Thanks for keeping with me over the past two months. I promise; updates will be back too normal from now on. And about last week, I'm EXTREMELY sorry to those of you who lost someone. It was one of the most tragic moments in American history, and NONE of the people who died will EVER be forgotten. Now, shout-outs.
Mebradhen- Thanks for your review!
Gamelover41592- Thanks man. I'm glad you liked the Willow thing; it was something different that I wanted to try, and I'm glad it worked.
ChantingForest74- Great name BTW. They've known Alex for about a year and a half. When I write his and Willow's anniversary, you will get a bit more of background on him and when he first showed up. And I know 12-year olds saying 'I love you' is a bit weird, but this is Gravity Falls! If it wasn't weird, it wouldn't be normal. Thanks for your review!
Miss Tri- Thanks so much girl. Willow isn't doing much again this time, but I did add a part with her and Wendy, so that should give you a bit of info. And like I said last time, now that I'm getting into the main part of the show, I will be able to do more with Willow and the story. I have put in subtle hints here and there, and they will start to be more noticeable now that we are getting into the main mystery (nice name BTW). I don't want to spoil anything, but I think you will like what I have planned.
MyFavLineIs- Don't worry, I get it. Thanks for your questions; they're not much, but everything helps! Thanks for your review!
Tammy- Thanks for your review! I know it's a bit weird, but Alex, being a military kid, is 'used' to weirdness. Not the weirdness the others are going through, but weirdness with going to a bunch of different places on short notice. Alex is… an interesting character. I have him figured out and know what I want to do, but I can't explain him without spoiling those plans. If I had to explain him and what I have planned in one sentence… He's the wild card in the deck.
Disclaimer: The only thing in this chapter I own is Willow and the CD Robbie used on Wendy. Yes, by day I am a writer, but by night, I sell CD's so goth boys can brainwash their girlfriends. PM if you need one!
Dipper's POV (July 10th)
"Hey Wendy!" I called excitedly as the red-head walked into the gift shop. She didn't even look up, just tossed the mail on the counter and put her feet up. "What's up?"
"Nothing," she replied too quickly. I decided not to press her on it, and instead tried to get her talking again.
"Wanna play Talking Tours?" I asked her. We would watch the security feed and say what we thought the tourists, or Stan, was saying. It was kind of stupid, but we always wound up laughing like crazy. She nodded and turned the security feed on as I walked over to her. There was a tourist with a t-shirt, Stan standing behind him.
"Do you have this t-shirt in my size?" Wendy said, her voice really high-pitched.
"I have something even better!" I said, making my voice really deep and scratchy. Stan bent down towards some boxes, which was perfect. "Behold! My butt!"
It worked perfectly. Wendy started laughing her head off, me joining in. "I could play this game forever," I whispered to myself, smiling at her.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Huh? Nothing! I was coughing! Those weren't words!" I exclaimed, making a mental note to not whisper to myself anymore.
"This is fun, what you two have," Mabel said from behind me.
"Mabel? How long have you been standing there?"
"Don't worry about that. Let's talk about why I'm doing this dance!" She backed up and started dancing around, kicking her legs all over the place.
"Did you get into Smile Dip again?" Willow asked, walking into the room.
"How you doing?" I asked her. She had been asleep all morning, so I was glad to see her walking around.
"Okay. I'm just grabbing some food. I'm gonna try to make the crossbow automatically draw, so I'm gonna be busy," she told us, grabbing a bunch of candy off the shelves. I nodded and turned back to Mabel just in time to have a calendar hit my face.
"I'm dancing because Sev'ral Timez is playing at the Civic Center and Buffet tonight!"
"Aren't they that boy band that came a decade too late?" Wendy asked. They were good singers, I had to give them that, but the problem was their songs. 20 years ago, it would have been fine, but they had just started a few years ago, and their music was very outdated. I glanced at the calendar and saw that today's date had been circled repeatedly.
