Wendy and Dipper were left stricken by the tender, starlit scene playing out in the portal over their heads. A nervous Sere wrung her hands together as she mumbled to herself, "…knew this was a bad idea. We should kept walking…"
The guests at her side would occasionally break their death-stare ahead, to look back at each other in disbelief before returning to the spectacle; their lips slowly mimicking the words Sere had rushed out; the way same ones set on replay in their minds.
"…where I tell him…"
"…she says "yes…""
Fearing that this deadlock would never end, Sere took point. She moved closer to the gateway and swirled the picture away with her fingertips, freeing the friends from the somewhat-hypnotic spell. They blinked repeatedly, but yet neither teen spoke a single, voluntary word.
"Maybe…" Sere wound her hand back, bringing a new scene to life. "Maybe things will clear up if we start from the beginning…" She released her hold on the portal as the world within became bright and green. Dipper was kneeling upon the soft, plush grass as he used a magnifying glass to examine the soil pouring from his other cupped hand.
"Our story begins deep in the Gravity Falls Forest, as Dipper is knee deep in a research project, when suddenly; a violent commotion interrupts the serenity…"
*CRASH!*
*CRASH – CRASH – CRASH!*
*CRUNCH!*
Startled by the noise, Dipper leapt to his feet. Driven by an unknown instinct, as if he instantly knew something was terribly wrong, Dipper abandoned his project, sprinting pass the mighty redwoods and followed the source of the noise. Leading out of the woods, the detective arrived at a paved highway set between the green acres.
Dipper scanned the landscape, his face twisting in horror at the carnage set across the way. "Oh, wow…"
A banged-up sky blue mini-van lied upside down on the other side of the road. The windshield and side windows were shattered and cracked. Countless dents and scrapes covered the vehicle's metallic framing. The entire left side of the van was blocked off by the grassy knoll, blocking any entry or escape.
"How the heck did – "
Dipper's questions were immediately answered as he spotted a series of figures stumbling out of the wreckage. He could make out the bruised and battered forms of Tambry, Robbie, Lee, Thompson, and Nate coming out of the front passenger's door one by one. Oddly enough, the small group began to argue amongst themselves as he crossed the road to check on them.
"We have to go back for her!"
"She was out cold! If Wendy's hurt and we move her now, we can seriously mess her up! We gotta wait for the paramedics!"
"There's no time for…wait – what is that?"
They looked back to the crunched mini-van as Dipper reached them, making them spin back around. "Are you guys alright?" Before they could answer, the small boy recognized that something was off. "Wait, wasn't Wendy with you? Where is she?!"
Each face of the five friends grew a shade guiltier as they turned back to the wreckage. Just pass the ruined backseat window, Dipper could see a barely-conscious Wendy struggling to unlock the damaged seat belt binding her to the seat. A thin, but odorous smoke began to form around the van's back end, sending her admirer into a panic.
"How could you just leave her in there?!" Dipper raced to the rescue, only to be held back by Lee. "Let me go! " With a burst of strength, the young explorer freed himself from the hold and rushed towards his trapped companion.
"Wait, kid! Come back here! You're going to get yourself killed!"
Dipper made a beeline for the van's sliding door, figuring that it would be difficult to guide his super-tall crush through the front seats. He tried to use the door's handle, but it wouldn't respond; he chalked it up to being damaged during the tumble.
More of the sickening odor invaded Dipper's nostrils. He could feel the heat coming from the back of the car. Time was running out for him…and for her.
With his panic rising, Dipper threw his fists against the damaged glass, hoping to wake Wendy from her stunned stupor, hoping that she could open the door from her side. With her last ounce of strength, the ginger raised her head, and offered her rescuer a faint smile before drifting back into slumber.
"Wendy!"
Dipper tried the broken handle again as he looked around for another way in. "Hang on!" Finding a small rock found by his sneakered feet, the determined hero seized it and smashed his way through the glass. He cried out as he received a gash across his hand, but pushed the pain down into his being. "I'm coming!"
He kicked out the remaining sharpened-jagged pieces, wanting to prepare a safe exit for his redheaded friend. The dark smoke was now invading the inside of the van. Taking a deep breath, Dipper crawled into the ruined joyride and wrestled with the bindings across Wendy's waist and chest. Left unable to release the polyester straps with his bare hands, the pre-teen searched his pockets for his multi-tool and cut Wendy free; her limp body freely slumped to the left.
"C'mon…" Dipper dug his hands into the green-flannelled cloth above Wendy's shoulders and gradually yanked her across the seats; her light frame allowed him to glide her easily. He took care to make sure she didn't end up cut by the fallen glass or entangled by the remains of the seat belt. "C'mon…"
The black smoke was now burning his brown eyes. Dipper fought the urge to gag. As soon as Wendy was hauled free of the wreckage, he turned back to ask her friends for assistance when he saw the spark out of the corner of his eye.
"Aw – "
*KA-BOOM!*
"Wait, what happened to them?" The Dipper in the hallway asked as the portal turned white. "Are they – "
"Shh…" Sere calmed. "Just watch…"
*GASP!*
The bright light faded, showing a wounded Wendy shooting upright in a hospital bed, before grabbing her head in painful reflex. Luckily, a nurse on hand overlooked her injuries as the embarrassed lumberjane peeked under her covers to find that her clothing had been replaced with a generic white gown.
"Wait, what happened to everyone else? And Dipper? He was there, too, right? Is he alright?!"
The nurse smiled and stepped to the side, offering an arm to her right. A bandaged Dipper slept peacefully in a chair next to Wendy's bed. A blanket had been placed across his lap with his journal set on top.
"That little one refused to leave your side for a single moment. The other staff already sent him on his way two times, but he kept finding a way to sneak back in. Your father tossed him out when your family came to see you, but as soon as visiting hours ended and they left…"
"My poor little dork…"
Even from his distance between dimensions, Dipper could tell there was something off about his bed-bound cohort. In spite of cheating death yet again, there was a sudden sense of gloom that had been washed over her. The unknown sadness quickly changed to anxiety as the nurse gently shook Dipper's shoulder.
"You might want to get up, small fry. There's someone waiting to say "hi."
Dipper's eyes flickered as he awoke, his eyes turning solid as he spotted his revived main squeeze across the room offering him a small wave.
"WENDY!"
With a bound of energy, the ecstatic sleuth rushed to her side only to halt before forcing himself to stop before reaching the bed's edge. "Are you okay?!" He turned towards the nurse with a worried look on his face, "Is she going to be okay?!"
"Dude, relax! See? All in one piece!"
As the televised friends enjoyed their reunion, Dipper leaned towards Sere as he kept watching, "This might be a stupid question, but is something wrong with Wendy? I can't put my finger on it, but…"
"No worries, Dipper." Sere reassured. "This Wendy is as healthy as the one next to you. But there is indeed something different…"
They were interrupted as they saw the jumpy juvenile head for the room's exit, "You know what? I bet you're hungry, right? You gotta be starving! I'm going to hit up the cafeteria and grab you something tasty along with a nice, ice-cold Pitt Cola to –"
"Dipper, wait!"
He paused in mid-step, finding the cashier girl sitting with her knees against her chest. "Come sit with me for a little while…"
"But I – "
"Please?"
As Dipper did what was asked of him, Wendy reached over and took his hand. The modest gesture presented an abundance of questions to the confused teen beyond the window.
"I – I don't get it." Dipper admitted, already guessing what was coming next. "Things changed in this universe because he saved her life? I mean, Wendy and I rescued each other lots of times and – "
"It wasn't a reward for saving her, Dipper." Sere said. "It was the experience itself that made things different. Being that close to death made this Wendy see certain aspects of her life in a new light."
"I'm still not following you…"
"Okay, let me try a different way." Sere scanned her mind for the best example. "Do you remember what Wendy told you back in the woods outside of the bunker? About what would happen if you two would stop being friends?"
