They walked in a white world. There was nothing around them. Nothing. It was just . . . empty, except for them, as far as the eye could see. She limped forwards, a little slower than everyone else.
"Mabel," Dipper called. "Mabel! Okay, guys, Bill has taken over the town, and if his weirdness spreads, he's gonna take over the whole world. Our first step to stopping him is rescuing Mabel, but he's got her trapped in this strange prison bubble."
"Recording a podcast or what?" Camo joked, and he shot her an annoyed look.
Wendy asked, "What is this place, anyway?"
Rainbow cracks spread across the white ground from them. Her eyes widened, though they were really pretty. A massive hole into some weirdo rainbow world broke into the ground, plunging them into its depths. They all screamed, none louder than Camo. The world was rainbow and sparkly and cutesy and she was not overly fond of it.
They fell through the neon lights, and Soos, the sappy guy himself, said, "Guys, if I die, i wanna die hugging." He pulled all three of them close and hugged them with a determined expression.
"Soos, you're choking me," Dipper said, his face going purple.
"Let my body be your shield!"
They fell and hit the ground, though they bounced. Camo frowned and moved her butt a little, going up and down with the moment. It was a bounce house. She experimentally got to her feet, though it was significantly harder to stand than normal. She ended up falling back down.
"Is the entire ground a bouncy castle?" Dipper asked, kicking it.
"Do you hear 80s music?" Wendy asked.
Soos squinted in the distance. "And does the air smell like childlike wonder?" It smelled like glitter and purple, though she wasn't sure how that happened. They peered through the net, pulling it aside, and all of them gasped.
Well, the others gasped. Camo's pupils shrank at the sight of all the neon colors and she yelped, falling back down onto the ground. When she picked herself back up again, now she could marvel at the world before her, as long as she squinted and tried to ignore the brand-new colors she was seeing.
It was colorful, and curvy, with not a single right corner in sight. In front of them passed this weird dolphin with human arms and another dolphin face on the hands that barfed rainbows. Pop music played loudly, there was a buff strawberry, there were lots of food buildings on the ground, there was a castle made of yarn . . . there was too much to describe.
"This is Mabel's prison?" Dipper asked.
A kid popped up in front of them with a piece of paper with all the boxes checked. Wait. Was that that one kid from the very beginning of summer that Mabel had crushed on? "Yes. Definitely. Absolutely," he said.
A clock tower tolled. "It's fun o'clock, everyone. Today's weather calls for rainbows with a chance of dance parties. If you're the owner of a unicorn with a top hat, please come to the ice cream beach. Your unicorn is being towed."
"What is this new world?" Soos asked. "Shining, shimmering, splendid!"
A car drove up, its license plate reading COOOOOOL. (She'd learned to watch license plates, after Stan's had given her a major clue.) In it were Mabel's dream boys, Xyler and Craz. "Welcome to Mabeland," the blue-haired one said. No, she could not yet tell them apart.
A guitar riff played in the background, and a voice sang, "Mabeland!" There was a billboard above them. 'Mabeland: Perfection, But Better!' Camo was still blinking and looking around, however, very confused.
"And this is worse than the apocalypse," Dipper said, and she was inclined to believe him.
"Dude, this place hurts my eyes," Wendy said, shading her face from the light radiating from literally every part of Mabeland.
The other guy stepped up. "Oh, that's normal. Mabeland's rainbows have colors only bees and art students can see."
"I'm an art student," Camo said, her eyes watering. "Trust me, it's weird."
"Now who wants to go on the grand tour?"
Dipper deadpanned, "Do we have a choice?"
They both chorused, "No!"
Before they knew what was happening, the "dream boys" had shoved them in the car and they were now driving around Mabeland with annoying pop music playing, hardly in the background due to the sheer noise of it. She was scowling in the backseat. "Mabeland is the ultimate paradise, and the only rule—there are no rules!" said the blond one.
"Except for one rule, which is very serious," the other said. "But no one would ever break it, so it's not worth mentioning."
"Yeah!" they both laughed, and a guitar riff played. She furrowed her brows and looked around for the source, though no one else seemed to notice.
