*◛:･ﾟ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜɴᴋᴇʀ ᴘᴛ. ɪɪɪ ➷*❞˖⁺⑅
The creature grotesquely transformed its body from what once was a man to something more monstrous before their eyes. It's skin was slightly transparent in a beige- like color, white eyes turned to pink and had uneven limbs.
The duo's eyes widened in horror.
"How do you like my true form? Go on, admit it, you like it!" It said in it's real, deeper voice.
"You!" Dipper cried out. "What did you do to the real author!"
"You'll likely never find him. That six-fingered nerd hasn't been himself in thirty years! But I do thank you for bringing me his journal. He used to write it while I was in my cage. So many wonderful forms to take!"
The Shape shifter used its tongue to flip a page and transformed into the gremloblin. It cackled evilly, my morphing into other creatures like a gnome and a hide behind with each flick of a page.
"We've gotta get that journal back!" Dipper whispered to Wendy.
Wendy picked up an empty can off the ground and shouted to the Shape shifter. "Hey body snatcher, snatch this! "
She tossed the can towards the shape shifter, but it morphed to a giant frog monster. The can barely made a dent, but it did fuel the monster's irritation.
It then responded by shooting out it's tongue right out at Wendy, who quickly grabbed a piece of metal and holding it to block the attack, the tongue sticking to the metal instead. She stretched the metal, before letting it go as it ricochet back to the creature and got smacked in the fack.
The shape shifter cried in pain and made it dropped the book. Dipper took the chance and hurriedly grabbed the journal.
"RUN! RUN! RUN!"
The two didn't hesitate and ran right back to where they came from as the shape shifter snapped out of it's daze, more furious than ever.
It dropped itself to the ground, changing back to its original body, then to the man's, before finally taking the form of a giant pill bug monster. The creature let out an ear piercing roar and curled itself to a ball before giving chase.
Dipper and Wendy were running for their lives down the tunnel with Dipper holding the flashlight to navigate in the dark. However, they halted in their tracks when they came across a split path.
The monster's roar echoed behind them. Wendy went in the leftmost tunnel and pressed her body against the wall, while Dipper threw his lit flashlight down the other tunnel and then joined the teen. They hid themselves under the cover of darkness as the shape shifter finally appeared. It's attention darted to the other side where it caught a glimpse of the flashlight. It let out another roar and rolled down the wrong tunnel.
When it was safe, the duo continued running down the tunnel. . . until they collided right into three figures sending them all tumbling to the ground.
They groaned from the impact, and faced up front which made their eyes bulge wide.
It was Mabel, (y/n) and Soos!
"Oh, dudes!" Soos said in relief.
Mabel joined in, "Dipper! Wendy!"
"Thank god you're okay. "
"Mabel! (Y/n)! Soos!" exclaimed Dipper, very happy to finally see his family and friend. As they all got up, a realization snapped in the boy's mind.
"Wait!" He suddenly yelled, holding an arm out to Wendy before they could a step forward, "Careful. How do we know they're not the shape shifter?"
Soos gasped and hurriedly lift his shirt up to Mabel . "Maybe I am! Mabel, inspect my shape. "
Mabel grinned and poked his bulging stomach.
"Poke!"
Soos burst into laughter.
"Do that again!"
"Poke!"
"Do that again!"
"Poke! "
"Even better the second time."
Wendy turned to look at (y/n), and was surprised to see his face and arms with scratches and cuts.
"Woah, what happened to you? You look like you're being chased by a monster yourself. "She asked.
(Y/n) only groaned and wiped a blood that was seeping from a cut." Let's just say I hate running in the dark. "
"(Y/n) kept on tripping while we're trying to find you two. It was hilarious."
"Mabel!"
Dipper finally lowered his guard, and deadpanned at the trio. "It's definitely them." And it was then he saw a glimpse of red on Wendy's knee and grasped.
"Oh my gosh, Wendy, you're bleeding!"
"It's cool, it's cool." Wendy assured him, bending down to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder. " It's just blood, man; don't freak out."
(Y/n) shoved his hand into his pocket and pull out a roll of cloth bandage. "Good thing I snatched this before we got here. "
"Why didn't you use that on yourself sooner?"
