Summary: It's been a week since Steven had been working at the Mystery Shack, and things seemed relatively calm... for now
A week had passed since Steven started working at the Mystery Shack, and things had been relatively calm. He had talked to some really cool people, tourists that were passing through. That was probably his favorite part of the job, talking to all the different people that came through the Mystery Shack, and hearing their stories. He listened to the tale of a man that had climbed Mt. Everest, talked with a bunch of people who were CONVINCED that the moon was made of cheese, and laughed with a girl who had a wicked sense of humor. The summer had started off very well, and overall, Steven loved working at the Mystery Shack. Sure, Mr. Pines can be stubborn sometimes, but there were moments that Steven caught that showed he genuinely cared about the workers of the Shack.
Steven was sitting at the breakfast table when Dipper walked into the kitchen, joining him. He sat down at the table and sighed, looking at a video recorder.
"Hey Dipper, are you okay?" Steven asked.
Dipper sighed again, looking up from the video recorder, "No, have you noticed anything weird about Mabel's new boyfriend?"
Steven took a second to think about it, "Kinda? He seems strange, and I don't hang out with teenagers often enough to know if he's strange for a teenager. Why, what's up?"
Dipper looked back down at his video recorder and started playing back footage.
"I don't know, but there is something definitely off about him. I just don't have any proof- WAIT, WHAT?" Dipper stood up abruptly.
"What is it?" Steven asked, getting out of his chair to look at the screen of the video recorder. He watched Dipper playback a video, where Norman's hand falls off.
"That can't be good," Steven says.
"I was right!" Dipper quickly turned off the recorder, putting down on the table, "I knew he was a zombie!"
Steven looked at him confused, "Zombie?"
"Yeah, but not time to explain," Dipper ran out of the room, "I HAVE TO SAVE MABEL!"
Steven ran after him, not wanting to leave him alone in rescuing Mabel, in case it was a real threat. He and Dipper ran outside, looking for Mr. Pines. They found him leading a tour group, and showing off the rock that looks like a face.
"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper shouted, trying to get his attention.
As Dipper shouted, Steven noticed Wendy pulling up in the golf cart behind him.
"Dipper!" He said, pointing at the golf cart.
Dipper nodded his head and ran over to Wendy.
"Wendy! Wendy!" He shouted, " I need to borrow the golf cart so I can save my sister from a zombie!"
Wendy just smiled before handing him the keys, "Try not to hit any pedestrians!"
Dipper and Steven jumped into the golf cart and started to speed off when they were stopped by Soos.
"Dude, it's me, Soos. This is for the zombies," he said, handing Steven a shovel.
"Thanks," Steven said.
Soos then handed Steven a baseball bat, and this is in case you see a piñata."
"Uh, thanks?" Steven said, more quizzically this time.
"Better safe than sorry!" Soos yelled as they sped off.
They had been frantically driving around the forest when they heard a cry for help.
"That was Mabel!" Dipper yelled, taking a hard left towards the direction of the scream.
They drove down a path the seemed to dip under some tree roots, and had it not been for the current situation, this would be pretty cool. Dipper started to slow down as they came to a clearing, and saw Mabel standing in the middle of it, surrounded by… gnomes?
"Let go of me!" Mabel yelled at a gnome biting her sweater sleeve. She ripped it off, and punched it in it's gut before kicking another gnome and sending it flying. Steven watched as it landed on its back, where it stood up and proceeded to puke rainbows.
Steven and Dipper got out of the cart, weapons at the ready.
"What the HECK is going on here?" Dipper exclaimed.
A gnome ran by them and hissed.
"Dipper! Steven! Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnomes," she punched another gnome, "and they're total jerks!"
A gnome grabbed Mabel's hair and pulled, "Ow! Hair, hair, hair!"
"Gnomes?" Steven said. He looked down to see Dipper pull out an old weathered looking journal out of his vest.
"Huh, I was way off," Dipper said, flipping to a page labeled 'Gnomes.'
He began to read the page out loud, "Gnomes, little men of the Gravity Falls forest. Weakness: Unknown."
They both looked up to see Mabel tied to the ground.
"Hey!" Steven ran up to the closest gnome, who seemed to be the leader, "let go of her!"
Dipper ran up behind him, "Let go of my sister!"
The brown haired gnome turned around, "Oh, haha, hey there!" The little gnome waved at them, "This is all really just a big misunderstanding, ya see? Your sister's not in danger. She's just marrying all one thousand of us and becoming our gnome queen for all eternity! Isn't that right honey?"
He looked back at Mabel.
"You guys are butt-faces!" Mabel shouted at him before a gnome put his hand over her mouth.
The gnome smiled at them, as if what he said made perfect sense.
