AN: Man this thing's been gathering dust. Same as last year, I'm gonna try and write as much of this as I can by the end of the month.
With it it being their day off, Bluey, Bingo, Lucky, Augie, Shag, Yakky and Adorabat were at the local amusement park, very much looking forward to the rides and games that lay ahead. Along with them were non-cop friends Rusty, Mackenzie and Indy. After the week-long spike in reports, they figured now could be the best time to blow off some steam.
"Thanks again for letting us tag along, you guys." Mackenzie said in gratitude.
"Don't mention, Mackenzie." Bluey replied as they all paid for their admission.
The group were in awe of the scale of the carnival. They looked around, struggling to decide which game or ride to try first.
"So, what's our game plan here?" Shag asked.
"We'll split off in pairs and then we'll meet back up at the end of the day." Bluey said.
"Hang on." Bingo interjected. "Where will we meet?"
"How about the ice cream shop?" Lucky suggested, pointing to the nearby ice cream parlor.
"Sounds like a plan." Adorabat agreed.
"Ready to get your tail kicked at the games?" Rusty gloated to Indy.
"Come on, Rusty. Let's just have fun." She giggled with a roll of her eyes as she and the kelpie split off from the group.
"Later, guys. I got a date with a Ms. Tummy Tornado." Shag said as he made a beeline for the giant rollercoaster in the distance.
"Hey, wait up!" Augie called, running after him.
Over with Yakky and Adorabat, the former was trying her hand at a carnival classic: The High Striker. Winding back with the mallet in her grasp, all she could muster was an admittedly pathetic swing. The puck didn't even make it a quarter of the way up, much to the carny's amusement. Paying no mind to that, Adorabat took her turn. While she was far more impressive, she was just short of the bell, no matter how many times she tried.
"Better luck next time, kid." The carny told her mockingly. "Maybe when you're a bit bigger."
"I'll show you!" Adorabat growled.
"Adorabat, calm down." Yakky tried to tell her.
But the bat had already soared high into the the sky before diving straight into the game's lever. Not only did the puck right the bell, it flew out of the tower and out of sight. Seeing that, the shivering carny nervously handed her a teddy bear.
"Yay!" Adorabat cheered, back to her cheerful demeanor.
Meanwhile on the Tummy Tornado, the ride had just come to an end. When the gates opened, a flood of people stampeded off, nearly crushing the employee in the process. The whole thing was seen by Lucky and Mackenzie. They then saw a nervous-looking Shag and Augie shortly followed after him, covered in vomit.
"Whoa!" Mackenzie asked, spitting the bite of his hotdog that was in his mouth. "What happened to you?"
"And why was everyone in such a rush to get off?" Lucky asked.
"Shag barfed everyone." Augie groaned before glaring at the bear. "I told you not to eat before getting on."
"I said I was sorry!" Shag defended.
Elsewhere, Bluey was chasing Bingo around, giggling as she tried to decide what to do first. All of a sudden, Bingo stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted something that made her gasp in wonder. Bluey came within inches of bumping into her sister due to the sudden stop.
"Bluey! Look!" Bingo gawked, pointing at the building.
Bluey looked and she gained the same sparkles in her eyes when she saw the colorful structure. With mascots painted on the walls welcoming potential customers and ignoring the sleepy carny tending to it slumping in his chair, Bluey and Bingo squealed in delight.
"FUNHOUSE! FUNHOUSE! FUNHOUSE!" They chanted as they excitedly marched inside, waking the carny up in the process.
"Hey! You two gotta pay for this!" He called out.
In her haste to experience the funhouse, Bluey ran outside and threw a handful of money (mostly coins) into his face before running back inside.
Inside the funhouse, the sisters were waving a ball. The building was filled to the brim with amusing oddities. They encountered extremely long slides, ball pits, doors that led to nowhere or gag rooms, mirrors that contorted their reflection and everything else imaginable. Finally got to the last part of the funhouse: the Maze of Mirrors.
"Bluey, won't we get lost in there?" Bingo asked, a slight tremble in her voice.
"Yeah, but that's what mazes are for." Bluey pointed out.
