Wendy's POV:
I'd noticed that the Mystery Shack had gotten weird lately, but I never thought it was the same for Gravity Falls.
"Haaa, haaa, I... I won." The exhausted voice of my boss, aka Mr. Stan, echoed through the forest.
I always thought of him as a sketchy old cheapskate, but now I'll have to revise my opinion of him.
He's cool.
"Your male is really too strong and manly," declares Chutzpar. He's one of the Minotaurs I made friends with on the way, before we met their leader.
I call them Minotaurs, but they call themselves "Manotaurs." Personally, I think it's ridiculous.
"Hey, he's not my 'male,' he's my boss."
He could literally be my dad. It's really weird and gross to imagine that kind of relationship with Mr. Pines.
"Then your boss is classy and manly," he says, giving a thumbs up. I couldn't help but smile a little at my new friend.
"Yeah, I'm officially the manliest in Gravity Falls, but damn, my back hurts," Stan complains as he gets closer to me.
He motioned for me to pass him his jacket and his favorite cane. He had lost or dropped them in the cave at the start of the fight.
Luckily, I had spotted and picked them up along with the rest of his stuff.
"What are your orders, O mighty little man who embodies manliness?" declares an older Minotaur as he approaches.
As soon as he said those words, the Minotaurs started to kneel.
I have to admit I was really impressed by Mr. Pines, but I wonder where he got those funny metal gloves.
He was able to inflict damage on that huge creature with that thing. I'm not saying it's only because of that he won, since without his reflexes and ingenuity, he would certainly have been seriously injured long ago.
"I've got just one order for now, guys." The Minotaurs around stayed silent, attentive to Stan's next words.
I'll admit I'm also wondering what order he could give to such a group. I hope he's not going to rob a bank.
"From now on, doping is allowed!"
"What!!!?"
"Haha, calm down, I'm kidding... *cough*," he says, clearing his throat after his bad joke, before taking on a serious expression.
"What I mean is that from now on, the Minotaurs must cooperate with the gnomes in the future."
All the Minotaurs nodded in agreement with Mr. Stan's decision, but one of them suddenly raised his hand.
"Yes, you over there raising your hand, you have a question?"
"Uh, chief, it's not Minotaurs, but Manotaurs..." As he tried to clarify things, Stan interrupted him.
"I'm the boss now and I say it's Minotaurs so it'll be Minotaurs. I find it more manly."
I agree with him.
...
Stan's POV:
I have to admit that this adventure, which I started on a whim, has been more fruitful than initially planned.
Not only did I experience what it's like to fight to the death for the first time, but I also gained additional subordinates who will be very useful to me later.
If it's a Minotaur, I think it can handle an operation similar to a Space Marine from Warhammer 40k.
To think that at first, I just wanted to fight a Minotaur with Wendy and calmly return to the Mystery Shack...
Luckily, I stumbled upon the Minotaurs' base by pure chance. Things went smoothly, I literally had the situation under control thanks to the machine that allows me to read thoughts.
At worst, I could calm all the leader of the Minotaurs' passion with a few laser shots.
"Mr. Stan, where did you learn to fight like that?"
Since I took control of the Minotaurs, Wendy had several thoughts rushing through her mind.
So we didn't really interact on the way back.
"I had a complicated childhood and a shitty youth, so my father forced me to practice boxing."
Without realizing it, my mouth slowly loosened up talking about Stan's past.
Wendy didn't talk much, but she observed and listened to me carefully, especially when I told her how I fought in front of a nightclub.
"It's incredible but, how with such a complex and interesting life did you end up in Gravity Falls as..." Wendy abruptly stopped the rest of her words.
She may have guessed that if I didn't mention it, then it's probably nobody and possibly a painful subject.
'Damn me and my big mouth' even her thoughts prove me right.
"I'll explain the rest to you one day with Mabel and Dipper," I said, instinctively patting her head.
"Hey!! Stop, I'm not a kid anymore" despite her protests, I continued before resuming our journey.
I would normally have stopped immediately but thanks to my machine, I was able to read Wendy's thoughts which confirmed to me that she needed it a little.
'So this is what it feels like to be patted on the head? When it's dad, I get dizzy because of his too rough and strong hand, but here I feel reassured.'
It seems Wendy's father is really stupid.
I understand better why she stated in the original story that she pretends to be cool but that her family situation stresses her 24/7.
...
"So, how was your walk, kids?"
I was sitting at the table with Mabel and Dipper.
I came back with Wendy before closing time and released the captive customers inside. I admit I was surprised there were still customers inside.
I thought they would have broken a window or contacted the police, but no, they stayed inside, hesitating between different items.
I guess it's cartoon logic at work here.
" Gideon is really amazing, he did..."
Mabel started telling me how Gideon's shows went. Like in the original story, Mabel didn't notice Gideon's obsessive behavior at first.
"You're not really expressing yourself, GIFfany."
She's been glaring at me for a while now. I had already guessed that the little smarty had hijacked one of my robots to keep an eye on me, she's just too predictable.
[This show was crap and I spent the whole day sleeping to avoid listening to that little albino pig's song.]
GIFfany's brutal words didn't really please Mabel, who had enjoyed the show.
"Your words are mean."
[But true.]
Dipper quickly swallowed his food before rushing to his room, leaving me alone with two little monsters.
I wouldn't have thought that spending a day without me would put GIFfany in such a bad mood, I'll avoid it in the future.
"GIFfany, stop insulting Mabel's friend, and Mabel, stop bickering with GIFfany." I spoke in a serious tone, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
[Calling a pig a pig isn't an insult, darling~]
"You * Grrr *"
Note to self: be present next time I want to strengthen the bonds between my subordinates and the Pines family.
...
Narrator's POV:
[Is this my body?] asks GIFfany, her eyes filled with stars.
In front of me and her. There was a woman with white and black hair floating in a green nutrient substance, she had various cables connected to her spine or more precisely to her nervous system.
"No, yours is over there, and it's not completely finished," Stan replies, checking the systems to make sure he hasn't forgotten any details.
The slightest error could have serious consequences for the entity he has just finished.
Stan was never really interested in creating an AI, but he couldn't entrust everything to GIFfany with her overproductive tendencies, despite her guaranteed loyalty.
Stan needed a logical and reliable individual to manage his growing subordinates with an iron fist. He needed another assistant than Terri already on the way.
[If my body is in that sealed capsule over there, then what have you been working on for three days with so much attention?]
GIFfany had already tried to get it out of him, but Stan had simply beaten around the bush about the FATHER project.
Despite her attempts to hack on the sly, she didn't manage to breach the security that Stan had carefully put in place to avoid any undesirable or accidental situation.
"Stop with all your questions. Did you finally get the supernatural blood I asked you to find in Gravesfield?"
He had entrusted GIFfany with the task of retrieving the titan's blood. For the FATHER project and others, Stan urgently needed a huge source of energy.
Using the size-changing crystal to increase his stock of nuclear products is not enough for his activities.
The reason is due to the quality of this energy.
[Yes, I kept it since you didn't ask me for it.]
A spider robot larger than the others approached before handing him a vial containing dark blue blood.
"With this, and Terri arriving, my projects are almost all accomplished," Stan muttered, holding the vial with a hand slightly trembling with excitement.
'Goodbye, old body, and hello mystical and scientific power.'