Gravity Rises (S1)

MM: Part Twelve

When Gideon found the spot in which he had left Pacifica, all he could see were a few broken tree branches and some lingering wisps of smoke in the air. He sighed. "Pacifica. . ."

Grabbing onto his amulet, he leapt into the air and hovered over the trees to see if Pacifica or her astral projection were anywhere in sight. It felt nice to be out in the open; even though he'd only been in that cave for a few minutes, it had brought back bad memories.

He soon found the object of his search. A translucent purple dome — the top of Pacifica's astral projection — poked out of the trees. It seemed to be roaming aimlessly, like a golem ambling along. Was she looking for him?

Gideon zoomed over the treetops, his cape fluttering out behind him. This was why he wore this cape, no matter what Pacifica said. It felt awesome. "Paz," he called when he was nearly on top of her, "up here."

The astral projection stopped and craned its purple head to look at him. He could see Pacifica herself, floating in the middle of the purple haze. She watched him as he descended (even if she could wave without her projection knocking down a tree or two, Pacifica wasn't one for waving). Gideon landed in a tree branch directly across from Pacifica herself. She — and her projection — folded her arms. Already on the defensive, was she?

"So what happened to the clones?" Gideon asked, nonchalant.

"I suppose I got a little carried away," Pacifica said simply.

Note to self: Don't leave Pacifica alone with two copies of her self-proclaimed arch-nemesis, unless you expect her to hurt them. At least it saved him the work of killing them off. "So they're both gone?" he said aloud.

"Yeah," Pacifica said. "They didn't even do me the decency of bleeding before they turned to smoke, though. Quite rude of them." Blood was probably the only thing Pacifica would allow on her clothes without freaking out like a total drama queen. "And where were you?" she asked.

Gideon thought back to Mabel, crying in her brother's arms. That girl seemed to have a spark of adventure — the same one Gideon had — but she was far too sensitive for these forests. Anything could do. . . anything, out here. He almost said something like that to Pacifica, but he decided it would be wise not to mention that the Pines were here in the forest. If she got "carried away" with some Mabel clones, who knew what Pacifica might do to the real deal? As much as Mabel might deny it, he did have a sense of morality; and as annoying as those Pines could be, they were still people.

"I went to make sure there weren't any more Mabel clones," he finally answered.

"And were there?"

"No." For a millisecond, he tried to think of a way to justify the lie, then decided he didn't care. He had told Pacifica he would "help" her get revenge, but he wasn't going to be responsible for anything she did. Telling her the whereabouts of the Pines twins would make him partly responsible.

"This forest is weird," Pacifica decided.

Once again, the image of Mabel breaking down and Dipper comforting her flashed across Gideon's vision. He knew Pacifica meant the creatures and supernatural happenings of the forest, but he was thinking of something else entirely when he said, "That's for sure."

~~~~~

Note to self: Don't have a mental breakdown in front of your twin brother's new friends.

"Um, hi," she said, wiping her eyes one more time and smiling at the two of them. "I'm Mabel."

"We figured," Candy said, a little rudely.

The boy next to her nudged her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Greyson." His voice was unnaturally deep; Mabel guessed he just had a lot of space to resonate it. Then she felt a little bad for thinking that, and she gave a bigger smile to Greyson than she did Candy.

"You wanna talk about all this when we get home?" Dipper asked Mabel softly. She nodded, then thought about his word choice: home. Was the Mystery Museum home?

Well, it sure felt like it after being in this forest all morning. With that thought, Mabel's stomach growled. She looked down at it in surprise, remembering that she hadn't eaten anything yet today. Dipper laughed. "I have an idea! Why don't we all go back to the Mystery Museum for brunch? It'll be on Ford!" Mabel considered pointing out that Ford might not appreciate that; but brunch was Dipper's favorite meal, so she kept her peace.

"Oh, hey, Mabes: Here's your Journal," said Dipper, handing it to her.

"Thanks!" Mabel had nearly forgotten about that. She held it close for a second before slipping it inside her jacket. It would stay out of sight for now: If there's one thing she knew with clarity after this whole mess, it was that she wouldn't be showing Ford the Journal anytime soon.

"Ready to go?" Dipper asked.

Mabel was about to nod when there was a squealing sound behind her. They all turned to see Star Mabel the Pig looking innocently up at them.

Mabel's eyes widened. "Uh. . ."

But she couldn't explain, because Dipper was squealing, "Oh my gosh, it's so cute! What are you doing out here, little guy?" He knelt down to its level.

The pig squealed again and ran to Dipper, practically jumping into his arms. Dipper laughed in surprise and joy as it nuzzled him. "Mabel, look! He loves me!"

"Um, Dipper, I don't think. . . ," Mabel began.

"Do you wanna come home with me? You do? Great! I'm sure Ford won't mind."

Mabel was pretty sure Ford would mind, but she was also pretty sure there was nothing stopping her twin now.

"What should I call you, huh, little guy? Ooh, I know, Waddles!" He looked up at Mabel, waving the pig's front hooves in the air. "'Cause he waddles."

Mabel attempted a smile, and it must have been convincing, because Dipper didn't seem to notice it wasn't sincere. She didn't have the heart to explain who "Waddles" really was, or that "he" was technically a "she." It was a little concerning that a clone who would burst into white smoke on contact with her was now going to be living with them. Mabel guessed she would just have to. . . not touch the pig?

Dipper stood up, and Waddles frolicked at his ankles as he, Mabel, Candy, and Greyson started their trek out of the forest. Star Mabel had been the clone that focused on her love for Dipper, right? A fitting clone to be turned into an adorable pet pig, Mabel supposed.

As the band of kids and their newly christened pig headed back to the Mystery Museum, Mabel knew her problems hadn't been solved. She was still confused, and she was still scared of her. But she also knew she had her brother and all the time in the world to recover.

So, for now, she was happy.

END OF EPISODE THREE