Sweater Town
Chapter 13 – The Mark
By Starwin
It took Mabel a long time to start the next video. She had been worried it was going to be… something she didn't really want to see. Much to her surprise, and relief, it was just a normal video. In fact, it was almost like the last year of videos hadn't happened. Bel and Dipper seemed to have fixed their relationship and despite whatever else she was going through, Bel seemed genuinely happy in each video.
It appeared that the twins had indeed dropped out of college and were now pursuing a full time video making career. Although Bel had initially said their parents were okay with it, Dipper had confirmed that their had actually been quite the falling out between the twins and their parents. Neither Bel nor Dipper elaborated but from what Mabel was hearing, she guessed the rift was over more than just leaving college.
The year raced by in a flash.
"Soos and Melody had their second baby, they're naming him Soos Jr!" cried Bel excitedly. "I think Dipper was really hoping they would name their son after him." In a flash they were back at the start of summer and Bel recorded another pre-visit video, far different from her last one.
"No one thinks you're going to be back this year," said Bel. "I don't know what to think. I'm setting my alarm again. Maybe we'll get to talk this year?" But the day came and went and while there was another video from her after, it was brief and Mabel could tell she looked disappointed.
Then in April of the following year it happened, the moment that Mabel had subconsciously been dreading. The video had started with Bel sobbing and Dipper holding her shoulder tightly. Bel tried to say something but she couldn't.
"Grunk - Great Uncle Stan passed away last night," Dipper said somberly. There was red in his eyes too, he had been crying as well. "His funeral is in a few days…" He hugged his sister tighter as she sobbed into his chest. He let the video run for a while but didn't say anything else.
Just as the twins were starting to recover, the second round of bad news hit. This time, Bel had been coherent enough to say it herself. Great Uncle Ford had passed away too, just a little over a month later. It was Dipper who was sobbing this time, curled up in his sister's lap.
It took a while for happiness to reappear in Bel's videos' but it did as summer arrived. This was the third year Mabel had not returned. Once more Bel left another video for her.
"Another year without you here, May," said Bel. "I can't help but wonder what happened to you. I mean, there are so many things about this we never figured out, that you could never tell us. Dipper says that he's over it, that he's let it go. But I know he hasn't, I read his stuff.
"Me, I don't know what to think, to be honest," said Bel with a shrug. "It's been hard to come to grips with how I feel about you and you not being here and not being me. I just wish I could talk to you or something. Just once. Setting another alarm for you next year."
Summer turned to fall and into winter. Bel's updates began to slack and videos started to spread further apart. Bel apologized that she was just super busy. They had been picked up for a new show on ComFlix, the movie streaming site, and she was spending a huge amount of time working on that.
However, there was a video in January of next year that caught Mabel completely off guard. It started with Bel in a hospital bed, smiling weakly at the camera.
"Hey, May," whispered Bel, her voice sounded hoarse. "I haven't been keeping you as up to date on our condition as I should have… It's getting worse, hence, the hospital. I've been trying to stay away, because they can't help me and it would just make things more complicated. But I sort of collapsed yesterday, and Dipper couldn't wake me up, so here I am." Bel laughed a little, a morbid coughing laugh.
"A doctor just came to see me, and give me the grim news that I have terminal brain cancer." She tapped the side of her head and whispered a soft "boop." "I told him I already knew and he seemed sort of shocked. He tried to tell me there wasn't anything he could do and that I only have a few months at the most. And I told him I already knew that too. After that he just kinda left. Dipper is filling out my release forms and then we'll be out of here.
"I hope you make it back this year so I can be with you at least one more time," said Bel.
Mabel had not made it back that year either. Bel left her another disappointed message and set another alarm. Video's remained sparse due to Bel's continued illness and the demands on her time but the important updates continued to come across. Bel hired an aid, a young woman named Elena who was also apparently a big fan of their show. Life went on and Bel continued to look worse, although she never let it get her down.
Another year slipped by and the videos continued to dwindle. It seemed at long last that Bel had accepted that her sister from another universe was gone. There were only a handful of videos for the fifth year of Mabel's absence. Just one a month. Mabel strongly suspected there were other videos, ones that were not just for her. After all, there had been many other folders to look in that she had never even opened. She debated with herself if she should continue on the path Bel had made for her or go find the missing bits in the other folders. But she didn't know how those were organized, it could take her hours just to find videos from the same time period.
No. She was going to stick with these videos until the end… She didn't have to wait long.
"You came back!" cried Bel into her camera. She was back in the hospital, she looked then in any previous video. Bel smiled. "And I finally got to talk to you, sort of…" Her eyes looked away from the camera. "Dipper isn't listening to this one, it's just you and me… because you don't want him to know, but I know." She looked back into the camera. "I know why you're here. I'm so sorry May. I wish I could hug you and make it better…
"It looks like we got one last moment together. I'm not sure what's going to happen when you try and come back next year… if you do... I've set an alarm for you, just like always. I'm guessing if you're watching this video, you figured it out... I'm not going to be waiting for you this time… I love you May."