"Mabel, you know all those boy bands are fake right?" Willow said, walking back over to the counter, a bunch of snacks in her arms.
"She's right. Their just a manufactured product of the bloated corporate music industry." Mabel stopped dancing and all three of them gave me weird looks.
"What he means is they do anything their manager tells them to do. For all we know, they're just robots someone programed to sing and dance," Wendy stated. I saw Willow smile a bit, so I said the first thing that came into my head.
"How much you wanna bet that there's a machine that mass-produces them." Willow grinned and slightly started acting like her normal self, giving the best theory out of all of them.
"No bet. The boys are grown from pods and get replaced whenever the manager feels they didn't perform well enough." The three of us started cracking up, and I was glad Willow was able to act like her normal self after yesterday.
"Laugh all you want. You guys can't ruin this for me. Mabel's got back up!" The gift shop door opened, Candy and Grenda walking in, both of them wearing Sev'ral Timez t-shirts. "Hey girls! Who's ready for the greatest night of our lives? How many times am I gonna love ya?"
"SEV'RAL TIMEZ!" Mabel and Grenda ran through the employees only door, Candy running into the vending machine before following them.
"Those girls are crazy. Well, I'm gonna go amp up my personal killing machine. See ya, suckers!" Willow grabbed her food and left the room.
"Please tell me they calm down at your age," I asked Wendy, who shook her head.
"'Calm down' is not in Mabel's vocabulary, and unless you wanna be used for target practice, don't piss Willow off." She turned back to the security feed and kicked her feet up on the table again. Her face darkened when Robbie walked through the door.
"Hey, is this the fingerless glove store? I like things that are dumb. I'm Robbie," I tried. Wendy smiled a bit, then glared at Robbie when he walked up to us.
"Laugh it up kid. So Wendy, Nate and his girlfriend are going to Lookout Point tomorrow night. Maybe we should go too?" Wendy reached over the counter and punched his chest angrily.
"Are you kidding me? First you stand me up last night and instead of apologizing you want me to go to Lookout Point?!"
"I'll just be… over here…" I announced, backing out of the room and leaving them mostly alone. I poked my head around the door to continue watching them.
"Look Robbie, I'm not sure this relationship is working out. Maybe we should see other people." They were breaking up? AWESOME! I turned around and grabbed Waddles, celebrating the news.
"Wendy, before you do anything crazy, I want you to hear this," Robbie stated. I put Waddles down and looked back through the door. Robbie pulled a weird case out of his hoodie and took out a CD, then put it in the player that was on the counter. "I wrote this song for you…" he told her, then started singing.
"When I think about you, I feel feelings so deep. I'm tossing and turning, and you know I'm losing sleep. And I know I'm going crazy when I look into your eyes. Just listen to this song and you'll be hypnotai-ai-ai-zed…" I could not believe he thought that would make Wendy-
"Y'know, maybe I was being a little hasty. I'll give you another chance." Wait, WHAT!? I looked through the door and saw Wendy kiss Robbie's cheek. "Let me grab my jacket." I hid behind the door as Wendy walked through, then walked up to Robbie.
"Alright Robbie, I saw that CD. What the hell are you up to?" I asked him. He smirked at me.
"It's called romance kid. Something you'd never understand," he told me as Wendy walked back in, grabbing his arm and leading him out of the gift shop. I glanced around then took the CD out of the player and started examining it. It looked normal, smelled like Robbie's body spray, and tasted-
"What are you doing?" I turned around and saw Mabel and her friends staring at me weird.
"Girls, I know this sounds crazy, but I think Robbie might be hypnotizing Wendy with his music." Mabel smiled and patted my shoulder.
"Oh Dipper, girls just like musicians. You'll understand when your older."
"We're the same age!" I reminded her.
"Girls mature faster than guys. Right Grenda?" We all looked at the girl in question, who was kissing a headshot of one of the band members.
