Chapter Text
Episode 1: Man vs Mabel
June 2nd, 2013
It was the start of new summer in Gravity Falls, Dipper and Mabel were finally on their way back and were eager to start a new adventure. Wendy had offered to pick them up from Piedmont to show off her new ride and new license. Dipper was in the passenger seat while Mabel was in the back with Waddles. They had all grown quite a bit since their last time in Gravity Falls.
The biggest change for Dipper is he now wears glasses, but he's also swapped out his old vest for a red short sleeve Jacket with more pockets for carrying tools, he had asked his Mom to buy this jacket specifically for the new Summer adventure. He also has a new custom made blue and white shirt (the sleeves are blue, the rest white) underneath that Mabel had made him for Christmas, it used to have a Pinetree on it but it fell off, a slight outline can still be seen. And of course he still wears the lumberjack hat Wendy gave him before leaving Gravity Falls.
Mabel's changes are less drastic but still noticeable, she's swapped her braces out for retainers and now has a scrunchie to tie her hair back, actually she has a whole collection of scrunchies. She still has a large collection of sweaters and is currently wearing one with a rainbow kitten
Wendy is also taller, which is saying something because she was already very tall for her age. She's swapped her green shirt for a brown one and has significantly shorter hair, which she wears in a ponytail, which sits though the gap at the back of her Pinetree hat that once belonged to Dipper. Even Waddles has grown, who is now twice the size of what he was last summer, but is still just as huggable as ever.
"I still can't believe the Gleefuls gave you a truck Wendy" Mabel says in awe of her new ride.
"I think it was their way of saying sorry for the trouble they caused, plus they were going out of business anyway so they needed to get rid of them" Wendy replies
"They went out of business? What happened? Is that why they moved away" Dipper inquires
"Are you kidding, the whole town hated the Gleefuls after what happened last year. I think Bud wanted to leave sooner but stayed because Gideon was in Jail. Not gonna lie, I feel kinda bad them, Gideon did help us stop Bill" Wendy says
"I wouldn't worry about Gideon too much," Mabel says. "He messaged me in November telling me how they've got the tent of Telepathy business back up and running in Portland, he wanted me to be his assistant. I had to decline. Which he actually let me do, so you know, small steps."
They all laugh and continue to catch up, eventually they're at the edge of town. And Wendy starts going over the plan.
"Ok so I'll drop you off at the cabin first, so you can drop off your stuff. Then we'll go see Soos and Melody at the shack"
"Oh I can't wait to see all the wedding decorations!! I wonder if they'll have any of it up" Mabel says excitedly
The Twins wouldn't be staying at their beloved Mystery Shack this year, After Stan had left the business to Soos, he has been living there with Abuelita and Melody. In fact Soos would actually be marrying Melody a week from now. Because of this, the shack is already full with relatives from both sides of the family. So Wendy was able to offer one of her Dads cabins in the woods not too far from where she lives.
They drop off their stuff and soon they're back at the all too familiar Mystery Shack.
"Woaahhh" the twins say in unison.
Soos has clearly been busy with the shack. Preparations for the wedding are clearly underway, and it looks like the shack itself has been touched up a bit, it looks newer, and cleaner and all Triangle Windows have been removed. As they get out of the car Soos comes out from the shop very excited to see the kids.
"Dipper!!! Mabel!!!!"
"Soos!!!"
"I wasn't sure you guys were going to make it" Soos says with some tears in eye
"We wouldn't miss this for the world man!" Dipper says
"My first human marriage, EEEE I'm so excited" Mabel says
"Mabel, you've been to a wedding before" Dipper corrects
"No silly, I mean my first marriage from a couple I matched, I bedazzled them with my matchmaking skills, and POOF!!! WEDDING BELLS!!!. Mabel says whimsically .
"That's not how I remember it, but we should head inside dudes, we've got loads to catch up on" Soos.
Soos has gained some weight, but he carries himself with a greater air of maturity. He's clean shaven now as well, and proudly wears his Mr Mystery outfit and Stan's old fez.
"Nice specs dude" Soos says as he enters the gift shop.
"Thank you very much." Dipper says, clearly quite proud of his new glasses.
