Sweater Town
Chapter 7 – The Treasure
By Starwin
Mabel gasped awake, sucking in air like she had forgotten how to breathe. She couldn't feel her right arm and she couldn't move her legs at all. She struggled as panic raced through her brain. Something terrible had happened to her. They had gotten her to a hospital but it must have been too late! She had lost the use of her arm, and both her legs and -
Thrashing wildly, she toppled out of bed and onto the floor. Instantly she felt pins and needles in her right, useless, arm. She recognized the sensation, her arm was asleep. She was a pretty active sleeper and rolling onto her arm in a funny way wasn't that unusual.
She struggled to sit up and found that her blankets were tangled around her legs, which was why she hadn't been able to move them. She shuffled her feet around and, after a brief moment of untangling - made more difficult by the fact her right arm was still asleep - she finally freed herself.
Sitting on her floor, slightly out of breath, she looked around her room. She was back. She was okay. It was just another dream in sweater town. Although it had been the worst one so far.
Mabel patted her chest. She was still in her shooting star sweater. She looked down and frowned. She was still in that ugly black dress too. Okay, it wasn't really ugly, she just didn't like wearing all black. Why hadn't she changed?.
Hurriedly she pulled off the sweater, then the dress, then everything else until she was naked. She tugged her sheets back onto her bed and crawled under them, not bothering to put anything on. She spread out on her back underneath, feeling the soft cloth across her body. Sensation had almost come back to her arm now and her legs were doing much better.
What she really needed was a bath. Not because she was dirty - well, okay, she hadn't taken a shower yesterday, so, she was a little dirty - but that wasn't the point! Showers could get you clean but baths could sooth your soul. Right now she needed some soul soothing very much. Besides, it had been forever since she had taken a super hot bubble bath.
Of course, taking a bath meant using the one in her parents' room. Which would mean she would have to ask for permission, which was something she couldn't do. Well, she would just have to figure it out as she went. Maybe she would use some hand signals or something.
Once more she got out of bed, although with much less falling this time. She scavenged her room for a bath towel but couldn't find one. With a sigh, she just pulled on one of her big nightshirts and made her way down the hallway towards her parents' room.
The door was open, a sign that they were awake. She hadn't checked to see what time it was, maybe it was late enough in the day they were downstairs having breakfast or something?
Lightly, she knocked on the door, poking her head into the large room. There was no one inside. She also noticed that the door to the bathroom was also open.
Okay, well, that made the first part of asking permission way easier because she wasn't going to ask. She crossed the room and entered the bathroom. In a few more steps she stopped in front of the huge bathtub. It was a mini jacuzzi with jets and everything. Her dad had wanted to get it a few years back and her mother had relented, not with much arguing if Mabel remembered correctly.
She shut the bathroom door behind her. Then she turned on the faucet and made sure the hot was as high as it would go. Her mother had a selection of bath gels, soaps, salts, spa formulas and other things, lined up along the rim of the tub. Mabel found the one she was looking for pretty quickly.
Strawberry bubble bath was her preference. She had a couple bottles of the stuff in her and - in her bathroom. Like an idiot, she had forgotten to bring any of them with her. Her mom's favorite was lavender scented bubble bath. It proclaimed it was good for the skin and blah-blah-blah, stuff that Mabel didn't believe. Lavender wasn't her favorite but it was fine.
The bottle recommended she add a capful. She added four capfuls, this was a multi-cap bubble day. In no time at all the water was frothing with foam and the tub was nearly full.
She did consider tying up her hair. She had a lot of hair and it took forever to dry when it got wet. But she was too eager to get into that hot bubbly tub. She could contend with wet hair.
Yanking off her nightshirt, she dipped a foot in. It was HOT! She pulled her soapy leg back out and she could see her bright red skin between the suds. She pushed her whole leg in, swung the rest of her body onto the edge of the tub and stuck her other leg in.
She loved hot water, the hotter the better. After all, she always had a sweater on. She had even contemplated making a bath sweater but after many failed designs she had abandoned the idea. Being hot was nothing new to her. Hot, was like getting a super warm hug. Hot, was like being tingly all over. Hot, was like feeling joy.
She slipped the rest of the way into the tub. Then quickly scrambled to turn off the faucet, forgetting that her scrawny body would displace so much water. The overflow valves sucked down the surface bubbles as quickly as they could. Even still, a bit splashed up over the edge.
She waited for the tub to adjust to the proper water level then she slid lower into the water. She let her shoulders, neck and bottom half of her face right up to her nose, submerge. Even with the top half of her head above the surface, the bubbles almost completely hid her from view. If someone came in right now all they would see was the top of her head. It was like she was in bubble town. And she loved it.
She sighed contentedly through her nose. Yes, she had totally needed this after the day she had just had. Or, night, or nightmare? And the day? BLARGH! Everything about yesterday had been so horrible! Even sweater town, which was supposed to be her escape, had turned into the worst hours of her life.
Under the water, she rubbed her belly and chest, feeling for the injuries she had sustained in her dream. Much to her surprise, her hands rubbed against bandaids. Silently she cursed herself. She hadn't taken off any of the bandages before getting in the tub. That was going to be a soggy mess she would have to clean up after.
Her hands moved to the rest of her tender body, the hot water making her skin a lot more sensitive to her touch. She traced the scabs on her elbows. She felt the rough raw skin where she had bruised her right shoulder when she had hit the asphalt. For just a little fall it sure had left a lot of painful reminders. She briefly wondered if any of them were going to leave scars on her. She hoped they would, so she would never forget.
Her injuries confirmed and lacking at the same time, her hands traveled elsewhere. To her chest that, while not flatter than the flattest flat thing, still was little more than bumps. They also traveled downwards to the place that still felt odd and uncomfortable to touch.
The hot water was doing other things to her body, things she had only recently discovered her body could do. She hadn't done it often, because, well, she had shared a room with her brother all summer long. And privacy for such things was pretty much unheard of. And right now she really, really needed to feel good.
It wasn't like she was embarrassed about it. Okay, no that was a lie, she was totally embarrassed about it. But it was natural, it was right, everyone did it, even Dipper.
Her hand stopped. Her thoughts tumbled out of control and she recalled the end of her dream about sweater town. She could remember the fear and sadness in his face as Dipper had looked at her. It was an expression she knew too well. It was how she looked whenever she thought about him now.
Why had she thought about Dipper? That had made her feel - feel - BLARGH.
Her brain flashed back to the time they had spent in their underwear at the waterfall. They had been almost naked, no, they had been naked, just feet away from each other. And while they hadn't really spent time looking, they had looked. And it had been super weird.
She wrapped her arms around herself and blew bubbles in the water. Yeah, okay, thinking about her brother had completely killed the mood for her. She totally loved her goofball brother, just… just not like that.
Okay, okay, her brain was making too much noise for her. She needed a distraction. Her hand fumbled at the edge of the tub and she found the controls that turned on the air jets. The little nozzles hummed to life and she felt the blast of air tickle her back and legs. She giggled, it felt sooooooooo good.
The bubbles frothed even more, stirred by the new current in the tub. With a deep breath, Mabel completely submerged herself. She spun slowly to her side, floating a little awkwardly as she did, and let the jets blast her all over.
Unfortunately she couldn't stay under forever. She was forced to surface, spitting out soapy water as she did. She giggled again. She had forgotten how much she loved baths.
After an hour or so the water started to get cold. It had been lukewarm for the past thirty minutes but now there was a chill to it. She had also switched off the jets, which had been fine to start but had started to just feel uncomfortable. The bubbles were almost all gone and her skin was starting to feel pruney too.
With a sigh, she pulled the drain and carefully climbed out of the tub, stealing her mom's towels. She dried herself and wrapped a second towel around her hair. Once the water had emptied she collected all the bandages that had come off in the tub and tossed them into the bin. A quick once over in the mirror and she decided that new bandages probably weren't needed anymore.
She made her way back to her room, wrapped in a towel and carrying her rolled up nightshirt under her arm. Her parents still didn't seem to be around. Without really considering it, she called out for her mom.
"Dipper!" she shouted. Mabel stopped. DARN IT! Why had she done that! She had known that's what was going to happen but she just hadn't bothered to think. Even still, no response came. She obviously hadn't expected her brother to reply. Although, she really hoped her brother would have answered her and this whole nightmare could be over.
The house remained silent. She returned to her room and got dressed. She chose a rainbow sleeved sweater before heading downstairs. Downstairs was quiet too. Waddles was asleep on his pillow but otherwise the living room was empty. The kitchen was empty as well. In fact, every room in the entire house, even the guest bathroom that just had a toilet and sink, was empty. Where the heck was everyone?
