CHAPTER 4
The glowing in the twins' room was still present, but here and there pieces of candy were landing on the ground slowly. Once they were down, the glowing disappeared from them.
"Soos! Soos!" Mabel called from the ceiling.
Dipper was looking at Soos from the wall, trying to see if his friend was still on this world.
"Dipper, is he breathing? Can you see if..."
"Mabel shhh! I think I hear something."
They all listened carefully and heard a soft sound coming from Soos. They quickly recognized what it was.
"Is he... snoring?" The candy monster asked.
"Oh Soos." Mabel said with a smile. "I guess he actually meant it when he said he was taking a nap."
In that moment, all glowing in the room completely vanished. This included the glowing around the candy that held the kids and the monster prisoners. Dipper suddenly fell to the ground, as the candy around his wrists and ankles broke in pieces. Seeing this, the Candy Monster made an extra effort and released himself from the sticky matter.
Dipper got on his feet and tried to clean his clothes. Just then, he remembered something. He looked up and saw the candy around Mabel's body was cracking. "Mabel!"
"Uh-oh" Mabel said just before the candy broke, and she fell down.
Dipper ran with his arms extended in front of him, and got below Mabel the moment she was about to meet the floor. She landed on him, hard.
"Owwww man!" Dipper said from below Mabel.
"Oh my gosh Dipper! Are you okay?"
"Yeah…I think so." He said narrowing his eyes because of the pain.
"Well, thanks for catching me! Haha!...I guess."
"I'm starting to hate candy." He said as his sister helped him up.
The trio gathered around Soos. "What happens now?" Dipper asked the monster.
"I really don't know." He said. "And I certainly don't want to stay to find out." The candy monster turned around to leave the room.
Mabel grabbed the monster's shoulder. "No wait! We have to do something. I mean, we can't just leave Soos lying here after what happened."
"Oh, this again." He said in an annoyed voice. "Listen to me you little girl. We are lucky to be in one piece. I told you both this was dangerous and you ignored my advice. Now, for some reason, this didn't end badly. However, I'm not going to take that risk again. You don't know what this is all about. We can't do anything. This time I really mean it: We have to leave the house while there's still some time!" He took a few steps and turned back, like waiting for the twins to follow him. "As you wish." He got out of the room.
"You don't seem to know what's going on either." Dipper yelled at him.
The monster stopped. "What?"
"You didn't know about the Trickster's heart until we all saw it. And now it's obvious you don't know what will happen with Soos when he wakes up. In fact, I'd say you have never seen anything like this before. Am I right?" Dipper took a step towards the monster in a menacing way.
"W-well, that's not…" The monster was getting nervous and Dipper smiled. "Ok, some of that could possibly be true. So what kid?!"
"So, just because you don't know a way to change Soos back to normal, it doesn't mean there's no way to do it."
"Yeah! Well said Dipper!" Mabel joined her brother.
"Thanks, Mabel."
"Now you'll have to help us get whatever is inside Soos out from him." Mabel said smiling.
"Children, listen to me." The monster said entering the room.
"No, you listen to me!" Dipper said loudly. "I'm tired of you saying that we have to escape and that we don't know what we're facing. You're gonna tell us now everything about that candy, so we can help our friend!"
"No way! I'm outta here!" He said and ran to the door.
"Mabel, stop him!"
Mabel ran too and blocked the door. The monster looked at the window, but Dipper grabbed him and lifted him up.
"Ahhh! Let me go!"
"Not until you speak!"
"Well, what if I refuse to speak?"
Dipper thought for a second. Then he smiled. "Mabel, I think our little friend would love to see what you can do with a bunch of gummy worms."
"Oh! And I'd be glad to show him!" The twins grinned evilly. Mabel ran to her side of the room, and came back with a back of gummy worms.
"Now Mabel will attempt to break the gummy worms nose sticking world record!" She announced.
"What?!" The monster yelled.
