"Kids, get up!" Stan yells up the stairs at 9 o'clock sharp, as usual.

"We're comin stan, we're comin." A tired voice calls out, a voice soon revealed to be Dipper as he walks down the stairs, followed by Mabel and Sarah.

"Ugh... I'm so tired... why does grunkle stan do this to us?" Sarah wonders aloud.

"Because he needs us to work at the Shack, remember?" Mabel tells Sarah in a tired voice.

"Oh yeah..." Sarah says. Secretly Mabel and Dipper share a knowing wink.

They arrive downstairs to a dark room.

"What in the?" Sarah says, before being scared by everyone yelling "Surprise! Happy birthday Sarah!"

"You remembered! Yay!" Sarah yells, hugging Stan.

"How could we forget? You are the youngest after all! And guess what! We planned a special surprise for you!" Stan says to the now 9 year old girl.

"Close your eyes and follow the sound of my voice." Dipper says.

"Okay!" Sarah says happily.

~time skip!~

"We're almost there, keep going, oh watch out for that root, annnnddd open them!" Dipper says to Sarah, who opens her eyes to find that she, Dipper, mabel, and Wendy were in the forest.

"Huh? I don't get it..." Sarah mumbles.

"Monster hunt?" Dipper says to her.

"I get to go on a monster hunt?! COOL!" She says, hugging Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy. "Thanks guys! This is the best day ever!"

"Well, we're hunting for a monster that even I have no clue what it is, but it's been plaguing the town for a few weeks now and I intend to find it!" Dipper says, ruffling Sarah's short hair.

"Hey! Don't mess up my hair!" Sarah complains, shaking her hair until it is pointing to one side of her head and is out of her face.

"Now then, let's look at the evidence!" Dipper says, pulling a file out from his jacket and handing it to Sarah to read.

"Let's see here... stolen meat and vegetables... it's an omm- omni- omni-" Sarah tries to say.

"Omnivore?" Wendy says.

"Yeah that. Also, a strange shape has been seen in many a window, kinda like a monkey, but more... demon-like... huh... that one I don't understand, but okay... what else... hmm... nothing useful on this sheet... or this one... or this o- wait what?! It's a picture of it!" Sarah says, showing them an image in the article.

"Dude, that thing is creepy!" Wendy says.

"You can say that again." Sarah says.

"We need to fi-fi- AHHHH!" Dipper screams.

"What's wrong Dipper?" Mabel asks.

Dipper just points behind Sarah towards the creature behind her.

"It's the thing! RUN!" Dipper screams, pulling Sarah out of the way as it tries to grab her.

"No way am I running! Hidden blades!" Sarah says, stabbing the creature, making it reel back in pain. "Go! I got this! I have Flare still, remember?" She says, motioning towards the necklace she has hidden in her shirt.

"True... okay let's go Mabel, Wendy!" Dipper says, running off. The monster tries to follow, but Sarah stops it.

"Ohhhhh no ya don't!" She yells, hitting him with the blades again. At this point, the monster is just mad, and hits Sarah in the face. "Ohhhhh! You have no idea… what… you… just…. did!" She yelps as her necklace glows a bright red under her shirt. "RAH!" She shrieks as she goes full out Flare mode. "No one… and I mean NO ONE, messes with a Pines and gets away with it! RAHH!" She screams as she punches the monster directly in the face.

~Back with the others~

"Didya hear that? She just went full Flare on it. Ready with the cage, Soos?" Dipper says to his friend Jesus "Soos" Ramirez.

"All set, little bud!" Soos says, giving a thumbs up.

"SARAH! LURE THE MONSTER THIS WAY!" Dipper shouts towards the sound of the fight.

~Back with the monster~

"Come and get me, ya punk!" Flare shouts as she runs towards Dipper. The monster, of course, follows.

"Come on… come on…." Dipper says as he points to the cage. Flare jumps on top of the cage, and the monster, just walks right into it. Soos closes the door of the cage on it.

"Ok, calm down Sarah… calm down!" Mabel says as Flare climbs down. The necklace stops glowing and she goes back to normal.

"Okay, I'm calm. I'm calm…" Sarah says before collapsing on the ground.

"Andddd it happens again… She faints. Soos, get her into the pickup, please!" Dipper says, panic in his voice.

"Okay." Soos says, picking up the young girl and putting her into the pickup. "Everyone get in!"

