"The gnashing teeth and criminal tongues
conspire against the odds.
But they haven't seen the best of us yet…"

"This is Gospel," by Panic! At The Disco

Chapter 14 – Mirror Match

Wendy slid through the opening of the Gravity Falls Woods leading from the Mystery Shack. She crept very gracefully from each hiding place, knowing that a threat from the gaming universe could be upon her at any given second.

"Ahup! Ahup! Ahup! Ahup!" The redhead nimbly flew from tree to tree, grunting nervously with each movement until she reached the edge of Downtown Gravity Falls. It would be a few moments before she made to Main Street, and from there, the Arcade. Only then, she would have a chance at sever the link between worlds and hopefully return things to how they were before.

Even though the girl wouldn't openly admit it, Wendy knew that a huge weight would be lifted from her shoulders if she was to come across her pint-sized friend along the way; even if they weren't able to find a middle ground between them, the knowledge that Dipper was alright would suffice for the moment.

Just as Wendy started down the boulevard, an odd sight above forced her back alongside the nearest wall. She looked up to the sky to see what was passing over her.

A squadron of 8-bit creatures hovered around the perimeter as if in a form of patrol. Wendy squint her eyes in disbelief, "I might be seeing things, but those guys look like giant bugs from down here!" The aircrafts reminded the fifteen-year-old of monstrous versions of butterflies, bumblebees, and dragonflies.

"Weird…they definitely look like something crazy outta some old Arcade game from before I was born…"

To avoid being spotted, Wendy scaled against the wall, choosing to remain in the shadows until she rounded the corner. Once she was out of sight, she sprinted down the street at top-speed.

*KA-BOOM!*

Wendy skidded to a stop as something new appeared over the horizon. In the distance, she could make out a mushroom cloud forming over the other side of the forest that surrounded the town. Oddly enough, the cloud looked like a closed fist rising towards the atmosphere.

"Well, that can't be good…" After taking a second to think about the sight, she realized that something was off, "Wait! That blast came from outside of town! And there's no way the bad guys would be fighting each other, so that leaves…" Her bright-green eyes widened, "DIPPER!"

She could hear a raspy whisper coming from the reserve, "W-Wendy?!"

"Dipper?" From the sound of his voice, the ginger could tell something was awry. She scanned the area, "Where are you?"

The tone cried out once more, "O-Over here! Help me…please!"

The panicked pitch made the teen push aside all of her hurt feelings, and charge towards her friend's voice, "Hang on, short stuff! I'm comin'!"

"Wendy! Hurry!"

The armored girl huffed and puffed as she raced down the street. She flew around the corner, totally aware of the slender leg that stuck out of the shadows of the nearest alley.

"OOF!"

*CRASH!*

Wendy was tripped into a pile of garbage cans, sending them flying across the road. She groaned as she grabbed her head, thanking heaven for the protection of her helmet; otherwise, Wendy would have definitely cracked her skull open on the concrete. She looked to her left to see that the impact sent the headgear across the way, just barely out of her reach.

"HAHAHAHA!"

The mocking laughter prompted Wendy to turn around to face her prankster. Dipper Pines stood against the edge of the building with his arms crossed as he looked down on his fallen crush….

…except Wendy knew it wasn't her Dipper.

His devious smile gave him away. The cashier would recognize that evil grin anywhere. It was the same one flashed towards her as she was begging for her life while trapped on the tracks of the Gravity Falls Rail Yards.

"Kinda ironic, isn't it?" the Dipper-clone stepped forwards her, forcing Wendy to backpedal using her hands, "Less than twenty-four hours ago, you shouted to the world about how much you hated his guts – of how you'd never help him again, and yet, at the first sound of danger, here you are, come a-running, like a mother hen watching out for her babies."

The double shook his head in disbelief, "It's times like these that makes me grateful for my girl. Yes, ma'am, none of this messy, petty melodrama between us. "She did this! He did that!" Far too childish for my tastes…"

"But I know the truth!" Wendy protested, "Dipper didn't try to kill me that night! YOU DID!"

