Permanent Detention Chapter 4, a gravity falls fanfic

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*C-REEEEEEEEEE-K!*

The swinging door leading back down to the first door screeched behind Dipper, making every hair on the back of his neck stand up right.

He gazed down the hall, only to feel relief as a cleared path lay before him. Thankfully, there wasn't a single collapsible gate to be found. Rows upon rows of stainless steel lockers paved both sides of the hallway, save for the occasional classroom found in between.

"Well, at least they're normal classes…" Dipper stood on his tip-toes as he peered into the viewing window of the nearest doorway. The room was completely dark and yet empty, except for the usual desks and chairs awaiting the newest arrival of high school students. "Wendy has to be in one of these rooms. She just has to!"

*CRACK!*

The sudden noise made Dipper spin around. His flashlight reflected off of a sturdy trophy display case. Dozens of aged prizes stood proudly amongst several Gravity Falls Gossiper newspaper clippings. A large, framed black and white photo of members of a basketball teams from decades ago sat next to another giant cartoonish beaver – the official mascot of Gravity Falls High.

Dipper took a closer look at the showcase, noting the dates on all of the literature, "Wow! All of these are ancient! They haven't won anything in nearly twenty years!" He remembered Wendy's refusal in joining the current basketball team earlier in the day. "That's probably why Wendy said no; not because she was being lazy; it's because they suck!"

*CRACK!*

The second sound put Dipper on high alert. He used the beam of light to examine the case from top to bottom until he finally found the source.

A small crack had formed at the very top of the glass panel. His eyes lowered back to the center as Dipper heard a rattling sound. He could have sworn that the beaver figurine had clattered, and yet, it remained still upon being spotted. Its black, beady eyes stared up at Dipper, mocking him with his silly, carefree expression.

Knowing nothing good could come from this, Dipper started to back away slowly, never daring to take his eyes off of the devious-looking mascot. As soon as he felt he had created enough distance, going halfway down the hall before returning his full attention to the search for Wendy…

*KLASH!*

Dipper instantly turned around to see that the trophy case had been shattered! He ran back to the wreckage, the shards of glass cracking further beneath his sneakers as he hoped to get the drop on whatever had broken through before it would attack him.

His beam of light overlooked the trophy case for a second time. A deep break stretched down the paneling; the glass pieces at Dipper's feet made him realize that the case had not been broken into, rather that something had come from within the displays of mementos.

"But what exactly?" Dipper asked himself as he double-checked every square inch for a clue. At first, he had overlooked it, but pulled his light back as the oddity crossed his mind.

Dipper narrowed his eyes at the framed photo of the Gravity Falls High Basketball team, noticing that half of the snapshot was now missing. All that remained was a grayscale background, without any sign of student players to be seen.

*R-R-R-R-I-I-P-P-P!*

The boy stepped away at the unusual sound. To him, it was like fabric was being torn nearby. A bright orange glow made Dipper turn to his right.

The animated beaver defied his earthly bounds and slowly twisted his head in Dipper's direction. Its plastic eyes now burned as bright as two tiny golden stars. As the detective's lower lip quivered in dread, the beaver's mouth opened, the white sharpened buck-teeth reflected off the passing moonlight:

"NNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!"

*SLAM!*

The double-doors behind him shot open as ghostly whispered filled the night air. Brief squeaks on the recently waxed floor let Dipper know that multiple entities were heading his way. The voices grew louder and louder until he was able to make out what they were saying:

"Hey! There he is!"

"Little nerd thinks that he can walk in our halls?! We'll see about that!"

"Let's remind him whose boss around these parts!"

"Get him!"

"Yeah, grab him!"

Without a second warning, Dipper took off down the hall. He had been in this situation before; not of the paranormal, but in the real world. His different walk of life had attracted many whom despised him for it, and weren't afraid to make him know it every waking moment of the school year.

Only this time, there wasn't anyone left to help him through it. No teachers to force the bullies back. No Mabel or Wendy to help him out of this mess. He was all alone with whatever persecution was being plotted against him.

*THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!*

The countless numbers of lockers instantly opened their doors as Dipper sprinted past, almost as they were responding to his location. Despite the constant slamming, he could still make out the impact of invisible feet slapping the ground as his pursuers shouted after him.

"Get back here, creep!"