~TIME SKIP~

Dipper walks into the shack behind Soos and immediately gets bombarded with questions from Stanley and Stanford.

"What HAPPENED?" is the first question from the two.

"Ummm… let's see… Monster found us, attacked us, Sarah told us to run, went full flare mode, led the monster into a cage, calmed down, fainted." Dipper tells them.

"Oh wow. You have got to be kidding me! On her birthday?! Wow." Stanford says, amazed.

"She's had worse birthdays, poindexter." Stanley says.

"Oh yeah? Name one!"
"Let's see here… her 5th birthday when she broke her arm, her 6th birthday when none of her friends showed up… need I go on?" Stanley lists off.

"Oh… wow. This kid's had it hard…" Ford says.

"Try living with her since she was born! She's a handful!" Dipper says, before walking up to the bedroom. "Soos, is Sarah awake yet?"

"See for yourself." Soos says, stepping to the side.

"Dipper… that you?" Sarah says groggily.

"Yeah, it is. You feeling better?" He says.

"Kinda…" She says softly.

"Okay, well you ready to open your presents?" Dipper asks.

"Yeah." is the reply.

"Well come on!" Soos says, going back downstairs. Sarah gets up, walks downstairs and sees a table full of gifts.
"Are these for me?!" She shouts with glee.

"Well duh!" Ford says.

"Here Sarah, this is from Mom and Dad." Dipper says, grabbing a gift from the top.

"Oooo!" Sarah says, grabbing it from him and unwrapping it.
"Cool! Another ducktective novel for my collection!" Sarah says, putting it to the side.

"Dude, this one's from me!" Soos says, grabbing a small gift from the side. Sarah takes it and unwraps it to reveal…
"Cool! Another pocket knife to replace the last 3 I broke! Thanks Soos!" Sarah says, hugging him.

"Hey, kid. This one's from me and the nerd hiding over there, because he doesn't wanna participate in the festivities." Stanley says, pointing at Stanford hiding in the corner of the room.
"Oh come on Grunkle Ford! Don't be a party pooper!" Sarah says, dragging him over.
"Ach stop it!" Ford says, trying to pull away from the strong 9 year old's grip. Sarah grabs the gift and unwraps it.

"Oh cool! A notebook!" Sarah says, looking at the way it looks like Journal 3.

"Hey Sarah, this one's from me!" Mabel says, grabbing a sticker covered present and giving it to her.
"Wow… that's… a lot of stickers…" Sarah says, before carefully unwrapping it. "You're kidding me! The tiger stuffed animal?! But you love this thing!"

"Well, I have so many stuffed animals, losing one isn't that bad." Mabel says.

"Here Sarah. This one is from me. I hope you like it... " Dipper says, grabbing the last gift off the table and giving it to her. Sarah unwraps it.

"Woah! Is this the real journal? or…" Sarah asks.

"No, I copied all the pages, turns out Stan's old copier can copy invisible ink. I made the cover, with Grunkle Ford's help. Do you like it?" Dipper says, pulling out a blacklight and shining it on one of the pages, revealing the invisible ink.

"I LOVE IT!" Sarah shouts, hugging Dipper. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome, Sarah. Happy Birthday." Dipper says.

"Who's ready for cake?" Mabel shouts, pulling out a cake from a box on the counter.

"I am!" Sarah shouts.

"Okay then, cake time!" Stanley says, grabbing a knife from the drawer, and cutting a piece for himself before being stopped by Mabel.
"Grunkle STAN! You know that the birthday kid gets the first piece!" Mabel says accusingly.

"Fine. Here ya go kid." Stan says, giving Sarah the piece of cake. She takes a bite of it.

"Oh yum! Chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream inside! Thanks!" Sarah says, taking another bite. After everyone has had cake, Sarah starts yawning, causing Dipper to say,

"Time for bed, the birthday girl is all tired out."

"I, *yawns* am not *yawns* tired out!" Sarah mumbles.
"You yawned twice in one sentence… You're tired out." Mabel points out.

"Ok fine, I'll go to *yawns* bed." Sarah says, getting up and walking up the stairs to the attic bedroom. Dipper and Mabel follow closely behind her. "Night Mabel, night Dipper.." Sarah says as she gets in bed.

"Night Sarah." they both say, getting in their beds.

"Night Mabel." Dipper says.

"Night Dipper." Mabel says. How long til Bill strikes us again? she wonders as she falls asleep.