AN: Before we get started, I'd like to say thank you all for all your support in this story! "Weirder Things" is now sitting at 312 Favs and 330 Follows! Making this story the third most Favorited OC Gravity Falls story and the second most Followed. You all are awesome!
But I sure you all know what's about to happen. It's the moment we've all be waiting. Prepare for blushing, as there's going to be high levels of romance in the air.
One of Patrick and Wendy's favorite things to do together when they were not at work was watching old B-movies that frequently aired on Gravity Fall's public television and make fun and joke about them while watching. At first, the redhead cashier didn't know why the brave teenager loved watching these old movies, but after he showed her some movies like Starcrash, she started to really like watching them, especially with Patrick as he made some funny jobs.
As so, as the Shack was undergoing reconstruction from the zombie attack, the two teenagers were doing just that. Relaxing at the foot of Wendy's bed with a big bowl of popcorn as they watched a Night of the Living Dead knockoff movie that was the pure definition of cheesy.
The movie started out with two teenagers parked in a cemetery. When the zombies started moving towards them, the lead female clung to her boyfriend, as a microphone from one of the movie's crew lowered down too much and was in the frame. "What do we do, Chadley? I thought they were dead!" she cried.
"Far worse, Trixandra! They're... Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite!" Chadley exclaimed, overdramatically.
"Title drop!" Patrick said, and coincidently, the title for Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite! appeared on screen with a splatter of blood squirting up from the sides of the TV. And if you think the title was bad, it's really want's to be expected from a movie made by a studio called 'A Good Enough Picture' productions. "These movies are a lot less scary when you actually fought real zombies."
"They're slow!" Wendy shouted at the TV. "Just power-walk away from them!"
Patrick smirked and poked Wendy with his elbow. "Five bucks says that guy dies first."
And he turned out to be right, as the zombies pounced on Chadley and started chomping on his face. "Aah! My face is being eaten a lot!"
"Remember me for how I was!" Patrick said, mocking Chadley's voice. "As a stereotype!" That made the two laugh together.
"Chadley ain't pretty no more." Wendy joked at the guy's ridiculous death. Made, even more, sillier with the fake blood and flesh. Just then their fun was interrupted when the cashier's phone buzzed inside her pocket.
"Hey, no phones during the movie!" Patrick said in faux anger.
Wendy laughed and pulled out her phone. "One second, Pattycakes," she said, teasing him with one of the nicknames he disliked being called by. Flipping open the flip phone and seeing what it was notifying her about, Wendy's grin turned to an aggravated scowl. "Ugh, another text from Robbie!"
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Really? Again? How's all that going?" He asked, a little worried for Wendy. He didn't want to find out that Robbie was now starting to creepily stalk her and other weird things.
Wendy rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh, I'm over him, I just wish he was over me! Just look at these texts." Wendy held her phone out to show Patrick what she meant. It showed a bunch of texts from Robbie, who's picture showed him looking sad in the rain. The latest text was a ;( emoji. "Winky frown? What does that even mean?"
Patrick hesitated for a moment. He wanted to ask Wendy out on a date. After waiting for a long time, he was finally going to try his luck and ask out the girl of his dreams. He gave up hope when he was going to be sent home, but when she kissed him at the bus stop, it reignited a small flame of hope. "And you're not like, seeing any other guys or..." He asked, trying not to be too obvious.
"Of course I am," Patrick's turned to shocked dismay, but then she smirked and grabbed a plush walrus. "Meet my new boyfriend, dude," she teased, making the toy squeak.
Patrick laughed a little. "Right, right." He averted eye contact with his crush as he began to think of a way to start his question.
Seeing her crush looking a little uncomfortable, Wendy asked, "Hey, man, what's up? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Deciding that he couldn't wait anymore, Patrick that it was now more than ever. Nothing was going to stop him. All he had to do was ask her out without letting his own doubts crash him.
He took a deep breath and turned to her. "I was wondering if...maybe y-you wanted to maybe if...you and I were to...I mean if maybe we could...I-I wanted to know if you..." Patrick took in another, sharper, deep breath to keep himself from cringing at his own inability to ask out the girl of his dreams and tell her how he feels. He had a plan, but didn't execute it in the right way at all. Grimacing at how he'd already messed up, Patrick sighed in defeat. "If you wanted to join me, Dipper, and Mabel on this mystery hunt? Tomorrow? Conspiracy stuff and all that?"
"Yeah, dude. I love doing all that junk with friends," Wendy said with a grin before looking at the TV and continued to make fun of it. "Yo Chadley, watch out!"
And with that, that small flame of hope died inside of Patrick. "Yeah, that's what we are," Patrick said, with a depressed sigh. Discreetly, he pulled out a piece of paper out of his hat and opened it. Written on it was a draft of how he was going to confess his hopeless crush on Wendy. "That's all we'll ever be," he muttered with gloomy hopelessness and crumpled it up. He then lied back on Wendy's bed, looking up at the ceiling with a depress express. "Friends."
"Dude, you're laying on my bra," Wendy said, to which Patrick screamed and fell off the bed. But it was all in good humor, and the two friends started laughing.
However, when it was over, it was now Wendy's turned to mentally kick herself as Patrick's face fell a little once more. Having heard what he'd said, she knew that he was hurting inside. She knew that he was trying to ask her out, but lost confidence in himself. She's seen this all the time with guys. It was strange to think that someone like Patrick, who was always so brave and upfront, would crash under the pressure of asking out a girl. But then again, she would be the same way if the roles were reversed. Especially after kissing him the way she did at the bus stop.
Honestly, she wanted him to ask her out. For the two of them to work up the courage to say how they feel about each other. But now, it looked like Wendy has just accidentally friendzone the one boy she was in love with.
{Play Stranger Things theme by Kyle Dixon Michael Stein}
The intro begins by fading in a scene of the road sign that said: "Welcome to Gravity Falls, Oregon."
We then see a view of the town of Gravity Falls, with the strangely shaped canyons in the background, and the sun going down between the two land formations. As the sun was setting, the day turns to a blue night. However, a sinister red light comes from over the horizon. Shining between the canyon.
The next scene is of a large, dinosaur footprint in the ground. It then changed to show the trees of the forest at night, and a pair of glowing eyes staring at the viewer, before the camera switched to a wider shot and showed many more eyes staring at the viewer. The next scene was a far back show of two men dumping a body into the lake, and as that body sank down it was swallowed by a massive creature.
PATRICK
The teenage Pines is shown in a freeze shot of him walking in the woods with a lantern and his crowbar in hand. Behind him, Bill's eye in the sky looked down at him.
DIPPER
The male twin is looking down at the journal with a flashlight. Not noticing that there was a Pteranodon staring down at him, ready to eat him.
MABEL
The female twin is the final one to be seen, and it showed her wearing a sweater that lit up because it was plugged into an outlet. But in another, farther away shot show's Gideon's hand controlling her like she was a marionette.
The finale of the intro shows the Mystery Shack as the sun goes down behind it and the trees of the forest. When the sun goes down and the night came, and just like the beginning, the red light appears, but then a blue light shined from inside the Mystery Shack.
Then the screen when black and the title of the story appeared in a flash of light.
WEIRDER THINGS
It then disappeared, before the chapter title appeared.
Chapter Twenty:
Into the Bunker
The next day, the Pines kids found the tree that they found the Journal nearby. With a look of determination, Dipper stood next in front of the group that will going on this adventure and tapped a pen on his lantern. "Thank you all for coming," he said, as the tree stood tall and proud behind him. The hatch with the controls in it was still wide open.
Patrick stood alongside Mabel and Soos. "Hey, when there's a mystery, you can count on your sister...-Ey." Mabel vainly rhymed with a grin.
Patrick rolled his eyes, before Soos laughed and tried to rhyme too. "That's an amazing rhyme. When you want some, good... When you need a Soos, you... Oh oh, gosh, I don't know," he said.
"We're here to solve the number one mystery in Gravity Falls; who wrote this journal?!" Dipper announced, pulling out the book from his jacket. He opened the book to the front page. "Thirty years ago the author vanished without a trace." He turned the pages to the one that had the tree and turned on the portable blacklight. Shining on the pages to reveal the hidden winding staircase going around the tree and leading underground. "But according to this new clue, we may have found his secret hiding place. We find that author, we learn the answers to everything."