"You – You know about that?"
"Of course I do. But do you remember?"
Dipper nodded. "She said she would throw herself into the Bottomless Pit…"
"And both Wendys would, too. The thing about relationships, Dipper, is that when they change, sometimes, there is no going back. And sure, things can blossom and become better than anyone could imagine, and yet, it could totally backfire and sour a relationship forever."
"Kinda like how nearly all of the Wendys and Robbies of the multiverse are on uneasy ground with each other?"
"Exactly! And all of this scares people, Dipper; right down to their very cores. They worry more about the potential loss instead of the incredible growth, and shove those feelings deep down and wish them buried. But then again, things can easily get turned on their head just like…"
Sere snapped her fingers to finish her statement.
"Sometimes, all it takes it a little push…"
One last inquiry burned heavily in Dipper's mind, but with Wendy, who stood unusually silent during all of this, next to him, he wouldn't dare present it aloud.
"I…I think I getcha…"
"Good; because we pretty much missed these two saying the same thing, so hope you don't mind me not rewinding…"
"Oops! Sorry."
Ahead, Dipper went to get off Wendy's hospital bed, "Did you want to me to go find the doctor so we can get you out of here?"
"Hmm…" The injured redhead answered. "Not just yet! First…"
To the shock of both Dippers, the small form was pulled forward by his lanky partner-in-crime. She held his clammy face in her hands as their eyes met.
"…I think you deserve one of these…"
Wendy leaned downward and gave Dipper a slow, affectionate kiss on his lips, making him pull back in disbelief.
"That's for getting me out of another jam, my little hero…"
A determined look appeared on Dipper's face. As if inspired by the clerk's inner courage, he lounged forward and returned a kiss of his very own that seemed to last forever. When they parted, they rested their foreheads and noses against the other as they whispered sweet nothings in trade.
"What are they saying?" Dipper stood on tip-toes to get closer to the portal. "I can barely hear them…" His brown eyes widened as he heard his own voice declare one of his most secret and well-protected thoughts aloud:
"I love you, Wendy…"
Dipper rested back on his heels, just as the Wendy before him tightly squeezed his counterpart with all of her might, making him embrace her back, but gently enough to avoid her wounds.
"I love you, too…"
The heartwarming scene left Dipper stunned. The wide range of mixed emotions that he had managed to keep inside were starting to become unearthed. He could only imagine what was going through Wendy's mind as she watched.
Not wanting to give in to the jealously and doubts around his own reality; not wanting to regress on all of the balance he had achieved throughout this summer, Dipper bit his lip and chose to do what he believed to be the mature and responsible thing:
"Eh, maybe you were right about this, Sere." Dipper put up a brave front, as he motioned for the guide to lead the way. "Maybe we should forget about this story and head for – "
"What happens to them?"
Dipper nearly gagged on his words as he and Sere froze in place. The hidden, lingering question that ran over and over in the back of his mind was aired out for the universe to hear.
But it wasn't his voice that said it. It wasn't his lips that asked.
Sere and Dipper spun around to see Wendy unmoved from her spot; her determined freckled face aimed at the interdimensional window as she waited for the next part of the story. She turned her head towards the two and repeated her query before returning her sights to the screen.
"I want to see what happens to them…"
Sere looked at Dipper for approval. He sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. He knew from Wendy's expression that he wouldn't be able to pry her from her decision. This wasn't like her reactions to the other dimensions where she grew concerned or frightened or disgusted or even found things hysterical.
This was something entirely different.
"O-Okay..." Sere cleared her throat as she changed the scenery. "Let's continue on then." The exterior of the Mystery Shack was displayed amiss the massive green forest surrounding it from all sides. "Wendy is cleared for release from the hospital, and a brand new day begins for both Dipper and her."
"Hmm…" Dipper scratched his chin. "Call me crazy, but for some reason, that "brand new day" stuff rubs me the wrong way…"
"Ready to go?"
All three looked ahead to see the Wendy inside the screen offering her hand to her Dipper as they went to take their leave from the Mystery Shack's Gift Shop. Behind them, their friends and family standing at the cash register reacting to the new change. Mabel and Soos shared excited looks as they squealed gleefully. Even Grunkle Stan's face shifted from disbelief, allowing himself to display a small smile.
"What?!" The usually-steady adventuress grew unnerved by the entire room gawking at her. "What at you guys looking at?"
"However," Sere explained. "As the new couple takes their leave, the feelings of their loved ones are made more apparent…"
As soon as the other Wendy and Dipper left the building, his twin sister and their handyman buddy joined together as they cheered, ""YAY! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!"
Despite of the blissful scene, the Dipper watching from the hallway found things somewhat ironic. "Hmph," he ridiculed under his breath. "Wish they were that eager for us in our dimension…"
The sound of stifled laughter eased his bitterness. He peeked to the right to see Wendy struggling to keep from giggling at the sight; her left hand hiding her face as her lips remained tightly sealed.
To him, it was somewhat a relief to have her show some sort of reaction to all of this, rather than staying stone-cold silent. Dipper wondered if she was having all of the same crazy thoughts running through her head as well.
"Not so fast, Grunkle Stan! We still have business to attend to!"
Mabel's shrill voice brought their attention forward, as the energetic girl approached her great-uncle from behind the counter. "I recall making a "gentleman's wager" with you about a certain couple that we all know and love. I believe the deal was if they got together before the end of summer that I would win an undisclosed amount…"
A few seconds later, Soos joined her, standing before the elder, each with a palm opened and fingers waggling.
"Oh, man…" Wendy shook her head as she snickered.
"They were betting on us?! That's so – " Dipper took a moment to think before turning to Sere. "Hold on. Were our Mabel, Soos, and Stan betting on us, too?"
Sere crossed her arms and called his bluff. "Do you really want to know?"
Her response caught him off-guard. "On second thought…"
"Well, I do!" Wendy stepped up behind Dipper. "Let me help ya out, Dip." Suddenly, his vision went black as his gal pal covered his eyes with both hands.
"Wendy! I can't see!"
"That's the point." Dipper could hear her call over his head. "Sere, what's the skinny in our parts? Gimme a nod or shake your head."
There was a brief silence as the freaked-out boy struggled to break Wendy's grip. "Stop! Let go!"
"Thank you…"
After a second, the lumberjack princess released her hold, as Dipper stumbled forward. He took a second to readjust his hat before focusing back on the screen.
"However, not every person in Gravity Falls is eager to celebrate the next step in their relationship."
The scenery switched to the edge of downtown Gravity Falls, where a makeshift restaurant had been crafted from the dried-out remains of a gigantic redwood tree trunk and set upon a rusted-up railroad train car.
"That's Greasy's Diner!" Dipper recognized.
The point-of-view zoomed in past the wooden walls to see Dipper and Wendy standing hand-in-hand as they placed their order with Lazy Susan:
"Extra-Large Chili Cheese Fries with double chili!" The couple giggled in sync with excitement.
"At least they have the same good taste as we do…" Dipper sighed.
"Amen, brother…" Wendy agreed.
"Hey, it's the guys!"
They saw the pair twist around to find Wendy's crew squeezed into a window-side booth, talking and chatting without a care in the world. Eager to see her friends for the first time since their accident, the young woman walked over to their table and greeted them, "What up, guys?"
To Wendy's surprise, the fellow high-schoolers went on with their own business, acting as if she wasn't even there.
"Didn't ya hear me? I said what's up?!"
Dipper gave Sere a quick nudge, "What's going on? Why are they ignoring her?"
Wendy beaded her eyes with frustration. "I know why. Remember what Sere said about certain people being upset by us?"
Taking a closer look, Dipper could see a mischievous smirk spread across the Robbie's cratered-scarred face as he hid away in the far corner of the booth.
