"Welcome aboard new passenger!..."
Mabel didn't like the random voice disturbing her beauty sleep and grumbled as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She rolled onto her side and felt around for her blanket to pull over her head. When her hand only felt smooth metal rather than soft sheets, Mabel realized she wasn't in her bed.
Sitting up with a start she realized she was sitting in some kind of sci-fi nerdiness with a tv explaining boring stuff. It only took her a moment to remember everything, the horrible day she had, the fight with Dipper, and the magic train promising to take her to an endless summer. Looking around at the brightly colored landscape around her, she couldn't help but think the train might have done just that.
She did vaguely regret or the video say itching something about a number that she would need to get down if she wanted to go home, so she glanced down at her hand in curiosity.
301
She was relieved to see a number that big as it meant she didn't have to worry about going home for a while. She just wasn't ready for that yet and the terrible things that would come with growing up.
Ignoring the number, for now, Mabel got out of the weird thing she had woken up in and set out to explore the new world she'd found herself in. She couldn't but smile in awe to see that everything from the trees to the flowers and even the rocks seemed to be made out of the yard. She couldn't help but touch everything, marveling at how soft things were and giggling when others were ticklish.
She eventually came across a village that seemed to be entirely populated by stuffed animals. They greeted her enthusiastically and offered to throw a welcome party. Mabel happily accepted and spent hours dancing, eating candy, and singing karaoke. The party only stopped when she fell asleep.
The next morning she was served a delicious pancake breakfast and Mabel expressed her gratitude for all the fun she had. To show her appreciation, she began knitting sweaters for all the stuffed animal villagers. They loved them and they clambered over each other to be the next one to receive one of her sweaters.
It took a while for Mabel to make sweaters for everyone, stopping to eat and even sleep when she needed to. Once everyone had a sweater that they were wearing, they declared that Mabel would be their ruler. Mabel agreed and spent her time having fun parties and making more sweaters.
"Lady Mabel," Squeaks, a stuffed animal mouse, greeted as he entered Mabel's room. She had been in Mabel Land for a while, though she had a hard time keeping track of just how long, and she was loving every minute of it.
"Hi, Squeaks!" Mabel said finishing off the milkshake that had come with her lunch. "What do you need?"
"Another passenger as entered the village Lady Mabel," Squeaks replied. "Shall we begin party preparations?"
"Have a few others begin preparing, but don't go too crazy yet," Mabel said, getting up from her seat at the table. "We should see whether the passenger even wants a party first."
"Very good my Lady," Squeaks bowed before heading out to inform the others.
Mabel left her room to greet the visiting passenger. There had been a couple of passengers passing through since Mabel became ruler of Mabel's land. A few adults and one kid, a girl named Emily. The adults had tried to convince Mabel to work on getting her number down and Mabel had had them shown the next door. Emily had been fun for a bit, partying with Mabel and the villagers and joking at the sleep. But even Emily insisted they should move on and get their numbers down and Mabel refused. Mabel wondered what this new passenger would be like.
Mabel couldn't help but squeal in excitement when she saw it was a cute boy. He looked to be about her age with brown hair and a weird squiggly line drawn on his face. She hurried up to him, giving him a big smile.
"Hi! And welcome to Mabel Land!" Mabel said. "I'm Mabel, but you can call me the girl of your dreams."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Steven," the boy replied with a smile. "I like what you've done with the place, why don't you show me around?"
"Like a date?" Mabel gasped in glee.
"Sure," Steven nodded, making Mabel sequel and hug him. They both laugh and Mabel began showing him around town. Mabel couldn't help but think that this really was the perfect place.
They spent hours together having all sorts of fun, rolling down the squishy hills, having glitter fights, and even sharing an ice cream Sunday. Mabel sighed in contentment as they watched the sunset together.
"This was perfect Steven," Mabel sighed. "I can't wait to do this again tomorrow!"
Mabel could help but worry as soon as she said that. Was she moving too fast? What if he wanted to get their numbers down?
"Yeah," Steven agreed. "Day's like today are what being an Apex is all about."
"What's an Apex?" Mabel asked.
"See this mark?" Steven said, pointing at the squiggly line on his face. "It means I'm apart of the Apex, a group of kids who know the train is meant for our use and refuse to let our numbers go down."
"Just like me!" Mabel said in happiness. "I don't want my number to go down because I don't want to leave!"
"Then it sounds like your perfect for the Apex," Steven grinned, pulling out some lipstick. "I'll just make it official."
Steven used the lipstick to draw a squiggly line on Mabel's face and they shared a grin. When they separated for the night, Mabel couldn't wait for the next day.
"Lady Mabel!" Squeaks cried, pounding on Mabel's door. Mabel groggily woke up, confused why Squeaks would be bothering her in the middle of the night.
"Lady Mabel!" Squeaks cried again. "Please come quick! We need your help!"
Now a little more alarmed, Mabel hurried to the door and followed Squeaks. She was worried as she saw lots of villagers running around in terror as someone was knocking over buildings.
"Steven?" Mabel gasped in shock. "What are you doing!?"
"These Nulls wouldn't let me have any more ice cream," Steven explained causally as he knocked over another building. "So I'm teaching them a lesson."
"Stop it!" Mabel said, grabbing Steven's arm. "You're hurting them!"
"Relax, they're just Null's," Steven shrugged Mabel off. "They're not real people, just things the train made for us to use. This is what being an Apex is all about. Come on Mabel, I thought you were cool."
"If this is what you think is cool then I don't want any part of it!" Mabel shouted, wiping off the mark on her face. "I want nothing to do with the Apex or with you! Leave!"
"You're just like all the other kids that stopped being true Apex!" Steven huffed in annoyance. "Whatever. I'm out of this lame car."
Mabel glared after him as he left out the door. Only after she was sure he was gone did she turn back and began helping the villagers. One thing she was sure, she didn't ever want to be like Steven.
284
