Tales Of The Flame & The Ax: A Shooting Star Falls Story

Part Thirty-Four: Where Is My Mind?

Wendy's eyes fluttered open to find herself in a very large white room with a single exit that was draped by a black cloth curtain. "Ugh..." she groaned while watching her family slowly come to as well. "Wha? What happened?" Mabel asked as she rubbed the back of her head in confusion. It felt as though she had just woken from a nap. "I think we're in the mindscape..." Dipper chimed in as he sat up and began to assess the situation. Pacifica had been last to wake, but first to realize where they were. "I think we're in the mind of one of the Magic Killers..." the now fully silver haired girl remarked. "PAZ! YOUR HAIR!" Mabel said as she removed a small compact from her pocket so that her sibling could see her new look. "Huh..." she remarked before sweeping away the hair from in front of her eye. Much to her surprise, both of her eyes were now an icy blue in color. "Are you alright, honey?" Wendy asked as she knelt down to take a better look at her daughter. "Yeah... I can see fine. I think it's just the magic messing with me or something..." the teen girl said as she tried to reassure her mother. "You said you think we're in the mind of one of the Magic Killers? Why do you think that?" Dipper asked in a curious tone. "Just a feeling" Pacifica replied. "Hey, what do you think is on the other side of this curtain?!" Mabel asked as she touched the dark fabric with her fingers. "MABEL ELISE PINES! GET AWAY FROM THAT THIS INSTANT!" Dipper shouted from across the room as all three Pines women stood in a bit of shock. To say that it was a little out of character for Dipper to shout at any member of his family was an understatement. The only other time that any of them could recall was when Pacifica revealed that she had not only found a spellbook in the woods, but had practiced magic from it.

Dipper walked over to the curtain and began to examine it. Closing his eyes, he pulled it back. "It looks like it leads to some sort of stage or somethin'..." Mabel said as she stuck her head briefly through the threshold. "Mabel, I'm sorry I raised my voice at you..." Dipper said as he looked his auburn haired daughter in her hazel eyes. "It's fine... I know you were just scared for me, Dad. I should have waited until you or Mom came over to check it out instead of almost opening a door to who knows where. It could have been a Great Grunkle Ford situation all over again..." Mabel agreed as she accepted his apology. "Welp... Here goes nothing..." the patriarch of the Pines family said before taking a deep breath and stepping through the curtain. The sight on the other side was one that took him a bit by surprise. He thought he recognized the place, but with the light being so low he couldn't confirm his initial suspicions. "Hey guys, I think it's safe here..." Dipper called back towards the curtain. Soon he was joined by the rest of his family and the quartet began to walk around the creaky wooden stage. "Is this the Tent of Telepathy?" Wendy asked Dipper. "I think so... Hey! Wait a minute! How would you know what the inside of The Tent of Telepathy looks like?" the chestnut haired thirty-three year old asked his wife. "I... I might have gone on a date with this dude who said he had tickets to an amazing show that I just had to see. I figured it was some sorta concert or something. Needless to say, I was less than impressed when we ended up... here..." the ginger woman sheepishly admitted. "I take it that there wasn't a second date?" Dipper asked with a chuckle. "Surprisingly, there was... But only because the guy promised to let me ride his dirt bike... God, I was hella dumb back in the day" Wendy replied as she felt shame wash over her. "We all did stupid things when we were kids... Plus, dirt bikes are pretty sweet..." Dipper said as he tried to cheer his wife up.

Mabel and Pacifica had walked over to what looked to be a control panel and flipped a large metal switch up. The sound of the floodlights turning on filled the tent and soon the structure was awash in bright light. A single pair of clapping hands broke the silence and all four members of the Pines family gazed up to see a brown haired teenager sitting in the top row of the stands that surrounded the stage. "MABEL!" Dipper shouted as he was shaken by the appearance of the young woman. "Whoa! That's not freaky at all or anything..." Wendy added. "Aunt Mabel?!" Pacifica asked as she walked closer to the edge of the stage. "HAHAHA! I've been called a lot of things before, but that's a new one..." the brunette laughed in a mocking manner. "If you're here, then that must mean we're in the mind of your brother..." Dipper commented. "It's refreshing to see someone named Mason that actually has a brain in his head and actually uses it..." the teen replied. "Why are we here?!" Wendy shouted to the teenager from the stage. "Well, first things first, I have to give credit where credit is due... You've put up one hell of a fight. You should be proud of yourselves. Still, I'm afraid you've only delayed the inevitable" the demon replied as she played with her chestnut locks. "My parents have beaten bad guys like you before and they'll do it again!" Mabel added.

Mabel Gleeful arose from her seat as an annoyed look formed on her face. Although she'd never admit it, being called a bad guy had hurt her feelings. If they only understood all the pain she had gone through when her home world had been destroyed then maybe they would see why she had chosen to do what she did. The alure of regaining what she had lost motivated her to do unspeakable acts across the multiverse. "Enough talk..." the brunette said as she shot a blue flame from her hand; the attack landing at the feet of Pacifica, which caused her to jump back. The silver haired girl unslung her rife and quickly set up a shot on the demon. Pressing the trigger, the young woman was surprised to see that a stream of water shot from the firearm instead of the blue laser she had expected. "What the?!" she exclaimed while the maniacal laughter of the teenage demon filled the arena. "We're in the mindscape... That means we can do anything we can think of... And so can she... That's why she brought us here. She knows that this is her best chance of beating us..." Dipper explained. "So, if we die he-" Mabel began before being cut off. "Then we die in real life too..." her father interjected in a sullen tone. "Well then, I guess we'll just not die then..." Mabel replied. "I can do anything in here, huh? I have an idea then..." the ginger teenager thought to herself as a bass guitar appeared in her hands.

