"Oh no, not this again," Wendy cried aloud as she looked around, backing up into the circle with Dipper, Mabel and Soos. "How the heck is there a ghost here?!"
The temperature around them was dropping. What was a mild and warm day was becoming late autumn or early winter inside the Mystery Manor. The only remaining light in the gift shop came from the lighters the five members of the N.P.P.P., who held them up on their side of the circle.
Ben, the nerd, studied his EMF detector. "That's a decent question," Ben noted to Wendy and turned to the others, "And I... don't have any idea! It does not make any sense!"
"What is he talking about?" Soos asked the others, "Ghosts are totally real."
"Yeah, they are," Luke answered quickly, "But they haunt the places they were in life! Stanley told us in the tour that he built it ages ago with someone, and no one had ever died here!"
Dipper felt something inside his jacket call for action. "Ghosts don't technically have to haunt the place they died in," Dipper told them loudly. He then reached under his arm and pulled out his most recent pet-project: a blue bound journal with silver detailing of a pine tree on the front and a certain star constellation along the spine. As Dipper examined it, aware of it's incomplete status, Waddles squealed loudly. The Five members of the NPPP turned to Dipper.
"Yeah, inform these dorks what's up," Mabel told Dipper as he flipped through the pages.
"Just one second... I am going to make a glossary as soon as I'm done," he groaned, "Naga, gnome, tulpa- Ah! Here we go," Dipper laid pit the book for the others to read as well. There was a heat in his cheeks as they all stared at his own handwriting, along with various bits of illustrated examples. Wendy and Soos both awed at the work. "Took Yuki's suggestion to heart," he told them "Mabel helped me with this, and I'm helping her with her scrapbook."
"It's a work in perfection," Mabel told them.
"Progress," Dipper corrected.
"Tomato-potato," Mabel shrugged.
Giving her a half-amused eying, Dipper read aloud the words he copied from his lost Grunkle Ford. "Ghosts are the souls, or spirits, of the deceased who are restless; looking for something that puts them at ease," Dipper read aloud, "Hauntings do tend to stay within the area of one's death, but cases of ghostly activity have been recorded outside their last living location."
"Not only that," Mabel read aloud as well, poking her nose into Dipper's journal, "Not all ghosts have the same purpose. While many haunt their homes and businesses as a warning to others of their demise, other spirits return for a less specific purpose, and are harder to dispel or calm than standard ghosts. These are poltergeists or revenants. Otherwise, consult the one to eleven scale of haunting."
Soos angled his head in as well, and eyed a comment left by Dipper. "Beware their requests for embarrassing dances and disdain for teenagers?" he said, and looked to Dipper.
His cheeks were slightly pink. "I, uh," Dipper quickly glanced around, "Don't want to talk about it."
"Wait, so we may not be dealing with a standard ghost," Wendy looked around, and then eyed Dipper, "Like last time, but something that doesn't 'want' anything from us?"
"If it's a really bad one," Dipper shook his head, "It'll want something from us all right."
"What?" They all asked. Dipper gulped and traced his finger across his neck, and all their faces went pale.
Wendy leaned back and looked around. "Well, is there anything at all we can use to fight these things?" she asked.
Screams of fright echoed from deeper inside the manor, and the group whipped around to face the darkness. Something was happening, further in. Footsteps stomped closer and soon the entire crew was tossing themselves through the door into the gift shop, pushing aside the cluster of young folk to scramble for the door.
"Hey!"
"Watch it!"
"Aw, not the hat!" Soos cried atop the other exclamations the rest of the gang, adjusting his hat as he, like the others, were tossed aside.
The clamor of fear and panic was not successful at opening the door. It remained barred so perfectly that they might as well have been pushing against solid concrete. The group started to gather by the other end of the room just as a faint shimmer of dark blue and violet was collecting in the center of the room. The twins, Soos, Wendy, and the NPPP quickly pushed themselves into corners or out of sight.
The voice that had cackled earlier emanated from the shimmers. "Scared little mice," a high-pitched, excitedly grim voice echoed into the room. From the dark blue and violets, a man appeared, floating by the ceiling. He was gaunt, thin and looked like he had developed little to no muscle; skin stretched over bones and a balding head. His eyes were bright violet spots surrounded by black, and he stared gleefully at the now screaming crew members of the Totally Real Paranormal Mystery Show. "Let's make that... truthful," he added and pointed a finger at the men.
The television crew, behind the poltergeist, shrieked and cried out as a bolt of energy zapped them. They all screamed once more, and then vanished. Instead of men with cameras and equipment, a large pile of squeaking, panicked mice scattered and fled.
"Ahh-hahahahaa!" the poltergiest roared with laughter and held his sides as he spun around in the air. "Perfect! I love this! Being me is amazing!"
Quietly, Dipper whispered to the others "Run!"
Before the poltergeist could finish his giggling and sense their retreat, the nine plus a pig fled and sprinted deeper into the manor. Dipper and Mabel stuck together with Soos and Wendy, quickly passing by the now empty living room and fled into the kitchen. Where the NPPP fled to, they couldn't tell.
"Hide somewhere for now!" Dipper ordered.
The four of them scrambled for spots of safety. Mabel was cat-like enough to instantly flip up and land atop the fridge, and squeezed herself next to a container of cookies. Soos slid under the table and huddled the legs of the chairs with waddles. Wendy dodged into a large pantry and Dipper slipped under the sink, both closing the lids gently behind them.
"What now?" Mabel called from her spot.
"Shh!" Dipper hissed. He had heard the ethereal sounds of an approaching ghost. No sooner had Mabel clapped a hand on her mouth than the poltergeist, in a shape of mist, smoke, and a darkly violet light, entered the kitchen. It hovered once on the table, and then continued by, sweeping through the building elsewhere. Mabel craned her head out from her spot.
"He's gone!" she stage-whispered.
"We need a plan," Wendy's voice told them from her pantry.
"I know, I'm thinking," Dipper said, and pondered about the possibilities. Before he knew it, his mind was leaking his ideas through his mouth. "Unless someone happens to have a silver mirror around, I've heard that salt is supposed to be sacred. Maybe that would work?"
"Wait, salt is sacred?" Soos asked, "Oh man, I'm totally adding more to my soups for now on."
"It is!" Mabel agreed, "My master uses it for meditation, and it helped me summon the fire spirit that brought that phoenix."
"What good is salt going to be?" Wendy prompted them all, "Do we just, what, throw it into his eyes or something?"
"I don't know," Dipper shrugged, "Maybe if we toss it at him he'll disperse? Or maybe just weaken up a bit."
"I know silver works against werewolves," Soos added, "Maybe that'll work against ghosts too."
"Why?" Mabel asked. Soos shrugged, accidentally bumping the entire table and making a mild commotion. "Whoops."
"Soos!" Dipper gasped, but then held his own mouth shut. That same eerie sound was returning.
"Quiet!" Mabel said as she pulled herself back into her corner.
It returned again, the ball of darkness shining like light from a concentrated ball. The emanating trails of shadow lingered. The sphere seemed to be studying the room a bit more closely. It approached the table, and then hovered quickly to the fridge.
Dipper gritted his teeth, desperate to scream and save his sister. The spirit then opened the fridge, rather than looking up. Mabel's eyes shot wide and she sealed her mouth as tightly as she could. She was inches away from it now. The spirit groaned angrily, and slammed the fridge door shut. Mabel jostled, but was otherwise silent, as it moved back towards the living room and gift shop.
"Too close," Mabel gulped, "And I really don't want to be possessed again."
"Okay, so silver and salt?" Wendy asked of Dipper, her green eyes peering through the pantry slits, and looking to Dipper, who did the same.
"Best bets we have right now," Dipper told her.
"Okay," Soos nodded, "What do we do then?"
Dipper swallowed, and as quietly as he could, stepped out from his hiding spot. Quickly darting to the shelves by the other pantries, he looked through as many of the odd assortment of mismatched silverware as he could. Finally, after clicking them together, he found one that felt softer and shined brighter. As he scrambled through the cabinet, he found more, but rattled around the remaining iron and steel pieces.