"THIS IS GRENDA TIME!" She yelled defensively, then resumed kissing the photo. They all left me alone with the CD, theories flying through my head a mile a minute. I started walking around the building, staring at the CD, and eventually wound up in the kitchen, where Stan was putting cans of meat on one of the shelves.
"What's with the pacing kid? You look more freaked out than usual," he stated, stepping down from the step ladder he had bought last month. I stopped pacing and looked up him, debating whether or not to tell him another one of my theories.
"I-I dunno. I'm not sure you would understand," I tried, still not sure how much he should know.
"C'mon kid. Try me," he said, sitting in one of the chairs. I shrugged and sat across from him. Worst case scenario was he call me crazy or paranoid and deny that the town was weird.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think Robbie might be brainwashing Wendy with music," I told him, giving him the CD.
"I've seen this before," he told me, examining the CD.
"Really?"
"Her name was Carla McCorkle. Carla 'Hot-Pants' McCorkle," he started, staring at the ceiling as he told me the story. "Me and Carla baby would cut a rug together at the Juke Joint, our favorite 50's themed 1970's diner. Then one day, this new tree hugger shows up and starts playing this transcendental hippie music. Carla's hot-pants turned into bell bottoms before I even knew what happened." He looked back at me and gave the CD back. "My memories get a bit hallucination-y
at the end, but you get the gist."
"So… you actually believe my theory?" I clarified, taking the CD. This was the first time he didn't call me paranoid.
"Damn right I do. And we're going to get to the bottom of it: right after I get to the bottom of this brown meat." He dumped the rest of the meat into his mouth, swallowing all of it at once. "It's apocolicious!" I just stared at him. If he wanted to believe the Mayans and think the world was going to end this year, that was his problem.
Mabel's POV
"Okay girls," I said when we got to the Civic Center. "Have you all practiced your obsessed boy band scream?" The two of them screamed, then McGucket ran up behind us, also screaming. "Just gonna ignore that," I said, me and my girls running up to the ticket booth.
"Sorry girls, you're too late. Show's sold out," the ticket seller said, putting a 'sold out' sign on the window. We all started looking around, 'sold out' signs on all of the posters that were hanging up. We moved over to a bench, Grenda and I sitting down on it.
"This night is ruined," Grenda mumbled. Candy face-planted onto the ground.
"I welcome you, death," she said to the concrete. I looked at them, then at one of the side doors.
"NO!" I yelled, standing up angrily. "I said we were gonna meet Sev'ral Timez tonight and I meant it! And I'm not gonna let a keep out sign keep us out!"
As soon as the concert was over, I was able to use Grenda's hair clip to pick the lock of the back door and get us in. "Hello! Sev'ral Timez?" Grenda called as we walked around the building.
"We want to give you several kisses!" Candy added excitedly. I looked around and saw the band's dressing room, the three of us running up to the door.
"This is it girls. We're finally gonna meet the five cutest boys in the world! They are going to eat their words that boy bands are 'fake.'" I opened the door and walked in, then froze.
In the center of the room was a giant hamster cage, the boys hanging out inside; crawling through tunnels, drinking from the little bottles, running on a hamster wheel. But that was not the strangest thing in the room.
Going around the walls were giant glass tubes, bodies floating in each one of them. There were babies, one's that were my age, and one's that looked just like the boys in each. "Yo, we're clones dawg!" Chubby Z. told the other boys, none of the having noticed us yet.
"O," Grenda stated, staring at the boys.
"M," Candy breathed, looking at the machinery.
"G," I finished. "That is one big hamster tube," I added, staring at the cage. I couldn't believe they-
"Someone's coming!" Candy whispered, pulling me and Grenda behind a clothing rack. We pulled the clothes apart slightly and watched as a bigger, bald man with a gold tooth started yelling at the boys.
