Dipper waved as he spotted Bree. She was laying out on the grass with a couple books spread out around her. "Hey."

"Don't talk to me!" She yelled at him. Dipper flinched back and then smiled. Now that he focused he could recognize mathematical equations Bree was chanting under her breath. "X squared plus one in parenthesis. Times x minus three. Equals… What was it…"

ADipper chuckled to himself and kept walking. He was glad he was done with classes for the day, and he didn't even have any tests of any sort. Poor Mabel had a big project due today and a big test. She wouldn't be home until late. Which was fine with Dipper. He had plans himself. He and Ford were going to figure out the code. He walked into Ford's lab and found Ford digging through a bag. "Hey Grunkle Ford."

T"Dipper." Ford stood up and smiled. "Good to see you. Did you bring the stones?"

B"Yeah." Dipper pulled the three stones and laid them out. Then he pulled out his notebook with his notes and put it down next to the stone. "Okay let's get-."

A"Hang on Dipper." Ford grinned as he pulled out a pen. "Got it."

S"What?"

H"This pen I designed to transfer to the board so we can see a larger representation. Plus we can put the letters over the symbol on a picture of the tablets."

T"That's great!" Dipper grinned. "Let's get started!"

HFord laughed and together they lined up the stone pieces as best as they could.

▲⸎▼⸎▲⸎▼⸎▲⸎▼⸎▲⸎▼⸎

EOutside the lab two eyes sat and watched the two Pines. Two eyes that blinked sideways. Two eyes that were hidden in the tree. The eyes moved back into hiding among the leaves to wait.

⸙‽Ӝ⸙‽Ӝ⸙‽Ӝ

NDipper frowned as he looked at the tablet. The only full word they had was the first word- Axolotals. And that was only because Ford had figured it out during Stan's vision dreams. "Any ideas?" Dipper asked stepping back to observe their word.

C"Axolotals, blank, symbol, la, symbol, e, symbol." Ford sighed. "This would be so much easier if we had more pieces.

A"Dipper scanned the board. "We almost finished the first word on line five."

E"Symbol, et." Ford rubbed his chin. "Followed by eas." He sighed. "Those two words have the same symbol."

SDipper pulled out his notebook and wrote both words. "Let see if we can think of some three letter words that are.. Hang on." Dipper stood up. "Look at line nine."

AFord followed Dipper's instructions. "Symbol, symbol, t, symbol, l, space. T, symbol, e, space, s." Ford read what they had. "I don't… Wait." He walked up closer. "T mystery e." Ford smiled. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

R"The!" Dipper grinned.

Ford nodded. "The only words that would fit are the, tae, teg, tie, or toe. It can't be toe or tae thought because we already know a and o. I guess it could be tie but most things I have read has the word the at least once."

Dipper nodded. "I think so too. Let's see it that changes anything."

Ford nodded and began to fill in h's where the symbol was. "Seven total."

"It didn't change much." Dipper took a step back. "Let's see…"

"Dipper!"

Both Dipper and Ford jumped as a voice yelled out and the door slammed open. "Mabel?" Dipper looked over at his sister. "I thought you had a test."

"I finished!"

Dipper checked his watch. "In an hour?"

"It wasn't that hard. So whatcha doing?" Mabel moved closer to the screen.

"We're getting closer to decoding the tablet… If only we had the rest of the stone pieces."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find them soon Ford." Mabel smiled.

Dipper glanced at the screen and then froze. "What did you say Mabel?"

"Just that I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. Ford is a genius."

"You're not Mabel!" Dipper moved away from her.

"What are you talking about?" Mabel blinked, but it was side ways. Then she got a cruel grin. "What gave me away? I thought I did a good job."

"Mabel says Grunkle Ford!" Dipper moved closer to Ford slowly. "Who are you?!" Dipper could feel Ford tense next to him.

The fake Mabel grinned darkly. "What you don't remember me?" Mabel's body shifted until a young Dipper stood there.

"You!" Dipper gasped. "The shapeshifter!"

"What?" Ford jumped. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"Why? Because you sealed me down in that bunker?" The Shifter growled. "Or because Dipper had froze me?!"

"You got it into the cryo freezer?" Ford smiled. "I'm impressed.'

"SHUT UP!" The Shifter yelled.

"How did you get out?" Dipper growled.

"I had help." The Shifter smirked. "And now I will have my revenge!"

"I'm not a kid anymore! You can't beat us so easily!"

"You think so?" As the Shifter spoke he changed, until he looked like Wendy's dad. "I was worried about that until I saw this specimen talking to your girlfriend."

Dipper frowned. "Wendy's not my girlfriend!"

"No?" The Shifter tilted its head slightly. An odd gesture for the large lumberjack body it was using.

"No!" Dipper tensed. "And there is no way you can kill us."

"Who said anything about killing?" The Shifter moved with more agility than should have been possible. Dipper gasped as a fist met his stomach, and then it all went dark.

ƤƤƤƤƤƤ

Bree rubbed her eyes as she woke up to her phone beeping. She rolled out of bed and groaned. "What idiot is texting me so early?" She picked up the phone.