Mabel swiped for the next video but there were no more. She backed out, looking at the long list of life entries she had watched over the course of two days with hardly a moments rest. She had indeed watched them all and there were no more, there would never be anymore.
She shut off the phone and returned it to her bag. Something in her brain was tumbling over. The last time she had gone to sweater town, when she and Dipper had sat on the couch and eaten ice cream together. Bel had already been gone by that point. She had returned to sweater town and slipped into no one's body. Which meant Dipper was all alone now.
Her frown deepened. She would do anything to have her brother back. The fact of where she was right now proved what lengths she was willing to go to… And was Dipper willing to do the same for her? If Bel had really passed away, what would do Dipper to try and get her back?
She tugged her shooting star sweater out of her backpack. It had returned to its previous disrepair after her last visit. The fixes had only held up that once. Normal thread just came undone every time she tried.
Her mind stopped as she examined the sweater again. Normal thread. That's it! She needed magic thread! No, no, wait, that was stupid. No, something else… Absently, she picked at one of the cuffs. It had unraveled a bit but wa still mostly intact.
Maybe - Maybe she couldn't use just any thread to patch her damaged garment. Maybe she needed to use this thread, this garment. It was worth a shot. It wasn't like she was really using the sleeves, not even in sweater town.
She plucked at one of the loose threads and tugged it. Bit-by-bit it slowly came out. When she had enough for one of the smallest holes, she bit the end and cut it off. Then she got her travel sewing kit out (and some of her panic candy) and set to work.
She threaded her needle with the bit of yarn she had pulled out, crossed her fingers and began to repair one of the rips on the front. As before she sewed it shut. She lifted the garment up to inspect it. She held her breath as her eyes found the tear. Except, it wasn't torn, it was fixed… sort of.
Yarn wasn't thin thread and the patch was very noticeable. Yet, it seemed to have worked. Mabel set to work scavenging spare threads from the sleeves of the sweater. Soon enough she had fixed up every rip, although the sleeves were both a few inches shorter and a bit more ragged. If she was using it as an everyday sweater, those sleeves would quickly come apart. She didn't intend to put her arms through it anytime soon, so they would probably be okay for a while.
She admired her handy-work. Not her best work for sure but she was on a bus and hadn't really been to sleep for a couple days now. The sweater looked like it had been thoroughly abused over many years, rather than how she had lovingly cared for it. But it no longer looked like some maniac with a knife had attacked it either.
Delicately she packed it away in her bag. If everything went the way she planned she would hopefully not need it.
Mabel noticed that as she got off the bus, she was the only remaining passenger. Everyone else had departed at some point but she had been far too wrapped up in her own things to notice. The driver waved goodbye, made another joke about pigs and told her to take care. She waved and smiled back to him, putting on her best fake smile. Pigs were not to be joked about. Not right now.
No one was waiting for her at the stop, which was both expected and a relief. Her parent's hadn't figured out where she had been headed. She had been worried that Soos might be waiting for her, to pick her up and send her back home. Maybe even drive her there himself to make sure she went.
But nope, it was just her and miles of empty forest in either direction. She wasn't that far from the shack, maybe a ten or fifteen minute walk. There was a shortcut she could have taken but it was possible she might just as well get lost instead. So she made her way along the road, headed to the shack.
It was much harder seeing the building than she had thought it would be. After all, she had been coming back here for years now. Years over the last few days. She couldn't escape it. She just hoped that right now she could escape it.
She stayed at the edge of the parking lot, just in the cover of the trees. There weren't many cars here and no one seemed to be outside but she didn't want to get spotted. She was almost across the lot when Soos burst out of the shack, looking right at her. She froze, praying that he hadn't seen her. She let out her panicked breath a moment later as he spun on the spot to address the tour group he had been leading. He had not seen her.
Once she was across the property, she found the trail she was looking for. It was the same trail she and Dipper had taken in sweater town. She hurried along the path, almost jogging. She was in good shape, or, had been before her two week long seclusion in her bedroom. Doing nothing but sleeping had taken a few steps out of her stride. By the time she reached the first clearing, she was doubled over with her hands against her knees, panting and completely out of breath.
This place looked exactly as she remembered it from her dreams… from sweater town. The fallen log, the stream, the stump. Not a distinct special location but one that she could clearly picture. It wasn't far now, she was almost there.
While she recovered, Mabel once more considered what she was doing, if this was really such a good idea. All answers pointed to no. This was reckless, irresponsible and crazy on the highest levels of stupid things she could do. And, her backup plans were even worse!
She fished out the future phone from her backpack and looked it over once more, reaffirming what she already knew. This was from sweater town. She had brought it back with her. If she could bring a phone… why not a person? Why not her brother?
And if that didn't work… maybe she could find a way to stay in sweater town forever… and never come back. Sure, her bro-bro there was a bit odd but having a brother that was a bit odd was way better than not having one at all.
Even better, she had learned something important in the videos. He loved her like a sister. It had been Bel that really LOVED him in that weird way. Dipper had just gone along with it because his sister needed him to. Mabel hoped, that if she ended up staying with him, he would be whatever she needed him to be, even if that was just a brother again.
