Disclaimer: The views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. The following is a fan-written fiction. Gravity Falls, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Kim Possible, and Big Bad Beetleborgs are property of their respective owners, creators, and publishers. Please support the official releases.
TW: This story will contain references to physical and psychological abuse, murder, and torture.
|Humiliation|
In the weeks since the original School Spirit game, Echo Creek Academy's football field underwent a full overhaul, with the foundation completed by Marco and Star's initial repairs to the field followed by a generous and fast-paced reconstruction purchased by the Wong Family. In a stark contrast to the school, the sports field was fantastically high tech, with a massive jumbotron screen, hologram projectors, camera and spotlight drones, advanced pyrotechnics, comfortable weatherproof seating for several thousand, facilities to take care of all of them, and entire foodservice personnel that reportedly made several cafeteria staff in the school quit in disgust.
It was a sports field far richer than some colleges would want on their expenses, and all the Echo Creek Awesome Opossums had to show for it was one victory in twenty-seven years and a court order to stay away from the Silver Hill Warriors.
As such, Roland Williams thought this was hilarious.
"How do you think the school's gonna pay for this crap when Brittney graduates?" He asked Drew, who was already looking better after having an entire day to recover from his injuries. Nevertheless, he was wearing a blue turtleneck shirt with the collar unrolled to cover his face from the nose down, a pair of sunglasses, and a baseball cap to hide his bruised-up face.
Drew nodded his head. "Pay for it? They'll probably sell it for a song to the next NFL Team that wants to come to LA."
Roland burst into laughter. "A whole song? Man, they'll ditch this place for eight bars!"
Drew brought a hand over his covered mouth. It didn't hurt to laugh anymore, at least.
"Speaking of bars," Roland asked, "How'd you break out of yours?"
"I climbed out my window and snuck out through the neighbor's yard. Dad still has my phone and Jo got dinner to me before I dipped out, so as far as he cares, I'm still in my room and going nowhere."
Both he and Roland looked back down towards the field, and watched as Echo Creek Academy's quarterback, Justin Armberg, snap the ball and attempt to fake a handoff to his running back. Unfortunately, when he pulled the ball back to pass, the running back snatched the ball from him. Surprised, Justin took the ball back from him–only to be driven into the ground by the gray and purple-uniformed defensive linemen of the St. James High School Sharks.
"Was it worth it?" Roland asked.
Drew shook his head. "I would rather be fighting Saberizer again."
Roland watched as the two teams returned to the line of scrimmage for third down. "At the very least, SJHS is letting the freshmen play and they're doing great."
Looking at the massive scoreboard, Drew sighed in relief as the timer for the first half wound down towards zero. "The only good thing is that it's halftime, and I can go get something to snack on."
He got up. "You want anything?"
Roland got up and pushed Drew back down. "No, I'll go get it, you just chill."
Drew heaved a sigh. "And what, watch this?"
Lined up for the next play, Justin snapped the ball, and this time went back, looked downfield, and threw a spectacular laser that was caught by an Awesome Opossum Tight End–who proceeded to run the wrong direction down the field in terror chased by two SJHS safeties. He ran out of bounds at the Awesome Opossum's ten-yard line, well behind the QB. Justin screamed in anguish, as the whistle blew for the end of the first half.
"Well, at least it's the half," Roland said.
Trip's unwarrantedly smug voice barged its way into their ears. "That's right, no matter how awful the game is, a good halftime show is always there to make it watchable."
As one, Drew and Roland rolled their eyes and turned to engage the Vanderhoff brothers, who like many in the Awesome Opossums side of the stands were on their way to one of the many refreshments stands at the stadium in order to purge what they'd just seen from their short-term memory. Trip brought a hand to his chin and peered at Drew, mock trying to divine who he was like he'd never seen him before.
"As I live and breathe! Andrew, is that you?" He asked.
"Hey Trip, finally remembered I existed?" It was nice while he hadn't.
Van let out a haughty little snicker. "Heh, why are you covering your face, lame-o?"
Drew shook his head. "It's really none of your business."
"Well, whatever the reason, thanks for being considerate of the public and hiding that disaster you call a visage," Trip taunted, and Van laughed, because of course he does.
Roland glanced at Drew, who shared a laugh with the brothers. "Good one, Trip."
Trip was thrown just a bit off by Drew laughing at his insult. "Huh, you thought that was funny, did you?"
"It was," Drew said nonchalantly, as he imagined doing something infantile like tying their shoelaces together with his telekinesis while they were distracted. "But not as funny as when you got thrown out of Zoom while you were crying like a little kid."