"So how do we get down there," Patrick asked, glancing up at the with a frown.
"Chop it down, dudes!" The young man gasped and turned around to see Wendy arriving on her bike, ringing the bell on the handlebars.
"Wendy!" Mabel cheerfully greeted the cashier.
"Oh, hey!" Patrick exclaimed with excitement. "You came."
"Dude, I'm so stoked about this," Wendy remarked, replacing her helmet with her trademark lumberjack hat. "I've been wanting to do more adventures with you guys. Sure as hell beats picking up after my dad at home." She dismounted her bike and gave him a friendly punch on the arm as she passed by. "Thanks for the invite, man!"
Starting to get flustered, Patrick laughed nervously. "Of course, anytime you wanna.. I, we're always happy to have...friends with us," he said, as he started flustering and looked depressed.
"Uh oh!" Not noticing how sad her cousin looked, Mabel poked Patrick in the side. Dipper just looked blankly up at his cousin. "Inviting Wendy on our mission? Me thinks there's romance afoot!"
But Patrick sighed sadly and looked down at her with a frown. "No, Mabel, I'm...I'm giving up on Wendy," he said. But he sounded less like he was admitting to the truth, but more like he's admitting defeat and lying to himself. "I've thought this through and I realized that it was never going to work. I've looked at it from every angle, and that thing was going nowhere. Besides, she only sees me as a friend. Nothing more.
"Hah! You're over Wendy?! Allow me to put on my 'skepticals.'" Mabel said, skeptically and made circles around her eyes with her fingers. "Whooop!"
"So that's it then?" Dipper asked. "Patrick, why not just tell Wendy how you feel about? Who knows, maybe she likes you too. I mean, she did kiss you."
"Yes, that's right! She did kiss you-" Patrick quickly clamp his hand on Mabel's mouth as she still kept on her 'skepticals'.
Patrick looked at Wendy and Soos for if she heard him. But the cashier and handyman were still scanning and checking out the metal tree. "For all I know, that kiss was just a mistake she didn't mean to make," he said, but it was more of him trying to convince himself. "I've moved on, guys. You should too." He walked passed them.
The twins looked at one another. Dipper seemed to accept his cousin's decision and walked over to join the others. But Mabel looked determined to have the last say on the matter. "'Skepticals...'"
When Patrick joined Wendy at the bottom of the tree, she pointed up to the top of the tree. "Hey, is it just me, or does that branch kinda look like a lever?" she asked. The Pines teenager stared up at the branch she was talking about and saw that it indeed looked like a lever. It was as if it was painted to match the color of the tree trunk and he could make out the screws
"Huh, yeah," Dipper said, turning his back on the tree to ponder of a plan. "But how do we get up there...?"
As he started mumbling to himself about 'ladder shoes', as if they were an actually thing. Patrick and Wendy looked at one another before the redhead lazily grinned and the black-haired boy smirked with a nod. Wendy took off her belt, wrapping it around the tree, and skillfully started using it to climb up. Patrick stood back and watched her as she reached the lever-branch. She reached behind with her left hand and pulled her ax out of her belt. Swinging it around after a flick of the wrist and then hits the lever with the dull end. Knocking it upwards with a loud clunk.
She sent down a satisfied smirk at the amazed group, excluding Patrick, who looked impressed. "Boosh."
"Impressive," Patrick said with a grin as the others showed their own awe at her success.
"Oh yeah, my dad used to make me compete in these lumberjack games when I was a kid. Guess I kinda ruled at it," Wendy said with a humble shrug. Suddenly the entire tree began shaking violently. The birds perched on it flew away. "Whoa, what is that?" Suddenly her grip on her belt loosened and she started falling down. Screaming frightfully.
However, Patrick quickly rushed over to her and caught her in his arms. "Are you-" Patrick didn't have time to ask when the ground around and tree itself started to sink down. Taking them with it. Patrick quickly tossed his crush over on to the real ground. Dipper and Soos then quickly rushed over and helped Patrick climb out of the emerging entrance before he fell down into it.
They stand around it as the tree and ground stopped descending. Then a spiral staircase to the middle of the tree appeared, and subsequently, a door inside the tree opened to reveal the way in.
"I think that's how we get in," Soos remarked, then Patrick walked in front of the others.
"Alright guys, this is it," he told everyone present, grabbing the lantern and pulling out his laser shotgun. "Now, remember, we have no idea what's waiting for us down in that hideout, so we need to be extremely cautious. Stick together and don't go wandering off. And lastly, whatever happens down there, we tell no one. Do you understand? We stay together, we'll survive."
Dipper gave a solid nod, Mabel gave a thumbs up, Soos turned hat backwards, and Wendy gave him her classic sign. Smirking, zipping her lips, and then throwing the invisible key away.
So, with any further deliberation on their plans needed, the group followed Patrick down the staircase. Going down into the depths of the earth for answers. Going past the door that opened on the tree, they entered into a bunker-like room that had a small, decrepit cot hanging against one wall, a cabinet in the fall back that had "weapons" labeled in it, and shelves stocked with rations and food. Each box had a year printed on them. All of it covered with dust and cobwebs, but it was none the less amazing to see it all in person.
"Okay, this is stupidly cool!" Wendy impressively remarked with a grin.
Patrick looked at a gas mask that was hanging on the wall and grabbed it. He noticed a metal poster to the left of it and saw it was a sign that said "FALLOUT SHELTER". "
"It's like a fallout shelter or something," Dipper said, as Patrick set the lantern down on a crate and they all started walking around the place. "It must've belonged to the author."
Wendy walked up to the metal sign and pried it off the wall. Grinning as she dusted it off. "This is going over my bed," she chirped, while at the same time, Mabel stunk her head inside of a barrel.
"Mabel, get your head out of there!" Patrick called over. When the young girl pulled her head back out, she was a bunch of bunch caterpillars crawling all over her face.
"Haha! My face feels fuzzy!" She said,
Patrick shook his heads and joined Soos over at the weapons locker. The handyman pulled open the doors and gasped. There everything from bladed weapons a mace, grenades, an old pistol, a shotgun, and TNT. "Oh my gosh!" Soos reached in a pulled out the one thing that wasn't a weapon. It was candy. "A Smez dispenser! I remember these things. What's that, yes I will have some of your old-timey face food." He ate the candy from the dispenser, only to choke a bit over its staleness. "Ew, dusty!" He cringed, only to eat a second piece.
"Patrick, this is incredible!" Dipper exclaimed, getting Patrick's attention and he walked over to him. The boy then looked up at the shelve. The dates going all the way to 2070. "It's like he was preparing for a disaster. But what kinda disaster would need supplies for over sixty years?"
"You mean other than a nuclear holocaust?" Patrick asked rhetorically. He turned around and was about to loo around some more when his foot stepped on something metallic and crushed it. Looking down, he reached and picked up a dripping can of beans. One of many that were discarded on the can. Examing it for a moment, he looked at the others. "This was definitely opened recently."
"The author might still be alive, down here!" Soos said.
Patrick dropped the can on the floor and Wendy looked at it. There were other opened cans that seemed to be trailing to a map of Gravity Falls from 1982. But then she noticed that it was seemingly blowing against an unseen breeze behind it. "Wait a minute..." Wendy said, walking over to it. She pulled it down, uncovering an open hatch cover. She then opened it wider, revealing a tunnel. "I think I know where he might have gone..."
Taking lead, Wendy crawled into the tunnel with everyone following. When they exited out of the tunnel, they found themselves inside of a large cube-like chamber that was comprised of metal tiles. Some of which bared strange, cryptic symbols on them.
"Oh, man! Was this place built in the past or the future?" Wendy exclaimed with a smirk.
Patrick looked at some of the symbols and narrowed his eyes. His mind telling him that this all looked familiar from what he saw in the journal. "Dipper," he said, reaching out his hand to his cousin. "Give me the journal."
Reluctantly, Dipper gave him the journal and the blacklight. Patrick took them and started flipping through the pages.
Soos looked around and said, "Please hurry. This room is way creepy."
