Painful as it was to admit, Dipper had absolutely no idea what on earth had been hunting him and his sister for twenty of the most terrifying minutes of his entire life. Taking even a quick break to reference Journal Number Three was out of the question. Both the twins needed to be on constant alert if they were going to stay alive.

It had been a fairly low-key afternoon trek when with a rustle of bushes, the deep forests of Gravity Falls had coughed up a horrible abomination that was neither man nor beast. It was a hairless fang-filled canine head set atop a sinewy bipedal figure. When it had ambushed them earlier, it had first pursued them through the thick evergreen woods on two legs before switching with ease to all fours like some freakish hell-hound.

It was only by stumbling across the wreck of a long-abandoned lumber camp that they had a chance to at least hide and catch their breaths. The hunted siblings now cowered inside the remains of an old cabin. Dipper snuck a quick look through a gap between two rotting boards. Their pursuer was now lurking about on all fours, worming its bald, almost rubbery-skinned body around the half-collapsed buildings and decaying woodpiles. Every now and then it would sit down on its haunches, grab its bony knees and sniff the air. The sight sent a cold shiver down Dipper's spine, and the boy took back everything he thought before.

He knew exactly what was hunting them. One of their worst nightmares, that's what.

The siblings both stood deathly still. Their hearts pounded so loudly against their rib cages that for a moment each one genuinely feared that the ruckus would attract their stalker. Thankfully, the creature sauntered over to a tumbledown shack on the opposite end the grounds. They were safe at least for a minute or so. Dipper tugged his sister's sweater sleeve, and they wordlessly exchanged a few looks. Once on the same page, they started to slink off together towards the forest.

Dipper unfortunately barely made it a few steps when he dropped down like a sack of cement. He threw a hand over his mouth, then bit down so hard on his lip that he nearly drew blood as he frantically muffled a yelp. It was just his foul luck he had to turn into a horror movie trope right before they thankfully blundered upon the temporary cover of the old camp. His freshly twisted ankle flared up with agony.

Not too far away, the beast's grotesque ears perked. The twins went stock still as they waited. After a few excruciating moments it resumed its exploration on the far side of the ruins.

Dipper meanwhile kept shuddering uncontrollably in pain. Mabel could see that her brother could barely walk on his injury, much less run. If they had to book it again, he clearly wouldn't last more than a second before he would be overtaken. The gears in her mind whirled away as she peered out at their hideous foe. Suddenly, it hit her. The girl promptly lit up with an excited squeak.

"Mabel!" He gasped through tightly gritted teeth. "Shhh!"

"I think I know how to stop it!" She whispered excitedly. "Hold on-"

"Whoa, hey!" Before she could slip off, he nabbed her by the wrist "What are you doing?"

"I just told you. I know how to take care of that...that….uh…." She stole another look, "The monster guy-thingy!"

"No." He shot back defiantly. "You're not going out there."

"But I got this! Trust meeeeee." She begged.

"I'm not so sure." He took another glance outside. The beast's fangs looked like they could crunch through bone without any trouble.

"...Wanna bet on it?" His twin suggested with a smile. There were very, very few situations in this world where she couldn't find the positive.

"That's not what I-"

"How about you buy me a milkshake at Greasy's if it works? Or a….no, you know what, we don't really have the time for this." She decided out loud. "You can just give me IOU when we're done and I can decide on what I want later-"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Dipper grabbed her wrist and yanked her back to his side. He then stole a quick look outside. By some miracle, their hunter hadn't heard them yet.

"But look at you!" His sister pointed to his swollen ankle. Dipper winced on cue.

"I'll be fine. Look, we'll figure it out." He brushed it off.

"Yeah right! Dipper, that guy's totally gonna get you."

"Mabel, we'll get through this."

"You can barely stand! Just let me-"

"You're not going out there by yourself." He wasn't budging.

"But I got this! I do!" She persisted. "All I have to-"

"No."

"Dipper-" She tried to make a move and he nabbed her tightly by the arm again.

"No."

"I just-"

"Whatever you're going to try to do, no. Just no. No. Okay?" He shot her down. This was different from past brushes with the paranormal. They were liable to get their throats torn out the instant they stopped being careful. He wasn't going to let his sister raise her own risk just for his sake.