"It's time for your swirly!"

"No, he needs a good atomic wedgie to keep him in line!"

"Or a purple-nerple!"

"Yeah, that one!"

"Hey, wait, why don't we do it all to him!"

"Yeah!"

As Dipper rounded the corner, he was hauled backwards and into the air. They had caught up with him! The scornful laughter coming from his unseen aggressors echoed in his head. Dipper's tiny body was twirled around, as if with he was a prize being showed up to a large group. The stench of bad, heavy breath and body odor filled his nose, making him want to gag.

Dipper started to have flashbacks; this had happened before in his middle school – only that his enemies were made of flesh and bone. Tonight, the pre-teen was left unaware of what horrid fate this new threat had in mind for him.

"Let me go!" Dipper kicked and squirmed, even going as far as taking a swing at his undetectable subjugators, sending him spinning around in circles. They laughed at his futile attempts to flee. "I need to get to Wendy! She – "

"You're not going anywhere, kid!"

"We were going to let you off with a warning – "

"– but you had to play hero and fight back – "

"What to do with you…what to do…?"

"Oh, I know!"

Dipper could sense that he was passed along the group until with one powerful thrust, he was thrown inside one of the opened lockers.

"Let's keep him in here for a while! We'll see how brave he really is!"

"Good one! At least, until we can decide what to do with 'im…"

Before he had a chance to recover, Dipper could only watch as the door was closed in front of him. He could hear the jangle of the combination lock as it was rolled about, sealing him inside.

"No, wait!"

Using the little mobility he was given inside of the enclosed space, Dipper pounded on the steel door with both fists, "Don't do this, please! I have to find Wendy! Get me outta here!"

The voices mocked him, repeating his pleas in whiny, nasally tones before Dipper could start to hear the footprints start to fade into the distance.

"Hey!" Dipper banged on the door again, "You can't just leave me in here!"

"We can do whatever we like!"

"These are our halls!"

"We do what we please!"

"Yeah, everyone knows that the varsity team owns Gravity Falls High!"

The celebrations traveled down the hallway until they became well out of Dipper's hearing. He continued to punch against his confinement, finally relenting after his knuckles turned a swollen white.

Slumping down into a ball on the cold, metal floor, Dipper tried to conduct an escape plan. "Maybe I have something in here that can help me get – " The close quarters made it difficult, but he reached around to find his vested back bare. "What the – where's my knapsack?!"

Using the small slits in the steel door, Dipper peered back into the outside world. The moonlight highlighted his backpack lying on the tiled ground, well out of his reach.

In disappointment, Dipper slammed his head against the door, "Darn it! I must have dropped it when they grabbed me!" He sat back and reached deep into his pockets, his hand trembling a bit, "Okay, okay; nothing wrong with calling for backup – certainly no shame in it. Maybe Mabel can get a hold of Soos and they can – "

Dipper opened the flip phone and started to dial for home, noticing the flashing message on the radiant LCD screen at the last second:

"NO SIGNAL – NO SERVICE"

He stared at the hopeless message for several minutes, deluging deep into his brilliant intellect to find a way out of this nightmare – for both him and his teenaged sweetheart. However, every possible idea only drew to a dead end.

Out of depression, Dipper wrote a quick text to Wendy, already knowing that the chances were stacked against it ever reaching her, but he still sent it, even if the action only served as a form of self-therapy. With the message finished, Dipper closed the phone and rested his weary head against his raised knees. When everything was said and done, there was one deniable truth in front of him:

He had failed her…

"Ah…" Mr. Cabkin observed the scene with a sick sense of glee, "One can only wonder how Dipper's going to get out of this, huh?"

He looked over his shoulder to see that Wendy couldn't bear to watch anymore. She sadly looked down at the ground, her body gone numb from the mixture of pointless struggles and forced tickles. Cabkin noticed that the loss of color had traveled down to her shins, ending just before the cuffs of her blue jeans, but above where the fetters clamped onto her ankles.

*BUZZ-BUZZ* *BUZZ-BUZZ*

Wendy turned her head slightly towards the cell phone on her teacher's desk. Her heart fell even more as she was able to make out the flashing message on its screen:

"DIPPER – I'm sorry Wendy I tried"

"What's the matter, Corduroy?" The teacher walked towards Wendy with arms crossed behind his back, "Ran out of smart-alec comments? No witty comeback to be had?"

