No Laughing Matter

Just another normal day at the mystery shack for the Pines twins...who am I kidding. It's never normal around here. And neither was today. It started out pretty average enough. Woke up. Got breakfast. And began about his day.

Mabel did the same. Except she did it with a little more...oomph. As the two went outside Mabel was jumping up and down by her brother.

"Hey Dipper! Hey Dipper! Dippy Dip Dip Dippeeeeeer!" Mabel shouted loudly.

"Mabel cut it out!" Dipper complained holding his ears. He walked off into the woods, leaving Mabel behind.

"Hm..." Mabel thought.

-

Dipper came back later in the day. Nobody knew what he was doing but Mabel thought he looked a little....dull.

She ran up to greet him. "Hey Dipper! Wanna play with me and Waddles?"

"No thanks Mabel. I need to figure this out," Dipper said, face in his book.

"What is it?" Mabel asked, trying to peak.

Dipper showed her a page in the book that showed a shaded triangle with a single eye and a top hat. "It's this. It's a flower or something. But all it says it causes the persons sense of humor to heighten. It also says stay away from it. It has terrible side effects. I was trying to find it so I can study it."

"Boriiiiing," Mabel sang. She tugged on Dippers arm. "Come oooon. You can worry about some triangle later. Now its time to play. And we'd better hurry before Waddles eats half the pieces again."

"Mabel I'm busy!" Dipper said and yanked his arm away. "You can play without me."

"But Dipper..." Mabel tried to complain but Dipper just walked away, his gaze back on his book. Mabel watched him go with a frown. Dipper tripped on a wire that was connected to one of Soos's drills.

"I'm okay!" Dipper called out as he got up and went upstairs.

Soos entered and had watched Dipper go upstairs. he looked down at Mabel. "Sup hambone?"

"Dipper's too boring," Mabel stated.

"Uh...okay then," Soos said, confused. "Maybe you should get him to laugh. That'll make him like...less boring...right?"

Mabel's eyes widened. "Soos, say that last part again."

"That'll make him less boring?" Soos said.

"No, before that. Mabel's got an idea," Mabel said deviously.

Hours went by, it was night now and Dipper hadn't come downstairs. Mabel decided it was time to put her plan into action. Sneaking up as stealthy as she could with Soos behind her the two crept up the stairs and the the attic where Dipper and Mable's room was. She opened the door slightly and peaked in. And as she suspected Dipper was sound asleep. Papers and a few flowers and leaves littered his bed. Dipper was passed out with the book on his chest.

Mabel signaled Soos to be quiet as she stepped in and tiptoed up to Dippers bed. she gently pried Dipper's fingers off the book and lifted it from him. She knelt on the floor and opened up to the bookmarked page. And took out a flashlight and shined it on the page.

"This flower, when ingested causes the subject to laugh at everything. It can be found at this location... Perfect!" she covered her mouth and looked at Dipper. He was still asleep. Mabel breathed a sigh of relief and got up. Taking the book with her she closed the door behind her. "Now all I gotta do is get Dipper to eat this flower and BOOM he's not boring anymore!!"

"um Is this a good idea?" Soos asked. "I mean like...what if it does more bad then good."

"Soos," Mabel said seriously. "I know what I'm doing. And besides do you realy want Dipper to stay boring forever?"

"I'm serious Mabel. I say don't do it. You don't know what you getting into. And what it could do to Dipper. What if it harms him?" Soos said nervously.

"It won't. I'd say the worst he could get is a bad tummy ache. Now I'm going to go look for the flower. If Dipper wakes up and asks about the book then stall him," Mabel said and ran down the stairs. Soos glanced back at the door. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

---

Mabel was wandering through the forest now. "hm now if I were a humor flower where would I be?" she said to herself, she shined her light at the book again. "Should be around here somewhere."

Mabel flashed her light around the trees and kept walking, she came into a clearing and shined the light in the middle. Mabel gasped. "That must be it!"

It was a pale blue flower with white and purple streaks on it. The tips of the petals were red. Mabel snipped it off into a baggie and ran out of the clearing with the flower.

It was about midnight when Mabel made it back to the Mystery Shack. Knowing how mad Stan would be she took out her grappling hook where she kept it tucked in her sweater and shot up to the roof. She climbed in the window, careful not to wake Dipper and left the room. Soos was gone home by then so Mabel had to do this alone.

"Now how can I get Dipper to eat this..." Mabel thought aloud to herself. She snapped her fingers. "I got it!"

-

The next morning. Dipper woke up first to see Mabel still sleeping. She had been up almost all night. Dipper hopped out of bed. His book fell onto the floor. "Oh, don't want to forget this," he said, picking it up. He ran over to Mabel and shook her. "Mabel. Maaable."

"Go away," Mabel grumbled, burying her head into her pillow.

