I wanted the Fifth chapter of Dipper's Five Shades of Pacifica to be a special one. I feel as though I have successfully accomplished that. Start the fic.
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The next morning Mabel woke up to the sun caressing her face. She sat up only to find Dipper fully clothed chewing on a pen in thought, however, unlike the other times when he did this to figure something out, this time he wasn't staring at his conspiracy wall. Instead he had a map of Gravity Falls pinned up on the wall next to the door.
"Dipper? Are you okay? If you keep chewing on that pen it's going to expl..."
*POP*
"ode..."
As Dipper put away his destroyed pen in the box of other broken 'thinking pens' Mabel gave the map a second once over and realized it wasn't a map of Gravity Falls but of the woods which surrounded the town.
"Where did you even get this map?"
"I made it." Dipper said drying his mouth with a wash cloth. "From all the times I've gone in and out of those woods I figured it would be a good idea to make one in case I ever get lost. I'm using it to try and figure out where Pacifica's gypsy woman is."
"Huh? I thought for sure you'd be looking through the journal for the answer."
"Except I've already gone through the journal, twice. Once regular, and a second time with the ultraviolet. Whatever this woman gave her, there's nothing about it in the journal. I've got nothing to work with except for the fact that Pacifica met her in the woods, I figured that maybe if I could just figure out where, then I could find her and maybe get some kind of antidote!"
"Do you think you can do it?"
"Maybe...I would need time to think and I can't get distracted by the girls either."
"Don't worry Dippingsauce! Happy's going to need a shower after last night and I can run interference with the others by introducing them to Waddles!"
Dipper went back to staring at his map, chewing on a new pen. "Sounds good..."
"Who knows," Mabel started down the stairs. "I might even be able to talk Affection in to giving you your hat back."
Dipper gasped. "My hat!" He was so focused on tracking the gypsy's whereabouts he completely forgot about taking back his hat from the sleeping Affection. The same hat which hid the birthmark on his forehead.
"I can't let her...them...WHATEVER! I can't let Pacifica see my birthmark!"
Dipper ran to the door and quickly closed it, thinking for a moment he decided to lock it. He looked around the room, trying to identify anything he could use to cover his forehead, the closest thing he could spot was a pillow case and that would never do.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. The door was locked, at the moment that was all he needed. He could focus on finding the gypsy woman now, he could worry about Pacifica discovering his secret later.
Staring at the map, Dipper figured out Pacifica's most likely walkway from her mansion to the Mystery Shack.
"Let's see...if her mansion is up here, and the Mystery Shack is down here," Dipper used his pen to draw on the map; circles and arrows were added to help him keep his train of thought. "then in order to avoid the gnomes all five of them would have to go this way...but she said it happened during the night and we met them this morning, so given the amount of time..."
Dipper was just seconds away from figuring out where Pacifica drank the potion, he could feel it. A sudden knock on the door scared Dipper out of his thoughts.
"Dipper? It's me Affection. We're having breakfast and Mabel wants us to drink this liquid that has 'plastic dinosaurs' in it and..."
"Affection, Mabel said we aren't supposed to be up here! I'm sorry, but she did."
"Oh pish posh, Remorse. This is Dipper, he doesn't mind do ya stud?"
Dipper heard the door handle jiggle and he swallowed a lump in his throat.
"He locked the door...why did you lock the door?"
"I'm sorry, but Mabel did say he was going to be busy helping us today."
"So he locks us out?! No way! Come on, Dipper! Open the door! You know you want tooooooo... "
Affection's flirtations at the end sent a chill through down his spine.
"What's going on up here?!" a third voice roared.
"I'm sorry, but Dipper's locked the door and he won't tell us why!"
"Don't lock the door Dipper..." Affection's sweet voice managed to touch Dipper's heart.
"YOU LOCKIN DOORS, DIPPER?!" *SLAM* "YOU LOCKIN DOORS?!" while Anger's voice put fear in his heart.
"Whaaahaaa haaa!" sobbed a new voice. "Why did you leave me all alone?!"
"Alone?! Don't be stupid! I left you there with Happy and Mabel!"
"But Gruncle Stan showed up and I had to leave! I went to hide in the next room and nobody was there to hide with me!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Oh for the love of..."
Dipper winced at the sound of Anger slapping her own forehead. Their bickering was going to buy Dipper time but sooner or later they were going to get in.
He hated to do it, but he was going to have to go with Plan B. Plan A was obviously trying to locate where the gypsy woman's wagon was, but the five must have been too much for Mabel to keep an eye on. However, plans or not, there was something he had to do first! Something he was just going to have to settle for.
