Disclaimers: I do not own Gravity Falls or the Relativity Falls AU idea.
The Time Traveler's Goat (Part 2)
Ford shook his head to himself in disbelief as he found himself immediately ran over to the quiz show booth. Here he was probably the first twelve year old ever to time travel and he was going to use it to win a goat. Suddenly he wonders what will happen if he runs into himself; will time cease to exist. He decided to keep vigilant just in case, but to his surprise he didn't see another version of himself.
'Maybe the universe can only handle one of each person no matter what time they're in.' he thought to himself. He climbed up in a chair between two older boys.
The man who ran the booth chuckled just as he had done before. "Hey! I'm sorry, kid, but this might be a bit advanced for you. If you want, there's a kid's booth over that way." He pointed to a booth a few feet away. A few kids, ranging from eight to twelve, were at a more vibrant and cartoony booth.
Ford shook his head. "I'm mature enough!" He put down a ticket. "And I've got a ticket!"
"Okay, kid," the man replied with a shrug and took the ticket. "Suit yourself." He said as Fids came to stand in the chair with Ford.
"What say you Kid?" The man asked him.
Fids smiled. "No I think I'll let my friend show you how it's done." He gave Ford an encouraging pat on the back. "Knock 'em dead."
Ford smiled as he decided that time traveling to win a goat was worth it after all.
"Now, first round is over history!" The man said as the red button on the table in front of each person glowed. "When was World War I? A. April, 1940. B. August 1920, C. July 1937, D. June 1914."
Ford immediately pressed the button before the others could. "D!" he piped up. "June of 1914."
The man stared at him for a second and then nodded. "Yes, actually. Next question!"
Meanwhile, Stan had caught up with Buddy and the girls just in time.
"Oh man!" Heather said tapping Susan and pointed.
Susan looked up to a shelf of purple and pink stuffed bears. And although they were round and soft like a teddy bear, they had little wings, duck feet, and duck bills. Below it was a booth with multiple three-milk-glass-bottle stands. "Whoa! I don't know if it's a duck or a panda, but I want one!"
"I can get it," Stan offered and then presented a ticket to the carnie. "One ball, please!"
"You only get one chance," the carnie stated.
Stan smirked and looked at the stack of bottles. "That's just what you think," he muttered and then took a deep breath. "One panda-duck coming right up!" His ball crashed into the bottles, knocking them all over. The ball hit the backboard and smacked Susan in the face…AGAIN!
"Agk! My eye!" She held a hand to her left eye, grimacing in pain.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!"Buddy asked her.
"Wait, what?" Stan was stunned it did not just happen again!
Susan, wincing, lifted her hand from her bruised eye. "Ugh. Is it that bad?"
"Stan go get some ice hurry!" Heather instructed looking over their friend.
"That's so weird," Stan breathed he slowly backed away as Cooper came to the rescue yet again!
Moments later Ford came running up with Gompers. "Stan look I won again!" he exclaimed. His face fell as he noticed his brother looked even grimmer than before. "What happened?"
"The same thing!" Stan shouted. "The same exact thing!"
"Did you follow the script?" Ford asked.
"No I went completely off script." Stan said. "And the exact same thing happened twice," Stan said with a confused huff. "It's sort of freaky."
"Maybe's a time-curse or something," Ford offered. "What do you think?" Gompers baaed and jumped onto his lap. Ford laughed and hugged him.
Stan shook his head. "Nope! Nope, it can't be like that. I just need to try a third time! Third time's a charm!"
Ford let go of Gompers and got up. Gompers bounced about the ground around him.
"How hard could it be?" Ford agreed. "But this time maybe let someone else go before you." He advised. "Maybe that will give you a reset."
"Great idea!" Stan exclaimed. Thanks Bro." he said and pulled back the tape, the two vanished in a spark of light and reappeared.
"It's 12 o'clock! The dunk tank is now open!" Grauntie Mabel called through the megaphone. The crowd shuttered and put their hands over their ears as the megaphone screeched. Grauntie Mabel continued, "Step right up and dunk me folks!"
Stan raced over to their friends without a moment to lose.
"I don't know if it's a duck or a panda, but I want one!" Susan was saying.
"Hey Buddy why don't you go First?' Stan offered.
"Sure." Buddy said and took the ball from the Carnie. He throws it, but to Stan's horror and relief it doesn't hit Susan. Instead he manages to knock one pin down. He hands another ball to Stan. "Here maybe you'll have better luck.
Stan took the ball hopefully, maybe Ford was right, and maybe not going first had broken the time curse. He took the ball and placed in his left hand this time, just to be sure. Then he raised his arm, and chucked the ball as hard as he could. he ball ricochet off the board and hit Susan in the eye. AGAIN!
"Agk! My eye!" She held a hand to her left eye, grimacing in pain.
"Seriously!" Stan screamed and ran away.