"Not as creepy as Dipper's internet history! Heyo!" Mabel playfully shoved Dipper, making him stumble forward. Resulting in him stepping on the one marked panel on the floor. But then that panel was stepped on, it depressed. Causing the hatch the group came through to abruptly slam shut and locked itself tightly.
"That's not good," Patrick muttered.
The symbols on the other wall squares glow red, and a loud buzzer sounded in the air as the room started to shake. Everyone tried to keep their balance, but then the situation got even more dangerous when some of the squares started to poke into the room. Pushing towards the group on all sides from all angels to crush them.
"Okay, that's not good!" Patrick exclaimed, as they all backed up into the middle of the room. Watching as the wall panels extended and screamed in panic.
Mabel swiped the caterpillars off her face and looked around in horror. "Wall things! Crazy wall things happening right now!"
Wendy tried to push the blocks back, but had no such luck. "It won't stop!" She exclaimed, the others tried pushing them back too. But they couldn't get them to stop.
"Patrick! What do we do?!" Dipper yelled, pushing with his sister.
"I'm working on it!" Patrick yelled back, flipping frantically through the journal. He found and stopped at a page labeled 'Security Room.' He shined the blacklight on it and the hidden text revealed a set of glowing symbols that needed to be pressed in a specific order. He then turned the journal around and showed them a page with symbols on it. "Find these five symbols! Quick! Everybody step on one!"
Soos looked around before seeing the first symbol rising up. "One!" he shouted, pushing down on it.
Wendy jumped down and punched the second symbol. "Two!"
Mabel saw the third symbol and jumped over another block, before slapping the panel. "Three!"
"Four!" Dipper announced, using another block to get himself boosted up to reach the switch.
That left only one symbol left to save them from getting killed. Patrick looked around frantically before looking up. Spotting the final symbol on the ceiling. Just as another block was about to cover it. He hurriedly climbed up the blocks as if they were steps and pulled out his crowbar to reach up and press the symbol. "Five!"
With all switches pressed, a door opens on the other side of the room with a hiss of steam.
"Everyone out! GO! GO! GO!" he shouted and followed behind as they all rushed to the exit. First Mabel, then Dipper, then Soos, then Wendy. Patrick rushed as fast as he could but the walls were closing in fast. So, he jumped and dived through a closing opening in the blocks. His legs nearly getting crushed before the walls slammed against one another.
As his hat fell off behind him, Patrick landed on the floor. Everyone was on the ground, panting with giant grins after surviving a crazy situation like that. They all then got up and cheered victoriously. "Yes! Yes!" Wendy cheered, out of breath. She got up on her feet and looked over at Patrick. She rushed over and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. "That was... that was fucking nuts!" She then punched him playfully in the arm. "You ruled back there, man!"
Patrick chuckled nervously and rubbed his arm, blushing at his crush. "Haha, thanks."
"Whoa! Get a load of this crazy Surveillance Room," said Dipper, looking around the new room they were in. Just like the boy said, this was a surveillance room with a wide array of monitors and control panels. None of them were one. But like the fallout shelter, this one was definitely worth exploring.
"Check it out, dudes!" Soos said, before making funny faces with two beakers in front of his face to make his eyes appear comically large.
"Soos, Soos...That is hilarious," Wendy said.
Patrick chuckled sitting in a chair. But then he noticed that his head was feeling a little cool. Feeling his hatless head, he realized that the boonie hat was gone. "I've got your hat, Patrick," said Mabel, seeing his hat on the floor. Walking over to retrieve it. Arriving at said hat, she looked down and saw a piece of paper inside it. "What the..?" She reached down, picked up the hat, and pulled out the note. Opening it and reading it aloud to herself. "'Dear Wendy, I've always had a crush on...'" Mabel cut herself off with a gasp and covered her mouth with the note. Excitement filled her heart as she whispered. "OHMYGOSH!" Mabel rushed over to Patrick and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey. Patrick! Look what I found..."
"My hat, I hope," Patrick deadpanned, grabbing his hat from her and looked to his cousin. Gasping when seeing her coy grin and holding up the note for Wendy. "W-What did you...? Give me that shit!" He whispered sharply, snatching the paper from her.
"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You're not over Wendy at all!" Mabel said, jumping with excitement as Patrick stuffed the paper back into his hat. The girl then gasped. "And you were gonna tell her today?"
Patrick looked over his shoulder at the cashier, making sure that she wasn't overhearing them. "No, Mabel, I changed my mind; it's a bad idea. She only sees me as a friend. So I'd just be embarrassing myself and then I'd be another guy she hates, like Robbie."
"She wouldn't have kissed you if that was the case," Mabel said. Patrick adverted his sad eyes. "Patrick, you should just tell her already. One way or another, you'll feel better afterwards."
"Look, Mabel, I can't tell her no matter how much I want to, so just drop it!" Patrick growled at her.
The two were about to argue some more when Wendy interrupted their conversation. "Dude! Patrick, you gotta check out this weird metal closet." She said, standing in front of the open closet at the back of the room. Stepping into it, she pretended to a robot with a robotic voice. "I am a robot, I have a metal closet."
"Coming!" He shouted to his crush, before turning to Mabel and his tone turned back to serious. "This never happened."
But as he walked away, Mabel was far from satisfied with his decision. Looking annoyed with him that he would rather hide his feelings after all the bonding and romantic moments the two teenagers had. 'He wants to tell her but he's scared; maybe he needs a little push. Good idea, Mabel. Thanks, Mabel!' Mabel ran over to Patrick before he could reach Wendy and hugged him from behind. "Cousin, whatever happens, I just you need to know something." There was a strange pause at that moment as she looked up at him. Dead in the eyes. "This is for your own good."
"What?" Patrick asked, before Mabel took a few steps back, then rushed towards him and shoved him with all her might into the closet. Wendy yelped when he was suddenly pushed against her and was sandwiched between him and the wall. Suddenly the door slammed shut as Mabel locked it from the outside. Trapping them in the pitch-black confinement. "What the deuce?" Patrick asked, pushing away from Wendy and gasped when he saw her.
The two crushes' noses were only a few inches away from touching each other. They stared at one another for a moment with big, wide eyes as his hands were on the wall from when he was pushed in to brace himself. Both hands on either side of Wendy's head. Wendy's hands were placed on his chest when he was pushed inside to block him. Now the two froze for a moment in the blackness.
"Uh, Patrick..." Wendy said, breaking the silence.
Patrick gasped and moved away from her, only to have his back hit the door. Understanding what his cousin was trying to do, he turned around and furiously started pounding on the door. "MABEL! You open this Goddamn door and let us out!"
On the outside, Dipper rushed over with his own upset look. "Mabel, what are you doing!? Let them out! Patrick still has the journal!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, I'll let them out, Dipper," Mabel said, before turning to the door and shouted, "as soon as you tell Wendy that thing you've been wanting to tell her, Patrick! You'll thank me for this later!"
"What is she talking about?" Wendy asked, stepping closer to Patrick.
"Nothing!" Patrick exclaimed defensively, turning around and pressing himself against the door. "Mabel's just been eating raw sugar packets again."
As truth would have it, Mabel was indeed eating raw sugar packets. "Om nom... That's besides the point!" She said.
Patrick took a deep breath and smiled sickly sweet. "Mabel, sweetheart, I love you. You know that, right? But if you don't let us out, I WILL RIP OPEN YOUR RIB CAGE, PULL OUT YOUR INSIDES, AND FUCKING STUFF YOUR LIFELESS BODY WITH YOUR STUFFED ANIMAL'S STUFFINGS!" He roared in furious anger, scaring Wendy a little as she stared at him with frightened wide eyes. Very few times as she ever saw his anger get this bad, but that was likely because he didn't want to lose it in front of her.
Mabel paused for a moment, as she was also a little frighted with her cousin's anger. "Well, now I'm definitely not letting you out," she said.
Just before Patrick start going ape on the door, Wendy quickly placed her hand on his shoulder. "Here, let me," she said, calming him down. "Mabel, come on. I don't what this is all about, but we're on a mission. So just let us out. Please?"
"Okay," said Mabel, but then turned it around on the redhead. "But only if you tell Patrick the truth about why you kissed him!"
"WHAT!?" Wendy exclaimed, blushing red hot as she back away.