"And I know whose bright idea this was…"
Dipper and Wendy watched as the sunny depositions faded from their equivalents as the teenaged group lobbied complaint after complaint at them:
"…but this thing you've got going on with him is totally messed up!"
"I mean, Dr. Funtimes is a cool guy to hang out with, but dating him?!"
"I mean, c'mon, Wendy! Don't cha think that this is just a bit creepy?"
"He's just a kid! You didn't really expect everybody to just up and accept this, did you?"
"And we don't think we can deal with this; it's just too bizarre!"
The heartbroken Wendy finally managed to cough out a response, "What are you guys…are you saying that we…we can't hang out anymore if I stay with Dipper?"
On the other side of the threshold, Dipper's heart panged with each insult hurled at Wendy. "I can't believe they would do – "He looked to his Wendy. "In our world, do you think they – "
His words instantly dried up the moment he saw the cashier's somber look, her green eyes locked firmly on the sight-at-hand. He couldn't even tell if she was breathing. For a split second, she broke away to look at Dipper, only to return to the window in the next instance.
With that one single glance, Dipper had his answer. He realized that perhaps, there were layers to their relationship that he possibly couldn't grasp just yet.
"Come on, Dip…let's get out of here; we'll take our order to go…"
Dipper watched as the crushed lumberjane dragged her booted feet with head lowered, her long auburn hair hid her forlorn face. The five youths ignored the hurt feelings of their former leader, going about their own business as if she was never there in the first place.
"Of all the ridiculous – " Wendy had seen enough. She yelled at the portal, wishing that her double could hear her encouraging shouts from between the realms. "You get back in there and kick their sorry – "
*BLAM!*
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The Dipper at Greasy's Diner threw both of his fists against the nearby table, spilling the sitting beverages all over the traitorous high-schoolers.
"What do ya think you're doing, kid?"
"Have you gone loco?"
"Have you?" A livid Dipper launched back. "How dare you talk about her that way! You guys are supposed to be her friends! And this is how you treat her?"
"Ha!" Wendy cackled at the hijinks concurring in the other plane. She gave her Dipper a celebratory slap on his back, nearly knocking him into the portal itself. "Look at you go, boy! Go get 'em!"
"Is that – " Dipper regained his balance. "Do I really sound like that when I'm mad?"
"Oh, yeah." Wendy confirmed. "And it's hilarious and adorable at the same time. It's almost like when a baby lets out a ton of swears!"
"Uh, thanks, Wendy; I think."
"You guys are smart enough to realize that he's playing you like a fiddle, right?" The Dipper on display went on. "This isn't about Wendy and me! This is because I showed Wendy how much of a lying sleaze he really is, which led to their break-up!"
As Robbie lunged for Dipper's throat, Sere spoke up from the other end of reality, "Wendy's right, Dipper. You are a beast when you want to be."
Again, they could hear the furious twelve-year-old continue with his tirade, "And you think that makes you more mature than me? Tell you what? Raise your hand if you haven't gone gratifying as a good time, or raided the G.F.P.D. supply closet just to get a rise out of people?"
"Nice one!" Wendy said. "As long as present company's excluded?"
"It'd go without saying…"
"Still," Wendy poked at her chin, "It feels like there's something missing…something that can take it over the top…"
"After all…" The Dipper at the diner plucked the edges of his blue vest. "It isn't like that Wendy lied to you ,and deceived you at every possible turn, or that she turned chicken and left you to die in a wreck…"
"WHOA!" Each of the teens recoiled at the comment.
"And there is it!" Wendy praised her younger friend with a clap of her hands. "And there's the deathblow I was lookin' for. Way to make a girl proud, Dip!"
"But, Wendy. That's not really me up there."
"True, but it's nice to know that you have it in ya."
"After the confrontation at the diner," Sere moved the story along, revealing a bike-mounted Wendy standing before Dipper in a small clearing outside of the Mystery Shack. "Dipper apologizes to Wendy, thinking that his spectacle is what made her flee the scene, but she explains that it was her humiliation over her friends that had triggered her response."
"Silly boy…" Wendy gave Dipper a swift love tap.
"And after a heart-to-heart talk about missed chances and secret regrets, Wendy makes a vague request to Dipper…"
"Tell you what, Dipper. I want you to do me a favor…"
"And what's that?"
"Tonight, I want you to meet me at Lookout Point at sunset …"
"Why there?"
"Just because. Aaannnddd…you have to dress up…"
"But why?"
"You'll see…" Wendy peddled away before she could be questioned further. "See you later! And don't be late!"
On the outside, Dipper gasped. "That's what we saw earlier! When they were wrestling across the grass?"
"Yep…"
The world inside the borders changed again, to a calm, moonlit night sky. The natural glow of fireflies meshed in perfectly with the radiance of the countless stars above. The soft rev of an engine could be heard across the countryside.
A rusted, dinged-up golf cart drove up the small trail leading to the top of Lookout Point. A small figure, dressed in a neatly-ironed black dressed shirt, slacks, and loafer stepped out of his now-parked ride. He overlooked the cliffside, admiring the view of the town below before turning out to find that someone had laid out a picnic across a blanket in the distant grass.
Racing across the field, the moon beams revealed a slicked-haired Dipper Pines as he raced to find out what was going on.
"Ooh!" Wendy playfully teased her companion about his mirror image's appearance, making him blush with her every poke. "Looks like someone really cleans up nice…"
"Wendy…"
"Stop right there!"
A voice from the darkness made the garbed-up Dipper stop in his tracks.
"You're late…"
"Would you say, "fashionably late?"
"Maybe…turn around..."
He did what was asked of him, as the hidden spectator judged his appearance.
"So, whatdya think?"
"Hmm…Mabel does great work!"
"Hey!"
Wendy accidentally snorted at the comment, holding her hands over her face, as Dipper cocked his head to hide his budding laughter at her response.
"You see…" The redhead cleared her throat. "You see, kid? Even in other dimensions, I totally have your number!"
Before Dipper could answer, he could see something brushing alongside the thick shrubbery of the hillside. The other Wendy revealed herself, turning her date a sickly shade of white. Standing in black high-heels, a gorgeous green dress nestled her lanky frame. Her long locks had been brushed and parted with fine precision; not a single hair stood out of place. With her eyes covered in light-purple shadow, her coated-lips reflected the moonlight. A black choker was set around Wendy's slender neck.
"Y-Yeah…" The Dipper watching was as breathless as the one standing before his angelic-looking beau. "R-R-Really have that number…"
The couple walked together to the laid-out picnic as Dipper asked, "You – You made all of this stuff?"
"Made – bought –" Wendy said, catching herself as she almost lost her balance in her awkward shoes. "Same difference."
Off-screen, Dipper made a wise-crack to his Wendy, "Look, that Wendy can't cook or walk in heels, either – HEY!"
The jest earned him a rough shove by the spurned ginger. "Kidding! Just joking!"
The admission resulted in a doubting glare from Wendy as Dipper rose up from the invisible floor. "I – I don't push you when you poke fun at me."
"Dude, I could stand on one leg, and you still wouldn't be able to push me over."
"True, but – "
Before Wendy could respond, she was interrupted by her own voice. As the dressed-up Dipper went to grab from some of the baked goodies on the blanket, he was brought to a stop.
"Nuh-uh, little guy! There's a small matter we still have to take care of first…"
"And what's that?"
She reached out her hand to him, "I believe you still owe me a dance…"
Recognizing the size difference between them, Wendy stepped out of her heels and stood barefoot in the soft grass. Dipper followed suit, leaving his loafers to the side, and climbed upon Wendy's feet as she wrapped an arm around his head. With her free hand, the teenager grabbed her phone, started up a set-list for background music, and tossed it upon by their food.
As the two peacefully danced, Sere held her hands together as her brown eyes sparkled. "I…just…love…this. It's all kinds of perfect."
"Don't know about perfect," Wendy said. "But it's definitely something, alright…"
Dipper could only sigh in response.