"C'mon, c'mon!" he muttered, tossing around the kitchenware as he desperately sought after stolen silver things. He heard a gasp from elsewhere in the building. It had heard him.
"Soos, here," Dipper slid to him quietly two silver spoons, and then tossed up to Mabel a fork and a knife. As he turned to Wendy, he saw the light coming through the doorway. He didn't have time to give her a silver utensil. He didn't even have time to get back to cover.
"Who... might you be?" the voice called.
Dipper, facing the darkened window to the night, slowly turned to face the gaseous ball floating above the table. He gulped as he stared into the ball of darkness, barely able to make out the outline of a face, looking to Dipper with interest.
"I'm Dipper," he told him shakily, looking around, holding the remaining fork in his hand.
"Dipper... that's a name, is it?" the ghostly entity asked him. It then materialized into it's humanoid form. It seemed confused, dwelling on the information Dipper had given him. "I thought it was something you do. To Dip."
"It's also my name," Dipper found what little courage he had facing this hostile force and addressed it fully, "What do you want?"
"What I want?"
"Yeah," Dipper asked the confused spirit, "You're a ghost, right?" he nodded to the spirit, who stared at him, "So, uh, you're looking for something. What is it?"
As it had dwelled on Dipper's name, it seemed further confused with his questioning. "I'm looking for... people like you," the ghost scratched his chin, and then leered as it came to his truth, "To be... haunted."
Dipper's instinct flicked on quicker than his reflexes could have begged. He threw the silver fork straight at the figure's eye, who gasped and stepped back, holding his face. "What... what was that!?" the spirit demanded of Dipper. Mabel leapt out, and tossed her fork and knife at him, which flew through his torso. "What is this!?" he demanded, looking at himself. Finally, Soos leapt up from under the table, entirely shocking the spirit to take a few levitating steps back, and the handyman also tossed his spoons at the face of the ghost. The passed through his eyes, and the shocked spirit blinked.
He seemed... less than harmed. The pig oinked curiously at the turn of events.
Checking himself, the spirit assessed for damages. "Uh... is that how you all express your fear?" the spirit pointed to the three of them with uncertainty, who were shaking in their shoes. The silver had done nothing.
Wendy took action- bursting from her hiding spot, she snatched an entire bag of salt, tore the top off, and threw a heaping wall of sand onto the ghost. The four watched as the salt fell through his outline and scattered on the ground, entirely passing through the apparition before them.
He blinked and looked to Wendy, a smile growing on his face. "Ha, salt? Salt?! Hah- Ahh, ahh-" he sneezed. Then, again, he sneezed. Again, and again he let out a roar of a cry for the buildup in his nose, rocking his head forward.
"Run!" Dipper shouted as the charged past him. The ghost didn't even bother trying to stop them, as he was too busy clutching the table and violently sneezing.
"I hate salt!" the spirit wailed as they fled. He roared in between a series of sneezes, "Saaaalt! Achoo!"
The twins' feet pattered quickly as they spotted the stairs out before the living room. Looking back once to check on Soos and Wendy as the four of them ran, they dived for the hallway and started the ascent. If they were lucky, the spirit wouldn't be able to hear their loud steps over the impressive sneezes it compulsively billowed out from the kitchenl. A turn to the left, a turn to the right, and the four of them ran into the twins bedroom with Waddles and closed the door quickly and quietly.
"Okay," Soos turned around to them, "What now?"
"Yeah!" Wendy hissed worriedly, "Salt and silver didn't do anything!"
Mabel put out her hands and made circles through the air. "Mundis Moondis joojoo voodoo," Mabel chanted quietly. The three of them slowly turned and stared at her, "Oh, I just was thinking maybe if I said something in Latin maybe I could summon a spell."
Dipper looked like Mabel had just spat on the grave of their mother. "That wasn't even... the second part wasn't even... I..." Dipper shook his head slowly, unable to fathom the depths of incorrectness his sister had just said.
Soos, eager for answers, continued. "So, going off of what we saw from three years ago, I don't think a spell is the best idea right now," Soos pointed out.
Mabel grunted and nodded firmly. "Then what do we do? Salt and silver do nothing," Mabel pondered, scratching her chin. Dipper watched her think, doing his own share of ponderous thought. His eyes flickered to Soos, who was scratching his hat, and looking at his fingers, as if somewhere on their lines he could find the solution. Then there was Wendy, turned half way from him, staring out the window.
"Do you guys hear something?" Wendy asked them.
After Mabel quieted her humming, they all stood quietly and listened. Indeed, there was something audible coming from the window. The four of them slowly approached and saw, standing below them, a lone and scared looking teenager Alien.
"Yuki!" Mabel declared as she pried open the window as best she could. It barely budged, still controlled by the powers of the poltergeist. Wendy and Soos reached over her and helped, pushing open the window with the groaning of wood and metal.
"My friends!" Yuki yelled up to them, "What is amiss!?"
"Ha!" Mabel couldn't help herself but laugh, shaking her head at his vocabulary, "Amiss. I love it."
"There's a freakin' ghost in here dude!" Soos shouted down as Dipper came over, poking his head out from the side to get a look at the lone alien down below.
"A spirit?" Yuki gasped, looking to the door that was far to the left of him, "A spiritual manifestation of life-energies from a deceased mortal?"
"Yeah, that one," Wendy nodded.
Waddles propped himself up, and squealed down to the alien hopefully.
Yuki worriedly frowned. "It would explain the perplexing mystery to how the door wouldn't open and felt unnaturally cold," he told them, and looked back up. "Can you jump?" he asked.
"From here?" Dipper asked, looking around. Mabel nodded confidently, and Wendy shrugged, but Soos nervously analyzed the height and gulped, leaving Dipper uncertain to their next action. He could have Wendy and Mabel go off and search for help, while he and Soos laid low and tried surviving the poltergeist.
Then again, past experience had taught Dipper the risks involved with splitting up the gathered crew. Too many times they had to re-group to come up with a solution to solve the problem at hand. Sometimes they needed to split up, but often by doing so they delayed their chances at quickly solving the problem. Besides, he thought he could get down, but there was good chance to hurt something. Maybe it would be worth trying to jump-
"Holy Mackerel!"
The four of them turned back to the inside of the shack, having just heard the same voice simultaneously.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel gasped. Waddles, sacred enough as is, decided to take the chances. Mabel screamed as Waddles took the yell from inside the building as a cue to leap onto the edge and jump from the side. "WADDLES, NO!"
"I have him!" Yuki shouted as the pig plummeted towards him. Thanks to a strength far greater than his sized called for, the alien easily captured the falling pig in his arms, and gently lowered him to the ground. "He is safe!" he declared, patting Waddles gently on the head.
"Is he okay?" Mabel demanded as the others stared out after him.
"For now, I would say so," Yuki checked on the pig, who was gnawing on some grass.
Mabel fuming like a worried parent, scolded her beloved pet. "Waddles, you could have been hurt!" Mabel shouted down. The pig simply looked back up and oinked. Her anger surrendered and she squealed, "Awww, I can't stay mad at that face..."
Dipper turned back to Yuki, who was craning his head as high as he could to better see them. "Yuki," Dipper started, "Get out of here and go get help! Go find a priest or something and bring them here!"
"A... a priest? A human priest?" Yuki gulped, "But, but I know not of their-"
"Look dude," Wendy called down, "We need your help here. Can you break into the building?"
Yuki shook his head. "I have tried so far and found no success. Even with my strength," he assured them, "I could not break open the door."
"Then... ugh, he could take hours by foot," Dipper growled, scratching his hair through his hat.
"Wait!" Soos declared, and pulled out a pair of keys on a small ring. With a quick jingle, he tossed them out of the window and by Yuki's feet. "Those are the keys to the golf cart. Get into it and drive into town!"
"Oh! I could give him the keys to my bike?" Mabel suggested, and started patting her pockets.
