Chapter 18: Family Matters
The morning sun hung low over the town of Blithe Hollow, signifying the start to another day. In the Mystery Shack, Dipper sat on the floor in a back room that functioned as a parlor in the house portion of the building. With his back pressed against an old, yellow armchair, his gaze was focused on the journal that lay open on his lap. Dipper's attention was so focused on the book that he didn't notice Mabel enter the room until she flopped sideways onto the chair behind him.
"Good morning!" Mabel greeted sunnily as Dipper started in surprise and dropped the journal, "Whatcha doing?"
"Well, I was trying to read," Dipper replied with a note of annoyance as he picked the journal back up.
"Boring!" Mabel groaned as she rolled onto her back, "Why are you doing nerd stuff on a Saturday?"
"Well, if you hadn't noticed, someone is running around bringing killer ghosts back from the dead," Dipper explained as he looked over his shoulder and glared at Mabel, "So I thought it would be a good idea to try and figure out who it is."
"Any luck?" Mabel inquired as she turned her head and crooked an eyebrow at him.
"No," Dipper answered with an annoyed sigh, "This journal only seems to talk about spells and incantations. It references other journals, but I've looked through the whole house and haven't been able to find them."
"Well, that stinks," Mabel commented as she pushed herself out of the chair, "But since you're stuck, why don't we go do something?"
"You mean, why don't we go do something with Norman, right?" Dipper corrected, his eyes narrowing as he looked over at his sister.
"I mean, if he's around," Mabel confirmed with a shrug before her brow furrowed, "Why did you say it like that?"
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly interested in hanging out with you and your boyfriend," Dipper answered as he rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the journal.
"What's your problem?" Mabel demanded as she glared at Dipper.
"I don't have a problem," Dipper replied dismissively, not looking away from the journal.
"You absolutely have a problem," Mabel retorted as she crossed her arms, "Whenever Norman's around, you get all weird and moody."
"Did you ever think maybe I don't like the guy?" Dipper asked with a shrug, doing his best to hide his rising annoyance.
"Why?" Mabel inquired, growing more frustrated, "Norman's been nothing but nice to us. We wouldn't have been able to beat those ghosts a few nights ago without his help."
"I'm the one who cast the sealing spell!" Dipper argued as he slammed the journal shut and rose to his feet, turning to face her as he did, "Don't act like he did it all by himself!"
"What's your problem!?" Mabel repeated, unfolding her arms and forming fists with her hands.
"My problem is my sister throwing herself at the first available guy she finds!" Dipper snarled, "I mean, do you actually expect me to believe you like this guy after only knowing him for like three days!?"
"Maybe!?" Mabel shot back, throwing her arms into the air in frustration, "And even if I don't, Norman and Neil are nice guys. I, at least, want to be friends with them. Don't you want friends!?"
"NO!" Dipper roared, causing Mabel to take a step away from him in surprise, "I don't want to make friends! I don't want to get to know anyone in this stupid town! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
Silence fell over the room as Mabel blinked at Dipper in shock, her brother quietly glaring back at her.
"Dipper," Mabel began, her voice barely above a whisper, "You know we can't do that. Mom and Dad….they're gone."
"Wow, I'm surprised you even remember them," Dipper spat.
"What?" Mabel inquired, flinching back like she had been struck.
"It's pretty clear why you want friends so bad," Dipper replied, pointing an accusatory finger at Mabel, "It's because you want to forget everything about our old life, including Mom and Dad. Well, I'm not-"
Dipper was cut off as Mabel lashed out and punched him square in the face. The blow caught Dipper off guard and he was knocked to the floor with a grunt of pain. Blinking in surprise, Dipper looked up at Mabel, finding her glaring down at him, tears welling up in her eyes. Gingerly, Dipper lifted his hand to his mouth, where he found that the punch hand split his lower lip, allowing blood to ooze out on his fingers.
"What the hell are you two yelling about!?" Stan demanded as he stepped into the doorway, before blinking in surprise as he took in the sight before him, "Whoa. What happened here?"
Instead of answering, Mabel spun on her heel before pushing her way past Stan and out of the room, tears running down her cheeks. Stan watched Mabel as she ran out the front door before turning his attention towards Dipper, who had risen to his feet and was wiping the blood from his busted lip on the back of his hand.
