The day after the fair, Dipper and Mabel were still pretty energized, so Soos decided to take them to the local arcade to help them let out some steam. Sammy and Stan, who didn't have much else to do, decided to join them. As Soos showed the group around the arcade, he excitedly explained how this place shaped his childhood. "This is it dudes, my favorite place in Gravity Falls. Everything I know, I learned right here. A frog taught me how to cross a street. When my house was haunted, I learned how to eat ghosts. And this thing taught me how to dance." They stopped at a dancing machine, where McGucket was doing a hyperactive jig while laughing. "Woo-hoo-hoo! I've been jiggin' here for seven days straight!," the old man cackled. "Uh, Soos?," asked Mabel, picking up the machine's plug, showing that the dance machine was not even turned on, nor was it in order, judging from the Out Of Order sign that was placed on the screen of the machine. McGucket, however, didn't even seem to realize it.
"Uh, Mister McGucket?," said Sammy, trying to get his attention. "That machine's not working. You should–" But then, Soos placed his hand on Sammy's shoulder. "Let him have this," he said. After that, the group decided to separate while giving McGucket some pitying glances. Stan immediately went over to an arcade machine that had the words "Insert Token" on the screen. "Huh?," he mumbled, wondering what the point of this was. He decided to do what the machine said and inserted a coin through the slot. "Congratulations! You win!," the machine said, causing a wide smile to form on Stan's face. However, that smile was immediately gone when the machine went back to saying "Insert Token" once again. "I just got scammed by a big hunk of metal!," he muttered. Sammy, who had been following him, couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Aren't you usually the one who does the scamming?," he asked.
Stan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, kid," he said, though he was smiling as well. "Why are you following me around, anyway? I thought you'd be sticking with Soos or one of the kids, not some old man who's never been to an arcade before." "Actually, I've never been to an arcade either," said Sammy, shrugging. "This is all pretty new to me." Stan's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hold on," he said. "You've never been to an arcade before? But you're only seventeen! I thought kids your age went to these places all the time." Sammy winced a little. "Well, they do," he said. "I guess I'm just… not one of those kids, you know?"
"So your plan is to just hang around with me all day?," sighed Stan, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sammy, I know you act way older than you really are, but this is getting a little sad." "Sad? Mister Pines, what are you talking about?," asked Sammy, confused. "Kid, I'm gonna be real with you for a second," said Stan. "You're probably the most mature teen I've ever met in my life. You never swear or get in trouble, you're always watching over the kids, and you always do your job without ever whining or complaining. And honestly, it's starting to worry me a little. You're a kid, but… you never act like one! I never see you go out and do things that kids your age would normally do. And you're always so tense too." Sammy's eyes widened. "Yeah, I've been paying attention, kid," Stan continued. "Every time I talk to ya, your body's always wound up, like you're gonna get attacked at any minute or something. Look, I'm not gonna delve into your past if you don't want me to, but you gotta live a little, have some fun!"
"But I do have fun," Sammy protested. "I don't just work all day. I hang out with Dipper and Mabel all the time." "Yeah, but you're always doing what they want to do, never what you want to do," Stan argued. "Well, now's your chance! We're in an arcade, for crying out loud! Instead of hanging out with an old crank like me, go play whatever the heck you want. Throw some balls, mash some buttons, stare at screens like a braindead zombie!" Sammy wanted to argue, but sighed and smiled forcefully. "Okay. I guess I could play a few games…," he said nervously. Stan rolled his eyes. "Yeesh! Sammy, I'm telling you to have fun, not sentencing you to death. Now come on, skedaddle!" Sammy left Stan and walked around the arcade, trying to find any games that he might be interested in playing. However, even after a full hour, Sammy couldn't find a single game that caught his interest. He leaned against the wall and sighed in frustration. "This is ridiculous," he muttered. "Like Stan said, it's just playing a few games and having some fun. Why am I having such a hard time with this?" In the end, he gave up and just waited until everyone else was finished. Then, they all went back to the shack.
The next day, everyone was gathered in the living room and playing a game of poker together. "King me!," cried Mabel, slapping down her deck, which had two Kings. "Aww! Come on!," Stan, Soos, and Dipper groaned. "Nice move, Mabel," said Sammy, giving her a thumbs up. Mabel grinned proudly. "It's not fair, she doesn't even know what we're playing!," grumbled Stan. "Go Fish?," Mabel asked cluelessly. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like an electric guitar playing loudly, causing the room to slightly shake. "Dude, I think I'm picking up a radio station inside my head," said Soos. "Try blinking to see if you can change the channel," said Mabel. Soos blinked multiple times, but of course, nothing happened. "Weeendy!," someone called from outside, his voice nearly muffled by the guitar music. "Ugh, sounds like Robbie," groaned Dipper, rolling his eyes. "Robbie? Is he that jerky twerp I see making goo-goo eyes at Wendy all the time?," asked Stan. "The one and only," said Sammy with a nod. "He and Dipper are… not on the best terms right now." "And that's putting it mildly," Dipper muttered. "He called me 'Big Dude' once. I mean, I know I'm a big dude, but it kinda hurt," said Soos.
"Should I sic Waddles on him again?," asked Mabel. Waddles started chewing on her sweater. "Whoa, easy tiger," she giggled. "I'll handle it," said Dipper, getting up from his chair with a determined look. "Ooooooh!," Stan, Mabel, and Soos said in unison. "Ha ha, conflict!," Stan said excitedly. "Are you sure about that, Dipper?," Sammy asked worriedly. "I could come with you if you'd like." Dipper smiled confidently. "Don't worry, dude," he said. "I'm just gonna talk to Robbie, not fight him." Then, he walked out the door. "...why do I feel like he just jinxed himself?," Sammy asked worriedly. "Don't worry, he'll be fine!," Mabel assured him.
The group decided to continue playing poker without Dipper, but then, not even a minute had passed before they heard a loud commotion outside. Stan got up, went to the window, and stuck his head outside. "Hey! I know a fight when I see one! Stay right there!," he said, before going back inside. "Dipper and Robbie are fighting?!," gasped Sammy. "Yep," said Stan, going straight to the kitchen. "Pretty sure I have a bucket of popcorn somewhere…"
Sammy quickly went straight to the door and went outside, just in time to see Robbie walking away angrily while Dipper was sitting on the ground with a look of fear in his eyes. A phone was laying on the ground nearby, broken in half. "Dipper, are you okay?," asked Sammy, quickly checking him for injuries. When he found none, he sighed in relief. "What happened out there? Stan said you and Robbie were fighting, and I got so worried!" Dipper slowly turned to face Sammy with a haunted look in his eyes. "Sammy, do you think I could finish writing my own will before 3-o'-clock?," he asked. "Because I think I'm gonna die soon…" Sammy had no idea how to respond to that. Then, Stan joined them with a bucket of popcorn. "Aw, he's gone! I was just gonna call the boys over to place a few bets! The smart money's on Skinny Jeans," he said. "Really, Stan?," sighed Sammy, giving the conman a look of disappointment. Stan stared back for a moment, then silently offered Sammy some popcorn. Without saying a word, Sammy took a handful of popcorn and ate it, all while still giving Stan a disappointed look.