"What's up?"
"Huh?" He looked to his side, not able to meet Wendy's emerald eyes. "Just thinking about something…"
"Like what?"
"Like…" Dipper let out another heave. "If we'll ever get the chance to dance together again…"
"Is that all?" Without warning, Wendy seized Dipper's hand, raised it over his head, and gently spun him around in a circle until he was left dizzy. With a tap, the fifteen-year-old brought him to a stop. "Of course we will, dork. You're just leaving town for a little while. You aren't dropping off the face of the earth."
As Dipper smiled with relief, they could hear his dimensional clone cry out:
"What – What are you doing?"
They watched as Wendy tightened her grip around Dipper and slowly started to rock them both back and forth, from heel to toe, until finally, she fell forward on top her much-smaller date.
*THUMP!*
The mischievous teen stuck out her tongue at the still-struggling Dipper, teasing him and making silly faces at him until she stopped, her mouth twisting into a mortified O-shape. In an effort to escape, Dipper ran his fingers across both sides of her ribcage as if he were playing the xylophone. Together, they rolled and rolled across the meadow as their laughed echoed throughout the brilliant night.
"And now," the Wendy in the hallway grinned. "It's perfect…"
The three took in the moment, enjoying the ambience presented by the young couple until Dipper finally broke the silence.
"This doesn't last long, does it?"
"Dipper?"
"Huh?" Sere turned to look at the melancholy sleuth, who in turned, faced his main squeeze. "I'm sorry. I really am. I don't mean to ruin the moment. Honest…" He switched sides back to his guide. "But if there's one thing I learned this summer, it's that when something really good happens, especially involving Wendy, it's like the universe has this awful way of evening the score, and – and…"
His voice broke as he opened an arm towards the portal. "And them…I watch them and I want to be happy for them. But my brain can't help but to ask, "When? How much borrowed time do they have left?""
Finding some truth in Dipper's words, Wendy looked at the confounded girl from over her friend's head. "Sere?"
With a heavy heart, Sere let the held breath out from puffed cheeks. She flicked her hand upwards, wiping away the image of Lookout Point with a swirl. However, Wendy and Dipper's laughter could still be heard as the picture grew clear.
"This is where it starts: on your second day together…"
Inside of the Mystery Shack, Wendy and Dipper sat at her station in the Mystery Shack's Gift Shop as they huddled around the Journal 3. The middle-schooler proudly narrated the wackiest discoveries and his most insane adventures while Wendy held her face in her hands, trying to stop herself from falling off her stool.
"Oh, what?!" Wendy exclaimed. "That Wendy gets to read the Journal?" She pouted, "My Dipper never let get my mitts on his Journal."
"You never really – " Dipper tried to argue. "I mean, that's kinda hard to do now with them – hold on; did you just say "My Dipper?""
"Don't go getting cute on me, slick. You know what I mean."
"Wendy, I honestly had no idea that you were even the slightest interested – " He paused. "Wait. Sere, didn't you say there was an universe where Wendy takes the Journal and turns herself twelve?"
"Uh-huh." Sere backed up. "And in another, she accidentally revives the ghosts at the Dusk2Dawn convenience store and they – "
"All right! All right! I get the message! Can we move on with it?"
"Gladly…" Sere continued. "Just as Grunkle Stan is about to have a talk with the two, the phone rings…"
"I'VE GOT IT!"
Somehow, Dipper managed to outrun Wendy, making it outside of the counter before the lanky clerk could lower her feet to the floor. As Dipper walked into the distance with phone in hand, Wendy leaned forward, resting her head on her fist as Stan rattled off words from a list scrunched up in his palm.
"Hey, Sere?" Wendy asked. "What's that stuff that Stan's gibbering on about?"
"Oh, that." Sere beamed. "He was giving his Wendy and Dipper a lecture about rules and his expectations concerning workplace dating."
"Is that all?" Wendy grew flushed as she patted Dipper's shoulder, slowly digging her nails into his flesh. "How lovely…is it that you'd leave me all alone…with that little adventure…"
"Ah, ah, Wendy! That's…not me!"
"No, but in this case, you'll do…"
They noticed as Stan took his leave, a somewhat disturbed Dipper padded back into the room.
"What was up with that call? That definitely wasn't just a "wrong number…" Wendy noticed.
"Yeah, funny as it sounds, that was actually the Gravity Falls Prison," Dipper explained.
"The Prison? Calling you? For who – I mean, for what?"
"Pfft!" The spectating Dipper wiped his mouth when he heard the line. "That Wendy thought she was going to jail."
"Can't blame her." The Wendy next to him expressed. "With how the world's going lately, we Wendys have to expect the unexpected."
"The warden called, wanting to talk to me about…Lil' Gideon."
"This is it, isn't it?!" Dipper's counterpart in the hallway grew frantic. "This is how things are going to go south for them, right? He's going to do something terrible and – "
"Dipper, relax!" Wendy tried to calm him. "That little porker couldn't do anything in keep us down in our world. You really think he'll be keep those two down for the count?"
"I – " He released another puff. "I – I guess so…"
The conversation in the display before them went on:
"The warden said that Gideon copped up to all of his wrong-doings and wished to turn over a new leaf on life…"
"PFFT! What a crock! And they're buying his act?"
"I guess so. He said that Gideon has been nothing short of the model prisoner, and as part of his rehabilitation, wants to make amends with everyone he had wronged."
"And I'm guessing you were at the top of the list…"
"Yep, and they asked if I could visit him today so he can apologize in person."
"Why, isn't that convenient? You're not going, are you?"
"To be honest, I was about to hang up on the guy, when the warden said that Gideon mentioned that he wanted to share "several secrets that would be beneficial to my cause…""
"You see?" Wendy commented on her other self inside of the portal. "My girl's going to talk some sense into that kid and help 'im keep his nose clean." She nodded in approval. "Yeah. I think that maybe things – "
She stopped, seeing the Wendy before her drop down to Dipper's level and placed her hands on his shoulders in a supportive fashion.
"Go for it…"
"What?"
"I think you should go for it. I know this stuff's really important to you, so this might your only shot to find out the truth about these things. I mean, the little snot's in jail anyways. It's not like anything bad could possibly happen to you with a bazillion security guards everywhere…"
Outside of the gate, Wendy's jaw dropped, as she watched her otherworldly clone do the precise opposite of everything she had just predicted. "I – but – she- "
"Gee, Wendy…" Her Dipper fought to keep a straight face. "Maybe you are a bad influence like everyone says…"
"Oh, shush, you!"
Sere moved the scene along, "And so, with Wendy's encouragement – "
"Thanks, Sere…" Wendy chipped in.
"Dipper takes Mabel and Soos with him as he goes to confront Gideon at the Gravity Falls Prison…"
The scene changed to a somewhat dirty room divided in half by a glass barrier in the center. A black table with plain-looking matching stools had been built into each side of the window. Small holes in the glass allowed two people to talk from each side safely without risking physical contact.
As an annoyed Dipper sat on the left side of the room, Li'l Gideon, now donning an orange prison jumpsuit, was led in by a guard escort. Once he was seated, the two rivals began to converse.
"Man…" Wendy whispered to her Dipper as they watched the two butt heads. "That chubbo looks the exact same as the day the cops hauled him in. Even his hair is near-perfect."
"Yeah," Dipper agreed. "But something doesn't feel right here…"
"Let me finish, please." Gideon's nasally voice grew louder from the portal. "As I was saying, I also sacrificed my freedom in an attempt to gain unimaginable power and rule over this white-bread mountain town with an iron fist. This is what I'm trying to tell you, Dipper. My apology…my gift to you is some friendly advice."
"And that is?" Dipper said from his side of the visitor's center.
"Well, don't mean to answer your question with a question, but…what is truly important to you?"
"What's truly important to me? I'm not…I don't get it."
