Learning and trying to process all of this new information i got in the past few hours was really challenging, considering I had to play music for Bill basically nonstop.
Every request he had I needed to fulfill, I felt like a bird in a cage, there for his amusement but lacking my own freedom.
It all made it even more sick that I was in an actual cage hung from the ceiling, overseeing his palace and the throne he had built out of the petrified townsfolk.
"It's been fun turning Gravity Falls inside out, rounding up all its terrified citizens and then stacking them into this massive throne of frozen human agony." Bill stated as my music stopped for a second, and ye gave me a look. "Don't worry, they're not conscious anymore. Probably..." he joked as I watched Lazy Susan unfreeze, but he judt put her back in her place. It was truly sickening.
All whilst I had to watch and perform for the sick bastard.
"But Gravity Falls is just the beginning. It's time to take our chaos worldwide! Alright, boys, to the corners of the Earth. Set the world aflame with your weirdness. This dimension is ours! Ah, global domination. I could get used to-" Suddenly, he stopped as I watched him through the window of the palace. He hit dome sort of barrier. "WHAT??!!!"
I snickered a bit as one of Bill's friends complained he had apparently broken something.
"Alright, can anybody explain to me why, even with our newfound INFINITE POWER, none of us can escape the borders of this STUPID HICK TOWN?!?!" Bill sat back down on his throne.
"There's Gravity Falls' weirdness shield keeping you in." I stated kid song as Bill turned to me.
"What did you just say?"
"This is it. Your reign of terror will not leave Gravity Falls' area as the weirdness sheild is protecting it. You are screwed." I boasted as he got up to my cage and looked inside.
"I'm assuming you learned that from Ford. And I'm assuming he knows how to bypass that said sheild. Thanks for the tip, kid. I owe you one!"
Suddenly, a monster that looked like a keyhole came running in the palace.
"Bill! Uh, sorry, Boss, but Gideon let the Pines family escape! They're inside Mabel's bubble as we speak!" He stated frantically as my eyes widened.
Gideon, did that?
Bill had been telling me all about his big plan on how he put Gideon in charge because he knew he wouldn't screw up. Turns out Gideon had more guts than I ever imagined.
But as I was starting to get in deep thought, Bill laughed. "Buddy, Mabel's bubble is the most diabolical trap I've ever created. It would take a will of titanium not to give into its temptation. Fetch me Gideon and take the rest of the day off. Things just got a little more interesting" he mumbled, glaring at me a little.
"Emma, play me a tune!" Bill snapped as I had stopped playing, listening in on the conversation.
My fingers trailed over the piano and played a soft tune, completely opposite to the atmosphere of the town currently.
At the end of my song, I watched a few monsters bring in Gideon. I met his eyes as he looked scared. I didn't feel pity for him at that moment. Instead, I was genuinely concerned for my little brother. I genuinely wanted him to be okay, for Bill to let him go.
"Gideon. I hear you let Dipper enter Mabel's bubble!" Bill started as he folated up to Gideon, his eye a question mark.
"N-n-no It wasnt like that I just- I-"
Suddenly, inside Bill's eye flashed the exact moment when Gideon let through Mabel and Dipper.
"Then what was it like? Accidentally letting them through!?" He asked a little mad now.
"I-I-"
Suddenly, Bill snapped his fingers, and instead of Gideon's sheriff uniform, he now wore something resembling a medieval jester costume.
In another moment, he was caged up next to me. "If you stop dancing whenever your sister is playing, I will disassemble you!" Bill shouted, turing to his angry self before turning to me. I was currently in pure shock of the events that had occurred.
"And what are YOU waiting for?! Play!"
With a heavy sigh, i started playing a random melody at the top of my head. It wasn't even a song I knew. The sheer fear of him doing something to my little brother made me think of a song on the spot.
This was probably the first time in years i felt any sort of compassion for my brother, maybe it was because for the first time in years that he has acted like a human being, capable of emption. Or maybe it was the common enemy bringing us closer.
"Psst Gideon?" I tried to get his attention, as his cage wasn't that far away from mine.
