I brought the twins to the Gravity Falls Library to research more about the weird laptop that Soos had found in the bunker where the shapeshifter was. "Found anything?" Dipper asked as he was sitting in front of the laptop which required a password to get to it.
"Here" I put down a big stack of books in front of him as he looked at me a bit concerned but still took some of them and skimmed through the pages.
"Mabel do you mind helping us out here?" Dipper turned to his sister who seemed to be staring at some random guy.
"All my life I've been dreamin' of a love that's right for me. And now I finally know her name and it's..." A tall blonde guy with his hair in a pony tail was entertaining the kids with some puppets "Sing it with me kids!" He said as the kids chanted Literature.
"Oh boy" I said as Dipper put his head in his hands. Here we go again. Another week another crush.
I walked up to Mabel to see if it was as bad as we thought. "Just when I was getting over Mermando, of course, you show up at my doorstep." She said as I sighed petting her back for comfort.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about Mermando. Did not care for Mermando." Dipper replied bluntly as he opened another book from the stack i gave him. "Okay, this cryptology book says that there's 7.2 million 8-letter words. I'll type, you read. Okay, Girls? Girls?" He asked but I just looked at him then back at Mabel. Right then she started walking towards the guy.
"I'm sorry I'll be back in a minute" I told him as he nodded going back to the books about combinations and i ran up to Mabel.
"Hey! Guess who's Mabel! I am. Care to learn more? I bet you do. You like to learn- WAA-" Mabel tripped accidently while walking up to him on one book lazily thrown on the ground. Luckily she didn't need my help to get up "And I'm up!" She chuckled slightly.
"Oh, hey, I'm Gabe. Master of puppets. Nice to meet you." He said as I nodded still concerned about Mabel and if she was okay.
"You're amazing with those puppets." Mabel complimented the blonde who laughed a bit probably not used to many girls complimenting his dolls.
"Really?" His smile suddenly faded "A lot of people think puppets are dumb, or, just for kids or something." Oh well called it.
"Are you kidding me? I'm puppet-CRAZY! People call me Puppet-Crazy-Mabel!" Mabel lied swiftly as Gabe gasped.
"Really? People used to call me Puppet-Crazy-Gabe! So when's your next puppet show?" He asked her as she stared blankly at him.
"My what?" She mumbled as I took on the conversation for her since she didn't know what to say.
"She is working on a sock opera with lots of drama and romance" I said hoping he wouldn't ask for anything else.
"And are you two like a team?" He questioned as I was about to answer with a simple no but Mabel interrupted me.
"Yes! Yes we are! She will be voicing the female lead! Her singing voice is amazing" Mabel said as i chuckled uncomfortably.
"Aha it's not really amazing. But Mabel is the true creative genius behind the show" I said hoping for Gabe to pin his attention towards her instead.
"Aren't you Gideon's sister who played the piano for him?" He questioned me as I nodded.
"Small city" i mumbled as I chuckled once again to try and hide how uncomfortable this was for me. "But yea I was"
"Well you were very good at that. And if you want to ever help out with my songs here is my number" he passed me a piece of paper as I took it a bit hesitantly.
"I hope to see you soon... uhh... I didn't catch your name?" He questioned me as I had already started walking over to Dipper.
"I didn't throw it" I said not bothering to turn and face him again. Soon enough Mabel caught up with me.
"What was that! Why was he looking at you like that!" Mabel complained as I sighed.
"If it makes you feel any better I have no interest in him. So here" I passed her the piece of paper with his phone number. "It's not like I'll use it" Her eyes lit up as she grabbed it and embraced me in a hug. I was surprised but i gladly took it.
"Thanks" she said.
The two of us walked up to Dipper who was still trying out passwords. "Dipper, how hard do you think it'd be to write and compose a sock puppet rock opera with lights, original music and live pyrotechnics by Friday?" Mabel asked out of the blue as he looked up from the screen.
"WHAT?" He asked. I could see he was furious.
"Listen It was my idea to make a sock opera." I tried to take the blame as Dipper facepalmed.
"Well what about cracking this password? You know, mystery trio?" He questioned as Mabel continued trying to convince him.
"If you help me with this for JUST a couple of days I promise I'll help with the password! Please, pretty please!" She walked uo to him and whispered something I didn't hear but he looked at me for a split second after what she said.
"All right okay" he caved it
Soon enough we decided it was time to leave the library. But as we walked out something felt off. In fact the whole way home felt strange as if someone was following us even though it was in the middle of the say and no one was looking directly at us.
