Chapter 3
"BUG!" Stan yelled as he saw the beetle on the floor the next morning. Dipper came down the stairs with Soos, Waddles, and a tired-looking Mabel.
"Morning to you too, Grunkle Stan." Mabel said, rubbing her eye. The kids and Soos noticed the beetle.
"Whoa!" Soos observed. "That's one big bug, Mr. Pines!"
"Are you going to kill it, Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked.
"You bet I am!" Stan answered. He looked at Soos. "Soos! Give me the paper."
"You can count on me, sir!" He said. He went to the TV room and fetched the newspaper from Stan's recliner. He read it.
"The African wild dogs at the zoo had their babies!"
"Let me see!" Mabel screeched. She and Dipper went over to Soos and he showed them. The picture showed the two adult Wild Dogs with their new pups. A second showed the mother licking one of her pups.
"Awww!" Mabel squealed. "They're so adorable, just like you Dipper!" Dipper eyed her sister but agreed.
"They sure are." He said with a smile. "I bet that's what Mom and Dad were thinking too when we were born."
"'Cept I was born first." Mabel pointed out."So they admired me first."
"Ugh!" A frustrated Dipper cried. "Do you have to point that out every time?"
"Yep!" She then changed the subject. "Babies are so cute."
"Yeah." Stan said. "Then they grow on you and get on your last nerve. Anyways, Soos, this is not reading time, now…" He extended his hand. "Give me the paper." Soos gave it to him.
"Okay." He said. "But when you're done, I want to read about those babies. It's kind of weird, they're called wild dogs, yet they live in captivity at the zoo." Stan rolled up the newspaper and approached the beetle. He raised the newspaper. "You're dead, bug!"
"WAIT!" Mabel screamed. She slid between the bug and her uncle. Stan looked surprised. "Don't kill it."
"I got to, kid." Stan answered. "That bug got in the Mystery Shuck uninvited."
"Well, you don't have to kill it."
"Yes I do. It's a pest. And when a beetle, fly, spider or any other kind of creepy insect invades your living quarters, you kill it. People have been doing it for generations and that's how it has to be. Now, move it!" Mabel stomped her foot and looked serious.
"No!" Her uncle looked firm.
"Mabel, now I'm not going to say it again. Move, so I can make sure that beetle never sees the light of day again."
"No, Grunkle Stan! Every living creature has a right to live. Each and every one of us has a porpoise in life, even animals and this insect." Soos was confused.
"Did she just say 'porpoise'?" Soos wanted to know. "Like a dolphin or a whale?" Dipper nodded.
"That's what I heard." Dipper told him.
"You know what I mean!" Mabel retorted.
"Well," Stan started. "that creature's 'purpose' is to be annoying. Look, Mabel, when it came in here, it was asking to be killed!"
"How do you know? Are you a bug whisperer?"
"Well, no. I just know, okay?"
"I don't think you do. Look, Grunkle Stan. If I go into a stranger's house, they don't get their gun and shoot me. They don't get they're flyswatter, newspaper, or any other weapons to try to kill me."
"You're not a dangerous animal or annoying insect."
"But let's say I was one, huh? You need to get in the insect's perspective to understand what it is feeling. If we kill all the beetles, pretty soon they'll become extinct and we'll never see it or it's kind ever again. Do you want that, it being completely wiped out of existence just because we humans didn't care and killed them all?"
"Uh, Mabel?" Dipper spoke. "Is this because of that dolphin at the beach? That lady said that they were functionally extinct, not extinct, meaning that there's only a few left."
"Exactly! And if we harm any more, they become extinct for good!"
"I'm going to kill it." Stan just said. He moved her niece out of the way and lifted up the newspaper. Mabel quickly cupped the beetle in her hands and ran.
"NOOOOOOO!"
"MABEL!" Stan shouted. "You come back here, now!" He lunged at her and pinned her down. "GOTCHA!" Mabel then did one huge lick on Stan's hairy arm. Stan recoiled in disgust, letting her go. "Ew! Did you see that?" He stood up and resumed the chase. "You'll pay for that, Mabel!"
Waddles suddenly squealed and bolted between Stan and Mabel. Stan tripped on the pig, screaming. Mabel smiled at her pig.