She put the phone back in her bag. Her body had recovered enough for her to continue on. If plan 'A' did not work, if Bill wouldn't give her brother back - or, couldn't - than she would make one more trip into her fantasy world. She would drag Dipper back with her, kicking and screaming if she had to. Maybe.
She set off again at a jog, heading off the trail and into the deeper part of the forest. The canopy above became thicker and only shadowy light spotted the ground ahead. The trees continued to look like normal trees. They felt like normal trees too - she brushed her hand against one. In her dream they had been odd. She couldn't remember what they had been like in sweater town.
The forest went silent. The chirps of birds died abruptly and the insects stop their buzzing. Even her footfalls on the pine needles were muffled. There was a chill in the air. Mabel stopped. She pulled off her backpack and took out her shooting star. Carefully she switched sweaters, stuffing her other one back in her pack. She was close, better to be ready now.
She continued on at her brisk pace, not jogging anymore but power walking. The wind blew at her back, urging her to go faster but this was as fast as she dared go. It wasn't far now, she could feel it… then, she could see it. Ahead was the gray-ish blob, so easy to mistake for a bolder at a distance. The trees parted and Mabel found herself in an unnatural clearing.
The ground was a mixture of dirt and patchy grass. Every tree had been pushed back at least twenty feet from the statue that sat right in the center. It was just where it had been in sweater town, just like it had been. A shiver flitted through her stomach as she stood at the edge of the ring of trees. The statue's one eye glared at her, its arm outstretched, inviting her to take its hand. For a long time she just looked at it, her lungs burning and her chest threatening to collapse.
It might have been a good idea to wait to put her sweater on until she really needed it. But no way she wasn't going to risk taking it off now. She might need it, at least one more time and she wanted it ready just in case. Her eyes rested on the outstretched hand. Every fiber of her being telling her to take it, to shake it, to deal. Instead, she just stayed as far back as possible. This was the demon that could bring her brother back… and destroy the world, some small part of her brain reminded her.
Bill. Even his name made her shiver. Her thoughts drifted back to the hallway, to the dead end. She saw the moment in her mind when Bill had captured her and Dipper. He dragged them back so that he could murder one of them. Murder her.
She wasn't afraid of him. She and Dipper had helped defeat him! She took several determines steps forward so that she was half as far away from the statue. He talked big, he had crazy magic powers or whatever. At the end of the day they had won and he had lost. She took another step forward.
She would make Bill listen to her. She would hold him to his word. She would demand he give her brother back! She moved the last few feet to the statue, his hand now in easy reach. She rubbed the inside of her palm with her fingertips as though trying to get a sense of what his stony touch would feel like. She was going to do this. She was going to shake his hand.
NO! This was such a bad idea! What was she thinking coming here! There was no way she could deal with Bill! The moment she took his hand, the instant she made a deal with him, Bill would snap his fingers and just like her brother, the light would go out of her eyes.
Or worse, he would take her body and make her his puppet. She would be forced to watch as he destroyed life after life, unable to stop him. Trapped forever.
She took several shaky steps away from the statue, her eyes still locked on it. What was she doing? A deal with Bill? How could she even have considered it?
Her foot missed a step and she toppled down onto her butt, hitting the soft ground. She looked down at the sweater and the shooting star on its front. She ran her hands over the rough, torn, fabric. Dipper. That's why she was here. She was here for him. She would give anything for him, to have him back, to really, really have him back!
No, not anything, everything.
She put on her serious face. This was serious. She was going to do this. Once more her eyes locked on the statue and its outstretched greeting. Alright, she was ready! Except, her shaking legs wouldn't let her stand. Her stupid body wouldn't move.
No, no, no, no! She couldn't! Bill made bad deals, he always made bad deals! He would never give her Dipper back. Best case he would just turn her to stone the moment she shook his hand. Worst case, he would keep her around while he turned the world to ash for her to watch, then do the same to her.
"Dipper," she moaned. She began to pull her arms into the sweater, retreating from the real world once more, for possibly the last time. She pulled in her shaking legs. She kept her eyes on the statue of Bill while it vanished behind her wall of wool as she pulled the sweater up over her head.
All she had to do now was remember, one last time, the most terrible moment of her life. It came frighteningly easily to her and she began to fall.
As Mabel tumbled down into Sweater Town, a strange, terrible sensation washed over her. Above she could see the sweater coming apart. New rips and tears were opening before her eyes. Light streamed in from all sides and for a moment, she thought everything would fall apart right then and there. However, the sweater held together. Tiny threads rained down around her. She could almost feel the world coming apart. It wouldn't be long now…
Not for the first time she wondered what it would be like when her sweater finally did come apart. Would she just end up back home? Or perhaps she would be stuck in sweater town forever. Or maybe she would just stop existing all together… She would just fade away with the dream world. Where did dreams go when you stopped dreaming them?
Voices echoed through her mind and her attention was pulled from her worries. She recognized both of the voices. One voice was her brother's. His older, deeper, more mature tones she had become accustom to as of late. The other voice was completely unchanged. It sent a shiver of fear up her spine. A high pitched sound she would never in all her days forget, terrible and filled with infinite uncaring insanity. An impossible voice.
