When we last left off, Dipper was at the mercy of a possessed Mabel wielding an ax! Mabel was still possessed by Felicity the angry ghost. How does Dipper get out of this one? But first let's check back on our two favorite grunkles to see what they were up to.
Earlier in the night, Grunkle Stan and Ford were kicked out of the tunnel ride for rough housing.
"I know the purpose of the tunnel is to express yourself, but rough housing is forbidden." the ride manager said. "And you two are the roughest of housers."
"Look, we apologize, but right now we need your help." Ford said to the man. "Did you happen to see a boy wearing this hat?" Ford held up Dipper's signature pine tree hat to the man.
"Oooh... no I haven't." he said. "But maybe a little cash will help me remember."
"How about a whupping? Will that refresh your memory?!" Stan threatened.
"Okay okay, I'll explain." the man said. "There was a kid wearing that hat who got on the ride with his girlfriend. They were so cute. The boy even fell asleep when they exited. Then his girl did the nice thing of carrying him home, instead of making him drive."
"You idiot, that wasn't his girlfriend, that was his sister!" Stan yelled.
"Well then why was he dating his sister? They were holding hands and everything. That's pretty weird." the manager said.
"We don't have time for this. Where did they go after they got off the ride?" Ford asked.
"The girl said she was heading home with her... brother. And carried him that way." The manager pointed his finger in the direction they left.
"That's definitely the direction of the Shack." Ford said. "Could the kids be back at the Shack safe right now?" he wondered.
"Well just in case, I better call Soos to see if they're there or not." Stan said. He pulled out his phone and dialed the Mystery Shack.
The phone rang, but no answer.
"Ugh, no answer." Stan said. "Looks like someone's getting a deduction."
"Are you kidding? Do you have any how late it is?" Ford scolded. "It's no wonder Soos didn't answer."
"Well then, I guess we're on our own." Stan admitted.
"So, how are you going to find the kids at this hour Stanley?" Ford asked.
"I can't... at least, not alone." Stan said. "Look, let's put aside our differences and look for the kids. I sure could use your intellect."
"Good to hear. With my deductive reasoning, we should be able to locate the kids in no time!" Ford said. "Now then, if they headed in the direction of the Shack, but never actually went inside assuming the Shack was locked before they left here, then they must be somewhere between here and the Shack, which narrows our search considerably."
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go find the kids!" Stan decreed.
And with that, the two began looking looking for the Pines Twins. But were they too late?
Back in the hole, Felicity was ready to swing the ax into Dipper. She walked up slowly, in swinging position.
"Please no!" pleaded Dipper in tears. "Have mercy please!"
"Daw, how adorable. The little kid wants mercy. You really want mercy boy?" asked Felicity. "Let me ask you this, do you think I was given any mercy?" Before Dipper could answer, Felicity lashed out.
"NO!" she screamed.
"I wasn't given any mercy! If you couldn't tell! If I was given mercy, I'd still be alive right now! But I wasn't! And now I'm dead!"
As Felicity screamed, the earth shook, and the tree rooks put a firmer grip on Dipper's wrists.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I really am!" said Dipper trying to be sincere. "But you can't take out your anger on the living!"
"Why not? The afterlife has been absolutely miserable! There is nothing to do except watch less deserving people live out their horrible lives while I am stuck in limbo!" Felicity said with angst. "Body snatching is one of the few perks of being a ghost, but even it gets old, so here I am taking it to the extreme, by venting out all of my rage!"
"Just because you're angry, doesn't mean you should take your anger out on Mabel or I!" Dipper said. "Neither of us have done anything to you. Leave us alone!"
Dipper started to tear up realizing that this could be it. "Please... don't... you can't." he pleaded.
"Just watch me." Felicity said stern, and unmoved.
"...Okay then fine, I conceded defeat..." Dipper said quietly.
"Aw, I'm almost disappointed that you decided to quit instead of struggling til the very end. Almost." Felicity said.
"Maybe you're right... maybe Mabel and I have taken the things in life for granted... and this is what we get for not appreciating it while we still could." Dipper said defeated. He cried not just cause he couldn't save himself, but mostly because he couldn't save Mabel.
"How poetic." Felicity commented. "Now if you don't mind..." She swung back the ax readying to swing forward. "See you in heck."
With not even moments to spare, Dipper had to think of something, and fast. But ultimately his brilliant mind came up with a a last ditch plan.