A terrible thought ran through her head that her dream from last night had come true. Everyone had abandoned her! She was completely alone. Her hand flew to her pocket looking for her phone.
She shook her head. She didn't have a cell phone and Dipper was never going to call her on it even if she had.
Felling a little put out, she went back to her room but stopped as she spotted the note stuck to her door. She had missed it when returning from her bath. Not surprising as it had blended in with the posters and drawings she had covered her door with. She pulled the note off and read it.
Your Dad went into work this morning.
I'm off running errands.
Will be home around 6PM.
Lunch in the fridge.
- Love Mom.
So, they had kind of left her home alone. Not like they hadn't before. She and Dipper had spent many days left alone at home. Besides, it wasn't as if she had been planning to spend the day with her parents. In fact ever since - since Dipper had - since he had gone, she had hardly seen either of them. Yesterday had been the most time she had spent with her parents since the accident.
Mabel balled up the note and tossed it towards her trash bin. It plunked off the side and joined the heap of other missed throws. She pulled off her rainbow sweater and flung it towards her closet. It landed next to the black dress she had yanked off that morning. She snatched up her shooting star sweater and held it in front of her.
If she was being honest with herself, she was avoiding going back to her fantasy world. She had almost hoped her mom would be there to whisk her away to something else today. She even, almost (but not really), had hoped she would be forced to return to school.
Instead, she was alone in the house, with a sweater to another world and nothing else to do. She pulled the garment over her head. Sweater town it was.
When Mabel arrived in sweater town this time, she braced herself for the worst. However, the worst didn't come. Quite the opposite in fact. It was the softest arrival she had ever felt.
She landed in her camp bed, except, it was vastly different than she remembered. It was larger, softer. There was a nest of comfy warm pillows of different shapes and sizes piled all around her. She wasn't tired but she could have stayed in bed forever. She smiled contentedly and snuggled deeper into the pillows.
Her eyes opened just a tiny bit to take a look around the room. What she saw woke her fully and she sat upright with a start. Dipper was sitting right in front of her bed, looking right at her, as if he had been watching her sleep. Her brother smiled.
"Hey, Other Mabel," he said softly.
She froze. He... already knew? How could he possibly know? She glanced at her surroundings, focusing mostly on the bed. She hadn't been wrong about it feeling different. It was larger, big enough for her to completely stretch out on. Pillows had been piled all around her, along with stuffed animals. Her hand reached out for one of the fluffy unicorns and pulled it to her. It felt so fluffy. She hugged it protectively to her.
"So, this might be a strange question," continued Dipper when she didn't respond. "How are your legs doing?" Her… legs? Mabel stretched them out over the bed, nearly whacking her brother in the process. They felt fine. In fact, her whole body felt fine… although, for some reason she didn't think it should have.
"Good, good, just making sure," muttered Dipper with a nod. And an expression she wasn't exactly sure of crossed his face. Relief? No, it was more like sur-mazement. "You took kind of a tumble last year and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Oh, right… last year. It had been a year for this world but just hours for her. She felt her body shudder involuntarily at the memory. She hugged the stuffed unicorn tighter.
Dipper smiled before he turned away and reached down for something. Her eyes followed and she saw him reaching for his laptop. However, at the last second he seemed to change his mind and grabbed the thing sitting next to it instead. It looked like a ball of orange and yellow fluff. He placed the item in his lap.
"So, I know you had a pretty shitty time last year," she frowned at him and he seemed to get what she was thinking, for once. "Sorry, my Mabel doesn't like it when I swear either. Anyhow, you might have noticed I've been expecting you." She nodded. "We've actually all been expecting you." She wasn't sure what he meant by 'all.' All as in like the whole town or…
"My Mabel and I had a long chat about what to do," said Dipper, "Because you were obviously going to be back this year and, well, we didn't want a repeat of last year.
"Mabel… she was in the hospital for three weeks after…" Dipper trailed off. She felt a terrible pang of guilt about whatever it was that had happened the last time. He shook his head. "It's not your fault, it's mine. Look, that doesn't matter. We decided that what you needed, was some adventure."
Oh, she liked the sound of that! She had missed going on adventures with her brother, she had really only been on the one since she had come to this place.
"How would you - " said Dipper, finally unrolling the yellow and orange ball in his lap. Mabel realized it was a rolled up sweater, she gasped as she saw what was sewn into it. " - like to meet a dragon?"
Their bags were already packed. Apparently Bel had done it last night. Mabel also noticed that she was fully dressed too. Dipper had been waiting for her, so it was only natural that Bel had been as well.
Soon they were making their way downstairs, Mabel feeling happier than she had felt in, well, in since forever! Chatting voices reached her ears as they came off the stairs. When they entered into the kitchen she felt her eyes widen and her heart skip a beat. Both of her Great Uncles were here, sitting at the table and chatting pleasantly with Soos and Melody and - Mabel let out a squeal of delight that brought the conversation to a halt.
Sitting in Melody's lap was an adorable little girl who couldn't be more than a year old. She had big beautiful brown eyes and short curly brown hair.
Mabel ran past everyone else, right to Melody, bouncing up and down in front of her excitedly. Melody smiled at her.
"Good morning, Other Mabel," said Melody brightly, bouncing the little girl up and down on her knee. "Meet our daughter, Abigail Mabel Ramieraz." Mabel felt the biggest smile she'd ever had spread across her face. She smooshed in her cheeks trying to hold back the scream of excitement. "Do you want to hold her?"
Did she want to hold her? DID SHE WANT TO HOLD HER? Mabel almost felt her brain explode at the question. Of course she did!
Her arms lept out ready to receive the gift of an incredibly adorable little girl. Soos' baby, a baby they had named after her!
Carefully, Melody handed the toddler to Mabel, who wrapped her up in her arms. She looked so adorable! The little girl reached out and put a hand on Mabel's face. They both giggled.
"We call her Abby for short," said Soos as Mabel bounced the little girl in her arms. "Having two Mabel's around gets a little confusing, but I guess you would know all about that, huh?" Mabel heard Dipper let out a groan and saw him drop his forehead into his palm.
Mabel looked into the little girl's face. Abby huh? That was a cute name. She liked it a lot.
"She really adores you," said Melody, and there was a sort of sadness in her voice that Mabel didn't understand. Nor did she miss the very quick glance Melody gave Dipper. Her brother gave a little cough.
"We should really get ready to head out, we have a long hike ahead of us," said Dipper.
Carefully, Mabel handed the girl back to Melody. Abby's face instantly changed from delight to unhappiness. She began to scream at the top of her lungs, reaching out her tiny little hands for Mabel. Mabel knelt down and gave the little girl another hug, which Abby returned exuberantly, her crying instantly stopping. It felt so right, Mabel never wanted to let her go but they had things to do today. At last she managed to pull away and Abby started to cry again. Melody did her best to calm her little girl but Abby was having none of it.
"I think someone is ready for a nap," said Melody, looking a little worn out. Before she left, she gave Mabel a hug and Abby practically lept into the hug as well. Once they broke apart, Mabel had to untangle the little fingers from her hair. Melody left the room with Abby wailing in her arms.
Breakfast was ready for them and beyond all hope, there were strawberry pancakes. Mabel let out a second, almost as loud as the first, squee at the sight of her favorite breakfast food. Everyone chatted while they ate. Mabel just listened and gobbled down her strawberry drenched pancakes.
Apparently, things were still going well at the Mystery Shack. Soos was going to interview some people today to take over as full time handymen. They also talked about someone named Carl, that Mabel didn't know. Dipper whispered to her that he was the teen working the register in the giftshop this year. Mabel nodded.
She also picked up that their Great Uncles weren't living at the Mystery Shack anymore. She hadn't gotten a lot of information about them from previous visits but it sounded like they had moved out a couple years ago, days ago for her. They still seemed to live in Gravity Falls though.
"Hey, I asked Great Uncle Ford to come with us on this adventure," explained Dipper, as Mabel whittled down the last of her pancakes. "You haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with either Uncle during your visits. I hope it's okay?" She nodded, the three of them on an adventure sounded like fun. She wondered why Stan wasn't coming too but a quick once over told her mostly what she needed to know.
Stan had gotten old. In truth, every person at the table was older, herself included. While Ford was older as well, he still seemed to be in excellent shape. Grunkle Stan had never been in great shape but time seemed to have only made the issue worse.
At last, breakfast finished, Dipper hurried them to the door, but stopped her just before they left.
"Just a second," said Dipper. "Hey, you don't have your phone on you, do you?" Mabel blinked. What? She didn't have a phone. Oh, but Bel did. She searched her skirt pockets but didn't find a phone. She shook her head. "Good, I promised Mabel we wouldn't break it this year. Just wanted to make sure we didn't bring it along and have a dragon eat it or something," laughed Dipper. She smiled at him and he grabbed her hand, pulling her out the door.