"Perhaps, but in the long run, does it really matter?" The replica walked around carelessly, "You already wanted to tear the kid a new one, but you didn't have the stones to do so. You could say that I gave you that tiny extra push to find the courage to go through with it." He raised his hand to his chin, as if to muse his own words, "Why, by some cosmic reasoning, you should be thanking me for it!"

"You…YOU LITTLE FREAK!"

Wendy delivered a missile blast right into the doppelganger's chest, sending him smashing into the brick wall behind him. As the fake Dipper slid down the wall, he started to flux in and out of reality. Solid flesh and bone morphed into blurry gaming pixels and back. She sat back and sighed; one more threat had been eliminated and some sort of vengeance had been claimed.

To Wendy's surprise, another series of chuckles rose from her supposedly-defeated foe, making her freeze in shock.

"Surprise, surprise!" he teased, holding his left arm behind his back, "Looks like the kitten's got some fight in her after all!"

The teenager stood up and aimed her gun over the carbon copy. An astonished look formed over his face, "However…"

A plasma blast quickly rushed blast Wendy, narrowly missing her head. She could make out the awful smell of her few singed hairs.

"Whoa! If I moved the wrong way, it'd tore my top clean off!"

She glanced down to see that a green-colored arm cannon had emerged from the Dipper replica's left hand. A bright yellow light pulsated within the nozzle.

*WHHIRRRLLL!*

"You're not the only one with a blaster!"

Wendy rolled backwards, avoiding the triple shot of energy bursts. She felt something rub up beside her thigh. The orange-red helmet sat at her right side. Just as a fourth shot was launched, Wendy snatched up the headpiece, dodged out of danger's way, and threw the helmet back on.

A lime-green light shined over the Dipper-clone's body as it started to change yet again. Even through the green visor, Wendy had to hold a gloved hand directly over her line of sight in order to see the events happening before her eyes.

His black sneakers and long white socks morphed into dark green oversized defensive boots that stopped at his kneecaps. The area from his short pants to his orange t-shirt and navy blue vest became a lighter-lime green skin-tight-bodysuit. A dark-shaded "V" outline was placed beneath his neck. His noodle arms were outfitted with the same material, with an olive-colored glove surrounded by golden armbands at each end. The left arm was replaced with rounded cannon, complete with a revving yellow meter at its side.

His thickly rugged and curly brown hair had disappeared behind a curved green helmet. Gray, speaker-like coverings rested on where his ears would be. A yellow, zipper line came down the center of the headwear, ending at the huge boomerang-shaped insignia embedded in his forehead. A pair of bluish-black shades hid his dark, narrowed eyes, giving off a reflection of the outside world through its lens. The small opening at the bottom of the helmet allowed the false-boy to show off the devilish smile that would be forever burnt into Wendy's mind.

"There…" The newly-armored clone spun around, as if to allow his adversary to take a better look, "Now, I match your better half…"

"What do you mean by that?!"

He stopped in mid-place and pointed his cannon in her direction, "Nevermind!" Wendy ducked as the shot went over her head. She dropped to one knee and returned fire, sending a hyper beam blast into the Dipper-double's chest.

"ARRGGGHHH!" He gazed down at his torso, rubbing his free hand against the charred collateral damage, "Not gonna lie; you're got some serious aim, but tell me, when you release all of that pent-up frustration and anger, are you thinking about me, or him?"

"Grrr…" In her rage, Wendy chased after the villain, delivering a barrage of rainbow-highlighted discharges in his path, "Take this, you creep!"

However, the green-covered menace agilely evaded each projectile. "HA! Miss me! Miss me! Now, you most definitely gotta kiss me!" Without any effort, the Dipper-duplicate jumped towards the wall of the nearest building and kicked off of it, sending him up and over the rooftop on the other side. He peeked over the edge and wave towards Wendy. "Betcha you can't get me up here, girlie!"

"Come back here, you dweeb!"

"It's unreal…" the redhead thought, "The real Dipper is lucky if he can catch a baseball without flinching and yet, his clone is dancing Swan Lake around laser beams. Talk about things being messed up!"

