Author's Note: Okay, so I saw Thunderstrike16's and TvFan2244's crossovers for this and I thought to myself, what if only a select few were let in on the secret of the Journal, specifically two of the Pines kids and two of the Loud kids? And this story is the result of that. I'll warn you, Dipper and Lincoln won't be related in this story and there will be a very big focus on Lincoln and Lynn (they're my favourites) in comparison to the other Louds although they will have small roles in some chapters. Also, one last thing just to be clear: This is End of Season 1 Lincoln I'm writing about and it's going to be a very slight AU to make the story fit (one example here is that their Pop-Pop is located in Gravity Falls instead of wherever he is now).

I will be using Australian/UK spelling so please excuse that.

Lincoln Loud was bummed out at 7:00am in the morning. It was the first day of summer and he had detailed plans, outlining what he would do during the three month holiday period (which admittedly, was mostly filled with playing video games with Clyde, his best friend). The only problem was that he somehow completely forgot the fact that their entire family would be visiting their granddad over at the other side of the country.

"Wait, where are we going exactly?" Lincoln asked again to his mum,

"Honey," Lincoln's mum responded, carrying the last of her suitcases, "We're going all the way to Gravity Falls to visit your Pop-Pop!"

She finished packing her bags and belongings, putting them in the back of the family van.

"Do we really have to mum?" Lincoln whined, "I was planning on spending my summer vacation with Clyde and Ronnie-Anne."

"We know, but it's only for this one year. We haven't seen them for a long time. Also, your sisters will be coming with you so you're not the only one missing out."

"Oh ok," Lincoln grumbled, as he entered the family van. He took a seat near the window and looked outside. He saw a few of his sisters, engaged in their various activities. From the far left was Lori, his oldest sister who was on her smartphone, talking to her boyfriend Bobby saying how much she'll miss him. Next to her was Lynn, who was in her usual sportswear, stretching her body while occasionally completing star jumps. To the far right was Lisa, who was trying to explain the concept of gravity to a confused Leni. The rest of his sisters were in the van, either anxiously waiting for their parents to start their journey or sleeping, hoping they'll arrive at Gravity Falls when they take up.

Soon enough, everyone else got in the van, although it was clear that some were more enthusiastic than others. After everyone put their seatbelts, the van drove off into the distance, away from the familiarity of Royal Woods towards their next destination, Gravity Falls.

"It's only for this summer," Lincoln said, turning to the audience, "How crazy can it be?"

*Cue Gravity Falls Theme Song*

"Kids," their mum shouted, "We're here!"

Lincoln woke up from a night's sleep in the van and looked from the window, wondering if they really have arrived. His confirmations were confirmed as he found himself gazing at the gigantic billboard poster, expressing a welcome to the small town. In the background, he could see the rising sun looking downwards at the simple forest and mountain landscape that lay below it. On the bottom left corner of the poster, was a yellow water-tower, standing there in its divine simplicity.

Of course, it took more than a single day to get to Oregon and there had been many uncomfortable nights sleeping in the van while their dad drove in the midnight hours. But they were finally here, and it was all that really mattered at the moment.

"Welcome to Gravity Falls..." Lincoln read the sign to himself, before the van completely drove past it.

They were finally in Gravity Falls but they still needed to find their Pop-Pop's place. Luckily for them it only took around another thirteen minutes to get there according to the built-in GPS but for Lincoln, it was interesting to get some quick glances of the town from the van window. Judging from his first impressions, he could see that most of the population were locals but there were a few tourists amongst the mix, evident by them taking photos and wearing their typical holiday clothes.

Before they knew it, the van eventually reached Pop-Pop's house, situated on a small street. Everyone got off the van, excited and tired to see him. They all entered the house through the front door, wanting to see what the place looked like. Eventually, Lincoln walked inside and looked around, noticing how bland and simple the house was, as he expected. He could see that it was a tad smaller than the Loud household but it was still large enough to support more than ten people. Barely.

Their Pop-Pop came out of the kitchen, and smiled at his grandchildren, "Welcome kids."

"Sorry everyone, but there's only four guest rooms, so you'll have to share a room with someone," Pop-Pop explained, "Is that alright."

"That's perfectly fine," their mum responded, "We'll take one of them with my husband and Lily."

She turned around and looked at Lincoln and his siblings, "That leaves all of you with three rooms. I hope everyone can come up with some sort of agreement. I don't want to see anyone fighting. Is that clear?"

"Yes mum," they said in unison. Satisfied with the situation, she walked away and headed towards the kitchen, leaving the nine of them to themselves.

"Now what?" Leni blurted out.

"We check out our rooms," Lori answered back with a little annoyance, "Obviously."

Lori's younger siblings followed her to the three bedrooms, taking mental notes and calculating how much space each person had. It didn't take too long to check out all the rooms (admittedly it was only six minutes tops) but the three rooms weren't created evenly. In Lincoln's mind, he found that the first two rooms they went into were almost similar to each other, if not identical. They were spacious, just a bit bigger than the regular rooms that each of his sisters shared with one another, although it was obviously going to be a tiny bit more cramped. The problem was the final room that they noticed that it was the smallest bedroom out of the entire house. It was barely larger than the size of Lincoln's room back in Royal Woods and there was no way that three people can live there comfortably.

"Lori," Lisa, the genius of the group interrupted, "I assume that you worked our sleeping arrangements. I highly recommend a 4x4x2 split to fully maximize the space each of us obtain."

"Actually I don't. Lisa, can you lay me your ideas on me?"

"It's simple really. Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan get bedroom number #1, Lola, Lana, Lucy and Lisa get bedroom #2 while Lynn and Lincoln get bedroom #3."

"That is so unfair!"

"I agree with Lincoln," Lynn started to agree with him.

"Put your hands up if you are satisfied with this selection," Lisa ordered. A flurry of hands raised themselves up, causing Lisa to start counting them. Lincoln looked around the room and saw almost all her sisters put their hands up. In fact,

"I count eight votes out of a closed group of ten. The majority rules," Lisa simply states, "Lori, will you do the honours?

"It's decided then," Lori said, "Lincoln and Lynn are bunking together in the small bedroom."

