It was a mostly normal day at the Mystery Shack. Nobody appeared to have been eaten by the mailman-who-was-almost-certainly-a-werewolf, which was good (last night had been a full moon).
The sun was shining brightly down on the small town of Gravity Falls, and all seemed well.
A scream of pain and terror ripped through the forest.
From where he stood, Stanley Pines spun around with his fists clenched. That... That sounded like his nephew.
Not even bothering to call Ford for help, Stan took off into the trees. He ignored the small pains that twinged in his arms and shoulders from stiffness or thorns-he didn't care what happened to him as long as his family was okay.
They weren't.
Dipper's stomach was ripped open, blood spilling out onto pine needles and fallen leaves. Mabel lay a few feet away with only the faint rise and fall of her chest to betray the fact that her prone body was alive.
Crouched over them was something that looked like a cross between a crab and a wet marshmallow. Drooling mandibles snapped at him, and a pair of yellow eyes blinked slowly at him.
Stan pulled his brass knuckles out of his pocket. This monster dared to touch his kids. A twig snapped behind him, and Stan didn't have to turn around to know that Ford had caught up and was taking in the scene.
But he didn't have time to think about that now. What he did have time to think about was the fact that Dipper was going to die if he didn't get immediate medical attention. And he couldn't tell what the damage to Mabel's fragile body was from this distance.
"Ford," Stan growled, not breaking eye contact with the creature. "Get Mabel and Dipper out of here and to a hospital as fast as you can. I'll handle ugly."
Then, faster than the blink of an eye, the monster lunges.
"Die!" It hisses wetly. Stan dodges, surprised that it can speak English. Most of the creatures in the forest aren't nearly smart enough for that.
As he gives it a strong blow to what he thinks is the jaw, the creature ripples. Its form changes, and suddenly Stan is fighting a spider the size of a RV.
Its fangs almost impale his arm, but manages to leap aside at the last minute.
So he doesn't notice when the monster changes shape for a second time.
But he does when it laughs madly and stabs him right through the heart.
"STANLEY!"
Someone's screaming his name now. But the darkness is already there, and he just has to reach out and grab it.
So he does, because somehow he knows that this is his time.
.
.
.
Across the country, a newborn boy takes his first breath of air and lets out a thin, reedy scream.