She slowly raised her head, her tone filled with melancholy, "Please…"

Mr. Cabkin's smile only grew. He had been waiting the entire night for this moment. The same had happened with every child that the school that taken, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Wendy had been brought down to that level.

"Hmm?" He faked interest, knowing what was going to come next.

"Look, you keep saying I brought all this down on myself, then, fine! But please," Wendy pleaded, "Let Dipper go. He's – He's really a good guy – he's nothing like me at all."

The educator found himself surprised by her response. He had expected her to beg for her life, yet alone for the sake of another.

"Everything I've seen so far tells me otherwise…"

"Dipper's only here because of me!" Wendy argued, "He's doesn't deserve to die like this! Wasn't it enough that you already went after him earlier?!" She paused, knowing that she accidentally had given herself away.

Mr. Cabkin gave her a confused look, "I went after him earlier? What are you talking –" He stopped, as the wheels in his head started to turn. Things suddenly made a bit more sense. He glanced down as Wendy persisted in her firm stance.

"Oh – Okay; okay, now…" The man began to let out a deep, haunting cackle, "I finally get it now! This whole thing tonight…" He whirled his hand around in a circle, "This doesn't have anything to with you or me, does it? This is all because I embarrassed you in front of your little fan-club! Am I right?"

Wendy turned away from the professor, refusing to give him any satisfaction by acknowledging his observation.

"It is! Oh-ho-ho! This is just too rich! The self-esteem of perhaps the most troublesome student I've ever laid eyes on all teeters on what a ten-year-old thinks about her…"

"He's twelve!" Wendy angrily corrected, "Going on thirteen!"

"Regardless, the irony is just too delicious!" He lowered himself to Wendy's level, "It's really easy to play "victim" here, but let me ask you something, Corduroy: was I wrong in what I said?"

"What?!"

"Honestly, Corduroy, did I lie to the boy? Did I make up any fabrications along the way? Did you or did you not actually do all of the things I accused you of?"

"Well…"

"Exactly! If anything, the child would be better off without you in his life!"

"That's not true!"

"Preposterous!" Mr. Cabkin exclaimed. "You just admitted that the only reason he's in all this trouble is because of you!"

"Dipper's here because he cares about me, Cabkin! That dork would follow me to the gates of hell and back because he knows I would do the same for him! But then again, you wouldn't know the first – "

Wendy started to trail off as she came to a realization about the ghostly figure. Mr. Cabkin took her silence as a sign of defeat, "But just so you know, I never had any intention of robbing your friend of his soul…"

"R-Really?" Wendy asked. "So, you'll let him out of there?"

"No." He flatly denied her request. "But I'm more than sure that the janitors who'll stumble upon him in a day or so will." He rolled his eyes as he went on, "Yes, that might work out nicely. They'll find him in a dehydrated state and believe his rants about spirits and missing gingers to be nothing but a hallucination. With any luck, the experience might be wiped from his memory altogether…"

"You…You…"

The lanky girl's wrath increased by the second. She could feel her cuffs pinch tighter as her body pulsated with utter contempt and rage.

"I will admit, my dear Corduroy, that this night has been truly something else." He started to walk away from his prisoner, "Oh, how I wish that all of my "conversions" could be as entertaining!"

"Yeah…" Wendy rose up again, a smirk plastered on her freckled face, as she readied her trump card, "I bet you do wish…I bet you wish you could have someone like Dipper in your life…"

Mr. Cabkin froze and glanced behind him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I finally understand why you do all of the terrible things you do..." She narrowed her once-emerald eyes, "You're jealous, Cabkin; you're jealous of people like me…"

"Me?!" He completely twisted around, "Jealous of a useless whelp like yourself?!"

"Uh-huh!" Wendy nodded, "What was that story you told me earlier? That you have been like this for nearly thirty years and no one noticed anything wrong with you?"

"That's right…"

"Did you ever stop to think "why" that was, Cabkin?"

"Not really…" He snapped his fingers and regained his seat in front of Wendy, "But why don't you enlighten me, Miss Corduroy, since you seem to have all the answers."

"It's simple – it's because no one cares about you! I mean, with the way you treat people, who would?"

