Chapter 7: Versus Mabel Part III
'Having solved a once in a lifetime mystery, Dipper returns home to find a copy of Mabel just seconds from hurting the real Mabel! What's going to happen now?'
Seeing this as another opportunity to do away with Mabel classic, Catherine quickly grabs the nearest 'weapon' from the utensils that were used to make the cookies, which is a meat tenderizing mallet. Quietly approaching Mabel, Catherine grips the handle of the utensil tightly in both hands as she raises the mallet above her head. Knowing exactly where she plans to hit the girl, Catherine's evil smile reappears.
"I will be true Mabel Pines!" Catherine mentally says to herself now stopping an inch from Mabel's back. "Good-bye Mabel classic!"
Just as Catherine is about to bring the mallet down on Mabel, Dipper's voice suddenly yells out: MABEL WATCH OUT!
Hearing her brother's voice, Mabel moves just in time as Catherine brings the tenderizing mallet down on the stove top, instead of her.
"What's going on?" Mabel inquires, now turning to her brother. "When did you get back and why do you have Waddles?"
"I not too long returned from the forest and I have Waddles because I found him upstairs locked in the chest in the attic." Dipper replies. "It's a good thing I came back when I did or else I wouldn't have been able to stop you from hurting…you?"
Catherine now regains her balance and walks to the left of Mabel with Dipper looking between the two, confusion evident on his features.
"Mabel, why am I looking at the two of you?" Dipper inquires, but quickly realizes how a copy of his sister was possible. "You used Stan's copier to make a copy of you! Do you remember how defective that machine was after I used it last?"
"Yes, I did use it and after making Catherine, nothing happened." Mabel replies as she pulls Catherine in a hug. "Dipper, this is my 'sister' Catherine. Catherine, this is our brother Dipper, the one who I was mad at when I made you."
"Hi Dipper." Catherine greets with a smile.
"Don't you hi Dipper me!" Dipper snaps at the copy. "I saw what you were about to do to my sister! You were going to hit her with that meat tenderizing mallet and I bet you had something to do with Waddles being locked in the chest up in the attic!"
"No I was just going to set the mallet down and when you called out to Mabel, I tripped over my feet." Catherine innocently replies. "And I don't know how Waddles got locked in the chest upstairs. I walked him outside for his daily outing. I don't know how he got up there."
"Dipper, how dare you accuse Catherine of trying to hurt me and Waddles!" Mabel says angrily to her twin, now standing in front of Catherine. "Catherine has been a very good sister to me and at least she was there for me when you just had to go solve that mystery! She spent the time with me that you were too busy to make! Well I hope it was worth it!"
Mabel now turns to Catherine with her expression softening.
"I'm sorry about this Catherine." Mabel apologizes. "I didn't think you meeting 'our' brother would turn out like this. I'm going to my room to go calm down, could you watch the cookies for me?"
"Sure Mabel." Catherine smiles innocently. "I'll be up to check on you in a bit."
Hugging Catherine, Mabel now turns to Dipper and snatches Waddles from his arms. She then storms out of the kitchen and begins making her way towards the ladder that leads to the attic. Catherine now turns her attention back to Dipper.
"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I was trying to hurt Mabel, Dipper." Catherine apologizes, a small smile appearing on her face. "But I would never hurt my loving sister."
Dipper doesn't reply to Catherine, but notices a green aura appear and surround her frame. Seeing this causes the younger pines to take a step back away from Catherine.
"I don't know what you are, but I am warning you to stay away from Mabel!" Dipper finally and firmly replies. "She may not see what you are, but I do! I'll be keeping my eyes on you!"
"Why Dipper, I have no idea what you're talking about." Catherine says continuing to smile. "Mabel created me because she just wanted a companion when you ignored her and I just love my dear sister so much."
"If you lay one finger on her, I'll see to it that you end up in the discard before you have a chance to blink!" Dipper warns to the clone.