"I was hoping to save this for more severe cases. Besides, we were kinda in hurry finding these two" he pointed his thumb at Dipper and Wendy. "Don't wanna slow down everytime I keep falling, y'know?"
(Y/n) guided Wendy to sit back down as he patch the scratch on knee.
"What happened?" Mabel asked in a worry.
"We got attacked by the shape shifter " Wendy said, her face furrowed in seriousness."He broke out of his cage, pretended to be the author, and wants Dipper's journal. "
"Imagine if he escapes into town! He could transform into anything! We could never trust anyone ever again!"
Mabel shared her brother's worry and faced the rest. "What do we do? "
"Well...he took us into his home, tricked us, and tried to destroy us." Wendy said, with every word she spoke her voice was laced with determination as (y/n) finished wrapping up the wound.
Wendy got back up her feet, staring down to her friends.
" I say we return the favor."
𓈒 ﹒ ☆ 𓂂 ˚ ☆ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭
In another part of the underground, the shape shifter in its human form as it continued its search for Dipper and Wendy, especially the boy and his journal.
"Dipper, my boy..." its body momentarily twitched. " I must speak with you. "
There was only silence and the shape shifter was getting more and more impatient, until finally the creature snapped. Its body morphed into a monster with six legs, claws, and a one-eyed head resembling a hand.
"REVEAL YOURSELF, YOU SINGLE-FORMED HUMAN WEAKLING!" Its voice boomed, its head formed a fist and slammed into the ground.
"Oh boy, Dipper" Mabel's voice rang obnoxiously loud in the lab with Dipper nest to her as they walk into the room. "That book sure is full of some great monsters!"
The monster snapped its head to their figures.
"There you are!" The shape shifter bellowed, noticing Mabel and smirked. "Ooh, and a new one. "
It transformed into an exact copy of Mabel right in front of their eyes.
"Should I be one..."
Then it turns into Dipper.
"...or the other? How about both? "
All of a sudden, the shape shifter morphed into a six- legged creature with the fusion of both Dipper and Mabel upper bodies, eyes glow white and mouths gaped wide open to reveal a set of sharp teeth.
The body looked like a monster that came out of a video game, only it was definitely real and in front of their very eyes.
The twins screamed in terror and bolted away as the monster started chasing them. They ran as quickly as they could back to (y/n), Wendy and Soos, who were all waiting by an H2O pipe.
"Guys, he's coming! He's coming! NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW!!"
The trio start turning the valve as fast as they could, but despite the number of arms, there wasn't any drop of water coming out.
"It's not working, dude!" Soos screamed.
Before they could do any more, the shape shifter had already arrived on the scene. It struck its long tongue towards Dipper, the twelve year old gasped at the incoming organ but before it could fully make contact, a blade of an axe swung down chopping a piece of the tongue.
The monster screeched in pain, flailing its now dismembered tongue. One quick notice was that the blood was light green instead of the usual red color.
"Claws off my cousin, you freak!" (Y/n) shouted, revealing to be the butcher with Wendy's axe in his grasps.
The shape shifter gaze towards the teen, then its eyes widened in shock.
"That face. . . "It growled- deeper than they ever heard, making the Pines cower behind (y/n) as he clutched the weapon tightly.
" Could it be...no, you're too young. His offspring perhaps?"
"The heck you're mumbling about?"
The shape shifter shook it head- or rather the Dipper variation's head.
"It doesn't matter. There is only one form I will not take, and anything that closely resembling to him. SO MOVE IT, BOY! ."
A tongue from the Mabel head stretched out, wrapping itself around (y/n)'s leg before he could even realized it.
"WooAHHH!! " He found himself tossed aside, landing close to Soos.
"(Y/N)!! " Everyone shouted in surprise and worry.
The shifter's tongue again struck towards Dipper, this time successfully sticking to the journal and began pulling it forward.
"Let...go!" Dipper groaned, pulling the journal back with all his might, determine to not let the monster have the it.
"You leave him alone!" Wendy rushed to Dipper, grabbing the fallen axe along the way, and placed her hand around the journal as well, helping him pulling it away.