Bingo still appeared apprehensive about going inside. So in response, Bluey gently grabbed her sister's paw.
"Don't worry, I got you." Bluey assured her.
"Thanks, Bluey." Bingo replied as they proceeded inside.
The inside of the maze was about as confusing as one would expect. Dead ends and paths were disguised as each other thanks to the mirrors, plexiglass barriers that they would mistakenly bump into, and the inconsistent lighting only added to the eerie lack of direction. Lightening the mood were the few goofy mirrors that dotted the place, but not by much. However, after what felt like an eternity, Bingo spotted something out of the corner of her eye.
"Bluey! Look!" She called. "The exit!"
"Good eye, Bingo." She praised as they tried to rush towards it.
Halfway there however, Bluey fell down a trapdoor and travelled down a slide leading to another, more dimly-lit part of the maze.
"Bluey! Are you okay?" Bingo called.
"Yeah!" Bluey replied as she got up. "You wait for me by the exit. I'll find my way back up there."
Pulling out her flashlight, she made her way through the dim corridors. However, that quickly proved to be easier said than done when she kept bumping into mirrors and barriers. She didn't want to admit it, but this place was starting to get on her nerves and creep her out a bit.
"Biscuits." She cursed.
Just then, when she came across yet another mirror filled corridor, she noticed something odd. The mirror at the end of it was covered by a tarp. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Bluey approached it and lifted up the tarp. She expected the mirror to be cracked or something, but no. It was perfectly fine with not even a smudge on it.
"Why would they cover up a perfectly good mirror in a mirror maze?" She pondered to herself before shrugging.
As Bluey roamed through the maze, the place was now really starting to get on her nerves. And as she did, she could've sworn she saw her reflection in one of the mirrors behaving differently, though she dismissed that a mere trick of the light. Finally, after several more minutes, she found the exit door and Bingo standing there with hear tail wagging happily.
"Finally, I thought you were never gonna get out." Bingo sighed in relief.
"You and me both." Bluey agreed as they both walked out of the funhouse.
The two sisters made their way to the the agreed meeting point: the ice cream parlor. There, they found their friends hanging out and waiting for them.
"There you are, you two." Lucky said.
"What took you so long?" Mackenzie added.
"I got lost in the mirror maze in the funhouse." Bluey explained.
"Well, I guess it did its job." Shag chuckled.
"Those mirror mazes always give me the creeps." Yakky quivered.
Just then, Rusty and Indy showed up, both hauling wagons full of toys.
"Hey, guys! What did we miss?" Indy asked.
"Woah, how'd you win so many prizes?" Augie marveled.
"Turns out, Indy is actually pretty good at the games." Rusty explained.
The next morning, Bluey tossed and turn around on her bed even as the sun beamed down on her face. Eventually, she managed to finally pull herself up out of bed. When she noticed that Bingo was nowhere to be found and looked at the clock on the wall, she immediately realized something.
"Oh no! I'm late!" She cried.
She rushed to get ready; bathing, brushing, putting on her uniform. She rushed downstairs and saw hastily Chilli putting on her own ISCPO uniform. When she saw Bluey rushing up to her she looked at her daughter in confusion.
"Bluey? What are you doing back here?" She asked.
This only served to confuse Bluey.
"Mum, what are you talking about? I just got up!" She pointed out.
"I thought you went with Bingo and Dad." Her mother said.
"Well, obviously I didn't!" Bluey said.
Chilli scratched her head as she thought it over.
"Aw man, I guess we really are just that busy." She figured. "You know what? You come with me."
And with that, Bluey and Chilli rushed to the cruiser and hastily made their way to the station. Bluey then rushed inside, and made her way to her cubicle. She was more than a bit confused when she found the desk cleared of paperwork from last night. Before she could utter anything, her attention was grabbed by Lucky and Adorabat
"Sorry I was almost late, guys." Bluey panted.
"Late?" Adorabat asked.
"Weren't you out on patrol with Bingo?" Lucky added.
"No!" Bluey insisted exasperatedly as she rubbed her temples. "What is going on today?"