"Hey Felicity, before you swing, answer me this: What exactly is this going to accomplish?" Dipper asked.
"What do you mean?" asked Felicity.
"What is killing us both going to accomplish and/or prove?" Dipper elaborated. "When all is said and done, you'll still be a ghost forced to live on Earth for eternity. Doing this is solving nothing, it's just making time pass, in a very awful way!"
"You talk too much. And you're too curious for your own good." Felicity said. "Not everything has a reasoning or explanation, and not everyone has a clear motive for what they do. Life is a cloud of mysteries, you can't know everything, so just deal with it."
Felicity was growing tired of Dipper extending the conversation. Dipper had to come up with a new subject.
"Hey Felicity, spot any parallels between you and I?" Dipper said trying desperately to come up with things to say that could save him.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Felicity asked.
"Take a look at yourself. You're an ax wielding maniac who's about to kill a child. How are you any better than the person who murdered you!?" yelled Dipper.
"This isn't the same thing! My murderer wielded a gun, I'm wielding an ax. Completely different!" said Felicity.
"Not really. Weapons don't kill people. People kill people! Or er... ghosts inside of people's bodies, kill... people." said Dipper.
"That statement is highly disputable, you don't want to go there." Felicity said.
"Well my point is, you're about to commit the same action that caused you so much pain! Only back then you were on the receiving end." Dipper said.
Felicity didn't have an immediate response, she just stood for a moment and thought.
"Felicity, what was the most difficult part of transitioning to the afterlife?" Dipper asked.
"...Dealing with the reality, that everything... was gone." she said tearfully.
"You know what it's like to lose everything, think about how painful that must have felt. Do you really want to do the same to two kids the same age as you were?" Dipper asked.
Felicity had a flashback to the night of her tragic undoing. It was a very late night. She laid in her bed, while listening to her parents argue. The argument was so bad, she could hear the sheer anger in both of their voices. She was scared, and hid under her blankets hoping it would stop. Eventually, she heard some glass shatter, and a gun shot. She emerged from her bed, and walked slowly to her bedroom door. She grabbed the handle, and with much fear as to what could have happened, she foolishly and slowly opened the door. And then... it was over for her.
She let out a loud high pitched scream, both in her flashback and the physical world when she recalled it happening.
Mabel's faced bawled with tears, but these were actually Felicity's tears.
"Because you know how awful it feels, please, think about what you're about to do. To us. To Mabel and I. You have access to her memories, have a look, and then decide if you really want to."
Felicity had another flashback, but this time, it was Mabel's memories, looking back at Dipper and Mabel's past. She saw memories of the two as friends. Really close friends. Friends who'd do anything for each other. The bond they shared was like nothing Felicity ever experienced in her life. She was an only child. There were many hardships in each of the Pines Twins' lives. But no matter what, in the end, they always had each other. Whenever Mabel felt down, or had an awful day and just wanted to hide away in Sweater Town, Dipper would be there to comfort her. And Mabel would do the same for Dipper when he felt down. Sure the two of them would bicker at each other quite frequently, but the bottom line was, that at the end of the day they both loved each other very much. Felicity watched as these memories played back in front of her. She couldn't believe two people could be so caring for each other. Everyone in her life, family included, was cruel.
Meanwhile in the physical realm, Mabel's body started drifting backwards, and upwards, away from Dipper and into the center of the room. Felicity was out of words. A couple of her tears once again seeped from Mabel's eyes.
Mabel's body gripped the ax handle tighter and tighter, until it broke and the ax head fell to the ground. The earth began to rumble. Felicity curled Mabel's body into a ball, to hide her tears. She was clearly holding in a lot of tension. A bright aura glowed around Mabel's body. The lights emitted were almost too bright to look at. Finally after enough tension building, she quickly uncurled and released all her energy in one big scream.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Felicity screamed.
Mabel's eyes lit up as bright as day. Lights flashed, earth shook, beams of light rapidly expelled from Mabel. The shock wave hit Dipper head on, he endured it. A bright screaming apparition expelled from Mabel's mouth and continued to scream, and then slowly faded away. After the apparition fled, the screaming finally stopped, and things grew quiet. Mabel's eyes dimmed, and her body floated slowly to the ground. She landed gently flat on her back. Mabel was seemingly freed.
The tree roots that gripped Dipper wilted away, releasing him. The other roots did the same. All seemed calm. Mabel laid on the ground flat on her back. Eyes shut tight. She was quiet, and inert.