Mabel started to stick the worms into her nose, one by one, with little difficulty, as she laughed. "Oh! It tickles! Hahahahaha!"
"Oh man! That's like the grossest thing I've ever seen!" The monster said, closing his eyes, and forcing in Dipper's hands."
"You haven't seen anything yet." Dipper told him. "Mabel, he would like to try."
Candy Monster's eyes grew really wide.
"Ok, little buddy!" Mabel got the gummy worms out of her nose. They were covered in a not so good looking substance. "Oh, they're a little sticky…I guess I'm having a little summer cold."
"Oh, come on!" The monster cried.
"You're gonna love this!" She said as she took one of the gummy worms near the monster's nose.
"You wouldn't dare!" The monster said with fear on his face.
"Oh, she's really good at it." Dipper told him. "I know from personal experience." The monster was officially panicked for the nth time on the night.
"Into your nose! Into your nose!" Mabel shouted.
"No guys! Nooooooooooooo!"
Mabel stuck one gummy worm into the monster's nose and he just trembled on Dipper's hands.
"No!...Oh!... Aghhhhh!...gross…darn…ohhhh….oh …ohh…Okay! You win! I'll talk!" He said on a nasal sounding voice.
"That's enough Mabel." Dipper said.
"Oh really? He doesn't look too convinced about staying."
"I don't think he's going anywhere. Besides, this is getting really disturbing."
"Oh, come on. You actually kind of liked it the last time." Mabel told him, as she removed the gummy worm from the monster.
Dipper felt a shiver down his spine, but got over it quickly. He put the traumatized monster on the floor. The creature took a few minutes to recover himself from the experience. Something to tell the grandchildren. He thought. Then, he faced the twins.
"Wait, there's one little thing missing." Dipper said and walked to his bed for the camera, while Mabel kept an eye on the monster. "It doesn't work. That weird shining must've damaged the batteries." He looked for some new batteries on his backpack and placed them on the camera. He turned it on and it worked normally.
"Well, we're back on the case." Dipper spoke to the camera and then pointed it to the monster. "Now, you were saying?
Candy Monster sighed. "There's definitely something wrong with you kids." He said. "Okay. First of all, you were right. I'm not exactly an expert on the field. I only came here because I was the only one of my kind that was available at the time."
"Your kind?"
"Yes. You see, I was the only one who could dispose the corrupted candy from the Trickster's body by eating it."
"You were gonna eat that?" Dipper asked. "Wouldn't that be bad for you?"
"Not at all. I'm part of a selected group that has this rare capacity. I would've ingested the candy and separated it from the evil component that corrupted it. Then, I would've taken that component home to properly take care of it."
The twins listened carefully to the monster as he revealed them incredible, yet weird, information.
"The only problem is" He continued. "That this is actually my first mission. There was no one else available, and I was the last minute option. It's just that we couldn't let more time pass without retrieving the candy. Otherwise, they would've sent an expert. But they sent me. It was supposed to be something quick and easy. The last thing we thought was that this would happen. I was supposed to eat the candy! Only that!" The monster yelled.
"So…that's why you were trying to eat our left over Summerween candy." Mabel said.
"Yes, I assumed it came from the Trickster's body since I followed the trace from the store, and I was trying to eat it all. That is, until I got hypnotized by that movie. Man I was so stupid!" He hit his head. "Common mistake of an inexperienced guy! I was always told not to watch directly to those shiny screens."
Dipper watched as the monster continued regretting. "Then what's inside that candy that makes it so evil?" He asked.
The monster stropped, and faced him with a serious look. "One of the most dangerous and destructive forces that exists."
"And what is that?" The twins asked at the same time.
Candy monster spoke slowly. "Emotional issues."
The twins looked at each other confused. "Emotional…" Dipper repeated. "You're kidding right?"
"Why would I be? Emotional issues are not something to joke about. You saw what they did to that loser candy. It was transformed into a real monster. You don't think that's dangerous?"