Patrick continued pounding on the door again. "Let us out RIGHT NOW!"
Despite flustering, Wendy was still the most levelheaded of the two and looked around. Squinting her eyes because of the darkness of their cramp surroundings. "Uh! Where are the lights?" She asked. Looking up, she saw a cord dangling above them and pulled it down.
However, instead of turning on the lights, the cord activated a shower that gushed out freezing cold water. The two teenagers screamed, being startled being completely soaked. But then it was over, before they were roughly pushed together by a blast of hot air. Drying them immediately, but also hitting them heads against each other. They groaned in pain as a dull red light flashed and a deep tone echoed around them. A sign reading "Decontamination Complete" flashed and a door open behind Wendy. Sliding open to another room.
This one was much more spacious, as it was building underground. The walls were taller, and the had many trenches of various sizes and shapes. There was advance technology in here too, with pipes, tubes, and monitors all linked to a series of empty pods. Some of them had their glasses smashed, and there were many damaged equipment and machines.
The lights overhead flickered as Patrick and Wendy cautiously walked into the chamber. "It looked like a hidden lab," He said, rubbing his hand along one of the machines. "Maybe the author did experiments down here."
"Huh," Wendy mused, looking at one of the tunnels in the wall. "What do you think dug all these tunnels?"
"With luck, wouldn't have to find out." They there when fearfully started by the sound of a low, monstrous growling that echoed throughout the lab. A dark figure of a large, lumbering creature lowered down from a hole in the ceiling. It's shadow draping across the wall. Patrick and Wendy screamed and ran back to the closet. "Mabel, open up, for real! There's a monster in here!" Patrick yelled as the two teenagers frantically pounding on the door.
"Oh no!" Dipper cried worriedly. "Mabel, open the door! They could be in danger!"
Mabel, however, scoffed, not buying her cousin's claim. "Come on, Dipper. He's totally overexaggerating. Nice try, Patrick! The only monsters are your own inner demons, you two!"
"That is so wise." Soos nodded.
"WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" Patrick yelled.
Wendy looked back as she saw that the creature was approaching closer. Her usual calmness disappeared and turned back to her crush. "Patrick, just say whatever Mabel wants you to say, so she'll let us out of here!"
"Come on Patrick! Now's the time, cous'!" Mabel shouted.
"You don't get a say in this!" Patrick yelled at his cousin before looking back at Wendy. His expression held a look of worry as he told sharp breaths and his heart pounded in his chest. His fear was not just for what was coming after them. If there was a moment to tell the girl he loved the truth, it was now as she stared expectantly at him. "Wendy, I— I—" He started, but still struggled. Just like he always did. But he didn't want it to be like this. So, there was only one other option. "I'm gonna find another way out!" Patrick grabbed Wendy's hand and pulled her back into the lab.
"Wait, what? Dude, where are we going?" Wendy cried as he dragged down another direction, getting no answer from Patrick. The two bolted down a tunnel as the creature roared, following them into the tunnel system. Fear and adrenaline fueled them as they rushed deeper into the underground system. But luck ran out when they stopped at a dead end. They turned around and saw the shadow of the monster getting closer. "What do we do?"
"I-I don't know!" Patrick answered, full of regret for his rash decision. He pulled out his laser shotgun stood in front of Wendy. "Stay behind me!"
They watched as the shadow of the monster grew on the walls of the tunnel, letting out a loud, ungodly roar. Suddenly the shadow of a man jumped on the monster's back and they started fighting. The two teenagers watched in awed relief as the silhouette of the man was flipped off, but reached up and ripped out the tongue of the creature. Making it scurry away in the opposite direction. "Back, back you heinous beast!" Shouted the man.
The man then walked around the corner to the teenagers, coming into view. Giving Patrick and Wendy a clear view of his appearance. The man was tall, had wild gray hair with a gray mustache and beard. He was also wearing aviator goggles and a brown coat with a burgundy shirt underneath.
"Well, I just ripped out a monster's tongue," he said, throwing it down on the ground in front of them.
There was a flashlight tapped on the shotgun, so he turned in on to shine it on the man. Patrick stared at the man for a moment in bewilderment and confusion, still pointing his weapon at him. That is, until he remembered why they were down here in the first place and his eyes widened. "My God, it's you!" He said in disbelief, lowering his shotgun. "But I thought for sure that..."
"Hurry now, I scared it off, but it'll regenerate," the man said, before turning and making his way down a different tunnel. Leading the teenagers as they followed him. As they followed him, they found themselves walking in a river of cold, ankle-high water. "I wasn't expecting guests. I've been down here for a very long time." He turned around. "Years! Weeks, maybe! I miss orange juice."
A bit of a wackadoodle, but Patrick could overlook that. "No, no, no, you don't understand. You're the guy we've been looking for all summer!" He exclaimed with excitement.
"He's the guy?" Wendy asked, surprised.
"Wendy, he's the guy!"
"The guy?" The author asked.
"The author of the journal! Sir, you have no idea how long we've been trying to find you. We have so many questions that, I-I don't even know where to start," Patrick said, feeling more like Dipper.
"Heh. My boy, I'd love to discuss this in time. We have more pressing matters," the author said and led the two back into the main area of the lab. Stopping in front of a metal cage that was busted open. The thick poles of it were snapped apart like twigs. "It's one of my experiments; a shapeshifter. An organism that imitates other life-forms or inorganic objects that it sees, and it imitates 'em perfectly. It broke free from a cage of solid steel! I've gone half crazy trying to catch the creature alone. But now you're here!" The author turned and placed a hand on Patrick's shoulder "Will you help me catch it?" He asked, lifting up his goggles, revealing his tired eyes.
Patrick gasped with a bit of excitement and nodded.
With nothing else to do, the others in the surveillance room continued to explore around to pass the time. "Sure are taking their time in there," Soos said, slipping on a lab coat and casting a brief glance at the closet door. He then picked up a metal briefcase from one of the consoles. "Hey, do I look smarter with this coat and briefcase? I feel like I look smarter..."
Dipper was sitting on a chair, fiddling with some of the bottoms on the computer. He felt weird not having the journal on him to try and figure out or learn about another mystery. But with his cousin locked in the other room, he had nothing to do. "Mabel, enough is enough. You heard, Patrick, he doesn't want to tell Wendy how he feels, so we should've just left him alone," he said.
"No! He needs to tell her! It's the only way that he'll feel good about himself," Mabel quickly argued.
Dipper sighed exasperatedly and turned back to the control panel to continue investigating. Sometimes his sister was hard to deal with. It made him wonder how the two were twins, given their clashing personalities. But then, Dipper stopped short upon seeing something that made his eyes widen. "Uh, guys, you might want to see this."
Mabel gasped and rushed over to her brother. "Razzle dazzle! Look at this tube-y thing!" She pointed to a working monitor that showed the glass tubes from inside the lab. She then found the button that worked the machine and pressed it. Turning on the cryogenic pod that filled instantly with ice. But of course, being a hyperactive kid, Mabel hit the button over and over again with a delighted smile. "Frozen! Unfrozen! Frozen! Unfrozen!"
"No, not that!" Dipper exclaimed, pushing her hand away before picking up a clipboard with a piece of written paper on it and held it in front of her. "This!"
"Experiment number 210: the shapeshifter," Mabel read out loud. "Became too dangerous! Place in...whatever that word is."
"Cryogenic stasis!" Dipper corrected her, putting down the clipboard. "It means the author froze it."
"The shapeshifter?" Soos' face then turned to an expression of concern. "Uh, dude? Didn't Patrick say there was a monster in there with them?"
Mabel fearfully gasped. "I thought he was just joking!"
"PATRICK WOULDN'T JOKES ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Dipper screamed in panic.
That's when Mabel knew that despite her good intentions, she's put her cousin and his crush in danger.
"PATRICK!"
The author brushed aside a torn-up cloth as they entered another area of the tunnel. "Come in, come in! I apologize for the state of things! I don't get many non-mole-people visitors," the author said. While he was talking, Wendy walked over to a water pipe and examined it for a moment. But she just shrugged and joined Patrick at his side. "Now the beast must have some weakness we can exploit. I just wish I had my research on me. But alas, I lost my journals so many years ago."