When the three of them got back inside, Dipper immediately went into panic mode as he started walking around in circles. "What was I thinking?! I can't fight! I've never been in a fight before! Look at these noodle arms!" He waved his arms around to illustrate his point, and they actually moved like noodles. Sammy found that adorable. "Just bonk him over the head! It's nature's snooze button!," Stan suggested. "Boys! Why can't you learn to hate each other in secret? Like girls do!," said Mabel. "Sure, listen to your sister! Maybe you can share dresses too! BOOM!," Stan laughed. "Dipper, just don't show up," said Sammy. "And if he keeps asking for a fight, just look him in the eye and say, 'Robbie, I won't fight you!' It's that simple." "Really?," Dipper asked hopefully. "You think that'll work?" "I'm positive!," said Sammy. "Y-yeah. Yeah!," said Dipper, regaining his confidence. "I'll just tell him that it was all a mistake. Or better yet, maybe he'll just forget about it. Maybe it'll all blow over." "I don't know, Dipper," Soos warned. "Teenagers are dangerous. Those hormones turn them into like, killing machines!" "R-Really?," Dipper asked nervously, his earlier bravado now gone. "Soos, I'm a teenager, and you don't see me doing anything violent," said Sammy. "Yeah, but you're a different case, dude," said Soos. "Most teens are like sharks drawn by the scent of blood. My cousin Reggie got in a fight with a teen once. The guy broke like, all his arms, all his legs, and I think, killed him or something, I don't know. Me and Reggie were just talking about it." Sammy wanted to point out that Reggie couldn't have been killed if he and Soos were just talking to each other, but by then, it was too late. Dipper was already panicking again. "I can't stay here! What if Robbie comes back?! I gotta hide!," he cried. "Look, kid," said Stan, getting serious. "You got yourself a choice here. You can either go face him like a man, or you can hide indoors like a wimp. What'll it be?"
"Sorry, Grunkle Stan," said Dipper. "But I wanna live." Then, he ran outside without another word. "Hiding like a wimp," sighed Stan, shaking his head in disappointment. "I'll go after him," said Sammy. "I'll come with you, dude," said Soos, getting up from his chair. The two of them followed Dipper to town, then into the arcade that they visited yesterday. Then, Dipper immediately crawled under one of the arcade machines and hid there with his arms wrapped around his knees, a fearful expression on his face. Soos and Sammy tried to persuade him to come out, but he refused. Eventually, Soos decided to play the arcade machine that Dipper was hiding under, while Sammy was on his knees, still trying to get Dipper to come out.
"Come on, Dipper," he tried to reassure him. "Robbie isn't even here right now. What are you going to do, hide here for the rest of the day?" "That's the plan," Dipper said stubbornly, still refusing to come out. "Wimp it is," said Soos, still focused on the game. "C'mon Soos, Robbie's twice my size. I mean, what will getting myself killed accomplish? I just need to hide here until 3 o'clock passes," said Dipper. "So you're going to stay under here for three whole hours?," asked Sammy. "Three hours?!," cried Dipper, quickly checking his watch. "It's only 11:30? Uggggh, this day will never end!" "Relax, Dipper. Just try not to think about Robbie," said Soos.
However, that turned out to be very difficult, since an entire wall literally had dozens of posters with Robbie's face on them, glaring at him with mascara running down his eyes. The fact that these posters also had the words "You're dead!" printed on them only made Dipper even more frightened, causing him to let out a little shriek. "Why even put that many of the same posters in one spot?," Sammy murmured, staring at the posters. He looked back at Dipper, who was practically shaking like a leaf. "Uh, Soos? Do you mind playing somewhere else? I'd like to have a little chat with Dipper alone," he said. "No problem, dude," said Soos, immediately going off to find some other game to play. Then, Sammy bent down so he was on the same eye-level as Dipper. "Dipper, you shouldn't let what Robbie said get to you like this," he said. "Chances are, he won't even show up himself. I'm sure he's got plenty of other things to do than fight a kid who's younger than himself." "I don't know, Sammy," Dipper said nervously. "He seemed pretty serious about the fight. And I did break his phone… which was totally an accident, by the way!" "I'm sure it was," said Sammy. "But still, you shouldn't be afraid of Robbie. He's just a teenager with hormones. It's not like he's your archnemesis or something." "Well, we're sort of fighting over Wendy… so he kinda is," said Dipper, shrugging nervously. "I really think you're letting this whole thing get into your head, Dipper," said Sammy. "Like I said earlier, just don't show up. I mean, what's he going to do, track you down?" Dipper let out a small whimper.
"Okay, that was the wrong thing to say," said Sammy, clearing his throat awkwardly. He looked around the arcade for any ideas, then spotted a game that caught his attention. "I know what will get your mind off it!," he said with a smile. "How about we play Fight Fighters with each other? You were really enjoying that game with Wendy yesterday." Dipper thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, that does sound like fun. But do you even know how to play Fight Fighters?," he asked. "No. But you can teach me," said Sammy, holding his hand out to Dipper. "Come on, it'll be fun." Dipper smiled and grabbed Sammy's hand. Pretty soon, the two of them were playing Fight Fighters together. Dipper taught Sammy how to use the controls. Fortunately, Sammy learned pretty quickly, and eventually, both of them were having the time of their lives, laughing and cracking jokes as they pitted their characters against each other.
"Wow, this is great!," said Sammy, smiling from ear to ear. "I didn't know arcade games could be so much fun!" "Heh, yeah!," said Dipper. "Hey Sammy, check this out!" Suddenly, his character, Rumble McSkirmish, threw a fireball at Sammy's character, Dr. Karate, which took away what little health he had left. "Winner! Rumble McSkirmish!," the game blared. "Whoa, how did you do that?," asked Sammy, not even upset that he lost. "That was a special attack!," said Dipper, smirking. "What? You little cheater!," Sammy said jokingly. "You never told me anything about special attacks when we started playing!" "Looks like you still have a lot left to learn, my faithful disciple," said Dipper. "Yeah, I guess I do," Sammy chuckled, glad that he was able to lift Dipper's spirits up. "So Dipper, how do you feel about your fight with Robbie now?" "Honestly… still kinda terrified," Dipper chuckled nervously. "But I feel much better now, thanks to you." "I'm glad I could help," said Sammy. As they continued playing Fight Fighters, Dipper suddenly had a curious question. "Do you think you could beat any of these guys in a fight, Sammy?," he asked. "Like, if you met them in real life, could you take them down in a fair fight?" "Are you kidding?," Sammy said lightheartedly. "They would destroy me. They can literally shoot fireballs from their hands and break the laws of physics. I wouldn't stand a chance." He turned to look at Dipper. "Why do you ask?" Dipper shrugged. "Just curious… wait a minute…," he gasped.