Trip's smug expression cracked slightly when Drew hit back, but it didn't break as he let out a slimy chuckle. "I would watch what you say to me, Andrew, or you're gonna end up like your big burly lumberjack friend."
Roland raised an eyebrow as Drew rocked back on his heels. "What, being asked to the dance by Jackie Lynn Thomas?"
Van let out an angry laugh as he crammed back the urge to push Drew down for his snark. "She didn't ask him to go to the dance! And he's been banned anyway, so there!"
Drew looked at Van, his pity hidden behind his glasses, before he turned to Trip. "Whatever. Are you two done harassing me, or do I have to slap you around, too?"
Roland let out a quiet "Sheesh" even as he got ready to come to Drew's defense.
Van now lit up with anger and he stepped forward. "You wish you could–!"
"KNOCK IT OFF, RIGHT NOW!"
Roland, Drew, and the Vanderhoff Brothers all turned and found Brittney Wong marching towards them from the sidelines below, her permanently glaring eyes filled with hatred.
Trip smirked. "Looks like someone's in trouble~"
"Oh yes, someone is in trouble," Brittney snapped at him as she stepped past Roland and Drew, and up to the Vanderhoffs. "If you two dorks can't leave my guests alone, you can leave."
Drew and Roland shared a surprised side-glance to one another.
Trip sputtered. "Your guests?"
Brittney didn't look back at either Drew or Roland. "Bracelets."
Without hesitating, both held their arms out past her shoulders, showing the "Spirit Week by Wong" bracelets they wore. Her eyes darting quickly to confirm them, she settled back on glaring at the brothers. "Those bracelets mean I chose for them to be here. You two paid the admission fee to get in."
As Drew and Roland pulled their hands back, she pointed at Trip, then Van. "I won't tolerate anyone harassing my welcomed guests, especially you losers."
Confused as all heck, Trip looked at his brother, then at Brittney. "I'm sorry, but what? You do realize that the masked man to your left is Andrew McCormick, right? He shouldn't even have a bracelet!"
Brittney spared Drew a quick look, then turned back to Trip. "Does it piss you off that I can stand to have him around more than you and your brother combined?" The sweetness in her voice shot to diabetic levels. "Because if it does~?" In a split second, it shot back down to her accented contempt for existence. "Good."
She jerked her head, whipping her hair hard enough for an audible crack. "If I see you bothering anyone else? I'm throwing you out, now go."
Van opened his mouth to talk some mean smack back at Brittney, when Trip extended a hand to stop him. "Van, leave Andrew alone. There's no point in picking a fight with him, he's already looked like he's seen better days."
Trip turned to Brittney and tossed his tresses arrogantly. "We have a great halftime show to enjoy, anyway. Come on, let's grab some popcorn."
Reining in his temper, Van smirked and followed his brother, shouldering past Drew and Roland, and walking off to the nearest concession stand. Roland raised his hand, offering a fist-bump, and Drew returned it, before Brittney turned her wrath onto them.
"What are you even doing looking like that, McCormick?" She demanded.
Drew grumbled. "… I was caught out during that whole monster thing the other day and got roughed up."
With an expression like she'd known it all along, Brittney let out a scoff and walked past the two to go back down to the field. "Of course you did; don't go picking fights if you're already walking wounded and ruin my Spirit Week."
Watching her go back to the field and rejoining her fellow cheerleaders, Drew turned to Roland with a look of complete bewilderment. "Did… Brittney just show concern for me?"
Roland looked back. "I think she more showed concern for Spirit Week and what kind of liability you'd be to it."
Drew sagged, sighing in relief. "Good, because I've already been having vague interactions with enough girls lately and I don't need another one."
The concession stands were, like everything else at the stadium, the peak of luxury but also efficiency. Located behind the stands, customers were quickly filing through the lines in seconds to get their refreshments, scan their Spirit Week By Wong bracelets and be on their way. Those who were not gifted such glamorous gadgetry had to make do with paying the absurd prices one would expect at any sporting event, but even they got what they needed.
Towards the end of the line Misao let out a hum of both confusion and disappointment. She, Mabel, and Jackie Lynn Thomas were all in line to check out the refreshments–which they were in dire need of after having to watch this game.
"I was told that gridiron football was more… hmm… competitive," she said to her American friends.
"Oh it is when the teams are good, like the Raiders in the NFL," Mabel boasted.
Jackie leaned past Misao to look at Mabel. "Raiders. Good. Pick one."
Mabel stopped and turned to stare at Jackie. "Girl, I already said I love you. Don't make me take it back."
Jackie laughed. "Dude, I'm joking."