The rest of the morning went fairly smooth for the most part. Most of the Loud family went back to the van to carry their own bags filled with belongings and empty them out onto their respective bedrooms. They only stopped when they were called to eat their breakfast and lunch.

It was at early afternoon that everyone was doing their own thing, just relaxing and doing what they enjoy naturally. However, one of Lincoln's sisters, Lynn wanted to go explore the town a little. There was just one problem.

"Can I go cycling the town mum?" Lynn pleaded, wearing her red helmet and riding her pink bicycle.

"Okay Lynn," she responded, "But you'll need to bring someone else with you. I can't let you go off on your own."

"Thanks mum!" Lynn said, rushing back to the house. This was going to be easy for her to find someone. Being a part of a large family had their perks sometimes. She had ten other siblings so at least one of them is bound to tag along with her. Right?

Unfortunately for her, all of her nine sisters declined, either saying that they're busy or that they're tired. She only had one other person that she could try to convince; Lincoln, her only brother. The only problem was that he was more of a nerd than someone who would play sports, let alone enjoy them. She remembered that one incident where Lynn covered for her brother because he was too lazy to play football. She sighed and opened the door to her bedroom. She immediately saw Lincoln lying on the bed, reading one of his Ace Savvy comics.

"Hey Lincoln, do you wanna hang out?"

On any other normal occasion, Lincoln would've declined straight away, but the dispirited tone in her voice made him guilty enough to hear her out, "Is there a catch?"

"Not really, but I just want to explore this town with me! Mum says that I need someone to go with me! I'm already bored!"

"I don't know," Lincoln tried to back out. The last thing he wanted to be doing was go outside and do something physical. Lincoln reclined his back deeper into the bed, "What about asking one of our other sisters?"

"I did and they all said no! C'mon, Linc! You have your own bicycle as well! The one that I gave to you!" Lynn complained.

That last statement hit Lincoln hard, making Lincoln think back to when he accidently lost Lynn's bike. He hadn't really returned the favour on that.

Defeated, Lincoln got up and placed his Ace Savvy comic book down on the bedside table, "Fine! Lead the way Lynn."

Following Lynn, Lincoln walked out from the front, grabbing his blue helmet along the way and putting it on. They walked over to the garage of their Pop-Pop's house, looking for their bikes that they brought with them.

"Ah, there they are!" Lynn pointed to the two bicycles that were just laying there, alongside some miscellaneous items, "Let's take these babies for a spin!"

Lynn grinned and started to cycle away from the garage and from Lincoln who was trying to catch up to her, "Lincoln, hurry up! We don't have all day!"

The rest of the ride was spent slowly to compensate for Lincoln's lack of physical ability. They rode their bicycles around the nearby parts of town, passing by various outlets and stores as well as general buildings such as the local police station and the arcade (which Lincoln wanted to stop at if Lynn didn't give him the glare). Eventually, after an hour of cycling, Lincoln was panting, tired from all the exercise he did with Lynn.

"Let's... go... home," Lincoln panted, drinking from one of the water bottles Lynn brought with her.

"Okay bro," Lynn agreed with him, "But let's take the forest path. I heard it's much more dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Lincoln gulped.

"Don't be such a baby Lincoln," Lynn teased, "You'll be fine."

The forest path was a little bit unorthodox and windy in comparison to the straightforward paths that were located in the town. As he was following Lynn, he noticed Lynn taking in the surroundings, clearly enjoying the (almost) off-road experience while riding the path. Lincoln on the other hand, didn't really enjoy it as much, instead trying really hard to not fall off and break some of his bones. Thankfully, he kept his balance and before he knew it, he could see that they were only five minutes away from their house. Unfortunately for him, Lynn suddenly pressed her brakes, stopping at a secluded but somehow nice area of the forest. Lincoln follows suit, confused.

"Why did we stop?" Lincoln asked. He took off his helmet and laid his own bike down on a nearby tree stump.

"C'mon, let's take a look around the area!" Lynn said, "This is like the perfect place for me to get up and exercise! And it's only five minutes away from here!" She grinned and ran around the area, running around enthusiastically before hearing some distant but barely audible footsteps coming closer to them. Lynn stopped in her tracks.

"You hear that Linc?" Lynn whispered. Lincoln nodded in response, fear starting to rack up inside his body.

"Let's get out of here," Lynn urged, quietly walking towards her own bike, "Lincoln what are you waiting for?"

Lincoln wanted to move but found himself paralysed from fear. He wanted to run away but his fear was stopping him for doing so.

"Lincoln! Snap out of it!" Lynn muttered, trying to drag his brother. The sounds of footsteps were getting closer and another sound was added to the mix, this sound, it was the sound of banging wood with a blunt object.

Realizing that her efforts were fruitless, she decided to stop trying to drag Lincoln and face the source of noise.

Lynn turned around and saw two figures, almost her size, from a distance holding a cart filled with wooden signs. She took a deep breath and watched them move towards her position. As they came closer, she could see them more clearly, and she soon calmed down, after realizing who they were. From her judgement, she estimated that they were twins, around Lincoln's age. The first was a brown-haired boy frowning, wearing some sort of brown hat with a pine tree imprinted on the front of it. The one next to him was a brown-haired girl, wearing a pink jumper of some sort, an image of a rainbow showing on the front.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lynn shouted at the two kids. The two of them stopped in their path and looked back at them. Lynn could see them speak with each other, out of hearing range before finally replying back to his question.

"I could ask you the same thing," the brown-haired boy shouted back, trying to sound threatening but failing, "Where did you come from?"

Lynn saw right through it, "That's not of y-"

"We're actually from Royal Woods in Michigan," Lincoln answered back, with most of his fear out of his system. He felt a light shoulder punch from his sister almost immediately after saying that. Lincoln turned to his sister, "What? It's not like they can actually track us down after we leave."

Lincoln turned away and focused back on the two twins, "Sorry if we're on private property, we were just leaving."

"Its fine," the female twin assured, as they walked towards Lincoln and Lynn, "It's not our property either as well! We're actually helping our Grunkle Stan advertise by putting these signs up!"

She got out one of the signs, showing Lynn an arrow shaped sign with the words 'TO THE MYSTERY SHACK' written in red on it.

"Yeah," the other twin continued, grabbing the sign off his sister, "Even though I see no point in putting up these signs here."

