I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I usually try to keep a 3,000 word minimum but I wasn't able to do that this time. Start the fic.
4
3
2
Dipper wasted no time and pulled out his phone to call Mabel.
"Mabel, it's Dipper... It's him. It's time!...I'll meet you there!"
"Dipper?" Pacifica tread carefully. "Are you okay?"
He frowned at her. "No... I am not okay... The Jersey Devil isn't like the other creeps we've fought. He's powerful, fast, and clever enough to know his limitations AND work within them...I almost died going up against him."
"Dipper..."
"And ironically that isn't even the worse part!" His breathing started to get heavier. "The fear I feel for him... it's unlike anything else! It's so powerful that I freeze!"
He tightened his grip.
"And if I freeze around him when you're with me? You... You could get hurt! And I just don't know what..."
Pacifica placed her hand on his and he started to calm down.
"It's going to be okay. We'll handle him the same way we've handled everything else. Together."
Dipper looked Pacifica in the face and gave a small smile.
"We have faced a lot together, haven't we? Okay... Okay, I'll give our odds a chance. Buckle up, Sweetheart! It's gonna be a long drive to Jersey!"
They wasted no time packing everything up and getting into the driver's seat.
"Here!" Dipper handed her his journal as he buckled up. "You'll need a blacklight to read Jersey Devil's page. The flashlight version should be in the glove compartment."
Pacifica looked at the journal as Dipper started the engine. The RV started to move as Pacifica opened the glove compartment. She placed the journal inside it and closed it.
"I could... I could read this page but that's not the piece of information I need to know. Here, the Jersey Devil isn't the important thing. You and your history with him are. Tell me what happened."
Dipper swallowed a lump in his throat and took a calming breath.
"It isn't an easy thing for me to talk about but okay. It all started... A lifetime ago!"
Flashback
It was my first case. I managed to convince Mabel to help me out but she wasn't completely sold on bringing the Mystery Twins back full time!
Dipper was asking people on the street about his investigation, didn't seem like he was having a lot of luck though.
Mabel was more interested in learning about our family history. You see, when both of our Grunkles were boys they didn't just live here... they faced the Jersey Devil too. Or at least that was what I thought...
Mabel ran out of the same building Grunkle Stan had been kicked out of so long ago. A sad smile was on her face but she met with her brother none the less.
The more we investigated the more we discovered a plot. A plot too complex for a simple beast.
A golden coin shined in the darkness as it sat on a night stand next to a bed.
He had implemented a very convoluted plan involving these gold coin things. To make a long plot short, if you accepted one then the Jersey Devil would claim your soul by midnight.
Mabel was talking to a woman on her doorstep.
We figured out the plan and I sent Mabel to collect the coins while I confronted the Jersey Devil.
Mabel held up a bag of coins victoriously.
The Jersey Devil found out that we foiled his plan.
A clawed hand tightened it's grip to the point of drawing blood from the palm.
He didn't like that.
Out of anger the Jersey Devil slammed his fist against the concrete wall of his prison fortress creating a sizable hole.
He didn't like that at all.
The Jersey Devil turned around to reveal the fire in his eyes growing to the point where they filled his eye sockets.
With my experience with Gravity Falls and Weirdmaggedon I was confident that I could beat him.
Dipper took out his size-changing crystal flashlight and used it to make his magnet gun bigger before heading out.
I did my BEST to defeat him!
With his dagger and magnet gun in both hands respectably, he gave a wordless battle cry and charged against the Jersey Devil.
But in the end I was proven to be no match.
A swift right to the head instantly sent Dipper crashing down to the Earth face first.
The sandy beach offered no soft landing to him as the sediment particles cut his face.
One hoof crushed Dipper's magnet gun to pieces while the other took a step forward shattering the size-changing flashlight.
Purple lightning shot out of his claws and hit Dipper in the back. The force from the current pushed him across the ground until he was stopped by a rock which he hit head first. The pain didn't end there though.
His body convulsed in pain as the evil current ran through him. Just when he thought the pain would never end, it stopped.
Just as Dipper was starting to regain his strength, the Jersey Devil placed his hoof on the back of Dipper's head and started to apply pressure.
Dipper screamed as the pain increased.
I would have been dead right there and then...if it hadn't been for Mabel.
"LEFT HOOK!"
Mabel came in from the right and socked the Jersey Devil in his jaw.
*POW! *
Stumbling away from the blow, the Jersey Devil crashed down to the ground.
"Mabel!" exclaimed Dipper. "He's too strong! I don't know how we can beat him!"
She offered him her hand and smirked.
"Like Pines!"
The Jersey Devil rose to his full height and released a blood chilling roar.
"RIGHT HOOK!"
Dipper delivered a nasty left to the Jersey Devil's head.
*POW! *
"You DARE to..."
"LEFT HOOK!"
Mabel delivered a blow the right of the head.
