AN: Yay! Season 2 is finally here! OMGoodness, you guys. I can't believe it's already been a year since I started this. My new favorite episode is "Not What He Seems"! THE DRAMA!
By the way, sorry I didn't get all this reviews in last chapter. Sometimes they don't show up right away. This is the most reviews ever, though! YAY!
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aricawebb13: I really wanna say, "Keep reading and find out", but, I'll just answer. Yes. Something like that.
bigmike33321: *shrugs* Maybe. I'm focused on this fic now, but later on...
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OMAC001: I have no idea. It kinda scares me, because I don't work in them until the last minute. Not by choice, I just come up with my best ideas last minute. Even if I tried to write it sooner, I'd only end up re-writing the entire thing. All I can say right now is... SWEATERVEST!
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Kingsmen: I know I have a lot to fix. Thank you for your honesty, and for giving me a chance. In my defense though, I was 12 when I wrote the first chapter. :)
Dipper
"Morning' Dippin' Sauce!" Mabel woke me up with a huge grin.
I smiled back. "Morning, Mabel. Ready for the grand re-opening of the Shack?"
Mabel's eyes lit up, and she ran across the room to her suitcase, which was not yet fully unpacked from the Gideon incident. She popped it open, and her many sweaters popped out. She jumped in to the large pile of yarn, and popped her head back out. A few sweaters gathered on her arms and head. "What sweater should I wear?" She asked, as she searched the pile, as if swimming.
"Um..." I glanced around the mass of sweaters. How did that all FIT in there? I shrugged as I realized I shouldn't question Mabel. "How about this... strawberry?" I asked aloud as I picked up the sweater.
Mabel swam up to the surface of her pile to look the sweater. "Dipper, that's a watermelon."
I stared at it. "It is?"
"Yeah!" She jumped out of her sweater pool to point at it. "Look at the green on the edge! It's a watermelon."
I shrugged. "If you say so."
Mabel smiled, and grabbed the sweater from me. "Watermelon it is!" She said proudly, before grabbing the edge of her nightgown and lifting it up. I turned red as she glared at me playfully. "Don't look!"
I slapped my hand over my eyes before awkwardly turning around.
"Done!" She finally exclaimed, and I turned around to see her doing various poses in the mirror. "You were right, Dip. It was definitely a watermelon sweater day."
I watched her and smiled. "Yeah."
"Now," she turned around and grabbed my hand. "To the Grand Re-Opening!"
"To the Grand Re-Opening!" I repeated, and we ran down the stairs.
"Welcome, to the grand re-opening of the Mystery Shack!" Stan said confidently.
The tourists all around us cheered.
"We're here to celebrate we defeated that skunk Lil Gideon!" He held up a Lil' Gideon doll.
"Boo!"
"Please, please... boo harder!"
"BOO!"
"But I didn't catch that porkchop all alone. These two scamps deserve SOME of the glory..." Stan playfully rubbed my hat, and hugged me and Mabel. Mabel gave Stan an elbow-poke. "Okay, okay." He submitted. "Most of the glory."
"Smile for the camera!" Came the voice of Toby Determined.
Stan stared at him. "Your camera's a cinder block, Toby."
"I just wannna to be a part of things..."
Shandra Jimenez walked up. "Smile for a REAL camera."
Mabel smiled. "Everybody say "Something stupid!'"
Mabel adorably poked her cheeks, Stan did jazzhands, and I pretend to choke myself. "Something Stupid!"
"And don't forget to go to the after-party tonight at eight." Stan held up an after-party poster.
"We're doing a Karaoke bonanza, people! Light! Music! Enchantment!" Mabel paused to blow confetti out of her hand. "And an amazing karaoke-performance by our family band, 'Love Patrol Alpha'!"
My eyes widened. "I don't know about that."
Grunkle Stan froze. "I never agreed to that ever."
"Too late!" Mabel smiled. "I wrote your names on the list! It's happening!"
Wendy blew an air horn, and lead the crowd outside. "Buy your ticket people! You know you don't have anything going on in your lives! I'm talking to you pizza guy! Don't lame out on me!"