"Well" Dipper said. "I just can't believe some boring candy suddenly felt bad enough to became alive and try to eat people."
"It wasn't the candy exactly who tried to eat you. We're talking about an evil power that has wandered Earth for a long time. When it took control of the candy, it exploited the worst of it to cause as much damage as possible."
"Wow. And you think that's gonna happen to Soos?" Mabel asked.
"No one knows exactly what would be the consequences if a human ate the Trickster's body. But we are almost sure the same evil force would be released. That's why we were supposed to put the candy out of your reach."
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much." Mabel said. "I mean, what emotional issues could anyone so nice like Soos have?"
"It doesn't matter what kind of person he is!" The monster said. "That evil power may take total control of him!"
Dipper was trying to analyze all the information. He came up with an important question. "Well, that's just great. Now, how can we stop him? You're not gonna eat him right?"
"Of course not! But, as I said, I wasn't prepared for something like this. I really don't know how to solve it."
"That's all I wanted to hear!"
The voice that interrupted them came from behind, where Soos was lying on the floor. However, it didn't sound like Soos. They turned around slowly and saw the handyman on his feet, with a disturbing smile on his face.
"Boo!" He said.
The candy monster jumped on his place with fear.
"Hahahahaha! And I thought you could represent a threat!"
Nothing was different in Soos, except for an insignificant detail. His voice had completely changed, sounding very different.
"Soos, is it really you?" Mabel asked.
Soos paid attention to the twins. "Come on, you don't recognize your old friend, little 'dudes'?" He emphasized the last word.
Dipper suddenly had a bad feeling. This wasn't the Soos he knew. At least, he wasn't acting in the same way.
"Oh, still nothing? Well, how about this?!" Soos jumped in the air and there he stayed. Floating over the floor with his arms extended. Dipper and Mabel couldn't believe their eyes. Neither could they pronounce a word.
"Nope, that's nothing like what the old Soos would do, is it?" He said. "Well, guess who's on the drivers' seat now? That's right…Me!" He said pointing to himself.
Dipper finally was able to speak. "You…are not r-really you…who are you?"
"I told you! He's not there anymore! It's just emotional issues!" Candy monster yelled.
"Ah, that's a very good observation little buddy! But it's not so accurate. Yes, your friend needed to take a little rest and I was glad to help him with that. I'm the hidden side of him, the one that deals with his little misunderstandings with some individuals."
There was just this tone of…sadness in his voice, Dipper thought. His words flowed slightly slowly. As if when he spoke, he was begging for something.
"No way! Soos doesn't have any emotional issues! He gets along very well with everybody!" Mabel yelled.
Soos came closer to Mabel. "Oh, but some people don't know how to get along with him." He said in a low voice.
Dipper quickly got beside Mabel. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing big really. Just hang out with you for a while, go take some fresh air, get revenge on Stan for all he's done to me… That kind of stuff."
That voice. It reminded him of someone he had seen on TV. On a movie.
"Soos, that's not funny! You can't get revenge on Grunkle Stan!" Mabel said.
"Sure I can! I'm more skilled than old Soos. The candy's power is so amazing. And besides, this freak won't be able to stop me. Right? Mister Inexperienced." Soos looked at the candy monster's terrified eyes.
Was it possible? Dipper could swear he was speaking just like that masked guy from the Batman movie.
"You were listening to all I was saying?" The monster asked frightened.
"Of course! I just wanted to know if you would give me any trouble. Now I know I don't have to worry about that."
Now, Dipper knew it for sure. Soos sounded just like Bane.
"Well, we won't let you do something crazy to Grunkle Stan, Soos!" Dipper yelled at him.
"That's really brave from you, smarty pants. You kids are lucky to be out of my payback list, but if you continue to be this annoying, I will have to settle down some issues with you too." Soos leaned closer to the twins with an evil grin. "Wouldn't you like that?"