"DIPPER! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T UNLOCK THIS DOOR..."
"I'm sorry! But maybe you should keep it down or else their Grunkle Stan will hear you and..."
Before Remorse could continue the sound of the door unlocking caught their attention. The door opened to reveal Dipper standing before them with determination and the journal under his arm...and wearing a headband he made from a torn pillow sheet.
"I'm sorry, but is that headband made from a pillow sheet?"
"Who cares?! It's Dipper with a headband! How sweet is that?!" Affection gushed.
"Doesn't matter!" Anger cut in. "What's the big deal in locking us out?!"
"I was TRYING to work! You know, to help you? Remember?!"
"Oh..." the Enraged Pacifica voice got uncharacteristically quiet. "I see...um..."
Anger grabbed Remorse and quickly put her in front of her. "I'm sorry!" Remorse said quickly only for Anger to put her back where she was standing.
"Gotta ask Dipper..." Affection batter her eyelashes at him. "What's with the macho headband?"
"Pack your bags ladies...we're going to town!"
Soos was able to give them all a ride in to town with his pick up truck, which they were thankful for since there was no way they could all fit in to the golf cart.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay and help, Soos?" Dipper asked.
"Sorry, dude; but without you and Mabel in the Shack, Stan is going to need my help with the attractions. Not that you need my help anyways, you got five blondes chasing after you!"
"Ha ha! Cut it out man! You know it isn't like that!" Dipper laughed with a blush.
"Yoo hoo! Dipper!" Affection waved at him from the group.
"Might be that way with one of them!"
Dipper blushed again. "Yeah...well, you know."
Soos pointed a thumbs up at him and drove off.
Dipper walked over to the five Pacificas and Mabel who were awaiting instructions.
"Okay girls, we're going with plan B. I couldn't finish plan A since I couldn't work uninterrupted..."
"I'm sorry!" Remorse blurted.
"It's fine." Dipper rolled his eyes. "Plan B is to search the town questioning the locals about the gypsy woman, living alone or not she would have had to pass through town at some point to stock up on supplies. We're going to split up in five different directions, this way not two Pacificas will be together, I'm sorry but I just don't think the townsfolk are ready for multiple incarnations of the same person."
"Dipper, are you sure splitting them up is a good idea?"
"Well gee Mabel, maybe we wouldn't have to be doing this in the first place if SOMEONE was better at keeping an eye on them."
"Um...Um..." Mabel darted her head around to look for an excuse and ultimately held Remorse up as some sort of human shield.
"I'm sorry!" Remorse apologized again.
"Mabel, no! The others can get away with using Remorse as an apology because they're all part of the same person but you don't have that luxury!"
Mabel sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Dipper. They were all just supposed to hide in the living room but they went for the stairs to hide with you instead."
Dipper shook his head, no matter how hard he tried he could never stay mad at his sister. "It's alright, Mabel. There was no way you could control that situation. Now back to business!" He handed each girl a piece of paper. "I've charted out the town in to five different sectors. Ask around and see what information you can find, if things get hairy don't hesitate to get out of there. We'll all meet back here in an hour."
"Mabel!" Happy bounced on her feet. "Do you want to go investigate my sector with me?"
"Yours the one with candy store?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Try and stop me!"
As Happy and Mabel ran off, three more of the girls split off in different directions.
"Maybe this could actually work after all."
"I think you can make anything work." a voice whispered in his ear.
Dipper jumped only to find Affection giggling behind him.
"Affection, what are you still doing here?! You were supposed to be searching the town, remember?"
"But I am! Look, see? The chart you gave me was for this part of town right here."
Dipper slapped his forehead and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Darn it! I must have gotten yours mixed up with Happy."
"Wait, you mean the one with the candy store?"
She was staring at him pretty intensely so he took a step back out of caution. "Um...yes?"
"So in other words, you were trying to give me candy?"
"Oh for the love of...Sigh. Fine! Yes! I wanted you to have candy, okay?"
"I knew you liked me!" she smiled coyly at him. "But I'd still like to know what is up with the headband."
"Well since you never gave me back my hat..."
"Oops. I think I left it back at the shack."
Dipper facepalmed. "Terrific! Just terrific!"
"So you don't get your hat and you go with a makeshift headband instead? Why is this important to you? Are you trying to hide something under those bangs?"
Affection started to reach for his headband. Dipper was sweating bullets, he had to think fast!
What Affection felt next was not the headband, not only did it lack the soft fabricy feel she expected but it was now in between her fingers.
"HANDHOLDING!" Dipper screamed in a panic.