Dipper spoke up. "Listen, creepy dream guys, we're not here to party, okay? We just need to find Mabel and get her out of here. Where is she?" Scuff, his beaten-up self looked a lot worse when compared with the smooth neons of Mabeland.
"Our home girl Mabel lives at our next stop," the blue-haired one helpfully informed them. They crashed through a window, then through a wall, skidded across the street, into a fire hydrant, and spun around in circles. Camo, clutching the seat like it was her lifeline, vowed not to fear Stan's driving after this. It could always be worse.
They drove up to the beach. The sky, she noticed, was rainbow and had a picture of a cartoon dog way far away. The palm trees had disco balls instead of coconuts. "Now come have rad snacks served by awesome penguins," the blond one said, leading them across the beach.
Camo interestedly noticed that the sand wasn't hard to walk on at all. It felt more like something else, with a bit of sand on top, to make it easier to walk. She wasn't complaining, though. It was easier to walk on than the bouncy castle. (She was still leaning on Soos, though. Stupid ankle.)
A bunch of penguins walked up, holding plates of food and quacking, or whatever you call the sound penguins make. "Oh, score," Wendy said. "I'm so hungry."
"Yeah. I haven't eaten anything except part of my hat and the meat cans Camo gave me for the last three days," Soos agreed. Since he was now holding a drink, she just dropped to the ground instead of finding someone else to lean on for the moment.
"Can you guys just hold on a second?" Dipper asked, pulling Dipper and Wendy away. He must've not noticed her on the floor. She grinned and grabbed the fries held by the second one and the ice cream by the third. Oh, it was so good. She moaned contentedly. Dipper noticed her eating for the first time and complained, "Camo!"
She shrugged. "It's good, okay? It at least tastes like real food, and that's enough for me."
"What we need to do is grab Mabel and get the heck outta here," he told her. She rolled her eyes, though she couldn't get up without help, obviously, so she stayed on the ground with her ice cream and fries (naturally, the hot fries were going in the cold ice cream. It was yummy.)
The dream boys, who were listening in, helpfully said, "Oh, Mabel? She'd at the top of the tallest tower, guarded by those big buff waffle guards." He pointed at a dark tower with a glowing shooting star symbol above it, and the glaring waffles in question. "There's no way to get past them."
Soos narrowed his eyes at them. "Someone hand me some syrup."
"Peanut butter's pretty good, too," she suggested.
He ignored her and ran up, biting the guard from behind. The poor waffle screamed and fell to the ground. "It's happening. The moment we trained for!"
"Don't worry, man," his buddy said. "I gotcha." But Wendy punched his face out from the back.
"It's now or never, guys," she said.
They flung open the doors on the cute animals doing various cute activities, like having a tea party or jump-roping or ballerinaing. "This is a rescue," Dipper said. "Everyone hit the deck." The other three ran in and attacked the animals. Camo took her time, limping along the wall.
"Sorry about them," she told the bunny that had been knocked into its tea. "Do you by any chance have a crutch around here?"
The bunny didn't trust her (obviously, her friends had just attacked them, she wouldn't trust her either) and just walked away with its nose in the air and its front covered in tea. Camo sighed and continued limping to the stairs.
By the time she made it upstairs, Mabel was sitting behind a desk in a brightly lit room, with the other three standing there, looking very confused. "But then I woke up in a place that gives me exactly what I wanted—an endless summer where we'll never have to grow up," Mabel was saying. "Here, the sun shines all day, the party never ends, and now that you guys are here, it's finally perfect."
She finally spotted Camo leaning against the wall. "Camo! You too! Oh, man, I—wait, what happened to your foot?" she asked, wrinkling her brows in concern.
"Stupid broken ankle," she muttered, though the younger girl heard it. She clapped her hands, and suddenly, the weight on her foot was gone, due to the heavy makeshift cast disappearing. Her ankle didn't hurt anymore, too, and her eyes widened as she moved it around and was able to do so without it hurting. She grinned, ran up, and hugged her friend.
Mabel hugged her back, and Camo felt tears in her eyes. They were both fine. She could finally relax somewhat.