She looked at one of the TVs flanking the concession stand, which was showing the highlight reel also playing on the jumbotron overlooking the field–it consisted mostly of Justin Armberg's sacks strung together by his flashes of brilliance and the more consistent touchdowns by SJHS. "I feel so bad for Justin, though. He goes out there every game and plays his heart out, but you know…" She winced at the utter failure of a Play Action that got him turned into an award-winning portrayal of a tent pole. "… Yeah…"
Mabel looked at the screen with her. "Who's even the coach for the Awesome Opossums, and why haven't they been fired?"
Jackie made an unpleasant face. "Ugh… Coach Geek."
"Geek?" Mabel and Misao both asked.
"Mr. Geike. He's the school's AP Calculus teacher. Everyone just calls him Geek behind his back, because he's a tool," Jackie explained.
Misao was mystified. "Even you dislike him, Jackie?"
Jackie nodded. "Yeah, I started AP Calculus this year, but dropped it after two classes because of him."
Misao frowned. "Oh no, I am going to be in AP Calculus."
"RIP," Jackie lamented.
Mabel hugged Misao. "It'll be fine! Just put your best foot forward and show him what a smart cookie you are!"
The small girl once again smiled. "I'll be chocolate chip with walnuts."
Mabel squeezed her tighter. "The objectively best cookie."
Sasha Waybright, with Anne Boonchuy and Marcy Wu flanking her, joined the tail end of the line and conversation. "Chocolate chip and walnut? What patrician taste, though I'm more of a Golden Oreo gal, myself."
Mabel and Misao both lit up. "Sasha! And Anne!"
Marcy stepped up with arms raised high in celebration. "And Marcy! Who you have not been formally introduced to!" She immediately tripped, falling forward. "Whoa!"
Without missing a step, Mabel caught Marcy. "I gotcha."
"Thank you, Sasha's… tall but incredibly soft friend…" Marcy replied, muffled by Mabel's chest.
"I'm Mabel," she greeted in turn.
Marcy let out a sigh of contentment. "… Can I live here, Mabel?"
Jackie noticed the uniforms of the new arrivals. "Friends from SJHS?"
"Ja!" Misao said. "Sasha, Anne, and Mabel were friends who went to Cheer Camp together."
Anne quickly spoke up over her. "Yeah, cheer camp! Fun times at Camp Gottagrin, actually really boring though, don't ask about it."
Jackie recognized the name. "Isn't Camp Gottagrin the place where that–"
She was cut off. "Who wants to talk about a dumb camp?! I'm Anne, nice to meet you, you got really cute hair!"
Letting out a gently concerned laugh, Jackie got the hint. "Thanks, yours is nice, too. Having fun at our stupidly expensive and completely out of place sports complex?"
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that," Anne said, "What the eff is with this place?"
"Is there a female version of the Napoleon Complex? Because that's it," Jackie replied.
Sasha, hands in the pockets of her jacket, let out a sharp little chuckle. "Yeah, this place reeks of entitlement and desperation to be acknowledged. Digging the bi pride aesthetic, though, I'm here for it."
Mabel, still holding Marcy, chimed in. "There's no small girl syndrome, but there's a serious outbreak of cute girl syndrome, am I right?"
Misao agreed wholeheartedly. "So many vectors, no matter where you look!"
Pulling away from Mabel, Marcy gasped. "I know that chipper German accent!" She looked at Misao and took in a deep breath that only a near oxygen starved or hyperactive girl could take before erupting into a million words per minute. "FaithfulPony371! I'm Marcy, I'm one of your biggest superchat supporters I've spent like 800 dollars on your streams this year, you're amazing I love your War Thunder marathons how do you win so many matches without getting hit, what are your keybinds in Halo, what energy drinks do your drink, is it true Kamiya never blocks you, can you sign my copies of Zone of the Enders?!"
Sasha shook her head. "Oh boy…"
Anne raised her hand, worried. "Marcy, you gotta breathe!"
To her credit, Misao was happy to bask in Marcy's adulation. "It's so nice to meet a supporter in person, and you are just so hot-blooded, Marcy!"
The compliment gave Marcy exactly the shock she needed to actually breathe in. "Hot blood is my LIFE! Just like in GaoGaiGar! Have you ever watched GaoGaiGar? Do you want to watch GaoGaiGar?! I can give you my copies of GaoGaiGar! Come over to my house, we'll binge the whole thing!"
She hugged Misao and turned to Sasha and Anne. "I'm stealing her."
Mabel was practically vibrating with excitement as she glomped onto Marcy, sandwiching her between herself and Misao. "Why did you not introduce me to Marcy sooner, Sasha?! I've been deprived!"
Sasha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know why either, this is great."
Jackie giggled, imagining Marcy meeting Star after this introduction. "I'll say, we could hook you up to the grid and you'd power LA for a year."
