Thanks everyone, for being so patient in waiting...except that one guy who kept pestering me, you know who you are. Anyways, everyone knows how life works, especially how it gets in the way of things. Anyways, back to the story, hopefully the next update will not take so long.
Chapter 12: Beware the Gobblewonker Part 3
Wendy did not know what had made the sound, but she was not going to stick around to find out. Only problem was, the heavy fog made it impossible to tell which direction that the trio had come from.
"You guys remember which way we came from?" she asked Dipper and Mabel. The twins shook their head; they were as lost as she was.
"Right…this way then." Wendy stated as she pointed in a random direction. The trio then darted off, hoping that they had chosen correctly.
The fishing reel whizzed as Soos cast his reel contentedly. Almost everything that he ever wanted had come together on this day; a day alone with Mr. Pines, just the two of them doing father and son activities together. The only way it could be made better was if they were to become a real father and son pair. Soos could imagine it now.
The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over all of Gravity Falls. It was just Soos and Stan, staring out as that big orange ball in sky fell beyond the horizon. Stan turned to his employee of 17 years.
"Soos, there's something I gotta tell ya." Stan started, a teary gleam in his eye. Soos stared at him with excitement.
"Yes, Mr. Pines?" Stan gave a ragged gasp, bringing his hand to his mouth. He then opened his mouth to speak.
"Soos, wake up." Soos looked at his boss in confusion.
"What?"
"Soos, if you don't wake up I'm going to ban you from company breakfast for a week."
Soos blinked, his dream fading, the reality of his glaring boss sitting next to him taking over.
"Huh, what?" Soos stated.
"Geez, did you hit your head when we rolling around on the boat?" Mr. Pines asked.
"I'm fine Mr. Pines, just thinking about what a nice day it is." Soos replied.
"Hmm, I guess it is a nice day for fishing. I wonder what's taking those three so long." Stan stated, recasting his own rod.
"If I had known I was going to be running today, I would have worn something other than my boots." Wendy gasped as the trio went crashing through the underbrush. Wendy was in the lead so that she would take the brunt of the branches as they ran through them. Dipper and Mabel were close behind her, panting from exertion as they tried to flee the great beast following them. Wendy knew that the three of them couldn't keep running forever, she herself was just about at her limit. They needed a place to hide from the Gobblewonker, if at least for a little while. Then she saw a large tree lying on its side, uprooted from some unknown cause. Without speaking, Wendy grabbed the twins and threw them behind the tree before diving behind it herself. Seconds after they hid, she saw a monstrous shape slither through the fog, continuing in the direction that they had been heading.
The trio gave a collective sigh of relief as they realized that the ploy had worked.
"So what now?" – Dipper whispered as he fanned his sweaty face with his cap. – "I mean, we can't just head back to the boat, the Gobblewonker might follow us there."
"Yeah, it might decide to finish the job on Gilly." Mabel stated lowly, concerned over the fate of the fish.
"Mabel, would you stop worrying about the fish." Dipper hissed. "In case you haven't noticed that fish is the reason we're running through the woods from what appears to be the Loch Ness monster's cousin."
"A cousin, I was thinking it was probably more of a sibling." Mabel pondered.
"The relationship of the Gobblewonker and the Loch Ness Monster isn't what we should be focusing on. We need to figure out how we're going to escape." Wendy interrupted, if she hadn't intervened, the two probably would have devolved into an argument that would have drawn the attention of the very creature they were hiding from. It had happened before.
"Well, it's territorial over food right, kinda like you Dipper." Mabel started, ignoring Dipper's scowl, "So why don't we just find a different fish to feed it?"
Wendy pondered Mabel's statement for a moment. "You know, that's not a bad idea at all."
"Except we don't have any fishing gear." Dipper retorted. Wendy smirked.
"You forget Dipper, you're looking at Gravity Falls best noodler." - Wendy stated, flexing her bicep. Dipper and Mabel looked at her in confusion. – "It means I'm the best bare-handed fisherman in the town."
"Oh." The twins replied, still not getting it. Wendy gave a sigh of frustration.
"Look, just get me to a body of water with fish in it, and I'll get something."