The whole afternoon after we got home I was jumping from place to place helping both Mabel with the puppet making and Dipper with guessing the password.
-----
By the night we managed to make a good portion of the dolls. As we were getting ready for bed Dipper was still trying to guess the password. "You done with that?" I asked him sitting on my mattress on the floor. He just continued inputting more words into the machine.
"Just don't stay up to late!" Mabel called out going to bed herself. She was surrounded by all the puppets. "Goodnight my babies" she whispered as she got comfortable.
As Dipper continued to put in codes I put my hand on the top of the laptop which startled him. "Go to sleep. Being sleep deprived isn't fun trust me" I told him as he looked at the screen and then at me.
"Just a few more tries" he said as I sighed going back to my bed on the floor. This time i laid down, my head falling on the soft pillow as I pulled the blanket over me. "Goodnight" Dipper called out.
"Goodnight" i replied to him falling asleep rather quickly.
—————
I woke up in the middle of the night to shuffling coming from Dipper's side of the room. I opened my eyes slowly to see Dipper sneaking out of the room. He didn't seem to notice me. I sighed before pulling the sheets off of me letting the cold air of the night wake me up.
I stayed like that for a minute or so before getting up and walking out of the room to see where Dipper walked to. Suddenly I heard a scream from the roof. I rushed up the ladder to see Dipper holding onto the laptop with a terrified expression on his face. That look seemed far too familiar for me to ignore it.
"Emma?! What are you doing here?" He questioned me as I walked up to him sitting dow beside him.
"I heard you waking up and going to the roof. Decided to check up on you" I said as he looked at the tablet opening it again.
"Thanks. But I'm fine" He told me as I looked at the moon.
"Screaming on the roof didn't seem normal" I said as he sighed putting the laptop beside him.
"Truth is I saw Bill" he explained as I nodded.
"I know" He looked at me surprised.
"What- How?" He questioned as I shrugged.
"Screaming. Middle of the night. Terrified look on your face. Seems like Bill" I explained.
"You seem to know about this a lot. You know you never explain anything that happens with you and that triangle guy" He said as I chuckled.
"There is a time for everything Pines. And right now is the time for codes. Pass me that laptop" I said as he handed me the laptop and I opened it examining it. "Property of F.? Who is F?" I read the label on the top.
"Haven't figured it out" he said as I looked at the laptop more carefully.
"Seems from like the 1980s?" I guessed looking it more. "If we get a list of people who lived here in the 80s with the first name starting with an F?" I suggesed but he shook his head.
"It will take too long. Plus the owner is probably long gone" he said as I nodded turning it on.
"Well then. Guessing passwords it is" I said chuckling.
We spend the rest of the night inputting random words letters or just numbers. Every common and rare combination we could think of.
—————
Me and Dipper walked in the kitchen to find Mabel and Stan bickering.
"Hey" Dipper said yawning.
"Dipper I told you to get some sleep last night! And you also dragged Em into this. Who will help me with the puppets now!" She complained as I tried to calm her down.
"Mabel don't worry. I can help you throughout the day and still manage to help Dipper with the passwords. Sleep is not a problem for me. I can manage. I promise the sock opera music will be written and it will be perfect!" I said as she nodded pouring some sort of pink liquid in a cup.
"Yea you better. But just to make sure. I made this Mabel drink!" She handed me the glass of the what I assumed should be an energy drink.
"I don't think she should drink this-" Dipper tried to stop me but I downed the whole drink in seconds.
"Not declining a little energy boost" I said as he looked disgusting. Just then Dipper dragged us into the living room away from Stan which took both me and Mabel by surprise.
"Mabel, listen, last night I had a dream with Bill in it. Emma already knows but I wanted to tell you as well" He told her as her eyes widened.
"Wait, hold up, the triangle guy?" She held her fingers in front of her eye to make a triangle. I pushed her hands away from her face quickly.
"Don't do that" I said as she nodded seeing I was uncomfortable.
"He said he'd give me the code to the laptop if I gave him something. Like I'd actually trust Bill, right?" He joked as I looked at him and lightly hit him.
"You never told me about some sort of deal!?" I asked as he shrugged.
"Must have forgotten" he said as I stayed quiet.
"Don't worry, bro. Today's the day that the mystery trio is back in action. I'll help you crack that code. I've just got to hand off my puppet stuff to my production crew." She said as I furrowed my eyebrows.