"I don't either." Wendy admitted, as she looked to Dipper for an answer. "Fatty's being awfully coy, but I'm not sure why."
She found Dipper fixated on the portal, his shaking hands folded together.
"I think…I know. But I really, really hope I'm wrong…"
"Now then, I thought for a long time the best way to teach you this message." Gideon continues. "I know how important family is to you, but at the same time, I would never raise a hand towards my beloved Mabel, and as much as I despite your fraudulent great-uncle, the old con is worth more alive than you realize…"
Dipper's eyebrow rose at the suggestion. "What are you talking about?"
"What I mean is that – well, Dipper, I must admit, she is a beautiful girl. I'm not really fond of redheads myself, but I can easily see what you love about her. You're very lucky to have found each other in this crazy world. Now, what was her name? Wendy, right?"
The watching Dipper's knees nearly buckled. "I knew it…I just knew it…"
"Now, hang a minute!" Wendy demanded. "The kid's been stuck in jail for weeks, right? How could he possibly know – "
Gideon pointed to his eye, as if he heard her request. "And this is a special contact lens designed by that crazed hillbilly McGucket. It gives me an eagle-eye view on all of the activities back at the Mystery Shack. And guess what I have seen, boy? How you blush when she kisses your forehead. How you tell her the lamest jokes and puns just to hear that sweet and addicting laugh of hers. How you hang on her every single word, no matter how boring her gibberish is, just for the sake of being the center of her attention…"
He laughed, "Even though it is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen, you two definitely know how to tug on an old softie's heartstrings, I tell you what..."
Enraged, the Dipper behind the glass launched upwards. "And just what do you think you're going to do, huh?! Even with one arm tied behind her back, Wendy would mop the floor with ya! And besides, you're stuck in here! You'll never get near her! Never!"
"You see?!" Wendy threw her hands out, trying to revive her Dipper as he fought to catch his breath. "That Dipper has the right mind-set! You gotta get with the program, too!"
"Maybe…" Color started to return to his cheeks. "Maybe they'll – "
"That's where you're wrong!" Even across dimensions, Gideon re-took the wind from Dipper's sails. "You see, in my short time here, I had made a lot of friends. Turns out that some of the biggest, meanest, and heck, deadliest inmates were huge fans of my show. Long story short, they were incredibly sympathetic towards my plight. You could even say that they would do anything I asked of them…"
"The prison-break! That was you! You organized it!"
"Guilty as charged!"
As the panicked officers surveying the scene fled to find their supervisors, Gideon went on with his insane rant, "From the second you stepped into this hall, she was already taken! I witnessed the whole thing! They pounced upon your precious Wendy like a lamb being led to the slaughter!"
"Oof!"
The Dipper in the astral hallway finally dropped to his knees. Wendy ducked down to him, as she switched views between her boy and the madness occurring on-screen.
"C'mon, Dip!" She encouraged. "Don't freak out on me. Think about it, man. We beat Gideon and his prison goons in our world. What makes you think that that Wendy and Dipper can't?"
"Yes…" The slim light of positivity made Dipper look up before the enormous amounts of doubt retook his mind. "But that was during Weirdmageddon, and we were ready for anything, and to be fair, you did most of the hard work, and they – "
"DIPPER!" Wendy shook him harder, turning back as she saw Gideon being dragged away by a new set of guards as the other Dipper pounded on the exit door on his side in a hurry to be released and get back home.
"Who'd thunk it that the one mystery that will forever elude you is "which shallow grave is my girlfriend buried in?!" HAHAHAHA!"
"Alright, now…" Wendy shivered. "That one kinda got to me…"
As the heavy door on Dipper's end was finally opened, he raced out and the picture started to fade.
"Unable to contact Wendy or the Mystery Shack via cell phone, Dipper and his friends speed across town to find out what happened…"
"WENDY?!"
The screen showed a frantic Dipper throwing open the parlor entrance door with a slam.
"BAH!" A barely-dressed Grunkle Stan nearly fell out of his recliner. "What's the deal, lovebird? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" As the worried Dipper rushed past him, he called out, ""Hey, wait a sec –"
Dipper swung the door into the Gift Shop open, "WEN – Oh! Oh, man…"
The entire room had been destroyed. Racks and shelves were overturned, leaving their contents broken across the floor. The ads and flyers had been torn from the walls. The vending machine had been caved in, its glass layer shattered into pieces. The check-out counter had been split down the middle.
Next to a shredded issue of Indie Buzz, Dipper found Wendy's flip cell phone, the haunting message, "MISSED CALL," flashed over and over on its LCD screen.
Dipper heard the wind behind him. He turned around to see that the Gift Shop's exit flailing in the breeze. Wendy's trapper cap lied abandoned in the middle of the doorway. Teary-eyed, Dipper scooped up the forgotten item and held it against his chest as his great-uncle arrived on the scene.
""My shack!" the elder cried out. "My poor shack! Look at what they've done to my poor shack!" He quickly noticed his nephew's predicament. "Oh, yeah…And Wendy…real shame about her…"
"That old codger!" Wendy stomped her foot. "That's all he's able to say?! It'd be like him to sleep through everything!"
Determined, Dipper returned to his feet and hurried out of the door. "WENDY?!" He called out to the empty wilderness, desperate for a clue to her whereabouts.
As his equal blindly searched the grounds of the Mystery Shack, Dipper prayed under his breath, "I really hope he finds her…"
Suddenly, something squeezed his hand. He looked down to see that Wendy had slid her hand into his. He looked up to see her giving off a brave, yet troubled smile. Together, they silently watched as the Dipper ahead called into the forest:
"WENDY, PLEASE! IF YOU CAN, SAY SOMETHING!"
"Something…"
Wendy muffled a laugh as her Dipper stopped in mid-breath. They saw the Dipper above spin around in a circle to find the source of the familiar voice.
"Who…Who said that?!"
"I did…"
"Where are you?"
"Dork, I'm over here!"
Dipper flew around to the other end of the Mystery Shack to find his Wendy sitting on top of the splintered picnic table in the yard. Her hair was tangled and frizzled. Her knuckles were reddened and bruised. Her jeans were torn at her now-scrapped knees. Her green-flannelled shirt had been ripped at several spots, revealing her white blouse underneath.
She gave her mentally-drained partner a wave, "Hey, there…" She cocked her head, "What's with you, short stuff? You look like you've seen a ghost or something…"
"You…You're alright!"
"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"
"But how? How did you escape? I mean, with all those guys? And the shack? What happened?"
"Oh…that!" Wendy rested back on her arms. "I'm not exactly sure what that was about, but a bunch of guys tried to jump me back there. I'll admit, they did catch me by surprise, but once I was on my feet, I made them sorry that they ever tried to mess me with me!"
She looked to the trees above her. "Isn't that right, guys?"
Dipper followed her line of sight, finding a slew of convicts caught in snare traps attached to the forest tops. The angry criminals swore and attempted to claw towards the arrogant ginger, who prided over her well-earned victory.
"How about that?" Wendy sarcastically noted. "Just like I said: that Wendy was more than able to kick inmate butt, just like this Wendy did. Boo-yah to all the haters and non-believers!"
"Oh, you had your doubts, too." Dipper said. "You were squeezing down in my hand pretty hard back there."
"Mmm…crazy talk…"
However, the relief of finding Wendy alive and well eased both Dippers into a sense of relief. As the Dipper within the portal collapsed into his Wendy's arms, the one on the other side rested his weary head against the tall girl's shoulder. Simultaneously, both Wendys merely rolled their eyes and whispered over their selected charges, "My poor little dork…"
"With the battle won," Sere brought the nerve-wrecking scene to a close, as the window changed again to another crystal-clear starry night. "Wendy convinces Dipper that after the day's hectic events, a change of scenery was a must. Therefore, they decided on a quiet evening nestled next to a roaring fire at Lake Gravity Falls…"
A spark of red and orange appeared in the center of the screen, revealing Dipper and Wendy sitting on a nearby log near the water's edge. As Dipper stared blankly into the flames in front of him, his beau stuck her marshmallow-on-a-stick into the fire, removing it after it was properly charred.