"Grunkle?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

"It stands for Great Uncle," the girl said quite proudly with a smile, "We just combined it into a more fun name!"

"Sorry if we scared you," Lincoln apologised, "I'm Lincoln. I hope we see each other again."

"Hey, I thought you were the one who got scared?" Lynn said absentmindedly. Lincoln shot Lynn a death glare.

"Well, my name is Mabel!" the girl introduced, shaking Lincoln's hand enthusiastically and hard, "And this is my brother Dippy."

"It's actually Dipper," he corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm only messing with you bro," Mabel laughed, "But Dippy does sound a lot better in my opinion."

"In my opinion, it doesn't," Dipper expressed, "Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Lynn," she introduced herself smiling.

"So, you need help with those signs?" Lincoln offered.

"It's fine reall-"

"We would love too!" Mabel grinned.

Dipper blinked, "Are you sure Lincoln. I mean these signs sure are heavy!"

"Not really," Lincoln interjected, "This is our first day here at Gravity Falls."

"Oh my god me too!" Mabel blurted out, "We have so much in common already!"

"Mabel, we've been here for four days."

"Um, of course I knew that," Mabel nervously reassured her brother, before grabbing a bunch of signs in her hands, "I'll just go now."

While the four kids were busy putting up signs around the area, Lincoln stumbles across an unusual sound of a metal clang against the tree that Lincoln tried to hammer.

"Weird..."

Using the hammer that Dipper gave him, he carefully hammered against the tree again, carefully observing the sound coming out of it. Sure enough, the sound was different, albeit slightly. He slowly ran his hand across the area he banged, trying to feel for anything that served as a clue to what this strange tree was here for. Eventually his fingers run over a small bump. He pressed them against it, pulling it like it was a handle, causing a small panel to open up outside of the tree, revealing an electronic device with many wires hanging loosely, with two tiny levers planted on the top and a whole coat of dust covering it.

Lincoln started to fiddle around and flip the switches trying to work out if any of them function. As he played around with the last switch, his ears felt a grinding noise behind him, prompting the white-haired boy to turn around. He saw a trapdoor slowly opening up in the ground, startling Mabel, who was standing close to the hidden opening.

"Woah!" Mabel gasped. She turned her head at Lincoln, who was standing close to the hidden device, "What did you do?"

"I just pressed on some random levers. I didn't know that was going to happen!"

The two rush over to the trapdoor, seeing something lie in the hatch. Taking a closer look, the two of them could see it contained a thick book, covered with dust on the front cover. Mabel stared at Lincoln in suspense, signalling him using her eyes to pick up the book.

"Lincoln! It's covered in dust," Mabel whined, "My pretty hands can't get dirty!"

"Ugh, I'll do it." Lincoln said, rolling his eyes after being certain that Mabel won't change her mind. He reached down to pick up the book and observed it. From the state of it, the book must've been decades old. Delicately, Lincoln slowly started to rub off the dust off the front cover. He wasn't even halfway done with the task when he felt Mabel blow on the book, causing some dust to land on his face.

"Was that necessary?"

She smirked, "Absolutely!"

The dust cleared, revealing a yellow six-fingered hand symbol and the number three on the cover. He puts the book down on the ground, and flips over the cover. The first thing he noticed when he opened it was the monocle inside. He looked at it and handed it to Mabel, using it to pretend to be an old person.

"I feel like I'm 100 years older," Mabel giggled to herself, playing with the item.

Lincoln ignored her and flipped over the page again, this time covered in writing and marked with a date.

Lincoln read out from one of the pages of the journal, "June 18. It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon."

He flipped over several pages, taking quick glances at the various pages, seeing the illustrations of the supernatural creatures and objects that made Lincoln shiver a little just by looking at them. If Mabel wasn't there with him, he would've closed and hid the book, out of fear. But he was intrigued, focused on anything that might grab his interest.

Soon, he stopped flicking when he saw three specific words in big bold letters catch his attention.

"Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm being watched. I must hide this book before he finds it. Remember: in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust."

Lincoln paid attention at the big three words printed on the bottom, TRUST NO ONE! .

"Trust no-one?" Mabel scoffed at the journal, "Now that's just silly! Why shouldn't I trust anyone?"

"Trust who?"

"Ah!" Lincoln yelped out in surprise, "Lynn! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry," she apologised, before quickly changing the subject, "What'cha got there, some nerd thing again like usual?"

Lincoln wanted to hide the journal almost immediately, not exactly wanting Lynn to tease him again for doing nerdy things but he knew it would mean too much effort. Also, she already saw it, "Uh, I just found it. It looks boring and old so I'm just putting it away."

Lynn let out a small laugh, "Really? Do you actually expect me to believe that? What's in it?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Dipper, who was returning from hanging all of his signs, "Lincoln? Where did you find it?"

Before Lincoln spoke up, Mabel answered for him, "We found it into a secret area after Lincoln did some thingies!"

Mabel pointed towards the opened hatch.

"Wait, really? Lincoln, you got to show me this."

"Sure, I guess," the white haired boy replied, handing the journal to Dipper. Lincoln shrugged with disinterest. It was probably some book for a kids' scavenger hunt.

Dipper opened up the journal and began to read excerpts of the book inside his head. Lincoln observed Dipper reading but soon noticed that he was a lot more invested into the book, reading it with excitement and suspense. Eventually, he reached the page that Lincoln stopped reading at. He was at that page for a good 15 seconds before he closed it abruptly.

"We need to go somewhere private," Dipper said to Mabel, as he felt a sudden chilly gust of wind on his neck.

"What about Lincoln?" Mabel protested, "He found it first."

"And me."

"Yeah, and Lynn as well. They can totally come to our private place!" Mabel exclaimed, "Right Dipper?"

Dipper sighed, "Okay, fine."

If a two dollar shop and a museum could have a baby, it would spawn the Mystery Shack. That's what Lincoln thought anyway, as he followed Dipper and Mabel through the designated tourist trap of this town. He walked through the gift shop, scoffing at the many souvenirs (if he could even call them that) such as bumper stickers, key chains and blank shirts with question mark either printed on them or shaped like one.

"Fifty dollars for a T-shirt? Who buys this stuff?"

