The Legend of the Gobblewonker! (Part 2)
(Back with Ford…)
Strategy…
Even as a young scientist Ford knew it was important to be prepared for any eventuality. So once the four friends got their sunscreen along with some extra supplies they headed back to the docks to prepare for the trip.
And now Ford was pacing in front of his brother and friends trying to prepare them for their mission. "Ok think, what's the number one problem with most monster hunts?" Ford asked.
"The monster ends up not existing or being a fake," Heather said the obvious.
"True." Ford admitted. "But not the answer I'm looking for."
"You turn out to be a side character and die within the first five minutes' of the movie," Fiddleford guessed. "Wait! Am I a side character?"
"Well you must be." Stan said. "Cause Ford and I are like the main characters."
"How come you get to be the main characters?" Heather argued.
"Duh we're twins!" Stan argued. "Name one show or movie with twins, and they're not the main characters?"
"Rugrats." Fiddleford and Heather said in unison.
"Rug-what?" Stan asked.
"Guys, guys," Ford shook his head. "It's not any one of those things okay? It's camera trouble!"
"Okay?" Heather asked not looking sure.
"Here say Bigfoot shows up." Ford Said giving an example. "Stan, be Bigfoot?"
"Ok," Stan said, and stood like Bigfoot.
"There he is, Bigfoot!" Ford said with poor acting. "Uh oh, no camera! Oh, here's one! Oh no, no film! You see, you see what I'm getting at here?"
The others murmured in agreement.
"That's why I bought 21 disposable cameras," Ford said. "Two on my ankle, three in my jacket, four for each of you, three extras in this bag, and one camera pen in my shirt pocket."
"Wow that's a lot!" Stan said.
"Yep." Ford agreed. "I also brought my own Journal along with the Author's." He said. "Maybe we can get close enough to jot some things down."
"There's no way we'll miss this!" Stan exclaimed.
"Alright everyone, let's test our cameras out." Ford suggested.
Fiddleford took a picture of himself, but the sudden flash made him cry out in alarm and fling the camera into the water.
"See? This is exactly why we need backup cameras," Ford said. "We still have 20."
"Ah, bird!" Stan yelled, throwing a camera at a bird that flew past his head.
"Nineteen!" Ford said. "Ok guys, I repeat. Don't lose your cameras."
"Wait, lose the cameras?" Fiddleford asked.
"DON'T!" Ford shouted.
"Oops, I just threw two overboard," Fiddleford said, pointing to the floating cameras.
"Seventeen!" Ford said, irritated. "We still have seventeen-" he slammed his fist on a camera, breaking it, "sixteen. We have sixteen cameras."
"So what's the plan?" Stan asked, holding a bag over the edge of the boat. "Throw more cameras overboard?"
"I guess so." Fiddleford said.
"Are you guys both idiots?!" Heather shouted.
"NO!" Ford panicked, watching his brother, "No! Ok, Stan, Heather, you'll be lookout, Fiddleford will drive, and I'll be captain."
"Aw, how come you get to be captain?" Stan asked. "You're captain on our boat! What about me, huh? Stan-ley! Stan-ley!"
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Ford said.
"Can I be first mate?" Heather asked, raising her hand.
"Well, Stan is first mate on the Stan O' War," Ford said.
"How about co-captain then?" Heather asked.
"That's not a thing," Ford said.
"Aw, whoops," Heather replied, tossing a camera overboard. "Fifteen."
"Ok fine!" Ford said quickly. "You can be co-captain!"
"Can I be associate co-captain?" Fiddleford asked.
"As co-captain I authorize that request," Heather said.
"As first mate, I approve of it," Stan smiled.
"Well, as the original captain, our number one order of business is to lure that monster out with this," Ford gestured to a barrel of fish food.
"Permission to dare Fids to taste some?" Stan said.
"Granted," Ford said with a sly smile.
"Permission co-granted," Heather said.
"Permission first-granted," Stan smirked.
"Uh, permission not associate-co-granted?" Fiddleford said.
"Three to one, buddy," Ford said, looking sympathetic. "You got to do it."