"Oh my god! Sammy!," he suddenly cried out, pausing the game. "Sammy, I just had the greatest idea in the history of great ideas!" "What is it?," asked Sammy. "I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out!," said Dipper, grinning excitedly. "Sammy, you can fight Robbie for me!" Out of all the ideas that Dipper could've had, that was certainly not what Sammy expected. "What? Hold on, you want me to fight Robbie?," he asked incredulously. "Yeah!," said Dipper. "I mean, you're great at fighting! You defended me and Mabel from those creepy wax figures, after all!" "But Dipper, I lost that fight, remember?," said Sammy. "And I'm not going to fight Robbie." "What? You're not?," gasped Dipper. "But Sammy–" "Dipper, let me make something clear first," Sammy said sternly. "I only fought those wax people because they were going to kill us. I don't want to fight anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. Got it?" Dipper wanted to argue, but a stern look from Sammy made him think otherwise. "Yeah, I got it," he sighed.
Sammy's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Dipper," he said. "I hope you're not upset." "I'm not upset," sighed Dipper. "I don't want to force you to do anything. Come on, let's keep playing the game." But when they unpaused and continued playing, Dipper was noticeably disappointed by Sammy's rejection. After another round, Dipper won once again. Rumble McSkirmish filled up the screen, confidently grinning at them. "A WINNER NEVER RUNS AWAY FROM A FIGHT!," he bellowed. "That's easy for you to say, you have more than one life. Ugh, I wish one of these guys would fight Robbie for me," Dipper muttered. "Cheer up, Dipper," said Sammy, trying to comfort him again. "Look, I promise I won't leave you hanging. I'll come with you if you'd like." "Really? You'd do that?," Dipper asked hopefully. "Of course," said Sammy. "Now remember, I won't fight Robbie, and really, neither should you… but hopefully, with me by your side, we'll be able to calm him down and call the whole thing off. What do you think?" "Well, it's as good a plan as any," said Dipper. "How about one more round before we call it a day?"
Sammy nodded, and Dipper tried to insert another coin into the slot, but accidentally dropped it. He bent down to pick it up, then paused. "Huh. That's weird," he said. "What is it?," asked Sammy. "There's something written on this arcade machine," said Dipper, brushing the dust off the text. "Well, what does it say?," asked Sammy. "It says, 'To unleash ultimate power,'" said Dipper. "Then it's got a bunch of arrows after that. I'm guessing these are supposed to be instructions for the game controls. Maybe it'll unlock a secret power-up for something. Do you think I should try it out, Sammy?" "Why not?," asked Sammy, shrugging. "If it's something that's 'ultimate', then it has to be good." Dipper inserted the coin into the slot to start up the game, then followed the instructions. "Back, back, hold, forward, back, forward, down, hold, quarter circle, forward, triple punch!," he said, expertly pressing the buttons. Suddenly, the machine powered down. "What just happened?," asked Sammy. "I guess it didn't work," said Dipper, shrugging. Suddenly, the game screen lit up brightly, nearly blinding them both.
Dipper and Sammy cried out in alarm and shielded their eyes from the glaring bright light. "Ah! What's going on?!," cried Dipper. "I don't know!," said Sammy. He looked around for Soos, but couldn't see him anywhere. "SELECT YOUR CHARACTER!," the game blared out, catching them off guard. "Uhhh… Rumble McSkirmish?," Dipper said nervously.
Then, to their astonishment, a large, muscular man jumped out of the screen, spinning in the air with his leg out. "KickkickkickkickKICK!," he yelled, landing right in front of them. He was shirtless and had a blond mullet, and he wore purple pants, a red bandana, an eyepatch, and tape around his forearms. But most peculiar of all was that he was completely pixelated, like he came right out of a video game. Sammy gasped, recognizing him as the character that Dipper was playing as. "Is that…?," he gasped. "Rumble McSkirmish," Dipper whispered, who was just as shocked as Sammy was. "You're real?" He and Rumble stared at each other for a moment. Then, without warning, they high-fived each other. "HIGH FIVE!," they both cheered. "Ow! Your pixels are really sharp! Ugh!," said Dipper, shaking his hand painfully. "Um… h-hello there," said Sammy, eyeing him nervously. "GREETINGS, CHILDREN!," Rumble boomed. "I AM RUMBLE MCSKIRMISH, FROM THE U.S.A! PUNCH! KICK! PUNCH! KICK!" He started performing a series of punches and kicks, one of which was heading towards Dipper. "Goodness!," Sammy cried, quickly grabbing Dipper and pulling him away before that hit could connect. "Cooool!," Dipper said in awe, not bothered by the fact that he almost got kicked in the face.
Then, Rumble spotted a nearby change machine and walked towards it. "CHANGE MACHINE! CHANGE ME INTO A POWERFUL WOLF! HWAAAAH!" He started smashing it with his bare hands. "Dipper, come with me quietly," Sammy whispered, grabbing Dipper's hand while still keeping a close eye on Rumble. "Let's get out of here while he's distracted." "No way! Sammy, don't you see what this means?," Dipper asked excitedly, not caring about how loud he was being. "With Rumble around, Robbie will be so scared, neither of us will even need to fight him. I've got the world's greatest fighter to be my bodyguard!" "What?!," Sammy cried out in bewilderment. Suddenly, Rumble started flashing red. "I need power ups!," he said. "This is so amazing!," said Dipper. "We gotta show Soos!" He looked around, but for some reason, Soos was nowhere to be seen. "Soos? Where did he go?" "I don't know either. It's like he vanished," said Sammy, looking around in confusion. "I need power ups!," Rumble repeated, still flashing red. "Power ups, huh? Maybe he needs food," Dipper murmured. "Hey Sammy, I'm gonna take Rumble to the Mystery Shack to see if I can get him anything to eat." "Dipper, are you sure that taking Rumble to the shack is a good idea?," Sammy asked worriedly. "Don't worry, I'll just fix him something to eat," Dipper reassured him. "Well… okay," Sammy said hesitantly. "But don't let Stan find out, alright? Meanwhile, I'll stay here and find out where Soos went."
After Dipper and Rumble left, Sammy stayed in the arcade and looked for Soos. "Soos? Soos!," he called, but received no answer. Then, a man with a red cap almost bumped into him. "Get outta here, man!," he cried out fearfully, shaking Sammy by the shoulders. "The games are coming alive!" Then, he ran out of the arcade, screaming. "Huh. That was a little weird. Did he see Rumble too?," Sammy murmured. He turned around, then cried out in shock at what he saw. "Sammy! I'm glad to see you, dude!," said Soos, his entire body stuck inside of an arcade machine with his face squished against the screen. "Can you get me out of here? I tried asking that other guy for help, but he ran off screaming." "...Soos, why?," asked Sammy.