"Ten years!" Mabel said.
"A hundred years!" Misao cheered.
Marcy threw a fist into the air. "One thousand years forever!"
Anne turned her head, giving Sasha a smarmy look. Sasha's eyes met hers and rolled, as Marcy began rocking back and forth, alternating between leaning into the taller Mabel and the shorter Misao. "So what happened? Why are you laying low? Are you in trouble? Is immigration after you? A creepy stalker? Internet trolls?!"
Misao's smile strained a bit. "It is very complicated and something I can't really talk about right now. For now, I am just hiding out until it's safe, ja?"
Mabel agreed. "So keep it hush-hush, okay?"
That was no problem for Marcy. "Absolutely, no leaks here. I am air-gapped, you won't get any info from me out there!"
Jackie was loving this. "Man, she is one hundred percent at all times, huh?"
Sasha nodded. "She's hard to keep up with. Speaking of high energy girls, where's the one I bothered coming to see?"
Anne was similarly stoked. "Yeah, the magical girl."
Marcy was once again back on her maximum power trip. "Star Butterfly! Is she here?!"
Mabel, Misao, and Jackie flinched, before Mabel passed on the bad news. "She's not allowed to be here."
Marcy looked like she'd seen a cat get kicked. "Aww!"
Sasha's eyebrows rose, before she quickly divined it. "Let me guess, banned by Wong?"
"Yeah," the three Echo Creek students said in unison.
Marcy frowned. "That's so Wong."
Mabel and Misao both snickered. Marcy joining them.
Sasha rolled her eyes. "That makes sense, all things considered." She gestured at their lavish surroundings. "And explains all of this."
She broke from the line. "I suddenly don't feel like giving Brittney or her school my money, no offense."
"None taken," Jackie said.
"It is pretty dumb, yes," Mabel agreed.
Misao thirded. "Ja, it cannot be helped. For now…"
Sasha liked that. "Ooh, ominous. Anyway, I'm gonna wander around a bit, maybe antagonize someone who deserves it. Boonchuy, Mar-Mar, you can hang out and do whatever, I'll meet up with you guys after halftime's over." She turned and walked away, headed towards the front of the stands, before looking back at Mabel. "Oh, and let your brother know that if he ever wants to hang out, to hit me up."
Mabel giggled. "Oh yes, I'll definitely pass that along!"
Marcy gasped in excitement once more. "Oh my gosh, I absolutely forgot something on the bus! I will brb, ttys!" She turned and bolted and Anne, in alarm, shot after her.
"Marcy! Don't run or you'll fall!" She looked back at Mabel, Misao, and Jackie. "It was nice talking to you, I gotta make sure Marcy doesn't die–" She looked forward and yelled. "Marcy, watch out for that mascot!"
There was a crash and a thump, before Marcy shouted an "I'm okay!" in reassurance.
Jackie turned to Mabel. "Hey, hit me with their contacts if you've got 'em."
Mabel pulled out her phone and began texting. "Which one specifically?"
Chuckling, Jackie looked in the direction Marcy and Anne ran off in. "I like them all, but Anne's got an irresistible vibe, you know?"
"Speaking of irresistible~" Misao sang.
Mabel laughed. "I know, it's great!"
"Does he even realize what kind of following he has?" Jackie asked of Dipper.
Mabel finished sending her message. "He does, but he's already dead set on someone."
"Is he okay with that someone dating someone else?" Jackie asked.
Going still, Mabel and Misao looked at each other with wide eyes, then back at Jackie, who clarified. "… Hypothetically."
The two roomies shared looks once more, then turned back to Jackie as Mabel asked. "… Hypothetically speaking, so we're all on the same hypothetical page… are we hypothetically talking about–"
"Marco, yes," Jackie replied. "Who let's say, is hypothetically dating Star."
Misao nodded to Mabel. "They could be."
Jackie set a foot outside the realm of hypothesis. "Remember how I said I went over to Marco's yesterday? Marco has been… really chill around me, and for as long as I can remember before that, he was always…"
"Continuously tripping over himself as he overthought how to interact with you for the best possible result?" Mabel asked.
Jackie pointed at Mabel. "Yeah! I'm surprised you could put that to words."
"One day, I'll tell you about a girl named Wendy Corduroy, and how she turned Dipper into a man." Mabel shook her head. "It's just his luck; he meets someone he likes and bam… they're involved."
Jackie nodded. "Yeah, but like… what if it was cool?"
Once more Jackie's words gave Mabel and Misao pause, and they shared another long look before addressing them. "… Cool how?"