"Uh, I think the golf cart is a better start for Yuki," Dipper placed a hand on hers, holding her to a stop her search short, "Yuki," Dipper called down as he ignored his moping sister, "You do know how to drive one of those, right?"
"Ah," the alien eyed the vehicle to his far right, fear evident in his eyes, "Within, uh, acceptable parameters."
"So, you kinda know," Mabel asked, holding her hand out and wiggling it side to side, "Or you kinda-kinda know?"
"...Kinda-kinda," Yuki admitted with a scared look to them. Yuki then looked to Waddles, who had seated himself down and was staring at those up in the Manor.
"Well, now's a time to learn, dude," Wendy shrugged.
The window, still being pushed out by the three, buckled backwards. Wendy and Mabel gasped and tried pushing against it, but it fought back with terrible tenacity. Dipper, in the last few moments of line of sight to Yuki, called out, "Just find some help! And don't get hurt!" The window slammed shut and the three next to Dipper stumbled back. Frost was growing along the window's surface and they all gulped.
"C'mon Yuki," Mabel muttered as they gathered around the frosting glass.
Before they lost sight of their alien friend, he had picked up the key and started for the lone cart, and was followed by the pink pig. They could hear the motor start. Through the almost opaque window they watched as a small, faded blob of beige color representing the cart jerked to a stop. It started again, and slammed to a stop. Start and go. Start and go. Finally, it began its departure. The four exchanged a defeated look.
Dipper put a hand over his face. "He's going to be stuck between two trees in a ditch somewhere in the woods while we all die here," Dipper groaned, realizing they had just sent the least socially experienced member of the Mystery Manor out to fetch help. "We're all going to die."
"No bro," Mabel swatted his head, "Positive thinking!"
"I'm positive that we're all doomed," Dipper told her. She swatted him again. "Ow. Stop it."
Jumping to speak before the twins upped the stakes on whacking each other, Wendy asked, "So, do we have any idea what we're supposed to do against this thing? Or are just going to assume we really are dead in the water?"
"Ah, I'd prefer we at least went down trying to figure this out," Soos told her, "You know, the usual way."
"Going down in a blaze of terrified glory," Mabel approved, "Sounds great."
Dipper snorted as he shook his head. Mabel was a nut, but at least she could get a laugh out of him at these times. Only... something was nagging his brain. "...So," Dipper started, feeling out his thoughts slowly and carefully, "Are we just going to ignore the fact that this shack has never been haunted until today?" he asked around, drawing their attention to him in the dark room. They all exchanged glances, but said nothing. "It's a little weird that, you know, the timing of this all?"
"All of this is weird, dude," Wendy told him, "That's basically our motto."
"No, but really," Dipper sighed and continued, "these guys show up out of the blue, right? They set up cameras, and want to film with those guys from NPPP. They don't want to hear about what actually happen – they want to film a ghost show."
"A Totally Real Paranormal Mystery Show, to be exact," Soos told him.
"Right," Dipper nodded, and then checked with their stares, watching them watch him, "Isn't it a little strange, coincidental maybe, that all this happened at the same time?"
Mabel seemed to latch onto Dipper's suspicions. "Wait, you don't think that they brought a poltergeist here?" Mabel gasped, a surge of shock behind her eyes. "That would be-"
"Exactly what a producer would do if he thought it could get hot ratings. Remember?" Dipper told them, "What he said? 'Something about a possession or haunting is our best bet for getting the most amount of attention as quickly as we can'."
"Whoa, dude," Wendy shook her head, "You are totally right."
Dipper grinned and fought the feeling of hot bubbling in his stomach. "So... what if he's controlling it?" Dipper suggested, "Trying to get the craziest, over-the-top footage of a real ghost, and then he'll play it up like this place is always like this?"
"That's television genius for you," Soos shrugged.
"Evil genius," Mabel corrected him, and Soos nodded his head in agreement. Mabel turned to her brother. "So, bro-bro... what is the plan? Tackle the producer and tell his ghosts to 'leave this place'?"
Dipper held his hand to his chin, and looked to them all. "Well... we're all too big of a group to be wandering together at the same time. The poltergeist didn't really notice us until I was caught outside the hiding spot. He doesn't have the greatest perception. Maybe he can't automatically tell where we are, like most ghosts can," Dipper guessed, "I mean, if he did, he would have noticed Mabel and Soos right away. So... we need a marching order."
"Oh, what?" Mabel groaned. "Dipper, S&S now, really?"
He firmly nodded. "The sneakiest go first, and then whoever is left follows in their wake. We only move from stealthy spot to stealthy spot, that way," Dipper patted his journal, "If we need to check something, we can do it in a safe location."
"I'll go first," Wendy quickly said. The three looked to her.
"What?" Dipper asked.
"Hey, I'm pretty quiet," Wendy shrugged, "When I want to be."
"... not to disagree with you Wendy, but I don't exactly remember you being the quiet type," Dipper scratched the back of his hand worriedly, afraid for insulting her.
She then laughed and grinned at him. "Who snuck up on a twelve-year-old you confessing their love?" Wendy reminded him. Dipper blushed and Mabel snickered.
Soos raised a fist to Wendy. "Whoa, talk about a retort! Nice one, dude."
"Thanks man," Wendy fist-bumped and grinned at Dipper, who was red in the face. "C'mon dude," she teased, gently punching his shoulder. "I got this. This sucker won't even see me coming."
"Well... okay," Dipper nodded. "Mabel, you after her?"
"Yessir!" Mabel saluted and shot up straight.
"I'll follow you, and then Soos?" he turned to his friend, who nodded.
"I tend to think that if someone normally needs to sneak, that means they're up to no good. So clearly," Soos told them, "I've never done anything bad in my life. Also, I like to eat a lot."
Despite the chuckles from his friends, Soos nodded and they all took positions. The redhead found herself by the door, hand just before the knob. Mabel was behind her, leaning past her to watch the edge of the wooden door. Dipper was behind her, and Soos behind him, nervously wringing his hat in his hands.
Wendy turned to the others and silently held out her hand. From five fingers she dropped one, then two, then three, four and finally... five. Wendy opened the door and stepped out quickly. She dared into the dark bathroom ahead of her. She checked both directions of the hall, and when nothing seemed to bother her, she waved with a nod for Mabel to follow.
One by one the gang followed in Wendy's first step. This entire procedure came to pass again as they moved towards the edge of the stairs. Wendy again checked for the safe clearing, and when she nodded, they followed. The hard part would be, sadly the stairs.
There wasn't an immediate safe place for them to hide at the bottom of the stairs. One direction led to the living room, another the hallway which led to the kitchen and gift shop. There was, to their luck, the long hallway that connected to the rest of the display rooms. Between that hallway and the end of the stairs was the small closet and a coat rack.
Wendy pointed this out silently to Dipper, who nodded. As quietly as he could say while still speaking, Dipper explained, "So, you go down first," He affirmed Wendy. "If you make noise, get to cover ASAP. We'll stay behind or draw attention to ourselves if he gets a clue where you are."
Wendy nodded after he whispered to her. Silent as the grave, she began to descend the stairs. Dipper was actually shocked as he, Mabel, and Soos, all watched Wendy climb down the stairs like a hunter. Dipper let himself think that she actually kind of acted like he thought her Stronghold and Serpents character would have when stalking her prey. She was close to each step, not daring to allow her height to betray her spot.
Half way down the steps, the sound of the approaching poltergeist buzzed through the air. Wendy never even looked back as she moved silently over and pressed herself against the side of the staircase hand-railing. Keeping her eye on the space above her, the thinly man floated slowly past her, leering through the air and sniffling. He wiped his nose briefly and looked up the stairs. The three pulled back quickly.
Dipper stared into Mabel's eyes with terror. If they were right in their fears, Wendy was right in the sight of the spectral menace. It would be any second now – the ghost would cackle and laugh menacingly, and a gust of wind would announce Wendy had been turned into a mouse, or rat or...
Yet nothing was happening.