Gone for a few days. On a trip. Be back soon. Ford.

"Really?" Bree groaned. But now that she was up there was no going back to sleep. Unfortunately it took her forever to fall asleep and by the time. If she did it would be time to get up anyways. Bree finished getting ready quickly and then she left her apartment and headed off in search of breakfast in the school cafeteria. She grabbed a yogurt parfait and found a seat by herself. She glanced around to see the groups of college students laughing and talking. Bree glanced at the seats around her but froze as a memory floated back to her.

Freak. Get out of here weirdo! Why would we want to play with you!

Bree shook her head and went back to eating. She wasn't going to open that can of worms again. She had learned her lesson long ago. As Bree thought that and finished eating she spotted Dipper. She sat up slightly. Dipper… The one person who's mind scape she would never invade. She didn't want to ruin that relationship. He was really her first friend since… Bree's thoughts were jerked away as Dipper skipped over to her.

"Hey!" He grinned at her.

"Hey Dipper. Listen I know Ford's gone for a couple days, so do we want to-." She was interrupted by Dipper leaning in and kissing her.

Bree froze in shock. She wasn't sure how she should feel. Only… annoyance right now. Why would he ruin their friendship like that! She pushed away from him. "Dipper!" But his eyes weren't on her. His eyes were directed towards the red haired woman, Wendy.

"See ya." Dipper started to head out of the cafeteria.

"Dipper?" Bree felt her heart crack slightly. Am I just a tool to him? A voice deep in her memory whispered to her.

"Just like everyone else. I'm your only friend. Everyone else will just throw you away. You don't need anyone else but me Ice."

Bree shook her head slightly and then stood up. "Forget him." Bree whispered to herself and headed out of the cafeteria. She could see Dipper and Wendy talking a bit away. A bit of rage boiled in her chest, but it was mostly sorrow. "This is why you shouldn't let people in." Bree whispered to herself as she fingered the necklace around her neck. The one she always wore… at least since she was ten years old when she had made it. "They always hurt you."

Bree shoved away the pain as she headed towards the library. She needed to study… She needed to get her mind off of everything. Right as she was opening the door she slammed into someone. "Ouch."

"Sorry! Oh Bree! Hey!"

Bree looked up, from where she had fallen, to see Mabel. The pinch of pain echoed in her chest. "Hey Mabel." Looking at Dipper's twin just reminded Bree of the betrayal she felt from her once friend.

"Hey Bree have you seen Dipper recently?" Mabel asked as she helped Bree up.

"Yeah…" Bree shifted. Had Mabel seen? She wanted to keep at least one of the twin's friendship if possible… Unless Mabel threw her away as well. "He's talking to Wendy right now."

"Oh thank goodness." Mabel sighed. She looked honestly relieved.

"What's wrong?" Bree shifted.

"Well Dipper wasn't home last night when I finished my test and when I tried calling him he didn't answer. And Grunkle Stan said he hadn't seen Dipper or Grunkle Ford either."

"I got a text from Ford. He said he was going on a short trip." Bree pulled out her phone and showed it to Mabel.

"That doesn't look like a text from Grunkle Ford." Mabel frowned. Usually his texts are a lot longer and more scientific terms are there. I've never seen such a short text from Grunkle Ford."

Now that Bree thought about it Mabel was right. She had never seen a short text from Ford. Most of his texts had instructions as well for her to work on with TAing. In fact now that she really thought about it Ford should have texted what she and Dipper needed to do while he was gone for the class and how to grade stuff. "I just saw Dipper. He… He was acting a little strange."

"Dipper…" Mabel whispered. "Let's go!" Mabel grabbed Bree's arm and they started running.

Bree allowed herself to be dragged along but she wasn't sure how she really felt. Dipper… He still did all that… it doesn't change the fact… Dipper is Dipper…

The two stopped as they noticed Dipper and Wendy heading to a car together. "That's Grunkle Ford's car." Mabel whispered. "What are they doing?... Let's follow!" Mabel dragged Bree towards her own car.

Why am I doing this? Bree climbed into the passenger seat and watched as Mabel followed Dipper and Wendy. She wanted to say something but she couldn't. Bree just wanted to go back home and do something besides think about Dipper and what he had done.

"Where are they going?" Mabel whispered as Dipper drove further away from people and civilization.

"Don't drive so close if you don't want him to know you're following him." Bree whispered.

"Alright." Mabel slowed down a little. And then they came to a stop after a little seeing Dipper pull off. "Hang on I know this place." Mabel whispered. "This is where the alien spaceship is."

"You're right." Bree whispered. "Maybe-." She stopped talking as she saw a person walk out of the car. It wasn't Dipper or Wendy. It was Ford.

"Grunkle Ford?" Mabel whispered.

Ford walked around to the passenger side of the car and pulled an unconscious Wendy out. He threw her over his shoulder and then pulled up the secret top door. Then he started to walk down the passageway.

"What is going on?" Bree whispered.

"I don't know." Mabel sat silently. "THis is all too weird." A moment later Ford came walking back out and climbed back into the car and started to drive off. Once the car was out of sight Mabel climbed out of the car. "Come on!"

