Chapter Text
"I need that machine to stay on," Grunkle Stan pleaded, struggling around Dipper and Soos’s forms. “Remember this morning when I wanted to tell you guys someth—uh oh!” Suddenly his watch beeped. “Brace yourselves!"
All Mabel could do was grip the machinery tighter.
But Dipper noticed something. He furrowed his brow and pushed hard, off of Grunkle Stan, reaching out towards a lever. His breath caught in his throat as he desperately stretched forward. Just before the portal pulsed, his fingers closed around it. The force of the portal’s energy pulled hard on Dipper, sending electric pain through his arm, but he managed to hold on. Through the whirr and yelps of Mabel and Soos, Dipper heard Grunkle Stan’s voice yelling “NO!” The rusty lever creaked under his weight, but didn’t budge.
As the pull gently released again, Dipper felt the slightest flicker of relief. He might be able to turn the lever, change the machine. Grunkle Stan’s reaction led him to believe this lever was important. Maybe it could turn the machine off too!
Even as Mabel clung to the glowing red button, the countdown ringing in their ears, Dipper knew he might still be able to…do something.
Change something.
Light danced across the wall like a meteor shower while electricity charged the strange, weightless air all around Mabel. “Listen to your head!” Dipper screamed, pointing to his own speckled forehead, still clinging to the lever he’d launched himself to. Mabel’s vision blurred with tears. They swirled around her like stars.
“Look into my eyes, Mabel!” Grunkle Stan’s voice was so clear and so desperate, even through the whirr of the portal and the countdown. “Do you really think I’m a bad guy?”
“He’s lying, shut it down!”
Mabel’s throat tightened. It did sound like something Grunkle Stan would say—just to get the twins off his case, before smuggling pugs or pickpocketing a tourist. The portal crackled with intense power. She had to do the right thing. Mabel bit her lip and turned away, slowly moving her palm towards the center of the button.
“Mabel, please!”
10, 9…
Mabel’s hand trembled. She turned her head back to Grunkle Stan and met his gaze.
Stan’s eyes glittered in the light of the portal, wide and desperate. Mabel had never seen such an earnest, vulnerable expression creased on Grunkle's face. She couldn’t…she had to…
8, 7…
“Grunkle Stan…” Mabel’s sweaty grip on the loosened.
6,5…
“I trust you."
Mabel let herself float into weightlessness, the button drifting out of reach. The pull of the portal released as her eyes closed. It was…peaceful.
“Mabel, are you crazy!?”
Suddenly, Dipper realized it was up to him.
He was still holding on to the lever, which was surely connected to the machine. Pushing his excruciatingly heavy arm forward, Dipper caught hold of a piece of the wall and pulled his body against the lever.
4,3…
“NO!” Grunkle Stan shouted, his voice ringing in the cavern. But he was still pinned to the wall. “Don’t, you don’t under–”
“We’re not gonna—”
2…
Dipper’s strength wasn’t enough to turn the lever.
1…
But the portal’s was.
With a blinding light, and the sound of rusted gears shifting, the lever pivoted back.
CRACK!
Then the light was gone. Dipper felt his stomach drop as gravity returned, and heard Mabel scream, still meters from the ground—but at least she wasn’t dead, along with the universe. Grunkle Stan made a strangled noise halfway between a shout and a sob.
Yes!! Dipper did it! He stopped the portal!
Mabel plummeted—but before she could hit the metal floor, an invisible pull caught her from behind, dragging her to a stop, still mid-air. She felt herself start to creep backwards, upwards, toward the portal. It was glowing again, in a gaping blue maw.
“NO!” Grunkle Stan scrambled from the ground, but not fast enough. Not even close. “MABEL!” Spindly fingers of electricity began to dance around Mabel. She flailed, trying to snag something, but nothing was in reach.
“Grunkle Stan, what’s happening?!” Mabel called from the air, the anxiety in her voice rising. From where had crumpled next to the wall, Stan’s eyes welled with tears, his mouth agape in horror. She’d never seen him look so scared.
“Mabel!” Dipper sprinted towards the portal. “Hold on! I’m coming!”
“Dipper! Help me!” Mabel felt the suction of the portal strengthen around her body. She was high over the ground now.
Dipper reached forward, leaping past a taped off line on the floor.
“Grab my hand!” Dipper reached out.
Mabel stretched her arm to its limits. She got so close she could feel heat radiating from Dipper’s fingers. But it was too late. Within seconds, the inches between their hands became meters. The portal began to envelop Mabel, legs first. The sound of power roared in her ears.
“NO!!!”
“Dipper!” Suddenly, time seemed to slow down. Mabel’s infinitely familiar face spilled with tears as her mouth formed Dipper’s name.
Light crashed over everything, throwing Dipper to the ground with the sound of reality snapping.
The last thing Mabel remembered before everything faded, was stars.