Grunkle Stan sighed happily. "The town loves us, we finally got that Gideon smell out of the carpet. Everything is finally going my way."
"Hey, Grunkle Stan. Now that we have a moment. I've been meaning to ask you for my journal back." I said meekly.
"Huh? Journal?" He searched himself, before finally pulling the book out from under a cooler. "Oh! Hehe! You mean this old thing! It was so boring I couldn't even finish it."
"Wait, you're just gonna give it to me? Just like that?"
Stan laughed. "What else do you want? A kiss on the cheek?"
"I..." I looked around, and my eyes instantly landed on Mabel. "I gotta go!" I grabbed her by the arm and lead her upstairs.
"Whoa! What's going on, Dipper?" Mabel asked, when we reached the top of the stairs.
I didn't answer. Instead, I looked around nervously. I turned around all Mabel's stuffed animals so that none could spy on us. I pulled down the screen window, and it was all dark. I finally turned on the electric lamp.
"Mabel, we've got to talk." She sat down on her bed and nodded. "Almost losing my journal made me realize that I'm halfway trough the summer, and still no closer to figuring out the big mysteries of Gravity Falls. Gideon almost destroyed the town to get his hands on this Journal. But why?" I began to pace. "Who wrote it? Where are all the other journals? What was Bill talking about when he said 'everything was going to change'? There's something HUGE going on right under our noses. And it's time we stop goofing around and get to the bottom of it."
"Dip, you looked at that thing for like a bazillion times. There's nothing left to discover! Half the pages are blank, remember?"
I flipped through the blank pages and sighed. "I just feel like I'm one puzzle piece away from figuring out everything."
"Don't worry Dipper!" Mabel held up Waddles in a Sherlock Holmes suit. "Lord Mystery Ham is on the case! 'I play by me own rules! Wot? Wot?'"
"I don't know why I tell you things."
"Aw, c'mon. You know you love me."
Before I could respond, I heard the screeching sound of a car. "Do you hear that?" I tried to change the subject.
I opened the window, and looked outside to see a black car, with government LITERALLY written all over it. Literally.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed.
"Cool! It's one of the government things. What are they doing here?" Mabel asked.
I opened to my mouth to respond, but the sound heard was,
"The Mystery Shack is now closed, everybody out! I will not hesitate to use the hose on the elderly!"
Mabel and I exchanged confused glances at the sound of Stan on the intercom, before silently deciding to run downstairs.
"Grunkle Stan, what's happening?" Mabel asked.
"Yeah, you never shut down the gift shop." I pointed out.
Stan nervously paced in the gift shop, and the doorbell soon rang, followed by a few knocks.
Stand opened the door with a big smile. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, gentlemen! What can I get you?" He held up items. "Key chains? Snow globes? These rare photos of American presidents?" He said as he poked a five dollar bill out of his sleeve. I could see Stan's sweat.
The men in black held out their IDs. The first stepped forward. "My name is Agent Powers and this is Agent Trigger, we're here to investigate reports of mysterious activity in this town."
Agent Trigger pointed at Stan. "Activity!"
"Mysterious activity?" Stan asked. "In the Mystery Shack? You gotta be joking!"
Agent Powers shook his head. "I assure you I'm not. I was born with a rare disorder that made me physically incapable of experiencing humor."
Grunkle Stan laughed nervously.
"I don't understand that sound you're making with your mouth. Now if you'll excuse us we are conducting an investigation." He said, as he entered.
Agent Trigger menacingly poked Stan, entering as well. "Investigation!"
Investigation of mysterious activity? Is this a sign or what?! "Wait! Wait, did you guys say you're investigating the mysteries of this town?" I asked.
Agent Powers look around. "That information is classified," He kneeled in front of me. "but yes. Look. Between you and me I believe there is an conspiracy of paranormal origin all connected to this town. We're just one lead away from blowing the lid of this entire mystery."
"Are you kidding me? I'm investigating the exact same thing! I found this Journal in the woods which has almost all the answers. If we work together, we could crack the case!" I got excited. Finally!
Agent Powers glanced at Agent Trigger, before handing my his card. "If you have evidence of these claims, we should talk."
