"I've been changin' but you'll never see me now.
(I've been changin' but you'll never see me now)
Now I'm blaming you for everything…"

"So Far Away," by Crossfade

Chapter 4 – The Broken Bond

The sun rose over the Oregon skycap as the rest of the world slept in serenity…

…except for a small speck watching the morning begin from a windowsill in a tucked-away, ramshackle cabin out in the wilderness.

An incredibly weary (yet freshly bathed) Dipper Pines kept a constant vigil over the Gift Shop window. As his mind raced a mile a minute, he observed as the brightness of a new day was muted by an upcoming overcast of dark, grayish clouds. The thirteen-year old took the sight as an ominous sign of things to come.

It had only been a few hours since his last brush with death, and yet, the boy wasn't the slightest bit phased by it. Ever since his arrival in the sleepy town of Gravity Falls nearly a month and a half ago, it had become something of a regular occurrence.

However, it was the instances leading up to his peril that plagued his perception. Right after coming from a successful rescue mission involving his twin sister's Mabel pet pig, Waddles, Dipper noticed that someone had invaded the inner sanctum of his bedroom. He hadn't realized it at first, but said person had stolen his most treasure possession: a simple, but incredibly sweeten photograph of his (not-so-secret) crush, Wendy Corduroy, and him adorably nettled in each other's arms while fast asleep.

As the little detective started to panic until the culprit was made known. Wendy herself had left a note for Dipper on his nightstand, demanding for him to meet her by the Gravity Falls Lake if he wanted the cherished item back.

Without a second thought, Dipper hurried to the destination, unsure of what to expect. He knew that things had been rocky with Wendy, especially after what had happened at Lookpoint Point with her now ex-boyfriend, Robbie. At the same time, he pondered when everything would be enough, and things would go back to normal. It might not have been perfect, but he was trying his very best to make it right with the enraged ginger, only have his every effort rebuked.

With this newest "prank," Dipper wondered if maybe the redhead had crossed a unwarrantable line, making him question if things could ever be the same again.

Upon arriving at the Lake, the teenager found he was all alone as a creepy mist rose from the moist ground. The only noticeable detail in the scenery was that a lone canoe had been left out in the center of the lagoon. Fearing the worst, Dipper rushed into the abandoned boat to find no trace of his friend. In her stead, a rather nasty surprise had been left for him; the mere sight bought him down to his knees, and his eyes swell up with tears:

The treasured snapshot, the living embodiment of their special bond, had been torn apart into a thousand pieces and carelessly spread around the base of the vessel. Whipped up into a frenzy, Dipper tried to reassemble the photo from the countless fragments, only to give up minutes later, deeming the problem to be a lost cause; the damage was too great to repair.

Dipper sat back against the edge of the boat and contemplated the future. After all of this, how could he ever look his beloved sweetheart in her emerald eyes ever again?

Unwittingly, he had activated the next part of Wendy's plan. Dipper had gotten himself entangled in a form of wire-snare trap, which dragged him from the safety of the craft and into the freezing depths of Lake Gravity Falls.

As Dipper struggled to stay afloat, he looked up to see Wendy standing right in front of him, as if she had magically materialized from the mist. He reached out and pleaded for her to save him, only to watch in horror as she pulled back, crossing her flannel-covered arms and beaming deeply at his situation.

He lost his grip and was painfully dragged through the frozen waters, being bruised and cut by several obstacles, such as rigid weeds and sticks, as well as pointy boulders, as he involuntarily passed through. After a few minutes of struggling to break free, Dipper was finally able to slip through his hitched vest mere seconds before becoming a messy, splattered stain on the woodworks he had been secured to. He landed face first in the slimy dirt, knowing that while he was able to escape a grisly fate, things would no longer ever be the same between Wendy and him.

Since daybreak, Dipper had sat at the window of the Mystery Shack's Gift Shop for countless hours as he awaited Wendy's arrival. She was scheduled for an early opening shift this morning, and he had decided to stay posted at her usual entrance before the start of her work day.