"You'd be surprised," Dipper simply responded with a disappointed sigh.

After following the twins into their home, Lincoln and Lynn soon reached the attic of the Mystery Shack which also was co-indecently the bedroom for the both of them. For the first few minutes, Mabel excitedly showed Lincoln and Lynn around the room, giving them a full tour for a good few minutes. Soon enough, Mabel had shown everything and decided to get to the point.

"So Dippingsauce, what was so private that we couldn't do it out in a creepy forest?"

Dipper ignored the nickname Mabel gave him, instead, smiling widely.

"This journal is amazing!" exclaimed Dipper, "Grunkle Stan said I was being paranoid, but according to this book, Gravity Falls has this secret dark side."

"You only skimmed the book for five seconds before. How did you manage to read all of it now?" Lincoln asked.

"He's a big nerd," Mabel teased, punching Dipper playfully, "Of course he's going to find a way."

"I skimmed through it while you three were on your tour adventures. It basically confirms my suspicions about this place! The strange noises I hear at night, the mosquito bites that spelled out 'BEWARE', it all makes sense now!"

"That says 'BEWARP'," Lynn pointed out.

"You know what it meant. Besides, I haven't got to the strangest part. After a certain point, the pages just stop, like the guy who was writing it, mysterious disappeared."

Dipper flipped over to the last few pages of the journal, which were all blank. Lincoln remained unconvinced.

"I don't know," Lincoln said honestly, "This just seems a little too crazy for me to believe."

"You don't believe me either?"

Lincoln was about to open his mouth but the doorbell rang suddenly, making everybody look up, "Who's that?"

From downstairs, Lincoln could hear an old man yell, "Mabel, another one of your friends is here!"

"Another one?" gasped Dipper

"Well," Mabel said ominously, "Guess it's time to spill the beans!"

She deliberately spilled an empty can of beans that was lying on the bedside table, "This girl's got a date! Woot woot!"

She jumped onto her bed, with her back first.

"Let me get this straight... in the four days we've been here, you already found a boyfriend?"

She grinned, "What can I say? I guess I'm just..."

Dipper embraced for the worst.

"ER-RI-SIZ-TIBLE!" Mabel said in a very silly tone, as she pulled her arms into her sleeves and threw the limp sleeves of her sweater around. This elicited a groan from Dipper.

"Mabel. I don't have all day to waste profit!" Stan yelled, warning Mabel from downstairs "Your friend is waiting."

"I'm coming!" she called back.

"Good. If you need me, I'll be in the front, selling cheap objects for triple the price!"

Mabel ran out of the room, which prompted Dipper to do the same, grabbing the journal on his bed and run downstairs to see who Mabel's new boyfriend is. There was no way she's already found another boy. Lincoln and Lynn followed him downstairs.

As soon as everyone was downstairs, Mabel walked into the living room, happily, dragging along a tall teenage boy wearing a black hoodie over his head.

"Say hello to my new boyfriend!"

The hooded teen turned his head to greet the three of them.

"Sup?"

Dipper stared at the teen with a grim face while Lincoln and Lynn look at him with a weird look.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Nothin' much. You?"

"Uh..." Mabel's boyfriend hummed before Mabel interrupted.

"We met at a cemetery! He's really cool." Mabel boasted. She felt his arm, leaning on him affectionately in the process, "Ooh. A little muscle there. That's... what a surprise!"

"So, what's your name?" Lincoln asked in a nonchalant tone, attempting leaning on a nearby wall with his arms crossed.

"Um... Normal... MAN!"

"He means Norman," said Mabel, laughing it off.

The gnomes chase the four of them but they get away.

Lincoln and Lynn get jobs working at the Mystery Shack.

"Are you bleeding Norman?" Dipper asked, motioning to the red liquid on his right cheek.

Normal looked dazed for a moment, leaving a few seconds of silence to linger around the room.

"It's jam," Norman finally responded gruffly. Mabel used her finger to wipe off the red substance and licked it.

"Mmm, strawberry flavour!" Mabel giggled, "That's my favourite flavour. Look at this!"

Mabel motioned her hands, pointing her pointy fingers to the two of them.

"So, you want to go hold hand or whatever?" Norman asked.

"Oh, oh my goodness," Mabel giggled, placing a hand over her mouth trying to stifle herself from full-on laughter. Dipper shifted his attention towards Lincoln and Lynn, trying to watch their reactions. Lincoln was still attempting to act cool in front of Norman, exaggerating what he thinks cool kids do. Lynn on the other hand was just tired, yawning a little.

"Don't wait up!" Mabel waved goodbye, dragging Norman out the door, but not before hearing something banging against the front door a couple of times. Then silence.

"Dipper, I want you to be honest with me."

Dipper turned back to Lincoln, who had a desperate look on his face. Dipper shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure."

"Do you think I was cool?" Lincoln asked.

Dipper hesitated. On one hand, he knew that he was overdoing it. But he didn't want to hurt Lincoln's feelings. He thought about it for a second. Maybe a second too long however, as Lincoln picked up on it.

"I knew it! Was it the hair? My body movement? My tone of voice?" Lincoln panicked, worried about his social status.

"It's not you. There's just... something off about Norman."

"I don't think so," Lynn admitted, "He seemed like an ordinary teenager but he is definitely not Mabel's type."

"Yeah, how did she get someone like him to go out with her?" Lincoln agreed, but perplexed.

Dipper pulled out the book, trying to find an entry in the journal to confirm his suspicions, "There has to be something in here,"

Lynn rolled her eyes.

"I think you're overreacting with this," Lynn stated her opinion. Lincoln meanwhile looked at the time on the nearby clock, reading 4:30.

"Well, we should be going now," Lincoln said, "It was great meeting you."

"Hey, we're friends right?" Dipper asked, a tinge of nervousness evident in his voice.

Lincoln shot Dipper a confused look, "Yeah. You're alright. Why?"

"I don't really have many friends," Dipper admits.

"Gee, I wonder why," Lynn casually comments, leading to her receiving a pretty nasty glare from Lincoln.

"Don't listen to my sister," said Lincoln, "We'll visit you tomorrow. Right Lynn?"

Lynn looked at Lincoln who was surprisingly still fiercely glaring straight into her eyes. Admittedly, maybe that comment she made earlier was uncalled for.