"I wanted to go inside a video game for real," said Soos. "I don't think I thought it through too well." Sammy sighed. "Alright Soos, where's your screwdriver?," he asked. "It should be on the floor, dude," said Soos. Sammy looked down and saw Soos' screwdriver laying next to the arcade machine. He used the screwdriver to slowly remove the wall of the machine so that Soos could get out. While doing so, he filled Soos in on what had happened, telling him about Rumble McSkirmish and how he somehow entered the real world. Finally, the wall of the machine was removed, allowing Soos to crawl out. "Thanks, dude. It was getting cramped in there," said the handyman. "Also, that Bumble guy's real now? That's awesome! Where is he now?" "Dipper brought him to the shack," said Sammy. "And 'awesome' isn't really the word I would use to describe him. He seemed kind of… unhinged. I just hope nothing bad happens."
"Dude, if you say things like, 'I hope nothing bad happens', then bad things are gonna happen. That's how it works," said Soos. "I highly doubt that, Soos," said Sammy, rolling his eyes. "Come on, let's get back to the shack." "Uh, actually, I'm gonna stay here a little longer," said Soos. "I wanna beat the high score on this game." "Oh. Well, okay," said Sammy. "I'll leave you to it. Try not to get stuck in any more arcade machines while I'm gone, alright?" He said that last part as a joke, of course. But after Sammy left the arcade, Soos looked back at the machine that he just escaped from. "I mean… second time's the charm, right?," he asked.
When Sammy returned to the shack, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief upon seeing that it was not destroyed or burnt to the ground. Upon opening the door, however, he was nearly bowled over by Mabel, who was running out the door at the same time. "Whoa!," he cried, quickly steadying himself. "What's the hurry, Mabel?" "Sorry, Sammy," said Mabel. "I don't have time to talk right now. I'm gonna go into town to buy high heels for Grunkle Stan." She left without another word, leaving Sammy very confused. "High heels? For Stan?," he murmured to himself. Then, he shrugged it off and went inside to look for Dipper and Rumble.
It didn't take long for him to find them, considering how much noise they were making in the kitchen. But as he got closer, he could've sworn that he heard Rumble say something about someone killing Dipper's father. I must've heard it wrong, he thought, walking into the kitchen in the middle of their conversation. "Anyway, I was hoping you could, y'know, scare him off for me so I don't have to fight the guy," Dipper was saying to Rumble. "Hahaha! Your question makes my shoulders bounce!," Rumble said confidently. Suddenly, he shot a fireball at the window, then performed a series of moves while saying their names. "Fire ball! Uppercut! Downer-cut! Bowl of PUNCH!" He drank from a punch bowl that was saved from the party, then smashed it onto the floor, causing broken glass to fly everywhere. "Hey, hey!," Sammy scolded. "You can't just smash up whatever you like! You need to learn to control yourself, Rumble."
"Oh, hey Sammy," said Dipper. "So where was Soos?" "He got stuck in one of the arcade machines, so I had to break him out. Long story," said Sammy. "But seriously, Rumble, you need to be more mindful of your surroundings. I hope you intend to clean up this mess before anyone else sees it!" "Hahaha! That sounds like a challenge! Are you going to be my next opponent?," said Rumble, squaring up against Sammy in a threatening manner. Sammy nervously took a step back, but clenched his fists just in case. Fortunately, Dipper was able to quickly defuse the situation before things could get out of hand. "Whoa, Rumble, calm down!," he said, running in between them. "Sammy's not your opponent! It's Robbie, remember?" "Of course! I accept your challenge!," said Rumble. "Press start!" A start button appeared right next to Dipper out of thin air. "Dipper, you're going to let Rumble fight Robbie?," asked Sammy, feeling a bit disappointed. "What happened to just talking to him?" Dipper sighed. "Sammy, no offense, but I really don't think talking to Robbie is gonna help at all," he said. "But letting a video game character fight a teenager? That's a better idea?," asked Sammy, raising an eyebrow. "Rumble's not gonna fight Robbie," Dipper reassured him. "He's just gonna scare him a little, that's it. Nothing bad is going to happen. Trust me." Sammy tried to argue, but Dipper was certain that his plan would work, so he relented. "Okay, but only if you're absolutely sure…," he said. "I'm sure," said Dipper, before pressing the start button. Then, they heard loud snoring coming from the living room. "Uh oh, I think I hear my uncle. Stay perfectly still!," said Dipper. To his annoyance, Rumble continued to sway back and forth in his fighting stance. "I said stay still," said Dipper. "This is as still as I can stay!," said Rumble. Goodness. I have a bad feeling about this…, Sammy thought.
Some time later, Mabel was pacing around in the attic, wondering how she could help Stan get over his fear of heights. The high heels that she brought for him all but confirmed her suspicions. But before she could start thinking of a plan, Dipper and Sammy suddenly entered the attic, followed by a large, pixelated man with his shirt off. Somehow, Mabel wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Hey Mabel. Have you met Rumble yet? He's my new bodyguard," Dipper said in a somewhat bragging tone. "The child gave me a taco!," said Rumble. "Wow! He looks just like the guy from that video game you keep playing!," gasped Mabel. "That's because he is," said Sammy, and explained to her what went on in the arcade. "So you guys brought a video game character to life? That's awesome!," cried Mabel, staring at Rumble in awe.
"Video game character?! Haha, what nonsense! I am Rumble McSkirmish, the greatest fighter in the world!," said Rumble. "He's got a crazy voice too! Here, say these words," giggled Mabel, handing Rumble a slip of paper that she wrote on. Rumble took the paper and, without hesitation, began reading the words aloud. "Effer… vescent! Apple… fritter! RIBOFLAVIN!," he yelled, jumping into the air. Both Sammy and Mabel couldn't help but laugh, but Dipper wasn't so amused. "Mabel, he's not a toy, he's a fighting machine. I'm gonna get him to defend me from Robbie," he said. Deep down, Sammy still didn't approve of Dipper using Rumble as his glorified bodyguard, but he wanted to give Dipper the benefit of the doubt, so he said nothing. "Isn't that kinda like cheating?," asked Mabel. "I guess so," said Dipper. There was a moment of silence. "Well, I'll see you after the fight," Dipper said cheerfully, before he, Sammy, and Rumble left Mabel to her own devices, with Rumble still shouting the words that Mabel wrote down for him. "POOP! POOP AND BUTTS!" Sammy continued laughing while Dipper irritatedly snatched the paper from Rumble's hand and crumpled it up before tossing it into a nearby wastebasket on their way out. As they walked through town, many people stopped and stared at the living video game character. Sammy smiled and waved nervously in an attempt to calm them down, while Dipper and Rumble went over their game plan together. "Tell me my opponent's special moves," said Rumble. "Don't worry. As soon as he sees you, he's gonna wet his pants," said Dipper. "His wet pants will be no match FOR THIS!," yelled Rumble, swinging around a pipe.