"We could talk right now! Please please. C-come in! I have so much to show you!"
Stan suddenly jumped in. "Hehe, I'm sorry agents. The kid has an overactive imagination. And like, a sweating problem."
In the background I heard Mabel laugh. "Haha! Zing!"
"Paranormal town stuff is just part of gift shop lore. Sells more tickets you know?" Stan snapped his fingers.
Soos then came up. "Popodopopo! Swag!" He said as he sticked 'What is the Mystery Shack?' bumper stickers on them, and laced antennae on their heads.
Agent Powers remained emotionless. "We have other spots to investigate. We'll be on our way."
Agent Trigger came up behind him with 10 Stan bobbleheads. "I'm confiscating this for evidence."
Powers gave an approving nod. "Smart move."
"Wait! No, wait! We got so much to talk about!" I yelled, but it was in vain.
"Hold it kiddo." Stan stopped me. "Trust me, the last thing you want around during a party, is cops. I'm confiscating that card." He said, doing just that.
I gasped in surprise, and watched helplessly as he placed the card in the Contraband Box.
"Now how's about you being a normal kid. Flirt with Mabel, or steal a pie off a window sill."
"But Grunkle Stan! You don't understand!" I begged.
"And don't go talking to those agents." Was all he said as he left.
"Ugh! That could've been my big break!" I stared at the journal in my hands.
Mabel grabbed the journal from me. "Dip, maybe Grunkle Stan is right."
I blushed. "You mean, I should flirt with you?" I asked, only now realizing what Stan had said.
"No!" Mabel answered quickly, before pausing. "Well, yes, but that's not what I meant. We're throwing a party tonight! Can't you go one night without searching for aliens or raising the dead or whatever?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not gonna raise the dead. I just need a chance to show those agents my book!"
"Trust me Dipper, the only book you'll need tonight is right here: Boop!" She put the Journal on the counter and held up the karaoke song book.
She handed it to me, and I stared at the cover, then back at her.
"I say Kara-, you say -oke! Kara-" Silence. "Kara-" Silence. "Kara-" Silence. "...I could do this all day."
"Don't."
Mabel poked me in the side. "I just want you to have fun, tonight."
"No."
She crossed her arms and gave a serious face. "Dipper, I demand that you have fun tonight."
I crossed my arms to match hers. "No."
She shook her head. "You leave me with no choice. I'm keeping the journal." She picked up the Journal and hugged it, to keep it out of my reach.
"What?"
"The journal. I'm keeping it."
"Mabel, no!"
"Dipper, just for tonight." She began to beg. "I'll give it back tomorrow, I promise. But I really wanna have fun with you at this party."
I groaned at the sight of her puppy-dog pout. Too... cute... "Fine."
Mabel gave a delighted and surprised smile. I guess she didn't expect me to hand it over so easily. "Thanks, Dipper!" She gave me a quick hug. "We are gonna have so much fun! You won't regret this!" She skipped out the door.
"I already do..."
"Dipper!" Mabel ran up to me with excitement and a smile on her face. "Check out the awesome sweater I got for this special occasion! It's a boombox sweater!"
I looked her up and down. "That's it?"
Mabel smiled confidently. "Oh, you ain't seen nothin'! Press the button!"
I hesitantly pressed the colorful button on her sweater, only for the Boombox on it to light up and play music. "Wow..."
"Dance with me, Dippin' Sauce!" She smiled, grabbing my hands.
I shyly pulled away. "Sorry, Mabel, I think I'm just gonna go help your sister with the posters. Why didn't you... see if the confetti canon you got works, or... look up songs in the karaoke machine."
Mabel shrugged. "Okay. Tell Wendy I said hi!" She said, as she walked away to the podium.
I could hear her talking to Stan as I walked away.
"Aah!" Stan yelled as she fired the canon.
"Well, the confetti canon works!" She gasped. "And the karaoke machine has all the best songs! 'We Built This Township on Rock and Roll', 'Danger Lane to Highway Town', 'T8king over midnight by &NDRA!'"
"Listen kid, you do not want to hear this voice singing. Trust me."
