"Well, Pine Tree," Bill said, leaning casually on his little cane, "don't let me interrupt you. What would you give to have an easy solution to all this?"
"It was a figure of speech, Bill," Dipper said, recovering from his shock and glaring at the demon. "Not an invitation to come into my mind and spread more of your lies!"
"Whoa-ho-ho!" Bill said, putting up his hands placatingly, "You're still mad, I see. Don't take it out on me just because your sister ruined everything for you! Ahhahahaha!"
Dipper gritted his teeth at the reminder. While he did feel guilty about blowing up on Mabel like that, he was still pretty mad at her. "Actually, I think you're the best person to take it out on," Dipper spat, "Maybe then you'll take a hint and LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Bill suddenly appeared behind him, upside down and laughing even harder. "Oh, Pine Tree, that's hilarious! Do you really think your little tantrums can get rid of me?" Bill, still upside down, wrapped an arm around Dipper's shoulders. "I already told you, kid, I need your help with something. I've just been waiting for a chance to make the best offer I could!" Bill let go before Dipper could shove him off, and he righted himself as he began floating in a circle around Dipper. "I was going to do it when you found that monitoring system, y'know, but you didn't go to sleep that night. I admit, I was a little worried for a while there, but then Shooting Star came in at the last minute and gave me even more to work with!"
"And why, exactly, should I trust someone who thinks it's great that I have so many problems right now?" Dipper said angrily.
"C'mon, now, Pine Tree," Bill said, rolling his eye. "You're not really gonna hold being a shrewd businessman against me, are you? But to answer your question…" Bill grew in size, his body becoming like a screen. An image of Stan appeared, the same one he'd used last time of Stan lying about believing in the supernatural. "Your uncle might be lying to you," the image changed, becoming a scene of Mabel holding the disc, "your sister has been scheming behind your back," the image changed to Soos defending Mabel from a few minutes ago, "and even good ol' Question Mark has turned on you!" Bill went back to normal size, leaning back casually in the air. "The way I see it, you're running low on trustworthy options. You've pretty much got no choice but to invest in someone untrustworthy. And if you're doing that anyway, you might as well invest in the guy who's offering solutions, not 'support.'" He made air quotes around the last word. Bill rolled over in the air, now looking more like he was laying on his stomach. "So, whaddya say, Pine Tree? Interested?"
Dipper mulled over Bill's words. He found it surprisingly forthright that Bill acknowledged he wasn't a trustworthy option, and was instead trying to sell himself as the best bad choice. The angry part of him agreed that there weren't any good options, and the tired part of him really liked the idea of easy answers. The paranoid part of him warned that a bad offer was still a bad offer, but Dipper realized he hadn't actually heard what Bill was asking for yet, so he said. "What do you even want, anyway? My soul? You gonna rip out my teeth, or replace my eyes with baby heads or something?"
"Yeesh, kid, relax," Bill said, waving his hand dismissively. "All I want is a puppet!"
"A puppet?" Dipper asked, confused.
"Sure, everyone loves puppets!" Bill continued, like this was the most normal request in the world. "You could grab one from your sister, even. She got dumped by her boyfriend today, y'know, so she won't even miss it!"
Dipper's eyes narrowed. "What's your angle? Why go to all this trouble with me if you just want a puppet?"
"Because I like you, kid." Bill said, "All alone against the world, a ticking time bomb on that laptop of yours, haha, it's been millennia since I got to watch a story this exciting! Look, bottom line is I need a puppet for the next stage in my plan, and I want it to come from you." Bill held out his hand, which was now wreathed in blue flame. "So, let's make a deal. You give me a puppet, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Dipper looked at the hand, thinking hard. There was a catch, there had to be, but Dipper couldn't see it. Maybe he's buttering me up for a later deal? Like how they give you free samples at the grocery store? But couldn't I just turn down the later deal? So, with alarm bells still ringing in his head, Dipper slowly reached for Bill's hand.