"Whoa!," cried Sammy, quickly pulling Dipper to his side protectively. "Rumble, where the heck did you get a pipe?!" "I punched an oil drum!," said Rumble, which didn't answer Sammy's question. "Trust me, you won't need that. Just give him a good scare," said Dipper. "Yes… WITH THIS!," yelled Rumble, picking up a sword and swinging it around wildly. "Oh, goodness!," cried Sammy, his eyes wide with shock. "This street has really dangerous litter," Dipper murmured to himself. Sammy was initially frightened by Rumble's reckless sword swinging, but that fear was quickly replaced with anger. "Alright, that's it," he said with a slight edge in his voice. Then, in only a tenth of a second, he reached over, grabbed Rumble's wrist, and twisted it, forcing the video game character to let go of the sword. He snatched the sword away and held it to his side, and anyone looking could immediately tell that this wasn't his first time handling a sword. "You are not going to use a sword or a pipe on Robbie," Sammy said to Rumble sternly.
Dipper was shocked by what he just witnessed. He already knew that Sammy was fast and could handle himself in a fight, but Sammy just disarmed Rumble so quickly and so fluidly that his mind could barely even process it. Rumble was also surprised, probably because this was the first time anyone had ever dared to try to disarm him, let alone succeed. However, the surprised look on Rumble's face slowly grew into an angry one, and Sammy began to wonder if he just made a huge mistake. Fortunately, Dipper stepped in before anything bad could happen, and the three of them continued towards the park where Robbie was, though Sammy held onto the sword while keeping a close eye on Rumble. When they finally got there, Robbie was sitting down and waiting for them with his hood on. He looked up at them and sneered.
"Well, well, well! Look who decided to show up! I thought you'd chicken out. You ready to settle this like men?," he taunted. He glanced at Sammy and scoffed. "And let me guess, you're supposed to be his bodyguard or something? Please. I could beat up both of you with one arm tied behind my back!" Robbie noticed the sword that Sammy had with him, but assumed it was fake, so he wasn't too afraid. "Robbie, we're not here to fight you," Sammy said calmly, hoping to deescalate the situation without any violence. "We're just here to–" "Look dude, I don't think you want to fight me," said Dipper, interrupting Sammy in mid-sentence. "Let's just call this thing off before someone gets hurt." "You scared, huh? Is that it?," Robbie taunted.
"Okay, dude! You asked for it!," said Dipper, snapping his fingers. Then, Rumble walked out from behind the trees and assumed a fighting pose. "Who's your friend? And why is he… blurry?," asked Robbie, squinting his eyes at him. "This happens to be the greatest warrior that ever lived!," Dipper bragged. But Robbie refused to be intimidated. "Yeah, right! Hey Eye Patch, what did the kid promise you? More tape for your forearms?," he laughed.
"HOW CAN YOU LAUGH, WHEN YOU KILLED THIS BOY'S FATHER?!," Rumble yelled angrily. "Wait, what?," asked Robbie, confused. "Yeah, what?," asked Sammy, sharing Robbie's sentiments exactly. This was his first time hearing about Robbie killing Dipper's father, which he highly doubted was true, but the fact that Rumble seemed to believe it was alarming. How did he even come up with that?, he thought worriedly. "I'm giving you one last chance, back down, or this guy's gonna go nuts," said Dipper. "How 'bout YOU back down, kid?," Robbie said angrily. Dipper just shrugged apathetically. "You asked for it. Rumble? Go!," he said.
Robbie started laughing again, but that humor quickly went away when Rumble tried to punch him in the face. Robbie ducked and tried to escape, but Rumble grabbed his hood and lifted him up, holding him above his head. "What the–? Whoa! Hey! What's happening?," cried Robbie. "Rumble, stop! Put him down!," cried Sammy, about to use the sword. "Relax Sammy, everything's fine. Rumble knows what he's doing," said Dipper, not quite realizing the danger of the situation yet. "I didn't wanna have to do this, man, but you gave me no choice," he said to Robbie with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Maybe now, if you–" "HA HA!," laughed Rumble, slamming Robbie to the ground painfully. Apparently, that was enough to get Dipper to start panicking. "Whoa! Rumble! You can stop! I think Robbie's had enough–"
"RUMBLE… THROW!," yelled Rumble, tossing Robbie into the air. "STOP! I SAID STOP!," screamed Dipper. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!," yelled Sammy. Robbie landed on some metal bars, but fortunately, he wasn't injured too badly. "Hey! What the–? THAT GUY'S CRAZY!," he cried, pointing at Rumble with fear in his eyes. "FIREBALL!," said Rumble, shooting a fireball at Robbie, who was barely able to escape in time. "Robbie, run! Get out of here!," Sammy hollered. "You don't have to tell me twice!," said Robbie, running.
"What the heck was that?! You were only supposed to scare him; you almost killed him!," cried Dipper. But it seemed as though Rumble was now in a permanent state of bloodlust, and there was nothing either of them could do to snap him out of it. "I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THE MAN WHO DISHONORED YOU IS DESTROYED!," he yelled, punching a nearby poster of Robbie. Then, he ran after Robbie, punching an electric pole as he went along.
"This isn't good," said Dipper, staring at the destruction that Rumble had already caused in horror. "Dipper… Rumble mentioned that Robbie killed your father," said Sammy. "Is that what you told him… back in the kitchen?" Dipper winced. "He kind of assumed that Robbie killed my father, and… I didn't correct him," he admitted. Sammy stared at Dipper for a moment, then sighed heavily. "Come on, we need to go after him and save Robbie," he said.
It was pretty easy for them to find out where Rumble went. All they had to do was follow the trail of destruction that he left behind. Eventually, they found Rumble chasing Robbie down a factory that made barrels and crates. As Robbie was running and climbing down the building, Rumble was tossing the barrels at him from above, which seemed reminiscent of a certain video game involving a gorilla and a plumber. "Something told me this would be his first stop," Dipper commented. Meanwhile, Robbie was barely able to dodge the barrels being thrown at him. "Chill out man! Just chill out!," he cried. "Please, Rumble! You gotta stop!," cried Dipper, but Rumble may as well have gone deaf for all the good that did. He continued chasing after Robbie, while destroying everything in his path. "Rumble, wait!," Dipper yelled as he and Sammy chased after them. However, Dipper quickly began to tire out. "You don't have to do this!," he said, slowing down. "At least pace yourself… You might get a cramp– Ah!" He stopped and put his hands on his knees. Sammy picked him up and kept chasing Rumble while carrying Dipper in his arms. After a long chase, they finally arrived at a water tower. "Where did they go?," asked Dipper, looking around frantically. Sammy spotted Robbie climbing up the tower while Rumble was running towards it. "They're over there!," he said, pointing at them. Then, he looked up and spotted two very familiar people at the top of the tower. "Oh, no!," he gasped.
"What? What is it?," Dipper asked nervously. "Stan and Mabel are up there!," cried Sammy, pointing up at them. "What?! What are they even doing up there?!," asked Dipper. "I don't know, but we have to stop Rumble before–," said Sammy, who was unable to finish his sentence before Rumble suddenly kicked the base of the tower, causing the entire structure to lean dangerously. Stan and Mabel managed to hold on, but Robbie ended up falling through the air. Instead of turning into a messy splatter on the ground, he was caught by Rumble, who was prepared to punch him into oblivion. "FINISH HIM!," a loud voice spoke. "No no no, don't! Don't finish me!," cried Robbie, fruitlessly shielding his face. Rumble was about to punch a hole right through Robbie's head with a flaming fist, but before he could do so, a coin suddenly hit him in the back of his head. "HWUUUUAAAAAAAAA?!," he yelled, turning around.
