(Gnome Forest)
A single mine cart, one that had Stan in it, appeared and the old-man-turned-matryoshka-doll comes out. He soon somehow opens himself and let's Soos come out, followed by Wendy, Mabel and finally Dipper. Everybody sighed in relief as they searched for the artifact, although Wendy looked a bit disturbed.
"It's a good thing we managed to nest inside each other and then inside Grunkle Stan before we fell from our mine carts, dude." remarked Soos. "And hey, one of your questions were answered, right Wendy?"
"One of my questions was answered, alright." remarked Wendy. "Now let's never do that again, okay?"
An intense, white light suddenly appeared and the team closed their eyes so they wouldn't go blind. Once the light became a little less bright Dipper, and eventually the rest of the team, opened their eyes to see the artifact they were looking for: the Nest of Matryoshka, which looked like a matryoshka doll. Valerie was nearby it, but the team didn't seem to notice her.
"We won't need to do that again, because there's the artifact!" replied Dipper with a tone of joy. Everybody smiled, and sighed in relief in Wendy's case, upon seeing the object and went jumping up and down towards it as fast as they could. "Is it me or was it far easier to get to the artifact than expected?"
And then hundreds of gnomes came out and ambushed the team, effectively surrounding them. They came from the bushes, they came from the trees, they even came from the ground! Though oddly enough, they didn't came out of the eerily similar gnome totem poles.
"Why must it always be the imagination of the hunters! Can't we have a moment when, oh I don't know, reaching the object is actually easier than expected and not just wait until the last minute to reveal it is not as easy as it looks like?"
"You won't take another step! We will defend the queen artifact no matter what!" as Jeff explained himself, Valerie touched the Nest of Matryoshka, getting surrounded by a white light in the process. "Before gnomes existed, there were living matryoshka dolls. These dolls were the progenitors of not only the gnomes, but many other creatures: gremlobins, mermaids, and many other things that have nothing to do with them! When only one of the dolls remained, he immortalized himself by becoming an inanimate figure and cloning himself, in case anything were to happen. The clones self-destructed until only the original one remained. The explosion is a last resort, and if the Nest of Matryoshka dies, so does the rest of the gnomes!"
"That sounds like a poorly thought, nonsensical or simply out of nowhere reason just to give the artifact that much value." remarked Dipper, raising an eyebrow.
"And you sound like a know-nothing know-it-all!" responded Jeff with a scowl. "Gnomes, attack!"
The gnomes leaped for the team as they got surrounded by a white light. They turned back into their original human form, much to the gnomes and the team's surprise. "Wait, how did this happen?" questioned Stan, earning a shrug from Wendy and Soos in response.
"We weren't even close to the Nest of Matryoshka." remarked Mabel.
Dipper looked at his hands for a moment before he saw the gnomes paid more attention to the Nest of Matryoshka, where an inanimate Valerie matryoshka doll rested near it. The Nest of Matryoshka then opened, somehow levitating the Valerie doll inside and closing itself once it went in, glowing with a bright light as it transformed into...more or less the same doll as before, but gnome-themed.
The gnomes rejoiced in response as some of them worked together to lift the doll, taking it deeper into the forest as Jeff spoke.
"With the lost component now back where it belongs, the original artifact has returned! For years, we have cried and weeped for the return, and now that she's back, we can return to praise her and admire her silent but wise nature! Rejoice, fellow gnomes!" Jeff turned to the team one last time before he left with the rest of the gnomes. "And since you didn't do anything, we still hate you!"
Once the gnomes were out of sight, the team stood still for a few minutes before Stan talked. "Well, that was weird." expressed a flabbergasted Stan.
The rest of the team nodded in agreement as they walked to the exit of the forest.
(The Mystery Shack)
The team opened the door and Stan sighed in relief after finally getting back home. "Ha! It's good to be back to the Mystery-"
The team were then met with hundreds of satisfied customers running for the door, with a good deal of team having at least one item the shack sold. None of the customers met the team, instead they simply said stuff like "this was an awesome visit!", "let's go here again sometime!" and other positive things.
By the time the costumers had stopped surrounded the team, they looked to see the Shack with only a handful of tourist trap items left, and a huge load of cash on the counter. Stan's reaction at seeing the cash is more confusion than joy as he wondered just what had happened. "Shack?"
However, they got their attention caught once they saw three more people walking to the door with a lot of mystery shack merchandise: Pacifica and her parents. "This was the best visit to the Mystery Shack I've ever had, and it's the first time as well!" remarked Pacifica's mother.
"Mr. Pines, you have outdone yourself by hiring that pig worker!" complimented Pacifica's father.
"Pig worker?" repeated Stan, raising his eyebrow in confusion. "But I don't-"
"Don't be so humble, Mr. Pines, we know you taught him everything! He was just so charismatic! Which now that I say that out loud doesn't sound like you at all." interrupted the woman. "Anyway, I bid farewell and thank you for hiring that pig in the first place!"
Pacifica, wearing a "I heart Mystery Shack" shirt and hat, walked to Mabel and stared at her for a moment.
"I once bought a matryoshka doll that looked like you, but I failed to recognize it as something based on you." told Pacifica to Mabel, who frowned with anger as the rich blonde walked away. "Granted, it was a lot fatter than you, so maybe that's why I didn't find the connection until long after it and the others were catapulted away. I wonder if they broke in pieces?"
Mabel glared at Pacifica as she and her parents left the establishment. "Trust me, breaking in pieces would have been far better than what happened instead." muttered Mabel, who changed to a worried tone once she remembered about the pig worker. "Wait, they mentioned a pig worker. You don't think they're talking about Waddles, do you Grunkle Stan?"
"Hey, here in Gravity Falls, anything can happen." replied Stan as he walked to the living room.
"Now I know how it feels to be a matryoshka doll, and I have felt their pain." stated Wendy, lightly touching her belly before she walked to the exit. "Well, I gotta go back home and relax a bit, I can handle a few ghosts but not being turned into a matryoshka doll. You don't mind, do you Mr. Pines?"
"Wendy, I'm pretty sure that everybody needs to relax after what happened today." replied Stan.
Wendy gave the man a smile and thumbs up before she left the shack for real, and then next to leave was Soos, who waved goodbye before crossing the door. The twins joined Stan as he arrived at the living room, and there they saw Waddles sitting on a pile of money.
"Hahaha, Waddles, dear friend!" exclaimed Stan as he walked to the pig. "I have big plans for you."
"Oh no, Stan's starting to "Stanering", which means he's actually considering making Waddles a mystery shack worker!" said Dipper with a worried tone.
"You're gonna make me a millionaire, pig! Or even better, a super millionaire!" Waddles followed Stan as the two continued to talk, with the old man interpreting Waddles's waddling as speech. "No, not the super hero, although I have to admit the show was a classic. Now come with me, we have a lot of stuff to plan and do!"
The duo left the living room and went upstairs, leaving the twins behind. "Stan's going to make a decision we will all regret, Isn't he?" asked Mabel with a worried tone.
"Unless we do something about it, I believe so." replied Dipper with a more deadpan tone.
The twins stood still for a moment before they shouted "Grunkle Stan" and they started to run upstairs, trying to catch up to the man and pig.
The End