"This way then, I can smell the water!" Mabel stated, taking off into the fog. Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"We're on an island, Mabel, we're surrounded by water." He said to no one before following his sister, Wendy followed the two before she lost track of them.
Whether it was because Mabel's nose had actually led them to water, or the fact that they were on an island, the trio quickly reached the lake. The edge of the island that they were at was barren of any identifying features, the water was shallow, gently lapping at the overhang they were on. Fortunately, Wendy could see some fish floundering around, nibbling at the algae and other plant life.
"So, what now, oh great maker of noodles?" Mabel asked. Wendy smirked at the younger girl.
"Oh, you mock me now, but you won't when you see these magic hands at work." Wendy answered. "Though I kinda wished I had worn my swimsuit today."
"Why, does it make noodling easier?" Dipper inquired.
"With my pale skin? Not really, it actually makes it harder, especially in clear water like this," Wendy explained, "it's just that wet denim chafes, and I don't want to spend the next few days walking like a cowboy."
"You could always take your pants off," Mabel leered, "I won't mind."
Wendy shook her head, "Mabel, one of these days we're going to have a talk about what is appropriate workplace banter."
"But we're not in the workplace." Mabel pointed out.
"Touché." Wendy replied as she removed her boots, socks, and her flannel shirt. While she set her footwear next to the twins, she wrapped her flannel shirt loosely around her arm until just her index finger was uncovered. She then gently dropped into the water, bringing her arm under the water before going motionless; the only movement observed was the gently wiggling of her finger. The twins were silent as they observed her, but they could only sit still for so long before becoming bored.
"Hey, Wendy, is noodling a catch-all term for bare-handed fishing, or only certain types of bare-handed fishing?" Dipper asked from the shore. Mabel appeared to be taking a nap.
"Hmm, it's a term used for all the different styles of bare-handed fishing." Wendy replied, concentrating on a trout that was lazily making its way towards her.
"What kind of styles are there?"
"Well, there's my dad's method, which is waiting until a fish starts to swim by before snatching it out of the water. There's the method that I'm using right now, which is where the fisherman draws in the fish with their finger mimicking a worm. Then there's my preferred method, catfisting." Wendy replied. Mabel leapt up at this.
"By day, Wendy Corduroy is a lazy employee at the unassuming Mystery Shack, but by night…she turns into Meow Ninja, practitioner of the Cat Fist and defender of homeless kittens! Wacha!" Mabel started swinging her fists in mock karate moves while making Kung Fu noises. Wendy couldn't keep herself from giggling, then groaning as she realized that her laughter had scared the trout off. She looked back to the twins to tell them that they would have to wait a little while longer, but froze as she thought she saw movement in the woods beyond them.
"Guys." She hissed, trying to get their attention. The two ignored her, focused on Mabel's impromptu Kung Fu act. The movement was turning into a defined shadow, large and towering over them. She called to them again, this time getting their attention. They looked to her and turned pale.
"Behind you!" the two parties called out, pointing to behind the other. Wendy turned, and saw the Gobblewonker staring down at her. It opened its maw and roared, causing her to fall back into shallow water. She scrabbled backwards, trying to get away from the creature. She screamed as the Gobblewonker lunged forward, taking her arm into its mouth. It pulled back, trying to pick her up, but the shirt wrapped around her arm slid off, freeing her from its grasp. She turned and scrambled up the bank, vaguely noticing that there was another Gobblewonker on the shore, advancing out of the fog, but completely ignoring the twins. Its focus was on its waterborne counterpart. Wendy did not question her good fortune, and simply grabbed Dipper and Mabel as she ran back into the woods, away from the monsters. There was a roar, followed by the sound of two bodies coming together in a thunderous crash as the two Gobblewonkers fight for dominance echoed through the forest after the trio as they fled.
Wendy did not know how long they ran, but she kept the trio moving until they could no longer hear the Gobblewonkers fighting. It was only then that she allowed them to stop in small clearing. Mabel simply flopped to the forest floor, groaning from all of the running that they had done. Dipper claimed a stump to sit on as he tucked his head between his legs, before he apparently started to do breathing exercises of some sort. Wendy eased herself to the ground, wincing as her wet jeans slid over what was undoubtedly chafed skin.