"Good job, Waddles!" Waddles looked at her and gave out a happy grunt. He then oinked as if saying, 'Quick! Go take it outside, I'll deal with the old man!' Mabel ran on. Waddles grunted madly at Stan.
"You, go, Mabel!" Soos cheered after the retreating Mabel.
"Soos!" Stan scolded. Soos looked at Stan and stopped. "Help me up and Dipper, control that pig of your sister's!"
"Okay, okay!" Soos said, helping Stan up to his feet.
"Come on. Waddles!" Dipper said. "Come to Dipper!" Dipper grabbed the pig. "Gotcha!" As soon as he had him, the pig wriggled out of the 12 year old's hands.
Just as this was happening, Mabel had run outside. When she found the perfect spot, she released the beetle. "There! You're safe now. Run away from here, run as fast as your tiny legs can carry you!" The beetle ran off. Mabel smiled, proud of what she had done. She stood back up and went back towards the mystery shack where she was greeted by her uncle, Dipper and Soos. Her uncle didn't look happy.
"You shouldn't have done that, Mabel." Stan told her.
"Stan, I'm that beetle's hero!" Mabel said. "It probably telling all its friends how I saved it."
"Yeah, it's telling its friends all right. They'll come and I'll have even more bugs to kill."
"We'll see!"
"Alright, breakfast time."
"YAY; BREAKFAST TIME!" She petted her pet pig. "Come on Wads, breakfast slop time." Waddles oinked gleefully and followed Mabel and the others back in the kitchen.
"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked as soon as she was done eating. "Can Candy and Grenda come over?"
"I suppose." Stan replied.
"YAY!" Mabel cheered, jumping out of her chair. "I'm going to call them right now." And with that, the girl ran off.
"Hey!" Stan snapped. "You need to clean up!"
"I'll do it, Mr. Pines." Soos volunteered. And with that, he picked up Mabel's things off of the table along with his, and went to dump and wash them in the sink. Dipper picked up after himself and Waddles.
"Why are we going in the garage?" Grenda asked Mable. She, Mable and Candy were heading towards the garage. A lizard perched on Grenda's shoulder.
"I got to show you someone." Mabel answered.
"And why do we have to meet your new friend in the garage?" Candy wanted to know.
"You'll see!"
"OMG!" Grenda burst out. "Do you have a new boyfriend and he wants to meet us in your garage to fix up his bike?" Mabel laughed to herself.
"I wish Grenda, I wish!" The girls went into the garage of the Mystery Shack. Mabel flicked on the lights.
"Here we are girls!" She announced. She went to the cooler.
"So, where is this friend of your?" Candy asked. Mabel's friends were then was splashed by water. "Hey! Who splashed us?"
"He did!" Candy and Grenda then looked at the dolphin who did a jump in the cooler. He made a clicking noise before landing, splashing once again. Both girls' jaws were open. "Girls, I like you to meet my new friend Playful!"
"You got a pet dolphin?" Grenda questioned. "As well as a pet pig?"
"And your uncle agreed to this?" Candy wanted to know.
"No." Mabel admitted sadly with a sigh. "He doesn't know that he's here. I didn't show Playful to anyone…up to today. You girls and Waddles are the only ones that knows he's here. So," She put a finger to her mouth. " Shhh! I don't want anyone knowing."
"But shouldn't you tell him?" Mabel shook her head.
"Maybe someday, but not yet! I want him to be surprised!"
"Well, you can't keep him in here."
"Yeah!" Grenda added. "What if someone comes in the garage and notices him here?"
"Soos tried to come in here earlier, but I told him that there was a bat down here that feasts on any person whose name is Soos."
"And he fell for it? Candy asked.
"Yeah, but he's Soos."
"Can I show him my new lizard?" Grenda wanted to know. Mabel nodded.
"Sure; knock yourself out!"
"Alright!" She and Candy went towards Playful. "Hi, Playful! I'm Grenda!"
"And I'm Candy." Candy said. Grenda grabbed her pet lizard from her shoulder and showed the dolphin.
"And this is Lizzie." She introduced the lizard. "Lizzie, Playful, Playful, Lizzie. Well Lizzie, what do you think of Playful?" Grenda then accidently dropped the lizard in the water. "LIZZIE, NOOOOOO!" She looked at where her lizard fell in, seeing that she couldn't spot her. "I can't see her anywhere!"