After blowing on her melting treat, Wendy rubbed up against the distracted sleuth. "Still thinking about how I was almost "Wendy-napped" today?"
""Wendy-napped."" Her other half chuckled. "That's kinda clever…"
"Oh, come on, Dipper!" Wendy argued with a mouth full of marshmallow, "I'm okay. You're okay. Everything worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"Yeah, but it's still my fault…"
"No, it's not! You can't blame yourself for what that fat little pig does. Besides, I'm the one who told you to go. So, you can blame me if you want…"
"Geez, maybe they are like us…" Dipper recognized.
"Yeah…" Wendy said with a sense of admiration. "They really are…"
They saw the depressed Dipper lean over and heave, "I'll never take another stupid risk ever again…"
Upon hearing this, Wendy immediately reached out and punched him on his shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I never want to hear you talk like that!" She answered with an angry tone.
"Like what?"
Wendy opened her arms towards the fire. "Life is all about taking stupid risks, Dipper! If we didn't, this world would be a total bore! Sure, buddy, bad things will occasionally happen, and sometimes, we can't stop them. But at the same time, without taking chances, the good things may never happen either!"
"How so?"
"Like me and you, Dipper," she explained further. "It was a stupid risk that lead to us hanging out. It was a stupid risk that saved our butts in that haunted convenience store! Stupid risks helped you rescue this town time and time again from all of this strange stuff …" Dipper noticed her eyes beaded. "It was a stupid risk that gave you the courage to help me when I needed you the most, when no one else would…"
The other Wendy nodded with approval. "Again, I'm really diggin' this Wendy-girl. She's my kinda chick."
"I see what you're saying…" The Dipper at the fire said. "If I never took a chance, you and I would probably not be together now, would we?"
"So, they're okay. I get that." Dipper turned from the window towards Sere. "But what about Gideon? I'm sure that little stunt didn't earn him just a slap on the wrist?"
"Oh, no, sir." Sere waved her hands at the gateway. "A whole month in solidarity confinement. But it's funny you ask; for at the same time, on the other side of town…"
The portal now zoomed into the window of a random cell of the Gravity Falls Prison. Inside of the secluded room, Li'l Gideon knelt inside of a thin circle of wax as he chanted aloud:
"Triangulum, entangulum. Veneforis dominus ventium. Veneforis venetisarium!"
"Heh." Wendy mocked. "Prayin' doesn't do a lick of good when you're in trouble with Johnny Law. Believe you me."
However, Dipper knew better, as Gideon's eyes became neon blue. The wax circle was lit aflame as his recites grew louder.
"That's not a prayer. That's – "
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Another flaming circle appeared on the brick wall as a triangle-shaped shadow formed within. The specter separated itself from the wall as black-stick hands and legs grew from its side. It magically pulled a long top hat out from the ether itself as a narrow eye opened in its center.
"Bill?!"
"Oh no!" Wendy gripped Dipper's shoulder. "Not that thing again!"
The enigmatic menace floated over Gideon, "How'd you end up in this place, kid? You steal some extra buns from the buffet or something like that?"
Gideon faked a snort, "It's funny you should say that…"
"Lemme guess; you want me to get you outta here, huh? Sorry, kid. You're a bad business risk. I have too many important plans going on to get you mixed up in – "
"Actually, that's why I brought you here. I feel bad about breaking our previous agreement, and to make amends, I wish to give you a gift…"
The demon's eye grew larger, "A gift? What could you possibly give me than I don't already have?"
Gideon carefully stood back up. "Knowledge… I take it you are familiar with an old acquaintance of mine, Dipper Pines?"
"Dipper…" Bill's eye shuffled through a collection of silhouettes until it came upon the child's somewhat-rounded frame. "Heck, I'd say he's just as much a pain in my neck as you are…"
"Well, I have him to thank for my current …situation…and for this, I wanted to share some info with you, hoping that in the right hands, will get him out of our hair once and for all! And I figure that someone with your…particular brand of mischief would be the best choice to exploit such a thing…"
"That's…" The Dipper outside of the portal forced himself to speak past the shock. "That's it, Sere. Isn't it? That's how things go bad, right?"
"Dipper, you shouldn't – "
"You don't understand." Dipper started to explain. "At his core, Bill is uncontrolled chaos. He will do something simply because he can. But Grunkle Ford told me about something that happened in Bill's pyramid…"
"A magical triangle living in a floating pyramid…" Wendy mused. "If that isn't irony at its truest…"
"It's no joke, Wendy." Dipper insisted. "Ford said that Bill had a sort of an epiphany during Weirdmageddon. He came to understand that he could truly hurt one person by hurting another."
"Or in other words, mess with his victims by going after their loved ones."
"Exactly! But in this case, Gideon just set us up in Bill's crosshairs."
"But…" Wendy's freckled face was becoming devoid of confidence. "I mean, like, with Gideon, we beat him before and –"
"We didn't beat him, Wendy! Grunkles Ford and Stan did! And in this world, I don't think – " He looked to Sere to be sure.
Sere shook her head, "In this universe, your Great Uncle hadn't the chance to complete the portal in the secret basement of the Mystery Shack…"
"Wish I had a chance to check that baby out…" Wendy regretted.
"This means that without Ford," Dipper said. "We're on our own against Bill."
Sere began to change the image within the portal. "On the third day, Dipper receives a phone call from Wendy's three brothers, urging him to come over as fast as humanly possible."
"Things have to be super bad if my bros are callin' you over."
"And that's when we called you…"
A new picture formed in the gateway. Dipper was standing over Wendy's bed with her younger brothers behind him. His girlfriend lied unconscious under her covers, unaware that she was being examined. With Wendy's body drenched in sweat, Dipper held his hand against her cheek, finding her white-paled skin ice-cold.
The only sign of life shown was as her lanky body shivered every few seconds, her dry lips parting to utter, "No…no…stop…"
"And you guys said you found Wendy like this?"
"Yeah," Marcus, her oldest brother, said. "We knew that she had the day off, so we figured that she was just sleepin' in…"
The middle brother, Kevin, went next. "But then we heard her groaning all freaky-like. We tried everything that we could to wake her up, but she won't budge! I mean, Wendy's always been a deep sleeper, but not like this…"
Gus, her baby brother, concluded. "We can't get a hold of the town doctor, and Dad's gone for the day. The earliest we'd be able to tell him what's going on would be later tonight. Wendy always said if anything weird was to happen and we needed help, you would be the person to call."
"Well, um, thanks." Dipper blushed. "But to be honest, I'm not sure how exactly to help her…"
He gently held back Wendy's left eyelid, discovering that her green eye wouldn't respond to any action.
"Hey, hey!" Wendy commented from the pathway between worlds. "How about being careful with the eyeballs there, Dr. Pines?"
"The best we can do for the moment is to make her as comfortable as possible." Dipper made the request of Wendy's brothers. "We're going to need some dry sheets and a moist washcloth for her forehead…"
The boys disappeared back into the cabin to find the requested items. Dipper held Wendy's hand, holding her wrist close to his ear to take her pulse. "Wendy…" he pleaded. "What's going on with you? Did you catch some nasty bug, or maybe… you – you weren't messing around with the Journal, were you?"
"And an accusation, too!" Wendy said. "Such lovely bedside manner, Doc!"
Her Dipper anxiously scratched the back of his head. "It's kinda sounds weird with all of those "doctor" jokes, Wendy."
"You should be so lucky they're jokes, Dipper." Wendy told him. "If my dad just heard a sentence containing the words, "Wendy," "a boy," and "playing doctor," you'd be nothing but a smear on my bedroom floor."