"Terrible show! What is wrong with you boys? You barely even sold out the arena! And Deep Chris, you call that a pout?" Deep Chris made the cutest pout ever, but the guy, I'm assuming their manager, wasn't impressed.
"Every one of you should be ashamed of yourselves! Except you Leggy P, you were really on point tonight. Here ya go, gorgeous." The man threw a giant hamster treat into the cage, Leggy P. bending down and eating it. "As for the rest of you, remember, you can always be replaced with your brothers. Dance for me child! DANCE!" One of the older clones started dancing, the man laughing evilly before coughing. "My throat is killing me! Can someone get me a lemon water?" he called into the hallway, slamming the door and knocking me and the girls out of the
rack and onto the floor in front of the cage.
"Who goes there? Prepare to be danced at!" Deep Chris started dancing towards us, but Creggy
G. stepped in front of him.
"Step off Deep Chris. They're ladies. Don't disrespect 'em bro. Don't disrespect."
"My bad," Deep Chris told us, smiling shyly. "Boys, let's calm these boo-bops by posin' for 'em poster style!" They all posed in the same positions as they did in their promo posters. I squealed slightly, looking at all of the boys.
"Trying hard not to let my brain explode. I've always wanted to meet you guys! But what was the deal with that scary chub-chub man?"
"Mr. Bratsman's our producer, yo," Deep Chris told us.
"He genetically engineered us to be the perfect boy band G," Leggy P. added.
'But he keeps us in cages! That junk is straight brutal girl!" Chubby Z. yelled.
"Our one dream is to escape into the real world. For real," Creggy G. explained, then turned to the other boys. "I heard 'bout these things called trees. I dunno what they are, but I wanna kiss one!"
"But we can't disobey Mr. Bratsman. He says he loves us," Greggy C. reminded them.
"If he loved you, he'd set you free," I told them, pulling a bobby pin out of my hair. I started picking the lock while they debated coming with us.
"We're in!" Deep Chris said when I got the cage open.
"Then let's go right now! Me and my friends can help you escape!" I told them.
"We're masters of STEALTH!" Grenda yelled.
"You'd really do that for us beef?" Chubby Z. asked.
"You can count on us!" I smiled, then realized what he said. "Did you just call me beef?"
GFF
I groaned as the girls and I dragged the boys into the shack. We had crammed all five of them into a duffel bag that we had found in their dressing room, then got a taxi back to the shack. I don't mean to sound rude, but those guys weigh a lot more than you think. Even with Grenda's strength, we were struggling.
"Hey guys." Damn; so much for sneaking the boys in here. I turned around and saw Dipper standing in front of me, Grunkle Stan sitting in the living room, both of them watching us. "What's in the bag?"
"Money! Money we stole!" I replied quickly, saying the first thing that came to mind.
"We are criminals! We will cut you!" Candy added, pulling me back.
"Let's go away from here now!" Grenda announced, dragging the boys up half the steps on her own. Candy and I grabbed the other strings and carried the bag into the attic. I unzipped the bag and all the boys fell out, looking around the attic or out the window.
"Your tour bus is really strange, Mabel girl. Where the feedin' tubes at?" Leggy P asked me. Before I could answer, Waddles started oinking excitedly.
"What up girl?" Deep Chris asked him, Waddles rolling around under his hand and oinking.
"So when do we get to go outside?" Creggy G asked me, turning around from the window.
"I wanna cavort like a woodland creature!" Chubby Z added enthusiastically. Before I could answer, car tires screeched from outside. I ran over to the window and saw a limo, the producer
guy closing the door.
"Guys, hide! It's your producer!" I called over my shoulder. The boys all dove under my bed. I looked out the window as the producer walked over to Soos. I cracked open the window and was able to catch the last part of their conversation.
"…here somewhere! I'll find those boys if I have to turn this town upside down!" He turned around and stormed back to the limo. He kicked Gompers away, the goat taking the license plate with him, before getting back into the limo and speeding off.