Ford in the meantime had ran straight up to the Quiz booth guy and shouted all the answers to all the questions before he could even ask them.
"That's…That's right." The guy said stunned. "What are you some kind of Wizard?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Ford answered and whistled to Gompers. "Come on Boy."
Gompers raced over to him and Ford picked him up out of the pen.
Fids stared at him like he had grown a third eye.
Ford however could care less because moments later Stan was running at him and the look on his face told him he was not happy. "Seriously?" he asked.
"I went after Buddy and it still happened." Stan yelled.
"And I answered all the questions at once and this still happened." He held up Gompers proudly.
"Great it is a time curse!" Stan shouted.
"I don't know." Ford said. "This demands another due over." He said.
"Why?" Stan asked.
"For science." Ford answered. "I must know. I mean think about it if this time curse thing is real than that means time really is set in stone. Nothing you do matters, and I just won't accept that!"
"Okay." Stan said trying to sound excited. "Any advice?"
"Let Heather go first." Ford advised. "Maybe she'll win and you'll never have to worry about hitting Susan."
"Okay." Stan decided. "But this time better be different!" And with that he pulled the measuring tape and the boys started over again!
Ford ran straight up to the Quiz booth guy and shouted all the answers to all the questions before he could even ask them and then called for Gompers who jumped into his arms instantly.
Everyone just stared at him in disbelief.
Ford smiled and decided to have a little fun by adding. "And yes I am a wizard!" he walked off then quiet proud of himself.
The guy who ran the quiz booth picked up a pitch fork and said. "Well time to recruit the angry mob."
Stan's luck however still showed no signs of changing. He left Heather go first, and She won! However in his excitement for breaking the curse Stan had bumped into another player causing their ball to be thrown off course and hit Susan smack in the face.
"Stan!" Heather exclaimed dropping her stuff animal in dismay.
Stan was already running towards his brother.
"What happened?" Ford asked as he came up.
"Heather won!" Stan explained almost out of breath. "But the time curse still happened. I knocked this guy and his ball hit Susan."
"Weird." Ford said. "I went completely off script, even admitted to being a wizard and nothing-" he stopped mid-sentence as an angry mob began running towards him.
"There he is, the Wizard!" they screamed.
"You were saying?" Stan asked half-jokingly.
"Give me that!" Ford snatched up the tape measure and pulled it. "This time we get it right." He said. And in seconds they were gone again leaving the mob frozen in confusion.
The twins traveled back in time several more times and Stan tried everything he could to make things different. He tried backing up, moving Susan, aiming in a different place, and even adjusting how hard he threw it. Once, he even allowed Susan to go first. Susan shook her head, "Nah, you first, I believe in you!"
And how could he say no to that?
That time, the ball hit the net of baseballs above them, causing the bag to tear and the balls to rain down on Susan.
Ford continued to win his goat and spent the fair with Gompers, leash in his pocket. Gompers didn't need a leash, not when he had a new best friend to follow around. Once, in a photo booth, Ford held up Gompers. The next few pictures it took was Gompers messing with Ford's hair, who'd strike a pose. Gompers seemed to love eating clothes, though, so Ford had to carry him around a lot of places to keep from getting scolded. It was strange he had never been attached to animals before, but Gompers seemed to fill a void that he never knew existed inside of him.
For once in his life it wasn't Him and Stan, no it was Ford and Gompers!
Once, he presented Gompers to Mabel, who gave him a thumbs up.
Eventually, Ford and Stan met up by a popcorn machine. Ford sat down and ate a bag of jelly beans. Gompers jumped up and down from the ground, to a box, and in Ford's lap. He'd get a jelly bean on occasion. When Ford came across a deformed jelly bean, he ooh'd and put it in his pocket.
Stan, on the other hand, paced about. "Ugh! I don't get it! I've tried everything! I've counted everything! Why isn't this working?!"
Ford shrugged and ate a green one. "I don't know, Stan. It's probably fate. You shouldn't mess around with it."
"Easy for you to say!" Stan huffed. "You get to go off and get Gompers every… time…" Stan's eyes grew round. "Whoa! Wait! What if you helped me?"
"Help you what?" Ford prompted.
"Win the game without hurting Susan!" Stan exclaimed. "Come on. Please?"
"You think by adding a new variable to the equation you'll get a new outcome?" Ford asked.
"Uh yeah sure." Stan said looking clueless.
"Okay, but only because I'm curious on weather this will work." He said then waved to Gompers. "See you in a bit." He promised.
"Thanks!" Stan said as he unrolled the time tape and let go.
Moments later they were back to the beginning once more where they wasted no time getting to their places.
"I don't know if it's a duck or a panda, but I want one!" Susan said.
Stan took his usual stand by Susan in front of the ball throw stand. He looked around and weighed the ball in his hand.
"Dude?" Buddy prompted. "Are you going to go?"