"Did you say journals?" Wendy asked, glancing at Patrick with a knowing grin.
"Mean a journal like this?!" Patrick pulled out Journal #3 out of his hoodie and held it up.
"What?! Could it be?" the author gasped.
"We found it in the woods! That's how I tracked you down here," Patrick said, handing him the journal.
"Well, I'll be. I thought I'd never see it again!" When he said that, something inside of Wendy struck her with a moment of realization. A realization that made her somber. "My boy! I can't express my gratitude! the man grinned before turning around started flipping through pages of the journal. "Oh yes, after all these years..."
After being decontaminated in the closet, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos ran into the lab. But in there they found no sign of the two teenagers or the shapeshifter. All the lights were off, making it almost impossible to see anything in front of them. "Patrick?!" The male twin called out into the blackness.
"Wendy?! Oh, it's so dark!" Soos exclaimed, looking around for any source of light. "How will we ever find them?"
"Leave that to Mabel!" Mabel said heroically, before pressing the light bulb on her sweater, which turned on a real light that emitted a very bright light.
"Whoa, rad!" Soos gasped, thoroughly impressed.
Dipper, however, was more concerned. "Uh, Mabel don't you remember those things being a fire hazard?"
"No. All I remember is them being a fun hazard," Mabel corrected him. "Now let me light the way!"
Mabel ran off with Soos and Dipper following behind. "We're coming for you dudes!" Yelled the handyman.
Back with Patrick, Wendy, and the author, the man was still flipping through the pages. "Yes, yes. It's all here," he said in this creepy, obsessed voiced as he obsessively scanned over everything in the. It was almost as if he hadn't written every word in the book himself.
With nothing better to do, Patrick and Wendy sat down on the ground behind him. "Isn't it amazing, Wendy? We're actually meeting the real author?" Patrick excitedly whispered to his crush. But then noticed how sad she looked. Looking at the ground with her legs pressed against her chest as she wrapped her arms around them. "What's the matter?"
"...I thought I was never going to see you again."
"What?"
"That's...That's why I kissed you," Wendy said, somberly. Finally admitting to him what she's been wanting to talk to him about. But like the boy she loved, she stumbled a bit with her words. "When you about to leave, I...I just couldn't take it anymore! I didn't want you go, but you were forced to, and I knew that you wouldn't be able to come back, and I was going be sent away. I knew I was never going to see you again." She picked up an empty can of beans beside her and looked at it. Intending to throw it in frustration at herself. "So I k-kissed you because...because..." Wendy's sentence trailed off as she looked at the can's label, until gasping in terror and bit her lips.
"Wha-" Patrick was interrupted when her hand slammed on his mouth. Covering it.
"Patrick! Look!" Wendy whispered sharply as she eyed the author in fearful terror and held out the can to Patrick.
With his mouth still covered, Patrick looked a the can. At first, he couldn't understand why she was so afraid. It was only a can of Baron Num Nums High Flyin' Beans. But when he looked at the logo of the tin can, Patrick's eyes widened in dismayed alarm and terror too.
The Baron on the can was exactly the same as the man they believed to be the author. The same man that had their journal.
When she took her hand away, Patrick looked at her worriedly. It was clear this wasn't the author, but the shapeshifter. He hand gestured for Wendy to stay where she was, and then stood up nervously. "Uhh, you know what? We should probably get going. Can I have that journal back?"
The man blinked his eyes sideways. Then his body trembled rapidly for a moment, making Wendy and Patrick back away. But then, to their horror, the man's head turned all the way around and his neck lengthened. His pupils turned into slits as he glared at the frightened teenagers. Suddenly, his coat and shirt ripped completely as his back and ribcage transform into a deep maw with sharp teeth. "You're not going anywhere," the shapeshifter said, his voice becoming deep and monstrous.
The shapeshifter dropped on all fours, changing its body seamlessly as it sprouted spider-like legs and crawled up the wall and stared down at them from the ceil. His eyes turned glowing white and roared a creepy, screeching-like roar that sounded as if a million life-forms were crying out in agony.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Patrick and Wendy screamed in horror. Patrick then protectively stood in front of his crush as the thing turned back into what could only be its true form.
The thing's default form was a pure white slimy body with four slender legs. Its right arm was slender and had a three-fingered hand, and its left arm was swollen with a clawed hand. It had two baby pink eyes and a snout with four fangs hanging on the outside of its mouth, and six smaller teeth on the inside.
The thing laughed. "How do you like my true form," he asked. "Go on, admit it, you like it!"
"You!" Patrick shouted, trying his best to be brave in the presence of the alien nightmare. "What did you do to the real author?!"
"You'll likely never find out," the shapeshifter told them. "That six-fingered nerd hasn't been himself in thirty years! But I thank you for bringing me his journal. He used to write it while I was in my cage. So many wonderful forms to take!" The shapeshifter flipped through the pages of the journal with its tongue, transforming into some of the different creatures in it. First, it was the Gremloblin, next a gnome, and then the Hide Behind. Laughing each time he turned into something else. Because now it had a complete list of all the deadly monsters and creatures that the Pines faces at its disposal and will use them without hesitation.
Patrick was now pissed off. The one time he thought he and the others could catch a break, only to have gotten their hopes too high and then dashed away. But he had to remain levelheaded if he was going to get the journal back. "We've gotta get that journal back!" Patrick whispered to Wendy.
Wendy quickly picked up the can from earlier. "Hey, Thing from Another World! Assimilate this!" She yelled, throwing the can at the shapeshifter. The thing turned into a lumbering, multi-eyed, frog-like monster when the can hit him. The shapeshifter growled at her and lashed his tongue at her. Seeing this, Patrick grabbed a metal sheet and jumped in front of Wendy. He held up the sheet and blocked the tongue. The creature pulled him towards him, Patrick's feet dragging across the ground. But then the teenager smirked and let go.
As the metal sheet slammed into the face of the shapeshifter, it dropped the journal. Patrick ran and caught it before it hit the ground.
"RUN! RUN! RUN!" Patrick shouted frantically and the two ran out of the tunnel. The shapeshifter fell down from the ceiling, taking several forms, before turning into a giant rolly polly monster. It let out a screeching roar before rolling up and chased. As they approached a fork in the tunnels, Patrick pulled out his shotgun and ripped the flashlight off it. Turning it on, he turned to Wendy. "Hide!"
Wendy dove behind the wall of the left tunnel. Patrick then threw his flashlight down the right tunnel and rushed over to hide with the cashier. The shapeshifter stopped at the fork and looked down the right tunnel. Seeing only the light of the flashlight, he shrieked and raced down the tunnel after it. Patrick and Wendy then continued running down the left tunnel, going up a small hill.
And then suddenly crashing into Soos, Mabel, and Dipper. Stumbling on top of them. They all got back up and greeted each other excitedly. Wendy was about to walk forward when Patrick aimed the laser at them and put a protective arm out in front of the redhead. The two of them backed up slowly. "Wait! How do we know they're not the shapeshifter?" He asked cautiously, sending suspicious glances to the twins and Soos.'
"Maybe I am!" Soos gasped. "Mabel, Dipper, inspect my shape!" He lifted up his shirt.
Mabel poked Soos' stomach. "Poke!"
This just made Soos laugh. "Do that again!"
"Poke!" Mabel poked Soos' stomach again.
Soos laughed once more. "Even better the second time!" He said, before turning to Dipper. "Quick, Dipper. Do it!"
"Soos, there's no way I'm touching your stomach," Dipper said.
"It's definitely them," Patrick said dryly. He glanced over at Wendy and gasped when he saw her cut up in several places. "Oh shit, Wendy, you're bleeding!" He exclaimed, kneeling down to look at her knee. Seeing a rather sizable cut torn across her knee.
Wendy knelt down with her and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's cool, it's cool. It's just blood man; don't freak out."
"What happened?" Mabel asked worriedly.
"We got attacked by the shapeshifter," Wendy explained, taking off her shirt, revealing her white tank top. She then ripped off a sleeve and used it tied around her knee, covering the injury. "He broke out of his cage, pretended to be the author, and wants the journal."
"And with it, it could imitate hundreds of forms," Patrick said, looking at his arms to see that he had cuts on them.