"You guys okay?" Wendy asked, peering into the fog. She did not want to get caught off-guard again, she didn't think that she could flee from the Gobblewonker again, not with her bare feet and chafed legs. Dipper and Mabel gave groans of some sort; Wendy opted to assume that the twins were okay physically since they had the ability to groan. Time passed in silence as the group recuperated from their ordeal. Dipper eventually stopped his breathing exercises and started looking through the journal, seeking some way that they could get out of the mess they were in. Mabel eventually broke the silence.
"This is the worst Family Fun Day ever." Mabel cried from her spot "Going to the jail would've been better than this."
"At least it's almost over" Wendy lied. She wasn't even sure what time it was, not to mention whether or not they would be able to get off the island. Mabel looked up from her place on the ground.
"Are you lying to us to make us feel better?" Wendy opted not to answer Mabel's question, instead, she stood up, deciding that the best thing to do was to make their way back to the boat and escape. She was counting on the fight between the Gobblewonkers being debilitating enough that the winner would be too tired to chase after them when they made their escape from Scuttlebutt Island.
"Let's get going guys, we're not going to get out of here unless we start moving."
"Do we even know where we're going?" Dipper asked as he stood. Mabel was a little slower to stand, reluctant to get moving. Wendy shook her head.
"Not really, but we won't go the way that we came, so we're better off than before. So who wants to pick the direction." She asked. Dipper pointed left of the way that they had arrived.
"I think we should head that direction. According to the map in the journal, there's two major landmarks on the island. The beach, and some sort of shipwreck that the beavers here live out of. If we head that way, there's a fairly decent chance that we'll find the beach. If we find the beavers, then we just have to turn around and head straight to the other side of the island to find the beach. Then we can get out of here."
"That's the best news I've heard all day." Wendy declared.
"We still don't have the log Grunkle Stan sent us out for." Mabel stated. Wendy chewed on the inside of her cheek as she considered it. As she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, she came to a realization. Her feet didn't hurt, well, with the exception of the natural fatigue from running. But her feet were fine otherwise. In a wooded area, there were always branches, twigs, and other fallen debris that littered the forest floor. Running barefoot should have torn her feet up, but because the only ground cover was grass, her feet felt fine.
"I don't think we're going to find anything useable." Wendy replied.
"We shouldn't give up, we might find something on the way back." Dipper answered.
"Then we would've found something by now. Normally there would be stuff everywhere, and considering that nobody's been on this island for some time, this whole island should be one ember away from lighting up like a tinderbox; but there's nothing here." Wendy pointed out.
"Then we should probably get going, and just try to push the boat out without the lever. If there's something on the island aside from the Gobblewonker, I don't want to stick around." Dipper stated as he turned and headed in the direction that he pointed to before. Wendy and Mabel jogged after him quickly.
Stan Pines was not a patient man. He knew this, everyone in Gravity Falls knew it. So why were the younger members of the Mystery Shack taking so long to get back, they'd gone out to find a log to use as a lever hours ago, at this point he'd settle just for their help in pushing the boat out manually. He glanced at his watch, noting that there was only ninety minutes left in the competition. He'd give them ten more minutes before he went looking for the trio himself, considering the size of the island, it couldn't be that hard to find them.
"Oh, thank goodness, we found the beach." He heard Mabel cry from behind him. He looked behind him and saw the shape that the trio was in.
"Geez, what happened, did the ugly tree fall on you?" - Stan snarked. He was relieved to see them, even if they had taken forever to get back. Until he noticed that they had failed to bring back anything to push the boat out. – "Seriously, you guys were out there for at least two hours. What were you doing?"
"Learning about sexual harassment in the workplace." Mabel exclaimed.
"Tickling the trout." Wendy replied nonchalantly.
"Learning about beavers." Dipper groaned. Stan looked at each of them in turn.
"If it wasn't for Dipper, I'd think that something inappropriate had gone on while you were gone." – Stan stated. – "On another note, when we get back, we are all going to have long talk about phrasing."
"So what now Mr. Pines?" Soos inquired from his spot. Stan turned to look at the boat.