They followed Ford out onto the trail. About ten minutes into the hike, Dipper pulled up alongside her. She smiled. She missed this so much. Her and Dipper used to walk everywhere, or ride bikes. It was routine, normal, just something they did to get places. Or rather it had been. Now it was something special, each moment a precious memory she could never experience again. She wouldn't let even a moment of it slip past - Oh shoot! Was Dipper talking to her?
"- been talking about you," said Dipper. Mabel tried to recall what she had missed so far, but, she had missed it. She just gave him a quizzical look. How had they been talking about her…? "She - Original Mabel - " Mabel stuck out her tongue, " - yes, I know, thank you. She thinks you should know more about our lives. I told her you were here so you already know about us but Original Mabel insisted that isn't enough. So," he held up his phone for her to see.
"This year was the second year of college for us," said Dipper. The image on his phone was of him and Mabel standing in front of a large school like building. "We didn't end up going to the college Mabel found, but we still ended up here in Oregon. This is our school, Oregon University of Theatrical Film and Impractical Science."
He swiped through the images as he talked. Some of them were of him and Mabel together. Some were of other people and other places she didn't recognize.
"So after that, uh video," Dipper explained. "You know, the one with me… picking my nose…" Mabel let out a snort of giggles, she did indeed remember the video. "Our channel really took off. So you and I decided we would go into media production full time. Both of us are working on our film degrees." She smiled at that, it sounded like fun! "And both of us are also doing a second major as well. I'm working on theoretical physics - "
"Although, I've already proved a lot of it isn't theoretical," Ford chimed in.
"Yeah, he is partly why I'm working on it," said Dipper with a nod. "You're also studying to become a veterinarian." Mabel felt her eyes widen just a bit. That wasn't something she had ever considered. "After Waddles… left us, you made a vow to save every piggy life that you could." She felt both sad and proud at the same time. Her pet pig had inspired her to save the lives of other animals. Yes, that was something she would do.
Dipper was still flipping through pictures as he talked, again, not explaining most of the pictures, just giving her some images of the life she had missed over the past year. She sort of wished he would go back to the start, to the end of middle school, to high school, to everything else she knew nothing about.
Actually, it was odd that this was the first time it had come up. They knew about her, for at least the last couple of visits. And if she was Mabel - she shook her head - she was, she would have left a message for herself already. A record of some kind, to catch her up on all she had missed.
"Our school is only a thirty minute drive from here," continued Dipper, his hand swiping into the next set of images. "So, we just kinda live at the Mystery Shack year round now. It's cheaper than renting something closer."
Mabel smiled knowing that later in life they had chosen to return to sharing a room. She also noticed that 'Dipper's' half was covered in discarded clothing. He still didn't know how to pick up after himself. Her side of the room was slightly cleaner, and she could see stuffed animals on her bed.
"Last year, our first year, we took mostly the same classes together," continued Dipper. "We still share a lot of the film classes, although you are going more towards writing and editing, which you're really good at. While I am working more on the acting and directing side. But we don't have every class together, which is okay." He continued swiping.
"This is our van, we use it to go adventuring," explained Dipper. There were images of a, not in the best shape, old-ish brown van. One side had been painted with the words Mystery Pines Twins Adventures in bold red letters. "You wanted to paint a lot more onto it but I was able to talk you down to just our logo." She smiled at that.
"This is your current boyfriend, Matt" said Dipper, catching her completely off guard as he pointed to the blond haired, pretty good looking, boy sitting next to her in the image. There were actually a bunch of people, both men and women, sitting around a largish table, drinks (that Mabel suspected might be alcohol, how old was she again, nineteen?) in hand and smiling at the camera. The boy sitting next to her in the image had his arm around her shoulders. "He's a pretty nice guy. I think it's been three months for him, so, he currently holds the dating record with you." She gave Dipper an affectionate shove.
More pictures of people she didn't know washed by as Dipper talked about their friends and people they had met. She tried to take it all in but it was so much information that it was all a bit overwhelming. There was so much she wanted to know about herself and these images told her so little.
She also wanted to know more about her future heartthrob, Matt. Apparently he was the one she was destined for! Oddly though, while he was in other pictures, Dipper didn't really say a lot more about him.
At last, Dipper wound down his wrap up of the past year talking about the last few days in Gravity Falls.
"-anyhow," said Dipper, "We knew you were going to show up again this year. It was actually Mabel that put the dates together. She figured out that you always arrive on the next day of the next year, always corresponding with the date. Like this year, June 19th, 2019. And Next year, June 20th, 2020."
Mabel stopped walking, her brain slamming into a wall. 2020? She… she had never really stopped to consider it before. So little changed in the world around her. Sure, her body had been growing and getting weird (less so these past few times where she had stayed mostly the same, although, she really hadn't had the chance to check). but she had never considered the rest of the world. Or, how it had changed.
Her eyes locked on the phone Dipper was using to show her the images. It was very thin, with an amazing display now that she was looking for it, and it had a highly polished glass surface. In fact, except for the black body, the whole thing seemed to be made of glass or something.
What else had changed? Did they finally have flying cars? How about transporters? Or houses on the moon? Could she go to the moon?! No, of course not, that was silly. She only had a day here and she couldn't leave Gravity Falls. Plus, something like that was probably really expensive.
"Mabel? Hello, Earth to Mabel," said her brother, waving a hand in front of her face and interrupting her thoughts. She realized she hadn't been listening to him. She smiled apologetically. "I guess it might be a lot for you to take in."
"Or a lot to re-experience," said Ford from ahead of them. "Dipper and I have had many a debate about where it is you come from. I say the far flung future, traveling back into your past as I once did! Dipper thinks you're from an alternate reality, parallel to our own but different." She noticed that Dipper was blushing slightly. "So are either of us right?" She shrugged. "Huh, not as satisfying an answer as I had hoped."
"Yeah, that tends to be the case," said Dipper with a smile at her.
"Anyhow. We're here," said Ford, coming to a stop at the edge of the forest. It wasn't so much the forests edge as it was where the trees met a near vertical cliff side. Mabel looked up at the dizzying wall of stone that blocked their path. "Jetpacks are the fastest way for us to get to the top," Mabel's eyes lit up with excitement. JETPACKS! YOU HAD TO BE KIDDING! "Unfortunately, I didn't bring them, as they have a tendency to explode." Okay, jetpacks had been a bit too much to hope for, what was this anyhow, a fantasy… the future… what was she expecting?
Mabel pulled off her piggyback-backpack. It was looking a little worse for wear than she remembered. She must have had it a while now. She fished inside and found exactly what she was looking for. She yanked out her grappling hook and held it aloft.
"A good idea, sweet-heart," said Ford. "But I was thinking of something a little more... clingy." He pulled from his own pack three pairs of futuristic looking boots. He handed a pair of them to Mabel. "These are a gift from an old friend I met while I was lost between universe. He called them Grappling shoes and I think you will find them extremely efficient at scaling unscalable walls."
She slipped out of her shoes and tucked them away in her pack. She put on the shiny metal shoes. They were pretty comfortable, but she didn't see how they were going to help her climb up the sheer wall in front of them.
"Don't forget to turn them on," said Ford, pressing a button on the side. His shoes hummed. Then he took a step and much to her surprise, her Great Uncle began to walk right up the cliff face.
"Pretty cool, right?" said Dipper, giving her a nudge. She nodded. "Alright, time to get started!" She noticed that Dipper had gotten his camera out at some point. She also noticed it was a much fancier looking camera than before. Dipper bumped up next to her so that he could get both their faces in frame for the shot.
"Adventure 19-132, The Dragon!" said Dipper. "Me, my sister Mabel and our Great Uncle Ford are about to climb up this unscalable cliff face behind us, using his grappling shoes." Dipper moved the camera around as he spoke, pointing it to different things.
"They aren't my grappling shoes," called Ford. "I told you, I got them from a friend."
"Alright, just, grappling shoes," said Dipper. "Mabel, would you like to do the honors of showing us how they work." She smiled. She pressed the button on the side, just like Ford had done, turned, and placed her foot on the wall. When she lifted her other foot off the ground, her first boot stayed put. As she took a step, the whole world suddenly flipped over and she was walking up the wall, following after her Uncle.
It was the strangest thing she had experienced. Okay, no, that wasn't right, maybe like the sixth strangest thing? Weirdmageddon was still like a hard number one weirdest thing ever. And Sweater town was maybe a close number two. Still, this was really weird, but a fun sort of weird. It reminded her a little bit of upside down town, the place they had visited while pranking other attractions last summer.