"Guys, it's not safe out there!" I yelled, closing the window and turning around. "Bratsman's still looking for you!"
"What do we do?" "I'm scared!" "Dang girl!" The boys said from under my bed. I bent down and looked at them, smiling sympathetically.
"Don't worry guys. He'll give up eventually. In the meantime, you can stay here with us!" As the boys celebrated and came out from under the bed, I turned to the girls. "Do you guys realize what's happening here? We have our own pet boy band we can do whatever we want with!"
Before they could respond, I walked over to the boys and sat them down in a line, me in the front. "All aboard the braid train! Braid braid!" The boys started braiding mine and each other's hair as Candy and Grenda looked at us weird. "What?" I asked, thinking about all the fun the boys and I could have.
Dipper's POV (July 11th)
"It took me a long time, but I converted it into a record for you guys," Willow said, walking into the living room, a new-old record in her hands. "Why did you need me to do that again?"
"We needed to slow it down so we could see if my mind control theory is correct or not," I reminded her, putting the records on Stan's record player. "Prepare to have your mind blown."
"Spit take here I come!" Stan said, filling his mouth with Pitt Cola. The song started playing at normal speed, but when I slowed it down, it sounded like… a slowed down record. "That's not spit worthy. What gives?" Stan asked, swallowing the soda. I moved the speed dial up and down, but, of course, no hidden messages were revealed.
"This was so stupid!" I yelled, slamming my fist on the table. "Of course there's no mind control messages! Mabel was right; Wendy just liked the song. She just likes Robbie." I sat in one of the chairs, thumping my head on the table. For some reason, the sound echoed. I looked up and saw Wendy and Robbie walking in.
"Hey guys. Forgot my keys," Wendy said, walking towards the gift shop.
"What's up junior? Trying to come up with an equation to make girls like you?" Robbie asked me, laughing at his joke. Wendy walked back in, slipping her arm through Robbie's.
"Ready to go to lookout point?" She asked as they left.
"Later dorks. Catch ya on the rewind," Robbie said, closing the door behind him.
"I'll rewind your face!" Stan called after him. I looked back at the record and the pieces clicked.
"Grunkle Stan, rewind! That's it!" I started spinning the record backwards, the message coming through loud and clear.
You are under my control. Your mind is mine.
Soda splattered in my face. "Holy mackerel! Now there's your spit take!" Stan said as I wiped the soda off.
"I knew it! It is mind control! Wait. It's mind control! I've gotta save Wendy!" I yelled, grabbing the tapeman I had used to record the message.
"Finally a good reason to punch a teenager in the face! Let's roll!" Stan yelled, grabbing his keys, the three of us jumping into his car to save our friend from an evil mind-controlling goth kid.
Mabel's POV
"How'd it go up there?" Grenda asked me as I walked into the kitchen. After all the fun we had had with them today, and not getting busted at all, I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I sighed and sat down next to her and Candy, putting the news on.
"I finally got them to calm down. But Greggy C did try to eat a tape dispenser a few times," I explained, downing half a bottle of water in one gulp.
"The music industry was shanked today at the news that boy band king, Ergman Bratsman, has been arrested." Wait, WHAT? I turned up the volume on the TV, hoping I had heard wrong. Nope; Shandra Jimenez was reporting his arrest, the video playing in the corner of the screen. "He was pulled over tonight for not having a rear license plate. He is now in county jail, awaiting trial."
"Yes!" Grenda exclaimed, turning the TV off.
"Let's go tell the boys they are free now!" Candy yelled, her and Grenda running up the steps, me literally right on their heels. As soon as we got on the attic level, I ran around them and blocked the door.
"Not so fast! They're not going anywhere!" I yelled, throwing my arms out in front of me.
"What's the dealio Mabel? That evil producer guy is gone. We have to tell the boys," Grenda said, but I could see her brain working overtime. She's a lot smarter than people give her credit for. But that wasn't important right now. What was important was me keeping the boys in the attic… for their protection.
