SORRY OMG I totally didn't intend on taking such a long time off. Again. I'd count on WitD coming out on Sunday maybe, I've started it but I haven't finished it yet. Again, so sorry.
Someone yesterday told me they were thinking of drawing fanart for WitD and asked if that was okay, so I'm answering this generally in case you wanted to too: Absolutely. That is awesome and perfectly okay! Fanart is awesome and I would love to see it once you draw it! (Sorry I can't recall who the asker was, I believe I deleted their ask on Tumblr. Oops.. I think it was an anon)
From Monkeygirlz3: "Could you do a chapter about Mabel and Dippers Halloween adventures?"
Absolutely! This one-shot is set when the twins are in sixth grade (when they dressed as zombies) and is slightly dark if you don't like those sorts of things.
Hide and Seek
"Dipperrrrrrrrrr!" Mabel drew out her brother's name in one long moan as her head flopped onto his shoulder. The boy rolled his eyes, suppressing a smirk at how her zombie makeup was swearing on his shoulder. She didn't appear to notice so he said nothing.
"What's up with you? Mom said she'd take us trick-or-treating earlier today and it's probably almost time. I figured you'd be bouncing up and down in excitement."
She pouted, releasing another moan from deep in her throat. "I know, but everyone's taking forever! You took nearly an hour with these costumes and the makeup - "
"Well, you told me to try and fix my zombie look," he protested, but she ignored him.
" - and Mom is taking so long to hand out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters! It's almost nine twenty and we haven't gotten a single piece of candy! It's an injustice, Dipper!"
Dipper chuckled, patting her head with his hand. The other hand set down his pumpkin bag to gently lift her head off his shoulder. It was beginning to ache front he added weight of her head.
"Mabel, you have to be patient. Other people want to trick-or-treat too, you know."
The preteen girl gave him a horrified look. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?!" Dipper snorted and struggled to hold in his laughter as Mabel poked and prodded his sides mercilessly. "How can you say such a thing on Halloween?"
"Ah, stop it!" He pushed her hands away laughing as she scowled again.
"Everyone must be possessed by some sort of body-switching warlock today. It's the only explanation for this crime!"
Dipper rolled his eyes and would have said something in response, but his words were silenced by the sound of their mother calling for them. With renewed energy, Mabel shot for the front door and her twin smiled at her eagerness. Maybe now she would be satisfied with the prospect of getting to trick-or-treat in the near future.
Their mother was at the door handing out candy when the twins arrived onto the scene. There was at least a dozen lined up, the majority dressed like some sort of fairy or princess. Apparently that was the new hot thing this year for trick-or-treaters. She shot them a sheepish smile briefly before turning back to stop a six year old from taking the whole bowl of sweets.
"Oh, there you both are! I'm sorry I haven't been able to get you out the door to go trick-or-treating just yet; things have been a bit crazy up here. A lot of little kids have been coming since it is only an hour past their bedtimes."
"When can we go?" Mabel deflated almost immediately at the realization that the candy would probably have to wait still.
Mrs. Pines smiled a little mischievously at the two. "Well, I figured it was time for my little lambs to try hunting for candy on their own this year. Especially since I don't seem to have any free hands and your father is already asleep. He stayed up late last night and said this was alright."
The twins' jaws dropped in surprise. They had never been allowed to trick-or-treat alone before. Was their mother joking? Was this a prank?
"You're serious?" Dipper said, his voice cracking slightly. "We can go by ourselves?"
"Only if you stay within the neighborhood," their mother corrected, but the preteens barely heard her. They were too busy grinning at each other in ecstasy. "And you have to be home at eleven. It is a school night, so you can't stay out late."
Mabel squealed in excitement as the last of the kids at the door hurried off to go find a new house to trick-or-treat from. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She launched herself at the older female and hugged her tightly.
Mrs. Pines laughed softly and hugged her daughter back. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, don't leave the neighborhood and be back at eleven o'clock, okay? Oh, and don't talk to strangers. A lot of weird people head to different neighborhoods to get candy this night."
"We'll be okay, Mom," Dipper promised her. Mabel was already racing out the door and he rolled his eyes before hurrying after her. He waved back at their mother and grabbed his sister's arm to make her slow down.
"We're not running a marathon tonight, Mabes. We've got an hour and a half to hit up all of the houses in our neighborhood. That's plenty of time to trick-or-treat."
She clicked her tongue at him, heading in the direction of the house across the street. "Dipper, lighten up! We're gong trick-or-treating on our own for the first time ever! Aren't you the least bit excited, Mr. Grumps?"