"What are you gonna do? Play me a song or something?" the demon teen asked in a mocking tone. "Yeah... Something like that..." Mabel said with a smirk as she strummed the chords and a barrage of bullets sprayed from the top of the neck of the musical instrument. Much to her shock, it appeared as though Mabel Gleeful was able to dodge her way through the storm of projectiles and now stood mere feet in front of her. "Anime fan, huh?" the demon said through deep breaths. "What gave it away?" her opponent asked with a wink. "My turn..." Pacifica said as she pointed her prosthetic arm at her enemy and watched as it fired off towards her like a missile. The brunette teen again was able to evade the attack. "Best you've got?" she quipped to the silver haired girl. Before Pacifica could reply, her arm had turned around and erupted into a barrage of small explosive charges; some of which hit their target. Mabel Gleeful was knocked to the ground and a smirk formed on Pacifica's face. "Nah... But good enough for you" she said before conjuring a replacement arm. Wendy was up next to assault the demon, as she had spawned a pair of axes which she drug against the ground while running towards the downed teen; a shower of sparks trailing them. Jumping up, she swung the weapons at her enemy just as she had risen to her feet. The first strike landed square in the torso of the young woman, while the second became lodged in her right leg. Letting go of the handles, she landed and turned to see that her target remained upright.

"This bitch just won't die..." Wendy thought to herself before thinking of a chainsaw her father owned. Starting it up, she charged at the dream demon as her stunned family looked on. She once again took a flying leap and guided the blade down into the shoulder of the stunned brunette. Mabel caught the body of the chainsaw just as it began to dig into her body and the two began to wrestle for control of the deadly weapon. Wendy kicked Mabel in the gut which created a bit of separation, allowing for the ginger woman to take a swipe at the midsection of the demon. The saw stalled out and Wendy swung the plastic covered engine at the skull of Mabel; striking a blow to the head and knocking the demon back. She quickly pulled the string on the saw and it roared back to life as the demon rose to her feet once more. Wendy walked towards the teen with a purpose as she picked up the saw, revved it up and swung down towards her shoulder. Mabel blocked at the last second and the blade continued to run mere millimeters from her body as the two fought for control. The blade barely dug into the shoulder of the chestnut maned girl before she was able to push the weapon away and turn it towards her attacker. Wendy fought back and the two were stuck in a stalemate as they spun around the wooden stage almost as if in a dance. It was a dance alright. A dance for survival.

"You're gonna be sorry for coming after my family! And not like the, I took half a sheet of LSD at the concert last night kinda sorry either. Nope... this kinda sorry is much worse..." the thirty-six year old woman remarked. Wendy scored another swift kick; this time to the axe that had been lodged in the dream demon's torso. It caused her enemy to fall to her knees and the auburn haired woman knew this was her time to strike. She regained control of the chainsaw and drove it into the shoulder of the young woman. The sound of the rotating blades tearing their way through flesh echoed throughout the performance center; Dipper pulling both Mabel and Pacifica into his body so they didn't have to witness the act. Mabel Gleeful screamed in agony as the blade cut a diagonal path across her torso before eventually becoming lodged in her sternum. She lifted up her one good arm and landed an elbow strike on the crown of Wendy's head in a final act of defiance before both fell to the wooden floor below. Dipper sprinted over to check on his wife as the sound of the idling saw continued to fill the Tent Of Telepathy. His lover was covered in the blood of the demon. "Now's our chance!" Dipper shouted as he pulled his wife towards the rest of the family. "We have to all think about a portal that can get us out of here" he said to the three women. All four members of the Pines family began to have thoughts about an exit from the mindscape. Soon, a red vortex formed on the floor of the stage. It grew in size and was soon swallowing small objects. Wendy had come to just in time to see the room being torn apart. "See you in hell, BITCH!" she shouted while shooting the nearly lifeless body of Mabel Gleeful a pair of double middle fingers. Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica and Wendy felt themselves being pulled into the void as they hoped their next destination would be home.

Author's Note: So, this took a bit of time and it's not as long as some of my other chapters, but honestly I don't write fight scenes that well. I hope this passes as alright. Did Wendy truly eliminate the threat of the Magic Killers once and for all? Does Mabel watch too much anime? Just what else is in store for the Pines family. Answers to all these questions and more as we quickly approach the end of the Tales of The Flame & The Axe. Until then... - iKLOT

Playlist for this chapter:

A Day To Remember - "Mindreader" (Pretty much what I would use as a theme song for this part of the story)

carolesdaughter - "Violent"

Goalkeeper - "Graveyard"

Paramore - "Emergency"

Panic! At The Disco ft. LOLO - "Miss Jackson"

blessthefall - "Melodramatic" (Reminded me of Mabel Gleeful when the Pines first spotted her on the stage)

Mike Shinoda/ iann dior/ UPSAHL - "Happy Ending"

Young The Giant - "Heat Of The Summer"

M83 – "Midnight City"

Fall Out Boy - "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race"

The Used - "Paradise Lost, A Poem By John Milto"

A Day To Remember - "Everything We Need"

Alice Massacre - "Where Is My Mind? (Pixies Cover)"