Her hair flowed out behind her and when she looked left or right it was easy to forget she was walking perpendicular to the ground. Stranger still was the fact that the sky was still a giant sweater for her, so it was like she was walking into a sweater tunnel.
"Hey, Mabel!" called her brother. She looked left to see Dipper walking up the wall beside her, waving as he filmed her. "This is pretty cray-cray, right!" She nodded, a huge smile on her face.
"Watch your step up here, there are some big cracks," Ford warned them.
They easily avoided the minor hazards of the rocks as they continued to ascend, Dipper talking to the camera as they went ever higher. She was surprised that walking right up the side of a cliff didn't take more effort. She thought for sure it would be as difficult as climbing at the very least, but actually, it just felt like she was walking on flat ground, minus the strange backwards (really downwards) pull she constantly felt.
After a few minutes of their vertical hike, Ford vanished up over the lip of some unseen ledge. Mabel and Dipper caught up with him and in one big step, her body whipped around to be standing on flat, non vertical ground, once more.
They were outside a deep, dark, enormous cave, cut into the rock. They were also, as she glanced around at the forest far below, really, really high up.
Hot air seemed to be streaming out of the hole in the rock and a low rumble reached her ears. It almost sounded like snoring.
"Go ahead and switch off your grappling shoes for now," said Ford. "And try to keep your voices down, dragons are easily startled. Also, all those stories about them being able to breathe fire are true." He reached back into his bag and pulled out what seemed to be a spray can. "This is a fireproofing spray I came up with." He began to spray himself all over. The mist left a shiny coat across his face and clothes. "It will keep you from getting burned incase we do get engulfed in flames, but it will still hurt like heck, so, try not to get breathed on." He sprayed Dipper, who closed his eyes and did a little spin. Then Ford turn to her. "It also rinses right off in water. Close your eyes and try not to inhale any of it. This stuff will coat your insides and you'll have to go non-stop for a week!"
She closed her eyes and held her breath as Ford sprayed her. It was a little tingly but it didn't feel bad. She did a little spin, so that her Uncle could coat her whole body.
"There we go, we should now be fireproof… ish," said their Uncle, putting the spray can back in his pouch. "Now, dragons aren't usually big fans of visitors, so, keep your voices low and stay close." He pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on.
Dipper also produced a strap-on headlamp, which he turned on as well. A quick search of her own bag revealed a headlamp of her own. It was the same one she had used the last time, the kitty shaped one that could change colors. She put it on but didn't play with the colors this time.
Together, the three of them headed into the dark. Ford leading the way, Mabel in the middle and Dipper taking up the rear, video camera recording every moment. She half expected her brother to be commenting with every step but he seemed to be taking the stay quiet thing very seriously.
A strange thought ran through Mabel's head. This was the second time she had gone on an adventure in sweater town and the second time she had found herself in a cave. Although, this cave was far bigger than the previous one. And their method of entry had been WAY less embarrassing this time.
She didn't feel anywhere near as awkward in her own body. What the heck had happened to her the last time? Dipper still hadn't told her.
She had also gotten cut up pretty bad in the previous cave. Yet, when she had returned home at the end of… of whatever this was, all she had found were the injuries she had from before. But what about Bel? She tried to think back, to remember. It was just days ago, but it felt like years. It was years in this place.
Mabel ran a hand over her elbow. Her skin felt smooth and soft and she could feel the small bump of the bone below. What she couldn't feel was a scab or even a faint scar. Her injuries from the real world didn't apparently come through with her into sweater town. But if she got hurt here, Bel would have to deal with the consequences. Wouldn't she? Everything about her body felt fine, as near as she could tell. Still… this was dangerous, wasn't it? She was about to face a fire breathing dragon.
Which begged the question, what the heck was she doing going into a cave with a fire breathing dragon?! She could get seriously hurt, injured or even… she felt a shiver run down her spine. What would happen if something worse happened while she was here? No! She shook her head. No, she wasn't going to even think about that.
"Mabel," Dipper whispered from over her shoulder, she almost let out a scream but managed to clamp her hands over her mouth at the last second. "Are you alright? Do you want to turn back?"
It was dark so it was hard to see his face but he looked very concerned. She thought about it for a moment. She wanted to keep going. They were doing this for her. And there was the promise of a dragon at the end. Mabel shook her head and grabbed her brother's shoulder confidently. Dipper seemed to understand and nodded back to her.
Then, to her surprise, he offered her his hand. She felt confused. Dipper HATED holding hands with her, it always embarrassed him. She took it with a grateful smile and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed her back and she instantly felt at ease. There could be a fire breathing dragon at the end of this cave and she would have all the courage in the world to face it down with her brother at her side. She remembered there actually was a fire breathing dragon at the end of the cave.
"We're getting close now," whispered Ford from ahead of them. "Feel that hot air, taste that sulfur. It won't be far now."
They continued on. It was getting hotter, a lot hotter and Dipper's palms were starting to sweat. She was starting to sweat too. Her sweater was making it really hot for her. She was almost tempted to take off her dragon sweater. But first, it was a dragon sweater, there was no way she wasn't going to be wearing it when she met a dragon. Secondly, and this was probably the more important part, it had been sprayed with fireproofing and if she took it off she would be a lot less fireproof.
A bright orange light filled the tunnel ahead of them and she didn't need to hear the whispered words of "he should be just up ahead" from her Uncle. They rounded the corner. She felt her heartbeat increase in her chest. Her grip tightened on her brother's hand.
The room in front of them was enormous. Molten rock flowed in a moat around a central island piled high with more gold than she had ever seen in her life. However, there didn't seem to be a dragon. Her eyes swept the cave, looking for the faintest hint of the mythical creature anywhere.
"There it is," whispered Ford, waving his hand at the pile of gold. She squinted, but all she could see was a mound of golden coins. She tilted her head to the side and finally, she could see it.
"Where is it?" asked Dipper, holding up the camera with his free hand and moving it around slightly, searching for the dragon that was right in front of him. She couldn't help but smile. Once you saw it, it was so obvious. With her free hand, she reached over and gently grabbed the top of his head. Ever so slightly she tilted him, and the camera, to the side. "Whoa!"
She had realized that it wasn't just a pile of treasure in the middle of the island surrounded by lava. It was the dragon. A dragon that looked just like a pile of treasure. At first its shape was hard to make out, but the more she tilted her head the more she could discern. It was curled up, on it's side, with a wing wrapped around its body. It's scales were shaped like golden coins. Other than looking exactly like a pile of gold, it was just how she had always imagined a dragon would look.
"Dragons are chameleon like, but, instead of blending into their surroundings, they change into the most attractive thing they can, to entice their meals," explained For in a whisper. "We might be fire resistant, but I don't have a spray for claws and teeth… although, something like that would be handy…" he mused to himself. "In any case, spread out and start searching the ground. Dragons shed their scales often, and they have amazing resistant properties to them, like making fireproof sprays."
Great Uncle Ford headed off in one direction, while Dipper motioned for them to go the other way. As there was a sleeping dragon in the middle of the room, she went with Dipper, still clinging to his hand. The two of them made a wide circle around the dragon, staying as far back as they could. This was actually pretty easy, as directly around the dragon was a molten river of lava, and in her sweater, she was, well, sweating quite a lot. Getting any closer to that lava did not appeal to her in the slightest, even if there was a real dragon for her to pet.
Mabel found the first scale. She had expected it to look like gold, just like the dragon, but instead it was almost purplish in color, perhaps a trick of the low light. She handed it to Dipper, who smiled at her and whispered "Good job, Mabes!" giving her a thumbs up before dropping it into a bag he had produced while she wasn't looking. He had also managed to tuck his camera away somewhere. Apparently, he wasn't going to film the part of them picking up scales off the floor.
Despite having so many scales on its body, and the scales not being all that big, around the size of her palm - okay, they were kind of big, not that big relatively speaking - there didn't seem to be that many scales around for them to find. When Dipper and Mabel finally reached the back of the cave, they had only come across a half dozen or so. However, Dipper seemed more than content with their haul as he jostled the bag up and down. He even smiled at her in an impressed way.
They met back up with Ford at the entrance to the lair. The dragon was still asleep behind them, but Mabel could feel its hot breath whisking at her back as it snored.
"I only managed to find one," said Ford in a low voice, holding out the single small scale. "How'd you kids do?"
"Ten!" Dipper cried in a slightly too loud whisper. The dragon snorted and they all froze, then it's deep snores resumed. "Ten of them!" repeated Dipper in a low whisper. "Mabel spotted most of them." She smiled, now realizing that she had indeed, Dipper had walked right past them. "I told you she had a knack for this kind of thing."