"Girls, let's not be so hasty. I mean, think about it. If we don't tell the boys, then they can stay here with me - I mean us!" I told them, correcting myself quickly.
"Mabel, we can't keep them here forever," Grenda reminded me.
"But I love them!" I responded.
"If you loved them, you would set them free," Candy reasoned.
"Never! Every boy I've loved this summer has left me! And I'm not gonna let it happen again!" They whispered to each other and then Candy ran at me. We fell backwards through the doorway and onto the attic floor.
"Guys, Bratsman's in jail! You're free!" Grenda yelled, pulling Candy off of me. FYI, Candy's stronger than she looks.
"Is that true Mabel dog?" Creggy G asked me.
"NO!" I yelled, standing up and dusting off. "No, umm… your producer's still out there! You're gonna have to stay here, probably forever!"
"She is lying! You cannot listen to her!" Candy told the boys.
"Mabel's our girl, girl. She puts pizza in our food though," Deep Chris told them.
"She changes our newspaper yo. She's aight," Chubby Z added.
"She is not 'aight' Cubby Z!" Grenda told them.
"Sev'ral Timez!" I snapped, the boys standing at attention like I train… TAUGHT them! "Remove these two from the premises please." The boy started snapping and moving towards the girls.
"They're aggressively dancing at us!" Grenda yelled as the boys picked her and Candy up.
"Mabel's gone mad with power! Save yourselves, Sev'ral Timez! You were better off with your producer!" The boys threw them out of the room, closing the door and posing. "Call me Deep Chris!" Grenda added, poking her head back in. Leggy P kicked backwards, closing the door.
"Thank you boys," I sighed, glad they hadn't found out they could leave. "Now let's get aboard the braid train."
"Things just got pretty heavy Mabel," Deep Chris said. "Maybe we should just chill for a minute and-"
"I said, let's get aboard the BRAIN TRAIN!" I interrupted him, not missing the looks the boys gave each other.
Willow's POV
"We gotta warn Wendy about the song before she gets brainwashed again!" Dipper recapped, his adrenaline getting the better of him. After we had found the message the three of us had gotten into Stan's El Diablo, which was rightly named; Stan was driving like the Devil was on our tail.
"Road safety laws, prepare to be ignored! HOLD ON!" Stan yelled, crashing through a blocked road and literally driving up the side of the mountain, crash landing at Lookout Point. Robbie's van was facing west, looking towards the sunset. I gotta admit, it was a nice place. The three of us climbed, or fell, out of the car, Dipper running over to the van.
"Wendy, Robbie's been lying to you!" Dipper yelled as Wendy rolled her window down, confusion clear in both her and Robbie's faces.
"Dipper?" She asked.
"Kid? Girl? Mr. Pines?" Robbie added.
"I have a name!" "That's Mr. Pines to you!" Stan and I replied, walking up behind Dipper, Robbie getting even more confused.
"Wendy, I'm sorry, but you gotta hear this," Dipper said, hitting play on the tapeman. Robbie's song started playing, completely normal, no hidden messages. Dipper started fiddling with it, swearing the message was in there somewhere.
"Let me just close the window," Robbie said, reaching for the button. Before he could close the window, Dipper got the tapeman figured out, the message coming through loud and clear.
You are under my control. Your mind is mine.
"Robbie, what's that doing in our song?" Wendy asked, doubtfulness in her voice.
"Baby, I promise, I don't know anything about those messages," Robbie insisted. "In fact, I didn't even write that song. I ripped it off of some other band! So we're all good, right?" Worse thing he could have said.
"No, we are not 'all good!'" Wendy told him, Dipper, Stan and I having backed up to give them a sort-of privacy. "I don't care about the messages. You said you wrote that song for me and I actually thought it was sweet, you big liar!"