"Listen, Mabel, we're not here to party," Dipper said once they were done. "All of this is crazy."
She groaned. "Ugh! I figured you might say something like that, Dipper. That's why I've prepared a backup Dipper with a more supportive attitude." The doors were flung open, and some cheap parody of Dipper skateboarded in, with dumb sunglasses, his hat on backwards, and cheesy, brightly colored clothing. He high-fived Mabel and looked at the ground, who were all looking at him with confusion, except Dipper, who was glaring at him.
"Wiggity-wiggity what's up, dude bros?" he asked. "I'm Dippy Fresh. I like skateboarding, supporting my sister, and punctuating every sentence with a high-five." He held up his hand for Soos to high-five him back.
"Oh, don't mind if I . . ." Dipper cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I can't leave him hanging." Soos high-fived Dippy Fresh.
"You're dead to me, Soos."
Mabel confidently said, "Trust me, you guys are gonna love it here. This world always knows what you want, sometimes even before you do." A fuzzy creature popped into the air and dropped into her hands. "Apparently I wanted a chinchilla. Right again, Mabeland."
"Mabel, listen to yourself. This is crazy," Dipper said. "I'm sorry about our fight, and I'm sorry things aren't great right now, but that doesn't mean you can just stay in here forever."
Dippy Fresh interjected, "Hey, take a chill pill. Those grow on trees here."
"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, DIPPY FRESH!"
"Dude, calm down," Soos told him. "Dippy Fresh didn't do anything to you, dawg." Dipper just growled and glared at the parody of himself as it skateboarded away.
Mabel put her chinchilla on the desk. "I know it seems too good to be true, but just give this place a chance. Mabeland knows just what you want, and always provides." She clapped her hands, and their various cuts/scrapes/bruises vanished.
Soos took a bite of a flying burger. "Pudding center. Nice." Camo tried to reach up and grab the rest of the burger, but to no avail.
"Actually, Mabel, I'm with Dipper on this," Wendy said. "Gravity Falls is in trouble, and I really think—"
A horn honked outside, and Wendy's friends pulled up in a massive truck with a bunch of fireworks in it. "Wendy!" they all called.
"Guys? You're safe!"
"We've got a monster truck full of fireworks, fake IDs, and pranking supplies," one of the guys said. Either Lee or Nate, she didn't know names.
The other one piped up, "Wanna drive this truck to the high school and glue this plunger to the principal's head?"
Camo could see the sparkles in Wendy's eyes. "Yes. Yes, I do," the teen said. She turned apologetically to the rest of the group. "Sorry, guys. I've always wanted to do that. I'll be back in just a few minutes." She hopped on the truck and drove away.
She stopped paying attention, since Mabeland was actually really cool to look at, once you got past the new colors and all the neon nonsense. She didn't see a police force, though. She knew the dream boys had said there was no rules (except the one very serious rule that no one would ever break) but they'd heard about a unicorn being towed, so surely there was something.
When she came to again, Soos was playing catch with some buff guy and Dipper was arguing with Mabel. "Okay, this has gone too far," he was saying. "You can't honestly think these fantasies are good for anyone."
"You can't argue with the results," she said calmly. "People are happy here. Does it really matter if it's real or not? For once stop listening to your head, and listen to your heart. Mabeland has something for everyone, even you. In fact . . ." The door started to slowly open, shooting beams of golden light across the floor. Heavenly music that no one else seemed to hear played.
He just looked away. "Nope. Not looking. Not looking." He walked away.
Mabel and Camo looked at each other for a moment, until Camo asked, "Do you have a police force?"
"No, do you want there to be one?"
"I want to be in it."
Camo pushed harder on her motorcycle. Not that she knew how to drive one in real life, but you could do anything you want here. They was getting away! She spun tightly around a corner, doing it so quickly that she gained ground in her chase. One of the teddy bears looked back and yelped when he saw how close she was, speeding up their truck.
Now or never.
She hit the ultra-booster thing the Mabeland Police Force motorcycles had and shot forward, easily catching up to the truck. She slowed down a tad so she could look at the driver, and she reached up with her Nyarf gun and shot him with it. Naturally, it didn't kill him, but he still swerved with the surprise, and the truck fell into a squishy marshmallow wall.