"Care to enlighten me?" Stan requested as he crooked an eyebrow at Dipper.
"Mind your own business," Dipper grumbled as he picked the journal off the floor and stormed away, going in the opposite direction of Mabel.
As Dipper disappeared into a different part of the house, Stan groaned and rubbed his forehead in irritation.
"This is why I never had kids," Stan grumbled to himself as he turned and went back the way he had come.
Later,
The midday sun shone in through the large windows of Soos' Juices, providing illumination for the table that Scott and Ember sat at. Currently, Scott was sketching something in a notebook, while Ember watched intently.
"Alright, what do you think?" Scott inquired as he turned the notebook so that Ember could have a better view.
"Looks pretty good," Ember replied as she looked at the notebook thoughtfully, "Though Oi'm not sure it's dere yet."
"Do you want to take a crack at it?" Scott asked as he offered Ember his pen.
"Nah, my talent's music," Ember answered with a shake of her head, "Oi can barely draw a circle."
"That's better than I can do," Mitch stated as he walked up to the table, carrying a tray of drinks, Courtney and Dash trailing behind him, "Here's your drink, babe."
"Thanks," Scott replied as he took the drink Mitch offered him before his boyfriend settled into the seat next to him.
"So, you guys are really trying with this whole band thing?" Courtney inquired as she sat next to Ember, while Dash sat between her and Mitch.
"Of course," Scott replied with a wide grin, "This is something I've wanted to try my whole life. I'm good on the drums and Ember is amazing on the guitar."
"Don't forget about my beautiful singin' voice," Ember added as she winked and stuck her tongue out playfully at Scott.
"You don't think this is really going to work, do you?" Dash asked with a contemptuous snort, "I mean, how many bands just break up after doing nothing but playing dive bars?"
"Dash!" Courtney admonished him as she elbowed the young man in the side while both Scott and Mitch glared at him.
"What!?" Dash questioned with a snort, "It's true."
"Let me guess," Ember spoke up, bringing Dash's attention to her, "Ye're de high school quarterback, roight?"
"Yeah," Dash confirmed with a bemused snort as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "How did you know?"
"Because ye're a walkin' stereotype," Ember answered with a shrug as she draped one of her arms nonchalantly over the back of her chair.
"W-What?" Dash asked, blinking in surprise as the others at the table whipped their heads around to stare at Ember.
"Oh please, don't act loike ya don't know," Ember replied with a snort, "Ye're good at trowin' a ball, so dat apparently means ye're big man on campus and get to push everyone else around. If ye're lucky, dat will get ya into college, so ya can be some stuffed shirt in an office, still pushin' everyone else around. If ye're not lucky, ye'll probably stay here and end up in some dead end job and take yer frustrations out on whatever poor girl you manage to get your claws into."
At this, Ember's eyes drifted over to Courtney, who let out a small gasp before quickly averting her gaze.
"Where the hell do you get off, acting like you know a damn thing about me!?" Dash snarled as he leapt to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at Ember, "You, the would-be rockstar!?"
"Dere's a lot more to me dan my music, and even if dis doesn't pan out, it won't take my love of playin' away," Ember retorted, smirking at Dash's outburst, "But you? Oi've seen enough movies to know what ya are. Ye're a cliche."
"You're lucky you're a girl or I'd make you eat those words," Dash snarled as his hands tightened into fists.
"Don't let dat stop ya, big man," Ember replied nonchalantly, the only change in her posture being her smile taking on a dangerous edge, "But Oi'll warn ya, if ya try to feed me my words, Oi'll feed ya yer teeth."
A tense silence fell across the entire establishment as the rest of the patrons stared at them. After a few moments of intense eye contact, Dash looked away and let out a dismissive snort.
"Whatever," Dash sneered, "I have better things to do with my time than waste it on you. Come on, babe."
With that, Dash began marching towards the door. Ember glanced at him as he left before turning her attention towards Courtney, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"Courtney, are you coming?" Dash called from the door as he looked back at the table.
Courtney hesitated as she looked between Dash and Ember, prompting the other girl to quirk an eyebrow at her.
"Courtney!" Dash snapped.