"What?!" He whisper shouted, the expression on his face made my heart sink.
I debated my next words. Maybe it was the fear of the situation we were in, or maybe it was me finally taking some responsibility as the older sibling.
"I'm sorry."
The words just came out. I wasnt sure what I was sorry for, especially since Gideon had been the one to screw me over times and times again, and yet right now all I saw was my little brother, hurt and in pain.
Gideon's face was a mix between guilt and confusion. Probably right now, realizing he should be the one apologizing.
"I'm..." it seemed like it was harder for him to say this kind of stuff. His feet tapped as he danced, his breathing was heavy. A sigh escaped him. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting."
I wasn't sure if he could change or if we were even gonna make it out of here, but this was a start. The tune i was playing became softer and slower.
I wondered back to Dipper and the others. They had entered Mabel's bubble. From how much Bill had been boasting about it being the ultimate prison, i sure hoped they could find a way out.
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Dipper POV:
We had been walking around this horrifically bubbly place for so long looking for Mabel, and here she was, in front of us saying she didn't want to go back!?
"What are you saying?" I asked, confused.
"I'm saying this is my home now. And I don't want to be saved!" She explained.
I stared at her in confusion.
"Look, after you said you and Emma wouldn't come back home with me at the end of the summer for your apprenticeship, I wanted to hide in my sweater forever. But then I woke up in a place that gives me exactly what I wanted: an endless summer where we'll never have to grow up! Here the sun shines all day, the party never ends, and now that you guys are here, it's finally perfect!" She pointed to all of us here, me, wendy, soos.
It wasn't... all of us.
"Listen, Mabel, we're not here to party. All of this is crazy!" I told her, but she furrowed her brows.
"Ugghh. I figured you might say something like that, Dipper. That's why I prepared a backup Dipper with a more supportive attitude." She explained as someone who looked like me showed up. But he was dressed weird and spoke nothing like me.
"Wohoho!" He high fived Mabel."Yeah! Wiggity-wiggity-what's up, dude-bros? I'm Dippy Fresh! I like skateboarding, supporting my sister, having fun with my girlfriend, and punctuating every sentence with a high five! Hup!" He walked up to Soos and gave him a high five.
"Wait, girlfriend? You mean to tell me you created a fake version of Emma, too?!" I asked her as she laughed.
"Well, i couldn't have him alone," she snapped her fingers as a girl, visually the same showed up, but something was off. No eyebags umder her eyes. She was smiling and wearing one of Mabel's sweaters.
"Hey everyone! I'm Emma! I love my boyfriend and I am so happy it was Mabel who got us together! She is a miracle, we even share clothes!" The fake Emma explained, hugging the fake me.
I grimaced at whatever abomination of Emma Mabel had created.
"Trust me, you guys are gonna love it here. This world always knows what you want. Sometimes, even before you do!" Suddenly, a chinchilla dropped into her arms "Apparently I wanted a chinchilla! Right again, Mabeland!"
"Mabel, listen to yourself. This is crazy! I'm sorry about our fight, and I'm sorry things aren't great right now, but that doesn't mean you can just stay in here forever!" I tried to justify this, but i got interrupted.
"Hey, take a chill pill! Those grow on trees here!" Dippy Fresh spoke up.
"Yea, Dip, take it easy," the fake Emma spoke up as I got a little pissed.
"YOU TWO STAY OUT OF IT!"
Mabel couldn't just create replacements of us which she liked, taking out mine and Emma's characteristics which she didn't like! This wasn't normal!
"I know it sounds too good to be true, but just give this place a chance! Mabeland knows just what you want and always provides!" She clapped, and me, Soos and Wendy's clothes went back to normal. A flying hamburger also appeared in front of Soos.
"Uh, actually, Mabel, I'm with Dipper on this. Gravity Falls is in trouble, and I really think-" suddenly there was a car honk.
I watched Wendy's friends pull up in a car and lure her away with promises of fun teenage activities. "Wanna drive this truck to the high school and glue this plunger to the principal's head?"