"Well, obviously we're just going to have to push the boat out ourselves." - Stan started, as he considered what they would have to do. – "We'll probably have to move some sand out of the way to make it easier to push into the water, pull the stuff out of the boat, and push it from one side until it gets…"
Everyone on the beach had stopped paying attention to Stan as they observed a shadow begin to rise out of the water.
"Grunkle Stan." Dipper stated. His Grunkle ignored him, continuing to gesture as he talked about how to get the boat off of the beach.
"Mr. Pines." Wendy continued. Stan ignored her too, instead raising his voice over hers. This time the shadow was towering over them, the glowing eyes of the Gobblewonker were visible as it peered on the small group.
"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel screamed. Stan turned to her.
"What?" Stan scowled. The trio pointed behind him.
"The Gobblewonker's behind you." They cried out. Stan scratched his head.
"Gobble what?" before anyone could repeat what they had said, the creature made its presence known. It gave a mighty roar, spewing spittle over Stan. Stan turned around slowly, and looked on in awe at the Gobblewonker.
"What the heck is that?" Stan yelled as he stepped back from the tower beast. The Gobblewonker snorted before rearing back to attack, but as it did so, there was an ear-grating grinding noise, followed with a great crack, and the Gobblewonker froze, before its head started to fall to the side. The group watched stupefied as the Gobblewonker hit the beach with a thunderous crash. Soos was the first to speak.
"Dudes, that's like, the same sound Mr. Pines mower makes when it breaks down. Maybe it's some sort of machine built by a mad scientist to take over the lake?" Soos stated. They all turned to the handyman. Mr. Pines pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Soos, I know you're trying to help, but there is no way that is a machine." Mr. Pine exclaimed. There was a creaking noise as a door opened up on the side of the beast.
"Aw, banjo polish. I knew I should've equipped this with a flamethrowing dohicky." A voice echoed out of the Gobblewonker's innards.
"I stand corrected." Stan muttered to himself. McGucket then popped out of the side of the Gobblewonker.
"Oh, look, it's the old man from before." Dipper pointed out. At Wendy's look of confusion, he continued. "He's the one that told us that we were in grave danger."
"Oh, that's ironic." Wendy murmured. She leaned over to whisper to Dipper, "Do you think he's the one that was chasing us?"
Dipper shrugged. "Maybe, we could ask him."
As she observed the old man flailing about, Wendy decided that she didn't really want to know. Mabel, however, did not share her view. The younger girl ran over to McGucket and thrust her finger into the man's face.
"Hey, are you the one that was chasing us through the woods?" Mabel demanded her face as serious as Wendy had ever seen. McGucket stopped his dancing to stare at the young girl.
He slapped his knee, "Nah, by jiminy. I was tracking the Gobblewonker through them there woods. And when I found him, I beat him off from eating some teens."
Mabel withdrew her accusing finger, nervously coughing into her hand. "Well then, thank you."
Stan stepped in at this point. "Look, this is all very fascinating, but in case you haven't noticed, we're still stuck here."
"Well, why don't we try and push the boat out now? It's not like we weren't going to just a few minutes ago?" Wendy pointed out. The rest of the group shrugged before moving to push the boat off the beach.
It took them some time, but with the help of the malfunctioning Gobblewonker scooping sand out from behind the boat, they got it pushed off the beach. Stan was cranky by the end of it all.
"We only have 45 minutes left, and there's just this stupid bluegill to show for it." Stan grumped. The rest of the group groaned in response.
"Mr. Pines, we were never going to win that contest. Let's just go find my stuff and congratulate the winner." Wendy replied. Stan grunted as he maneuvered the boat around the island, looking for the bank that the trio had described earlier. It did not take very long, the location that they spoke of was a mere fifty feet away from the beach, hidden from view by a thick copse of trees.
"I don't believe it, we were this close, how the heck did you not hear the Gobblewonker fight?" Dipper asked his Grunkle.
The man shrugged, "I wasn't paying attention."
Dipper slapped his face in frustration as Wendy jumped from the boat into the shallow water. As she made her way over to where her boots were, she stopped. Just out of sight of where she had been fishing earlier, was an underwater hole in the side of the overhang. She turned back to the boat.