Stan nodded. "Yeah, man. A-one and a-two and a-" He threw the ball. However, he didn't throw it at the game. He threw it up into the air.
"Aw tough luck," Buddy commented.
"Wait for it." Stan held up a hand. The ball hit the flag at the top of the booth, rolled down the tent, and flew off the ramp it made. It hit the rotating corn-dog sign and then the roof of the Shack. It rolled down into the gutter. Ford pulled up the gutter so that the ball flew off it. It hit the dunk tank handle and bounced off. Grauntie Mabel laughed in victory. Then it soared through Copper's freezie cone and into the booth. It knocked over the bottles, hit the back board, and then knocked over the other set of bottles beside theirs.
"Dude you one two games at once!" Heather praised.
"Does that mean we get two prizes?" Susan asked the Carnie hopefully.
"Sure." The carnie said, still looking in disbelief. "Here's your creatures of indeterminate species." The man held out the animals for Stan who gave one to Heather and then Susan.
"Wow thanks Stan." Heather said. Inspected the giant plushie.
"That was so amazing." Susan praised.
"How'd you do that?" Buddy asked.
"Lucky shot." Stan said and held out his hand. The ball landed on it.
Cooper, now freezie cone in hand, strolled over to them. "Oh! Hey-."
"Hey, Cooper Look what Stan got us!" Heather held out her plushie. "Cool, right?"
Stan smiled and leaned to the side so that he could see Cooper give him a smug wish-you-were-me look. Cooper huffed and pulled his hoodie over her head. "Yeah, well, whatever. You can't even tell what species it is." he stalked away in a huff.
"Wow. What's her problem?" Heather cocked his head to the side and lowered the toy.
"Looks like we came with the right guy." Susan praised.
Stan shrugged, though his smile was not lost. He looked back and gave Ford a thumb up.
Ford gave him the thumbs up too and strolled over to the quiz game. "Welp! Time to win my goat!" He started off and then gasped in surprise.
"He's all yours!" The carnie in charge of the kid's quiz handed a baby goat with a leash to Preston. He took the one-horned baby goat and looked over it. " Yours! Forever!"
Preston set him down and walked off. Gompers bleated and struggled with his leash. Preston tugged on him and had to drag the baby goat. Gompers hated his leash! Ford could only watch in horror as Preston dragged away the miserable little thing. Ford turned and ran off to find his brother.
Stan waved good-bye to the girls a few yards away from the ball-throw. They had decided to go put their plushies inside the shack so they wouldn't get ruined. Buddy followed them so he could use the phone to check in with his granddad for a ride home.
Ford raced to his side, gasping heavily as the sudden sprint took away his breath. "Stan!"
Stan jumped and turned around. "Wha- Ford! What's wrong?"
"Preston saw the flier!" Ford pointed back to the pen of goats. "He took Gompers before I could! He took Gompers!"
Stan shuffled his feet. "Oh, man. I'm sorry, Ford."
Ford took a deep breath. "Hey, it's alright. We can just go back in time and–"
Stan took a step back and held the time tape out of reach. "Whoa, whoa! Wait! We can't do that! Look, I've tried this a dozen times. Who knows if I will ever get to win that again?"
Ford stared at him. "Stan, Gompers is my goat! He's my first ever pet!" He looked back at the pen morosely and then sighed. "But, I guess you're right. Dad probably won't let me have a goat anyway."
"Why don't you get another one?" Stan prompted. "I mean, there're plenty of goats over there, right?"
Ford nodded. "Yeah, there is." He looked down at his pocket. A little strip of photos he'd taken with Gompers was in it. He shrugged, stuffed it deeper into his pocket, and walked off into the fair.
Stan watched him go for a few feet. "Ford! Do you want some funnel cake?"
Ford stopped and shuffled his feet. "Um… okay."
Stan led him around to a funnel cake stand and ordered one for them to share. Despite being given a deep fried, sugar-covered treat, Ford still didn't seem too happy. However, he took a deep breath and got rid of his frown, anyway
When they got to a table to eat it, they found Preston sitting a few feet away. Gompers, tied down to the bench, complained loudly. "Shut up!" Preston hissed at him.
Ford turned to his brother. "We can't let this happen! He's miserable!"
"He's a goat," Stan pointed. "They eat tin cans for Pete's sake! He'll be fine."
Ford took the tape away from him and ran off. "No, he won't!"
"Ford!" Stan yelled and ran after him.
Ford, still running, unrolled some of the tape. Stan tackled him, knocking them both to the ground. The dispenser part got caught in one of the "Tunnel of Love and Corndogs" corndog cart. The twins watched as the tape got longer and longer and longer until the dispenser got loose and snapped back to them.
And just like that, they were gone in a spark of light.
Author's Notes: Tune in next week to find out what happens next! Thanks again for reading and please review!
Yours Truly, RoxieDivine ;)