"You have a productproduction crew? Thought it was just us?" I asked the bell rang. I looked to the door where Mabel went to open. On the other die where Grenda and Candy. Of course.
Me and Dipper followed Mabel outside who talked with her friends. I was helping out all the props in a box while Dipper was barely keeping himself awake. "I have no clue how you did this for half the summer" he said as I chuckled.
"I don't know either. I guess you learn to live with 3 hours of sleep or less every day" I explained as he hummed in response.
"We read the script. Very emotional." Candy told Mabel as Grenda agreed with her claiming she cried several times.
"Hey ladies" suddenly Gabe pulled up beside us. He was on rollerskates
"GABE!" Mabel practically screamed.
"I was just bladin' by. Helps me dry out my ponytail after a shower." He took off his helmet which allowed his ponytail to be free in the wind "Ah, ah." He said as the girls all stared at him.
"Hubbity-hubbuty" Granda said and Candy mumbled something in what I think was Korean.
"It's so great to see you! I was just working on the world's greatest puppet show. IT HAS PUPPETS!" Mabel said as he chuckled.
"Your passion is so refreshing, Mabel. Unlike the girl from last night's puppet show. Single-stich on one puppet, and cross-stitch on the other? I was like, Uh-uh!" He explained as Mabel stood there not knowing how to answer. Frankly if I could I could interfere and help but sewing wasn't one of my strengths.
"Cross-huh?" Mabel questioned as I sighed walking up beside her.
"Naturally I deleted her off my cell phone contacts list." He said as he noticed me walking up to the group.
"I know you won't let me down. Based on what you and Emma said the other day, you two must be puppet experts." He said as I nodded warping my hand around Mabel's shoulder.
"Definitely. Everything from the production to the amazing acting skills will be perfect!" I assured him as he smiled.
"I hope. And oh Emma you never gave me a call back" He said as I looked away in embarrassment. How do I say to his face that I am not interest in him without getting jumped at by my three other friends.
"Ah with all the writing and composing of the music I lost track of time!" I told him laughing a bit to cover how uncomfortable I was while he was flirting with the only one not interested in him.
"Well. I do hope I hear from you soon. Layer ladies!" He said skating away as I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"What was that!?" Grenda asked as I sighed.
"It seems like the lover boy over there had a 75% chance of picking a girl interested in him and he somehow got unlucky" i told them as they all started bickering saying how my taste in boys is just not correct
"Girl girls! GIRLS!" Mabel grabbed our attention "Stop arguing and focus on what's important! We gotta up our game! Did you hear that thing he said about the stitches?!" She said as i nodded.
Suddenly a number of event happened showing we are totally not ready for the show.
"Oh no I'm back on fabrication! Emma I need you to spend as much time as you can on the songs and make them perfect!" She said as I nodded. I wasn't that good at writing lyrics but I sure as hell would try.
"Whoa, whoa! Hey, you guys just said you were going to help me!" Dipper came up to us as Mabel was freaking out.
"DIPPER! This sock crisis just bumped up to code argyle! The laptop can wait!" Mabel told him as I stayed quiet.
"Mabel, do you seriously think that your random crush of the week is more important than uncovering the mysteries of this town? You're obsessed!" Dipper shouted at his sister.
"I'm obsessed? Look at you! You look like a vampire! And not the hot kind!" Mabel told him as I tried to speak up.
"You know maybe we should-" But i got interrupted.
"But you said you were going to help me today!" Dipper spoke over me as I mumbled a small 'okay' and Mabel stared at him angrily.
"You just spoke over Emma!" She complained as I tried telling them it was fine.
"No no actually tell us. Who here is right?" Dipper questioned me as I threw my hands in the air.
"Can't I be Switzerland in ww2?" I asked as they continued fighting.
"Okay, fine! You know what? I'll do it on my own!" Dipper told us as he stormed off to the Shack. I followed quickly behind him.
"Pines!" I shouted as he didn't bother turning around. "PINES!" I shouted again and he looked at me this time.
"What?!" He questioned as I looked at him.
"Give me 2 hours?" I asked as he sighed "Just two so I can write the songs! I have already figured out the melody I just need rhyming lyrics!" I told him as he nodded a but unsure.
"Fine. I'll wait for you" he said and I smiled giving him a thumbs up before running to the main area of the Shack to the small toy piano Stan gave me a while back. And so I started thinking. But it seemed like my body didn't feel that well because of that Mabel juice I drank the morning. And so before I knew it I fell asleep.