"Sure, I'll be there," she answered, although half-heartedly. Lincoln's hand was already on the doorknob, as they were preparing to leave.

"Cya tomorrow Dipper!" Lincoln waved, smiling innocently.

"Yeah, tomorrow..." Dipper's voice drifted off.

As they left, Dipper looked outside from one of the windows, watching from the distance that Lincoln and Lynn were having a little argument. But he shrugged it off. There were more important issues at stake.

Dipper fixed his cap, looking determined with the journal in his hands, "Let's do this!"

For Lincoln and Lynn, the next few days were more or less the same routine. In the mornings, each member of the Loud family woke up to eat their breakfast before either staying in their rooms doing what they usually do or for some, go outside and spend their savings on the local shops. For Lincoln, he preferred to stay and read his comics over again for the eighth time while Lynn got herself outside to exercise and stay fit.

It was the afternoons that were the highlights. Every day at thirty minutes past two, Lynn and Lincoln would grab their bicycles to go to the Mystery Shack, for a visit. On any other given situation, Lincoln would've said no to the idea of exercising, but due to the fact that it was only a five minute ride there and that he made his first friends with Dipper and Mabel in this town, he just couldn't say no to them.

It was their third day at Gravity Falls and Lincoln was once again excited to see Dipper again. However, Lincoln could feel that Dipper had a problem he was facing. The day before, Dipper apparently believed that Mabel's boyfriend was a zombie. Lincoln watched his sister lie down on Mabel's bed, back first, taking a little rest.

"I don't know if he's a zombie or if I am just going crazy," Dipper expressed his thoughts to the two Loud kids.

"You're probably the latter," Lynn blurted out. Lincoln couldn't help to secretly agree with her but he needed to support his theory somehow.

"Who knows? But you got to have proof for your claims. Otherwise, people are going to think you as a major league cuckoo clock."

"Like me right now," Lynn said, throwing a nearby baseball up in the air and catching it several times.

Dipper nodded, "You're right Lincoln, I need evidence."

"But how are you going to get evidence without Mabel finding out that you're stalking her boyfriend?" Lynn asked Dipper.

Lincoln turned back to Dipper, knowing that he too was thinking of how to solve that question.

Over the next few days, Dipper and (with a bit of convincing) Lincoln spent each afternoon spying on Mabel and Norman. With the video camera that Lincoln borrowed from Luan, one of Lincoln's older sisters, they recorded everything they did, from casual activities like Frisbee to more strange ones like running together through the graveyard. After reviewing the footage they took, he noticed that Norman often fumbled around, even falling into an open grave at some point. However, it wasn't enough to convince Lincoln, even though Dipper remained more convinced.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon and Lincoln, Lynn and Mabel were gathered inside the attic, just hanging out and talking casually. Mabel continued brushing her hair, getting ready for a date, when suddenly her brother Dipper burst into the room with a journal clutched underneath his right arm.

"Mabel, we have to talk to you about Norman!"

"Isn't he the best?" Mabel sighed, infatuated, "Check out this smooch mark he gave me!"

She turned her head, showing everyone the huge pink mark on her cheek. Dipper and Lincoln let out a small scream out in shock while Lynn just smirked.

"I'm impressed Mabel," said Lynn, congratulating her. Mabel just laughed.

"Ha, ha! Gullible. It was just an accident with the leaf blower."

She was silent for a moment, thinking of the incident that happened a few hours prior, "That was fun."

"Listen, Mabel. What I'm trying to say is that Norman isn't what he seems!" Dipper held up the journal to support his statement.

Mabel gasped and put a hand over her mouth, "You think he might be a vampire?" she asked excitedly, "That would be so awesome."

"Sorry but Dipper's theory makes much more sense,"

"What are you talking about Lincoln?"

"I'm talking about this, shabam!" Dipper opened the journal and held it out closer to Mabel's face. Mabel looked confused and slightly unsettled at what he was suggesting.

"Wrong page?" Lynn questioned, looking at the gnomes page of the journal.

"Oh, wait. Ignore that," Dipper flipped over a few more pages, showing a creepy-looking zombie, "Sha-bam!"

Mabel looked at Dipper with doubt.

"A zombie?" she said, sceptically, "That is not funny, Dipper."

"I'm not joking! It all adds up: the bleeding, the limp... He never blinks! Have you noticed that?" Dipper asked, beginning to pace around in circles.

"The bleeding was strawberry jam."

"He could have a broken leg after tripping over."

"Maybe he's blinking when you're blinking?"

The three other kids bombarded him with their reasoning, not convinced of Dipper's point.

"Mabel, remember what the book said about Gravity Falls?" Dipper reminded her sister, "Trust No One!?"

"You didn't even find the book! Why should I trust you?" she asked him, before putting on her star earrings, "Beep bop!"

Mabel, he's gonna eat your brain!" Dipper shouted, shaking her.

Now Mabel was getting mad, "Dipper, listen to me, Norman and I are going on a date at 5 o'clock and I am going to be adorable!" she started poking Dipper hard in the chest on beat with her words.

"Wait, b-b-but, bu-"

"And he's gonna be so dream and I'm not gonna let you ruin it with one of your crazy conspiracies!"

With that, Mabel pushed Dipper out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Lincoln and Lynn in the room with his sister.

"Ouch," Lynn simply commented.

"Was I too hard?" Mabel asked almost immediately, feeling the guilt come on.

"It's okay Mabel," Lincoln comforted her; "He's just being a bit overprotective towards you, just like I am when I'm worried about my younger sisters."

"You have more than one sister?"

"Actually, he has nine more," Lynn remarked. Mabel looked surprised.

"I'll tell you about it later," Lincoln assured, before his eyes started to shine, "But right now you've got a date soon! Trust me; I know exactly what you should wear!"

'Wow, she looks really nice and cute.'

Lincoln watched as the girl he helped dress up walked around the living room waiting for her boyfriend to come. He looked over at Lynn who seemed pretty happy with how she looked, despite not being too keen on the girly side of things.

The doorbell rings, stopping Mabel in her tracks. She opened the door and grinned even wider than usual when she saw her boyfriend again. Lincoln was slightly ticked off seeing him wear the same black hoodie and he wanted to say something. However, he didn't really want to risk Mabel's bad side like he saw an hour earlier.