The Gift shop has also been done up for the Wedding, there is wedding themed trinkets everywhere, including Mr and Mrs Mystery Bobble Heads, cursed wedding rings, wedding bells that don't ring, and wands with hearts on them
"So tell me everything! What did you get up to back home? Did you see Stan at all? How's school? Anything weird in Piedmont?" Soos very clearly wants to know as much about what he missed as he can.
"Slow down Soos, we saw Grunkle Stan and Ford at Christmas but aside from that everything's been boring. Nothing weird ever happens in Piedmont" Dipper says, clearly he doesn't particularly want to talk about his time at Piedmont.
Mabel notices the discourse in his voice and tries to change the subject to something more positive "Oh I wouldn't say nothing Weird happens in Piedmont, get this Soos, Dippers an ATHLETE!!!"
"An athlete?! Wait, does that mean you're too good for me now? You've ascended to a higher social circle! Dipper!! Don't abandon me!!! I'm your pterodactyl Bro!!" Soos says he gets down on his knee and begins begs.
"Soos man, relax" Dipper says rolling his eyes with a smile "I just run track now…."
"And Cross Country, and even hurdles recently" Mabel interrupts "He's actually crazy fast now, he was second in state at the 100m sprint"
"Woah Dude, you never told me that!" Says Wendy from across the room.
"It's not that special, I only took up running because I got pretty good at it running from Monsters in Gravity Falls."
Soos turns to Mabel "What about you Mabedog, I know you never disappoint"
"Oh nothing much, I've just become a beautiful and talented ACTOR!!!!" Mabel says with a lot of gusto!
"She performs in all of the school plays, she's actually pretty good at it" Dipper confirms.
"That's awesome Mabel" Says Melody as she enters the gift shop.
"Eeeek, it's the bride!!!" Screams Mabel
"How's it going, Melody?" ask Dipper.
"Oh just dealing with two families clashing together as the biggest day of my life approaches. Didn't expect you two would be here though, I heard noise and thought it was the other Pines twins.
"Wait, Stan and Ford are coming today?! What time!" Says Dipper as he and Mabel share some excited looks.
"Stan said 10, but I don't know if that meant 10 in the morning and 10 in night, it's honestly a mystery." Soos says
"It's 10:30 now so he probably meant night" concludes Wendy
"Or I meant morning and Bozo over here doesn't know how to pack a Van in an orderly fashion" says a particularly grunkly voice
"This is delicate equipment Stanley, I must treat it with utmost care" comes another grunkles voice
"It was one night at a Hotel, why did you unpack it in the first place!"
Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford had just entered the shack. Stan wearing his blue Hawaiian shirt and Ford wearing his usual turtleneck and trench coat, although he has a new pair of glasses.
"GRUNKLE STAN! GRUNKLE FORD!!!"
The younger pines twins overjoyed rush to give their Great Uncles some hugs.
"Kids?! What are you two doing here? and when did you get so tall." Stan says as he measures how high up they are to his body.
"After Christmas, Stan and I thought that your parents wouldn't want you back. How are things between them by the way?" Ford says, he knows it's a sensitive subject.
"fine" Dipper says unconvincingly.
"Yep, they're fine, they were just stressed from all the Christmas preparations. They're totally cool now" adds Mabel with a lot more confidence
"Good enough for me," Stan says as he takes Dippers glasses off him and puts them on.
"Hey!"
"Yeesh, do these things even do anything? I think you got scammed kid" Stan says, squinting.
Out of Curiosity, Dipper tries Stans glasses and goes wide-eyes "WOAH I am never letting you drive me again"
"Better me than Ford" Stan says as they return their glasses. "Hasn't driven in 30 years and trust me, it shows."
"I drive perfectly fine, it's that wretched RV of yours that's the problem" Ford argues
"Works perfectly well for me." Stan says "Speaking of, how did you kids get here anyway? The Bus doesn't normally get here until the afternoon"
Before the twins can respond, Wendy steps in. "I went to Piedmont to pick them up"
"Since when can you drive? And since when are you taller than me?"
"Things happen when you're gone a year, how long are you old geezers sticking around anyway?" she asks
"Until Soos and Melody get back from their honeymoon, I'm taking care of the shack while they're gone."
