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Mabel's Fables


JCM

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Chapter 20


Dipper, Stan, Wendy, and Abuelita were in a large house, a very old house that seemed like it had been colorful and thriving once, a house you could even say was alive, but a house that was now worn down and clearly abandoned.

"Where are we?" asked Dipper.

"We are in my childhood casa in Colombia," said Abuelita. "Or at least what is left of it."

"Hey, I went to jail in Colombia once!" said Stan. "Actually, I think there's still a warrant out for my arrest. Will we be here long?"

"No," said Abuelita.

"How did we get here?" asked Wendy.

"I sent us here," said Abuelita. "You see, I have a gift. Everyone in my family, once they reached a certain age, developed a gift while we were in this magical city we called our encanto."

"Encanto," repeated Dipper. "Like enchanted?"

"Si," said Abuelita. "My own abuelita could control the weather with her mood, and my mother could hear everything around her, even the drop of a needle."

"Man," said Stan. "I would have hated if my mom could do that!"

"Well, my mother could, and I did hate it, but I often used my own gift to send myself very far away so that she could not hear me."

"Why now?" asked Dipper. "Why couldn't you poof us to Disneyland the same way you sent us here?"

"We are not supposed to use our gifts anymore, but I had to use mine to save your life."

Dipper sighed.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked.

"Well, I know we can't let Zoey...and Merlin, too, I guess...win!" said Wendy.

"I sure can! Think you can use that 'gift' of yours to send us to the Bahamas while that wizard sets the rest of the world on fire?" asked Stan.

"I am going to call an old friend from our encanto," said Abuelita. "He can take us to a safe place. Until then, we will sleep here."

Stan sat on a couch in the living room and crossed his arms.

"Sleep? How am I supposed to sleep with everything going on?" he asked.

Stan was asleep two minutes later. Wendy, Abuelita, and Dipper went to different rooms, and while it didn't take long for Wendy or Abuelita to fall asleep, Dipper lay awake in his bed just like the night before. No closer to finding his sister, he was terrified by the thought of what would happen if Merlin found her first.


Merlin left the Mystery Shack with Abby Waybright and several other followers.

"I'm sorry," said Abby. "I looked everywhere, but the only thing I could find was that pig."

Just as Abby mentioned him, Waddles came out of the Mystery Shack with Abby's purse in his mouth.

"Come on, give it back!" whined Abby, who reached for her purse before Waddles ran back inside.

"It's all right," said Merlin. "Do you have any updates on our special operation?"

"The news of your escape is spreading fast," said Abby. "There are riots all over the world. We're going to be taking down governments eventually."

"Good, good," said Merlin. "The sun is almost rising. Would you like to take a break?"

"Never," said Abby. "I've been with you from the start, and I'm going to help you see it through."

Merlin smiled.

"Well, I'm returning to that strange antique shop," he said.

"Why can't you take a break?" asked Abby. "Everything's going according to plan. Even if those kids could stop you somehow, they won't be able to for long.

"I must be certain."

Merlin went back into the Mystery Shack, avoiding Waddles as he ran around chewing Abby's purse, and he closed his eyes and felt every source of electricity in the building. He realized there was one room he hadn't searched, a room that was underground. He tracked the underground room's electricity to a vending machine in the gift shop. He felt the vending machine, and he was able to manipulate its electrical currents to open the machine and reveal the secret entrance behind it. He walked down the stairs of the entrance and found a massive underground laboratory at the bottom of the stairs.

"Interesting," said Merlin.


Dipper had finally gone to sleep long after everyone else. Only a few hours later, he was woken up by Stan.

"It's time for breakfast, kid!" said Stan.

"Five more minutes," mumbled Dipper.

"No can do! We are guests in Abuelita's home, and whatever she's cooking smells delicious!"

Stan and Dipper joined Wendy and Abuelita, and the four of them ate breakfast. Later in the day, they were playing one of Abuelita's family's old board games when they heard on a knock on the door.

"Stay here," whispered Abuelita.

