"DIPPER!" The scream echoed through the cave, invading Dipper's ears and mind. In one second, everything had gone straight to hell. It had flipped the boat over, and tossed the three into the river. The flashlight had fallen underwater, and it was pitch black. Dipper was colder than he had ever ben in his life. He felt like his blood was frozen, unmoving. Every time he tried to breathe, seawater would fill his mouth. He reached out, desperately trying to grab something. He felt something rough and scaly. He jerked his hand away, and thrashed in the opposite direction. He put out his arms out like a blind man.

"HELP ME!" The scream was louder, full of panic. "HELP ME PLEASE!" Dipper opened his mouth to call out, but the water rushed in. He swallowed it, and felt it hit his stomach. He clenched his teeth, and did his best not to throw up. His hands touched something else. It was flesh. He pulled the person closer to him, and embraced them. He couldn't tell if it was Mabel or Wendy. Whoever it was weighed him down. It got harder to kick, harder to keep himself afloat. He swallowed another mouthful of water. It went down his esophagus, and he hacked violently. His strength was starting to leave him. He knew he was sinking, but he didn't let go of the girl.

'This is how it ends,' he thought to himself. 'Didn't expect it to go down like this. I thought we'd put up more of a fight. But we were stupid, going in blindly like this. Hopefully someone else will step up to protect the town.' He felt his eyes start to flutter. His water-filled breaths came less frequent. He felt his lips dip into the water. His nose followed, and his eyes stung as they were enveloped. His hat floated off his head. 'I'm okay with this,' he thought. 'I died helping the town. I died doing something that's right.' He felt his heart begin to clench. 'I just wish I hadn't dragged Wendy into it. And I wish I could have protected Mabel. Some brother I was.' The noises of the surf began to fade. It was replaced by utter silence. His mind quieted, and darkness enveloped him. He didn't feel the girl he was holding stir. He didn't feel her pull him up, and swim over to a nearby sand bank. He didn't feel her roll him over. He didn't hear her scream his name over and over again. He didn't feel her pound his chest, didn't feel her lips envelop his own as she breathed into his lungs. He didn't hear the girls sobs wrack the cave, and didn't feel her hand clench his own. He didn't feel anything.

"Please come back," Wendy whispered. "You can't do this, Dipper. You can't. I won't let you." Wendy looked around, her eyes having adjusted somewhat to the dark. She saw a crumpled figure floating near the edge of the sandbank. She ran to it, and pulled it onto the sure. The figure spluttered, gasped, and took a long breath.

"Help me!" Mabel screamed. "Someone help!"

"It's okay," said Wendy. "You're out of the water." Mabel felt around. She touched the sand, and let it fall through her fingers.

"Where's the Gobblewonker?" asked Mabel.

"I don't know," said Wendy. "I don't see its eyes. I think it's gone."

"That one was real," said Mabel. "The last time we came here, it was fake. It was some kind of machine. But that one was real." Mabel looked around. She squinted her eyes, trying to see anything in the dark. "Where's Dipper?" she asked.

"Up here," Wendy whispered. Mabel scrambled to the top of the bank, and found her brother. She felt his shirt, and went up his chest. She touched his hairy cheek, and caressed his forehead.

"You okay Dipper?" Mabel asked. There was quiet. "Dipper?" Mabel turned to look at Wendy. She was lost in the dark. "What's wrong with him?!" Mabel asked. Wendy began to sob. Mabel felt all the feeling leave her body. She had never been completely numb before. It was a strange feeling. Almost like looking at yourself from outside your body. "It's not funny anymore," Mabel said. "It's not funny Dipper. Wake up," she urged. Wendy continued to sob, and Dipper didn't stir. "Wake up dammit!" Mabel shouted. Dipper laid still. Mabel slapped him across the face, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "STOP IT!" Mabel roared. He still didn't move. The realization overtook Mabel, and she collapsed. Sadness filled the entirety of her being. The impossible had happened. Her brother had died. Her life long best friend. She had spent more time with him then she had spent with anyone else. They had done everything together. They laughed together, cried together. Lifted each other up when they were feeling down, and knocked each other down a peg when they were being jerks. They were almost one person. But not anymore. Now, Mabel was all alone. She knew she was crying, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything anymore. She wasn't even a person. She was a shell.

"We have to get out of here," said Wendy.

"Why?" asked Mabel.

"We have to try," said Wendy.

"No point," said Mabel. "There's just no point."

"He'd want us to try," said Wendy. The sadness left Mabel all at once. It was replaced by blinding, white-hot rage. She stood up, and turned towards Wendy's voice.

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!?" shouted Mabel. "YOU THINK YOU KNOW HIM SO WELL? JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE FUCKING HIM!" Mabel stomped her foot like a child having a tantrum. "HE WAS MY BROTHER! HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND! HE... he..." Mabel fell to her knees, the sadness coming back in waves. "He's gone. How do you know what he'd want? He can't tell us."

"Maybe he can," said Wendy. Mabel felt Wendy put something in her hands. It was the three book. Mabel was stunned. It had been fully submerged in the water, but its pages were still dry. "He wrote in this all the time," said Wendy. "Maybe something he wrote here can help."