Counting off the seconds until he faced the inevitable, Dipper couldn't fathom exactly what was going to happen next upon confronting his once-main squeeze? Would Wendy deny any or all involvement of the horrid act despise of the evidence providing otherwise? Would she openly brag about the experience, taking pleasure in the fact that she had successfully wounded her young aficionado in both the physical and emotional sense? More importantly, Dipper asked himself if this act of pure, unadulterated vengeance meant their "supposed" feud was finally at an end, or merely a sign of things to come in the near future.

Dipper nodded off for a second, only to catch himself and resume his position. His spirit was strong, wanting to see this thing through to the very end, but his body was weak, still somewhat battered and sleep-depraved from the night before. Despite being extremely worried about the outcome, Dipper knew he had to see this through to the end. Otherwise, the worry and anxiety alone would drive him insane.

"The last thing I need now is to be caught with my guard dow – AAHHH!"

A pair of hands roughly grabbed Dipper's shoulders from behind, making the twittering child cry out in surprise. In a flash, he was twirled around and pinned against the windowsill. As the world stopped spinning, Dipper looked up to see Wendy Corduroy sternly glaring down at him. His eyes looked past her to see that the door leading to the front room slightly shifted back and forth. The lanky girl had managed to get the drop on him by using the family entrance!

"You and I…" the lumberjack hissed through gritted teeth, "…need to have a long talk about last night!"

Dipper was lost in a whirlwind of emotions. He wanted to yell and scream, demanding to know why Wendy would go so far as to purposely destroy such a priceless memento in an effort to hurt him. He tried to cry out and ask that he meant so little to her that she would risk his life and limb to prove some sort of point.

However, after being surprised in this manner, the youngster found himself at a severe loss for words.

"Gah?!"

"Well, for starters, kid!" Wendy pointed at Dipper's chest repeatedly with her index finger, "You owe me a new flannel shirt and a pair of boots, but that's beside the point!" Confused by her comment, he gave his cohort a quick look-over. Her usual outfit had changed slightly. The green-plaid shirt Wendy usually wore was now a lighter shade, as if it was greatly aged. Her normally mud-stained boots were now spectacularly clean without a hint of dirt and grime to be seen.

"Hey!" Wendy gave Dipper's chin a light love-tap as she noticed his attention drifting away, "Eyes up here!" With his brown eyes locked firmly on her emerald ones, she continued on, "Dude, I'm trying to even…" She gripped his shoulders harder, almost to the point of pinching, "What were you thinking last night, Dipper?! How could you do that to me?! You could have killed me!"

The last statement finally made the voice rise up from Dipper's tiny frame, "Wha – What are you talking…?"

"Don't play dumb, Dipper!" she hollered. "You were there! You knew a train was coming, and you locked me on those tracks so I couldn't get away!"

"No – "

Wendy continued her prodding, "Did you think you were being funny, huh?! Leaving me like that while I begged you to let me go?!"

"Hold on –"

"Did it make you happy to see me freak out?! Tell me, was that your payback for me blowing you off the last few days?!" Her tone rose even higher, "Was your revenge all that you wanted it to be?!"

At long last, all the bottled feelings exploded within Dipper. He swatted away Wendy's finger and screamed back at her, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Wendy shrunk back from her tirade, left totally unprepared by her friend's outburst.

"First off," Dipper argued back, using his fingers to count off points, "I haven't the darndest idea what you're talking about! And second, if anything, you should be apologizing to me about yesterday!"

"Excuse me?" Wendy demanded, lowering her brow further and placing her closed fists on her dainty, jean-covered hips.

He pointed up at the girl towering over him, "What else do you think I'm talking about? You know, the little "midnight swim" you had planned for me at the lake? Jeez, Wendy, I knew you were mad at me, but I didn't think…"

"You're nuts! I wasn't anywhere near the lake! I was too busy dodging trains, remember?"

"Well, there must be another six-foot lumberjack ginger running around this town then, right?! You were there!"

"Don't you get all sarcastic with me, you little –"

Suddenly, the swinging door behind them opened as Mabel came toddling out with Waddles following at her heels. She yawned at she stretched towards the sky, "What the hey-hey, guys? What's with all the shouting?"

