Family
Chapter 434 Manor Job
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a story for fun.
Back in the Underground, Dipper was leading Mabel, Pacifica, Rain, Wendy, Alcor, Vivian, and Dolly back to the creepy manor where the next job was supposed to take place. On the walk there Alcor and Wendy exchanged glances as if they wanted to say something, but then they would just stop themselves and look away. The two of them had a complicated relationship due to Wendy finding out Alcor was a clone of both Dipper and Bill Cipher. Wendy didn't know if she could trust Alcor, true he had saved her life a few times, but that could just be a plow to get Wendy and the others to trust him. Alcor wanted to tell Wendy, how he felt about her, but didn't know how best to express himself. He felt bad about keeping his clone origin from Wendy, he never intended to deceive her and fully planned to reveal his identity to her, but things didn't go as planned. Alcor now planned to prove to Wendy that he was trustworthy and that he genuinely did love and cared for her.
Mabel witnessed the looks between Wendy and Alcor and decided she was going to help them get back together. Alcor was technically Mabel's brother and Wendy was one of her best friends and she thought the two of them would make a great couple.
The group soon reached the manor and Dolly lead them to what appeared to be a cellar. Dolly explained that the cellar was the only way into the manor since the front door and lower windows were covered in ice. Alcor volunteered to shatter the ice on the front door, but Dolly was against it, since the sound of the shattering ice would attract Queen Vanessa and she said that would be a really bad thing. The group was fixing to head into the cellar, when the Snatcher suddenly appeared.
"Hey there before you get going I decided to bring up a few details regarding this particular job. Only three of you plus Dolly are allowed to go into the manor, none of you are allowed to attack the occupant of this place, and lastly the item you must get must come from the attic. Can't let the job be too easy." Said Snatcher.
"So who should we send for this job?" Asked Wendy.
"I'll go. I'm the one who signed the contract, so this is my responsibility." Said Dipper.
"Then I'm coming with you to watch your back." Said Pacifica.
"Pacifica." Said Dipper.
"Hey I can take care of myself and you without my weapons or keys. Last time we left you alone, you got attacked by a shapeshifter who tried to steal your identity, so you're not leaving my sight, especially in a creepy place like this." Said Pacifica with a determined look in her eyes.
Dipper just smiled at Pacifica. He was really touched by her feelings for him.
"I shall come as well. I can fly and I can blend in with the shadows." Said Vivian.
"Alright you can come." Said Dipper.
"So that makes three. Now I'll be taking away your weapons and I'll be temporarily taking away your attack magic." Said Snatcher as he snapped his fingers.
Pacifica's bow, arrows, and keys appeared lying next to Mabel's feet and a blue armband with some kind of runes appeared on Dipper and Vivian's right wrist.
"Those bands will keep you from using attack magic and they'll disappear as soon as you leave the manor. Happy hunting." Said Snatcher as he vanished.
Dipper took a deep breath as Dolly lead him, Pacifica, and Vivian into the cellar.
"I promise to do everything in my power to keep everyone safe!" Called Dolly to the others.
The cellar was mostly dark with a few odd lights scattered about. There were a few wine barrels and what appeared to be some chains and shackles hanging from one wall. Dolly lead the trio up some stairs and to a door that lead into the manor itself. The group found themselves in a large decorative hallway with a long red carpet. The walls were decorated with old paintings and tapestries. Dipper took notice of three doors up ahead one door on the left and two on the right. He also took notice of some large claw marks on the right side of the wall, undoubtedly done by Queen Vanessa. Dipper shuddered as he began to wonder what kind of monstrous the master of the manor was. The group made their way down the hallway, when a loud voice called out from the door to the left.
"Who's there? Who dares enter my home?"
"She's on the first floor! You need to go hide in one of the other rooms right now!" Said Dolly to the others waving them towards one of the doors on the right.
Dipper, Pacifica, and Vivian hurried over to one of the doors and opened it. The three of them raced into the room, while Dolly remained in the hallway.
"What about you?" Asked Dipper looking at Dolly.
"Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine. I live here and I'm Queen Vanessa's best friend, so she won't hurt me." Said Dolly.