"Hey Norman, how do I look?"

"Sparkly!"

"You always know what to say!" she says before walking off with him.

Dipper sighed in defeat, slouching back into one of the couches and re-watching the tape that the two boys recorded over the past few days, occasionally fast-forwarding the footage. Noticing how bad he feels, Lincoln walked up to the saddened boy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You okay buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dipper lied, "You were right. I don't have any real evidence."

He handed Lincoln back the video camera, "Here, you can have it back."

Lincoln gladly grabbed the camera and watched the remainder of the footage. It was currently playing the part where Mabel and Norman had their backs turned, standing beside each other, having their inner arm wrapped around each other's back. However, as he watched the footage, he couldn't help but feel there was something off about the footage.

"I guess I can be kind of paranoid sometimes and –"

"Wait, WHAT THE HECK?"

Lincoln screamed, interrupting Dipper and shocking Lynn. He rewinds the tape, trying to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks with him. Sure enough, he knew the truth.

"What is it Linc?" his sister asked, with sincere concern. She walked over to the video camera and watched the footage with Lynn, before being just as shocked, "Wow, even I can't explain that."

"Eeeck! You were right all along!" Lincoln exclaimed, "Wow. I can't believe I didn't notice that!"

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I need to find Grunkle Stan!" he tells them, racing outside to find him. This left Lincoln in charge.

"Lynn, you need to find Mabel as soon as possible," Lincoln ordered Lynn, pointing to the front door where her bike laid stationary, "I'll go after Dipper and get help."

The two siblings ran out of the Shack to their respective locations, hoping that it wasn't too late to save Mabel.

Lincoln raced outside, following Dipper towards a tour group, trying to get the attention of the old man in the front.

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan!" Dipper tried to yell across to the old man only for his voice to be drowned out by the excited crowd of tourists and their questions. He could see his Grunkle Stan getting frustrated at their increasingly stupid questions.

"For the last time, it's a rock that looks like a face!"

Dipper kept on shouting his name over and over but he was still ignored. Lincoln tapped Dipper on the shoulder, thinking of an idea.

"C'mon Dipper," pushed Lincoln, pointing over to his own bicycle, "I've got a bike that we can use!"

The two of them began to run towards Lincoln's bike when a red-haired teenage girl, looking to be around Luna's age, drove up in the golf cart.

"Dipper, you made a new friend already?" She grinned.

"Yeah, I'm Lincoln," he replied before pulling off a serious face, "But seriously, Mabel is in trouble!"

"And we need to borrow the golf cart so we can save her from a zombie!" Dipper added, pleading to her.

She stared at the two of them for a couple of seconds before shrugging and handing Dipper the keys, "Try not to hit any pedestrians."

"Uh huh, got it," Dipper replied before him and Lincoln got onto the golf cart, and inserted the keys into the ignition. With Lincoln situated on the passenger seat, Dipper placed both his hands on the steering wheel and stomped his foot on the gas pedal, jerking it forward. Before they even got ten metres away, a slightly chubby man in a grey shirt with a big black painted question mark printed on the front stopped them in their tracks.

"Dudes, it's just me Soos," the man told them, before handing them a shovel, "This is for the zombies."

Lincoln grabbed it off him and placed it at the back, "Thanks."

"And this is in case you see a Pinata," the man also handed over a baseball bat.

"Thanks again?" Lincoln thanked but with a bit of confusion in his tone. He put the baseball bat in the back as well, before Dipper drove off into the wilderness, praying that he would find Mabel before the worst could happen.

Meanwhile, Lynn sped through one of the dirt paths in the forest, shouting the word Mabel over and over every few seconds, hoping for a response that just never came. It would have been made a fairly nice stroll, were it not for the sheer frightening thought of Mabel being eaten by a zombie. She reached a tight corner and turned sharply, zooming past the assorted trees and various types of scenery that surrounded her. She tried to cycle up a small hill, hoping for a better view pushing herself harder and harder but before she reached the top, she heard that voice of help, right ahead of the hill. With her new-founded determination, Lynn pushed forward and braced for a beat down.

"Hhhheeeeeellllppppp!"

The frightening sound of Mabel's scream filled the forest with a creepy eeriness, sending chills to the two boys in the speeding golf cart. Using their ears, they followed the source of the sound, while making sure they don't crash into trees. They eventually reached a very odd path, a deep forest opening that didn't feel natural at all yet somehow there was some sort of unknown type of creature making their home there. On the inside, he could see various gemstones illuminating a very faint glow of light, revealing mushrooms and fungi scattered across the area.

"I don't know about this," Lincoln hesitated; feeling scared all of a sudden. This was definitely out of his comfort zone.

"We have no choice. I need to save my sister and you're coming with me!" Dipper told the younger boy, switching on the headlights and accelerating.

Only to stop almost immediately when Dipper realised how close he actually was to Mabel. He stomped his foot as hard as he could on the brakes, just barely avoiding running over his sister. From a closer glance, he noticed that Lynn was also there, her bike several metres away from her position. The two of them were pinned down by loose rope and short creatures that looked like... gnomes?

"Wait, Lynn?" Lincoln got off the gold cart and ran towards her sister, "What's going on?"

Before he got any closer to his sister, one of the gnomes got in the way and hissed at him, making him step back a little.

"Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnomes!" Lynn explained, trying to wave off the gnomes that were surrounding her, "And they're total jerks."

"Gnomes? Huh, I was way off," Dipper pulled out the journal, flipping through it, swiftly finding the page on gnomes. He read the entry. "Gnomes, little men of the Gravity Falls forest: weaknesses unknown."

"Aw, come on really?"

"Hey, let go of our sisters!" Lincoln essentially snarled.

One of the gnomes walked up on a stable rock and looked at Lincoln.

"Oh, hey there," he started nervously, "This is just all some big misunderstanding. They're not really in danger; they're just marrying all one thousand of us and becoming our queens for all eternity! Isn't that right, sweethearts?"

"You guys are butt-faces!" Mabel shouted, struggling to be free against the rope. In response, one of the gnomes covered her mouth with their hands. The gnomes looked over at Lynn, who was sweating nervously.