But the shifter was strong, and tugged the journal to it with Wendy screaming as she still held on .
"Wendy!"
She landed onto of the creature's spider-like legs as it held the journal in its tongue. Wendy held her axe high and started to swing it, about to slice the organ...
(Y/n) groaned as he got back up his feet, just in time to see Wendy with the monster and Soos struggling to twist the valve. He gasped and made his way to help with the pipe.
And with a rather strong pull, water suddenly burst out of the pipe, hitting the shape shifter and Wendy, who dropped her axe when the water collided.
More water continued pouring out an alarming rate. The cousins and Soos tried to run away when the tunnel was starting to flood, but were swept away by the waters as it filled up the entire place.
The shape shifter was struggling to breathe and hold onto the journal while the four were barely keeping their heads above the water.
Wendy has been taken under and was helplessly drifting by the strong currents when all of a sudden, she was pushed right into a rock hard, rendering her knocked unconscious.
Finally, the water level decreased and eventually flowed away, leaving Dipper, Mabel, (y/n), and Soos lying on the ground thoroughly wet.
All of them were taking in deep breaths and coughing out excess water from their lungs. Dipper was the first to get and scout his surroundings to look for Wendy, worried for her safety.
But the girl was nowhere in sight, only her axe was left.
He picked the axe up and ran up to the tunnel where the water flood out.
"Wendy!" His voice only echoed.
With the axe in hand, he ran down the tunnel in search for the redhead. Soon enough he caught sight of her lying on the ground, unconscious.
Dipper gasped in horror. "Wendy!" He cried out, rushing to his fallen friend. "No, no, no-no-no! Can you hear me? Oh, please be okay, please be okay. "
He shook her body in an attempt to wake up. But she didn't stir. For a moment, her body was completely still, then soon her fell lifelessly.
Dipper felt his breath hitched.
"Oh no, oh no! This is all my fault!" The boy sobbed. "If I had told you when we were in the closet, we wouldn't be in this mess. But I was too scared and now you could be hurt or worse, and I never even got a chance to tell you I'm, like...in love with you, Wendy!"
Dipper felt tears swelling in his eyes, as he hung his head low and buried his face in his hand, mourning for the loss of his friend and crush.
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"...Uh, Dipper?"
A voice rang behind him, Dipper turned around and saw Wendy standing there with the journal in her hand.
"Huh...wha-Wendy?! W-wait, then who's...?"
The unconscious Wendy suddenly got up in all fours, letting out a monster like growl as she leapt up towards the real Wendy, who held it up high
"Give me back that journal!" The other Wendy exclaimed as she tried to reach out to the journal.
"Never!" The real Wendy still tried to keep the journal out of the shifter's reach, but in her attempt the two fell down to the ground on top of each other, still struggling to get a hold of the book.
"Get off me!" She yelled, kicking her counterpart right in the stomach.
Dipper watched in panic as the two Wendy's brawl, exchanging kicks and punches.
The boy finally noticed the axe and bent down to pick it up before approaching two Wendy's, who both now had a hold on the journal and played an almost tug-of-war with it.
He raised the axe, ready to strike. But at this point, he had no idea which one is which.
"Give it back; it belongs to Dipper!" Said one Wendy, then turning to face him.
"Hit her with the ax!"
"Don't listen to her, Dipper!"
"She's the shape shifter!"
Dipper looked at the two back and forth, full on panicking.
"Uh, uh...I don't know who's who! Give me a sign!"
The Wendy on the left side turn to him with a smile and sending him a wink. The other Wendy on the right also turned to face him with a straight face, her hand making a zipping motion on her lips and tossed it.
Dipper softly gasped in realization. Without another moment to spare, he swung the axe towards the left Wendy and striking it in the stomach. Green substance gushed out as the shape shifter shrieked in pain.
It changed itself back to its original form with the axe sticking in its chest.
"Dipper! Wendy!" Another voice cried out, making the two turn their heads and saw (y/n), panting.
"The capsules! It's a cyro chamber. Get the monster in there!" He pointed to a capsule with a green lit 'READY' sign on top.
Dipper nodded in understanding, then looking back the monster who had now ripped the axe off its body.
