Chapter Five: Just a Hot Spring
"Grunkle Ford… Can I talk to you?" Dipper asked. Ford looked up.
"Of course! Come on down. I have some things to talk to you about as well. I want you to continue my work. I'm not young anymore and I would have been happy to have you come under my wing when you were 13. But it's more than fine if you want to come under my wing now as well. I can teach you nearly anything you want to learn. We can continue my research into researching the supernatural together. I've reconstituted my journals. Fortunately, I took photos of everything I did.
"I kept them safe and locked up where even Stanley couldn't find them and I recreated my journals over a rather tedious six months. This time though, they're better organized and your friend, Wendy showed me how to put them on an iPad. It's an odd device, but it easily holds all my journals and allows me to go back and edit things and add more without disturbing content I already have there. I can select certain sentences and have them only appear when I tap on them. Your technology today is amazing, Dipper." Ford said. Dipper smiled.
"And I want to pass on the journals to you. You're more than qualified to be my successor." Ford said, reaching out to shake Dipper's hand. Dipper shook his hand eagerly with both of his.
"Actually, I couldn't have done my research and additions to the journals without help from my friends and sister. Wendy went on a lot of my adventures with me and Mabel… Well, I couldn't have done it without her." Dipper said. Ford nodded.
"Now, what is it you need to talk to me about?" Ford asked.
"I fell and scraped up my knee and hand and forearm on the gravel earlier." Dipper said.
"And you want to know if I have a healing solution that will heal it more quickly?"
"No! That's just the thing. I'm already healing from it. Look!" Dipper said, pulling up his shorts and showing his legs and then his arm and hand. Ford looked over his former wounds.
There was still some scraped skin, but it wasn't bleeding, it looked like he'd gotten it almost a week ago. It was wasn't even scarring.
"Hmmm… How long ago did you say you got these scrapes?" Ford asked.
"Earlier today. Maybe three hours ago." Dipper said. Ford nodded.
"Well, regardless, it would have stopped bleeding by now. But this looks like you've had it for days, maybe a week." Ford said.
"Have you done anything unusual lately? Gone anywhere? Touched anything strange?" Ford asked, immediately starting to take notes.
"What? Not really. The closest thing I did to unusual was go on a date with Wendy." Dipper said.
"I see. And where did you go with her? Go over the events of the evening." Ford said.
"Well, I went to her father's house and had a talk with him. Then we went into the woods. It was late by then. It was around 10-ish by the time we got to the location. She likes night hiking." Dipper said.
"Uh huh… And what was this location? I seem to remember hearing something about bioluminescent plants. Did you sniff or touch any of them?" Ford asked.
"Yes. I looked at the flowers and plants and touched them. I haven't gotten any rashes, I don't feel strange or feverish. The plants were unusual. I've never seen them before. And I doubt I could locate them in any books, so I could probably get famous for finding new species' of plants and flowers. But they weren't dangerous." Dipper said.
"I see, I see. What did you do next?" Ford asked.
"Wendy and I took a dip in a hot spring. There were some caves nearby and we went in the hot springs there. There was a strange, but comforting aroma coming from the water or the caves. Maybe it was the result of the heat interacting with the bioluminescent moss on the walls of the caves." Dipper said.
"Either way, Wendy and I fell asleep in the hot spring and when we woke up, it was the next morning." Dipper said. Ford nodded, taking notes.
"And did you feel strange the next morning?" Ford asked.
"Not really. I felt rejuvenated. It was like the hot spring renewed me. And Wendy's skin seemed like it was glowing almost."
"I see… Well, it's possible that there were some supernatural effects within that grotto somewhere. I'd need to get samples. I'm starting to slow down a bit, so maybe you and Wendy or you and Mabel could go and bring back samples for me to examine. Naturally I would include you in the research." Ford said.
Dipper nodded.
"It's possible that something in that grotto accelerated your metabolic processes, possibly affecting some level of enhanced mitotic cellular division causing a sort of healing factor. I doubt that it's permanent and I wouldn't want to test it on anything more major than a cut or bruise. I can't tell you how to test it. But I recommend that you be careful. Faster healing can make someone reckless. Look at Wolverine. His entire fighting style is built around his healing factor and he often lets himself get ripped apart." Ford said.
Dipper nodded. He was going to test it a bit later. But Ford had a good point that he needed to not take it too far. Dipper went upstairs and began to prepare to go back to that grotto in the daylight and collect samples. Down in his room, he took out a pocket knife, looking at it. He gritted his teeth and began cutting a few sigils into his arm, starting with a simple line. He wasn't exactly resistant to pain. It was obvious that his healing factor, however temporary it might be, didn't stop him from feeling pain. He immediately cleaned it and put a bandage over it.
He would check it in an hour. He'd cut deeper than the scrapes were, so he would see what if anything his healing would do about it. It was already getting towards the end of the day for Wendy. So he went up to the Shack and waited for Wendy's shift to end. He smiled as Wendy checked her watch.