"All you have to do is shake my hand," said the voice. "Shake it, and bring me back, Pine tree."
"I want my sister back too," demanded Dipper's voice.
"DIPPER!" Mabel shouted into the dark as she fell, but of course, her words were as always, just her brother's name. It didn't seem like he could hear her anyhow or at least he didn't respond if he could.
"I'll give you anything, so long as you bring Mabel back!"
"You got it, Pine tree!" said the terrible voice. She could see a great stone hand floating above her. It was like a giant projection in the dark folds of the sweater. "Now shake my hand!" Her brother's hand reached out and she shouted again!
Abruptly, she stopped falling, her feet plopped into the soft earth. Mabel nearly did a double take. This was the first time she had ever landed outside. She was exactly where she had been in her world, yet the forest was different, older, greener. Standing just feet away from her was Dipper. His hand was holding the stone embrace of the same statue that she had so foolishly approached in her own world.
"DIPPER!" she shouted and lunged towards her brother. They collided and tumbled away across the ground. The two of them rolled to a stop in a heap, not far from where the statue of Bill stood. Its hand was still out reached, its body still gray, frozen, stone. For a moment, she thought that she had been fast enough, that she had stopped whatever was about to happen.
Then the laughter began, terrible and high pitched and insane.
She looked pleadingly into her brother's eyes, asking what he had done. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the statue, rage on his face.
"No!" cried Dipper, trying to push her off him and get back to his feet. "MY sister! I want you to bring back MY sister! Not her!" Mabel shrunk back from him, pulling her sweater slightly over the bottom of her face. How could he say that? She was his sister... she... was... Of course, that was just the lie she had been telling herself. She knew what he was saying was true. She was a fake, an impostor in a stolen puppet body. "This isn't my sister! This is the other one that has been coming here for twenty years!" The laughter continued.
No, no, no, no! He... he was coming back. Bill was coming back!
An intense golden glow pulsed through the stone. The air chilled around them and the sky darkened, even though there were no clouds. Another bright flash lit the forest, casting long twisted shadows from the trees. She watched as cracks spread around the single large eyeball at the top of Bill's triangular body.
"What're you, an idiot?" said the echoing voice of Bill. It sounded like it was coming from inside Mabel's head. The stone prison around his large eye crumbled away. Instantly the pupil swiveled to lock onto Dipper, not even sparing the slightest glance for her. More small cracks shot out from his hideous eye, revealing more of the glowing gold triangle beneath.
"Don't answer that, I know you're an idiot," continued Bill. "I'm an interdimensional demon of chaos and destruction, Pine tree, not a magic genie! I don't grant wishes! I can't just snap my fingers and bring people back to life! You asked for your sister? Well there she is! The best you're ever going to get. Even if she is looking a little too old! Time to change her back to her proper shape."
Bill snapped his fingers and the stone around his hand and arm shattered away. Mabel felt a sharp pain twitch through her body. The world began to grow around her. She was shrinking. Her skirt suddenly felt loose on her hips. Her sweater and shirt were far too big. She clutched at her clothing, trying to keep it in place. In a moment the sensation stopped and she felt like a little girl playing dress up in her mother's clothing. Dipper was staring at her in disbelief but Bill just continued to laugh.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha! There you go, Pine tree, your sister. Just the way you want her to be! Without all that made up fluff and emotional baggage! Am I right?"
"She isn't my Sister!" Dipper shouted.
"Dipper," Mabel whispered, feeling herself on the verge of tears from the shame of his refusal to acknowledge her.
"My! Name! Is! Mason!" shouted Dipper almost turning red in the face. "No one, except for you, has called me Dipper for six years! Not since you died! " His last words echoed through the woods. Mabel could hear them ringing in her ears. Since... since Bel had died… WAIT? SIX YEARS? She had been away for six years? Dipper's rage filled expression seemed to fall and he look ashamed of what he had said. "I - I wanted to tell you when you came back but - "
"Hey, that's great," interrupted Bill. "Really fantastic!" There was a loud cracking sound and the triangular demon popped out of the ground like a cork. He drifted downwards slightly before floating to a stop in the air, rather than landing. He looked down at the twins, now twenty years apart in age. "I'm sure you have a heart felt speech all ready for this touching moment." Bill snapped his fingers again and blue fire wrapped around Dipper, forcing him to kneel on the ground. "But I'm a busy guy. So, if you don't mind, or heck, even if you do mind, I'll be taking over that body of yours so I can start my conquest of your stupid universe!"
"Dipper!" shouted Mabel, trying to run towards her brother. Her loose clothing caught around her legs and she tumbled down face first into the dirt. Bill spun around to face her.
"Ha! That's pretty funny shooting star, or maybe I should call you fallen star? I like that better! Were you planning on trying to stop me? You don't even have a can of spray paint this time," laughed Bill.
In the blink of an eye he covered the distance to hover inches above Mabel, where she lay on the ground. His giant terrible form loomed over her, his one nightmarish eye gazed down at her. He reached out a massive hand and plucked her off the ground, leaving the bottom half of her clothing behind so that her sweater was all that came with her. She even lost her socks and shoes.