00000
Leaving the concession stand and walking down the short hallway beneath the bleachers, Sasha meandered casually around the crowd of people not interested in seeing the Awesome Opossums Marching Band play for the half. It was their loss, unlike the football team the Marching Band kids actually knew what they were doing and were killing it with a performance of Fallout Boy's "The Phoenix."
"Huh, they're actually not bad," she mused aloud just before she passed Trip and Van on their way to the concession stand. Meeting his eyes, she nodded to Trip and winked to Van as they passed without a word, leaving the brothers smiling.
With a smirk of her own, she stepped out and walked to the foot of the stands, right behind the Awesome Opossums sideline, where the Echo Creek Academy Cheerleading Squad were standing on the sidelines watching the marching band go off.
Sasha looked up at the jumbotron screen which, between shots of the band performing, proudly displayed the words "Spirit Week By Wong" and glamor shots of Brittney Wong herself. She narrowed her eyes.
It's amazing how someone can be so uselessly self-absorbed, she thought, before the devil herself reached the sidelines, looking so perpetually unhappy in spite of the celebration to her own esteemed greatness going on in front of her. Brittney Wong noticed her at almost the same time, her brow furrowing as she eyed Sasha, before the unmistakable recognition of the blonde as someone of considerable clout washed over her and she approached.
"You're the SJHS Cheer Captain, aren't you?" She asked.
"Former Cheer Captain," Sasha replied, "And you don't need introduction." She gestured to the jumbotron, showing her face at that moment. "You're kind of a big deal around here."
Brittney gave her a sharp look. "Is that supposed to be sarcasm?"
Sasha pulled out a blow pop from the jacket of her uniform, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth. "How is it anything other than a statement of fact? You made sure it can't be."
It was an inescapable point, but Brittney still turned her nose up at it. "What are you doing here on my school's sidelines?"
"Definitely not spying on the football team, did you see that first half? Wow. That quarterback is going to be waking up in a cold sweat until he's forty." Sasha looked past Brittney at her cheer followers. "Aren't you guys supposed to be providing morale, and support?"
Brittney turned to look at her squad and huffed. "I'm not some delusional idiot; my squad could be national contenders too, and it wouldn't help those losers."
Sasha nodded and took the stick of her sucker to roll it back and forth. "Yeah, that's true. This isn't really about the football team anyway though, is it?"
"Of course it's not," Brittney said. "If I could, I wouldn't have had this stupid game."
"I'm glad it did happen though, this place is tight."
"Watching your team put forty-seven points up on us in the first half isn't so bad either, huh?"
Sasha shrugged her shoulders. "People watch football for the excitement, no one's ever invested in a blowout against the last-place team."
She pulled out another blow pop and offered it to her. "Want one?"
Brittney looked at the candy and took it. Unwrapping it, she too began to enjoy, right up until Sasha said, "For real, the actual reason I decided to ride down with the team was so I could see that crazy magical girl."
She turned a fearsome glare onto Sasha, who stared back impassively.
"That 'crazy magical girl,' huh? Let me save you the trouble of ever meeting her and tell you all about her." Brittney began in her saccharine excitement.
Sasha nodded. "Do your thing and go off, Queen."
She did so with gusto. "I don't know where she comes from or what kind of family she has, but I'm pretty sure half of them are wolves and the other half are deranged psychopaths. And everyone thinks she's so cool because she has a magic wand and does actual magic–well, no one ever stops to think that giving a moron some anime magic bullshit would be a bad idea."
Brittney gestured out to the football field. "The only reason this field looks decent at all now is because she absolutely destroyed it!"
"The Warriors game, right?" Sasha asked.
"Yes! She thought a football game was an actual battle, and she'd be so helpful by covering it with traps, filling it with monsters, and not stopping for a single second to ask anyone what was going on or why it was happening!" Brittney continued on. "I got eaten by a dragon made out of worms and bugs!"
"That's rough, buddy," Sasha said.
"You'd think doing something like that would get her kicked out, or even suspended, but no! Because the Warriors were so smart to immediately get up and run for their freaking lives, everyone else decided that they won by forfeit! And Star gets all the credit for one stupid win in thirty years!"
Recalling the disaster of the game she saw today, Sasha let out a little laugh. "Not exactly a victory to ride off, huh?"
"Why do you think I'm just fine with today's game? Go Sharks, by the way."
Sasha nodded. "Go Sharks. So, what else? I know that tank's not empty."
It was not. "After ruining Spirit Week and humiliating me, she had the nerve to come up to me and expect an invitation to my birthday party. When she understandably did not get one, she decided that she was going to attend it anyway!"
Sasha noticed that her cheerleaders, and a few people in the stands were now looking at Brittney in the midst of her ranting. She kept her focus on the angry young woman otherwise.
