Chapter 13: Driving Mabel Pines
'Although being only 12 years old, Dipper is pretty coordinated at driving the Mystery Cart, but what happens when he teaches Mabel how to drive it?'
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Mabel asks in a panics as the two continue racing through the forest in the mystery cart. "They're going to catch up to us any minute now!"
"Will you stop back seat driving and let me handle this?" Dipper scolds as he presses his foot further onto the gas pedal to give the cart more speed. "None of this would have happened if you had of listened to me in the first place about going into the forest clearing!"
"Since we haven't seen Jeff and the other gnomes since we first arrived here, I didn't think I'd see them again." Mabel says as she grips onto her seat due to how fast Dipper is driving. "So you can't really blame me."
"I can and will!" Dipper sternly replies.
As they continue racing through the forest towards the shack, the hefty footsteps of the gnome monster can be heard and is getting closer with each mile that the cart passes.
"I'm not letting them away this time!" Jeff fumes. "Mabel will be our queen if it's last thing that I do! Pick it up guys! I don't want them to get away this time!"
Obeying Jeff's orders, the gnomes gain their momentum and begins running faster towards the mystery cart. Having caught up with it, the hands of the monster now reaches out to the cart, only for the vehicle to narrowly escape being grabbed. Mabel turns around and notices how close the monster is to the cart.
"We're going to get caught!" Mabel continues panicking. "I just know it!"
Ignoring his sister's comment, Dipper focuses his attention on driving and now spotting the mystery shack up ahead, slams his foot on the gas pedal.
"When I asked can this thing go any faster, I didn't mean like this!" Mabel shouts.
"This is what you wanted and now you got it!" Dipper replies.
Continuing towards the mystery shack, the twins now spot a large dip in the road along with a downed tree and a destroyed power line that is wrapped about the tree's branches, creating the perfect right triangle. While the space under the tree is large enough for them to pass through, the gnome monster may have a bit of trouble fitting in that space.
"Dipper, look!" Mabel points out. "We'll never be able to make that!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" Dipper says, narrowing his eyes in determination. "You might to grab onto something because this may get a little bumpy."
"I'm already holding onto my seat!" Mabel replies. "What else is left?"
By her brother's words, Mabel grips tighter onto her seat to brace herself for what is to come next. With the cart already going at max speed, Dipper now swerves the steering wheel to the right with navigating the cart smoothly under the tree and completely dodging the big dip in the road. With the vehicle spinning slightly out of control, Dipper immediately gets the cart back under his control and continues towards the shack.
Behind them, the gnome monster is continuing its pursuit of the cart. Now spotting the downed tree and the power line ahead of them, the gnomes begin trying to slow down, despite not having enough mileage to do so.
"Slow it down guys!" Jeff commands, the obstacle in the road steadily approaching. "Obstruction ahead! Obstruction ahead!"
Despite trying to slow down, the gnome monster now collides with the tree and power line, disengaging the monster entirely. Being disengaged, the gnomes are now scattered all over the pathway.
"I told you idiots to slow down!" Jeff fumes as he gets to his feet, despite being shaken up due to the dismantling of the monster. "Now Mabel has gotten away and we don't have a queen once again! What do you all have to say for yourselves?"
"I think I broke my back." Steve replies.
"It feels like my spleen is ruptured!" Carson speaks as he grabs his side.
Not having any words for his fellow gnomes, Jeff angrily snatches off his hat and begins stomping on it.
Mystery Shack
The twins now arrive back at the shack with Dipper parking the cart in the back yard.
"Wow! Dipper that was amazing!" Mabel compliments her brother as the two climb out of the cart. "I never knew you could do that! You have to teach me that!"
"No way Mabel!" Dipper replies. "I'm not going to teach you that and I shouldn't have had to do any of that if you had of listened to me in the first place about the forest clearing. You should know that if the gnomes live there now, then they will always remain there."
"Why do you have to be the one who has the fun all the time?" Mabel pouts as the two begins towards the porch of the shack. "What about me huh? What about Mabel?"
Releasing a sigh, Dipper halts in his track and turn towards Mabel.
"Mabel, gruncle Stan has no idea that I drive that cart and I aim to keep it that way." Dipper gently speaks. "Only Wendy and Soos knows and they are keeping it from him. Who knows how he would react if he found out."