"Dude," Steven gestured at her, "she's, like, 12. That's really creepy."
Dipper raised his shovel, "Give her back right now or else!"
Steven raised his bat. He was ready to throw down with some tiny people if it meant getting Mabel back.
The lead gnome pointed up at them, "You think you can stop us, boy? You have no idea what we're capable of. The gnomes are a powerful race! Do not trifle with the-"
His mini speech was cut short and Dipper scooped him up with a shovel and threw them off to the side. Steven and Dipper ran over to Mabel, and Dipper cut the rope binding Mabel to the ground while Steven started hitting gnomes like baseballs, sending them flying. Mabel jumped up and the three of them ran to the golf cart. Steven jumped in the driver's seat this time.
"Seatbelts," he said, before quickly backing out of the burrow.
"Hurry! Before they come after us!" Mabel said as they sped away.
Dipper gave a little laugh, "I wouldn't worry about it, did you see their little legs? Suckers are tiny."
"Hey Dipper," Steven glimpsed behind at him, "Word of advice, don't underestimate magical creatures. No matter how small. You think they're harmless and next thing you know… you know what? I'm not gonna finish that sentence."
Now was not the time to recount the times he's had to deal with Aquamarine and Eyeball.
He felt eyes at the back of his head and looked back to see Dipper looking at him. Suddenly, they heard loud stomping in the distance and Steven slammed on the breaks. They all looked behind them to see a giant gnome made of smaller gnomes stomping down the road, coming right at them. They all stared at it in shock. It raised a fist in the air.
"Dipper, take the wheel!" Steven shouted before switching places with Dipper at the back of the cart.
"Drive!" He yelled as the fist started to smash down on them. Dipper stepped on the gas and they managed to avoid getting squished by a fist made of gnomes, which fell apart as it hit the ground. But it quickly reformed, the gnomes crawling back together before chasing after them.
"Head to the Shack!" Steven shouted.
"Come back with our queen!" He heard the brown-haired gnome scream.
Steven grabbed the shovel, preparing himself to defend the twins. He had signed up for a relaxed summer in a small sleepy town, not magical gnomes. Although, this was better then gem stuff. He could deal with it. Besides, who would be there to protect the twins?
"It's getting closer!" Mabel yelled.
The gnome monster raised its fist again, and instead of smashing it down, it threw a bunch of gnomes at them. Steven managed to bat some away with his shovel, but a few still landed on the cart. He saw Mabel punch a gnome out of the cart while dipper smashed another's head into the steering wheel.
The gnome groaned, "Schmebulock," before Dipper threw it out of the cart. The gnome monster threw more gnomes, and one landed on Steven's face, causing him to drop the shovel. He managed to rip that gnome off his face when the gnome monster threw another bombardment of gnomes. He looked back to see Mabel punching a gnome off Dipper's face.
'Here goes nothing,'
With the twins distracted, he raised his shield, protecting the cart from the gnome attack. He told himself he wouldn't use his powers, but because of their current situation, he was willing to make an exception. Problem was, with the giant shield raised, the cart was quickly bathed in pink light, as the sunlight shone through the shield. Steven quickly lowered it, hoping the twins didn't notice.
"What was that?" He heard Mabel say.
Oh no.
He looked back to see Mabel looking at her arms, not a him.
"Everything was pink for a moment!" She looked up at Steven, "What happened?" She asked.
Seven laughed nervously, "I don't know, the light came from the gnomes. I don't know what it was."
That as close.
Steven looked back at the gnome monster to see it rip a tree from the ground and throw it over them. It landed on the path with a boom, almost blocking it completely. Dipper managed to avoid hitting the tree, but lost control of the cart in the process. They started to drift, and the cart tipped over right as they got to the Mystery Shack. Steven quickly stood up out of the cart, looking over to make sure the twins were okay. They looked pretty beat up and worse for wear. Steven thought for a moment before licking his palms and helping them up, hoping, once again, they wouldn't noticed.
"Why are your hands wet?" Mabel groaned.
"My palms get sweaty when I'm nervous," Steven said, maybe a little too quickly.
Before Mabel could say anything else, the gnome monster caught up, roaring at them
"Stay back!" Steven shouted, moving in front of the twins, with his arms out stretched.
"It's the end of the line kids!" The lead gnome yelled, "Mabel, marry us before we do something crazy!"
"There's gotta be a way out of this," Dipper muttered.
"No one is marrying anyone! Now leave before something bad happens to you!" Steven felt his cheeks start to get warm, and he knew they had started to glow slightly.
Mabel ducked under Steven's arm, walking forwards, "I gotta do it."
"What?!" Steven and Dipper said in unison.
Steven reached forward, trying to grab Mabel's shoulder as Dipper ducked under Steven's arm as well, running over to her.