"What's going on today?" Augie asked as she and Shag walked over.
"People keep telling me that I've already done today stuff I don't remember doing." Bluey explained.
"So, you don't remember filing your paperwork?" Yakky asked.
"No!" Bluey answered exasperatedly
"Maybe we shouldn't have all those triple-chocolate-brickle-strawberry-swirl sundaes yesterday." Shag said.
"Yeah, maybe." Bluey replied, rubbing her stomach and remembering the sugar high they had until they passed out.
Deciding that she could use some fresh air to help clear her head, she stepped out of the building and opted to walk the beat for a bit. As she did, she walked past a row of parked cars. While passing by them, Bluey couldn't help but loot at the rearview mirrors. But when she did, she could've sworn she saw something behind her in the reflection. She turned around and found nothing but a few pedestrians. Shortly after, her stomach growled.
"Shag was right." She groaned.
Suddenly, she heard a car honk that snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked and saw Bandit and Bingo in their cruiser.
"There you are, Bluey!" Bingo called.
"What's taken you so long?" Bandit added.
"What are you talking about?" Bluey replied as she walked up to the patrol car.
"We were going to diner you've always wanted to try and you had to answer a backup request." Bandit explained to her.
"We got your a doggie bag!" Bingo said, holding up said bag.
"Backup request?" Bluey parroted.
She checked her person and found that her radio was not on her.
"This is outrageous." She sighed.
"What's the matter?" Bingo asked as Bluey got in the cruiser.
"I'll explain on the way." Bluey replied.
As they drove away, Bluey looked in the rearview mirror and could've sworn she saw someone hastily walk away from the vehicle.
Later that night, after an honestly very confusing day, the Heelers were preparing for bed. Right now, Bluey was humming to herself while preparing to brush her teeth. After retrieving the toothpaste from the mirror cabinet, she was about to close it. Meanwhile, Bandit was waiting for Bingo to finish using the toilet.
"Bingo are you almost done in there?" Bandit asked.
To his relief, he heard the toilet and Bingo walked out.
"It's all yours, Big Fella." She said.
"Bingo, I told you not to call me Big Fella." Bandit scolded.
Not even a second later, Chilli came up.
"Hey, Big Fella. I-"
Before she could finish her question, the three of them heard Bluey scream. They rushed to the bathroom and saw Bluey sitting on the floor, panting and clutching her chest.
"Bluey, what's the matter?" Chilli asked as she and Bandit helped her back on her feet.
"I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy, but..." Bluey panted before she took a deep a breath. "I saw myself in the mirror."
"Well... yeah?" Bandit said. "It's a mirror. You're not 2 anymore."
"No. I mean... I-I saw another me in the mirror." She stammered. "And she looked like she wanted to kill me and when I turned around she was gone!"
"Bluey, I think you need your racket restrung." Bingo said as Bandit let out a stifled chuckle at that remark.
"Have you forgotten our job is?" Bluey pointed out.
"Okay, if it makes you feel any better, we'll set up CCTV cameras while you two sleep." Bandit suggested.
"And we'll take shifts watching you, okay?" Chilli added.
"Yeah, alright." Bluey relented before hugging her parents.
With that, the family set up a camera in Bluey and Bingo's room. After that, they connected the camera to the tablet in Bandit and Chilli's room. With everything set up, they bid each others good night before heading off to bed. However, with that scare still fresh in her mind, it became abundantly clear to Bluey that she was not going to be sleeping tight.
The next morning, Bluey, the incident still fresh in her mind, had barely gotten any sleep the previous night as a result. She was slumped over at her desk, a small stream of drool flowing from her mouth.
"Bluey?" Bingo's whispered to her.
She only got a snore in response.
"Bluey!" Augie cried, shaking her for good measure.
"HELLO?! Anybody home?" Adorabat cried.
It was only when Shag buzzed his taser near her ear did she jolt awake.
"GAH!" Bluey screamed before glaring at him. "I swear, Shag! If you tase me for real life...!"
"I had to wake you up somehow." Shag defended himself.