"Oh cool, Star Butterfly crashed my party! She made it so fun conjuring up a hot tub and making the inside of the bus bouncy!" Brittney began. "And then literally crashing it because a bunch of stupid jackasses from wherever the dirt-filled shithole she came from hijacked the bus to pick a fight with her!"
Sasha felt a buzzing in her jacket and pulled out her phone to peek at the screen, a message from Marcy brought a smile to her face that she handily repressed as she addressed Brittney's woes. "Man, girl went hard to screw you over. What else, did she steal your boyfriend? Punch out your Dad?"
Brittney growled. "No! She just did those things and there's crap she didn't do to me, but it's all okay because everyone else liked it! And so what, I'm supposed to just go 'Oh it's cool, you just ruined my birthday party that I spent twenty thousand dollars on! It's no big deal, really!' Do you have any idea how much limo buses cost?!"
The band had stopped playing by this point. Up in the stands, Drew and Roland stared in confused silence at the jumbotron as the cameras that would be pointed at the now awkwardly standing band were now pointed at Brittney, capturing her in the full midst of her tirade.
At the concession stand, Misao, Mabel, and Jackie looked up at the screens showing Brittney's face, as her voice carried across the speakers. Scowling, Her eyes narrowing, Jackie turned and began walking towards the field.
"It's like everything she does is perfect and cool and how the hell does someone compete with that?!" Brittney yelled. "Do I have to be a fucking idiot who doesn't think about the consequences of her actions and what they do to others, is that what people want?! I throw parties! I put money into this stupid school! I actually give a shit and that doesn't mean a thing if I don't have a magic wand and turn people into pinatas!"
Sasha's right eyebrow raised uncannily high. "… Pinatas?"
Brittney took several breaths, not even realizing how much attention she had brought upon herself. "I hate her so much."
"Yeah, she knows that."
Jackie's statement drew Brittney and Sasha's attention to her. She stood there, glaring at Brittney while Misao and Mabel hung back a safer distance from Brittney's kill zone.
"Yeah, she's crazy and sometimes the stuff she pulls goes over the line… but when she realizes she's done something wrong she gets it, dude," Jackie continued, Sasha taking advantage of Brittney's distraction to quickly swipe a message back to Marcy. "That's why she apologized the other day."
Brittney's hackles raised. "What, and I'm supposed to just forgive her?"
"No?" Jackie responded. "I'm the last person who cares if you don't forgive her. But don't you think insulting her and ranting about how much you hate her in front of everyone is worse?"
Sasha looked back at Brittney, interested in her response.
Before Brittney could retort, Jackie pressed. "But that's all you do. Yeah, do you seriously think you're not an asshole with how you absolutely drag people you don't think are good enough to meet your standards?"
Brittney recoiled, but Jackie kept going. "And you've always done this, since as long as I've had to know you. Picking and choosing who you think should have the right to make good memories of their school year, and who should suffer because you don't like how they look, or who they hang out with, or how they give a damn about safety."
Jackie stopped and took a deep breath. "… Just…!" She took off her bracelet and threw it to Brittney's feet. "Just fuck off with your jealousy, Brittney. I'm not going to your stupid dance, and I hope the rest of your self-absorbed bullshit is ruined."
Flipping her off with both fingers as Dipper had, Jackie turned and walked away, passing Mabel and Misao without a look to them, let alone a word.
Sasha let out a long, descending whistle as she watched Jackie leave. "Well… I guess she had to get some off her chest, too."
Brittney looked numb where she stood, as if Jackie's rejection had actually broken her heart. She turned to face Sasha, who just shrugged her shoulders. She turned and looked around, only now realizing she was being watched–from everyone in the stands to the players and cheerleaders on the sidelines, to the cameras feeding images to the jumbotron–which had her face on full display.
She looked down at the broken bracelet and closed her eyes. If she willed it enough, the bugworm dragon she described prior would rip itself from the ground and actually kill her.
Sasha walked over and put an arm around Brittney's shoulders. "… Well."
Brittney opened her eyes and looked at her. "… Well?"
"No judgment," Sasha said, "I don't go to your school so I'm not gonna get on the bandwagon and hate you because whoever that was did."
She glowered at Sasha. "Don't patronize me."
"I'm not; what I am is giving you something to pay attention to other than everybody looking and the awkward silence that is crushing this field," she whispered to her.
Mabel felt a cold sensation creep up her spine and prickle her skin as she watched Sasha distract Brittney. This felt familiar, and in no good way.
Up in the stands, Roland shrugged his shoulders. "Welp, can't say that I expected this, but it's not unwelcomed."
Drew let out a hum, having some different feelings about this moment, before the jumbotron went dark and mercifully ended the feed of Brittney's meltdown.