"Time to get up now," he said. He hauled Mabel's blanket off and pouted when she never reacted. He jabbed a finger into her side and she squealed with a jump. Dipper laughed. "Up now?"

"Not funny Dipper," Mabel said, dropping down onto her pillow again.

"Come on Mable," Dipper sighed in frustration. "I guess I'll just have to eat breakfast without you then."

Dipper left with a smirk as he heard Mabel shoot up out of bed. Dipper began running and made it to the kitchen first. "HAHA! I win!"

He put his journal on the table and took out some waffles and dropped then into the toaster and then grabbed some milk from the fridge and poured a glass.

Mabel stumbled into the kitchen, yawning as she entered. "Wow Dipper. You seem happy today," maybe she wouldn't have to use the flower on Dipper after all. Now that she thought about it, she liked Dipper just the way he was.

Dipper shrugged. "I dunno. I just got a good nights sleep tonight. You wanna go with me on my flower hunt today? Girls like flowers right? Come one Mabel," he punched her lightly on the shoulder. "Mystery twins?"

"Flower hunt?..." Mabel looked at Dipper who was drinking his milk...his...oh no. "Dipper no!" Mabel shouted but Dipper dropped the glass and held his stomach in pain.

"Owww, I think thre's something wrong with the milk..." he groaned, falling to his knees.

Mabel ran over to him and looked at the spilled milk. She had already ground up the flower and put it in the milk.

"Dipper are you okay?" Mabel asked.

"yeah...I'll just, arg, go lie down for a bit. I don't feel too good," Dipper hissed out through clenched teeth. Dipper got up and staggered out of the kitchen, still holding his stomach. Stan passed him on the way out.

"Whoa kid, you look awful," he said in surprise.

"I think the milks expired," Dipper said as he made it to the stairs and slowly made his way up. Stan went into the kitchen an saw a guilty looking Mabel and the milk on the floor.

"Uh just what I need. A sick kid to take care of. Mable I need to go um...pay my taxes. Can you go get Soos to go clean this up? Oh and check on Dipper, he doesn't look well."

Mabel nodded, rubbing her arm in shame as Stan turned and left the kitchen, not before grabbing a waffle from the toaster. Mabel left the room to go find Soos. guessing he had show up earlier for work. As Mabel was about to leave she bumped into Soos.

"I heard glass breaking! What happened?" Soos asked.

"Soos I made a horrible mistake! I put the humor flower into Dippers milk and he drank the milk and now he's really sick and its all my fault. I tried to stop him but I couldn't....oh and Stan wanted me to tell you to clean this up," Mabel said, pointing to the milk and shattered glass.

"Alright, I'll have this cleaned up in a jiffy. You should go tell Dipper what's going on."

"I can't! He'll be mad at me for taking his book, and for giving him some kind of poison flower!" Mabel panicked.

"He'll be more mad if you don't tell him, he might know how to fix this if he knew what was wrong with him," Soos said.

"Soos your a genius!" Mabel said.

"I know," Soos said and went to cleaning up the mess and Mabel ran upstairs to her and Dippers room. She halted outside the door and took a deep breath and entered.

"Dipper?" she called out in a whisper. She saw Dipper under his blankets in an obvious fetal position. The only response from Dipper was a groan. "So um...how are you feeling?" another groan. "Well um..." okay you can do it Mabel. She took a deep breath. "I might...know what's wrong with you...I um...may have sort of kinda ...mixedthehumorflowerinwithyourmilk!" she said quickly. Dipper was silent. Mable sighed in defeat. "I mixed the humor flower in with your milk because I thought you were boring. I changed my mind but you drank the milk anyways and I guess it's my fault that your sick..."

The next thing she knew was that small chuckles were coming from under the blanket.

"Dipper this isn't funny! It's serious!" Mabel hauled the blanket off Dipper to see him laughing and holding his sides. "Oh duh," Mabel smacked her forehead. She grabbed Dippers shoulders. "Dipper! Can you hear me?"

Dipper laughed harder and tried to curl in further on himself.

"I'm going to get Soos! Maybe he'll know what to do," Mabel said and raced out of the room. She came back a minute later with Soos. Dipper wasn't laughing anymore so that was good. He now lay on his back panting.

He looked up to see Mabel and Soos in the doorway. "hey...I feel a bit better now. I think I'm gonna go downstairs now." Dipper jumped out of the bed and stretched before walked out passed Mabel and Soos. When Dipper was gone Mabel turned to Soos.

"I don't get it! He seems back to normal now," Mabel said.

"Maybe the flower wore off?" Soos suggested.

"You go follow Dipper and make sure and I'll get his journal and see if it explains anything," Mabel told Soos. Soos nodded and both of them ran downstairs. Splitting up so Mabel ran to the kitchen and Soos went into the shop. he heard laughter and looked over to see Dipper on the floor laughing and Wendy leaning over the counter to look down at Dipper.