"RUMBLE!," Dipper yelled dramatically, holding two planks in front of his face to make a cutscene effect before throwing them away. "Rumble! I have something to tell you! Robbie… Robbie didn't kill my father." "HUUUUUUHH? THEN WHO DID?," asked Rumble. "What? No one. I-I lied to you," said Dipper. "HWUUUHH? WELL THEN YOU'RE ACTUALLY A… BAD GUY!," yelled Rumble. "I guess I kinda am…," said Dipper, hanging his head in shame. Then, he turned to face Sammy. "You were right, Sammy," he sighed. "I shouldn't have let this get so out of hand. Can you forgive me?" Sammy smiled. "Of course I forgive you," he said. "That's what friends are for, after all." The two of them hugged each other, glad that they could put this whole thing behind them. Unbeknownst to either of them, however, Rumble was facing his own moral dilemma. He hung Robbie from a nearby tree by his hood, then faced the sun with wind blowing through his hair as he made an inner monologue. "My entire journey, a lie! My honor has been insulted! Sensei warned me not to join the path of evil… the boy has led me astray from my teachings. If Robbie V. is not the last stage, then it must be…" He spun around and pointed at Dipper with a furious look on his face. "YYYYYOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!," he screamed. A start button appeared right next to Dipper. "Don't fight him, man!," yelled Soos, suddenly running up to them. For some reason, he had some kind of frame hanging around his neck. "Soos, what happened? Don't tell me you got stuck in another arcade machine," sighed Sammy. "Okay, I won't," said Soos. "But seriously dude, that guy's got like a black belt wrapped around his black belt. You could get killed!" "I have to. I started all this and I've got to at least try to stop it," said Dipper. "You sure you wouldn't rather hide like a wimp?," asked Soos. Dipper slammed his fist into the start button with a determined look on his face. "Fight like a man it is," Soos said proudly. "Hey, Dipper," said Sammy. "...kick his butt for me, alright?"
Dipper smiled and nodded, then walked up to Rumble, who was itching for a fight. Deep down, the preteen was absolutely terrified. He knew that he stood no chance against Rumble. Sure, he was able to defeat the Multi-Bear a while ago, but that was a wild animal who, while reasonably intelligent, still fought like a wild animal that could be taken down if one was aware of his weaknesses. Rumble, on the other hand, was a seasoned martial artist who could shoot fireballs from his hands and probably wipe the floor with any other fighter in the real world. Yes, Dipper was frightened, but he refused to show it. "READY?," the loud voice from earlier yelled. Above them, Dipper and Rumble each got their own health bars. Dipper observed Rumble's stance and tried to copy him, but all that did was make him look slightly ridiculous.
"FIGHT!," the voice yelled. Rumble immediately charged with a loud battle cry. Dipper did the same thing, only he had his eyes closed and his battle cry sounded more like a girlish scream. "FIREBALLTHROWLIGHTNINGBALLTHROW! FIRE!," yelled Rumble, throwing a fireball at Dipper, which fortunately missed. But then, he kicked Dipper and sent him flying back, while causing a large portion of his health bar to drain away. The warrior laughed. "YOU FIGHT LIKE A GIRL! WHO IS ALSO A BABY!," he taunted. "Don't listen to him, Dipper! Come on, you can do this!," Sammy cheered him on. With a loud yell, Dipper got back up like a champ and ran towards Rumble, then gave him a solid uppercut that sent him flying. "DUUUUUUUUDE!," cried Soos, astonished by what he was seeing. Rumble fell and flopped to the ground. "Yes!," Dipper cheered, thinking he could actually beat him now. However, that changed when Rumble's health bar went down by such a tiny margin that it was almost laughable. "Oh no," said Dipper. Rumble got back up and immediately started chasing Dipper, who ran away screaming.
Sammy frantically tried to think of something that could help Dipper. Then, upon looking up, he got an idea. "Soos, Rumble's health bar!," he said, pointing at it. "I'm on it, dude!," said Soos. He ran towards a nearby tree, climbed up it, and swatted at Rumble's health bar with his hand. However, his hand went right through it, as though nothing was there. "Well, it was worth a shot," he said with a shrug. "Dang it!," groaned Sammy. "I was really hoping that would work!" Meanwhile, Rumble shot another fireball at Dipper, which sailed over his head. To escape from the rampaging martial artist, he climbed up a tree. Rumble ran up to the tree and started pacing directly underneath him. "NO! I HAVE NO LOOKING UP ANIMATION!," he yelled. He tried to look up anyway, straining his neck muscles, but instead, he fell flat to the ground. Literally, as in he was back to being two-dimensional. He tried to fight his way out, to no avail.
Dipper jumped down from the tree while Soos and Sammy ran up to him with big smiles on their faces. "Dipper, you did it!," Sammy congratulated him. "Heh, yeah, I guess I did," Dipper said proudly. He looked down at Rumble. "So, what should I do, roll him up and put him on my wall?," he asked jokingly. "Dude, we should rock paper scissors for him!," Soos suggested. "I'm sure he'll make a great new attraction for the Mystery Shack," Sammy chuckled.
However, Rumble wasn't finished yet. "FIST… PUNCH… RAAAAAIIIIINNNN!," he yelled. Suddenly, giant pixelated fists rained down from the sky, pummeling them to the ground. Rumble got back up. "NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THAT I HAVE PUNCHES!," he yelled. Then, his entire body was suddenly engulfed in flames. "HWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Dipper instantly tensed up with fear. He had played Fight Fighters enough times to recognize what Rumble was about to do. He looked up at his health bar, which was now dangerously low. He looked back at Rumble, who was preparing for one final attack. There was no way he was going to win now. So instead of panicking, he pushed his fear aside, took a deep breath, and held his arms out with his eyes closed, literally embracing his imminent defeat. After fully charging up his final attack, Rumble ran at Dipper like a raging bull. "SUPER POWER NINJA TURBO NEO ULTRA HYPER MEGA MULTI ALPHA META EXTRA UBER PREFIX… COMBO!," he yelled, prepared to give Dipper the beating of his life. It seemed like there was no escape for Dipper…
Suddenly, Dipper felt someone tightly wrap their arms around his midsection and yank him out of Rumble's path, causing the two of them to tumble to the side. He could feel a huge gust of air as Rumble rushed past them, his combo attack missing them in just the nick of time. Dipper slowly opened his eyes and looked up, only to see that it was Sammy who managed to tackle him out of the way. He was breathing heavily, but he had a small smile on his face as he looked back at Dipper. "You did great. I'm really proud of you, Dipper. But I'm going to take it from here, okay?," he said. Dipper was so surprised that he couldn't even say anything back. Soos ran over to them. "That was awesome, dude!," he said. Sammy helped Dipper up and handed him over to Soos. "Keep an eye on him, Soos," he told him. "W-wait a minute! What are you gonna do?," asked Dipper, finally finding his voice. "Don't tell me you're gonna fight Rumble now! He could kill you!" "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Sammy reassured him, giving him a friendly wink. Then, he turned around and started walking towards Rumble. "Sammy, no!," cried Dipper, trying to run after him, but Soos had a tight hold on him and didn't let go.