"Well since grunkle Stan doesn't know, you could still teach me." Mabel begins pleading. "I promise to keep it a secret!"
"I said no Mabel! End of discussion!" Dipper commands, as he begins towards the porch with Mabel in tow.
The two now reach the shack and enter the shop in total silence. Making their way to the ladder of the attic, the two now climb it and enter their room with Dipper falling onto his bed in exhaust. Mabel now takes a seat on her bed, and turns her attention towards her brother.
"I'll work your shift in the shop for an entire month." Mabel bargains.
"Forget it Mabel!" Dipper replies, now pulling his hat over his eyes.
"Ok two months." Mabel continues. "And I'll even make you my famous sugar cookies with your initial on them! Wouldn't you like that?"
"Mabel, you can ask until you go blue in the face." Dipper replies. "I'm not caving! That cart is off limits to you!"
With that, a dead silence now falls on the room. Sighing in relief that Mabel has given up bargaining with him about the cart, Dipper pulls his hat from over his eyes, only to be met with the sad face of his sister, the same one she gave him at the fair when he refused to go back in time and return Waddles to her.
"You never let me have any fun." Mabel pouts. "You want to be the hero all the time!"
"Mabel, guilt tripping me won't work." Dipper counters. "And I'm not a hero by any means."
"For once, I want to have some fun, but no." Mabel continues pouting, now turning her vision away from him. "I'm always in the background, living in your shadow because I'm just silly little Mabel Pines, the silly sister of Dipper Pines. Everyone turns to you for answers because you're so smart and so serious! No one ever takes me seriously."
Mabel now slumps to the ground and leans against her brother's bed frame, her vision still turned from his. Seeing how down his sister is about the situation, the feelings of guilt now pulls at his heart strings. As much as he hates seeing her upset about anything, he knows what will happen in the event he grants Mabel her wish about the cart.
"Well since I'm never going to have any fun, I'm going to head downstairs and knit." Mabel says, now getting to her feet. "Maybe Waddles will want to play a silly game with me when I'm done."
Watching as his sister shuffles towards the door, the feelings of guilt are becoming too much for him and his once former decision of not giving in has lead him to this.
"Mabel, wait!" Dipper calls out to her.
Hearing her brother call out to her, Mabel stops in her tracks, but doesn't turn to face him.
"I'll teach you how to drive the cart." Dipper caves.
Quickly perking up, Mabel now turns to her brother with a wide brace filled smile.
"Oh thank you Dipper!" Mabel squeals in delights as she runs to him and engulfs him in a bear hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"You're….welcome." Dipper chokes through the death grip bear hug. "I can't..breathe.."
"Oh sorry." Mabel giggles, now releasing Dipper. "So when can we go?"
"Just as soon as I know gruncle Stan will be in the den watching his television programs." Dipper replies. "After that, we'll go."
"Well what time does he normally watch his programs?" Mabel inquires, which prompts Dipper to turn to the clock on the night stand/desk.
"Well, it's four o' clock now, so about now." Dipper says, turning back to Mabel. "But let's go check to be sure."
Fixing his hat and climbing off his bed, Dipper is the first to leave the room with a bouncing Mabel trailing behind him. Climbing down the ladder, the two now make their way to the den to find Stan in his night clothes and is sitting in front of his favorite television program: The Duchess Approves.
"He doesn't serve you!" Stan shouts to the television. "Don't give him the satisfaction! Don't give it to him!"
"I say now it's safe." Dipper nods as he turns to Mabel, her inwardly squealing in delight. "Come on."
Making their way to the shop, the two now enter with Dipper grabbing the keys off the key rack by the door. Opening the door, Dipper turns to Mabel, catching with her gaze.
"Ok Mabel, what is about to happen is going to be a ONE time thing." Dipper stresses. "And only ONE time. Do you understand?"
"Of course." Mabel nods in agreement. "Let's go!"
Nodding to her, the twins now walk out of the shop, Dipper silently scolding himself for caving and going through with it. But it shouldn't be that bad right?
Dipper and Mabel now climb in the cart with Mabel taking the seat behind the wheel and Dipper in the passenger position. Placing the key in the ignition, Dipper starts the cart's engine.
"Ok, a few things you must know before we go." Dipper begins. "The D, R,1 and 2 are the gears. D for drive, R for reverse, 1 and 2 for the gear shifts. Never use the gear shifts unless it's an emergency situation."