Dipper and Wendy both turned towards the metal-mouthed girl and pointed at the other, "(He's/She's) trying to kill me!"

Mabel giggled at the mere absurdity of their accusations, "What?!"

The two tried to over-talk one another, their voices rising higher and higher as they pleaded their cases to Mabel, "…meet him at midnight…an empty boat on the lake…got my boot trapped…almost got smashed into these trees…"

The pint-sized pixie covered her ears as the screeching rang in her temples. Fed up with the noise, Mabel stick her fingers in her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle, making Wendy and Dipper freeze in place.

"HOLD IT!"

The adolescents watched silently as Mabel padded over to Wendy's station at the Gift Shop Counter. She plopped herself down on the stool and overlooked the duo, as a judge would survey a courtroom from their bench, and attempted to make sense of the circumstances before her. Waddles waited, nettled in the shade beneath the stool.

"Think about what you guys are saying," Mabel beseeched. "You two are like the "bestest" friends out there –"

"Not after last night!" They both disrupted at the same time.

"Besides that," she carried on, "The stories don't make sense; how could you be in two different spots at the same time?"

"Because (he's/she's) lying!"

"Ugh!" Mabel lowered her head on her hands as she focused on coming up with a new approach. "Well," she raised her sights, "Dipper, you said that Wendy had left you a note to meet her at the lake, right?"

"You got it…"

"Can you show us the note? Maybe we can get to the bottom of this!"

Dipper replied, "My pleasure," as he shot a nasty look at the lofty high-schooler standing next to him. He shifted through the various pocket s of his vest in search of the note that had been left on his nightstand. After a few moments, he pulled the ruffled piece of paper out of his pocket. He walked over to the counter and surrendered it to his twin.

Mabel opened the multi-folded letter and read its context. Her face distorted as she scrolled to the bottom of the page, "Dipper, there isn't anything here but a couple of blurry lines…"

"WHAT?!"

The shocked teen dashed back to the desk and snatched the letter back from his sister. Every word looked as If it had been smeared together in a giant blot.

"But how in the heck – " Dipper lightly slapped the side of his head as he came to a realization. "Of course! I had it with me when I was pulled into the water last night! No wonder it's completely ruined.

Wendy scoffed, "Isn't that convenient?"

The boy turned back around to face his accuser, "Well, then, I guess you'll have no problem showing us your note that I supposedly wrote you, huh?"

"Certainly," Wendy replied. She raised her head towards Mabel, "It should be in the drawer over there, short stuff…"

Following her instructions, Mabel opened the drawer a few inches down and started to explore its contents. After a few moments, she looked up and shook her head, "There's nothing here but your usual stash of candy and junk food!"

Wendy paced past Dipper to meet her co-worker at the worn-out counter. In a fury, she tore through every item, creating a small mess by her feet. Staring at the empty cubby-hole in disbelief, Wendy hurdled past the desk and seized her former comrade by his collar.

"You did this, didn't you, ya little sneak?!" the redhead accused as she tightened her grip. "You went and ditched your note so you'd make me look stark-raving mad!"

"WENDY! STOP!" Mabel implored from behind her.

*Ack!* Dipper choked out, "You – You're doing a good job of that all by yourself!"

Realizing the truth in his words, Wendy let go of Dipper, dropping him to the floor as he caught his breath, straining herself back in absolute ire with an aggravated groan. She had let his actions get the very best of her.

"You know what, kid?!" Wendy acknowledged, pinching the area above her nose and closing her eyes, "I'd hate to admit it, but Robbie was right about one thing: whenever some sort of craziness breaks out into the world, you always seem to be behind it!"

"That's not true! I –"

"How isn't it, Dipper?" Wendy lowered herself down to his eye-level, "For whatever really happened last night, all I know is this: I almost died because of you…"

Dipper went to speak, only to have no sound come out. His anger was instantly replaced with a sober sadness. In spite of everything that had happened earlier, being labeled as "Wendy's Potential Murderer" brought him back to a more temperate state-of-mind.

"Wendy, I…" Dipper strove to reach her, "I don't know what to say…I mean, come on! Do you really think I would hurt you?"