"Coming!" Courtney called, sparing one last glance at Ember as she stood up and hurried over to Dash before the pair left the cafe together.
After watching Courtney and Dash leave, Ember turned to find Scott and Mitch openly staring at her.
"What the hell was that?" Mitch questioned as his brow furrowed.
"What was what?" Ember replied with a shrug.
"You just told Dash off in front of everyone!" Scott whispered as he glanced around at the rest of the patrons, who were all shooting quick looks towards their table.
"So?" Ember questioned as she arched an eyebrow at the two young men.
"No one's ever told Dash off to his face like that before," Mitch explained as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he studied Ember with a quizzical expression.
"Well, Oi guess he was overdue," Ember retorted with another shrug of her shoulders.
"Yeah, but why?" Scott asked as he leaned closer to Ember, eager for her answer.
"Look, ya know Oi'm friends with Danny, Tucker, and Wendy," Ember answered with a sigh, "And dey've all told me about how much of a jerk Dash is. Oi didn't really see a point in playin' noice with him, is all."
"He's not likely to take this lying down," Scott observed.
"He's a hoigh school quarterback, what's he goin' to do?" Ember replied with a dismissive snort, "He's only got one card to play, and if he decides to get physical, he's in for a rude surproise. The punk rock aesthetic isn't just for show."
"What if he tries to take it out on your friends?" Mitch inquired.
"Are ya tellin' me ya'd just let him do dat?" Ember retorted as she gave Mitch a pointed look.
An awkward silence fell over the table, broken only a few moments later by Scott clearing his throat.
"So, should we talk about the band some more?" Scott suggested.
"Yeah," Ember agreed as she turned her attention back towards Scott, "Dat sounds loike a much better use of our toime."
Meanwhile,
In the clearing by the Hanging Tree, Danny and Wendy stood facing each other. Danny was in his phantom form, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans while Wendy had stripped off her usual flannel shirt and hat, wearing only a white tank top and ripped jeans.
"So, you just had these just lying around?" Danny inquired as he held up the wooden sword he was carrying and used it to indicate towards the matching one in Wendy's hands.
"Well yeah," Wendy chided with a smirk, "You don't think my Dad taught me how to fight with a metal sword right off the bat, do you?"
"I guess not," Danny agreed with a shrug.
"Now, come on," Wendy said as she grabbed her wooden sword with both hands and slid into a fighting stance, "You said Alistair showed you how to sword fight. I want to see if he taught you anything worth knowing."
"I imbued you with the knowledge of proper English fencing," Alistair muttered from within Danny's mind, "Not whatever brute swordplay she's used to using while swinging that hunk of Highlander steel around."
Danny said nothing as he rolled his eyes and settled into a stance he pulled up from the memories Alistair had implanted in his head.
"Well, you at least look like you're not going to be knocked over by a stiff breeze," Wendy commented with a smirk, "So, that's a start."
Then, without another word, Wendy charged forward, her sneakers kicking up dust from the barren ground that surrounded the Hanging Tree. Danny blinked in surprise at the sudden charge before raising his sword to block as Wendy swung her weapon down at him with an overhead, two-handed strike, the wooden blades meeting with a loud crack that echoed throughout the clearing.
Taking a step back, Danny regained his footing as Wendy surged forward and thrust the point of the wooden sword at the young man's sternum. Holding his own sword in one hand, Danny parried the thrust by slapping Wendy's sword on the side with his weapon, causing the young woman's attack to go wide. Stepping to the side, Danny let Wendy's momentum carry her past him before he swung his sword at her exposed back. However, Wendy reacted with shocking swiftness, and blocked the blow by reaching her arms behind her head and holding her sword parallel to her spine.
Kicking up dirt as she stopped herself, Wendy spun around to face Danny, swinging her sword horizontally at the young man's midsection as she did. Reacting quickly, Danny swung his sword downward, striking Wendy's weapon and redirecting her attack towards his knees. Danny then nimbly hopped over the attack, landing with his sword pointed at Wendy as she spun around to face him, her crimson hair flaring out behind her like a flag.