Dipper is clearly taken aback from this news "But that's only 3 weeks! Great Uncle Ford, I was hoping to spend the summer trying solve some more mysteries of Gravity Falls"
Ford explains "Sorry Dipper, but I've spent so much time in Gravity Falls already, and so much time away. It's time I see the rest world, our next stop is the Bermuda Triangle. Besides I'm sure 3 weeks is plenty of time to crack open a new mystery"
Stan interjects "2 weeks, I don't want either of you attracting this magic stuff to Soos's wedding, ya hear. Lets just enjoy some down time while we can" he then calls out to Soos "Hey Soos, where can an old man go to relax around these parts?"
"Probably anywhere but inside, the shack is full of Family visiting for the wedding" Soos says
"We've got some space around the side of the shack you could park the RV, maybe you set up some camping chairs" Melody suggests.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to unpack now"
And with this, Stan goes to move the RV, and they all go to help unpack. While they help unpack, Dipper talks with Ford
"You're really going in three weeks?"
"Don't worry about it Dipper, three weeks is plenty of time, in fact it's around the same amount of time we spent together last year, and think of all that we went through together"
This cheers him a little, "so… what were you planning on researching anyway?"
"The after effects of Weirdmageddon, I want to make sure there's no more lingering side effects from the apocalypse Bill Cipher almost caused"
"Wendy says everything has subsided, no weird reception, no more wormholes, even the fault line has closed"
"Doesn't hurt to check, although from the sound of it, my studies may conclude rather quickly"
"Well….. you could always help me with what I've got study"
Ford raises an eyebrow impressed "Got your own research project, have you?
"Yep, my ultimate goal is to find the true source of weirdness in Gravity Falls like you use to study. Find out what is gravitating all the weirdness to Gravity Falls, with a pull strong enough that it trapped Bill Cipher"
"An ambitious endeavor, I've spent years studying that particular subject and I never concluded what it was. Best I discovered was a way to neutralize it, which almost ended the world as we knew it. So tell me Dipper where do you plan to start?"
"Well I'm on pretty good terms with a lot of the magical creatures in Gravity Falls, I want to ask them how they got to Gravity Falls to begin with"
Ford is a bit flabbergasted at this idea "Dipper in all my years researching in Gravity Falls, I have never once considered simply asking, even if it doesn't lead you to the source of the weirdness, this is bound to lead to some fascinating discoveries."
"You really think so?" Dipper responds excitedly
"I'm sure of it, out of curiosity who are you planning on talking to anyway?"
"I was gonna start with the Gnomes, and then either Unicorns or the Manotaurs" He answers.
Ford gives a concerned look "The gnomes are a good start, but I'd avoid the Unicorns if you can, you wouldn't be able to get a straight answer out of them even if you tried. But then again, Stan and I saw a pack of Manotaurs on our way in, and they seemed somehow wilder than normal so best keep your guards up"
"Understood," Dipper says, happy to be receiving advice from his Grunkle again.
Meanwhile, Stan is setting up some camper chairs and a BBQ while Soos and Mabel help.
"So tell me Soos, how's business?" Stan ask
"We're doing crazy numbers Mr Pines, townsfolk are always around to see what new attractions we have, we had one attraction in particular that people were completely obsessed with called the octo monkey. It was originally just a monkey with its arms and legs replaced with tails, but then I kept adding more tails and presto! Instant hit!"
"Haha, yep, that sounds like something the tourist would eat up. And what about this Wedding theme you got going on" Stan asks
"That was Melody's idea, and it's practically paid for the wedding already. And all the wedding decorations are really catching people's eyes, we're thinking of leaving them up after the wedding"
"It certainly makes the shack look better than it did all last summer" Mabel says
"Hey!" Stan says offended
"I don't know, looked pretty cool when it turned into a giant robot" Soos says,
"Hey! The less said about that nightmare the better" Stan says, getting huffy.
"Yeah, Weirdmageddon is really not fun to talk to about" Mabel says with shudder
"Weirdmageddon? What? I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about when they butchered my precious Shack!!!" Stan says gruffly, sitting down in his chair
Soos and Mabel just laugh at this. Then Mabel's stomach grumbles. "Hey Grunkle Stan, can we go out for Lunch?
