"Dipper..."
"Dipper..."
"Dipper!"
"DIPPER!"
CRACK!
Dipper shot up, suddenly returning to consciousness, only for his cheek to sting. "GAH! What the hell?!" He shouted as he rubbed his cheek.
When he finally managed to take in his surroundings Dipper noticed that King and Sasha were sitting beside him, both with a slightly concerned look on their faces.
"Sorry, dude. I couldn't figure out any other way to wake you up." Sasha said as she stepped back.
"We thought you died." King said bluntly.
"Oh." Dipper said with a pause. "Sorry for shouting then...so, where exactly are we?" Dipper asked as he stood up, surveying the area.
"We're at the head of The Isles," King replied. "At least, I'm pretty sure that's where we are..." The little Titan said as he walked around this strange and deserted place.
"Well, wherever it is, a lot of people must have wanted to come here." Sasha said as she started walking down a set of stairs.
Dipper and King looked at each other for a moment before they followed her and then quickly spotted what she was talking about.
There was a large quantity of boats, with what looked to be zeppelin style balloons tied to the top of them.
"What are these things?" Dipper asked as he approached one of the boats, studying each detail that he could see. It was manmade, or witchmade in this case.
"They're Scout Ships." King responded, stepping closer to one of the ships. "They were used by the Emperor's Coven until-"
But then, the young Titan stopped talking as a look of terror suddenly crossed his face and he quickly bolted up the stairs..
Dipper and Sasha panicked as King ran off, and they started chasing after the little guy and calling for him to stop or at least slow down as he ran. But King just kept up his speedy pace, bolting to a strange structure that towered over the three of them, with massive arches and large pits around it.
King then came to a sudden stop, staring down into the pit below him. He just sat there with a terrified look on his face.
When Dipper and Sasha looked down, all they could see was piles of what looked to be dust.
"King...? What's wrong...?" Sasha asked, looking at the dust and then at him.
Dipper scratched his head as he also looked at the dust. "...this is just a bunch of dust."
"It's not dust." King said as tears began to build up in his eyes.
"What?" Dipper asked as he looked down at King.
"It's not dust." King muttered as the tears fell down his face. "It's witches. Every last one of the witches who lived on the Boiling Isles..."
Dipper turned away from King, muttering out an apology. He really didn't know what to say, let alone how to comfort him.
But, Sasha pulled King into a hug, her eyes soft and gentle. "Hey...it's okay...this wasn't your fault, King...."
King sniffled and gripped onto Sasha's jacket, hugging her back tightly. "I know but...I probably knew most of those people here...m-my friends...m-my...my FAMILY...I-I remember that day so clearly...if we had j-just shown up earlier, we could've...we could've stopped it."
"Not likely." Dipper replied, looking around. "Judging by the state of things, I'd say this all happened years ago..."
Sasha just glared up at Dipper, holding King closer. "Not. Helping."
Dipper just looked away, a bit embarrassed and clearly not getting that a scientific observation was not needed. "Sorry...we should probably get back to those boats. Find the others."
"Could we wait a minute?" Sasha asked with an annoyed tone, her pink eyes narrowed at the scientist. "Give the kid some time to grieve?"
"Dipper's right." King replied, wiping his tears and then looking up at Sasha. "I don't want to be around long enough for Luz and Amity to find out about," King then looked back down into the pits filled with dust and awkwardly gestured towards them. "this."
Sasha looked down at King with a concerned expression, but sighed as she stood up and let him out of her arms. "Alright, I guess we could get moving."
The three of them made their way back down to the flying boats, with Dipper pausing at the one that looked to be in the best condition, once again beginning to study it.
"Yo, Professor. What's the hold up?" Sasha asked as she walked up next to the nerd.
"I was thinking..." Dipper replied as he brushed his hand against the boat, his hand quickly being coated in dust that he hoped was just from the deathly place and not the remains of a witch. "If we could get one of these flying ships up and running, we could search for the others significantly faster than on foot."
"These things haven't been running for years." Sasha said with a scoff. "What makes you think they'll run now?"
"I can make them work." Dipper replied as he climbed aboard the ship, completely ignoring what he had just been told.
"I dunno, Dipper. They are magic." King replied. "I doubt you have much experience with that."
