closed } we will take any dare that the other side’ll dare to dream up

[krmvgivv]

Who: Dipper, Mabel, Frisk, Chara, Ellie, Soos, River, Faith, Peter, Elizabeth, Ford, Stan, Rick.
Where: Various places around the Mansion
When: 7/20
Rating: PG-13 probably thanks Rick's mouth
Summary: The grown-ups have created a doomsday portal. Time for the kids to take matters into their own hands.
The Story:

Early in the day, Frisk, Chara, Soos, River, Faith, and Peter find a hand-written message slid under their door. They'll also get an enigmatic, one word text from Dipper Waddles..

The message reads:

IEHW TR VEPSHC EFZ MDEPPK NORP QSJ W SHFCIL IEHWTRY WT VHGIF POQLRLL. PHH ILXW KF ZRYHWNLDQO MK WT VWLOW!

Assuming they can figure out the instructions, they can come to the secret meeting. There is an important, secret mission they have to carry out, and Dipper is certain this hand-selected team is the right one for the job.

Now all that remains is to make the plan and put it in action.

Comments

deciphering the message

[krmvgivv]

[Catch all for anyone who wants to stare at the gibberish with each other and try and figure out what the heck it means and why Dipper's so paranoid.]

The Hardy Children and the case of WHATS A WADDLES

[fulllifeconsequences]

[So, if you asked Chara, they'd deny being into puzzles. They're, at their core, about efficiency. Not wasting time on things that don't need to be solved in order to progress.

But this clearly needs to be solved in order to progress. Chara's absolutely not going to go crawling to Dipper to explain it for them. They're not giving him the satisfaction of thinking he's smarter than they are.

So they start off trying to figure out a direct substitution. Pick out the single- and two-letter words, focus on the spots where letters are repeated twice. How hard can that be, right?

...Very hard. They end up with utter garbage. A bunch of truck. It's nonsense. After several minutes of futile effort, they finally drag their hands through their hair, look at their phone, and heave an impressive exasperated sigh. They don't need help, not ever, but they aren't above complaining! So they lean back in their seat, glance over at their roommate.]

What does "waddles" even mean?! What kind of stupid joke is this?

[determinedest]

[Frisk has elected to sit this one out. Mostly because, when it gets right down to it, they're pretty sure they can just ring one of the twins up and wearily entreat them to just say what they mean plainly. But Chara is also stubborn. And Chara is also intent on solving this cipher, whatever it is.

It's honestly kind of cute. And here Frisk thought that Chara and puzzles didn't get along very well. But maybe that was because most of the "puzzles" Underground were easily solvable, even more so on repeat runs.

Frisk peers at the line of writing Chara has so far, and doesn't suppress a giggle.]

That, um...that's probably not it, right? There's gotta be more to it. I don't think they'd be pranking us like this?

[fulllifeconsequences]

[They put on their very finest scowl in response to that giggle. It's definitely very stern and serious, and not at all childish sulking.]

If it's not a prank, then they sent this to us for a reason. They obviously think we can solve it, or they wouldn't have bothered.

[Are they making this about expectations? Are they just throwing themselves at a problem that can actually be solved so they don't have to think about the rest of their entire current life situation? Probably! But the motives don't count when there's an achievement to unlock. Right??]

Maybe it's, like... a hint? A clue to the substitutions they used. Maybe it's not that the whole alphabet's been shifted consistently. But it's got "d" in it twice, so... the same letter can't be worth two different numbers, can it?

[determinedest]

[Frisk cocks their head to one side, as if it might help solve the puzzle if they looked at from a ninety-degree tilt shift. It doesn't. Oh well. Looks like they've done all they can do!

They had no idea Chara was this good at code-breaking. Frisk honestly has no idea where to start, but Chara must honestly be determined to see the solution through.]

You could always ask? Just, just for a hint or something?

[Immediately, they know how well that suggestion should go over.]

[fulllifeconsequences]

Fat chance! What, you want Dipper to think we're stupid? We're not stupid.

[They're not stupid!! They stare down at the nonsensical string of letters again, mumbles "waddles" to themselves a few times, and... accomplish absolutely no breakthroughs.

Well... "w" is either "a" or "i," since it appears all by itself, right? But it's not... consistently? Not a direct substitution, because the first word ends in "w," but they can't think of a reasonable way to start a sentence with a four-letter word ending in "i/a."

...Ughhh.

They look at Frisk again. Bizarrely, maybe just because they're frustrated, they laugh.]

Puzzles might be fun if you tried them.

[determinedest]

[Frisk chuckles, shaking their head. Sounds like a private joke. Feels like one too. Somehow they doubt Dipper will judge them very much, but Chara probably wants to do it simply to prove that they can. At least it's not suplexing boulders.

They scramble upright, sitting back on their heels, putting side the journal from Ford they've been doodling in to pass the time.]

I'm not sure how good I am at this kind of thing. Codes and things.

[Frisk scratches their nose as they look the string of letters over again.]

Do you think maybe the period has anything to do with it?

dipper and stan

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper's heading back from leaving the messages, completely unsuspecting of any Grunkle-related ambushes. The time to strike is now!]

[charlastan]

[Stan's been planning this for weeks, because this family feud with the kids is getting absolutely ridiculous. For once though, he's not the center of conflict here (or, well...being involved with the portal makes him center-adjacent, probably) so there hasn't been a good way for him to fix it. And contrary to what he wants people to think, Stan cares a lot about the opinions of his family.