—————
"Well, well, well, well" Bill's voice echoed around as I saw that same old field. No no no no no! I looked around frantically for a way to escape knowing full well in a nightmare there isn't much i can do.
"Please!" I said my voice breaking. Just when I thought it was over.
"Why so sad! Is it the scenery. Oh well I suppose it does give you some sort of what you people call PTSD." Suddenly he snapped his fingers and I was sitting in a floating chair with a floating cup of floating tea beside me. It looked like we were in space. "Isn't this better?" He said as I just noticed a chess board in front of me.
"What is this. Why again. I thought you were done?" I questioned him as he laughed. Oh how much i hated that laugh.
"Oh dear Piano Keys I am never done. But no. You know how you owe me a favour? Yea I would like something from you" he said as I stared at him. "But only talking is boring. That's why I brought this chess here" he said moving his pawn to the centre of the board on e4. "Your turn" he told me as I moved my pawn to c5. "Sicilian defence? Oh don't be so predictable" he told me as he moved one of his horses out.
"Okay but why should I listen to you?" I questioned as he snapped his fingers and I felt immense pain in my back as if it had snapped. "Make it stop!" I cried out as he snapped his fingers again.
"You see. I can't exactly do that to you outside of your dreams. But I can do it here. So if you don't comply. Well we will have to go to that old schedule we had. And that will be inconvenient for both you and me." He told me as I sighed deciding to hear him out.
"What do you want?" I questioned moving another pawn.
"All I want is one little puppet" Suddenly all the puppets appeared all around us as he got out his bishop.
"A puppet? But why?" I questioned continuing the game focusing more on the table than the conversation.
"Everyone loves puppets. And it looks to me that you've got a surplus." He said as I nodded moving my queen.
"Check" I told him as he angrily placed a horse in the way and I retrieved my queen. "I don't know Mabel worked hard on those puppets. Also check again" I told him as he noticed this time my bishop was attacking.
"Seems to me one little puppet is a small price to pay to not have me around anymore. That is unless you think you'd miss me" he said as I castled.
"Definitely not. Just that- Mabel will not be happy" I told him a she took my second horse. But it didn't matter.
"Well when has Mabel been helpful to you. Weren't you and Dipper the ones to help her always?" He told me as I attacked him with my rook.
"That's check" I pointed out again as he put his own rook to protect the king but i took it with my queen. "And that's mate" I said hitting his king with my queen as the piece fell over. He didn't seem too pleased he lost that game.
"So do we have a deal? You give me a puppet and you don't owe me a favour anymore. And on top of that I don't visit you again. Doesn't it sound nice?" He asked as he extended his hand.
"Fine" I told him shaking his hand. "Which puppet are you even gonna chose?" I asked as he started laughing.
"Let's see. Eenie meenie mynie... YOU!" His voice echoed as I woke up. But I wasn't in my own body. I was looking at myself and it seemed like Bill was controlling it. No no no no no no! What did I do?!
"God I am such an idiot!" I said as Bill stood up.
"You truly are. And for the record. I let you win that game" he said laughing again. This is not good. "Jeez it's been a while since I inhabited a human body." He said stumbling while walking around. "Whoah- who-oah" I watched him getting used to his surroundings. "So where is Pinetree and that journal of his" He said looking around as my eyes widened.
"No no no no" I was still freaking out as Bill walked up the stairs to the attic. "Oh Dipper!" He called out as he entered the attic where Dipper was still inputting passwords.
"Emma! Finally!" He said happily as Bill stood still watching Dipper. He started inputting more passwords as the screen flashed saying he had put too many wrong passwords. "What no no no no no!" Dipper whined as he looked at the computer and then at Bill who was in my body. "Em! A bit of help here?" He was freaking out as Bill took the laptop. "Please tell me you can fix it-" Dipper started speaking but right then Bill smashed the laptop to the ground as Dipper watched in horror. "What was that about!"
"Dipper I am taking that dumb book of yours as a prop for the show!" Mabel called from downstairs as Bill smiled leaving the room.
I knew i had no way of contacting Dipper considering I was stuck in the mind space. "Vessel. Vessel. I just need something to use as a body. As a doll." My eyes landed on all of Mabel's puppets. "A puppet!" I quickly went to one of the puppets that resembled me hoping this would work. Surprisingly it did.
I walked over to Dipper who was trying to fix the now broken laptop on the ground. He didn't seem to notice the floating Sock puppet behind him. "Dipper" I said hoping he would hear me.