Dipper nodded his head and headed into the room with the others. He noticed that Pacifica and Vivian had gone very pale and he looked at what they were staring at and saw that they weren't the only occupants. The room they were in appeared to be a living room with a piano, couch, a couple of chairs, a coffee table, and a couple of bookcases. The other occupants appeared to be Red Minion and a X-Naut, both of whom were frozen like ice sculptures with looks of absolute terror as they held their arms up to defend themselves from some form of attacker. Dipper had a pretty good idea who was responsible for the two unfortunate creatures and knowing he was in the same house as the freezing terror sent a shiver down Dipper's spine.
"Oh hello Dolly. I thought you were someone else." Said a deep haunting voice from the hallway.
"Nope just little old me. Your best friend Dolly. I went out for a walk." Said Dolly.
Dipper's curiosity got the better of him and he walked up to the door to peer through the keyhole to look into the hallway and see what Queen Vanessa. The thing in the hallway made Dipper's blood go cold. Now Dipper had seen many strange and frightening creatures in Gravity Falls and Ooo, but Queen Vanessa was in a class of her own. Queen Vanessa appears was an inhumanly tall, shadowy figure that seemed to be made out of constantly shifting smoke. She had thin arms, with sharp claws, long messy hair, a small dark crown sitting on her head, piercing red star shaped eyes, and a large hunched-over stature.
"That's nice. I think I'm going to go shower and freshen up. The Prince is sure to coming very soon." Said Queen Vanessa before she headed to the other door on the right and went through it.
Dipper let out a sigh of relief. Dolly headed over to the door and let herself in.
"Ok she's showering on the second floor. That's gives us a chance to sneak up to the second floor and figure out to get into the attic." Said Dolly.
The group snuck out into the hallway and headed to the other door on the right and went into a room that appeared to be a parlor that had another door that must have lead to the second floor. Dipper tried the door, but it was locked.
"Don't worry there's a spare key in the living room." Said Dolly.
They headed back to the living room and Dolly told them it was on the bookshelf. Dipper found it and then he spotted a book that caught his attention. It was titled 'The Tale of Queen Vanessa' in big red letters. Dipper took the book down and showed it to the others.
"Are you sure you should be messing with that?" Asked Pacifica.
"It might give of some information that could help us. At the very least will learn about Queen Vanessa." Said Dipper before he sat on the couch and opened the book.
While all that was going on outside the manor Alcor had finally worked up the courage to talk to Wendy.
"It's really good to see you again Wendy and I'm glad you're all doing alright. I mean Dipper had his soul stolen by an insane evil freak, but I have faith that you'll complete the last jobs and get it back." Said Alcor.
"I guess it's good to see you too." Said Wendy.
"Look I get you're mad about me keeping my identity and origin from you a secret, but I fully intended to tell you who I was and everything." Said Alcor.
"How do I know I can trust you Alcor? You're part Bill Cypher! Everything we've done together could have been you just acting to gain my and the others trust! I don't know if the feelings we had for each are real!" Said Wendy looking frustrated.
"I do love you Wendy. Every moment we spent together was real I promise you that." Said Alcor.
"How do I know we can trust you?" Asked Wendy.
"Tell us all whose down here with you." Said Mabel trying to help Alcor out.
"Well there's me, Samantha, Nyx, Ying, Chi, Kai, Laser Wizard, Ringo, Streak, Angelica, Koba, Beast, a new lizard guy named Toffee and his flunky Rasticore, and another new guy who seems to be a pirate ghost zombie demon named LeChuck and his crew of pirates. Laser Wizard is looking to acquire Horror's Hand." Said Alcor.
"Anything else you can tell us?" Asked Mabel.
"My group encountered a group of creatures called Minions and Stalkers who work for the Gunslinger Lich. They formed an alliance with Laser Wizard to help him find Horror's Hand and escape the Underground." Said Alcor.
"That's bad." Said Rain.
"During our time with the Gunslinger Lich we found a young girl with some unique abilities being experimented on named Elise. My friends and I decided to bust her out and ditch Laser Wizard and his gang. Then I found out about you being sent to Subcon Forest so I came to help and here I am." Said Alcor.
"You see! We can trust Alcor! He and his friends saved a person and they helped us out on a few occasions. We should let them join us." Said Mabel looking at Wendy.
Before Wendy could respond the ground began to shake and large vines shot out of the ground and grabbed Rain and Mabel lifting them up into the air.