He has an idea though, one that requires forcing himself into this stupid fight. He made a bet with Ford, because Ford was so sure the kid would never want to talk to him again, when Stan knows that's bullshit. Unfortunately, Ford took out the loophole he had planned to exploit, but Stan drew the line at wearing a wire. He's absolutely not gonna have Ford listening on this conversation.

Ford was surprisingly receptive to that though - he even offered to tune up his hearing aid instead! It's working better than it has in years (though it does feel kind of weird in his ear now - he takes his pinky and tries to nudge it back into place).

Now's the time though - Stan's been hanging around waiting to catch Dipper and get this over with, and there he is now! What a great opportunity for a Grunkle-related ambush! He doesn't even wait until he's all the way down the hall before he's shouting his name.]

HEY DIPPER! C'mere, I've got somethin' for you!

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper stops in place, then turns his head to glare at Stan. This timing is bad, but he still has a little while before the group is meeting, and despite his anger, Stan is still family. And the family member he actually expected to betray him, so that... weirdly makes it better. Not much, but slightly.]

Is it more lies and secrets? Cause gee, I'm all stocked up on those already.

[charlastan]

Nope! Not today!

[Stan lets that accusation bounce right off him. After all, he usually is full to the brim of lies and secrets. ]

It's somethin' of yours, actually. Sort of.

[Technically Ford's, but whatever. He reaches into his suit jacket and pulls out Journal 3, holding it up proudly like he's just done a magic trick with it.]

Ta da!

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper glances at it, then crosses his arms.]

That's not mine. That's Ford's. He confiscated it cause I swore too much.

[charlastan]

Yeah, I heard. And then he gave it to me to hold onto, and now I'm doin' what I want with it - which is givin' it to you!

[He'll come back to that swearing business later - he's not going to blow this bet by reprimanding him for that too soon.]

Y'know, it's funny. Ford's under the impression that if he tried to give the Journal back to you, you wouldn't want anything to do with it, or with him, ever again.

[Frankly, he's been very dramatic about the whole thing.]

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper keeps his arms firmly crossed, not reaching out to take it back. He doesn't know why he's so adamant about it, past his general anger at Ford. Maybe because if it's something he values, it's something they can take away again. Maybe because it just still hurts to much.]

It doesn't matter anyway. None of it is relevant to Wonderland.

secret meeting

[krmvgivv]

[Once you've figured out the message... or if you've gone to local secret codes expert Dipper Pines for help, you can show up at Dipper and Mabel's room at 7. It's time to reveal the plan.]

[saved]

[Peter's been solving mysteries since his dad left him with one huge mystery. The mystery's the whole reason he got his super powers to start with, and it's... also, the reason two people died. Point is Peter has some mystery solving skills, and it's not long before he decodes the message, wondering what makes the secrecy so necessary. Mirrors? The note doesn't give much away.

He steps up to the room, lifting a hand and knocking. Should have a secret knock for a secret meeting. A second later, he opens up the door and steps inside, quickly before shutting it behind him just as quickly (Peter's so good at being secretive. Seriously.)]

Uh, hey. Got your note. It was not... incredibly worrying or anything. [except where it totally was, and Peter had to keep himself from finding Dipper earlier to ask if he was okay.]

[sponsored]

[ the door doesn't close all the way. peter you fail at doors. ]

Hey.

[ oh, no you don't! faith's just shoved her boot in the way and wedged it back open. the least stealthy of all, she's crunching on some doritos, and very blithely says with zero secrecy at all: ]

We getting our secret meeting on, finally?

[ excuse her, skinny. faith's just gonna push on through and make herself comfy atop something not actually meant to be sat on.

also could someone close the door? sheesh. ]

[fulllifeconsequences]

[Don't close the door! You'd be slamming it in Chara's face!

Actually, yes. Please close the door. Slam it in Chara's face.

They're definitely feeling a very keen sense of smug accomplishment for having figured out Dipper's code, but they're also definitely dead set on not looking too proud of themselves. That makes it look like they had to try, and they don't want Dipper thinking it was hard for them.

...Oh. There are other people here. There are adults here. Ew.

Chara puts on their most inscrutable smile, casually barges in, sits on the floor like they've got ten times more right to be there than any grown-up.]

Golly, there's already a crowd. You should have mentioned this was going to be a real after-school clubhouse, Dipper!

[determinedest]

[And where one goes, the other follows. Frisk lets Chara take the lead (though "lets" probably wouldn't be the right word for it, given how Chara just tends to do as they want and Frisk simply tags along) and this time they leave the door open a crack in case anyone else is coming.

They survey the people in the room. They recognize Dipper and Mabel, of course, but some of the people seem older, and they certainly don't know everyone. And like Peter, Frisk seems a little concerned, a small divot in their forehead due to their frown.

At least Chara solved the code. So they can put that aside.]

Hi, um...everyone?

[With the sight so many people they don't know, they seem to have regressed somewhat, growing shyer and more soft-spoken.]

[powerofmabel]

[Mabel has literally built a throne out of the stuffed animals out of her bed and her current sweater is overly large, black and has a hood sewn onto it to give her an extra spooky cultist feel.. in fact it literally looks like she made a grim reaper robe sweater. the first to enter are the first to WITNESS HER.]

Greetings, travelers.

stan and ford

[krmvgivv]

[Grunkles can have a secret meeting too!]

river

[krmvgivv]

[go go gadget mind reader! river, any back-up that wants to go with her, and whoever's brain is the least defended]

distraction

[krmvgivv]

[Mabel is adorable and could not possibly be up to anything.]

portal DESTRUCTION and confrontation

[krmvgivv]

[everything is going to go 100% according to plan here, yes.]

aftermath

[krmvgivv]

[aka pool party.]