Just then the monster jumped between Soos and the kids. "Stay back, you freak!" The monster held in his hand some little colorful things that looked like candy. He threw them to the floor. There was a little explosion and the entire room was filled with smoke. Everybody started to cough, including Soos. Dipper couldn't see anything and was having trouble to breath, but he felt a hand that grabbed his and led him through the door. There he saw it was the candy monster that had taken him and Mabel out of the room.
"What…just…happened?" Mabel asked breathing heavily.
"I had to create a distraction in order to escape. Luckily, it appears that his human body is still vulnerable. Now let's go!"
"What? No! He said he was going after Grunkle Stan! He's in danger!" Dipper said.
"Then he'll have to come with us too!"
A voice came from the room. "What?...Aghh…You..ahhg…You're leaving so soon?"
Dipper saw the green glowing coming out of his room as the smoke started to vanish. "Okay. To Stan's room, now! He said.
The monster nodded and placed on the floor another set of the strange candy. "Are those jellybeans?" Dipper asked.
"Yeah. The kind which 'explodes' in your mouth. We found out they could be very useful. They will buy us some more time." With that, they all rushed to Stan's room.
"Useless body!" Soos said as he came out of the room while coughing a little. "Never mind, my new powers will compensate for this!" He noticed the jellybeans on the floor. "What's this, kids? You try to buy me with candy?" There was another explosion, a little stronger this time, and the smoke filled the attic. "Ahhh, come on!"
The twins opened the door to Stan's bedroom. "Stan! No time to explain! Just come with us…?" Dipper stopped since his uncle wasn't in bed. "Where is he?"
"Duuudes! I'm coming for you!" They heard Soos' voice getting closer.
Dipper took a second to decide. "Quick! To the living room!"
They got downstairs and entered the small living room. "Grunkle Stan! Are you here?!" They shouted. They checked in the kitchen and the gift shop, but Stan was nowhere.
"Do you think he's in the museum?" Dipper asked his sister. "What would he be doing at the museum after midnight, Dipper?"
"Maybe he's already gone. We must leave too!" Candy monster said.
"He wouldn't abandon us that way. He's not that mean." Dipper answered.
"Dipper, watch out!" Mabel screamed. Behind Dipper, a light suddenly appeared in the door leading to the gift shop.
"Got you jerks!...Wait…kids?"
On the entrance to the living room was Grunkle Stan holding a flashlight that was too blinding.
"What are you doing up so late? I thought you were a bunch of thieves trying to steal my safe!"
"We've been looking for you. We have to leave the shack immediately!" Mabel said to her uncle. Then she looked behind him. "What were you doing in the gift shop anyway?"
Stan was caught off guard with that question. "I uh…I just…just…wanted something from the vending machine! Yeah! Something to eat! Because there's food in the vending machine! Nothing more! Hahaha!"
Dipper looked at him suspiciously. "Really? You sure that's the whol…. Wait! We have no time for this! We must go before Soos gets here!"
"Leave the shack? At this hour on the night? That's just crazy! Even for you, kid. And what is Soos coming to do anyway?"
"Grunkle Stan, Soos is not feeling like himself tonight and we better stay away from him for a while." Mabel told him.
"Well, if he has any complaints about the job, he can always quit. It can be arranged easily tomorrow, since I pay him almost nothing. Haha! But he won't be sleeping here tonight, if that's what he wants. There, problem solved. Now let's go get some sleep everybody."
The monster climbed to the couch and got near to Stan's face. "Listen to me! Your employee has been possessed by a powerful, bad attitude force that wishes only to manifest the worst of his emotions. Emotions he thinks you messed with. So, old dude, we need to go now if you want to keep your life safe!"
Stan looked at the creature with surprise on his face. "That was good kids. You almost convinced me with this prank of yours and Soos'. But Summerween is over. Now take this talking stuffed shaved bear back to the museum and yourselves back to bed!"