"Grunkle Stan, karaoke is not about sounding good, it's about sounding terrible, TOGETHER."
I smiled to myself. No way was she gonna get us to sing anytime soon.
"Right, Dipper?"
"AH!" I jumped in surprise, to realize that Mabel had somehow transported herself behind me. "R-Right..."
Wendy laughed. "Mabes, check it out! These blacklights make my teeth look scary." She turned them on. "It's like a crime scene, in my mouth! C'mon, you love it." She smiled.
"Nice!" Mabel giggled, and gave her sister a thumbs up.
I sighed, my mind still on what happened with those agents. "It's not fair. Finally I meet someone who can help me solve the mysteries of this town, and Stan confiscates their card."
"Dude, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm pretty sure Stan hides, like, everything in his room."
"Ugh, if I go into Stan's room I could get in so much trouble."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Wendy paused. "That's what makes it fun, dummy!" She said as she placed a party hat on my head.
Mabel sighed. "Okay, Dipper. You want this so badly, let's go."
"Really?"
"Sure. Under one condition." She paused for dramatic effect. "You call them tomorrow."
"What? But Mabel, it's-"
"Tomorrow." She said sternly, with her serious face.
I sighed, and nodded slowly. However, I couldn't resist the urge to cross my fingers behind my back. I'm sorry, Mabel. But this is important to me.
His door was creepy. A piece of wood nailed to the door read, 'STAN'S ROOM'. A sign hanging on a nail below it read, 'NO MINORS ALLOWED'. A picture of me with a cross through it and 'THAT MEANS YOU!' was written on it is and pinned to the door. A 'Do not disturb' sign was on the doorknob.
Yeesh, if this was his door, how bad was his room?
"We'll keep an eye out for Stan. You go rustle through his weird old man biz." Wendy said.
Mabel smiled. "Yeah!"
I nodded, and opened the door and walked in. "Alright, Grunkle Stan. Where did you hide that card?"
I opened a drawer to find Gold Chains for Old Men magazine, a familiar article, along with other uninteresting items.
"Nothing."
I opened a drawer full of knuckledusters and boxing gloves.
"Nothing."
I opened a chest full of more magazines. 'Fully Clothed Women' and 'Lady Swimwear' were on top.
"Ew!" I shut the chest. "Pretending I never saw that."
I looked around the room with a sigh, and stared at a picture of a Stan.
"Wait a minute..."
I moved the portrait to the side to find a secret compartment. There I finally found the Contraband Box, and the card.
"Haha, yes!" I took out the box and grabbed the card. "I got it!"
I quickly dialed the phone.
"Agent Powers." Came his voice.
"Hi, this is Dipper. Th-the kid from the Mystery Shack. The one with the, um, 'sweating problem'." I mentally cursed Stan. "I have that journal I wanted to show you!"
"And you're certain this 'journal' will help our case?"
"I'm a hundred percent positive."
"Very well. We're on our way."
Suddenly, all I heard was the dial tone. I gasped and looked up to see that Grunkle Stan had ended the call. I glanced behind him to see two apologetic girls. One, however, looked nearly as upset as Stan.
"Sorry, Dipper." Wendy held up her phone to show a picture of shirtless Thompson. "We got distracted."
Stan sighed. "Kid, why did you call those agents? I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times!" He grabbed the phone from my hands. "There's nothing 'supernatural' going on in Gravity Falls." He hung up.
"Yes, there is!" I shouted. "After everything that's happened you have to know that by now."
"All I know is that your dumb obsession is gonna get us all in trouble one of these days. Now go enjoy the rest of the party, 'cause when it's over-" he shoved me out the door. "-you're grounded!"
And all I could do was glare at Stan as Wendy, Mabel and I walked away. As I began sulking, Mabel turned to me with a look of disappointment. "Dipper, we agreed you wouldn't call."
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Mabel. This could be the breakthrough I've been waiting for!"
"But this is the party I've been waiting for! The song I wanted to sing with you and Stan!" She gave her sad, pleading eyes and pouted, unknowingly.
I turned away to avoid guilt. "I'm sorry, Mabel, but the journal is more important."
She stepped back. "More important than me?"
