Gravity Rises (S1)

MM: Part Eleven

"This way!" Mabel shouted, running through the trees. Gideon was behind her, and their progress was slow (which was problematic, considering that they were on a rescue mission of sorts).

"You know, I could just levitate—"

"No!" Better to take a little longer to get to Dipper and be in one piece than to fall apart from the trauma of being levitated by Gideon's amulet.

Dipper kept screaming, and Mabel was getting a little less worried. If he had the air to scream that loud and for that long, he couldn't really be getting hurt, right? But then, why was he screaming in the first place? Mabel quickened her pace.

"Your brother," Gideon said between breaths, "is really loud."

"Tell me about it," Mabel panted back.

As they drew nearer, Mabel could hear other voices floating beneath Dipper's. One was deep, one was high-pitched, and one was. . . hers. "Don't do that. . . . Please, Dip, don't make me feel bad. . . ."

A clone! Mabel shot around a tree and skidded to a stop, finally able to see her brother. He was standing there, untouched, simply screaming.

Oh, no. He did this sometimes. It was his last resort whenever Mabel wouldn't give him his way.

"Dip, c'mon: I already told you that—"

The Mabel clone's voice cut off, along with Dipper's screaming. He, Star Mabel, and the two kids behind them had all seen her. "Mabel!" Dipper yelled, breaking the silence and running to his twin sister. He threw his arms around her. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I've been trying to find you all morning, but the clones wouldn't tell me where you were, and I never should've let you go out alone, and I should've been here for you when you were scared, and—"

"Hey, hey, I'm okay," Mabel said softly, cutting him off. She smiled. "Were you really that worried about me?"

Dipper stepped back and held up two fingers, almost touching. "A little bit," he said. His eyes traveled past his sister, and she turned her head to see Gideon standing over her shoulder, a few feet away. "Did you save her?" Dipper asked him.

Gideon nodded once.

"I'm not a damsel in distress," Mabel said, folding her arms. She wasn't really annoyed, though; she was too happy to see her brother again.

But Dipper didn't look happy anymore. "You told me not to bother you anymore," he said to Gideon, "and then you come out here and find my sister for me?"

"That isn't how it happened," Gideon said defensively. "There were these two clones bothering" —he glanced at Mabel— "an acquaintance of mine, and I figured out what was going on and decided to go help Mabel out. In fact, I should probably go check on them."

"How did you figure out where she was?" Dipper demanded.

Before Gideon could answer, a Mabel clone burst through the trees at top speed. She came to a sudden stop, spraying up snow, and stared at the group in front of her. "What's going on here?" she asked. Mabel took note of the broken heart symbol on her chest.

"Did you win?" Star Mabel asked. Mabel had almost forgotten she was there; she hadn't tried to touch her or anything.

"Yeah, you?" Broken Heart Mabel replied.

Star Mabel nodded. Both clones then turned simultaneously to look at Mabel.

"Mabel, don't let them touch you," Gideon said in a low voice.

Oh, but Mabel wanted to. She wanted the same sense of peace she had gotten from Five-Fingered Mabel. Why couldn't she have that?

It doesn't actually solve anything, her brain reminded her. That's what Gideon said, and he knows from experience.