Mabel heaved a sigh, letting her arm fall to her side. She'd just finished mind wiping all the Society members. They were still tied up, many looking confused as to why. She looked around for inspiration, and her eyes landed on McGucket. She grinned. She cleared her throat in front of the group, surreptitiously hiding the memory gun behind her back. "And that concludes the interactive portion of our tour!"
"Tour?" Farmer Sprottle said.
"Yes," Mabel said, "the Gold Miner Appreciation tour! This part of the exhibit is about what it was like to be tied up in the mines as a sacrifice for the god of gold, uh, Goldzilla!" Mumbles of understanding and appreciation came from the crowd of former Society members while Mabel untied them. Mabel clapped her hands once, loudly. "Right, now that the sacrifice is done, that concludes our tour! Please follow the gold miner to the exit." Mabel looked at McGucket expectantly, and he looked startled, before he nodded slightly and waved the crowd to follow him. "Thank you for coming, and remember to tip the gold miner on your way out!" Mabel called after them.
Once they were out of sight, though, she slumped against the nearest pillar, completely worn out. What a day… she thought, rubbing her eyes. She could hardly believe it had only been that morning that she'd considered taking a lazy day after a fight with Dipper. A fight that might still be going on. she thought with a sigh as she looked at the staircase that Dipper had stormed up. She looked at it for a moment, half expecting him to come back down, but he didn't. Instead she turned her eyes to Soos and Melody, who had found their own pillar to sit by and seemed to be discussing the day's events. Soos put his hand behind his head in a sheepish way as he said something, causing Melody to laugh and lean against him. Soos looked surprised, then smiled and wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. Mabel smiled too. At least one good thing came out of today. She let herself enjoy the moment, basking in the romance, before something unexpected happened.
The cheerleader robot, which had been lying still up until now, suddenly sparked. Mabel, Soos, and Melody all jumped at the sound, though only Mabel and Melody scrambled to their feet immediately as it began to stand up. Soos followed a moment later, and Mabel remembered that he'd had his memories of .GIFanny erased. Mabel typed ".GIFanny" back into the memory gun, and was just about to point it at the robot when it raised a hand in greeting. "Hello, who are you?" she said in .GIFanny's voice.
Mabel hesitated, looking at Soos and Melody. They both looked confused, too, so she just said. "I'm Mabel."
"Mabel." .GIFanny said slowly. "And, who am I?"
Mabel was surprised, to say the least. She hadn't thought .GIFanny would be person-y enough to be memory wiped, and had instead been erased forever. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, .GIFanny had been cruel, had tried to take Soos away for herself, before trying to kill them all. On the other hand, though, she wasn't sure if she should hold that against this .GIFanny. It was like she'd been totally reset, even her eyes were no longer bright red, and were instead a soft pink. Mabel did not have the brainpower right now to wonder about the philosophical implications of memory erasure on personal accountability, so she did what she did best and went with her heart. And at heart, she wasn't a very grudging person.
Mabel walked forward and put a hand on the animatronic's arm. "Your name is, uh, Tiffany. You're a robot cheerleader who's totally nice to everyone!"
The newly named Tiffany tilted her head. "Yes, I am Tiffany. I will be friends with everyone." She placed her other hand over Mabel's. "We are friends now, yes?"
"Sure!" Mabel said, leading Tiffany toward the staircase.
"Mabel, are you sure this is a good idea?" Melody asked.
"All ideas are good ideas!" Mabel declared, "You two just go back to being cute, alright? I got this." Melody looked a bit uncertain, but turned back toward Soos anyway. He still looked a bit confused, so she started telling him what happened with .GIFanny. Mabel hurried Tiffany out of there in case the conversation triggered any memories.
"I have a question, new friend." Tiffany said as they walked up the stairs.
"Yeah?" Mabel said.
"You see, I do remember one thing."
"Yeah?" Mabel said, much more warily.
"I remember my prime directive," Tiffany said, "I must seek out love. But, what is love?"