"Yeah, I'll keep my mouth shut,"

Dipper grabbed the shovel from the back of the cart and waved it around threateningly and frantically, "Give them back right now, or else!"

The gnome in front was starting to lose his patience, "You think you can stop us? You have no idea what we're capable of. The gnomes are a powerful race! Do not trifle with-"

"I've heard enough," Lincoln interrupted. With a baseball bat in his hands, he swung it against the gnome with ease, making him fly across to the side. Sensing an opportunity, Dipper ran towards the two girls, using the sharp edge of the spade to cut the thin rope biding the both of them, allowing Mabel to escape from the gnome's grasp and Lynn to grab her bike before heading back to the golf cart. Lynn dumped her bike at the back and hopped in on the back with Mabel, hoping they could escape before the gnomes started to realise they're escaping.

"Seatbelts everyone?"

"Lincoln, now isn't the time."

"Just put your seatbelt on, dang it!" Lincoln scolded his sister. Once comfortable with the sounds of various seatbelts clicking, he turned back to Dipper, "Now drive!"

Dipper threw the car in reverse and hit the gas, successfully circling out of the dim grassy clearing and back onto the forest path.

"They're getting away with our queens! No, no, no," one of the gnomes cried out angrily as they drove off.

The golf cart was making their way back to safety in the Mystery Shack. They passed the crest of a hill and a wooden bridge fixated on top of a river. Dipper checked the rear-view mirror, seeing if there were any gnomes chasing him. To his relief, he saw the empty forest landscape and her sister Mabel alongside Lynn. He calmed down and de-accelerated the cart, keeping it at a moderate speed.

"Hurry, we need to go faster!" Mabel urged Dipper, noticing the change of speed. Lincoln turned around.

"I don't think we should worry about it. Have you seen how tiny they are? My six-year-old sisters can run faster than them!"

Just then, as if on cue, a loud thumping sound echoed behind them.

"What was that?" Mabel asked nervously, as Dipper stepped on the brakes. She looked behind herself, answering her own question. Behind them was a gigantic humanoid monster, made up entirely of gnomes. On the top was the gnome that Lincoln hit earlier ago, looking ticked off.

"Teamwork guys, like we practised," the leader gnome said, "Let's take our queens back!"

"What are you waiting for?" Lynn yelled at the 12-year-old driver, "Drive already!"

Wasting no time, the gold cart sped off again at its maximum speed, narrowly escaping a giant fist slamming down on them. The leader gnome cursed himself and controlled the monster to walk towards the cart, thrusting its hand towards them and launching gnomes at it. Seeing the flying angry gnomes homing in on the vehicle, Mabel and Lynn grabbed the shovel and baseball bat respectively from the boot, whacking the gnomes back to them. However, the monster easily caught the countered gnomes with its hands, placing them back onto its body.

Unfortunately, a lone gnome made its way past Mabel and Lynn, latching himself onto Dipper's face, clawing at it with his tiny hands.

"I've got this," Lincoln exclaimed, repeatedly punching the gnome off Dipper's face (and also accidentally punching Dipper a few times as well). After a couple more punches, the gnome lost its grip and (along with Dipper's hat) flew out of the window.

"Thanks Lincoln," Dipper said with a dash of wooziness. He quickly recovered though, and soon he was in full focus.

"Don't mention it buddy."

Behind the cart, the giant gnome monster uprooted a tree, hurling it at them. It went over their heads, crashing about forty feet in front of them.

"Look out!" Lincoln yelled as Dipper swerved to avoid the tree. The cart managed to drive under the tree but didn't swerve in time to avoid a rather tight corner, crashing right in front of the Mystery Shack. The four of them dragged themselves out of the vehicle, hoping for an escape route. Lincoln grabbed the shovel of Mabel, as the towering gnome creature slowly stalked towards them as they backed up against the side of the shack, blocking their only exit.

"Stay back, man!" Lincoln yelled at the gnomes, pointing the shovel at them. The gnomes sneered and continued to go further. Frightened, Lincoln threw the shovel as hard as he could at the creature. It flew lowly in an arc before pathetically landing at the giant's foot, just barely tapping one of its toes. In response, the gnome monster lifted up its foot and stomped it dramatically, before stepping off of it, leaving remains of the destroyed shovel.

"That shovel was as light as a feather. How did you even mess that up?"

"I'm a comic book reader, not a javelin thrower," Lincoln defended himself, before quickly changing the subject, "Hey, where is everyone?"

Grunkle Stan was inside, showing one of Lincoln's sisters, Leni a particular item to her. In her hands were several bags, full of shopping from the Gravity Falls mall. Grunkle Stan himself didn't even know how she got here in the first place. But she was made of money.

"Behold, the world's most distracting object!" he unveiled, a hand-held swirly wheel. He pulled a string attached to it, making it start spinning hypnotically.

"Ooooooh," Leni marvelled.

"Just try to look away, you can't!" the man claimed. Leni stared in awe at the wheel, before the spinning came to a stop.

"Awwww," Leni mumbled.

"Now that will be another dollar to look at it again," Stan asserted. Leni happily gave him a dollar coin before Stan pulled the string again.

"Ooooooh," Leni marvelled again.

"It's the end of the line kids!" Jeff shouted as the giant took another step closer towards them, "Marry us before we do something crazy!"

"I gotta do it."

Dipper looked at Mabel, surprised at the very mention of the idea, "What?! Mabel, don't do this! Are you crazy?"

"Trust me."

"What?" Dipper blurted out in shock.

"Dipper, just this once. Trust me!"

The boy looked around, glancing at the gnomes then back at Mabel. Taking a deep breath, he decided to lay his trust on her and backed out of the way.

"Okay, I'll marry you on the condition that you let my brother Dipper and my friends Lincoln and Lynn go."

The lead gnome thought about it for a second before nodding, "We got ourselves a deal!"

He pumped his head, celebrating victory, "Bingo! Alright, just let me down there Jason," he proceeded to climb down the tower of gnomes, while adding some rather awkward comments along the way such as:

"Thanks Andy!"

"Alright, I'm coming through the left foot."

"Whoa, watch those fingers Mike!"