Dipper dared peek his head past Mabel. The ghost had just turned away, and was floating away. Wendy was not there. "What?" Dipper gasped, looking around the available area. The poltergeist had totally left them, heading for the kitchens. "Wendy?" he gambled as he whispered down the staircase.
"Here," a hand popped up behind from the handrail, in the hallway. "I'm good," she assured Dipper, standing up and creeping forward, the boards under her feet at rest. He couldn't believe her performance so far. She had, somehow, snuck around the gaze of the poltergeist while he was looking right at her. She was a perfect vanguard.
"Okay," Mabel got the okay from Wendy, who peeked her head around the corner to check on the ghost. Mabel now crept down the stairs, and Dipper couldn't believe it, but she was making more noise than Wendy was. Even the smallest step Mabel made at least heralded at tiny creak of wood as it suffered her minor weight. Mabel, the student of the Paths, who had trained in some amount of stealth, was being beaten at it by the slacking teenager who worked at the Mystery Manor.
"You good?" Dipper asked as Mabel slunk to where Wendy was, as she started walking for the closet. Mabel waved Dipper down, and he gulped. His first step on the stairs confirmed his fears. It creaked much louder than either two of them, loud enough for Mabel to whip around and 'shh' him.
"I'm trying!" he hissed at her as he made another two steps. Loud, but still not as loud as his first, Dipper continued down the steps.
"Dude," Wendy pulled herself to the handrail, just by his hands, "You got to own these. Make them yours."
"O-own them?" Dipper repeated, aware of how close her breath was on his hands.
"Yeah dude. Just make every step entirely yours. Don't rush anything," she calmed him.
Dipper slunk down to the steps, and started creeping in the same fashion she had. It was working! Dipper couldn't help but smile at how much of a difference it made as he continued down the steps. He replaced Mabel, who replaced Wendy, who moved down to the end of the hall. She scouted around before nodding. It was still clear.
"Soos," Dipper told him as he checked the corner, "C'mon."
"O-okay, dawg," Soos gulped, and took his first step.
The wood practically rattled. Another step, a roar.
"Soos!" Mabel pleaded with him, "C'mon buddy, lower yourself!"
"I-I don't think I can! I'd fall over," he told Mabel worriedly as he remained on the top third step. He took another, and it sounded like the wood below him was crackling. "Aw man, this is bad."
"Shh!" Dipper hissed at them.
"I don't think I can do it quietly dudes," Soos told them fearfully.
"Okay... well, you know what you need to do then?" Mabel patted his arm as she reached up, "Just go for it."
Soos nodded, and then took her advice in the entirely wrong way. He blazed a trail down the stairs like he was on fire. It would be lucky if someone in the building hadn't heard his noise. Once he landed on the stairs and turned to the others, a familiar cackle floated from the kitchens.
"Hide!" Dipper shouted. Wendy dived from sight, leaving the hallway temporarily, Dipper and Mabel instantly dove for the closet, and ushered Soos to follow, but he stalled, spotting the coming spirit. He shook his head and made for them to close the door. "Soos," Dipper and Mabel managed to say. He reached out and pushed the door closed for them.
Cold crept on them through the door, the eerie, sickly sound of a floating spirit passing by them. The twins exchanged looks as they felt it pass, and then gave themselves a few moments for him to leave the hallway. Mabel was first to reach for the door handle, and as she turned it and pushed the door to look outside, she found the hallway empty. Once the door was fully open, they found what Soos had managed to do for cover – he stepped behind the coat rack and tucked in his stomach.
Dipper, his mouth having fallen open, admitted, "This is the least observant ghost ever," as he and Mabel stepped out and re-joined into the hallway.
Wendy, down the hallway, popped her head out and waved them over. "It's all clear-"
A scream from her direction had them hesitate as she whipped around and stared. It hadn't been from the ghost, nor from Stan. Someone else was yelling. She gasped and waved them over as she moved inside the hallway quickly, and looked towards the direction that led deeper into the tour rooms.
Moving up behind her, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos all poked their heads around the corner, and gasped. In the clutches of the poltergeist, floating just a few inches in the air, was Oppenheim, the producer.
The poltergeist seemed eager with his catch. "You like to talk a lot, don't you?" the ghost told the man, suspended in the air, struggling for breath.
"It- It's part of the job description!" the man chuckled, but then felt the tightening around his neck. He gagged, trying to catch breath.
"You think you're so funny, don't you?" the ghost leaned in, his dangerously sharp teeth gleaming in the darkness with his supernatural glow.
"Funny? No! No!" Justin Oppenheim swore to him, "I'm just a man who wants to get everyone's story!" he explained, and then motioned towards the ghost, "Like yours!"
"Mine?" the ghost loosened his grip, but still kept him in the air, by the collar of his shirt.
"Careful! This is pristine-" the produced ceased his complaining as the ghost snarled like a monster in his face, blowing his hair behind him and making him appear messier and dirtier. "Okay. Okay I get you."
Calming enough to speak, the ghost repeated, "What do you mean, my story?"
"Well, we all have a story, don't we? Like," the produced slowly pointed to himself, "I was a graduate after five years instead of four, I prefer a martini to a beer, sometimes I really enjoy a deep philosophical debate because it gives me inspiration... you know, things people don't know about you," the producer explained. "And... you...?" he pointed slowly with his hands to the ghost, who looked around.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I'm sure there's more to you than just... ah... 'ooohhh'!" Oppenheim declared spookily. The ghost suddenly dropped him, and looked down at him quizzically.
"I... what else is there to being a poltergeist?" the ghost asked plainly, scratching his boney chin.
The producer looked like he had found gold in the hills. "Ah! See, now we can delve deeper," the producer excitedly said, scooting himself closer to the ghost. The four hiding watched in awe; the man was actually making progress calming the spirit. "You see, ghosts, as I know it, have something they all want beyond haunting the world around them. A lot of people call it 'unfinished business', but I think it would be cooler if it was called 'unresolved issues'. It has a better ring to it, and drama sells, you know."
"Hmm... very well, what are my unresolved issues?" the ghost asked him quickly.
The producer was stumped: his mouth dropped and he struggled for words. "Ah... ah... well, um, you see... what was your past like?" he asked the ghost calmly, figuring out how to best begin this conversation.
"Well, a few minutes ago, I was checking the hallway, and a few minutes before that I was in here, and a few minutes before that-"
"No, no," the producer laughed and waved his hand in the air, cutting him off, "I mean before you died."
"Before I died?"
"Yes, before you became a ghost- err- poltergeist," Justin elaborated. The ghost stared at him with the greatest look of confusion, as if he had just spoken a language he never heard before. Feeling like he had mis-stepped in his diplomacy, Oppenheim quickly added, "I mean, all ghosts were just people who have died, after all. What were you like as a human?"
"I... I died?" the poltergeist asked, and the producer scoffed. "I was a human!?" the poltergeist demanded angrily, and the producer leaned away, slightly frightened.
"I mean, that is where ghosts supposedly come from," Oppenheim told him. The ghost stared at him, those dark eyes gazing into the middle-aged producer. The TV man nervously smiled.
"Liar!" the ghost floated up, growing in size and his ghostly dark colors flaring orange and red.
Justine trembled and yelped. "Okay, okay, so... you have no memory of what happened before, that's okay," the producer tried calming the spirit, "Okay, we can make that part of the series – you trying to discover what you were before!"
"I remember everything I have been!" The ghost roared, loudly, and the producer began to float up, terrified and screaming again. "I have never been a human before! You're lying to me! I. Don't. Like. Liars!"
With a smoky 'poof', the producer vanished. A frog dropped the floor, croaked loudly, and hopped away in fear. The four ducked back around their corner, having just witnessed another person go from proper human to small animal with a flash of magic. The sounds of the floating spectral being began to fade. They again checked the corner and found the space clear.
Dipper, sweating from second-hand fear, looked to the others. "Okay... so scratch my first theory," Dipper admitted quietly, "He couldn't even control it when he was trying to mooch up to it."
"So, he didn't bring it to the manor?" Wendy asked to Dipper.