She pulled up on her cycle, looking down at them, unimpressed. "Hand over the chocolate," she said with a hand out, and, shooting her a nasty expression, the lead teddy bear pulled out the treasure chest they'd stolen. She opened it, just to check it was still in there, and nodded curtly when it was.
Then she pulled out a couple sets of miniature handcuffs from a pouch on her belt and ordered, "Hands up, everyone." All the stuffed animals (it was a group of four) put their hands in the air with differing speeds, some terrified and some angry. Still, one by one, she tried to handcuff the stuffed animals, her Nyarf gun within easy reach just in case they tried any funny business.
Her partner, one of the buff movie guys Mabel was obsessed with, pulled up on his own motorcycle. "Where were you?" she asked, annoyed. "I could've used your help. Still can." She grunted as the stuffed hands pulled out of the holes again. Wrists? The rounded end parts on stuffed animals? "It's shockingly hard to handcuff a teddy bear."
"Something came up," he told her. "Someone's going to court, and we need to show up."
"What?" Her gaze shot up to meet his. "Court? Who?"
He solemnly said, "Your friend, Dipper. He broke the rule . . . mentioning reality."
She cursed and shoved over the stuffed animal she had been trying to cuff. "I'm letting you guys off with a warning," she told them, and they ran away. "Alright. I need you to show me where this court is."
She leaned against the yarn-knitted wall with a sigh. Of course he had to break the rule. Of course the rule was mentioning reality. Ugh, everything was so dumb!
She fiddled with her belt. The police uniform was the typical blue, though it also came with pink sunglasses, which she was wearing on her forehead because of her real glasses. Which technically weren't even hers to begin with, though she was ignoring that right now. Anyway, she was leaning against the wall with the other cops and watched the argument progress.
"Seriously, Mabel?" Dipper asked his sister. "You're letting them take our argument to court?"
"Hey, I didn't make the rules of Mabeland."
"Yes, you did. There's a tapestry of you making the rules," he complained, gesturing to the massive tapestry. Camo snorted. "Camo? You're a cop now?"
She just smirked, and he sighed in defeat.
"All rise for the Honorable Judge Kitty Kitty Meow Meow Face Schwartzstein." The cat wearing an old-timey wig's head popped out of the hole, and the judge climbed up the thing to his spot and banged the gavel.
"Order, order," he said, and the gavel squeaked. "This trial begins right meow." His eyes drifted to a bit of yarn hanging from the ceiling, and he played with it, because, you know, cat. The sheriff had to clear his throat before the judge returned to the matter at hand. "We are here to try Dipper Pines in the case of Fantasy vs. Reality."
The words actually appeared in the air, 'fantasy' all sparkly and purple, 'reality' like a big red stamp. She couldn't help but notice that the reality stamp was very small in comparison to the fantasy sparkle words letters.
"If Dipper wins, Mabel will return with him to the real world." Mabel turned away from her brother with a glare. "But if he loses, he will be banished forever, and replaced with town darling Dippy Fresh. Dippy, come on out."
"Flip-a-dip-dip," the caricature said, flipping on his hat and striking a pose.
Dipper's pupils were small with hate. "I hate him so much," he said, soft enough she was surprised the caught it.
"The final decision will be made by a jury of your peers." Mabel clapped her hands, and the spots were filled with . . . her. All replicas of Mabel. She was starting to think this might be a little biased.
"Look, Mabel, this whole thing is ridiculous," Dipper said, and a part of Camo agreed. "But if winning a trial is what it takes to get you to come home with us, then so be it."
"I'm sorry, Dipper, but I can only speak through my legal team now."
The doors opened, and Xyler and Craz walked in, wearing suits with the sleeves ripped off. She had to disguise her gag as a cough, though her partner still gave her a weird look. "We have a doctorate degree in hunkiness," the blue-haired one said.
"Also criminal and international law," the other one ageed.
"Let's hear opening statements," the judge said, gesturing to the dream boys.
