Daughter of Bill Cypher

Whats next?

Mabel walked into her old room. The beds and mattresses were still there, with some weird stains by the corners. She looked up, hoping to see the moldy spots on the ceiling. Instead, they were multiplied, almost covering all the wood. She smiled, dropping her suitcase and backpack.

Mabel Pines was now 21 years old. She was thin, with brown hair falling to her waist, pulled back by a pink headband with sequins. Her braces were gone, replaced with sparkly white teeth. She was wearing a blue hand-made sweater with a robot doing the chicken dance in the middle.

"So, Mabel, what do you think?" A voice said behind her. Her brother walked in.

Dipper Pines still had his brown hair and cracking voice. He was holding two large duffel bags, full of his personal belongings.

"I see Daryl now has kids." She joked, gesturing to the roof.

At that exact moment, a drop of fell on Dippers cheek. He groaned as he wiped it off with his sleeve. Mabel giggled lightly. They then put their bags on their old beds.

The twins were now fresh out of college. It was summer, and they decided on the perfect vacation: visiting the old mystery shack. Soos had kept it in good condition, leaving the bedrooms alone since he still lived with his grandma. And now, Mabel and Dipper offered to watch the shack while he went on his own vacation.

Dipper walked back down to the shop. The closed sign flapped slightly in the breeze. The merchandise was piled on shelves, with overpriced signs next to them.

His eyes immediately went to the hat rack. A white cap with blue on the edges and a pine tree in the middle was sitting on the top. Dipper quickly came over, and took it off the hook. A sticky note was on the side.

Saved the last for you, dude. Have a nice summer!

-Soos

Dipper smiled, and put the hat on his head, turning to look in the small mirror.

His eyes were blazing yellow.

Dipper yelped as he stepped back. His eyes were now normal. He panted for a second, trying to comprehend that. Was that just the lighting?

He then noticed something in the mirror. The vending machine was still by the doorway, stocked with fresh chips and snacks. He walked over to it, running his hand along the side. He lightly tapped out the code on the buttons, not actually pressing them.

Ford and Stan were still circling around the Atlantic Ocean somewhere. Last he heard, they were searching for Atlantis. Although eight years have passed, they were both still as lively as ever.

"Hey!" Mabel greeted as she walked down the stairs. Dipper snapped out of his daze and smiled at her. She tapped a jar of eyeballs that sat on the counter, and turned to look at the statue of Grunkle Stan in the corner. It said 'our founder', which was made by Soos when he took over.

She then noticed that Dipper was by the vending machine. She walked over, noticing his finger still on one of the buttons. "You think they left anything down there?" She asked. "I don't know. They must have packed their equipment on their boat when they left." Dipper said.

"Well, lets check it out." Mabel declared. She reached out and typed in the code.

They both stepped back as the door slowly opened with a creak. Dipper quickly ran upstairs. Two minutes later, he came back with two flashlights, handing one to Mabel. They cautiously stepped in, looking down the dark staircase. Dipper snaked his hand into Mabel's, and they switched on their flashlights. Two beams of light illuminated the stairs.

Mabel then pulled Dipper down, and they walked down the stairs, listening to the cracking of the wood.

—

They both stood in the elevator, listening to the rumbling. "So...What happens if we do find something down there? What if there's something that...might want to hurt us?" Dipper asked himself, unaware that Mabel could hear him. She playfully put her arm around him. "Relax, Bro-Bro. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." She assured. Dipper smiled, and repeated that he wouldn't let anything happen to her either.

The elevator then stopped, and the door opened.

They faced Fords old lab. And it was a wreck.

Eight years of no one coming through had done a lot to it. Dust and cobwebs covered everything. Dipper shined his flashlight on old bulky computers and machines that took up the whole wall. Mabel wiped a thick layer of dust off one of the screens, seeing her reflection. "Yep. It's dust." She clarified. Dipper smirked, and walked over to Stans old desk. The chair was still there, which he spun around. The photo of him and Mabel was still sitting there, probably forgotten when they left. Dipper then noticed the big window that was over it, and blew the dust away from the old glass.

The huge broken bits of the portal littered the other room. It looked as if something ripped it apart. Dipper noticed the door next to the window. He slowly opened it and walked through, Mabel close behind him.

She kicked at a small wire as he shined his flashlight on one of the bigger chunks of pieces. "Why didn't Ford ever clean this up? It looks like nobody touched it since he dismantled it." Mabel asked, brushing away a cobweb. Dipper noticed the button that shut down the portal was still sitting up. A quick memory flashed in his mind; of when Mabel trusted Stan enough to not press it. He walked up to it, running his finger along the side. How did she do it? Trust someone enough to stake your life on it?

He then flinched when he heard a low beep. He turned around quickly. His light landed on Mabel, who was messing around with a bunch of wires in one of the pieces.

Suddenly, she yelled and stumbled back, crashing down on another piece. "Mabel! Are you okay?" Dipper asked, running over to her. She moaned. Dipper grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the rubble. Bits of fiberglass and wires and chips clung to her body. "I'm fine. I just thought I saw..." her voice wandered as she looked at where she originally was, then looked at Dipper. "Nothing." She said quickly. Dipper shrugged it off, and helped brush some debris off her body.

They then decided to bag this today and grab some lunch, agreeing to check it out some more tomorrow. Dipper looked at the machine one last time. There wasn't any way this could start up again. Could it?