"You know, I think I'm going to finish what I started so long ago," mused Bill, rubbing the bottom of his eye like a chin. His eye flickered to the image of a pine tree before it changed to her shooting star.
"No! Bill! Stop! Don't harm her - " Dipper began.
"What do you even care if I harm her?" asked Bill. He sprouted another arm and reached out to pick up Dipper. He pulled the twins side-by-side. One of them more than thirty years old, the other a mere thirteen. "You don't even care about her, but I can see she cares about you!" His eye changed back to the silhouette of the pine tree. "Maybe I should just take her body instead, eh, Pine tree?" Dipper struggled in Bill's grasp. "I've already been inside of your body and I wasn't really impressed." His eye split down the middle so that half was a pine tree and the other a shooting star. "Or heck, maybe I'll destroy you both, just because I can!"
"No!" Dipper cried. "No... let her go! I'll give you my body if you leave Mabel alone." Her brother looked completely and totally defeated. Bill set Dipper down on the ground. The giant hand that had been holding him shrunk down so that he could offer it to Dipper.
"Fantastic! Let's shake on it," said Bill.
"Dipper!" shouted Mabel, still trying to struggle free.
"I... I can't lose you again," said Dipper. His arm rising slowly to reach out for Bill's. "Even if it isn't really you." She continued to struggle. She had to speak, she had to tell him to stop! Bill could not be trusted!
"Dipper! Dipper! DIPPER!" Mabel shouted so loudly her throat felt raw with the effort. Her stupid brain! Her stupid brother! She. Had. To. Speak!
She felt it before she heard it, real words pouring out of her, saying the most important thing she could think of-
"MASON!" Mabel shouted. Dipper froze, his hand half reaching out to Bill. Her brother looked at her, surprise on his face. He wasn't the only one, she felt just as surprised as he did. She... she had said something else. Something other than 'Dipper.' Bill on the other hand looked annoyed. "DON'T TRUST B - " was all she could manage before another arm grew out of the hand Bill was holding her with and clamped itself over her mouth.
"Don't listen to her, she's crazy! Look, I'll make this simple, you have five seconds to shake my hand or I'll rip your sister apart," said Bill, his fingers transformed into tiny (although still large for her) limbs. Two hands grabbed her arms, while two more pulled her legs. One hand still managed to cover her mount somehow. "Limb-by-limb." Dipper looked horrified. "One!" counted Bill.
Dipper's hand began to move but very slowly. Mabel frantically shook her head, trying to shake Bill's hand away. The expression on Dipper's face told her the cogs of his brain had gone into overdrive. Right now she wasn't sure if he was trying to figure a way out of this or debating her fate. Afterall… she wasn't Bel.
"TWO!" said Bill even more loudly. She bit down as hard as she could on the hand covering her mouth. It was tough as hide and tasted of rotten eggs. Bill didn't seem to feel anything. Dipper looked at her, his face torn and confused. His hand was almost touching Bill's, and his eyes pleaded for her to tell him what to do. She shook her head as best as she could. Her thoughts screaming to him.
Don't trust Bill! Don't trust Bill! Don't trust Bill!
"THREE! I think I'll start with her right arm first."
"Mawsawn!" shouted Mabel desperately, her voice muffled. "Will mwaks wad eals!"
"THREE and a half!" Dipper suddenly dropped his arm, he was glaring at Bill. A strange expression spreading across his face. Had her brother actually heard her thoughts? No, no she recognized that expression. Even on this aged face, she knew what it meant. He had figured something out, realized some fact that was staring him in the face.
"FOUR! FIVE!" Bill said rapidly. "Man, you're a cold hearted kid. I didn't think you had it in you! You're just going to let me murder your sister, huh? Last chance here, just shake my hand and you can save her!"
Bill tugged at her limbs for effect. Mabel bit down on her tongue, determined not to make a sound. He was trying to make a show of it, to get her to react so that Dipper would change his mind. But they couldn't let Bill go free, no matter what happened to her.
"No," said Dipper shaking his head. "I don't think you have it in you, Bill." That confused Mabel. He… he was saying that Bill was bluffing?
"You don't think I'll end her just for the fun of it?" asked Bill. He tugged at Mabel again. Oh hot-fudging-ice-cream-cake did that hurt.
"I don't think you can," said Dipper coolly. "I didn't see it until now. I didn't really think about it. But you've never killed a single person."
Mabel realized that Dipper - Mason, was right. She had never seen Bill kill anyone. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make. He threatened, he captured, he intimidated. But every single person had come out of Weirdmadon unharmed, at least physically. It was so weird to think it but her brother was right. Bill couldn't kill.
"Kid, I've destroyed entire universes!" said Bill. "You think I can't kill two little brats like you!"
"No, you can't!" shouted Mabel, finally getting her mouth free. "Because if you could have killed anyone, it would have been me!" Both Bill and Mason looked at her. Her brother in surprise and Bill… in anger? "When you first got the rift, I was alone, defenseless. If you had finished me off right there you would've won. There would have been no way for us to stop you but you trapped me in that bubble!"
"And you wouldn't have sealed our friends away when they were the only ones that could form the zodiac!" added Mason, including his own moment that had made him realize the truth. "You would have just wiped them from existence."
