The familiar smell of bacon wafted upstairs into the attic, signaling that breakfast was on its way. As soon as the smell hit Dipper's nostrils, his eyes shot open, and he let out a giant yawn/stretch combo to shake off slumber's cobwebs. Summerween was officially underway, and thanks to Mabel's efforts the night before, the memory of Family Secrets was the furthest thing from Dipper's mind, and he couldn't have been more relieved as he smiled and approached Mabel's bed. "Happy Summerween, sis! Let's go get breakfast!"
The human-shaped lump of bedsheets offered no answer. "So, you're playing hard to wake, huh? I know what'll get you up and moving!" Dipper poked his finger into the side of the lump of sheets and attempted to start tickling its belly, but it collapsed under the weight of his hand. His next move was to grab the sheet and throw it off the bed in one smooth motion, revealing Mabel's purple computer disk night shirt as well as the skirt and sweater she had worn yesterday. "Oh... looks like you're already awake. I guess I'll meet you downstairs." Halfway to the door, Dipper stopped himself and said, "There's nobody here. Why am I still talking?"
"'Cause you like the sound of your own voice?"
"Oh, very funny, Mabel," Dipper replied with a roll of his eyes as he opened the door to reveal his sister and Waddles, who ambled into the attic, climbed atop Mabel's bed, and fell asleep. Mabel smiled and asked, "Aww, tired already, buddy? The day's barely even started!"
"He may be, but I'm not," Dipper retorted. "Let's go eat!" They headed downstairs and took their places at the kitchen table, which already had plates, silverware, glasses, napkins, and milk and orange juice set up thanks to Soos. Dipper poured himself a glass of milk and took a big gulp, but that was no match for the gulp Mabel took. She took the orange juice and filled her glass almost to the brim, then chugged the whole thing down in four large gulps. Dipper didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned as Mabel poured herself another glass and did the exact same thing, except this time the glass was only about half full, which resulted in a mere two-gulp chug. He sat in wide-eyed awe as his sister went to pour glass number three, but she was stopped by Soos placing two plates on the table – one had a massive stack of pancakes on it while the other was loaded with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage links. His face reflected Dipper's as he exclaimed, "Whoa, slow down, Hambone! Save some of that for the rest of us!"
"No problem, Soos," she replied with a smile. "You guys take it before I finish it all. In the meantime..." Mabel took three pancakes and a heap of eggs, covered the whole thing in syrup, and began to eat. As Dipper loaded his plate with his share of breakfast, he asked, "You ready?"
"For what?"
"Tonight," Dipper replied with an excited grin.
"Why? What's tonight?" A forkful of pancake was almost in Dipper's mouth when Mabel asked that question, and it wound up falling back onto the plate in front of him after he dropped it. Soos' jaw hung open in surprise as he asked, "Are you kidding, Mabel? Stan and Ford are coming home tonight!"
"Yeah," Dipper added. "You could barely contain your excitement yesterday, and now you're acting like it's no big deal!" She shrugged and replied, "Maybe I'm trying to save my energy for when they get here. I don't wanna tire myself out waiting for them, you know?"
Dipper exchanged a suspicious glance with Soos as Melody joined them in the kitchen, grabbing a plate of her own and sitting to Mabel's left. The speed at which she drank the orange juice repeated itself as she shoveled forkful after forkful of eggs into her mouth, hardly bothering to chew as she added some pancake to the equation. Soos and Dipper's awe curdled into disgust, and Melody was quick to join them as Dipper exclaimed, "CHEW, Mabel! You're eating like a two-year-old!"
Melody pushed her plate away and cracked, "Well, I was hungry. Thanks for that."
"Yrrr wllcmm," she replied through a mouthful of pancakes. Dipper let out an irritated grunt and shook his head in disgust before abandoning his half-eaten breakfast and heading to the attic to get dressed. Waddles was still sound asleep, and Dipper gave him some head scritches before he swapped his dirty clothes for clean ones. He opened the door to the closet and tossed the previous day's clothes inside before shutting it again and putting his vest, toque, and shoes on. Now that he was dressed, he began to make his bed before he noticed a piece of paper resting on his pillow. Curious, he picked it up and saw that the side facing him was blank. When he flipped it over, he was greeted by a series of requests that left him confused, but intrigued:
CHECK THE STATUE
CHECK THE BUNKER
CHECK THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
LOOK IN THE WOODS
SUNDOWN = BAD NEWS
The handwriting had been put on paper by a red pen, and even though every word was in all caps, the I's were still dotted by small hearts. "Mabel," Dipper said to himself. "She must've put a Summerween scavenger hunt together. Sounds like it could be fun." He grinned and put the paper in his shorts pocket before heading downstairs to brush his teeth. The Mystery Shack would be open in two hours, and when he checked the clock on his cell phone, Dipper mumbled, "That should be plenty of time to figure this out."
"Figure what out?" Mabel's question led to Dipper's phone returning to his pocket and him turning to face his sister with a confident smile as he declared, "This little scavenger hunt you cooked up. It'll be just like dungeon crawling in D, D and More D, but outdoors!"
"Wait, wait, wait," Mabel said as she held up her hands in a "slow down" motion. "I don't remember setting up a..." The enthusiasm on her brother's face made her backpedal with a sly "Oh, yeah! A Summerween scavenger hunt! Hey, nothing but the best for my favorite brother, am I right?" She reached out and pulled him into a hug, exclaiming, "Good luck, bro-bro! Stay safe and have fun!"