"Yes, yes," said Ford, a very slight tone of annoyance in his voice that Mabel recognized as his 'admitting defeat voice.' It was as close as their Great Uncle ever got to saying he was wrong about anything. "We should make our - " Ford began, but suddenly the air was filled with blaring music that echoed off the walls.
Don't stop unbelieving! Don't not hold on to that feeling! The musical words rang out through the cave as the three of them looked around in panic. Ford and Dipper finally both stared at Mabel who at last realized the the music was coming from her!
She let go of Dipper and her hands ran over her body, searching her pockets but not finding a phone. Then her hand bumped into something in the bottom hem of her sweater that she hadn't noticed before. It was a hidden pocket, and inside it was her phone.
Quickly she yanked it out, her eyes searching for a silent button. It wasn't the same phone as before. It was the same company but a newer model. Which made sense as she had sort of smashed her phone last time. On the screen was an alarm notification. Her hand moved to the silence button but halted. The alarm had a message on it, a message that sent a shiver down her back. A message, from herself.
We need to talk.
"Mabel! Shut it off!" shouted Dipper. She didn't move, her eyes just locked on the words. Then her phone was being yanked out of her hands and Dipper quickly switched off the alarm. The cave went deathly silent. Then the growling began.
It was a low rumble inside their bones and made the pebbles on the ground scatter. As one, the three Pines turned and looked behind them at the very angry, very awake, not so much a pile of gold anymore, dragon. It roared and fire spilled out of its mouth.
"Look out!" cried Ford, stepping between the kids and the dragon, his arms spread wide holding his overcoat out to shield them.
Mabel felt the hot flames wash over her, she watched as the walls of the cave in front of them glowed orange and began to drip before solidifying into stone once more. However, despite the heat and fire, they all seemed to be okay, even Ford who had taken the brunt of the blast. Apparently, the fireproofing had worked.
"I think we made him mad," said Dipper, taking a step back, giving Mabel a tug on her arm.
"Her," corrected Ford, adjusting his glasses. "And we should probably run now." There was no argument to that.
The three of them broke into a sprint. Ford able to keep ahead of them surprisingly well for being in his seventies. Mabel glanced back to see the dragon lumbering along after them, it was not keeping up with them. The cave was too small for it to fly, and on land it wasn't very graceful. Mabel also noticed that it's golden camouflage was gone and it was now purple and polka-dot. She couldn't help but smile at that.
When she looked at her brother, she was surprised to see he wasn't pointing a camera back at the dragon He must have caught her gaze because he looked at her. There wasn't panic in his eyes, but rather excitement. He was enjoying this. Usually she was the one to get a thrill out of the life or death situations they had so often found themselves in over the summer. But she realized that if every summer was like this for him, than he must be pretty used to stuff like this.
"What?" shouted Dipper as they ran. The dragon really was slow, they had pulled pretty far ahead of it now. It breathed fire at them again but fell a few dozen yards short.
Mabel thought how best to respond. At last she had it. Making a circle with her fingers she held it up to her eye, as though she was looking through the viewfinder of a camera, then glanced back towards the dragon. Dipper raised an eyebrow but smiled with understanding.
"Oh! We are filming!" he jerked his thumb back behind him. She was confused for a moment until he changed the angle slightly and she realized he was pointing to his backpack. It was then she finally noticed the StopUnpro camera attached to the top of his backpack, pointing behind him. "We run away from stuff so often it just pays to have a rear mounted camera!" He held a fist up for her to bump, "Your idea by the way. Your words too, actually." She fist bumped him.
At last they reached the cave exit and the perilous drop. However, instead of heading down over the edge their Uncle took a sharp left turn. Mabel and Dipper followed.
"Everyone power on your grappling shoes," Ford instructed. They all did so. "Now follow me!"
He started up the cliff face. Dipper and Mabel shared a confused look but trotted after. They walked right up the sheer wall alongside the cave entrance, their grappling shoes keeping them stuck to the stone. They followed the upper lip of the cave so that they came to stop right in the middle, looking down at the cave entrance below. They heard the dragon roar angrily again, and a blast of flame erupted out of the cave, billowing out into the air.
"Steady," said Ford, kneeling down. Mabel realized what he was about to do. She pushed Dipper down into the same position - despite his confused protest - before taking it herself. "Get ready, and - " the Dragon burst out of the cave, it's wings spreading wide " - JUMP!" Ford switched off his boots and leapt into the air
"WHAT!" cried Dipper, but Mabel had been ready.
With quick hands she turned off Dipper's boots first, then her own a moment later and leapt off the wall, yanking Dipper along with her. The three of them flew through the air, landing with a dull thump on the dragon's back. Ford easily stuck the landing, switching his boots back on as he did. Mabel got one boot to stick and only just managed to brush the on button. Her other foot swung around for a moment as she tried to find her balance with her brother clinging onto her arm. At last she got her footing and her other grapple shoe stuck to the dragon's back.
Dipper hadn't landed feet first at all. Only Mabel clutching to his arm had kept him from possibly sliding off. At last Dipper found his footing and his grapple shoes locked into place.
Just in time too. The dragon did a stomach churning spin and Mabel was glad it had been hours since she had eaten. The boots held them fast and despite its best efforts, the dragon did not toss them off. She beamed at Dipper, thoroughly enjoying herself. Her brother looked a little sick, just barely holding himself back from the brink of puking.
The dragon let out another plume of fire and flew through it. This time Mabel felt the intense heat all over her body. It, didn't hurt, it actually kind of felt nice.
"Alright," shouted Ford. "The dragon should be getting tired of us so, ah, here we go." They began to plummet out of the sky. The dragon wasn't so much as flying downwards as dropping like a stone. "Everyone hang on tight! You know, with your feet! And be ready to release when we hit!" Ford shouted back at them, the wind roaring in Mabel's ears. "The dragon has one last trick to try and knock us off!"
The horizon was bending away and the forest loomed up at them. Gleaming in the middle of the forest was a blue green lake and the dragon was headed right towards it. Mabel braced herself as best she could, which, was to say she shifted her legs for a slightly better stance and gritted her teeth. Dipper, for his part let out a high pitched girly scream.
A few moments later the dragon nose dived into the lake. Ford released first, swimming upwards. Mabel and Dipper pressed their off buttons together, but while Mabel's boots came loose, Dipper's did not. They still had hold of each other's arms. As the dragon continued to dive deeper into the lake it dragged them down with it.
The water began to darken around them. Mabel was pulled along as they plunged into the shadowy depths of the lake. The air in her lungs was starting to burn, but there was no way she was letting go of her brother. She was never going to let go.
The dragon came to an abrupt stop and both she and Dipper slammed into its scaly back. They were so deep down now that the surface was just a distant sparkle high above them. What was she supposed to do? She didn't know how to get out of this, her body was starting to shake from fear and lack of oxygen.
And then her limbs started to move on their own. She swam determinately downwards. She stuck her feet back onto the dragon's back and switched her grappling shoes back on. She was acting on instinct rather than thinking things through, just doing what she needed to do.
The dragon began to swim upwards once more, the water pushed and pulled at the twins, but they stayed tight to the dragon's back. Mabel felt herself kneel. Her hands reached out to the straps on the shoes of her trapped brother and gave them a hard yank. Instantly his foot came free. Quickly she pulled on the other one and his feet slipped out of the shoes completely. Once more she switched off her own grappling shoes just as they broke the surface.
The two of them slid down the scaly back of the ascending beast. They would have been screaming if they hadn't been gasping for air. They splashed down side-by-side as the dragon flew up into the sky behind them, Dipper's grappling shoes still stuck to its back.
"Mabel! That was amazing!" cried Dipper, lunging forward to hug her while they treaded water. "Are you alright?" She nodded excitedly. Adrenaline still pumping through her body. Dipper yanked the camera off his backpack and held it out, pointing it at them. "That concludes Adventure 19-132. Stay away from fire breathing dragons! And be ready to swim if you climb on their backs, who knew?"
"I did," called Ford as he treaded water not far away.
"This is Mabel and - ," said Dipper.
"Dipper," chimed in Mabel with a smile.
"Signing off, see you next adventure!" In the background the dragon let out a perfectly timed indignant roar. "That was amazing! Incredible! Fantastic! I can't believe we road on the back of a dragon!"
"Yes, yes, all very exciting," said Ford as he swam up to them. "We should make our way to shore."
The three of them began the swim towards shore. The lake wasn't huge, but it was still a fair size. Swimming in a sweater wasn't easy work. Mabel struggled to get it off in the water and found the task to be challenging to say the least. However, she was a sweater expert, and finally managed to accomplish the task, with a little help from her brother.