"What's this?! A new challenger?!," said Rumble, doing a combat stance as Sammy approached him. "If you are on that boy's side, then I will defeat you too! In the name of fists and justice, YOU WILL PERISH!" Just like with Dipper, a start button appeared next to Sammy, who only gave it a quick glance before glaring directly at Rumble. Without taking his eyes off him, he slowly held out the sword that he took from Rumble earlier and pointed its tip at the video game character. With his other hand, he adjusted his glasses. "Justice?," he asked, his voice sounding calm and strong. "You made a huge mess in the Mystery Shack, tried to kill Robbie, rampaged through the town, put Mabel and Stan's lives in jeopardy, and almost killed Dipper. No offense, but… I think your idea of justice is severely skewed." Rumble, clearly not happy that his morals were being questioned, growled angrily but made no move. He couldn't engage until Sammy pressed the start button… which was exactly what he did. After pressing it, a new health bar appeared above Sammy's head. "FIGHT!," the voice of the announcer yelled.
Rumble immediately charged at Sammy, eager to pound him into the dirt, but Sammy anticipated this and quickly ducked under Rumble's first punch. Then, he began slashing at the back of Rumble's legs with the sword, causing the video game character to hiss in pain. He tried to spin around and deliver another punch to the head, but Sammy dodged that one as well, then started slashing under Rumble's arm. Quickly realizing that the sword was giving Sammy a big advantage, Rumble kneed Sammy in the gut, causing him to lose his breath, then kicked the sword out of Sammy's hand, which flew through the air and embedded itself into a nearby tree. Smiling victoriously, Rumble spun around on his heel and delivered a roundhouse kick, sending his opponent flying through the air. Fortunately, Sammy managed to somewhat recover and roll along the ground to disperse the force. Sammy slowly came to a stop, about a few dozen feet from Rumble. He was down on one knee, he was now unarmed, and his face and stomach hurt like heck. He could taste a little blood in his mouth and could feel his face swelling up. He took a look at Rumble's health bar and was rather dismayed upon seeing that his opponent only lost a tenth of his health. Meanwhile, his own health bar was already down by almost half.
"Hahaha! What will you do without a weapon now?!," taunted Rumble, laughing. Sammy took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess I'll have to take you down the old-fashioned way, then," he murmured. He took off his glasses and placed them into his jeans pocket. Then, he reached behind his head and untied his bun, letting his hair fall to his shoulders. Finally, he took off his sweater and tied it around his waist. With only these three changes, Sammy suddenly seemed like a completely different person. Without his glasses, Sammy's eyes appeared more intense than they had ever been, like they were carved from freezing cold ice. Without his hair tied into a neat bun, Sammy appeared more wild and feral than before. And without his sweater on, his arms and torso were finally exposed. He still wore a bland white t-shirt, but with the sweater no longer covering up his physique, he was revealed to have very toned arm, chest, and abdomen muscles. He had the build of someone who rigorously exercised all day, everyday.
Dipper and Soos watched from the sidelines in shock, since this was the first time either of them had seen Sammy without his sweater on. Never could they have imagined that hidden underneath that sweater the whole time was the toned physique of a bodybuilder. Dipper's mind suddenly flashed back to a recent memory in the attic, much earlier in the summer. He, Mabel, and Sammy were supposed to go to sleep, but Mabel was too hyperactive to fall asleep, so she suggested a simple game of arm wrestling before they turned in for the night. Some point into the game, the twins realized that Sammy was the one they had to beat, so they did everything they could to win. But they never beat him. Even when Dipper and Mabel tried to arm wrestle Sammy at the same time, even when they used both of their arms while Sammy had to use only one arm, they couldn't beat him. In fact, Sammy didn't even look like he was trying. He just sat there with a smile of amusement on his lips, not breaking a sweat as Dipper and Mabel almost sprained their own wrists just to get his arm to budge a single inch. Dipper never really thought about that since, but now, that particular night was starting to make more sense.
Sammy and Rumble ran to engage each other again. Rumble tried to deliver more punches and kicks, but Sammy expertly weaved through each of the blows, as though he was made of water. While none of Rumble's hits were connecting, Sammy was slowly chipping away at his health by delivering quick, fast strikes to sensitive areas of Rumble's body, like his throat, jaw, and solar plexus. Slowly but surely, Rumble's health bar was going down, something that Dipper and Soos were quick to notice. "Look Soos, he's doing it! He's actually doing it!," Dipper cried excitedly, blown away by what he was seeing. "He's gonna win!," said Soos.
Meanwhile, up in the water tower, Mabel was watching the fight below, her eyes wide in astonishment. "Look at Sammy go!," she said. "Grunkle Stan, are you seeing this?!" "How do you get off this death trap?!," cried Stan, his eyes squeezed shut the whole time.
But things took a turn for the worse. When Rumble's health was about three quarters of the way down, Sammy suddenly stumbled and nearly tripped. It was only for a second, which was all that Rumble needed. Seeing his chance, Rumble delivered a mighty punch to Sammy's stomach, causing his body to crumple over like a car hitting a pole. Then, he threw a series of blows, each one like a sledgehammer, before kicking Sammy so hard that the latter flew back several dozen feet before slamming into a tree. He slumped to the ground and collapsed like a ragdoll, now unconscious. "Sammy!," cried Dipper, running towards his fallen friend. "Dipper, wait!," hollered Soos, to no avail. Dipper ran up to Sammy's unconscious form and checked for a pulse. After a few seconds, he sighed in relief. His best friend was still alive.
"I WIN!," Rumble yelled victoriously. "Now to finish this fight once and for all!" He began charging up a huge fireball, intent on burning both Dipper and Sammy to a crisp. Dipper looked up. Both of their health bars were dangerously low. They were not going to survive this. Rumble finished charging up his attack, a giant fireball that was as big as himself, and launched it at the two of them. Thinking quickly, Dipper pushed himself into the unconscious Sammy, causing both of them to lie flat on the ground. The fireball flew right over their heads, barely missing them. It was so close that Dipper could actually feel some of his hair singeing a little.
At first, he thought they were lucky… until he realized that the fireball was heading right for the water tower. "Oh, no! Mabel! Grunkle Sta–!" The fireball impacted the base of the water tower and exploded violently, causing the entire structure to tip forward. It was about to collapse! "WE'RE GONNA DIE!," Stan screamed, gripping the handrails for dear life. Mabel didn't say any words. Instead, she just let out a loud, long, ear-piercing scream of pure terror.
And it was Mabel's scream that woke Sammy up.