"Imagine if he escapes to the town!" Dipper exclaimed, frightened. "He can transform into anything! We could never trust anyone ever again!"
"Exactly! It wants to get out. And if he does, he'll likely take over like an invasive species," Patrick theorized, holding up the journal "But without the journal to get past all the security systems, he was never able to leave. And now we've left the front door open for it."
"What can we do?" Mabel asked, looking at everything. "What can we do?
Patrick noticed that they were all looking to him. He was like their leader, almost. It was him that would make the final decision. "Whether we make it or not, we can't let that thing get out. The way I see it, he took us into his home, tricked us, and tried to kill us. I say we return the favor," He said, a solid expression of determination on his face. "We may not be gettin' outta here alive. But neither is that thing. So let's show this asshole what happens when you mess with the Pines family."
Seeing that he'd lost Patrick and Wendy, the shapeshifter returned to the main part of the laboratory, turning back into the man on the bean can. "Patrick, my boy! Come out!" the shapeshifter called out, momentarily loses his form in his anger. "I must speak with you!" Already furious, the thing turned into a creature with six legs, claws, and a one-eyed head resembling a hand. "REVEAL YOURSELF, YOU SINGLE-FORMED HUMAN WEAKLING!" He roared out in rage and frustration, slamming its head into the ground and making the underground shake.
"Then look behind you." The shapeshifter turned around to see Patrick and the twins standing behind him, glaring at the monster with the teenager holding the book. "Looking for this?" he asked defiantly, holding up the journal.
The shapeshifter reverted back into its true form and towered over the kids. "There you are! Ooh, and two new ones," he said, looking at Dipper and Mabel. Giving the kids a horrible feeling in their stomach that increased when the thing turned into Mabel. "Should I be one..." He then turned into Dipper. "...or the other? How about both!?" The Pines kids got a real horror show when the thing turned into a six-legged creature. The top half resembled Dipper while the bottom half resembles Mabel. Both halves were monstrous with a large mouth that connected the two halves, with many sharp teeth and white eyes.
Again, the monster let out a screeching, multi-voiced roar as Patrick, Dipper, and Mabel screamed in terror at the grotesque body-horror form that looked like something out of John Carpenter's The Thing. The three ran away as the shapeshifter chased them down the tunnel they came from.
They entered the room where Wendy and Soos were waiting, holding onto the valve of a pipe that was apart of the trap. "Guys, he's coming! He's coming! NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW!" Dipper shouted.
Seeing the Dipper-Mabel thing chasing them, Wendy and Soos started turning the valve to release the water within. Pushing with all their might, but nothing came out because the valve was stuck. "It's not working, dude!" Soos exclaimed
The shapeshifter caught up to them. It opened its mouth and lashed out its long tongue. Grab the journal with it by coiling around it, before Patrick fought against it in a tug-of-war to keep it away from the shapeshifter. "HEY, LET GO!"
Seeing this, Wendy rushed over to Patrick's rescue. "You leave him alone!" She shouted, grabbing the journal with him and joined in pulling the journal away. But with a yank, the monster retracted its tongue harshly.
Patrick's grip slipped, but Wendy's hasn't. She screamed as she was pulled away with the journal. Leaving Patrick was left behind. "Wendy!" He exclaimed.
Using the momentum, Wendy jumped on top of the shapeshifter and prepared to attack it with her ax. Ready to start killing the monster with blows to the head.
However, Soos finally managed to successfully turn the valve. Opening the floodgates and a strong stream of water burst from the pipe. The blast of water hits Wendy and the shapeshifter first, knocking them back into the tunnel. It didn't take long for Patrick, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos to get caught in the uncontrollable flow as well, sweeping them all off their feet and pushed them down the tunnel as if it was rushing rapids.
As she was thrashed around underwater, Wendy was knocked out by when being hit against a rock under the water, dragging the air from her lungs as a small trail of blood leaked very lightly from the back of her head.
Finally, the water subsided, thanks to the drainage system that kicked in. With the water gone, Patrick, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos lied on the ground and gasped for air. Never been happier to had oxygen again. Being the first to regather himself, Patrick sat up and rubbed the back of his head. But then he gasped in shock and scared when he saw Wendy's ax lying discarded on the ground in front of him. However, Wendy was nowhere to be found. He quickly grabbed it and ran in the direction the water flowed. Stopping at a cliff.
"WENDY!" Patrick yelled, her name echoing all throughout the tunnel system. He quickly ran down the tunnel. Praying silently that she was still okay as he gripped the ax tightly. Stepping his feet into puddles of water when he reached the bottom, Patrick's head snapped from left to right, trying to find out where Wendy was.
The smoke cleared away, and Wendy was lying on the ground on her shoulder. Her back facing Patrick.
Patrick gasped in horror. "Wendy!" He dashed over to her and knelt down. Gently he picked her up in his arms. She wasn't breathing and wasn't responding. "Can you hear me? Oh, please be okay, please be okay!" He shook her, but Wendy didn't respond. Wendy's body was as lifeless as a rag doll. Head fell to the side with her bangs falling in front of her face. Patrick quickly grabbed her wrist and hope, prayed that there was a pulse.
There was no pulse. Tears started welling up in his eyes as he shook his head in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. The idea that his longtime crush could be so easily gone was impossible for him to think about. She really couldn't be dead. Patrick didn't think it could be possible. That he was never going to hear her laugh. Never see her smile. Never have moments to joke around. Never have her there to get him out of a pinch. Never have more adventures with her. Never have her in his life again.
Patrick started sobbing, shaking his head desperately. "Don't do this, Wendy. Please don't do this. No...No..." He hugged her body to his body. Putting her head in his chest as he placed a hand on her red hair. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! If I had told you when we were in the closet we wouldn't be in this mess! But I was too scared and now you could be hurt or worse, and I never even got to tell you I like—in love with you!" Patrick finally confessed, but he was far from happy. All he could feel was was nothing but guilt, despair, and heartbreak as he continued to cry, hold his crush in his arms. "I love you, Wendy...I love you..."
But unbeknownst to him, Wendy was standing right behind him with the journal in hand. On one hand, her heart was filled with unimaginable happiness hearing those words. But on the other hand..."Uh, Patrick?" she spoke up with an uncomfortable frown.
Patrick gasped hearing the wonderful voice and whipped his head around. Simultaneously relieved, confused, embarrassed, and happy to see the cashier safe and sound. "Huh—wha—Wendy?!" He exclaimed. But then his face turned to horror. "W-wait, then who's...?" The shapeshifter Wendy suddenly sprung to life, pushing Patrick aside to the ground and get on all fours. Growling ferally, the thing rushed towards the really Wendy. "LOOK OUT!"
The shapeshifter attacked Wendy, and the two got into a fight that involved grappling each other to get to the journal. Unfortunately, it became impossible to tell the difference between the two. And it didn't help when the shapeshifter was using Wendy's voice. "Give me back that journal!" said one of the Wendy's said, pulling hard on the journal.
"Never!" The other Wendy shouted, only to be pushed to the ground. But even when the other Wendy landed on her, she didn't loosen her grip on the book. "Get off me!" The cashier brought her leg up and kicked the shapeshifter off. As the two Wendys fought like animals in the evenly match tug-of-war, Patrick watched. It was all he could really do as it was unclear which one of his crushes was the shapeshifter.
But knowing he had to do something, he pulled out his laser shotgun and aimed it between the two girls. Patrick picks up Wendy's ax, held it in his left hand, and approached them. But which was the shapeshifter?
"Give it back!"
"You give it back!"
"It belongs to Patrick!" One of the Wendy's turned to Patrick and yelled, "Just shoot her, Patrick! Hurry!"
"Don't listen to her, Patrick! Shoot her!"
"She's the shapeshifter! I'm the real Wendy!"
"She's lying, Patrick, shoot her!"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Patrick complained. Of all the clichés he had to be in, it had to be this. But he looked between the two, pointing the shotgun from one to the others. Afraid to pull the trigger and kill the real Wendy. "Uh, uh, I don't know who's who! Give me a sign!"
As they both were still grappling the journal, the first Wendy smiled flirtatiously and winked. But the other Wendy looked at him seriously as she zipped her lips and threw the key away.