"Huh?"
"We're holding hands now! See? So there is no reason to try and remove my headband or check under my bangs!"
Affection stared down at her hand, it was interlocked with Dipper's, fingers laced.
"OMG you're right!" Affection danced in place out of excitement.
"Oh boy, this is going to be a long day."
"Come on! Let's get to work!" Affection raced off with Dipper still attached making him yelp in surprise.
Happy and Mabel came out of the candy store carrying two grocery bags full of candy.
"Credit cards are amazing!" Mabel cheered.
"Yeah, pity the owner didn't know anything. Oh well, at least he made a bunch of money!"
Mabel and Happy sat down on a bus bench and started to eat.
"Hey Mabel?"
Mabel's mouth was currently full of gummy worms but she turned to Happy none the less.
"Are you sure you're okay? You know, with me liking your brother?"
Mabel choked down her gummies and smiled. "Duh! My Bro Bro needs a good girl in his life like you!"
"He's really great...but Affection has been trying to turn his head since we came to you guys for help, and she doesn't seem to be making a lot of progress..."
Happy's permanent smile seemed to disappear as she thought about it.
"Wow. She's actually kind of insecure." Mabel noted.
"Hey, where's that Happy smile? He's just worried about you that's all. He feels like he can't afford to get distracted if he wants to help you."
"Really?" Happy gave a small smile.
"Really really!"
"YAY! Friend hug!"
The two shared a hug and it was nice.
'She just needs someone to believe in her.' Mabel concluded. "You know what will really get Dipper's attention? A new accessory!"
"Shopping?! Now you're talking my language!"
"Come on then! Let's get you hooked up!" Mabel ran off from the bench and entered a crafts store.
"What the...? Mabel that's a crafts store! There's no clothes in there to...oh well, maybe she'll surprise me."
Remorse went inside the Greasy Diner, there didn't seem to be anyone inside, or at least that's what she thought. She seemed to had failed to noticed the 'closed' sign on the door before entering.
"Come on you stupid pies! Spin!"
Lazy Susan, the proprietor of said diner, was busy trying to fix her spinning pie display the way she usually tries to fix it, by pounding her fist on the top of the machine.
"I'm sorry!" Remorse caught Lazy Susan's attention. "But I was just wondering if..."
"Pacifica Northwest?" Lazy Susan lifted the eye lid on her lazy eye to look at the twelve year old with both eyes. "In MY diner?"
"I'm sorry! I just need to a..."
"Nothing to be sorry about! Take a booth and I'll bring you some pie! For you!"
Before she could protest, Lazy Susan started to move to the kitchen so Remorse did as she was told.
"Um...I..."
"And what kind of pie would like? Apple or cherry?"
"Well I guess I would prefer cherry but..."
"Cherry it is!"
Remorse rubbed her hands nervously and sat in a booth. Well the cleanest booth she could find anyways, the building's interior seemed to live up to the name. She looked around, it seemed to be unusually vacant, from what she understood it was actually a pretty popular place with the townsfolk. She couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable...and exposed.
Just as she started to shrink in her seat, a plate with a slice of cherry pie was placed in front of her.
"A slice of cherry pie! On the house! For you!" Lazy Susan smiled down at her as she handed her a fork.
"Well...thank you Ma'am. I'm sorry, but why are you being so nice to me?"
"Honey, I can tell by looking at you that you're feeling a little down in the dumps. I tried the whole covering-half-your-face-with-your-hair thing myself back in my younger days. I was feeling pretty blue about my lazy eyelid at the time. But if there's one thing I know that can chase away the frownies it's pie."
"Um...thank you." Remorse said quietly.
She idly poked her food with her fork.
"Gee I guess pie just isn't enough, is it? Tell Lazy Susan what's wrong."
"I don't know if you know this or not...but there have been times when I wasn't a very nice person. I feel bad about the things I did, but I don't know if I can make amends for those things. I mean...what if it's already too late and..."
'Sheesh! This kid has a lot of anxiety for a twelve year old.' thought Lazy Susan.
"Well it sounds to me like you're already making a great start."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, you feel bad about the things you've done and that's always the first step to setting things right."
Remorse brushed some of her hair aside. "Really?"
"Really! Now how about you try some of that pie?"
Remorse took a bite of the pie and gave a small but honest smile.
"It's good!"
Fear was walking around town, she tried to ask the people like Dipper wanted but every time she tried she ultimately chickened out.
"Oh why did Dipper have to split us up? I don't even have the others to hide behind."