"Mabel honey, I just got comfy" Stan says
"But I'm hungry, you're Hungry, Soos is Hungry"
"That's true!" Soos says.
"No offense Soos, but you look like you could eat a little less," Stan says, indicating his size.
Soos just laughs at this "That's also true, having infinite supply of Pizza really doesn't help with my body shape" he says pulling out his Pizza and taking a bite
"Soos!" Melody calls out disapprovingly from the back of the RV, she's unloading gifts with Wendy.
"Sorry Sweety," he says, putting the pizza away. "Melodys helping me try and cut back, I've actually already lost 10 pounds since starting" he finishes proudly.
"That settles it, we'll stay right here, so Soos doesn't mess up his diet." Stan, committing to his comfort
"Diet is a strong word for it" Melody says, coming over with Wendy "as long as he lays off the Pizza, he's actually pretty good."
"Besides, food sounds pretty good right about now" Wendy adds.
"There are too many of us, we'd never fit inside the Diner" Stan continues to protest
"Then we'll go for a Picnic!!" Mabel calls out "Wendy and I spotted a nice place for one near her place"
"Great idea Mabel!" Melody applauds "We've got food all over the shack, shouldn't take long to pack enough food for everyone"
"Then it's settled" Mabel declares "Come on Grunkle Stan, get your Lazy bod up, let's go on a Picnic, we haven't spent time with you in forever!"
"Fine Fine, I'll go" he says getting up. He then turns to Dipper and Ford to call out to them. "Hey Brainiacs! We're all going on a Picnic, you want in or not"
"Coming they both say in unison.
As planned, they go to the place near Wendy house, which turned out to be a clearing in the woods with a picnic table.
"Mabel, it was your idea for a picnic, you can set up." Stan says
"What! That idea is my contribution to the table, my job should be done" she says in protest
Ford steps in carrying paper plates "Stan, just grab something and take it to the table, one person shouldn't be doing everything"
Dipper runs past carrying bread rolls, and says "Dibs on any leftovers"
"Fine, Mabel hand me something light will ya, I'm not as fit as I used to be"
She obeys, and it doesn't take long before the table is all set up. As they eat, they all catch up about the year they, Stan and Ford steal the show, retelling their epic adventures with monsters all over the globe, and how they battled the harshest of storms. It doesn't take long though before everyone is satisfied and ready to go home. The leftovers are gathered and given to Dipper as he called dibs. Dipper and Mabel get ready to go into the woods, when Stan pulls them aside.
"Remember what, I said, no looking for trouble"
"Relax Grunkle Stan, we're just going to say hi some old friends" Dipper says truthfully
"We're experts at this, remember, we know what we're doing" Mabel adds.
"Hmmph, yeah I'm sure" Stan says unconvinced "Come on Ford, let's get back to the shack"
"In a minute Stanley, I just want a quick word with Dipper," Ford says.
"What is it?" Dipper asks "You wanna come with us?"
"Not today," Ford answers "I want to have a look through the old lab, see if I've left anything important there. But before I go I wanted to give you something" He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a Journal
Journal 4
Dipper does a strange squeal that turns into cough, his voice can't go as high as it once did. Mabel laughs at this
"Hehe, this Journal documents all I've discovered with Stan over the past year. You'll also find many notes on Gravity Falls weirdness magnetism. Gravity Falls may be the center of weirdness on Earth, but it's far from its only source. The amount of strange and bizarre anomalies Stan and I have discovered astounds me, I've already made a start on Journal 5. Did the creatures I find come from Gravity Falls? Or were they on the way to Gravity Falls when Stan and I encountered them? How long have they been on earth? Why are they not public knowledge? These are questions that burn in my heart and I hope that one day we will be able to answer!"
"I promise Great Uncle Ford, I won't rest until I answer those questions" Dipper says with determination
"Nope, that's a bad idea. Some of the worst decisions I've ever made have been due sleep deprivation" Ford warns
"I can attest to that" Mabel adds "Peanut Butter, Custard and Chicken smoothies are not a great a mix"
"Hey Ford, you coming or not?" Stan shouts out.