A quiet fell over the clearing as Danny and Wendy faced each other and fought to catch their breaths, Danny pointing his sword at Wendy with one hand while she held hers in a guarded position with two. After a moment, Wendy flashed Danny a smile that made his heart skip a beat.
"I guess you do know a thing or two," Wendy commented, "I suppose I'll have to stop taking it easy on you then."
Danny blinked in surprise as Wendy suddenly rushed at him, moving faster than he had realised she could. Leaping up, Wendy swung her sword overhead with both hands down at him again. Reacting quickly, Danny held his own sword up to block, and as the two weapons met, the shock of the blow caused the young man's whole arm to go numb for a moment. Wendy's momentum caused her to crash into Danny, and sent the young man falling to the ground.
As Danny fell, he instinctively reached out towards Wendy with his free hand. As he did, a strange green glow surrounded Danny's hand. A moment later, Danny hit the ground back first with a grunt of pain and suddenly a bolt of the same green energy shot out of his still outstretched hand. Wendy's eyes widened in surprise before the bolt hit her in the chest, dissipating in a flash of green light. The impact was strong enough to knock Wendy completely off her feet, and she flew through the air a short distance before landing on the ground with a grunt of pain, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.
"Oh my God!" Danny called as he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Wendy's side, his wooden sword laying forgotten on the ground, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Wendy wheezed as she sat up with Danny's help and coughed a few times, "Just got the wind knocked out of me. What the hell was that, though?"
"I….I'm not sure," Danny admitted as he looked down at his hand, which tingled slightly, "I've never done that before."
"It appeared to be an ectoplasmic discharge," Alistair observed.
"Ectoplasm?" Danny repeated aloud, "Isn't that like….ghost stuff?"
"Spiritual energy," Alistair corrected with a sigh, "Apparently, you're now able to project it."
"How the heck did that happen?" Danny asked in confusion.
"It might take some research, but my hypothesis as of now is that after absorbing those two spirits, you now have more ectoplasm at your disposal," Alistair explained thoughtfully, "This will allow you to perform feats you were not capable of before."
As Danny's eyes widened in surprise, Wendy arched an eyebrow at him.
"So, what's the verdict?" Wendy inquired.
"Alistair thinks that after I absorbed those two ghosts the other night, I'm able to use their energy to shoot ectoplasm," Danny answered as he lifted his hands up to his face and looked them over in wonder.
"Whoa dude, that's awesome!" Wendy exclaimed as she leaned closer to him and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder, "Do you think if you absorb more ghosts, you'll get more powers?"
"I don't know," Danny admitted with a shrug as he lowered his hands and turned his gaze back towards Wendy. As he did, Danny was suddenly aware of how close Wendy was to him, and felt his heart speed up.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly rang out in the clearing, grabbing both of their attentions. Turning towards the source of the voice, the two teens spotted Mabel standing a short distance away, grinning at them.
"Hey Mabel!" Wendy greeted with a smile, "What's up!?"
"Are you two making out!?" Mabel called back.
The question caught Danny completely off guard and he felt his face heat up in response. Glancing over at Wendy, Danny was surprised to see her cheeks reddening as well.
"What!?" Wendy responded in confusion, "W-Why are you asking that?"
Mabel responded by pointedly glancing between Wendy and Danny, who were still sitting on the ground close to each other, before shrugging.
"No reason," Mabel replied with a smile, "Have you seen Norman?"
"Uh, yeah," Danny replied before he gestured towards the shack sitting on the edge of the clearing, "He's inside with his uncle, Neil and Tucker."
"Okay, thanks!" Mabel said as she began making her way towards the shack, "Enjoy not doing whatever it was you weren't doing before!"
With that, Mabel left as suddenly as she had arrived, leaving Danny and Wendy alone again. Awkwardly, the two teenagers looked back at each other, before quickly glancing away again as they briefly made eye contact.
"Kids, right?" Wendy said with an awkward laugh as she stood back up while playing with a few strands of her hair.
"Yeah," Danny agreed as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.
"So, should we keep sparring?" Wendy suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Danny replied with a bright grin.
Meanwhile, Mabel opened the door to the shack and stepped in. Walking down the dirty front hall, she stepped into the kitchen, where she found Tucker and Neil standing at the kitchen table, which was covered in various tools and electrical components.