"I guess not. He didn't strike me as the type who would endanger someone just for a few good TV shots... maybe endanger their stuff, but not lives," Dipper admitted.
"Then what else can we do?" Soos asked, "Like, do we just trying to suck it up with a vacuum? That's still an option. Or maybe try singing it to sleep?"
"I like singing it to sleep," Mabel agreed.
Wendy sighed, and shook her head. "The undead don't sleep dude," she said and then checked the corner again.
Dipper scoffed and patted her shoulder. "How... how did you know that?" he asked of her.
Wendy's body visibly tensed as she stared at him. "After dealing with those, uh, ghosts at the Dusk 2 Dawn," she told him, "I looked up what undead stuff are supposed to be like. They don't sleep, you know."
"Oh. Nice," Dipper nodded in agreement, "You got to show me that source you found then, because that's what I found in the journals. Undead don't sleep, they just rest, "Dipper elaborated, "So that they can continue to persist later."
Soos nodded. "Great, so not to sleep, but to nap. Got it."
"We're not going to sing to this thing!" Dipper exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Aww, phooey," Mabel whined, "We could have done some Francis Malachite from Female Monarch," Mabel groaned, and then leaned her chin on Dipper's shoulder. Together, they stared out into the dark house. "Well, there has to be something else that sort of makes all of this come together. What else could be going on?" she asked.
Dipper nodded. He stared at the scene where the producer had been captured. Something the ghost had been saying this whole time was odd. "The ghost didn't have any memory," Dipper realized quietly.
"Hey, yeah," Wendy nodded, "Those two at the shop totally knew how they died! It's why they tortured my friends, because they were teenagers, and they blamed teens for their death!"
"You know... I just thought of something," Mabel admitted, and took the journal from Dipper.
"Mabes?" he asked her as she opened it.
"Well, he's been asking a lot of questions," Mabel stated, "Silly ones, right? Like how people act when they're scared, and what a ghost wants – you know, stuff people-people should know?" she looked to them all, "And it made me think of Yuki. Yuki is grown, but he doesn't know of anything about human life, so he keeps asking questions, sorta like a baby. What... What if this isn't a normal ghost?"
Soos chortled. "Well, yah, it's a poltergeist, hambone."
"Wait, no," Dipper nodded, and scooted to her, "She's right! Why would a ghost hesitate attacking people and ask if that's how they're supposed to act when scared? If I was a crazy ghost, I would just all nuts on them!"
"So, it's not a ghost?" Soos asked Dipper, "Then... what?"
"I... I think I know," Dipper flipped pages backwards from the ghost. He remembered notes from Ford's very first journal that he had written not a few days ago. He found it: his own take on what he had found mixed with Fords own research. "Here," he pointed to a being that looked something like an amoeba. The creature's primary characteristic was that, though a blob, it hard four arms: one was torso of human man wearing a three-piece suit, one was a bear, one was a swarm of animated hammers clinging together, and the last limb was series of suction-cupped tentacles.
"A shapeshifter?" Soos asked.
Wendy cringed at the image. "Nightmare fuel?" she suggested.
"Not quite," Dipper corrected her, and pointed to the title in the top left corner, "A Tulpa."
"A what?" Wendy and Soos asked.
Dipper turned to them. "Okay, so imagine that if you believe in something hard enough, or long enough, it – whatever it is – can come true. Tulpas are collected energy that become something that is believed in! Their forms doesn't usually exist yet. Like, imagine Soos," Dipper looked as his tall friend, "If you believed that Santa would come through that door, and then he did. That could have been a Tulpa."
Soos's eyes widened as he looked at one of the sealed interior doors. "Oh wow, these things sound awesome dude," Soos admitted.
"So, what does this have to do with a poltergiest?" Wendy asked as she checked the halls corner again.
"It has nothing to do with a poltergeist," Dipper admitted, "But that's because we're not dealing with one! We're dealing with a Tulpa who took the form of a poltergeist!"
"So... it's not a ghost, but a creature pretending to be a ghost," Mabel explained to the other two.
"Well, no, it's a real ghost now," Dipper told them, "But if people believe it can do things long enough, it can grow and change."
"Great," Wendy scowled, "A ghost that can grow stronger."
"But that leads to another question," Mabel pointed out, catching Dipper's attention, "How did a whack-a-doodle Tulpa get into the shack? Wouldn't we have noticed?"
Dipper opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He was also uncertain how to answer it. It was a close second theory, but unless they had something to prove their reasoning, it could just as well be an angry, lost poltergeist who lost all his memory when he died. What they needed was to explain how a Tulpa got into the manor. They would have noticed something that volatile living in the shack. If there had been one inside the entire time, it would certainly have taken a form before now: the building was filled with people who held strong beliefs. Dipper's fingers felt along the edges of his shirt, trying to let the feeling stir his thoughts. He looked to his sister, begging her eyes for answers. It had to have arrived recently! Who had they seen recently that could have given them something that... could have carried... a Tulpa...
Dipper gasped, and reached inside his pocket. The coin came out, still attached to necklace, and Mabel's mouth dropped open. "It was us all along," Dipper told Wendy and Soos, "We brought it here."
"What?" Wendy shook her head, "What's... what is that coin?" she asked warily, staring at it with fearful eyes. Before Dipper could reply, there was movement across the hallway. The four tucked themselves close against the wall as Wendy looked around the corner again. She gasped and waved her hand out. "Over here!" she called to someone approaching.
As the three behind Wendy exchanged looks, Grunkle Stan and the members of the N.P.P.P. all scrambled to join them against the wall.
"Guys!" Dipper called to them; the line of hiding humans grown now to ten.
"Long time no see, kid," Marcus told Dipper with a relieved smile, "After Justine got captured, we thought that it was just us six."
"I told you they'd be fine," Grunkle Stan scolded the young men, "They're more resilient to this sort of stuff than I am. And I'm crazy tough."
"Good to know you guys can actually survive a proper haunting," Wendy allowed the group a warm smile and nod. They perhaps slightly bemused, they returned it to her.
"Back at you, Corduroy," Adam told her. The handsome man then looked to the twins, "So, we're kind of out of ideas. The ghost isn't following any of the signs of standard haunting."
"No memories," Ben began listing out their noted observations, "No desire for reconciliation, no abstract human ideals, and no self-identity!"
"It's like he just sort of popped out from nothingness!" Geoffrey cried out in desperation to the others. Dipper and Mabel grinned, exchanging looks with one another. This look was not unnoticed by the leader of the young men, who sighed and nodded. "You already know what's really going on, don't you?"
Dipper and Mabel took turns elaborating what they had come to understand. With a few tips from Ben, who apparently had done the most amount of research into the topic of Tulpas, they had come to convince the rest of the group that they were being haunted by one of these creatures. Ben also had the honor of scanning the coin with his EMF detector.
"It's certainly giving off weird emissions, but it isn't standard to any record I've seen of paranormal energy," he admitted, "I think the Tulpa might have been formed when this came into the same proximity as the producer."
"He was acting up the entire ride up here," Adam explained, "Like we were going to arrive and get instant ghost footage. Maybe it's what caused it to take the form."
Stan chuckled. "Hah, and here I thought the age-old adage of 'careful what you wish for' was just for losers being told to nut up and shut up," Stan told them. They all glared at him. "What? It is stupid. Always wish for more!"
"So, what, do we just... break the coin?" Soos suggested.
"Oh, but that could kill it!" Mabel told him and the others, "We don't want to kill it just because it's doing what it think it has to!"
"Sure," Grunkle Stan rolled his eyes, "Go ahead, go out there and try sympathizing with it. When you get turned into a rabbit, don't come crying to me."
"Awwww, I'd make an adorable rabbit," Mabel squeaked and cupped her hands to her cheeks.
"Oi," Grunkle Stan groaned.
"You guys hear something?" Ben asked from the far end of the group.