Bluey, too tired to be angry at him for long, could only respond by yawning and stretching.
"I... I just couldn't... sleep last night." She said. "I feel like I've been going crazy."
Her friends and sister could only give her sympathetic looks.
"You know what? I heard the dispatchers are a little short-staffed. Why don't you volunteer there for the day?" Lucky suggested.
"But what about Bingo?" Bluey tried to argue.
"I'll be alright, Bluey. I'll be with Shag today." Bingo reassured.
"Are you sure?" Bluey asked.
"Can do!" Shag affirmed as Bingo hugged her sister for further assurance.
"Oh, alright." Bluey relented as she trudged her way to the dispatchers' office.
Once inside, she half-heartedly greeted Dolly before groggily sat at one of the empty stations and slipped on the headset.
"Woah, you OK?" Dolly asked concernedly.
"Ever since I went to that funhouse the other day, it's all been a mess." Bluey yawned.
Not even a second after answering that, she got a call which managed to jolt her awake. She cleared her throat before answering it.
"ISCPO, what's you emergency?" She asked.
"Help! S-someone, o-or s-s-something has been stalking me..." A woman on the whispered through terrified sobs.
"Ma'am, please calm down." Bluey said. "Can you tell where you are?"
"154 Hathaway Street!" She pleaded.
"Can you..." Bluey took a deep breath, feeling like she knew what was coming, but prayed it wasn't. "Can you by any chance tell me what your stalker looks like?"
"I don't know h-how else to s-say this, but she..." The woman gulped before continuing. "... she looks like me! I saw her behind me in the mirror and when I turned around she was gone!"
As soon as she heard those words, the world seemed to slow down a bit. Could it be that she wasn't the only one having encounters with these doppelgangers? However she she snapped out of her horror-induced stupor when Dolly snapped her fingers in front of her face.
"Hey, you sure you're OK?" She asked.
"I... need to use the toilet." Bluey excused as she got up from her seat. "Can you take over for me?"
"Uh, sure?" Dolly obliged.
Rushing to the bathroom, Bluey really did need to use it both to do her business and try to calm herself down. After relieving herself, Bluey came out of the stall at the same time as Augie, who exited from the farthest one. She she turned to look and her eyes went wide, her mind taking a couple seconds to process what she was seeing.
"BLUEY! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Augie screamed.
The blue heeler looked behind her and was confused as to what the beagle meant. What she did see was her own gun seemingly floating and cocking itself. She looked in the mirror, her heart sank. There was another her, only one of her eyes was a mirror and was aiming straight for her head. Acting on her training, Bluey grabbed the gun, which fired off a couple shots as she tried with all her might to wrestle it out of the doppelganger's grasp, the two Blueys trading punches, kicks and bites as they did so.
Fortunately, Augie was able to snap out of it and charge into to help. She pulled out her taser and was just about to shoot, when the doppelganger forcibly aimed the gun and discharged it. Fortunately, Augie was only knocked back as her vest had done its job. The double then let go of the firearm and leaped into the bathroom mirror, the mirror acting like a portal.
"Where did that thing even come from?!" Augie cried as she helped Bluey back onto her feet.
"I think I might know where." Bluey panted.
As they exited the bathroom, they were greeted by Adorabat and Lucky.
"We heard gunshots in there. Everything alright?" He asked.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Adorabat added.
"We're fine." Augie assured.
"I'll explain on the way." Bluey said, motioning for him to follow her and Augie.
Just as they exited the station, they ran into Shag, Yakky and Bingo.
"Guys, you'll never guess what just happened at our last call." Shag said.
"Yeah, she said she was being stalked by someone who looks like her and then she says everything's alright!" Bingo explained, indignant that their time was wasted.
"What?!" Bluey cried in disbelief before focusing on the task at hand. "Never mind that! We need to get to get to the carnival now!"
"Wait, what for?" Yakky asked as they boarded the patrol car.
"Long story short, the funhouse you and Bingo went in apparently has a cursed mirror that Bluey looked into and now an evil clone in trying to kill her." Lucky explained.
"Oh." Was all Bingo, Yakky and Shag could utter at that moment.
