? How far someone will go to help another person?" Fiddleford clarified.
Mabel nodded. "I believe so. He seemed to think that I was gonna just hand over the journal without a second thought to my brother, just to keep the play from being ruined. I . . ." she glanced at her brother affectionately. ". . .my Dipping'dot comes first, and everything else after him." she said firmly, giving his hand a squeeze.
"We need to figure out how to beat him; me and Fidds have dealt with him in the past, and you two told me about how you had your own run in with him; and apparently more times than you mentioned. We need to figure this out . . ." Stanford dropped off, thinking hard.
They had no more time to talk as, suddenly, the tunnel suddenly branched off into three more; these were smaller; barely higher than the eldest Pines Twins heads, and narrower, meaning they'd have to walk single file.
"Which way do we go?" asked Dipper, voice cracking and becoming high pitched and squeaky; 'Stupid puberty voice. . .' he thought. He was warier of the tunnels now; what if they chose the wrong one and couldn't turn back? What if they got separated? He wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to leave his sister.
Suddenly, words appeared above the three tunnels, in a big arc, initially glowing, then fading into carvings in the rock.
TO GAIN PASSAGE INTO THE MINDSCAPE CAVE
YOU MUST PROVE YOUR SKILLS, AND THAT YOU'RE BRAVE
FACE YOUR PAST, OR YOUR WORST FEARS
THINGS TO SCARE AND TAUNT AND BREAK YOU DOWN TO TEARS
GO WHICHEVER WAY, BUT WISELY CHOOSE
TO WIN MAY FEEL MORE LIKE A LOSE
They all glanced at one another. A few seconds later, the words glowed and vanished, replaced by new ones appearing above each tunnel, starting on the leftmost one, then the middle, then the rightmost one.
FEARS
MEMORIES
UNKNOWN
They all glanced at one another. Before they could move, there was a distant rumbling crash. They all flinched, and Lee growled quietly out of reflex. They all looked back down the tunnel they had just come from. Something was . . .moving towards them.
It was water.
The tunnels were flooding.
"Whaddya we do?!" Soos screeched.
Fiddleford pointed to the other three tunnels. The invisible, (and no doubt magical) barriers were keeping the water out. Of course, all the better to drive them in.
Whether they wanted to or not.
"Go, go go!" Wendy shouted, while Ford yelled, "Run for it!"
They scattered, slogging through the water that was already knee-deep for the adults and steadily rising, getting into the tunnels.
They were separated, and with great trials to come.
Fiddleford, Mabel, and Soos ended up in the "Memories" tunnel, Ford and Dipper in the "Fears" one, and Lee and Wendy in the "Unknown" tunnel.
"Is everyone alright?" Ford shouted, even as the water rose higher; soon, they wouldn't be able to hear eachother at all.
"Me, McGucket, and Mabel are alright, Mr. Pines!" Soos shouted back.
"I'm with Wendy, brother!" Lee called.
"Dipper? Where's Dipper?!" Mabel shouted, starting to panic.
"I'm with Grunkle Stan, Mabel! I'm alright!" he called back, trying to be reassuring.
The water rose to the roof of the original tunnel; they would not be able to hear eachother any longer. No way back; they could only go forward.
Wendy and Stanley walked down the tunnel, wary and watchful. They had ended up with the lantern, which seemed to threaten to flicker out at any moment, it's light dingy and weak in the darkness.
"Which tunnel do you think we got, anyway?" Wendy asked after a few minutes of walking.
Lee shrugged. "Not entirely sure. . . the rightmost one?"
Wendy nodded, frowning in thought. "Well, I think in that case, we got the . . ." she trailed off as they were suddenly bathed in bright light. Both flinched and closed their eyes, peeking out hesitantly.
"Woah . . ." was all Wendy said.
"Oh, god no . . ." Lee whispered, utterly horrified and terrified.
They were standing in a huge, rocky crater colored deep blue and lime green, and dingy dark blue soot and ash was scattered everywhere in it, smearing and sticking to their boots. The rock spread out in a large, barren expanse for at least half a mile, with a small, square-ish shape rising up halfway between them and a strange forest.
The plants were twisted and strange, bright dark crimson reds and mustard yellows, and the tree were pale pink with darker fuchsia pink leaves. Small, blood-red dots could be seen here and there on some of the trees. The sky above was bright pink and orange, mixed together like paints in bands and swirls. There was no visible sun or anything to account for the brightness.
In the far distance, brown-black-purple clouds moved in, bright yellow-orange-red-blue streams spouting from it with distance rumblings; like a landslide, like a bomb, like a lions roar; all rolled into one, extremely loud and earth-shaking sound; though, from this far away, it was bare tremors beneath their feet.