Wendy followed suit, throwing herself against the same brick wall. Pausing for a split-second, she somersaulted to the rooftop and drew her gun, only to find no one else topside.

"What in the heck - ?" Wendy questioned, whirling about in search of her prey. "Where are you?!" Her anxiety grew with every passing second in absolute silence. Beads of sweat rained down her forehead; the heat inside of the clammy armor increased along with her nerves.

All of a sudden, she felt something small yet incredibly heavy cling onto the smalls of her back. Her visor was covered by something dark green, leaving Wendy without a sliver of sight.

"Gotcha!" The shrill, somewhat nasally voice called out amid the darkness it had created. Wendy spun around, completely blinded by her opponent. She pulled at the green-garbed pseudo-boy with no prevail. Her blaster wasn't an option as the ginger feared she might accidentally hit herself with her own lasers.

"HEHE! TAG! YOU'RE IT!" The false Dipper's grip around the orange helmet only tightened.

"GET OFF ME, FREAK!"

"Gee…" the clone warned, "You better watch your step there, Big Red, or else…"

Suddenly, Wendy felt her legs give way. Her vision was returned as the imitation fled from her backside as gravity took control. Wendy turned her head and let out a muffled shriek from behind her mask.

Unbeknownst to her, the facsimile had willing forced the slender girl off of the rooftop! Just as Wendy was about to painfully hit the cement below, a new message flashed in front of her visor screen:

"GRAPPLE BEAM ACTIVATED!"

An electric-based wire shot out of her arm cannon and wrapped itself around the lamppost closest to her. As if she was connected by a bungee cord, Wendy bounced up and down in mid-air before starting to circle about the tip of the post.

"WHHHHHOOOOOAAAA!"

After the third cycle around, she let go of the beam, only to head towards the descending, green armored duplicate. Wendy stuck out her leg at the last second, delivering a well-placed kick into the Dipper-clone's side.

"URRRGGGHHH!"

She elegantly landed on her feet as the baddie crashed noisily against the brick wall behind it. It collapsed onto the ground as a few loosen bricks landed on top of his rear. The replica stumbled as he pushed himself upwards. His body shook and wobbled as he came back to a standing position.

The Dipper-copy swiped his arm at Wendy, "I'm done playing around with you!" He pointed to the sky as he called out, "To me, Sakuagarne!"

"Sak-u-ga-what?!"

A large shadow swiftly overcame Wendy, prompting herself to look towards the heavens. Something was heading her way! The auburn-haired high-schooler hopped back as the mysterious object nearly clipped her. It sprung off the earth, creating a dent in the solid concrete. The green antagonist jumped into the air, landing on top of the article.

"What is that thing?!" Wendy asked as she backed away warily.

Her opponent has mounted himself on top on what appeared to be a cross between a pogo-stick and a jackhammer. The red, T-shaped weapon drilled into the ground as it automatically bobbled up and down on its own accord. Dipper's digital clone clutched the handlebars at the very top of the device as his boots rested on the footholds just above its pointed bottom.

Strangely enough, Wendy noticed that the machine had a pair of gloomy mechanical eyes implanted its center. Despite its constant bouncing, the eyes never faltered away from the confused heroine before it.

"Dude…that thing's so creepy…I wish it wouldn't stare at me like that…"

The jackhammer skipped forward, making the terrain tremble beneath Wendy's feet. A crack formed from its landing point, making the sidewalk shift and shatter. Forced off balance, Wendy was knocked down to one knee as the machine came closer.

"All right!" She pointed her blaster straight at the hazard, "That tears it!" She charged hyper-powered blast after blast and fired at the pogo-mounted enemy, only to have her shots deflected.

*KLING! KLING!*

"Huh?!"

Not to be deterred, Wendy switched her weapon to the missile launcher. She tightened her grip on the arm cannon, closing an eye to gain a better aim. "Let's see you stand up to this!"

*KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM!*

The contraption leapt unharmed pass the smoke causes by the rocket blasts, making Wendy drop her jaw in disbelief, "Oh, come on!" The pogo took another skip towards her, its point digging further into the walkway. The footpath rose up from under her, knocking her to the ground head over heels. As Wendy smacked the floor, she let out a groan as she reopened her eyes, seeing that the living jackhammer was inches away from impaling her with its drill bit.

"BAH!" Wendy eluded the killing stroke, creating a bit of distance between her and the clone. "Shooting at him is getting me nowhere!" she thought. "The only way I'm going to beat him is if I can get him off of that thing!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy spotted a tipped over mail drop box. Due to all of the tremors, its hind legs had been loosened from its original bolted down positioning.

"Hmm…" Using the augmented strength of the yellow and red suit, Wendy reached down and pried the mailbox from its remaining fasts. Hoisting the metallic blue shell from the ground, the lumberjack princess held it back and to her side, similar to how one would hold a baseball bat. With her strength and concentration gathered, Wendy swung at the boy riding atop of the death apparatus with all of her might.

The Dipper-clone flew off of the device, landing roughly on the gravel. He raised his shoulders, "Fightin' dirty, eh? Just who do you think you – "

His sentence was cut off as the jackhammer gyrated out of control. It skipped about of its own accord, until it made its last bound onto the replica's chest.

"AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Wendy turned her head away from the gruesome sight. The sounds of crushing and crackling metal ramming against one another echoed in her eardrums. Although she knew that the creature deserves such a terrible fate, she couldn't bring herself to look, knowing that it shared the spitting image of her younger friend.

After a few moments, Wendy heard the scene grow silent, just before the pogo-jackhammer became motionless, tipping over with a solid *THUD!* She looked back at the carnage that had unfolded before her.

The double lied incredibly still on the cracked pathway. Deep holes and punctures stemmed down his torso. The worse injury was located in the dead center, near his gut, where Wendy could notice several mashed gears and torn wires sticking out of his chest. Electric sparks flashed from the wound every couple of seconds. The red pogo stick became a dark red and teleported itself into the sky, far away from the scene.

"Hehe…" The impersonator coughed, a thin black, oil-like substance dripped out of his mouth and flowing down his chin, "Looks like you got me good there…"

Wendy crossed her arms and listened to the pseudo-boy rattle on, her expression becoming less serious. For some unknown reason, a part of her actually felt bad that things ended in this way, but she chalked it up to seeing Dipper's image in such a plight. "Yeah, looks like it…" she sympathized.

He reached up towards her with a green-gloved hand. His helmet pixelated away, revealing a worn, yet peacefully smiling face. "I know I'm probably the last person that should ask this, but do me a favor, won't 'cha, Red?"

She remained hushed as the clone issued his dying request, "I am my master's creation, but yet, I am still a part of that little guy. So, I, *COUGH!* above all others knows what lies in his heart…"

Wendy lowered her brow, "Go on…"

"All I ask is this; the same thing I would ask concerning my girl: try to remember that he tries his best, especially when it comes to you, even when he manages to totally screw everything up…"

The fifteen-year-old was left struck for the words uttered. Such were the last things she expected to hear from something she'd considered to be her moral enemy only minutes ago.

"I'll – I'll try…"

The replica lowered his hand and closed his eyes as his grin widened a bit more. His entire body came enveloped with a bright green flash. Wendy covered her eyes as the fallen combatant exploded into countless beams of light that flew out into every possible direction.

*BOOM – BOOM –BOOM –BOOM!*

Wendy looked up from the now-clear spot, the final request still lingering at the back of her mind, as she refocused on her original goal. "Well, that's one copy down…I wonder where the other one is hiding?"

*PAT – PAT –PAT –PAT!*

A strange noise was growing louder from the opposite direction. Wendy looked over her shoulder, towards the other end of the street to see something dashing towards her. She squint her eyes in order to gain a better perspective, "Oh, man!" she exclaimed. "It looks like another one of those robot things is making its way here."

She charged her hyper beam as the new presence was almost upon her.

"Ugh, and it's an ugly blue one, too!"