I froze. I didn't say that, did I? There's no way I said that. Did I imply it? How could I possibly imply that? For a moment everything just stopped. I turned around, and melted at the sight of her watering eyes. Suddenly, I couldn't remember those agents ever existed. Suddenly, the journal was nothing more than a book. Suddenly, Mabel was the most important thing in the world.
I shook my head. "The journal is more important..." I lied to myself. Nothing could possibly be more important than her.
And I just let her walk away with tears in her eyes.
Mabel
I ran back to the party, quickly wiping away the tears before my friends saw me. They waved, and I waved back, but I didn't dare come over. I feared my voice would break into a cry. The journal is more important.
I shook my head. I can't believe him. It's just a stupid book! I angrily kicked the nearest tree. But after a few seconds, I returned to that tree and hugged it. An apology hug. That tree didn't deserve my anger. That tree wasn't Dipper. But, even if it was, I'd regret hurting him. I don't do that to people... or trees.
I don't want to blame Dipper, though. I want to blame the journal. How could he choose a book over me?! Granted, it's a crazy-awesome mystery that even I'd love to figure out, but, I wouldn't choose it over Dipper.
It was at that moment I remembered that I had the book in my possession at the moment. I ran toward the bush by the porch where I had, I admit, carelessly placed it. Dipper would have found it had I placed it under my pillow, or anywhere else in the attic.
I scanned the old, likely-to-break-if-I-pull-on-them-too-hard pages as I walked around the exterior of the shack. You know, Dipper couldn't possibly blame me if one of these old, likely-to-break-if-I-pull-on-them-too-hard pages were to... accidentally rip? I tugged on one of the pages thoughtfully, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I released the page and sighed.
But what's so special about a dumb book?
And then I saw it. A streak of purple glowing writing flashed across the book.
I gasped, and froze. It my surprise, the book fell out of my hands and to the ground. I saw it again. Glowing purple worded written over the old ones. I turned around to see the blacklight shinning on it. I moved away, and the glow disappeared. I moved back, and it reappeared. I did this action several more times before I finally stopped to think about what I was seeing.
I glanced through some pages, and read the new texts. Apparently, vampire bats were fruit bats, eyeballs were weakened by pepper spray, and zombies' heads would explode when exposed to a perfect three-part harmony. Huh.
I suddenly realized Dipper was right, there was so much more left to discover in this book. That's when I also realized he had to show his book to those agents. The agents that were here right now... to see the book... and Dipper doesn't have it...
I ran.
Dipper
Within minutes, the agents were here.
"Guys, I'm so glad to see you. Working together we can crack the all of the big questions of Gravity Falls! Trust me, this book is the lead you've been looking for." I reached in vest.
Nothing.
I couldn't fight the nervous laugh that escaped my mouth as I began to search myself. "It was... Right here." I gasped as the memory of Mabel taking my journal struck me. "Mabel!"
Agent Powers looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Pardon?"
I cringed. This was not gonna look good. "I-I have the journal, I swear! I just, left it, back at the-"
"DIPPER!" I turned around to see Mabel running up to me, panting. Before I could ask why, she held up the journal and handed it to me. "Tell them." She said between deep breaths.
I laughed out of joy and relief. "Thank you!" I quickly handed them the book, and talked as they looked through. "I'm thinking full scale investigation. Forensics, researchers. Do you guys have a helicopter?" I paused to laugh. I'm sorry, helicopTERS."
Agent Powers sighed. "Kid, I'd love to believe you, but this just looks like more junk from your uncle's gift shop." He pointed at a page. "I mean, Leprecorn? I can't be the only one who thinks that's not funny."
"I can confirm." Agent Trigger shook his head. "Not funny."
"No, no, no! It's real, I swear! You should 'send it to the lab.'" I paused. "Am I saying that right?"
Agent Powers handed me back the journal. "Your uncle was right about that overactive imagination of yours. We've got paperwork to do, kid."
Agent Trigger nodded. "Boring. Paperwork."
"WAIT! This book is real." I flipped through pages rapidly. "Gnomes, Cursed Objects, Spells! LISTEN!" Before I knew what I was doing, I began to recite the spell. "Uh, uh, Corpus Levitus Diablo Dominus Mondo Vicium!"