"Emma not now-" He was about to tell me to go away before his gaze turned to see the floating puppet. Before I could explain myself he screamed.
"Calm down!" I shouted at him. "Listen. I messed up. Big time. Long story short. Bill is in my body. And he is looking for the journal. You need to help me" I told him as he looked at the laptop and then me.
With a sigh he replied "Alright. Where is he headed?" He questioned as I walked out of the attic.
"The puppet show." I told him as we both headed that way.
—————
We arrived at the theatre where Mabel greeted us at the entrance. "Dipper you made it!" She hugged her brother as I hid the sock puppet behind him.
"Mabel we have to talk. In private. Now" he said as he dragged Mabel and i followed behind them.
As we walked into some sort of changing room Dipper started talking. "A small problem has occurred" he said as I put my hand up so the sock puppet faced Mabel.
"Hi" I said shyly as Mabel screamed.
"Aah! It's come to life! The puppetbooks didn't warn me about this!" She said as she threw a fork at me.
"No Mabel it's me! Emma! I made a dumb deal with Bill and now he has possessed my body."
"Mabel where is the journal we have to get it before Bill does!" Dipper told her as she handed both of us Puppets.
"I will go get it. You two go act out the scenes. There is a spare script on my desk" and with a determined look she left the room leaving me and Dipper to deal with the show.
I sighed as I put another puppet on my spare hand and Dipper took a few. The two of us walked to the stage behind the props and started the show. We read off the script and I sung where there needed to be musical numbers.
Time passed as suddenly the big cake for the finale came crashing down with Mabel and Bill in my body. "Get out of my best friend's body, you evil triangle!" Mabel shouted hitting Bill as the two fought.
"You can't stop me! I'm a being of pure energy with no weakness!" He screamed as I remembered something.
"Mabel! Kick the knees!" I shouted as she did just that. Suddenly bill fell to the ground. He managed to get up but Mabel ran around him in circles.
"Fun fact. Emma doesn't sleep and doesn't have the energy to run!" She said as Bill tried to follow her but alas he dropped to the ground once more this time leaving my body. For a second I watched it lay on the ground. Lifeless without a mind and soul it seemed strange. But I was quickly dragged out of my thoughts and returned to my body.
"Woo! I am back in my body!" I said as suddenly my knees started burning. "And all I feel is pain" I told them as they both chuckled.
"This isn't the last you'll hear of me! Big things are coming! You can't stop me!" Bill said. It seemed like he was inhabiting the puppet i used just a second ago.
"I'm sorry Gabe" Mabel mumbled as she clicked a button detonating the fireworks blowing up the whole place. Dear god.
"Don't worry. I've seen enough movies to know this is the part where the audience thinks it was all part of the show and loves it. Cue applause!" I told her trying to liven up the mood but no one seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Everyone slowly started to leave. "Gabe! Stick around for the wrap party? We've got mini-quiches!" Mabel walked up to him as he looked disgusted.
"Don't speak to me, Mabel. You've made a mockery of my art form!" He said as i tried to talk to him.
"Gabe listen it's not her fault" I tried to reason with him but he interrupted me
"Emma. I thought you were different. But you turned out to be just like everyone else who mocks me and my art" he said as I shrugged.
"Fair enough I don't even like puppets" I told him as he gasped pulling away the puppets he had on his hands.
"Let's go my loves" he told his puppets as he started kissing them. Yikes.
"Did he just make out with his puppets?" Dipper questioned as I chuckled nervously.
"You might've dodged a bullet there." I told her as she laughed. But not for long. Her smile soon fell. "Mabel, I'm sorry about all this. It's my fault your puppets got ruined." I told her as she shook her head.
"Well, one of them survived." She pulled out a puppet that resembled her. "And she has something to say to you." She started speaking as the puppet "I'm sorry, Emma. I spent all week obsessing over a dumb guy. I totally forgot you and Dipper" she lightly hit my shoulder which caused me immense pain but I laughed it off. "Mystery trio?" She questioned as I just embraced her in a hug.
"Jeez what happened to your arm?" Dipper pointed out the several bleedings and bruises on my left hand.
"Nothing a little sleep can't fix!" Mabel said as I laughed.
"I'm pretty sure we have to go to the hospital again" i told them as they chuckled.
"Alright lets go get you patched" Dipper said putting his hand around my shoulder to help me walk.
Oh boy. Was this long. But nevertheless I hope you enjoyed!