"Now Dipper, I would love more than anything to have a great relationship with you like Mabel does." Catherine says, her expression now changing as she takes a step towards Dipper. "But things can take a real bad turn if you don't learn to trust me. You already upset Mabel once and I know just how much you hate it when she's upset. If you keep making accusations about me, it'll only upset her more. So I'm willing to get along with you if you're willing to do the same with me."
Dipper doesn't reply, but narrows his eyes at Catherine.
"Well brother, I have to keep an eye on my sister's cookies." Catherine continues. "After they're done, I'll be more than happy to share to them with you. Talk to you in a bit."
Walking away from Dipper and into the main part of the kitchen, Catherine grabs a few plates from the drain board and takes them to the table, preparing them for when the cookies are done.
"Great, just what I needed!" Catherine mentally says to herself. "Just when I have everything planned out to do away with Mabel, he gets in my way! I better be careful around him because if he catches on to what I'm up to, my plans will be all for not! It'll be a shame to have to do away with him too!"
"I better keep an eye on her!" Dipper mentally says to himself, continuing to watch Catherine. "I don't trust her, especially around Mabel. With Stan's copier being defective, who knows what Mabel created when she made that Catherine."
Giving Catherine one more glance, Dipper now walks away from the kitchen doorway, leaving Catherine to set the table for the cookies.
An hour later
An hour has passed since Dipper and Catherine's first meeting, although not the best of meetings. The cookies are now on their last minute of baking, Dipper is in the den watching television while also making sure to keep a close eye on Catherine, and Mabel has fallen asleep upstairs.
The oven timer now dings indicating that the cookies are finished. Having taken a seat at the table, Catherine now gets to her feet, grabs the oven mitts, and darts to the oven. Opening the oven, Catherine removes the cookie sheets and places them on the stove top.
"These smell delicious." Catherine says, taking in the scent of the cookies. "Mabel and I did an excellent job with these cookies."
Dipper, who heard the timer go off, has made his way to the kitchen and is now peaking in on Catherine. He notices her move the cookie sheets to the table so they are in front of her and out of his view. Tiptoeing into the doorway, Dipper stands on his toes so he can see over Catherine's shoulder.
With the cookies on the table cooling, Catherine opens the cabinet next to her and grabs a dark colored canister. Closing the cabinet, Catherine turns her attention back to the cookies.
"That's the kitchen cleaning supplies cabinet!" Dipper mentally says. "She's going to poison those cookies and then give them to Mabel! I better stop her before she adds that stuff to the cookies!"
With the canister in hand, Catherine now opens the lid and just as she is about to sprinkle the contents on the cookies, she feels a hand grab her right wrist.
"What the?" Catherine says, now spotting Dipper holding onto her wrist.
"You thought I wouldn't be paying attention did you?" Dipper asks as he snatches the canister from Catherine's hand. "I caught you red handed and am not about to let you poison my sister or her cookies!"
"Poison her?" Catherine asks in confusion. "Dipper, that's powdered sugar and I was going to add that to the cookies! Mabel always adds that when they are done baking to give them the "sugar cookie" taste they are suppose to have! Why would you think I'd try to poison her?"
Dipper now looks at the canister in his hand and notices the label does indeed say 'Powder Sugar'. With the canister open, Dipper now sniffs what is inside and smells the contents.
"Sweet." Dipper says.
"And you were afraid of me poisoning Mabel with sugar?" Catherine asks defensively as she folds her arms. "I'm so glad I can trust you Dipper!"
"So I made a mistake." Dipper says as he turns to Catherine. "That's the kitchen cleaning supplies cabinet and why the powdered sugar was in there I will never know, but I couldn't take any chances."
"Well take a chance and watch the cookies while I go wake Mabel up!" Catherine sneers, now turning and leaving the kitchen.
"Yea, you do that." Dipper calls after her as he places the powdered sugar canister on the table next to the cookies. "There is no way I'm putting this stuff on the cookies, especially after where she got this from."
With Catherine gone to go wake Mabel up, Dipper immediately realizes that he allowed the one person or thing he can't trust to go near his sister and in a closed in space at that!