Dipper just laughed. "Please, I once trapped myself in a universe completely void of technology and was just fine. This is more technological than magic...old technology, sure, but technology nonetheless. Whoever built these must've had a steampunk vibe."
Sasha sighed and scooped King up in her arms, with King clearly not minding as he climbed onto her back. "We might as well go up there and help him."
"Weh!" King said with a nod.
As the two made it onto the ships deck, they found Dipper hunched down with the ship's control panel opened and already trying to work his metaphorical and not literal magic.
"And what are you doing?" Sasha asked as she walked up to Dipper, crossing her arms.
"Trying to jump start the engine." Dipper said, grunting a few times as he yanked at wires.
"But the engine's back here." King said, pointing to the rotors behind them.
"Yeah, I got that," Dipper replied as he put two wires together, only for nothing to happen. He hummed before getting back to work. "But, you usually jump start an engine from the control console of a vehicle. The cord that's the starter normally just needs some power to run through it, which is usually provided by a key, but since we don't have a key I'll have to-"
But then, the professor of the Pines Family was quickly interrupted when the boat suddenly roared to life. Dipper scurried out of the control console and looked behind him to see Sasha smugly grinning at him.
"Well, whaddya know? The giant boat that's NOT a car doesn't start like a car."
"...I-I knew that, I was just testing you." Dipper grumbled as he grabbed the wheel. Dipper then pushed what appeared to be the height adjustment lever upwards, causing the boat to raise even higher into the sky.
Sasha nodded slowly, amused. "Yeah, sure you were." She then stepped away from the control panel, looking out over the edge of the boat and leaning on the railing. King looked between the two of them, feeling a tension in the air that he hadn't felt before.
"So. Do you two wanna talk about something?" King asked hesitantly, only to get a scoff from the two. "...how about that fight earlier? We did pretty good against-"
"What's there to talk about?" Dipper asked, his tone sharp and annoyed.
Sasha then looked over at Dipper with her eyes glowing pink. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you tried to KILL MY FRIEND!!!"
"It was for the greater good." Dipper replied nonchalantly. "You haven't seen what Bill can do when he has the advantage."
"The greater good?!" Sasha asked as she stormed up to Dipper, setting King down. "How do you know there isn't another way!? How do you know we can't save Terri!? What do you know about being possessed!?"
"I know a lot more than you!" Dipper boomed.
"How!?" Sasha demanded. "How could you know what happens when that freak possesses people?!"
"Because Bill possessed me once!" Dipper cried angrily, letting go of the wheel and turning to Sasha.
Sasha seemed a bit surprised, but then laughed bitterly. "You sure aren't possessed now! And you should be smart enough to know what that means, Professor!"
"Yeah, but that's because when Bill possessed me, it was different!" Dipper sneered. "He didn't keep his powers! I didn't look any different! And he dropped out of my body as soon as I fell unconscious!"
"Well maybe it's the same with Terri!" Sasha replied. "You can't just kill her without trying every other avenue first! Did you think about her friends, her family, or literally everything she has back home before pulling the trigger?!"
"Uh...guys?" King said as he tugged on Dipper's coat, looking at the edge of the railing.
"Well, I'm sorry you're caught up in your feelings, but I won't let the entire Multiverse fall into Weirdmaggedon!" Dipper shouted, throwing his hands into the air.
"Guys..." King said more urgently.
"What in the world is Weirdmaggedon?!" Sasha asked with total disbelief in her voice. "You just made up words right now!"
King growled a bit before finally grabbing both of them by their legs. "Guys!"
"WHAT?!?!" Dipper and Sasha shouted in unison.
"LOOK!!!" King shouted as he pointed off the side of the ship.
As Sasha and Dipper peered down, they saw a surprising sight.
It was Marcy, Mabel, and Luz all rocketing through the sky towards the flying ship. And Marcy looked different, with her magical armor fully equipped and hovering on one of her hard-light constructs.
"What the...?" Dipper asked as something massive and green burst into the air with a pair of bone-like wings, chasing after Luz, Marcy, and Mabel.
Sasha's eyes widened in horror. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?!"
"...oh no..." King muttered as he realized he knew exactly what, or better yet, who he was looking at.