As soon as he felt he had put enough distance between Rumble McSkirmish and himself, Dipper darted around the nearest corner and into the following alley. Knowing that he was finally alone, the worn-out boy put his weight against the wall and slumped downwards as he let out an exhausted sigh.

The fight with the world warrior had taken a worse toll on Dipper than he let on. Every joint in his tiny body ached. The azure armor that gave him the superhuman abilities to stand up to Rumble's strongest attacks now weighed heavily on his frame.

"Well, it's not surprising…" Dipper thought, as a weary smile spread across his face, "Countering Rumble's finisher was like punching a lightning bolt head-on! It still feels like my fist is going to turn to dust any second now…"

With the last of his strength, Dipper held out his right arm, and opened his palm. He closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering the last of the gifts given to him by the kindly professor. Within a few seconds, Dipper could sense something forming in his hand. He opened his eyes to see that he now holding one of the thermos-turned-energy tanks.

The thirteen-year-old popped the top of the canister and sipped the beverage. As soon as the citrus-based treat made contact with his taste buds, a surge of power flowed through his veins, slowly restoring his health.

"Well, look at that!" A familiar voice called out from the rooftops, "Slacking off even at the end of the world?"

An excited expression stretched across Dipper's face as he recognized the tone. He raised his head to the sky to see Wendy Corduroy gazing down at him.

"Where have you been?!" Dipper asked, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Are you alright? What happened when – "

At first, the teenager hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary due to the exhilaration of finally locating his missing partner in crime. But after taking a second to study the girl before him, he suddenly spotted it. The seemingly-sinister spark in her dark green eyes; the wicked smirk had grown as Dipper came to his senses. He had seen the same look before – just before he almost drowned in the Gravity Falls Lake.

"You're – You're not her – You're the clone!"

With an impressed titter, the Wendy-copy jumped from the rooftop, landing inches away from the sitting Dipper. His body quivered in uncertainty as she drew closer.

"True, but does that really matter, Dipper?"

"What – What do you mean?"

"I mean…" the doppelganger explained, "Why would you keep fighting for her when you can be happy with me? I would never leave you behind. I would never forsake you for any other boy…." The fake redhead leaned in as her tone grew sultrier, "To me, you would be my first and only, and together, we'd rule over this worthless world as royalty."

She backed away and walked around playfully, letting Dipper contemplate her offer.

*WHRRRLL*

The Wendy-replica looked behind her shoulder, "So, whatdya say, kiddo?" She turned around completely, "Will you join me?"

*WHOOSH!*

Before she realized what happened, a Frisbee-sized hole appeared in the clone's mid-section. Multi-colored pixels flashed at the edges of the opening in lieu of blood, bone, and muscle. With a shocked look on her face, the false Wendy glanced down at her torso in disbelief, before returning her sights towards Dipper. His arm cannon was outstretched in her direction; the tip of the nozzle releasing a thin layer of smoke.

"Sorry," he apologized as he maintained his aim, "But I prefer girls from this reality that haven't made attempts on my life!"

Instead of growing angry, the double laughed hysterically. "That's cute. That's real cute! And here I thought that she wouldn't have that much of a hold on you! Boy, oh boy, I bet Wendy would be ever-so-proud of her little lapdog right now!"

Her iniquitous laughter echoed louder in the alleyway as a dark, black substance oozed from her open wound. The liquid speedily spread across her body, covering her entirely from head to toe. Dipper carefully made it back to a standing position as the merriment became muffled from beneath the goop.

Seconds later, the onyx material started to take a harden shape. A neon black and blue rounded helmet formed at the top of the blob. A light filled, T-shaped visor provided an eager viewing window to the outside world. Circular spheres of the same colors made up her shoulder blades. Oddly enough, each appeared to be blanketed with a patch of day-glo spores. A thinning, yet matching breastplate begat two glowing arms; one ending with a simple gloved hand, and the other becoming a lengthy blaster, similar in nature to the one mounted on Dipper's arm. Two lights poked out of her chest, almost reminding the boy of eerie luminous eyes focusing on him solely.