Then it came back on at its brightest possible setting, causing people to shield their eyes. Everyone looked, even Brittney. Sasha however chose not to, instead looking towards the end of the bleachers where Trip and Van had just emerged to watch the jumbotron. She let out an amused huff.
You have a tough act to follow, boys. She thought with a sneer.
"Wow, this is some halftime show, isn't it?" A digitally distorted, childlike voice said through the speakers of the stadium. "A killer band performance followed by fireworks show."
Brittney gawked at the jumbotron, her left eye twitching. She turned and glared daggers at Roland, who–expecting it–met her gaze and shrugged his shoulders.
"But I think we're getting a bit too wrapped up in drama, don't you? We all deserve a laugh to remind that we're all human and here to have a good time."
The white screen became a candid image of Dipper Pines out in front of his house with Mabel and his grandfather, the three of them in the middle of discussion as they loaded up Shermie's SUV. Mabel recognized the shot; it was in the morning yesterday when they were going to the range. To her relief, Misao was nowhere in the shot.
"Hey, it's Echo Creek Academy's own Dipper Pines! Hi Dipper!" A sunny smiley face was drawn onto the image next to him. "Here he is being a good brother helping out his sister and grandpa pack up."
The screen changed to him on the sideline of Star, Marco, and Mabel fighting Typhus and his scabs. "Here he is, looking cool standing far away while his twin sister fights monsters! He's so brave!"
The words "SO COOL!" appeared next to Dipper, pointing at him, while "LOL!" and "SUCKER!" appeared over Mabel caught in the middle of dodging a stab from a Scab.
"But don't think he doesn't get his hands dirty for a second, guys! He doesn't fight harder, he fights smarter! He is the master of the one punch, man!"
The screen changed again to a silent recording of Dipper grabbing Trip and turning him around to deck him with a single punch. The image froze after the blow connected, and Japanese lettering appeared on either side of him with the translation "SERIOUS SERIES: SERIOUS PUNCH!" provided.
Murmurs rippled across the arena as people wondered what was going on. Drew turned to Roland. "… I don't get it, is this some kind of bit?"
Roland grimaced. "… I think I know what this is…"
Drew remembered what Trip and Van said. "… Oh no."
"A real tough guy, huh? But don't you worry! Dipper isn't all sucker punches and avoiding fights! He's a popular guy with a sensitive side. Did you know he can't handle spicy food?" The voice asked before the screen changed again, to a video of Dipper being served curry by Anne at The Taste of Echo Creek.
"So… just as a heads up, this is gonna change your life. If you wanna trade it for something not rated for undersea welding, there's no shame," Anne warned.
Shooting her a look, Dipper smirked and deeply inhaled the strong, intense aroma of the curry. Already his eyes were watering, something everyone else could clearly see. "Smells good."
Mabel made her concern known. "Bro-bro, this doesn't seem like the usual heat."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've handled Soos' Grandma's birria stew and Nano's Nashville Hot Chicken, I got this," Dipper assured her as he scooped up a spoonful of curry and took a bite.
He stood there for a solid ten seconds, his face turning almost purple, before he calmly removed the spoon from his mouth, handed the whole bowl to Mabel, took his Lumberjack hat off to place it off camera, and ran screaming in pain to dive into the nearby water fountain at the center of the Food Truck market.
"Epic. Fail." The voice taunted as Shermie and Mabel both sampled the curry and found it not at all that difficult, while Dipper begged for mercy from the apparent fire burning him from within. "It's quite a hoot the kind of things Dipper can get into."
Misao looked up at the stands as laughter rippled across them.
"Like for example, did you know he's a connoisseur of the arts? He plays a mean tuba!" The screen changed, showing a slightly younger and shorter Dipper–his face a mess of acne, blowing away into a tuba in band class at Piedmont High School–and doing it proudly, too.
Mabel grimaced. "Ugh… he's gonna kill me for keeping that on my Facebook…" She stopped. "… Oh no."
"Oh, no?" Misao asked.
Mabel grimaced. "… There was something else I kept there…"
"And from a young age," the voice said, "Dipper was a singer and a dancer!"
The scene changed again to a much younger Dipper, only ten years old, dressed up in a fluffy white lamb costume with a big pink bow, and bright pink blush applied to his cheeks. The laughter died down into silence, as everyone in the stands just stared in silence at the jumbotron. Drew, Roland, Misao, Sasha, Brittney, the Awesome Opossums Cheerleading squad, and not least of all a completely stunned silent Trip and Van.
"Come on, sing the song!" An unrecognized older person said. "One last time, like you used to!"