"What did I just do?" Dipper asks himself out loud. "I just permitted that maniac to go wake up my sleeping sister! I better go stop her before she makes sure Mabel stays asleep forever!"
Darting out of the kitchen, Dipper immediately makes his way up stairs to he and Mabel's bedroom. Stepping in the doorway, Dipper notices that Catherine has a pillow gripped between her hands and is walking slowly towards the sleeping Mabel. Looking around the room, he notices that Waddles isn't in the room with Mabel despite her taking him up there with her an hour ago.
Turning his attention back to Catherine, Dipper notices that Catherine has moved closer to Mabel to where she is now standing over her with the pillow.
"Mabel, wake up." Catherine calls out to the sleeping girl. "Our cookies are ready, but if you want me to handle them, just tell me. I'd be more than happy to."
Continuing to watch, Dipper notices Catherine shift to where his view of Mabel is obstructed.
"STOP and step away from my sister!" Dipper screams out, now startling Catherine and making her drop the pillow.
"You scared me!" Catherine fumes, now turning to Dipper. "Why are you following me?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Mabel's sleepy voice asks as both Dipper and Catherine turn to her.
"I just stopped your 'sister' from smothering you with a pillow!" Dipper replies, now rushing to Mabel's side and pulling the girl into a hug. "Are you ok Mabel?"
"Yes Dipper, I'm fine!" Mabel snaps as she slips out of Dipper's grip. "Why are you still making accusations about Catherine? We've been over this!"
"But I saw her with a pillow and she was standing over you waiting for the right time to bring it down on you!" Dipper snaps, now jumping into Catherine's face. "That's it! I'm destroying you so you will never try to hurt Mabel again!"
"If you were paying attention, I was holding Mabel's pillow because she knocked it off the bed while she was asleep." Catherine calmly says, now pointing to Mabel's headboard to where the pillow normally sits. "She knocks it off a lot because she says it's uncomfortable and makes her sweat while she's asleep."
Just as Dipper opens his mouth to reply to Catherine, he realizes that she is right about that. With the searing summer heat every night and due to the lack of ventilation in their room, Mabel has complained about and has knocked her pillow onto the floor many nights because she says it makes her feel uncomfortable thanks to both conditions.
"She has been known to do that." Dipper simply says. "Even in California."
"You were saying about Catherine trying to kill me?" Mabel asks as she crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at Dipper.
"I…I, but I saw…she had..the." Dipper stammers as he tries to find his words.
Getting to her feet, Mabel stands to the right of Catherine as Catherine tosses the pillow back onto Mabel's bed.
"You'd think with Catherine being a clone of me, you would know she wouldn't do anything to try to hurt me!" Mabel says as she shakes her head. "That would mean I am trying to hurt myself!"
"Mabel, I'm sorry." Dipper apologizes, his expression softening. "I am just trying to look after you. You are my twin and the last thing I would want is for anything or anyone to hurt you."
The 'anyone' specifically aimed at Catherine.
Not having any words for her brother, Mabel takes Catherine by the hand and begins making her way towards exit of the room with her. Before the two leave the room completely, Catherine turns back to Dipper and smirks. Seeing this hardens the boy's expression once more.
"Mabel, I am more than determine to reveal to you your 'sister's' true colors!" Dipper says to himself. "She may have you fooled, but I'm not easily taken! All I need is for you to trust me on this!"
Kitchen
Mabel and Catherine are in the kitchen looking the cookies over.
"These look delicious." Mabel says as she inhales the scent of the cookies. "And smell delicious too."
"We really did a good job with them." Catherine says, now turning to Mabel. "I can't wait to do more things like this with you."
"I couldn't agree more." Mabel says as she turns to her clone.
The two now embrace each other in a hug and doesn't notice Dipper standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching them.
"Your days are numbered Catherine!" Dipper mentally declares with his vision fixed on Catherine.
And while Mabel doesn't see Catherine's true colors, Dipper does. After all, he did notice her glow lol! Will Dipper be successful in revealing Catherine's true intentions for Mabel? Keep reading to find out!