"You think my mom will get mad that you broke her stun gun?" Neil questioned as he looked up at Tucker.
"She didn't seem to notice that you stole it," Tucker replied with a shrug as he continued tinkering with the device sitting on the table in front of him.
"What are you guys doing?" Mabel questioned as she arched an eyebrow at the pair.
"Oh, hey, Mabel!" Neil greeted with a broad grin, "We're building a ghost taser!"
"A what?" Mabel asked in confusion.
"He means this," Tucker explained as he held up the device, which looked like a mixture of a stun gun and a cattle prod, cobbled together from various electrical parts and colored yellow and black.
"What is that?" Mabel asked as she looked at the pronged device.
"Well, I figured out that ghosts are susceptible to electricity," Tucker explained as he looked over the device in his hands, "So, I figured, if regular folks like ourselves want to keep helping with these ghost fights, we'll need something to fight ghosts with. So I jury rigged some capacitors and Neil's taser into this."
"So, is it more powerful?" Mabel inquired.
In response, Tucker pulled a trigger on the device's handle, causing a large bolt of electricity to arc between the prongs, the intense blue-white energy completely illuminating the dimly lit kitchen while the air became charged enough that Mabel felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. After a moment, Tucker released the trigger and the electricity vanished, though it took a few seconds for the afterimage of the intense light to fade from Mabel's vision.
"I'll take that as a yes," Mabel commented as she rubbed her eyes before blinking them rapidly, "Anyway, have you guys seen Norman anywhere?"
"Yeah, he's down in the basement with his uncle," Neil answered.
"This place has a basement?" Mabel questioned in surprise.
A minute later, Mabel found herself walking down a rickety wooden staircase into the shack's root cellar, which consisted of old walls made of mortared stone and an earthen floor. Unlike the cluttered house above, the basement was completely empty, and Mabel quickly spotted Norman and Mike sitting on the dirt floor, their eyes closed and their heads bowed in concentration.
"Alright, Norman," Mike said, his voice low and his eyes still closed, "Now take the energy, and push it out of you."
With that, Mabel noticed Norman's brow furrow in concentration as beads of sweat formed on his brow. Then, Norman let out a grunt of effort which was followed by a whoosh of air that kicked up a small cloud of dust around the boy. Norman coughed as he opened his eyes and waved away the cloud of dirt.
"Not bad for your first try," Mike commented as he opened his eyes and smiled at his nephew, "You won't be banishing any ghosts with that yet, but it's a good start."
At this point, Mike noticed Mabel standing on the stairs and blinked in surprise.
"Oh, hey," Mike said with a smile, "Norman, looks like another one of your friends is here."
"Hi Mabel," Norman greeted as he turned around and looked at her.
"Hey Norman," Mabel replied hesitantly, "I, uh, I hope I'm not interrupting."
"No, I think it's about time we took a break," Mike replied as he rose to his feet. As he did, he let out a wheeze and clutched at his chest and fell back to one knee.
"You okay, Uncle Mike?" Norman questioned as he stepped over to the man's side.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Mike assured his nephew as he caught his breath and rose back to his feet, "Just….feeling my age. Ticker doesn't work quite like it used to."
At this, Norman and Mabel shared an uncertain glance.
"I'm fine," Mike insisted as he waved a hand at the two of them, "Seriously, you go on."
"Okay," Norman replied, his expression still concerned as he turned towards Mabel and followed her up the stairs. Mike smiled as he watched them go, before his expression fell into a grimace of worry. Clutching his chest again with one hand, Mike fished into his pocket with the other. A moment later, he pulled out an orange medicine bottle and quickly popped the top off before depositing a pair of red and blue pills into his mouth. Swallowing the pills dry, Mike let out a sigh as he felt his heart return to a normal rhythm.
"Not yet," Mike whispered to himself, "He's not ready. I just need….a little more time."
"Den ya best make it quick, pardna," a voice said from somewhere behind Mike.
Spinning around, Mike found Samedi standing in the corner of the basement, a grim expression on his painted face.
"Cause ya ain't got much time left," Samedi stated.