Unfortunately for him, Mabel wasn't willing to let him take that chance either. She let out a convincing sigh as she pretended to concede. Only a moment later her arms shot out like two cannons as she sent him sprawling with a hard shove.

"H-hey!" He sputtered. His sister paused only long enough to lean down and give him one more quick hug.

"Love you, bro." With these last words, she charged right out into the open. The hunter's ears perked up as she waved her arms wildly and screamed shrilly, making as big as a scene as she possibly could. "Hey! Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking to you! Come and get me! I dare you!"

The beast noticed her with a snarl. The girl now began picking up anything in reach and hurling improvised missiles at it as hard as she could, making sure that its attention lay fixed entirely on her and her alone.

Dipper desperately tried to get back on his feet. But every time he tried, fresh agony would ripple up from his ankle and send him tumbling. While he struggled to stagger up off the ground, he yelled frantically at the top of his lungs.

"Mabel, wait! Mabel! Come back!"

Just as he finally rose to his feet, a shrill shriek rang in his ears, and his heart skipped a beat. "No! Mabel! MABEL!"

"...Dipper? Dipper?" The lanky woman kept calling. The deeply distracted young man standing by the side of her hospital bed failed to respond, forcing her to wave a hand in front of his glazed eyes. "Hellooo? Anyone home?"

"Huh?" He finally snapped out of the memory. "Sorry, I-"

"I'm okay with it." As soon as he had returned to the present, she gave him her verdict.

"Wait….really?" He mumbled. That was a lot easier than he expected.

"Uh-huh." Despite the fact that there was nothing in her tone hinting to anything other than her full and complete approval, he was still quite incredulous.

"...Really?"

"Yeah, I'm on board." Her green eyes swept back down to the bundle in her arms. She looked a little rough for wear considering the day she had, but all the pain and discomfort she endured earlier was being fast forgotten thanks to a special little someone. The smitten new parent adoringly stroked the newborn's head and the thin crimson hairs that dotted it.

A pregnant pause passed before the utterly dumbfounded Dipper could find his voice again, and even then all he could do was sputter, "...Wait, really? You're seriously fine with the name?"

A laughing snort filled the little room. "Hey, why not? It's a family name. Also, c'mon. We both know this little lady wouldn't even be here without her."

"Yeah…" Dipper softly admitted.

"Besides, I like the sound of it. Phoebe Mabel Pines. Phoebe Mabel Pines…..Phoebe Mabel Pines…." She murmured the full name a few times more to the snuffling baby. Wendy looked up and grinned. "Dude, how could you not love it?"

Dipper wasn't sure what to say. All he could do was stand there and let his face crumple into a grateful smile. His wife lovingly smiled back as she cuddled the newest addition to the Pines clan.

"My turn to hold her again! Yoink!" The moment was interrupted when a pair of sweater-sleeved arms cut between the couple and greedily snatched up the baby. In a flash the child was sitting lovingly cradled in the hold of her toothy-grinned aunt.

"Yay for awesome new middles names! Yaaaay!" Mabel rocked the tiny treasure close as she bounced all about the room."Now you're even MORE adorable!"

She was squealing so loudly with delight that her happy cries echoed out into the maternity ward of Gravity Falls General. As Dipper was meanwhile relegated to the background of the action, he glanced down at the glitter-spackled "favor" that his sister had finally cashed in, officially complete with the fifteen-year-old signatures of both siblings.

"I can't believe she's been holding onto this the whole time." He marveled at the meticulously laminated and preserved piece of construction paper.

"She definitely knew what she was doing." Wendy grinned as she watched her sister-in-law shower endless adoration on the baby.

"Yeah. I was still pretty wowed when she got me to sign this. I guessed I wasn't really thinking when…." The new father trailed off with an apologetic shrug.

"You don't need to try explain it to me again. I told you, I'm cool with it." His wife cackled. "And let's face it. She totally earned this."

"Yeah I did! BOOM!" Mabel did a triumphant fist pump before promptly glueing her attention back onto her niece. "Okay Fee-Fee, now you're finally out, it's time we start working on making you as amazing as your Aunt Maymay! First lesson! You're probably going to run into a lot of monsters with this family. I know, crazy, but it comes with the name. But here's a nifty little trick that your auntie figured out. It doesn't matter if it's a Sasquatch or a man-dog thingy or whatever, because as long as it has a crotch, then it's never anything a good kick can't take care of…."