"Hey, you know, I think that water made me a regenerator like Wade Wilson." Dipper laughed. Wendy chuckled.
"Yeah? Let's hope you don't get superhuman cancer like him." Wendy said. Dipper laughed. He didn't know Wendy would really get that joke.
"Yeah… Let's hope I stay as handsome as Wade too." Dipper joked. Wendy shoved Dipper playfully.
"Please, you're already handsomer than Wade. Maybe you'll be as strong as Wade too." Wendy said. Dipper shrugged as Wendy went to the clock and checked out.
"Alright, you wanna come over to my place? I gotta do some chopping tonight. The family is gathering fire wood and I guess it's as good a date as any if you come and help us. We have some extra axes if you think you can handle the work." Wendy teased. Dipper smirked.
"I'll give it a whack… Oh, God… That was horrible." Dipper sighed. Wendy chuckled and they headed out to her house.
-0-
"So, boy! You think you can handle chopping wood for hours?" Dan demanded. Dipper was still more than a little intimidated by Dan's intensity. He looked like he could break an axe shaft in half with one hand and even when he wasn't yelling, his voice really carried.
"Well, I'll do my best. I can't say for sure. I've never really had to chop wood before." Dipper said.
"City folk." Dan said dismissively, handing Dipper an axe. Dipper took a log and swung it, sighing as it let out a satisfying *thunk!* He actually had chopped wood before. But that was back when he was 13 and Stan was trying to toughen him up. He brought the axe down on the log again. Wendy smiled. Dipper was doing better than she thought he would. It definitely wasn't something she imagined him doing. But it was cool of him to try it. The evening went on like that with Dipper, Dan, Wendy and Wendy's three brothers each chopping as much wood as they could.
It seemed that the Corduroy Family liked to turn it into a contest to see who could chop the most wood. Each member had their own pile and whoever had the biggest pile had bragging rights later. The evening was actually going pretty well. Dipper was out of breath and soaked in sweat. His shoulders, back and arms were burning. But he was doing better than even he expected. Then, he heard a scream.
"Wendy!" Dipper shouted, dropping his axe and running over to see Wendy on the ground. She'd chopped her own leg by accident. Her boot must have slipped.
The rest of the family stopped as well and Dan ripped her jean leg away to look at the wound. It was pretty nasty. The axe had gone through the leg and seemed to have hit the bone. Right on the shin like that, it was hard to imagine that it wouldn't. Dipper grimaced and grabbed Wendy, helping her to the truck that Dan had.
"Drive her to Ford! He's got super science on his side!" Dipper said. Dan nodded and drove Wendy to the Shack, where they took her downstairs to the basement.
"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper shouted. Ford, who was still in the same place he'd been hours before looked up.
"Wendy, what happened?" Ford asked.
"She cut herself with an AXE!" Dan roared.
"Ah! Okay… Let's get her on the table. We'll sanitize the wound and I'll take it from there. It's good you came to see me." Ford said, putting on a lab coat and gloves.
He put on a pair of goggles that lit up and ran a strange smelling liquid over the wound that steamed and caused Wendy to hiss in pain.
"It's alright, Wendy. Just the tonic doing its job. Your healing should be accelerated nicely by the tonic. Although that's funny… The bleeding is slowing down already. The wound is clearly still there. It hasn't diminished even, but the bleeding is slowing." Ford said, pouring some sterile salt water on the wound.
Wendy groaned again. It clearly still hurt. Dipper held her hand.
"It's gone right through to the bone, but it looks like it's beginning to heal quickly. Daniel, may I have a moment alone with Wendy and Dipper?" Ford asked. Dan nodded, practically slamming his head on the jamb as he walked out the door.
"Wendy, you went in that mineral hot spring as well, didn't you?" Ford asked. Wendy nodded.
"Yes, good. I thought as much. It seems that whatever has affected Dipper is affecting you as well. Whatever it is seems to be causing accelerated healing in those who avail themselves of it. Whether this healing is permanent or temporary, I don't know. I will hope that you don't get reckless in testing it. But for now, I don't want to jinx it, but your leg seems to be healing well." Ford said.
"I'll ask that you stay the night here and we'll see how you're doing in the morning." Ford said, wheeling out a hospital-like bed for Wendy to sleep in.
"I'll talk to my… What just happened?" Ford asked, seeing the lights flicker and go out and then come back on. Cracks appeared on the walls and there was a heavy rumbling sound that resounded throughout the basement. Ford had made sure to install stabilizers in the event of seismic activity, so for what happened to happen, it had to have been a pretty decently sized earthquake or volcanic eruption.
"You two stay put down here. I'm going to go up to the Shack to see if everything is alright." Ford said.
Dipper nodded and sat down next to Wendy while Ford ran upstairs, seeming worried.