"I know, I know, I lie about a lot of stuff. Like using your makeup and fighting a bear, but-" I REALLY needed to get that full story later on. But now wasn't the time for it.
"No! No excuses! It's over Robbie. We're through! Goodbye!" Wendy stepped out of the van, slamming the door behind her. Stan turned to Dipper, a huge grin on his face.
"We won! Kid, this is a victory for every guys whose hands are too weak of fat to play a musical instrument!"
"I couldn't have done it without you, Grunkle Stan," Dipper thanked him, turning around to look at Wendy, who was furiously walking away. He ran over and caught up to her. "Hey, now that your free, we were thinking maybe bowling or something?"
Oh my God, did he REALLY just do that? God, he did. A message to all the young girls out there; BOYS ARE IDIOTS! Wendy turned around, and for the first time this summer, I saw her, the level-headed, no worries, lumber-jackie, crying.
"Are you serious? Right now?" She asked, her voice cracking. "What is wrong with guys? You only think about yourselves! All of you should just leave me alone!" She ran down the hill, something in me telling me to follow her. As I was leaving, I heard a honk, and Stan saying something about the apocalypse and gold.
Wendy ran off the path and cut through the trees, me trying to follow her. Don't get me wrong, I was able to keep up pretty well, but all the trees and undergrowth made it a challenge. Eventually we ended up at the top of the cliffs, Wendy dangling her legs over the side, me a few feet behind her. "Why did you follow me?" She asked without turning around.
"You want me to leave?" I questioned. She shook her head, and I took that as a signal to sit next to her.
"What is wrong with boys?" She asked after a few minutes. I shrugged, deciding I would just let her vent.
"Hell if I know. I was hoping you had some answers," I started off. She smiled and looked at me. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still wet and red.
"You know what, I sometimes forget you're twelve. You handle yourself so well," she told me. "I haven't figured out boys yet, and I don't think I ever will."
"You got any advice for me? I haven't told the other's, but I could really use it."
"About Alex?" I nodded. She thought for a minute, then gave me what advice she could. "Okay. I don't know that much about him and the two of you, so I don't really know what to tell you. But I do know this; I'm the only girl in a family of boys. They all are crazy, but they would do anything to protect me, and I would do the same for them. And from the little bit I've talked to Alex, I am dead serious; he would do literally ANYTHING to protect you.
"I don't know what it's like to be close to someone in the military. Hell, the farthest away from Gravity Falls I've been has just been camping. But I have a sixth sense that lets me be able to read people. When I met Alex, feelings of guilt and sorrow and passion and love came through so clearly that I almost passed out.
"He has grown up faster than most people; I think you all have. From what Dipper's told me, you guys say 'I love you' a lot. I know that you guys are twelve, but my sixth sense hasn't let me down before; you two are some of the very, very, VERY few that will be able to make it work no matter what.
"And if I could give you one piece of advice that applies to boys in general… they are so scared of losing you that they do stupid things to try to keep you safe and with them."
"Even brainwashing you?" I asked when she was done. That was the most I've ever heard her say, and I think it was what we both needed to hear. She laughed, real laughter, me joining in.
"Even brainwashing you. So you good now?"
"Maybe not quite yet, but I will be. What about you? You think you'll forgive the boys?" She stopped, realizing that what she had just told me applied to her as well.
"Eventually, yes. But not just yet." Call it coincidence, but just then, the clouds that had been breezing past all day cleared for just a few seconds, a beam of moonlight lighting up the Mystery Shack. We glanced at each other and stood up, starting to walk back down the cliffs, both of us confused and upset, but knowing that eventually things would get better, for all of us.
When the wind tries to blow you away, you just need one small thing to keep you grounded.
Mabel's POV
"Mabel, you've gotta hear this," Creggy G said, him and the other boys walking up to me. "It's a song we wrote to say 'thank you,'" he added, playing a song and starting to sing.