"Okay it wasn't that funny man," Wendy said in confusion as she looked down at Dipper.

"Oh man!" Soos gasped and ran to them, he knelt down and lifted Dipper off the floor a bit. "Snap out of it dude!"

Dipper had tears running down his face now from laughing. He had a hand clutching his stomach, the other grabbed Soos's oversized arm. "Hehehe-help-hahaha-m-me hahahahahaarghahaha," Dipper managed through his laughter.

When Wendy heard this she was on the other side of the counter in a second. "What's wrong with Dipper?!" she asked in a panic.

"He drank milk that had a magic flower thing in it that's making him laugh. At the same time he said it, Mabel came running through the door and ran to them.

"Dipper?!" she gasped when Dipper began coughing. She put the book down and looked at Soos and Wendy with wide frightened eyes. "Guys we have to help him. If we don't get that flower out of him then he's going to die!" Mabel cried. Saying this caused tears to fall down her cheeks.

"What?!" Soos and Wendy exclaimed in shock.

"It says here that the only cure is for him to eat the roots of the same flower. But it took me like 3 hours to get there! How will we get it in time?!"

"We go now. Take the golf kart and get Dipper that root!" Wendy said. Mabel and Soos nodded. "Mabel does the book say anything about delaying it. Like get him to calm down a little?"

Mabel skimmed through the text on the page. "Here! here...it...it says the more he hears the worse it gets. Because when he hears anything it'll make him laugh."

"Hm...how can we fix that..."Wendy's eyes lit up and she turned to Soos. "Soos! You have earmuffs that block out sound right? Like when you use when using power tools."

"Right! I'll go get them. You dudes get to the gold kart and start it up. Brb!" he said, handing Dipper to Wendy and running to get the earmuffs from his toolbox. Wendy and Mabel rushed Dipper outside.

Dipper was coughing a lot in between his laughs. Soos runs back out as fast as he could and Mabel takes the earmuffs and puts them on Dipper as Soos gets in the drivers seat and speeds away.

Dipper's laughs died down a pick and reduced to coughing slightly and passing out. "Dipper?!" Mabel shouted in surprise when Dipper lost consciousness. She shook him trying to wake him. Wendy stopped her. She put two fingers to Dippers neck and checked his wrist.

"It's okay. He's just unconscious," Wendy informed. Mabel sighed in relief and slumped down. "His pulse is still weak though."

"Soos step on it," Mabel ordered. "We should get there faster in the golf kart."

-

About two hours or so later Dipper's eyes blinked open. He Shielded his eyes from the light shining through the canopy of leaves that sped by above him. Wait...was he moving? Dipper sat up and saw Mable and Wendy.

"Wendy? Mabel? What's going on...why do I sound so....muffled?" Dipper asked.

((Dipper!)) Mabel's mouth moved but he heard nothing come out.

"What?" Dipper tilted his head in confusion.

((He can't hear us remember?)) He looked at Wendy when he saw her mouth move. She was obviously talking to Mabel but she was pointing at Dipper. Dipper reached up to head head and felt something on his head. He pulled his hand back in surprise but felt the thing on his head again.

"Am I wearing earmuffs?" Dipper asked. He put his hands over the ear parts but Mabel jumped forward ((No!)), she grabbed his wrists to stop him. "What's going on?"

Mabel looked up and her eyes widened. She let go of Dippers wrists.

--

Mabel looked at Soos. "Soos! We're getting closer! It's just up ahead!"

Soos drove into a clearing and the vehicle skid to a halt. Mabel leaped out of the golf kart as it stopped. She ran to the center of the clearing where a dying flower stem was jutting out of the ground. Mabel began digging with her hands. Throwing the dirt aside as she tried to dig up the roots of the plant. Wendy and Soos began o help.

"Okay! Now is somebody going to tell me what's going on?!" Dipper shouted from behind. Everyone's heads turned to see Dipper, without the earmuffs, approaching them. The earmuffs had been thrown to the very edge of the clearing.

Soos opened his mouth to speak but Wendy slapped her hand over his mouth, instantly silencing him. She looked at Mabel. 'Keep digging,' she mouthed silently. Mabel nodded and began dipping around the stem of the plant once more while Wendy and Soos began to approach Dipper.

Dipper, sensing something was wrong, began to back away nervously. "G-guys?...what's going on?" Dipper sounded scared.

Wendy nodded to Soos and both of them dove at Dipper. Dipper screamed as they knocked him to the ground and pinned him there.

"What are you doing! Guys let go!!" Dipper shouted at them angrily.

Soos had Dipper's arms pinned against his sides as he lifted him and then, in a sort of hug style, pinned the struggling boy against his chest. Dipper kicked and shouted for him to be let go.

"What's wrong with you guys??!!!" Dipper screamed, apparently not knowing what was going on.