"Time for a little payback!" Said Flowey who was now giant size due to the growth potion he just drank, burst out of the ground and grinned nastily at the captured children.
"Flowey!" Cried Mabel in alarm.
"Put them down!" Ordered Wendy as she pulled out her ax.
"No." Said Flowey.
"Then I have no choice to use my inner lumberjack." Said Wendy before she charged forward swinging her ax and sliced several of the vines to bits.
Flowey screamed in both pain and rage as Wendy continued to chop his vines. Wendy reached the vines that held Mabel and Rain and sliced them down causing the children to fall, but Alcor caught them both and gently placed them on the ground. Flowey was enraged by this and fired several pellets at Wendy. Alcor warped in front of Wendy and deflected all the pellets with his cane. Flowey snarled in rage and shot out several vines and wrapped them around Alcor intending to crush him to death.
"Time to pulverize you!" Laughed Flowey.
"I don't think so." Said Alcor before the vines burst into blue flames.
Alcor flew behind Flowey and then proceeded to rip his petals off his head.
RIP!
"Aaaaaaaaa!" Screamed Flowey.
"She loves me not." Said Alcor.
RIP!
"Aaaaaaaaaa!"
"She loves me."
RIP!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"She loves me not."
Alcor repeated this process a few more times, until he reached the last petal and pulled it off.
"She loves me!" Said Alcor with a smile.
A whimpering Flowey shrank back to his normal size and glared at Alcor.
"I'll be back and when we see each other again I WILL KILL YOU!" Declared Flowey.
"Well I look forward to pulling off more of your petals." Said Alcor with a smirk.
This made Flowey go pale before he dove underground and fled the scene to regrow his petals. Alcor turned to Wendy and the others and he dusted his hands off.
"I will not allow harm come to any of you, while I'm around." Said Alcor.
"That was pretty awesome and you know what I do love you Alcor." Said Wendy as she went over to Alcor and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Alcor flushed a little and both Mabel and Rain smiled and giggled.
Back in the manor Dipper, Pacifica, and Vivian looked through the book, which seemed to be a story book and a historical record of Queen Vanessa's life. The book showed a picture of a young woman with blonde hair wearing a green dress and crown holding Dolly. This was Queen Vanessa and she was with a young man with brown hair dressed in red clothes and a crown, who must have been the Prince. The book showed Queen Vanessa and the Prince together and they seemed to be in love. The book also showed Queen Vanessa as a fairly kind and just ruler, though she did seem a bit possessive of the Prince. One day Queen Vanessa was walking through the village, when she spotted the Prince giving flowers to another girl and thought the Prince had fallen in love with with another woman. Queen Vanessa's heart broke and she fled the scene in tears.
"Poor girl." Said Pacifica.
Dipper nodded his head in agreement and turned the page and saw a few strands of paper sticking out instead of a page. Someone or something had ripped the page out. Dipper turned to the next page, which showed the Prince entering the manor with the flowers and Queen Vanessa ordered her knights to drag him away and throw him in the dungeon. The last few pages showed the prince chained to a wall with shadows covering the upper parts of his body, Queen Vanessa's eyes turning red as her body was covered in darkness, Dolly coming to life and moving on her own, and Queen Vanessa unleashing a terrible blizzard to the land that destroyed the village and killed everyone in it.
"So an entire village was destroyed because of a broken heart." Said Vivian.
"That Prince really messed up." Said Pacifica.
"Not exactly." Said Dolly.
"What do you mean?" Asked Dipper.
"The Prince was very loyal to Vanessa and loved her deeply. Vanessa loved him back and was very possessive of him. She got very paranoid whenever she heard the Prince say he loved something. Vanessa one time heard the Prince say he loved bacon, so she banned bacon from the kingdom." Said Dolly.
"Yikes." Said Vivian.
"Yes. Vanessa had a tendency to take things to the extreme. Including misunderstandings." Said Dolly sadly.
"Well this book told us who the Snatcher used to be." Said Dipper.
"Who?" Asked Pacifica.
"The Prince." Said Dipper pointing at the picture of the Prince in chains.
"Whoa! You're right Dipper, they have the same hair." Said Pacifica.
"So how does this help us." Asked Vivian.
"Not sure yet, but I think we should take the book with us." Said Dipper as he placed the book in his bag.
