Another week, another chapter. I've noticed that no one has answered the poll in regards to whether or not I should condense the chapters of each arc together after the arc is complete, so here's a reminder. See you guys next week.

Chapter 7: Time Traveler Trapped? Part 3

Dipper and Wendy stared at the scene in front of them in surprise. Mabel was surrounded by a bunch of little men in red caps and overalls who were apparently trying to kidnap her as another little man on a stump directed them how to do it correctly.

"Are those Dwarves?" Wendy asked Dipper.

"Who dares to mistake the mighty Gnomes for those underground blowhards?" the Gnome on the stump declared looking around for transgressor, but somehow missing the pair behind him. Dipper pulled out the journal from his vest.

"Huh, Gnomes, I was way off." – he began flipping through the journal to the Gnome entry. – "Gnomes, little men of the Gravity Falls forest; weaknesses, unknown."

Wendy and Dipper looked up from the journal to see that Mabel had been tied to the ground during his reading of the journal entry. Dipper stepped forward, approaching the Gnome on the stump. "Hey, hey, let go of my sister."

The Gnome on the stump turned and looked up at Dipper, "Oh, hey there. Look, this is all just a big misunderstanding. Your sister's not in danger, she's just marrying all one thousand of us and becoming our gnome queen for all eternity."

"You guys are butt faces." Mabel cried from her position on the ground. Dipper took the shovel in his hand, threatening the Gnome.

"Give me back my sister now, or else." Before the Gnome could respond, a goofy looking gnome by Mabel spoke up.

"Shmebulock" he cried, pointing past Dipper to Wendy. The Gnome looked from the goofy gnome to Wendy. For a brief instant, Wendy could swear that the Gnome's eyes flashed through all the colors of the rainbow before settling on a black color that seemed to absorb all light. A grim look came over the Gnome's face.

"So, one of the Soulless finally appears, why are you here Soulless one; the gnomes have no quarrel with your kind." The Gnome inquired. Dipper and Mabel stared at the Gnome, both flabbergasted by the gnome's declaration.

"Hey, that's not very nice, just because someone has red hair doesn't make them soulless. Though we've seen a few that could make a case for it" Dipper retorted, murmuring the last part to himself.

The Gnome frowned, "Stay out of this boy, do not involve yourself in matters far beyond your comprehension."

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I think you have the wrong girl. I'm pretty certain I still have my own soul." Wendy commented.

"Denying your nature?" – the Gnome paused, considering Wendy's statement. He sighed. – "I see, I did not want it to come to this. Gnomes of the forest, attack!"

Wendy leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a gnome that fell from the branches above her, kicking the short creature to the other side of the clearing. She yelped as she saw a horde of gnomes began to crawl out of the woods, preparing themselves to attack her. She grabbed the bat out of the golf-cart, thankful that one of Soos's harebrained ideas actually paid off, swinging it at the gnomes as they began to attack in earnest.

Wendy vaguely noticed that Dipper had rushed past the statuesque Gnome to where Mabel lay on the ground, freeing the young girl from her bonds. Wendy was busy fighting off gnomes who were making serious attempts to kill her. She barely pulled one gnome off of her neck before its teeth sank too deep into her flesh. The fight for her life completely consumed her attention as she tried to keep the gnomes at bay, so it was a complete surprise when Dipper backed the golf-cart into her, causing Wendy to tumble into the storage area behind the seats before he took off at top speed away from the gnomes. Wendy shivered as she observed the Gnome's unblinking stare as he watched them flee.

After they cleared the crest of the hill, Dipper stopped the cart.

"Dipper, we have to keep going, we can't let them catch up to us." Mabel protested their stop. Dipper laughed in response.

"I don't think so Mabel, did you see their little legs? They won't be catching up any time soon." – He retorted, wiggling his fingers in mimicry of the gnome's short legs. He turned to Wendy, who was busy tearing strips off of her flannel shirt to bind the wounds that the gnomes had inflicted. – "You okay Wendy?"

Wendy nodded as she pressed a swatch of cloth against her neck wound, trying to stem the blood flow. "I'll be fine when we get back to the Shack."

Wendy absently swatted Mabel's hand away when she began to stroke Wendy's arm, cooing at the softness. Any further conversation stopped as the golf-cart shook with the sound of something heavy thumping against the ground. When a giant gnome-esque creature came over the crest with a great roar, the three of them started to panic.

"Go, Go, Go!" Wendy and Mabel ordered as Dipper tried to change gears. The cart jumped forward, barely escaping the gnome giant's fist as it came down. The golf-cart struggled to keep ahead of the Gnome Giant as they raced through the forest, barely avoiding the giant's attempts to squash them. As Wendy used the bat she held to keep the gnomes that were thrown at the cart from gaining purchase she briefly considered leaping off the cart, as it would probably allow the cart to escape the Gnome Giant, since the gnomes appeared to be after her, but there was no guarantee that it would not continue after the twins. No, their only hope was to get to the Shack, and hopefully Stan would have something there to help.

Then the Gnome Giant threw a tree at them.

Wendy blearily crawled out of the crash that had resulted from avoiding the tree that had been thrown at them. Dipper and Mabel had already crawled out of wreckage, and were standing defiantly before the Gnome Giant.

Wendy stumbled upright as Dipper tossed his shovel javelin style at the creature, only for his weapon to be swatted aside by the Gnome Giant.

"Your defense of the Soulless one is admirable, boy, but futile. Stand aside, allow us to fulfill our task, and you shall be spared." The gnome giant growled. Now that it was standing still, Wendy was able to see that it wasn't a giant that looked like a gnome, but rather a giant made up of hundreds of gnomes. Dipper refused to stand aside.

"Why do you keep calling her that? What has she done to you?" Dipper yelled at the gnomes. The gnomes sneered.

"She is the Soulless one, the Whore of Gravity Falls, marked by The Enigma, destined to help bring about the destruction of the world. She will destroy your very soul when she fulfills her task. Stand aside boy, so that we might prevent this future calamity." A thousand voices growled. Dipper shook his head.

"That sounds like a bunch of bologna." Dipper countered.

"If you won't stand aside, then you must die." The gnome giant sneered as it raised a giant fist to squash Dipper and Mabel. It brought down its fist, and the twins dived out of the way. Dipper, in his attempt to avoid the gnome's attack, dropped his journal.

"Oh, no. The journal!" Dipper cried as he darted forward, scooping his journal back up. Dipper did not see the Gnome Giant's fist coming at him from behind. But Wendy did.

Wendy was weightless, flying through the air. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice questioned why she had pushed Dipper aside, but she knew why. Even if this particular Dipper never became the best friend that hers was, she'd put Dipper and Mabel first, every time.

Then she started hitting branches, causing her to tumble out of control before finally slamming into a tree.