They were both holding on to their suits in a weird way. "Your Honor, townsfolk, lovely ladies of the jury"—the Mabels swooned—"my case is simple. This very unrighteous dude thinks that reality is better than fantasy. But reality is bogus, lame, and whack."
"Objective, Your Honor," Dipper interrupted. "That's conjecture." Which it was.
"Meow-verruled."
"I'd like to show you this 'reality' that Dipper loves so much. And show you how it has wronged my client, and Dipper, and their friends, their entire lives. Exhibit A." He pulled out a book. "Mabel's scrapbook."
Camo frowned. Wasn't Dipper supposed to give his opening statement, too, before the plaintiff/prosecutor (it wasn't clear to her what kind of case this was. A bogus one?) put forth evidence? Wow, she sounded like a nerd, didn't she?
"Second grade, October 10." The world around them changed to a playground in fall. Only the judge, the jury, Dipper, Mabel, Xyler, Craz, and Camo for some reason remained.
"Photo day," Dipper said in horror. They turned to where the kids were sitting, waiting for their picture to be taken.
Kid Dipper sniffled, his nose red. "Darn allergies."
Kid Mabel slapped another slap bracelet on her already covered arms. "Boom! A million slap bracelets. I'm gonna have the best photo ever. And how do you like my new pigtails?" She shook her head from side to side. Camo smiled. She could definitely tell that was her friend.
"Have fun, brat," another girl said, dropping gum in the cheerful girl's hair, and she was very quickly not cheerful anymore.
Kid Mabel gasped, freaking out, and tried to pull it out. "You ruined my hair!" Her eyes were filling with tears and her voice was breaking. "Dipper, what do I do?"
Kid Dipper stuttered, clearly having no clue. "Um, I . . . well . . . I don't . . ." She ran away, sobbing, and he called, "Mabel!"
The twins and Camo were watching sadly. That was sad. She wished she had been there, though this was probably . . . what? 2006? Years before her birth? She winced as she remembered the difference between her and her friends.
"Mabel's fantasy was having a great school photo, but reality had other plans."
"Look, that was one bad day," Dipper protested.
The other guy opened the book. "One of many. February 14, fourth grade. Valentine's Day." Dipper seemed to realize what day they were picking, and a scared, slightly anxious expression filled his face.
"Oh, come on, man. You can't . . ."
The world around them shifted to a classroom, all decorated with pink hearts. Mabel and Dipper were there (Dipper had started wearing that hat he'd had that time with the Gnome) and some other kid. Kid Mabel dumped all her valentines on the table, and there were a lot of them. She was definitely a charmer.
"How many Valentines did you get, Dipper?" Kid Mabel asked her brother.
He dumped out his bag, and only one single piece of confetti came out. He awkwardly frowned into it.
That other kid in the room laughed. "Oh, hey, Dipper didn't get any. Oh, man, I thought I was the class loser. Hey, everyone, Dipstick didn't get any." All the other kids started laughing at him, and he turned down his head, the brim of his hat hiding his teary eyes. He ran from the room, clearly trying not to cry. He knocked over the trash on his way out, though, which only led to more laughter.
Kid Mabel was watching after her brother sadly, and the other kid was standing by her desk. "I can't believe that kid's your brother," he said, elbowing her. She just looked at her pile of Valentines with a somewhat guilty expression.
Camo winced, but couldn't help but think what she would've done in that situation. She'd've liked to believe that she'd insult everybody laughing at her, or punched the kid who started it, but . . . she didn't have her confidence back then. She probably would've done the same thing Dipper would've.
The world flashed back to the Mabeland court room. "Hey, what's the point of all this?" Dipper said angrily, clearly upset they'd showed the Valentine's Day memory. "That was in the past."
"Is your life any better now, bro?" the blond one asked. "Heartbreak, disaster, broken promises." It showed pictures from recently, with Dipper sitting, lonely, on that log. She remembered that after their venture into the bunker. Dipper, scratched and hurt, likely taken from Weirdmageddon. Mabel shouting at him, trying to hold back tears. She bit her lip as she recognized the argument she'd avoided.
It's not my fault, she reminded herself. It's not my fault. I need to remember that.