After everyone turned to stare at him, and then what was behind him, he too slowly looked back. At the end of the hallway, near the other end of the house, the poltergeist had been standing there, his head crooked to the side, staring at them. A moment passed of sheer, frozen terror. The poltergeist took his cue. His jaw stretched wide, showing rows of angler-fish like needle teeth with a blood-curdling howl. Brave or not, the group turned and fled, yelling and screaming.
"You sure you want to sympathize with that!?" Dipper yelled at his sister as they ran to the other end of the house.
"It was just a suggestion!" Mabel defended herself as she and Dipper followed Wendy's impressive sprint.
The ten slid into the tour section of the house and came to a sliding stop. The large stuffed bear with lizard scales along its body was standing up. It roared, it's lips snarling.
"Run!" Wendy ducked and ran to the right, and the groups split. Dipper, Grunkle Stan, and Geoffrey all followed after Wendy. The other six darted to the right. The bear remained on its pole, but other strange aberrations were coming to life. Dipper was punching in the face by a decapitated hand, which landed to the floor and crawled away, racing after them on the ceiling.
Stan shouted, "Look out! The Hound of Basketville!" as he pointed.
Another stand, this time of a large dog, entirely comprised out of basket weavings, barked and snapped at them. It forced them to duck to the left. It tried leaping off its stand, but it was caught, like the lizard-bear, on it's pole.
With another shout, Stan called, "And the dreaded Poshman!" Stan pointed to a poorly decorated mannequin, half dressed like a giant moth creature, the other half a sophisticated gentlemen form Victorian era, holding a tray of tea pots and a kettle.
"I say, any you chaps fancy tea?" the poshman asked them, uncoiling a proboscis and snapping it in the air as they screamed and ran by him.
Once more, Stan pointed. "Ah! The Wardrobe of Darkness!" Stan shouted.
"Darkness? What's bad about this one?!" Wendy demanded as they stared at the heavy looking wooden wardrobe to their left.
"Nothing, it's just a cheap gimmick I use for tourism," Grunkle Stan told her, "but that means we're at the end of one of the hallways!"
Indeed, as the four of them looked around, they could only find one path to escape captivity; back the way they came. The way back held a plethora of animated angry beasts and monsters that Stan had constructed, now draw to them by powers of the approaching, immensely pleased Tulpa and poltergeist. It however through the air, dripping with spirit-slime.
"Ah, that was fun," the potential tulpa told them while grinning, "But, now, I have you all-"
Wendy stepped forward, yanked the coin out from Dipper's hand, and held it in front of her, showing it off to the being. Dipper shouted, "Wendy, wait!"
"What... what is that?" the being asked in confusion. He then recoiled, "Is it more salt?"
Wendy declared, "The end for you!" she shouted, and gripped it with both hands. In a quick twist of her wrists, she snapped the flimsy coin in two.
The ghost shrieked and began to coil. It's body and energy twisted and warpped. Gusts of wind and energy exploded from him, knocking Wendy back towards the group. It screamed in pain, colors of its aura pulsing and changing rapidly, as it struggled to retain constant shape. Its shape bulged and grew, twisted, and shrunk. There did not seem to be an end of its pain.
Then the wind stopped, and the ghost stared at the ground. His eyes were wide, and the ghost was sweating. All the same, it was still there.
It slowly lifted it's head to look at them, but specifically, Wendy. "I... what... what did you do to me!?" he demanded as Wendy dropped the pieces of the coin from her hand in shock. It hadn't worked. The ghost, in a clear rage, threw his hand at her. Unseen powers shot Wendy flying against the wall, past the three behind her. She struck the wall hard and collapsed to the floor, struggling to get up. "I'm not done with YOU!" the ghost roared, and then swiped his hand through the air again.
Dipper saw the wardrobe rattle. He screamed out for her, "Wendy!"
His warning could not prepare her for what came next. The titled 'wardrobe of darkness' was levitated. It was hurtled towards Wendy as she began to stand up. The world from Dipper's perspective slowed as he watched her vanish behind the wooden furniture piece and fly with it against a wall, where the entire face of the wardrobe splintered. Enough force was behind it for the wall to buckle and be imprinted, and he saw, to his horror, the limp hand fall from behind the collapsing wood. Wendy had fallen.
Cold shivers ran up his spine. His mind eye showed her falling in the cursed game of strongholds and serpents. It reminded him of Mabel falling. He roared, "NO!" and made to run at her.
"Wendy!" Grunkle Stan ran forward with Dipper. Yet they both came to a screeching halt – the ghost appeared before them, cackling with a vengeance.
It gnashed at the air with its hellish teeth. "I don't know what she did, but it hurt!" he declared, "And now I don't want to play anymore! So, I'm just going to end this now! I'm done with you all!" he declared. His hand reached forward, and raised upwards. Dipper and Stan levitated.
"No, no, no!" Geoffry, once a rival or no, ran to their side, and tried pulling them down. Amused, the tulpa lifted its other hand, and also started lifting Geoffrey.
"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper shouted as the three of them felt the cold grip of invisible force hold them aloft.
Stan, looking around at the hordes of dangers around them, managed to say to Dipper, "Dipper, just remember, it's not as bad as growing old!"
As its form grew and its form leered, the tulpa screamed, "Now, GET LOST-"
The ghost paused, looking a bit stunned. Someone was humming and clicking their fingers. The three, in their locked positions in the air, slowly craned their heads. Behind the spirit, the entire group of other survivors. Soos stood, tapping his foot, snapping his fingers, and humming a very familiar tune. Behind him, Luke, Adam, Ben, and Markus made an acapella line.
The tulpa, or spirit, watched them. It seemed somewhere lost between angry, confused, and mesmerized. "What... what is this you are doing?" the ghost demanded.
"Dude, lemme introduce you to something you haven't even considered in your wildest haunts," Soos told him, and then whipped his hand to Mabel, behind him. She took the spontaneous cue and leapt forward, slid on the ground with her knees, and then opened her mouth.
Dipper grumbled, "Oh my god, you have got to be kidding me."
"Is this the reeaal world?" Mabel sang sadly, "Or is this just make-believe?"
"Caught in a snow-slide," Soos continued with her as she slowly stood, holding out a hand to the ghost.
"No escape from all my dreams," Mabel added as Soos also extended his hand, standing side by side with Mabel.
"Open your eyes," Luke added, trying his best to sing, which was a poor effort, following suit with Soos.
"And look up to the skies," Marcus added, following Luke to the other side of the three.
"Annd seeeee..." Ben and Adam sang along, each on the side of the six.
"I'm just a poor girl," Mabel sang to the ghost, who stood transfixed at the sight of them all singing, enough so that he slowly dropped down the three before him. "I don't want any pity!"
"Because I'm," the group behind her sang.
"Easy then," Mabel added.
"Easy now."
"Kinda high," Mabel sang.
"Kinda low."
"Anyway the waves crash," they all sang simultaneously, "it doesn't really matteerrrrr to meeee..."
"To meee." Mabel finished it off. Soos hummed notes for a piano to the classic song.
No longer angry or confused, the tulpa spirit was now just mesmerized. "What is this... beauty," the ghost moaned gently to them. The five behind Mabel rocked back and forth, their arms linked behind their backs as Mabel mustered her best sad voice, and continued.
"Papa... just kicked a man... put my foot against his back, gave a swung and now he's maaad..." she sang solemnly, "Papa... the day had just begun... but now I've got to go and make it all again! PAPA!" she yelled her best, throwing the ghost off guard, but he continued to stare, "Oh-oooohh... didn't want to be so bad, but if I havn't fixed myself tomorrow, ground meee for a month, because it doesn't really matter..."
Soos continued to give his best attempt at acappella piano, coming off as something between techo-beat boxing and a saddened mule. Mabel took it all to heart, and the ghost was continuously impressed. Dipper could not believe what he was about to do. This plan, dumb and ridiculous as it was, showed results. So, he mustered himself. He knew this song as well as Mabel did any day.
With a deep breath, Dipper called out in tune, "Too late," he caught the ghost off guard, spinning himself around to stare at Dipper, "My time is now... sent homework down my line, hands aching all the time. Too late, it's time to go... got to leave you all behind and face... detention... Papa! Oohhhh!"