Abuelita walked carefully to the door and cracked it open to see who was on the other side. It was an old man with a large, bushy mustache.

"Eduardo!" said Abuelita.

"It's good to see you again," said Eduardo.

Abuelita let Eduardo into the house and quickly closed the door behind him.

"How have you been?" asked Abuelita.

"Muy bueno," said Eduardo.

Eduardo's grin got bigger when he saw Dipper, Stan, and Wendy.

"And who are the gringoes you have here?" he asked.

"Those are my friends," said Abuelita. "I need you to help us find somewhere safe."

Eduardo laughed.

"Not very often I see people coming here from America to feel safer!" he said.

"Can you help us, though?" asked Wendy.

"Si. I can help," said Eduardo. "Colombia has many places you can go to if you don't want to be found, but in order to keep it that way, you will be unable to leave them."

"But Mabel!" said Dipper.

"I will continue to search for Mabel as well as Soos," said Abuelita. "If I find them, I will bring them back, and we will all live together where Merlin cannot find us."

"I can help, though!"

Abuelita shook her head.

"It is too dangerous. Merlin is searching for you, not me. I must do this alone."

Abuelita closed her eyes and disappeared.

"Abuelita!" cried Dipper.

"It'll be okay, dude," said Wendy. "She'll be back with Mabel and Soos."

"Stop talking to me like I'm some kid! I know Abuelita is just as likely to die out there as she is to come back with Mabel or Soos!"

Wendy covered her mouth in surprise.

"I'm sorry," said Dipper. "I...I didn't mean to snap at you like that. Let's just go."

"So…" said Eduardo. "What type of music do you guys like? We will be in the truck for a while."

Dipper left without saying anything.

"You got any old-school rap music?" asked Stan. "None of the garbage they come out with today, the really old stuff."

Eduardo laughed.

"I'm sure I can find something," he said.

Eduardo and Stan left the house with a still-shocked Wendy and headed towards Eduardo's truck, which Dipper was already leaning on while staring at the sky and hoping the solutions to all of his problems would fall out of it.


The Calamity Box appeared with Mabel and Soos right above the Mystery Shack, and they landed right in front of the sign and beside the S that had fallen off of it.

"I wonder when Stan is getting that fixed," said Soos.

Suddenly, a military helicopter flew above them.

"Wow!" said Mabel. "What's going on?"

Mabel and Soos walked to a corner of the roof to find the Mystery Shack surrounded by soldiers and tanks. A man, presumably the leader of this military force, approached Merlin, who stood in front of the Mystery Shack as his followers hid inside, some of them peeking out through the windows.

"You are hereby under arrest for seditious conspiracy and being in the country illegally," said the man through a megaphone. "Give yourself up now!"

"Let me think about this," said Merlin.

The man stopped, and he and his soldiers waited awkwardly for Merlin to speak again.

"I've thought about it," said Merlin. "And my answer is no."

"You heard him," said the man. "Attack!"

The soldiers shot at Merlin, but Merlin raised a hand, causing the bullets to explode before they got anywhere near him. He did the same with shots fired at him from the tanks and helicopters around him, and Mabel and Soos hurried behind the giant S as Merlin rose into the sky.

"This has gotten boring," said Merlin.

Merlin pushed his hands together, and the general as well as all his soldiers fell unconscious. The helicopters fell into the ground, leaving massive fires that temporarily brightened the night sky as they exploded. Abby ran out of the Mystery Shack joyfully waving her cell phone.

"I got all of that on camera! This is going to do wonders for recruiting!" said Abby.

Mabel peeked into the entrance to the gift shop to make sure nobody was in it, then she quickly went down the ladder with Soos.

"Merlin's more powerful than I thought," whispered Mabel.

"Why are we whispering?" whispered Soos.

"Because we don't want anyone to hear us!"

One of the Children of Merlin walked into the gift shop from another room.

"I can hear you guys just fine," he said.

The man, who seemed to be in his early 20s, recognized Mabel immediately.

"Hey!" he said. "You're that girl Merlin's after!"