Mr. Cabkin sat back in his seat, "I don't think I like where you're going with this…" Wendy noticed that his sights were aimed downward. As she felt the first stroke of the feather against the bottom of her right foot, she knew what to do. She strained her feet outwards as much as the chains would allow and clutched both feathers between her toes, preventing them from torturing her again.

"Not…so…fast…" Wendy made great efforts to maintain her grip, "What's the matter? You don't like the taste of your own medicine? You can't deal with the truth, can you? That's why you've always had it out for me, isn't it? That's exactly why I drive you bonkers, right? I'm the polar opposite of you! I'm everything you wish you could be!"

He leaned closer as his eyes grew darker, "You're way out of line, missy!"

"Oh, am I?" Wendy dared further, "All I've done is prove you wrong all night long! You said my life wasn't worth anything, and Dipper couldn't go two hours without noticing I was missing! The real question is who would do that for you? Who in their right mind would think your life is worth something?"

Mr. Cabkin's blue aura turned an orange-red. "Shut your pie-hole, Corduroy," he warned, "Before something terrible happens to you!"

"Like what? Or else, you'll kill me?!" Wendy gazed up at the clock mounted on the wall, "Either way, it looks like I still have about fifteen minutes, so what's the difference anyways? The fact that Dipper is here looking for me means that my life is worth way more than what yours could ever be!"

Unaware to the bragging redhead, more objects started to vibrate just out of her eye sight. The spray bottle she had placed on Cabkin's desk started to bobble about as another small object, a brown thimble of twine, danced its way from the supply cabinet unto the floor.

"That's more than enough!"

"But is it really?!" Wendy pushed harder. "Even if Dipper doesn't make it in time, I'm not afraid. You wanna know why? Because I know who he really is – and he wouldn't quit until he finds me and figures out a way to get me out of here. If anyone could do it, he could! Maybe I don't deserve someone like him; I guess I'm lucky that way. But I wonder: has anyone ever come looking for the real you, Cabkin?"

"WENDY – SHUT UP!"

"Yep, I bet you dream about that, don't you? That one day, some unfortunate shmo might come across your stinkin', diseased, maggot-eatin', worm-infested, green-skinned corpse, and finally – HUH?!"

Wendy was stopped as she felt a strange sensation from underneath her seat. It was almost like something had lassoed her big toe, yanking down on it severely. The feathers drooped back to the floor, left devoid of any signs of life. One by one, she could sense the same happening with her remaining seven digits; a thin line coiled around the pad of each toe and bound them securely to the base of the chair. Wendy's bare feet were pulled taut by the new restrictions, making it impossible to curl her toes or even shift from side to side.

"What – ahh…" The teen tested her uncomfortable limitations, finding that both peds were completely immobilized. "What is that?! What's going onnnnnnnnnnnnn?!"

A chill traveled up her spine as Wendy could feel ice-cold water being splashed all over her exposed soles, softening the layers of thick skin that she had obtained from a lifetime of adventuring. The scratchy, squeaking sound being heard on her left side confirmed that the object was a spray bottle – the same Wendy guessed that she had used in trashing the room hours beforehand.

"Do you think you're funny, you little punk?" Mr. Cabkin regained his poise as he noticed the panic starting to overcome his formerly copper-haired victim. "Do you think your little speech was cute? Is that the kind of thing you do to impress that stupid kid?!"

*CLAK! CLAK! * *CLAK! CLAK!*

Wendy turned around, following the noise, to see that the hard-back scrubber was being endued with life. Her eyes became saucers as she put two and two together, comprehending what Cabkin's true intentions were. She flashbacked to an incident at the Mystery Shack a few weeks earlier, where the other Pines twin, Mabel, had offered to share a "Spa Day" with the usually-rough lumberjack; such included a "relaxing" pedicure. Needless to say, the episode ended with the tiny sprite being given a fat lip, due to an accidental, involuntarily kick to the face.

However, this time, there would be no escape for Wendy. With wrists cuffed, ankles shackled, and toes tied, she was left helpless but to endure whatever affliction her teacher had planned.

"Now, H-Hold on a sec…" Wendy tried to backpedal, "It's not twelve! You can't - !"

"I can and I will!" Mr. Cabkin declared. "Forget about the deal! That boy isn't getting out of that locker, so as far as I'm concerned, I've already won! You're ours now! Enjoy these last seconds of living existence, Corduroy! They're nothing compared to the fate we have planned for you until the end of time!"