"Aw, man," Fiddleford sighed and tasted some of the food, coughing at the taste. The others laughed.
(Back with Grauntie Mable…)
Grauntie Mable sighed as she watched her nephews through the window of the McGucket home. The boys and their friends had come back to shore to get some cameras and sunscreen, and now they seemed to be coming up with a game plan before heading back towards the island.
She was happy that they were having fun, but she wanted them to be having it with her, but the boys didn't want to be her knitting buddies, and that kind of hurt her feelings. "Traitors," She said, as she continued her work. She was knitting her latest sweater, its threads were made of several different blues. "I'll find my own kitting buddies." She looked around the main living room are where the knitting circle was being held.
All around her grandmothers, and great aunts where showing their grandchildren and nieces how to knit their own sweaters. It would appear no one inside was free to partner up with her. She looked back out the window and smiled, but maybe someone outside would!
She spots a couple in a boat. "Ah, there they are!" She shouted as she ran outside to greet them.
The man in the boat was looking at a ring in a box. He took a deep breath before turning around and facing the woman.
"Rosanna, now that we're alone, there's a burning question which my heart longs to ask of you," the man began.
"Oh, Reginald," Rosanna smiled.
"Hi!" Grauntie Mable pulled over in her own boat, which she had rented in order to get to them. "I'm Mabel! Wanna be kitting buddies?" She spotted the box behind Reginald's back. "OH MY GOSH ARE YOU GUYS GETTING MARRIED?! THAT'S SO PRECIOUS!"
The couple rowed away in their boat.
"What?" Grauntie Mable asked.
(Back with Ford…)
Meanwhile, now that the Mystery gang was done fooling around their boat, the S.S Nerdling was slowly approaching Scuttlebutt Island. There was a thick fog, and while Fiddleford was scooping fish food off the back of the boat, Ford was having trouble seeing where they were going.
Heather on the other hand thought it added to the mystery element, and started to talk about how the monster could be circling around them already and they would never know. "But I guess that's what makes things like monsters cool there's so much unknown." She said.
"Yeah it makes you want to go out and discover it." Ford said.
"Exactly!" Heather agreed. "Man I am so glad to have friends that finally get me."
Ford blushed. "Me too." He admitted.
"Hey guys watch this." Stan said.
Everyone turned to see Stan pretending that a pelican was a dummy.
"Hey! How you doing?" Stan asked the pelican, then adopted a new voice and moved the bird's big bill. "I'm doing awesome!"
"Stan, leave that thing alone," Ford said.
"Aw, I don't mind none!" Stan said as the pelican. "Hey look, I'm drinking water!" Stan pulled out a cup of water and began drinking it, then sung as the pelican. "Row, row, row your bo-a-at-" Suddenly he started coughing, causing the pelican to fly off.
"Aren't you supposed to be on lookout?" Ford asked.
"Look out!" Stan yelled and tossed a beach ball at Ford. The older twin growled and Stan laughed. "No really, I got it."
The boat lurched to a sudden stop, causing Heather, who had joined the twins at the rail, to fall over the edge head-first. Stan fell backwards into the ship, and Ford just held on to the rail.
"Look, we're here!" Stan said, stepping off the boat and helping Heather up. "I'm a lookout master! Fully Furnished Stan 'O War, here I come!"
"Here we come!" Ford corrected him.
"I wonder what I will get with my share," Heather said, looking around and taking pictures. "Maybe I fix up the old tree house."
"I'm going to get supplies for some new inventions I'm working on." Fiddleford said as he joined the others and they started walking into the forest on the island.
Ford led the group, holding a lantern in his hand. They passed by a sign that read 'Scuttlebutt Island' and Stan and Heather stopped by it.
"Look, check it out," Stan snickered and covered up the 'Scuttle' part of the sign. "Butt Island."
"Pfft, you dork," Heather shoved him playfully and laughed.
"Hey guys, why aren't you laughing?" Stan asked Ford and Fiddleford. "Are ya scared?"
"No, Ah just don' find much humor in it," Fiddleford said.
