Reincarnated In ToonTown Chapter 197: Snooping (Patreon)

“Alright, so we’re clear on the plan,” Mabel asked conspiratorially as she and Dipper stealthily observed the food stand from a distance, watching as Pacifica uncharacteristically took orders and served food.

“Right, you make a fuss with Pacifica when she serves our food and hopefully that will create enough of a disturbance to pull Ramon away from the food prep area, letting me sneak in and snoop a bit and figure out what’s going on.” 

“I still think I should be the one who sneaks in,” Mabel protested as she sent a sideways glance her brother's way. 

Dipper shook his head,“No, if you sneak in, you’ll get distracted by something and end up making a mess out of everything.” 

“Really, distracted by what?” Mabel muttered with a roll of her eyes. 

“I don’t know, maybe he takes his shirt off or something,” Dipper stammered, struggling for a valid reason to keep his sister away from the himbo. 

“Takes his shirt off?! Why would he do that…do you think there’s a chance he might?” Mabel asked, going from annoyed to curious in a heartbeat, with her eyes gaining a faraway look, “He’s at least got to have an eight back…right and do you think he has those V-shaped things that lead right down to his-” 

“Okay, cutting that off,” Dipper said loudly before his sister could continue her depraved daydream, “Focus on the plan, Mabel, and don’t let your boy craze get in the way of things!” 

“Number 72!” 

Dipper glanced at the ticket and Mabel’s hand before rapidly tapping her on the arm, “That’s us, that’s our order. Get up there and remember to give out some type of warning when you’re about to lose his attention.” 

“Yeah, yeah, this isn’t my first time running a diversion, you know,” Mabel muttered as she stood up and walked over while Dipper went around in an arc until he was past Pacifica’s field of view and made his way to the back door. 

“Here’s your food,” Pacifica said with a somewhat tense smile as she slid the tray of food across the counter, only for Mabel to frown, “Um…this isn’t our food.” 

“What do you mean?” Pacifica asked, her smile growing ever more forced, “You’re order 72 right?” 

“Yeah, but this isn’t what I asked for,” Mabel replied as she sucked her teeth. 

“Order 72, Two hot dogs and two cheeseburgers,” Pacifica listed out as she flipped through her ticketbook, “It’s right here!” 

“I said burgers, not cheeseburgers,” Mabel muttered as she made a point of lifting up the top bun and showing the cheese stretch, “Dipper is lactose intolerant, you know? Why would he order a cheeseburger?” 

“That’s complete bullshit. I’ve seen him eat ice cream before!” Pacifica argued, her smile completely melting away in exchange for a look of fury. 

“Yeah, only because he had his lactase pills!” Mabel shouted back and threw up her hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Then why can’t he take one now?!” 

“He doesn't have them right now!” 

Hearing his sister screaming a match with Pacifica, Dipper made his move, running up to the back door and pressing himself flat against the wall as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the masterkey. 

Putting it in the lock and turning it, Dipper slowly opened the door just a crack so he could peer inside and scope the scene out. After panning around, Dipper’s eyes landed on Ramon, who was standing over the grill, though his head was turned towards the front of the stand, no doubt overhearing the ongoing argument. 

“This is simply unacceptable! I demand to see your manager!” 

“What?! We don’t have a manager this isn’t a restaurant!” 

“Well then I want to talk to that guy who came out earlier; he seemed in charge and put you in your place.” 

“You just want to see him again, you selfish bitch!” 

“Who are you calling a bitch you blonde-headed bimbo!” 

Dipper watched as Ramon sighed and walked away from the stove, which wasn’t all that noteworthy. But the fact that his spatula remained suspended in the air and then started to move around, flipping hamburgers and turning over kebabs, made Dipper’s eyes turn into saucers, ‘Holy shit, I don’t believe it…what am I talking about? I used to see shit like this all the time, kinda surprised it took this long.’ 

Deciding to get a better look, Dipper slowly pushed open the door and crept inside the food stand, waiting to see if the animated cooking utensil reacted to his presence. 

“What the hell is going on? Is it magic? Some kinda advanced alien tech,” Dipper muttered to himself as he slowly approached the rip-off Beauty and the Beast appliances, looking at them from every angle possible, trying to see if anything obvious stood out. 

But no matter where Dipper looked, all he saw was a regular spatula, ‘I actually think that’s the one we use every day, meaning that he has to be directly controlling it with some kind of internal power.’

“Okay, what is it this time?” Ramon muttered as he walked up behind Pacifica, who was quickly going red in the face as she glared at Mabel from across the counter. 

“She messed up our order!” Mabel accused as she pointed a finger at Pacifica, “She gave us two cheeseburgers instead of two hamburgers!” 

“That’s not true I-” Pacifica started, only for Ramon to hold out his hand, “Let me see the ticket.” 

Pacifica seemed like she wanted to continue arguing, but instead she just swallowed her pride and handed Ramon the ticket who read it over for a second before glancing back at Mabel, “This says two hotdogs and two cheeseburgers. I also distinctly remember you saying two hotdogs and two cheeseburgers.” 

“W-well I meant two hamburgers,” Mabel stammered trying to keep up a strong front but finding it damn near impossible in the face of Ramon’s piercing eyes, “C-can’t you just make me some new ones.” 

“I can, but I’m not going to,” Ramon replied as he crumpled up the ticket, “I wouldn’t have any problem making you a new one if you hadn’t made a scene and insulted Pacifica. So take what you have now before I decide to throw it out and you get nothin.” 

Mabel swallowed hard as Ramon crossed his arms, highlighting just how big they were, ‘Like two twin pythons.’ 

“Alright, I’m taking the food and leaving!” Mabel shouted loudly as she grabbed the tray and turned around, “This is me leaving now! Goodbye!” 

Hearing Mabel’s warning call, Dipper quickly whipped out his phone and took a series of pictures before dashing for the door as he heard Pacifica and Ramon’s voices start to move towards the back of the stand. 

Closing the door behind him, Dipper locked it again before peering around the corner to make sure the coast was clear and walking back into view like nothing was wrong. 

“Please tell me you found something, because I think I just ruined any chance I had with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.” Mabel said dejectedly even as she took a massive bite of her cheeseburger, “Also, this is the best burger I’ve ever tasted…what is on this…paprika?” 

“Well when he left to go tell you off, his spatula was still manning the grill so that’s something?” Dipper replied as he picked up a hot dog and bit into it noting how the dog was particularly smoky and sweet. 

 “What do you think, alien technology? Mabel asked as she took another bite. 

Dipper shook his head, “No, the spatula is ours, so I’m leaning more towards magic. Maybe some kind of enchanter or spellcaster.” 

“And for some reason he’s here cooking at a pool party for free?” Mabel pointed out, “How does that make any sense?” 

“It doesn’t but I do know one thing,” Dipper said ominously as he stared into stand where Pacifica and Ramon had disappeared from view, “This is only just the beginning.”