"Like what?" Mabel inquires. "Like if we drove into a ditch or something?"
"Not exactly, but don't worry about it." Dipper replies. "Now, put the cart in reverse slowly."
Nodding, Mabel now pulls the gear spindle down to R and slowly puts the cart in reverse.
"Now turn the steering wheel to the right so that we are facing the road." Dipper continues instructing. Mabel does as instructed with the cart now facing the road towards town.
"Ok, now put the gear in drive and place your foot on the gas pedal and-" Dipper continues, but is cut off by the cart now peeling away from the shack at near lightning speed and towards the inner part of town.
"This is so much fun Dipper!" Mabel squeals as she navigates the cart down an open road in town. "I see why you enjoy driving this thing so much!"
With Mabel blazing through the road, Dipper grips onto his seat, silently admitting to himself that letting his sister drive the cart might have been a mistake.
"When I said put your foot on the pedal, this isn't what I meant!" Dipper screams as she grips onto his seat. "Hit the brake! Hit the brake!"
"Which one is the brake?" Mabel asks, her voice cracking into a worry.
"The pedal next to the one your foot is on!" Dipper replies as Mabel now rounds a right corner while hitting a mailbox and a few trash cans along the way. "Hit it now!"
Slamming her left foot on the brake, the cart now comes to an abrupt stop and throws both twins forward, but not too far as they are wearing their seat belts. Sitting back in the seat, Dipper now turns to Mabel.
"I saw my entire life flash before my eyes in that very moment." Dipper simply says. "And I think we broke the sound barrier."
"The what?" Mabel asks in confusion.
"The sound barrier is a threshold in which if something is traveling at a certain speed, mostly at high speeds, then the threshold, otherwise known as the sound barrier, gets broken." Dipper calmly explains. "I believe you drove fast enough to break it."
Having explained one of the laws of physics, Dipper gains a blank stare from Mabel.
"Nevermind." Dipper waves his previous thought off. "Let's keep going."
"Where do you want to go now?" Mabel asks. "Oh I know, let's go back into the forest and chase Jeff down! That'll show him for kidnapping me again!"
"Mabel, we're not going near that forest to bother Jeff and his pack." Dipper rejects. "I'm sure he found out by now that when he tangles with a pines, there are consequences."
"Oh alright." Mabel lightly pouts at her idea being rejected.
"I think it's about time we headed back home." Dipper suggests. "While I said I'd teach you how to do this, I didn't exactly state for how long. So I think its best that we head back."
"Awe! No fair!" Mabel whines. "I haven't been out here that long. I want to drive some more and explore more of the town. I know, let's go see if anyone we know is out around town today."
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Dipper inquires.
Before her brother is able to further object, Mabel puts the cart in drive and rounds the corner that leads to the inner part of town. Being on the main road, Mabel begins sightseeing while Dipper is hoping that they don't run into Wendy, or worst Robbie since the older boy lives within the town. Continuing down the road, Mabel now spots Gideon and his parents in the front yard of their house. From the looks of it, Buddy is taking photos of his son and wife for a special occasion as Gideon is dressed in an outfit that boys back in the colonial days use to wear.
"Hey Dipper, check it out." Mabel points out.
Now spotting what Mabel is pointing out to him, Dipper can't help but chuckle at the sight in front of him.
"Smile everyone and say Gleeful!" Buddy instructs, now focusing the camera on his family once more.
Before Gideon can smile and pose for the camera, he now spots Mabel and Dipper staring directly at him with big grins on their faces. Being overcome with horror, Gideon frantically searches for something large enough to cover himself with. Not finding anything suitable, he ducks behind his mother. Buddy, noticing Gideon suddenly duck behind his mother, is baffled by the boy's sudden strange behavior.
"Gideon, what are you doing behind your mother?" Buddy asks in confusion. "I want a picture of you standing next to your mother."
"Just take the picture old man!" Gideon shouts, as he continues hiding behind Mrs. Gleeful.
"Hey Gideon, I'll take one in wallet sized please!" Mabel calls out, her and Dipper now breaking into hysterical laughter and pulling off.
With the twins gone, Gideon slowly creeps from behind his mother.
"Those wretched Pines!" Gideon curses.
"Ok Mabel, let's head back before we run into-" Dipper begins, but is cut off by hearing the voice of the one girl he was hoping not to see while out with Mabel calling out to them.