He scowled. "Don't call me that. And yes, I am. I'm just trying not to get a cramp ten minutes into the night because you're running everywhere."
"Then this is going to be a loooooong night," Mabel said, a mischievous glint in her eyes that was quite similar to the one their mother had worn not two minutes before. Dipper sighed.
HIDEANDSEEKHIDEANDSEEKHIDEANDSEEKHIDEANDSEEKHIDEANDSEEKHIDEANDSEEK
Dipper wasn't wrong about having cramps ten minutes in. It only took a moment after retrieving nearly the entire bowl of candy from the first house (their neighbors were such saps for twin costumes; they got the whole bowl dumped into their bags within the first minute) for his twin sister to bolt to the next house, which ended up being dark. This, of course, led to Dipper running after Mabel to the next house. The girl should have taken track-and-field because wow, she was fast.
They were on their tenth house when they spotted the person leaning against the building. Mabel came to a stop with a frown, glancing back at her brother in confusion. Dipper felt unease creep into his bones and he instinctively put his twin behind him, grabbing her free hand firmly. It was difficult to tell who the person was because they were standing in shadow. All that the twins could discern was they were about six feet tall and seemed to be staring right at them both.
"Who is that?" Mabel whispered.
"I don't know. We should move on to a different house."
"But this is the Myers' home! They're the ones who have those cute triplets and give out huge chocolate bars, Dip!"
Dipper shook his head, squeezing her hand tighter as he stared back at the person in shadow. "Mabel, I think we need to leave. We'll go back to this house later. We have time."
She huffed in annoyance but allowed her twin to lead her away, glancing over her shoulder at the stranger every few minutes as Dipper steered her toward one down the street. This street was almost empty, despite it being fairly early for trick-or-treating. Both Pines twins shuddered in unease and clutched each other tighter as they walked.
"What do you think that guy wanted? Why do you think they were staring at us?"
The boy shrugged, eyeing a dark house to his left. "I don't know, Mabel. There are weird people in this neighborhood. Maybe he was visiting and just watching people trick-or-treat?"
"That's kind of creepy."
"Yeah..."
"Uh, Dipper?"
"Hmm?" He barely registered the note of panic in her tone as he glanced at a bright house on the other side of the street. That one looked like it was still giving out candy. Maybe they could stop there.
"I think he's back..."
The brunette swiveled to look in the direction Mabel was pointing and his eyes bulged. A dark tall shadow was heading straight for them, a low growl resonating from deep in its throat. Dipper tugged Mabel backward and muttered, "Should we run?"
"He doesn't look friendly..."
"Okay, run!"
They bolted just as the figure gave chase, whipping around the corner of the street still holding hands. A louder growl reached their ears as the younger twin led his sister down the sidewalk, not daring to look back as he searched for the street name they lived on. They just had to get home and then they would be okay. They just had to get home.
The growl morphed into a roar and both siblings cried out as something large sprung over their heads. Mabel yanked Dipper to the side before the monster could land on him and they shrieked in fright. A strange misshapen beast (reminding the twins of a hybrid of a lion and an ostrich, oddly, with its long neck and tail) roared in their faces once more before charging again. They ran down the street immediately, not daring to look behind them.
"What even is this thing?" shouted Dipper, gripping his sister's hand tightly in his own. "It isn't human! Is it some kind of supernatural creature?"
"Or maybe it's some creepy guy in a really elaborate costume...?"
Mabel cleared her throat at the disbelieving look her brother shot back at her. "Right, just trying to lighten the mood."
"We're being chased by this monster thing and you're making jokes?"
As Dipper led her around the next street corner - so close to home, only a few houses away as they began to spy signs of life again - Mabel groaned. "You're too serious, bro-bro! I can't be super serious."
"Mabel - !"
Another roar cut off the boy's voice and the twins bolted for their front door where their mother was handing out candy to young fairies. They didn't stop, just raced into the house past their mother and collapsed on the kitchen floor panting. Judging by how no screams of terror were heard, the kids assumed that the creature had gone away.
"What's wrong with you both?" Mrs. Pines shut the front door with a frown, concern creeping into her tone. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"S-Something like that..."
I'm so mean to these kids, I don't even know what this one-shot is. I just have the feeling that Mabel ended up putting this behind her, trying to pretend it didn't happen, and Dipper first got intrigued by monster because of this freaky thing. (If someone ever draws this thing, I might die. Probably because it would be the most disturbing thing, though)