Mabel's eyes snapped opened, and it took a few seconds for them to focus. She sat up and saw Dipper sitting across from her, grinning like an idiot; and Wendy to the side, frowning like a sad clown. Mabel decided to focus on Dipper.

"That was awesome," Dipper said. "Did you see me? I was a ninja! And we did it: We got Bill out of Robbie's mind!"

"And ourselves, by the looks of it," said Mabel. She grabbed her Journal, shoving it under her nearby duffel bag, and looked around the yurt. Robbie was still asleep on his camping chair. Mabel's stomach flopped when she saw him. Would he really not remember what they had talked about?

Dipper looked over at Wendy, and his grin dropped. "Hey," he said, "I'm sorry about what happened. What they said wasn't true."

She stared at him, then glared at him, then got up and stomped out of the yurt.

Mabel watched her go. "Well, you get points for trying," she said. Inside, her stomach turned over again. She had to talk to Wendy, didn't she? She had to make things right.

With a sudden gasp, Robbie bolted awake. Mabel jumped at the noise and looked at him with wide eyes. He blinked rapidly, then leaned forward onto his elbows and ran a hand through his hair. "I fell asleep?" he asked out loud. Then he seemed to notice the twins. "Oh, hey, there you guys are!"

Mabel smiled sheepishly.

"Yep, here we are!" Dipper replied. "Wendy found us. Sorry it took us so long to get back; we got kinda lost."

"I was starting to worry, man," Robbie said. "I probably shouldn't have let you go off on your own."

Mabel and Dipper shared a look. If they hadn't gone off, they probably would never have known about Bill.

"I have no idea why I fell asleep, though," Robbie continued, stretching his arms above his head. "I was worried about you guys, and I didn't feel tired."

"It's okay," Mabel said, a bit too quickly.

Robbie glanced at her, then shrugged. "Where's everyone else?"

"Wendy's outside," Dipper said. "The others might still be out looking for us." His eyes met Mabel's again, and she realized what he must be thinking: How long had they been in Robbie's mind? She had no clue how much time had passed in the real world.

"I guess we should go find them all, then," said Robbie, getting to his feet and stretching again. The twins followed suit, though the nervousness in Mabel's stomach was a constant buzz now. She really didn't want to go looking for Wendy.

They poked their heads out of the yurt, and Dipper immediately pulled back in. "It's freezing out there!" he said.

"Dipper, c'mon," she said, rolling her eyes.

He reappeared moments later with blankets, passing one to Mabel and wrapping another around himself. Oh. Smart.

"Hey, there you are, Robbie!" someone called. As Mabel stepped out onto the wooden walkway leading from the yurt, she saw the crowd of five teenagers (including Wendy) that stood outside. With a shiver, she realized that all of the teenagers standing there had been in the group that was ridiculing Wendy back in Robbie's mind. That must be why the redhead had moved a little ways away, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Oh, good, you found the kids," said a heavy-set girl with a nice smile.

"The eclipse is starting!" a blonde girl said.

"Oh, sweet!" said Robbie. "You kids ever seen an eclipse?"

"Mabel got up in the middle of the night to see one once," Dipper said.

Mabel smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, it was pretty cool."

"It'll be about half an hour until it's completely covered," said a dark-skinned girl standing next to the blonde. "Then we party!"

The rest of the teens (and Dipper) cheered.

Mabel looked over at Wendy, who hadn't joined in. Then she took a deep breath. She had to do this. It was now or never.

The things she was going to say ran through her head over and over again as she started determinedly towards Wendy. Her stomach was a knot; her chest was a beehive of nervousness. She hated confrontation like this.

Wendy saw her and turned away, moving further from the group. Mabel followed her. This was actually better: Nobody could overhear them if they moved away. Unfortunately, Wendy looked increasingly annoyed each time she looked over her shoulder.

"Wendy," Mabel finally said. The word sent a fresh wave of nervousness through her.

Wendy turned around, glaring at her full force.

Mabel forced down the anger that wanted to surface. She took a deep breath. "Wendy, you're right," she said. "I do like Robbie. He's. . . cute, and funny, and. . ." She had to pause to breathe again, and this time her voice was shaky. "I like Robbie, but I don't want him to know. I don't want. . . I don't want him to like me back. It's okay. It seems like. . . well, he likes you, and that's — that's okay. I'm — happy for you two."

Wendy had stopped glaring so strongly, but she was still silent.

Mabel attempted a smile. "Although, I think we'd all like to see you be a bit more happy."

Wendy's trance broke, and she let out an indignant scoff. "How dare you!" she snapped. She looked like she wanted to say more, but she simply turned and stomped off.

Mabel watched her go and somehow didn't feel angry or hurt. She was still nervous — she always took a while to calm down after conflict — but she also felt relieved. She had said what she had meant to say, and it hadn't come out garbled. Somehow, Wendy's reaction didn't really matter. Mabel took a few deep breaths, then went back to rejoin the group.