Suddenly, bubbles bubbled up and there was Lizzie, floating up with the help of Playful's water from his blowhole. Lizzie was then flung at Grenda with water. Grenda hugged her lizard with glee.
"Oh Lizzie," She said. "I thought you were a goner! Luckily, Playful's here to stop that from happening!"
"Yay for Playful!" Mabel cheered, hugging him. She looked at her friends. "So girls, what do you think of Playful?"
"AWESOME!" Grenda replied.
"I like him." Candy said. "But somebody will have to come down here, and when they do, they'll notice a dolphin in the cooler. What will you do then?"
"That's part 2 to why you girls are here." Mabel answered. Candy and Grenda gave each other confused looks. Grenda shrugged. They looked back at her.
"What do you mean?"
"You and Grenda are going to help me carry the cooler outside."
"What if someone needs the cooler? What if you guys go on another picnic someday and need it?"
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. It'll be fine! We'll hide him in the bushes! That way, no one will see him!"
"But what if they do?" Grenda questioned. "What if Playful makes his dolphin sound and they hear it and then they see him from the bushes?" Mabel shrugged.
"Then I guess the secret's out, and I might have to give him up. Hopefully that'll never happen." Grenda and Candy looked at each other, unsure.
"Let's just go with it." Candy told her. And with that, the two girls lifted the cooler off of the floor. The girls struggled to keep it up.
"That's it, girls!" Mabel said. She went to the door. "This way!"
"Can we hurry this up, Mabel?" Candy wanted to know. "This cooler is heavy!"
"Yeah!" Grenda agreed. "No wonder why you wanted your girlfriends here; you would've never carried this yourself, only for a really short distance at a time."
"That's right. Now just carry it outside. We'll push it from there." Grenda and Candy followed Mabel out the door.
"And….stop!" Mabel instructed. The two girls put down the cooler and panted in exhaustion. "Perfect! Now for phase two of Operation: Transport the Cooler, we just push it to the bushes and we'll be done." The girls groaned at the thought of more work.
"Easy for you to say." Candy told Mabel. "You're not doing anything. You're just giving orders and watching us work. Do you know how heavy this thing is?"
"As a matter of fact Candy, I do. That's why I'm going to help you push it to the bushes."
"Why didn't you help us earlier?" Mabel grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry; I just didn't think of it." She went by her friends. "Okay; we push on three, ready? One, two, three, push!" All of the girls pushed the cooler closer to the bushes. "Push!" Again, they pushed. "Push!" They pushed with all their might. "Pu…"
"Mabel?" Dipper asked who was passing by. Mabel stopped instantly and tried to shield Playful from her brother.
"DIPPER!" Dipper looked at her sister, then at the cooler, and back to his sister again.
"What are you girls doing?"
"Uh, moving this cooler to the bushes."
"Why?"
"Oh, no reason. I'm not hiding anything in here." Playful then made his dolphin noise.
"Did I just hear a dolphin noise?"
"Uh, no?" Playful made another noise.
"There it is again!"
"I, uh…"
"That was me." Candy lied, coming to the rescue. "I just love making dolphin sounds!" She imitated a dolphin sound. "See?" All three girls smiled nervously. Dipper still looked unsure.
"Anyways Mabel, Soos won't go in the garage. He said that you said that there's a bat in there that feasts on anyone whose name is Soos. Can you tell him that it was a joke and there's nothing to be scared of?"
"Sure!" Mabel said.
"Thanks." He then went off. Mabel sighed in relief and she and the girls finished pushing the cooler.
When they were all done, they all collapsed in exhaustion. Seconds later, Mabel stood up and peered in the cooler.
"How are you doing, Playful?" She asked. The dolphin whipped his tail, splashing her. Mabel laughed.
"I take it you're doing fine." Playful made his clicking sounds, which made her laugh again. She then hugged her dolphin. "I love you, Playful." Playful hugged her back. Waddles trotted in. When he looked at this, he froze and just stared.
"Aww!" Grenda cried. "How sweet!" She looked at Waddles. "Isn't this sweet, Waddles?" Waddles gave out an angry snort and trotted off. Soos then passed by and noticed Mabel hugging Playful.