Reacting to his now-calmed state, Wendy pulled herself back, and crossed her arms, "I – I dunno. I would have said "no" without a doubt, but after everything's that happened this last week, I – "

"You see!" he glanced back at his sister, who hung on their every word. "This is what this whole thing's been about!" Dipper turned to face Wendy, "I'm getting sick and tired of having the whole "Robbie thing" being thrown in my face over and over again!"

Wendy narrowed her eyes at the teen, "What?! Now, you don't think I should be upset about that?"

"I'm not saying that! At the same time, I have been trying my best to try to make it up to you and – "

"Oh, really?" Wendy questioned. "Tell me this then, Dipper; let's stop beating around the bush; are you even the slightest bit sorry about you did that night?!"

Dipper looked past Wendy's shoulder to see that Mabel was trying to signal him by waving both her arms. She quietly mouthed to him, "This is your chance! Tell her you're sorry!"

However, a ball of hurt and resentment still resided deep within Dipper's miniature structure.

"No…I – I'm not…"

The little color that had risen to Wendy's face vanished. With a hushed quiet, she gradually stood back up and peered downwards in shock of what he had just said.

"How…How can you even say that…?" Wendy trailed off as the full effect of Dipper's admission had taken its effect on the fifteen-year-old.

Mabel lowered her head unto her little palm in disappointment as she inaudibly moaned to herself, "Oh, Dipper…no…"

Seeing that his words had greatly injured his crush even more so than he expected, Dipper tried to do some damage control, "I wish I could have done things differently, but what did you want me to do? I couldn't leave you like that with him…"

As soon as Dipper finished his sentence, the wrath within Wendy erupted once more, "Like what, Dipper?"

"You know what I'm talking about! He hypnotized you with that weird black CD…"

"There wasn't a single thing wrong with me that night! Don't you think I would know if I were being brainwashed or whatever?"

"Well, no!" Dipper corrected. "That's kinda the whole point of brainwashing; the brainwashed aren't supposed to know that they're being brainwashed in the first place!" He paused for a second to reconsider if he had used the proper syntax in his explanation, "Or is it supposed to be "brainwashee…"

"Either way," Wendy cut him short, "That isn't the reason that I broke up with Robbie, or even why I'm mad at –" The gingered teenager stopped for a split second, "You – You just don't get it, do you?" She revolved around to address Mabel, "It's just like we were saying the other night: he just doesn't get it!"

"The other night?" Dipper gaped at his sister with an astonished look on his face, "Is that what you girls do when I'm not around? You talk about me behind my back?"

Mabel nervously yanked at her sweater as Wendy blushed about accidentally ratting her confidante out, "Gee, is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?"

"Alright, fine!" Dipper stormed past Wendy and approached Mabel's make-shift bench, "You wanna talk hurt feelings? Let's talk about hurt feelings!" He spun around to face his complainant, "Why don't you tell us about what exactly you did in order to get me out to the lake in the first place?"

Wendy raised an eyebrow at his question, having no idea to what she was being accused of.

He started to explain, "Mabel, while we were off saving Waddles, Wendy broke into our room and stole the photo of us together!"

"Photo of us together?" Wendy repeated in confusion as Mabel gasped aloud.

"When I got to the lake, I found it torn into a million little pieces…"

Despite her alarm, Mabel tried to convince her brother otherwise, "I don't know, Dipper. I just don't think Wendy would do something terrible like that…"

"Yeah!" Wendy jumped to her own defense, "And what photo? I don't remember ever taking one of just you and me…"

Dipper began to clarify, "It was from that one day we spent at the arcade for my birthday. It was a photo of us asleep in each other's arms, and –"

She remembered how much trouble she had gone through to try to make the day extra-special for her friend. After going through half of the games there, Wendy recalled passing out in exhaustion alongside Dipper as she experienced the most life-like, vivid dream that she ever had in her whole life! A few hours later, the two were awoken by Mabel and Robbie, who ensured them that the adventure was anything but real.

Even now, merely bits and pieces of the fantasy lingered in the back of Wendy's mind; random, blurred images that couldn't be connected together in a sensible way. Regardless of what she knew about it, the only thing that she could feel was that it had made her somewhat closer to Dipper in an indescribable way.