"Coming! Good Luck Dipper, and Mabel look after your brother"
"Will do Grunkle Ford!" Mabel says enthusiastically.
"Ready to go?" Dipper says to Mabel
"You betcha, I've been waiting all year for this"
"Me too" Dipper says and he turns to Wendy who is still packing a few things "What about you Wendy?"
"Sorry dude, I'm beat. Driving all morning really took it out of me. You guys know your way to the cabin from here right?"
The Twins nod
"Cool, shoot me a text if you need any supplies, later"
And with that, it was just Dipper and Mabel.
"You guys want to know what??" Exclaims Jeff the Gnome
"Where do Gnomes come from?" Dipper repeats.
Jeff looks a bit embarrassed "Well you see, When two gnomes love each other very much. They have the queen kiss a mushroom and bury it. Poof, new Gnome 3 days later"
"That's fascinating but so not what I meant" he says writing it down in his Pinetree Journal. "I meant how did Gnomes first get to Gravity Falls?"
"Beats me, I was born in Gravity Falls, been here my whole life."
"Are there any gnomes who would know? Ask Dipper.
"Could ask one of the older gnomes, but I doubt they'd be much help" Jeff says indicating to a particularly old and senile old gnome
"Shmebulock" he says
Dipper sighs, "Are there any besides Shmebulock?"
"Old Gnomes? Sure but I doubt they'd know anything. But I tell you what, why don't I ask around and get back to you if I hear something."
"That's something I guess," Dipper says, disappointed.
"Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I need to get back to our new…. " Jeff says before being interrupted.
"Jeff!!! These nails aren't going to paint themselves!!!" Calls out a bratty shrill voice
"Coming my queen"
Jeff runs through some bushes to a young black haired girl being pampered by a bunch of Gnomes
"Isn't that one of Pacifica's friends?" Mabel asks.
Mabel waves at her only for the girl to stick her nose up at them. The twins then decide they've seen enough and leave
"The gnomes were my best bet," says Dipper defeated.
"Come on bro, you asked one gnome, that's hardly a reason to quit, there's loads of magical creatures in the forest we could ask" Mabel says trying to cheer him up.
"True, but most of what lives here are either really dumb or want to kill us. I guess there's Multi-bear, but I suspect he's just the result of the nearby toxic waste dumb. My only real options are the manotaurs or the unicorns''
Mabel doesn't hesitate to give an answer "Manotaurs!!!! Definitely the Manotaurs. Trust me, never try and work with a Unicorn"
"I dunno, Ford warned me about the Manotaurs and I never got to meet the unicorns last time so…"
"You're not missing out, come on MANOTAUR TIME!!"
As they make their way through the woods, Dipper pulls out Journal 4, and starts to read it over. Mabel notices and comments
"New mysterious Journal, just like old times eh? We gonna unpack all the secrets it has?"
"Not quite," Dipper says, getting engrossed in the book. "This Journal doesn't have any secrets. We already know who wrote it, we even know when he wrote it. It's got no missing pages, and it's already finished"
"Yeah, but what about secret codes and invisible ink"
"I don't think there are any hidden messages in this one, this is what the Journals were originally supposed to be, it's just Fords research notes. But it's still incredible the things he's seen in just one year. There's more weird stuff outside Gravity Falls than I thought. Shame none of them came to Piedmont. Here take a look" Dipper finishes and shows Mabel the journal.
For the rest if the hike to the Manotaur cave they take turns looking at the book, they can't help but smile as they read stories of Stan and Ford working together, gasp at the page on Time Baby frozen in a glacier and laugh at the little messages Ford (and even Stan) had left in the book for them, Ford had clearly been planning to give the book to them when they were done.
When they get there, most are asleep, Dipper gives a small cough to try to wake them up, to no success. Mabel unimpressed starts yelling
"WAKE UP YOU LAZY MANOTAURS, WE GOT QUESTIONS"
They start to wake up, then before the twins can react, they have them surrounded.
"Girl" one of them says coldly.
Dipper clears his throat "Hey guys, remember me? Dipper… the destroyer?"