With that, they rushed to the amusement park with sirens blaring. Along the way, Bluey could see her doppelganger in every reflective surface they passed by, freaking her out even more. Fortunately, the they were able to make it quickly. They quickly exited the car and, in their haste, accidentally ran into Mackenzie and Rusty.
"Watch it, will you?" Rusty complained as he pulled himself up and dusted himself off before helping Mackenzie.
"What's going on?"
"Sorry, no time to explain." Adorabat said as she flew after after group.
As they ran, Bluey led the way while trying to remember where the funhouse was. However, her thought process was interrupted by a mallet swinging and narrowly missing her head. They all looked and saw the High Striker carny holding his mallet and getting ready for another swing. Before he could, he was tackled to the ground by Rusty and Mackenzie. Meanwhile, Lucky pulled out out his handgun and aimed.
"STAND DOWN! DROP THE WEAPON NOW!" He barked before turning to the others. "Go! Quick!"
They did as they were told and continued to leg it to the funhouse. As they ran she they saw some of the crowd turning and running towards them with malicious looks on their faces.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Augie cried.
"We'll hold them off! You do what you gotta do!" Adorabat said.
"Are you sure?" Bluey asked.
"We'll be fine! Hopefully." Shag gulped as he pulled out his baton.
"I don't like the sound of that maybe." Yakky stammered.
Down to two, Bluey and Bingo finally found the fun house. However, the entrance was guarded by the very same carny.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked menacingly.
Before anyone could say anything, the high striker puck Adorabat launched into the sky the other landed squarely on his head, knocking him down and allowing Bluey and Bingo to rush inside. The two hurried navigated the twisting corridors of the building. The place seemed so much fun, but after this debacle, they silently agreed to never set foot in a funhouse for along while.
"Bluey, where did you say this mirror was?" Bingo asked.
"I remember its around here somewhere." Bluey replied
However, they finally came across the dreaded mirror maze. The two hurried through the maze, trying to remember which one were actual corridors. If that wasn't enough, the countless clones from the cursed mirror started to emerge from the mirrors, all seemingly led by Bluey's doppelganger. In order to stop them, the sisters resorted to shooting and smashing the mirrors they passed by. Finally they found the exit to the funhouse but didn't immediately go for it. They instead opted for the trap door to open up underneath them.
"This way!" Bluey exclaimed as she led Bingo down the corridors.
Finally, they found the right one, complete with the very mirror, which was now covered in handprints. However, their relief was short-lived when Bluey heard Bingo screaming and saw her being held against a wall by an invisible force. Of course, it was only invisible to her. She looked into the mirror and saw her clone holding Bingo in place.
"QUICK! SMASH IT!" Bingo choked out.
Just as Bluey was about to destroy the mirror, the countless hands of clones burst from the surrounding mirrors and grabbed onto Bluey, preventing her from doing anything other than strain. Seeing this opportunity, mirror Bluey let another mirror clone hold Bingo in place as she snatched her gun before walking towards the horrified original. Just as she was about to cock it, a cricket ball cricket ball flew out of nowhere and hit the mirror at the end of the corridor, cracking it and causing all the mirror clones to write in pain as a result. Bluey looked to see that their friends and fellow officers had managed to follow them inside.
"Quick!" Rusty cried.
"On it!" Bluey replied for aiming her gun at the mirror.
She then promptly fired several shots at it, ensuring it shattered completely. The mirror clones suddenly hardened to statues and gained a glossy texture. After several seconds of nothing, they all exploded into a flurry of mirror shards, prompting everyone present to cover their eyes. By the time they opened their eyes, the fun house was littered with mirror shards.
"It's over." Bluey sighed in both fear and relief.
"Nice shot, Rusty!" Lucky commented.
"Yeah, maybe you should consider joining the ISCPO." Shag jokingly suggested.
With all that said and done, the friends walked out of the fun house and were surprised to see just how many people were actually mirror clones judging by how many shards littered the grounds. With such a sight to behold, only one thing could be said.
"... I'll get the police tape." Augie said before doing just that.