A few minutes later the three of them lay on the warm sand beach, panting slightly from the swim. Mabel wished she had thought to bring a change of clothing as walking home in soaking wet clothes didn't appeal to her. However, she was already starting to dry out.
Actually. She squirmed a little. Her whole body felt oddly hot. Not just from the sun but in a different, more naughty way. It was the same feeling she had whenever she awoke from a dirty dream. Or sometimes when she watched Several Timez videos. Or, how she had felt in the bath this morning.
"Ah man, Mabes," said Dipper from beside her. She was pulled out of her moment and the heat seeped away from her. Her brother sat up, he was holding something in his hands. "Your phone! I totally forgot! I promised you I wouldn't let this happen!"
At first she wasn't sure what he was talking about, but as she saw him press the button on the side and nothing happen, she realized what he meant. Water and electronics usually didn't work well together. Possibly why his boots had malfunctioned.
"We'll get you a new one tomorrow. Again, man, Mabel is going to be so unhappy, hopefully she backed everything up this time."
Mabel nodded, she knew there wouldn't be a tomorrow for her, not this year, but she appreciated the sentiment. Ford on the other hand looked disapprovingly at the phone. Perhaps he just couldn't stand to see such a device go to waste?
Mabel suddenly thought of something else. They had gone into the lake with everything! Even their backpacks! And Dipper always carried his journal in his backpack!
"Dipper!" cried Mabel in alarm, also sitting up. Her brother looked at her, a look of distress in his eyes. She pointed at his backpack, trying her best to convey her thoughts. He stared blankly at her for a long moment. She jabbed her finger at his pack again and he finally seemed to get it.
"Oh, you're worried about my stuff?" he finally asked. She nodded. Dipper smiled. "Nah, don't be. Both cameras are waterproof, and - " he unzipped his bag, sure enough there was a journal inside. However, it looked completely fine, so did everything else. "It's water proof, well, water resistant. Again, we've done this enough times it just made sense. You have no idea how many of our adventures end up with some kind of water hazard… A surprising number of them," he said seriously, as though only now contemplating his own words.
"You waterproofed your piggyback-backpack too," continued Dipper. She let out a squee of excitement as he used the name. Dipper and Ford both winced at the high pitched sound. "And you always make that sound whenever I call it that."
"We should head back to the shack," said Ford, getting up and brushing sand off of himself. "We don't want to miss dinner." At the mention of dinner all three of their stomachs gave a growl and the three Pines burst into laughter. Mabel giggled uncontrollably.
None of them changed. None of them had spare clothing. But the beach had dried them enough that it didn't matter so much. Mabel did however take off her grappling shoes and give them back to Ford. He lamented the loss of Dipper's pair, but agreed it was much better to have Dipper alive rather than some boots he could always replace.
She also took off her socks. The rest of her clothing might be drying out, but squishy socks was not something she wanted to contend with. Besides, being barefoot was AWESOME. Much to her surprise, her brother also stripped off his socks and walked barefoot with her, something he never did. He hated being barefoot. He hated being sockless. But here he was walking right along side her and laughing as she giggled.
They made good time back to the shack, the dragon had politely flown them in the right direction and cut hours off their trip home. When they arrived, Grunkle Stan, along with Soos were finishing up the final tours of the day.
"Dipper, good, you're back," grunted Stan as they entered the gift shop. "You're just in time to help close up for the day."
"But, Mabel - " began Dipper looking at his sister.
"Mabel helped yesterday," said Stan, cutting him off.
"That's not what - " Dipper tried again.
"Help your Uncle," said Ford, cutting him off again. "I need to have a word with your sister anyhow." Dipper's eyes widen uncomfortably and it looked like he wanted to protest, but Stan was already leading him away. Once Dipper was herded off into the other room, Ford turned to look at Mabel.
"I think it's time you and I have a talk, young lady."
Great Uncle Ford led her to his study. Or, rather, what had been his study. The room had undergone somewhat of a transformation since the last time she had been in it. Of course, to Mabel it would always be the room with that body switching carpet. She let out a shudder. Nope, that was not a day she was ready to relive. The body switching carpet was gone, but that was the smallest of the changes.
New bright and colorful wallpaper had gone up. Desks had been replaced with changing stations and a toy box but at least the small couch remained. In the center of the room was a crib. This wasn't a study anymore, it was a nursery. It was Abby's room.
Her Uncle paused once inside and frowned.
"Ah, right, I forgot this isn't my study anymore," he said, glancing around. "In anycase, it will have to do." He motioned for her to sit on the couch while he closed the door behind them.
She sat right in the middle. He looked around, eventually finding another chair in the room and dragging it over so they could be face to face. This was going to be a serious conversation, she could tell.
He folded his hands under his chin and looked at her. She squirmed under his gaze. She didn't know what it was he wanted to talk to her about, but it couldn't be anything good. She wished Dipper was here.
"So," said Ford softly. "There's a lot I need to tell you, and Mabel Prime agrees with me that you should know." She took a moment to puzzle out what he had just said, but seeing the look of confusion on her face, he explained. "Mabel Prime is the Mabel of this world." She stuck out her tongue at the awful name. "Yes, she's not fond of it either, but we need a way to tell you two apart. You're Mabel Delta by the way," her mouth gaped open, that was even worse! "Yes, yes, but adorable and cute are not descriptive enough. Nor is Other or Original, because we don't know if you really are an othr Mabel, or if she is the original one...
"In any case, that's not the point," continued Ford. "Did Dipper show you the video this morning?" She frowned. He hadn't shown her any video. He had shown her pictures, but no video. Then she remembered when he had almost reached for his laptop, but veered off to grab the sweater instead. The sweater that had contained the hidden cellphone pocket. The phone that had the message 'We need to talk' on it. She shook her head, he had not shown her the video.
Something felt twisted up inside her. Her brother had… lied to her. Not directly but he had omitted something. Something that she wanted herself to know. She felt her head spin a little at that last thought. Why would he do that?
"I'm going to start with the big one first," explained Ford. He took a deep breath, then pointed upwards. "When you look up, you see a sweater above you, correct?" She nodded. Of course he knew. He had written about it in the journal and Dipper must have told him. "And you see tears in it, don't you, getting worse every time you visit." She nodded again. She didn't like where this was going.
"Mabel, it is very likely that you won't be able to return much longer," said Ford. She swallowed hard, but otherwise didn't give any sort of response. "Both myself and Mabel Prime have experienced woolholes before, and both of us recounted how they collapsed on us after a few uses. By my count you've come through at least seven times." Was it really that many? She tried to think back and nodded. Wow, seven years into her future. "That means you only have two, maybe three at the most, trips left before the portal probably closes for you." She balled her hands. No. No that wasn't fair.
"I didn't include this in my entry in your brother's journal," continued Ford. "But I can guess at the reason you're here. Or at least a reason. Something bad happened to you in your world, and you are escaping into this one. Am I right?" She felt her eyes widen. She and Dipper might not have twin mind reading powers but her Uncle could read her like an open book. "And judging by the way you act, I would say it was something bad that happened to -"
Mabel abruptly stood up, glaring angrily at her Uncle and shouting for him to shut up. Of course, what she really shouted was, "DIPPER!" She felt hot tears on the sides of her face and her whole body was shaking with rage. He hadn't just hit the nail on the head, he had hit it so hard it flew out the other side!
"Calm down," said Ford, also standing. She realized for the first time that she was just as tall as he was now. "I'm just warning you. You need to be prepared for… the inevitable. You won't be able to come here forever, no matter how much you or Dipper want to deny it. Mabel, you need to be ready for the day you're cut off from this world… and from your brother.
"Which brings me to the second thing we need to talk about," Ford let out a cough and paused. And, did he look embarrassed? She had never, ever, seen his face turn red like that. He sat back down and she did the same. "This is actually a little harder to say, but, again, both Mabel Prime and I agree that you should know, especially now with everything that's happened. I figured it out years ago of course, solving puzzles and discovering hidden meanings has sort of been my life's work." He cleared his throat.
"Mabel Prime and Dipper are... well... they," stammered Ford. She was at a loss for words. Well, yes, okay, ha-ha, she was always at a loss for words these days. But she had never seen her Uncle like this before. He was never at a loss for words. "Wow, and I thought talking to you about the whole end of everything was going to be difficult. Okay, well... you see they - " he gestured with his hands, like he was mushing together a big ball of clay. Mabel wasn't sure what he was trying to convey about her counterpart and her brother. "Dipper loves her a lot, a whole lot. He loves his sister."
Okay… so… what? thought Mabel. She loved her brother. He loved her. What was - Oh. OH! OH! No, he couldn't, he didn't. Ford wasn't implying that she and Dipper had… that they... Her eyes widened and Ford pointed at her.
