Misguided Adventures and Magical Attachments (Completed)

Chapter 14

"Dipper! Dipper!"

The boy wiped his eyes groggily, hearing his sister's excited voice. Mabel's hands closed around his arm and she pulled him out of bed.

"Guess what today is!"

The day I make Bill's body? "Uhh . . . It's . . ."

"It's the day we celebrate having the most awesome, fantastic, wonderiffic uncle ever!" she beamed happily, throwing confetti in the air. Waddles oinked.

Dipper was about to grin when the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. I-I forgot . . . I need to tell Mabel.

Bill watched from Dipper's mind, unsure if he wanted the demon's opinion and help or not.

"Hey, um . . . about that . . ." Dipper begun uneasily, running a hand through his hair. "I don't think . . . well . . . Grunkle Stan, he . . ." How do I tell her? This is so hard!

The brunette tipped her head. "What? He's the best uncle in the world?"

"N-no . . ."

"In the galaxy?"

"No . . ."

"The universe?" Mabel made an exaggerated expression of awe, her hands on her brother's shoulders expectantly.

He forced an awkward smile, trying to buy his time and think of how to sound believable. "Not . . . Not exactly."

She gasped. "In all the multiple universes woven into the dimensional space-time compression?"

"W-what?"

Mabel playfully pinched Dipper's cheek, smirking slyly. "I can pick up on your boring nerd language too, you know."

Well. He was impressed. But still . . .

I'd be blunt. Just blurt it out. Unless you'd rather not tell her . . . Bill's voice spoke in Dipper's head. Although, I am a bit surprised she knew about the Multiverse. . . Maybe Shooting Star shines brighter than I thought!

He fought not to make a snide comment, steadying his energy. Bill was right. He simply had to say it. "I saw Grunkle Stan sneak a barrel of radioactive waste into the gift shop last night. I don't know what he wants it for or where he got it, but he seemed really against me knowing the truth," he explained the best he could, watching his sister's expression. "Mabel . . . I think he's doing something horrible behind our backs. He's been lying to us."

His twin's gaze bore a hurt that seemed deep as the bottomless pit. She smiled weakly, shoving him lightly with an arm. "Oh, Dipper. Come on, Grunkle Stan could have just gotten it somewhere around town to use as a tourist-y thing. 'Mystery goo! Pay all your money to look at it and you'll see rainbow unicorns forever!'" Mabel made a shimmer-like sound through her braces, wiggling her fingers for the effect. "That has to be it. Besides, our Grunkle Stan isn't bad at all! Sure, he'll shoplift the occasional tangerine or forget to pay the bills, but he's not some kind of criminal. There's no way he'd ever do anything bad to hurt us."

Dipper frowned, unwavering. She doesn't understand . . . "I don't know, Mabel. Maybe he would. What I saw last night . . . I just can't see it being any more innocent than it sounds."

She turned her head away and sniffled. Sniffled. When she looked back at him, Dipper could see the pain in her eyes, the slightest watery glaze that only a twin could detect. And Mabel almost never cried. Not when she fell down and scraped her knee, not when her summer romances ended in failure, one after another. But she was close to it now.