Wendy looked at me guiltily. "Yes. Yes, I do. Sorry, guys, I've always wanted to do that. I'll be back in just a few minutes." She said, hopping in the car.
"Don't worry, dude. There's nothing in this world that could break me from our mission." Soos stated as suddenly his dad showed up. Oh, you have to be kidding me.
"Soos, mijo. I have returned. You don't remember what I look like, so I have the body of a pro wrestler and a face you once saw on a hot sauce bottle. I was never there for you, but in this world, I can be." Soos walked up to him and hugged him.
"You're perfect!" Soos exclaimed as I tried to stop him.
"It's a trap! Don't go with him, Soos! No matter what he offers you!"
"I'm sorry, dude. Even if it is all a dream, I've gotta play just one game. Hahaha! Come on, Dad!" And with that, I was alone.
"Okay, this has gone too far! You can't honestly think these fantasies are good for anyone!" I told Mabel.
"You can't argue with the results: people are happy here! Does it really matter if it's real or not? For once, stop listening to your head and listen to your heart. Mabeland has something for everyone! Even you! In fact:" mabel pointed to an opening door, but I shielded my eyes. I didn't want to be lurred into anything. So i just ran away.
I found myself by a river where i sat down just angrily throwing stones in the water. This whole thing was ridiculous. Every stone i threw made the oerfect skip, marking 100 points. I groaned. "Ugh, even my stone skips are perfect!" I sighed "Who am I kidding? Maybe Mabel's right. It's a horror show out there. At least the air here is breathable." I mumbled to myself.
"You realize you're talking to a river, right?" I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned around to see Emma, the normal Emma. The same one i'd grown to know and love, with her eyebags, with her scraped knees, with her sad eyes and small smile.
"Emma?! How are you here!?" I asked her, wondering if this was real or not as she laughed a little.
"You think I can't escape Bill? I heard from him about this place and managed to sneak past the guards and enter." She explained. My eyes widened as I jumped up at her and hugged her. She was a mess, her hair was tangled and her clothes were burnt.
"I can't believe you are okay!" I told her as she hugged me back a little hesitantly, pribably not expecting the hug. "Oh, i was so worried!" I pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"Now that you are here, we just need a plan!" I told her as we both sat down by the river to think.
"Don't worry, as long as we're together, we'll think of something." Emma told me as I smiled.
She pickd up a stone and examined it, then threw it in the lake which made a perfect skip, marking another 100 points, i watched as she had a small confused smile at the mechanics of this lake.
"You know, you're so much smarter than like everyone else... kind of what made me fall for you." She told me as I furrowed my brows.
"I'm not that smart, i mean, im nowhere near smart as you, for example!" I chuckled as she put her hand on my shoulder.
"That's not true. We both know you are that smart. I sometimes wonder why Ford chose me first for his apprenticeship when you would have been a better fit." She rambled on my brows furrowed.
All of my insecurities she was just... disputing them... what?
"You mean that?"
She had a genuine smile. "Of course I do. You are probably even smarter than me at times."
I froze.
My voice was low as i spoke. "The real Emma would never let her pride say something like that." I rationalized this as I looked at her. She had a confused expression on her face.
"What do you mean? Of course I would!" She asked, trying to grab my hand, but i pulled away and stood up.
"You aren't Emma. This isn't real!" I told her as suddenly she turned into a bunch of centipedes, and the world around me started to crumble. We needed to get out of here as fast as possible.
"You shouldn't have done that, Dippeerrrr! We're watching you." The melting away fake Emma scremed in agony as she fell to the floor.
"Oh my gosh. This is crazy. Um- I'm losing my mind. We have to get out of here. We have to go back. To the real. WORLD!" As i spoke those words, it seemed like the world stopped. Everyone turned to me.
This was going to be bad...
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A/N
I hate this chapter, litterally nothing happens except that Emma and Gideon are now in okay terms and that I made Dipper have an inferiority complex towards Emma.
Anyways last chapter (or maybe two if i split it, which is more likely) will be the last ones and i am DONE with this book.