"Grunkle Stan! We're no joking! What he said is true. We have to leave and find a way to change Soos back to normal!" Mabel yelled. He grabbed her uncle's hand and pulled. "You just come with us now!"
"Way to go Mabel!" Dipper said as he got behind Stan and pushed him.
"Wha…What are you doing kids? Let go now!" He yelled angrily, but they managed to take him to the porch door. Dipper grabbed the doorknob. "We'll come back for you Soos." He said looking at the stairs.
But when he turned the doorknob, the door didn't open. Instead, it glowed. A green light came from it.
"Oh boy" Dipper said.
The green light extended to the furniture in the living room. The old television set lifted, as well as the couch, the table and the chairs. They all remained suspended in the air.
"Don't you dare to leave this house with my special guest!" Soos' voice echoed in all the room.
"Who the heck is that?" Stan asked.
"Let's exit through the gift shop!" Mabel yelled. The moment she finished speaking, what looked like some big indigenous stone-made disc flew through the air and crashed into the outside door of the gift shop, blocking it.
"There's only the hallway left! Come on!" Dipper yelled, and they ran to the staircase entryway.
"Hold on there, dudes!"
Soos descended finally from upstairs, and stood just at the entrance to the living room. "You don't want to take that way, believe me." He snapped his fingers and a loud noise was heard from the kitchen behind him. Suddenly, the whole collection of objects from the kitchen appeared behind Soos and stacked in the staircase entryway. Then the pile ignited on green fire.
"That's all right. It won't burn anything. Unless you try to pass through it." Soos said smiling.
"Soos? Have you gone crazy? You are going to cause some real damage on the shack! Stop right now!" Yelled Stan.
"Oh, hi boss! I see you decided to stay. I've prepared something really special for you after all!" Soos jumped again in the air and he was surrounded by the green aura.
"Wow! How do you do that? Are you using hidden cords and light effects?" Stan asked. "Look if you calm down, I could hire you back and maybe you can perform your little act for the tourists! Credit will go to you, but we'll share the profit. Let's say 70-30…."
"Oh shut up already, old fossil!" Soos shouted with his eyes glowing. "It's no surprise to me that you're trying again to scam me. How about if I clarify things for you?" He pointed his finger to Stan, who instantly left the floor and started to spin in the air.
"Whoa whoa whoaaaa!" He screamed. Soos then pointed to the ground and Stan hit the floor hard. His fez fell from his head.
"Okay, okay. Those are not strings at all." Stan said.
Dipper was furiously trying to think in a way to escape from there. The only remaining exit was being blocked by Soos. He thought of his journal, but there was no time to search for some supernatural weapon at the moment. If only they could find a place to hide. He looked at the gift shop. Maybe they could break the windows somehow. He saw something on the floor of the shop. Something that was below the old rug, which had been lifted a little when the giant stone passed over it. Was that…a door?
"What do you want from me?" Stan asked getting on his feet.
Grunkle Stan's fez floated to Soos and he placed it on his head, after removing his cap. "Oh, you'll find out soon. From now on, I'm the new boss guys!"
"Never! You'll make a terrible boss, Soos!" Mabel yelled.
"Oh, I thought you said I was a nice person."
"That was before! Now you are being a big jerk!"
"Oh, am I?!" Soos yelled to Mabel.
"Yeah Soos! Don't you dare to mess with her!" Dipper said.
"Well, well. The big brother thinks he can threaten me? Maybe you're just too brave because you think you have an advantage with that book of yours. Well, time to eliminate the next possible obstacle to my plan." He extended his arm to Dipper and then opened his hand. The journal came out from Dipper's vest and into Soos' hand.
"W-what?!" Dipper shouted.
"You wouldn't mind if I borrow it for while, would you?"
"Give me that!"
Grunkle Stan was lifted again in the air. He was just staring at the book Soos had on his hands. "I just need it to prepare your uncle's special present." Soos said. "You'll have it back when I finish it, and him."