"A waste of my abilities," countered Bill, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice that neither Mabel nor Mason missed.
"Your infinite, immense, abilities?" asked Mason. There was a long moment of silence. Then, Bill began to laugh.
"Alright, alright, you win!" said Bill. He let go of Mabel. She dropped out of his grip, plummeting towards the ground with a yelp. Rather than crashing into the dirt, Mason managed to catch her in his arms. "I can't believe you had it in you to call my bluff! You're right kid, I can't kill you. Either of you."
"The zodiac," whispered Mason. Mabel looked up at her brother, still in his arm, her whole body pressed against his chest as he held her protectively. "It isn't just a weapon against you, it's a shield to protect us."
"You really are one smart kid," said Bill. "I mean, sort of, you were dumb enough to almost take my deal a second time. Dumb enough to take it the first time too. But you're right, you and your sister and all those other chumps are protected from me. I can turn you to stone or seal you in a prison of madness but I can't directly cause you permanent physical harm. That was the job of my stupid hench minions, who couldn't even get that right!" Bill looked thoughtful for a moment. "Of course, I could just imprison you both." He held out his fingers towards them, ready to snap and make them stone. "Maybe you want to be garden ornaments for the next thousand years?"
"We'd just escape and beat you up," said Mabel. Bill's eye narrowed. He began to laugh again.
"You know, coming from any other person I would say you were bluffing, fallen star," said Bill. "I made a good choice marking you." He began to shrink in size, drifting slowly towards the ground as he adjusted his tie. He did not land on the dirt but floated just above it.
"Do what now?" asked Mabel.
"Don't tell me you didn't even notice?" cried Bill, his voice almost giddy with excitement. "And I thought you were the smart one in the relationship!"
"What did you mean mark me?" demanded Mabel, only blushing slightly at the word 'relationship.' She had never seen a mark on her body from Bill. And she had spent a lot of time lately looking at her body.
"You obviously remember that mind prison I locked you away in for all eternity," said Bill.
"Or a week," mutter Mason under his breath.
"Yeah, well, it should have been all eternity. It gave away my little weakness you were so quick to shout out to the WHOLE WORLD." Bill shouted these last few words and some nearby birds scattered from their trees. Mabel nodded. Of course she remembered MabelLand, it was impossible to forget.
"How exactly did you think that all worked?" asked Bill.
Mabel raised a confused eyebrow at the floating demon. She had never really thought too hard about it. Sure, she remembered it, she even still questioned if it had been the right choice to leave it. The answer, until Dipper had – until she had lost her brother – had always been yes. But she had never really considered too much else about it. The place just made her dreams come true. Bill's eye smiled for him.
"I don't know," she said at last, with a little shrug. "You just made some kinda magic-ie thing that read my mind or something?" Bill shook the top half of his triangular body, a gesture similar enough to be a head shake.
"You got it all wrong," said Bill. "I made the bubble but you did all the work."
"Because the bubble thing let me," said Mabel pointedly.
"Nope," said Bill. "The bubble just helped sustain your creations, and, you know, keep you out of my hair."
"You don't have any hair," interjected Mabel pointedly.
"GAH!" groaned Bill, rubbing his eye in frustration. "You're really testing me today. Look, it was just a pocket of the dreamscape. You made everything inside it happen. And when you finally rejected it, your own thoughts turned against you, to try and keep you there."
Mabel remembered how the world had turned on he, and how it had done a crummy job of keeping her there. She also felt confused. How had she made any of that happen?
"I've never met a being that could resist doing a deal with me," explained Bill. "One of the smartest men on this planet made multiple deals with me. Heck, even your idiot brother almost made a second deal with me! Look, he even set me free!"
"Hey!" protested Mason but then he looked ashamed.
"But you," said Bill, pointing at Mabel. "You refused my deal. I offered you anything you wanted and you know what you said?" Mabel shook her head, she didn't ever remember Bill offering her a deal. "You said no before I even asked! There was nothing I could have given you that you would have taken! I could see it in that sack of meat you call a brain! There was no temptation strong enough. You wouldn't even have set me free to save your own brother!"
Mason's eyes found hers and she looked away. Her mind slipped back to her world, to Bill's stone body out in the woods, his inviting hand stretched out, waiting for her to take. If she popped out of her sweater right now, she would be only feet from the statue of Bill in her world.
"Ha! Even now you wouldn't do it! You've got a will of titanium and glitter, kid! I knew I couldn't convince you, so, I just gave you a tiny faction of my power instead," explained Bill with a shrug.
Mabel and Mason both shouted "WHAT?" at the same time. A very rare occurrence for them to speak in unison.
"Yep," said Bill confidently.
He reached out a hand and poked Mabel hard in the forehead. For a moment, she felt blinding hot pain where he had tapped her. She reached up to cover the spot but it hurt even more, so she pulled her hands away. Bill's hand on the other... hand, was shape shifting into a mirror. Mabel could see her thirteen year old face, the face she had almost forgotten, reflected in the shiny surface. Except with one major difference, burned into her forehead was a glowing golden triangle.