"Found her!" Dipper called when he saw his twin. "Mabes, don't go too far! We wanna be here for the party, right?"

Mabel stopped, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. She had dropped the blanket that Dipper had given her, and he was holding it out. Only now that she was cooling down from her confrontation with Wendy did she realize just how cold she was.

She took the blanket, smiling, and thought about Dipper's question. Did she want to be here for the party, with all these teenagers?

Surprisingly, she found that she did.

"For sure," she said to her twin with a grin. "But do we have to wait outside for the whole eclipse? I'm freezing."

"Penguin huddle!" Dipper declared, waddling up next to her and nearly knocking her over.

She laughed and pushed at him playfully. As she laughed, the last of the tension in her chest drained away.

~~~~~

An hour later, Mabel, Dipper, Robbie, and his friends sat around a campfire, telling stories and roasting s'mores. Their front sides were hot from the fire, but their backs were frigidly cold. Thick blankets, wrapped around them like penguins, helped somewhat.

"Mabel's turn, Mabel's turn!" Dipper said. Robbie's friends thought he was a riot. Nat and Lia, the girls that might be mistaken for twins if not for Nat's bright blonde hair and Lia's pretty dark skin, found him particularly funny. Tambry, the larger girl who seemed to agree with everything, smiled when Dipper talked. Thompson, the boy with the purple in his hair, just rolled his eyes — but smiled a bit.

Wendy had yet to smile.

"Mabel, tell us a spooky story," Dipper said, prodding his twin with his elbow.

She nudged him away. "What? No, I don't have any good stories."

"Sure you do!" Dipper protested. "Mabel tells amazing stories," he informed the group. "Tell us. . . ooh."

He turned on a flashlight under his chin. "Tell us the story of the bunk bed that tried to kill you," he said, and he handed her the flashlight.

Bunk beds? She was supposed to scare teenagers with a story about bunk beds?

Or maybe. . . maybe it wasn't about being scary. Maybe it was about being funny.

She switched on the flashlight. "Once there was an innocent young girl," she began in an ominous tone.

"And her awesome twin brother!" Dipper chipped in.

"Shh. This girl was small and ordinary, but little did she know, she was part of a big plan. A plan. . . to rid the world of children with killer bunk beds!"

Nat snorted. Mabel's hand trembled a bit, but she steadied herself. Funny, not serious, she reminded herself. Be like Dipper.

"One day, the girl's unsuspecting parents bought a bunk bed for her and her twin brother, not thinking that their precious children were in any danger. But the moment they told the girl she would be sleeping on the top bunk, she knew." Mabel's eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward. "That very night, the bunk bed tried to kill her," she said in the scariest tone she could muster.

"Yeah," Dipper blurted out, "and she rolled over and fell off the bunk bed in the middle of the night and landed on the floor with this really big thump, and it totally woke me up, and to this day Mabel never ever sleeps in bunk beds, right, Mabes?"

There was temporary silence, save the crackling of the fire.

Then everyone burst out laughing.

"Dipper," Mabel tried to say through her laughter, "I was telling the story!"

"I got excited," Dipper said sheepishly. But somehow Mabel got the feeling that his interruption was calculated for maximum laughter. How did he do it?

Oh well. He had helped her out, and they had told a funny story together.

"You twins are a riot," Robbie said, his grin illuminated by the fire. "Hey, who wants to see how many marshmallows Tambry can fit in her mouth?"

They all turned to Tambry. "Tambry, Tambry, Tambry!" Lia started chanting. Everybody else joined in, until Tambry grabbed the marshmallow bag. She was tipping it over, about to dump them in her mouth, when—

"Kids!"

The voice was like a gust of wind that blew away any other noise. Tambry froze, the marshmallow bag suspended over her head. Everyone turned toward the sound of the voice. A figure lumbered toward them, its gait crooked. Mabel instinctively reached for Dipper's arm.

"Kids! Mabel. . . Dipper. . ."

"It's a monster!" Dipper whispered.

No, it wasn't. Mabel knew that voice.

"It's. . . it's Ford," she said in surprise.

Ford made his way into the firelight, and everyone gasped. One of his eyes was swollen, and there were cuts on his face and arms. His lab coat was torn in multiple places, and he walked with a limp.

"G-Grunkle Ford. . . ," Mabel stuttered.

"What happened to you?" Dipper finished.

Ford grimaced at them. "Pacifica Pleasure happened to me," he said gravely. "I was unaware that anyone that young knew how to torture people, but she does. She's back at the Mystery Museum, ready to hurt any of us who try to come back."

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other with wide eyes.

Ford stepped forward, wobbling a little. Robbie jumped to his feet and ran to stabilize the old man. Ford hardly seemed to notice him; he was still looking at the twins.

He took a shuddering breath. "I fear we're all in danger."

END OF EPISODE FIVE