Meanwhile, Norman followed Mabel out of the shack to a small wood pile that sat against one of the weather-beaten walls. Brushing off a spot on the wood pile, Mabel sat upon it, turning her gaze towards the tall trees that surrounded the clearing. Norman followed suit, sitting next to her and glancing between Mabel and the setting sun.
"Um, Mabel?" Norman questioned after a moment.
"Yeah?" Mabel replied, blinking as though she was coming out of a thought and turning her attention towards him.
"Are you….okay?" Norman asked, his expression unsure, "You don't seem your….normal sunny self."
"Sunny, huh?" Mabel inquired as she shot Norman an arched eyebrow and a smirk.
"I mean, that's, uh, how you've always seemed to me," Norman mumbled as he looked away from Mabel.
"Thanks," Mabel replied before sighing sadly as she turned her attention back towards the surrounding woods, "I got into a fight with Dipper today."
"What about?" Norman asked, his tone concerned as he looked back at Mabel.
"He….accused me of wanting to forget about my mom and dad," Mabel mumbled in reply.
"Why would he do that?" Norman asked in confusion.
"Because I wanted to make friends!" Mabel exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists in frustration, "As if wanting to get some enjoyment out of living here meant I wasn't sad about our parents. As if….as if I don't miss them."
"What….what happened to them?" Norman inquired.
"A car accident," Mabel answered as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, "A truck swerved and hit our car headon. Dipper and I were fine but our parents…."
Mabel trailed off as she choked on her words, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Mabel, I'm….I'm so sorry," Norman said, unsure of what to do.
Hesitantly, Norman reached out and lay what he hoped was a comforting hand on Mabel's shoulder. Blinking in surprise, Mabel looked at the hand and then Norman with wide, teary eyes. For half a second, Norman worried he had made a mistake, but before he could pull his hand back, Mabel leaned forward and buried her face into his shoulder. As Norman's eyes widened in surprise, Mabel began to sob, grabbing hold of the boy's shirt as she did. After a moment, Norman managed to collect himself enough to wrap an arm around Mabel's shaking shoulders, doing what he could to comfort the crying girl.
"You know," Norman said as Mabel's crying began to lessen, "I lost someone too."
"You did?" Mabel asked, pulling away enough so that she could look at Norman with her red-rimmed eyes.
"Yeah," Norman confirmed with a nod, "My grandma. She passed away last year."
"I-I'm sorry," Mabel said as she sat up straight and wiped her tears on her sleeve, "What happened?"
"Cancer," Norman replied with a helpless shrug, "She was old, it happens. At least, that's what my dad said."
"Did you….see it when it happened?" Mabel inquired.
"No," Norman answered with a shake of his head, "But when my parents brought me and Courtney in to see her after she died, her ghost was still there. And then she came home with us."
"Wait," Mabel said, blinking in surprise, "Your grandma is haunting your house?"
"Yeah," Norman confirmed with a chuckle, "She spends most of her time sitting on the couch, watching TV, like she did when she was alive."
"So, she's a nice ghost?" Mabel inquired, "She's not like those two who tried to kill us the other night?"
"No, most ghosts aren't," Norman answered with a shake of his head, "Most are pretty nice. Honestly, I know more nice ghosts than I know nice people."
"Why does someone become a ghost?" Mabel asked, her expression turning pensive.
"It seems like most ghosts have something holding them here," Norman explained, "Either they died suddenly and haven't come to terms with it or they have some kind of unfinished business. My grandma said she stayed so that she could keep an eye on me."
"Do….Do you think my parents became ghosts?" Mabel suggested, a hopeful tone entering her voice.
"W-What?" Norman asked in return, caught off guard by the turn the conversation had taken.
"Well, they died suddenly, and they'd have a reason to stick around!" Mabel explained, her words coming out so fast that Norman almost couldn't understand them, "So, why wouldn't they become ghosts!? Maybe they're here watching over me and Dipper right now! Have you seen them!?"
"I mean, I….I haven't really seen any ghosts hanging around you guys," Norman admitted hesitantly, "Didn't you say you used to live on the other side of the country?"
"Y-Yeah," Mabel confirmed, her enthusiasm quickly deflating, "Do you think they're still on their way here? Do you think they might have gotten lost!?"