"You know it, Mabel! See you in a couple of hours!" Dipper waved goodbye as he exited the Shack and headed towards the nearby Bill Cipher statue. Mabel stood there waving for a few more seconds, allowing her arm to drop to her side after she was done. She went upstairs to the attic and closed the door behind her, and when she did, her cheery, brace-filled smile transformed into a dark, menacing frown. She climbed atop the end table and stared out the triangle-shaped window, musing, "So, you found a way to help your brother after all. You've got more spirit than I thought... but it won't make a difference. The closer we get to sundown, the weaker you'll get. And then..." She snapped her fingers and hopped off the cabinet, walking towards the closet. The thump of her shoes against the wooden floor jarred Waddles awake, and once the cobwebs were cleared, he could tell that something was wrong with his human. There was a meanness to her footsteps and all over her face that sent the pig underneath the covers of the bed, and he poked his head out to see what was happening as not-Mabel opened the closet door. After moving some pieces of dirty laundry aside, the deception was revealed: a headless, sweater-clad body lay on the closet floor. Not-Mabel grinned at the sight and said, "You're the first human I've ever managed to incapacitate. And once the sun goes down, you'll be the first I've ever killed. All those years of living as a forest creature... all those squirrels and bears and birds and deer... but this?" Not-Mabel twirled around, admiring herself in the nearby mirror as she did so. "This is more like it. Now, be a good girl and stay right th-"
The imposter's speech was cut off as the real Mabel's headless body sprang to life, wrapping its hands around her own neck and fighting back as best she could. Not-Mabel gritted her teeth and grabbed Mabel's arms, forcing them away from her neck and shoving the headless body back onto the closet floor. It pointed an angry finger at the doppelganger, its arm shaking with rage as not-Mabel's eyes shifted from a harsh, piercing glare to the gentle, warm eyes of the real Mabel as she shouted, "GIVE ME BACK MY HEAD, YOU FREAK!"
Her eyes shifted back to those of not-Mabel as she responded, "There's that spirit. But here's the thing about spirit: it's so easy to break. And after seeing the memories of what you watched last night... I think I know exactly how to break your brother's."
Mabel took over and gasped, "Don't you dare! DON'T YOU DARE!"
"Oh, I dare," not-Mabel retorted with a smug laugh. "I can see the look on his face right now..."
"NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Scream all you want," not-Mabel said as she shut the closet door. "Who's gonna hear you... except me?" She let out a satisfied laugh as she opened the attic door and headed out, unaware that Waddles had been watching the whole time. Once the coast was clear, the pig jumped down onto the floor and ran downstairs, heading through the Waddles-sized flap Soos had built into the kitchen door to get outside. It didn't take him long to pick up Dipper's scent, and he raced towards its source: the small glen where the Bill Cipher statue lay covered in overgrowth and moss. Dipper himself was already there, searching every nook and cranny like a hawk. There was nothing catching his eye as he walked behind the Cipher statue, but as he did, a portly pink missile rapidly approaching him from a distance did the trick just fine.
"Waddles? What are you doing out here?" The pig paid his question no mind and ran straight towards the back of the statue, sniffing around and using his nose to move rocks and sticks.
"Be careful, okay? Don't touch the hand!" Dipper didn't have to worry about that happening, because right at the base of the statue lay the first clue. Waddles picked it up in his teeth and presented it to Dipper, who took it and examined the contents. "Hmm... smart of you to put it in a sandwich bag, Mabel," he mused as he opened it and removed a folded-up newspaper article. Unfolding it revealed a small blurb from the Gravity Falls Gossiper:
HEADLESS BEAR HORRIFIES ONLOOKER
by Toby Determined
A bear wandering the streets of Gravity Falls is a semi-normal occurrence, but a headless bear? That's unusual, even for us!
"I couldn't believe my eye," says local diner owner Lazy Susan. "The darn thing was splashing around in the lake just like a normal bear, but it had no head! I didn't know what else to do, so I took this picture!"
It was a blurry picture, but there was more than enough evidence to back up what Lazy Susan had said. The animal was standing on all fours in the lake with water up to its belly, and it indeed looked just like a normal bear... save for the fact that its head was indeed missing. A chill ran down Dipper's spine as he put the clipping in his vest pocket, and that feeling was magnified when he glanced towards a group of trees and saw a figure standing among them. He was too far away to get a good look at what it was, but he pulled out his cell phone and took a series of pictures, zooming in on each consecutive one. A close examination of those photos revealed a figure in a sweater standing alone... watching him. Or at least it would have been watching him if it had a head.
"M... Mabel?" Dipper began to shake with fear as the memory of the fateful movie night at Wendy's came roaring back, and his hands trembled so hard that he wound up dropping his phone before he could put it back in his left shorts pocket. He glanced down at Waddles as he picked it up, then back at the group of trees with worry in his eyes. The duo approached the spot to get a better look for themselves, but as they did, they realized that there was no one, and nothing, there. Dipper gulped back his nerves and said, "Okay. Time to check the bunker. You ready, Waddles?"
The pig replied with an affirmative snort.
"Then let's go." As he and Waddles headed into the woods, Mabel's headless body followed them from behind, making sure to keep its distance. Not-Mabel was hot on her heels, though, and her eyes were red and angry as she followed them. "I've never had a body fight back like this before. It's not fair," she groused as the real Mabel took over.
"Sounds like you've gotten used to living like an animal! We humans are far more resilient than you think!"
"I'm beginning to realize that," not-Mabel replied. "But once the sun goes down, I'll have another body to add to my collection. And you'll have the honor of being the very first human on display!"
"Not if Dipper has anything to say about it! He'll never let you win, and neither will I!"
"We'll see about that, my dear," the creature declared with a confident grin. "We'll see."