Mabel was silent for a long while, thinking about how to answer that. She thought of her own many failed romances, based on the grand gestures and huge declarations of love that she'd read about in all the romance novels. She'd thought all those books made her a love expert, but none of her boyfriends had worked out. Gabe, especially, was still fresh, and all the more painful from how much work she'd put into getting him. Then, she thought about Soos and Melody, who would have, if circumstances were different, gone to a children's pizzeria for their first date. It wasn't very romantic or grand, but it was very Soos, and Melody had been charmed by it. He hadn't needed to make a whole sock opera to impress her, or take her somewhere fancy, or obsess over her the way Mabel obsessed over her crushes (or how .GIFanny had obsessed over him, come to think of it). He'd just needed to be himself.
They reached the top of the stairs, and Mabel saw Dipper leaning against the fireplace, his shoulders rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Mabel looked at him for a moment, and found an answer. She turned to Tiffany, and said, "Love is when two people care about each other. It's seeing who someone else is, who they really are, and choosing to care about them because of it. And it's knowing that they're doing the same for you," Mabel looked back at Dipper, "It's being there for each other. Whatever happens, whatever differences you have and whatever arguments you get into, it's knowing that nothing could ever make you love them less."
Tiffany took a moment to process this answer, then shook her head. "I do not understand. It is too abstract."
Mabel laughed. "Love is abstract. And it doesn't always make sense, either. But I think that's why it's so important," Mabel waved Tiffany out of the room. "Go and meet people. Find out who they are, and show them who you are, and maybe then you'll find love."
"I still do not understand," Tiffany said, "But if this is the only way to find love, then I shall do so. It will also allow me to fulfill my secondary directive: make friends with everyone." Tiffany waved at Mabel. "Goodbye. I will see you later, friend."
Mabel waved back. "Bye, Tiffany." After Tiffany had left, she said, "I wonder if letting a robot wander around town is the best move." She thought about it for a second, then shrugged. She walked to the opposite wall, facing Dipper, and sat down. Maybe she didn't know exactly how things would work out between them. But she did know that she loved Dipper, and that he loved her, and she believed that that would be enough to see them through.
As Dipper reached out for Bill's hand, his eyes landed on the marks on his wrist. The place where the Society had tied him down and nearly erased his mind. A fate that Mabel had saved him from. Dipper's eyes widened, and he curled his hand into a fist and pulled it back. "No deal, Bill!" he declared.
Bill glowed red. "What!"
"No matter how mad I am at her, Mabel is not untrustworthy! She saved my life today!" Dipper said.
Bill was shaking with rage. "You idiot! Don't you know what's coming?! You'd really throw away everything I'm offering for your dumb sibling?!"
The words were ominous, and they made Dipper's throat tighten and his anxiety spike. The Device Charging screen imposed itself over his vision, along with the broken memory tube and Stan's name in the password screen. All of those things terrified Dipper, but this time instead of pushing them aside he thought of Mabel. Dipper remembered all the moments from the last few weeks where Mabel had been there for him. He remembered hours spent making flash cards together, her excitement at working out a secret code, and a warm smile when he'd been feeling his worst. Dipper's answer was easy. "Of course I would, she's my sister. I'd take her help a thousand times before I'd take yours!"
Bill sighed deeply, his body returning to yellow as he pinched the area around his eye. "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you. Hey," Bill said, his voice becoming suddenly cheerful as he looked at Dipper again, "here's a parting gift for you. You know all those intrusive thoughts you have around your uncle? At least one of them has been true. Have fun with that!" Bill disappeared, and Dipper suddenly sat up. He was still leaning against the fireplace. He shook his head, trying to dispel Bill's parting words from his mind.
"Hey," a voice said, cutting across his efforts. Dipper looked for the source, and saw Mabel sitting across the room from him.
Dipper looked at her for a moment, trying to think of what to say, but he couldn't think of anything good, so he also just said, "Hey." Awkward silence stretched out between them after that. Dipper shifted uncomfortably. I'd hoped to have some time to figure out what I was going to say. Still, this awkwardness is kinda my fault, so… Dipper cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, about what I said earlier," he finally said.