"Any way the wave breaks," those behind the ghost cooed.
"Didn't mean to hear you yell! I sometimes wish I hadn't gone to school at all!" Dipper shouted his best for the song.
Mabel ran to him, and started grunting her best air-guitar solo, which Dipper bobbed his head to as the gang behind the ghost continued to sing their best. Only a few moments seemed to pass as the ghost watched in total awe, when the music stopped, and the six to the side became a choir of boops.
"I see a little silly pranking of a girl!" Dipper explained in his best impression of the song.
"Scared the moose!"
"Scared the moose!" the twins said one after the other.
"Will you yell to the professor?" Dipper told Mabel firmly in his singing voice.
"Loudness and flashing, very-very scaring me!" All the singers at the same time shouted, shocking the ghost to float several feet higher.
"Dalai Lama! Dalai Lama! Dalai Lama Rooservelt!" Dipper and Mabel battled between each other.
"Significaaaaaaant," the choir behind the ghost chanted and faded with their voice.
"We're just some small kids, no body needs us," the twins quietly said as the group behind the ghost crept up, preparing for their huge roar.
"THEY'RE JUST SOME SAD KIDS FROM A SAD FAMILY! SPARE THEM SOME TIME FOR THEIR SAD-SAD HOBBIES!" Soos and the N.P.P.P. bellowed, almost knocking the ghost to the floor from shock.
"Easy then," Dipper said quietly.
"Easy now," Mabel mimed.
"Will you let us know?" the twins asked Soos and the N.P.P.P.
"YOU WILL NOT KNOW! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! AND SHUT THE DOOOOR!" the choir roared proudly. "YOU WILL NOT KNOW! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! AND SHUT THE DOOOOR! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! AND SHUT THE DOOOOR! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM! AND SHUT THE DOOOOR!"
"LET US GOOOOooooo!" Dipper and Mabel demanded of Soos and his band.
"No, no, No, NO NO!" the pounded each word into the twins.
"Oh papa please-a," Mabel grumbled quickly and angrily, "Papa please-a, you have to let us go."
"These all old crooks, have a little tiny spook for wee, for weee, for," they all took a breath, ready for the upbeat part of this madness of a song, "FOR WEEEEEE!"
The ghost fell to the floor, watching as every single member of the singing squad rocked out entirely, head-banging their absolute souls out. What choreographic articulation the singers once had was well gone by now. All of them just ran about, acting their best to perform some make-believe rock-opera number.
"So you think you can punch and smack my eye?" Mabel leaned into the grounded ghost.
"So you think you can ground me and leave us to tiiiime?" Dipper seconded his sister.
"OHHHHHH DADY!" the two of them shouted to the ghost, who was crawling away from them, "Can't do this to us daddy! Just gotta get out! Just gotta get right outta here!"
With a loud burst of fear, the tulpa yelled, "Enough!"
The ghost's booming voice stunned all of the singers and they stumbled back. Dipper and Mabel actually leapt back, grabbing hold of one another. The ghost was slowly lifting himself into the air, dusting off his shoulders and staring at the crew before him. He seemed curious more than furious.
"I... I want to know what that was," he demanded of them.
"Oh, that's called singing," Soos explained quickly.
"Pfft, If you can call that singing from Luke," Adam snickered. He received a quick punch to his stomach from the offended man. Bending and recovering, Adam grunted, "Ow. Dude."
"It's music," Mabel suggested to the specter, who nodded slowly, "It's what people do to feel good about themselves and stuff. And tell stories."
"I... I love it," the ghost told them excitedly, "Can you do more!?"
There it was: the hook they needed. "Maybe," Dipper suggested, and as he looked to the N.P.P.P he got an idea. "But only if you promise to not haunt us anymore, and turn the crew back."
The deal was not immediately rejected. "Hmm... I lose haunting people and scaring them... but I get music," the ghost ran the proposal out loud, stroking his bald head. "Hmm... I like it. It's a deal!" he said and clapped his hands together.
The lights flickered on and the cold air dissipated. Those animated creatures around them slunk back to their normal position and then froze back as they used to be. The N.P.P.P. gang began to cheer and jump into the air, whooping and celebrating animatedly. Somewhere in the shack, there were more outcries of humans; likely returning to their normal state.
With the moment no longer in danger, Dipper realized a certain person was still missing. "Wendy!" Dipper gasped and turned to the wooden pile that used to be a thick wardrobe. He ran over and began to pull off pieces of thick wood. The pricks of sharp wood and splinters meant little to him, as long as it meant he could pull her out and that she was safe.
From behind the panel of splintered wood, there was a pained moan. "Ah, dude," Wendy groaned once Dipper removed a large, revealing her face, "That hurt."
"Wendy, you... you're okay, right?" he asked nervously as Grunkle Stan approached, eyeing her.
"I've been... better?" she tried as she slowly pushed her way out of the pile. Amazingly, she seemed unharmed. Not a single scratch or tear on her, or even, to Dipper's shock, a bruise. She was perfectly fine. With the force of the wardrobe thrown at her, Dipper had worried he'd find her broken up, or worse. She was still around for him to see, and seemed all for the better. It was enough for him to almost cry. He held back, trying to refrain his emotional release. He then noticed, sticking out of her back, a very, very large shrapnel of wood.
"Wendy!" Dipper pointed to her back.
"What?" she asked, trying to see behind her.
"You... you don't feel that?" Dipper asked as he looked to her. There was no way she couldn't feel that wooden splinter – it was a quarter of an inch thick, and easily two inches long.
"I got you, kiddo," Grunkle Stan grunted and instantly pulled out the wooden piece. Her skin tugged along with it for a moment. Dipper had to look away, feeling ill.
Wendy grunted, and then stretched her shoulders. "Uh, ow," she told Stan, "Thanks."
"No problem. We can talk about you paying me back for the wardrobe later," Stan told her.
Wendy, clearly flummoxed, rounded at Stan with a reddening face, "What- are you- that's not-"
From behind the NPPP, a familiar over-positive voice called out, "Amazing!"
The entire group froze. Justin Oppenheim and his crew were standing by the entrance from the second hallway that led to the display rooms. The crew still huddled together, staring nervously at the ghost, but Justin was clapping his hands and happily approaching the ghost.
"You love music!?" he demanded of the spirit, "Wonderful! Wonderful!"
"How... is this wonderful?" Geoffrey asked his current boss.
"Don't you see!?" the producer exclaimed," This is more than just a discovery between two worlds! This is a business opportunity! AN OPPEN-TUNITY!" he declared, and leapt over to the ghost, "So, my poltergeist, here's the deal. I can provide you with new music every week, if you, and all your powers, agree under contract to work for my company to haunt locations if we need your services."
"Wait, what!?" Mabel loudly babbled.
"Of course! Justin called to her, "He won't need food, or rest – and he can scare those who he wants to, and then he'll still get music!" the producer told the ghost. The spirit was staring at him with wide, excited eyes. "So, mister Poltergeist? What do you say to that?" he exclaimed while shoving out a hand before him. The poltergeist only looked to him for a moment longer, and then shook the hand eagerly. Off to the side, the producer told his assistant, "Buy him a cheap music player as soon as you can."
Dipper and Mabel watched for the next half hour as the crew excitedly became acquainted with the ghost. They filmed many sequences of the NPPP being chased by, and then chasing, the poltergeist. By the end of filming, they had all come to call PG. Near the stroke of nine, the crew called for the end of the recording. Grunkle Stan was fast at demanding cash up front for damages, to which the producer quickly obliged him happily.
"Remember, keep your eyes tuned on W.P.G.T.P.!" he told them as he and his crew climbed into the vans, along with P.G. the ghost.
As it floated into the vans, the ghost waved at the twins and occupants of the Mystery Manor. "Thanks for the song, you two!" The twins waved back, Mabel cheerfully, and Dipper with uncertainty.
To their side, a voice called out. "Hey," Geoffrey said to the group as the N.P.P.P. began to pack up and also climb into their van, "Look, I know we got off to a bad start, you know? So... I wanted to apologize for coming off as jerks the first time we met."
