(A/N) Okay but lately tons of my titles have been names/plays on names of musical songs. Also, The Squip Lurks is underappreciated so I added it to the top. Also sorry I've had a paragraph for like... a month.
The next week was probably the most stressful time of my life. Gideon didn't go back to Northwest Manor. I could tell by his tired expression that sneaking around different public buildings at night and practically falling asleep in the Mystery Shack during the day that he was exhausted. He refused my offers to let him stay at the shack.
"Gideon, you're literally homeless. Stay at the shack." I said. He shook his head.
"You know I can't do that Mabel. It's Northwest pride."
"Oh, so now you have Northwest pride?" Gideon looked away and tried to hide a yawn, but I caught him. "Gideon, you're exhausted. At least take a nap?" He grumbled but reluctantly went up to the spare bed in the attic to rest.
"How did you get him to rest?" Melody asked, resting a laundry basket on her hip. I shrugged.
"I don't know. I kind of just begged him to." I confessed. Melody shook her head.
"Well, let me know when you figure out a way to get it to work on your Grunkle." She remarked, walking off to bring the clothes to the laundromat. I thought about what she said, and went looking for Ford.
"Grunkle Ford?" I called, checking his office, his bedroom, and the museum. He wasn't there. I wandered around the shack calling his name out until I finally heard a noise coming from the gift shop. I went out to Find him leaning against the vending machine with his hand. "Oh, there you are!" I said, startling him.
"Goodness gracious, Mabel!" He called out in shock, jumping a bit. "You scared me!"
"Whoops, sorry Grunkle Ford." I apologized. "I just wanted to talk to you about something." Ford peered at me through his thick glasses.
"What is it?" I glanced over my shoulder quickly, then looked back at Ford.
"I finally got Gideon to go upstairs and take a nap. So I was wondering... if you'd tell me about Bill Cipher?" Ford looked around suspiciously.
"Come with me, there's something I need to show you." He entered a code into the vending machine keypad and the machine swung on hinges like a door. Ford ushered me into the dark staircase below. He then shut the vending machine door behind us, casting us in total darkness. "You'll be fine Mabel. Just keep walking."
"What is this place?" I asked, tightly grasping the railing as we walked.
"When I first began studying the strange here in Gravity Rises, I knew that I would need somewhere safe, somewhere secure, where I could study my findings." We reached the bottom of the stairs. "That place became this lab." He punched some strange looking symbols into a keypad and a terrifying metal door opened. "Get in."
The elevator ride was silent, except for the grinding of metal as we descended one... two floors. Ford opened the door and let me step out first before leading me to the lab. There were big, clunky computers everywhere with books and papers scattered about. At one point, I noticed screens showing various locations in and around the Shack.
"Now can we talk about Bill Cipher?" I asked. Ford nodded.
"Yes, I think we can." He rested into a worn spinny chair and I sat on top of a stack of large encyclopedias. "Bill Cipher is a dream demon. A dangerous one. He destroyed his own dimension by plunging it into a sea of chaos. And I guarantee you he's planning to do the same to ours. I only hope we can stop him before it's too late."
"There's a way to stop him?" I asked. Ford nodded.
"Yes, there is a way to defeat Bill. It's been done before. But it's dangerous and impossible."
"Why I asked?"
"Because-" Ford stopped himself and shook his head. "It just is, Mabel. I'm sorry." I sighed.
"Can you at least tell me how he's connected with Pacifica?" Ford shook his head again.
"The most I can tell you is that she must have made a deal with him. He runs on deals and favors. Now let's go." Ford led me back up the elevator and up the stairs.
"Thanks anyway, Ford." He nodded.
"And Mabel?"
"Yeah?" Ford narrowed his eyes.
"Don't tell anyone about the lab. Especially not Gideon."
YOU ARE READING
Northwest-Pines Mystery Hunters
Fanfiction"Why did you insist on your name being first?" "It's an eyecatcher, shut up Pines." When Mabel Pines was sent to Oregon to stay with her genius Uncle, she expected more than simply watching over his fake museum. That is, until she gets an offer to f...