Wendy glanced at Lee, immediately struck with how terrified he was at their surroundings, which were completely unknown to her. . . Unknown.
Fiddleford, Mabel, and Soos had lingered by the tunnel entrance for several minutes before going. Soos went first, feeling his way with one hand and holding Mabels tightly in the other. Mabel, in turn, held on of Grunkle Fiddles hands, seeing as the poor scientist seemed scared worse than they were.
"Which tunnel did we end up in?" Fiddles asked at one point, after they seemed to be walking for hours, though it had only been five minutes, in the pitch darkness.
"Hm, I dunno. I wasn't paying attention." Soos laughed a little, nervously. "Sorry, dudes."
"No, no, it's alright." Mabel reassured them both. "I think we got the Memory one . . .what do you think we'll face?" she asked.
There was no time to reply, as, suddenly, afternoon light appeared before them. The continued walking only to freeze in place when they got there, suddenly finding themselves on the edge of cliff. They peered down and say the railway tracks that stretched between the Floating Cliffs above the town.
And, perched on top of it, was the Gideon-Bot, Mabel in its grasp, turning in surprise as Dipper flung himself at it from somewhere above them, smashing through the eye.
Wait. . . "Dude!?" Soos shouted, realizing that Mabel was no longer beside them.
Mabel, now clinging to the robots thumb, turned wide eyes in their direction. "Soos!?" she shouted back, only to cry out and grip tighter as the robot started to flail about and attack an invisible opponent.
Dipper and Stanford walked down the tunnel in silence. Ford had pulled out one of the candles he had brought along and lit it. Dipper squinted in the darkness, nervous and wary.
At length, Ford cleared his throat. "You doing okay?" he asked, pausing and looking behind him as Dipper craned his neck upwards to meet his eyes.
"Y-yeah. . . I'm fine . . .just. . ." he glanced uneasily back the way they came.
Ford turned around fully and crouched before his great-nephew. "Dipper, listen, it's okay to be scared. I've been scared dozens of times before," he admitted. "The one thing I learned, though, was how to work through the fear and keep on going, and not let anything hold you back."
Dipper looked to the side. "We got 'Fear'." he replied.
Ford blinked, ataken back. "What?"
"Fear . . . you know? The tunnel? I . . ." he trailed off. "I'm afraid of what we'll see . . ."
Ford nodded, gently pulling Dipper close, holding him as he stood back up with a grunt.
"Gr-grunkle Stan?" Dipper questioned. He was basically sitting on his relatives arm, back against his chest.
"I'm not gonna let anything hurt you." he turned and started walking back down the tunnel. "We'll get through this together."
Dipper smiled hesitantly and nodded, small hands gripping at Stans' suit. "R-right . . . it can't be that bad, right?" he asked.
"Ri-AAHHH?!" Ford started to reply, but shrieked and leapt back; or tried to.
The ground before them had vanished. They were standing on a tiny piece of rock, barely four paces wide and circular. Ford had frozen in place. Surrounding the entire thing was inky blackness; overhead, underneath, forwards, backwards, left and right. Dipper clung tighter.
"What's going on?" Dipper asked in a small voice. His face in the candlelight was confused and scared. Stan carefully shifted into a kneeling position, a terrified look in his eyes, despite his efforts to hide it.
He set the candle down near the edge and shifted Dipper so he was facing his Grunkles chest, arms wrapped around him in a hug-like fashion. "Grunkle Stan?" he asked again.
"If you hear anything, just hide your face." Ford said quietly, gazing out into the darkness.
"Wh-what? Why?" Dipper asked. He was seated on Stans knees, and was scared at the absolutely terrified and resigned look on his great-uncles face.
"Just do it, kid. . ." there was little heart in the resigned demand, though he tightened his hug-like grip on the boy protectively . . . and in fear.
A blood-curdling scream sounded nearby, and, as if by an unseen spotlight, another piece of floating land appeared, lit up in the darkness. Stan held Dipper tighter, hiding his face from view; the boy soon nuzzled his face into his Grunkles' chest, beginning to quiver in fear. Stan couldn't look away; even though he tried. Even as he tried to duck his head down and shut his eyes, he couldn't look away.
. . . .he couldn't look away from the bloody piece of dirt and rock and grass, a body laying limply on it, sprawled out . . . he choked back a wheezing, terrified sob as he caught sight of the bright pink sweater, stained with crimson blood.
Meh, I couldn't think of anything poetic. So . . . the tunnels basically create a huge simulation, tailored per how each characters fear/memory whatever is. Like, a certain memory of something that scared them the most, or their worst fear, either through experience or otherwise. Unknown is, well . . . unknown.
So, yeah, that about sums that up. If you have any suggestions for the others fear/whatever they face, feel free to send that stuff in. It could be fun!
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