"Push him in!" He shouted, and with that all, the three charged towards the shape shifter, shoving it inside the open capsule.
"Now, Mabel!"
The capsule suddenly sealed shut when the thick glass walls slid into place. The three looked back at Mabel behind the glass window, who had pressed the red frozen button with Soos standing next to her.
"Frozen!" She exclaimed, and share a fist bump with Soos.
By the time the shape shifter realized what was happening, liquid nitrogen started seeping in.
"No!" exclaimed the shape shifter as it transformed from one creature to another, trying desperately to find a form that can help it escape. Until finally, it changed back to its original and roared one last time, before being frozen in place.
The five stood a few yards away from the cyro chamber watching silently the entire time.
It was Soos who finally broke the silence. "Let's get out of here, dudes"
They started walking out of the lab, when they suddenly heard a low cackling. They turn back towards the cyro chamber and saw the shape shifter pressing its face against the glass with its red eyes glued to their figures.
All five gasped.
"You think you're so clever, don't you, Dipper? But you have no idea what you're up against. You will never find the author. If you keep digging, you'll meet a fate worse than you can imagine. And this will be the last form you ever take!"
The shape shifter transformed one last time to that of Dipper, letting out a chilling scream as its body completely froze solid.
As the glass fogged up from the coldness, Dipper could see his own reflection in the glass. His body, ironically, froze from what he just witnessed.
There was a long silence that followed.
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"Haha, good luck sleeping tonight. "
𓈒 ﹒ ☆ 𓂂 ˚ ☆ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭
After the intense and rather traumatizing adventure, the Pines, Wendy and Soos made it back to the surface where the sun had already set. Two came out injured and all exhausted to the bone.
"Dude, I think I'm kind of adventured out for a little while." Soos groggily said. "My face hurts from doing this all day. "
He pressed his palm on his face and made a face of terror.
"Ugh, you tell me. I just wanna hop to bed and never wake up for a week. " (y/n) groaned as he stretched his arms.
Mabel lightly chuckled "Yeah, but you gotta admit we're all total heroes."
"Hey, who wants to get some heroes' breakfast, huh?" Soos ruffled the girl's hair, then placing her on his broad shoulders.
"Syrup on cereal!"
"Mabel, you're a visionary!"
Before (y/n) could follow them, he looked back to Dipper and Wendy. The two were a few meters away from each other, just standing there awkwardly and yet to meet each other's gaze.
The teen walked up to his cousin, and placed a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
"I'll make sure Mabel won't disturb you. You two talk it out, okay?" Dipper lifted his head to the taller boy and smiled. (Y/n) soon followed behind Mabel and Soos, leaving only him and Wendy alone.
Wendy was about to walk with the others, when Dipper stopped her.
"Look, Wendy, about earlier..." He paused for a moment, thinking over his next words "In the heat of the moment, I might have said some dumb things, and can't we just pretend none of that ever happened? Please?"
He turned away and hang his head down, too embarrassed to face the redhead.
Wendy stepped closer to Dipper, and bent down to his level with her hand gently placed on his shoulder.
"Dude, dude, it's okay..." Wendy softly reassured." I always...kinda knew. "
Dipper's eyes bulged wide, and snapped his to Wendy. "Wait, you did?"
She chuckled in reply "Yeah man, you think I can't hear that stuff you're constantly whispering under your breath?"
Dipper's face burst to red at the realization and tried to hide it by facepalming with both hands. He backed up from the girl and sat down on a nearby log.
"Oh, man..." He groaned, hanging his head low, as Wendy sat next to him.
"Listen Dipper, " she gently said. "I'm like, super flatteredbut... I'm too old for you. I mean, you know that, right?"
Dipper sighed. "Mabel said confessing would make me feel better."
"Well, how do you feel?"
"Anxious...scared...Kinda itchy."
Wendy softly laughed.
"Dude, don't be itchy man" she said."Let me tell you something. This summer was super boring until you showed up. I have more fun with you than, like, practically anybody else. And if you ever stopped being my friend... I would, like, throw myself into the Bottomless Pit!"
Wendy's words made Dipper looked back at her. "So things won't be too, awkward, now?" He asked in a hopeful tone.