Patrick didn't hesitate and with bold confidence fired the laser into the shapeshifter's stomach. Creating a hole through its body. But it didn't kill the thing, but as green blood flushed out of its body, it roared and returned to its true form. The teenagers then noticed that one of the tubes had a sign that flashed "READY." Two the look shared a nod, knowing what to do.
The shapeshifter was still alive and glared at them with hate and rage. It roared again.
"Yeah, fuck you too!" Patrick shouted, and the two rammed into the shapeshifter and pushed him into the tube. Slamming him into the back of the inside. When the shapeshifter recovered, he was about to lunge at the teenagers, but then the door closed shut and the tube begins freezing the shapeshifter. Patrick and Wendy looked at each other before looking at a window to see Dipper, Mabel, and Soos celebrating with fist-bumps. Patrick sighed in relief. "Good work guys."
As the cryogenic chamber slowly began to freeze, the shapeshifter did everything in its power to get out. "No!" He turned into a rock monster, then a flame monster, then the man from earlier. "Let me ouuuut!" He shouted, beating on the glass. The thing returned to its true form and roared its horrible roar, but then began to freeze.
Dipper, Mabel, and Soos are now in the same room as Wendy, Patrick, and the shapeshifter. "Are you two okay?" asked the young boy, worried.
"We're fine," Patrick said, giving back Wendy ax. To which she trained him for the journal. "It's finally over."
"Let's get out of here, dudes," Soos murmured, voice shaking slightly. Everyone agreed and turned around to leave. Happy that the nightmare was finally over.
But even before they could leave the room, they heard the shapeshifter laughing a low, ominous evil chuckle from inside the tube. Stopping and turning back, they found the shapeshifter pound its hands against the glass. Everyone gasped before it started talking directly at Patrick. "You think you're so clever don't you, Patrick? But you have no idea what you're up against. You will never find the author. Try as you may, but if you keep digging, you'll meet a fate worse than you can imagine. And this will be the last form your family ever take!"
The shapeshifter turned into horrific and grotesque mix-mash of Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, and Soos with their arms. All the heads screamed in pain and pain, reaching up for the air before being frozen. Forever preserved in that terrifying form. As ice completely covered the surface of the glass, all Patrick could do is stare at the shapeshifter and his own reflection on the tube in stunned horror.
Soos suddenly chuckled, trying to lighten the dark mood in the room. "Good luck sleeping tonight!"
After making out of the bunker, the group stood near the tree as it returned to its default position. Needless to say, the traumatic experience, no one was ever wanting to go back down there again. When they got out of the death trap, it turned out that they've been down in the cold and dark underground labyrinth all day and the sun was starting to go down.
As the forest turned a warm shade of violet as fireflies gently flittered all around them, the group stood at the bunker's entrance, looking absolutely exhausted. Hairs were a mess, eyes had bags under their bags, and their clothing was ripped up in some places. "Dude, I think I'm kind of adventured out for a little while. My face hurts from doing this all day," Soos said, making a screaming face.
Mabel couldn't help but laughed as she relaxed. "Yeah, but you gotta admit we're all total heroes."
"How's about we all head back to the Shack and just watch TV tonight?" Dipper said, placing a hand on Mabel's back. "I think we deserve it after today."
Soos tousles the twins' hair. "And have some heroes' breakfast, huh?" he asked, picking up the two kids and placing them on his shoulders.
"Syrup on cereal!" Mabel cheered.
"Mabel, you're a visionary!" Soos then walked off with the kids. Patrick was about to follow them when Wendy grabbed his shoulder and stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.
"Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone," she asked, looking at him directly in the eye. Feeling very nervous, Patrick gulped and turned to face her. "Do you remember what you said down in the bunker?"
"Oh, hehe, you're ah...you're going to have to be a little more specific," he said with a nervous smile, rubbing his right arm. Staring into her gorgeous eyes. Even with her face bruised up, she was still the most beautiful girl in the world. "Uh, unless it's something really, really weird that I don't want to remember."
Wendy's eyes were half opened as she stared flirtingly at him.
But Patrick's eyes widened in shock and fear. Praying that she wasn't talking about the 'thing'. The 'thing' that he promise to never say because it would never happen. "Look, Wendy. I was in the heat of the moment, and I say some dumb things when I'm like that," he said with a big nervous smile and laughed nervously with sweat rolling down his face. "I don't think about the things I say-"
"Patrick. You told me you love me," Wendy said with a loving smile.
Patrick froze up. His eyes were as wide as they could be, pupils shrank to little dots. He blinked once. How could he not remember that?! "O-Oh," he said. Unable to really say anything else. Wendy watched at little concerned as Patrick started to breathe rapidly, and he tried to calm himself down. But he stepped back and sat down on a log with his hands on his face.
Wendy walked over and sat beside him. Seeing him in distress, she smiled nervously and said, "Maybe it was in the heat of the moment. But-"
"No," Patrick said, raised his head and taking his hands off his face to place them on his knees. Leaning forwards a little, he looked away from her at the ground with sad eyes. "It's... it wasn't in the heat of the moment. That's...the truth," he said, closing his eyes. "Look. I...It was a stupid thing to say and-and-I said it because I thought you were dead and now I feel stupid for saying it because of that. Can't we pretend none of that ever happened? Please?"
"But I don't want to forget." Patrick looked up and turned his head to see her staring at him with a bit of a stern frown. "I want to know why you feel that way about me. What do you love about me?" She demanded.
Patrick was silent for a moment. The bags under his eyes becoming more notable. "What don't I love about you? You have a cute and vibrant laugh. Your red hair as it flows in the wind. Your awesome sense of humor that lights me up on my darkest hours. You're so kind to everyone you meet, no matter who they are. And most of all, no matter what, you're always there for your friends," he said with a big smile, pouring out his heart to her. "You are the single most energetic, amazing person I've ever met."
Wendy stared at him with a big smile forming. At first, she was worried that he was shallow and liked her only for her physical appearance. But she now hated herself for thinking that he was like her other boyfriends. Her hair was the only physical thing he said he liked, and everything else was her personality.
"I felt like this since the beginning," Patrick said. His smile gone and now looked more depressed. "I mean, I'm not a little boy, I know you don't just fall in love at first sight. The way I feel is just got more intense since we'd first met and it was intense at the start and-and-and I know it could never happen."
"Patrick, why would you say that?" Wendy said, thinking to figure out why he would think that way.
"Well, I'm only staying in Gravity Falls for the summer. Then there was Robbie, and then you were dating other guys, and not to mention to the whole time-traveling thing and Maverick made it seem like the more I tried to get close to you, the more I end up hurting myself, hurting someone, or hurting you." Patrick looked down again. "After so long, I was sure that I was nothing more than just a friend to you, so a part of me was always telling me to give up."
"Patrick, why would you throw in the towel," Wendy asked with a smile. "If you wanted to tell me how you feel, then why didn't you?"
"...I was scared," Patrick said, looking down in shame. "I was scared of ruining our friendship. Of being rejected. Of losing you. But Mabel said confessing would make feel better."
"Well, how do you feel?" Wendy asked.
"Anxious. Kinda itchy," Patrick said, scratching his arm. "And still kind of scared of my feelings getting in the way."
"'In the way?' Patrick, why does it have to be bad?" Wendy asked in astonishment.
"It is bad if you don't want it," he said.
Wendy rolled her eyes and laughed. "Dude, don't be itchy, man, and let me tell you something..." She looked away for a moment, sheepishly smiling. Patrick was then surprised when the redhead pulled out the very same drawing he made of her. "...I've always kinda known."
Patrick's eyes widened, feeling even more embarrassed. "Wait, you did?"
Wendy chuckled. "Yeah, man. It was kind of obvious...and well, I'm scared too."
"Why would you be scared?" Patrick asked before Wendy stood up. She then grabbed Patrick's hands and pulled him to his feet. Gazing at him with eyes filled with passionate emotions, Wendy smiled loving at him. Raise up their hands and interlocking them.
"Because...there are so many things I love about you."
The Pines teenager's eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly open.