"Bingo," he said, pointing at her.
Mabel felt instantly sick in a way the spinning dragon had failed to do to her. Bile swelled up in her throat and she only just managed to cover her mouth and catch it. Her brain was refusing to spell it out for her, but it knew. And then her thoughts shouted it inside her skull.
You're having sex with your brother!
A second round of bile came up her throat. This time she only just managed to make it to the attached bathroom toilet before she threw up.
"Not exactly the reaction I expected," said Ford calmly. Now that he had gotten it out he seemed to have regained some of his composure. "But I guess it's an understandable one. I take it you don't have the same, uh, inclinations?" Mabel gaped at him, how could he possibly think she - with Dipper? There was the familiar sensation again and she turned back to the toilet.
"Interesting, I had always conjectured that your presence had caused the onset of this situation," mused Ford. That she had…? That she wanted…? There it was again, she turned back to the toilet for a third time. "Anyhow, there's nothing for you to worry about."
Nothing for her to worry about? Was he crazy? She was - Nope, don't think it, don't think about - oh crap baskets, there it was. She dry heaved into the toilet, nothing else left to expel.
"As I said, I've built my life on figuring out puzzles, and that one was pretty easy to solve, at least for me," explained Ford. "I doubt anyone else has put it together yet. I've already voiced my opinion on it to the both of you... both of them? In any case, they're adults and they can figure out what it is they want to do with themselves.
"Also, I don't think Dipper looks at you quite the same way." She shot him a confused look. She was his sister, of course he thought about her the same way. Her Uncle, seemed to read her mind once more and explained. "No, you aren't his sister, not really. He sees you - " Ford paused looking for the right words here " - like, like he remembers how you used to be. He hasn't said it outloud, but I've read his journal entries about you. He see's you as if you are the Mabel from that first summer you spent in Gravity Falls." She felt her eyes widen. Apparently Dipper could hit the nail on the head sometimes.
She wiped her mouth with some of the toilet paper then flushed the unsightly mess away. Again, that funny image floated back to her of the last time she had been in this room, swapped into Dipper's body, throwing up in this very same toilet over… she guessed sort of a similar reaction. Walking on unsteady feet she made her way back to the couch and collapsed.
"So, there you go," said her Uncle. "That's more or less what you wanted to tell yourself. It might not have been the same coming from me, but, you thought you needed to hear it." Mabel tucked her legs up to her chest and pulled her dragon sweater over them. "I'll, just let you sort it out."
Her Uncle got to his feet and departed the room rather swiftly. She, on the other hand, pulled her arms into her sweater and ducked her head down. At long last things had gotten so bad for her that she was now in sweater town, inside of sweater town.
Her mind raced in circles, from anger to horror to betrayal to anger again. What the hell Dipper? What the actual hell? The one person that was never supposed to betray her, her best friend, her brother, her twin. They were doing it! They were - she couldn't bring herself to think it a second time but the word echoed in the back of her brain.
Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex
She shook her head inside her sweater. She hadn't fallen into another made up, messed up world yet, but maybe if she tried hard enough she would.
How could he do this to her!
"Dipper," Mabel groaned angrily. She would have given anything to be anywhere else. Anywhere but here!
She let the forbidden memory of Dipper's last moment wash through her mind.
There it was… that strange, unreal sensation of falling as Dipper pushed her out of the way. As he pushed her out of the world. She let her eyes look down and her body seemed to fade away, such that she was just floating eyes in a tunnel of orange wool. The world stretched out below her and for the briefest moment she wondered what screwed up reality she would find herself in next.
A room filled out below her. Her room. Back at home. A room with her bed and her stuffed animals and her strings of lights and… and… her. She was sitting on her bed, wrapped up in a pink shooting star sweater, tucked away inside sweater town. Okay… that… was… different…
She didn't fall into her body but rather continued to look down at it. Even stranger, was that she could see through the neck hole of the pink sweater below her. And through that, she could see herself again, sitting on the couch in the Mystery Shack, tucked in her orange and yellow sweater, looking down into sweater town. It was her, over and over, alternating forever between pink and orange into an infinitely tiny far off dot.
She looked up, into the sweater ceiling above. Through the torn neck hole of pink sweater town, was another orange and yellow sweater town. It was like looking into an infinite hallway of sweater mirrors. There wasn't another sweater town to escape to, there was just -
"Mabel," came a breathy scared voice from the door. The sweater world's folded into each other and collapsed. For a long moment all she could see was dim darkness until she opened her eyes to stare at the orange and yellow inside of her sweater. She was back in just the one sweater again… or two sweaters?
She'd just had the strangest waking dream about sweaters inside of sweaters. And about Great Uncle Ford telling her… oh, no… no, that last part had been real. And now Dipper was here too. No, not right now, not him. Please, not him! She just wanted her brother to go away! She wanted to be alone.
She listened for any sounds that he had come closer, but she couldn't hear anything over the pounding of her own heart.
"Do…" his voice cracked. "Can I come in?" She started to rock back and forth. She had no idea what answer to give. Dipper however seemed to take no answer as a yes.
She heard his soft footsteps and felt his weight as he plopped down next to her. The speed of her rocking increased. There was a long pause. She half expected Dipper to put his arm around her and try to comfort her, but he simply spoke instead.
"So… Ford told you, didn't he?" Dipper said it softly, but there wasn't even a tremor in his voice, just a note of sadness. YES! Ford had told her, he had told her everything! How could it have been Ford and not Dipper that told her!
Anger flared across her face and a boiling rage built up inside her. She was seconds from exploding out of her sweater and yelling at him, or running from him, or hitting him, or doing something, anything that would express how betrayed and angry she felt at him!
"I didn't want him to tell you," continued Dipper softly. "There isn't anything we can do about the woolhole." All of her thoughts suddenly derailed and crashed to a stop. Wait - the what? "He and Original Mabel - yes I know, still a terrible name - think it's important for you to know that you can't keep coming here forever. But, I mean, no one can fix it. Not you or me or even Great Uncle Ford. I thought it was better for you to just - just be happy with the time we have."
She poked her head slightly out of sweater town and she could see that Dipper was honest to god crying. She couldn't help it, it was built into her, a part of her, a defining aspect of who she was. She reached out and hugged him. At first he didn't seem to respond as he continued to sob. He lightly touched her elbow, an indication that he was both thankful for the embrace, and that she could let him go. He nodded, running a sleeve over his cheeks.
"I haven't said it, but I should," he continued, still a little hitch in his voice. "But when you're here, it feels like - like we're back in Gravity Falls for that first time. Like it's just you and me against the world. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change this," and here he gave her a meaningful look that, made her stomach tighten. "Any of this. But I miss how things used to be between us." He looked down at the floor.
"I'm sure Ford told you the other thing too, his theory about us?" said Dipper. She nodded ever so slightly. "He's wrong, Mabel." Dipper looked at her, defiance in his eyes. "Our Uncle knows a lot. He sees a lot. But he's wrong, okay." She frowned. "Look, I would do anything for you - for my sister. Anything she asked me to. And I love her, I do. But Great Uncle Ford is wrong, okay? Please just - just forget he told you anything?"
Mabel felt all mixed up and confused. Really she didn't know how to feel right now. So many contradictory thoughts were bubbling through her head. Dipper had lied to her this morning, right? There had been a video that Original Mabel had wanted her to see, right? Or had she imagined him reaching for the laptop? No, there had been a video! Ford had said there was a video!
There had also been a message on the phone when Dipper had yanked it out of her hand! We need to talk, it had said… or had, had it been a text from someone? Maybe it had been a text from the boy Dipper had said she was seeing - what had his name been again? It started with a 'Z,' right?
Of course there was Ford, saying it to her face. Although, now that she recalled the conversation of only a few minutes ago, he hadn't really said anything, he had just implied it. And since when did she really trust Ford anyhow? Great Uncle Ford was Dipper's idol, and her brother was telling her not to believe the man he had put so much faith in.
Mabel felt old doubts beginning to creep over her. From the moment he had come through that portal, something about Ford had felt off to her. She trusted Grunkle Stan, she knew Grunkle Stan. Ford on the other hand, he was family sure, but he wasn't concerned with family, not the way Stan was, not the way she was. Worse, he had actively worked to drive a wedge between her and Dipper that summer. All in the hopes that Dipper would stay and become his apprentice. There were nights, not many, not often, where sometimes she wished that she had just pushed that stupid button.
She finally nodded at Dipper, a very small smile on her lips. He stood and offered her his hand. He smiled back as she took it and he pulled her up out of sweater town.
"Come on, dinner should be ready soon," said Dipper.