The group left the living room and headed to the parlor. They used the key on the door and headed to the second floor. Dipper and his friends found themselves in a hallway with one door on the left, two doors on the right, and one door at the end of the hallway. Dolly lead the others to the door at the end of the hallway and tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Queen Vanessa might have the key." Said Dolly.
The others turned pale as Dolly lead them to the door on the left and opened it to reveal a bathroom. On one side of the bathroom there was a sink, a towel rack, and a bathtub with a shower curtain. The shower was currently going and the group could see the shadowy form of Queen Vanessa behind it. Dipper saw the key by the sink and went to go grab it. It was then that the shower stopped and a clawed hand came out from behind the curtain and blindly search for a towel. It took all of Dipper and the other's willpower not to scream. Dolly quickly grabbed the towel and handed it to the claw. The claw took the towel and disappeared behind the shower curtain. Dipper realized they didn't have much time, so he quickly grabbed the key and he and the others left the bathroom. They fled to the door at the end of the hallway. Dipper quickly unlocked the door and they ran up the stairs into the attic closing the door behind them. The group sat down breathing hard as they all listened for sounds of pursuit. For a few minutes there was nothing, but silence. It was safe for now. Dipper and the others relaxed. They had finally made it to the attic now they just needed to find an object to take and get out of the manor.
"Alright spread out and search this place." Said Dipper.
They all began to search the attic for something to give to the Snatcher. There was junk scattered about, but so far they hadn't found anything good. Dipper was going through some boxes, when he found a small treasure chest and opened it up. There was a blinding flash and Dipper stared in amazement at a blue Sapphire Crystal Star.
"It's a Crystal Star!" Exclaimed Dipper in disbelief.
"We actually found one in a place like this." Said Vivian.
"So what do we do with it?" Asked Pacifica.
"Well we can't leave it here and we can't give it to the Snatcher." Said Dipper.
"So what do we give the Snatcher?" Asked Pacifica.
"Maybe we can give him the book. If that doesn't work will think of something else." Said Dipper.
"Well I guess we better get going." Said Pacifica.
Dipper closed the chest and placed it in his bag. Vivian looked at Dipper not sure what to do. She couldn't believe she found a Crystal Star. If Vivian returned to Spirit's lair with the Crystal Star she would be hailed as a hero and her sisters would respect her, but to do that she would have to attack Dipper and the others and steal the Crystal Star and she really didn't want to do that. Dipper and his friends had treated Vivian kindly and she liked them back.
They reached the door and they entered the hallway. It seemed everything was clear. The group were making their way to the end of the hallway, when the door at the end opened up and Queen Vanessa appeared!
"Thieves!" Yelled Queen Vanessa as she charged forward.
"We're so dead!" Yelled Dipper.
"Quick grab my hands!" Yelled Vivian to the others.
Dipper grabbed Vivian's righthand, Pacifica grabbed her lefthand, and Dolly hopped onto Pacifica's back. Vivian flew into the air taking her companions with her. They flew up to the celling and down the hall over Queen Vanessa's head. Queen Vanessa jumped up and swiped at Vivian and the others, but missed as they flew by. Vivian flew continued down the hallway and Queen Vanessa fired a ball of ice at her that slammed into her back and knocked her to the ground.
"You will suffer my wrath!" Yelled Queen Vanessa as she charged forward again.
Dipper saw the chest had fallen out of his bag and he quickly grabbed it and opened it up making sure to point it at Queen Vanessa. There was a blinding flash of light.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Screamed Queen Vanessa as she blindly reeled back and fell to the ground dazed.
"Run!" Yelled Dipper to the others as he helped Vivian up.
Everyone raced to the door, down the stairs, through the first floor hallway, down to the cellar, and finally outside to join the others. The group all practically collapsed to the ground breathing hard. Wendy, Mabel, Rain, and Alcor saw them and went over to them.
"What happened?" Asked Mabel.
"We ran into a horrible monster, but the good news is we succeeded." Said Dipper showing the others the chest and carefully opened it up to show them the Crystal Star.
"Whoa!" Said Mabel and Wendy.
"You're not going to give that to Snatcher?" Asked Rain.
"No. I won't. Now come on we have one last job to complete." Said Dipper.
The others started moving with Dolly leading the way to the place of the final job.
To be continued.