"MABEL!," cried Sammy, suddenly waking up even though he was unconscious only a second ago. He saw the tower on the verge of collapse, and his heart momentarily stopped as images of Mabel and Stan's crushed bodies flooded his head. The tower started tipping more and more… and then, it stopped. By some miracle, it still remained standing despite recently being blown up by a giant fireball. Everything was okay. Mabel and Stan were safe.
But Rumble was NOT… "RUUUMBLLLE!," Sammy screamed, his entire being filled with a type of fury that he had not felt in a really long time. For the first time, Rumble appeared to be genuinely terrified. Good, thought Sammy, running towards him. He should be afraid. He should be very afraid. With the ferocity of a rabid animal, Sammy began pummeling Rumble like there was no tomorrow. He headbutted him in the nose, stuck his thumbs into his eyes, scratched and clawed at him with his nails, and even tried to bite the martial artist's tongue off. Rumble tried to fight back, but it was like fighting a miniature tornado of pure rage. He was so overwhelmed by Sammy's newfound speed and ferocity that he couldn't even throw back a single punch. All he could do was protect himself with his arms and take the hits. It wasn't long before Rumble's health bar finally hit zero. Sammy stopped and looked down at Rumble's broken and wounded body with cold, remorseless eyes. "You lose," he whispered in a chilling voice.
Suddenly, Rumble's body began dissolving into pixels. Sammy guessed that he was getting sent back to the game. Rumble didn't even say or do anything as he was dissolving. Instead, he just laid there, completely motionless, until his entire body was turned into nothing but pixels. For a moment, Sammy just stood there silently, unsure of what he was supposed to do next. Then, he suddenly remembered. "Mabel! Stan!," he gasped, turning around. The water tower was still standing, but he wasn't sure how long it would stay that way. He looked at Soos and Dipper, who were staring at him, frozen in shock. "Come on, guys!," he said urgently. "We need to help them!" The others snapped out of it and followed Sammy to the tower. Sammy climbed up the ladder and eventually reached the top, where Mabel and Stan were waiting for him, their faces frozen in terror. "Mabel! Mister Pines! Are you two okay?!," he cried.
"No, Sammy! I'm not okay! I'm not okay at all!," sobbed Mabel, trembling from head to toe. "I'm sorry, Grunkle Stan! I thought this would help, but I was wrong! So wrong!" To their astonishment, however, Stan actually started smiling. "I-I survived!," he said, scarcely believing it. "I survived and I feel great! Wait, let me do a cocky dance just to be sure." He moved his hips back and forth. "Alala-loo-doodly-doo-doodly-doo! HAHA! DEAL WITH IT WORLD!," he yelled to the sky. "STAN PINES HAS CURED HIS FEAR OF HEIGHTS!" "Wait… Mister Pines, you were afraid of heights? Is that why you and Mabel were on this water tower?," asked Sammy. "Kid, I really don't wanna have to explain any of this to you," groaned Stan. "Let's just get down from here." "N-not me!," whimpered Mabel, shaking her head. "What's the matter, YOU got a fear of heights, now? Haha!," Stan laughed. When Mabel remained frozen in place, still petrified with fear, Stan finally realized how serious this was. "Uh-oh," he said. "Mister Pines, you go down first," said Sammy. "Let me talk to Mabel alone." Stan raised an eyebrow, but nodded and went down the ladder, leaving Sammy and Mabel alone. Sammy walked up to Mabel, kneeled in front of her, and placed both hands on her shoulders while looking her in the eye. "Mabel…," he said gently. "No!," cried Mabel, shaking her head. "I'm not going down! You can't make me!" "But you have to," said Sammy. "You can't stay up here for the rest of your life." Plus, I have no idea how much longer this tower is going to remain standing, but I won't tell her that, he thought. "I-I just can't!," cried Mabel, with tears in her eyes. "I'm scared, Sammy. I'm scared…"
"Mabel, if your grunkle can conquer his fear of heights, then so can you," said Sammy. "And I will never let you fall. I'll be with you, every step of the way. Okay?" Mabel still appeared absolutely terrified, but she slowly nodded. "Okay, good," said Sammy. "Just get on my back and hold on tight. And try not to look down." Mabel nodded again and did as she was told. The two of them climbed down the ladder, slowly and carefully, with Mabel clinging to Sammy's back like a baby koala. Once they were back on solid ground, Mabel immediately hugged Sammy's leg and started crying. "Thanks, Sammy. I was so scared," she whispered. Sammy hugged Mabel back, feeling his own eyes welling up with tears. "So was I, Mabel. So was I…"
Many hours passed. It was nighttime in Gravity Falls now. Robbie Valentino was in his room, strumming his guitar. However, his mind was occupied elsewhere, and who could really blame him? This entire day turned out to be nothing but a disaster. First, he gets his phone broken by Dipper Pines. Then, he almost gets killed by Dipper's weird bodyguard. Giving credit where credit was due, though, Dipper did think pretty fast on his feet when Wendy came back and asked if they were fighting. Plus, they also agreed to "hate each other in silence", which he still wasn't entirely sure what that meant. But all in all, today was a terrible day for Robbie. He really hoped that nothing eventful would happen for the rest of the day, but alas, that was not to be. "Robbie!," his mother called him cheerfully. "Mom, what is it? I'm practicing my guitar skills!," groaned Robbie. "I know, but this is important! You just got a package!," his mother responded. Robbie stopped strumming his guitar. A package? He never got a package before.
"Who's it from?," he asked, trying to sound bored. "I don't know, honey, it doesn't say," said his mother. "Would you like me to bring it up here?" "Just leave it at my door, mom!," said Robbie. After a while, he heard his mother's footsteps walking up to his bedroom door. Then, he heard the sound of something being dropped at his door before his mother's footsteps started to walk away again. Robbie waited until his mother was completely gone, then opened the door, picked up the package, and slammed it shut again. He observed the package, wondering what could possibly be inside of it, or who could've sent it to him. He took out a small pocket knife and began cutting through the cardboard. He opened the box… and gasped.
Inside the box… was a brand new phone. And it wasn't just any phone either. It was the newest, top-of-the-line brand! It was so new, in fact, that it wasn't even supposed to be released in the market until two more months! The phone cover was pure white and shining, giving the phone an almost futuristic look to it. The screen itself was so smooth and flawless that it felt like he was looking into a brand new mirror. Robbie was so astonished by all of this that he couldn't even find any words to say. No words, that is, except… why? How? And who?
Then, Robbie noticed that there was a handwritten note in the box as well. He picked it up and read it out loud. "Hello, Robbie. I heard your old phone was broken. Here's a new one to replace it. I paid good money for it, so don't lose it, alright? Your friend, Sammy."
Putting the note down, Robbie turned his attention back to the phone. He apprehensively pressed the power button with his thumb. The screen turned on, bathing his face in an ethereal blue light. "Hello, Robbie Valentino," a female voice said from the phone. "How may I assist you today?" Robbie sat on his bed with a wide grin on his face. "Best. Day. Ever."