"More like Dipper the super lame and girly dork" says a manotaur while hi5ing the one next to him.
Mabel steps in "Hey! That super lame and girly dork totally saved your lives during Weirdmageddon, I made you like 10 sweater" she finishes pointing at a manotaur Dipper recognises as Chutzpar
"We do not acknowledge the dark times, and it's not my fault my muscles kept tearing your sweaters. You don't even have muscles''
The manotaurs start to close in
"Your skinny arms couldn't even be used as a Toothpick!"
"I bet you a jug of mead that I can throw them past the water tower"
"I want to use their head as a football!!"
"He even has nerdy glasses now"
"How dare he bring a girl to our man cave"
Mabel and Dipper start to panic.
Mabel asks "Are they usually this aggressive"
"They did want me to kill Multi-bear, and you did just rudely wake them up. Do you reckon you could grappling hook us out of here?"
"I didn't bring it with me! I left it at the cabin"
"What!?" Dipper panics
"Get em!!!" The manotaurs yell
"AHHHHHH," the twins scream
"WAIT" calls a deep voice
Seconds before pulverisation, Leaderaur appears and commands the Manotaurs to stop and back off. He leans in close to Dipper and starts to sniff him
"I SMELL CHANGE"
"I mean yeah, I'm a year older now" Dipper says uncomfortably
"I SENSE MORE THAN THAT, YOU REMAIN SKINNY BUT I SEE YOUR BODY HAS STARTED TO TAKE SHAPE, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU NOW PARTAKE IN THE ANCIENT TRADITION OF SPORT?"
Dipper starting to feel hopeful again replies "actually yes, I run Track now."
"And Cross country" Mabel adds hopefully
"RUNNING? is that all? Never mind, Manotaurs, EAT THEM!!!"
They close in again, Dipper has no idea what to do. Mabel however has had it with these big jerks. As one closes in, she rolls back her sleeve and slogs him across the face.
"I've had it with you big bullies" she calls, the Manotaurs look around unsure at each other
She continues "What you think just because I'm a girl, I'm not man enough to hang in your man cave."
"You have a rainbow kitten on your Sweater" Chutzpar points out
"That's a manly rainbow kitten for your information"
Leaderaur looks down at Mabel "YOU WISH TO PROVE YOURSELF A MAN?" He asks
Mabel "I don't have to prove anything to you big jerks, if anything you should be proving your man enough to hang with me"
Leaderaur growls "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?"
"Maybe it is" Mabel responds, crossing her arms.
"THEN ENTER THE RING OF FISTS" Leaderaur roars pointing to a circular podium, reminding Mabel of Sumo ring.
Mabel heads over and climbs on top of the ring. Dipper and the Manotaurs take a seat around the ring. Chutzpar takes a seat next to Dipper.
"Hey little dude, do you still carry any jerky with you?" He asks Dipper.
"Dude, you just tried to eat me!!"
"Yeah, well, I was hungry, still am."
Mabel is given a club with two big fists on either end. She looks up at Leaderaur "Lay the rules on me big guy"
"THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, LAST MAN STANDING WINS. IF YOU LOSE, WE EAT YOU AND YOUR BROTHER. IF YOU YOU WIN…."
"I BECOME THE NEW LEADER OF THE MANOTAURS" Roars Mabel, cutting off Leaderaur.
"VERY WELL" Leaderaur says with a smirk on his face.
Dipper calls out to Mabel from the side of the ring "Mabel, you sure you can take him? He's like 50 times your size? We could probably make a run for it right now if we wanted"
"Trust me, Dipper, I can take him easy. And when I'm leader, I'll let you ask all the questions you want"
Dipper isn't reassured but he takes his seat. Leaderaur pulls his club, one big enough to match his size. With the ring of a bell, the match begins.
Leaderaur immediately starts with a huge swing of his club. Mabel ducks under the way and charges forward screaming and swings her own club at Leaderaurs leg. Leaderaur simply laughs, and shoos her off. He goes in for another swing but misses, Mabel grabs onto Leaderaurs body and starts to climb. She reaches his shoulder, grabs one of the fists on her club, extends its index finger, and shoves it under the armpit.