The lower half came next, as two gawky legs launched from the torso. The knees were outfitted in pointed and jagged casings. A pair of glowing, futuristic-looking high-topped boots rounded off the bottom proportion. As the newly-shaped body finished, it pulled itself backwards as it let out a deafening roar. A string of shining lights peered through the shielded flesh as it flexed, completely illuminating the dank passageway.

"WHOA!" Dipper narrowed his eyes, holding his free arm above his face in order to maintain some of his vision, "Is that what she really is – some shiny black goop?"

As soon as the light faded, he pointed his blaster at the morphed reproduction and readied another shot. To his surprise, the newly-armored Wendy clone jerked her head up with an inhuman cry. She threw her wrist forward, unleashing a sort of electric beam from her blue and black hand. Before Dipper could respond, he found himself surrounded by the ray, slowly being hoisted in the air.

"Hey! Wait a sec!" he wiggled helplessly above the ground, "What's going on here?!"

Without any effort, his metallic form was hurled from the secluded alleyway and back onto Main Street. Dipper let out a small yelp as he collided with the windshield of a nearby car, instantly shattering it upon impact.

"Ugh…" Dipper slowly forced himself upwards from the recent indent in the hood. He looked ahead to see that the haunting glow was growing closer. Sure enough, his digital opponent followed suit after him. Covered in a creepy blue aura, the Wendy doppelganger flew towards her quarry; her booted feet never once touching the earth. Instead, a cerulean exhaust traced alongside her every movement, literally melting the concrete beneath her.

"Is – Is she radioactive?"

Before the teen could study the scene further, the redhead drew her arm blaster and released a spray of multi-colored goo. Dipper rolled off the automobile at the last second, just as the slime ate away at the thin metal lacing the car. The boy could make out a sickeningly crinkling sound as the gunk eroded itself deeper by the moment.

He prepared his arm gun as its engine started to rev up loudly, "So, I'm going to take that as a "yes…""

The fake Wendy launched another onslaught of poisonous shots at Dipper, forcing him to dash under the deadly rainfall. He countered with a shot of his own, only to see it ripple off of her shining body. The slight bit of ooze that was blasted off quickly reformulated. Not to be discouraged, Dipper changed his weaponry and resumed fire. Unfortunately, both his bladed and boomeranged projectiles failed to make an impact against his slippery foe.

"Drat!" Dipper exclaimed, "It's like everything I toss at her goes right through! I can't get anything to stick!" He clutched his buster tightly as he hastily thought of a new strategy. "Maybe I'm not using enough force…"

He raised his arm and switched his equipment, "BUSTER CHANGE – CRASH BOMBER!"

Before the duplicate could react, Dipper hopped around her every possible angle, launching as many of the spiked-tipped explosives into her body. They adhered themselves to the fake, black-suited teenager with a loud "PLOP" sound.

"Yes!" Dipper cheered, "It's working!"

Just before the Wendy-clone could respond with an attack of her own, the blue-covered boy bounced back and covered his face before activating the detonator…

*KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!*

When the world grew silent and the dust settled, Dipper poked his head up and looked around the scene. All traces of his opponent seemed to vanish from the world, save for the random blotches of neon black and blue that had been splattered about the boulevard.

"Phew…" He wiped the sweat away from his forehead as he rested against a brick wall. "I still can't believe that worked…" With the battle finished, Dipper started to walk back towards his original destination when he stopped in place. The sensors in his ears picked up on an abnormal "squishing" sound. Dipper looked over his shoulder as his brown eyes rose at the sight before them.

The puddles of darkened glop shook and pulsated on their own! Within seconds, they sprung alive, each sloshing towards the center of the street. The countless blobs promptly rejoined piece by piece, growing in mass and height by the moment. Before he knew it, Dipper found himself face-to-face with the transformed Wendy-clone yet again! From beneath her protective, glowing visor, the boy could make out a devilish grin from her freckled face – the very same one that he had grown to admire over the summer.

"This is insane!" Dipper stepped back with his arm cannon still drawn, "No matter what I do, she keeps coming back!"