"That's reality for you." He shut the scrapbook dramatically.
"Out there, it's nothing but heartbreak," the blue-haired one picked up. "But in here, who wants pug sundaes?" All the Mabels of the jury held out their hands with a happy expression, and a dog-shaped ice cream appeared in each pair. They all licked in unison. "Hand me a microphone, Xyler." He dropped it.
"Totally righteous, bro."
"Are we brothers?"
"I don't know!"
Wait. If the blond one was Xyler, did that mean the blue-haired one was Craz? It had taken her far too long to figure that out, hadn't it?
The cat judge said, "I think we're ready for a verdict," as he played with his bit of string.
"Wait! I haven't even presented my case," Dipper protested. Camo agreed with him. This was far too biased.
"Do you even have a case?" the judge retorted.
He paused, looking at his relaxed sister, and stood up, walking toward the judge. "Yes, I do, Your Honor. I call as a witness Mabel Pines." He pointed to his sister, and the entire crowd gasped.
The confused preteen girl said, "Uh, objection?"
"I'll allow it," the judge said. "Us cats are famously curious, meow meow."
Mabel walked up to the red chair as the crowd all murmured behind her. Dipper, rubbing the bridge of his nose, sighed and said, "Mabel, listen. I might not have all the answers. I'm not stylish"—Xyler and Craz posed—"and I'm not cool"—with Dippy Fresh crowd surfing in the background—"and I can't make pugs appear out of thin air." He snapped his fingers, and the jury jeered at him.
"But I know one thing well, and that's you, and I know that even though you might act like it, you don't wanna be in this fantasy world."
"Uh . . . pssh! Yeah, right," she said with a fake confidence really badly executed.
He looked at her sympathetically. "You're scared of growing up. And who could blame you? I'm scared too."
"Uh, la la la la la la la!" she shouted, covering her ears. "I'm not listening! Guards, the fingers." She clapped her hands, and the waffle guards came up and stuck foam fingers in her ears. She smiled confidently.
"Look, real life stinks sometimes, okay? I'm not gonna lie. But there's a better way to get through it than denial, and that's with help from people who care about you. It's how we've gotten through our whole lives." He grabbed the scrapbook and opened it. "Just look."
The world around them shifted into photo day again. Kid Mabel, with tears in her eyes, stood in front of the camera with the gum in her hair. Kid Dipper ran up and said, "Mabel, I figured out a way to fix your photo."
"What? You have a wig?" she said in a somewhat watery voice.
"No, but I have a razor!" He showed it to her, took off his hat, and shaved a line down the middle of his head, revealing his birthmark. He grinned at her.
She laughed and sniffled. "You're crazy," she told him, but she grabbed it anyway and shaved a line, removing the bit of gum. They both laughed, and they took their picture together, like the friends they were. Camo's heart just about melted at the sight. They were so cute when they were little!
Mabel motioned for the fingers to be removed from her ears, and she watched, captivated.
Dipper flipped a page, and it must've been Valentine's Day again, now. Kid Dipper sullenly looked at the floor, his back to the door of the janitor's closet he'd hid in. Something slid under the door, and he looked at it, surprised, and the movement, revealed his watery eyes. When he looked at it, it was a heart made out of all Mabel's Valentines, and the back said 'for my favorite brother'. He smiled when he saw it, and so did Camo.
The world returned to Mabeland. "We've always been there for each other." The scrapbook showed a couple pictures she was too far to make out, but it made him smile. "Mabel, I thought you were living a fantasy, but look at me." He plopped the scrapbook on the table. "I actually thought I was gonna stay here and be Ford's apprentice. Spend my entire teens cooped up in a basement with a lab coat. How ridiculous is that?"
He stepped up to her, and Camo could feel him preparing for the big finale. "I don't know what's gonna happen in the future, but whatever it is, you don't have to fear, because we'll do it together. I'm not taking Ford's apprenticeship. We've traveled to heck and back to get you, and we're going back together. Leave this fantasy world. Let's beat Bill and grow up together."