The ground shook.
"Huh?" I looked around.
The agents yelled.
A huge crack formed between my feet. I jumps away and landed near the Agents. Green smoke come out of the crack. A zombie slowly climbs out and roars.
"Ha, a zombie! A real, actual, zombie. Spooky journal, 100% real. Now can we work together?"
Mabel screamed.
Agent Powers yelled, "Mother of all that is holy!"
"What do we do?" Triggers asked nervously.
"It's just one zombie, trust me I see things like this all the time." I scanned through the journal, looking for a solution. The zombie, in all in terror, roared in my face. I screamed. "AAH!"
Agent Powers quickly hits the zombie with a rock, and it got knocked out.
"Whew. Oh, Thank God it was just that one." I sighed in relief.
Just as I spoke more cracks formed in the ground. An army of zombies came from the ground.
"Dipper!" Mabel grabbed my arms and shook me.
"Oh my gosh! You guys can help right!?" I asked the agents.
Powers shook his head. "Kid, we've been chasing the paranormal for years now but we have never seen anything like this before!"
Agent Trigger yelled, "Get down!" Just as the zombies tackled them.
The men were dragged into the darkness of the forest.
Mabel and I were left alone. "OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAVE I DONE!?" I screamed.
"You did the three things I asked you not to do tonight!" Mabel yelled.
"What?!"
She glared at me. "Tell me, Dipper. Tell me the three things I asked you not to do tonight."
Like an embarrassed five-year-old being reprimanded by his mother, I hung my head. "Obsess over the journal, call the agents, and raise the dead."
She placed her hands on her hips as she scolded. "And what did you do?"
"...Obsess over the journal, call the agents, and raise the dead."
She suddenly gasped. "OH, NO! THE PARTY!"
Mabel
I ran back to the party as fast as I possibly could.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"We're all gonna die!"
"Whoa, WHOA I think it's an earthquake!" Wendy yelled, blowing her airhorn. "Hey, everybody we got to get out of here!"
"Wait, no! Don't leave! We haven't even done our family karaoke song yet!" I yelled hopelessly to the panicking crowd. Within seconds everyone was gone.
Dipper ran up behind me, and the zombies followed him.
"Dipper, what do we do?!" I yelled. I know I read something about this. What was the zombies' weakness?!
"I don't know!" He yelled back.
The zombies got closer, and we backed away in fear. Out of nowhere, Soos stepped in front of us. "Stay back dudes, this is about to get intense."
The zombies knocked over a table, and we were cornered. We screamed.
"Sorry, one second." Soos took a picture with his phone. "You got to admit this is pretty cool."
"Zombies!" Dipper yelled.
"Don't panic. Maybe they're just a very ugly flash mob!?" I shrugged.
"Are you kidding me?!" Dipper screamed. "You saw them rise up from the ground!"
"I'm just trying to be positive!" I yelled back.
"We're gonna die! Now's not the time!"
A zombie swung at my head and I ducked, moving as far away as I could. Dipper and I screamed and ran behind Soos.
"Dudes, stay calm." Soos said. "I have been training for this moment my whole life. With all the horror movies I see, I literally know all there is to know about to avoid zombies."
A second later he was bit and he turned into a zombie.
"Second thought, gonna flip the script. Can I, eat your brains? Yea or Nay? Seeing some Yea faces over here."
Dipper and I screamed. We ran around to the other side of the house, with Soos and the other zombies right behind us. Dipper sliced through zombies with his shovel.
"Quick! The golf cart!" He said, only for the zombies to destroy it. "Aw, come on!"
"Hoo, that's a bummer. Good news for me though, ha ha." Said Zombie Soos.
"Soos!" Dipper yelled.
"Sorry, dude, I just really want those brains!"
"Stay back!" Dipper threw a disco ball at the zombies. One caught it in his mouth, and swallowed it, only for the light to shine through his ribs.
Zombie Soos laughed. "Give it up, dudes! Your fighting only makes us look more rad!"
"What do we do?" I asked nervously. "Where's Grunkle Stan?"