"Uh Mabel." He spoke. "Why are you hugging a dolphin? I think you're upsetting Waddles." Mabel's eyes widened, and looked at Soos. Playful went under the water.
"Soos!" Mabel said. "What are you doing here?"
"Dipper told me that you wanted to tell me something."
"Oh yeah. Soos, when I told you about a bat that feasts on anyone named Soos's flesh, I was only scaring you. The garage is safe; you can go in there now."
"Oh, well that's good. And now, about that dolphin." Mabel gulped.
"What dolphin? There's no dolphin."
"Sure there is! I just saw you hugging a dolphin. Want to tell me what that was about?"
"I…uh…"
"You better tell him, Mabel." Candy told her. "He saw him." Mabel sighed.
"Okay Playful." She started. "You can come out now." The little dolphin poked his head out and greeted Soos with clicking noise.
"Say, that's not the same dolphin from the beach, is it?" Soos asked. Mabel nodded.
"It is." She replied. "I call him Playful."
"Can I pet him?" Mabel looked at the marine mammal. Playful nodded. Mabel looked back at Soos.
"Sure!"
"Aw right!" He went closer to Playful. "Hey Playful, I'm Soos." Playful put out his flipper to him. Soos looked at it as if wondering what to do with it.
"Playful wants to shake your hand. Go ahead; shake it." Soos shook the dolphin's flipper with his hand. "How you do?" He looked at Mabel. "I never shook hands with a dolphin before." Next, Playful got ready to be petted. He did his noise. Soos petted him.
"Oooh; he feels wet and blubbery."
"Of course he does."
"I never petted a dolphin before ether." Playful suddenly did something unexpected; he rose up and kissed him on the cheek. Soos was shocked.
"And I especially never got kissed by a dolphin!"
"Well," Mabel put in. "There are firsts for everything. Playful really likes you."
"Yeah, he does. And I like him. This is a fine dolphin you have Mabel Pines." Mabel smiled.
"Why, thank you."
"Did Mr. Pines and Dipper see him yet?" Mabel shook her head.
"Nope!"
"Well, we should tell them; they'll love him!" Mabel shook her head again.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Not yet, anyways." Soos was confused.
"Why not?"
"She wants Playful to be a surprise." Candy explained to him.
"On second thought." Mabel said. "I hope Grunkle Stan and Dipper never finds out. Dippper will tell Stan and then I'll have to say goodbye to Playful and never see him again."
"Well, they'll see him eventually." Candy told Mabel. "What will do then?"
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Hopefully that'll never happen though." She rubbed Playful's nose. "I can never imagine giving him up." She turned to Soos. "Which is why you can't tell a living soul. Promise?" Soos held up his hand.
"I promise." He said. "I will never tell Mr. Pines, Dipper, or another living soul."
"Wait; you need to sign the contract!" Soos, Candy, and Grenda were confused.
"The, what?" Mabel went towards the Mystery Shack.
"The contract; now, follow me!" The three followed her inside. "You stay there Playful."
"As if he has a choice." Candy said.
"Huh?" Grenda asked and looked back at him. "Oh; I get it!"
"Hey Soos!" Dipper said to him upstairs. "Where're you going with the girls?"
"I'm going to sign a contract about keeping Mabel's d…" Mabel nudged Soos in the arm. "I mean, I'm just going to your and your sister's room to…to…." He looked at Dipper. "To do stuff. Sorry dude, you can't come." He and the girls went into the room. Dipper shrugged and went downstairs.
Once they were in Mabel and Dipper's room, Mabel grabbed a pen and the contract and showed them to Soos and her friends.
"This," She started. "Is the contract stating that you will not tell anyone about Playful. Waddles already signed it with his hoof print."
"Then let's sign it!" Grenda said. She reached for the pen and paper. "Give it to us so we can sign it." Mabel held back the pen and paper.
"Hold it; not so fast! First you got to put out your hand and recite after me one-on-one."
"How did Waddles recite this?" Grenda wanted to know. "He's a pig! He can't speak human."
"Waddles oinked it." She went to Candy. "Candy, you start. Repeat after me. I, insert name…."
"I, Candy Chiu." Candy recited.