"Mabel! Don't do this! Are you crazy?"
She looked back at Dipper, "Trust me."
"What?!" Dipper said.
Steven walked up to the two of them, just in time to hear Mabel whisper, "Dipper, just this once, trust me."
Steven recognized the tone in her voice. It was a tone many people spoke in when they had a plan.
Dipper nodded and backed away. Steven joined him, watching the scene play out apprehensively.
"Alright Jeff," Mabel sighed, "I'll marry you."
"Hot dog!" the monster stomped its foot as Jeff said that.
As Jeff started to climb down the giant gnome monster, Steven bent down to whisper to Dipper, "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes I am, I… I trust Mabel," Dipper whispered back.
Steven nodded and looked back up as Jeff placed the ring on Mabel's finger.
"Bada-bing, bada-bam!" Jeff did a little dance, "Now let's get you back into the forest, honey!"
"You may now kiss the bride." Mabel said, looking at the ring.
"Well, uh, don't mind if I do." Jeff closed his eyes and puckered his lips, leaning forward.
Steven noticed Mabel was hiding something behind her back, and as Jeff got closer, she pulled it out. It was a leaf blower.
She turned it on and started to suck Jeff into it.
"Wha- wai- wait a minute! What's going on?" He yelled, trying to run away to no avail.
"That's for lying to me!" Mabel said as he got pulled into the blower.
She turned up the power, sucking Jeff into the blower even more. "That's for breaking my heart!"
"Ow! My face!" Jeff yelled.
"And this is for messing with my brother!" Mabel took aim at the monster while Dipper ran over to her. "You want to do the honors?" She asked.
Dipper placed his hands on the blower, "On three."
"One, two, three!" They said in unison.
They flipped the blower to blow, launching Jeff at the monster, causing it to explode, sending gnomes everywhere.
"I'll get you back for this!" Jeff yelled as he sailed over the trees, landing elsewhere in the forest.
Mabel used the blower to blow the rest of the gnomes away, causing them to scamper off into the woods. Steven stifled a laugh, it was quite an interesting sight. Maybe these kids can handle thing by themselves.
As they walked towards the gift shop of the Shack, Steven had to ask.
"Is this a regular for you guys?"
Mabel shook her head.
"Well," Dipper scratched the back of his neck, "I've always felt like there was something off about this town, and this just proves it!"
He started to reach into his vest to grab the book Steven saw earlier, but paused. He squinted at Steven before taking his hand out of his vest.
"Is there something wrong?" Steven asked.
Dipper shook his head and smiled, the concentrated look faded from his face.
"It's fine."
"Hey Dipper," Mabel said, "I'm sorry for ignoring your advice. You really were just looking out for me."
Steven took a step away, letting the twins have a sibling moment. He walked back into the shop, stopping to say hi to Mr. Pines before continuing to his room. He sat on his bed, letting himself fall backwards. The day had been an interesting, tiring day. He wanted a quiet summer, but, he also missed this. Adventure. If you could call it that. He was just glad that it wasn't gem related. He pondered over wether he would be able to stand a summer of magical things. He sighed. Today was the first day he had felt an adrenaline rush without it ending in a panic attack. Was I because it wasn't gem related? He had to admit, he had had fun the last 9 months on his road trip, but he had felt like he was missing something. Discovering new things was always fun, and now, he's discovering magical things that aren't gem related. The idea of it was truly mystical. He would give it another week. He didn't want to make any rash decisions today. He was tired enough as it was. He stood up and started getting ready for bed. He heard a crash in the distance and Mabel shout "grappling hook!" He chortled, the twins were definitely interesting kids.
———
Mabel bounced on the bed, playing with her new grappling hook. That day had been a roller coaster of emotions, but overall, she had fun. As much fun as you can when being kidnapped and chased by gnomes. But still, she managed to kick butt along side her brother. She looked over to see him writing in the journal, presumably about the eventful day they had. But something bothered her. She knew she had a cut on her hand from when a gnome bit her, but now it was gone. She knew she had it when they were driving away, but not when she grabbed the leaf blower. It was like it was magically healed. She couldn't understand it. Then there was that weird pink light from when they were being chased in the golf cart. She was pretty sure the gnomes didn't do that. So then why did Steven lie about it?
"Hey Dipper?"
"Yeah?" He didn't look up the journal.
"Did you ever notice something… off about Steven?" She asked
Dipper thought about it for a moment, "Not really?"
"Hm."
Was she just imagining things? Maybe it's because they had such an interesting day. She yawned. She'll think about it tomorrow, but now, it's sleeping time.
"Hey Mabel, can you get the lights?" Dipper asked.
"Sure thing!" She aimed the grappling hook and fired, breaking the window in the process.