"What?" Bree gasped.

"We need to figure out what is going on! Come on!" Mabel rushed towards the trap door. Bree stood silently for a moment before following. The two then climbed down the ladder and opened the inside hatch. They walked for a few minutes before they heard voices.

"WHat are we going to do? There has to be some way to get out."

"DIPPER!" Mabel yelled and rushed towards the voice.

DIpper… Bree followed a little slower and they arrived at a large door construct. Mabel was already standing at the door and trying to open it.

"DIPPER!" Mabel yelled as she tried to open it. "DIPPER!"

"Mabel is that you?" Dipper's voice called out. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

"Us?" Bree asked.

"Bree?" Dipper sounded happy… normal. "You're here too!"

"Yeah." Bree whispered. "How long have you been trapped in there?"

"Since last night." Ford's voice came from the other side of the door. "We've been here for almost ten hours."

"Ten hours." Bree whispered. So it wasn't Dipper. Relief flooded Bree more than she thought it would. "How can we get you out?"

"I'm not sure." Ford said. "There might be a knob or a button out there that will work."

Bree and Mabel instantly got to work looking. "So what is going on?" Mabel asked.

"The shapeshifter." Dipper said. "Some how it got out of the cryo freeze. It captured us last night and brought us here. It said it wants revenge."

"What did you do to it?" Bree asked. She stopped as she spotted a small button. "Got it!" She pushed it and the door swung open. She looked over to see Dipper, Ford, and an unconscious Wendy. Relief flooded her chest. "Hey."

"Thanks." Dipper smiled. He lifted Wendy onto his back. "Now we need to go catch the Shapeshifter. We need to find someway to imprison it."

"That will be difficult." Ford sighed. "We would need a cryo freezer."

"Maybe we could make one here." Bree said. She looked at Dipper and then looked around. "There's lots of stuff here and you two are smart enough I'm sure you could make something that works."

"Right. Let's get to work!" Ford said.

For the next couple hours Dipper and the others worked together. They managed to make a makeshift cryo freezer. Dipper glanced over as Bree connected wires as Ford directed. She hadn't really looked at Dipper since they had started all this. "Hey Bree." He called.

She looked at him and then looked back at what she was doing. "Hey… I'm glad your alright."

Dipper chuckled and then went back to working on his part. She's really strange sometimes. Before he could say anything else he heard a noise. He waved his hand and everyone moved back into position. THey all crouched low behind barriers in the large room. Dipper just hoped that their plan worked.

A moment later the Shifter came walking in, looking like Dipper. "Where are you?"

Dipper waved a hand towards the others and they all nodded.

Ford moved first. He stepped out from behind his barrier. "How did you escape?" Ford asked. "That cryo freeze should have kept you frozen!"

"It would have, but a good friend helped me." The Shifter grinned. "But it doesn't matter for you. Because I'm going to kill you all now. All those that I want my revenge on!" It laughed. "The three kids who sealed me in the cryo and the father who abandoned me."

"You became crazed! I had to!" Ford growled. "And we will seal you again. NOW!"

Bree and Mabel jumped out next. Both had canisters. They began to spray the condensed air at the Shifter. It backed up slowly and roared out angrily. Dipper waited… and waited… and then he pulled. A small string trap waited and the Shifter tripped. They had set it up so he fell into the makeshift Cryo freezer.

"NO!" The Shifter reached up and it's clawed like hand tore at the metal above it.

"HIT IT!" Dipper yelled. He didn't see who hit the button but the makeshift Cryo freezer roared to life and began to freeze the Shifter. It took longer than Dipper had thought but soon the Shifter was a frozen block.

"We did it." Ford sighed. "Come on, let's seal it up… just in case." The group worked together to move Shifter into a large room that had nothing in it and large strong doors.

Dipper stepped back to look at the Shifter. It appeared in a mish mashed form between Dipper and the Shifter's true form. It sent shivers down Dipper's back. He took a step back and then slipped.

"Dipper!" Mabel rushed over to help him up. "You okay?"

"I'm-." Dipper froze. Poking up from a loose metal plate was a small stone block. "HEY!" He pulled it up and looked down at the slightly oddly shaped stone piece. Familiar symbols decorated the stone. "GRUNKLE FORD!"

"Another piece!" Ford grinned. "At least something good came of all this."

"Well if we're all done here." Bree started to walk towards the exit of the ship. "I'm going to go home… Mabel you mind giving me a lift back? I don't particularly want to walk through the forest by myself." She glanced at the Shifter.

"Sure… I'll see you at home right Dipper…"

"Yeah." Dipper smiled. He watched as the two girls left and then glanced down at the stone tablet. And then Wendy, who was still unconscious over in a corner. "I guess we should take Wendy home too."

"Right… And then we can get to work on adding this to our translations." Ford started to head towards the door.

Dipper picked Wendy up and started to carry her. He smiled to himself. He remembered as a kid he had wanted to carry her and kiss her, but now he didn't care as much. He chuckled, if his old self could see himself. He couldn't help but laugh slightly. But also he needed a good laugh to get the Shifter out of his mind.

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