"Psh, yeah right," Ford rolled his eyes. "I'm not-"
"Boop," Heather poked his nose.
"Yeah you are!" Stan laughed.
Ford dropped the lantern as Heather kept poking him.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Ford said as he tried not to laugh. "Heather- could you- stop!"
Just then a loud growling noise was heard and Heather stopped poking Ford.
"D-did y'all hear that?" Fiddleford asked, looking around.
"What was it?" Heather asked.
"I don't know," Ford said. Suddenly a raccoon ran up and stole the lantern, carrying it off. "Oh no, our lantern!"
It grew dark around the group, and Ford squinted to see anything. "Ugh, I can't see a thing," He groaned.
"Guys, I-I'm not sure about this," Fiddleford said. "M-maybe this ain't worth it."
"Not worth it?" Ford repeated. "Fids, imagine what would happen if we got that picture!"
In Ford's imagination, he was on a talk show, being interviewed about the monster.
"Tonight we're here with adventure seeker Stanford Pines, who bravely photographed the elusive Gobblewonker," the interviewer said. "Tell me, Ford. What is the secret to your success?
"Well, I run away from nothing," Ford said, taking a sip of coffee. A picture of Grauntie Mabel appeared on screen, showing her knitting a sweater. "Nothing except for when I ran away from my Grauntie Mabel who I ditched in order to pursue that Gobblewonker."
"How right you were to do so," the interviewer said. "She looked like a real piece of work. You know, I don't usually do this, but I feel the need to give you an award."
He hung a medal around Ford's neck and they both smiled as a bunch of cameras went off. Suddenly, Stan burst through the wall in the Stan O' War.
"Charlie! Why won't you interview me?!" Stan yelled.
Charlie takes off running and Stan takes off after him.
"I'm in!" Ford smiled.
"Me too!" Stan agreed.
"Me three!" Heather nodded. "With that much money, my brother will never be able to pretend he's better than me again."
The three of them ran off, leaving Fiddleford alone.
"Ok y'all, I'm coming," Fiddleford said, following them as Stan and Heather began to beatbox and sing a song.
"My name is Stan!" Stan sung. "It rhymes with pan! It also rhymes with man! It also rhymes with... clan!"
"Dude, we should be writing this down," Heather said.
"Guys, guys, guys!" Ford interrupted, holding a camera. "Do you hear that?"
The growling noise from before echoed throughout the forest. A flock of birds scattered from where the noise was coming from.
"This is it! This is it!" Ford said excitedly. He and Stan began lightly punching each other in the arm. "Dude, dude, dude, dude!" They said together. They walked towards the sound, followed by Heather and finally Fiddleford, who had grabbed a nearby stick for use as a weapon.
Through the fog, the group saw a shadow that had a long neck. They hid behind a log, cameras at the ready.
"Everyone get your cameras ready," Ford ordered. They all turned their cameras on. "Ready? Go!"
Fiddleford jumped out from behind the log first, screaming and snapping pictures at random as they ran towards the shadow. The twins and Heather followed, Heather getting better quality pictures. When they reached the shadow, however, they saw that it was just an old boat wreck.
"Aw man!" Heather yelled and threw her camera at the ground, breaking it. "Oops... sorry, Ford..."
"It's ok..." Ford murmured, watching as the beavers chattered to each other. Two of them hugged and slapped their tails against the wooden wreck, causing another beaver to fall off into the water. "But what was that noise? I heard a monster noise!"
The noise sounded again, and the group looked towards the cause of it. A beaver chewed on a chainsaw, causing it to activate and make the sound.
"Cool, beaver with a chainsaw!" Stan said and took a picture.
"Wicked!" Heather smiled and took her own picture of the sight.
"Maybe that old woman was crazy after all," Ford sighed.
"She did use the word 'scrabdoodle'," Stan admitted.
"So what do we do now?" Fiddleford asked.
"I don't know." Ford admitted, and it was true. For the first time in his life Ford didn't have an answer.
And that fact scared him… a lot.
-To Be Continued