"Wait, I didn't – "

The scrubber-brush floated upwards of its own accord, lining up with Wendy's left foot. As soon as the rough bristles made contact with her sensitive foot skin, her restrained frame bucked in anguish. Left without any other free movement, Wendy raised her head to the sky and let out a howl, releasing a gigantic cloud of indigo vapor along with it:

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Dipper lifted his head from his knees as he instantly recognized the scream that blared through the empty school. It was Wendy – and she was in pain! He could tell from the loudness of the cry that she was indeed nearby.

"What am I doing?"

He had wallowed in self-pity for far too long. For whatever was going on in this strange place, only one thing was made clear – he needed to find Wendy or else, something terrible for going to happen!

Once more, Dipper tried to punch his way out of the locked prison, leaving nothing but a few minor dents and his hands throbbing. Desperate to try a new strategy, he repositioned himself, in spite of the enclosure, so that he was able to lift his legs upwards. With both feet placed together, Dipper pressed against the back wall and thrust into the metal door.

*BANG!*

He closed his eyes and continued to pump his legs back and forth, like a well-oiled machine.

*BANG!*

Dipper kicked away at the door, finding new rounds of inner strength as he thought about his crush. He couldn't even begin to count all of the times that Wendy had come to his rescue – always ready to provide extra muscle to counter any form of supernatural menace that would dare threaten him. Now, that the roles were reversed, Dipper had no intention of letting Wendy down nor allow whatever this mysterious force that separated them to succeed in its wicked purpose.

*BANG!*

A calming light touched Dipper's eyes, forcing him to open them. He could see that he had made progress, as there were innumerable sneaker-shaped indents spread along the locker door. A small portion of the right edge had been caved in, revealing a tear of bent metal filled with moon shine.

Dipper switched to a kneeling position and dug his fingers into the opening. He pulled back as much as he could, slightly curving the ruined door a bit more until it became stuck once again. Dipper tilted backwards and used his shoulder to crash into the door over and over.

*BANG!*

After one final plunge, Dipper threw all of his weight into the damaged door, breaking through at long last. He fell into the cold tile and collapsed; all of his energy had been used in making his escape. His arms and hands were covered in small cuts. His knees ached and the bottoms of his feet were sore. Taking deep breaths, Dipper attempted to stand, only to have his sneakers slide out beneath him. He remained motionless on the ground for several moments, when another yowl shot out through the halls:

"AAAHHH!"

"WENDY!" Dipper stood back up, still woozy and dizzy, making his best to make sense of direction. "I have to – I have to find Wendy!"

Leaving behind the remainder of his supplies, he staggered about the foyer, making sure to double-check every single room for any sign of his lost friend…

"How in the world - ?"

Wendy opened her eyes, unclenching her face as soon as she heard the shock in Mr. Cabkin's voice. The ghost could only watch in disbelief at what had happened seconds before. Fighting off the possessed scrubber that was tormenting her feet, she looked ahead to see that Dipper was now free, and continuing his search for her. Even more so, her rescuer was only mere yards away from her location.

"Dipper…" she whispered, her voice nearly gone from the mixture of laughter and shrieks. Knowing that there was no chance that he heard her, she gathered all of her vigor into one deafening scream: "DIPPER! DIPPER! I'M HERE! I'M IN HERE! YOU HAVE TO – MMMMPPPPHHHH!"

From behind her, a cloth wrapped around Wendy's opened mouth, gagging her tightly. A sour taste filled her lungs, making her want to retch. Mr. Cabkin stepped in front of her and shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, you can't say that I didn't warn you…" He glanced down to see that the only color left on Wendy's body resided in the tips of her toes. The teacher changed direction and observed the clock speeding away towards the "agreed" deadline. "Only a minute before midnight, Corduroy…"

The specter floated above Wendy, pausing for a brief moment before starting to swirl in endless circles around his prey. The fifteen-year-old found herself in the middle of a blue-hued tornado.

Wendy shut her eyes again, trying her best to ignore the hard brush as it mercilessly scrubbed away, switching between each sole every few seconds. With her lips sealed, Wendy could feel the last pieces of her essence leaking bit by bit through her nostrils…

"It's time…"

Dipper followed the sounds of the shouts down to the final part of the second floor. A haunting blue glow was radiating from the left side of the end of the hall.