"Oh!" Mabel exclaimed, "An apology!"
"No problem," Dipper shrugged, "I guess it's easier sometimes to try hard and forget that you're talking to someone else, you know?"
"Yeah, it can be," Luke added as he lifted a heavy box into the van.
"I guess we can look deep within our hearts to forgive you," Wendy told them after a long sigh. "Just... do yourself a favor, and if you're going to go for a look," she told them gaining their attention, "Plaid. Plaid is soo in."
"Plaid?" they asked in unison. When Wendy nodded, they shrugged and continued climbing into the van.
"Thanks, you guys," Geoffrey added for a last time as the door closed, "You really helped us out."
"Hey," Stan called out to them, "remember to cite us and our awesomeness on your television show!"
They began to drive away, following the line of white-panel vans disappearing down the dirt-path. The five of them stared and watched them vanish down the road, and it was Grunkle Stan who finally sighed. "Well, I'm going to bed. First thing tomorrow, I'm burning the figures I saw come to life. No need for any more nightmares in my head," he told them.
"Aw, that sounds great! We can make a bonfire," Soos added long, "And have smores! Oh, and some chips! And Nachos!"
"I'm so into that plan," Wendy snickered. "Man. Crazy night, huh?" she asked to the twins, hands in her pockets.
"More like awesome night!" Mabel corrected her with decorum.
Dipper grinned, and noticed the darkness in the sky. "Wendy, shouldn't you be somewhere?" he asked her.
"Huh?"
"Yeah... you know... home?" he asked her.
Wendy blankly stared at him. "I don't-" then life flashed into her eyes and she jolted into the air. "Right! Duh, of course! Home!" she shouted and ran for the gift shop. A moment later she re-emerged, carrying her bag and her helmet as she made for her bike, "Because I needed to be home like an hour ago! Shoot!"
"Don't let your dad get too mad," Mabel winked at Wendy, who laughed in, what Dipper thought, was a very forced manner.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said with a quick wave as she got on her bike and sped off. Dipper watched her go, seeing her hair billowing behind her. Red hair. Something in his mind flashed back from three weeks ago, but he shrugged it off, and turned back for the outdoor sofa.
"Dipper? Wassup dude?" Mabel asked as she watched him skulk over and sit down.
"I don't know... I just got this feeling about... her," he said carefully, looking at the path Wendy's bike had just vanished behind.
"Like a 'oozy goozy' kind of feeling?" Mabel asked, bouncing her eyebrows at him expectantly. To her surprise, he didn't even react to her tease, instead staring at the road. "Whoa, you totally missed that, didn't you?"
"No, I saw you," he told her.
"You saw me and didn't respond?" She said in awe. "What are you thinking?" she demanded from Dipper, "Like, you never act like I'm not here! What's taking up all that brain-space?"
He couldn't quite put it to words. There was something in his mind that tugged at the same kinds of neurons that he used when discovering the weird out in the woods. Still, he tried to explain himself. "I don't know... she didn't notice that huge splinter in her back. Mabel, it was huge. I would have been crying like baby if it had been in me," he told her. She only snickered. "I'm serious!"
"You'd cry like a baby if I poked you hard enough," she sneered at him.
He opened his mouth, but then Mabel gasped and slapped his shoulder. Wincing at the strike, Dipper shouted, "Ow! What?!"
"Dude," Mabel looked intently at Dipper, a powerful, angry look in her eye, Tthis all happened because of that coin, right?"
"Yeah?" Dipper guessed.
"So, it was the coin that brought that Tulpa to the Manor?" she clarified.
"Well, I don't think he's a Tulpa anymore, since the coin was broken," Dipper admitted, "but yeah... I don't see what-" he then gasped as well. Someone particular had given them that coin. The same day. As a peace offering. The twins glared at each other.
"Warlock," they growled.
"He didn't want peace," Dipper told his sister, "He just wanted to get back at us! Or worse, kill us!" Dipper told his sister, "As long as he believed that the Tulpa was stuck in the coin, the Tulpa wouldn't become a threat to him! It was a bomb he armed by leaving it to us!"
"Ohh that jerk-wad!" Mabel punched her first into her palm, "He's going to get it coming now."
"That's assuming ff he's still here," Dipper sighed, "Maybe this was just his way of vanishing and leaving a bomb go off while he runs away. You know, a jerk-thing to do."
"Humph. We see him again, I'm totally going to punch his face inside out," Mabel told Dipper, who laughed.
"And then I'll punch it normal again so you can repeat the process," he told her happily. The two of them laughed, basking in the glory that was their enemy, in a hypothetical painful situation, totally under their control. Mabel stroked her leg, and reached to the ground in a stretch.
She leaned back up quickly, a puzzled look on her face. "Hey... aren't we missing people?" she asked Dipper, who tilted his head in question. "Where's Waddles?" she asked him.
A good five minutes down the dirt path, Wendy had just halted her bike. She was looking into the woods. Locked between two tightly packed trees in a ditch, Yuki was backing up and forwarding the golf cart. Backwards, forwards. Backwards, forwards. As her green eyes took in the sight of him nervously and frantically trying to remove the cart from the ditch, and the pig simply sitting next to him, and then eyeing Wendy, she couldn't help but shake her head.
"Yuki," she asked, "What the heck are you... do you need help?" she asked him.
The alien jumped in his seat. He looked to her. Tears were welling in his eyes. "Yes!" he dramatically informed her, crying fully, "I need help! Your earthly human world is scary and difficult! I am not prepared for any of this!" he bawled and slammed his head onto the horn, which blared loudly. Yuki then leapt up, and slammed his head against the ceiling, causing him to only cry more. He clearly surrendered; going limp and grabbing onto Waddles for comfort.
Part two complete! And that's it for Episode One! Cool, huh? Bet you guys didn't expect a Tulpa at the start of this episode, did you? Well, here you are! :)
The song, for those of you who couldn't tell, was Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. A beautiful song that I butchered because I needed them to sing to the ghost. Deal with it. :D
New mysteries are established, and a new enemy is set up. No more Gideon, now it's the Warlock, or as we know him, Graupner. How German can you get? Gruapner... Huh. I've heard worse I suppose. And Dipper is noticing something with Wendy? What's up with that? (wink at tEI2.0 and Archer)
Next Episode is called "Bragging Rights". Take a gander at what that's all about, why don't you? Until next time, this is EZB, signing off- (an Anvil falls on EZB's head, killing him instantly. The Anvil then explodes into confetti as kittens and puppies parade happily around the scene.)
It had been four hours straight since they left. The sights had changed. The roads had developed. The night had grown darker. The crews of WPGTP were about an hour away from their destination. It would have not been too difficult of a travel.
Except for someone in one van.
"Cold fission!" PG, the tulpa poltergeist sang in the car to his heart's content, "One press, one click, one true explosion! Woah, woah, woah-"
Those in the van with him, which included Justin Oppenheim, were starting to second guess their choice at employing the being with means of music. Justin, risking himself, turned in his front passenger seat to face the singing creature.
"Hey, buddy," he asked, "It's been a while since we've had silence. You think you could hold off on more Female Monarch until we arrive?"
PG flashed red and looked demonic. "NOOO!" he roared.
Justin pulled himself back into his seat. "Fair enough," he chuckled, and nervously looked around. "Maybe, ah," he gulped into the air, "We try a new band?"
PG pouted. Sensing a certain amount of discomfort amongst his traveling companions, the ghost shifted. "What… band?" he asked.
Justin shrugged, and turned on the radio. There was a metal-operatic band that blasted through the speakers. Justin grunted, "No more Duskhope. I'm so tired of hearing about that pretty boy," he grumbled. He changed it to another station.
The radio sang, "Cold fission!"
PG gasped. "I love this song!" he exclaimed, and began to sing along to Female Monarch.
Justin and the other occupants groaned. They surrendered to their fate.
Grgy, Vuux Cktje. O qtkc nkx.