"I uh I don't know," Norman answered as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"Can you, like, bring them here?" Mabel asked as she looked at Norman hopefully, "I mean, you've been learning all about this ghost stuff from your uncle. You must have learned how to do something like that, right!?"
"I….I haven't learned how to do anything like that," Norman answered, his expression turning nervous, "And all that….all that assumes your parents are ghosts at all…."
As Mabel took this in, her face fell into an expression of anguish. Turning away from Norman, Mabel buried her face in her hands and began openly weeping. At a loss about what he should do, Norman stared helplessly at Mabel for a few moments. Then, reaching out, he placed his hand on her shoulder again.
"I'm so sorry, Mabel," Norman said, "I wish there was something I could do."
"I-I just miss them s-so much," Mabel cried, her voice hitching as she lifted her head to look at him with tearfilled eyes.
As Norman looked back at her, an idea formed in his head.
"Well, why don't you tell me about them?" he suggested.
"W-What?" Mabel asked in confusion.
"I mean, maybe they are ghosts, and they are on their way here," Norman explained, "But I'm not going to know if they do show up unless you tell me about them."
Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her sweater, Mabel processed what Norman was saying.
"But what if they're not ghosts?" Mabel asked, uncertain.
"Then, I'll be able to remember them as well," Norman answered with a shrug, "And….that's kind of like being a ghost too, isn't it ?"
Mabel took a moment to think over what Norman had said before a small smile spread across her face. Adjusting her seat so that she was sitting right next to Norman, Mabel rested her head on his shoulder, something that surprised the boy, but not as much as the fact he found himself enjoying the sensation.
"My dad looks kind of like a younger version of Grunkle Stan, which isn't that surprising, since they're related," Mabel explained, her smile growing broader as her sadness ebbed away for a time, "Also, he wears glasses, unlike my mom, who's kind of short and has the same shade brown hair that Dipper and I have."
As Norman listened to Mabel talk, he felt a sense of contentment come over him, and for the first time in he wasn't sure how long, it started to seem like things were going to turn out alright.
Meanwhile,
As the noonday sun beat down hard on downtown Blithe Hollow, Dipper walked down the sidewalk with his book under his arm and a scowl on his face. Reaching a corner of the sidewalk, Dipper paused before letting out a sigh and wiping a hand across his face in frustration.
"Well, now we've reached the part of fighting with Mabel where I just feel like a jerk," Dipper muttered to himself, "Maybe I should try to find her."
As he thought about it though, a scowl crossed Dipper's features again.
"She probably ran off with Norman, though," Dipper grumbled, "God, what does she even see in him?"
Sighing again, Dipper glanced around at his surroundings.
"Whatever I do, I can't just stand here, talking to myself," Dipper commented, "People might start thinking I'm the one who can talk to ghosts."
With that, Dipper turned the corner and began walking again. As he did, he managed to walk directly into someone as they rounded the corner. Grunting in surprise, Dipper fell onto his backside, dropping his book in the process.
"Whoa, sorry, son," a voice Dipper vaugle recognized, "Didn't see you there."
"It's alright," Dipper replied as he rose back to his feet and picked up his book, "I wasn't really watching…."
Dipper trailed off as he looked up at the person he had run into. He was an elderly man with grey hair, Caucasian features and a somewhat athletic build. He was dressed in a red turtleneck, black slacks, black boots and a tan trenchcoat. A pair of thick-rimmed glasses sat perched on his bulbous nose and at a glance, Dipper noted the man had six fingers on each hand. What really caught Dipper's attention though was the man's facial features.
"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper questioned, confusion saturating his voice.
"Stan?" the man asked in return, looking equally baffled, "No, I'm-"
The man paused as a look of realization passed over his features.
"You're Dipper aren't you?" the man inquired, his eyes wide, "Dipper Pines?"
"How did you know that?" Dipper asked, his expression now completely baffled.
"Well, that's easy," the man replied with a chuckle as he placed a hand to his chest, "My name is Stanford Pines. I'm your great uncle."
A/N: Been awhile since I've gotten to update this story, but this chapter ended up being longer than I expected it to be. Hope you all enjoyed the character beats in this chapter as well as a bit of a cliffhanger to keep you all on your toes. As usual, feedback and critiques are always welcome so please review! Later!