Gravity Rises (S1)

MM: Part Five

The giant floating crystal was so high up off the ground that Mabel could walk underneath it. She stood there, strangely unafraid of it falling on top of her, as she flipped through the Journal to find the page on the Crystalline Cavern. Where did it go?

A slip of paper fell from the Journal.

Mabel watched it drift down, dancing on impalpable winds, and settle on the ground face-up. Her breath caught in her throat. No. . . no, no, no. . .

It was a shadowy drawing of her.

Mabel didn't remember putting any of her sketches from the last couple of days into the Journal, but that didn't matter now. All the memories — all the flashing images that had been absent from her mind for the past hour or so — came flooding back in full force. Mabel cried out, dropping the Journal and putting her hands on the sides of her head. "No," she said out loud. Her voice didn't seem to echo anymore. There didn't seem to be any air at all anymore. She couldn't breathe; she couldn't think; there were voices, sounds, screams—

"Stop! I don't want these!"

Silence.

A split second of silence, and then Mabel could hear the faint echoes of her outburst. But the voices were gone. She could breathe again, and she sucked in a few gulps of air. There were a few moments of peace.

Then the room exploded with blue light.

Mabel thought she felt a scream leaving her throat, but she couldn't hear it. Her vision was filled with nothing but scalding blue light, until a sudden curtain of black replaced it, and Mabel realized she had closed her eyes. Whooshing sounds were responsible for her saturated hearing, and she could feel gusts of air whipping about her. "What is going on!" she tried to yell; but, again, she couldn't hear the words after they left her mouth.

She wasn't sure how long this strange whirlwind lasted; but eventually the light dimmed, and the wind stilled. Mabel cracked open an eye.

And saw crystals, just like before.

"What just happened?" she breathed, opening her eyes all the way. Had she imagined it? Was it all part of some kind of trauma reaction?

"There she is!" a voice yelled. Something hit Mabel from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey! Get off of her!" another voice said. Except. . . it sounded exactly the same as the first one.

"Are you the original?" demanded the person on top of Mabel. Why did that voice sound so familiar?

"I said get off!" The pressure on Mabel's back lifted, and she pushed herself onto her elbows.

A hand took Mabel's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Wh-who are you?" Mabel asked, turning around to look at whoever was touching her.

She found herself staring into her own face.

"Aah!" Mabel scrambled away, her eyes widening in horror as she saw herself standing over her. And then. . . another Mabel stood there with folded arms, glaring at the other. There was another behind them, and another, and another.

The entire Crystalline Cavern was filled with Mabels.

Nine pairs of brown eyes stared back at Mabel, framed by brown hair and bunched-up orange hoods. White shirts with dark blue symbols showed through the hoodies; but instead of pine trees, each symbol was a different shape. The Mabel standing closest to, well, Mabel, had a pine tree on her shirt, except it was upside down. The Mabel standing a few feet away had her arms crossed over a dark blue lightning bolt.