Nevertheless, upon hearing Dipper's detailing, Wendy somewhat backed away from the boy trying to pour his heart out over his forever-lost memento.

"Dude," she exclaimed in disgust, jumping to the wrong conclusion, "You take creep-shots…of me?"

"No! It's not what you – " Dipper waved his hands back and forth as he struggled to come with the right words to calm Wendy's mistaken worry, "I didn't – You see, Mabel was the one that took the picture, and she – "

However, the redhead maintained her position, "You have your sister take creep-shots of me?! That's even worse!"

"It's not like that at all! If you'd only listen –"

Wendy held out her hand to halt his progress, "Don't! Just –" She drew back as an uncomfortable moment of utter stillness filled the room. "You know what? 'Thinking about it, this whole thing is my fault…"

Mabel and Dipper shot a confused look to one another before returning their attention back to Wendy.

"When I first met you, Dipper, I thought you were different from other guys. I really did! At the time, you seemed more mature and grown-up than you looked, but seeing you now…"

"What – What are you saying?"

Without a single hint of satisfaction or pleasure in her voice, the plaid-donning young adult simply hung her head, focusing on her unusually clean boots, and replied, "Mebbe it was all a mistake; having you hang out with me and the other guys, letting you get so close…"

Despite Wendy trailing off, Dipper fully understood the point she was making. As Mabel nervously watched with her sweater covered arms blanketed her face, he stepped forward and looked up to meet her eye-to-eye, "You don't really mean that, do you? After everything that's happened?"

Wendy broke the eye contact and maintained her silence.

Dipper threw his arms open, "What about the other day? All that "birthday-stuff" you did just for me? You went on and on about how much you care about…" Dipper stopped for a moment to wipe his eyes, "Wendy, you're like my best…my best fri – "

Not having the courage to face him, Wendy rubbed her right shoulder as she spoke how she truly felt at that moment:

"Maybe I shouldn't have…"

He noiselessly repeated her words to himself, trying to make sense of the mere phrase, before responding, "And what about that other stuff? When we were in the game? Does all that mean nothing, too? Like…like when we kisse-"

Wendy broke her self-imposed saddened state and blew up at the brown-haired speck, "IT WAS A DREAM, KID! NONE OF IT WAS REAL! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD?!"

"Why?!" Dipper shouted back, "'Cause Robbie said so?!"

"O – Okay, guys…" Mabel tried to intervene, "Maybe we should take a break. Y'know, cool our heads…?"

"Because I said so!" Wendy countered. "He doesn't have a thing to do with us right now! Let me give you some free advice, Dipper: maybe if you didn't spend every day living out there in La-La Land, unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, people wouldn't see you as a weirdo, and just maybe, you'd be able to make friends your own age! Honestly, it's so immature, not to mention stupid!"

"Stupid? I'm stupid?" Dipper threw both hands back to highlight himself, "No, lemme tell you what's stupid. Stupid is someone who goes along with the crowd even when they're warned time and time again that their butt will be on the line! Case in point, let's say not leaving a certain haunted convenience store be. Stupid is going around and thinking watching a moron put up huge gratified muffins is a fun time! Stupid is taking the word of said moron every single time no matter what terrible things he has done over that of someone that would do literally anything for your sake!"

"Y – You guys…are starting to scare me a bit…now…" Mabel admitted from her side of the room.

Dipper stood on his tip-toes to meet Wendy nose-to-nose, "Now, who does that sound like to you?!"

Fluttered by his attack, Wendy found herself only able to let out a series of stutters, "I…I…"

"You what?!"

As her anger fully came to a boil, Wendy pushed back with a roar from the bottom of her lungs:

"I HATE YOU!"

Dipper shrunk back in shock as Mabel let out a horrified gasp before covering her mouth. Despite saying the terrible phrase herself, Wendy pulled back in revelation of her own actions before seemingly accepting it. Her pain and outrage had been kept calmly bottled within her gawky frame until she was finally pushed past her breaking point. Her face morphed from regretful to severely serious; a purposely given sign to her former pal that she had meant every word.