"Surprised you never noticed it before," continued Bill as Mabel examined the - the thing - burned into her skin. "No way for you to refuse it or not use it. It's part of you, like a hand or foot or whatever else you humans have. There was always the risk you might notice it and use it against me somehow but you never did. It's just a small portion of my power anyhow. Only enough to destroy a single world at a time with a snap of your fingers."
Mabel brought her hand up, her thumb and forefinger pressed together, ready to snap. She looked at it as though she were holding a bomb in her hand. Then her gaze locked on Bill and she snapped her finger. A look of terror crossed his face.
"What! No! My one weakness! How did you know!" screamed Bill as his triangular body began to break apart, shining pieces of him scattering off into the wind. Mabel glared at him, no remorse in her heart. His scream grew terrible and more high pitched until it changed into a laugh that sent ice through her veins. She felt confused. Bill's body began to reassemble.
"Oh, come on fallen star, it doesn't work like that at all! Besides, it's my power! You really think you could destroy me with my own power! You're just as big an idiot as Pine tree!" Bill brushed himself off.
"I guess you did figure some of it out though," said Bill, glancing around. "Of course, you didn't use my power the way you were supposed to. You forgot to push the other person out of their body first." He tapped the side of Mabel's head. "How's that been working out for you, fallen star? Nothing strange in your head, right?" She felt her face flush and she looked away, something that wasn't missed by her brother. "That's what I thought.
"Well, I can't say this hasn't been fun, but I'm outa here, see you two REAL SOON when I come back to destroy this place!" shouted Bill, his body enlarging into a fiery red demonic triangle as he shouted 'real soon,' before returning instantly into his normal shape.
Bill straighten his hat, adjusted his tie and before either of twin could say anything else, he rocketed skywards. Mabel watched him climb higher and higher into the sky.
"That… that can't be good," muttered Mason.
"Don't worry bro-bro, I have a feeling he isn't going to get very far," said Mabel with a half smile as she watched him race towards the sweater wall. A moment later, he crashed into it and bounced off. From very, very, far away, they could hear his angry voice shouting down at them. An instant later, Bill was back, hovering before them, murder in his eye.
"You have to be kidding me! You brought me back and I still can't leave!" shouted Bill.
"Looks like you'll be hanging around here for a while," said Mason, with a smile. Mabel felt her heart clench in her chest. Her brother was still holding her and she turned to hug his torso. "Mabel?"
"Oh, I see what's going on here!" cried Bill. "Oh, oh this is too much! HA! Of course! It doesn't matter if I can't leave this place, it isn't going to exist much longer anyhow, is it, fallen star?" Mabel shook her head, not trusting her voice. She wished all she could say was her brother's name again, instead of the truth.
"Mabel, what's he talking about," asked Mason.
"I... I can't, I can't say it," said Mabel.
"I was right, wasn't I," said Mason quietly. "The portal that brought you here, it's closing isn't it?" Mabel just nodded.
"The part she isn't telling you is that when it closes, this whole world closes with it!" said Bill happily. "She made this whole place up! She made you up! You aren't even real kid, just a fantasy! And when she wakes up for good," Bill blew on his open hand, "poof! You won't exist!"
"Neither will you!" said Mason bitterly.
"Ha, it's funny that you think I'm trapped here with you," said Bill smugly. "Enjoy the short time you have left. I'm getting out of this universe!" The corners of Bill's body began to fold inwards, making him smaller and smaller. "I'm sure I'll see you two again, maybe at your place next time, fallen star!" and then the last corner folded in and he was no bigger than a corn chip. With a soft pop, he was gone.
The sky above them grew bright and sound flowed back into the world. The wind gusted by ruffling Mabel's hair and making her shiver. Her sweater wasn't doing the greatest job of keeping her unclothed lower half warm on it's own.
The twins stayed silent, Mason still holding his sister in his arms. She wasn't complaining. She liked it. Having an older brother was kinda neat in a way.
"Mabel," whisper Mason, and she was snapped out of her moment. "Is the world really ending?" She shrugged. "You've played the silent game with me long enough."
"Right, sorry," said Mabel. "I, I just kinda got used to it..." She trailed off into silence. "I don't know what's going to happen."
"Is it alright if I put you down?" asked Mason, she nodded and he set her down. She tugged on the sweater trying to pull it lower but it was just barely long enough to reach her thighs. She quickly looked around and spotted the rest of her lost clothing. She went and retrieved it but didn't try to put it on. "How... how long have you been coming here?"
"A couple weeks, from my perspective at least. I know I missed some days, stuff got, crazy for me... crazy for you too I suppose." Mason nodded. It was his turn to be silent. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It just kind of happened." She chewed her lip.
"Dipper... My brother... He died," explained Mabel at last It wasn't okay saying it but she could say it, not just think it. Mason looked almost impassive as she finally told him. He seemed to want to hear everything she had to say. "I couldn't deal with it, obviously. So, I hid in sweater town. Hid here. I was just trying to... you know, escape. But somehow it led me to you. I couldn't believe it. This all felt so real, so I kept coming back..."