"How's he supposed to help? He doesn't even believe in the supernatural!" Dipper yelled.
A zombie suddenly popped up in front of Dipper.
"Take that, sucka!" I yelled as I hit the zombie with the karaoke machine I'd almost forgot I was holding. The zombies head flew off and I stared at the machine, and then back at Dipper. "This thing's a surprisingly good weapon!"
More zombies approached, and we screamed and ran into the shack. "Quick! We need to board up all the windows!" Dipper yelled.
We piled things in front of the door.
"Okay, maybe that'll hold 'em."
The window crashed, and we turned to see Zombie Soos. "Hey dudes! By the way, I taught the zombies how to get into the fuse box. Among these dudes I'm like a genius, haha!" The electricity went out, the only light, and erie red, poured in from outside just like the zombies. "Get those brains, dawg!"
Dipper ran for the other door, only for another zombie to smash through. He gasped. We were corned.
"Dipper, isn't there something in the journal about defeating zombies?!" I yelled, hiding behind him and grasping his shoulders.
Dipper frantically looked through the journal. "No! There's nothing in here about weaknesses!" He sighed. This can't be happening. I wanted answers so bad I put everyone in danger. Now we're toast, it's all my fault, and no one can save us!" He turned to me. "Mabel, I should never have even implied that the journal meant more to me than you."
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as I relieved the memory. I gave him a hug.
"Mabel, if this is it, I-"
"No!" I hugged him tighter. "Don't you dare say that! Don't you dare!"
I held on as long as I could. But then a zombie suddenly grabbed Dipper's arm and pulled him up and away from me. I screamed, and failed my arms, hopelessly reaching for him. This can't be the end.
"Ah, no!" He gave me one last fearful look, before bracing himself for a bite. "Mabel, I'm sorry!"
"Dipper!"
He screamed. I closed my eyes.
SMASH!
I looked up just as Dipper was dropped, and the zombie's head was now on the floor, crushed by the foot of...
"You two! Attic! Now!" His clothes were torn, and his hat was gone, but it was unmistakeable.
"Gru- Grunkle Stan?!" Dipper yelled in surprise.
"I said NOW!"
We fled to the attic as we heard Stan yelled to the zombies.
"All right, you undead jerks, you ready to die twice? The only wrinkly monster who harasses my family is me! Take that! And that! Eat it, no eyes! ANYONE ELSE WANNA PIECE?" He yelled as he bashed zombies.
Dipper and I ran to the attic and slammed the door. We backed away at the sound of zombies breaking in. But, when the door opened it was reveal to be Stan.
He coughed and grabbed his side. "Oh! Ow. Everything hurts." He said, before turning around and barricading the door with a chair.
"Grunkle Stan, that was amazing! Are you alright?" Dipper asked. "Heh heh, well, at least you can't deny magic exists anymore, right?"
Grunkle Stan sighed. "Kid, I've always known."
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
"I'm not an idiot, Dipper! Of course this town is weird! And the one thing I know about that weirdness is that it's dangerous!" Stan yelled, as a zombie's hand broke through the door, and we backed to the center of the room. "I've been lying about it to try to keep you away from it. To try to protect you from it!"
A zombie broke through the window, and Stan turned around to punch it. The zombie fell to the ground, but hundreds of zombies still stared up at the shack, and more continued to climb the walls.
"...Looks like I didn't lie well enough."
"What do we do, what do we do?" I panicked.
Dipper began to pace again. "Well, normally the journal would help us, but there's nothing in there about defeating zombies! It's hopeless!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" The memory of the blacklight rushed back into my head. "Three Part Harmony!"
"What?" The boys stared at me.
"Their heads will explode if we made a three part harmony!"
Dipper shook his head. "Mabel..."
"This will work!" I insisted. "Trust me, Dipper!" I gave my best pleading eyes and pouty face, and begged. "What else can we do?"
"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" I called through the mic.
The zombies gathered outside, as we stood talk and proud on the top of the shack. Well, I stood tall and proud. Dipper and Stan kinda... cowered.
"Zombies and gentlemen! I'm Mabel, there're Dipper and Stan, and together we're Love Patrol Alpha!"