The double floated in Dipper's direction, only to stop part-way. She charged her gun, but instead of aiming at her shortened target, she thrust her limb deep into the concrete, forcing the ground to crack open in every direction about her. As Dipper tried to figure out what was happening, the floor quaked beneath his feet. Every fracture and open fissure began to glow the same sickly bright green as found in his enemy's weapon.

"What?!" Dipper demanded, trying his best to maintain his balance, "What are you doing?!"

The replica simply raised her helmet, the mixture of Wendy's sweetened tone and the cold soullessness of a machine offered a vague answer from within the dark mouthpiece, "My turn…"

All at once, numerous columns of pure radioactive energy came shooting out of the ground. Cars were filled over and set ablaze. Close-by buildings and apartments were torn into two; their windows shattered, their roofs fully caved in from the overall damage. Lampposts twisted and turned until their metal gave away, ending with their lights breaking into a million pieces over the pavement. Fire hydrants became uncorked, ending up with their watery contents rushing into the sky in sorts of a false rain amongst the gloomy overcast.

"WHA – AH- HEY- WATCH IT!" Dipper jumped from foot-to-foot as he attempted to escape the living fireballs coming from the earth. On his third dodge, his gloved hand accidentally made contact with the blue attack, making him scream aloud in pain. He shoved his arm outwards and shook his injured limb, hoping to shake off the burning sensation that had overtaken it. Dipper looked down at his hand to see the same colored aura as found on the pillars fading away as the seconds passed.

"Hehehe…"

He looked up to see the Wendy-double rotating around in small circles several yards in front of him – baiting him; teasing him. Her sights never once waned away from his minuscule form. Her cruel laughter leaving indication that any trance of humanity found in the digital being was surely parting.

"She's growing more insane by the second!" Dipper overlooked the new found damage over him, "It doesn't matter to who or what gets destroyed – it's all some kind of sick game to her! I've got to stop this now!"

Dipper charged past the uprising blasts as the Wendy-double skidded to a stop. He yanked his arm back and switched his artillery again, "Maybe I can try to melt her away…"

"BUSTER CHANGE – ATOMIC FIRE!"

With flamethrower fully lit, Dipper pointed straight at his crush's evil twin, and increased the fire's flow from within. Doused from head to toe in flame, the armor soon turned a bright red, identical to that of the blaze. However, her solidity remained the exact same, with no sign of peeling or wear and tear to be found. To Dipper, it was almost like she was absorbing his attack.

"But how?! How is she able to stand up to this?!"

Once more, the pseudo-teen dug her cannon into the damaged sidewalk. A moment later, Dipper began to feel the effect of her attack.

"HOT! HOT! OW! OW! HOT!"

The earth beneath Dipper's feet had turned blistering hot! With his shielded boots offering little protection, the boy detective skipped to one of the few undamaged cars left on the street. He climbed on top of the ruined vehicle for shelter, watching for the sizzling cement to cool before daring to step foot upon it again. The haunting laughter of the doppelganger rang in his ears.

"Well, that went well," Dipper lamented, "But I'm running out of ideas. I doubt freezing time will do any good. Same with making a shield out of metal leaves. The Air Shooter might cool her down, but it's not like I can just whisk her up and away…"

Left with no other option, the ruffled teenager equipped his least-used weapon; his last likely choice, took a deep, encouraging breath, and dove off of his safe haven. He lunged towards his antagonist with his buster deadlocked in her direction.

"BUSTER CHANGE – BUBBLE LEAD!"

Dipper let a spray of the acidic solution splashed all over the onyx armored ginger. Seeing this merge, last-ditch attempt, she hurled her neck backwards and released a deep cackle, "Bubbles?! That's your ace-in-the-hole?! I tell ya, kid. I don't understand what why she has much high hopes– "

The mocking stopped on a dime as the Wendy-clone froze in place, "Something's…Something's wrong…" She gazed down at her shielded flesh to see that it was now bubbling! As time passed, her body shifted and became misallocated. Her arms drooped to an unequal state. Her legs seemed to collapse upon one another.