"How - " asked Mason, his voice cracking as he spoke. "How did... your brother die?" Mabel looked at the ground. It had been more than twenty years for him but still only a few weeks for her. If anyone deserved an answer though, it was him.
"Car accident," said Mabel. "A driver went through a stop sign and hit him. He pushed me out of the way." Something in Mason's expression seemed to change. His gazed over Mabel as if just seeing her for the first time.
"Car accident…" he mumbled. "Mabel… how old are you?"
"Thirteen?" said Mabel, caught off guard by the question.
"That… that happened to me," said Mason. "Some jerk in an SUV ran a stop sign. I pushed Mabel out of the way and he hit me instead. I ended up with a couple broken bones and we had to put our adventure on hold for a week." He moved his left arm. "My left arm and leg got it the worst. I had casts on for a month and a half. You covered them in stickers. The Doctors said if the driver had stopped just a second later I would have been…" he looked away.
Mabel felt her face fall. A second. That was all the difference. She had lost her brother over one tiny insignificant second.
"I'm… I'm sorry," said Mason quietly. "I lost my starlight… my Mabel so long ago… The pain never really goes away. After she was gone, I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know if you would come back - if you could come back. But you did and I just kept hoping you would keep coming back so I could see her again.
"But after you found her phone…" said Mason, looking away. "Whatever you saw… Mabel, it's been five years since you were here." Her eyes widened again. "I didn't think I would ever see you again."
"Why didn't you tell me the last time I was here?" asked Mabel. Mason shrugged uncomfortably.
"I wasn't ready. And how could I tell you? You were her... sort of," said Mason. "I had my sister back. My sister I could never tell anyone else about." His eyes swept over her small body. "What did Bill mean by that last part… about you not using your power correctly…"
"I don't know," whispered Mabel. "I shouldn't have kept coming back. I messed up her life so bad, I messed up both your lives so bad… I'm sorry… I - " She broke down into sobs collapsing to her knees in the dirt. Mason only paused for a moment before kneeling down to hug his little sister. She sobbed into his chest.
"I'm thirty-two, Mabel," whispered Mason into the top of her head as she continued to cry. "It's been almost twenty years for me. So long since I was the same age as you. Six years since I lost you… lost my sister. And I've spent all of it trying to get her back.
"Great Uncle Ford was researching the mysteries of this town, but he only wanted to know the reason why," said Mason. "I needed to find a way to bring you back." He went silent for a long moment and she could feel him squeeze her harder, a pained longing in his touch that she recognized in her heart. "But try as I might, there was nothing I could do.
"Then, a month ago, you called our parents," said Mason. She felt confused until she remembered the future phone. It hadn't had the wrong date after all. It hadn't been her dad on the other end, well, it had been, just not her-her dad. Mason interrupted her thoughts as he continued. "To say that our parents were confused was an understatement. Dad swore that it was your voice on the line and the call history showed it was your phone number.
"They didn't understand what it meant, but I did," said Mason. His eyes drifted away from her. "It meant I was out of time, that you were coming back. I made a desperate decision…"
"Bill," whispered Mabel. Mason nodded, still not meeting her eyes. She grabbed his hand. "Hey, I…" she looked up into the sweater sky, up through the neck hole and into the forest of her world. She couldn't see the statue of Bill through it, but she knew it must be there, just slightly out of sight. "I would have done the same… I almost did…"
"Almost?" asked Mason, his eyes searching hers.
"It's a long story," said Mabel. "But the very short version is I'm sitting next to Bill right now, in my world. But once I got there… I couldn't…. I just - "
"Bill makes bad deals," whispered Mason. She nodded. "I'm such an idiot!"
"Yeah, bro-bro, you are," agreed Mabel. Mason frowned at her. "We both are."
He let out a chuckle. She squeezed his hand tighter and glanced skyward again. She watched as the patched threads she had put in place slowly continued to open. It couldn't be long now before the whole world came apart.
Mason followed her gaze into the sky, his eyes searching hopelessly for what he couldn't see.
"What do you see when you look up?" he asked.
"My sweater," said Mabel. "Since the day I got here I've always been able to see it. Even inside." Mason nodded and finally let her go, leaning back so he could see her face.
"The woolhole… sweater town," he said, more to himself than Mabel. "And I was right about it, wasn't I, it's closing for good." She didn't answer, instead she had tugged some of her long hair into her mouth and started chewing it. Mason smiled. "I'd forgotten you used to do that." Mabel smiled at him around her hair.
"I don't know what's going to happen when it closes," admitted Mason. "You might not be able to come back or this world might stop existing." Mabel had started to fidget with the hem of her sweater. She didn't want to talk about this. She really, really, didn't want to think about this. "But I've been outside Gravity Falls. I've been all around the world in fact. I know it's real. No matter what Bill said. But what do we do now?"
Mabel glanced back up at the sweater above. She could see the many dozens of holes in the fabric slowly growing larger. Errant threads continued to rain from the sky like snow. She caught one in her open palm and watched it unravel into nothing. She glanced back up at the streams of light as they poured in through rips and tears. She could also see the neck hole, and through it, the sky…
"I think I might have an idea... but first, I need to get some clothes that fit."