"No, I'm not," said Mabel.

"So you're not Mabel Pines?"

"No, I'm...Vrabel...Hines."

The man raised an eyebrow then shrugged.

"Alright, Vrabel. Sorry for the confusion. See you later!"

The man strolled out of the gift shop, and Mabel let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness that worked," she said.

"Nieto?" said a familiar voice behind Mabel and Soos.

They turned around to find that Abuelita was now with them.

"Abuelita!" said a beaming Soos.

Soos and his grandmother hugged as Mabel watched in disbelief.

"How...how did you get here?" asked Mabel. "I never saw you walk in."

"I will explain later," said Abuelita after she finished hugging Soos. "But we must go before-"

"Before I catch you?" said Merlin as he walked in with the man who had discovered Mabel.

"See! I told you she was here!" said the man.

"Dang! That Vrabel Hines trick was perfect, too!" said Soos. "I wonder how he figured it out."

Abuelita grabbed Mabel's and Soos' hands, but Merlin used his wand to break Abuelita's connection with Mabel right before Soos and Abuelita disappeared.

"Not this time, witch," said Merlin.

Merlin pointed his wand at Mabel next, but before he could do anything, Waddles ran under him, causing him to fall backwards as Mabel's pet reunited with her.

"Waddles!" said Mabel, hugging her pig. "You couldn't have come at a better time!"

Mabel ran out of the Mystery Shack with Waddles in one arm and the Calamity Box in another before Merlin could get back up with his wand.

"Follow that girl!" ordered Merlin.

Mabel slid under a tank that had been ridden by a now-unconscious solider. She put a hand over Waddles' mouth as Children of Merlin stormed out of the Mystery Shack looking for her. She thought about using her powers to defeat Merlin and his followers, but she remembered how painful it was last time she used them, and she also remembered Bert suggesting that if she used her powers again, it would kill her. She hoped nobody would find her, watching the feet of people desperate to please Merlin running around her frantically. One pair of feet stopped right beside her tank, and her heart beat as she saw the person's knees, then hands, then finally, his face.

"I found her!" said the person, who turned out to be a teenage boy. "She's under this tank!"

The boy stood up and led more Children of Merlin to the tank. Mabel took her hand off Waddles' mouth, who let out a frightened squeal.

"Sorry, Waddles," whispered Mabel. "And sorry, Dipper, wherever you are, but I've gotta do this."

Mabel flew out from under the tank with pink hair, green eyes, and a blue aura around her. Before any of the Children of Merlin could respond, Mabel knocked them out with blasts of blue energy. The commotion caused Merlin to run out of the Mystery Shack, and he gasped as he saw Mabel floating in the air with her calamity powers in full effect.

"How is this possible?" he said. "Everyone has some magic inside of them, but it isn't supposed to manifest like this!"

"Well, it's manifested, and now you're about to manifest back to your own dimension!" said Mabel.

"Do you even know what manifest means?"

"Don't change the subject!"

Mabel shot a blast of blue energy at Merlin, and he easily avoided it before pointing an open palm at Mabel and shooting a blast of blue energy at her. This shot landed, and it sent Mabel tumbling to the ground. Merlin slowly walked to Mabel as she writhed in pain.

"It was always you," said Merlin. "You and your brother. It was always you two I could never figure out."

"What...are you talking about?" said Mabel, who had to struggle to get out every word.

"I've had dreams that I was right here, with loving disciples at my feet...well, not literally at my feet like they are right now, but I had done it. I had found this world without magic and convinced millions to depose their mortal leaders and make me their king. Those dreams I've had for hundreds of years, and when a wizard dreams, it is never just a dream. But in those dreams, something else happens. You and your brother turn my people against me. I'm not certain how, but I know that after you two show up, the people who had once been praising my name now curse it. I was also never certain of what you two looked like, just that you were young and on the planet I was trapped on before I came to this one. I thought it was that fellow Walt and the girl he was with when they visited New Britain. But no. It was you. You're the loose end I cannot afford to have, and until you and your brother are dead, I shall continue hunting you."