"That's…*HUFF!*…that's gotta be it!"

He limped as he could to the last door on his left. Dipper reached up and peered into the door's viewer, gasping aloud at the sight inside. Wendy was seated in an office-roller chair while a dark cobalt vortex wrapped around her.

"It's…draining her!"

He could tell something was wrong with the girl whose detailing he had committed to memory. Wendy sat slumped back on her seat, almost like all her energy had been taken away. The trademark red hair he loved was now a messy black. Her freckled skin had been turned a lifeless gray. Wendy overall had a sickly look to her, in spite of her usually skinny structure, almost like she hadn't eaten in days!

With a great strain, Wendy turned her head towards Dipper before drooping down again; her face gave off a skeletal appearance, as her flesh seemingly missing all its elasticity. The emerald, life-filled eyes the boy often became lost in were now an empty black with stained sockets behind them. Left unable to speak, Wendy could only give her cohort a sad stare – a small sign that she needed him to do something – now!

Without further delay, Dipper grabbed the doorknob and turned it…

"No! You haven't won yet!"

Before Dipper could even open the door, an unseen force hurled every desk in the room straight at the narrow entryway, denying the sleuth any entry into the room. The newly formed, wood-based wall also blocked off what was happening to his main squeeze.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"

Dipper knew that there was no way to squeeze through the blockade; he needed to find a new way inside and quick. He looked down the hall and saw the closest classroom to the left.

"Maybe…" He darted towards the empty area, "All of the rooms downstairs were connected to each other with two exits. Maybe it'll have another way into Wendy's homeroom!"

The tween threw the door opened and ran into the classroom. He glanced to his right, expecting to find another door leading to Wendy, only to see a dusty black chalkboard in its place.

"Rats!" Dipper groaned, "Only the specialty classes must have double entrances…"

*SLAM!*

*CLICK!*

Dipper spun around to see that the door had been shut behind him. He hurried to the front of the room and twisted the doorknob, finding that it was now locked tight.

"No!" Dipper pounded on the door in frustration. He barked at the poltergeist holding his friend hostage, "You leave her alone! Do you hear me?!"

*BONG!*

"What is that?" Dipper raised his head to see that the school's internal timer system had been activated. The clock mounted over him had just struck midnight.

*BONG!*

"There's gotta be another way outta here!" Dipper swiftly overlooked the entire room, finding only one other form of exit.

*BONG!*

A window on the right side had been left ajar. Left without any other choice, Dipper took a long *GULP!* before prying the pane open and stepping foot on the windowsill.

*BONG!*

Wendy's eyes shot open as she felt something with a feathery touch caress her face. From inside the current, the teen was petrified to see dozens of spirits twisting around her, each reaching out with long, ghastly arms for her. She dodged out of their reach the best her restraints would allow.

"Wendy…" a student's voice called out, "It's time…"

"It's time, Wendy…"

"Your time here is at an end, Wendy…"

"Join us, Wendy…"

*BONG!*

"NEV-HMMR!" The muffled girl shouted through her suppress, "GM AWMMY!"

*BONG!*

Step by step, Dipper walked sideway alongside the fine ledge, forcing himself to keep his sights outwards. The suddenly-cold wind blew against the neighboring trees, making their bounty swirl furiously in lieu with the gusts. An abrupt overcast blocked out any light given by the full moon.

"Okay, Dipper…" the small redeemer coached himself, "Don't look down; just don't look down…"

By accident, his eyes focused downwards, creating a spellbinding effect of vertigo.

"And…" Dipper threw his front against the brick wall, "I looked down…"

*BONG!*

The clock chime served as a reminder that time was indeed running out. Whatever had Wendy in its clutches wouldn't wait for him to regain his courage. If they were to make it out of this mess unscathed, he had to hurry up!

He arrived at the window leading into Wendy's room. Taking a deep breath, Dipper slowly started to bend down to reach the opening…

*BONG!*

…and lost his footing, dropping down to one knee, scrapping it against the hard gavel…

*BONG!*

He pushed off of the brick wall to slither into the partly open windowpane…

*BONG!*

Wendy fastened her eyes as the moaning ghost children moved in closer. Their shrill voices continued to beckon to her:

"Wendy…"

*BONG!*

"LEMMMPH MM ALMME!"