"I can't read it," said Mabel. "It's too dark." Wendy reached into her pocket, and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed a button, and light filled the cavern.

"I put it in a waterproof case before we left," said Wendy. "I'll set it to flashlight mode." As Wendy fooled with her phone, Mabel slowly turned towards Dipper. His mouth was hanging open, and his eyelids were half closed. An explosive sob came out of Mabel, harsh and uncompromising in its power. She turned her head, unable to look at him anymore. Wendy handed the phone to Mabel, and crawled over to Dipper. She gently closed his mouth, and pulled his eyelids shut. She kissed his cheek, and brushed his hair out of his face.

"You really cared about him," said Mabel. It wasn't a question. She was just stating a fact.

"Yeah," said Wendy. "It's funny. We hadn't seen each other in years, and we were on such terrible terms when he left as a kid. But I saw him again, it was like all that never happened. It was like I had known him my whole life. I can't explain it. I've never felt anything like it." Wendy let out a shaky sigh. "I loved him. No two ways about it, I just loved him."

"You're right, you know," said Mabel. "He would want us to get out of here. I know him. He'd never give up. As long as there was someone to save, he'd try to get out alive."

"I thought so," said Wendy. "He was a hero."

"He never got to grow up," said Mabel. She felt her lip begin to quiver, and her voice begin to waver. "He was only seventeen. He wasn't even a man yet."

"Yes he was," said Wendy. "It takes a man to do the things he did. It takes a man to stare danger in the face, and laugh at it. It takes a man to put himself aside, to forget about his own needs. All he did was help others. He could have left the town, could have abandoned us all. But he never even thought about doing that. The only thing he ever thought about was how to save people. He wasn't just a man, Mabel," said Wendy. "He was a hero." Mabel smiled, and nodded.

"Yes he was," said Mabel. "And now we have to be heroes as well. We have to get out of here." Mabel looked down at the three book. She opened it. "Let's take a look," Mabel said. She flipped through the book, carefully looking at each page. She payed special attention to Dipper's handwriting. It was scratchy, barely legible. A typical twelve year olds scribbles. Sometimes it wasn't even advice. She found herself giggling at a dirty limerick he had written. She felt her heart dip when she read a love poem he had written for Wendy. And she smiled when she saw a doodle he had done of her and Waddles. She flipped to the back of the book. On the second to last page, Dipper had scribbled something in large, red letters. 'Use Only In Dire Emergency!' he had written. She took a look at the last page. Mabel gasped, and read it again.

"What is it?" asked Wendy.

"It could be a solution," said Mabel.

"What do you mean?" asked Wendy.

"It's a spell," said Mabel. "A powerful one."

"A spell?" asked Wendy. "Like magic? Like Harry Potter and all that jazz?" Mabel rolled her eyes.

"We've seen vampires, werwolves, and a giant man-eating eel thing," said Mabel. "Is magic really that far of a stretch?"

"Good point," said Wendy.

"The spell's called The Reversal Of Fortune," said Mabel. "It's powerful, but extremely dangerous."

"Dangerous?" asked Wendy.

"Yeah," said Mabel. She read the last line for the third time, and gulped. "Like, end of the world as we know it dangerous."

"What!?" gasped Wendy.

"It doesn't matter," said Mabel. "We have to try. We don't have any other choice."

"But-"

"No buts!" shouted Mabel. "If this works, we get another chance."

"Another chance at what?" asked Wendy. Mabel closed her eyes, and began to chant. Her strange chanting filled the cave. It wasn't english, or any other language that Wendy had ever heard. It didn't sound human. It sounded like a noise an angel or a demon might make. Deep, but light at the same time. An impossible noise. The book began to vibrate, and glow. Its pages turned of their own accord, and the wind in the cave began to blow harder. The cave started to fill with light. At first Wendy thought it was the book. But she soon realized that the light was concentrated on them. She turned slowly, and saw it. Its beacon eyes shined on them. It was only a few feet away from them. The Gobblewonker opened its mouth, and Wendy saw its massive teeth."Mabel!" Wendy shouted. Mabel continued to chant, and the beast got closer. The Gobblewonker roared, and pulled its entire weight out of the water. Wendy was stunned at how massive it was. It came crashing down on her. Wendy screamed, and covered her face. But the blow never came. Wendy slowly opened her eyes. She was in a bed. She sat up, and looked around. And then she remembered.

"You okay?" a voice asked. She turned, and saw Dipper. She embraced him in a bone crushing hug. "Woah!" he shouted.

"You're alive!" Wendy said. She giggled, and squeezed him harder.

"Of course I am," said Dipper. "Why wouldn't I be?" Wendy thought about it.

"I don't know," Wendy said. "I had a horrible dream last night. I dreamt you drowned."

"After the whole vampire thing, it's no wonder you had bad dreams," said Dipper. "But that's all it was. Just a dream."

"Yeah," said Wendy. She hugged Dipper again, and kissed him on the cheek. "Just a dream."

Note: I'm really sorry for the incredibly late update. A bunch of things happened at once, and writing fell by the wayside. Updates should come on a semi-regular basis. Hope you stick with me!