Dipper held up a finger, "Point graciously taken…"
Left without an answer on what to do next, the nursemaid Dipper turned off Wendy's light to make her more comfortable. As he went to kiss her forehead, the boy paused and recoiled in horror away from the bed.
"What now?! Do I stink or something?"
"No, Wendy. Look above your bedpost. The shadow on the wall!"
Wendy looked into the window to see that a triangle-shaped outline was moving about of its own accord, dancing freely, and winking directly at Dipper.
"Yikes!" The redhead screamed at the sight. "What's that twisted little monster doing to me?"
"The same thing he did to Stan when we first met him." Dipper remembered. "He's invading your mind."
"What's that mean?" Wendy asked for further clarification. "I don't – "
"When Bill Cipher enters a person's dreamscape," Sere began to add. "He is able to explore every corner of the mind and discover even their darkest, deepest secrets. However, in this Wendy's case, he is forcing her to relive a warped nightmare over and over again, leaving her forever trapped in a sleep-like state."
"Man!" Wendy exclaimed. "What kind of nightmare would be able to keep me down like that?"
After giving a doubting, remorseful glance, Sere closed her right hand into a pinch and flicked her fingers open. The screen before them zoomed into Wendy's head, where after a few seconds of pitch black, revealed a barren, dust-filled desert.
In the center of the desert, an agitated Wendy stood alone in a ruined wedding dress, her face and hair matted with dirt and grime. Colorful tear-stains streaked down from her painted eyes. For some reason, she stomped her bare feet, pausing to tug on each ankle before repeating the process again.
"Why does she keep doing that?" Wendy wondered. "And what's with the wedding getup?" She gave Dipper a suspicious look. "This doesn't have anything to do with that story Mabel told me, right? Y'know; when you supposedly met some medieval princess with a weird name that looked like me? And her dad tried marrying the two of you off?"
"No! No!" Dipper waved his hands. "Totally innocent here! Not a thing to do with me! I swear!"
But deep down, the inquisitive sleuth had a hunch on what the wedding dress was meant to symbolize, figuring it to be another cruel jab from Bill Cipher.
"It looks weird because you two aren't seeing things from her eyes." Sere said. She snapped her fingers, as a flash of light flew across the screen. "Now, take a look."
Dipper and Wendy saw that the livid ginger had been ensnared ankle-deep in some type of mysterious beige goo leaked out from the ground. No matter how hard she pulled, kicked, or thrashed, every movement returned her feet back to their original position. They watched as the more the Wendy fought against the slime, the deeper she sunk into it.
"It's like some sort of earth-made bubble gum." Dipper compared.
"Or like the mud pits in the woods outside of my house." Wendy noted. "I tell ya; that stuff is like stepping in molasses."
They noticed that the gowned Wendy stopped for a moment, finding a shadowy mirage moving deeper into the blurry distance. She reached out with her arm, fighting harder and harder against the muck as she yelled to the top of her lungs:
"Mom! Please! Come back! Something's – Something's wrong! Mom! Don't leave me again! Please!"
"Your…Mom?!" Dipper took a step back. "I didn't even think – Wendy, I – "
He looked to his side, seeing that Wendy's stance had instantly changed. She stood straight and upright with her fists curled tightly at her sides. Her emerald eyes narrowed as she remained deathly silent, save for the sound of teeth grinding together in anger behind sealed lips.
"With Wendy imprisoned in an out-of-body experience," Sere started to change the picture again. "Dipper uses the incantations found in the Journal 3 to try to expel the dream demon from Wendy's mind."
With another flash, the portal displayed an image of Dipper approaching a distorted, grey-scaled version of the Mystery Shack. As he stepped onto its stairway, Bill Cipher materialized near the Shack's rooftop. He floated downwards to challenge the steel-nerved hero, opening the door of the Mystery Shack with a wave of his cane.
"STOP!" Wendy's screams echoed across the dream-realm. "PLEASE STOP!"
"WENDY!" Dipper darted into the illusion without hesitation as Bill's laughter followed behind him.
"Good luck finding her, kid! You're gonna need it!"
"Led by an unbreakable will," Sere narrated. "Dipper is able to make his way pass Bill's traps and taunts, braves through his own personal fears and doubts, and even managers through a barrage of imposters to find where his Wendy is being held hostage."
"Barrage of imposters?" Wendy questioned. "I didn't realize that this was a multiple choice. Or are we fooling with that clone garbage again?"
"No clones this time around." Sere declared. "But you might find the setup a bit familiar. Using her hands, she skipped ahead in the story, stopping as Dipper entered a long and narrow hallway. On each side of the room, there were dozens of framed portraits hung within equal distance of each other.
"Hey, it looks just like this place!" Dipper said.
"Funny how coincidences work, eh?" Sere hinted with a smile.
"HELP! DIPPER! HELP!"
"IS ANYBODY THERE?! LEMME OUT OF THIS THING! PLEASE!"
Nearing the cries, Dipper ran from frame to frame, taking a quick peek into each window before moving to the next.
"What is he doing?" Dipper asked about his other self on the screen, wincing with every yell heard. "And why does Wendy keep screaming?"
"This is Bill's last, but greatest deception, Dipper." The guide introduced. "Inside each portal, a different Wendy is locked into a deathtrap by which only Dipper can release her from. But there's a catch. Bill tells him that every Wendy save for one is a fake. And if he chooses the wrong Wendy to rescue, he will be trapped in a limbo between mindscapes forever."
"You weren't kidding about calling this a living nightmare, Sere." Wendy said. "It's more than harsh – I wouldn't know how to deal with – "
Sere gave comfort with a tap of the shoulder. "He makes it through because of the faith he knows you have in him. It's the same way all of the other Wendys and Dippers made it through their individual trials and tribulations. It's the same way that you two did as well."
They went back to watching Dipper jump to and from the different pictures in search of his missing girlfriend as they each called for him.
"DIPPER! I'M IN HERE! YOU GOTTA HURRY!"
"SOMEBODY?! *ACK! ACK!* IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?! THE TIDE'S COMING IN! I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!"
"AH! AH, DIPPER – HAHAHAHA! GET ME OUTTA HERE!"
"That one's…" Wendy raised an eyebrow. "Laughing?" She looked down at Sere. "She's being tickle-tortured, isn't she?"
"Umm…" Sere guiltily looked away from the suspicious ginger.
"So, wait, Sere," Dipper interrupted. "How does the other me choose the right Wendy to go to?"
"Simple…" All three looked up to see Dipper throwing himself into a random frame further down the hall, his small body disappearing from sight with a sudden zap. "He finds the one Wendy that doesn't beg him to save her."
"A-ha!" The tiny detective was wowed was his own actions. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Well, what do you know?" Wendy crossed her arms. "This story doesn't make me sound like a major wuss after all."
"Even better." Sere insisted. "Hopefully, this shows that there's someone out there that believes you to be so much more…"
"Yeah…" Wendy rubbed the back of Dipper's head, her touch making him twitch. "You might be on to something there, Sere."
The portal showed Dipper falling from a high distance into the desert wasteland with a loud thud. As he held a hand over his face to shield it from the cruel wind, a booming voice called down to him:
"And there he is!" Bill Cipher mocked his prey. "It's about time you made it here. And at a great time, too! Your "better half" is boring me to death!"
Dipper followed his lead out to the center of the desert. Far in the distance, he could see Wendy still struggling in the glue-trap, pleading with the unknown shadow figure way beyond their reach.
"Mom! Mom! I'm still here! Don't go! Please don't go!"
"Man!" Bill confronted Dipper again. "This is your great heroine, Pine Tree? I bet this is a wicked wake-up-call, isn't it? You never thought that deep down, your lady friend was nothing more than a lumbering crybaby?"