"Wendy…"

*BONG!*

"WENDY!"

She could feel two hands grab her shoulders and shake her gently, "Wendy, are you alright?! Say something, please!"

"Huh - ?" Wendy opened her eyes up to see that she was no longer surrounded by a legion of the damned. Instead, she could only see the smiling face of Dipper Pines looking back at her.

"Dipper!" The first thing Wendy noticed was that her gag had been removed. Her joy was hastily replaced with absolute alarm, "Dip, we – we have to get out of here! Mr Cabkin – Mr. Cabkin – he's a ghost!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, man! " She shook her head, "He's trying to steal my soul!" Wendy motioned with her shoulder blades, "You have to hurry and untie me! He has my hands and feet all chained up!"

"It's okay…" Dipper tried to remain calm, so not to worry his frightened partner in crime even more. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he pledged, "I'll have you free in a jiffy…" Dipper ran to the back of the chair and maneuvered a bit to get a closer look at the situation.

After a moment of awkward silence, Wendy asked, "Dude, what's taking so long?"

"Um…Wendy, I don't know how to tell you this…"

"What?! What's wrong?!" Her mind raced at the possibilities. Did her fingers turn green? Were her peds tickled so hard that nothing was left but bone?

"That's the thing…" Dipper walked back around, gently holding one of Wendy's wrists, "You're not tied at all!"

"How the - ?" Wendy pulled her other hand in front of her, taking a second to stare at her palm in disbelief. She then bent her knees and lifted her feet from their forced-resting place, stretching her lengthy legs out in front of her without any sort of resistance.

Even her orange and yellow socks had been perfectly sowed back onto her feet. Confused, Wendy inspected all of her once-bound limbs; the only sign that she had been restricted were fading red marks placed above her wrists and ankles. All of the missing flesh-color had been returned to its proper place.

"But he – I mean –"

She gawked at the clock mounted over the still-blocked doorway as it turned to the next minute.

"…12:01…it's 12.01!"

Wendy finally understood what happened. They had won! Dipper had reached her in time! Mr. Cabkin had no choice but to abide by his word, freeing her, and expelling himself from Gravity Falls High! Further confirmation came as Wendy turned towards Mr. Cabkin's desk, seeing that his ancient, angled name-plate had vanished from the scene.

"DIPPER!" She lounged forward and wrapped her arms around the boy, making him cry out in a startled fashion. "You did it! You did it! I told him you'd do it!"

"I – did?" Taking a second to relax, Dipper tossed aside all of the uncertainty and returned the favor, squeezing the ginger as tightly as he could. After a moment or two of peaceful, reunited bliss, Dipper pulled away and sincerely asked, "Wendy, what was it that I did exactly?"

She could only grin as he gave him a loving tap on the cheek, "More than you could ever know…"

"If you say so…"

"Wendy," Dipper asked, "What happened tonight?" He used a hand to highlight the pile of desks blocking the exit of the room, "What – What was all of this about?"

"It's…a very long story…"

"So…"

Wendy sat back on the seat, and lowered her eyes, "So, how exactly did you get Mabel to spill the beans?"

Dipper and Wendy each had a laugh at the absurdity of the question – a shared sense of humor that was easily shared between the duo. He bent down and retrieved her trusty brown trapper cap for her. "You're welcome, by the way..." A shade of guilt spread over his brow, "Sorry it look me so long to get here…"

"Don't be," Wendy swiped away, "You were busy. From what I saw, you certainly had your hands full."

"Yeah, something like that – wait, hang on!" Dipper stopped, "You saw?! How could you have – "

She pressed an index finger against his lips, effectively silencing him, "It might be better if I started at the beginning…"

*SQUISH! SQUISH!* *SQUISH! SQUISH!*

The now-exorcised halls of Gravity Falls High were silent, except for the sucking sound that Wendy's recently-freed glue-coated footwear made as the friends walked down the halls. As they pried the lumberjack boots loose and removed all of the desks from the homeroom's entry, Wendy and Dipper took turns sharing their experiences, noticing how the opposite sides of the story complimented one another, leaving very little to be questioned.

