AT ALL COSTS!!!

Escape(again) Part 1

Strangers P.O.V

Getting in was no problem, it had been easy to act my way in among the other wounded stragglers. I covered my face with soot and dirt, and wore a potato sack.

I would have worn my usual outfit, but that would raise suspicion. The last thing I wanted right now was to draw attention to myself.

I broke off from the survivors and made my way to the dungeons, undetected. It was all going according to plan.

Mabel's P.O.V

I sat up in the gloom and yawned rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I had no idea how long we'd been down here for, but it felt like forever. Beside me Dipper slept soundly his head resting against my shoulder.

I gently touched my cheek and let out an involuntary groan. It was swollen, not bad but there was a bruise. I stared at the ceiling, no doubt Ford and Stan had killed Bill by now.

My eyes darted to my sleeping twin, and my heart began to ache. I was supposed to protect him, I am the eldest (by a few minutes), I am his twin, his sister. His best friend. How could I have failed?

Despair filled my chest and made my eyes water. I should've tried harder, I let my guard down and was knocked out. I should've been more alert, it was one of the first things I'd learnt as a soldier. Be cautious and alert.

I forgot those rules, now after they get rid of Bill, I knew what would happen to Dipper. My mind flashed back to two years ago:

It had been another sleepless night because I worried for Dipper. I'd gone to my grunkles office where they were working, they'd been working over time for a few nights. I was about to knock on the door when I heard a faint cry.

"Please don't!" I looked through the key hole. It was tad strange, but he looked different. He had strange purple clothes and bright violet eyes, he wore a square eye patch and had a floating bowler hat on his head.

"Shut up will ya!?" My Grunkle Stan yelled. Then my great uncle Ford stepped into my range of sight, blocking Tad from view. I heard Tad scream in agony, I backed away and ran to my bunk.

A few weeks after the incident; I'd snuck into my grunkles office, using the technique Stan had shown me. I looked through the files and found the one I had been looking for. I had to sit down when I read the thing or fall down. At the time Bill had been demonizing people, and turning them into his minions.

I would have begun to worry about Dipper, if my eyes hadn't skimmed over the reports. Reports about various experiments, all done on the same test subject

Tad

My great uncle Ford had been trying to see if he could cure demonization.   Tad had been a failure, after a week he'd died even though Ford had gotten rid of the demon part. In the report Ford wrote; that Tad's death was caused by the fact, he was (physically) too weak to survive the procedure.

When I saw Dipper in the desert, when he'd taken down Bill without need of powers , I was filled with relief. I'd thought Bill hadn't turned him. Then the night he came to talk to me, my hope shattered like glass

I thought that something like this would happen, I tried to prevent it. I failed. Knowing my grunkles they'd try turn him human, but even though I knew Dipper was strong. There was a chance he would NOT survive. Tad's death was nothing more than a theory, his physical condition might have had nothing to do with his passing.

I didn't want to lose him. I decided there and then that if my grunkles tried, I'd fight them to my last breath. No one would hurt him not on my watch.

"Mabel?" I turned to my brother who was staring at me with concern. I wondered why, until I felt it. The warm streaks on my face, I was crying.

Dipper's P.O.V

I couldn't stop staring as my sister silently cried. She stared off into space, I began to worry so I called her name.

"Mabel?" I tried. My voice was louder than I intended, but it worked. She snapped out of it and looked at me.
I gripped her shoulders, she offered me a weak smile. But I could see it in her eyes, there was no hope for me.

I pulled her to me, holding her as tight as I could. I held tears of my own back, I knew I was going to die.

At least I wasn't alone, I have her. My sister and best friend. She and I had been through so much together, and no matter what we still would.

There was the sound of a gunshot followed by a strangled noise. Mabel turned around holding onto my hand. She sneered and narrowed her eyes. I waited to see either Ford or Stan, but instead there was a familiar face that poked his head around the corner.

My jaw went slack in surprise, and so did Mabel's.

"Gideon!?" We exclaimed together.