It was when she was walking past a junkyard that she spotted Old Man McGucket. He seemed to be staring down at some kind of stone age laptop.
"I don't get it! According to this we should all be dead by now! It as if some unknown force decided to completely nullify the danger for the sake of fictional works!" He then looked directly above him and shook his fist at the sky. "QUIT WRITING STORIES ABOUT ME!"
His sudden outburst made Fear squeak out of...well fear.
He turned to her by the sudden noise and she flinched.
"Well howdy, what can I do fer ya?"
"Um...I..." she started to shy away but McGucket wasn't going to have any of that.
"Aw shoot! Don't be shy..." he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in to the junkyard. "Now what didja stop by fer?"
"Um...well...I'm supposed to ask you if you've seen an old gypsy woman..."
"Nope! Is she single?"
"Uh I don't really kn..."
"Because I'm not! Say hello to the misses."
He held up a raccoon which instinctively hissed in Fear's face.
"Eeeeek!" Fear screamed and ran off to hide behind some garbage.
Fear thought she would be safe there but the raccoon seemed to follow her.
"Hissssssss!"
"EEEEEEEEEK!" Fear ran from her hiding spot only for the raccoon to chase after her. "WHY IS THIS A THING?!"
"Oh dear..." McGucket watched as his raccoon wife chased a twelve year old little girl around in a circle. "Must be that time of the month for raccoons again...over here child!"
Fear dashed over to him and quickly hid behind him, but she couldn't fool the raccoon. It sat on it's haunches waiting for either McGucket to move out of the way or for Fear to make a run for it.
"MAKE HER GO AWAY!"
"I'm sorry child, but I can't! My raccoon wife hardly ever listens to me, but when situations like a this do come up that's when I bring out Mr. Sparky!"
"Mr. Sparky?"
From out of his pocket, Old Man McGucket pulled a cattle prodder and gave it to Fear.
"A couple pokes and she'll get runnin'."
Fear stared at the cattle prodder in her hands then at the raccoon showing it's surprisingly sharp fangs.
"I-I-I-I can't! I'm too scared! You do it!"
"I'm sorry Blondesy, but it won't work if I do it! The only way she'll stop chasing someone is if they poke her with the electric cattle prodder."
"But...But she's gonna bite me and...I'm afraid!"
"You got the cattle prodder, you're the one who's armed. If anyone should be afraid it's my raccoon wife."
"I..."
"You just have to have believe in yourself."
Fear bit the bottom of her lip, she would have liked nothing better than to run away and yet her body was moving out from behind McGucket and towards the raccoon.
The raccoon did try to bite her just like she was afraid it was going to but it never even reached her. A simple poke from the cattle prodder stopped it in it's tracks, it looked up at her from the ground waiting to see what she would do next. Instead of giving the raccoon another zap she poked the ground in front of it making the vermin run away.
"And you'd better not try it again!" turning to Old Man McGucket she showed him something she hadn't been wearing since this whole ordeal started. A smile. "Thank you, Mr. McGucket."
"Aw shucks, kid. All I did was give you a tool. The only thing you really needed was confidence. Y'all can keep that cattle prodder as a gift."
Fear's smile got bigger as she clutched the electrical device.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, PUNK!" Enraged Pacifica held a blonde boy by the scruff of his shirt. "HAVE YOU OR HAVE YOU NOT SEEN AN OLD GYPSY WOMAN?!"
The pony tailed boy she was holding only answered in sobs.
"You'd better answer me..." in her other hand were two puppets, one a bee and the other which just had a book for a head. "Or else the puppets get it!" she moved her hand down to the storm drain, loosening her grip.
"I haven't!" he cried. "I haven't seen *sob* any gypsies at all!"
Anger tossed him on the ground, carelessly throwing his puppets on top of him. "Beat it! I see you again and I'll make you eat those puppets!"
He picked up his hand puppets and ran off crying.
"Pathetic!" Anger said. "And to think, before the party I used to think I knew what a loser was. I know so much better now."
Looking across the street, Anger saw a newspaper vendor. On the front page was a picture of Dipper fending off a giant vampire bat with a taser.
"Like how Dipper Pines turned out to be some kind of hero. No loser there at all. Now let's see, who else can I intimida-err I mean interrogate?"
Looking around, Anger realized she was the only one on the street. It was very quiet. She didn't like it.
"Maybe I should have had one of the others come with me...I don't like being...alone."
Her head drifted back to the vendor, looking at Dipper's picture again she smiled.
"Dipper doesn't make me feel alone. I should like probably hug him or something next time I see him...Or I could just punch him in the arm. Yeah, that sounds like the better option to me. That's what I'll do."