"Merlin," said Mabel weakly.

"Yes?" said Merlin.

"Your face."

Merlin felt his face in curiosity.

"What about it?" he said.

"It's dumb!" shouted Mabel.

Mabel, who had regained most of her energy now, flew at Merlin and punched him so hard that he was knocked back nearly a mile. After he landed, Merlin felt his ribs, which were now injured, and he whispered a quick spell to heal them.

"You'll have to try harder that tha-" started Merlin right before he was hit by a second blast of energy from Mabel, sending him flying back another mile.

Mabel shot a third blast of energy, but Merlin was able to dodge this one before flying at Mabel and shooting a blast of energy at her, which she countered with another blast of energy that was able to keep Merlin's from reaching her but not quite overpower his. They both flew into the sky as their blasts of energy became stronger and stronger, forming a blue magical cylinder so large and so bright that it could be seen from outer space.


Soos and Abuelita appeared in a woody area near a mountain range where Dipper, Wendy, Stan, and Eduardo were gathered around a campfire.

"Hey, dudes," said Soos.

"Soos!" said Wendy.

Wendy ran to Soos and hugged him.

"Man, I need to get trapped in a book more often," said Soos. "I'm loving the hugs!"

"Where's Mabel?" asked Stan.

"Merlin took her before I could bring her here," said Abuelita.

"What? We have to go back!" said Dipper.

"No, that's what he wants," said Abuelita. "Mabel may not be alive anymore, but if you return, you will both surely perish."

"I can't just leave her with that psycho!" said Dipper. "Not after everything I've done to save them."

"If you're going back, I'm going back," said Wendy.

"I am, too!" said Soos.

"No, nieto," said Abuelita. "I forbid it."

Soos noticed a bow and arrow in the backseat of Eduardo's truck.

"Hey, is that yours?" asked Soos.

"Si," said Eduardo. "I am a big big fan of archery, and I have the scars to prove it, brother!"

"Can I borrow it?"

"Anything for the grandson of that lovely lady," said Eduardo.

Soos ran to the truck, took the bow and arrow from the backseat, and ran back.

"I'm not a kid anymore," said Soos. "Mabel helped me get back here, so I have to help her stop Merlin."

"Okay," said Abuelita after thinking for a long time. "But where did you learn how to use a bow and arrow?"

"I'll tell you after we get back."

"What about you, Grunkle Stan?" asked Dipper. "Are you coming?"

"Absolutely not!" said Stan. "I'm not joining your suicide mission."

"If you don't help us, I'll tell mom."

Stan began to say something, but then he crossed his arms again.

"Fine!" he said.

"See you later, amigos!" said Eduardo. "Give the magic man a kick in the shin for me!"

Dipper, Wendy, Soos, Abuelita, and Stan all held hands before disappearing again.


After five minutes of being deadlocked in her sky battle with Merlin, Mabel felt increasingly tired, and Merlin, sensing this, put even more effort into the blast of energy coming from his hands until he had the clear advantage. Unable to contain Merlin's blast any longer, Mabel flipped upside down while dropping her hands, letting Merlin's blast soar under her, and she flew back to the Mystery Shack, avoiding more blasts of energy from Merlin as she did so. The Children of Merlin she had knocked out earlier began to wake up, and they cheered as Merlin landed beside a now-weakened Mabel, who used the little energy she had left to crawl away from him.

"I will admit," said Merlin. "I'm impressed by your courage. It's a shame I have to do this."

Merlin pointed his wand at Mabel and said a phrase in Latin. Mabel then stopped crawling, laying face-first in the ground as her hair and eyes returned to normal. Dipper, Wendy, Soos, Abuelita, and Stan appeared moments later in front of a growing crowd of Children of Merlin that was still cheering, but not quite as loudly.

"Mabel!" shouted Dipper once he saw her on the ground.

"Oh, what a coincidence! I was just about to start looking for you!" said Merlin.

Merlin pointed his wand at Dipper, but before he could use the same spell on him, Soos shot an arrow into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and clench the fist his wand was in so hard that the wand snapped.