He extended a hand, and Mabel's eyes were all shiny with tears. The audience all murmured, and the judge screamed, "Order. Order in the court!" as he banged his gavel. "Dang it, why is this hammer squeaking?!"
"You mean it?" Mabel asked quietly, hopping off the chair and walking to her brother. "You're really coming home with me?"
"Yes. Definitely. Absolutely. Awkward sibling hug?"
The audience, Xyler and Craz, the judge, they all freaked out, but she smiled at him. "Sincere sibling hug."
They embraced each other, and Camo had a massive grin on her face and tears in her eyes. Even as the judge screamed, "Don't do the pats!"
"Pat, pat," they both said awkwardly. A massive wave of pink ripped away from them, and when they broke away, Mabel rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, man. I never noticed how bright this place is. Ugh! Have I actually been listening to the same song for an entire week?" Camo walked over with a shrug, already taking off the police shirt, revealing the Bill-suit underneath. (No, she had not taken that off. It was invulnerable, she'd be an idiot to take it off. This was a world created by Bill, after all . . . though, the suit was, too. Hmm. Nope, she wasn't thinking about that right now.)
The cat judge yowled in anguish. "Whoa, time to calm you down," Mabel said, taken aback, and she clapped her hands. Nothing happened, and everyone in the audience angrily looked away from her. "Uh, why isn't this working?"
"Because your reign over this land is over!" the cat judge screamed. He split in half, revealing a disturbing mass of muscle or worms, she couldn't tell which. It moved around, making a disturbing face like glowing holes. One by one, everybody in the audience underwent a similar transformation, except Wendy and Soos, and Xyler and Craz, for some reason.
"We gotta get outta here!" Mabel shrieked.
"Yeah, I second that," Camo said, looking around in mild horror.
Dipper looked to their friends. "Soos, Wendy, paradise is cancelled." They all ran out. The neon sky with the lace doilies faded to a dark marble color, with dark trails of yarn falling down. They went to a pig stop, with a giant Waddles sitting there.
"Everyone get on," Mabel ordered. They all clambered on the back, and Mabel smacked the pig on his forehead. He got to his feet and squealed loudly. "Take us to freedom, Giant Waddles! Yah!" He ran off, toward the city limit. "All right, guys, are you ready for this?" She grabbed a knitting needle and held it like a lance. "Sorry, Mabeland. It's time to burst your bubble!"
She stabbed a hole in the bubble, which exploded in a burst of confetti. When they all got back up to their feet—wait, Mabel's healing stayed! Her ankle wasn't broken again! She grinned, and joined in as everyone hugged Mabel, though as Camo backed up, she almost fell over a now-normal-sized Waddles.
"Hey, Dipper, I appreciate what you said back there," Mabel told her brother. "But if you wanna take Ford's apprenticeship, I won't get in your way."
"Pfft. Miss out on your awkward teen years? You wish." He laughed, and Mabel did, too, after a second.
After a moment of silence, Mabel said, "Man, I went nuts back there. I mean, come on, the real world can't be that bad, right?"
They gazed upon the weirdness-populated ruins of the town, with the pyramid floating in the sky, and Gompers and the water tower stomping around, and everything on fire. "You kind of came at a bad time," Camo told her. They made their way down into the town, but there was nobody there.
"Let's go hide out in the Shack," Dipper suggested. "Camo said Stan's running a, I don't know, safe house?"
She shrugged. "More like I sent people his way, telling them he'd help, with little to no warning, but yeah, basically. Let's go."
Everyone else had their sentimental feelings about the Shack, but Camo didn't wait. She ran right in—she could do that, because her ankle was fixed—and opened the door. Naturally she tried to be quiet about it, but when people saw her outfit, they assumed the worst.
Not until she ran up and hugged Stan did he realize who she was. "Camo? Kid, what happened to ya?"
"It's a long story," she admitted. "But there's a couple other people you might wanna see."
Just then, Dipper and Mabel opened the door.
So, so sorry on how long this took lol. I started binge watching Stranger Things (only season two but whatever) and obsessed over Lego Harry Potter for a while, so . . . basically, I procrastinated too much. Anyway, we're so close! Only like three more chapters to go. Hang in there!