"…and that's when I opened my eyes and you were there instead…"

"Wow…" Dipper's heart went out towards her, "That all sounds really messed up, Wendy…"

"Tell me about it, Dip; I had to live through it! Still…" She proudly punched her little hero's shoulder, "…I bet it was nothing compared to what you had to go through!"

"I dunno…" Dipper admitted. "Being stuffed in a locker versus being tickle tortured to death; it just seems like a "lose-lose" to me…"

"I hear that…" She shuttered at the mere mention of the word.

"Although…" the mischievous boy hinted with a sly tone, "Such information is undeniably intriguing…"

Wendy immediately stepped in front of Dipper and shoved an index finger in his face, "Oh, uh-uh! That stops right here and now, kid! From this point on, if I even hear you whisper the "T" word in my presence, I'm throwing you back in one of those lockers and leaving you there until Labor Day. Got it?!"

"Kidding! Only kidding!" Dipper held up his hands in surrender.

They walked through the double doors of the front entrance, no longer barricaded by the chains and padlock that held it hours before.

"All joking aside," Dipper went on, "There is something bugging me about this whole thing…"

"Like that, buddy?" Wendy went to unlock her bike from the tree.

"I just don't believe that Mr. Cabkin guy was being entirely truthful with you." He paused to scratch the side of his head, "In fact, I don't think he was serious about hurting anyone – I mean, what if he was teasing us the whole time…?"

"WHAT?!" Wendy dove down and roughly grabbed him by the shoulders, "Dipper, have you gone loco? Did you forget how many times that loon had tried to murder us today?"

"But that's the thing, Wendy," he placed his hands on top of hers, "He tried, but he didn't. You said that he was able to create all of those monsters and traps by seeing into our minds, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, this guy made all of these deadly things to try to stop me from reaching you, but also gave me a form of escape each time, making sure that I would be able to notice them. In the gym, the ball ran into my foot. With the pool, the skimmer appeared out of nowhere. In the metal shop, the monster conveniently dropped me onto the table next to its power source. And I slipped over spilled paint thinner while in the art gallery…"

"And what's wrong with that?" Wendy inquired, "It only means that you're resourceful. Heck, that's why you kick so much butt at this ghost-hunting thing – it's like, what you were born for!"

"But then why give me the chance to get out of those messes if the whole point was to keep me from finding you?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "He did say it was sort of a game to him, Dipper…"

"That's what I thinking, too, but what kind of game was he playing? Why even the odds for no particular reason? If Cabkin really wanted to win, why not just lock the door to the basement when I first broke into the school, wait out the clock, and call it a day? Or in your case; why go through all this trouble of…err…"t-word"-ing you for three straight hours when he could have ended things at any given second?"

Wendy crossed her arms as she thought about what he said, "So, what are you saying, Dipper? You think that he wasn't really trying to kill us?"

"Maybe…" Dipper rubbed his elbow, "What was that thing that he said to you; about being a redeemer or something?"

"No," Wendy corrected, "It was…he said that "he believed in redemption; that every lost sheep will find their way…"

"Exactly!" Dipper drew closer, "Wendy, what if this guy used all of these tricks and illusions to mess with our heads; to not to try to hurt us, but to scare the pants off us?"

"Or better yet," she added, "Scare us straight…"

"Yeah…"

They quietly reflected on the theory for several moments before Wendy made the first move, "Oh, I thought of something else!"

"Really?! What is it?!"

She playfully tugged the bill of his blue and white pine-tree cap over his eyes, "I think that you're a big dork who tends to overthink things and give too much credit to a screwball that sincerely doesn't deserve it!"

Dipper giggled as he restored his hat to its proper spot, "You might be right, too…"

"Might be? I know I am!"

He lifted Wendy's bike and placed it onto the back holder of the Mystery Cart, "Either way, I can know one thing for certain…"

"And what's that, Dipper…" Wendy instantly felt an unsettling breeze surrounding her. As if by instinct, she looked back at Gravity Falls High, and gasped at the sight above. Mr. Cabkin stood at one of the windows on the top floor with a sinister expression broaden across his worn face.

"…whenever you get that new homeroom teacher, perhaps a little brown-nosing wouldn't be such a bad idea…"

Wendy rubbed her eyes in disbelief, seeing that the phantom had disappeared into the darkness of the school yet again.

"I hear you on that, Dip; believe me, I do…"

(September 19th, 2015 – November 6th, 2015)