"I…"

He felt ill. Dipper knew that he had driven his love to this, but at the same time, the injured boy never expected to hear those three words come falling out of her mouth ever. He looked over at Mabel, whose distressed expression nearly matched his. Straight ahead, Wendy still fumingly glared downward as she waited for his response.

"Well…I…I…" His valor rose once more to combat his heartbreak; Dipper jumped up and held his ground, "I HATE YOU, TOO!"

"S-Stop it, you two!" Mabel entreated, almost as upset as the pair before her was, "Please…"

However, the damage had already been done.

"GOOD!" Wendy barked out in reaction.

"FINE!" Dipper blasted back.

"GREAT!"

"GRAND!"

With their bond completely broken, Dipper and Wendy each stormed off in a different direction, both desperately trying to hide the fact that were teary-eyed.

Stopping at the Gift Shop's exit, the boy turned to warn the ginger just as she reached the door leading towards the Pines family's living room, "Just remember the next time something super-crazy comes to get you, I'm not going to be there to get you out of another jam!"

Wendy spun around on her heels, "I wouldn't ask for your help in the first place! But the same goes for you. When someone picks on you, or there's a really, really high shelf that you can't reach, remember that you're on your own!"

*SLAM!*

"Wait," Mabel asked. "Guys?!"

*SLAM!*

"Who's going to watch the Shack?!"

With both teenagers gone, the defeated girl sighed aloud. Mabel had no choice; until Soos arrived later that morning or Stan finally awoke from his slumber, she was the only one available to man the Gift Shop register. Slumping down on the wobbly seat, Mabel hung her head silently, her mind still replaying the despairing scene as she raided Wendy's secret stash of junk food, splitting the spoils between herself and the antsy pig waiting at her feet.

In a clearing in the middle of the Gravity Falls Forest, the two devilish forms bent down, bowing on one knee as a huge transparent purple form pixilated out of mid-air. They lowered their heads as they awaited their newest orders from their master.

"The plan is coming along nicely…" the armored villain reflected. "The bond between the two warriors has been severed. With those weaklings detracted with their petty matters of the flesh, my power has been able to grow tremendously. It is only a matter of hours before I am strong enough to bring my armies into this world!"

"Yes, sire…"

"However…" the monster's metallic eyes shone as he plotted his next course of action, "There is one small detail I cannot overlook…"

Both creatures raised their heads in confusion. They looked at each other, and faced towards, "Sire?"

The Emperor revealed a razor-tipped claw from beneath his magenta-colored cape. A split second later, a spark of electricity formed on his fingertips, only to spread out towards the confounded servants. They screamed in agony as they were sent flying into the distance. As they squirmed on the ground in anguish, their leader made his intentions known.

"Under whose orders were you to try to kill the children?! My command was to have them turn on one another, not to risk their lives!"

Regaining some of her strength, the female form raised her head to answer, "We're sorry! It's just that we thought if we got rid of those two, we could take their place and live like – AAAHHH!"

Her justification was rewarded with another well-placed zap, "That's your mistake, child: you thought. Remember this: you are a tool who's only worth is through my dominion! You are nothing more or less!"

Seeing his counterpart withering in pain, the male rose up and attempted to turn on his creator, "You –"

The girl reached up and halted his progress, "No…don't…" He stopped as his gaze focused on her pleading eyes. Held in place, the male could only look ahead in dismay while the Emperor looked upon his creations with pity.

"Hmmph…" he sneered as he pulled the iron fist back under the cloak, "Despite being made by my own hand, you still manage to have some of their disgusting human traits. How utterly pathetic…" He turned around, preparing to vanish back into the atmosphere, only to stop at the last moment.

"I shall give you one last chance. The two are divided; now they need to be conquered. Let me make this absolutely clear: they are to be taken alive. I intend to show them that there are worse fates than death…"

As the beast vanished into the darkness, the duo was finally able to make it back to their feet. As they regained their balance, the threatening voice boomed throughout the empty Oregon woods:

"I have no intention of ending up like that fool, the King of Thieves. Do not fail me this time, or I promise you, I will ensure that you shall suffer an even worse torment than what I have planned for your earthly counterparts…"