Soos sat down with Dipper still pinned against him and watched as Mabel finally got the root free of the ground. Wendy ran up to them with the journal in her hands. She opened to the bookmarked page and read something. She pointed at something and looked at Mabel and as if the two knew what each other were trying to say Mabel nodded and pointed at the root and then to Dipper.

"Come on guys, this isn't funny. Tell me what's going on and what's gotten into you," Dipper said, eyeing the root as Mabel and Wendy approached. Mabel shoved the root in Dipper's face. "What's that for?"

Mabel rolled her eyes and pointed into her mouth, indicating she wanted him to eat it. Dipper's eyes widened before he shut them and turned away.

"I'm not gonna eat that! What are you trying to do to me?!" Dipper said in a panicked voice. He felt Mabel press the root to his cheek and he clamped his mouth shut and tried to turn away more. He pinched an eye open and saw Wendy taking the root from Mabel.

Wendy grabbed Dipper's face and faced him towards her. Dipper's eyes squeezed shut as he tried to turn away. Wendy even tried to forced Dipper's mouth open but he bit down on her hand. Wendy pulled her hand away. Trying hard not to cry out.

She's not Wendy, she's not Wendy, you did not just bite Wendy, Dipper thought. he looked at 'fake' Mabel, he's assuming these aren't his real friends and sister. Mabel looked about ready to lose it. She glared at Dipper and picked up the root where it had fallen and thrust it in Dipper's face. Dipper clamped his mouth tightly shut and looked away, causing the root to hit his cheek.

"JUST EAT THE STUPID PLANT ALREADY!!!" Mabel screamed at him. Then she covered her mouth and looked at Dipper with wide eyes.

Dipper was staring wide-eyed at Mabel, the corners of his mouth twitched a bit. Dipper's face broke out in a smile. "Heh....hehehehehe Pffffft HAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHA!!!" Dipper broke out into a big laughing fit.

"Mabel!" Wendy and Soos scolded. Wendy took the root from Mabel. She thrust it into Dippers mouth and forced his mouth closed. Dipper, still semi laughing, began to chew the root before swallowing. Wendy let go of Dipper's jaw and watched as Dipper's laughs died away.

"Mabel?" Dipper broke the sudden silence that had fallen over the forest.

Mabel paused and looked uncertain before replying. "Dipper?" she braced herself for Dipper to laugh again but nothing happened she looked at Dipper and she smiled wide. "Dipper! Your back to normal!!"

"Um...what happened anyways? Everything is mostly a blur to me. Ah my face hurts," Dipper whined, rubbing his cheeks.

"I'll explain on the way home. Um...how much do you remember?" Mabel asked.

Dipper thought for a minute. "Well I remember after drinking that milk my stomach was trying to kill me or something. I fell asleep and then....I don't remember much after that. I woke up and couldn't hear anything. Then you guys pretty much attacked me and tried to get me to eat a root or something. then..." his eyes widened. "Oh my gosh. Wendy!" he looked at her, she was rubbing his hand, Dipper could see the teeth marks on her skin and how it was turning a purplish shade. "I'm so sorry! I...I...Oh man..."

"It's okay Dipper. Why did you go freak out though?" Wendy asked.

"Hey! In my defense you guys weren't talking and trying to force me to eat some weird plant that could have killed me or something and I thought you were possessed or it wasn't even you or something!" Dipper argued. "Soos...you can let go of me now..."

"Oh... sorry dude," Soos chuckled as he put Dipper on the ground.

Dipper rubbed his throat and fixed his hat before looking at Mabel. She looked guilty and was avoiding eye contact with Dipper. "Mabel..."

mabel looked at him. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have tricked you into eating the flower! I had it ground up and put it in the milk so when you drank it you'd be less boring but it wasn't like how I wanted! You could have died because of me!" Mabel cried out.

Dipper studied Mabel for a moment before crawling two steps to give her a hug. "Sh it's okay Mabel. I'm alright now, see? Nothing to be scared of now."

Mabel hugged Dipper back and cried. "Dipper I'm so sorry! So so so sooooo sorry!!!!"

"Mabel, I told you there was dangerous side effects," Dipper said to her, loosening their hug so he could look at her.

"I know but...I wasn't listening. Sorry bro-bro."

They were approaching the Mystery Shack now. Dipper was laughing. Except this time it was natural and not because of some spooky magic plant.

"Wow I must have looked pretty silly!" Dipper laughed.

Mabel chuckled a bit. "Yeah I guess you did look kind of silly now that I think of it. I was panicking too much before to realize it."

The golf kart pulled up in the front now.

"Hm I wonder what Stan's gonna say. How long were we gone for?"

"KIDS!!!!!!" Stan's angry yell sounded from inside. "GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE!!!!!"

"A long time," Mabel answered, her skin paled.

The End