Gravity Rises (S1)

MM: Part Eight

Dipper poked his head out of the bushes, then got pulled down by Candy. "Do you want them to see you?" she hissed.

"Candy—"

"Shush!" She put a hand over Greyson's mouth.

Dipper peered through the leaves to look at the two Mabel clones they'd found. They were wrestling on the ground, trying to grab the Journal from each other's arms. Dipper couldn't tell if one of them was the real Mabel, but the way they were fighting (Mabel never fought) convinced him that they were both copies. And if they had the Journal, then Mabel couldn't be too far away, right?

"Candy, if we don't go soon, one will win and get away," Greyson whispered.

He wasn't a very good whisperer.

"Now!" shouted Candy, leaping from the bushes. Before Dipper could even get out from behind the shrubs, Candy had launched herself onto the Mabels; she pulled them apart and kicked the Journal in Dipper's direction. Dipper rushed out and grabbed it, holding it close to his chest and closing his eyes. He felt for a moment as if he had Mabel back.

When he opened his eyes and turned around, Greyson and Candy each had a Mabel pinned. Greyson was holding one Mabel (with a five-fingered hand on her shirt) primarily with his generous weight, whereas Candy had the other Mabel (with a six-fingered hand on her shirt) pinned with carefully placed arms. Both clones struggled in vain.

Dipper took a split second to marvel at the fact that Greyson and Candy could do to these clones what the bullies had done to them just an hour or so earlier. Then he shook it off and assumed his scariest demeanor. "All right! We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way," he said, narrowing his eyes at the Mabels. "Where's my sister?"

The Mabels stared at him, then burst out laughing.

"You're — so — adorable!" Five-Fingered Mabel gasped between peals of laughter. Six-Fingered Mabel nodded along.

Dipper glowered. "I'm trying to be scary!"

"You're not," Six-Fingered Mabel informed him. "Try something else, 'cause we can't tell you where Mabel is and you definitely" —she giggled again— "aren't going to scare us into it."

Dipper pouted, folding his arms. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because Mabel can't interfere until one of us has triumphed over the other," Six-Fingered Mabel said in a duh tone.

"Yeah," said Dipper, "the clones arguing over me said that too. How come I can't go see her, even if she can't interfere?"

"One," Five-Fingered Mabel said, "because you're part of the process; and two, because you would try to spring her."

"So she's trapped somewhere?" Dipper asked.

Five-Fingered Mabel snapped her mouth shut while Six-Fingered Mabel glared at her.

"Well, now that I have this," Dipper said, holding up the Journal, "maybe I can find whatever Mabel found that made you guys."

"Give that back!" Six-Fingered Mabel demanded. "We need it!"

"No, Dipper, keep it!" said Five-Fingered Mabel. "Keep it away from her! She wants to take it to Grunkle Ford!"

"All the more reason to keep it, then," Dipper said, grasping it a little tighter.

"Well, you can't let him have it!" Six-Fingered Mabel protested. "He'll use it to find Mabel!"

"Dipper, hurry up," Candy said as SF Mabel struggled against her grip.

"Right," Dipper said, flipping the Journal open. He started flicking through the pages, looking for any drawings or words depicting clones or copies.

"Dipper—!" Greyson shouted, right before the Journal was snatched from Dipper's hands. His eyes snapped up to see FF Mabel, running away from him with the Journal in tow.

SF Mabel beat against Candy with her fists. "Lemme go!" she yelled until she broke free. She immediately bolted after FF Mabel, catching her by the hood of her sweater and pulling her to the ground with a thump and a spray of snow. Dipper winced; even though the clones weren't his sister, they still looked like her.

"Give it to me! I have to show Ford!"

"No! He'll take it away!"

"No, he won't! Imagine all the cool things he'll show us!"

"He won't show us anything! It isn't worth the risk!"

Dipper, Candy, and Greyson watched the clones in spell-bound silence. It wasn't every day you saw two identical girls wrestling over a book in the snow.

Although, if Mabel were to wrestle over anything, it would probably be a book.

"Let go! Just let me show him!"

"No! He probably hid it for a reason!"

"Or maybe someone stole it from him!"

Five-Fingered Mabel was on top of SF Mabel, trying to pry the Journal from her fingers. "I will not — let you — jeopardize — our freedom!"

With a final tug, she pulled the Journal away from SF Mabel and held it over her head. Six-Fingered Mabel disappeared into a puff of white smoke that was soon indeterminable from the snow.

"I. . . I did it," FF Mabel said. She got to her feet, still holding the Journal up high. "I won! I'm stronger!"

"Uh. . . congrats?" said Greyson. FF Mabel beamed at him.

"What exactly does winning mean?" asked Dipper, glancing down at the patch of snow that used to be the other Mabel.

"It means that I'm the stronger feeling in the real Mabel. She won't show Ford the Journal, because I just won."

"So. . . can I have the Journal back?"

FF Mabel shook her head and held it to her chest. "You still can't know where Original Mabel is until three other Mabels have won."

Time for desperate measures, then.

Dipper looked down at the snow.

"What are you doing?" FF Mabel asked, a suspicious note in her voice.

Dipper looked up at her, having arranged his face into his best puppy-dog eyes.

FF Mabel moaned. "Dipper, please don't."

"Pweeeeeeease?" Dipper asked, trembling his lip. Mabel could never resist her twin's puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" FF Mabel said, spinning on her heel.

Dipper tried again, using the same voice. "Mabel, can I pwease have it?"

FF Mabel hesitated, looking between Dipper and the Journal. "Well. . . I don't think you can use it to find her. . . and I'm just a clone; I don't want it to get lost. . . ."

Dipper continued staring at her with his pleading eyes.

"Fine!" FF Mabel said, closing her eyes and holding out the Journal.

Dipper bounded over and snatched it, abandoning his puppy-dog eyes for a big grin. "Thanks, sis!" He said, taking it from her. Not that she was his sister.

FF Mabel gave one more worried look to Dipper and the Journal before running off into the trees.

"Huh. Impressive," said Candy, folding her arms. "So, how exactly are we supposed to use a book to find your sister?"

"We might have bigger problems than that," Greyson said, pointing to something behind Dipper. He turned and followed Greyson's finger with his eyes.

Star Mabel and UDS Mabel were running at him, only a couple yards away.