"No!" said Merlin.

Dipper ran to Mabel and flipped her over. He put an ear to her chest but didn't hear a heartbeat.

"N-n-no," stuttered Dipper. "We're too late. She's... she's gone."

Dipper hugged Mabel's body and cried. None of the Children of Merlin were cheering now. Abby, who was at the front of the crowd now, imagined Sasha's body where Mabel's body lay, and tears came to her eyes as she realized she had been supporting a monster this entire time. She looked around and could tell others in the crowd were coming to that same realization. Merlin held the two pieces of his wand together and whispered a spell to fix it, but it didn't work.

"No worries," he said. "I'll fashion a new one. Children of Merlin, do any of you know if there's an enchanted forest around here I can get wood from?"

A rock hit Merlin in the head, and he turned to Wendy, Soos, Abuelita, and Stan.

"Which one of you did that?" he roared.

"Did what?" asked Soos.

Another rock hit Merlin, and he saw this one come directly from the group of Children of Merlin behind them.

"How dare you!" said Merlin. "Any of you who are still loyal, tell me who threw that rock!"

None of the Children of Merlin spoke up.

"Insubordinate! Once I'll get my wand fixed, I'll do to all of you what I did to that girl!" threatened Merlin.

Another rock hit Merlin, and soon he was being pelted by a barrage of rocks, all from the people who had once supported him. The people at the front of the crowd were now filming him on their cell phones and booing. The sight of Abby among those booing him felt almost as painful to Merlin as the rocks.

"I cannot believe this," whispered Merlin. "The predictions are coming true. Despite everything I have done to stop them, they're coming true."


In Washington, DC, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States walked into the Oval Office, where the president and first lady were waiting for him.

"Any updates?" asked the president.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Mr. President. It's bad. The protestors are right outside the White House now, and while we're holding them off, we won't be able to for much longer. You need to act pronto," said the advisor.

"Act how?"

"The reason those people are rioting is because they want Merlin to take over, so if Merlin were dead, they wouldn't have a reason to riot anymore. We know Merlin is still at his base of operations in Gravity Falls, Oregon, so we know exactly where to strike."

"Didn't we just send a bunch of military to Gravity Falls?"

"Yes, and I haven't heard back from any of them. And I don't believe I ever will."

"The helicopters, too? I really liked those helicopters."

"The helicopters, too, Mr. President."

The president sighed.

"What do we do, then?" he asked.

"We need to do something extreme to take down a force as powerful as Merlin, something that has only been done once before and that I hoped we would never have to do again," said the advisor.

The president thought for a moment, and once he understood the advice that his advisor had just given him, his eyes widened.

"You aren't suggesting that I nuke my own citizens, are you?" asked the president.

"You have a choice, Mr. President: either you sacrifice the people of Gravity Falls, or you sacrifice the world to whatever Merlin has planned for it," said the advisor.

"Well," said the president. "I suppose that isn't much of a choice at all."

The president and first lady walked into a secret room only the president had the keys to. In the center of the room was a large red button. The president prepared to push the button, but he hesitated with his hand right above it. He turned to the first lady, who had the same grim expression on her face that he had on his, and both of them nodded. She put her hand over the president's hand, and they pushed the button together, sharing responsibility for the death and destruction that this sleepy northwestern town would be subjected to.


Dipper still cried with Mabel in his arms after several minutes. He kissed her on the forehead and only felt sadder at how cold it was. Suddenly, he felt a warmth, and the blue aura reappeared around Mabel before spreading to Dipper, too. He felt the air being sucked out of his lungs, and he struggled to breathe for a few seconds before the air came flooding back in, causing him to gasp. He saw Mabel gasp, too, and he watched in awe as she blinked and smiled at him.

"Hey, Dipper," she said. "Glad you could make it."

"Always," said Dipper.

The crowd cheered as Dipper helped Mabel to her feet. Stan, Soos, and Wendy ran to Mabel to hug her as Abuelita stayed with the crowd, regretful that she considered leaving Mabel in the first place. Merlin stood where he was, with bruises on his face and the rocks that caused those bruises in a jagged circle around him.