"Hey guys!" Wendy calls out to the two, causing Mabel to stop the cart.
Wendy now approaches the cart with Robbie and smiles to her two young friends. Robbie, as always, shows no interest in speaking to the pair.
"Hey guys!" Wend greets to them. "Hey Mabel did when you start driving?"
"Dipper is teaching me!" Mabel cheers. "He pulled one awesome move back in the forest today while we were running from the gnomes!"
"Gnomes?" Wendy asks, confusion now crossing her features.
"It's nothing." Dipper speaks up, dropping the subject completely. "So what are you doing out here today?"
"Oh I'm just hanging out with Robbie and the guys." Wendy answers. "Nothing special. We not too long come back from the lake."
A scoffing sound now comes from Robbie, which earns him an elbow from Wendy.
"So where are you two going now?" Wendy inquires.
"Home!" Dipper quickly speaks up as he turns to Mabel, but then back to Wendy. "We're heading home now, but it was great seeing you."
"You too double dip and Mabel." Wendy smiles with a nod. "See you two tomorrow at work."
"See ya later Wendy!" Mabel replies, now putting the cart in motion.
"So when did pre-school let out?" Robbie sneers, watching as the two now drive out of sight.
Rolling her eyes, Wendy begins walking back to the van to rejoin everyone else.
"What?" Robbie calls out to her. "What did I say?"
Driving at a steady and leveled pace, the twins now arrive back at the mystery shack with Mabel parking the cart in the back yard.
"That was so awesome!" Mabel squeals as she removes the key from the ignition. "I had an awesome time today Dipper! Thank you!"
"That was so terrifying." Dipper speaks. "My worst nightmare came true."
"Oh Dipper come on." Mabel begins as she turns to him. "It wasn't that bad seeing Wendy today was it? Or was it my driving?"
"I refuse to comment." Dipper says as he and Mabel now climb out of the cart. "But now that we're back, this stays between us. Better yet, this never even happened got it?"
"I got it." Mabel nods in agreement.
"Great." Dipper replies as the two begins towards the shack's porch. "Now that that's over, I'm going upstairs and sleeping for a week. Don't forget to put the keys back on the key rack."
"Will do Dippy." Mabel says.
As the two continue towards the porch, Mabel suddenly gains an idea and halts in her tracks. Eyeing the keys in her hands, a sly grin now crosses her face.
"Hey Dipper, you go on ahead." Mabel calls out to him. "I forgot that gruncle Stan asked me to bring the trash cans back to the porch earlier. As soon as I do that, I'll be right up."
Waving his hand at her to indicate that he heard her, Dipper continues inside.
"Just as soon as I finish taking out the trash." Mabel deviously speaks as she makes her way back to the cart.
The Forest Clearing
In the open space, Jeff is fuming at and lecturing the gnome pack about the importance of team work and following orders.
"Ok, I will not lecture on the failure that was experienced today." Jeff continues. "But I will say that I do not want a repeat performance! We need a queen to help keep our race from dying off and Mabel is the right one for the job! So here is the new plan and listen up!"
"Shouldn't I be in on the plan as well?" Mabel's voice cuts in. "After all, I am destined to be your queen am I right?"
Hearing the girl's voice, Jeff perks up with a smile appearing and replacing his frown.
"Why Mabel, I'm glad you that you decided to come back and fulfill your destiny." Jeff speaks.
Now turning around to greet the chocolate haired girl, he instead spots her sitting behind the wheel of the cart, the grill of the vehicle staring him directly in the face. The smile that he was holding now falls.
"Um….Mabel?" Jeff begins, unsure of what to say or do next.
"You wanted to see me right?" Mabel slyly replies to the now horror stricken gnome as she reeves the engine of the cart. "Well, here I am!"
Unable to get his words unstuck from his throat, Jeff now breaks into a run at break neck speed with the pack of gnomes following behind closely behind him.
"I was hoping he'd do that." Mabel smirks, now putting the gear in drive and taking off after the gnomes. "Oh Jeff, I just want to talk to you!"
That poor gnome! After this, I guess he will think twice about trying to kidnap Mabel again! However, as the saying goes: What goes around comes around, Mabel being what comes around! LOL!
Next week's entry: Reviewer Guest's request about Dipper's Nightmare! Stay tuned and I promise you won't be disappointed!
Review Please!