Immediately, Leaderaur starts to laugh, unable to handle the tickling, he starts to lose balance. Mabel taking advantage of the situation and starts to tickle the bottom of his feet, causing Leaderaur to fall over. Unfortunately he lands inside the Ring.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT" He says as he tries to get up
But Mabel was already onto plan B, as the Manotaur is on his knees, she takes the close fisted end of her club and slams it into Manotaur right between the legs.
"OOOOOOOOOoooooooooo……." Leaderaur squeals.
"Whose a man now?" Says Mabel with an air of coolness in her voice.
As an uncomfortable silence sweeps across the audience, Leaderaur topples over and out of the ring.
Dipper climbs onto the ring wide eyed and a little afraid "remind me never to get on your bad side"
She laughs and turns to Leaderaur "a deals a deal Leaderaur, although i suppose now you'll have to get a new name"
"you cheated. those were dirty unmanly tricks" Leaderaur squeaked
"Hey I don't remember anything in the rules against it"
"Never hit below the belt!" Chutzpar speaks out from the audience holding a stone slab with writing on it. "it's the first rule of the bro code!"
"Yeah!!" Shout other Manotaurs as they start to boo.
"Come on guys, we just want to ask a couple of questions and then we'll leave" Dipper says trying to calm the crowd
"Ask your stupid questions" squeaks Leaderaur.
Dipper approaches the fallen manotaur with his Pinetree Journal in hand. "Where do Manotaurs come from?"
Leaderaur raises an eyebrow "you see when a Man and a….. err, Taur, love each other very very…."
Dipper shakes his head impatiently "no no no, that's not what I meant. I meant how did Manotaurs first come to Gravity Falls"
Leaderaur slowly stands up and looks skyward and says "There is a legend, that once a great creature came to what would one day be known as Gravity Falls….."
"Yes! Yes!" Says Dipper, wide eyed with excitement writing everything down
"And then stuff happened, and poof, Manotaurs! i don't know dude, do I look like I read history books?"
"What? come on" disappointment covering every inch of Dippers face. "Come on Mabel, let's get out of here"
He turns to leave, but Mabel instead turns to address the crowd of Manotaurs
"Though my reign is short, today will go down in history. Because Today! A Woman proved she could be a MAN!!!"
She is met with silence. One Manotaur in the back asks, "Can we eat them now?"
Dipper looks at Mabel "We should get out of here"
"Agreed"
They are chased out of the cave by the Manotaurs, Mabel yelling "MUTINY" behind her!
The chase is on, the Manotaurs are closing in on the twins.
Dipper starts to hatch an idea.
"Mabel, we need to split up!"
"Are you crazy?!
"Mabel, you're slowing me down! I'll distract them so they follow me, losing them will be easy after that. We'll meet where we had picnic"
"Are you sure that will work?"
"Mabel, this is what I trained for" he says with a rather cheesy delivery
He gives Mabel one last reassuring look, they go their separate ways, Dipper calls behind "If you think running is so lame, why don't you catch me already"
The plan works perfectly, they completely ignore Mabel, and focus entirely on Dipper. Without Mabel he starts to speed up, he starts to weave in and out of trees with ease. After running round a particularly thick tree, he finds a small ledge he hinds by. The manotaurs run straight past him without noticing. He was safe
Dipper finds Mabel at the clearing they had picnicked in just as planned. Dipper can't help but smile.
"All according to plan" he says.
"I can't believe how mean they were, Chutzpar seemed so nice during Weirdmageddon"
"Something was definitely up with them, Ford noticed them behaving weird when they were coming into town. Maybe somethings just got them rattled up"
"Still better than those Unicorns"
At this they both laugh.
"It's good to be back," Dipper says, still smiling.
"Yeah…" Mabel says, but her smile begins to fade "I just wish the circumstances were better"
The smile vanishes from Dippers face too.
"It's not like they left us much choice. We had to come back, we both knew that"
Mabel forces a Smile back on her face "You're right, we're here now, lets head back to the cabin and eat some of that leftover lunch and get some sleep bro"
"Best idea I've heard all day sis"
Together, they slowly return to the cabin, eat their fill of leftover lunch, give the rest to waddles, and go to bed.
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