"I can't believe this," said Merlin. "I'm the most powerful wizard who ever lived, and not even I can overcome the power of true love."

As Merlin thought about what to do next, one of the former Children of Merlin pointed to the sky in horror. Others in front of the Mystery Shack looked up just in time to see a USA-branded plane fly away as the gift it left for Gravity Falls, a huge nuclear bomb, plummeted towards them. Merlin looked around as everybody panicked. Without thinking, Mabel activated her calamity powers and flew towards the bomb.

"Mabel, no!" screamed Dipper. "I just got you back!"

Mabel positioned herself right under the bomb and began to push, but even with her energy replenished, she wasn't strong enough to stop the bomb from falling. She closed her eyes, tears running down her face as she accepted that she couldn't save this city she had learned to love over the summer and the people in it she had loved even more. Just as she prepared to let go, she felt the weight of the bomb diminish, and as she pushed again, she felt it move in the opposite direction. She opened her eyes and realized Merlin was now beside her. Merlin didn't look at her and didn't say a word, but he continued to help Mabel push the bomb until they were high enough in the sky that they didn't have to push as hard to move the bomb.

The bomb started getting hotter, making it clear that it was about to explode as Merlin and Mabel pushed it towards space. Merlin put a hand on Mabel's shoulder and finally looked at her. Mabel saw the weary old eyes of a man filled with regret, more regret than she had, and she had a lot of it. She saw a man responsible for the loss of countless innocent lives determined to prevent the loss of any more. He squeezed the hand he had on Mabel's shoulder until the shoulder started to hurt. Mabel cried out as Merlin ripped her from the bomb and threw her towards the ocean. She watched the bomb explode in the sky right before she hit the water and was rendered unconscious.


One week after Merlin's death, everything had mostly returned to normal. To celebrate the siblings being reunited, Stan and their parents took them on a trip to Hollywood, where they were granted free access to anything they wanted to see thanks to their new friend Walt Disney. During a detour in Los Angeles, Mabel stopped by a thrift shop that one of the locals told her was known for being discreet.

"Hello," said the old woman who ran the thrift shop. "Would you like to buy something?"

"No," said Mabel. "I would like to sell something."

Mabel took the Calamity Box out of a bag she was carrying.

"This is a super valuable ancient box," said Mabel. "Make sure that you don't open it, though, because if you do, it will kill you."

"A box that kills people? The tourists will love that!" said the woman. "How much do you want for it?"

"A...hundred?"

The woman gave Mabel a crisp hundred dollar bill before taking the Calamity Box from her. As Mabel left the thrift shop, she wondered if she made the right decision. She wondered if she could set things right with Charming if she visited Fairy Tale World one more time. She wondered if she could set things right with Bert if she visited Amphibia one more time. She didn't look back at the thrift shop, however, preferring to look forward and let the past stay in the past while never forgetting the lessons it had taught her. She reunited with Dipper at an ice cream store.

"Where were you?" asked Dipper.

"Just taking care of some loose ends," said Mabel.

"Alright, Miss Cryptic, I got you your favorite, strawberry."

"You know I hate strawberry!"

"Then don't abandon me here again."

"Speaking of that...I never got to say I'm sorry for abandoning you here with Merlin."

"It's okay. You didn't know that he was here, and if you hadn't left, you wouldn't have been able to bring Soos back."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And Mabel...I'm sorry, too."

"For what?"

"For telling you what happened to us in that book wasn't real. It was real. I just...didn't want to believe it, I guess."

"This is real, too," said Mabel. "You and me. Brother and sister. And I'll make sure I never forget that again."

Mabel grabbed Dipper's ice cream cone and licked it.

"You can be a real pain in the butt sometimes," said Dipper, rolling his eyes.

Mabel and Dipper continued through the streets of Los Angeles, experiencing a magic that wasn't the magic of witches and fairies but a magic they could appreciate all the same.

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