"I never agreed to that name." Dipper said in monotone.
"Hit it!" I smiled, as the pop song intro started.
Grunkle Stan glanced at the lyrics on the karaoke machine, the back to me. "Uh, Mabel, our lives may not be worth this."
I ignored Stan and nudged Dipper forward, and he sang the lyrics.
"'Friday night, and we're gonna party 'til dawn. Don't worry daddy,'" He paused. "'I've got my favorite dress on?'" He covered the mic and glared at me. "Mabel, this is stupid!"
I ignored him and sang, "Roll in to the party, the boys are lookin' our way. We just keep dancin', we don't care what they say! And all the boys are gettin' up in my face-'" A zombies popped up in front of me. "Aah! Guys, we have to sing together or it won't work!"
Grunkle Stan sang. "Um, 'Boys are a bore, let's show 'em the door.'"
We all sang, "'We're takin' over the dance floor!'"
I smiled. Harmony.
"'Oh-oh! Girls do what we like! Oh-oh! We're taking over tonight! Oh-oh! Girls do what we like! Oh-oh! We're taking over tonight!'"
The zombies heads began to explode. It was gross, but AWESOME!
"'We're queens of the disco! Oh-oh! Girls do what we like! Oh-oh! We're taking over tonight!'"
Dipper smiled and sang, "Takin' over tooniiiiight!'"
A zombies popped up in front of Dipper. He screamed.
"Duck!" I shouted quickly.
Dipper turned around and gasped, before ducking. I shot my confetti canon at the zombie, and we look around to see all the zombies were dead... again.
"Thank you! We'll be here all night!" I said proudly.
"Deal with it, zombie idiots! Ahahahahaha!" Stan laughed.
"Pines! Pines! Pines! Pines!" We shouted.
We looked around the damaged living room, and Stan found his fez.
"I can't believe it, Mabel." Dipper admired me. "How did you know that would work?"
He stared at me with his hopeful eyes. Oh, how I wanted to tell him everything. But... it would be just another reason for him to get distracted and put the journal before our friendship. It hurt. I didn't want to be hurt. So I lied.
"Lucky guess?"
He stared at me in shock. "A lucky guess?"
I nodded.
Stan laughed. "Well, that's the luckiest guess ever. Have you ever played Roulette?"
I shook my head, but couldn't help myself from letting out a nervously laugh.
Thankfully, it went unnoticed as Dipper sighed. "I'm sorry about this, guys. I totally ruined everything."
"Dipper, are you kidding me? I got to sing karaoke with my two favorite people in the world! No party could ever top that." I smiled.
"Kids, listen. This town is crazy. So you need to be careful. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt on my watch." He turned to Dipper. "I'll let you hold on to that spooky journal, as long as you promise me you'll only use it for self-defense, and not go looking for trouble."
Dipper paused. "Okay, as long as you promise me that you don't have any other bombshell secrets about this town."
"Promise."
"Promise."
Stan looked around. "Man, we have got a lot of zombie damage to clean up. Where's my handyman anyway?"
"Brains! Braaains!" Came the voice of Zombie Soos.
"Holy Moses!" Stan yelled, about to hit him with a chair.
"Wait!" Dipper yelled, Stan stopped. "There's a page in here about curing zombification. It's gonna take a lot of formaldehyde."
I looked over Dipper's shoulder at the recipe. "Ooh, and cinnamon!"
"Come on Soos, let's fix you up."
"Brains! Braaains!"
"Soos, cut it out!" I said as I prodded him out of the room with the chair.
"Heheh, sorry dude!"
But, as I lead Soos away, I couldn't help but think about the journal. I had newfound respect for the book that had saved our lives, but something in me just couldn't tell Dipper about the invisible words. It would be a secret, between me and the book.
I wondered, though, what other secrets had gone unseen right in front of our eyes?
AN: Today's twist: Dipper doesn't know about the invisible ink, Mabel does. I wonder what will happen next? I hope this chapter was good enough. Next one will (probably?) be up next Tuesday. A week and two days.
SO, WHO ELSE LOVED "NOT WHAT HE SEEMS"?!