"Hey!" Grenda interrupted. They all looked at her. "Mabel said 'insert your name', you can't say your actual name." They glared at her. "Sorry, continue."
"hereby solemnly swear," Mabel continued.
"Hereby solemnly swear," Candy continued back.
"to not tell a living soul about Mabel's dolphin."
"To not tell a living soul about Mabel's dolphin." Mabel smiled.
"Good!" Next, she went to Grenda. "Grenda, now it's your turn."
Both Grenda and Soos recited their oaths to Mabel.
"Perfect!" Mabel said, handing the pen and contract to Grenda. "Now all of you sign your names under Waddles' hoof print. Grenda signed her name with the pen and gave them to Candy.
"Okay," Mabel said when she had back the pen and paper after they all signed. "Now that's out of the way, we can have some fun time."
"YAY!" Grenda cheered. "Fun time!"
"Well," Soos said, heading for the door. "I'll be downstairs; you girls have fun!" He left, so did the girls. Mabel, Candy, and Grenda went outside back to play with Playful.
Mabel spent the whole time with Playful, even after her friends had left. Waddles tried to get Mabel to play with him, but she was just too busy with Playful. Even after dinner, when Waddles tried to let Mabel read to him Charlene's Web, she was already reading another book to Playful. Waddles trotted off sadly, leaving the book to where they'd left off.
Waddles sat under the full moon, looking melancholy. All he could think of was Mabel. Even the moon had Mabel's face when he looked up. He laid down on his hooves, looking gloomy.
"Well, well, well," Spoke up a voice that was familiar to the pig. Waddles looked up and gave out a frantic squeal; it was Pacifica Northwest! "If it isn't the pig that's supposed to be mine that loser Mabel stole from me." Waddles backed up and cowered in fear, hoofs over eyes. Pacifica bent down to him.
"Don't worry," She reassured him. "I won't hurt you. I could try taking you home with me, but you'd just run all the way back here, although why you want to live with Mabel is beyond me." She then was puzzled. "Why were you so sad earlier? Did that mean Mabel smack you? Well, don't worry, if you come home with me, I'll make sure that never happens." Waddles looked away from her, snorting. "Come on pig, you can tell me." Waddles snorted again and looked away. "Come on; I can make you feel better." Waddles turned away again. Pacifica had enough of this. "Fine! I don't know why I even bothered talking to a stupid pig anyways!" She went to where her friends were on the sidewalk.
"Come on girls." She told them. "Let's continue our walk." They continued their walk.
It wasn't long until Pacifica saw Mabel throwing a ball to someone in the bushes.
"Good job, Playful!" Mabel told the hidden Playful who tossed the ball back. Pacifica stopped and stopped her friends.
"Wait a minute." She said. She and her friends hid behind some trees. They all peeked out and saw that Mabel was playing with a dolphin. All of their jaws dropped.
"MABEL!" They heard Dipper call from inside. "It's time for bed!"
"Okay!" Mabel called back, catching the ball. She went to Playful and stroked his nose. "Well Playful, I'll see you tomorrow!" She left, waving. "Bye-bye!" Playful waved back with his dolphin sound.
"Mabel has a pet dolphin?" Pacifica asked herself. "First she steals my pig away from me and now she has a dolphin, no fair!" She then grinned evilly as an idea came to her mind. She rubbed her hands together. "Girls, we're getting the wagon. We're going to steal Mabel Pine's dolphin."
Waddles overheard everything. He squealed frantically and ran to warn Mabel when he stopped in his tracks. He then thought of something awful. What if Mabel doesn't love him anymore? He saw himself walking out the door of the mystery shack and on the other side was Mabel and Playful.
"Good-bye, Waddles!" Mabel said. "I no longer love you; I love Playful now!" Playful and Mabel hugged in front of him and Playful stuck out his tongue at him. Mabel closed the shack door. Waddles ran up to the window, squealing like crazy, but the door stayed shut.
Back in reality, Waddles narrowed his eyes. He just trotted in like everything was normal. He went up to Mabel's and Dipper's room and curled up in his pig bed by Mabel's bed. Tomorrow with Playful gone, it'll be him and his beloved Mabel again. With that happy thought in his head, he shut his eyes and went to sleep.