Mabel sat beside her brother as they all shared in a fairly magnificent feast that, surprisingly, Soos had prepared for them. It was a whole turkey, like thanksgiving, her second favorite holiday after Christmas. In fact, it was pretty much thanksgiving. With mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon slices (Gravity Falls seasonal substitute) and stuffing.
Everyone chatted and talked pleasantly, Dipper recounting some of the events of the day. He stopped as they reached the point with the dragon chasing them.
"Oh! What then dude!" cried Soos, so wrapped up in the story that his elbow landed in the mashed potatoes on his plate.
"You're just going to have to wait and see," grinned Dipper. "Me and Mabel will start work on editing tomorrow and it should be posted in a couple days."
"Aw man! No fair! Come on Dip! We gotta know if you made it out of there!" cried Soos.
"Soos," said Ford with a raised eyebrow. "We're sitting right here."
"Yeah, but how do I know if you escaped?" he asked.
"Because we're sitting right here," repeated Ford.
"Yeah, but what if the dragon ate you or something? Oh man! I hate cliffhangers!"
Ford sighed, giving up. But everyone else laughed.
There was even Apple pie for dessert. Apple pie and vanilla ice cream. It was possibly the best meal Mabel had ever had. And that was saying something.
Feeling completely full and stuffed to the gills, she and her brother finally made their way upstairs. Their Uncles stayed to help with the dishes while Melody went off to check on her sleeping daughter, who had gone to sleep before dinner.
Dipper offered first use of the bathroom to Mabel, a huge breach of protocol, no rock paper scissors for first use was almost unheard of, save for the great diarrhea scare of that thursday in July. Still, he insisted that she could go first and he would patiently wait.
Mabel grabbed her usual change of clothing, selecting her seafoam green nightshirt with a rubber duck on the front. She paused before leaving the room and also selected a pair of pajama pants. She usually only put on a full pajama outfit when it got cold out, she was a hot sleeper and often kicked off her covers during the night. Warm fluffy pants just made the issue worse. Nonetheless, she took them with her.
She gave her bro, who was currently busy transferring the video off one of the cameras, a glance, then departed before he looked up. She entered the small shared bathroom before doing something she never had before. She locked the door behind her. Her hand came away shaking slightly and she grabbed it with her other hand to steady it. She was being stupid, wasn't she? Mabel didn't unlock it.
Instead, she stripped down, all the way, then turned on the shower. The pitiful excuse for pressure bubbled out of the faucet and into the tub. She flipped the switch and the shower changed from bath to overhead sprayer. This appeared to have better pressure, but she knew that was an illusion. It had less outlets for the water, making the same trickle seem more like a torrent. Still, it got decently hot for her fairly quickly and she climbed in.
As she stood under the spray, her eyes kept glancing towards the door, like she half expected her brother to bust in on her. But there wasn't even so much as a creek out in the hallway.
She soaped herself, and scrubbed, maybe a little more forcefully than normal. She even did her hair , whatever had been in that lake smelled awful and she didn't want Bel waking up to the rank odor.
As she applied the conditioner, the fourth step in her twelve part hair care washing - her hair was very important to her afterall and needed all the correct steps - her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with Great Uncle Ford. He had told her two things. Two terrible things.
One, she wouldn't be able to keep coming back to this world for much longer. Soon, her brother would be gone. He would be gone! Gone forever this time and she would really be alone.
And B, no, two, Dipper loved her. He loved-loved her. And they were doing... stuff together. Stuff siblings shouldn't be doing together. Was that a three? She frowned.
The question now, the big one she had to ask herself. Who did she believe? Because, four, Dipper had told her Ford was wrong about point B, or number two, or whatever!
Mabel suddenly had a sweet soapy taste in her mouth, along with a grimy lake watery one. She spat out the hair strands she had unconsciously tugged into her mouth. She ran her tongue along her teeth trying to get rid of the nasty taste and felt something strange and unexpected. She did it again. There it was again. Mabel ran her tongue along her smooth perfect teeth and a moment later her eyes widened.
They… they were gone! She was free! The horrible, awful, terrible, implements of unspeakable mouth torment were gone! She flung her hands into the air and did a little spinning dance in the tub, almost slipping as she laughed and cried with joy.
Her happy dance finally stopped as she spotted movement through the shower curtain. She stiffened and cautiously, pulled it open to reveal the mirror above the sink. She sighed, then smiled at it, her blurry, fogged over reflection smile back. She hopped out of the tub, hair mid conditioning, water still running, her body sopping wet and stood in front of the small mirror. She wiped a hand across it and smiled at herself.
Her braces were gone. She really hoped they had let her keep them so that she could have jumped and stomped on them, making the stupid things pay for all the torment they had caused her.
She spent a few good minutes just pulling her mouth open and looking at the white, unblemished slabs in her perfectly straight mouth. She couldn't argue with the results, just the method.
Finally, having seen enough of her mouth, she hopped back into the shower, humming as she diligently applied the last of the hair care products she needed.
It was a good hour later when she finally emerged, changed into her nightwear, pajama pants and all. She had been expecting her brother to chide her for taking so long, or sprint out in a desperate hurry to use the facilities. What she hadn't expected was to find him asleep on his bed, laptop resting sideways on his leg, still plugged into the camera.
Mabel smiled at him.
He had already changed for the night while she was out. His head hung back over the headboard and his mouth hung open. Uneven, slightly louder than normal snores poured from him. He was adorable and also, not looking very comfortable.
Carefully, she pulled his laptop off his lap and set it on the floor. Ever so gently, she slid his body down trying not to wake him. Finally she maneuvered him flat onto his bed where he turned slightly to his side. He didn't open his eyes, and she wasn't sure he was even awake but a soft, "Thanks Mabes," escaped his lips as she pulled his blanket over him.
She stepped back to admire her handywork and her foot knocked into his laptop. She looked down at it. She froze. She had poked around in it before, finding dozens of pictures of herself, that he had never really explained. None of them had been… gross? Sure that worked - pictures of her. They had just been pictures. Many of pictures had been of the both of them. She was sure she had loads of pictures of him too, in fact, she knew she did. Why wouldn't he have some of her. Not some, lots of her. She shook her head.
No. No she had decided that she believe Dipper. If he said Ford was wrong, she believe him. Still… the video…
Mabel lifted the laptop. There was a transfer bar from the camera that said it had completed. She clicked 'OK' and the window vanished. Dipper's desktop was surprisingly clean, in stark contrast to his room - Mabel did a quick glance around the shared bedroom at the mounds of dirty socks and shirts and underwear. The background was an image of the Mystery Shack, with a large group of people standing out in front of it. Mabel felt like she recognized the image somehow, but she had no idea from where, maybe it had been there the last time she looked at it? She couldn't remember.
Her focus returned to the items on the desktop. There were only four icons. One was the standard Garbage Bin, that you couldn't remove. Two were folders, one of which said 'Inprogress' and another labeled 'Completed.' And then there was a fourth file, a file that said, 'Play Me - Mabel.' She moved the mouse cursor over it, but didn't click. She… she really shouldn't. Her hand clicked.
Her face, her other face, the face of Bel appeared on the screen. The video didn't start playing, she had to manually hit the play button. Mabel stopped and looked down at her sleeping brother. Cautiously, she retreated to the other side of the room and turned the sound wayyyyyy down. Then she clicked play.
"Hey Mabel! It's me, Mabel!" said the girl in the video, "And our brother Dipper!" she reached out and pulled Dipper into frame, hugging him tight.
"You don't think calling me 'our brother' is confusing?" asked Dipper. Bel blew a raspberry at him.
"Trust me, I know what myself means," said Mabel.
"That doesn't even make grammat - " began Dipper.
"Anyhow, I thought it was time you and me and our bro-bro had a bit of a chat, I know it's super one sided, but I thought you should hear it from me, us, you?" Bel pondered her words. "Look, Ma - Mabel, I'm gonna level with you, get real, do the girl talk thing. I know what you are going through, with sweater town. I've been there." She leaned in close to the camera. "I've been there girl! I'm the only one that really gets it, that really knows what it's like!" she leaned back, "But, I went, you know?"
"What my sister is trying to say, and failing in so many words," interjected Dipper, "is - "
"Hush! Girl talk remember," said Bel, affectionately bonking him on the head. "Look, Great Uncle Ford doesn't think you have a lot of return visits left. I know it was super hard for me when it ended, but I got through it." She hugged Dipper. "And you'll get through it to, okay?"
The video ended abruptly, which Mabel had thought was odd. She checked the play bar at the bottom and confirmed that was indeed all there was. She started it over and watched it again, then again, then again. Tears had been running down her face since the first viewing but she didn't wipe them away, she just let them flow.