Dipper let out a small victory chuckle, "Why didn't I think of it before? The solution must be eating away at the chemical compound that makes up her body. She's literally falling apart!"

He circled around the liquefying creature as he continued his assault with his bubbly offensive. With each new blow, the armor continued to give way, exposing more of the neon light trapped on the inside.

"Dipper! Dipper, wait!"

Grinding to a halt on his heels, Dipper turned around to see that the helmeted portion of the being had disappeared, revealing the image of his beloved auburn-headed main squeeze.

"Please, Dipper!" she pleaded, her voice returned to normal, "Stop! Just stop, okay!" She reached out to him with her dripping, gloved hand, "You win! I give up! I was wrong, okay?! I admit it! You were right! You were right about everything! I don't care anymore, just stop, please!"

He walked towards the melting girl, his cannon never leaving her distance, "You're not her…and this isn't what everything's been about. I know that now…"

"Fine, Dipper! Okay! Whatever you say – just don't hurt me anymore…" A shine formed in her green eyes, "Just…don't hurt me again – like last time…"

Left unhinged by her comment, Dipper lashed forward, releasing another spurt of the Bubble Lead. The Wendy-clone cried out in agony as more of her body sank into itself. She went to slither away in retreat, only to have her escape blocked by the enraged boy, whom delivered another doze of his fatal weapon.

"Dipper…"

No matter which way the clone turned…

"Wait…"

Dipper was there waiting for her…

"Don't…"

Ready to deliver a handful of lead-based vengeance…

"Please!"

A pungent stench grew the more the two chemicals mixed. After a while, Dipper forced himself to close his eyes, hoping to avoid seeing the image of his crush dissolving over the streets of Gravity Falls, even though he understood the villain before him wasn't really his Wendy.

"ARRRRGGGHHHHH!"

Dipper opened his eyes to see himself surrounded by steam. He followed it downwards, only to find a sweltering black puddle on the ground. Slowly, but surely, it was dissolving into a bunch of multi-colored pixels before fading away out of existence.

He examined the mess at his feet, wishing to make sure that the battle was truly over. The stew did nothing more than spread further, fizzing all the while.

Satisfied with his answer, Dipper started to pull away when a gloved hand rose up from the ooze, seizing him by the throat. He let out a terrified shriek as an eyeball emerged from the skin on top of its hand, fidgeting and bobbling wildly. The peculiar sight made his screams rise in pitch.

"Well, "Mister Big Man,"" a voice within the puddle called out, "Looks like you've gone and done it. Tell me, did you get all of that aggression out of your system?"

Dipper's voice dried up, only to be replaced by a kind of panicked hyperventilating.

"Heck, you're a smart kid. You know what they say about "Those who fight monsters…"

Still, Dipper remained silent, trapped in the dying clone's grip, hanging on its every word.

"Hey, short stuff? Let me get you some advice – the least I can do since you won and everything – anyways, if you find a way to get back into her good graces, try not to do anything to screw it up, alright?"

At last, Dipper was able to cough out a response, "B-B-Believe me, I'm way ahead of you on that front…"

Content with his answer, the hand released the blue armor clad boy and sank back into the disbanding solution.

"GGGGGoooood Boy!" she hissed as the last of the pixels evaporated into the air.

"Then again, you were always one of the good ones…"

Dipper raised his head to the sky as the threat finally passed away from the real world. Before he had a chance to reflect on what had just happened…

*BOOM – BOOM –BOOM –BOOM!*

An explosion came from the street after next. Choosing not to rest on his laurels, Dipper sprinted down the block and turned the corner to find an unexpected sight.

"Man, you gotta be kidding me!"

At the edge of the street, Dipper could make out another robot-like creature dressed in the same style armor as the Wendy-clone had worn. Instead of being black and somewhat smudge-covered, this particular model appeared to be donning a mixture of bright red, orange, and yellow. A green visor matched its arm cannon latched to the right hand.

Without a second thought, Dipper ran down the block, preparing himself for yet another battle, "I wonder how many of these things are out there?"