"Thanks," Mabel said. "And I'm sorry about getting Tiffany involved in this."
Dipper frowned. "Wait, I thought her name was .GIFanny?"
Mabel chuckled a bit. "I'll get you caught up on that. So," she hesitated, "are we OK?"
Dipper sighed. "Look…I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still kinda mad at you for buying that stupid game." Mabel shrunk a bit, opening her mouth to say something, "But," Dipper continued, "I still trust you. And this mess is at least half my fault anyway, so," Dipper smiled at her, "yeah, we're OK." Dipper stood up, and stepped forward while holding his arms out. "Awkward sibling hug?" he asked.
He felt like a doofus standing there with his arms out to someone on the other side of the room, which is probably why Mabel took so long to stand up and join him. But eventually she did, with her own, "Awkward sibling hug." As they embraced, Mabel said, "We're a team. No more secrets or sneaking around behind each other's backs."
"And no more rushing off on our own," Dipper added. "We face whatever happens together." They sealed the deal with their mutual "Pat, pat" and separated. Dipper felt a mixture of relief and contentment after their talk, which faded somewhat as he remembered that there was something he needed to tell Mabel. "If we're not keeping secrets anymore, I'll start," he said, "I've been having dreams with Bill in them."
"Bill?" Mabel said, "Wait, the triangle guy?" She made a triangle with her fingers and put them over her eye.
"Yeah, twice now." Dipper said. "The first time was right after I found the password, and the second was just a minute ago. He said he'd tell me what Stan's up to and what the device is in exchange for a puppet."
"A puppet?" Mabel asked in confusion.
"That's what I said!" Dipper said, "I almost took the deal the second time, because I mean how much damage could he really cause with a puppet? But I knew there had to be a catch, so I turned him down."
Mabel looked worried and thoughtful. "Good call. I can't think of a catch, either, but I don't trust that evil triangle." They stood there for a few minutes, until Dipper let out a massive yawn. "Oh great, now you're gonna give it to me…" Mabel trailed off with her own yawn.
Dipper laughed. "C'mon, let's get Soos, Melody, and McGucket and go home." Dipper led the way down the stairs. As the dim red light from the eyeball room faded, he felt fear crawl up his spine. Instead of speeding up, though, he turned to Mabel. "So, tell me the deal with Tiffany." Dipper said.
"Oh yeah! It was kinda crazy. See, after I mind wiped the Society, the cheerleader robot stood back up!"
"Really?! Is everyone alright?!"
"Yeah, turns out she had her memory erased, instead of being deleted…" They continued to talk as they made their way down the stairs. Dipper didn't relax, exactly, but he didn't feel awful either. For the first time in what felt like forever, he had hope that things would turn out OK.
Eerht srettel kcab
JROGCLOOD UHDO?! (QRW FOLFNEDLW!)
Previous code: WHEN ONE THING IS SPARED, ANOTHER MUST BREAK.
Notes: And thus concludes the first real arc of this story. I hope you liked it! One of my curses as a writer is that I always second guess myself. When I write something bad happening, I agonize over whether it's too angsty. And when I write something good happening, I agonize over whether it's too sappy. Ultimately, though, I just have to go with my gut, and my gut said that, this arc at least, should have a happy conclusion.
Speaking of, things are looking alright for Dipper and Mabel. It's almost like they actually learned something. For now, anyway, we all know how bad both of them are at following their own advice. .GIFanny getting mind wiped was something I don't think anyone predicted (and renaming her to Tiffany is totally a symbol of new beginnings, and not me getting tired of typing out .GIFanny every time haha.) There is a reason for it, but it won't be revealed until way, way later in the story.
The next chapter will be a bit of a breather. I think we need one, and we definitely need a time skip to get to the next arc on Soos' birthday. As always, thank you for reading! Ratings and reviews are always much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed it!