"Hey guys, you still interested in winning the contest?" She asked.
"Of course we want to win the contest. Somebody has to beat the Pisces, and I want it to be me." Stan answered.
"Then give me five minutes." Wendy replied, before charging towards the hole.
"But we don't have five minutes." - Stan bellowed. Once he realized that Wendy was not listening to him, he turned to the rest of the crew. – "Dipper, you go get Wendy's socks and boots, Soos, keep the engine running. Mabel…you just keep keeping an eye on McGucket. Make sure he doesn't do anything to the boat."
Ranger McGucket glanced at his watch; all of the teams with the exception of the Mystery Shack had come in and weighed their fish. With only five minutes left, it was doubtful that the Mystery Shack would make it back to the dock in time. He turned back to the gathered crowd, all eagerly awaiting for the announcement of who won the fishing contest. The Pisces family was off to the side, busy touching up their looks for the winner's photo, it obvious that they were certain of their victory. They had every reason to as well, the salmon they turned in was 100 pounds, 60 pounds heavier than the second place entry of the Corduroy's. Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable. Ranger McGucket walked up to the podium, and began tapping the microphone to check its sound before clearing his throat.
"Welcome Gravity Falls, to the completion of another successful Fishing Day competition." Ranger waited for the gathered crowd to quiet as they cheered. "Now, today was a good turnout, and I'm glad that everyone was so enthusiastic about competing. Without any further ado…"
"Hey, wait, we haven't entered our fish yet!" Ranger McGucket turned to see the Mystery Shack crew driving up to the dock. Ranger looked at his watch to see that they had pulled in with seconds to spare, except that according to the contest rules, they had to have their fish weighed by the end time. So in reality, they were late.
"I'm sorry, but you're too late to enter your fish, if you had gotten in a minute ago, it would have been fine." Ranger told the beaten looking group.
"Well, now, let's not be too hasty." – Brian Jr., the eldest child of the Pisces seniors spoke up, a malicious gleam in his eye. – "I think we should allow them to enter their fish, I don't want to hear Stan Pines spend the next year belly-aching about the unfairness of a competition he rightly lost."
"The only belly that's going to be aching around here is yours." Stan shot back with his fist raised.
"There's no need to be threatening with violence Mr. Pines." – Ranger McGucket told the older man. – "If the second place finisher okay's you entering your fish, then I see no reason why you can't get your fish weighed right now."
He turned to Dan Corduroy, who nodded his consent after a moment's pause of locking eyes with his daughter. Ranger turned back to the Mystery Shack crew. "Well then, in that case, let's weigh your fish."
"Did you see the look on the Pisces faces?" Dipper exclaimed, laughing as the group drove back to the Mystery Shack.
"They did look surprised." Wendy chuckled.
"Surprised? They look like someone kicked their puppy!" Stan laughed. "Shame you made us put it back in Mabel. Could've made a lot of money off of an exhibit for a 200 pound catfish."
"It wouldn't have been right Grunkle Stan. I mean, would you have appreciated being locked up for other people's amusement after living in freedom all your life." Mabel explained. Stan looked at her in confusion.
"Mabel, you know that zoos…" Stan paused as he saw Dipper making frantic cutting motions across his throat. Mabel looked at him from the backseat with innocence shining from her eyes.
"What Grunkle Stan?" Stan rubbed the back of his neck nervously trying to think of an answer when he saw Soos's truck following them on the road.
"Well, you know that Soos never complains about it." Stan lied. Mabel giggled.
"Pfft, that's because he likes working for you. Besides, you can just frame the picture that was taken and show that off instead."
"It is a great photo," Wendy chimed in, "It even has the Pisces sobbing in the background."
Stan snorted, "It's not the same has having the genuine article to show off."
"Hey Grunkle Stan, you know what would be a great idea? What if we made flyers of the photo and had it passed around town for everyone to see." Dipper stated. Wendy grinned at him.
"Dude, that is like, one of the best ideas I've heard in a while. Let's do that as soon as we get back." Dipper smiled back shyly in response. When Dipper looked back forward, he shrieked.
"Grunkle Stan, watch out for that sign!"