"You're very talented with the saxophone. Your extra toes are unique and cute. You have a great moral compass and are a voice of reason in this crazy town. You're really smart and brave, even when you're scared. And most of all, Patrick, this summer was super boring until you showed up. I have more fun with you than practically anybody else. And if you had died or we stopped being friends, ... I would, like, throw myself into the Bottomless Pit!" Wendy exclaimed, laughing. Patrick smiled slightly. Wendy then looked down a little, her heart felt like it was on cloud-9 as she was finally telling Patrick everything she's always wanted to tell him. "You make me feel safe and I can be my true self...you're the single greatest guy I've ever met...you're my hero..."
"Wendy..." Patrick in a hushed voice amazed. "Do you..."
"Wait...," Wendy said, looking down in shame by the hurt look on Patrick's face. She wanted to tell him so badly, but fear was still stopping her. "I'm still afraid, Patrick. I never felt this way before. But I...I-I..."
"Wendy." Patrick moved closer to her, holding her hands tighter, and continued in his hush voice. "Tell me what you want me to do. Tell me what you feel."
She didn't think, didn't let her fears stop her, and leaned forward. Patrick saw it coming from miles away and leaned forward at the same time. At that moment, Patrick and Wendy's lips locked to share a kiss. This wasn't like at the bus stop. This time, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Both hold a long, passionate kiss that shared with them all the emotions and feelings they had for one another. The fireflies all started flying faster around them, before leaving the area.
When they pulled away, Wendy looked at Patrick as the were blushing messes and smiled lovingly at each other. "Patrick, I want you to love me...because I love you."
Patrick's face filled with radiant happiness as tears started to well up. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Wendy, the girl of his dreams, loved him in return. "Wendy..."
"You just have to defeat my Seven Deadly Exes."
Patrick's eyes widened in horror.
Wendy pulled down the wide-brim of his boonie hat and she laughed. "Come on, I was joking with you," she said with a teasing smirk.
"Sooo? How did it go?"
"AAAHH!" Patrick and Wendy screamed and turned their heads to see Mabel sitting on the log behind them. The new couple broke from their hug and turned to face her. "How much did you hear?" Patrick asked.
"Everything! All the time!" Mabel exclaimed, waving her arms around with a grin. She then squealed with glee. "THAT WAS THE MOST ROMANTIC THING I'VE EVER SEEN!"
Soos and Dipper from in the bushes they were hiding behind. "WE'RE NOT HERE!" Soos said, while Dipper was grinning and giving his cousin the thumbs.
"Mabel, how can everything be so amazing..." Patrick grabbed Wendy's hand and hold it, making her smile and blush. But then he thought about how this relationship was going to be short-lived once the summer is over and how they were no step closer to finding the author. "...and so terrible all at the same time?"
Mabel's smiling face turned to one of shame and looked away from him. "I'm so sorry for being so pushy, you guys," she said, rubbing the back of her head. Then she grinned at them. "But it paid off, didn't it? You're a couple! I'm already working on your list of potential names for your kids! The Wenrick ship has finally sailed!"
Patrick and Wendy laughed at her energetic enthusiasm and sat down next to her. "I don't know about that, but thanks, Mabel. Whoa!" Their end of the log suddenly jumped up when Soos came over and sat down next to Mabel on the other side. Dipper walked over and sat on the other side of Wendy.
"I'm still bummed we're no closer to finding the author guy," Soos admitted with a sigh. He then reached into the lab coat and pulled out the metal suitcase he snatched. "At least I got his science-y coat and briefcase."
However, when Patrick looked at it, he noticed something on the back of it. "Hey, Soos, can I see that, please," he asked. Soos pasted the suitcase over to him and when Patrick grabbed it, he flipped it on its back and saw that it had a power cord rolled up and tapped to its back. And it was connected to the back of the suitcase. "Wait a minute..."
Everyone watched as Patrick moved the case around on his lap to have the handle facing him, and then opened it. To his and everyone's surprise, it was revealed to not be a suitcase at all, but an old laptop. Much older than any laptop they'd ever seen. Above the screen is a blue sticker that said "PROPERTY OF F" and it was rusted in some areas. Some of the keys were not like a normal computer's keys, as it had a few orange keys and cipher signs on the orange keys as well as some cobwebs dangling on the sides and on the screen.
"Soos, this not a briefcase; it's a laptop!" Patrick exclaimed with wide eyes as Dipper jumped off the log to stand next to him.
"A really old one," Wendy remarked, peeling off one of the cobwebs. "I've never seen a laptop like this before."
"And a really busted up one too," Mabel said, examining the rust and dents it has.
"I bet I could get this thing fixed up in a few days," Soos said as Patrick press a few of the buttons to turn in on. But none of them seemed to work. Soos then placed a hand under his chin. "It's gonna take a lotta duct tape."
Patrick looked at the label and read it out loud, "'Property of F'? Could that be the author?!"
"This could be our next clue!" Dipper exclaimed.
Patrick nodded and turned back to stare at the label. "If we get this thing working and find the owner, we'll have the answers we've been looking for."
Night came, and Wendy was staying over at the Mystery Shack. The kids were already asleep and Soos went home. Now it was just her and Patrick, her boyfriend. It was hard to believe this was real, but they knew it was. They were both lying on the chair with the furniture leaning back. Patrick was on his back as Wendy lied directly on top of him. He had his arm around her waist as she rested her head on his chest.
"Is it just me or does Gravity Falls TV only have the worst movies?" Patrick questioned.
"You're watching the Gravity Falls Bargain Movie Showcase. Coming up next, The Widdlest Wampire, The Planet People of Planet Planet!, Help! My Mummy's a Werewolf!, Attack of the Exclamation Points!, The Man with no Taste, Ghost Turtle, Help! My Mummy's a Werewolf! 2: This Again!"
"You want to never watch this channel again?" Patrick asked.
"Definitely," Wendy said with a nod. So Patrick grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Letting out a yawn, Wendy snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "I don't suppose there's something else you want to do," she guessed.
"I don't think we're in much shape to do anything," Patrick said, exhaustion bringing him closer to falling to sleep.
"Well, what do we do?" she asked, with a knowing smile.
"Why don't we just...wait here for a little while...see what happens?" Patrick whispered to her, wanting only to enjoy her company. But it only took a minute for the two of them to feel their eyes getting tired. Before long, they both fell asleep in the same position.
AN: WOO! We've finally made it to this chapter. We had action! We had horror! We had thrills, chills, and comedy! But most importantly, we have romance! After over two years of working on this story, we've finally come to the moment we've all been waiting for more!
Patrick and Wendy are finally a couple! The Wenrick ship has set sail!
It has finally happened, readers! These two lovebirds had finally confessed their feeling for each other and now together at last. We've seen them grow from friends with one of them having feelings for the others, to both of them realize how much they loved each other. And what better episode for Gravity Falls to have this moment than "Into the Bunker".
Only this time the guy does get the girl in the end.
"Into the Bunker" is definitely one of my all-time favorite Gravity Falls episodes and is it really that hard to see why? The plot was well executed and greatly paced. The characters were all likable, and it was terrifying! One reason I like it is because, to me, it's a parody of John Carpenter's The Thing, which is one of great sci-fi horror movies ever made. I was thinking about having the Thing replace the shapeshifter in this chapter, but I was quick to shut that down, as there would be no way things would have ended happily. Not with the Thing's ability to not only imitate, but also assimilate other organisms on a microscopic level. But thankfully the episode had enough body horror to satisfy me. All I did was add a few lines and details from the movie.
Also, didn't anyone else see that one story image of Dipper pulling out a box and then taking out a hanging rope?
This is where I'll be putting the story on hiatus, sadly. When I come back to it, I'll do "The Golf War" and then one or two original chapters, before doing "Sock Opera". Those chapters will kind of be inspired by Courage the Cowardly Dog and Regular Show. However, when Ford enters into the story, any original chapters will actually be from the Gravity Falls: Lost Legends comics. Awesome comics. But for now, I'm moving on to work on "Gem of War", because, seriously I've got to get back on that story.
Thank you very much for reading. "Weirder Things" will return. Please be sure to Favorite and Follow if you like the story, and also Review it so that I know that I'm doing good and what to improve. If you any questions or discussions you'd have for me, then please in a Review or a PM me.
Thank you for reading, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day.