Lincoln cringed at those comments but soon enough, he got down on the ground and eventually on one knee, holding out a diamond ring. Mabel held out her right hand, letting the gnome put the ring on one of her fingers.

"Alright, now let's get you back into the forest, sweetheart!"

'Wait, you forgot one important thing."

The gnome stopped in his steps, "And what's that."

Mabel subtly winked at Lincoln, giving him the signal. She turned back to the gnome, "You may now kiss the bride!"

"Well, don't mind if I do!" the gnome smugly responded, closing his eyes and puckering his lips. As he leant closer, Mabel moved out of the way and grabbed the nearby leaf-blower. She turned it on, switching it to 'SUCK' and aimed it directly at the gnomes head.

"Ah! Hey, hey, wait a minute!" the gnome protested, "Whoa, whoa! Wh-what's goin' on?!"

"That's for lying for me!"

Mabel flicked one of the switches, increasing the sucking power.

"That's for kidnapping me!"

Mabel pointed the leaf blower at Lincoln who was still holding the bat. Lynn looked at her brother with annoyance.

"Nope, there's no way I'm letting you play ball," Lynn exclaimed, as she grabbed the baseball bat off him. She held the bat, and faced Mabel, with a confident smirk on her face.

"And THIS is for trying to hurt my friends!"

Mabel aimed the leaf blower at Lynn, who was grinning widely with excitement.

"Wanna do the honours?"

"My pleasure," Lynn simply answered.

"Batter up!" Mabel yelled, switching the leaf-blower to 'BLOW'. The gnome flew past a few metres before feeling the impact of a baseball bat being swung with the speed of a moving car, sending him straight into the heart of the monster, completely destroying it and scattering the gnomes everywhere, leaving them without a leader to control them.

"Who's giving orders?"

"Orders! I need orders!"

"My arms are broken."

"Dude, really?" another gnome groaned at the previous comment, before running away.

"Home run!" Lynn screamed in the air, before cheering on herself, "Go Lynn! Go Lynn!"

Dipper stomped his foot to get their attention.

"Anyone else want some?" He boasted confidently, while Mabel and Lynn waved their 'weapons' around. The gnomes all fled off back into the forest, deciding they were indeed outmatched, though one was caught by a piece of rubbish before being carried off by a nearby goat.

"Thanks guys," Mabel as the last of the gnomes scurried off, "And I'm sorry Dipper for not believing you. You really were just looking out for me."

"We're sorry as well for shrugging off your theories," Lincoln apologised to Dipper, "I guess there's really more to this town."

"Aw, don't be like that," Dipper said with a dismissive wave, "You three saved our butts out there."

Mabel sighed in sadness. "I'm just sad that my first boyfriend turned out to be a bunch of gnomes."

Dipper placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, "Well, look on the bright side. Maybe the next one will be a vampire."

Mabel cracked a smile at that statement, "Come on, you're just saying that."

"Awkward sibling hug?" Dipper asked, opening his arms.

"Awkward sibling hug," Mabel replied as she hugged back.

"Um, should we go or?"

'Come on here you two!" Mabel exclaimed as she dragged Lincoln and Lynn into the hug, "Hugs for everyone!"

"Yeesh, what happened to you four?" Grunkle Stan asked as they walked in, "Did you get hit by a bus?"

The four of them ignored him and went their separate ways but not before the old man stopped them.

"Uh, hey! Dipper's friends. What were your names again?"

"Lincoln."

"Lynn."

"Okay, okay, I got it. Anyway, w-wouldn't you know we're hiring for two more employees, so, uh... how's about applying. As a bonus, I'll let you take one item from the gift shop? On the house, y'know?

"What's the catch?" Lincoln asked.

"You get paid minimum wage, you work alongside with Dipper and Mabel's shifts and you don't tell the cops that I'm hiring a bunch of kids."

"I guess we can take it," Lincoln admitted, "I probably need the money."

"And I can tell our mum that we have summer jobs."

"So is that a yes?"

"I guess-"

"Then it's a deal!" Grunkle Stan said, "Now grab something before I change my mind. That includes you too Dipper and Mabel."

Everyone shrugged and started to look around, searching for the perfect item. Lynn was the first to grab her item, going outside briefly and coming back with the baseball bat that she used to hit the gnomes with. Dipper was the next to stash his item, seeing a bunch of new blue baseball hats with a pine tree printed on it. Smiling, he grabbed one and put it on his head.

Lincoln was hesitant on deciding between taking home a Swiss army knife that could fit his pocket or a small locket shaped like a megaphone. Lynn walked over to him.

"Pick the small locket," she suggested, "There's no way mum will let us keep a knife."

"Good point," Lincoln said. He quickly picked it up, and placed it in his pocket. Everyone turned to Mabel, waiting for her to pick a gift. She grinned, holding something behind her back.

"Guys and Lynn, take a good look at this!" Mabel held the object from her hands and held it high, "Grappling hook! Yes."

Everyone looked at her strangely, wondering why she would want one in the first place and why something like that was even in a gift shop.

"Wouldn't you like something like a doll?" Stan mumbled.

"Nope!" Mabel answered, firing it at the ceiling, pulling her up, "GRAPPLING HOOK!"

Lincoln internally fought with himself at that moment, struggling to keep his mouth shut from saying the perfect pun. But he failed anyways, "Wow, I guess she's really hook-"

"Save the puns for when we get back home," Lynn thankfully interrupted before smiling, "I think we better start leaving before our other sisters start looking for us."

Lincoln sat on their bed reading his comic while Lynn was sitting on the other side, playing with a paddle-ball, tossing it in the air and catching it.

Lincoln turned to the audience, "When we arrived at Gravity Falls, I thought that this was going to be a boring summer. But when you battle a hundred or so gnomes side-by-side with your sister and your new friends, you start to realise, contrary to what the journal said, that they'll always have your back."

He turned back to Lynn, who was still busy playing with her paddle-ball.

"Mind if I turn off the lights?" Lincoln asked her sister.

"Nah," she responded, "I'm tired after that gigantic battle."

Lincoln smiled, flicking the light switch and slowly drifting himself to unconsciousness. If his first few days involved fighting a bunch of gnomes, who knew what other strange things were waiting for them to be discovered.

And that's all I have for now. Thanks for reading.