Ten-year-old Dipper let out a long, embarrassed sigh, and took a deep breath and got on one knee while he performed jazz hands. "Well…!"
He got up and shrugged his shoulders before pointing to his audience. "Who wants a lamby-lamby-lamby?"
He raised his right hand, and then his left, waving for attention. "I do! I do!"
Performing a bunny hop, he repeated his pointing. "So go up and greet your mammy-mammy-mammy!"
Once again, he waved, his voice cracking over the growing laughter of the audience not just in the video but in the stadium itself. "Hi there! Hi there!"
Mabel was internally writing her will, and the list of things she would be leaving Waddles after Dipper killed her for having a copy of this video on her social media. On the screen, Dipper was singing and stepping in place.
"So march-march-march around the daisies!" For the big finish, Dipper went to one knee and performed another spectacular jazz hands. "And don't-don't-don't you forget about the baby~!"
Roland cringed. "Oh man, the Lamby-Lamby Dance… I can't believe they made him do that."
Drew was silently happy that his parents didn't care enough to make him do stupid dances for the entertainment of their relatives.
Poor Jo, though.
Trip was laughing so hard he was actually crying. Van was on his knees, trying to breathe, he was having difficulty managing it. Brittney, who watched the screen with incalculable confusion and disbelief, slowly turned to look at Trip and Van as she tried to wrap her head around what the hell was happening. Seeing them on the verge of death, her right eye twitched as realization dawned like a thermonuclear explosion ascending above the horizon.
After a period of silence, the jumbotron narrator spoke. "Sorry, I needed a sec after that, because… oh my gosh. That's… wow."
Another moment passed. "Anyway, that is our Halftime tribute to Echo Creek Academy's own Dipper Pines! I hope you all got a laugh out of it, and if you see Dipper in the hallways from now on, thank him for those laughs, and remind him every day of the joy he brought you with his antics. Anyway, have a good rest of your evening, and go Sharks!"
It turned out that much liked how he cried, Trip Vanderhoff laughed like a horse, too–bringing in as much air as he could and squealing it out like he was one that'd just broken its leg and was being eaten by wild dogs. "I CAN'T! I JUST CAN'T! OH MY GOD…!"
"CAN'T WHAT?!" Van gasped.
"I CAN'T EVEN!" He wheezed back.
They fell against one another for support, cackling with glee as they relished the laughter reverberating above them, and could even pick out some people reciting the song that went with the younger Dipper's ridiculous dance. They laughed so hard that they barely noticed Brittney marching up to them, her eyes wide and filled with all the fury she desperately wanted to unload without consequence.
"You. Are. Out of here." She said, her voice slashing through their laughter but not diminishing their euphoria.
Trip looked at her, giggling in his triumph. "Why are you mad, don't you hate him?"
Brittney looked down her nose at the brothers, as she pulled out her phone and hovered her thumb above a contact marked "Security." "Leave on your own. Or I will remove you. And no one will ever know what happened to you. They. Will. Never. Find. Your. Bodies."
Sasha placed her hands upon her cheeks, closed her eyes, and just breathed it all in. "Oh, yeah."
Van helped his brother up, and just kept laughing. "Fine, whatever! It's not like this game was going to be good for anything else!"
"We're not going to your stupid dance anyway, so why do we care? Get bent, Wong!" Trip sneered back as they walked away.
Brittney, her face turning a bright red, prepared to possibly breathe fire and kill both brothers as they retreated. Lowering her hands to her sides, Sasha smirked and took one step towards her–when Sabrina Backintosh rushed in like a missile and hugged Brittney from behind, stopping her cold.
Chantal swooped in next, rounding Brittney and getting in front of her to grab her shoulders. "Brittney! You need to calm the eff down, okay?!"
"Don't send mercenaries after them, they're not worth it!" The normally meek Sabrina pleaded out loud.
The rest of the Awesome Opossums cheer squad quickly followed, gathering around Brittney and talking her down from the edge of making some kind of violent mistake. Sasha took a step back and cocked her head to the side, surprised to the size and depth of this support network.
"… Huh," she muttered, before Mabel placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and looked up at her. "Oh, Mabel–"
She stopped when she saw the look Mabel was giving her. The smile that was normally present in her eyes was absent, as she gave Sasha's shoulder a squeeze.
"You have other places to be," she said firmly, with none of her usual energy.
Sasha frowned and pulled free of her grip. "Yeah, I do."
With that she turned and strode away towards the school itself. Misao joined Mabel's side, concerned about her expression.
"Geht es dir gut?" She asked.
"Ja," Mabel replied as she watched Sasha leave. "She just reminded me why I didn't talk to her after Cheer Camp."
A/N: That Sasha Waybright is a piece of work, huh?