"I just wrestled myself, dude. That was awkward. If you can handle that monster, you can handle a little awkwardness. "
Dipper lightly chuckled.
"...Friends?"
"Yeah, dude! Friends!" She replied and playfully pat his chest. But the force she put was enough to push his off the log.
But the both merely laughed. Wendy held her hand out, which Dipper gladly took, and she helped him get back up to the log.
After the light hearted exchange, it was finally time for Wendy to go home.
She got off the log and made her way to her parked bike.
"Oh, and hey Dipper" She called out. "See you for movie night tomorrow. Your place this time, okay?"
And with that, got on her bike and she rode off.
For a long moment, Dipper remained by the log, watching solemnly as Wendy's figure gradually faded to the distance.
"Sooo~? How did it go?"
Dipper jumped in surprise when he finally realized Mabel seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Wha-what did you hear?"
"Everything! All the time!"
The bushes behind Dipper rustled and out came (y/n), face chill as ever despite the patches in his face.
"Sup, Dippy. Looks like you pulled it through. "
"(Y/n), you too? Wait, is Soos also here? "
Soos rose up from the bushes behind Mabel.
"It's not like we're suppose to leave without you anyway. Stan would kill ya if you ain't with the group. " (y/n) shrugged his shoulder as he casually sat down next to the boy.
Dipper kept quiet as he hung his head down a bit, his hat covering his eyes so his sister and cousin couldn't see.
"Mabel, how can everything be so amazing and so terrible all at the same time?" He asked solemnly.
Mabel's smile disappeared and it turned to more of a guilty frown." I'm sorry for being so pushy, Dipper. (Y/n) was right, I shouldn't have forced you back on that closet. "
"Speaking of (y/n)..." Dipper gaze to his cousin, who looked back at him with a brow raised.
"I don't wanna say this, but I think right now is a good time. (Y/n), sometimes... I'm jealous of you. "
The once chill look gleamed in surprise, even Soos and Mabel were a bit shock by the revelation.
"Jealous? Why so?" The teen asked.
"...when we first got here, I saw how close you were with Wendy. Not just that but even before that- the balcony, the time when she and Robbie broke up and you took her home..." Dipper revealed ever bit of his jealousy towards the older boy, who only remained silent.
"And it's not just because you're close.." Dipper continued "You're so confident, and cool, and smart...and especially mature. Not once, you ever tried to take advantage of your relationship with her using petty plans. Whereas I literally created evil clones just to get a dance "
(Y/n) remained silent as he process the info dump.
And a moment, he heavily sighed.
Then he smiled down at the boy. "Thank for sharing how you feel, Dip. I completely understand." He said. "Emotions are weird. Sometimes its confusing, sometimes its scary. You're both kids and are still learning."
His face broke into a reassuring smile and ruffled Dipper's cap. "So while you're still growing, you can always come to me. Don't be afraid to dump all your thoughts. You too, Maemae. "
The twins' faces beamed.
"He's right, Dipper. And hey, if it's any consolation, I'm already working on your list of potential rebound crushes. "
Dipper chuckled. "Thanks, Mabel. Thanks, (y/n). "
Just then, the log slid up and the three were startled at the sudden change of weight. This was caused by Soos, who sat down at the other end of the log.
"I'm still bummed we're no closer to finding the author guy. At least I got his science-y coat and briefcase. " He held up the briefcase which he taken from the lab earlier.
But just then, the briefcase flop open, revealing a screen with a keyboard inside.
The group gaped in shock.
"Whoa! What the... "
The cousins hurried over to the man and inspected the newfound device "Soos, that's not a briefcase, that's a laptop!" Dipper pointed out.
Mabel added. "And a really busted up one too. "
" I think I can fixed this up" said (y/n) , gently taking the laptop from Soos and examine it closely." Looks pretty old and obsolete, but I'm sure I can get this back up and running. Might take a while though."
"This could be our next clue!" Dipper exclaimed as he held his hand over his head in disbelief.
The four continue examining the laptop. The one that caught their eye was the blue rectangular tape above the screen:
"Property of F."
✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧
𝕰nd.