Affection was still holding Dipper's hand and she couldn't be happier about it. Dipper on the other hand, no pun intended, had tried several times to retrieve his hand from his admirer only to have each attempt fail. He had to admit, it wasn't so bad, but her grip was sweatier than said girl would ever admit to him or herself.
"Dipper?" the sound of Wendy's voice made Dipper jump. "Whoa dude! Is that Pacifica?"
"Oh no! Wendy! I can't let her se...oh who am I kidding? Hi Wendy!"
It was true, he still thought Wendy was an amazing woman but whatever feelings he may have had for her, they were starting to form in to mere friendship. Walking over to the red headed lumberjack's daughter, he couldn't help but notice that Affection seemed a little nervous.
"It is, isn't it?!" Wendy shifted a little on the park bench she was sitting on. "You're holding hands with Pacifica Northwest!"
"Well she is and she isn't. Long story short she's a part of Pacifica."
"Which part?"
"Um...well..."
"Hi my name is Affection! I'm made up of Pacifica's feelings for Dipper."
Wendy bursted out laughing. "Wow! Didn't think she would like you THAT much!"
"Yes. Yes. It's very funny. Listen, have you seen an old gypsy woman in town? She's the cause of all this."
"Sorry Dipper, the only old person I usually associate with is Stan."
"Sigh. It was a long shot anyways." out of the corner of Dipper's eye he saw the only two police officers he knew in this town, Blubs and Durland. "Girls, I'm go ask those two if they've seen anything. Wendy, can I trust you to keep an eye on Affection for me?"
"Sure thing."
"Thanks."
Dipper slipped out of her grasp and made a run for it, much to Affection's surprise.
"Hey! How did you...?"
"Your sweaty hand made it easier!" he called back as he ran.
Wendy wasn't sure how the little girl was going to react but she never expected the blonde to sigh in content.
"Isn't he wonderful?"
"Yeah..." Wendy agreed as Affection started to pace around the bench. "I'm just glad he's finally starting to get over that crush he had on me."
Affection froze in mid-step. "Wait! His WHAT?!"
"Well Mabel..." Happy started. "I have to admit, when you started talking about accessorizing and then ran in to a crafts store I thought you were crazy..." She looked at her new red hair bow in the mirror. "But this red bow really does make me feel like I stand out."
"When it comes to my brother, less is more. He's unimpressed with fancy flashy stuff, you need to get his attention with normal down to Earth stuff...might need more glitter."
Happy brought her hands to her hips as she smiled at Mabel. "Mabel, you are like the perfect wing-woman!"
"What can I say? My brother needs a girl who sees him for who he is and you have the Mabel stamp of approval!"
Mabel took a glittery sticker which said "approved" on it and stuck it to Happy's forehead. Happy could only smile at the gesture.
Affection was sitting on the bench next to Wendy nodding at what she was saying. "Okay, right, I got that...but how do I know if and when he is crushing on me?"
"Well with me he would laugh really loudly then say something under his breath which he only thought I couldn't hear."
"So if I can get him to do that with me then I'll know that's when he's crushing on me back?"
"Who can say? It might be different with you. You just go with your gut and wing it."
Affection stared at her lap, hanging her head in deep thought.
"Hmmm...Okay. What about his headband though? Wanna explain that?"
"Yeah, I don't know what he's thinking with that. Usually he just uses his hat to hide that embarrassing birthmark of his."
"Birthmark?!"
"Oops..."
"That must be what he's hiding under those bangs!"
"You didn't hear that from me! I am completely innocent!"
Affection was about to run off to find Dipper when something in the trash caught her eye. Normally she wouldn't even notice something that was in something as gross as a trash bin, but she had seen something in there before. Grabbing the piece of paper she did a double take on what was on it.
"Wendy this is a picture of the wagon for the exact gypsy woman we're looking for!"
"No way, really?"
"Yeah!" Affection took another look at the paper. "I don't believe it! I've got to go tell Dipper about this!"
Dipper sighed as he made his way back to the girls, Blubs and Durland turned out to be another dead end.
"Dipper!" Affection called. "I found her!"
"What?! Are you serious?! Where is she?!"
"Well according to this flyer, she's actually a part of a traveling circus. Gives fortunes apparently, even has a map to where they are."
"Affection, this is amazing! You did it!" Dipper cheered as he threw his arms around her in a hug.
She gladly returned the hug but when he felt like it lasted long he tried to break the hug only to find her still holding on tight.
"Uh-Oh."
"You know, for a boy so smart you didn't really think this move through."