Return to Falls

Chapter 16

Many of the Mystery Shack's party guests remained, mostly out of curiosity of what would happen next. First Dipper's clones attacked, then Dipper almost died, then his happy-go-lucky sister slapped him. The drama was too juicy to miss. Outside, however, Soos had Mabel in a bear hug, preventing her from hitting her brother again.

Mabel's kicking and screaming was futile. Soos was much bigger than she was, even after her growth spurt. By the time he let her go, they were over a block away from the Shack.

"Soos, what the Hell is wrong with you?" Mabel screamed, pointing a finger in his face. Soos was taken back by her choice of language. She never let herself speak in a way unfit for children to hear.

"I should ask you the same thing. What's gotten into you, dude? I mean, I get you two must fight sometimes, but what you did. . .and to Dipper who just saved us. . .how could you do that?" Soos' voice trembled at the sound of his own words.

"Dipper's caused me and the rest of the town enough suffering for one lifetime! Like always, he's letting his curiosity get the better of him and going after a girl he's never going to have. I don't know about you, but that sounds exactly like what happened the last time we were here. All we need to do is throw in a few gnomes and a yellow triangle and it'll be 2012 all over again!"

"Yeah, but you can't really blame him for being curious, right? Ford was the same way."

Any rebuttal fell on deaf ears. Mabel wasn't having it. "You don't get it: we were kids. Kids who were tasked with saving the world. And what did the world give us in return? Nothing. We saw more destruction at 12-years old than most people do in a lifetime — and now everyone at the stupid party's expecting us to act like all is good. All isn't good! You have no idea how hard it was watching Dipper suffer and being unable to do anything about it." Tears welled up in her eyes. Ranting about her brother did nothing but remind her of her own suffering.

"The whole time we were gone I was worried about the people here. Grunkle Stan and Ford, Wendy, you, Candy, Grenda, even Pacifica. . . I was worried about you all. There were nights I couldn't sleep because I was worried one of you might be hurt and I wouldn't be there to help you. I had to take sleeping medications just to have a standard night. Sleeping on the bus ride here was the first time I'd slept soundly in a long time." Mabel sighed, "Dipper likes Pacifica. But, he's too shy to do anything about it, just like with Wendy. And so he'll pump himself up, chicken out at the last second, and cope by going on some paranormal adventure that leads to God knows what. I just, I can't do it anymore."

Mabel didn't say anything else. Her rant left Soos speechless and herself without energy. It took a few moments to gather her thoughts in order to say anything else. But instead of any words coming out, she placed a hand on the side of her head and shut her eyes. Temporary disorientation swept overhead.

"Woah dude, are you okay?" Soos asked.

She responded by looking him directly in the eyes, her eyes a sickly shade of yellow. Her voice sounded slightly contorted, "Dipper was lucky to have lived through Weirdmageddon last time. If he tries anything to stop me again he will surely die." With that, Mabel's eyes returned to normal and she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Mabel?!" Soos lifted her by the torso and gently shook her. No response. Whatever happened to Mabel left her completely out cold. Soos lifted her up and ran back to the Shack with her. Being as out of shape as he was, it took a moment.

When he finally approached the Shack, he plowed through the front door using his back. Everyone reacted with a yelp.

"Soos, what did you—what happened?" Stan ran over to tend to his great niece. He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling how hot she was, and demanded an explanation. Soos did his best to explain while grabbing ice from the coolers. Those who knew how to handle a sick patient took over.

Stan said, "I have some medicine in the bathroom. Dipper, could you fetch the—where's Dipper? Wait, where's Wendy?" He scanned the room for his great nephew who was nowhere to be found.

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The thought of Pacifica in some kind of danger was too much to bear. Dipper tried his best not to think about it. Under normal circumstances, he would've written it off as him overthinking again, but this time he had a feeling. He knew it in his bones that Pacifica was in trouble.

Each step felt like his bones were being fractured over and over again. He was in no condition to move, but he had no choice. Pacifica would've been safe if it weren't for him. Perhaps Mabel was right, everything was his fault.

"Dipper, please! You're going to make your injuries worse if you keep pushing yourself!" Wendy called out from a few feet behind. She had followed him since he left the Shack. Despite his protest, she didn't go back.

"Sorry Wendy, but I have to go." Dipper said. He fought back the urge to listen to his red-headed friend and go back to the Shack where he could lie down and not have to worry about his body screaming out for mercy.

"Go where? Everyone you care about is back at the Shack. Dipper please. . . I want you to stay."

Her words hit closer to home than he would've liked. Pacifica cared about him too. And as much as he didn't want to see Wendy sad or in pain, he couldn't just turn his back on Pacifica and pretend like all was well in the world.

"Look", Dipper placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder. He looked down at her and said, "I'm sorry, but it's important. I'll be back as soon as I'm done. I promise. Look after Mabel and the others for me until then."

He didn't wait for Wendy to respond or even process his words before turning around and getting into Stan's car. Dipper drove off as best as he could given the condition he was in.

It was only until he was a few blocks from the Shack did he realize he had no idea where Pacifica was. She never told him, only that she had business to attend to and couldn't stay for the cookout.

Dipper doubted anyone in Gravity Falls knew where the Northwest family was going. They tended not to involve themselves with anyone, even after Weirdmageddon, apparently. The only place that might have some answers is their old home: the Northwest manor.