The fieldish demigod mimicked Wendy's desperate pleas, failing backwards like an infant having a tantrum. "WAAAAHHH! WAAAHHHH! I want my mommy! Mommy, come back! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Why…" Wendy's face tensed at the scene. "That little son-of-a-"
*ZAP!*
Dipper had taken to the sky and used laser beams from his eyes to knock Bill out of the air. The fuming pre-teen flattered the triangular torturer against the dusty flooring until he was toasted black.
*ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!*
"All right! Get 'im, Dip!" Wendy cheered from the other dimension. "Zap that jerkwad one for me!"
*ZAP!*
"Thank ya…"
She playfully pushed her Dipper. "You've been holding out on me, you little scamp. I didn't know you had superpowers. Man, I'd have you fly me all around town. We'd have a blast!"
"I – " Dipper nervously chuckled. "I wish I could, Wendy. Really, I do. But it's not me with the magic powers. It's the dream world, where literally – "
"-anything is possible!" The Dipper in the desert finished for him, as he tried to convince his still-hysterical Wendy. "All of you have to do is think about it and – MMPPFFF!"
A giant-sized Bill Cipher turned visible, seizing Dipper by the head, and lifted him out of Wendy's reach. She stretched out for her boyfriend, only to have her still-stuck feet yanked back. The monster constricted his hold on Dipper, his voice echoing throughout the mindscape, "That cheap shot actually hurt, you little punk! The time for fun and games is over with! This ends down!"
*DHAK!DHAK!DHAK!DHAK!DHAK!DHAK!*
A barrage of bullets struck Bill across the chest, forcing him to release Dipper. As the shrieking youngster fell back to earth, a red-and-white blur soared across the sky and scooped him up to safety. When he opened his brown eyes, Dipper saw his Wendy beaming down over him, her arms transformed into lengthy flesh-colored machine guns.
"Hey, there, small fry…"
Dipper wrapped his noodle arms across Wendy's body, as she lowered her head against his. Together as one, they coasted upwards to challenge the recovering behemoth.
"Oh, I see…" Bill blinked his injures away. "So, you two figured it out, eh? Well, it doesn't matter!" Thunder boomed across the land as the atmosphere turned blood red. "You're still nothing but gnats when compared to me!"
"We'll see about that, creep!"
Dipper hopped away from Wendy as they flew circles around the confused beast, striking him with their laser eyes in every vulnerable spot.
"And with their minds working as one," Sere butted in. "Wendy and Dipper use their newly-discovered powers to wear down the mighty demigod, and when he is at his weakest…"
"While he's weakened," The now-landed Dipper instructed. "Picture a portal leading out of your mind!"
A blue and purple vortex opened up beneath the fallen dream demon. He tried to claw his way to freedom, only for the hole to increase with every passing second.
"WHAT?! NO! NO! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!"
With the battle theirs, the couple held on together and celebrated their well-earned victory, until Wendy's body unexpectedly became intangible, as her hands fell through his. She soon dissipated from the entirely of the dream world.
"…they cast Bill Cipher out from Wendy's mind and she is able to wake into the real world."
"So, that's it, right?" Wendy asked Sere. "They won, right? What else can happen to those two?"
As a relieved Dipper, now alone in the dreamscape, wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'll glad that's all over with…"
"Don't be so sure!"
The entire desert background will soon filled by the three-sided face of Bill Cipher.
"He's back?!" The Dipper outside of the window cried. "How can he already be back?!"
"You might have won this time, but don't think for a moment that you can ever defeat me!"
"You're wrong, Bill!" The Dipper below him dared. "Wendy and I beat you today, and together, we'll overcome anything you can throw at us!"
"That might be true, but tell me, what happens when you're not together?"
"What?"
Bill met Dipper face-to-face, "I'm not ignorant of the outside world, kid! I know when summer is over, you two will have to part ways. The question is that how will you protect each other when you're hundreds of miles away? There isn't a spell or magic out there that can save your sorry hides from me!"
"We'll find a way!" Dipper tried to hide the growing fear in his voice. "We'll always find a way!"
The demigod chortled to himself, "Ever so confident, and yet, just as foolish; what makes you think I'd even come after you?"
The demented being offered a new vision by stretching his arms outwards. Inside, a broken Wendy sat straightjacketed and shivering inside of a barely-lit, white-padded room as she quietly mumbled to herself.
"I'll chip away at her mind piece by piece until I leave her a blubbering mess, and you'll be left powerless to stop me." Bill promised. "Heck, I'll make you watch every last second in your dreams. You two will come to dread any time you go to shut your eyes!"
"This is the most screwed-up thing I've seen so far." Wendy said. "And that's saying something!"
"But can he do that?" Dipper consulted with Sere. "I mean, you said Weirdmageddon hasn't happened in this world, so he wouldn't have the same kind of power he did in our universe…"
"So, no…" Wendy took a long gulp. "No turning people in tapestry with a snap of his fingers?"
"You two are right by that." Sere compared. "But in the world of dreams, Bill's power is said to be near-infinite, so it's kinda hard to say…"
Bill teased Dipper once more. Just so you take me a bit more seriously, let's just say I offer you a small taste of what's to come; I already left my mark on your little girlfriend!"
"What do you mean by that?" Dipper demanded, as his body faded away from existence. "What did you do to Wendy?!"
"Sere, wait?" The Dipper standing before the portal asked. "I thought Bill's power was mostly limited to that in the dreamscape?"
"True," the mystic gave a brief shrug. "But who's to say if it'll have any lasting effect in the real world."
With a flash, the alternative Dipper was back in the Corduroy cabin, racing through the hallway leading from Wendy's room.
"Wendy?"
Her voice came from behind a nearby door, "I'm – I'm in here…"
He tapped the door with his knuckles, finding an exhausted and sweat-drenched Wendy overlooking herself in a mirror.
"Are you alright?"
"I – I think so. I mean, I'm super exhausted, but I suppose that's a given with this kinda stuff?"
"Phew! Yeah, you're telling me! I just wanted to make sure you were okay…"
"Well, it's all over with, right?" Wendy looked away from the mirror. "There's nothing left to worry about…"
All of the breath was knocked out of her Dipper's body as he met her gaze. A purple, wrinkly bag had appeared beneath each of Wendy's green eyes.
"Her eyes!" Wendy pointed out. "What are those things?"
The Dipper to her right slowly traced the same markings against his eyes.
"They're worry marks." He told Wendy. "Signs of extreme amounts of stress and overall nervousness." He felt his scars again. "And as time passes, they only get worse."
The sound of Wendy's voice rose higher from the gateway, "I said, there's –there's nothing left to worry about…right?"
"Yeah," Dipper hugged her waist, as he turned away with doubt. "There's nothing to worry about…"
As the picture of the reunited couple faded to black, Wendy held her chin up with her hand. "I know that look. That boy's about to do something really stupid…"
"Hey!"
"Oops! I didn't mean it like that, Dip. Your uncle has that same look. Something terrible happens and he gets desperate and that makes him do something he ends up regretting."
"Uh…"
"Actually, Wendy," Sere said. "You are incredibly close…"
The screen flashed back to life as thousands of stars shone at once across a particularly darkened sky. Two shadows moved along the rooftop of the closed Mystery Shack, guaranteeing them the much needed privacy they required.
"As Wendy spent the day recovering from Bill Cipher's attack, Dipper scans the entirely of the Journal 3, searching for an answer on how to prevent Bill from invading Wendy's mind again. Unfortunately, his efforts are for naught…"
"Especially since there's no Ford to give us a greater insight on Bill's inner workings." Dipper added.
"Left with possibly no other choice, Dipper comes with a desperate plan that'll ensure the wicked dream trickster will never hurt his girlfriend ever again…"
"Lemme guess…" Dipper looked up to Wendy. ""Told ya?""
To his surprise, Wendy's demeanor wasn't prideful, but rather troubled and darkened.
"I'm really not likin' where this is going…"