"Here come you, Mabel girl! We dreamed of being free, but now we know, that that can never be. You know what friend are all about; you kicked those lying shorty's out." They started, ripping a poster I had of Candy and Grenda in half, the guilt starting to sink in as the continued singing.
"BREAK IT DOWN! Who's the girl whose so aight, tucks us into bed at night! Holds the fan up while we sing! KEEPS ME ENTERTAINED WITH STRING! My shirt was wrinkled till, SHE PRESSED IT! Chews our food, SO WE CAN DIGEST IT! He was evil, mean and reckless; YOU GAVE ME THIS CANDY NECKLACE! 'Sup girl, other folks we could never trust, but we know, that you'd never lie to us. Mabel girl, we know you love us SoOoOo…"
"And… that's why I've got to let you go," I finished. "Boys, sit down," I told them. They did as I asked, then I told them the truth that should have been said a long time ago.
In the morning, I went downstairs and opened the front door to see Candy and Grenda about to enter.
"Hi girls. Look, I'm really sorry I went bonkers back there. A catchy song made me realize that you were right. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course!" "Friendship, repaired!" They said, the three of us hugging as the boys came outside for the first time.
"What's going on Mabel girl?" Leggy P asked me.
"You said you had something to show us or some deal?" Chubby Z added.
"Yup; THIS!" I said, spreading my arms out to show them the forest. Cubby Z was the first to say something.
"Who is this big, round bright fool?"
"That, Chubby Z, is the sun."
"That fool is making my eyes hurt straight painful! I'm gonna stare that fool down!" He said, lasting all of five seconds. Deep Chris spoke up next.
"Hold up. What's that big green mess?"
"That's nature, Deep Chris. Bratsman won't bother you guys anymore. You can do anything you wanna do, go anywhere you wanna go! You're free!"
"Fa-ree?" Chubby Z. asked. I nodded and grabbed a stick, trying not to let my tears fall.
"You're free! It jeans you can skedaddle!" I started hitting their legs with the stick. They moved forward a bit, then turned back to me. "Get out of here before I change my mind!" I yelled, crying into Grenda's shoulder.
"Goodbye, Girl!" They sang, backing into the bushes and their new lives. There was a few seconds of silence, then Candy said the obvious truth.
"They won't last a week."
Dipper's POV
"Women; they're the real mystery, Dip," Stan said, popping a Pitt Cola can and giving it to me. "You ruin their date, drive their hippie boyfriend's car into a ravine, and somehow you're the bad guy."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have meddled in Wendy's personal life," I admitted. "She probably hates me now."
"Chin up kid. You were trying to do the right thing. Even though you destroyed a relationship and part of my car."
"I guess that's true. You think she'll ever forgive me?"
"I bet she will. And until then, you can always go bowling with me."
"Thanks Grunkle Stan," I said, impressed with-
"Is something rooting through our trash?" Stan said, standing up and yelling out the window. I could have sworn whatever it was looking just like one of the people from the band Mabel was into. "Darn beautiful men. Always eating out of my trash… Wait what?"
Just then, Mabel and her friend walked in, sitting down next to us.
"Mabel, what are the chances of one of your boy band members eating our trash?" I asked her. She smiled slightly.
"Pretty high. So was Wendy really being hypnotized, or are your just paranoid?" She asked. Stan actually stood up for me for once.
"Try brainwashing." After her saw the confused look on Mabel's face, he smiled. "I think we all missed something. Ten bucks says Dip and I's story is weirder."
Fifteen minutes later, Mabel was ten dollars richer, and Stan was back to denying that this town is messed up. Come on dude! Seriously?! He's been living here for thirty YEARS, and if I missed that much in two days, there must be something seriously major going on if Stan doesn't know about the magic.
Ah, foreshadowing. The best literary element that doesn't make you want to kill the creators. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I sure had fun writing it. Please give me your thoughts, keep sending in questions for the Q&A, and I will see you in two weeks!