*POW! *
"RIGHT HOOK!"
*POW! *
"LEFT HOOK!"
*POW! *
"RIGHT HOOK!"
*POW! *
"LEFT HOOK!"
*POW! *
"PINES HOOK!"
Both Pines Twins pulled back their fists to deliver one unified blow when suddenly...
"ENOUGH!"
The Jersey Devil flapped his wings sending them both flying backwards through the air. Both Mabel and Dipper skidded to a halt against the ground.
"Punches?! You thought you could beat me with punches?!"
"Honestly?" Dipper coughed up a little blood. "The punches thing? We didn't even plan for that. I will say though, Mabel did the fetching but I did the homework."
"What?" The fire in the Jersey Devil's eyes continued as if nothing changed but one could still sense a aura of confusion in them.
Without even a hand signal Mabel had tossed a jar filled with some kind of liquid at the Jersey Devil's back.
The Jersey Devil roared out in pain as the glass shattered releasing all of the contents on him.
"We talked to all the towns people in our investigation, and in that investigation we discovered your weakness. The one thing you stay away from is anything considered holy. The local priest was only to happy to give us a jar of Holy Water. (We kind of doubted "anointed water" would be up to snuff.)"
After rolling on the ground in a pained panic the Jersey Devil stood hunched and gave Dipper a death glare.
"This... Isn't over! Not by a long shot!" The Jersey Devil spread out his wings. "We WILL meet again!"
With an ear piercing roar, the Jersey Devil launched himself off of the ground and into the night sky.
Dipper could only sit and watch as the Jersey Devil grew farther and farther away until he was no longer visible.
With the threat gone Mabel was finally able to run to her brother's aide.
End Flashback
"After that Mabel was able to call me an ambulance, but I never really considered it a true victory over the Jersey Devil."
"Well why not? Sounds to me like you pulled together and kicked his butt!"
"No. Not really. We just foiled his plan and sent him running. I have no doubt in mind that if I had faced him alone then I wouldn't be here talking to you now. And if you can believe it, my career also took a hit."
"Your career? What? How?"
"Like I said, it was my first case. I was granted a lot of lean way because of my experience with Gravity Falls. Mabel and I discovered his base of operations was in this abandoned prison island off the coast but when I sent men there to investigate they found nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. It was completely abandoned. I wanted to investigate it myself but I was still hospitalized. I was almost labeled a quack but because of my injuries my "false claim" was chalked up as a delusion thanks to a head injury."
Pacifica pouted angrily. She couldn't blame the government agents for feeling that way but she still felt defensive for her man.
"I was going to investigate further myself as soon as I was released but then I got in another case and had to leave it. Then Mabel gave me some rather disappointing news..."
"She wanted out."
"She wanted out! She decided to end the Mystery Twins single handed! She did tell me though that if I were ever to go up against the Jersey Devil though she would come back whole hog."
"I actually already knew that part. Mabel told me about it last time we visited her."
"Typical." Dipper rolled his eyes. "So I tried the whole solo hero thing, I think you know how that went... but I was always looking over my shoulder in case 'that day' arrived when the Jersey Devil decided to return and settle the score."
"You've been carrying this fear the whole time?"
"Every single day. Although..." Dipper smiled sadly. "I will admit, I haven't noticed it as much lately."
"Because..."
"Yes. Because we started dating."
Pacifica blushed with a smile. "Well I'm confident things will turn out better this time."
Dipper's frown returned. "What makes you think that? Because you're here now?"
"No. Not because of me... because of us. Even you know that we're better together. And as in sync as you and your twin can be even you know we have better teamwork in combat."
"I... think you're right. I've never really thought about it before."
What should have been a ray of hope was tragically ineffective on Dipper's disposition on the situation.
"Sigh. Let's hope that's enough..."
Omake
Much later...
"We've been driving for a while. You should probably hit the hay." advised Pacifica. "I'll drive for a while."
"Okay..." Dipper pulled over to the side of the road. "Stick to the map. I'll hit the couch."
"Oh no you won't! You need to be well rested! That requires a bed!"
"I bet I'm the first man to ever be kicked off of sleeping on the couch by the woman he loves. Wait... Where will you sleep then?"
Pacifica cleared her throat. "I will also sleep in the bed."
"...Oh."
"N-Now don't get the wrong idea! I'm not implying anything naughty! I trust you and the bed is big enough for two!"
"Oh... I can respect that. I guess cuddling would be off the table?"
"Let's not get crazy! I never said that! The cuddling is going to happen! Before sleep and when we wake up. I just need to find a safe place for us to park for the night, understand?"
For the first time that night, Dipper actually smiled a big grin.
"Yes Ma'am!"
That's it for now. Again sorry about the short chapter, I guess you could say I'm trying to build a little tension. I still hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me hear about it in a review. Longer the better. Now go watch Murder Drones on youtube.