"I'll finish your face, Soos!" Mabel yelled, taking a step towards Soos. Everybody looked at her with wide eyes.
"Kid, shut up! You can't do anything about it!" The monster said.
"Dude, now that wasn't very nice from you." Soos said. "Stay quiet little Hambone or I'll…"
"Don't call me Hambone, you butthead!"
Soos' face changed to a frown. "Okay! Since you are also feeling brave, maybe you would like to join us!" Soos lifted Mabel in the air and she was turned upside down.
"Mabel!" Dipper yelled. "That's it Soos! You're going down!" Dipper charged towards Soos, but was stopped on his spot and also lifted.
"It seems that the entire Pines family will have a little reunion to talk about their feelings with Dr. Soos!" He took a look at the terrified candy monster. "And you! Get away from here before I decide to include you!" He moved his head, and candy monster was tossed violently to the other side of the living room. "Now Stan, it's time to get into…"
Soos was interrupted when something landed on his face and started to scratch it. "What the…ahhhhhhhh!"
A shout of pain was heard as the 'thing' bit his hair. Soos was blinded and lost his concentration, letting everybody and everything fall to the floor. Dipper and Mabel looked up and dropped their jaws as they saw Soos fighting in the air with a certain pig on top of his head. Mabel was the first to react.
"Woo-hoo! Waddles to the rescue! Get him tiger!"
A confused Soos floated around the room with no control. He finally fell to the floor behind the couch. Waddles came running to Mabel. "Waddles you saved us!" Mabel picked him up and hugged him deeply.
A load roar was heard. Soos stood up with eyes firing green flashes. The entire shack vibrated once again. Soos seemed to be out of his mind. The green light suddenly appeared in all the room and many objects went flying everywhere. Soos just stayed there, screaming, apparently not paying attention to the Pines. Dipper saw the chance.
"Everybody follow me!" He said as he crawled on all fours to avoid being hit by the flying furniture, and advanced to the gift shop. All of them imitated him. When they got there, Dipper took away the rug and revealed a small door on the floor. Without thinking what it was, he opened it and saw a hand ladder that leaded down. "Mabel you go first!" Mabel doubted a second but then held Waddles with only one hand and went down.
"Waaaaaaaaddles!" Soos yelled from the next room. "I thought we were good friends!"
In that moment, Grunkle Stan had a light-speed brainstorm of ideas. He zoned out for a second, but he knew exactly what he had to do. He looked at Dipper in the eyes. "Stay quiet and don't come out from there."
"What?" Dipper didn't have time to think since his uncle pushed them all to the door. Luckily, the fall was short. Stan quickly closed the door and placed the rug back over it. He then grabbed one of the ball number eight canes from a counter and hit the nearly windows with it. "Wait kids, you too, little monster. Are you really gonna leave your old Grunkle Stan on his own?!" He yelled loud enough so it could be heard in the living room.
Soos appeared immediately on the entrance. He saw Stan with the middle of his body out of the gift shop.
"Oh, irony." Soos said. "The same children you mistreated to benefit yourself have abandoned you Stan." He grabbed Stan and introduced him on the shack again. "It doesn't matter. As long as you stay, things are going as planned."
"Bite your tongue Soos! I'm pretty sure they'll come back with an elaborated plan to save their beloved Grunkle!" He shouted loudly. "Hahaha! And if they were listening to me now, I'd tell them to hurry up with that plan!"
Soos narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Stan started to sweat. "T-that is, if they want to find some from you that I haven't beaten up!"
Soos smiled. "I see you still have a little of that good humor of yours, Stan." He said. "Well, I'm pretty sure they will try to rescue you. But they'll have to face the fact that they are no rivals to me. Let's hurry anyway, so I can take care of them. There's much to do before I can finally pay you back for all these awesome years of being your employee."
With that, Soos walked away and instantly Stan followed him, floating against his will.
"Hehe, payback? Uh, I'm sure a simple 'thank you' would be enough." He said nervously.